Meeting a Prophet

Hey everyone,

So there is Sooooo much to say and so little time to say it in haha. I spent way tooo much time looking at the pictures of Nola and Delsen that my mom sent me.... 

First, Happy birthday Thomas!

Second, Mom i got the package!! thanks so much for the candy. ive shared a little bit with a few little kids haha they love american canday... haha

Third, Sister Beck, Thanks for the wonderful card you sent. It meant a lot to me. haha Elder Jarman has been one of my favorite companions and Im learning a lot from him. He is a great missionary... I hope I am doing my part to help him out... (we love the christmas tree you sent him hahahaha)

Fourth, Aunt Brenda, thanks so much for the happy clickers. My comp and I were counting our blessings on the way to dinner and with the clickers haha. we had a lot of fun. it really put us in a good mood and its a great motivation for us. Its a blessing to be able to count blessings haha.

Fith, I HIT 18 MONTHS THIS WEEK!!! I only have 6 months left!! what am i going to do!!!

So pretty much this has been the best week of my MIssion!!! i think i can honestly say that. haha.

I loved the conference with Elder Nelson sooooo much. I was only 10 feet from him as he talked and wow.... I wish i could describe the feelings that i had in that room. There were over 420 misionaries there from the 2 missions of Chiclayo and Piura and each of us got to shake his hand... wow... what a feeling. I know that man is a prophet of God.

Im sorry i dont have much time to explain exaclty what happened but i want to share a thought he shared with us.

What i learned from the conference was this.... Sometimes we run into people in our lives not necesarrily because THEY need to hear the gospel in that moment, but sometimes we are guided to them because one of their ancestors NEEDS their ordinances done and they are praying for us to find them.

There is an army working on both sides of the veil.

sorry so short. I love you all!!

Always turn outward, and keep smiling!!

Elder Bunker

pictures are of my companions christmas tree and elder Jarman and I at the Conference with president Nelson.

Elder Nelson... Preparing to meet a prophet, seer, and revelator...

Hey Everyone,

So this week has been really good. I love finishing a good week and seeing all the fruits.

First, This week we have been completing with alll of our goals and we have been analyzing how we are going to be setting all of our goals for the next month. I really want to stay in this area forever, i fell like if i jsut had a bit more time we could be doing some really good things in this area. It really makes me nervous because  this week i hit my 18 month mark. I can hardly believe 3/4 of the mission is gone... It really makes me feel a HUGE need to work even more....

Elder Jarman is great. He is putting up with me just fine. We have gotten pretty good at making goals and becomming more effective. He reminds me a lot of my time with my second trainer Elder Larson. haha. I hope we get to the point of doing thirty lessons a week like we had before. I think more than anything else the biggest challenge we have is trying to get the members to take the iniciative in everything. I feel like if we can help the member gain that missionary spirit it will be something much more long lasting. I feel like I could just go out and do hundreds of contacts and baptize maybe, but it wouldnt last very long after leaving peru.... i really feel that if i want to leave a deep spiritual impression behind it will have to be in the life of the members... (so any member of the church who is not wearing a missionary tag remember that you are all the KEY in the missionary success.)

I have been writing a lot of the converts recently and i havent gotten too many replies. I want them to know i havent forgotten them. I have gotten replies from a few of my pensions. Haha my pensions have all been just like moms to me. Even sister Elva (my pension right now) she is one of the hardest working ladies i have met. Sometimes that scripture about moroni comes into my head when i think.... If all members were like Sister Elva.... hahaha.

So pretty much, This coming week is going to be crazy. Elder Nelson is coming this wednesday!!! Im so excited. we have been preparing for almost a month now, i feel excited, nervous, and really anxious to hear what he has to say.... I really want to be ready. It struck me a few weeks ago and the thought has freqeuently returned that this is really a little bit of what one might feel when getting ready to meet the saviour... wow.... 

Im really hoping i can get an answer to some big decisions and questions that i have... The mission is really easy as far as decisions goes.... there isnt much of a question as to what one has to do in the mission... but there are some big things that one has to decide. 

Wow i really hope im ready for this... 

I wonder sometimes what it will be like to shake his hand. i have had dreams several times this week about meeting him... i think my mind is still trying to figure it out. 

well thats all the time i have

I love you all,

Always turn Outward and keep smiling

Elder Bunker

ps The pictures are from this change... i havent taken any reciently but these are some fun ones 

the second one is of my mini misionary and Elder Jarman when we had our change.

pps I`m glad to hear that Thomas is doing so good. He is going to be an excellent missionary. i can hear his voice practically in his letters but there are some parts where its clear he is already changing. haha he is so lucky to be there in the MTC and be so close to the Prophets and Apostles so often haha.

Week 2 training Elder Jarman

Hey Everyone,

So pretty much this week has been really good. Elder Jarman and I have accomplished a lot and i think we get a long really well as companions. haha we like to joke around and its been fun. Elder Jarman has been my youngest companion but he has been one of my favorites. This week he really helped me set some neat goals that is helping the area progress.

The coolest part of this week is that La Pradera is now a BRANCH!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! haha i feel like im in morrope again and i finally got that oppertunity to see the area become a branch. haha. i know that might not seem that cool but to me its fantastic. haha we need 60 members more to become a ward and build a chapel and i want to be here to do it. i hope president never takes me out!!!! haha that wont ever happen but it would be cool to be here to finish the mission.

