Letters From The Field

still at it

2009-06-30T19:05:00.001-07:00

Dear Family,

Andy was baptized this week. His parents aren't married yet, but we're teaching them as well. He has the support of his family, but we've got some work to do to help them. They don't get along very well - often we share scriptures with them about contention and how to avoid it. It's a struggle every time we teach, but we know the Gospel can heal any situation.

We went to Trujillo for our once-every-transfer meeting with all the zone leaders. It's a meeting that lasts from 8 in the morning until whenever President Mora decides to let us go. This time it ended at 7pm. In between, lunch was provided at the mission home. There was lots of reminiscing with several of my old companions, which was delightful. We made it back to Pacasmayo and into our room right at 10:30. If only I had been more prudent, I would have gotten my frequent traveler card through the bus company a lot sooner.

We just got back from a quick visit to Jequetepeque (yeah, just try and pronounce it) with our pensionista's family. It was a walk/picnic in the rural farming town that lies about 5 miles from here. It's the "dead" of winter here - meaning that it's cloudy sometimes, with the same old wind as always, only colder. It was slightly warm when we left, but as we were coming back, it started to get chilly.

Well, there's no time for much else. We're striving to live the Gospel and help everyone else do it, too. There's nothing better. Whatever our level of spiritual progress, faith and repentance activate the power of the Atonement in our lives, reviving our joy and enthusiasm for life and for the Lord's work.

Love,
Elder Withers

Kicking

2009-06-22T19:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

It's worrisome to report that most of the hand-written letters I'm receiving these days have unsettling, common inscriptions like, "this is probably the last letter you'll get from me" or "see you soon" or "call me!" or "we'll just talk in person". I'm pleased to report that - judging by the US postmarks and the Peruvian ones - most letters are getting to my hands at an astonishingly fast 8-10 days after being mailed. So don't be afraid that they won't arrive! There's still plenty of time. No need to get me thinking about other things anyways. Status quo.

Well, the weeks are sailing by much faster than I would like. Perhaps the urgency of all of this helped us focus a little more when we talked to people this week. We were a lot more direct. That meant that people who really wanted to listen ended up listening, and those who really weren't interested (and sometimes aggressive) rejected us a lot faster.

Yesterday, the Relief Society Presidency was reorganized. The old presidency had been there for about 5 years now. The new president is Teresa, our pensionista who has been a member for a month and a half. Her first counselor is Janeth, who was baptized on the same day. And the second counselor is Paula, who was baptized about 3 weeks later. Only the secretary is a member of advanced experience. Teresa was feeling quite overwhelmed at the idea of it, so we shared some scriptures and experiences to help her understand how to manage. Her determination is inspiring. I'm excited that the recent converts (who are extremely excited to work) are given a chance to grow.

One of Teresa's girlhood friends, Maritza, is one of our investigators. We visit their family frequently (the Pinillos Family). They have three children. Maritza came with two of her sons to a Family Home Evening that we held at the church on Saturday night. We read parts of The Family, a Proclamation to the World as part of the lesson. I really want to see their family baptized before.. umm.. rather, I want to see it happen soon. They're one of those families you just come to love. They even had their own family home evening this week (by themselves), and Maritza's husband, Jorge, offered the opening prayer. It took several visits before he accepted to pray in the lessons.

There's nothing better than living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And to live it in the world as it is, we need a testimony in our hearts. It's simple and it brings a world of blessings. There's nothing like it. No happiness can endure without it; with it, no sadness can remain permanent. The worst thing is when you lose hope in those moments of sadness. To beat it, you just have to lift yourself up on legs of faith (which might be troublesome if those legs are feeble and weak). But we press on. Good will triumph in the end. Christ has "overcome the world," a friend reminded me in a letter not too far back. So our hope for the future is simply a measure of our faith in Christ mixed with a handful of patience.

Love,
Elder Withers

pictures

2009-06-18T18:43:00.001-07:00

Dear Family,

Here are the pictures from the baptisms of Laura, Maribel and her daughter Yanina, and Robert.

Love,
Elder Withers

How many cucarachas live under YOUR bed?

2009-06-15T21:17:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

Yeah, cleaning the apartment this morning involved the slaughter of some unwanted monsters under the bed. Luckily it was my companion's bed - mine was clean.

Again, I only have a little time left, but at least I got those pictures off first.

This week was a lot of work. We're teaching a 9-year-old named Andy. His grandma is Marina, who was baptized about 4 weeks ago. Andy's parents haven't been the best example for him, so his behavior is unacceptable. Unfortunately, because of that, his parents barely accept him. For the last two weeks, he has come to church (on foot) by himself, carrying his own copy of the Book of Mormon and his grandmother's hymnbook. He's making changes. He isn't perfect by any means, but his mother was so impressed that she is starting to change her behavior as well. Sometimes it's hard to see progress - especially in the lessons - but when the same people who talked about all his mistakes and problems begin to talk about the virtues he's showing, it makes my heart sing. His mom and grandmother used to talk to us about psychiatric help that he needs. But the changes have come naturally as Andy has just tried to be better. He's trying to be something that nobody every told him he was before. There is hope. Change is possible. The Atonement of Christ has the power to solve anything if we just come to Him with full purpose of heart. Amazing. Don't you love it?

Love,
Elder Withers

The fulness of time

2009-06-09T17:22:00.001-07:00

Dear Family,

I apologize in advance for the brevity of the letter. Preparation day is now ending, and we just barely got here.

I'm happy to report that Roberto got baptized on Saturday. His girlfriend is a recent convert, and she has been teaching him some great stuff. He gave up drinking over two months ago.

I'm happy and healthy and I hope you all are, too. Riding on a bus (that is, conversion van with 16 passengers stacked in it) back to Pacasmayo today after playing soccer with the zone, I shared a brief history of the Gospel - as revealed in the largest dispensations both past and present - to two interested men who sat next to me. That was amazing. I had my companion's triple combination in hand, so I used some of my favorite scriptures from the Pearl of Great Price. What joy! Heavenly Father loves us. You can see it in all that He does for us. And we live in the dispensation of the fulness of time. That means everything from the past gets restored in the great culminating events of the earth's purpose. I'd list them, but there's no time. Just believe me that I love the restored Gospel.

With love,
Elder Withers

the Lord's work

2009-06-03T16:12:00.001-07:00

Dear Family,

This week was amazing.

On last Sunday, we ran into Maribel, a woman who had been attending church for a while, but then stopped coming. She came back on Sunday, and there we set an appointment for her on that same day. We visited her with her member friend, Magnolia (a member of the primary presidency), and invited her to pray - once and for all - to know if the church is true.

On Monday we came back, and Maribel told us that she had prayed and felt that it was right. We invited her to pray again and ask if she should be baptized this week. On Tuesday, she told us that again she had felt the peaceful response that she should join the church. On Wednesday, we reviewed some of the teachings she had received back when she investigated the church before. On Thursday, both she and her daughter, Yanina, were interviewed for baptism. Both of them were baptized on Saturday, along with Laura Romero, the Branch President's sister. All of her family are already members of the church. Her husband was a little less active, but he's excited to come back and they're preparing together to go to the temple.

In May, seven people were baptized in our area; thirteen in total in the branch (there's another companionship in the branch). It was a miracle. At the beginning of the month, we had set a goal for seven. We didn't know who or how until the Lord brought the people into our path. It was a miracle. We simply trusted in the promise that God really does answer sincere prayers.

