An Unconquerable Spirit

Family and friends,

 

 

I can't believe that this is the last email that I will be writing as a full-time missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. As cliché as it sounds, these two years have truly flown by. But I can truly say, without any doubt in my heart or mind, that these two years have been the best two years of my entire life. I have easily learned more during these 24 months than I did in the previous 19 years. I have learned what love really is. I have learned that Jesus Christ truly is our Savior. I have learned that the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith really was a prophet, that Thomas S. Monson guides the Church today. Saying these words time and time again to people that I have come to love has rooted them deep within my soul. It has become a knowledge that is inseparable from who I am. It is a knowledge that is who I am.

 

If nothing else, I now know that we are all children of our Heavenly Father. I remember asking President Turk what was the greatest lesson he learned on his mission. He responded in a simple, spiritual way: "The fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man". I know this to be true. I have not been perfect on my mission. I have not loved everyone as I ought to have done. But I have improved. I have become a better person, and through all of it, I have been blessed with the opportunity to help others become a little better too. Doing so has been the source of the greatest joy I have ever felt in my short life. I know understand the thrill that our Heavenly Father must get when He is merciful or kind.

 

I love each and every one of you. Thank you for always emailing me, sending me letters and packages, and encouraging me throughout these two years. I have not been able to always respond to each one of you, but your love and thoughtfulness has meant a lot to me. I appreciate the example that each one of you has set for me in my life and in my mission. You will be forever remembered and blessed. I love you all.

I suppose what is most comforting to me at this point is knowing that the mission will not end when I get off the plane. I will continue being a missionary forever, though I might now have a nametag on, as Elder Andersen said, I will have it painted upon my heart. I will continue sharing the gospel with others and help the missionaries in my own ward. That's the great eternal round of the gospel. We will never have a scarcity of opportunities to become more like our Savior and King.

 

Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the earth; glad tidings for the dead; a voice of gladness for the living and the dead; glad tidings of great joy. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that bring glad tidings of good things, and that say unto Zion: Behold, thy God reigneth! As the dews of Carmel, so shall the knowledge of God descend upon them! (D&C 128:19)

 

Please feel free to contact me at my parents home after 11/6.
Love to All
Elder Trace Owen Levos

Changing The Game

Hello all!

 

We had a great week here in Peru. We have been changing the focus a lot lately on how we work. A lot of the work now is focused on visiting less active members and helping them come back to church. We have seen various miracles following that method, and we are excited for the progress we are seeing in the ward.

 

Won't lie, all the members are making me trunky now! There are a ton of comments on things like: "Elder Levos, you're out of here soon. Your mission is already over," etc. Haha. It's all in good sport I suppose. They had us talk in sacrament meeting this past week, and it went well. I felt the Spirit quite strongly as my companion and I spoke.

Hope you enjoy the picture of me in the town plaza. Sorry that the group letter is so short.

 

Love you all,
Trace

It's All Fun Now

Hello all

Forgive me for sending you a blank email. Pretty sure I'm starting to forget how to even use computers. 

This week was quite rewarding spiritually, not just because we helped Celeste Giraldo make a covenant with God, but also because of General Conference! It was so interesting to see that so many of the talks were aimed at missionary work and also at how the members can help. I am excited to be able to be on the other end of the equation soon and help out as a member.

 

Everything is going great overall though. My companion and I are getting along great and finding lots of new people to teach as well. The ward loves us, and we love them. We've got attendance up to almost 160 now, which is a big deal. Members are starting to stuff me full of food now that they know I'm leaving soon. What's most exciting is that my pensionista is trying to get me some Peruvian peppers to be able to plant in the garden at home. They are ridiculously hot, so I'm not sure what we will be able to put them in, but it will be interesting.

 

I'm sure you're probably tired of baptism pictures, but they're all I have. I will try and take more next week. Course, I have said that almost every week of my entire mission...

 

Love Ya,
Trace

 

Joy

Hello all

We had a great week this week full of miracles and happiness. That sounds a little fruity when I type it, but it's true. First of all, my new companion, Elder Antuña, arrived this week from Trujillo. He is a really tall Argentine guy, and he is funny, let me tell you. Supe smart and really hard-working. All in all, a great companion, and a great last companion at that. We are doing well.

 

We also had the baptism of Brillit Villareal, as you will see in the pictures. She is a great young lady who's parents are both members, but went inactive for a little while. She was a dream to teach, simply because she knew everything and understood everything. There really are chosen people out there ready to receive the gospel. We just have to find them! That's where you guys as members can help out a lot.

