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!!!!!!

Monday April 30, 2012

Hola Familia!!!!!
 
how are you all doing!!?? I am just hunky dory like always and i hope you
are all doing well too. like we already knew transfers came today and Elder
Calle is going to Huaral. eventhough it wasnt always smooth sailing we had
some good times, and i will miss him. but on the bright side my prayers
were answered because my new companion is someone i already know. his name
is Elder Morel From Argentina. so once again a new companion from a new
country. i am now only missing Paraquay, Uruguay, and Chile and i will have
had a companion from every country. at least once i get the opportunity to
travel the world i will have a house in every south american country.
 
i have already had the chance to work with elder morel once before and he
is a hard worker. i am very excited to have him as my companion. as you
were talking about time flying dad i was thinking the same thing. i have 9
months left we are in single digets. that means that i probably have 2
other companions apart from Elder Morel and maybe one more area. ahhhhhh
where has my mission gone?!?!
 
yes we had to change appartments and the lord really blessed us in that
aspect of the week. we recieved a call from the assistants monday night and
they told us that before the week was done we needed to have a new
appartment. well as i am sure you can guess. appartments dont exactly grow
on trees here. we started looking and by tuesday we had a member family
offer us their house . . . let me repeat that. . . . their HOUSE. we were
looking for a small run down appartment and in the end we finished with a
house. thus the pictures. the family is very young but very willing to
sacrifice for us. they are going to put on a second floor on where we are
living right now and there they will live. but i was amazed at how willing
they were to pick up their family and move once the lord called.
 
the internet is actually working this week and i was able to attach
pictures. i thought you would like the raiders jacket dad.
 
well fam it is off to say goodbye and pack some bags. remember that i love
you and i am still working as hard as i can.
 
Elder Landon R. Welch

Monday April 23, 2012

Hola Familia!!!!!! well it was another week just like the last. we were able to have a baptism this week but unfortunately the internet is very slow today so i wont be able to send you the pictures but i am sure you can imagine that it was very beautiful, and without problems this week. Thalia Layli Pua Chilo is one of the newest members of the church and the best part is she wont be the last. this week in our zone every companionship had a baptism and some had 2 or 3 which is almost unheard of lately in our mission. and for that we all received a personal call from president dorius congratulating us but mostly telling us not to fall into the ever growing hole, where you baptize and then 4 weeks pass by until we baptize again. and unfortunately it is true. but we have a very promising investigator named Esther who has accepted to be baptized on the 5 of may. 

we had a interesting experience saturday night. we live with members but i guess you could say that they arnt the best members that you can find. and this last thursday their daughter had a birthday. well saturday they finally had their party. we tried to explain to the Hermana that in opening her house to the missionaries brought some responsibilities and that if they were going to have a party that they should do it in another place. she basically gave us the it is my house and i do what i want speech and thus it was. well it gets to be 11:30 saturday night and the music is still going full force and we here someone calling and ordering more beer so we know that it isnt going to end anytime soon. and as the smell of cigarettes drift to the second floor i begin to loose my patience. we call the Zone leaders and they tell us to go and sleep at the pension but of course they were already asleep so we called the ZLs again and they told us that we should do anything but stay in that house. so we packed our overnight bags and we went to the beach. we got to have a overnighter on the beach. we were woken my seaguls pecking at the garbage and we went home. we got home about 7 ish and the party was still going. we got ready and went to church. needless to say this week we will be looking for a new room. so keep that in your prayers because a good room here in ventanilla is hard to come by but i would rather sleep with cockroaches that with booze and music. 

  well fam it is off to the beach!!!! and i will stay away from the water. but will try and find a place to take some pictures. i love you all and remember i am working as hard as i can. Elder Landon R. Welch

Monday April 16, 2012

Hola Familia!!!! well the dear sweet Lucia Molina Mamàni was baptised on saturday and it was perfect except for the fact that she swallowed some water and sacred me half to death. she is a 60 year old lady and she went down in the water and came back up and didnt do anything. she stood there eyes glazed over mouth closed and all i was thinking was "dont die dont die" but it passed and a huge smile came on her face and i helped her out of the font. but the best part was her testimony. as she bore her testimony she wasnt the 60 year old lady who had trouble walking. she was a strong firm powerful messanger from god. this next saturday we have another baptism and all i have to say is if all converts could be like Lucia the church here in peru would be alot better off. this last week i was talking to one of the zone leaders and he was comenting on how much false doctrine was taught here. i payed more atention this week and it is true. i had never really seen it before but atleast once in every talk or class that was given yesterday there was a part that wasnt true. another thing i miss about the church in the states is that everything is done in order. yesterday our sacrament consisted of 3 talks and a musical number. well we got to the musical number and had 5 minutes left in the meeting. in the states the speaker would shorten their talk and focus on the most important parts. . . . but not here. the last speaker spoke for 25 minutes and the worst part was that he spoke but didnt really say anything, if you get what i mean. but eventhough it has a few falts the church is still true here in peru. and everyday i am amazed by some act of pure christlike love. this week we had interviews with president dorius and he said to tell you thanks for the chocolates, but also said that he had already called you and thanked you. that is kinda cool that my president makes personal calls to my parents. but with a good interview came some bad news. he basically told both elder calle and i that this would be our last transfer together. elder calle has 5 transfers in the same area so i guess it is only fair that another part of the mission can experience his smile and sometimes crazy attitude. but president telling me that comes with a hidden blessing. we can start praying now that my new companion will be a good one who likes to work. we didnt find any dead bodies in the caves, at least not human. we found a few bats and a dog but that is about it. well fam it is off to see the wizard. . . or someother activity because we have nothing planed for today, maybe a nice nap, ha who am i kidding in this humidity i wouldnt be sleeping i would be swimming :) i love you all and always remember i am working as hard as i can Elder Landon R. Welch p.s. i hate to keep asking but mom my garment are ready to pass through the vail, if you could and are willing slip a few garments in with my shoes. :) love ya

