A Sick Comp

10 September 2012

Hey Family!

     How is everyone?    All is well here.   I am still in Jayanca.   The work here this week has been really, really slow.   We have been in Chiclayo almost all week.   We have only been in Jayanca 3 days this week -  3 half days in between appointments at the clinic for my compañion.   This next week also looks like it might be like that too.    The work went downhill obviously as a result of the clinic.   We have 3 or 4 eternal investigators who progress very, very slowly, but whom are progressing.   We could leave them for a year and they would still be there, but most of our other investigators disappeared.   We have a lot of adventists and JW´s here that tell everyone they meet that we have horns and worship satan,  so usually if we can´t follow up with our investigators they get scared to talk to us.   So, its been tough.   But, we have several good references and a few good people we found on Sunday whom we are going to keep working with  but this next week looks like we are going to clean our area book again.    Still, the work goes on.

     Haha, it sounds like the family reunion was a success.   Sounds like everyone had fun.   Mention to my brothers that Preston seems to get lucky a lot when he plays with them...

     And with that other girl... Estrellita, I am not entirely sure who she is.   I think she is one of the sisters from the branch here.  Most of the members here have years in the church.  The missionaries have been in Jayanca for a short while, but the group was formed 15 years ago.   They still call it the family group.  I think I know who sheis and if you want you can add her or if not, that's OK, too.   She should know we (the missionaries) don´t use facebook so... but if you do add her just be sure to tell her your my family and not me.

      I have not gotten any of the last 2 packeges yet with the 4 shirts or the one before. My comp and I are planning to stop by the office today and see if we can find them.

     Well not much new this week. I have been kinda bored this week.    Not much has happened,  but I will keep you all posted on things as they happen.    I love you all and I hope everyone has a good week this week.   Give my love to everyone at home.    I will write again next week.

 

Another Week

27 August 2012

Hey Family. What's going on?
     Well, here in Jayanca it's been a hard week. The zone was really low in contacts, lecciones and several other goals, so I got my district animated and  ¡Trabajamos como Negros! (Its a peruvian phrase and a well used missionary phrase here).   This week we contacted 124 people and had almost 30 lecciones which for this mission is really high.   I don´t know how it was in my brother's missions, but here it's pretty good.   Also this week, I had my suit cut thinner.  It was really, really big before. Now, it's much nicer. 
     Hey, I had another thought.   How is Breezy?  Do you know?  I don´t know why, but she has been on my mind this week. 
     SO, with the packages, yeah a 17 1/2 neck should be more than fine with the shirts.    Thanks!   I should be fine on shirts until the end of my mission with those.   Also, could you find the book Dia de Defensor?   I think it's called Day of Defense in English, but I honestly have no idea.   I would like it in Spanish if you could find it.   It's about 2 missionaries who were assigned to defend the church in a multi church religious conference.   Also in the package, yeah, some peaches would be wonderful.  But with anything you send, could you make sure it's in Spanish?    And not Spanish from Spain.   It's not the same I discovered...
     Sounds like dad had quite the party this week.   (haha, Congratulations Dad!)  We have been trying for months to get even 200 members in one place!
     So here in Jayanca, we are working good.   All is well here.   Although sorry, I'm going to be pulling possibly a bunch of money out of my account this week.   We are 100% out of money and my comp has some kind of cyst that needs to be taken care of, so we are going to be traveling a lot between Jayanca and Chiclayo this week.   I will all be reimbursed this next week I'm told, but... we still don´t have any money for this week.   I really am sorry with all the money.   I hope it's not an inconvienience for you.  If so, tell me and I will figure something else out.   Aside from that, we are still working hard out here.   Nothing terribly new is happening.  Our branch is more or less strong.  We have about 50 active members, but they don´t go to any of the activities... just to church.  Then in the week, they aren´t really motivated to go to activties or anything,  so we are striving to motivate them.
     A thought for the ward newsletter... well, I have lots of thoughts, but they are all in Spanish now so it's less useful. 
     Tell everyone back home I love them.   I will keep everyone in my prayers, epecially Matt.   Tell him to take care of himself. Give my saludos to everyone back home. 
     Thanks Mom and dad.   I love you both and will write again next week.

Just Kidding

20 August 2012

Dear Family.

Hi, I'll write next week.

Love Nate

Hey Family,

     I was just kidding with the last letter.  I am good.  It's been a good week this week.   We put  2 baptismal dates on the calendar this week.   This area is hard but still we are out working and the work is progressing.   

     I had a few pictures I wanted to send home but I forgot the battery to my camera so I can't connect it to the computer. (haha- well maybe for the next week). 

     Tell Matt he's got it good.   I have been bitten by crickets, grasshoppers (yes they can bite), ticks, dogs, sandflies, mosquitos, children, and a large variety of bugs that I have yet to identify and the illnesses go away after a week or so.   Haha and don't worry, Mom, I haven't died yet.