Yesterday afternoon we had a similar experience. We went out and decided to go to a referral from the other companionship of missionaries in our branch; when we showed up, a recent convert (Diana) walked out of the house. I was confused for a minute, but my companion explained to me that she was dating the man we were looking for. It all came together. We had a few minutes to share a message with the person in question. Roberto has come to church several times, and he even stopped drinking entirely about 2 months ago. We invited him to be baptized this Saturday, and he also accepted.

Personally, I find it a little hard to explain what's going on here. The numbers just don't add up. Yet somehow, the Spirit moves us to find those people who really want to be members of the church. They're willing to pray and make the changes in their lives necessary to come closer to Christ. It's humbling. It's not my work, I know.

I know that Jesus Christ lives. I've seen how just a tiny bit of faith in Him can work mighty miracles. I know that His true church is on the earth. There are living prophets and apostles who guide and direct it. What an amazing time to be alive!

Love,
Elder Withers

doing important things

2009-05-25T14:30:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

This week was super busy. We did a handful of visits to our missionaries in the zone (taking advantage of being in a threesome so that we could work in two areas without losing productivity), supervising and helping them reach their goals.

That's one thing the mission has been changing. Goalsetting had become a routine process that rarely resulted in achieving those goals, and nobody really seemed to pay it any attention. Ever since we started actually focusing on the goals we set and then working towards achieving them, things have turned around. We're achieving more than triple what we were doing three weeks ago. On Saturday, six people were baptized in the zone (with six companionships of missionaries). All of 2009, that was the highest this zone had reached in one month. In our branch, a young man, Franco, was baptized. His parents are soon to follow - they simply need to organize some paperwork about being legally married. That shouldn't take too long.

On Friday morning, the assistants called and told us that we would have a meeting that afternoon in Trujillo at 3pm. That meant we would leave right after lunch at 12:45pm and arrive about 2:45ish in Trujillo. There went Friday's plans. We left Elder Huancapaza with another companionship here in Pacasmayo so that he could do baptismal interviews, and we headed to Trujillo. We had a meeting with President Mora in the office with the other zone leaders of Trujillo and the nearby areas. It was a powerful, faith-building experience. That was what we talked about, too: faith. We got back to Pacasmayo at 10pm.

On Saturday morning, we left the room with a prayer. We prayed for the Bardales family. They investigated the church about 5 months ago but for some reason stopped coming. We walked a little over half a mile to their house and found them at home. At our insistance, they dropped what they were doing and sat down to listen to us. We started with a prayer and testified of our purpose in being there. It was one of the most spiritual lessons of my mission. My companion and I both felt as though we were surrounded by fire. The family resisted, but they accepted to consider the invitation we left them. We left slightly saddened at the hardness of their hearts.

I'm analyzing a bit my own faith right now. I've been reading through some choice parts of the Bible and the Book of Mormon in English (which I don't do too often) to remind myself of some of those precious promises extended from the Lord to His ancient people. He extends those same promises to us. That makes my faith grow.

I hope you are all doing well. Are you reading your scriptures every day? Are you praying morning and night? As a family? Are you having family home evening every week? I hope so. Let's all keep the commandments - it's better that way, anyways.

Oh! This week's inspirational teaching - why do we have problems? To learn to solve them. Engineers don't exist to eliminate problems, they hang around to fix them. That's how they hold onto their jobs, I suppose. No problems = no work. And when we solve problems with the Lord's help (involving miracles), our faith grows. I love it!

Love,
Elder Withers

Dear Family,

Here's a picture of Franco's baptism.

Love,
Elder Withers

odd man in

2009-05-19T06:37:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

Sorry I didn't write last week. I took the excuse that I had talked to Mom on Mother's Day, but even so, we just ran out of time to go to internet. And now I've spent 10 minutes reading what you've sent me for the last couple weeks.

I'm in Pacasmayo! I like it. Everything necessary is close - the bus station, the post office, the haircut places, the investigators, the beach. I can see the beach from our roof. It's a delightful view.

We had a baptism on Saturday - a woman named Marina. She asked me to baptize her. That was exciting. She has a stronger testimony than some of the members who accompanied us in teaching her. She bore her testimony at the end of the baptismal service: the best one I've heard all my mission.

On Friday, the assistants called and said that Elder Huancapaza, a missionary who had been working with a local member as his companion, was going to come live with us till the end of his mission. So now we're three. Reminds me of my MTC days. But we're seizing the opportunity and doing loads of visits to our district leaders and the other missionaries in our zone. Elder Huancapaza doesn't know it - and they've told me not to tell him - but he's going home next week. That's actually when his 2 years runs out: for some reason he came halfway through the transfer cycle at the start. So he'll be with us till next Monday, I believe.

Last Monday morning, we went out to jog at somewhere around 5:30am. We ran by the beach, and on our way back to the room, I stumbled over a little rock and ate it on the rugged pavement. A nice security guard came by on his bike and proceeded to explain to me how I fell. Then he began telling a story about how his daughter had fallen once. In the middle of the story, we shook his hand and said thanks and ran back to the room. We laughed a bit about the security man. My pensionista helped me bandage my wounds. They're pretty much all better now.

My companion, Elder Celis, is a fantastic missionary. He's around 10 times cooler than I am. He's from Chile, and his English isn't too bad, either.

We're super excited to make a Stake out of this District. It seems the biggest obstacles are a need for active tithe payers and Sacrament Meeting attendance. The missionaries in our zone are committed to the idea. They're doing an amazing job.

Our pensionista, Teresa, was baptized the week before I got here. She's angelic. She shares the Gospel with everyone. On Saturday night, we had a meeting arranged with 4 couples to talk about families thanks to her arrangements. Her husband has been a member all his life, but he had been less active until Teresa started investigating the church again. He's just as excited about everything as his wife is.

Our zone has baptized eight people so far this month - the most we've ever had here is 12 in one month, looking at last years statistics. We're working towards coming out with 18 or so. I love to see the conversion of the people. It's amazing when they come with the fire of the Gospel in their hearts. They face the future with hope and faith. They read their scriptures and pray, and they seek to know the truth even more. I love it.

Love,
Elder Withers

That's Marina, my companion, and me.

Love,
Elder Withers

School thy feelings

2009-05-06T16:35:00.001-07:00

Dear Family,

This week, Ricardo (14) was ready to be baptized on Saturday. However, Friday night, his parents decided that it was too soon. That was upsetting. Ricardo cried. He was more upset than we were. I walked home without saying anything. Then I locked myself in the bathroom and sang "School Thy Feelings" and a few other uplifting hymns. Same goes for Jose (13), who was going to be baptized next week. We invited them to fast (they even gave fast offerings) and pray about it. They still come to seminary. According to Jose's mom, they argue doctrine with their Catholic grandma using the Bible. That made me chuckle. They're excellent youth.

Vanessa, a recent convert from January, has been bringing her neighbors to church. They're all little children - Daniel (8), Ivan (7) and Mirka (4). We began teaching them last week, and their mom, Yolanda, came to church on Sunday. Vanessa's neice, Maryori (16), also came to church for the first time on Sunday. We were all very happy to see them there. Maryori and Daniel have a goal to be baptized on May 16th.

Yesterday, the Bishop got all the members together in the 3rd hour and gave me the floor (after taking some 20 minutes himself). He wanted me to talk about missionary work and how the members could be better at inviting their friends to investigate the gospel. I think I did okay. I have better public speaking skills in Spanish than I do in English, I think.

