Monday August 6, 2012

Hola familia!!!

well it was another week full work 24 / 6.5 (for p day :) ) we had a amazing week eventhough challenges with my companion have once agian started we havent let that stop us from having the best week this area has seen in a long time. the lord has really put in alot of work in this area while there was some relaxed missionaries here to care for it. they didnt know how to take advantage of the opportunities that the lord presented to them so we are now enjoying double the blessings. i applied the good old President Dorius advice again and we went to new areas and man did we find some awesome people. it is a little pueble called centanela and in our first week there we have had a ton of success. it is a little ways out from our area right by the beach front, but that fact alone causes us some problems the biggest of which is church attendance. it is too far to walk (unless you are a missionary in that case you always walk) and too expencive for them to pay for a moto. i told president about it when he called to congradulate us for the work we have done in 2 short weeks and he told me that tomorrow he will be here for a confrence and he will stop by to see what we can do about opening a little group out there, with yours truely as the president. hmmm things could get interesting very fast. 

our first day in centanela was a miracle in itself. we entered town with no idea where to start. so i say to my companion lets just start tracting. he asked where and i answered that isnt important because there were people ready to recieve the gospel here, we just had to find them. the first door we knocked we entered the house. we taught about joseph smith and the Book of Mormon and she accepted a baptismal date. this wednesday we decided to dedicate all our time there and she promised to invite her neighbors and family to be present in the lesson at 4. . . . well it is time to get started..

i love you fam and i thank you for your prayers because i know without them i would be nothing. your prayers are the power in my feet and the wind at my back. take good care of yourselves this week. i hope to have many more stories for you next week i love you and always remember, i am working as hard as i can.

Elder Landon R. Welch

Monday July 30, 2012

Hola familia!!!!

 

well i did what i said i was going to do. i came in my area with a open heart and mind ready to work and do good for the saints here in Huaura but my nightmare soon came to be truth every rummor i had heard is true. but that isnt going to stop me or slow me down. but i know understand why president dorius has put me in my other areas . . . it was to prepare me for this one. in lampa de oro we had no members to work with. in Trapiche we had no leadership to work with. in Santo Domingo we had to organize in order to better use our resources and time because the area was so big and spread out. and in ventanilla i started at point 0 in the sence of investigators . . . . well my new area is all of these combined. my area is about the size of south weber . . . and i mean all of south weber from riverdale to highway 89 (i remember the streets!!!!) and once again we are at point 0. as i was leaving to take my bus president dorius threw me a challange . . . "i hope for a perfect month" or in other words 5 baptisms and 5 confirmaciones. i took it to heart and i promised myself i would do everything i know how to in order to fulfill my promise. but only now am i realizing just how hard it is going to be. but i am not discouraged. i am not tired. and I AM NOT GOING TO QUIT.

 

Elder Carlos is just like i knew him, in missionary terms TRUNKY (incredably relaxed.) he has been here for about 3 months and his last companion was in is last transfer before going home. but as we finished our first day Elder Carlos told me that he was a follower and not a leader. that he was glad he finally had a companion who would push him. i just hope he sticks with that mentality because i plan to push and streatch to the very limit of my strength. we have started to wake up at 5:30 not 6:30 thus advancing our day by one hour in order to have that little extra time that we so desperatly need right now.

 

but the worst part about my area is . . . we are in the boonies. every 4 days or so a huge water truck passes to fill our water tank that we have on top of our house because curently they are repairing the water lines well if we shower everyday like we should by the third day we dont have water. thus we end up doing a shower fast for a day. and obviously if we dont have running water we dont have a water heater so it is freezing water but it is the only other choice.

 

so all in all fam this is the test at the end of the year that we all loved so much while in school. i hated filling in those little dots. this is where i have come to die (once again missionary language). i liked what you said in your email mom about how this could be my BEST. but you wrote BEAST haha but i am excited.l

 

remember that i love you all and i am always working as hard as i can!!!!

 

Elder Landon R. Welch

Monday July 23, 2012

Hola Familia!!!!