We have had such a good week though because we have been focused on our goals and it really has helped me feel more accomplished haha.

im so glad that the lord is so loving and kind to his children to allow us to have the experiences we need to progress... I hope we can accomplish our goals!!

Love you all

Always turn outward and keep smiling

Elder Bunker

All My Friends are Dead

Hey Everyone!

So first I have to explain the Title of the email and the pictures below. Today a lot of missionaries ended their mission. So we when to the mission office to say goodbye and take pictures. Here in the mission we say that when someone ends their mission they "die" because its kind of like passing through the veil in a way. One has a Interveiw with the president about how the mission went and then they get on an airplane to go to another far away land to a home they had before. (mini plan of salvation right?) So reciently a lot of my friends are dying... and its been kind of sad. 

Lets say that we all live to be about 80 years old right?? if that is true than I am about 60 years old in the terms of the mission.... and all my freinds are dead. haha. The good thing is (both on the mission and in what one might call "real life") I know i will see all of them again, and there are many more adventures waiting for us beyond the veil.

This week has also been a little sad because my mini is going home. He has finished his time here in the mission and now can go back to his family. I hate changes because it always means you have to say goodbye to someone.... Carlos has become a really good friend and we have had a lot of good times. I hope we stay in touch. As one would say at BYU he is a "stud". 

At the same time, its kind of happy because i will be getting a comp missionary. I just got told today, though, that i will be training. Its my second or third time "training" but really this is my first "son" in the mission. I have no idea if he is gringo or latino. So i might have to be teaching some spanish soon. Changes are tommorrow so we will find out then.

Graciela didnt get baptized. we had to postpone the date. I hope it wasnt the wrong thing to do, but i hate just throwing together a baptism last second. I feel like to have a good solid baptism we really need a lot of member help. Im still getting to know the group a little bit. Its hard because i love visiting the members and getting to know them, but at the same time I feel a need to always be in the feild. There is a sense of urgency that i didnt feel before in the mission and i think it is from seeing so many missionaires go home and knowing that i am almost there as well. (mid-life-crisis??)

we WILL have a baptism this weekend though. we are teaching two little kids. Alex and Jahir. They are the BOM.COMhaha. they have been attending chuch with their grandma for half a year now and they just got permission from their mom to get baptized. they are super excited. their grandma has been telling me that they had problems fighting each other but  they have stopped fighting since we began teaching them. Even little kids go through a process of repentance and a change of heart i guess. Its so easy to love them. They remind me of little brothers i guess.

We are also still teaching a lady named Aurora. (I dont know if i mentioned her before) she is great. she wants to get baptized but she needs to get married first. Even though she has been sick for this last little bit she went to church for the first time ON HER OWN haha. she has been to a baptism and general conference and she loves everything, but we are really going to need member help to pull the whole family together to help them get married and baptized. my greatest desire for them is to see them as an eternal family enter the temple

I love the Pradera, and NEVER in my mission not even in Morrope have i asked president to let make stay longer or take me out earlier, but wow, its really tempting to do that here. I really would love to end my mission here working with everthing that is left in me. 

I love the mission and It has been the greatest blessing in my life. I am praying for the future missionaries because their are so many little things that could distract them from receiving the real blessings of this life.

I love you Bunker Family. I miss you all. I love showing pictures of the family to explain to people what an eternal family is. I am forever grateful to have those blessings in my life.

well thats all i have time for.

Love you all,

Always turn Outward, and Keep smiling!

Elder Bunker

Last Week with Mini

Hey everyone,

So this week has been super good. I have loved being able to work with carlos (i hope he can say the same thing about me haha). we have had a lot of success and i am tempted to tell the mission president to send more missionaries to the area because there is so much work to do!!! im really excited for the area. I LOVE the members here and i love the people and really just everything about the work. ( I really would like to stay here for the remaining 8 months of the mission )

So this week we have been working a lot with Graciela. She has a baptismal date for this saturday!!! Wow, talk about fast. I really want to plan it well so that she can remember it. She really reminds me of mom sometimes and maybe thats why im so excited for her baptism and helping her. I really hope she takes the step and understands everything. Sometimes its a little hard to communicate because she is a little deft (hard of hearing). I hope that with the remaining lessons she can really understand well and apply them. I have been thinking about postponing the date so that everything isnt as rushed, but we will see how it goes. 

I am super happy to hear Thomas is doing well in the MTC and that there are a few of the HT kids little siblings there too. I really hope the whole church can catch fire with the spirit of the work. there is a lot to do and sometimes it feels like there is little time to do it.

Grandma and Grandpa i dont know if you will get this email, so mom if you can send it to them that would be great. I met a girl who served with Grandma and Grandpa in the Cusco mission in Urubamba. her name is sister Villegas. she is on the ward council and works in the primary. She is really cool and from what i can see she is a great support in the church.

Our little family group will be a branch soon. :D im super excited and i feel really priveledged. i hope they build a chapel here soon because we dont fit in the house chapel anymore. haha. 

My areal is a lot like morrope and it makes me really excited to serve them. and easier to love them too!!

Well love you all!!

Always turn outward and keep smiling,

Elder Bunker

ps the pictures are me with Carlos (mini-misionary) and the other is my old comp and i with an investigator and member in the airport to say goodbye.