Monday April 9, 2010

Hola Familia!!!!

i am glad you have had a eventful week because i have too but unforutnatly
it hasnt been the happiest week of my mission. General conference a amazing
sorce of encouragement for me this week and every moment of free time i
have had in my room i have buried my head in a "Liahona" looking for a
little insight. i love how you all said how blessed we are to be americans
and this week i also gained a new testimony of that also. this saturday we
were supposed to have a baptism of a young lady named cristina who we have
been teaching. . . well yesteday she broke us some bad news. she explained
that in her excitement in the last few weeks for her baptism she told her
religion teacher from her school that she was going to be baptised. well as
i am sure you can quess her teacher want to pleased and so this last
thursday she told cristina that this year in school they are going to do
their confermation in the catholic church and that if she didnt do it she
would fail the class.

to me that seem completely wrong. forcing someone to forsake what they
believe just to keep their grade. how can some people in the world be so
blind. i am so glad that in the states we can worship how who or what we
want but that definatly isnt the case here in peru. i wanted to say "to
heck with that stupid teacher" but it just isnt that easy. like you mom i
have always found great relif in music so i put on some good old Mo tab
yesterday and then to cap it all off, the young man who lives in our same
house (also Member) started to bad mouth the most beatiful music that
exists in this world. i about lost it but i thought to myself. "let him
think what he wants that is his problem. but i know what the songs and the
savior teach and i should follow. so i left it at that. as angry as i was i
just left. more proof that i have changed a ton because a year ago it would
have ended differently.

but enough mopy dopy, how about a happy story. also this saturday a little
old lady named Lucia is going to be baptised and just to see her excitement
is a awesome testimony builder. she is a very very humble lady. she has a
two room house she gave one room to her son and his wife and she moved into
the other room where she sleeps with her chickens, and ducks. but dispite
her very humble cercumstances she always greets us with a huge smile, and
with kind loving words. half of the things she says as we are there is pure
"Thank yous" i have never seen her angry or stressed because she really
does have faith. we see many people today that say they have faith but then
comes the trial and their faith is the first thing they give up. but not
Lucia. she has really taught me that faith goes so much farther than just
believeing in something or someone, but letting these belifs drive you to
be a better person day after day. the only time i have ever seen her upset
was one time we took her to "Mecado" to have lunch, and as we bowed our
heads to bless our meal, people watching us started to laugh. she stood
and and with all the strength she has in her 60+ year old body said, "why
do you laugh at someone giving thanks to the person who gave YOU
everything. why not come and pray with us rather than laugh and mock us."
she is so so so much more than a baptism, she is a convert. it is my prayer
that one day soon i will have the faith that she has. she calles us her
"Angelitos" (little angels) but i feel it is the other way around. i have
learned so much from this sweet lady. and i know that she will touch many
more lives.

well fam it is off to the beach to explore some caves. i will take some
pics to send you next week.

I love you all and remember i am working as hard as a possible can.

p.s. i got my shirts :) wooo hooo no more pink shirts :)

p.s.s. i also forgot to tell you .last week but after conference on
saturday i bought lunch for my companion and i with the card. i just hope i
didnt tell you too late. chao!!

Monday April 2, 2012

Hola Familia!!!!

i agree with you 1000% percent mom this conference was amazing. we had
investigators in almost every session and with out fail they heard a talk
that stuck their heart strings. we have a father who we have been teaching
for almost a month and in the last lessons with him we had been seeing a
decline in his interest in listening to us. he said he was happy with his
life and even though it wasnt a perfect life he had time to change. well
guess what talk he heard . . . . the home run talk by Elder Holland his
closing words gave me chills and i can only imagine what it did for Miguel
(The father) "dont delay it is getting late." miguel told us after the
session that he was ready to change now and that he wanted to be the
example his family needed.

we have a young man that is less active in the church who we have been
trying to excite him to come back and ultimatly serve a mission. and even
though his isnt a investigator it was awesome to see his life changed by
president thomas s. monson in the priesthood session as he said "DUTY IS
JOY"

and last but not least the sunday morning session Stephany Flores had a
talk just for her. she is the girl i mentioned in the last email. who didnt
what to pray but in the end did. YES she did pray and YES she now believes
in the Book of Mormon but NO she still doesnt want to believe that there is
life after death. even though this life seem so point less if we arent
fighting for some kind of eternal end she still wont believe it. well once
again Presedent Monson stuck the nail on the head. he spoke of the Plan of
Salvation from begining to end and then invited us all to pray, he then
invited us to "come back, come up, come in, come home, come unto me" and
lets just say i feel and my companion also feel the same that she soon will
be "home"

well fam sorry for only a few paragraphs but i dont have time for much else
this week but i will be better next week. but just know i love you and i am
working as hard as i can

Elder Landon R. Welch

Monday March 26, 2012

Hola Familia!!!