 

well we knew it was coming and it came and with it brought a head ache. . . i am basically starting all over again. i am going to the Zona HUACHO, Area HUAURA 2 and as they announced it the first comment that was made was that it is easier to use sticks and stones than the ward leaders in missionary work, the second comment was that we would have to take turns bringing the keys to church sudays because the bishop hardly goes to church. . . i am trying not to hear all of the comments with both my ears open one so that it can enter and the other so that it can exit but i have to say i am kinda worried. they did tell me that the pension there is one of the best in our mission so atleast there is a sunny side.

 

i will be working with Elder Carlos, i was in the same zone as him in Santa Isabel so i know who he is atleast. he is about 5 foot nothing and like Elder Calle he is from Trujillo. Elder Carlos is . . . or at least was very very relaxed the last time i saw him i just hope and pray that we dont smash heads too hard. i guess only time will tell how my future will go. Huacho is about 3 hours in bus from the offices and then to my area is another 45 minutes as i found that out i commented to president dorius that he is sending me to a area so he can forget about me for the next 7 months and i wont be suprised if it is true. it is crazy to think that this might be my last area. but be it my last i am going to turn up the power.

 

yesterday we had a lesson with Familia Taboada and it was one of the hardest lessons i have ever been in. the spirit was so so so strong. we talked about how they have progressed in the last 2 months or so and how they have gone to "hiding from us" to having a wedding date closly followed by a baptism date. they promised to send me pictures but i am still kinda sad that i wont be able to experience it with them.

 

saturday we had a activity with the young men and women of the ward. we organized them like a mission and sent them out to their areas. they tracted for about 2 hours straight. we went back to the church and talked about our experiences. we had a small testimony meeting and it was one of the most beautiful moments i have had on my mission. it is going to be hard to leave this area especially after all that has changed but like you said dad, i cant look back just forward. i know that even though my new area might be dead i know now with out a doubt that god has power to change even the hardest hearts.

 

i love you all and always remember i am working as hard as i can.

 

Elder Landon R. Welch.

 

p.s. the pictures this week are from last P day, we celebrated all the birthdays in our zone with good old fasioned hot dogs and potato chips, a small slice of something i miss.

 

and of my companion. i have riden him hard these last few months i hope he doesnt hate me for it but i know that one day he will be greatful that we didnt waste one second.

 

and last week it is true i didnt tell you about the pictures. . . it was my farewell dinner with the stake president and his family and the Taboada Family

Monday July 16, 2012

Hola familia!!!!

 

well one week more one week less. it kinda sucks when you know that your transfer is coming because you honestly loose a little bit of your desires. i used to dread transfers because they gave you so little time to say goodbye to people, who in such a short time, have come to know and love . . .  but now it makes sense.

 

i am glad that the trek went well, that you were able to feel the spirit this week because despite of my trials i too felt the spirit this week. i prayed every night and morning that you were enjoying the trek and that you weren't too tired to get up the next day and start over again. and i know now that my prayers were answered.

 

i am still having a few troubles with my companion. but we are trying to just go with the flow our last week together and i hope to put the good old boy scout saying to use. "leave it better than when you found it." and i realized that is how it should be with our lives in general. i look at the people i have known in my mission and i ask. . . was i a influence for good in their lives? did i help them grow closer to Christ? and unfortunately the answer hasn't always been yes. i think back to the first of my mission, inexperienced, immature, uncaring and i wish i could go back to Lampa de Oro and try again. there were so many people there who were ready to hear the gospel but we didn't really take the time to help them out. they closed the area and i have no idea what those people are doing with their lives now. i just hope that in some way they remember the simple testimony of a 19 year old kid who almost couldn't bare it with the language difference.

 

but i now see the progress i have made as a missionary and as a person and i hope and pray that my new area will be just as full of spiritually prepared people as there are here. i have said it before but i will say it a thousand times i am so glad to be a missionary. i can honestly say that the stories of these people never repeat. their lives are always different and their needs will always differ. but one thing never EVER changes and that is the solution. . . the gospel. i invite all my family and friends, be you week in the gospel or week in the knees, to put this challenge to the test. I KNOW THAT THIS GOSPEL IS THE THING THAT WE ARE SOMETIMES MISSING IN OUR LIVES!!! i think about the general conference talk this last April. about being active in the church, and less active in the gospel. . . are we willing to follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before. . . those who gave their lives before denying the only pure and true thing that exists in this world . . . those who suffered to follow a prophet thousands of miles to reach Zion. . . or him that suffered, bled, and died in order to save us of the one thing that holds us back in life, ourselves. if you don't believe or are unwilling to follow i promise you that your life is incomplete. i can promise you that the pleasures of this life have no meaning in the eternities and that the happiness that only god can offer is within your reach you just have to be willing to extend your hand and take his.