Week 3 with MIni - PreChristmas General Conference

hey everyone

sorry this might be short. 

5 min with a bad keyboard haha.

conference was great. mini is doing better, he is talking a lot more and the people really enjoy his testimony. i hope i can motivate him to turn in his papers and go on a mission. 

im super happy with this weeks work. we have been able to do a lot, but at the same time i feel like we have a lot more to do.

Hermana Graciela is going to get baptized!! her date is the 19th. i hope carlos can baptize her. i think seeing that baptism really helped her feel the spirit. she doesnt hear very well, but what she SAW really touched her. i hope all goes well. haha she is awesome because she takes her 2 grown daughters to the church and encourages them to listen to us.

we are having a blast here. i want to be here till the end of my mission seriously. I am really tempted to ask the president to send more missionaries here to help in the work. the feild is white!!!! I feel a great love for the people here and it is growing everyday.

LOVE you all!!!

keep smiling, always turn outward

Elder Bunker

pic is of the baptisn my first interveiw as DL! :D

Changes.....

Hey Everyone

sorry this will be short. i dont have much time.

first. i dont have a companion right now.... my companion went to his mission in Dominica Republicana and so now im with a member missionary for the next month haha. suprise!!! im not training anymore haha... more or less.

Im super bummed he left. he was a good comp. My new comp is named Carlos. he is a really cool youth who wants to serve a mission but has a lot of opposition from his family. i just met him today so i still need to get to know him more, but we have had a good time so far. 

whats crazy about all of this is i still dont know the area. so we are going to be getting lost these next few weeks, but we should figure it out soon haha.

the district is good. we have a few problems but with the help of the lord we are working them out...

Hope all is well at home. Im excited for conference :D

Im super glad there is another missionary from the family in the feild

Love you all!!

always turnoutward and keep smiling

elder bunker

Changes...

Hey everyone,

So... I have a transfer!!! This will have to be short because im in the mission office right now. I have left Cajamarca and i have no idea where i am going... 

Im wont sugarcoat it.... im super bummed.... I had about one of the coolest companiones and even though the area was super rough I loved it. Elder Driggs has been my companion for 2 transfers now and we have talked about almost everything haha. I hope we get the chance to do somethigns after the mission. He has become one of my best freinds here in the mission.

I am also kind of sad. I left a few converts and i didnt get to say goodbye to all of them... who knows when the opertunity will come to return.... Cajamarca is so far away i will never have the chance to see them unless i come back after the mission... 

I also left 3 pensions.... most people only have 1 in a zone.... i had three and each wonderful sister has been like a mother to me.... especially the sister Elizabeth Soria.... oh man. That was a rough one to say goodbye to. When i first got to cajamarca i was opening an area with elder Molina and we had all sorts of difficulties, but sister E. was always there to comfort us, re-excite us to keep workign and helped us to really feel at home. I cannot imagine my life without meeting her and her wonderful family. I have yet another wonderful example to me of what kind of family i would like to have (the first example would be my own family)

Some favorite memories of mine from cajamarca:

always being chased by dogs.... doesnt matter if its the smallest dog in the world it has to bark at us....

playing guitar on Pdays with driggs.

Walking up the mountain EVERYDAY.... and the walking up the OTHER MOUNTAIN after...

English Clases.

Missionary Nights.

Listenign to BYU talks on the Ipod at night after planning

PDAYS to waterfalls, rockformations and soccer stadiums.

Havign the most ridiculous district ever 

getting sick with driggs (haha)

avoiding snakes

teaching alien nerds haha

meeting Brother Martin (coolest RM ever!)

etc.

Its been a good six months in cajamarca and it has gone too fast..... I cant beleive the mission is ending so sooon. But there are still many more experiences up ahead. As Martin put it "life is an adventure!! and it will always be, the trick is to find it!!"

sorry so short, I love you all!!

Always turn outward and keep smiling,

and go find the adventure in life!!!

Elder Bunker

the pictures are of saying goodbye today

Ward Conference

Hey Everyone

So this week has been a roller coaster ride....haha. I cant say it has been the easiest week in the misión and i cant say its hasn't been the hardest either. so... yes its been the hardest... haha.... actually thats a lie. It hasnt been too bad.

Cajamarca is entering its rainy season. so.... we have definately gotten unexepectedly soaked this week haha. Our área is very mountainy so this week we have had to climb mountains in the rain it would have been fun if our investigators would answer the door and be in their house when we get to the top of the mountain.... haha. But thats the work i guess... My legs have had their workout in this área.

We are currently in the process of looking for investigators and for about a month now we have been visiting the members and ansking for references and we were having a Little bit of success but all of a sudden the references have stopped coming and the Ward has turned cold. So we have been contacting a Little this week. We found a promising future investigator who is named rosaurio. she is super cool and interested in the church... in about two week she is going to quit her job to be a full time mom, so we are hoping she will be able to come to church. (we found her at the top of one of our mountains when all of the visits fell through so i hope the lord was trying to put us in her way)

While we were walking up the mountain a few days ago I ran into Pablo (an investigator from another área whos family i was teaching) and I found out his wife just had their first child!! I hope the missionaries there stay on that family he will take more time to get into the church but He would be the coolest member. I was also super sad because he informed me that his cousin (who was 28) had died. I was teaching his cousin too.... He was one of the coolest most chill investigators... Im glad we have a knoledge of what happens in the spirit world... i hope he is listening to the missionaries there....

