Saying last goodbyes to Latina

Wow,

Wow,

Wow,

Where does the time go??

So today is going to be a werid new experience for me. im going back to my FIRST AREA to say goodbye to the converts and member freinds i have. Wow.... talk about hard.... im not sure how im going to do it. Junior my first convert i havent seen since i left more that 18 months ago, i hope i find him today. I will let you all know how it goes.

So the area has been much better this week as far as numbers but we are still fighting for our baptismal goals for this next month. No one who has a baptismal goal (except cristian) came to church yesterday.... talk about sad... but we will get on that this week.

So there are so many things happening this week. We are preparing for Multizone conference tomorrow and my good freinds the asistents asked me to give a class haha... goodbye pday, haha no just kiddig. it will be good. Im excited for it. And wedensday i have my last leaders council and i will be giving my last testimony there, thursday we are training our district leaders, friday will be our last zone training (for the month of may) and saturday we will be finishing a service project we didnt have time to finish 2 days ago due to some zone emergencies... crazy how fast the time escapes.

Im super excited about our area though. We have the family Garcia that is almost progressing (Jimmy and Graciela didnt go to church, but cristian did) and we have an appointement with them tomorrow. We have anabel, a wonderful young woman from the jungle, who accepted a baptismal date, we just have to establish it. And we will teach her tonight in a family home evening with her freind´s family who are members. and we have adriana... Adriana i have been teachign for almost 6 months now and i STILL dont know what her need is... seriously. she is reading, going to church, but we can´t get her to pray about the book of mormon haha. AHHH. 

We went to visit her yesterday and we were about to establish a baptismal date, but her mom (who is member) took the lesson on random tangent for the next half hour and it was hard to get the lesson back on track and invite the spirit back into the room... i admit i was a little frustrated. I feel like if she doesnt get baptized soon the next missionaries wont have as much patience and drop her as an investigator.

So anyway there is a lot to do... more than anything i want to help these people get baptized before i leave. Its funny how hard it is sometimes to do that.

well im out of time....I will talk to you all soon!

Love you all!

Always turn outward and keep smiling! 

And dont forget to show someone you love them!

Stormy weather before the good times

Hey everyone,

So im going to try to write the most i possibly can. I cant beleive time is flying by so fast. (this week has been unusually long though haha).

So this week I honestly dont know what happened. We suddenly hit a wall in the work. It seemed like the majority of our visits started falling through and we found ourselves walking aimlessly through our area contacting people... its been a while since thats happpened to me and I was even more suprised because its the first time thats happened here in Imperio. I think this week we have lacked a little bit of effective planning. Our nightly planing sessions have been kinda half hazard this week I think, due, in part, to all the planning we have been doing in the zone this last month. 

In the month of May we are going to have the first stake missionay focused activity that this stake has seen a few years. i hope that everything works out... its been taking up a little bit more of our time these las few weeks, and we are also focusing a bit more on the ward conferences too. we are doing everything we can to help prepare for the ward conferences. (yesterday we went as a zone to another ward to help look for less actives to invite to their ward conference next week. we found a few potencial investigators while we were at it, we will see what happens in that ward.)

Anyway.... so the zone is crazy. Its been fun though.

So I have to tell you about the new FAMILY we are teaching!!!! haha. Its the garcia-sosa family, and they were actually a reference from a few sister missionaries that are serving in my first area!! We got a call the night after the preisthood session of general conference from the zone leaders in that zone saying they had a referencia de ORO (golden reference) and we called the number they gave us as soon as we could. It seemed like on the phone the Young man that answered wasnt tooo thrilled, but accepted the visit. It took us a little while to find the house, but half-an-hour late to our appointement we finally found them. 

there is cristian, jimmy, and jenny (we havent taught jenny yet, she is a little shy it seems) that all live there with their parents graciela and cesar (cesar looks nice but we havent taught him yet either). they are sooo cool!!! we invited them to baptism this sunday and graciela practially jumped out of her seat saying yes haha. We left a few verses in the book of mormon to read and we have our next appointment this wednesday!!! I hoping we get the whole family there. We played soccer with cristian today in the morning and he told me that he made the decision 3 months ago that he wanted to be baptized and he is just waiting for us to say when!! WHAT!! haha when does that happen??? He told me today that he wants to get baptized before i head home, haha i told him i would be ok with that.