 

i love you all i miss you all but remember i am always working as hard as i can.

 

Elder Landon R. Welch

Monday July 9, 2012

Hola familia!!!! well one week more one week less. i am glad we are doing better with the bishop but i feel he might be abusing our help a little bit in ward counsel this week he announced that if we didnt do something fast the first week of september we would be dropped from ward to branch, my first thought was "good, maybe it will teach you a lesson on procrastination" but i quickly ate my words as the bishop handed us the ward directory and asked us to verify the directions of over 500 members of the ward. well it would be rather easy if it was in the great city of South Weber where everything is in a line but here they give you a block a house number and send you out to find it. i live in a city called mi peru where we have done most of our work in the last 6 months but a part from mi peru there is probably 15 pueblos that we need to find and visit in order to fulfill the bishops assignment. but i just think of nefi . . . i will go and do and not rebel. and thus we are doing and will do. sunday we did spilts and visited all the members in mi peru but now comes the fun part walking and walking. it makes me laugh that as i am walking from pueblo to pueblo you too are walking and walking. i am just glad i dont have to do it with a hand cart. i had another interview with president amongst other things he thanked me for the work with the ward and gave me that good old i told you so smile that he does. but he also gave me some bad news. . . that my job was done and that these last two weeks will be my last here in ventanilla. i am very sad because i wont be able to see olga baptized or the taboada family married but i know that i have done what the lord has required of me in this area and needs me in another part. president called me a sower in our interview when i left santo domingo i left it with 12 baptismal dates. and as i entered ventanilla the ward hadnt had a baptism between october and february, and now leaving i have 7 converts that we found and taught and am leaving the area with 5 baptism dates and 2 families ready to wed. . . i am glad president recognizes that i sew but i kind o wish he would let me reap once in a while. but i guess every missionary has his function. all i have to say to the next missionary that gets here is . . . your welcome and dont screw this up. president also said last 6 months and every time he did it was like taking the knife out of my gut and stabbing me again. he talked about my plans and if i would need to come to the offices to apply for classes or jobs and i think he liked my answer "render therefore unto caesar the things which are casear´s; and unto god the things that are god´s," (matthew 22:21) i told him that i just wanted to spend my last 6 months in the field working and that there would be time for all that when i am done. but until then know that i love you all and i am working as hard as i can Elder Landon R. Welch p.s. i am sending a letter to bishop workman today but i dont have his address so if you would be so kind to forward it on to him when it arrives home i would appreciate it. LOVE YA

Monday July 2, 2012

Hola Familia!!! man how i miss my country. not a day goes by that i dont realize something else about the land of the free and the home of the brave that i love and miss so much. but dont get me wrong i love the land of the lama too. we had a good week. and the bishop was true to his word and is still becoming more my friend day by day. we went with him to visit some of the remote areas of the ward like i was explaining last week and the weirdest thing happened i got blisters on the bottom of my foot that has never happened to me before and i am guessing it is because i have relatively new shoes but who knows. but now i am suffering every time i step with my left foot my cut stretches and man is it painful especially walking in pure sand. i have started to have some troubles with my companion that is the only bad part of this week. i think his batteries have kinda died. i find myself doing most of our responsibilities alone. but i figure give him a little time to find his excitement and get back to work. but i did tell him that we wont waste a day and he was alright with that. the families we found last week . . . ALL of them came to church on sunday, with exception of one hermana with her 4 sons. and now i can say with assurity that we had more investigators in church than members as we started the sacrament meeting and like your testimony meeting ours was equally powerful. but not in the same sense. it was hard for me to feel the spirit as we heard one sister explaining how she cant say she loves the ward because that would be a lie. man i miss the church i knew as a child. i never remember such animosity of hatred in our ward i just dont understand what is the great difference. but it was a kind reminder from the lord telling me to keep working. we are currently working with a Family and i have alot of hope for them. they are the parents of jamil taboada (who we baptised a few weeks ago) he opened the gates and the water is now flooding in. yesterday Paul (the dad) came to church and said that during sacrament he prayed and really felt something. that was such good news because he has really been the tripping stone for the family but now that he has his answer he know what he needs to do. Tempora (the Mom) had a daughter still born and that has affected he alot but yesterday we watched the movie "on the way home" and talked about forever families and that was the home run that sealed the game. they arnt married but now have a date set to be married, it is a thursday and they described their reasoning something like this "thursday so that friday we can be interviewed and saturday baptised." it is amazing to see the power of the spirit in the conversion of these people. well fam it is off to fruit, but no futbol today because of my poor blistered feet but always remember that i love you and i am working as hard as i can Elder Landon R. Welch p.s. i am going to send a letter today addressed to bro and sis bench and the next week one to bishop workman so advise them that it is coming and to be on the look out. but in order to send it i need paper money so i am going to buy my monthly shampoo and soap with my card so i can use the money for the letters. love ya!!

