Mission Week 55, Arequipa Mission Office

Well This Easter weekend has been amazing! We have had 25 Lessons in just five days and thats insane because we only have three hours to teach daily and we have had so many things to do outside of the office... It has been insanely busy! At times I feel like the world is just spinning and spinning so i just spin with it. This could be my last change in the office... I have no idea what I want to do before I leave. I just want to keep working... We have a Baptism today! Her name is Begy! She is super determine and super converted. She is one of the people who showed up to church and said Baptize me! I am going to give a small talk on baptism. This week is Elder Holguins last week in the office. Elder Acosta is going to be the new personal secretary. I will know if I am going or staying in a few weeks. I hope President drops another hint so I can know whether I will be staying or going. Who knows what will happen. One thing that the mission has taught me is to trust god with my life. I do not know what the future holds but I am not afraid either. I am ready to do what the lord needs me to do. "It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves" -William Shakespeare

 

When we have confidence in god and believe that he will guide us that is faith. Martin Luther King Jr. compared life to a staircase and faith is taking the first step even though we cannot see the full staircase. I know that this staircase is going up because it is not easy. It will never be easy. We will continue our journey doing our best to fallow the footsteps of Christ and even when we fall he will be there to help us back up. I know these things are true and I love them. They bring peace to my soul.

 

Love you mom!

Mission Week 54, Arequipa Peru Mission Office

We have another baptism this week. Begy came back from Camaná and said that she wanted to get baptized as soon as possible. She had basically disappeared off the face of the earth but she came back and had read the book of Mormon and could not wait to get baptized.

We have tons of investigators and they are all of different ages. Young people are faster to change however older people are almost always more converted and dedicated. Its amazing to see how the ward makes such a difference.

The other day we had an amazing time talking to Elder Montoya. He is part of the area presidency. He was very focused on the greatest commandment and the second greatest commandment. He told us that having love for god is the most important but loving our neighbor like yourself is the second. He talked a lot about serving our companions and that the mission is like the college of life. He said that the mission is Marriage Preparation 505 in college terms. He was an extremely happy person and you could feel the charity that he feels for everyone he meets when he talked. It was amazing He told us you share you testimony with the people of Arequipa because you love them. and then he burned all of us and he said how many of you share your testimony with your companion on a daily basis. Then he made everyone share their testimonies.

 

Missionary work is in the ward. like that one email i sent to you we must be ready to find prep and invite. It is NOT a missionaries work to knock on doors all day. Our president has made it very clear that he does not want us knocking doors for more than an hour. He says that we must always have the spirit with us and knocking doors is the equivalent of going duck hunting blindfolded. The most effective way to have a real conversion with an investigator is through the members!

 

 

Mission Week 53, Arequipa Mission Office

Today is definitely a gift! I have been learning so much it has been an amazing experience. I have had amazing experiences teaching this week! I cannot believe it! This week All the office missionaries (The Four secretaries and the assistants) Have been looking forward to a baptism filled weekend! Today there will be three baptisms in the Umacollo ward building. Hermana Alicia has been a part of a Mormon family since birth but when she was about the age to become baptized her family stopped attending church and she forgot all about it. She grew up and when she became overburdened with difficulties she asked her mom for help. Her mom asked her if she remembered the primary and the primary songs of the church that they went to a long time ago, Alicia did not. She then invited her daughter to come back to church as her mother had done. Her mom lives in Spain. Alicia has progressed a lot even though it has not been easy with the problems she has been having however she has found a great strength in Christ. She says it has to be true because I always leave the lessons we have smiling and I just cannot stop smiling.

It is going to be a good P-day.

Love Shaw

Mission Week 52, Arequipa Mission Office

I have been getting a lot better at doing my job in the office and I have a lot more confidence in myself. Yesterday and this morning we went on divisions with the zone leaders. Everything is going really well! I was able to learn a lot of things from Elder Malloy. He is from a converted family. His Mom has been a member but her grandparents were the first members in her family and his dad is a convert. He is the first ever missionary in his family. We have a lot of similarities. Neither of us have a TON of doctrinal knowledge which is considered to be the most important thing by most Latinos, but we both have super strong testimonies. I do not know where it says this exactly but I do know that it says it somewhere that we can be given the gift of simple belief. We do not need to know everything, every fact, every detail, every doctrine, but we can be given just as strong if not stronger testimony through the confirmation of god. We both are more spiritual teachers. I have spent my whole mission with Latino Companions who are master teachers in terms of basic doctrine. I Love them!! They all have so much more knowledge than I do they all have more profound doctrine than I do and they all know the scriptures and wield them like a sword in lessons! I have never been able to keep up with them in terms of Teaching Lots of deep doctrine in lessons but he helped me to understand that we do not need deep doctrine for recent converts. It was as if a HUGE weight that had been weighing me down for my entire mission just flew out of my hands. I knew in that moment that I was not failing in the lords eyes. I felt a lot better about the lessons that I had been teaching and my own progress. Being with very doctrinal companions has helped me to become a better doctrinal teacher and to use the scriptures more. I have learned so much from all of them and if I keep having doctrinal companions its because I need to learn more. I know that I am suppose to be here and I can testify of the truthfulness of the gospel and the fulfilling feeling we receive through studies of the book of Mormon, Prayer, and Church Assistance.

 

Love Elder Tanner