 Im super excited to work with them. Cristian and Jimmy i have only known for a week but they have already become good friends, and graciela their mom is already treating us like her own sons. They are a very loving/friendly family and are very genuine. We are praying that we can teach their dad soon and place a baptismal goal for the family!! I cant beleive whats happening. 

So even though the week was really slow its been super good. I love teaching the people here. its going to be hard to leave. I hope in 4 weeks we can see a few more miracles. 

I love the Lord´s work, and i love the Lord

Happy easter everyone!

Always turn outward and keep smiling!

Love 

Elder Bunker

Conference​.... The Book of Mormon is True

Hey everyone!!

so.... im so sorry that i didnt write this last week. I only had time to write the mission presidente because we had a lot of unexpected suprises.... haha.

but first!!! I didnt get transfered!! i will be here in Imperio for 6 months and end the mission here with this amazing ward!!! im so pumped. I hope i can really leave this area well off, there is a lot to do in these next 5 weeks! I love these people!

so the reason why i didnt write last week is because i went on a sporatic suprise archelogical trip with a real archeologist! sweet!! it took the majority of pday but it was super worth it. Elder Law, one of my good freinds here on the mission, ended the mission this last week (ive known him since i was a sunbeam) and so my companion and i went to the office to say goodbye and while we were there. I ran into sister law´s mom and i wasnt sure if she would remember but when she saw me she yelled Elder Bunker! and ranup and gave me a huge hug haha. it really suprised me and i wasnt sure what to do... i havent had a hug like that for a while. haha. but that was awesome. she is a really sweet lady haha.

but anyway elder law´s parents and grandparents came ot pick him up and his grandpa is an archeologist for brigham young and has spent 50 years of research in guatamala connecting his findings with the book of mormon. and they needed a few missionaries to acompany their guide (my good missionary freind elder lattin) so we happily accepted the invitation to go on a free archelogical tour of some ancient peruvian pyramids. soooo coool

so here in peru there are several cool places but they are even cooler when you get an explanation by a archiologist. The site where we were was called pampagrande and it was most likely a temple square type of thign for los incas. super cool. the whole way elder law´s grandparents explained to me things about egyption mesurements and practices that have evidence in central and south america. Los incas really where connected with egypt without a doubt. and as we walked and took measurements they explained to me all the connections with the book of mormon they have found on their trips. I learned a lot about the Book of Mormon i didnt know before. Details i had overlooked now made so much more sense. In the end the message that i got from them pretty much was this: we CAN PROVE phisically that the Book of Mormon is true. there is sooo much evidence of it, but that has never been the mission of the church. Elder law´s grandpa has studied for years, not to prove that the Book of Mormon is true but to understand it better and apply the scriptures to life. The message and promis of the Book of Mormon will always be Read, Ponder, and Pray and you will get an answer if i you are sincere, ask with real intent (ask with the intention to act according to the answer received) and have faith in christ. (Moroni 10:3-5) 

I loved that pday with the Law family. it was really good.

The next day in the transfer meeting Elder Law´s grandpa gave a presentation of his findings in guatamala and gave us a small peice of paper with the map of the book of mormon. That is a treasure i will keep for a long time.

So onto conference. This conference was really good. We didnt have too many investigatores go so i watched the majority in english with the other northamerican missionaries in my zone. I think its a lot better in english... haha. 

