Week 88 - The elder Elder

I cant even keep track of the day anymore, the days are going by so fast here in Puno. It's crazy, I never really think about how I am one of the older missionaries in the mission, but now it's hitting me. I remember when I was in my training and I looked at all the Elders and Sisters that had 1 year or 1 1/2 years in the mission like....wooooow!! haha But now I'm one of those people. Now my responsibility to help those that are starting and are learning. Its just crazy to think of how fast everything has gone, but the change and the progress that I have seen in me. My testimony is much stronger, I now speak another language, Ive seen so many miracles, and really grown to love others like Christ did and understand more of his Atonement. Now dont think that Im trunky, as they say here in the mission, we are working hard here in Huajsapata and I love the work. I have plenty of time left to see many more miracles and help those children of God that need my help. 

This week was another successful week for Elder Yepez and I, we are working very well together and seeing lots of progress. Elder Yepez is a champ, love this kid, he works so hard here and lots of the progress comes from his hard work. But we have found a lot of new people lately, but we have to keep working with them to see how they will progress, but we are literally having full lesson days almost every day. We love it!! Now there isnt that awkward....What do we do? moment as missionaries. Great news with Ivan, he has accepted and we are planning now his baptism for May 28th, next Saturday. This kid is awesome, we taught him about the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom and it was no problem for him to accept all the invitations. We are just so happy to see him be so excited for his baptism and is progressing even more each week. We have been seeing lots of progress with a less active sister, Antonia, who's son just got his mission call, and she is doing super well. She is coming to church, loving the lessons we teach, and doing everything she can to come back to church to help her son too. So, overall the work is going strong in our ward, but we still need to get better on a lot of things in these coming weeks. 

Like I said before, 2 young men got their mission calls this week and found out where they will be going to serve for 2 years. One is going to Colombia and the other here in Peru in Lima. It brought back a lot of feelings of when I opened my letter almost exactly 2 years ago! But it made me think of what I have done to use all of my time here in the mission and serve the Lord, hopefully I can keep it up and even make is better in these last few months. Well, hope you all have a wonderful week full of blessings from the Lord!! Love you guys!!

Elder Shoaf

 

1. Saying goodbye to Jardy or Elder Rojas now, as he left to go serve his mission in Argentina last week. 

 

2. Eating with the Bishop's family, Bishop, his wife Yenny, Odey, Wendy, Jencro, and Wagner.....love these guys.

ENJOY THE PICTURES!!!

Week 87 - Mother's Day!

Time is flying like every other week in the mission and Im enjoying every moment of it. Basically just another normal week of work really, but it was a good week of work for Elder Yepez and I.

This week we were happy to continue working hard in this great work of the Lord and help many of God's children come unto him a little more. Good news with Ivan, our wonderful investigator, he is all ready and still progressing toward his baptismal date on May 28th. Honestly, he is one of the many people that the Lord has prepared to listen to the Gospel. He is great, attends church, reads the scriptures, goes to the activities, and also is very involved with all the young men. Just cant wait for the end of the month now to see him enter the covenant of baptism!! His sister hasnt had much time to visit with us, so we are trying to find time to teach her all the lessons, but we will probably wait a little longer for baptism so we can finish up all the stuff. We found this really nice and sweet less active sister that was baptized years ago, and her son is going on the mission soon, but we had a great lesson with her and she ended up coming to church this Sunday too!! We see some good things coming with her, hoping to see her every week at church too. But really, not much else in the work, finding some new people like usual, and just trying to finish the mission off strong!

This week, the 2 zones in Puno had a multi zone conference with our mission President. We went to Chifron, a beach on Lake Titicaca,about an hour away from Puno and spent the whole day there. We had this one activity, capture the flag, but with a twist.....everyone had a disability, or being tied to different people or parts of your body. I got stuck with my hand tied to my ankle and having to play like that......just saying its not very easy. But it was to show us the importance of working together and knowing that we have a Savior to save us from our sins or disabilitiies that we have. Our president also gave us a great talk to overcome temptations and his wife too  gave a wonderful talk to really help us continue to work in the Lord's work. And as a result of being on the beach for so long, I was pretty burnt!! haha

And it was great talking to you guys yesterday and having the opportunity to see what is going on. All you kids are growing up so fast, changes in the family, so many things that have changed since I left, but it seems like everyone is doing great. But now its time to just focus on the mission and continue going strong here in Peru.......but hope you all have a great week!! Love you guys!!

 1. Elder Yepez and I on Cerrito Huajsapata

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 2. The dog that followed us all day.

 3. Chifron

 4. Elder Denham, Diaz, Yepez, and I

 5. My companion and I

 6. Me.....obviously

 7. Chifron again

 8. 2 Ex companions, Elder Cacoango and Elder Palacios

9. I went to Juliaca today again and visited my old pensionist

Week 86 - Time Flies!

Time is flying by!! I can say that this week was probably one of the fastest weeks to have gone by, just getting lost in the work really makes the time go by. But we had an average week for sure, working super hard to see progress and just  serving the people of Puno. 