     All is well here- not much new going on.  The branch is growing.  We have almost 100 inactive members here in jayanca, so we have plenty of work to do.   The work in Illimo is still going.   We found two young sisters there who could be baptized,  but their grandma is incredibly evangelic and is teaching obviously false doctrine to her grandchildren... like really OBVIOUSLY false doctrine.   I wonder about that church sometimes.   Anyway, we have high hopes for the two girls, but we will see.   If they accept us in the next appointment I think they will be baptized, but with their grandma, they may not.   We will see.  It is frustrating,  but oh well.

     Anyway,  the Bosque de Pomac is a forest by us with lots of ruins inside.  It was part of the Lambayequean Empire.   I think they were the last group before the Incas.

     With the packages, I got one.   I haven't seen the other yet,   but I got one with BBq, a tie, (Thank you very much for that. It's a very nice tie.) one shirt, one pant, food, stickers, and scriptures and candy... oh, and 2 BYU t- shirts. I haven't seen the other yet.  It could come this week.   I will look for it with the next package.   I think I'm OK with shirts for the moment.   Mensajes Mormones would be great.  They are videos and there should be like 20 on a disc.   I would love to have more. I have some, but not many  and they have been copied and copied and copied again, I think.   Some have lost their quality.   Really, I think I have everything I need for the moment.   I always like food but thats okay.   Also, I would like ties as always,  but its not life or death either.   I could also use more church acceptable music on a USB drive.   Ask Matt and Keira.  They can put that together.   I like country, disney, classical, etc. or really any of my brothers could help out with that,  but I don't really need any of this stuff if its hard or expensive to send.

     My comp is Peruvian but raised in Argentina.   He's okay.   He is really quiet, but a good missionary.     Anyway, thanks for everything.   I love you all and will write again next week.

Much Love to Everyone

Bosque de Pomac

13 August 2012
Hey Mom, Hey Dad
     All is well out here.  My letters might come in a little wierd.
The computer I am using is older than I am so I'm playing with it. Here
are some pictures.

     Yeah, so it took almost a half hour to send the last message with only
1 picture so that will have to do for now. Sorry!    But, all is well
here.  I only have a few minutes left.   Thanks for the recipes.  This
week we wanted to make some goodies.   Thanks again with the other
things I asked for.  I got one of the packages this week with the
scriptures, the stuff for Graciela and the food for my year in
mission.   I will keep an eye out for the other.   If you have shirts
coming,  I am good for clothes.  ( Haha)  and yeah,  I remember how to sew.
You would be proud of me for that.   I have sucessfully sewn 4 shirts,
2 pants and my laundry hamper back together several times, but after
so many times they just end up being rags.  Thanks for the money, too.
I have already used 60 sols this month on traveling expenses alone
and it's the first of the month still.
     I am sorry to hear about Devin.  I will keep him in my prayers.  I hope you
let him know that I am thinking about him.
      So today we went out to the Bosque de Pomac and ran around out there.  
We had  an exciting trip as we found a sign that said it was 5 km to the Bosque
so we decided to head out there on foot.   We made it there in like 40 minutes
to realize that the cool stuff we wanted to see was about another 5-10 Km inside.
So we ended up paying a Moto taxista to take us around, but it was fun.
     Well the computer is getting mad so I'm out of here,  but I love you
all and I hope that all is well.  The pic I sent is from some ruins in
the Bosque. I love you. Take care

A Letter on Tuesday

7 August 2012
Dear Family
     Hey, I know I am writing late, but sorry.   Yesterday,  we went
out to Puerto Eten for P- day and we got back at 6 on the dot.  (Also
had an appointment at six on the dot)  So, instead I am writing Tuesday.
 All is well here...  not much new.   My comp is working hard.   He got
way discouraged this week when he discovered for the first time in his
life, anti mormon literature which the Jehovah Witnesses give out like candy.  We
had a way good family we were teaching reject everything they had
learned almost overnight.   We talked to some of their friends and
found out that the JW´s also were visiting the family and they gave
the wife one of said books.  So, it's been a little tough for my
companion, but I'm doing good.  
    I have yet to get the packages, but
was told that my ZL´s have one of the packages.  They said it was
small so  I assume it's the one for Graciela.  I'll have a look
tomorrow and get it sent off if it is.   Illimo looks like it will
require a little more time to open.  We are trying to teach over there
when we can,  but it's a tough area.   We did find a way cool family
though so we will see what happens with them.   The clothes are great.
It's the old ones that are dying.   All of my Kirtland shirts ripped in
the back this week.   Like, they all were programed to die at the one
year mark, so, I have taken up sewing.   It's an exciting new hobby of
mine.   But, in the next package you send this way, could you include a
few shirts?  It's not desperate yet, but I could use some.   I also would
like to know how much money it's okay to use from my bank account.
Because some of the other missionaries had problems hanging onto money after being
transfered, (we used to get 60 soles more for traveling) the mission
doesn´t isn´t giving more money to the areas that are out in the
boondocks, like Jayanca.   So here we are obligated to hold onto 60
soles (20 or 25 dollars, I think) a month for traveling. I am trying to
do my best not to use personal money but its really tough.   We get 50
soles now for all of our other expenses. (taxis, haircut, toilet
paper, deoderant, any kind of health expense,.. etc) but its really
way too little money.   So let me know how much I can use from my
account a month so I don´t use too much.

