A Walk Down A Dusty Road

Ok, so this week has been great! Last week we were walking down the dusty road when a young lady said hi to us as she was sweeping her porch. We started talking with her, and set an appointment. We came back a few days later and talked with her, and her sister. Their names are Sandra and Winnie. They`re 18 and 19 years old. So, we thought we`d go to the appointment with a sister named Katy Mora who`s a return missionary and has their same age. We talked with them and asked them if they believed in God. They said that they did, so we asked if they believed in Jesus Christ. Winnie said no, and Sandra wasn`t sure. They had been studying to be baptized in the Jehova`s witnesses`s church, and were confused. We talked a bit, and they came to church with Katy. All of the classes just happened to be all about the atonement, being Easter. They felt great in the chapel. We talked a little more this week about the Plan of Salvation, and they accepted to be baptized on April 23! They said that they want to follow Jesus Christ and have faith in Him. Katy Mora told us that they started talking with Katy after the lesson, and were all worried about what they needed to buy to get ready for their baptism. She laughed and said that they didn`t need to buy anything. We recieved a reference from them named Rocio. Rocio and her daughter started asking us many GREAT questions after reading a pamphlet about the Restoration. They asked, ``who is Joseph Smith, and what`s the book of mormon.`` ``How can I read this book`` The daughter wanted to know which of the churches could lead her to prepare for the second coming! Wow, I am so excited for them because I know that through and only through our message singualar that we share that they can truly come to the truth!! 

I love you MOM and DAD and SISTERS and BROTHER and FAMILY and FRIENDS!!! I am thankful for all of the great testimonies of Chirst that you have ALL sent to me, and want to respond to every single one, but I don`t have enough time becasue i was to interested in reading all of your beautiful testimonies of the atonement, our Savior Jesus Chirst. 

Elder Jeffery at the Zoo

Elder Jeffery

´´Do you want to be happy? Forget yourself and get lost in this great work´´

So, this week we were in a lesson with Maria, Abel, and their two children, Marianet and Oscar. Abel, Marianet and Oscar have excitedly accepted to be baptized and Maria is a less-active member since she was about 10 years old, but Oscar and Maria need to get married first. Oscar wants to get married, and we had a lesson with Maria, where she finally said that she really does want to get married with Oscar after being together for 16 years! We invited them to put a date together for their marriage having in mind of the date we´d put of their baptism in April. So, we came back to visit them on Saturday and they had talked about marriage. Abel looked at us and said that they´d talked and had decided to get married in June! I looked at my companion and we both were surprised and a little sad for them putting a date so far away. My companion asked Maria why. She explained the same concern that many couples have here. She desires to have time to plan and get settled in and have a ´´perfect wedding´´. We explained that God had sent us to her home for a reason. We said that if she gets married so far away, we could not help her with the goals she´d set and maybe she´d lose the desires she has now. My companion then invited them to accept to be married on the 22 of April. Abel accepted with ease and awaited the response of his future wife. She looked at us and looked at him and said softly but with confidence ´´I want to´´  I looked at them and started to laugh and said that the 22 was my birthday. They all laughed and I told them we could have a birthday party/wedding party. They are excited and I am very happy for the decision that they have taken to put faith in Christ by being married so that they can repent of their sins and be able to be baptized for a remission of their sins. I love this great work and love the quote ´´Do you want to be happy? Forget yourself and get lost in this great work´´ Let us all lose our worries, lose our problems and get lost in what really matters! I want to end by sharing the new video for easter ´´Hallelujah´´ https://www.mormon.org/easter 

Have a great week FAMILY and FRIENDS and MOM! Love you all!!

Elder Jeffery

´But, the most important thing is what Elder Jeffery understands about the atonement, and he will explain it to his son.´´

Well, this week has been rainy. It rained three days straight without stopping. A part of our sector was completely flooded and the people had to evacuate their homes for a few days waiting for the jungle´s sun. I really like when it rains because it´s not hot. 

