April 1-15, 2013

April 1, 2013
All continues to go well. The ward is super excited because after going through a very sad streak of poor attendance, it finally bumped up to 110 people this Sunday .  They only had about 50 to 60 people going before.  In  these past 3 weeks we´ve really seen the fruits of having 4 missionaries in one ward, two of which being the hardest working sister missionaries in the entire mission. It really is inspiring to see how dedicated sister missionaries can be to the work.  Chambeadoras.

For the first time in my mission, or at least for the first time in a while, we our actually teaching families. We´ve found several wonderful couples that have a lot of potential and Maria Felicita has proven to be even more of a gift from God because her son, Henry  turned out to be a member.  He got baptized in 1994 and has been inactive for 15 years. He now has a wife and son who is 6. He´s got every desire to go back to the church and is understanding the message clearer than before.  The 4 of them went to church on Sunday. Also, we are teaching another young girl, 19, that has a baptismal date for the 21 of April. We hope to see progress in the couples that we have found, though. Pray a lot for them. 

On Tuesday the assistants came out to do a work visit with us.  It was cool having Elder Iribar in the room for two nights and we talked about all the memories we had in Lopez Albujar when we were just starting the mission.  On Wednesday we had interviews with the President and in the afternoon he went tracting with us.   When we were teaching Henry it started raining and he just so happens to live in a hilly area without paved roads.  When we left his house it was raining cats and dogs and we had to hop around the mud downhill and try not to fall. The president is still quite agile, but Elder Muralles took a funny spill and was covered in mud.  We got back to the room drenched.  I’d say it was quite the memory with President Rowley.   We will be taking a bus out to Piura for a monthly zone leader council in the mission home.  I’m not looking forward to 6 hours in a cramped bus.  Anyways, life is going well. I enjoy every update that you give me and your words of counsel are very appreciated. Hope all is well at home. Enjoy the snow.    

April 8, 2013

We had a made a nice trip to Piura last Monday.   It was a long 5.5 hour drive in a cramped bus but arrived at the mission office and had a great time talking with a few of the elders that are working there. One was  Elder Pereyra, my son, and one was Elder Peralta, my ex comp. We had the zone leaders council on Tuesday and ate Pizza Hut for lunch (sooooo good) and then traveled back up to Tumbes.   The other zone leaders are cool and we see them a lot. One of them is from the states and is a good friend.  You´ll see pictures of us frolicking through an open field after dropping some missionaries off at the small Tumbes airport yesterday. 

 

 

General Conference was amazing. We went to all the sessions in the stake center. The only session that filled up was on Sunday morning.  The two big themes were definitely preaching the gospel and families.   

Today we played soccer in a coliseum with the other zone.  I have never sweated so much in my life as I do here.  Even though we were out of the sun for a change it was still super hot.  Love you family. Thanks for the updates on your lives.  Hope all is well.

April 15, 2013    21

Wow, can you believe it?  I’m turning 21. What a shock. But to be honest, I don’t even feel it. Maybe it´s because I’m in the mission and I can’t really celebrate, or I am just getting old and birthdays are less exciting now, but it´ll be like any other day.  I’m sure my pensionista and her daughter are going to smash eggs over my head.   We´ll just wait and see. But thanks to everyone for writing and wishing me a happy birthday!

This week went well and I’ve got some news to report... Maria got baptized yesterday! That viejita (oldy) is so awesome. She has such a warm spirit and funny personality. I was able to baptize her. When I entered the font I realized that the drains on the walls were clogged. The water was about 1 inch from the top and still filling. There was no time to turn off the water or open the drain because we were already in the water! So we went on with it.... 10 gallons of water went pouring out of the font, soaking the two witnesses. haha. But it was a pretty service and she bore a powerful testimony on Christ afterwards.  She is my second oldest convert (78) with the oldest being Eva, 82. There is another girl, Jany, that we have been teaching that will get baptized this Saturday.

 



Today we went downtown and took pictures near the river on a big walkway that they built in 2003, then in a park called ¨Kiss park¨, and then by a cool art piece in the central plaza of Tumbes. It is a pretty beautiful city with lots of stuff to see... considering what I’m used to in other areas.

Love ya´ll      Elder Farmchico

Fun Pictures from Elder Farmer

 

 

Boys will be Boys.....

 

 

TUMBES

 

Lots of Walking...... 

MANGOS! 

 

March 2013

March 4, 2013                      que vengan las lluvias

We have found a few solid people and one family that has great potential l.   I’m trying my best to leave the area in order for the next missionary that will be coming in next week. Yep, this is the last week of the transfer which means I may be out of here.  It is weird to think that I have been here since September and that I have the same amount of time left in the mission has I have had here in this area.

