THEY´RE MARRIED!!!

Bueno, this week started off with us eating with a member named Diana because our pension is in Cusco for the week. Sister Diana gave us a reference of a friend of her´s since third grade. We went to visit her with Sister Diana. Her name is Caren and lives with her husband and son. She´s a doctor. She pretty much told us that she´s a Catholic by tradition and that she wants to come to Christ, and asked us to help her. OK, talk about prepared! Also, the other miracle is that THEY´RE MARRIED!!! It´s perfect! We are excited to start teaching them. This week has been great and a lot has happened but I don´t have a lot of time to write everything. This week I tried to testify more of Jesus Chirst. I ended up using his name or talking about the atonement in every topic or lesson that we taught. He is the center of our message and I know that through him we can be saved. He sacrificed his whole body, flesh and blood, for me. I can sacrifice two years, one day of the week, ten percent of my income, and much more for Him. I know that when I partake of the sacrament, I have time to think of that sacrifice He atoned for me, and I know that I have a lifetime to try to show Him how thankful I am for that sacrifice. I love my FAMILY and MOM and FRIENDS! 

Elder Jeffery 

Elder Holand's Interview

This week has been full of traveling, meetings, and conferences. My companion and I flew to Cusco on Thursday, and stayed until Saturday night. In Cusco, we had a few meetings. The WHOLE mission came to Cusco. Our mission is pretty spread out, and it`s the first time that we`ve had the whole mission come together. All of the missionaries got to Cusco on Saturday morning to be at the special conference we would be having with Elder Holland. It was honestly an amazing experience. Elder Holland shook each one of our hands, and looked us in the eyes. After, he explained that he`d had an interview with each one by looking us in the eyes. He taught us about obedience and the value that the mission has. He explained how much the mission meant to him, and how much it should mean to us. It was honestly an amazing experience. 

We had a lesson with our investigator, Manuel. We`d been talking with him about marriage and baptism the last lesson, and when we started the lesson this week, he asked us, ``So, what you`ve explained to me is that I sinned by forming my family?´´ He`s not married with his wife, who`s a member. He looked at my companion with a stern face, almost a mad face, and afterwards my companion said that he was frightened by him haha. I looked at Manuel and told him that it was a sin to form a family outside of the bonds of marriage. He looked at me, and said, ´´ok´´ We went on to bear our testimonies. He went on to say that he wants to feel that these things are true like we do, but he still doesn`t know that the Church was restored. So, we read 2 nephi 31 with him right there. We then said to him that he now had the opportunity to feel what we feel. We then invited him to kneel down with us and ask Heavenly Father if the Book of Mormon was the word of God. He said that we were very persistant and that he would do it. We kneeled down, and he gave the most honest prayer. He asked that he could know that the Church and the Book of Mormon were true. I felt the spirit, and as we left their home I could feel a wonderful peace as we walked to dinner. I proclaimed to my companion how thankful  I am to have this in my life. It`s been a good week, and although we were struck with sickness and tiredness from the trips and meetings, I can tell you that the priesthood has been a blessing this week and helped me and my companion be able to overcome and continue to help souls to come to Christ. 

I love you MOM and DAD and SISTERS and FAMILY and FRIENDS. I hope you have a great week!! 

Elder Jeffery 

Cusco Trip

Most Complicated Baptism Ever!!

Well, Samuel and Jannely are in the hospital right now and are waiting for their son to come into the world!! When they didn`t show up to church we were worried, and the found out that they were in their parent`s house getting ready for the baby! I`m so excited for them!! I was thinking what we could do for them to help them keep preparing for the temple. I remembered the jar we have in our dining room that we try to fill up so that we can go to Disneyland, but never have filled all the way. Elder Salazar and I decided to make one out of a plastic bucket. We gave it to them with a picture of the temple in Lima pasted on there. They are excited and have already set a date with the Branch President in December this year to be sealed as a family. 

This week we had the most complicated baptism ever!! We went to Treicy and Rocio`s house the day before the baptism to see if they were home. There was no sign of life, so we decided to pass by in the morning on Saturday because she didn`t answer her phone. Saturday morning, the Branch President called and said that we had to change the time of the baptism because there was a branch activity at four, so we had to change the baptism to 2 o clock. We to a mototaxi to Rocio`s house and found them there, telling them about the change of time. We then went to fill up the bapismal font. To our surprise.... there was no water. We called every district leader in Puerto Maldonado and every companionship, and found out that there was no water in all of Puerto! So, we tried to find a solution because the baptism would be starting in 2 hours. We went to eat lunch, and came back. When we came back, the water spout had been left open and water was finally coming out, but the water was very very dirty. You couldn`t even see the bottom!! The baptism would be starting in a few minutes, so we drained the font and filled it up again. We the second time it was cleaner, but still a yellow-ish color. So, we started the service and it turned out to be beautiful. We could feel the spirit in the baptismal service. 

This week is going to be a once in a life time opportunity. We will be having the privilage to have a conference with Elder Holland in Cusco. The whole mission will be traveling to Cusco for this amazing experience. 