How are you all doing? This week was a little disappointing in some ways
but with every grand disappointment comes 10 miracles. Speaking of miracles
we have a hermano in our ward who taught us something interesting this
week. He asked us “of all the miracles that exist today, which one is the
greatest?” I responded birth, my companion responded revelation, which are
good answers but the hermano had the best answer and I think I have to
agree with him the greatest miracle of today is, “the ability to change
someones life.” So this e mail is dedicated to the people who have helped
me change lives and of course the people who changed my own life.

I have know some really great people during my mission. And they really
have changed my life. But in the last transfer I have come to know the
great people of Ventanilla. My pensionista and his family have really taken
good care of me and my companion and I have to say that so far it is the
only pension that hasn’t made me sick.

The lady who owns the house where we live is another. She has cancer and is
a good fighter. She really doesn’t give up and the best part is she always
has a huge smile on her face as she greets us as we finish another long day.

And the YSA of this ward are awesome. There are 6 young men In our ward
prepareing for missions and all I can say is they will be some great
missionaries. They like to fool around a little bit but name one 19 year
old kid who doesn’t like to fool around.

Speaking of preparing for a mission how could I forget my own mission prep.
Thanks to brother nielson I really did grow to not only want to serve a
mission but I needed to serve a mission. My great parents who were always
behind me even in the worst times of my life. My brothers and sisters who
in their varied personalities helped me in their own special way. My
friends who have gone before gave me the example to follow. And of course
my best friend megan, who despite what the world thinks never held me back
from serving a mission but only pushed me forward. I wouldn’t be here if it
weren’t for all of you.

But I have said all that before how about for some new news. Speaking of
mission prep we had a great activity with the young men of the ward. First
of all it is important to know that we have a huge number of young men in
our ward. We have about 120 members in our ward and probably 25 of them are
young men between the ages of 12 to 20. We held a activity similar to that
of mission meals that we did when I was in mutual. But we did a mission
day. They started the day off at 6:30 in the morning with a breakfast and
then went straight to studies. They learned the 4 lessons that we teach
before baptism in about 3 hours. Did some practicing and then went out in
to the streets to put their knowledge to the test. In our ward we never
really got the chance to be in a real situation we taught our lessons to
people who already knew the truth but it was something amazing to see these
young men break out of their comfort shell and “HELP CHANGE LIVES.”

This last week was transfers and I think I already mentioned that Elder
Calle and I are together one transfer more but I cant say the same for the
rest of the zone. In every companionship except ours and one other had some
sort of change. In all my time in the mission I have never seen so many
changes. In the last multi zone conference president spoke of how he was
worried for the success of the mission and that there were many changes
coming, but I don’t think anyone took him literally. It will be interesting
to see how this transfer plays out.

And I think I have time for one story more but it is quite the story. We
have been teaching a young woman for about a month now and it seemed as if
we have been going in circles. We would teach her something like the
restoration and she would have her doubts about the book of mormon and tell
her the only way she could know the truth is by praying. The next time we
taught her she would tell us she didn’t pray because she didn’t think her
prayer would be answered. so we would help her understand that there is a
way we need to pray if we want a answer, with faith, a contrite heart, and
with real intent. But in the end she wouldn’t do it because she wasn’t sure
if she wanted to know the answer. So we would teach her something and get
her excited again tell her to pray and the cycle would start all over
again. Well we had a interesting lesson with her this week and I have
little more hope for the future.

We had planned on teaching her once more on prayer and if she still didn’t
want to do it we would have to move on to someone who did. We started off.
. . and she explained that she had felt something but that she didn’t think
it could be her answer. With that we shared the first few lines of Alma 10:
6, “nevertheless, I did harden my heart, for I was called many times and I
would not hear; therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not
know;” that struck the bell we were looking for. She then realized that she
HAD been called many times but her lack of real intent had kept her from
“hearing.” She once again promised she would pray but I feel like she
really will this time. I hope and pray she really will this time.

I had stoped praying that heavenly father would give her the answer she was
waiting for, because both my companion and I felt that she had already
received it. I had started to pray that heavenly father would touch her
heart and make her know. I feel that thanks to our prayers and the spirit
during this lesson we were able to be the instruments god used to touch her
heart. She has now started down the path to “CHANGE HER LIFE”

Well fam it is off to Futbol!! Finally it has almost been 5 weeks since I
have touched a futbol. But as always I hope you know I love you all and I
am working as hard as I can.

Elder Landon R. Welch
p.s. i got the first package of contacts but i never did get the second. i
am sure it is coming and will be here soon.