Well, there's little time left - so I better share the big news. We heard about transfers today. I'm leaving Esperanza and heading north. My new area will be Pacasmayo, in the Guadalupe Zone. I'm going to be a zone leader again, apparently, so that should be loads of fun. My new companion is Elder Celis, from Chile, I think. Guadalupe is a district, and Pacasmayo is a branch. It will be my first experience outside of a ward and stake. Pacasmayo is where all the cement for building comes from. I hear it's hot, with lots of rocks, sand, mosquitos and ancient ruins. Hurray!

Love,
Elder Withers

who's counting? (it makes twenty-one)

2009-04-28T12:17:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

It's nice to hear how everyone is doing. If you connect the dots between the places where we live all over the globe, we make a very spacious quadrilateral. It might even be a kite (ish)!

How can I describe this week? It's hard to fit it into one word. Mari was having doubts about being baptized - she wasn't sleeping at night, fighting with the idea. We testified and invited her to follow the spiritual promptings she was receiving. Wednesday night after a long lesson, we went home and commended the results into the Lord's hands. Thursday morning before her baptismal interview, Mari told us that she had taken the decision to be baptized. Her interview with Elder Hepworth was a long one, but all went well. She was baptized at 11am on Saturday.

On Tuesday, another investigator, Michel, told us he wanted to be baptized as soon as possible. He had been coming to church with a recent convert for several Sundays, so we lined up his interview and set up a baptismal service for Saturday night. He was baptized at 8pm on Saturday. (We had to do two separate baptismal services because we're in charge of two wards.)

Jose and Ricardo came to church again, and we saw them in seminary this morning (we ran by the church and did some pull-ups on the basketball hoop/soccer goal for exercise time). They're excited to be baptized this Saturday - we've got all week to get things ready.

So things are going well. We're happy! It has become obvious that everyone is aware of how much time I have left. It's not that unsettling. In fact, I'm determined to make the most of it. Why slow down? I think Nehemiah said something about not being able to come down, for he was busy doing "a great work." The same goes for me.

Last night we were teaching a family around the table in the front room/living room, and the door was open because it was still pretty warm inside. A man in a yellow t-shirt leaned in the door and asked if we were evangelists. He walked in the house and - on further inspection - realized that we were not, and he tripped vocally, "no, you're mo.. mor.. m-m-mor.." He didn't finish the sentence and muttered something about us being North Americans and proceeded to talk about angels and white people and many other uninteligible things. I decided to ignore him and continue answering the question I was in the process of resolving when he had walked in. I caught a whiff of the man's breath and commented to my companion that it was probably the drunkest man I'd ever seen. Unfortunately, he started grabbing my head (mostly because he lost his balance) and hugging me. I got up and led him outside, walked around the tree and went back in the door, closing it behind me. He got my shirt dirty, and my companion could not stop laughing. What a great day.

Love,
Elder Withers

I don't mind getting wet - clothes dry quick here.

Elder Withers

called to testify

2009-04-20T12:54:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

We taught a zillion more lessons this week. Almost everyone was there at home, waiting for us. That's unusual yet wonderful. Twelve investigators came to Sacrament Meeting yesterday.

Mari Florian, Diana Florian (her niece), and Richard Llaro are all scheduled to be baptized this Saturday. We're working out the details for interviews and baptismal services. Next week, Jose Chavez, Ricardo Grandez and Maria Ermelinda are also preparing to be baptized.

Yesterday, Jean Claude (who was baptized about a month ago) came with us to proselyte all afternoon. He's the First Counselor in the Teacher's Quorum Presidency now, and he helped us teach and bore his testimony. Fantastic! Jose and Ricardo, mentioned above, are also future teachers, so the help was perfect. They all attend seminary together in the morning, and they even study at the same school.

Last night, right before turning in and totalling up all the numbers, we talked with Lucho (Luiz) Morales. He's our pensionista's brother-in-law. He has lived in the house for 10 years and has talked with lots of missionaries. The other night I felt impressed to ask him if we could talk with him, and he accepted an appointment for Sunday night. He's catholic by tradition, but he hasn't attended church (of his own free will - that is, aside from invitations and events) in 20 years. He told us he does believe in God, but he observed that religions and churches were slightly used as a crutch available for people in desperate times. I shared what came to my mind. I told him about the plan of salvation and what I hoped for after this life. I testified of eternal progression and endless life and learning. He asked what it was that made us give up 2 years of our lives when we could be doing other things. I shared with him my feeling that there were people here who needed to hear my voice. Not just any voice - but words only I could say. Other missionaries could fill my place physically, but perhaps there's something that only I could say that could reach a certain person. I testified that there were people who were waiting for me, prepared from a life before. Lucho was interested. We had to cut our time short, since I had to collect the numbers from my district - but Lucho asked if we could meet again. He's going on a work trip this week, but next week he said we could talk again. I was so dizzy with excitement that I had a little trouble getting up the stairs to our room.

Love,
Elder Withers

work, work, work

2009-04-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

This week we worked a lot. I did a work visit with some missionaries in our district, and that went pretty well. I worked with another new missionary, Elder Christensen. He seemed to enjoy the experience, and I was happy with what we achieved, too. During the morning that we were together, we drew out the plan of salvation on his whiteboard and used it as a starting point for conversations. We found a lot of people interested in learning more.

Elder Butterfield's Spanish is getting better quickly. I'm proud of him. He managed to get by without me during the work visit, so that shows me he's ready for anything.

We taught a lot of lessons this week and invited a bunch of people to church. We were a little disappointed when everyone we expected to come did not, and those we expected not to come showed up. Here in Peru, this was Holy Week - so Friday was celebrated more than Sunday. Some people were upset that the members had a sports activity on Friday, but it was an even better opportunity to develop good answers for the question, "Do Mormons observe Holy Week?" The answer is, yes - every week. Every Sunday we remember the Atonement through the Sacrament. And we covenant to remember the Savior and His sacrifice always.

Mari Florian came to church again this week with Joe, her nephew. She will be baptized on the 25th, but Joe hasn't accepted baptism yet. Eduardo Chiclayo, whose son just left on a mission a month ago, came with the rest of his family as well. He's the only nonmember in his family, so they're working hard with him to help him come to church.

We cleaned a bunch this morning and then went running to the haircut place. I feel like my hair is growing faster every time.

Well, I'm loving the work. I'm trying to be better every day, and I love to help others do the same. It's not easy, and I suppose that's why it's worth it.

Love,
Elder Withers

faith and attitude

2009-04-06T15:27:00.001-07:00

Dear Family,

I suppose the idea of less internet time is for me to just give you all a brief update of how I'm doing and how the work is going. I've got 5 minutes, so I'll see what I can do.

I've got some kinda cold/flu (achy all over, stuffy nose, sore throat, fever, cough, headache and everything in between) this week. That's not so pleasant, but I'm happy.

Conference was wonderful. I especially love President Eyring's talks. We brought a family to church for the first time to the last session of conference - they got all dressed up and looked like members. They're Julio, Irma, Lady and Percy. Mari Florian also came to the morning session on Sunday.

Junior and Rosa also came to that morning session, but they informed us that they're going to be living in another area from now on. We were a little bummed about that, but we're going to work out the details so that they can be baptized soon (they're way excited).

I was thinking a little about the Savior's teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. He told His disciples that they should love their enemies as well as their neighbors, and that if they only saluted their brethren, they weren't any better than the publicans. Then He commanded them to be perfect. I thought about that and wondered if it could be applied to our attitude and our faith as well. If my attitude is great when things go well, then sour when things go wrong, obviously my attitude is a result of circumstance and not really controlled personally. I think that equally, our faith and our attitude, can - if we choose - always be good, independent of our circumstances. I love it. I can be happy whenever I want to.