     Tell Jeff Congradulations (felicitaciones... I can´t spell the other word
anymore) on getting into Harvard.   I think I will have to cure cancer
to keep up with the family at this rate. Tell Matt that pregnant
women also cost money!  Tell Carter that Matt hides toys and candy
somewhere in his room and send him to go find them...

     Well, sounds like all is well back home. I hope everyone has a good
week and I will do my best to write on Monday this next week.

      I love you all and tell Devin and Matt  "Hi."    Also... anyone else who is
still around.

Chao

Hump Day

30 July 2012

Family,

     Hey, what's going on?   Sounds like things back home are going good.  I hope Sawyer had a Happy Birthday, but it sounds like it went all right.   This was an interesting week. We actually had surprise transfers.   Elder Perez got transfered to Pomalca.   I am still hanging out here in Jayanca with a young Elder Linares.   Elder Linares has the same time in the misson as Elder Perez, but Elder Linares is much calmer and less stressed all the time.   Here in Jayanca all is well.

     In answer to questions...no, we didn´t end up opening Illimo this last week.   One of the 2 families that we have there went on vacation then it was only one family so we are going to keep working on Illimo.   It's a bit slow out there with missionary work.   There aren´t many people who want to listen. At first, we had every person in every house who was at least interested to hear us, but I think one of the churches started bad mouthing the church of Jesus Christ again. It happens all over the country when missionaries show up.   Even people who we were teaching had a complete change of heart,  but still it's going good.   I had some fun this week.  We came across a Baptist family this week in Illimo.   One sister in the family was mad that we were visiting her and thought that we believed Joseph Smith was the father of Jesus Christ and several other doubts and concerns.   We started talking to her and pulling out scriptures from the Bible and from memory.   It was a great deal of fun because she also knows a great deal of scriptures.  She finally accepted the challenge to read the Book of Mormon but her father invited us not to return.    She completely changed her mind about the church.   It was cool.   I like talking with people who know a lot about the scriptures.   It's a great deal more fun to talk to them when they can talk back, then we can really start solving concerns and help them to understand.

      Haha and thanks for the reminder about this week!  The members here, too, always remind us how much time we have.   Haha and no, I'm not terribly trunky yet, although it is strange thinking that I have one year in mission.   Friday is my birthday in the mission. (my cumple año)

     For the ward newsletter, well, I don´t know. I always have a scriptures to share.

One scripture I have loved and have really worked to become like is Alma 29 :1, 9-10 (write it in. the ward newsletter. it says it all)

     I love you all and I am out of time, but take care and I will write again next week.
Love,
Elder Thomson

A Good Week

23 July 2012

Hey Fam!

     Sounds like all is well at home.  It is here, too. It's been an interesting week but a really spiritual one for me which has been cool.   Actually in respect to the missionary work, we dropped like 15 investigators this week so it kinda went downhill a little.  The family we have been teaching that had a baptismal date decided that they want a few more weeks to think about it.  But suprisingly,  I felt like it was a really good week.   Several times this week I felt the spirit really strongly guiding me.    We found several really really great families, reactivated 1 way inactive family and gained all the confidence in the world with them.   Then, we also gave out several Books of Mormon in contacts which we almost never do (here in Peru,  they accept things so you don´t feel bad then throw them away when you walk out of sight), but we felt impressed to do so and these people seem to be really almost golden investigators.  So, we will see what happens.   It just felt really good running around and teaching this last week.   We also found the most golden investigator ( for sure one of the best I have seen in my mission) and we thought for sure that we would have a baptism in the next couple weeks with this sister, but as always, opposition in all things (2 Nephi 2:11).  The grandmother of this sister came in and chased us out of her house telling us we were everything short of demons. so we will have to see what happens to this girl we were teaching.  She is 16 or 17 years but it was a powerful lesson we had.   It was a just a good week. and I felt really drained from this week.   We gave 2 or 3 blessings a day and my comp still is a little afraid to give blessings so I gave the majority.  It doesn´t sound that cool a week,  but I loved it.

     Thanks for giving Paisly that package. and tell Devin and anyone else back home HI

     Well,  I love you all I am out of time, but take care. I hope all is well back home. I will write again next Monday. Thanks for the package.  I will look for it!   Give the family my love.

Much love!  Nate

                     

PS  I also am sending home some pictures in this letter.  The first is of one of my best buddies here in the  mission,  Elder Gomez.   He ended his mission today.   He was my AP,  then in my district.   I have known him for the last 7 or 8 months. .. a way cool guy.   He is on his way home to Guatemala.

We can see why you might have trouble with commitment from this contact!

The second, is of something, I forgot to look before I uploaded it but I remember I wanted to send it home. I hope it makes sense.

The third is of the last baptism we had. This is Jayanca  you can see behind us. The town is really small,  maybe 10,000 people at the very most.   You can walk from one side to the other in less than half hour. 

The Week Goes On

16 July 2012

     Hey fam,  I only have a few minutes today.    I was fighting with the camera trying to send pictures, but it´s not working.

