First of all I want to send a quick thank you shout-out to all the
people in the ward that sent me Christmas cards: Sister Nielson and her Sunday School class, the Langs, the Miles, and the Steinickes. They
were all awesome and made my day! Brother Miles enclosed a couple
pictures of some of his paintings of the Kaysville ponds and they are
absolutely incredible! I want to send him a picture of Lake Pakucha for
him to paint. It's a lake here in San Jeronimo that's super pretty.
Also, thanks for all of the wonderful notes in my Christmas chain.
Hilary's "inspiring quotes" made me laugh very hard. As well as Riley's
jokes and quotes.
Well this week was really
kind of a normal week. We worked hard, and today we'll play hard. We put
another date for Jasmin and she's going to be baptized this Saturday!
We're still working on Edwardo and a couple others. We're hoping for one
or two more this change but we'll see what happens. We also have a
couple new families which is awesome.
One thing
I've really noticed this week is how much of an effect the gospel has
on people's lives. We teach a lot of families, members and non-members
alike, and there are a lot of problems. With one of the families the
husband is cheating on the wife and the whole family knows it, even the
young kids of like 11 and under. In a couple others, the wives are
active and faithful members, but the husbands are inactive and like to
drink. Being in these houses, there always seems to be a strange cloud
of just plain old sadness in the air. These families can't enjoy the
priesthood and the blessings of the gospel in their home. On the other
hand, there are also families that live in accordance with the gospel of
Jesus Christ, and you can literally see and feel the difference in
their homes. Their homes are places of peace and joy where the blessings
of the gospel and the priesthood are enjoyed. It really is amazing the
difference that you can literally see when someone is living the gospel,
and when someone isn't. How blessed I was and still am to have grown up
in a home where we enjoyed all of these blessings.
As
far as the language goes I'm still slowly improving. It's hard but it
doesn't seem as impossible as it did before. I can get by in a lesson,
but I have the hardest time understanding people. I also have been
trying to learn a little bit of Quechua and it's ridiculous. I'm trying
not to be as whiny anymore when I get frustrated, but instead fall to my
knees and plead for help and more faith to depend on the Lord. Luckily,
whereas I spent my first two transfers learning Spanish, my companion
spent his first two transfers learning the lessons, and he is an excellent
teacher. He fills in a lot when I fall short. I can teach but it's just
really boring and not super comfortable. I'm really awkward in Spanish
still.
Elder Niaupari and I get along really
well. He's a
great missionary and I enjoy having him as a companion.
I
love you all and I love the Gospel and the blessings that it brings. I
hope that this week is wonderful and full of the Spirit of CHRISTmas.
Christ brought the best gift we could ever have. Let us all remember
that this beautiful CHRISTmas season. Peace out!
Love,
Elder Pearce
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