Pictures 1.8

20 Anos en la vida mortal

Hey everyone,

So first, Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes. its wierd to think im not a teen anymore. I have alwasy felt like i was over 20 and now that its here i feel like a little kid again... haha.

Thanks to the hovanski family for the birthday card. and Collin Willardsen i finally got your letter haha. I will write back to you soon.

So this week has been long. we have had a lot of service projects. (one being digging a sewage trench for a brother in the stake, hence the fotos) haha... we have been travelign to caracucho a lot more lately to help the families reactivate. they are becoming stronger members. and we will be able to baptized their kids soon. sister gladys, the mom of one of the families, bore her testimony this sunday. it was amazing. she expressed her gratitude to us as misionaries and then said she was so happy to see the hand of god again in her life through us as missionaries. it made me think a little about the importance of our calling. Im so glad we have been able to be worthy tools in the lords hands.

school for all the kids starts this week so everyone has been freaking out the last 3 days. haha. it will be a new experience to work around the school schedule here in Morrope.

This week i got to try two new foods. squid, and guavana. squid was good (just like chicken haha) and guavana... wow... the weirdest fruit i have ever seen. its a long green fruit like a banana but when you open it there are seeds with a sugary substance that looks like snow all around. so its like eating warm sugary snow... strange... haha but delicious. im sending a foto i hope it gets through. (oh i also got to try goat this week. super flavorful but tough, but good) haha

so BIG news!!! i just found out this week they are opening 2 new missions in peru!!!! what!!! haha its so awesome. its due the sudden rise in number of missionaries. :D there will be an iquitos mission now and one other that i cant remember the name. (iquitos is in the middle of the jungle haha, that mission is going to be INTENSE haha)

sorry this is so short,

I love you all, 

Always turn outward, and keep smiling!

Elder Bunker

Family,

Wow, thank you all for the wonderful emails it was so great to open my email this morning and see all your wonderful letters.

I just want to say I love you all so much and i hope everything is going well.

Love you all

Elder Isaac Bunker

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Peruvian Family Reunion

Hey Everyone,

so, there is a ton to say and so little time to write.. here we go...

first, Lisa and Lauren, i got your letter this week. Haha wont lie i was a little confused by the return address at first. Thanks for the invites and the kind letter. Im afraid im a little late for the big day... haha. Your husbands look like great guys. Happy for you both, best of luck to the both of you.

Second, This week has been the greatest!!!!

Morrope is growing!! Holy cow, i never thought i would see the day that morrope would grow so much. we had 44 in the chapel!!!!!!! 44!! Im so happy morrope is progressing so well, ive been reflecting a lot on my time here and it has really been one of the greatest experiences i have ever had. I really dont want to leave Morrope, but it is allmost 100% set in stone that i will be having a transfer the end of March... I dont know how thats going to turn out its going to be really hard to leave.

k, before i continue i want to share some funnies. 

this last week we were getting ready to leave for the day when suddenly we heard someone pounding HARD on our door, (and since our door is made out of metal you can imagine how loud it must have been) it kind of freaked us out for a second. I headed out on the second story balcony and looked down and there was an old man i had never seen before, and he was really upset. haha he was talking outloud to himself saying stuff "why is this door locked?? who is trying to keep me out??? MARY!! open the door!!" haha it was super funny, but i was still freaked out at the same time. I called down to him and asked who he was looking for and he looked confused like he couldnt find where the voice was coming from haha. I then realized he was drunk. haha our kind neighbor saw what was happening and helped the man find his house just down the road. I guess he also had a metal door that looked alike...

this week we also almost got eaten by a dog. we were trying to contact one of our references when a dog ran out at us from a house and started barking and became really agressive for some reason. dogs barking is normal but this dog was going to eat us. My companions have taught me a few tricks to scare away dogs and I was try to scare this dog away but it kept coming after us. Everyone in the street was watching. i was kind of mad no one did anything. we couldnt walk away because we couldnt turn our backs to the dog with out getting bitten. finally a little kid ran up to the dog and put its hands around the dogs mouth and calmed the dog down enough that we could get away. ( how in the world the dog didnt bite the kid I dont know, Im just grateful that the little kid saw what was going on)

other thing that happened was i was sitting in bed this saturday after a long day of service and i felt somthing on my neck, i thought it was a mosquito so i swept my hand over my neck and a spider fell on the ground... haha feaky, dont know how long i was laying in my bed with that spider. i didnt know if it was poisonous or not so i smashed it with a shoe.

so biggest  thing that happened. 

Saturday we went to Caracucho and had a great activity there. In the morning we helped them build a bridge and then we had lunch and then played games. ( hence all the pictures ) The purpose of the activity was to help all the less actives reactivate. (hence the great number of people in church 44!!!!) It was so much fun. as we were working and playing with the little kids i couldnt help but feel like i was at a family reunion. I really feel like the people here in morrope are my family. I still miss my family in the united states but its going to be hard to leave Morrope at the same time. I hope i get the chance one day to return and see everyone again. I love the people here.

anyway time is short. 

Love you all

Always turn outward, and keep smiling!

Elder Bunker

Pictures 1.6

Morrope and the Lord of Sipan

Hey Everyone,

So a few suprises this week...