 

Everything else is going great. The weather is finally warming up, so that's nice. It can get really cold being right here by the sea, but now that the sun's out almost all day I'm enjoying it a lot. Food's not so bad, lots of friends... I can't complain. The mission really is the best. Hope everyone is doing well. Enjoy your week!

Trace

No Longer On Deck. At the Plate Now...

Hello world!

 

Well, I can't believe it either, but it's official. I am now in my last change. Elder Hill deuced out of Chimbote yesterday and is going back to the USA today, so I am now officially the oldest missionary in the mission. I of course will be getting a new companion on Tuesday. His name is Elder Antuña, and he is from Argentina. As they say here in the mission, he will be the one to "kill" me. I don't know who he is actually, but the say he is pretty cool. I'm excited.

 

We had a baptism this week too, so we sent Elder Hill off right. Enhiel Jara was baptized, and he is officially the newest deacon in our ward. He is a great young man who, like I said last week, is a reference from another deacon in the ward. Just goes to show that you can do missionary work at any age.

 

Hope you guys like the pictures. I took one of the baptism, and also of Elder Hill's goodbye to the ward at the bus terminal in Chimbote. They were sad to see him go. Also snapped one of my pensionista's dog, Horus. I thought Mom would especially like that one.

 

 

Can't believe how fast the time has gone, but I'm going to push right up to the end! Love you guys

Trace

Goodbye, Friend

Hello all

 

Can't believe I'm writing you guys again. The weeks sure fly by now. I've never had time go by so fast in my life! I'm actually pretty bummed today because I'm realizing that it's going to be my last week with Elder Hill. He's going home this coming Sunday, and it's scaring me for two reasons: 1. He's been one of my best comps, so my new comp will have big shoes to fill, and 2. Once he leaves, I will be the next missionary to be outta here. Sad that we're already at that point, but I suppose that's life. Gotta just take what comes.

We are still working hard and doing great though. We have a lot of people set up to be baptized in these next three or four weeks, starting with Enhiel this week. He is a reference from another one of the deacons in our ward, so that just goes to show that even young people can sure the gospel with their friends. Enhiel actually reminds me of Garrett a lot. I feel like I'm going to teach and baptize my little cousin. The ward is starting to help us out a lot, and more people are coming to church too! We had a huge turnout at the stake conference this week, which was great since Elders David A. Bednar and Richard G. Scott both spoke to all of Peru via satellite. It was nice to hear their messages specifically to us.

 

I love you all and hope you are doing well. Don't have any pictures this week, but I'll be taking some with Elder Hill this last week and will send them along. Have a great week.

 

T

A Welcome Gift

Family!

Well, first of all I want to thank you guys and the Owen family as well for the amazing packages that I received this week. It had been so long since I had tasted Sour Patch, Cheez its, or any other sort of American treat, and let me just say, they were all delicious. Definitely gave me a burst of energy to finish the week strong. You guys are awesome!

 

In terms of the work, we are just trucking along as usual. We have found a lot of new people this week, and we have seen truly amazing results come from working with the ward. Elder Hill and I do divisions with the elders quorum every single Sunday now, and it has been a great way to get to know the brethren and also to meet lots of less active and inactive members. Most people think that a missionary's job is to solely baptize as many people as he can, but a very important part of our work is to strengthen the ward as well. It has been rewarding to help many less actives and inactives come back to church. In the process, one also finds lots of new people to teach.

 

Other than that, everything is going quite normal. Elder Hill ends soon, but we aren't even feeling it. Having so much experience together helps a lot. We both know what to do and when. We're going to need that with more sisters coming into the zone! There are a ton of sisters in the mission now...

 

Hope you are all doing well. Can't wait to see you soon. Enjoy the pic of me in the front room of our house.

 

Love Trace

 

Still Going

Hello all

It really is insane just how fast all of the weeks fly by. Feels like just yesterday that I was emailing you guys. But the miracle I talked about last week came to full realization this past weekend. Pedro was baptized and confirmed! He asked Elder Hill to baptize him, and me to confirm him. It was a great moment for us, for him, and for the ward as well. He was introduced to the Church by his girlfriend. It continues to impress me just how many people are introduced to the gospel not by street contacting, the Internet, or other materials, but simply by good and faithful members who help others see what they believe in and what makes them happy. Members, not missionaries, really are the lifeblood of missionary work. 

 

Lately, we have been focusing a lot on how we can help the ward, instead of just focusing on how many baptisms we can get. This strategy really has worked wonders. All the members in the ward know us and love us now, and they are all more than willing to help us out, accompany us to lessons, and give us references as well. Being friendly really does work I guess.

