Monday October 29, 2012

Hola Familia!!

We are all set and ready to go. Lilian Diaz received her birth certificate and later today she is going to the town hall to present her papers and then it will be just a matter of waiting until her wedding day. to be honest i think i am more excited than they are. yesterday i went to sayan with the Bishop from our ward in Huaura and the made fast friends with Javier so that will me a huge help for him in the rough times to come.

but with good news always comes some bad news. i am pretty sure that this will be my last transfer with my companion. president dorius has asked us to start looking for rooms and pensions for the new companionship that will be coming to Huaura. . . . that usually meens that i will be with one elder and my companion will be put with the other. that is a bullet to the heart i was hoping that Elder Villalba would be my last companion but it seems that the lord has other plans for him. he has been the companion that has put up with me for the longest time. all of my other companions only lasted 2 transfers but he has suffered almost 3. he is a good guy. ..... he also wants me to tell you hi, and let you know he is taking good care of me.

since i was a boy Sundays have always been the most relaxed day of the week but now it is the most stressful. i have sacrament meetings at 9, 11, and 3 that i have to attend. i have ward counsel at 12.30 and leader training in Huaura at 6. and every once in a while the stake president will invite me to bishopric training that usually starts around 730. my Sundays are from one side of my area to the other and back again. but . . . . . to be honest i love it . i have waited my whole mission for a experience like this and i am not going to miss a second of it. yesterday we organized the Relief society in Centinela and they went right to work. planning activities and visiting teachers, i had to excuse myself to go to the other meeting but come to find out they stayed there for another 3 hours after i had left. when we got home the phone was ringing off the hook. the sweet president was calling to approve their ideas so that they could go to work. it has been a miracle to see how the spirit has worked in them these last few months. 

i currently teach mission prep and i have a average of 17 young men and women in attendance. and the coolest part is that i baptized more than half of them. these brothers and sisters really have been prepared by angels for us. and i am so glad i got to be part.

the fruit goes through its seasons like all other place in the world but no matter what time of year it is you can always find something good to eat. there is one that i particularly like. it is called Pacay. it looks like a huge pea pod. but the only difference is that when you open it up it looks like cotton candy inside. it is beyond sweet. sometimes we walk from Sayan to andahuasi. along the way their is cane sugar that you can cut and peal. we chew on the center sucking out all the sugary juice and spit out the core. it is honestly a heaven on earth. and the strawberries . . . . . i have already told you about them but i cant help it they are so big and so juicy that i cant resist. but unfortunately they are going out of season. but we always find one or two that were overlooked. 

well fam my companion and i are going to go to the beach today. and we are just going to chill. nothing dangerous just peace and quiet. i love you and remember i am working as hard as i can.

Elder Landon R. Welch

p.s. i always try sending pictures but the connection is always slow. i will keep trying.

p.s.s. i am sending a letter home today one is for trevor and the other i would appreciate it if you could pass it one to the Jones family so that they can get it to Kyle.

Monday October 22, 2012

Hola Familia!!!

Well it wasnt a extraordinary week it was a normal week. i wish i had some great story to tell or miracle to share but i honestly cant remember one from this week. wednesday we had interviews with president Dorius. i asked him about my extensions and i think that for the first time in 3 months he gave me a direct answer. he explained that the missionary department are not extending missions right now so it was in vain to keep asking. . . . i dont want my mission to end just yet. but i guess i knew that was the deal even before i started. that is why Brother nielson always told us "make your mission longer" we all recieve the same 2 years but by our accions we make them longer or shorter. but i still have a lot of time left so now is not the time to stop just because i see the finish line.

it seems like every week my poor companion and i recieve new responsabilities. as of yesterday we were teaching: mission prep, temple prep, and semanary 3 times a week. i was group president of 2 soon to be three groups but now has been organized into a Branch and a group. our branch has 38 acctive members but none have the melchezidek priesthood yet so we are still the priesthood authority. and now to top it all off. yesterday we were both called as the elders quorem advisers of the Huaura Ward. i am having a hard time finding time to preach. it seems that every other hour we have to do something in one of our responsablities. but president was kind enough to hear our pleas and is planning on sending another companionship here. we will soon be 6 elders here in huaura but i am hoping that means i will be able to focus more on Sayan. 