 

 

On Wednesday we went back to the old couples house where we had previously dug a hole  and made it even deeper. They are ready to seal the top off with some cement and call it a septic tank.  On Saturday night the rain season officially started. We didn´t even realize it had rained until we woke up and saw the streets filled with water. The majority of the people were up all night trying to keep water out of their homes with buckets. They use bricks made out of just sand and water that harden and make for a cheap wall and don’t require a foundation. But, when the rain comes you can imagine the panic because water washes it right away if you´re not careful.

We went to another beach today to a place called Yasila.  It is a lot less touristy and easy going than Colan and  super gorgeous. We climbed around  the rocks and took some great pictures by the water.  I love to hear that Nick is recuperating  slowly but surely.

 

March 11, 2013 

 

They announced that transfers this morning and it turns out that it`ll be my first time having 5 transfers in one area and 3 transfers with one companion.  My time here in Paita is up and tomorrow I am heading to Piura bright and early to found out where God is sending me. It is weird to think that my birthday is just one month away and that I`ve been in two areas in 11 months! Time really has flown by since I first got to Paita.  I have learned so much as a district leader and companion and feel ready to sacar el ancho and work my tail off.

We started teaching a super special family in the past week and a half. They live in the very last block of our area, just before entering the dessert. They are a young couple but already have 5 kids! The rains came in 2 weeks ago and they didn’t have a solid roof so for two nights they slept huddled together soaking wet. This week we helped them put together their house a bit.   I never would have imagined seeing something like this to tell the truth. They build their ¨houses¨ out of whatever they can find. Four posts put into the ground, wooden crates for walls or whatever other plywood you can find, and then cardboard to cover the holes and a tin roof. It was quite the project and quite the moving experience to see how their kids are so happy even with having SO very little. Life is tough out here for the people. If the fishing isn`t going well, everyone suffers and is out of work.   I have enjoyed my time here and will fill you in on the transfer next week. 

 

 March 18 2013    I got Subed
What an exciting transfer.  I was sure that I´d be getting sent to another area as district but it turns out   that President Rowley gave me a new assignment as zone leader! How great.  So Tuesday morning me and just 5 other missionaries from Paita went to Piura for the transfer meeting (about an hour and 15 minute drive in bus.  I was sent...... to TUMBES.  Woah!  A 5 and a half hour drive up north in bus. The trip was super awesome because we follow the beach for about 2 hours.  I had mentioned in the past that Tumbes is the northern most zone in the mission by Ecuador.   It is known for its heat and humidity this time of year when the rains come in but It´s super cool most of the time considering what I’m  now used to.  And the best part is that it´s super green up here!  Paita is literally a dessert, but up here it rains a ton and there are plants all over.

 

There are two zones in tumbes: Tumbes, and Puyango. I´m in Puyango with 14 other missionaries in the zone and just 2 sister missionaries. The ward  is called Andres Araujo.  My companion is from Guatamala and his name is Elder Muralles.   We´ve found some great prospects to teach.  We´ve got lots of work to do but I’m ready.  Visiting other districts, traveling to Piura for Zone Councils, work visits with the assistants, etc, should be quite the experience.

March 25, 2013

We found a super awesome grandma named Maria Felicita. We found her last Sunday and she quickly explained to us that she had recently moved to Tumbes and had been living in the jungle with another daughter of hers.  When she was there she was visited by ¨los mormonsitos¨ but couldn’t get baptized because she had to travel out here and there wasn´t time.  She came out here and for a few weeks asked her self where in the world the Mormons were, when all of a sudden we knocked on her door and found her again. She´s got to be 75 at least but is super funny in her own old lady kind of way.  We´ve been working hard. The ward is looking positive. I’m praying for miracles.                     Elder Rymuchaco

February 2013

February 4, 2013   Hola Familia,  Esta Bien      All is well here in Paita.  Today for p-day we went on a little excursion. We had always seen a little lighthouse of in the distance and wondered what was out there. We asked around a bit and decided to go check it out as a zone. It was a nice little walk/hike and from the top we enjoyed a nice little view of the other side of the bay and Paita. There are great people and missionaries out here that make the mission worthwhile.  I am happy and well. Thanks for the messages and pictures. The kid next to me is playing that song from japan called the horse dance or something... why is that so popular?  PS. I am praying hard for all of the extended family members that are struggling with health problems and my heart goes out to them.