Well, gotta go! Thank you for your prayers and your love for the Gospel.

Love,
Elder Withers

new

2009-03-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

There have been changes this week. Unexpectedly, Elder Rocca was transferred to another zone last week. We thought that if there were transfers for us that I'd be leaving, but things have taken an unexpected spin. My new companion is a brand new missionary (yes, I'm training again!) named Elder Butterfield. He comes from Herriman, Utah. He's working on his Spanish still, and it's coming along. I'm happy to help. We're trying to talk in Spanish all the time so that he gets used to hearing and understanding it.

Uplifted by the renewed zeal that stems from a new missionary, we've been working our tails off this week. We don't get any breaks. Furthermore, I'm district leader again, but this time in charge of 5 other companionships. It's a monstruous responsibility. I've already spent 20 soles on phone cards this week and I've only got 4 soles left. I need to learn to talk faster. My companion is willing to let me dish off some responsibilities onto him, so that's helping a lot. I'm in charge of all the missionaries in the Esperanza Stake. It's madness but I love it. We've got a great group of missionaries.

Internet time has been cut down again - we're blessed with 30 minutes now. I kinda wish I had been given those sort of restraints back when I was a teenager and tended to overuse the computer. My words per minute are now through the roof.

This week we found several new investigators. Several of them have been prepared to receive us. Elder Butterfield said there's just not enough time to do all the things we want to. I'm glad he's off to a good start. We're working on our planning in order to get the most out of our time. I wish I could tell you about all the people we're teaching. One is the Florian Family. Diana and Arnold are teenagers who are fairly interested - and their aunt Mary and their half brother Joe. Mary has a little granddaughter, Tiffany, who is 6 years old. She plays volleyball and has questions that adults should ask. She told us in the last appointment that she isn't sure if God exists, and she doesn't know what to believe in. She pleaded with her mom to take her to church and not to her volleyball championship game yesterday. I think they had time for both, but they still came to church. Wonderful.

Well, time is running out. I'm happy and healthy. The pills and the pain killer goo that the doctor gave me worked like a prayer. The only thing afflicting me now is that there's so much to do that it's a bit stressful. But I like working under pressure - when more is expected of me, I do more and waste less time. I love the work! Time is running out a little too fast.

Love,
Elder Withers

swallowing Q-tips

2009-03-23T22:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

So much has happened this week! I'll try to write fast to get it all in.

On Wednesday, we had a zone conference with Elder Gavarret, the second counselor in our Area Presidency and member of the 1st Quorum of the Seventy. My little choir did perform their number - Faith in Every Footstep (Fe en Cada Paso), most of it in four-part harmony. I opted to direct the number instead of playing the piano. I believe the harmony stands out better when sung a capella. The hard part was finding people to sing the melody. The four sisters involved all sang alto, and at the last minute, the three missionaries I had chosen to sing melody informed me that they couldn't participate. We did a little bit of last minute reorganization, and it turned out well. The conference was also a spiritual feast. I didn't take a huge amount of notes, because I mostly reveled in the feeling that the Spirit brought. Elder Gavarret, like Elder Nash last week, didn't speak what he had planned - but simply told us what he felt. And that was what we needed. Our faith grew and our hope was expanded. We've been lifted to a higher plane of missionary work. I love it!

On Monday, I started getting a dreadfully sore throat. Flashlight investigation revealed very little redness and inflammation, which didn't make sense - because the pain was undeniable. There was also a lack of other symptoms - no cough or congestion or anything. Our first thought was that it could be the beginnings of strep throat, but it just didn't work out. After another couple days, the pain had isolated itself to the right side of my throat and neck and even reached up near my right ear. So, for the first time, I went to the doctor's office to get myself checked out (as opposed to those many other times when I accompanied other missionaries for various things). We waited forever for the doctor to show up, but we were first in line. He stuck his popsicle stick down my throat and found the source of the problem. I had a canker sore under my tongue and two (or three?) more in the nether regions of my throat. That was relieving. The rest of my neck was sore from swollen lymph nodes and such. I still can't see back that far to confirm what the doctor said, but he showed my companion, so there's one witness at least. The doctor gave me some pills to make the extra pain go away plus some gel that I can put on the sores to make them go numb for several hours. The hard part is jamming a Q-tip into the back of my throat and blindly hoping to numb those awful sores back there. My aim is getting better and the pain is going away. I'm happy I don't have strep!

Things went better as the week ended. A young man, Junior, and his mother (adoptive), Rosa, both came to church for the first time. Junior was touched by the message of the Restoration when we shared it with him. He came to a youth activity on Saturday, and when he saw the picture of Christ in America, he said it just amazed him. We taught him later that same day about the Book of Mormon and invited him to be baptized. This morning at 6am, we accompanied him to early morning seminary so he could meet some more of the youth from the ward. The way the Lord changed his heart was just inspiring. It's God's work we're doing here. It's a marvelous work!

Love,
Elder Withers

speechless

2009-03-16T15:39:00.001-07:00

Dear Family,

On Friday morning, we had a surprise devotional with Elder Nash and Elder Godoy (the area president and his first counselor). They squeezed in a little time for us before their flight out of town. (They were in town with Julie Beck and Cheryl Lant for a special conference with the Relief Society.) Elder Godoy has a portuguese accent. It wasn't hard to understand him, but it was new.

When Elder Nash spoke to the missionaries, it was fantastic. While he's looking at you, you just know he loves you. His message was impressively taylored to our needs. He talked about obedience and faith, how the two build on each other. Often a good measure of our faith is the measure of our obedience. I loved the way he taught from the scriptures and involved us in the teaching. In the end, he extended a commitment to all of us, and he told us not to speak out loud our answer, but to just think it. It was amazing! I didn't say a word but my entire being was filled with the Spirit and I was committed to doing what he invited us to do. He taught us that teaching by the Spirit isn't all about speaking. He showed us that he could feel our answers without having to hear them. Then he promised the accompanying blessings.

I wish I could express better just how I felt at the end of that devotional, but "inspired" might be as simple as it gets. I wish I could write more as well, but time is up. Some internet glitches threw things off, but I won't complain. I hope you are all doing well, living the Gospel and trying to do what's right. I'm enjoying missionary work immensely!

Love,
Elder Withers

many unrelated events that all happened in one week

2009-03-09T20:39:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

I've decided that Monday is not the best day to report on the previous week. Most of my reflecting on the past week happens on Sunday night, followed by a determined resolution to do better the following week. Last week becomes the past, and my focus is on making today better. Like Pumbaa said, "You've gotta put your behind in your past!"

On Tuesday, we had interviews with President Mora. My interview was brief, but since there are 22 missionaries in our zone, the meeting was a long one. I got to enjoy some conversation with Elder Burrup again, which revived the lightheartedness (not lightmindedness, mind you) and renewed our zeal for the work. During a short recess, I played the piano and sang the song whose lyrics I wrote for you last week. I received some helpful criticism from my companions, which is helping the song come along.

I've been assigned to organize a musical number for an upcoming zone conference with Elder Gavarret, the Second Counselor in our Area Presidency. On Wednesday, we had a quick rehearsal with our little choir. The said zone conference was planned to take place on Thursday, so I was quite stressed, since they told me last Sunday night that I had to organize this, leaving me with 4 days to do it. I prayed for more time to put it together, and on Tuesday we got the notice that Elder Gavarret couldn't come for another 3 weeks. It was kinda sad for everyone but me.