This week two of the members of the Ward got married so almost all of hte Ward was invited to the wedding... including us.... but there wasnt really anything for us to do there so we walked by the door to the chapel and said congrats and left....

Yesterday we had the longest service Project ever.... it lasted from 9 in the morning till 7 at night.... we stopped half an hour to eat lunch... were digging a sewer ditch for a members house to run his sewer pipes through.... we just couldnt see all the rocks that were below the dirt.... never again will i agree to dig... it was only supposed the last the morning but it went all day.....

im not going to lie im super sore. we tried playing volleyball today... that didnt work out too well for me. The zone leaders left to Chiclayo for the the week so i took charge this week with Pday even though i couldnt do much.

We are happy though. Despite the Physical and emotional workout we have been through this week.

I love you all. hope you enjoy the pictures of our last 2 service projects... (the other one we were cleaning a old lady´s yard...) (and yes thats a machete)

Always turn outward and keep smiling

Elder Bunker

Long hard week... and Futbol in a Profesional Stadium

Hey Everyone,

So sorry if this is short i have a lot to say and very little time to say it in.

Well this week has been lonng, hard, and dry haha. To say the least we havent had much success as far as the work and numbers go. This has definately been one of the most trying areas haha. I dont know why I get one of the coolest companions in one of the roughest areas haha. There is still much work to do. I hope i dont get a transfer. I want to see a few more changes here before i leave.

So whats been happening this week... we have had very little success in finding new people and having lessons this weeek. I dont knwo why but it seems like almost every missionary goes through a week like this... I think the Lord tries to push us a little bit and helps us refine ourselves... ive made a few changes this week that i feel the Lord wanted me to make.

This week has been full of service too. We havent had many solid visits so we have been helping the members in a lot of their different activities. we have helped 3 different groups of people move this week. The sisters form the district, a young recently married couple, and a young single guy named Martin who just moved into our house... Martin has to be one of my favorite peopel in the ward now. haha He is just areally cool RM that has been helping us out a lot. He speaks almost perfect english and is a teacher here in Cajamarca... we have had a lot of good times these last few days talking to him after lunch and the small amount of free time we have...

If i get a chance i will tell you all more about him later.

Also this week we had our Talent show in the ward. haha my comp and i sung a few songs in english and spanish and later my comp dressed up like a giant ninja turtle and started fighting one of the member of the ward.... haha soooo random but super funny.

my comp has been teahcing me guitar on pdays.

Today we had fun. we played soccer in a proffesional stadium and my comp and i took some goofy lamanite headbands to go play... we can be little kids sometimes when it comes to pday. haha the pictures are us before and after playing just goofing off..

Despite all the ups and downs of the week... i feel peaceful... I dont completely understand, but I love that part of the mission knowing that this is where i need to be and that the lord is pleased with our efforts and is helping us see where we can improve... I hope this feeling of calm doesnt end with the mission....

I lvoe you all

Always turn outward and keep smiling!

Elder Bunker

Ward Progression

Hey Everyone,

Hey Thanks everyone for all the wonderful emails. I really feel loved and supported. Sometimes a kind letter can help a missionary feel like all of his efforts are worth it.

sorry all my letters are so short. Im reporting a lot more to the misión president lately with my new asignation. He always wants to hear about the district and área and everything. (sometimes i miss being a normal missionary that can jsut focus on the people, but im learning a lot)

So this week has been good. The Lord is really answering some prayers of ours. for weeks we have been praying for find a sister named Lesli . She is an amazing sister who is inactive. Her daughter wants to get baptized and we were about to place a date, but they dissapeared off the face of the earth. we pass by their house almost everyday looking for them. It really bummed me that they had dissapeared and i was really worried about them. But yesterday (lesli Works as a pólice officer - soilder fro the city) Leslie drove by in her patrol car and we saw her and waved. she stopped the car got out and we set up another visit with her. The Lord really answered that prayer.

we also found a ton of inactive members that have dissapeared from the church records and want to go back to church. Im so glad the Lord is putting people in our way. Sometimes it seems like when the heavens are the most silent the Lord is preparing something big for us. We jsut have to have patience.

Even though I dont have anything extraordinary to report like baptisms and great miracles.... I feel an inner peace.... i know im doing the lords work. and thats the greatest blessing I feel i have received this week.

im sorry this is so short.

I love you all! please keep praying for the missionaries they need your help.

Always turn outward and keep smiling.

Elder Bunker

District Blessings

Hey Everyone,

so first thank you so much chandler family for the amazing package... speacially mason. I really enjoyed getting that letting it was really nice. My comp and i enjoyed the candies a lot this week.

So here in good ol´ cajamarca we are entering kite season. haha. there is a ton of wind in the month of august here i guess so it will be fun to see (we already have seen) tons of kites everywhere. all the little shops sell kites.... maybe we might go fly kites next pday.

so this last week was really... long i guess. everyone is finally ending vacations today so we are going to be able to work a litttle bit more consistently i guess. a lot of our visits have fallen through... BUT at the same time this week has been amazing!! The Lord has really been blessing our efforts. We have two little ones with baptismal dates for the end of this month. Raul and Luz and they are awesome.... we havent been able to place a baptismal date for the longest time because their parents wouldnt give them permission but now the parents are attending church and the lord has really softened their hearts. its been quite the miracle.

