Okay so this
week's letter is going to be short because not a lot happened and I'm
going to try to send a bunch of pictures! I'm writing late again because
we had to travel to Cusco today for a conference with a GA tomorrow. We
left at 5 in the morning and got here at about 3 in the afternoon. Long
drive!
So this week there wasn't a ton of
progress. Only one of our investigators showed up to church this week so
that was a bummer. We're having a baptismal service the last Saturday
before our change but the investigators have to attend three times
before they can be baptized, and since Rody didn't come he won't have
his 3. Kind of a bummer. The other one with a date has 3 though, so
that's good. We have another investigator named Jasmin who has 3 as well
and we challenged her yesterday. She was a little apprehensive so we
left her a reading assignment in the Book of Mormon and told her to pray to have
her testimony reaffirmed, and we're going to follow up with her this week
when we get back from Cusco. We're also going to try to call a few of
our investigators like Edwardo while we're here. Edwardo is the bomb. He
likes to accompany us while we work which is cool. It doesn't count for
anything as far as statistics go but it's good for him to see it. He
told us he is considering serving a mission after his baptism. So is
Jasmin actually. Cool stuff. Hopefully we get to throw those lamanites
in the pool this month.
So the reason we didn't
see a ton of progress this week as far as numbers go was because Elder
Johanson and I participated in 6 service projects! The first one was the
hardest thing I've ever done in my life. We went out even farther into
the boonies and hauled tree trunks down the mountain. And by tree trunks
I mean entire trees with the branches cut off. The way they had us do
it was by putting smaller sticks underneath and then pushing it with
those. It worked more or less. We got there around 1:00 and got home around
8:00. For the second we just mowed and edged our neighbor's lawn. And by
mowed and edged I mean Elder Johanson cut the crass with clippers and I
edged with a fun-sized pick axe. Another was hauling dirt from someone's
front yard to their back yard. That one wasn't too bad. We had a
wheelbarrow. For another one we helped out an
English teacher who is teaching all her kids American songs. There's
actually a school course where kids just sing English music. Kinda cool.
We had to tell them the F-word is a swear word and change some of their
lyrics for them though. That was funny. The last one we did topped the
first one we did for the hardest thing I've ever done. We went into the
other side of the boonies and helped some people carry wood across a
river. The bridge across the river was just three trees that someone
chopped down from one side. Kinda sketchy. The way we carried the wood
was fun. They gave us all potato sacks that were cut open so we could
put the wood inside and then haul it on our backs like a panai. We were
there for like five hours. My body still hurts and my knees started acting
up for a day or two because of it, but it's all good now. I like
service though. It's fun and there are a lot of people that need our
help.
Elder Pearce's spiritual thought for the week:
As
I carried wood and hauled logs, I thought of the Savior carrying His
cross to Calgary. When my body hurts and begins to beg for rest, I think
of the pain he felt as He was whipped and scourged. When people laugh
in my face because my Spanish is bad, I think of those who spit in His
face and mocked Him. When I feel homesick or alone, I think of our Lord
as He atoned for everything in the Garden without the support or help of
His own all-powerful Father, so that He could know what it was like to
be completely and utterly alone. This all gives me the strength to press
on.
I love you all and pray for you every day.
Peru is the bomb. I want you all to see this beautiful place one day.
Look for the small miracles every day and you will find them! Peace and
blessings!
Love,
Elder Tate
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