I only have a few minutes left, so I just want to talk about a few people that we're teaching. Last Sunday, the Bishop in our ward took us to the family of a man he works with. Guillermo and Vita are the parents, with Guillermo (19), Sheila (17), Elvis (15) and Jean Cristian (13), their children. Guillermo (dad) was the national boxing champion, Sheila is one belt shy of black in karate, and Guillermo (son) is a policeman. Elvis is also doing karate, but he isn't as far along as Sheila. They all have different questions and opinions about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. Yesterday, we spent a long while helping them understand the difference between the Bible and the Book of Mormon. After a long lesson, my companion asked to use their bathroom, and in the meantime we were nearly eaten alive by their Rot Weiler-something-else-mix (named Colita) that, fortunately, was chained to the wall. That was an adventure.

Jean Claude (14) was baptized this week. His dad is a member, and now only his mother is waiting to be baptized. They need to formalize their marriage first, but that shouldn't take too long. Jean Claude started attending seminary, and he's reading the Book of Mormon more faithfully than most. I loaned my baptismal pants so that the Second Counselor in the Bishopric could perform the baptism. They allowed me the privilege to do the confirmation. Jean Claude is from Iquitos, up north-east in the jungle. Apparently there are as many monkeys in the streets there as there are dogs around here. I'm going to attach the picture now, because time's up.

Thanks for writing to me and letting me know how things are going.

Love,
Elder Withers

The Light of Faith

2009-03-02T14:24:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

I just want to send you the words to a song I've been thinking up. You can't have the melody yet, but I'll find a way to send it soon. I think this best explains what I'm working at right now. I suppose I'll change the words up a little more, but I don't have time right now. Enjoy.

It was the faith of our fathers
That helped us hang on
The faith of our mothers
Who taught us to be strong
Fighting for the freedom of our brothers
Living for the glory of our God
Two thousand warriors and a covenant of peace
Fighting with the strength we had found on our knees
We will never fall if we have faith
Our God will bring us home

It was the faith in our Savior
Who taught us the right
The faith in His power
Preserved us in the fight
Following the footsteps of our Captain
Carrying the banner of our King
One Hope Almighty through battles dark and deep
Flame burning brightly by the promises we keep
We will make it by the light of faith
Back to our heavenly home

Love,
Elder Withers

good glasses

2009-02-23T20:16:00.001-08:00

Dear Family,

Last night, my companion and I participated in a fireside for parents and seminary-aged youth. I was invited by the Stake YM President (Hermano Caipo - I love him) to accompany the hymns and play a special musical number. I chose the "Love at Home" arrangement by Sally DeFord. My number came after the first speaker, who was Peter Santiago Trujillano, the Church Educational System Coordinator for Trujillo. If you can switch Kronk's voice into Spanish, that's kind of how his voice sounded like. That or a pro wrestler. And he's a big, tall man. His manner of speech and his size "caught the attention and arrested it" (as Burtie Wooster might say). He talked for an hour. From the start he got everyone's attention and proceeded to teach us all. For 45 minutes he didn't even mention anything about Seminary, but by the time he was done, I was willing to go back to Seminary all over again. Everyone was edified, and you could feel it. He talked about getting rid of false traditions (like in Peru, the tradition of not reading books, or traditions of not going to seminary, etc.) and starting up Gospel traditions. The week ended on an inspiring note.

This week was a roller coaster ride. Norma had accepted a baptismal date for Saturday, and we were waiting for her to confirm her parents' consent. Between Thursday and Friday, something happened (I'm rather unaware). Perhaps her parents refused to give her permission, but then she started hiding from us. It's one of those things that make you want to chuckle and cry at the same time. You see them down at the end of the street, and as you get closer, they spot you and run like mad into their house and shut the door. And if you ask the neighbors, one will say that they left and haven't come back since the morning, and another will say they just left not 10 minutes ago. Honestly, it made my heart ache. Perhaps I'm not a big fan of confrontation, either; but I am a big fan of sincerity. I was unhappy all Friday afternoon. I suppose I took the decision to be unhappy. But I didn't want to mope. I was anxious to get back to the room and find faith and courage where they ought to be found: on my knees. I sought for inspiration. What could I do? The Lord answered my prayer and comforted my soul. Things will work out.

Sunday, I had another slight disappointment. Myriads had committed to come to Sacrament Meeting. Four people came. Sometimes I wish there were more private places available during the day to have personal prayers in moments of need. But I kept a prayer in my heart and decided that I wouldn't be discouraged. After our meetings ended, an 8-year-old was baptized; almost the whole ward was in attendance. I was called on to give a spur-of-the-moment talk on faith and repentance. It's not the first time. But I prefer public speaking when I've practiced and studied for my audience.

Sometimes we get to be marriage counselors (usually we counsel people who are living together to GET married, because keeping the commandments brings happiness). Joan (that's "joe-AHN") is a mototaxi driver who told us to come visit him, that his wife (er.. you know) is a member and so are her parents. It took us three tries to find Joan at home. On Saturday we found him. He was dirty and smelled bad (he came home from work and just fell asleep), and apparently he had just woken up from a nap. He had a wreck 5 years back that, if I understood the conversation correctly, caused some damage to the speaking part of his brain and prevents him from speaking clearly. But I understood most of what he said. We invited Magaly, his wife, to join the conversation. They wouldn't really look at each other. I wondered if it was just because we were there or if this happened often. I showed my family picture, and Magaly explained that not everybody can have a perfect family like me. I wanted to refer her to the parable of the homemade shirt by Elder Holland, but I didn't have it at hand. Joan said she was "terca" - something like "stubborn". She grumbled something about "Oh, I'M stubborn?". I used an example to help them work things out. Imagine you have two pairs of glasses. One allows to you to see everything good around you, blocking out the bad. The other pair allows you to see everything bad around you, blocking the good. Which pair would you choose every morning? She chose the good pair. So let's start looking for the good traits, rather than criticizing. Life should be happy with the good glasses on. I was suprised that she didn't say her husband might disappear (I suppose that was just a funny thought that crossed my mind). But either way, they got the point and committed to come to church. Magaly came with their 3-year-old, but Joan didn't show up. We'll see him on Tuesday.

Well, I suppose I might need some of my own medicine. I'm going to try out those "good glasses" and see how the world changes. This week was rough, but I've found that I can be uplifted by prayer and that I can lean on the Lord's power. I find joy in the friendships, companionships, leadership, and other working relationships forged in my mission. I rejoice in the love of the members and others who support me. It was like Christmas this morning when I opened a long-awaited letter from a close friend (I did wait since Tuesday with it sitting on my desk). I'm grateful for your prayers, letters, e-mails and thoughts, and for those of you who pop in to read these letters to keep up, whether or not you write.

Well, I've finished my time here. There's a time to use internet, and a time to not use internet.. (vanity of vanities? something along those lines.. haha).