We had our zone conference this week and it has been such a blessing. I have been praying for direction for our area for some time now, because it seems like we have to change our plans in some way. weve hit some kind of wall these last few weeks. but I feel like with what the president presented this last week we have found our solution.... He took me aside as well to see how things were going with the area and everything and i told him about our dificulties... he really helped us get some new ideas.

President risso also helped my district out a ton. He and the asistents talked about placing baptismal goals this conference and suddenly out of nowhere we have had a boom of baptismal dates. I am super nervous to start doing interveiws and everything like that. its going to be a new experience.

Despite our dificulties with the area I feel happy... Before the mission i woulnt have understood it, but now i recognize it as the guidance of the holy ghost.

I know the Lord is guiding this work. its not easy, it was never easy, it never will be easy, but It will ALWAYS be HIS work, and i feel so blessed to be apart of it. the time is going by so fast.... More than ever i feel an urgency to help people receive the gospel.

I love you all: I hope all is well at home!

Always turn outward, and keep smiling

Elder Bunker

First week in the new district

Hey everyone,

 

So im sorry i dont have much time. I have loved Reading all of your emails.

 

so first, the pictures that i am attaching are of a baby pig i put to sleep while we were visiting a member.... I found out if you scratch their belly they go right to sleep.... haha.

 

The other one is of my new district!! I have a lot of cool missionaries im in charge in now.

 

there is Elder Santos and Lopez who are in Celedin and they are some good old misión buddies of mine. Im really happy to work with them. I will most likely be making a few 4 hour trips to go do baptismal interveiws in their área soon.

 

there is Roldan and Giron who are in Pueblo Libre 1 and they are great missionaries. Giron and I share a Trainer (Elder Larson) so we are brothers on the misión. Roldan is a good guy from argentina and super funny too.

 

Then i have sister Challo and Rivera. I honestly dont know what to think about being in charge of sisters now. they really scare me to be honest.... I know its probably not the KINDEST thing in the world but i have developed the habit of not talking to the sisters because girls freak me out now. ... but seeing that Im now the district leader i have Little options.... haha just kiding... they are actually pretty cool, sister rivera is from mexico and is Brand new in the misión.

 

so thats the district, oh, and then me and Elder driggs.... we have been having a blast everyone together. Thursday i gave my first district meeting. it went well.... i didnt think i would be as nervous as i was, but everyone left the room with a greater desire to serve..... (speaking for an hour and a half is hard...) haha. I have my next one tomorrow. so wish me luck.... I think its helped that the majority of my comps have been leadeers..

 

today we went to a few wáter falls and took pictures. it was pretty neet then we had luch together. We are exhausted but we have 2 FHE´s to do tonight still... days not over yet.

 

Everyone is still on vacation... so i dont know what the deal is... but we just keep working.

 

Well sorry so short, thats the rap.

 

Love you all!

Always turn outward and keep smiling!!

Elder Bunker

 

 

Strange Transfer

Hey everyone

So first thing.... Suprise!!! haha i didnt have a change like i thought i would. Im going to be here in Cajamarca for at least another month (maybe even three more). I guess President Risso likes the way Elder Driggs and I are working so he kept us together. (Its rare that two gringos are together especially when they both have over a year in the mission - I have over 14 months now... isnt that crazy!!!) So that was a pleasant and unexpected suprise. Haha we have no idea what will happen in the future but we are happy for now. 

Another suprise for this change was that last night at 9:00 we got a message from the Zone Leaders saying they wanted us to call them as soon as we could. So we called them and they informed us that the districts were being changed and that they received instruction to asign and train me as a district leader.... wow. haha. im a little overwhelmed and excited and humbled really. When i first started the mission i would have loved to be district leader but after a time i lost that desire and i was really scared of the idea, but now.... I dont know... its going to be an interesting experience i guess. I have a lot to learn this week. I feel like the Lord is pushing me a little more now.

So... The area... has been rough... wont lie. But we are still happy and working. These last few days we have been looking for people to teach and not even some of the members have time for us right now... haha i guess its because everyone is on vacation and has things to do. That and we are still trying to get over a small reputational problem in the area. Because of a few past events a few of the members dont have much respect for the missionaries right now... (there are many who help us a lot though... they are truly heaven sent)

We havent been able to work with Diana much this week like we hoped. There is a lot going on in her life despite the fact she isnt studying at the moment....

We did find, however 2 really wonderful woman that we are excited to teach. They are both in their 80´s and really sweet. One is named Maria and the other Delfina. They are friends and have been going through a few dificulties with health and such. one of the members gave them a blessing that helped and they accepted to listen to us... we have been teaching them about the plan of salvation and they are really loving everything we teach. We have to teach slow but they love everything. There have been a few teary moments with them. We love them. I hope they keep progressing. Some members of their families dont want them to listen to us, but they like listening.

so thats about everything I can write this week, its been a suprising transfer.... I might have my first baptismal interveiw this week i super nervous. (I willl have to travel almost 3 hours to get to the place where the missionaries of my district are to to the interveiw... I will most likely have the chance to get to know more of peru very soon.)

Les amo a todos. Espero que todos estén bien.

Always turn outward and keep smiling,

Elder Bunker

De Repente La Ultima Semana en Cajamarca

Hey Everyone!!

