Mama Rosa

Hey Everyone,

So this week has been really good. we have been workign really hard and we have been able to accomplish a lot. (not goign to lie im really happy with the way what is happinin in the mission).

this week we go to visit the less active families in caracucho and get to know them more. they are all famlies that have been sealed in the temple and are great familes :D their only problem is that the chrurch is so far away (but now its a lot closer, but still far) but they all told us they would come to chruch this sunday and they did!! :D or at least a few people from every family came, but they all said they plan on coming from now on. we just have to follow up as missionaries. (once they are activated we will be able to start institute here! morrope is progressing amazignly!) It is amazing to see the lords hand in ALL of his childrens lives, including those who have already been gathered in.

the other amazing thing that happened this week is we found another golden investigator, ( i hope im not saying that too soon). Her name is Magali and she is the sister of one of other investigators. (their family is HUGE. The grandma has 7 kids and they each have 2 or 3 of their own). Magali has already read a lot of the church material, but has never talked to missionaries before. Her husband works in construction and he helped build a LDS chapel in Lima and brought home a BOM and all the pamflets we use as missionaries and also a Liahona. and she has read it all (except for the book of mormon which she doesnt understand completely yet, but easy fix XD) so she has a great base. Haha and the greatest part is she has 2 sons one named "Elder" and the other "Eyring". Elder is a name she came up with ON HER OWN! haha and she named her second son after Henry B. Eyring, because she like the name when she was reading the Liahona. I could help but smile when she told us. MADE MY DAY. Little tender mercies like that just make me happy here on the mission. I hope everything goes well with her this week. (could be the family weve been looking for)

also this week we found a family of 8 kids! (all of which are daughters, which is crazy, all the husbands here have the hope to have at least one son... poor guy haha) they dont seem to understand really why we are here or what our message is yet, but we are hoping they will accept us when we visit them this next week and let us explain a little more.

so something crazy. because of the age change the time the missionaries spend in the Mtc has changed and so the missionaries that are comign out here are coming out earlier wich means this transfer is only 5 weeks instead of 6, which also means my date to return home has changed to be 1 week ealier... im not sure how i feel about that. haha there are missionaries who are sad and there are missionaries who feel jipped.... i feel a little jipped but i have only 8 montsh in the mission so idk.

k really fast. i want to share about my mama rosa. Mama rosa is the lady who cooks for us and washes our clothes. ive mentioned her before, but she is pretty much the base of the church here in morrope. this week she got sick. one of her teeth got infected and was causing her a lot of pain and her whole cheeck swelled and hardened. (she was in a lot of pain) and she could hardly talk. but she continued to serve us as missionaries. this sunday she prepared a lesson for primary and taught all the kids even though she was in a ton of pain. what an example of faith to us as missionaries and members of the church. Her name really should be Rosa de Fe (Rose of Faith).

the most humble and one of the strongest woman i know. (along with my real mother)

well time is short love you all!

Always turn outward and keep smiling!

Elder Bunker

Primeros Bautismos

Hey Everone,

 

So first thing, thanks Aunt Brenda and Uncle Scott for the package! i Just got it this last week and its really been helpful. I really appreciate it!

 

Second, this has probably been one of the most eventful weeks we have had in Morrope. This week we had the first two baptisms EVER in Morrope!!!!! AAAAAaaAAAAaaAAaaAAAaaaaaHHH!!! hahaha. We were really excited, still are haha. Juli and Magali got baptized this last saturday and were confirmed this sunday in our branch conference. Also, two of our now active members. Alex and William recieved the melchezedec preisthood this sunday! we now have 3 priesthood holders (other than the missionaries). we are so excited. the area is growing and we are finding new people everyday.

 

We will probably have 3 baptisms this next month as well!! a friend of alex named Jose accepted a baptismal date this next month, and 2 sisters, Julisa and Josaline also accepted a baptismal date. they all attended the baptismal service we had for Juli and Magali, the spirit was really strong and we were all touched. (it touched on of the investigators from another area. She has been putting off baptism for a while because she has a fear of failing after, but when she attended the baptism she had a strong desire to be baptized herself, her and her son will be baptized this weekend!)