Well our investigators, Ivan and Marli are still progressing super well, and coming to church too. Ivan is a really cool kid, understanding everything we say and is so prepared to hear the Gospel, and his sister Marli is also doing super well. They are both on track for May 28th, and just getting them ready for that date and they should be all good. We have also been  visiting a lot with the young men of our ward that there are 4 that are going on missions soon. Some should be getting their callings this week and one is leaving next week, so we are super excited to see them working along side us. But we have been focusing more on the less actives this week, trying to find those lost sheep and help rescue them, and help them feel the spirit in their lives again. So we have found a few new less actives, and are just trying to find them during the week to continue visiting them. But really, the work is progressing still, we have found many new people to teach and new less actives, now to just continue what we are doing and see the results in the coming weeks. But we are excited about all of it!!

This week I also was doing a little bit of family history work with the help of the senior missionary couple of the mission when they came to Puno, and I found a lot of names for the temple. Now I am super excited to do more work on our family and find out information, but to take them to the temple too. I sent 110 ordenances to the temple and it was great....cant wait to do more when I get home. Not much else really happened this week, just a normal week of work and studies and just being a missionary. I am enjoying my study of Doctrine and Covenants again, and Im learning a lot of new things about all of that, and its interesting now that I study everything in Spanish. Before hand it was a mix, but now I can understand basically everything. It will be weird to read stuff in English when I get back, but its a blessing now to know fluently another language....itll be nice when I get back. Well, cant wait to talk to you guys on Mothers Day!!

 1. Me, Elder Yepez, and Elder Ludlow

2. Completos.....aka hot dogs.......very rare to have something like here in Puno

 3. Me washing my clothes.....all by hand here.

Week 85 - An Investigator's First Prayer

Wow!!! It has been a crazy week full of changes and different things happening, but also one of my favorite weeks that Ive had to work. We are seeing a lot of progress, new people coming out of nowhere, contacts in the street, having a good time with my new companion, and just losing myself in this great work of Salvation. 

As you all know, Elder Stringham got transferred to Puerto Maldonado, the jungle, and now I am with Elder Yepez. Elder Yepez is from Colombia, and he is awesome!! He loves to just get down to work, contact, and is so good at talking to the people we teach. He himself is a convert to the church, about 3 years ago, and his testimony is so powerful. But really, we are working really well together and we just love how well things went this week. We contacted more than most weeks and found a few really awesome new investigators. There was this reference to go visit a sister and her son, and we finally were able to have a lesson with them and it went so well. We explained to them the importance of the Gospel and just a beginner lesson, but the best part was when the 15 year old son gave the closing prayer, and this being his first time praying really ever. He began to cry, and we all felt the spirit strong in that moment. They both accepted baptism and are willing to come to church too, so we are super excited to see where things go with them. Also we have Ivan and Marli, who are still progressing well. They both came to church, and they both have a baptismal date for May 28th. They are awesome, Ivan is going with all the young men to activities and he is completing with all the invitations we leave for him. Marli is doing well too, we are just continuing with them and enjoying our time seeing the wonderful progress in Huajsapata. Looking good here!!

Also this week, we have started eating at another member's house, the bishop's house. His wife is now cooking for us and it is awesome there, they are so nice and are very fun to be around. They have 5 kids in their home, now 2 more (the elders) haha, but Hermana Yenny is amazing!! The best part is that she makes pizzas as her business on the side to deliver to clients, so we eat a lot of pizza!! hahaha We are loving it!! But really overall, everything is going well, I cannot complain. Just to continue working hard here in our area of Huajsapata in Puno and see the Lord's hand helping us. Well, Ill be talking for Mother's Day soon.....cant wait!!!

 1-4. Scripture cases and bag that a member here makes for missionaries and members. If any of you guys would like something like them, just let me know.

 5-8. Eating pizza and enjoying our last few days with Gisela, Marleny, and all their family. We are going to miss them a lot.

 9. District Huajsapata

 10. My comp, Elder Stringham and I

 11. Me on the highest parts of our area

 12. Our sun room on the top of our apartment where we live.

 13-14. My new companion Elder Yepez and I.

Week 84 - 5 Transfers Strong!

Wow......crazy time with transfers today and what is happening really. Well, drum roll please.....Im staying here in Huajsapata in Puno! 5 transfers going strong!! haha Elder Stringham is leaving though, going to the jungle part of the mission, Puerto Maldonado, with probably one of my favorite guys as his companion! He is so lucky but Im glad he is going off to another area to learn more now from another person. So now my new companion will be Elder Yepez, dont know him yet but Im excited to get to work and have a blast. So, pretty crazy though, everyone thought it was me going this transfer, but I know the Lord has something else in store for me.