Monday June 25, 2012

Hola Familia!!!!!! wow what a stressful week. we hit it hard this week because both my companion and i were getting kinda fed up with the wishy washy success that we were having. (not only with investigators but with the ward in general). tuesday we had a multi zone conference in the offices which means 2 hours in a bus to get there and 2 hours to get home, it pretty much killed our entire day but man was it worth it. i have been commenting to president dorius these last few weeks of the trials we are having in our ward. well after the conference he invited me into his office to "chat." well he basically started right in to it and asked me to explain to him everything that was going on. i talked and talked i was probably talking for about 10 minutes with tears of frustration running down my cheeks. as i finished he said. Elder Welch i only have 2 questions for you. 1. do you have faith? and 2. you have been in this area for 6 months do you know why? i was kinda confused with his questions because they didnt really have anything to do with one another but i answered. yes i do have faith and no i dont know why. . . . . . "because i to have faith. i have faith in you and in the lord and i know that if you work with him you can make your area better. thats why i havent transferred you because you still have work to do." . . . . his answer made me cry even harder. it made me feel better and gave me new strengths and desires to work with the ward. as i was leaving his office i asked him one last question. "we are having problems finding people to teach do you have any advice?" he smiled and said trust in the lord and look where you have never looked before. that is what we did we went to work and to be honest i havent explored my area as much as i should. we found little villages hidden in the hills of my area that i never knew existed. and as we found these places we found people to teach. as we found people to teach we started small but started to use the ward leaders to help in their progress. . . .but like always every time we tried to get close to the bishop he would cut us off. well friday we were in the chapel and we saw a list of people on the bulletin board of people in the ward who needed visits. well we took the entire list and saturday we spent the entire day looking for and visiting these people and families. we filled out the forms for every single one of them and as we did we fasted that the bishop would soften his heart and see that we just want to help and be helped in the work that has no end. as i crawled into my house after about 10 hours straight in the street i couldnt help but feel proud of my companion and i. we really were able to be tools for the lord that day. the smiles and laughs that we experienced with these people the stories and testimonies that they shared with me will never ever EVER leave me. and as we handed our newley written forms to the bishop the surprise on his face was priceless. and as we left we said "if there is anything else you need from us bishop, just let us know." . . . . he greeted us at the door sunday morning, he thanked us for the work we had done. HE ASKED US FOR A MEETING SO THAT WE COULD TALK ABOUT THE WARD. and as we left that meeting he gave us a hug and asked for forgiveness for the last few months. i couldnt stop the tears from entering my eyes. . . . . tomorrow he is going to go to work with us in order to meet some of our investigators and this sunday for the first time we are going to have ward counsel which he asked us to be present. this week my ward went from completely dead to one of the best wards i have ever been in. we have come a long way from wanting to leave dog poo in front of his chair to actually working as a team. i really care for my bishop now and i feel he feels the same. well fam it is off to . . . . bed maybe. we dont have anything planned today but who knows what the zone leaders have in store for us. but be it sleep or be it soccer at 6 pm i will be dressed and ready to start a new week and always remember that i love you all and i am working as hard as i can Elder Landon R. Welch

Monday June 18, 2012

Hola Familia!!!!!
 
