good glasses

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

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)

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

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.