Also this week, our pensionista Gisela and her family, is the last week they will be cooking for us. It is very sad really, they are awesome and so fun to be around. So this next week, we will be eating at the bishop's wife's house, not going to be bad, but we will miss Gisela, Marleny, Helaman, Marcos, Grover, and Hyrum! To end our time with them we bought a bunch of pizzas to celebrate and have a good time, so we did go off with a bang. 

As work goes, we are doing awesome!! The 2 new awesome investigators from last week, Marli and her brother Ivan are great and are progressing super well. We were able to invite and set a baptismal date for Ivan for May 28th, but with Marli we werent able to teach this week. Ivan also came to church, really liked it, and really wants to attend each week and progress toward his baptismal date. We also have another investigator, Yessmeri, who we also put another date for May 28th.....so hoping for some more of God's miracles here in the next transfer to help us with her and all of our investigators we have. 

So, lots of stuff going on and changes to come with new companion, but to just finish off strong here in the mission!! 3 transfers more!! Nothing can explain how fast the time is going and now it is the home stretch, so I need to keep going til the end!! Well, have a great week everyone!!

Week 83 - Surprise Visitors

Basically just another week, but still a good week with the work and just doing our thing as missionaries. 

Well, that super cool investigator from last week, Marli, who attended conference too, is doing well again!! We taught her and her brother this week and it was a great lesson, and we really feel like they are going to attend and progress. They committed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, and they both accepted baptism, just not with a date yet. They werent able to attend this week because of elections yesterday, so there werent any church meetings at all. But we are excited about it and so happy to see them progress. Not many others progressing yet, still trying to find a few contacts and referrals, but hoping for the best in this next week.

Like I said, yesterday was election day, and here, you cant have religious meetings during elections. So we didnt have church or any meetings. Everyone has to vote here too, it is mandatory or you have to pay a fine if you dont. But its interesting, a girl might actually win too, but they are going to vote in a second round election in June to decide. 

Oh, but the craziest thing happened this week!!! So, we were walking down the street, just doing our thing and then out of nowhere, Elder Stringham looks at a guy and they start hugging. I was like, does he know this guy, and it turns out that he does. So, it turns out also that a whole school group from Provo came to Peru to visit and just happened to run into the 1 Elder from Provo and knew one of the guys in the group. So there was like 30+ people there and they were so nice, invited us to dinner and everything, and we enjoyed our evening with them. One of the moms talked with Mom over texts and sent her a picture too, so it was a weird moment as a missionary, but fun to hang out with some members from Utah. My companion is good too, it was a very unexpected but happy surprise for him, but he is doing well now. haha 

But a great week overall, just working, and serving the Lord here in Puno! Loving life and enjoying it a lot here! Hope all of you guys have a great week!!

Week 82 - General Conference

Great week of work for Elder Stringham and I, I mean for the days that we had time to. Work is progressing and we are enjoying the time left we have this transfer, just 2 more weeks now to do all we can. 

We enjoyed the wonderful moment of Richard's baptism!! Friday he was baptized by our 1st counselor in the bishopric. He wanted a small baptism, so it was very simple and with a few of the ward leaders and his family, but it was still a powerful experience for all of us! He will be confirmed a member of the church and receive the Holy Ghost the next week, because of conference, but we are so happy for the decision he has made to follow Christ and all of his teachings. And that youll see in the pictures....I ripped my pants too during the prep for the baptism...whoops. Not sure if they can be saved. Enjoy that! haha

Overall the work was good this week. Elder Stringham had to go to Cusco again to do some paperwork for his visa, so I was with the zone leaders for a few days. Still had some fun hanging out with them and getting some work done, but not in my area. We did receive this new reference, Marley, who is awesome!! She listened to the missionaries in Cusco and then went looking for the missionaries here in Puno. She has a lot of desire to come to church, accept the Savior and the Gospel in her life. She came to the Sunday morning session of General Conference too!! So we are happy to see another person come out of nowhere but could progress. 

But the best highlight of the week was General Conference! The opportunity we had to listen to our church leaders, especially our beloved prophet and apostles. It helped me build my testimony on the veracity of having modern day prophets and that they gave us divine direction. I had a lot of talks that I loved, a few in the priesthood session, but I think like most was Elder Holland's closing talk of the conference. That we need to not forget the divine counsels we have received during the conference and to apply those things in life, and that the Lord will bless us profoundly. Ill need to study more of them after I download them or in the Ensign, but it was a great time listening and pondering this weekend. Oh, and 1 of the temples that was announced by President Monson was the 2nd temple to be in Lima!!! That is amazing!! It will be the 2nd city, after Provo, to have 2 temples!! So the members here are excited for another temple to be close to them.

But overall a great week full of learning and working, hoping for another great week this week! Hope all of you also have a great week and enjoy the things you do!! Love ya guys!!

 1-6. Richard's baptism, it was a great experience and so awesome to see him make that covenant with God.

 7. I RIPPED.....MY PANTS!! HAHA Bending down to shut off the baptismal font valve outside, and my pants were a little too tight I guess....haha

 8-9. I found my twin singing during General Conference!! haha