So first, Bonnie and Ryan Slade thanks for the Nuts. My comp and i have really enjoyed them. The letter meant a lot to me too.

So this week has been interesting. we have worked hard this week but i feel like we are treading wáter a Little bit. I think I might have to work on my patience a Little. People sometimes dont progess like we would like them too, but then looking back on it again the Lord has His hand in everything that has been hapening

So this week we have been super worried because many of our investigators are in the middle of finals week and they dont have much time to listen to us and so there has been very Little progression in a lot of cases.

Many of them forget to read the book of mormon.

One of such is our investigator Diana, i beleieve i have mentioned her before in emails. She is an amazing Young woman that we had hoped to help get baptized this weekend but we have been running into obstacles this week with her studies and we havent really been able to teach her.... I hope she still gets baptized. I never want to push it, but i feel like i might have a transfer soon and I wont be here for the baptism. I hate leaving things in the air.

We had a really good experience with her this sunday though. We got to the house (she didnt attend church that day) and she was clearly not the same. The light that is usually in her eyes was out... and of course... she had not been Reading the book of mormon. (ALMOST ALWAYS when people read the Book of mormon and keep their comitments we can tell) I felt imediatly really sad because i realized that what we had hoped for her might not fall through as planned. So instead of teaching what we had planned we dropped the plan and started asking her how she felt about everything.

She is really intelegent and she feels like she knows Joseph Smith is a prophet but she isnt sure if the Book of Mormon is true. (thats kind of weird cause its normally the other way around), but what we found is that she has been Reading it like it was a text book... and she hasnt really gotten anything out of it. Also, she is studying a theology that uses the Book of Mormon as a book from a list of 'good reading' but not scripture and she has been confused about a few things.

we really are fighting for her.

The lesson in the end was one of the lessons most powerful i have taught in the misión. we started answering some of her doubts and things like that, but then we started explaining why it was so important that she reads. I felt impressed to share my own testimony of the Book of Mormon and some really personal spiritual experiences that i dont share much on the misión. Little by Little the light returned to her eyes.

When we left her house yesterday there was definately a difference in the way she apeared. I honestly dont know if i will ever see that miracle of baptism in her life but i know its just right around the corner.

We are really fighting, i feel, for the salvation of these people (including the members) I dont know what has happened here but it seems that the faith of many has been weakend. The missionaries are truly called to the front lines... but we are not alone.

The Lord is watching out for us and I can see Him working in small and simple ways in the lives of the people. sometimes the people who receive the greatest testimony are the ones who have to go through the most to obtain it... thats what we are seeing with Diana and many others.

This may be my last week here. like i mentioned. I feel and its been said among the missionaries that the President might be taking me out soon. I have to just beleive though that i will be here forever. I dont want to give anything less than my all.

Well thats about everything.

Love you all

Always turn outward, and keep smiling!

Elder Bunker

ps Mom, Hermana Elizabeth Soria says HI... we are at her house at least once a week to visit her. haha. she is like my second mom here in the misión.

pps this picture is a giant tarantula that was on our window. we saw it after we had turn the lights out and were in bed. Regardless to say it was a Little more dificult to fall right to sleep like before.

Solid Week

Hey everyone,

So I finally have a little bit of time to write haha.

Haha so this week has been a little bit better. We have been able to get out a lot more to proselyte and meet people, and we have been doing a few divisions with the members to cover more ground. My comp was a little sick last week but now that he is better we have just hit the ground running.

So... this week has been full of experiences i never expected. The Lord has been helping and blessing us abundantly in our labor. To start out the week we had booked all of our nights to have family home evening with the members. all of a sudden all the members just wanted us to come visit them and we fill our evening schedules with visits with them. It resulted in a getting a few good references that will hopefully turn into something soon. Im starting to get a better idea of what the ward is really like and where the strong members are and where we can really start asking and getting for references and visit them with members

This week we also had a work visit with our district leader. He came to our area to work with me and give me a few pointers. It was really instructive and i learned a lot from him. But what was even greater was we ending up placing a baptismal date with one of our investigators that i was afraid would take more time to progress... 

Her name is Diana and she is a reference from a member but it has been hard to get through to her sometimes because she has so many ideas and questions that take things off track haha. We taught the first half of the first lesson in two visits... haha she just has some strange comments haha. But in the last few visits we have had with her i have seen a huge change in... i dont know... just her composure and the light she has... She has been reading the book of mormon.

When Elder Smith (our district leader) and I went to go visit i was praying that everything would go alright. I didnt want elder Smith to go running into the visit with a bautismal invitation and scare her away. (because that sometimes happens) but we went in there and from the start i could tell she had read. She just seemed happy. and we began talking to her about the book of mormon and she explained what we left with her and what she thought about it. we answered a few of her questions and then watched a short restauration video, and explained the resauration. The spirit was so strong. Hahah and i was suprised when i heard the invitation to baptism coming from my mouth instead of my companions. haha. 

Diana will be getting baptized the end of this month (27th) if she keeps reading and praying and gets her answer. Every time we meet with her i can see little changes in her. Im excited to see what happens.

One of the other highlights of the week was finding the Familia Chavez. They are a lost member family that has been inactive a for a few years and they dont show up on the ward directory because their records where never transfered. So no one knows that they exist. But one of the members vagily remembered a family living in one of the houses we were passing so he took me to go meet them. (we were on divisions with the members) and when we entered the house the family was clearly estatic about seeing missionaries again and having someone come visit them. the dad has been unemployed for a time now and is looking for work and the kids have fond memories of the missionaries from years before. 