 

One thing that we are really excited about for Morrope are all the members we have found. We visit a little village about half an hour from Morrope every week called Caracucho and we found 3 less active families there! (there are about 30 people in total) we have a goal now to reactivate all of them, and help them teach their kids the gospel. (Morrope would about double with the reactivation of all those families) By the end of the year Morrope could form their own branch the way it is growing right now. I want to come back to visit in future years to see the fruits here.

 

One thing that has really been on my mind for a while is the importance of families. we have been able to baptize a few people here in the mission but only individuals. As much as i love seeing people taking that step i feel sad because they have to take it alone. I am praying to find a family to teach and baptize. A family with a Father, Mother, and children who are all in need of the gospel.

 

Sometimes its hard here because many of the families we find either the father or the mother dont want to change (usually its the father, and many times he doesnt want to give up drinking) and its a huge road block. The biggest problem we have in Morrope is that many people arent married. and even though someone is ready for the gospel they cant be baptized because they formed a family without being married. We never ask people to split up because we dont want to break apart families but sometimes its hard to convince both people that marriage is an important part to their family or that its worth the sacrifice to pay a marriage fine.

 

What we have found though is that there are "Massive Marrages" here in Morrope twice a year, and it just so happens that the next Massive Marraige is 14 of february. I am hoping we can help a few people take that step, but its going to be a challenge to convince all parties its a good idea haha.

 

right now we are teaching a family really big. The mother, Alejandrina, has 7 kids, and each of those kids have their own kids, but none of them (including alejandrina) are married. we are teaching one of her daughters named Maritza. Maritza is a young mother of 3 kids who are "terrremotos" or earthquakes. full of energy. but she likes listening to us because she feels more peaceful when we come. and she has a testimony of everything we have taught her.

 

The Family of Alejandrina is a beautiful family. and they nee the gospel more than anything. The hardest part though is that the men have hardened their hearts against our message (or at least some of them, havent met all yet). I hope we can help this family they really are the greatest. and in many ways they remind me of schellenberg reunions because there are so many kids who are crammed into the same house. haha.

 

anyway, so there are the majority of my thoughts this week. we really have 2 main goals here in morrope right now. 1. Reactivate the less actives, and 2. Convince every couple we are teaching that they should get married, and they should get married the 14 of february because if not i dont know when it will be haha.

 

its so weird to think that a year ago from today, i began to wait for my mission call. a lot has happened in what seems to be such a short time.

 

I am hoping that is all is going well at home, I hear about half the population of BYU (the girls) are leaving on missions. the work is going forth and it will be really cool to see the mission grow this summer when all the new missionaries arrive. Presidente will have to open a lot of new areas... areas like Morrope! haha or at least put more missionaries in the areas that already exist.

 

I look forward to hearing from everyone. (if you have gotten a mission call let me know!) 

 

Always turn outward and keep smiling!

Elder Bunker

 

Morrope week 7: asistencia: 32 :D

Hey Everyone,

So our little town of Morrope is growing! :D (or at least the kingdom of god in the little town of morrope is growing! haha) This is the first week of the transfer and it was great. I have been really blessed this last week. My new companion is named Elder Chero, he is 21, and from Chimbote, :D here in peru. so he is my first peruvian companion. I am really excited to work with him. he is great missionary and everyone respects him. he has been in the feild for about a year now. ( he hits his year mark this week ) I feel really blessed, I have been praying that i would get a good companion. Morrope needs good missionaries. (so now their only problem is me... haha jk)

we have been working super hard this week. Its been interesting because i thought i would have to drag my companion everywhere the first week because thats usually how it goes, but i showed him i wanted to work and he just took off from there. we have found a lot of neet people this week that i hope and pray we will be able to teach and baptize. (speaking of baptisms we are about ot have the first baptisms in morrope this week! Hermana Juli and Magali are going to be baptized this weekend. we still have a lot to do before that point. I hope they feel confident and confortable. They really are the pioneers here in Morrope). 