One thing i loved about conference what saturday´s session. A huge Topic this general conference was reading scriptures!!! That is exactly what everyone needs! Members, Less Actives, Investigatores..... they all need to read the scriptures!!!! I feel like the mission would be cake if everyone would just do that one thing (and pray and go to church haha) We met with the stake this week to keep coordinating our efforts with them and we decided to do an activity with the Book of mormon called "El Maratón del Libro de Mormón" (the book of mormon marathon) We all felt really good about the idea and we will see what happens.... the stake president has to approve it first. but this sunday (so weird seriously) we got a letter from the area. and they said that they wanted to do a program with the book of mormon and that each family should read the book of mormon everyday for 15min. soooo sweet. 

Great minds think alike because they are inspired by the same Loving Supreme Being. XD

so we will see what happens. i wont be here to see all of the fruits but i sure what to get this thing going!

Love you all so much!

went to the beach today!

i will send pictures soon!

Love you all!

Always turn outward and keep smiling!!

Elder Bunker

ps sorry if i didnt respond to some emails yet. I felt like i needed to write a good group email for once haha.

Last General Conference

Hey everyone!!!

So i dont have much time to write. I was enjoying grandma and grandpa´s letter too much. I LOVE reading letters from other missionaries now. Hahah i feel like understand them a lot better now. 

Wow, so this week was sooo good, and there were so many suprises.

So this weekend like i said we had 4 baptisms like we planned, but they were not all the 4 people we had planned to baptize haha. 

The few days before her baptism selene had a lot of problems and she got really nervous. We couldnt find her for a few days. Her Interveiw fell through, and the visits we had planned and in the end she didnt get baptized (this is the second time her baptismal date has fallen through) She really wants to get baptized, she just needs a little more time to build her faith and trust in the Lord. 

But out of no where a miracle happened. I was on a work visit with a new missionary in his area and my companion called us in the night to infrom me that we would still be having 4 baptisms. Ezequiel one of our investigators wanted to get baptized a while ago, but he hasnt been able to due to some problems he has, but the bishop informed us that he had resolved his problems and he was ready to go. we set up his interveiw and he was baptized with the famlia Quinde

:D

Ezequiel is sooooo awesome. He has been the most prepared that i have ever seen. I hope he stays strong. We met him because one day he simply showed up to church to participate. He said he was looking for a church to join and he wanted ot make the right decision and he said he had been praying for almost a year. When he was riding his bike infront of the church buildign and he just got a strong impression that THIS was the church he needed to enter so he asked a brother who was outside what time the church meetings started and came the following sunday.

You can imagine our shock when the first thing he said to us that he was looking for someone to baptize him haha. I think we stared at him for at least 15 minutes with our mouths open.

The baptism was beautiful and i have loved teaching these people: i hope i dont have a transfer because it will be an early goodbye.

well thats all the time i have 

Love you all!!

Always turn outward and keep smiling

Elder Bunker

Hang of things

Hey everyone,

So this week has been soooo BOMB i cant even explain! wow. its been so good. 

So first off, i dont know how it happened, but we had 20 investigators in church this sunday.... wow. Our gospel principles class was packed! Haha it was so much fun teaching that class, but it also got super hot in the room even with the fans on and windows open haha. we will have to find a bigger room soon. haha. anyway that was the biggest thing on my mind

This week has been super good because we have seen some true progress in the zone. All the missionaries are getting along better and working harder. The areas with most dificulties are really starting to pull through now. We had a zone fast this last saturday and i feel like the drought in a few areas is now coming to an end. What we really need though is more coordination with the members to make it stick. I think one of the greatest lessons i have learned as a missionary is how to be a good member. funny right? haha

the principle of "stand where you are, and lift where you stand" is true.

Its also been a little sad this week too. Several good missionary freinds who have been sick for a while (including one from the zone) are going home early to recover.... they will be missed. Thats been a hard thing to experience on the mission. 

Imperio is progressing a ton! the ward is starting to put the bateries back into the home teachign and visiting teachign program (the visiting teachers started first obviously haha - what a blessing it is to have the releif society as part of the restored chuch....) and yesterday we visited several families with the elders from the ward. soooo good.