Hope you all are doing well. All the fall fun is beginning to start. I can't believe it's football season already! As you all know, the Cowboys will win the Super Bowl, and Texas the National Championship. I'll be there to see both.

Love you all, and Hook em Horns

T

Preparation

Hello all!

Well, not too much to report this week, but I did send a picture, so you will be proud of me for that at least. Elder Hill and I actually live in a super nice house (on Peruvian standards), and so here you can see a photo of me on our balcony. It is pretty nice, I won't lie. After a long day of proselyting, I do enjoy going back home to a nice room with a nice bad.

 

 

This week went by incredibly fast. Mostly at this point we are just preparing people to be baptized. The biggest miracle we saw this week was how much Pedro, one of our eternal investigators, has changed. I actually wasn't at the lesson that turned everything around since we were on splits, but supposedly Elder Hill just invited him to be baptized this coming Saturday, and he said yes! And this after having rejected us day after and when we invited him to a specific date. The Lord works in mysterious ways I suppose.

 

The ward is also really starting to support us, which is great. We have made really good friends with the bishop, and also with other ward members. The ward really makes missionary work go, so be sure to help the missionaries out in your own wards!

I love you all. Hope everyone has a great week, especially Tess who is now in COLLEGE! Way to go. Have lots of fun.

Trace

Breakthrough

Hello all

Well, we had a great week with the baptism of Ada Luz. She chose me to baptize her, which was a real honor, even though the water was quite cold. The baptismal fonts are not heated in Peru, so in the winter AND at 7 pm, the baptismal water straight from the tap can be pretty chilly. But it went well. What was great was that the ward really helped us out a lot for this one. Almost 40 people showed up and everybody played their part well. Someone accompanied on the piano (not me for the first time I can remember), there was a special musical number (that one was me), some members brought a snack to share afterwards, and all in all it was just a great showing. Her whole family came too, and we are hoping to get them baptized ASAP. Just gotta get them married first!

 

 

Everything else is going great. Elder Hill and I get along too well sometimes. We have lots of fun. We now have a frisbee AND a soccer ball in our room, so that makes for some interesting study sessions. I'm quite sad that he is going home in 5 weeks. He is a good guy.

 

Hope you are all doing well. Enjoy the pictures of the baptism, Love you all!

Trace

I'll Die In Chimbote

Hello all!

Yes, it's official. Even though I already knew it was probably going to happen, it is now official that I will end my mission here in Chimbote. The reason why is because we received changes last night, and neither my comp nor I got changed, so I will definitely be the one that "kills" him, and then I will end my mission 6 weeks later. Time sure flies eh?

In more happy news, we will be having a baptism this Saturday! I'm so excited for Ada Luz Guanilo to be baptized. She really is a great young lady, and she has made so many friends in the ward that it is really impressive to my companion and I. Her parents are still working on getting married and whatnot, but we're getting there. Hopefully they will be baptized in September. Other than that, we are just trying hard to find lots of new investigators. Besides the Guanilo family, we aren't teaching too many people, which kind of stinks. We are still pushing hard with our Book of Mormon program though.

 

Everything else is going great here. Still cold and still missing Trujillo (just a little bit), but Chimbote is nice. It will be a great place to end my mission too.

Love you all!

Trace

The Grind

Hello all

The grind never stops in missionary work, and sometimes you just have to get through the tougher weeks to see the big blessings. We have had a lot of success lately, but this week was a bit harder. No worries though, because we will see the hand of the Lord soon enough!

The Book of Mormon program has actually been working out well with the members. I hope that you guys have been asking your friends the two questions as well! We have received a ton of references from it, and the members are getting excited about talking to their friends about the Book of Mormon. The problem is, we haven't been able to find too many of those people in their houses. We just have to be patient though, and the lessons and baptisms will come.

What really has me excited is that we are teaching an entire family!! I have never baptized an entire family in my mission, but this one really has potential. They still aren't married, and we are working hard on that (it is SO hard to get people married in this country, it's ridiculous), but we feel that it will come if it is the will of the Lord. The oldest daughter of the family is getting baptized no matter what on the 17th of this month, so we are excited. Pray for them!

 

Hope you all are doing well. Sorry for the lack of pictures. I will take some next week, I promise!

Love

Trace

I'm Still Having Fun

Hello all

I attach that title to my email this week just in case anyone thinks that I'm getting really tired and near dead. I am getting tired, but I am still having fun as well. The mission is the best, but is certainly a marathon and not a sprint. I appreciate sleep a lot more than I used to.