First, I get to stay in Morrope!! :D wooohooo! haha im super happy about that. Im excited for the chance to be here for josé and his baptism. Also, the mother of Hermana Rosa comitted to be baptized!! whoooohooo so we are planing a baptismal service the 23 of this month for as well. Im super excited and ready to put everything into my last transfer here in the area. 

Wednsday morning we got a nice suprise as well. I was studying at our table and my companion was asleep (he hasnt felt super amazing this week) when someone rang the doorbell to our chaple-house (we live on  the second story) I was really suprised because everyone works in the morning and there shouldnt be any reason for anyone to be ringing our doorbell that time of day. (also i thought it was one of the neighborhood kids who was trying to play a prank on us... thats happened before) so i wanted to ignore it. but i decided instead i was going to catch the little kids that have totured us during our studies in the past. so i causually walked out onto the balcony and slowly peeked of the edge and there was a woman below who stared up at me with the biggest smile on her face, and said "at last i have found you!!" .... haha i almost didnt know what to say. 

she explained she is from lima and she was there visiting her sister and looking for the church to help her sister attend... i told her to wait and ran and woke up my companion. haha he didnt seem to beleive me, but he got up and looked out his window, saw the lady and got dressed. we went down to talk to here and she told us she was looking for the church for a few hours and she had almost given up when she realized the house she was standing by WAS the church (we have a sign outside) haha. she then took us to three houses where her siblings live with their families! 3 family references in 1 day!!! :D wow, we were a little more than excited. haha. 

we got to visit one of the families this weekend with the sister who met (Hermana Carmen is her name), and looks like we will be able to progress with her (her name is juana). she is definately looking for the gosepel in her life.

so that was another great suprise that we had this week is that our mission president called to let us know he was coming out to morrope to visit. he brought us 10 more plastic chairs and a plastic table for the speakers to put their scriptures. (morrope is growing) we talked a little bit and then he interveiwed my companion and I. I guess my companion told him a little about our district because when it was my turn the first thing pres risso asked was "¿so i hear they call you `la maquina`?" haha we laughed a litte bit about that.

after he had left i asked my companion what they had talked about. and it turns out president risso is encouraging the district president to send in a request to make morrope a branch!! Morrope with most likely be its own functioning church unit in august!!! Im excited, but there is so much to do!

This week as well i finished the Book of Mormon for the first time in spanish! wow. great experience. its amazing how a different language can help you look at things with such a differet veiw. took me about 6-7 months. I finished it this week due to the fact that my companion was sick for a day. (poor guy) he had a sick stomach from somthing im not sure what, so i read my book of mormon while he slept.

today we wet to the Tumbas Reales museum here in lambayeque. wow. so sweet. The Lamanites where here!! we had a mormon tour guide who lives close to here (ferranafe) who showed us everything and explained a few things from the book of mormon (like evidence of the Jaredite cultures as well as lamanites) THE BOOK OF MORMON IS TRUE! Haha. 

well im out of time,

Love you all, 

always turn outward, and keep smiling!

Elder Bunker

Last go in Morrope?

Hey Everyone,

first off MOST IMPORTANT address to the mission office has changed!!!

so here is the new address:

Elder Bunker

Mision Peru Chiclayo

Los Alamos #128, 

urb: Santa Victoria

Chilayo - Lambayeque 

Peru

second... how is BERT?! someone asked me the other day if our family has pets and i remembered that we have bert. I have heard a little about everyone but bert. how is he? haha.

so this week has been pretty good. we have been progressign little by little here in morrope. we have had more lessons and better numbers this week than any other but i am super tired. i think when i finish up here im going to sleep the rest of Pday.

we have an amazing investigator named jose, i have already talked about him already but he is practically already a member, he will be baptized the 16 of this month. yesterday we had a fast and testimony meeting and he gave his testimony that he knows that the church is true and that there are profets on the earth again. I was amazed he had such strong desire to share his testimony. when we visited him after he asked us if he was allowed to go out and teach with us and help us... awesome.... he is ready. haha. I have only had one other investigator like him. (Junior, my best freind from my last area)

There are people who are ready for the gospel. i know it. I just hope and pray we find them. I appreciate all of your prayers i know they help. they have kept me out of harms way, please pray as well for the people who are ready for the gospel that they can find it. 

so... this could be my last week in morrope. i hope not. i feel like i could be here my whole mission and there will stil be more to do. my companion told the familia fiestas that i might be leaving and they looked so sad... tore my heart in half. i wish he wouldnt have done that i dont know if im going to be able to leave this area. 

there are a ton of new missionaries coming soon due to the change in missionary age. they are opening new areas in our mission that missionaries have never been to. and they are doubling up missionaries in a few areas. Its so exciting to see the work growing. I feel an urgency to find people and to help them receive the restored gospel, but at the same time i know i need to be patient with my own area.

My goal for the mission is to find a family. I want to find a full family that will be able to receive the gospel and be baptized. it is awesome to find individuals but what would bring me the greatest joy is to help a family obtain Eternal Life together, because the life eternal isnt eternal life without the family,

I hope and pray that all of those who are at home who havent heard the gospel yet will get the chance to hear the message and will accept it. I have thought many times what it would be like to hold onto the name tag for an extra transfer after i get back just so i would be able to share the gospel with all those close friends of mine who dont have those blessings in their life.

I love you all

sorry so short.

Always turn outward, and keep smiling!

Elder Bunker