     First, the markers, are they crayons? or markers?   Markers destroy scriptures but the crayons are wonderful.   There are a kind of ¨twistables¨ crayons.   Those would be wonderful.   Also...more Sweet Baby Rays BBQ?   The first bottle is going fast. The scriptures...Elder Perez says green and yeah, the name is correct.   The clothes you sent in the last package are marvelous!  I haven´t felt so good in months.   The shirts I brought are way way too big.   17 and a half neck is good, maybe a 17 neck would be better.   For future reference,  the shirts I brought are XL and 18 neck -  way too big. Letters from home are always welcome in the packages, too.   If you have an Ensign to spare, I miss reading in English.   Some things just don't have the same significance in Spanish.

     All is good here. We will send missionaries to Illimo this next week.   We are going to sign on a room on Wednesday.  We also found a sister who will pension for the Elders.   We have two families right now who are progressing for baptism  and 2or 3 more that we have a lot of hope for.  One family has a baptismal date for the 28th of this month.

     This week has been interesting.   I found out where all the problems with my comp came from.   He heard from one or two other Peruvian missionaries that I had troubles with Elder Palacios.  As all rumors go,  the story he heard was that I had troubles with all my zone so he wasn´t willing to accept me even before we became companions.  He probably still isn`t, but thats his choice.   We had a nice conversation about that  so we will see.   It could be a long 2 or 3 months because PTE Risso wants missionaries to be in one place for 4 to 6 months.   It could be tough for him.  We will see.

     I love you all. I need to run.

Elder Thomson

Illimo

9 July 2012

Hey Family

     Sorry for the delay in the internet. Outside of Chiclayo the internet gets pretty slow. I actually find myself missing the city which is weird because never in my live have I liked cities. But, I do miss Chiclayo. We are in Chiclayo today. It was really fun for me because we found a member from Amautas here. It was a lot of fun seeing him again.

     The work in Illimo is going.  We are going to be out there again on Wednesday. We found 2 families who are at the very least, available to help us. One is excited to have missionaries; the other doesn't really care, but he was a lot more excited the second time we found him, so we will see.  Then we found another sister who is now a JW.  We are still working on Illimo!   I  hope that we will have 6 more weeks with Illimo, but it is possible that we will have only 2 more.   As of right now, we have 6 or 7 investigators there,  2 more or less active families and 1 inactive family who is at least willing to talk to us.   The people there for the most part have never seen members of the church or the church so many are very willing to talk to us.   It's a nice change and Illimo is really big.   It's like 3 time larger than Jayanca or something like that.   So, we will see.

     Well sounds like the house is a party. I hope all is going well there.   Put a couple beds in the garage and everyone will be fine!    All is well out here.   Elder Perez and I are working a little better  here. He´s still going to have a tough mission, but at the least we are working well in this area. I have not gotten your package yet, but I will get it tomorrow.   I talked with my ZLs and they have it.  They will bring it to me tomorrow.   It's a bit slower to get packages out here because of the distance from Chiclayo.    Oh, and my comp wanted scriptures in English.   Thats what he is looking for.   He wants to learn to speak English and learn the scriptures in English. Could you find the scriptures in English in the smaller size?   Also,  I don´t know if you have been keeping track of my bank account, but I have pulled out money a couple of times.   Also, I will need to pull out money again today. I sent a package home today addressed to the Thomson Family.   It's for Paisley. Her Birthday is the 28th.   Could you get the package to her?   I felt I ought to send something home to her for her brithday because she sent me a fairly decent sized package for my birthday.   If you would sent that to her I would appreciate it.

     Well this week is pretty much the same.   We have 3 families here who look like they could be baptized soon so we have a lot of hopes for them.    Aside from that, we have a great deal of Catholics.

     That is about it for this area this week. I love you all.   I hope that you all have a great week.

 Have a party in the house!

Love,  Elder Thomson

--

We are Family or A New Branch

2 July 2012

Hey Mom and Dad,

     How's it going back home.   Sounds like a party in the house this week.   Remember that you still have the motorhome!

     How bad are all the fires?  Are they getting them undercontrol?   How close to the house are they. You said the point of the mountain, any closer than that?

     Well, this week was kinda slow. We haven't had a whole lot of success here.   One thing I have learned in my mission is that God isn't going to give us investigators if we aren't prepared to teach them...  and it shows.  My companion and I aren't unified in anything.   He tells me how willing he is to learn, but any suggestion I give him and it's my "foolish pride" or  that he learned how to do these things in the CCM (peruvian MTC).  Haha,  I think that God has a sense of humor. A few times he has used phrases that I used with Elder Palacios.   It's a little different but not terribly.   I am going to write Elder Palacios an apology letter today and thank him for his patience  with me.   Another Elder told me its carma.  Probably true.   But no, we aren't working well together.  He only wants numbers.  He doesn't really care about the specific needs of our investigators.   It's kinda funny.   We have arguments and he gives me his opinion and tells me this is the best way.   I give him mine as a suggestion and when he gets mad, I then show him the scriptures, the text from Preach my Gospel, Missionary manual and whatever else to show him that there is a better way.   Then he gets mad and won't talk for the rest of the day. It feels like a fight between a couple of children, but thats OK.   He is going to have a tough mission until he learns to accept another opinion.  Thanks for keeping me on the Prayer Roll. I really feel the difference here. I do appreciate it.  Include the sprinkler system on the next prayer roll. It sounds like it needs a miracle too!