well it was a great week for us. we had two baptisms so that will always
make for a good week. Jamil Alexander Taboada Taboada and Stefany Gimena
Santiago Giron were baptized on saturday. and yesterday to top off our
week. we taught the parents of jamil and chalanged them to baptism. they
both felt the spirit very strong in the baptism and confirmation of jamil
and for that fact alone i thought for sure they would say yes. . . . but
they didnt at least not directly. they said that they would like to but
that they have yet to arive at that point to change their lives completely.
they will soon follow in the foot steps of their son and also those of
christ and be baptised as well i know it i feel it every time i teach them.
and poor little Gimena i was the one to baptize her and as we entered the
freezing water she began to cry. i am so glad i was baptized in warm water
because i can only imagine poor little 8 year old Landon doing the same
thing. she cried but i convinced her to be strong and she was. she came out
of the water and hugged me and said i dont feel cold anymore i feel all
warm. . . . wow what a testimony builder.
 
Hermana Olga is still as stubborn as usual she is a amazing lady but she
just doesnt want to let her catholic traditions go. but i know that with
time she will come around to it. she KNOWS that it is true but she just
doesnt want to accept it. she has a very hard time understanding what she
reads in the book of mormon. as we all know the book of mormon speaks a
different type of language and it is very hard for her to understand do you
have any ideas for my companion and i? we have tried videos but she doesnt
understand them either. we have read with her and have sent sisters to read
with her too but she just cant do it. we have gotten to the point that we
have even thought about buying one of those picture books that you use in
primary. the ones i used to listen to as a kid. where for every story there
are 10 pictures but we dont want to make her feel dumb either. help us out
any idea is a good idea at this point.
 
this last week was transfers and speak of the devil Elder Petersen came to
my zone. he surprised me today as i walked into internet. he is still
awesome as ever and even more powerful than before you can see it. but i
havent had the opportunity to talk to him yet but i will fill you in next
week on how his is doing. as for Elder Calle he emails me every week and
tells me the same thing . . . that he is freezing. he is a little higher
than we are and he said that one morning they woke up with ice cristals on
their windows. he was amazed but i just thought that sounds like spring in
utah. but yes it is possible in peru, where a few months ago i was
complaining about the heat to now be talking about ice. havent seen any ice
here in ventanilla and i dont think i will but still kinda crazy.
 
in our new house we have a room that we arent using so the family that owns
the house is storing their things there as they finish the second floor.
well this week we needed a shovel to go and do service and the shovel was
in the room. well as always in peru we had a little earthquake a few days
ago and it wedged the door shut. well not knowing that we tried to open the
door but broke the doorknob. so me the grand genius that i am decide to
climb up and crawl through the small window at the top of the door in order
to have better angle on opening the door. so i brought my chair and i
climbed and as i entered the other side of that door i realized that i had
no chair to climb back. . . . and the door didnt open. we took the doorknob
completely off and thus the photo and i was stuck for about 30 minutes as
we pried and broke our way through the problem at hand. . . . lesson
learned when their is a earthquake open the doors and when a door is shut
better to just leave it like that until someone who knows what they are
doing arrives to help.
 
well fam it is misting outside but we are going to play futbol and i am
sure i will end up buying some fruit. but remember that i love you and i am
working as hard as i can
 