Morrope is really interesting because its brand new. My companion has been in family groups before but he says this is different than any other family group he has been in before because its so small and the missionaries have to do about everything. (which isnt true, we have a lot of help from the familia fiestas) i feel bad because i havent written a lot about the familia fiestas. so if you have translated familia fiestas you can see it means "party family" haha and they are just that haha. The parents are named walter and rosa. and they have five kids Royer (10), Maritza (8), Teresa y Angeles (6), and Noemi (4). Royer is a great kid who is super kind and respectful, something i havent seen in a lot of kids here, and like is dad he has a competitive streak haha, Maritza.... the first thing that comes to mind is fancy nancy haha she reminds me so much of Savannah, when i first met here i thought i was in dejavu. haha. she is definately a girly girl and very popular, she is the leader of all the little girls in the neighborhood. Teresa and Angeles are a hoot, although they arent identical you can tell they are twins because they do everything together. Angeles is little bit more like maritza really reserved and girly, but teresa is like my little sister lily haha. she is a tomboy and she has this small deep voice that sounds like she has a cold all the time. and Noemi, (aka Terremoto...or earthquake) many people use the term "terrible twos" but shes not two. haha. Right now, other than the neighborhood dogs, she is one of the loudest thiings to walk the street haha. Hermano walter and Rosa have been working for a while on helping her be reverent in sacrament, and since there is so little of us its kind of hard to pretend like the one being really loud isnt their kid haha. 

speaking of people in the church... We had 32 people in the chruch yesterday!!! our little group is growing!!! its the most people we have ever had in that little church! :D :D it makes me so happy to see the work grow so much here in morrope. especially in the first week of the change. im really happy.

Hermano y Hermana Fiestas and their family have been the greatest. I really feel at home here. their small family reminds me so much of my own, and in a way they have become my family here in peru. Im going to be really sad to leave. 

one of the things we have done this week is we visited one of the little casarios (or little vilages) called Romero about 20 minutes from morrope to find people to teach and we had a lot of sucess almost everyone we talked to let us in to teach. :D

Also, we got some really neat news from our branch president this sunday. there is about 30 aldults in one of the casarios Caracucho who are endowed members of the church and only are less active!!! we ahve a whole branch out there we can reactivate!! im excited to work out ther and find people to teach and reactivate.

Love you all time is short,

always look outward, and keep smiling!!

Elder Bunker

Nuevo Compañero - Morrope

Hey Everyone,

k first. krysta thanks for your letter. sorry im so bad at responding

ok so im just going to jump right into everthing that is happening. sorry i dont have much time.

So Biggest thing that is happening right now is that we have transfers... well my companion has a transfer. So its going to be really interesting these next few months with a new companion. Right now im in an area named morrope. I have already described it a little bit, but this area is different than any other. its small and we dont have many members. Many people have never heard of the church, or if they have heard about it, its only through the ranting of their pastors. When i first arrived we had a hard time entering houses because everyone thought we were theives (due to what their pastors told them). in the last month and a half its been incredible. we have seen the hearts of the people of morrope being softened. People accept us a lot more openly. We have been doing a lot of activities over this last transfer to help people veiw us as servants of the Lord. So it will be interesting to have a new companion because everyone watches what we do here. That and morrope is different than other areas because our focus many times is having activities rather than teaching lesson to stregnthen our members, and change the veiw of the people. So im praying i get a companion who is flexible and obedient, (and who is willing to work HARD haha)

Morrope has progressed a lot though. and I have some big news! we have 2 baptismal dates right now!! Their names are Juli and Magali. They will be the first baptisms in morrope! The church right now here is like the pioneers. The members are SUPER faithful, and they are eager to learn the gospel, and the investigators have to take a large step of faith to make the decision to be baptized. Its hard for many people to beleive that a church they have never heard of in their entire life really is the true church of God, but Juli and Magali have received their answer, and we are really excited. Im sad my companion wont be here to see the fruits of his labor. 

also, its mango season!!!! wooo!!! i have had mangos for the last 4 days haha. everyday someone offers us mangos haha. Im in heaven.

Also this weekend is the celebration of the 3 kings (another catholic Apostasia), they have parades and bands and a carnival all in the name of religion. haha its funny because here the catholic church is the party church. it was really fun to see yesterday, it reminded me a little bit of the fourth of july but they are celebrating the coming of the three wisemen. 

sorry its so short,

Love you all
Always turn outward and keep smiling.

Elder Bunker

Happy New Year!!!

Hey Everyone,

So first off... HAPPY NEW YEAR!! its crazy we are now in 2013! The way they celebrate new year here in Peru is they make life size figurines of people and burn them. its been interesting for the last little bit to see a whole bunch of manequins lining the street. Also they  do a ton of fireworks here. 