     Here in Jayanca, we are doing good. We officially became a branch on Sunday. Now we have to run around this week and set up things to begin working more with the members.  We are starting an official branch directory. The next couple of weeks will probably be stressful. Also, we will be running over to another town called Illium this week to start reactivating members over there ao we can start missionary work.   In a couple of weeks,  PTE Risso wants to put missionaries in there. So that will be interesting.   We have been running around this week looking for members who have friends over there or who know other members in that area.   So the work is progressing here a great deal.

     Hey, one other thing, my companion wants me to ask you if you could find a Bible, the Book of Mormon, the D y C and the Pearl of Great Price in one book. I forgot the word in english.   A cuadruple in Spanish,  but one smaller than the standard size.   He wants one about the width of the  hand. with the 4 scriptures if you can find one.   He said he would give me the money for it and you can pull the money out of my account to pay for it.

     Well, I need to go in just a minute, but I wanted to say I love you.   Give my love to the family. Tell Jay the phrase ´´Glittering Prizes´´ is the key to learning Warcraft.   Have fun with all the family in the house.   Here in Peru, it's normal to have 4 or 5 families in the same house. Take care and I love you all. Enjoy your week and I'll let you know how things are going Monday.

Elder Thomson

On A Treasure Hunt...for members

June 25

Dear Family
     Hey how's it going?  Well things are still going here.   Its' a great deal hotter here in Jayanca than it was in the city, but its a lot of fun here.  We are in Lambayeque today.   It's a little town between Jayanca and Chiclayo.   It's been interesting running around out here.   It's a pretty area here, but it's tough working.   We don´t have much member support.   We have lots of members who are nice and love to help us, but only a couple have real testimonies of the church.   Even so, our "Little Group" will be changed into a branch this next Sunday and we will finally be able to get organized. We have been running all around for the last few days trying to update a branch directory.   We have almost 200 members we found and about 50 of them are active.   Still, I like it here.   We have been running around the last few days trying to figure how to organize the group here in missionary work. Hopefully we are almost to the point that we can start working really well.  The last 4 or 5 companionships that have been here haven´t done much with the group for about the last 2 or 3 years The missionaries here have done work with lots of baptisms, but little help to the "Group" and so the people who were baptized have gone inactive.   For the last 2 weeks our assignment has been to strengthen the branch and probably will be doing the same for the next couple weeks at the very least.
       I feel like my other area in La Victoria was preparing me to come here.   We reactivated 50 people in my last area. Literally, my first Sunday in La Victoria, we had 104 people in the church and my last we had 153.   Out here I hope we will be able to reactivate 50 more. 
     It looks and sounds like all is going good back home. I hope all goes well with James. Ha ha,  you might have to bring Mason out here if you come to pick me up after my mission.  Here in Jayanca we see big green John Deere tractors everyday and he would love moto taxies.  They really look like something from Mario Cart.   I am glad mom is keeping up with the other moms on the missionary blog... and yeah,  Elder Hemsley is in the Zone out here but not in my district.   With the other Elders and sisters that mom mentioned, I was in La Victoria, but my zone was Chiclayo Peru.  I was on the other side of the street from them! 
     The work out here is progressing.  I have to run out to two other towns this week to activate a few members so that Pte. Risso can put a few more missionaries out here.
     Well, all is well.   Tell the family "hi".    One scripture that comes to mind for a thought for the ward, would be the need for the Book of Mormon with the Bible. We need the two. The scripture is 2 Nephi 3 : 12,  it talks about how both scriptures are together to confound false doctrine. Really, every christian church in the world has the Bible, and there are millions of them  and no one really knows what is true doctrine..   Only one church in the world uses the Bible and the Book of Mormon and that is ours. Because with the two, you can´t really argue or misinterpret the doctrine of Christ. 
     So my English is about gone, but I hope you can translate this. I love you all  and I will write again next week.

Love,  Nate

Jayanca

June 18

     Ha ha, so Graciela spilled los frijoles. Yeah, I'm out here in Jayanca. We have a growing group. Actually, we will be a branch in a couple of weeks.  We have a whole bunch of members out here, I think like 150 or something like that.   I am not 100% sure.  Tuesday we have a meeting with the group president and the mission leader.   We will make a directory then.  I am here with Elder Perez. from Cusco.   He is a little hard headed and has trouble accepting anything I say because he is 22 years old, but we are working and learning together.  I am finishing his training.   He only has 6 weeks in the field, but we are working hard at finding a middle ground to begin working well together while at the same time working to build his desires to be here. He is a little disheartened because the work is hard and he feels stressed by nature, but we are progressing.  Also, I am the District Leader here. I am responsible for 6 other missionaries right at the moment so it has been interesting for me as well to learn to adapt.

     We do have a pensionista out here. She is a very kind lady who doesn´t believe that I like to eat small amounts of food. (I normally eat only 1 medium sized plate of food.) She regularly gives me a giant plate full to the brim.   She is the best and she is slowly reducing the amount day by day.

