Red Moon + Missionaries = A whole lot of questions.

My new companion`s name is Elder Herrera. He is a single child and love to draw. We are super different in almost everything, but what I`ve learned in the mission is that God knows exactly who will help me reach my full potential, developing the correct attributes of Chirst slowly learning what He needs me to learn at this time. Elder Herrera has 1 year and 1/2 in the mission. He`s been everywhere in the mission. From literally the coldest hightest mountains of the mission, to the jungle. Our mission has every kind of climate possible, and I`ve stayed in pretty much normal climate the whole time. 

We`ve been visiting The Quispe Family and The Silva Family this week. Both families have been inactive for quite some time, and both families have been coming to church every week. They are both so humble and have a strong love for their families. Leonidus Quispe, the dad said that he had a strong thought come to his mind one night that he needed to return to the church. He woke up at 3am and prayed to His Father in Heaven. The next week, him, his wife, and four children came to church. The Silva Family had problems with other members in the branch, and for years didn`t come. Thanks to our loving Branch President and other members who came to visit the family with us, they felt the spirit, and have decided that they are not turning back. Cristian Quispe, who`s 11 years old, will be getting baptized with his 8 year old brother Alex in a few weeks. We have been praying a lot for Elvis. We all prayed as a zone that he could find new friends. Turns out that this week he had a fight with his friend, and ended up stop hanging out with the group. He wants to come to Seminary to find new friends. We are praying that he too can be prepared to be baptized the same day as Cristian and Alex. 

As I`m sure you all already know, the moon turned red yesterday. Red moon+missionaries= A whole lot of questions from random people in the street about the end of the world. One man came up to us with his video camera asking what our point of view was on the event.... Oh, and I drank the most delicious drink the other day! The Quispe Family made a hot drink with ground up peanuts fresh from the peanut farm? I don`t know how to translate Spanish to English, but it was super good! They heat up the peanut, taking off the hard shell, ground up the peanuts, melt them in the water with cinamon and sugar. You should try it out! 

I love you MOM and love how patient you and the family, ward, and everyone have been so patient with me all these years. Have a great week!!

Elder Jeffery 

Los Beatles Go To Church

welcome to Calca

Welcome to Calca

Eduardo`s Baptism

So, we had planned the baptism to be at three, so we sent out the invitation for 2;45 so that everyone would be on time. I think I gain a testimony this week of how badly satan DOESNT want people to get baptized. Eduardo`s aunt has cancer and got really sick these last few days. Eduardo`s mom was also in problems and Eduardo ended up getting to the chapel at 3;45. He wanted to wait for his mom to get there, and so we waited and at about 4;20 we started. It was going to rain also, but we prayed and it didn`t rain. I was full of a whole lot of stress with them not showing up, and with all of the baptismal preparations. I couldn`t concentrate and asked my companion for a blessing. Just a few hours before, my companion and I decided to sing a hymn for Eduardo in the program. I know that the song we sang was inspired. As we sang the beautiful words, I started to feel the spirit, and it calmed me before I entered the pool with Eduardo. 

SOOO, the news is sad, but true and very surprising! Elder Aguilar is leaving me!! He`s going to Huliacka!! It`s cold there, and in the branch he`s going to is, I believe, the smallest branch in the mission. For example, my friend was there, and was first councilor of the Branch President. So, i know he`ll learn a whole lot there and will do AMAZING. I am staying here in Calca, making it my fifth change here. This change I will have the same time I had in Cusco when I left. So, I have literally stayed in the Cusco region for my whole mission! I`m excited to get to know my new companion and learn so much from him. We can all learn something from those around us. EVERYONE has something to offer, and if we are humble we ALL have something to learn. 

I love you MOM and am glad to know that we are sealed in the temple as a family. Love you family and friends and hope you have  great week! 

Elder Jeffery

Eduardo`s Baptism

"I love the mission!!"

Edwardo is SO excited for his baptism, and so am I!! Thank you all for your many prayers, I know prayer works! Elvis has taken a hard turn, but we will have patience with him. It´s a huge change in friends, habits and beliefs when you join the church, so we´ll just keep helping him make those changes and set a different date for him. I will be there for his baptism. And, those shoes are from Equador from a friend in the mission, but my black shoes also are super small on me.... I have grown!! Wow, it´s crazy to think how many missionaries just from our neighborhood are out serving in the mission field. It makes me happy!!