Thanks to some wonderful member testimonies we are plannign on having 4 baptisms this weekend. Orlando, Candelaria, Liliana, and Selene. The members really helped motivate them this last weekend and their baptismal dates are now solid. XD

Orlando, Candelaria, and liliana we have been teaching for almost 2 transfers now. they are such a wonderful humble family. They have absolutley nothing, but they are the most wonderful smiley people i know. We have had a lot of dificulties teaching them because they dont understand a lot of what we teach or what they read in the scriptures but its been amazing to me to see the spirit of the Lord come into their lives and fill them with understanding. Orlando seems like a different person than the Orlando we taught 2 months ago.

Selene is a teenager who was going ot be baptized about 6 months ago with her mom while another pair of missionaries were teaching her, but the day of her baptism she dissappeared, but we found her again and found out that she has had some family problems and we have been teaching her for about a month solid now (but practically 2 transferswe have been teaching her)

all that was needed was to show her she needs the guidance of the spirit and she was more than happy to be baptized. the young womans program has been awesome in helping her as well as the the ward missionaries.

I lvoe the work

Always turn outward and keep smiling,

Elder Bunker

Birthday

Hey everyone

So this week has been super good!! I feel like i have been super happy this week  and its hard to put my finger what it is. I would like to say that its because of my birthday that just passed but i feel like its more than that. I guess i just feel like Im doing everything that i need to and that the lord is pleased with my efforts. Thats a really good feeling and its comforting as the end day approaches. I really want to do everything i was called to do.

My birthday was a really good day. I feel like some prayers out there really helped it be that way. haha. We had our zone training and out of the blue president risso came to interview my companion and me. It was the longest and coolest interveiw i have had with president. I feel like have gotten to learn a lot more from president risso in these last few months.

This week has been really good because our investigatores are now progressing again!! wooo! 

Hermana paquita (the wonderful sister that got baptized 2-3 weeks ago) has been really eager to start helping in the work,. we left 3 copies of the book of mormon so she could share them with her freinds and family by putting a testimony inside and sharing her feelings. she is awesome. I am convinced she would have handed them all out by now, but she got really sick this week. it really breaks my heart to see her sick. we gave her a blessing and we will pass by tonight to see her, but she told us that even though she is sick she is not ready to die because she needs to see all of her family in the church. What an amazing woman of faith.

We have two people who are getting baptized this month!

a little girl named paola who practically has been a member her whole life but hasnt been baptized simply because her family doesnt go to chruch but she does

and a girl named selene who has a goal for the end of the mont (29th)

well thats all for this week!

Love you all

Always turn outward and keep smiling!

Elder Bunker

Almost 21

Hey everyone,

So sorry i dont have much time. It took a little longer this week to get all the reports in. 

First thing, Thanks for all the nice birthday wishes. It kind of snuck up on me that im turning 21. haha i guess in the states this would be a big deal because now i can legally drink haha....  but here in the feild it seems like any other day... but thanks for everything. 

This week has been a little bit more stressful.... I will be honest... we have sooo many people progessing but this week something happened and now they are not progressing as much as they should be. 

We are teaching a young woman named selene and she is sooo cool. she is READY to be baptized. she has all her records filled out and signed. she could get baptized tonight if she wanted to, but the problem is that her mom is worried that if she gets baptized right now she will not be able to focus on her studies as much and she wont be able to get into the university she wants. she has to study for the big test to get in...

Carmen and Fernando disappeared this week. They havent showed up for that last few teaching appointments we set up. They were going to get baptized this week but it looks like we will have to change gears.

The Kinde Family was well on their way to get baptized this weekend tooo, but they want more time....

we have a lot of work ahead of us this week. 

Zone training tomorrow. Im excited. It should be good. :D

Thanks everyone! love you all!

Always turn outward and keep smiling,

Love Elder Bunker