We are the only missionaries here. We cover Jayanca and several small towns or villages around here.  It is a combination of farmland and forest.  We are close to the jungle.  The jungle is about 2 hours from here inland - not too far.  In the last picture I marked,  I am with Elder Juergens who played football for BYU.   He is good friend here in the mission.    Elder Juergens started the training of Elder Perez but they had some trouble together so I got changed in.    I am afraid Elder Perez may still have trouble because I'm like Elder Juergens, but we are slowly finding a middle ground.  We found the ostrich farm today and these are the pictures I managed to take.

      I'm out of time.  I love you all and thanks for the package.   I will write again next Monday.

Much love

Elder Thomson

Time to Move On

11 June 2012

Dear Family,

Nate and his comp, Elder Samame, from Panama

     Hey, yes, I have changes this week.   I will be sent out tomorrow at eight in the morning.   I have been scrambling all day to pack all my stuff and to say goodbye to everyone here in the area.   Some nice things about being señior companion is that I get to decide what appointments to make. I abused that power a little this week.  We aren´t going to visit anyone that I don´t want to visit today.   Still working, but not running around looking for contacts.   I have said goodbye to most of the people I wanted to say goodbye to, but still I need to go by like 5 or 6 people.   It has been a great area to work in.

    As for the shirts, a 17 or 171/2 neck would be fine.   My old shirts fit fine at the neck, but they are a little loose there.   I didn´t realize that until just this instant.   As for other things I need:  BBQ sauce- Sweet Baby Rays if you can find it, but I will take anything. Jalapeños-  any way you can send them... habeñeros, too.   I would like to have a few more quick cook goodies too.   They are really really good. Thanks!!!

     Then, I am looking for a way to send a package home.   I have some spices from here that I would like to send home.   I have a whole bunch of seeds.  I don´t know what they are called, but they are really really hot!.  The seeds are good and stay good for years so I am told.   I have a whole bunch. To plant them,  just put them in fertilized dirt and water daily...oh, and sunlight too.   The plant grows about 2 feet high if there is lots of sunlight.   I would like to plant some after the mission if its okay.

     Tell Matt and Daniel congratulations!  And tell them not to follow my example.  I made an Adventist preacher cry this week for attacking the church.   He found the truth of things hurts a little. He was attacking us and an investigator whom we are teaching.  The poor sister was super confused and felt bad.   We found out she had attended the 7th Day Adventists for a time and was confused about the doctrine of Christ.    We told her to follow her heart and to pray.  We came by one morning and found her Adventist pastor in the house. and he told us basically that we are of the devil... bla bla bla, and that his church is the only true church in the world.   Well, we didn´t want to fight with him in this moment, just simply to talk to the sister about faith and about baptism.   This pastor wouldn´t allow us to talk,  so we showed him several things in his Bible that he had a lot of trouble accepting,  but it was in his own Bible.   At that, he closed his Bible and started to cry.  We invited him to pray about these things and he got mad and left.   It was truthfully a tough lesson.  I felt really bad for him and so did my companion. 

     Well, the church is true. I have seen it really truly in my mission here.   The mission really feels like a battle for souls.   I can literally SEE the battle. and its really not the evangelists versus the catholics or anything like that.  It is truly like every church against ours.   Every church in this world accepts every other church... except ours. I literally heard one guy in the World Missionary Movement say every church is true except ours.   I have heard similar things from members from almost every church here.  It is an interesting point of view I am gaining in the mission. It really gives the perspective of Nephi in respect to the world and the church.

     Well I love you all. I will write more later, but I have to go right now.

I love you, I hope all is well at home. Tell Devin best of luck and that I have all the confidence in the world in him.   Also, tell Matt and Dainiel, to enjoy their missions.   Love it and it will change their lives.

Love, Nate

Pictures of the Zone

4 June 2012

Dear Family...

Well,  I forgot my other sd card so I can´t send home the majority of the photos that I wanted to, but here are a few of my zone that I took today.

Here is a description of what's happening with each picture.

1. We were bored and my comp and I left a message for the Soc soc (Sociedad de Socorro or Relief Society)

2. Elder Kirtland (AP), Me (jefe) and Elder Sainberry (Newbie).

3. Elder Kirtland is/was my ZL for 3 changes and now he is still in the zone technically, but is the AP. Elder Sainsberry is new in the zone, but is from Logan. I am always teasing and making fun of him... but all in good fun :)

4. Elder Velarde is one of my good friends in the Zone and he decided to go "profet" on us and I grabbed a picture...

5. My comp and a bunch of other missionaries after lunch.

6. La Hermanas Blackwell and Lopez, Elder Nicaragua, and Elder Kirtland... again... But E´Nicaragua is going to end his mission here in like a week so this was our last get together with him. He is cool and has been giving me advanced missionary training for the last couple weeks. (advanced training for lack of a better word.)  He has been showing me how to work a bit more effectively with members, in everyday work, and in my lessons.   I have a ton of respect for him and am sad to see him go.