We talked for a bit and left a short uplifting message with them. They expressed that they wanted to return to church and they would like us to visit them often. so we set up a FHE with them and the next day picked them up for our ward missionary game night that we have every week. We had the chance to meet them because one of our super important visits felll through. They have been one of the greatest blessings from this week.

Im so grateful for the the many blessings we have been receiving. The ward is progressing little by little. we will hopefully see some baptisms soon.

Love you all

Always turn outward and keep smiling!!

Elder Bunker

Short

Hey Everyone,

So sorry about the short email again. 

So im doing good. im still in cajamarca. 

This last week was really good. we had a ward baptism of 4 kids and one of our investigators came to participate! His name is carlos and he really likes the church, his wife is a member and his daughter got baptized. He will probably be our next baptism. 

We are working a lot more with the members and we have been getting a few references. Im really not sure how long i will be here. i have a feeling my time in this ward will be short... ive been here for 3 weeks and i might only be here for 3 more.

sorry so short everyone, 

I miss you all.

Always turn outward and keep smiling,

Elder Bunker

Working With Members

Hey Everyone,

 

So i only have very Little time to write but i want to write a Little because i didnt have the chance last week.

 

This last two weeks have been good. and hard Haha. I dont know how many people watched the special missionary conference this last week. wow how amazing. I feel super priveledged to be a missionary at this time. The work is changing fast and there are many more doors being opened. (we should be hearing about the Facebook work this week)

 

Im in a new área with a new companion named Elder Driggs. He is a really cool guy from las vegas and we have been having a lot of fun working together. hope we can help the people in this área. My new área is really big and full of steep hills. im losing a lot of weight now due to the extra amount of excercise haha.

 

This last week we just started our Ward game night. It has been a lot of fun to get to know the members and play games with them. we will be doign that more in the future.

 

sorry so short.

 

Love you all

Always turn outward and keep smiling.

Elder Bunker

Pictures 2.5

Cajamarca - Cajamarca

Hey everyone,

wow wow wow, so this week has been awesome! Im so happy with everything we have been able to see and experience with the people this week! 

But first thing first. Before i forget I want to wish everyone a late happy fathers day! (Especially my own dad!!!)

This has been the last week of the change. But has been amazing. We have had many people who have been on the verge of getting baptized for a while and with the help of the Lord we have been able to help a small family take fhe first steps of the gospel and become baptized members of the church. Hermana Roxanna and her son Jaime were baptized this last saturday. Roxanna is a single mom that is 31 and her son is 13 and they have been some of my Favorite people to teach.

The baptismal service we held was one of the greatest experiences i have had in the mission. The spirit was present and none of us couldnt help but smile. 

Roxana and Jaime got baptized with a young girl from another ward and it was so great to watch their excitement as they each waited their turn to be baptized. I know that they will keep being great members of the church and they will stay strong.

I just got news on sunday that i will be transfered tomorrow. Im not leaving the zone and i wont be too far from the converts. I hope i will have the chance to keep working with them. My new area (i already know where im going, i was with the zone leaders when they got the call) is called cajamarca and i will be with my 3rd gringo comp! Im excited to start working with more members but im sad to leave my comp Elder Molina. He has been a great freind. There hasnt been a day we havent laughed together despite all of our trials opening an area.

I hope and pray the lord continues to further his work.

sorry so short

Love you all

Always turn outward, and keep smiling

Elder Bunker

Happy Fathers Day

Seeing that fathers day was yesterday i want to share a few thougths

I am so grateful to have such a wonderful dad who has shown me the importance of a mission, service in the church, but most of all the importance of the family. I have been thinking about a few of the teachings of Dad that have really influenced my life (espeically here in the mission) and I want to share them.

1. Priorities - dad has alwasy helped me understand the importance of putting priorities into order. I remember one night he taught a lesson with sand and rocks and he showed it was only possible to put all of the materials in a jar IF you put the rocks in first. I dont know if dad realized, but that has always stuck with me and I am so grateful for his loving teachings to help the kids.

2. Be Able to Face Falts (Lesson of Humility, and Repentance) - I think its funny sometimes becasue the little girls in our family do NOT have the same dad I did growing up. haha dad has changed a lot over the years, BUT instead of that being a weakness (like some people veiw it) it is a great strength. Dad is super humble and is even will to ask forgiveness from his own kids. That has taught me a great deal about who i would like to become. Dad is the kind of man who will reach perfection because he is willing to leave imperfect things behind. 

3. Do your Work with Pride - haha i have to laugh a little when i think of this one. I feel like a large part the teachings dad has given the kids have been centered on this principle. haha Dad has always shown us how to work, by example, by the scriptues and by many FFD´s (Family Fun Days... where we all work... all day haha) I have loved working on the roof with dad, in the basement, and redoing that bathroom. I often think about our last project in the basement. I really wanted to finish that basement and do it well before I left for the mission. I think dad instilled that spirit into me. There is a saying i like a lot that reminds me of dad and that is "a job worth doing is a job worth doing well" and also this idea of "leave it better than you found it" I have tried SO hard to apply that to the mission. and thanks to that i have gained the name "La Maquina" or "the Machine" haha thats because of dad.