No no matrimony yet. it was posponed for the 10th of november. it is the key stone in our group in Sayan too. if they are married and baptised we will be able to open another group!!!! i was thinking a little this week and i realized that the Wyoming cousins all have to travel a great distance to go to church and then i realized that the difference is that no one here owns their own car. i am so greatful to be part of a church of orden. that way when the people cant come to church the church comes to them.

this last week in Sayan we helped a different religion build their church. as we worked my companion talked with the Founder and i talked with the pastor. it was a interesting conversation to say the least. i had a hard time staying focused as he said Hallelua!!!! or Amen!!! to everything i said but in the end i left him with a book of mormon. and tried to imagine him preaching his sermons using scriptures from the book of mormon. it was awesome i also put the President uchtdorf test to the test and imagined him in white standing in the sayan river with my companion. it was a even better image.

well fam it is off to futbol and obviously some fruit. i honestly dont know what i am going to do when i get home without all this fresh fruit that you can literaly pick off trees while you are walking. i love you fam and dad the only thing i want you to communicate to the ward for me is . . . . . . I AM WORKING AS HARD AS I CAN

Elder Landon R. Welch

Monday October 15, 2012

Hola Familia!!!!

i am so so happy to be a missionary. we had a interesting week there was alot of travel for us we went to lima twice and so that cut out a good chunk of our week but we were still able to accomplish some great things. our wedding is all in order we are just missing a birth certificate for the Hemana Liliana so keep that small detail in your prayers because that is the only thing that will stop us from opening another group in sayan. we now have 2 groups opened and the third on the way. Centinela is still growing like a weed and have now reached out to the surrounding villages like 3 de mayo. our newest group is in Santa rosa and it is a awesome faith builder. as i have been comenting to president these last few weeks we are going to try and combine these two groups into a branch!!! it is so cool to see how the work is progressing. i am sorry i havent been keeping you up to date on baptisms and i dont want to sound prideful when i say that there has just been too many. we are rounding the corner on 50 people baptised in the last 3 months and that number keeps growing.

Sayan is a small piece of heaven on earth too and if this sweet family can be baptised that meens that it will be another powerful group in zion. this week i was talking to president by phone and i expressed our goal is to have Sayan be a branch too by the time i finish my mission he asked me "do you really think you can do it" i just asked him in response "do you have faith" he just laughed.

but with our vision and goals growing has also brought some bad news i have waited a week to tell you because i wanted it to be a bad dream. . . . my extension has been withdrawn. president dorius said that he didnt feel comfortable saying to some that it was ok to extend and then having to reject others. so we are back on schedule for february. that made the number my companion yells every week seem so much more real. yesterday he yelled 24 which means 18 weeks for me. i am scared. 

today was transfer day but obviously we are staying the same. and for that i am greatful. it is always dificult to find the rythem with a new companion especially after a awesome companionship like the one i have now. 

well fam it is off to . . . . once again no idea what we are going to do today. i am going to send a letter home for the bishop. once again i dont know his address so i am sending it to the house so if you could pass it on to him i would be very greatful. i love you all so so much and remember that i am working as hard as i can

Elder Landon R. Welch

Monday October 8, 2012

Hola Familia!!!

Well another week come and gone. my good old companion always likes to remind me that my weeks are coming to a end. at the end of our planning session every sunday he always says a number and i dont even have to ask him any more what it means i know he is counting his weeks. it is kinda interesting how this companionship worked out. we both almost have the same amount of time but man am i grateful to my loving god for this companion. He also wants me to tell you "hi" from his part and to let you know that he is taking good care of me.