7. How missionaries work in the kitchen... 6 in the kitchen. 2 talking after having eaten, 2 playing with cameras (one is me), 1 eating and 1 sister trying to serve everyone... :)

    








     This week has been an interesting week. I don´t have changes yet. That is next week. I forgot how to count... sorry Mom.   One more week to wait, but the guess is that I am going to El Dorado to look for gold... which I think is a super ironic name for the area because it's the poorest part of the city.

The other guess is that I will be going super far out there,  like out to Cajamarca.   A bunch of the elders out there have changes this next week or I will open a new area between here and there. Those are the three likely options right now.   Our presidente has mentioned that I might be opening a new area which I think would be fun personally.  I just hope its not in one of the cities here because I hate cities.   There are a whole bunch of new areas here in Lambayeque that president said he wants to open.   So we will see.

     As far as interesting things, well we had one investigator who decided that she wanted to join the church so that her daughter could marry a missionary specifically, at the moment,  me or my companion. haha.  We have to go explain to her today our purpose as missionaries,  but it's likely that she will get baptized so at least there is that.   Aside from that, we also have been running from all sides of our zone to all other sides.   Our ZL´s realized this week that I am an electrician or at least know the principles of it, so I have been called to all sides of our zone fixing problems and changing wiring so that everything works. (Haha) I need to take a picture of a few of the wiring jobs that I have seen here (and fixed).   Dad would just shake his head... or cry... one or the other.   Also I have become the new zone tutor for English so I have been trying to teach all the latin missionaries how to speak English.   It's been exciting.    Then, I went to the beach on Tuesday to work out there with Elder Nicaragua.  His companion went to my area to work.   Wednesday, we have another exchange.  It's been kinda weird here this week.  It feels like e have hardly been in our area, but we have a couple of families that could be baptized here soon so we have a lot of hope for this area.   I think I am going to cry when I leave.   I know personally every member of this ward, both active and inactive. I know everyone and all are my friends.  When the members here heard that I probably will be changed this next week (one of the members here works in the office), several members told us that they want to have a Family Night in their house.   As of right now, we have 3 or 4 planned for this week and of course our the Hma. Graciela.   It's tough leaving the area.   It will be interesting to see where I get sent.    Anyway,  I am out of time.

     I love you all and will write again next week with the news about changes, but it will be 2 weeks before I will have the chance to tell ya where I am at.

Love you all!

Learning About the Bible

28 May 2012

Querida Familia,

     Hey!  I don´t have a whole ton of time to write; I am experimenting with the camera-Peruvian computer thing again.    That always is interesting... but we will see.

     Well, it's not working, but I thought I would like to try  Now, I only have a few minutes.    Haha, for sure send me pictures of Aaron!  I look forward to seeing them.   How is everything at home? 

     Here, everything is good.   We had a way successful week this week.    I have been teaching this less active family off and on for about 6 months with various companions.    The mother of the family, this week finally started listening and opened up.  She asked us some good questions that have been bothering her for a long time.  It is the reason why she went inactive.   She started going to the Adventist church looking for the answers then decided that she liked the way they taught in the other church and was baptized there.    This week, we had a lesson with her and she finally opened up.  We answered a whole ton of questions about everything.   She didn´t want us to use the Book of Mormon, so I had one of my first real Bible exams.   I was way happy to pull out my Bible and show her about a whole bunch of stuff.    Finally,  we ended up teaching the plan of salvation to her with just the Bible.  You can ask my brothers, but it sucks!   We taught about the spirit world, the judgement, the ressurection, and the kingdoms of glory all from the Bible.   Then, using the kingdoms of glory, we used it to show her the evidence of Joseph Smith as a prophet.   It was a way cool lesson.   She didn´t want to come back to church yet, but she sent her daughter to the young womens activity and she will also come to church with us this next week.   It was really a great week for this alone.   I felt really pleased with myself, the spirit, and with the lesson and more than anything, with the family opening up to us and the church again.

     Anyway, I am out of time but that is one story.   I think I will try and send something home in a few weeks because I can´t send pictures very well.

     Love you all!

A Short Note

21 May 2012

Dear Mom and Dad,

     How are things back home?    Thanks for telling me about Devin.   I sent home a letter for him.   I hope he is doing OK and will you get the letter to him?

     I don´t have time to include any stories really this week. Yes, I got the package. Thanks so much for the pants and baptismal clothes.  They were desperately needed.   I also passed along the stuff for Hma Graciela.   It's good to hear that the house is done and that all is well in the family.   I will have another transfer in about 2 weeks.   It's almost sure that I will be changed.   I have about 6 months here and that is the limit with PTE Risso.   I love you all and will write next Monday!   Tell Devin I love him too!

--

A Great Telephone Call

14 May 2012

Dear Family,

     One more time Happy Mother's Day to all the woman in the family.   It was really good seeing you all on skype and a lot of fun to talk to the family!   I really enjoyed it.   I hope Mom and the Sisters all had a great mother's day.

