Awesome Week!

Dear Family,

We had an AWESOME week this week, not only because we had a baptism of my favorite convert (to this point), but we also are now teaching his whole family (picture enclosed) who are MARRIED and willing to listen. Does it get any better than that?? The young man's name is Kevin, and he also received the priesthood on the same day. We are so excited for him and his progress. He looked awesome in his white shirt and tie.

Other than that, we are just working on finding new investigators. It is a bit hard these days, and winter seems to be making people's hearts a little colder too, but they are still listening well enough. We only have one week left in this change, but I believe that I will be staying here still. Wick!

Hapy birthday to Papa!! 70 years old is a long time...but you're still going strong and you are still the best Grandpa ever! Thanks for all that you have taught me!

Love you all. Hope you enjoy the pics and that you get this on time.
T

Pics aren't working. I will send them next week!

Your Summer...Our Winter

Hey all!

We have had a great week with lots of work and lots of fun. Our top investigator, Kevin, passed his interview to be baptized! We are so excited for him, and he will be baptized on the 14th, so expect some pictures! He is a great young man of 17 years old, and through him, we have met a lot of his friends who are interested in the gospel. It is amazing what a friend can to to help someone find the truth!

It has actually started getting cold here. Our area is right next to the ocean, so the breeze at night is really nice too. I enjoy it a lot. Sometimes I even feel a bit cold! The people here are ridiculous though. Lots of heavy jackets and beanies. It's probably 55 degrees.

Thought you guys might like the pictures of me at my desk and my desk space. They were taken a couple of weeks apart, so it looks a bit different. A couple of people have wanted to see my desk, so enjoy! I guess. Haha.

We are doing great in general. Wish I had more exciting things to tell, but a missionary's day is pretty standard: find, teach, baptize! We are working with the members and making friends. Everything is great.

Love you tons! Hope everyone is enjoying their summer! I'm enjoying my "winter".

Love
T

Just Relaxing On The Beach

Hi Fam!

Well the biggest news of the week, as you can see from my pictures, is that we got to go to the beach today!!! There is a beach right next to my area in fact (I can see it from my room) but this beach that we went to today was called Huanchaco, and it's the most famous one here in Trujillo. The special occasion was the fact that President's family came into visit him (more pictures of course will be on the blog), and he chose our zone to come and play some volleyball and other beach games! It was a blast. It's "winter" here now, so the beach was a lot more cloudy and whatnot, but it was still beautiful. There were some huge waves too, big enough to surf! Hope you like the pics.

We are doing great in Alto Moche otherwise. We are working a lot through our most recent convert, Diego, to teach his friends. He is so excited to be teaching the gospel to them, and it is especially helping strengthen his testimony to hear everything again. We even had 7 investigators in the chapel yesterday, which made us reall happy! Missionaries really aren't pleased unless they are having success haha.

My companion and I get along great. I really love this area and what I am doing. It is quite different than Huarmey, but I feel like it is a lot more fun. I love you guys! Hope everything is going great. Can you believe it's already halfway through 2012?

Love you all
T

P.S. Congrats to Katherine Watts and her new husband on their wedding! I suppose her last name isn't Watts anymore, but I don't know what the new one would be...so there ya go. I wish you the best!

My Life Seems Boring

Dear Family,

Really, my life seems boring compared to the week you guys had! I am so jealous of all the Smuggs fun! To be honest... I miss nature almost more than anything else.  Seeing all the green just made me drool.  Keep sending the pics!

The weather is kinda funny at this point. Some days we are in really cold, dark weather (which I love), and other days it is hot as Texas in July. What's funny is the Peruvians bundle up like crazy when it's like 60 degrees. They have their snow hats and heavy coats on, and refuse to go outside. It's pretty funny. They all look at me like I'm crazy walking around with my short sleeved white shirt on.

Finally finished the Book of Mormon for the first time all the way through in Spanish! I am reading it again now, just marking it in a different way. Who knew that reading the scriptures could be so addicting?