WOW what a conference. it was unfortunate but this was the first conference in my mission that i was unable to listen to all of the sessions. we were able to make it to the priesthood session and the sunday morning too but the others it was almost impossible. friday we went to lima so we almost lost that entire day and we had to go to Sayan saturday but of the sessions i heard i loved this conference. i received a ton of insight for my own life and for the lives of my investigators too. i especially loved the talk from Elder Holland (like always) and it made me think of my old life and the life i have now . . . "I WILL NEVER LOOK BACK!!" i left a ton of nets and for as much as i want to i will never pick them up again.

i liked the talk from President Uchtdorf in the Priesthood session and obviously it made me think of Grant. i promise you that what he said is true nothing in this world compares to having a knowledge of the true gospel.

we are a few short weeks from opening a group in Sayan. the miracle family that we found by way of tupperware are going to be married the 27th of october on "Huacho Beach" and we are waiting for the go ahead to baptize them right then and their. it is interesting how god works. in a short month we found this family who had all the desires in the world to be baptized but had not been married yet. and obviously like most people they are very humble and dont have the means necessary to buy a wedding. but in this short month god has once again inspired the minds of men and organized this wedding that will literally cost them nothing. god really does work in mysterious ways but with a definite purpose. Keep the Diaz family in your prayers because if we can open a group in Sayan it will be a fountain of baptisms. they will change the name Sayan to Zion. :)

Well fam it is off once again. i am not sure what we are going to do today but i hope it is something relaxing. i love you all and always remember I am working as hard as i can.

Elder Landon R. Welch

p.s. kiss those kids for me.

p.s.s. i send i letter home this week hope you get it.

p.s.s.s. i used my card to purchase some body supplies.

p.s.s.s.s. love ya

Monday October 1, 2012

Hola Familia!!!!!

what a week. . . it was a disappointing week here in Huaura but a awesome week in Sayan. this last Saturday we, along with the entire world fasted. my companion and i always fast every satruday in order to have a increase in attendance on sunday. . . . but the sad part is that it never worked. so yesterday i was done. i told god that i was going to TEST him and i promised that it would be my last fast if we didnt have investigators in church. we went to houses Sunday to put in our part we got to church and . . . .goose egg. there was no one there. i took that as my answer. i was kinda fed up and the worst part is that i was so fed up i didnt see the miracles that occurred in front of my face until i was finishing up the day by writing in my journal. and i want to share them with you.

1- in the middle of our second hour Edith cabanilla showed up with her sister who is member. we had never taught her  before. but as we began to talk you could see the desire she has to change her life. . . but i didnt see it because my eyes were blinded by stubbornness.

2- toward the end of our block of meetings we were standing by the door when two humbly dressed men walk in my first thought was . . . they want money . . . but as they began to share their  experience you could hear the hurt they felt and the powerful statement "i want to turn my life over to god because he gave me another chance" was proof of it. Hermano Crispin said many powerful wonderful things but i didnt hear them because my ears were deafened by rage.

3- we found Isabel Aya had returned from out of town. she was a baptism that got away from elder carlos and i. but even though we had lost contact she had been strengthening her testimony all along you could feel the spirit strongly as she accepted a new baptismal date with more desire than ever but i didnt sense it because my senses were cut off by numbness.

4- it was a miracle in itself that we found Elida Leon. she was in the street calling her mom when we crossed paths. she is the mother of a family we have been teaching. she informed us that it was Jeffersons birthday (her son who is 14 years old now) and invited us over to share. it was a warming sensation as we sang happy birthday to him and as he cut the cake. it felt something like home and even more so as Elida and Lionel expressed their gratitude to us and even naming us members of the family but i couldnt feel it because my heart was sealed by betrayal.

in short family god does answer our prayers but not in the way we want them to be answered i wanted something completely different than he did and thanks to this little experience i now understand a little better the phrase "not my will but thine be done."  I am so grateful for a patient god and a loving family. 

well fam it is off to cut my hair and then . . . . maybe a nap who knows :) i love you all and remember i am working as hard as i can

Elder Landon R. Welch

p.s. the fotos are all from sayan that is a tree i am standing in front of and it is the biggest tree i have ever seen. the old guy is our mission leader and he is a goof but his stories will have to wait a few months. 

 

 

p.s.s. please will you send me another pair of pants i bought one pair here in peru but it isnt the same as the good ole USA. the last size you sent me now fits me perfect i believe it was a 34 i would check but it might be kind uncomfortable for the other people here in our crowded internet :D love ya