Love,
Elder Withers

transfers are called "changes" in Spanish

2009-02-16T19:54:00.001-08:00

Dear Family,

If I remember correctly, we didn't have the transfer information last Monday, so you get to hear the news. Of the seven stakes in Trujillo (which used to be seven zones), there are now only 4 zones. Esperanza has been combined with Primavera, Palermo has been combined with Central, Este has been combined with Porvenir, and Laureles is the only zone that is still only one stake. I like that change. Now the zones are all bigger. They all have around 20 missionaries each. Here in Primavera-Esperanza, we have 22. Elder Hepworth was transferred to Tahuantinsuyo (that might be the name of some old Chimu or Inca leader), which is a ward in Primavera Stake. He and his new companion (Elder Camargo) are still the zone leaders. My new companion is Elder Rocca, who has 21 or so months in the mission. He was also a zone leader last change (just happened to be Elder Camargo's companion in Tahuantinsuyo, too). Now he's a district leader and I'm a junior companion. We both feel strange without having so much responsibility hanging on us. We go to bed on time. I write in my journal and exercise every day. The phone rests and collects dust (well, it collected dust before, just because Esperanza is a dusty place - now it's dust from lack of use).

You might remember that I mentioned Gisela's baptism about three weeks ago. We talked to her on Saturday night, and she told us that she was going to bring two friends to church the next day. While we were talking, she mentioned she was going to go a Valentine's Day party. She added that she'd be back before 12, because then it's the Sabbath. That made me smile, and she assured us that she'd keep the commandments. On Sunday, we didn't see her or her friends or her sister in Sacrament Meeting. Then the Bishop announced that she had been hit by a car last night and that she was in the hospital. I was heartbroken. We got permission to go downtown and visit her. We were happy to find her in a lot better condition that we thought we would. She didn't have any scuffs or scratches at all. Her sister, Leidy, told us that the car had been able to hit its brakes, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. She didn't hit her head, but she didn't remember what happened or why she was in a hospital bed. The IV needle in her forearm seemed to irritate her more than anything, since she kept adjusting the tube coming down from above. We sang her hymns (with some members and investigators who came to visit, too) and gave her a priesthood blessing. She should be out of the hospital today, but she won't be walking without help for a little while, I imagine. We're relieved that she's doing okay.

We've been finding new people like crazy. It has been a while since I've worked with anyone with more time than me in the mission. I like working with Elder Rocca. He's from Chincha (in Ica, where the earthquake was a year and a half ago). He contacts new people when I don't feel like it, and I contact new people when he doesn't feel like it. It's perfect! I like starting up conversation with people I meet, but it's always open-ended. Some people are kind, some are interested and sincere, an unlucky few are unkind, and some just want to contend. I'm not a big fan of saying, "I respect your beliefs," because most people say it and then start to attack your beliefs. Not much respect there. Some people's ideas are quite humorous, while others make me want to cry. Anyways, among the people we talked to, some special ones were Herles (pronounced "hairless"), a 25-year-old moto-taxi driver; Richard, a 20-year-old who has been going to church with his girlfriend downtown for three months now; and Paula, a mother of three (her daughter, Mercedes (17), and her son, Richard (10)) who just really wants to know what church is true.

In the meantime, Norma has been convincing her parents to let her get baptized, and she introduced us to her sister, Brenda, who we started teaching on Tuesday. Then they introduced us to another friend of theirs, Karin, who also wants to investigate the church. So our investigator pool is saturated with young women (almost uncomfortably) now. They are all very receptive.

Percy, a member in our ward, introduced us to his wife, Yulissa, (who is pregnant and for not too much longer) and his 14-year-old son, Jeanclaude. They came to church yesterday, having just gotten into town from Iquitos, up north in the jungle. I'm not aware of how long they've been apart. Percy and Yulissa aren't married, so we're going to have to fix that here soon.

Gipsy is another young woman we teach, a friend and neighbor of Nataly and Rosa Chiclayo (members), the main reasons that there are so many young women investigating the church. She has come to church two Sundays now, and she's also progressing towards baptism.

Well, time is running out. I'm happy to be in the Lord's work. Today, I read through the Memoriam of President Hinckley, mostly focusing on President Eyring and President Monson's talks. It made me cry and inspired me to do more. I love it!

Thank you for your letters and prayers! I think I might have gotten some letters this week, but since I'm not a zone leader anymore, I don't get them until who knows when (when the zone leaders give me them). I only read letters on P-days, so I might have to wait till next week. Bummer. But not too much bummer. ("Things will work out.")

Love,
Elder Withers

transfers (false alarm)

2009-02-09T14:59:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

We started working harder this week. It's always nice to see the visible results of just giving more of yourself. However, the Lord keeps us humble. We work as hard as we can to help some people progress, and He brings to church the last people we thought would come.

We've been trying to help everyone in the zone do things better. The assistants have been asking us to make sure that our missionaries are studying, planning, and teaching like the best of us. We sat in on some study sessions and practiced with our elders the best way to do companionship study. We sat in on some planning sessions to show them how they can plan effectively. I went on a work visit in Indoamerica, with Elder Tancara. Indoamerica is right next to Pueblo Libre, where I worked last year about this same time. Elder Tancara kept saying we were going to get robbed. I told him we wouldn't. We weren't. We both went without watches. It must have been funny to watch us looking at the sun, trying to figure out exactly what time it was. It's not as easy as asking any random person on the street for the time. Watches don't last long up there.

Even so, I had a wonderful visit with Elder Tancara. He's from Bolivia, and he started his mission just a couple of months ago. I was impressed by his obedience, diligence, and maturity. If I were in charge, I'd make him senior companion in a heartbeat. We taught several lessons and found time to contact around eighteen people in the street.

This Wednesday is transfers. Normally, transfers are announced Monday morning. However, we were told in the morning that we'd get to hear them tonight. I suppose they're trying to limit the amount of time wasted on goodbyes of outgoing missionaries. I'm all for it, because 1) I'm not a big fan of saying goodbye and 2) it really does waste time. Nevertheless, it means I can't tell you till next week. However (that is, however again), we went to the "mall" today to eat lunch with some other elders in our zone, and since we got there late, we found the office elders eating pizza in the food court. They were with Elder Call and Elder Lelegren (the two mission musicians - guitar/vocal/piano and violin, respectively), who stuck around after they left (while we ate) and told us what they could remember. It sounds like my companion, Elder Hepworth, is going to be transferred. They weren't sure who our new companions will be, and I suppose I'm not really supposed to know till the nighttime, so you'll find out next week. They also told me that Elder Burrup is going to be the new assistant. That makes me happy. He's going to be Elder Salazar's companion. They're both fantastic missionaries, and I'll end up working with either one of them very closely here in Trujillo. Wonderful.

Let me talk about the people we're teaching.

I've mentioned the group of young women we've been teaching already. Glenda (16) came up to us with a list of questions a mile long (thanks to her somewhat confused, anonymous friend) and wanted answers. She really didn't have any questions about anything that would actually be difficult to explain. I couldn't help but laugh about some of the things she said. We sat down and explained the plan of salvation and temples and it all made sense. She still struggles to understand why all the other churches don't use the Book of Mormon, which makes me smile because I can see she knows it's true. The most exciting, however, is that when Glenda had all these questions, Norma (13) just resolved nearly all her doubts and bore her testimony of the restoration of priesthood authority to the earth. We were stunned. We invited her to be baptized as soon as we could. She needs permission from her parents, but if anyone deserves it, it's her.

On Saturday morning, we grabbed our machete, clippers, broom and dustpan and took a moto-taxi over to the Stake President's house. The relationship between the missionaries and the local priesthood leaders has been so-so for the last little while, thanks to somebody, somewhere, doing something they shouldn't have. We've been seeking opportunities to share short messages with our Stake President (that's Presidente Pretel), but he was busy during our last appointment. We noticed that his grass was just as uncut as the neighbors, and about a foot long. So Saturday, we hauled our tools out there while nobody was home and trimmed the lawn with the machete and clippers. A lawn mower and edger could have done it in 15 minutes, but we took an hour. His lawn was only 5 by 20 feet or so. But we left him with the best lawn on the block. As far as we know, nobody knows except the local police force, who stopped by to give us their number in case of emergency. Nice guys.