 

 

We had another baptism this week, this time of a great young man named Bryam (not Bryan). He simply  joined the church thanks to the example of his two best friends, Paulo and Bruno, who are also members. The three of them always hung out, and Paulo and Bruno continually talked to Bryam about how great the church was until he joined himself! Seriously, you guys can never underestimate the influence that you have on your friends and family. That's why it's so important to share your testimony with everyone you can.

We are still doing great here. Elder Hill and I have a lot of fun, especially since we have a lot of time and experience in the field, we understand when it's time to have fun and when it's time to work. He is a great guy.

One scripture that really changed my week was Alma 36:24-25. Read it and think about the impact that we can have on other people's lives as we do missionary work.

Hope you enjoy the picture of the baptism and also of me in a giant grass field in our area. Interestingly enough, there is almost no grass where we are, so this is certainly a rare occurence.

Love you all.

Trace

 

Baptisms and Revelation

Hello family and friends!

Well first of all, we did have our baptism of Alonso, which was a great experience. His mom and sister came too, which made the experience even more special. Unfortunately, Alonso's family had to have the baptism in the afternoon, which is a time that most Peruvians are out at work, so not too many members showed up, but it was a baptism nonetheless. Next time we will work a little harder on spreading the word and planning. We have one baptism planned for this coming Saturday, so we are excited for that!

 

 

In other news, we have stumbled on to an idea that is changing our zone, area, and stake! It is a program that was put on by a Seventy a long time ago that has to do with sharing the Book of Mormon with just two questions. He gives a talk on how we can ask the following two questions to any person that we meet, and share the BOM easily:

1. Do you like to read?

2. If I gave you a book that talked about Jesus Christ in the Americas, would you read it?

You then just have to write down the address of that person, give the address to the missionaries, and they provide a Book of Mormon that you can write your testimony in. They then go and give it to that person, and are usually allowed in to teach the message of the Restoration. And that's where it all starts! Isn't it such an easy program? And let me tell you, we are already seeing some huge miracles thanks to putting it in practice. The stake president even invited us to speak at two different stake firesides last night to present the program. I want to invite all of you to do the same thing with just one person this week. It's not hard at all! Just ask the two questions, and you will see the miracles!

 

 

Hope you enjoy the pictures of the baptism, and of me discovering a bunch of American sodas in a store next to our home. I went nuts.

Love you all!

 

T

Chilly

Hello all

I think I complained about how cold it is here in every letter that I sent out, so sorry if I sound like a whiner. Haha. It actually is only maybe 57 degrees here during the day, which isn't very cold at all, but since I've been in Peru for over a year and a half now, my body has gotten used to Peru weather, and 57 degrees is quite cold for the coast, so throw me a sweater and call me a cholo.

 

We are actually doing great though. We have been trying to find a lot of new investigators lately, which hasn't worked out all that well, but we aren't getting down. If I've learned anything in the mission, you got to be positive. If not, that's where Satan steps in and tells you that you can't do it. We will be having a baptism this Saturday though, which is exciting. He's a whopping 8 years old, and his name is Alonso. He's a great little kid who comes to church every Sunday with the Primary president. She's a great lady.

 

Hope everything is going well with you guys. Try and give the old lucky Astros do-rag a rub for me. The reason why we suck so bad is probably because I'm not there to work the do-rag! 

 

Love you all

Alma 26

Trace

 

It's Cold

Hello all

I never thought that I would say that on my mission, but it really is getting kinda chilly here. I wear my sweater every day and sleep with two blankets every night. Since central heating/cooling doesn't exist in any building in Peru (besides the temple), a cement house can get pretty chilly at night. It's alright though. It's definitely better than walking under the blazing sun all day.

 

 

We had an interesting week. We finally got to meet President and Sister Marler, and they are both awesome. President Marler actually reminds me a lot of Bishop DeBusk. He is a happy, very relaxed grandfather. He still wants to work hard, but he really enjoys talking to people and helping them out. Usually my interviews with President Turk lasted about 10 minutes. My interview with President Marler lasted half an hour. Both are great men.

Anyway, Elder Hill and I are doing great. We have lots of fun, as you can see by the picture I am enclosing of me shooting  arrows at our white board. Sometimes you just have to relax a bit. The mission can get pretty stressful sometimes. I'm also putting in a picture of an awesome drawing made purely from chalk that I saw a few weeks ago. Peruvians have some quirky talents.

 

 

If you guys want to see more pictures from the mission, Hermana Marler has decided to keep the MPT blog going! The address is kurtandkathymarler.blogspot.com

Love you all!

