A Letter From The Brothers

Buba,
Guess What? Um Um I got a wiggly tooth!!!!! and I got it on Thursday night. Do you have Banana Spiders in the Jungle. I still have a wiggly  tooth I don’t know when my tooth will come out; I have been waiting a long time for my teeth to fall out. I am excited. I heard Banana Spiders are poisons and if one bites you the first time then they  will complete send you to another mission that has no banana spiders in it. but if a banana spider bites you again you could die. so if you have them then you stay away from the banana spiders You could run from them do not bother them. I Love you and I don’t want you to get bit by a banana spider. 
give me some fin knoggen dude YOLO.
Love Ezra

Hi Ezy
Wow!! That`s so cool and crazy that you have a wiggly tooth!! Well, if we have banana spiders here I`ve never seen one, but if I do I will stay away from the banana spiders for sure! I have seen many BIG BUGS here! They are really cool!

Give me some fin knoggen dude YOLO

Bubba

Me President and Elder Salazar en Cusco this last week

Me President and Elder Salazar en Cusco this last week

On The Path

This week was a good week. It was rainy all week and the climate was fairly cool, so I was happy.  We`re doing a lot of Family History with the people that have returned to the church or the recent converts this year. It`s always a spirtual experience and we are hoping that Samuel can send his dad`s name to the temple along with Jannely`s grandfather`s name to do their work in Lima. We had a fun week, finding a lot of new investigators to teach. One of the families came to church. They are very humble. The dad, Salvador had listened to the missionaries and was going to be baptized before, so years later he is again in the path that God has in store for him and his family. I want to write more, but I`m running out of time, so I will write more next week. I love you MOM and FAMILY.

``The church is very beautiful, like it should be.``

I am sooooo sorry to tell you this, but all of the pictures took at the baptism have been infected with a computer virus so we are trying to fix that this week to send you the pictures of their marriage and baptism next week. 

But, it was a great week! We contacted a man named Josè Luis a few weeks ago and have been visiting him this last week. Josè Luis drives motorcycle taxi for work but his eyes started to stop working for some reason and he ended up loosing a lot of vision. He used all of the money that he had to fly to Lima, have an opporation, and come back. He has been without work for a month or so now, waiting until the doctor tells him he can work in his taxi. He drove in his taxi to Samuel`s baptism! My companion baptized Samuel and as he was going down I guess they weren`t far enough back in the font because Samuel came down and smacked his head on the corner of the font. I was scared he was hurt! But he went under the water and came back up victorious! Jannely was teasing Elder Salazar saying that he was trying to drowned her husband haha It was pretty funny. But, as he left the water my companion said that he started weeping saying that he just wants his mom and family to come to know the truth of these things. The missionaries have come to visit her but she always rejects us. She lives in a different sector than the one we work in. So, little by little I hope by his efforts she can also come to know of the Gospel. 

After the baptism, we went outside with Josè Luis. He tried to turn his motorcycle taxi on, but couldn`t. He then realized that someone had stole his car battery! We knew that he had absolutly no money, and his only hope of work was in his taxi. We decided to pitch in money and buy him a car battery. The branch president helped us out too. Josè Luis came to church yesterday earlier than anyone else. He sat by me and said, ``the church is very beautiful, like it should be.`` We`re reading the book of Mormon with him and he`s praying to know if Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. 

In Sacrament Meeting they assigned me to give a talk. When it was my turn, I had five minutes to give my talk. I had planned to give a talk on Family History. Well, I have given a five minute talk once in my life on Family History, so I decided to repeat. I stood there in silence for three minutes. It was so funny!! The Branch President`s wife was staring at me like I was insane trying to give me signs to start my talk. I just kept looking around. At the end I gave my frase and stated that I think our ancestors stare at us the same way. They look at us like we`re crazy because we still don`t start searching their names to do their work. It was great. After Sacrament Meeting me and my companion had to rush to the bus terminal to head to Cusco. We`re here until Wednesday with a meeting with President. I`m happy to know that I will NOT have to sit in a bus for 11 hours to go back to Puerto, but we`re now and I think from here on out will be flying in a one hour flight to the jungle of Puerto Maldonado. 

I LOVE YOU MOM and thank you for always  writing and helping me be the best I can be! I have learned a lot from you over the years and still learn! I hope to make you proud along with DAD and my Heavenly Father. 

Have a great week FAMILY and FRIENDS!

