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