I've set myself a personal goal to contact (that is, talk to and invite to hear the Gospel) 3,600 people before Peru's Independence Day (that's when it all ends for me - July 28). It comes out to around 20 people each day. I like goals.

I bought myself a new copy of Preach My Gospel this week, too. My other one is falling apart a little, and the new one got me so excited to do my personal study that I'm just loving it every day.

Time is running out. Yuck. That has double meaning. I better go. Things to do! People to meet! I love it!

Love,
Elder Withers

conference week

2009-02-03T06:55:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

This week was the week-long Stake Conference blast in the local Esperanza Stake. Monday featured Family Home Evenings in every home of the members, focusing on the importance of reading the scriptures daily. Tuesday night was a "Missionary Night" in every meetinghouse, where members and visitors were delighted with a church video presentation. Tuesday, we had a work visit with the Assistants, so I was with Elder Carrillo, trying to help the members get that organized in our building (which is the Stake Center).

Wednesday was a "paseo." That means anything from hike, walk, and trip to picnic, party, and pool. All the members (and several nonmembers) got together at the Stake Center and took myriad buses out to a beautiful park and played all day. We stayed here. We had interviews with President Mora from 8am to 2pm. That was a blast, too.

Thursday was a sports competition with another stake. We whomped them in soccer and volleyball. One young woman knew how to do an overhand serve and won our team nearly a whole game before the other team could figure out how to pass the ball. We didn't stay to watch the games, but we popped in and out between appointments and searched for referrals from the members who invited their friends.

Friday night was a dance festival. They danced several different cultural numbers from Peru. It was impressive. The place was full of spectators. Every opening in the fence was full of people watching from the outside. Even the guy who sells churros was there. We wanted to buy churros from him, and we couldn't find him near his cart. We eventually got some half-cold churros. Still good.

Saturday and Sunday, I got to play the piano for hours on end for all the meetings involved in conference. It's an opportunity to serve and strengthen our relationship with the stake leaders, so I was happy to do it.

I'm going to include some pictures now, and my time's about up. Thanks for your letters and your prayers and love. I'd put in exclamation points but the 1 key on the left side of the keyboard doesn't work. All I can do is these weird upside down ones¡ Upsetting.

Love,
Elder Withers

p.s. Included are pictures of Elder Caviedes with Edita ("Granny", with care), our pensionista in Chimbote, the huaca, and Gisela's baptism last week.

just tryin' to do what I'm supposed to

2009-01-26T15:00:00.001-08:00

Dear Family,

As usual, I'll write this letter by first talking about today and moving backwards until the last time I wrote you. I'm not sure why, but you can ask a psychologist if you want. I just remember the last thing that happened a lot easier than what happened a week ago.

This morning, we had a long service project as a zone. Last Monday, right before I wrote home online, we paid a visit to the local "huaca" (that means "temple" in some ancient language). It's an ancient mud building from the Chimu civilization that flourished from 800-1470 AD. It's not that impressive if you don't know what all the art means and what the building was used for. Turns out it was a temple/food storage place where, supposedly, human and other sacrifices were offered to please the gods in times of trouble. My companion and I quoted some "Road to El Dorado" lines to enjoy it all the more. The guide costs extra, but your initial entry isn't worth anything if you don't know what's going on. Our guide was named Rita. She explained to us the beliefs of the Chimus and why this building was here. We explained why they believed what they believed and told her about the Nephites and the Lamanites. She was intrigued, and we set up a time on Wednesday to meet with her (at the huaca). She used a word.. "trueke" - which means "exchange" in some ancient language, and said that we didn't owe here anything for the tour. That saved us a whopping 15 soles. On Wednesday we explained the Book of Mormon and gave her a copy with our testimonies written in it. In the conversation, we mentioned that on Wednesday morning we had fixed up a member's little garden, cutting the grass and fixing the decorative rock/cement rubble border. We offered to come fix up the gardens around the huaca, so we settled on Monday, since it was a cultural experience. That was today's service from all morning. The whole zone got a free tour and explanation, and then the huaca got a free hedging, rock-bordering, pruning, etc. We cut the grass with machetes. That's how we work in Peru. Lawn mowers are uncommon. Now I've got a handful of blisters (haha) and a lot of aching muscles - but the job isn't finished, so we'll probably come back next week or so to do more. Rita said that the garden hadn't been tended since 2003. Whew. Rita is a fun person. She was going to come to church yesterday, but an unexpected trip to Lima came up, and she had to get things ready. I won't be surprised to see her in Sacrament meeting come a week or two, though. She doesn't live in our area, but she's at the huaca more often than not, so we teach her there (and the huaca is in our area). Plus she's a cool person, and maybe we're just a little too selfish to have other missionaries enjoy the teaching experience.

Gisela was baptized on Saturday. I performed the baptism, and my companion did the confirmation in Sacrament meeting. Gisela is 14 years old, and a little while ago she came to live with her sister, who has been a member for 4 years. She received most of the mission lessons with Roxana at the Bishop's house. They're a handful when you get them together, but she's quite teachable with or without peer distractions.

We had some neat teaching experiences this week. On Thursday, we had a surprise work visit with the Assistants. I went with Elder Salazar, and we were going to proselyte in his area all afternoon, but there was a missionary who was having trouble, so he was doing interviews and I was stuck in the office all afternoon, doing some chores. But I took advantage of the situation and made some reports that my ward had asked for. I also noticed - while I did those reports - the baptismal records of several people I had found and taught in Cajamarca. You might remember Yesenia Chavez? (see letters written to you back in March, April, and May) I got to see her gain a testimony, but her baptism wasn't until her 18th birthday (on that same day), for not-too-conspicuous reasons, in November. That made me happy.

I woke up in the office Elders' apartment and we had a fun meeting with all of the zone leaders at 7am. That lasted until 12pm. We practiced teaching effectively to meet needs. And we practiced and practiced and practiced until we got it, more or less.

Later on that day (this being Friday now), we had a work visit with Elder Johnson, one of our district leaders. He came to our area, and my companion went to his area with his companion, Elder Smith. While I had been at the office, my companion had set up an appointment with Dante and Jesùs, two young men who were referrals from Glenda. Elder Johnson and I found them and had a long-ish lesson, trying to apply the principles I had learned that morning in our training session. It made sense. The Spirit was stronger than all of the Restoration lessons we had taught before. We invited them to be baptized (yes, right after meeting them), and they both accepted. But Dante had a doubt: is it bad to be baptized if I've already been baptized? We invited him to pray about it, because that's the only way he can know if he needs a baptism that counts.

Yesterday, we had a similar experience. We taught Gisela and Jenny, two women who were invited to the Relief Society volleyball game and who were introduced to us while we were there on Tuesday. The teaching was different in terms of the words, but the message was the same. I suppose that's the root of adapting the teaching to meet the needs of our investigators. All of the Restoration seemed to apply to them. When we invited them to pray to know if it was true, Gisela said, "It's true." We identified the feelings they had and invited them to pray anyways, and not just take our word for it. Teaching like this takes a lot more effort, mentally and spiritually. We have to fight our way through the Great Apostasy until everyone understands that the next thing the Lord would have to do is call another prophet and restore the Gospel and its necessary authority. But it works. That's why I like Preach My Gospel.