Elder Jeffery  

Samuel and Jannely Were Married

This week started out with a BANG! Samuel and Jannely were married this Tuesday! It was boring, as the lady up front talked and talked and talked about marriage and the law and blah blah blah, but the BEST part was when they actually gave the brides the opportunity to say something. Samuel and Jannely promised each other to be sealed in the temple one year from now! Afterwards they started thinking and planning when they want to go to the temple with their child that will be born very soon; most likely the first weeks of February! Samuel is very excited for his baptism which will be this Saturday. We are so happy for him and his wife who has been less active for three years. 

Today we went fishing! A member´s uncle has a beautiful property. It´s an open area surrounded by a river and the jungle. I didn´t catch any fish, but my companion caught one and our friend caught five. It reminded me a whole lot of the campgrounds back at home! 

I love you MOM and FAMILY and am excited for this year! It´s going to be a great one! I love serving the Lord in the mission field. I never knew how much I could learn to do and be following the Gospel, but I know that it is truely a blessing to have it in our lives and we should take every opportunity that we have to learn it, live it, and share it with the ones we love. Happy New Years!

Elder Jeffery

Importance of the Sacrament

Hey Again! It was great seeing you on Christmas! This week was full of a lot of preparing for the two meetings we had with the mission President here in Puerto Maldonado. We had a Christmas Dinner where we watched ´´freetown´´ ate turkey played a white elephant gift exchange and sang songs and gave testimonies of Christ. In the gift exchange there was one gift that weighed a whole lot. I knew that it would be either a good or a funny gift, so I went for it. I ended up having it at the end, and opened it up to find a pinapple with a face made out of bananas. We also had a devotional with President and all of the new converts of the district.

 In all of these meetings and activities a theme stuck in my head that I can´t get out. President talked about 3 Nefi 11 when Christ comes to America. Every one bows down to him, and he invites them all to come and touch the prints in his side and hands. Every one of the 2500 Nephites in the city. It must have taken all day long. Jesus patiently allowed everyone there to experience what they needed. The took upon them the emblems of His sacrifice. After, they all shouted, falling to the groud again, ´´hosana!´´ which literally means ´´save us now!´´ Christ had come to Europe and had payed for the sins of them all. The Nephites had hear and believed it was true. But, when they actually had the opportunity, which I can hardly imagine or understand, to touch feel and see their Savior, they knew and that´s when they said ´´save us now´´. We in our lives can believe in Christ and what he has done for us, but in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we have the opportunity to take upon us the same emblems that the Nephites did every week. This week I have learned a little more of the great importance that the Sacrament has in my life. The bread and water that I partake of every week allow me to get to know better my Savior that lives in a different place, but in whom I strive to become like. 

I bought a nativity set from the jungle and a Cusco style one also. They are awesome! Everyone asked my why I was buying it, and I just told them that my mom said it would make my future wife happy. So, my companion bought one too haha. Thank you for your love for me! I am LOVING the mission!!! I hope you have a great week MOM and FAMILY and FRIENDS enjoying the start of 2016! 

Elder Jeffery

Uman Family Is Sealed In The Temple

Well, I`m not going to lie, I am the happiest person alive. I recieved the GRAND news that the UMAN FAMILY after a whole year of being members have been sealed in the Lima Temple for time and all eternity. I am overwhelmed with joy for them! I will send pictures of them. 

This week has been amazing. We were in Cusco for almost the whole week. My companion and I traveled 10 hours to Cusco in a bus, had a meeting with the mission president, and traveled back for 10 hours to Puerto Maldonado. We were done with that bus. 

Before the trip, we had a lesson with Manuel and Laura. We had planned to set a baptismal date for Manuel that day, and before we even talked about baptism, he declared to us that he desires to be baptized. We talked some more, and they expressed to us a few strong problems that they are facing. We passed by the next day early in the morning to give him and her a priesthood blessing. As we finished giving her the blessing, Manuel looked up at us and said he`d felt something strange. Manuel is a tough guy, but as he expressed his desire to put his own hands on the head of his wife, tears ran down his face. As we testified of the blessing of the priesthood he started to weep. This Sunday, he came to church for the first time. 

Man Family is Sealed

I know that this church is true! I know that the blessing of the priesthood are essencial in our lives and we have the right to have them in our homes as members of His church. I`m thankful for a father with the priesthood and for the opportunity to one day have the protection of the priesthood for my future family. Love you MOM and hope you have an amazing Christmas! I love you friends and family and hope you can enjoy the Christmas Spirit by serving others and worshiping the Savior.

Elder Jeffery 

Cusco Missionaries

Hanging with the Pres