4. Take Care of What you have and the Lord will bless you with More - This is an amazing teaching from dad and I hope i never lose this principle. Ive been getting better at THANKING our heavenly father for things but its another thing to SHOW your appreciation. When we truley show our gratitude for the things we receive (things materials, people, opertunities, callings) the lord amplifies our blessings.

Thanks dad for your many teachings,

I lvoe you Happy Fathers day.

Elder Bunker

Last week in Cajamarca

Hey Everyone,

So this week has been pretty crazy haha. There has been a great turn of events i wasnt really expecting... first, this week we presented a new ward mission plan to reactivate many people in the ward and we are now starting missionary nights every other friday with the ward members. Im really excited to start new activities with the members because everything seems to go by a lot smoother when the members help out. I feel we are connecting with the members a lot more now that we live closer and its easier to visit them.

This sunday we had a total of 13 investigatores in the church between the 4 missionaries that were there. It was awesome. I hope they all enjoyed it and learned something new. Church really is one of the best ways to help the investigators to feel the spirit. 

Also this last week we set up a baptismal goal with 3 of our investigators... for THIS saturday.... and they accepted!!! Sharon (14) her sister, Roxana (30), and Roxana´s son, Jaime (13) all told us they would like to be baptized!!! I am praying and hoping like crazy everything goes well. we have been making plans and calling all the members we possibly can to help us out. I get so nervous and freaked out with all the baptisms we have because i feel such a huge responsability that everything goes well and they feel happy and confident with the convenant they are about to make. I have seen many people who have been baptized and have gone inactive after a few months. I NEVER want that to happen with the people we are teaching.

I feel like this is my last week to really make a difference in my area because we have transfers this saturday, and most likely i will be heading back to the heat of chiclayo... I want this barrio to be stronger we i leave than when we first came here.

We had a great experience with Kati this week. Kati´s sister Gabi just had her baby this week and she had to get a C-section. The operation didnt go too well and she got an infection. Kati sent her a few church magazines while she was in the hospital and as she was reading she decided to ask us for a blessing of health...

Kati´s family was really hard to get through to when she got baptized, but the lord has been able to touch their hearts in an amazing way. Kati´s mom has been listening to us for a while (she only had to stop because her husband said no) and we have been able to gain a lot of their confidence as missionaires. i really really hope the missionaries who come to this are can continue to help this beautiful family progress. Kati has really been one of the greatest miracles that has happened in our work here in Cajamarca....

I feel more and more in the mission that the mission will be part of me for the rest of my life. I love the areas where i get to serve and sometimes i wish i had more time because sometimes it just takes time for the people to progress. But then i realize that the work doesnt have to stop after the transfer or the 2 years but i can keep helping my whole life. 

I really hope i get more missionary opertunities after everything is said and done.

today we went to a zoo, and i was just amazed at the beautiful nature there is all around. we got to feed monkeys and take pictures with Llamas and wow... the Lord has so many beautiful creations. Im going to try to send pictures of Pday today.

I hope everyone is doing well in the states. I feel happy despite the stress of the work and I feel like if its my time to leave this transfer i that i did my best in this area- 

I got a letter from the family fiestas in Morrope.

They are still growing and will be a branch really soon. The less actives are now actives and I feel so blessed to see the fruit of my labor.

I love you all!!!

Always turn outward and keep smiling,

Elder Bunker

Pictures 2.4

Pictures of the Zoo

Oh Sweet Service

Hey everyone

So pretty much this week has been crazy busy. we were moving and doing service and hunting investigators and all sorts of crazy business. haha

We just moved pension to another house about 20 minutes walking distance from where we live so now we eat, sleep, and study in the same building... SO NICE... but even though its a lot more convienent we miss the family that has been cooking for us. (if i ever get the chance to come back to peru im going to Morrope and then Cajamarca haha.) I love this family, i would love to take them back to the states and have them as neighbors and freinds forever! haha. 

Our new room is nice, a little bit bigger so we can do excercises now and not be so trapped. our new pension is nice as well, the sister cooks really well, we just need to adjust a little (specially now that we are showering with cold water again...)

This week we did service in an autoshop. One of our investigators works with his brothers on some pretty cool cars and so we helped clean an engine and things like that. They had an old buggy that they had torn apart and they were re-building it again. so we helped out in that. It was really cool.

One of the hardest things about these last few weeks is that we have been losing investigators with baptism goals. for some reason they just disappear and it didnt seem like there was anything we could do. This week however we were findign them all again. and they are all still progressing! I have found that the lord has had a reason for everything, including our trials. 

This week we found one of our investigators who is a youth of 19. so pratically the same age as us. and we have taught him all of the lessons other than the law of chasity. this week when we found him we met his wife (or girlfreind) who is pregnant, and suddenly it became so clear why it was so hard to teach him. We had never thought that he would have a girlfriend or anything like that, for some reason it never crossed our mind, but when we met his wife it just became so clear how we cold help him. He is a great young man with a great desire to learn. He knows the church is true and loves listening to us.

I hope we can help him get married and start him on his way to the temple!

I most likely only have 2 weeks left here in Atahualpa, i am praying that the lord can help me follow through with a few baptisms before i go,

This work is so great and wonderful. Everyday i am more and more amazed at the beauty of everything!

Always turn outward and keep smiling!!

Elder Bunker