I got to spend the new years eve with the other missionaries in Lambayeque. Lots of fun. :)

oh and other Thing!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! I didnt get to email last week due to christmas and the fact i got to call home instead. and HOLLY COW everyone is growing so fast i cant beleive it. Im going to get back home and the world will have fastfowarded in time haha. It was really neat to see everyone. 

It sounds like there is a lot going on at home and Im really happy with all the great news im getting from everyone about missions and school and awards and things like that. Its clear to me the Lord is blessing my family, and he is taking care of my friends. 

First I hope this isnt too weird to say in an email to everyone, but WOW, CONGRATS EVERYONE ON THE MISSION CALLS!! Im soooo happy to hear about so many people leaving on missions. I often wonder what it would sound like if someone was to write about how times in terms of Book of Mormon writing. haha. Im sure it would sound like this.

"And it came to pass that the Lord prepared many of his sons and daughters to preach the everlasting gospel to the world, and yea, they left in great numbers, yea, in this time so great of numbers to cover the face of the earth and preach the gospel to every people, language, and toungue, as was foreseen by the profets of old. 

And they became a deleightsome people, yea, a people of everlasting Joy, and they cried in one voice the Song of eternal salvacion, and repentance that all might participate of the same everlasting Joy, yea, even with their bretheren that had never heard of Jesus the Christ."

(Elder Bunker 1:1-2) haha, but seriously, I cant express my excitement for what is happening. I am praying for all of you as you prepare. it is the best experience i have had up into this point of my life.

So I know Michelle Perry is going to California, and Natalie Cameron is going to Paris, and I just heard from Raelene Oler that she is going to BRAZIL!! but i still havent heard from Stephanie Horan and a few others. So please! if you havent told me where you are going let me know! (Im sorry if im terrible at replying. its hard to find time to write hand written letters in the mission).

Oh and another thing. if someone could do me a favor and get me the address of Dallin Eliason, and Tanner Browning and fill me in on how they are doing, I would love to hear from them.

So this week has been intersting with christmas and to be honest we had a hard time finding ways to teach people because they were all traveling, BUT we were really blessed and we broke a record this week, in one day we taught 9 (effective) lessons. the normal day here is 3 or 4. but we taught the whole day! and were really blessed to find great people to teach. 

Funny thing as well. A few weeks ago we just got a new zone leader. His name is Elder Fabri, he is from Argentina, and he looks like michael from the office. but whats even funnier is his companion Elder Kettering (from Arizona) looks like Dwight... so our zone leaders are now Dwight and Michael from the office. I wont lie its made a few of the zone meetings a little hard to take seriously now. Heaven forgive me for thinking of such worldly things, but i thought i would share haha. 

other random thing from these last few weeks thats made my day is the stars. In morrope sometimes the lights go out and we can see the stars really clearly at night. I was really sad when i left because i thought i would have to say goodbye to the stars i know. but it turns out many of them show up here as well due to the fact im up north. 

I love the constalation called Orion. and it turns out we can see it year round here! (where as in the united states you can only see it in the winter) I know its strange but it really seems like a tender mercy to me. 

Well thats about all but I want to share one experience really fast. 

we have 2 investigators progressing in our area named Juli and Magali, and they are really awesome (i think they will be the first baptisms in morrope) we have been teaching them for about 3 weeks now. (a little less these last few weeks due to christmas) But they read almost everything we leave with them and they come every week to church. They both have felt the holy ghost and feel like the church is true, we just have a little bit more of helping them take the step of baptism. we were teaching them this last sunday about the plan of salvation, but it a different way than we normally teach it. we explained that we each need to repent and and be baptized otherwise we cant progress or enter the kingdom of god. they seemed to understand, but we could tell they were just listening instead of applying what were teaching to them. we were there for 30 min and we normally  wrap up a lesson around that time. so i was about to ask our member freind who was with us to give the closing praying, but i felt hesitant in doing that. 

I looked at my companion to see if had something to say, but he sat silent. we sat in silence for a moment, and he looked up and said, (translation) "i dont think we have said everything we needed to say" 

He then looked at both of them and said that they, in their state right now, cannot be saved. (pretty straight foward) that they need to REPENT and be BAPTIZED or all is in vain. if that is not calling repentance i dont know what is. we spent the next 45 min explaining why its so important to be baptized and repent and the spirit filled the room.

our lesson lasted 1:30 but wow. 

Love you all out of time

Always turn outward and keep smiling!

Elder Bunker