Elder Landon R. Welch
 
p.s. yes i got my other shoe :) thanks

Monday June 11, 2012

Hola Familia!!!!! hey how is it going up there!?!? down south it is just hunky dory like always. we had a great week it was transfer week but i am going to be her in Ventanilla at least for 6 weeks more with Elder Morel Chevillet. that means that i will be here for 6 months, the longest time i have been in a area has be 4 and an half but i have officially broken my record. when i got here i was a week away from 1 year and now as i finish this change i will be 18 months . . . man time flies. this weeks experience still brings tears to my eyes to think of how terrible this world is becoming. we were out tracting one day and we found a young man named carlos, we started talking and the first thing i noticed was that he was very closed it almost seemed like he wanted nothing to do with us. but we insisted a little and got to the conclusion that he doesn't believe in god. he isnt the first person to tell me that but he said it with such force that it caught me off guard. i was speechless, all i could say was WHY? he said it was because there was no proof of a god. i just stared at him once again speechless and then i looked around us i pointed at the trees at the sun and even at the dirt and couldn't believe that he would really say that there is no proof of a god. well we moved on . . . we then went to a less active family that we have recently found and we were taking to the mom, Melissa Ushiñayua. and with out saying anything about carlos she started explaining how she knew that there was a god just by seeing the sun rise, or feel the wind. it was interesting to see the difference in these two people. melissa lives happily with her family and carlos is all alone, and thanks to his narrow sightedness he cant even say he is with god. it made me realize that sometime we become used to miracles. everyday that we wake up it is a miracle every time a baby is born it is a miracle. every time we are able to help someone in need . . . they walk away saying thank you father for sending me a miracle. may we never become used to miracles is the great hope i want to share with you this week. this saturday we have two baptisms scheduled. it us sure to be a great week. in answer to your question about the grass. it is partially because their is no water but mostly because it is all sand here. their is no dirt. it is ALL sand. and speaking of no water. we havent had water in our house since friday. the water comes for about 30 minutes a day and during that 30 minutes we are rushing to fill everything we can with water. and the picture i sent you isnt posed. with the lack of water pressure our shower doesnt work so we have been doing sponge baths for the last 3 days. so pray for water this week. these transfers brought some great news. Elder Petersen, my companion from the MTC is coming to Ventanilla!!!! we havent been in the same zone since the MTC it will be cool to see him again maybe they will let us do splits one day. Well fam almost all the zone has changes so i am not sure what we are going to do for p day. maybe a nap. but just remember i love you all and i am working as hard as i can Elder Landon R. Welch
 

Monday June 4, 2012

Hola Familia, how is life? mine is just dandy working like always in the work that never ends. we have some great famlies that are progressing rapidly toward a baptism date the only thing that is stoping them is that they are not married. but we have dates set for them to tie the knot and so that means that soon we will have some great new families in the church and future marriages en the temple. it is interesting how often i see the lords hand in the work here. and this week i started a little pocket book of all the experiences that i see i will try to share one every once in a while. we have recently been teaching a young man named Luis Flores and for the first time his mom let us enter the house to teach. she is ¨pentecostal and she wanted nothing to do with us. so we start in with a prayer and she turns on the tv. we start teaching about prophets and she turns the volume up. but as we started into the apostacy an amazing thing happened. she very slowly started to lower the volume. and by the time we had gotten to the part of Joseph Smith and the first vision. she had the tv turned off and was listening. we finished the lesson and she promised to pray with her son to find out the truth. it was cool to feel the change in the attïtude of Carmen and now to see her progressing. i have some good news!!!!!!!!!!! i got my shoe, but just the one haha the other package has yet to arrive but i am sure that it is close. but thankyou for sending them i was close to proseliting in sandals. well fam it is off to fruit and then to FUTBOL on a natural grass pitch woo hoo it has been 4 months since i have seen grass. but remember that i love you and that i am working as hard as i can Elder Landon R. Welch

Monday May 28, 2012

We got to internet late today and i havent been able to read your emails yet. i will print them out and read them this week and respond to your questions next week. but i couldnt let another week pass by without writing something. this week has still been a struggle for me..... the bishop has pretty much left us without a missionary program for our ward. the few ward missionaries that we had and our mission leader this last week all recieved new callings. and the worst part is . . . . . we didnt do anything to offend him and when we asked him about what was going on he simply responded that the missionary program for this ward isnt one of his priorities. wow . . . . . can you say apostacy. i thought this church was a 3 part church. 1 perfect the saints, 2 redeem the dead, and 3 SPREAD THE GOSPEL!! i guess he didnt read that heavenly counsel given by a prophet of god. but on a brighter side we found more families this week to teach. and we have even started a bible study class that the average attendance in the first 4 classes has been 23 people 16 members and 7 investigators. woo hoo. little by little we are finding ways to advance the work without the help of the leaders. seeing the success we are having makes me think of the promise that father gave to joseph smith. that the work will never be stopped. even though all the powers of hell try to stop it i will just keep on growing. this last week it was the birthday of the HNA lucia and we made her a little suprise. we went to the temple and bought her everything that she would need as a new member of the church and also a cake and took it to her house. she was beyond suprised. she explained that it was the first birthday cake that she had ever had but that our pressence was enough to make her day a happy one. she is still so so so strong and faithful, and continues to amaze me everyday. this last saturday we helped with another building project and it was similar to the first. we helped fill sand bags that the family used as their foundation. the whole time we were filliing and laying bags they kept saying i have faith that my house wont fall. and all i could think of was the parable of the wise man and the foolish man. but we finished it and we blessed it and we left another family very content with their new one room, dirt floor, sticks for walls, plastic for shingles house. but as we knelt in that small humble home for the first time we all could feel something special. i just wish i could keep all these moments fresh and everytime i feel down be able to take a feeling out of my memories and remember how good it felt to help that small humble family. i get so caught up . . . even as a missionary in the things that arnt important in this life and i forget exactly what christ wants me to remember. i guess it is something i will have to work on. well fam it is off to FRUIT and Vollyball (i think) but always remember that i love you and that i am working as hard as i can. Elder Landon R. Welch