This week we have been focusing on two less-active famies that haven´t come to church in a few years. The Quispe Family is one of them. They randomly showed up at church with their five kids. It was the first time I had seen them. The members all gave them hugs and welcomed them. We have been teaching them this week, and they came to church again this week. They are such a humble family. The other family is the Silva Family. They haven´t come to church in about two years because of a misunderstanding between them and another familiy in the branch. We came and visited them with the branch president and a few other members. They at first did NOT want to come to church at all. But, with the invitations of the members, their hearts were softened and they came to church this Sunday! It just shows how important and powerful of an influence the members of the church have with the love and attitude they show towards those that need a friend.

Today we came to Cusco to visit Mamicha and her family. I love them so much, and remember all of the great times I had here in Cusco. It seems like forever ago!! I don´t have much else to say but that I love serving the Lord. With obedience come the miracles. I love my MOM and my FAMILY! Have a great week! I love the mission!!

Elder Jeffery

"With the gospel I´ve found that it´s the same life, just more to live for."

It´s been a great week and honestly, I DONT want to leave Calca!! I love it here and have grown so close to the members and those who aren´t members yet! I know it´s God´s will, but if I only have two more weeks in Calca then I´m going to make these last two weeks COUNT! 

We are so excited for Edwardo and his baptism. He is so sensitive the the spirit, and has so quickly been about to trust the quiet voice of the Holy Ghost. He wasn´t going to be able to attend church because he studies english classes in Cusco Saturdays and Sundays. But, his mom told him to go to Cusco to try to find English classes Monday to Friday and so that it´s worth traveling every day, to find an acadamy where he can study and live in an apartment coming home weekends to come to church. So, he went to Cusco and found and English class, but he couldn´t find a single acadamy with that schedule, so he decided he just wouldn´t be able to attend. He got sad and was walking down the street when he felt like he should take a few steps back. He retraced his steps and looked over to see a police acadamy. He entered and turns out it has the perfect schedule. So, he´s SUPER excited for his baptism. He walked all over Calca with us all day visiting everyone. He told me about the military school he was in when he was in High School. He told me that it was the best thing that had happened to him, but then stopped, pausing for a second and said, ¨wait no, it´s the second best thing that has happened to me!¨ I asked him what was the first. He said ¨Getting to know the church of Jesus Christ!¨ 

I love you MOM and am thankful for the gospel in my life. With the gospel I´ve found that it´s the same life, just more to live for. Have a great week family and friends!! 

Elder Jeffery

Pisaq

Heart Touching

 There are a million things that happened this week, and I do`t even know where to start honestly! Last Monday, our investigator, Edwardo was pondering about the book of mormon, and after honestly seeing many miracles that are happening in his life, and the testimonies he`s seen, still had doubts in his heart that this church is true. So, he opened the book of mormon and read 3 nephi 2:1. That did it for him, and decided to believe the Book of Mormon is true. When we had the next lesson with him, we challenged him to be baptized the 19th of September, and he said that he was going to say no, but in his head something started yelling, Si! Si! Si! so, he accepted! This week more than anything, my testimony of the Book of Mormon has increased. We have been visiting a man and his family for a while now, and were impressed to simply read with them from the begining the book of mormon. His name is Miguel Mamani, and his wife, Rosalina, son Jon, and daughter Melisa, all went to church this Sunday!! Woah, it was so Beautiful to see them there, and they have already made many friends with members. They have recently, 3 months ago, moved here to Calca, so they are excited to make friends. Yesterday, we had a heart touching experience. We were going up to some ruins with a member of the ward, along with four other Elders. She works up on the mountain above the ruins where there`s an elementry school of children who don`t have parents, or who have very little money. It`s amazing, and heart breaking. There`s a  12 year old girl at the school who cooks, and works in the field, feeding the animals for her two younger brothers. We ate breakfast with them, and played some games. We ended up staying there for a few hours doing a service project moving timber up the hill, and all grew to love these children. They said, ¨Come back for Christmas please!!!¨ They all speak Quechua, and most speak Spanish fluently. I`ll send a pic. The sad part of this week was that we had to change pensions. Sister Lady has been honestly such a blessing and such a great help to us as missionaries! But, we had to change pensions because we can`t pension with a young woman in the house hold, and we felt impressioned to accept the invitation that Sister Ana gave us to  pension in her house.  I am so thankful for the Gospel. It`s sad to see return missionaries here in Peru and surely in all parts of the world that return to their houses and become inactive. If we keep the Book of Mormon in our daily lives, and continue make an effort to live the precept that it teaches, our path to salvation will stay straight and narrow. I testify that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and like Joseph Smith, know that a man can grow closer to our savior Jesus Christ by living by it, than any other book. I love this church and love my family. I know WHY i`m on earth and WHERE I want to go thanks to the fullnes of the gopel that has been restored on this earth. LOVE YOU MOM 

Elder Jeffery

Puñui Manta Kashanki