LOVE YOU MOM and I`m glad to be a missionary. I am weak, but know that I can help people come unto Christ if I trust in God. Love you FAMILY AND FRIENDS. Have a great week!!

Nilda Uman Is Going On A Mission

I was filled with joy when I opened my email and saw that a certain family wrote me this week!! This is the email I received from the Uman Family this week:

hola como esta elder jeffery tambien le extrañamos un monton  nos sentimos tan felices al ver los mensajes .decirle q fuimos al templo como familia y contarle q la hermana uman servira en la mision SANTIAGO CHILE OESTE son muchas bendiciones q recibimos de nuestro Padre Celestial  nilda tendra q presentarse en el CCM de Chile el 30 de marzo . Le deseamos muchos exitos mas en la mision q usted esta sirviendo con mucho cariño la familia uman le queremos mucho.

Nilda Uman is going on a mission to Santiago Chile West mission!! Isn`t that SO GREAT!!! I am SO excited for her and their family! They live now in Quillabamba and are doing just great! I am over excited for them and the great decision that she has taken to serve a mission. 

This week, Samuel who recently got baptized (oh by the way I still need to send his pictures) blessed the sacrament. He has been inviting EVERY one to the restored gospel. At work, his family and even in the street. He`s eager to help others know the truth. We have been working with a less active member, Rocio and her daughter Treicy. Rocio has been coming to church every week with Treicy. Treicy will be baptized this week on Saturday! We are now focusing on Liz. Liz is doubting again if the church is true. We asked how she was doing reading the book of mormon. The truth is that she`s only read it a few times. So we put a goal with her to read every day. We are honestly doing everything we can so that she can read. It`s very important that she reads and prayes of the truth of the Book of Mormon. We will pass by every day that we can and if not call every day. 

The other day I had a cool experience that I`d like to share. We were teaching a less-active member that we eat luch with sometimes that is a great guy, but has many bad influences. He was talking about his life and his friends and when he got baptized. I was listening to what he was saying, and out of no where I felt to ask him if he had plans to move. He never had talked about that and I surprized myself as I said it, but I asked him and he said yes. He was thinking about it but hadn`t made a decision. A few days later his friend returned home from his mission, had a discussion with him and the both along with another return missionary decided to move together to Cusco to work and study. I hope that this decision he made will help him grow and his two friends can be good examples to him. 

I am SO thankful for this time I have to serve. It`s not very long at all, but it`s the time that the Lord has given me to prepare for my life and I want to be the best I can in this life. I love my family and I love you MOM! 

Elder Jeffery

Machete To Cut Grass

Mom asked "are you drinking enough water if yes where does it come from?"

To answer your question, we do drink water here. There`s a buisness that sells water that we always call and they bring jugs of water to the room. We`ve called so many times that we just have to say that we`re the Elders and they know where to go. This week has been great. I haven`t seen the sun hardly at all, and it rains every day. On Sunday, it rained almost all day. We hadn`t brought rain coats so we were stuck waiting the rain to calm down in between appointments. Since we were always trapped in the people`s homes, they gave us food. On Sunday I ate two lunches and two dinners. I was so full! Today we decided to have a zone activity. We decided to have a water balloon fight and play a few water games. I rained harder than ever today. Since the rain is refreshing and warm it was still way fun. I`ll a picture. This week I learned how to cut the lawn with a machete. I am now very thankful for my lawn-mower at home. Even the had pushed lawn-mower is easier than using a machete to cut grass. But, it was a good learning experience and made me think how much we take these things for granted. 

In the mission we have been focusing a lot on searching for less-actives to help them and their non-member friends to come unto Christ. We were knocking on a door of a reference we`d received after having our lesson fall through, and no one seemed to answer. We got a little discouraged for not finding anyone home, but a little girl walked over to us and we started talking with her. We asked her if we could share a message about Jesus Christ with her family. She brought us to her house where we found her brother and mother their. They without even asking us who we were grabbed chairs and told us to sit down. We sat down and started talking with the family. The mother turned out to be one of the thousands of less actives here in Puerto Maldonado. She had stopped coming to church for about 20 years and had been assisting another church. We also went to find a teenager that`s been less active for a few years we knocked on the door and his older brother opened up the door. We talked with him for a bit at the door step and he said that he was busy, but that he would come to church that Sunday. We`d heard that one a million times and left him a card with our number and address of the church. On Sunday we walked into the chapel and there he was waiting for us to show up. He stayed for the classes also and is willing to keep learning more. It`s been a good week and we`re excited for Treicy who is the daughter of a less-active member who has been assisting church for a while. Treicy is getting baptized on the 13th of this month! Well, that`s all for this week. I love serving the Lord. I feel secure when I serve the Lord. When we keep the commandments, we feel secure and safe. I know it`s true and am very grateful to know where I`m going and why I`m truely here on Earth. I love my MOM and FAMILY!! Have a great week!!

Elder Jeffery