Monday May 21, 2012

 

Hola familia!!!!!!
 
how was your week!?!?!?!?! mine was a whole lot better. we were able to
find some amazing people and families this week who seem very promising. we
were also able to help our bishop with a few visits to less active members
and as we gave him our reports i saw the first sign of light in his eyes he
thanked us for our work and i thought the words thank you would burn his
mouth as they came out but he said them and as he said them he gave us
another list of people to visit. . . . . well atleast he trusts us to do
his visits. but often times i find myself asking if it is trust or laziness
that drives him. i know that the bishop is a man called of god, and i
souldnt speak bad of him but sometimes if just bugs me how different the
church is here than in the united states. . . . for example yesterday we
had a visiter come but it wasnt the stake president of patriarch. it wasnt
a general authority or even a area authority it was a dog. yes a dog found
his way into the chaple and i watched in awwww as no one did anything. of
all the rooms it could have gone into it went in to the chaple and as i
pointed it out to the bishop he basically blew me off. and before i said
something i would have regreted i left. well the story doesnt end there.
the classes end and me and my companion stay to clean up. . . . because the
members dont know how to clean up after themselves. and we found a little
gift that the dog left us. but it wasnt little it was huge. and the best
part was it was right in front of the bishops chair. i joked with my
companion on leaving it for the bishop to clean up but we both knew it
would be wrong so we cleaned it and the story ends here.
 
i am sorry i am so negative this week but i just need to get it all off my
chest. we have been working with one lady named Olga i think i have
mentioned her before but she has still to accept a baptismal date. we went
to the temple on tuesday and i put her name on the list but keep her in
your prayers this week and keep praying for our new investigators, pray
that soon they will be progressing toward a date too.
 
i love you all fam and it is off to futbol. but always remember rain or
shine hot or cold bishop or no bishop i am working as hard as i can
 
Elder Landon R. Welch

Monday May 14, 2012

Hola Familia!!!!!
 
well as we wrap up another call i am reminded of how fast time is flying.
and it is kinda scaring me. after you hung up i went looking for my
companion and found him stretched out on the couch in our pension. and as i
walked in he kindly reminded me that i only have one call home left, and
that made me think . . . . i only have one general conference left, and
tomorrow we are going to the temple and i am almost sure it will be my last
visit to the Lima Peru temple, at least during my mission. man where has my
mission gone.
 
i am thankful for the idea you gave mom because i pretty much told you
everything that was happening with me during our conversation but i have
never really been able to tell you about the amazing mothers i have met
here.
 
i will start with my first pensionista, Hermana Margarita Torres. she is a
very strong lady. i remember my first day, my first lunch in peru was a
experience i will never forget. we went up to the 3 rd floor and we opened
the door to the kitchen and there stood Hermana Margarita. at first sight
she is kinda scary, very skinny and years of worry have caused many lines
to cross her face but as we sat at the table i could see the love she had
for us and she gave of that love freely even without knowing us. she never
made me eat anything but i was never willing to see the hurt on her face if
i rejected anything so i ate it all, even her fish juice :).  and this last
22nd of november i was supprised with a personal visit from her and her
amazing family. they brought me a cake and i was able to spend a few
minutes with them once again.
 