 

\

 

February 11     We have officially entered the center of the sun. Or at least it feels like it.  Our room was at 95 degrees Fahrenheit when we left to go to the internet cafe.  At night it gets down to a cool 84.  We didn´t do anything special today for p-day. Just played some soccer with a few kids from the branch in the sun and now have to clean up the room. On Friday they brought every companionship  their kitchens. The mission has been talking about starting to cook for a long time now and it has finally happened. Now every room has a fridge, electric stove, microwave, pots and pans, and dish washing supplies. We´ll start to cook our breakfast and dinner on the 15th and will only be eating lunch in a pension.  This should be a neat experience. There is ZERO room where we are right now so we had to find another room that is a little bigger. On Friday we´re moving into the new room that is just a few blocks away.

I’m posting a picture of a tree that is full of hanging plastic goods.  That is a northern tradition here. They call it a gunsi tree.  It´s to celebrate some ¨Saint Sebastian¨. They cut down a perfectly healthy and beautiful tree, then put it back in the ground and hang all sorts of ¨gifts¨ from its branches (the gifts are always plastic stuff. buckets, chairs, spoons, bowls, idk why) and then play loud music and march around the neighborhood for 2 days before cutting it down and collecting all the gifts that fall. Pretty weird.  But that is what kept us up all Saturday night. Haha, Peruvian traditions.

 

February 18     Thursday and Friday we took time in the mornings to pack up and head to the new room that has a lot more space and where we can start cooking our own meals for breakfast and dinner. Haha.  Our first cooking experience on Saturday was a disaster. Something so simple sounding ended up taking forever and we burnt the rice and didn’t eat until 11. It was a lot easier just eating in a pension and having my meals made for me. I feel like I’m at college again. The good news is that I can go back to eating just milk and cereal for breakfast but dinner is a mystery.   Elder Uceda from the Seventy is coming to visit the mission on Thursday. It will be a great opportunity to receive some serious revelation.

PS. My soccer skills are out of this world now. You can start calling me Messi Ronaldo if you want. Haha. Not really. But almost seriously.

February 28

On Thursday, Elder Uceda from the Seventy came and visited the mission. We traveled to Piura and met up with 6 other zones to hear Elder Uceda. He analyzed the words trifle and sober in the scriptures. Trifle means to take something very sacred lightly whereas sober means to be serious and committed. As a mission we must take every lesson, every commitment, every principle, and every day with soberness. If we trifle, we will not see as many results. He analyzed it in so many ways and gave so many examples of how we can take the work more seriously. It really was a powerful and spiritual discussion.
Cooking has gone well.  I've decided to prepare very easy things - egg sandwiches, noddles with tomato sauce, precooked hamburgers, etc.
I sure do miss the snow.  I am going to suffer when I get back and it snows.  70 degrees feels like a frozen tundra to me.  Two weeks until the next transfer.  That is GREAT news about Nick!  P.S.  I completed 18 months yesterday.   Woooooahh



Janaury 21 - 28

Hope all is well. I feel particularly blessed today to be in the mission. I wouldnt want to be in any other place in the world. Yesterday we had the baptism of Flavio. It was a very awesome experience to get to know him and teach him. Right after the baptism he asked us, ¨Do you have an envelope so I can pay my tithing?¨ What faith! It really was a miracle that we could find him and help him to know the message of the restored gospel. We stopped teaching him for about a month because we couldnt find him and he appeared uninterested, but we went back and found him ready. Me da miedo solo imaginar que hubiera pasado si le habriamos dejado por siempre. Perhaps he didnt get baptized with a perfect understanding of the restoration and Joseph Smith... but that´s not what the Lord requires. All he expects is a broken heart and contrite spirit. And flavio always had that. He acted upon his feelings and has shown a great love for the Savior. I had the privelage of baptizing him. ¨How was the water, Flavio?¨ ¨Awesome.¨ Haha

This is the last week before transfers. This transfer flew by  fast and I’m definitely a little nervous for the coming transfer. I’m super comfortable with where I am at.  Paita is awesome. It’s very hot just like any other place in Piura. but it’s so close to the ocean that we get the nice ocean breeze. Also, the people are amazing... members, pensionista, etc. But it is always nice to have new doors to knock and people to get to know. It will be interesting to see what God has in store for me in these last 5 transfers. WOW! Just 5 more! But yeah.  I’m loving the mission as much as I can and my time here in South America.

Wow, I cant beleive it. I am staying in my area for yet another transfer! I never would have thought that i´d stay in one area for 6 months yet again.