This week I had the great privilage to have lunch with Elder Costa, a member of the quorom of the seventy. After lunch, he finished talking with the District President and turned to me and my companion. He said something that really impacted me. He said: ´´In the Book of Mormon, Lehi wrote what he understood about the atonement, and then taught it to his son, Nephi. Nephi then wrote what he understood about the atonement and then taught it to his son, Jacob. Jacob then explained what he understood about the atonement.´´ He went on with a few other names and examples of the Book of Mormon, and then looked at me and said, ´´But, the most important thing is what Elder Jeffery understands about the atonement, and he will explain it to his son.´´ 

I´m learning a lot about the importance of the gospel in everything we teach as missionaries. We had a few lessons with some investigators, teaching the law of chastity and the sabbath day. We simply reminded them that in order to live the gospel and therefore apply the atonement one must have enough faith to come to the chapel even though there are things to do, and that repentance is also required in this life, so in order to be baptized they must get married. They understood why and realized that they need to live the gospel in their lives. That family, Abel and Maria came to church yesterday and are have plans to get married and Baptized! Abel no is a member nor his two children, Marianet and Oscar. I am thankful for the atonement. We had one investigator ask why he needed to have faith in Jesus Christ, because he`d heard of people who had had faith in many other objects and people. I am glad that I could testify to him and say that there is no other person or object that can take upon my sins and leave me clean from the stains of this world. Only faith through Jesus Christ and his Atonement will bring us eternal joy. Our investigator, Juan Carlos, is learning about Christ and decided that he too wants to know for himself of the atonement of Christ. 

I am excited for this week that comes. It`s a pleasure to be a missionary of a true church! Have a great week MOM and FAMILY and FRIENDS.

Elder Jeffery

Moto Taxi Driver Miracle

There are just TOO many things to tell you this week!!! It´s been an amazing week with many new investigators that have accepted baptismal dates, but I feel like I will share a miracle that I will never forget to you. 

It was 11:45 am on Wednesday when three missionaries and I climbed into a little tiny motorcycle cart on our way to check other missionaries´rooms. I was so squished that I took of my shoulder bag and put it in the little back department of the moto. We all jumped out of the moto and walked into the missionaries´ room. We were just finishing up with checking the room, when I realized what I´d done. I looked at my companion and said that I´d forgotten my bag in that motorcycle cart. So, my camera, shoulder bag, and mission scriptures were all in the back of one of the million motorcycle carts in Puerto Maldonado. We started to think and remembered that it was red and white and had white seats. The driver had a blue shirt. So, we went to the radio station and asked them to anounce it on the radio. I had a strong desire to stop working and search for my bag because I knew that it would almost be impossible to find it if I waited until the next day. But, we had scheduled appointments. I had a impression that seemed to say that I´d be ok and that these ´´important things´´ are not the most important thing. I learned  a lesson that day about how to decern between important and most important. So, we went to the apppointments. We called every missionary in the zone and told them to be on the look out for the description. My companion and I were on our way to our last appointment that day and saw a moto that fit the exact description. We tried pulling over another moto. A man stopped ubbrutly and asked where we were going. We said yelling, ´´follow that moto car!!!´´ He opened the door where his wife was in the car and he said, ´´ well my wife´s in the taxi but just hop in let´s go!´´ We squezed into the moto and booked it towards the taxi that was already three blocks ahead. It turned the corner and this driver didn´t stop as he drifted accross the asfalt chasing the driver ahead of us. He pulled up aside the driver and yelled for him to pull over. The driver pulled over and my companion stuck his head in the window and started interrogating the taxi driver. The man was so afraid he could almost not breath as he explain that he was just starting to work and that he didn´t have any shoulder bag. So, we payed the taxi driver that brought us and went to the appointment. On Friday, we walked into the appartment and Elder Andromidas and Cabral asked if we could take a picture with them. So we took a selfie together. As we looked at the picture my companion said, ´´no way!´´ No way! I asked what happened and I looked at the picture which had Elder Cabral in the back holding my shoulder bag! I was so excited and gave him a big hug. The sister missionaries had been asking every taxi driver as well as we had been doing and found my bag!! The driver had been searching for us the whole time and wanted to hear the missionaries´ messaje!! The best part is that he lives in our sector!! We´ll be going to his house this week. I know that sometimes we get stressed over the material things of this world, but I learned and continue to learn that the promise of the Lord is true when he says that the desires of the rightous will be give according to their faith and obedience. So, when you have hard times, just focus on the Lord´s will and he will provide and you´ll feel good! THat´s my week and I am thankful for the mission and the people I can serve. There´s MUCH more that happened this week, but no time, so I love you all and hope you have a great week. Mom and Dad I am excited for your trip and am excited to visit the amazing people of Peru and the wonderfull places with you! 

Elder Jeffery 

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!!