and now for a mother who i have recently come to know. her name is Olga
Pizango. she is the mother of Ines Moran, one of my converts. she is a very
strong lady. she has had a very rough life. she was orphened at a very
young age and dispite of that fact she tought herself to read and write and
at the age of 14 was working in a factory making thread, where she met her
future husband. she was married at the age of 16 and had 4 kids the father
of her kids left her and so she practically rased 4 children on her own.
and now that her kids have grown she has taken it upon herself to raise her
niece, and for her young age she is unable to work. we have been teaching
olga for about 2 months and everytime we visit her she tells us of another
trial she has had in her life. but time and again she wont accept a
baptismal date. she always says . . . . "i know i will be baptised, just
not yet." she is more than ready for a baptism but still has a few fears.
keep her in your prayers this week and i am sure she will feel ready.
 
well fam now that we are going to the temple tomorrow we dont have p day
today so it is off to work but just know i love you and i am working as
hard as i can
 
Elder Landon R. Welch

Monday May 7, 2012

 Hola Familia!!!!!

 it was tooth to the grindstone this week as we fought to make our area
 better. my new companion is very very very different than elder Calle.
 Elder Morel Chevillet is from Buenos Aires Argentina and his is a very hard 

worker. so not only were my prayers answered they were passed :) but i am
 very excited for the oportunity to get to know and work with another great
 missionary. eventhough all my companions have been good missionaries they
 all had their rough patches, and different personalities but each one has
 been a blessing and a oportunity for me to grow.

 well lets see what is new this week . . . . we worked alot with less
 active members this week by request from the bishop and we had some great
 success. we were able to see the testimonies of some reignite but also we
 recieved many doors in our faces. we had 4 or 5 people acutally tell us
 that they had left the mormon church because they had found the true church
 . . . and all i could do was sit in aww as they explained how their grand
 conversion came about. many had to do with a shaking priest or a priest who
 yelled and shouted as he cast out demons and sicknesses and all i could
 think of was . . . . how stupid they sounded. and we even had a priests of
 baal experience and it was . . . . . amazing. now obviously fire didnt come
 out of heaven but i can not deny that it was a miracle. it all started in
 one such occasion with the Santiago family. they had a very sick daughter
 and they asked their "miracle worker" from their new church to heal her.
 well he came and was be hind a locked door for over a hour and came out. he
 told the family not to worry. that even though she was still sick that he
 had left spirits there in the room to keep on fighting. well we asked
 permission from the parents to give her a blessing and they allowed us too.
 as we entered they started to close the door but we stoped them and told
 them that christ healed in the open street. we put our hands on her head
 and gave her a blessing. . . . i have seen blessings take their affect in
 many many oportunities but this was the first time that as we took our
 hands off her head she no longer had the stabbing pain in her stomach. her
 parents stood in amazement and we explained that the church today is the
 same church christ organized, with prophets and apostoles, with revelation,
 and with a power to heal the sick. as we left the house the little girl was
 fast asleep and the next time we saw that family was it church on sunday!!!
 awesome.

 i am not sure if it has just been the week or if winter has hit us like a
 rock. it went from scorching heat to freezing cold and the worst part is we
 dont have warm water in our house. but as i am in the shower i always
 remember all the poler bears that i did as a boy scout and say to myself
 this cold water is nothing compared to camp bartlet or camp Kiesel. i hope
 that when i get home my dad will let me go to camp with him once in a while
 :)

 i too have become a roofer dad. saturday we helped a family build their
 new house. and i was amazed as i tryed to compair the USA to Peru, in a
 matter of 2 hours the house had four walls a door and two windows and was
 only missing the roof. and then i look at the USA and i see all the careful
 planning that goes into a well structured house. how you choose the kind of
 wood you want in your kitchen floors and if you want long or short cut
 carpet. shood we put the fire place here or in the main room? 2 or 3
 bathrooms? well sure it is a walk in closet but i think it would be better
 if we knock out this wall and make it bigger. . . . . well i have news for
 you . . . . your walk in closet is the same size as the HOUSE we helped
 build. and as we spread out plastic on the roof i couldnt help a tear
 falling from my eye. . . . WOW we are blessed. and as we let the family
 explore their new home their smiles are the things i will never forget.
 yep we are going to be speaking in a few short days and i believe that we
 will be able to use SKYPE

 well fam i hope you are all well and happy just know that i love you 

AND THAT I AM WORKING AS HARD AS I CAN!!!!!!