Whew. I've got a minute and 10 seconds left (sorry, don't know if I mentioned, but our internet time is limited to 45 minutes now). I'd send pictures, but it looks like it's a little late for that. I hope a thousand words is worth a picture.

Thanks for your love, prayers, letters, thoughts, and smiles (well, I can't see them, but I know they're on your faces).

Love,
Elder Withers

people

2009-01-19T13:49:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

It rained more this week than in the last 5 years in Trujillo, I think. But the last 4 days have been dry, though partly cloudy. Maybe the "el niño" rumors were unfounded. We'll see.

I don't have much time to write all this, but I'd like to talk about all the people we've been teaching this week.

Glenda (16) and Juliett (13) are sisters - they play with the young women on their volleyball team. Glenda is impatient, loud, and - as they say it here - has a strong character. She insists on being baptized. Her mother, Lorena, doesn't want to give her permission quite yet. For being strong in character, she makes and keeps commitments. She reads her Book of Mormon more than anybody else and wants to learn more. Now. We're trying to strengthen her relationship with her mom so that they can compromise. Juliett is a little more quiet, but has the same desire to be baptized. Lately, they have been spending lots of time with Nataly (17) and Rosa (14), who are members of the Church. We usually teach them in their home. Their mom, Flor, is one of the counselors in the young womens' presidency.

Paola (16) also plays on the volleyball team, but she doesn't seem as interested in listening to the missionary lessons (you might say she's bordering on the flirtatious side of things). Nevertheless, she keeps commitments and comes to church (sometimes). Her mother doesn't really want to talk to us at all. The time will come, I suppose.

Norma (13) lives two doors down from Paola. She's part of the volleyball group, too, and probably the most mature out of all of them. She started reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning without being invited to. She also wants to be baptized, but her parents are out of town till the end of the month. Her grandparents are in charge right now, but it seems like a better idea to work with parents.

Well, I've got a minute left, so I'll check out. Thanks for your letters and prayers. I got a little package from Carly Chambers this week. Sweet pillowcase! Thanks!

Love,
Elder Withers

new shoes

2009-01-12T19:18:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

Whispers are going around of "el niño" coming again this summer. (And by the way, using an "ñ" down here is a piece of cake - they stuck that button in right where the semicolon is supposed to be: I'm never going to be able to type normal again!) I'm not really up-to-date on the meteorology of this phenomenon, but what I gather is that Oregon weather just slides several thousand miles down the coast and dumps buckets on Peru. My companion and I reasoned that because of water use in baptisms every week, Heavenly Father sends us more water to keep things from drying up. Yesterday, it began to rain while we were in church, and it kept going until we went to bed. We helped sweep water off the roof (well, it's actually the same level as our floor - we sort of live in a room on the roof) last night when we got back for dinner. The big, flat cement rooves here aren't made to handle water. Gravity takes it down into the house any way it can if there's enough rain. There was water coming in through the church roof on Saturday night after the baptismal service, too. We mopped up the wet spot and set a bucket underneath it before informing someone who could do something about it. It reminded me of The Sword and the Stone, when Merlin is in that high top tower with several umbrellas and all his pots being filled with water. A rainbow showed up right before the baptismal service and it seemed to stretch across the entire evening sky. The second counselor's wife, Nelly, said it was the first time in her life that she had seen one. We were happy to sing, "When I Am Baptized" (the one that starts "I love to look for rainbows...") in both English and Spanish all day long. It seemed fitting.

Roxana Valdiviezo and Manuel Cabanillas were both baptized on Saturday night. They are 12 and 13, respectively, and they're both the bishop's neighbors. Roxana had decided that she wanted to be baptized a while ago (and so had been coming to church already for a time), and thanks to the help from the bishop and his wife, her parents gave permission for her to be baptized. My companion performed the ordinances for them, and they both bore their testimony afterwards. It was emotional for them both - and I'm happy for them. Elder Johnson, the district leader who interviewed Roxana, told us a funny story from the interview. He said that as he was going over the law of chastity, he shared a scripture about adultery. He told us that Roxana asked, "Have you committed adultery?" That's exactly the way she is.

As I may have mentioned last week, the summer youth sports activities have provided us with lots of work. We're teaching a group (very tempting to say "gaggle") of young women who have joined in the volleyball fun. We stopped by the stake center, where the games were going on, to support our ward and our investigators on Wednesday afternoon. Unfortunately, the organization was poor, and our team lost by just one point. (You may find it difficult to lose by one point if you actually know volleyball rules... I'm doubting if they actually know them all..) Some of the girls were angry, they were all upset, and they seemed to stamp their feet as they marched into the stake center to cool off with some Pepsi. You might have seen me smirk for a minute, but even so I offered the Young Women's president and the volleyball coach to give them a pep talk. (Having investigators play in church ball is playing with fire, I think. Nevertheless, I'm seeing some good fruits from it, so I'll live with it.) Mom, I understand why you didn't stay coaching the high school girls at Sunset for long back in the day. In fact, I distinctly remember some grumbling about girls and drama and gossip, and so forth. I grumble with you! "Verily, I say unto you, this is not my doctrine. Behold, this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away." (3 Nephi 11) Anyway, I just tried to apply coaching principles from every sportsmanship authority I could think of - namely Mom, John Wooden, Dad, etc. I think I even quoted Uncle Paul in one of his e-mail subject lines (one of those e-mails that I didn't get to read..): the robbed that smiles steals something from the thief. They seemed to like that. It's even easier to say in Spanish.

Anyhow, I can't really go on about all the things that are involved in that mess. My companion and I are deciding just to not get involved. We just teach. Though as missionaries, we're planning to play volleyball today in the afternoon.

About a week ago, as we were walking down Girardot Street, we were swarmed by a group (again, gaggle) of little girls. They asked us who we were, if we spoke English, and things like that. We told our names, and the 2-year-old screamed for joy and went running off down the street. We invited them to "something really exciting,"
holding the suspense to the last moment, telling them about Sacrament Meeting this Sunday. I understand why the Savior said, "Of such is the kingdom of heaven." As soon as the words "sacrament meeting" left my lips, the girls shouted for joy, with their hands in the air, and celebrated. "Sunday at 10am!" we told them as we walked away. Then, Friday morning, we were walking on Girardot again, the same little girls running around in the street, when all of our appointments had failed us. The excited two-year-old from before pointed to her house, and we talked to an older lady (turns out to be her grandma) through the window. She invited us in! We talked a little about the Restoration, and my companion felt inspired to leave her a Book of Mormon. Her name is Lucila. She said she felt so much better after we had talked to her, telling us that she was feeling really down before we arrived. The next day, we shared all of the Restoration message. Lucila had read 3 Nephi 11 and prayed about it. Her favorite part was when Jesus gave Nephi authority to baptize and then explained how we are to be baptized. I said many silent prayers of awe and gratitude. The Lord is so good to us. Lucila came to church yesterday and stayed for all three hours. What a sweet lady.

Whew. I want to write so much more, but time is running out. Just be content to know that I'm as happy as can be and the only thing that could possibly make me happier is maybe a letter or two every now and then.

Love,
Elder Withers

p.s. I also got some new shoes last Monday. They're a little big. I didn't like them before I bought them, but now I like them a lot. The subject line not only has to do with this, but is a metaphor for the change of heart and attitude (hopefully) reflected above.