Trace

Happy 4th

Hey everyone

Hope you guys are having a great summer so far...can't believe it's almost halfway over...stinks for you guys who have to go back to class! Anyway, hope everyone has a great 4th of July first off. Are you guys going to be doing anything special? I am sure there will be a lot of smoked meat...though I suppose if Dad and Taylor are gone, maybe not! Eat a burger and a dog for me though.

 

Everything is going great here. It is actually really cold, since we are right next to the sea, and also right in the middle of winter, but that's life I suppose. It is still not that bad at all, to be honest. I've lived in Peru so long that I've become a weenie, and 60 degrees seems really cold to me. The new mission president is here though, so that should be really interesting! We haven't gotten to know him yet actually, but we will meet him and his wife this week when they come down to Chimbote. We are very excited!

 

Otherwise, Elder Hill and I are just working like monkeys and trying to get everyone that we can baptized! This new ward is actually really awesome, and bigger than any other that I've been in. The work is picking up.

 

 

Hope you guys enjoy the picture of me with my favorite family in Central. I miss them. Miss you all!

Trace

 

Chimbote

Hello everyone!

I passed my first week here in Chimbote, my new and most likely last area, and it is definitely interesting. First thing is that the area is ginormous. In Central, our area was a rather small sector of the city, meaning that it was very easy to organize things and proselyte quickly. With such a large area here, it's a bit more difficult! My companion, Elder Hill, has only been here for 4 weeks due to the short change we just had, so we are both flying blind here. It will all be alright though. The Lord always provides. It is really cold here though, since we are right next to the ocean, so that's not too much fun.

 

We had to say goodbye to President and Sister Turk yesterday. It was quite sad to be honest. They gave a hug to each and every one of us, which was really special. They are great people who have changed my life and the lives of many others. They will be leaving Friday night, and President and Sister Marler will be getting here at about the same time. It is definitely a mix of emotions.

 

So sorry that all the emails kinda stink this week. I won't be able to send pictures yet again this week because I forgot my camera cord. I suck, I know. I will be much better at time management next week. I Love you all!

 

Trace

I Hate Goodbyes!

Hello all

Yes, the sad news came last night, I will be heading out of Central after just 6 months in this blessed (and I don't say that sarcastically) area. I feel like I have been here for such a short time, but I suppose that's a trick that my mind is playing on me due to my overly long stay in Alto Moche. I am pretty pumped about my new area though. I will going to a city called Chimbote, which is about two hours by bus south of Trujillo. Ironically, the room I will be sleeping in was the first room I ever slept in on the way to Huarmey, my very first area. Full circle, right? I am also excited to be with Elder Hill, my new companion. He is from Utah, and is just a ball of energy. Should be fun. Can you believe that it will be my very last area though?? How the time flies...

We at least got to end the stay here in a great way, with a baptism of an awesome man named Carlos Arbildo. He is from the jungle of Peru, and is staying in Trujillo to study. His sister was murdered just 2 weeks ago, and then a week after that his favorite aunt died as well. Through it all, he has been strong with his commitment to be baptized. Elder Massey did the ordinance on Saturday, and I confirmed him on Sunday. I will surely miss him. There are a few other people that I will be leaving behind that will be baptized this month, so the change is certainly bittersweet.

I had a bunch of pictures to send, but we went to a really ghetto internet cafe today, so I can't really do it. I will send them all next week though.

Happy travels
Trace

We're Packed In

Hello all! (side note: if any on the sending list don't want to receive my weekly email, feel free to tell me. I won't be offended. Frankly, I would be quite annoyed if some missionary sent me their letter every week and I didn't even want to read it in the first place)

Anyway, it has been a great week here, especially with all the blessings from the Lord that we are seeing. We had 15, that's right, FIFTEEN investigators go to church with us yesterday, and 5 of those are committed to be baptized this month. I'm not sure if the Lord is just really pleased with us, or if we're just finally starting to figure out how to be good missionaries, but everything is going right. I just hope against hope that I don't get changed out this coming Sunday. This change was short due to President and Hermana Turk leaving, so I might get the outs 2 weeks early. I'm hoping for a miracle though. Who knows, I might stay after all! I am still definitely taking advantage of all the fast food here though, just in case.

Explanation of the pictures:

1. Me with the KFC bucket...actually I guess that is pretty self-explanatory.

2. My shoelace just snapped in half the other day. I guess I really am getting old.

CONGRATS TO TAYLOR AND CHRISTY!!!!!! I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Love you all!
T