Everything is going great here. Thanks so much for the package! Hope you like the picture. It's me standing in front of a burning field, though it didn't turn out too well. This is about as green as it gets in this part of Peru.

Love you tons!
T

Hello Family!

Feel free to check out the blog, because I AM ON IT! Haha. For like the first time ever I think. I look fat though. And really red. Anyway...

Obviously though, as you can tell from the blogsky, the big news this week is that my comp and I got to proselyte with President Turk! It was amazing. I put a few of the extra DTs in TAylor's letter, but the assistants basically just called us one morning and said, Hey President wants to go out with you guys this afternoon! It was a great experience. We felt the Spirit so strong in all the lessons, and President commended us on our hard work. I wish we could do it every week!

Anyway, everything here is going great. We might have a baptism this week if we are lucky, and we keep finding new people and teaching them. Hope you guys have a ton of fun in VT! I am jealous I am not there, but take lots of pictures please!

My pics: These are in front of a wall in La Campiña, a neighboring area in our zone. Trujillo is actually a brand of beer...but don't worry about that. It is still a great picture.

Love you guys!

T

Changes, Changes, Changes...

Hello Family & Friends!

We have had an awesome week here in Alto Moche! We ended up baptizing the young man that you see in the photo. His name is Diego, and I had the privilege to baptize him. It was actually my first ever baptism in a baptismal font in the mission, which is kinda funny. Everything else has been in rivers and the ocean. Pretty cool. Anyway, Diego is a great guy who will end up being a teacher in the priesthood! You can also see some of the other people in the ward, which is fun.

Changes came! I am staying here in Alto Moche, but I will be getting a new companion. His name is Elder Acuña, and he will be the first companion that is younger than me! I am now senior companion, which is pretty nice I guess. It basically just means that I lead all the activities we do. Should be fun! We are really enjoying working here. The people are nice, the weather is pleasant, and walking in the sand actually isn't tiring anymore!

Thanks to Aunt Charlene for the wonderful scripture markers! I use them all the time! Also thanks so much to the Owen family for the awesome package of all kinds of goodies. I gave the two little race cars to the grandson of our pensionista, and he screamed with joy and never stops playing with them.  I also taught Hermana Maria  how to make black refried beans into tacos, and so I eat that every night.  It is like my little piece of Mexican food!  Thanks again - You guys are so awesome!

Love you tons
Trace

Is It Really Cooling Down?

Family!

We have had an awesome week this week! We have actually found some miracles among the great people in Alto Moche. We will be able to finally see a baptism this coming Sunday of a young man named Diego, who is the younger brother of a less active member. He basically came up to us one day in the middle of a lesson and introduced himself. Two weeks later, and he is ready and happy to be baptized. He even asked if it would be possible to do it before he had even gone to church for the first time! He has a lot of faith.

Hope you guys enjoy the pictures. The picture next to the Michael Jackson graffiti is kinda a Peru Trujillo mission tradition: everyone has taken at least one picture with it. It's basically just a wall on the side of a pizza parlor, kinda like the Hi How Are You frog in Austin on 21st. (That street is called 21st right?)

Things have been going great otherwise. Some days it is cold, and some days it is hot. All of Peru (on the coast at least) stays hot in the day and cold at night. I imagine it is kinda like living in Vegas, Dad. Desert climate.

Other news that you might find interesting...the First Presidency has declared that all worthy young men in the Sudamerica Noroeste area can report to the mission field at age 18! How crazy is that? I don't know if it will spread worldwide, but you guys could soon be seeing 18 year old elders everywhere! I definitely was not ready at 18...crazy stuff.

Thanks to Aunt Charlene for the package! I haven't opened it yet, but I am excited to see it nonetheless. I have her Mormonad posters all over my room and taped onto my stuff. They are very cool.

I miss you guys and love you so much! Keep Peru in your prayers!

Love
Trace