     Haha and thanks for the package,  but I laughed when mom said she sent sugar.   HAHa, they grow that here. :)   But I am super grateful for the thought.   I haven´t seen the package, yet, but I will keep my eyes open for it.   As for pants and shirts, I am doing OK with my shirts, but I would appreciate some new ones if it is possible.   Mine at the very least are a touch yellow.   They look white till I compare them with some thing that really is white, then they look yellow.  (Mi camisa amarilla)   I need a 18 neck, I think,  then maybe a medium or a large.   XL is to big for me now.   Elder Fernandez, in some of the pictures that you saw, gave me one of his shirts and it actually fits really well  except the neck.   He is the little Chilean in the pictures.

     I hope JT will have some luck with finding a house. I found a nice one here that he could have for $10,000 American dollars,  but I will keep him in my prayers.

     I didn´t get a chance to tell any stories on skype the other day, but that's OK,  I was over joyed to be able to talk to you.  

     This week I had my first confirmation which was really cool.  Then this morning,  I actually got the chance to be contacted by the J-dubs.    I was downstairs in the house talking with our penisonista about an activity with the other missionaries and a Jehovah Witness knocked the door.    It was interesting to be on the other end of the door for a change,  but they don´t study as much as we do. (Nor did he know that we were missionaries.)   I was running and forgot my nametag when we were talking to the Hma and my comp was hiding his behind the door.    This fellow was trying to contact us and so we had some fun with him.   I was pretending to be a real investigator and my companion was helping.   We had some fun with the poor guy until another missionary from our church came by (Elder Nicaragua) and then we contacted him.   He was a touch confused and we invited him to visit with the missionaries to learn a little more about the Bible.

     Well all right,  I actually need to go.   I am almost out of time . I love you all and hope everyone has a great weekend.   Congratulations Dad on the Project!  I hope it gets finished up today.   I love you all and wish you all the best!  Tell Ken Thanks for the email and I look forward to more MRE´s (just don´t send me the rice and chicken one. :)

 

 

Moms Are Great

7 May 2012

Dear Family

     Hey! How are things back home. Things are normal here. We only had one baptism this week. The other kid, come to find out, has had problems with a few of the commandments that he needs to be working on. We talked to him and he really wants to change, but hasn´t had much success. We got him to talk to the bishop and his family and now, he is doing a great deal better. If he can stay clean for this week he will be baptized this Friday.

     In respects to the package, no I didn´t send the SD card. I copied everything to 2 disk and sent the disks. I thought I would hang onto the card to make sure you got everything no problem. If you got both disks, then ya, you have all my pictures and videos. I had 4 videos, I think, and about 300 pictures or something like that.

     With the Hermana Cheyla (Graciela), she is like my second mom, (aside from Sister Vogelsberg and Sister Tholl.) She has adopted me, too, as one of her children, I think. We came home late the other night and she yelled at us and demanded to know why we were late (5-6 minutes late). It was funny for us, but she mothers us a great deal. Also, I am pretty sure my comp and I help her keep her sanity with the other missioneries. . We live with 2 other missionaries; one is opposed to joking (don´t know that for sure, but I have yet to hear one) and the other is super picky. So, my companion and I help her to keep things calm some days. For sure, after my mission, I would love to come back to this area. I have come to know all the families here personally and would love to visit afterwards.

     Sounds like all is good back home. I will call later in the evening around 8 or 9 my time. I think that´s about 6 or 7 your time. Will that be okay? I believe that I will get a chance to call home Saturday in the evening, but I am not one hundred percent sure about that. I will try to call Saturday at 9 my time (7 your time) to make the arrangements. Also, would you like a call on skype or a conference call like we had for Christmas? Let me know!

     I'm out of time, but I love you all and can´t wait to talk.

The Work Continues

30 April 2012

Dear Family,

     Hey I am sorry about the baby. I know this is really tough on Jeff and Kelsy. Tell them I am sorry and I wish I could be there to help out.   But give Jeff and Kelsy the message from President Monson for April.   Our Heavenly father is mindful of each of us and our needs may we be filled with his spirit.   Have them read the conference talks.  They were great.

     I hope it can help.   It was the first thing that came to mind as I read that last letter.  

     Aside from that well all is well here.   I am here for one more change.   I will leave this area with almost 7 months, I think.   It is really great here.   The people here are really wonderful people.   My companion is great.   We are getting some great work done out here.   We have two family nights to go to tonight  and we have 2 baptisms this week; one is a little 11 year old boy and he will be baptized on Wednesday.   Also, a 16 year old who will be baptized on Friday.   This week,  Elder Samamé´s uncle who lives like 5 minutes from us was taught by the other missionaries.   On Saturday, we went to his marriage in the morning and then, in the afternoon, Elder Samamé baptized him.   It was really cool.          

     The work in our area is just now starting to pick up after we cleaned the investigator pool.   We now have like 5 or 6 progressing investigators and 2 baptisms this week.  We might have one more next week,  but more likely,  the week after if all goes well.   The story last week is original.   I use it a lot here to help people understand trust in the Lord.  It's one of my favorite stories to use.   I like to assosciate stories to things they know.   Everyone here knows Machuu Pichu and has dreams of going there.

     Thank the boys for all the prayers. I feel them.   Friday, like everyone we met gave us food or invited us in so I definitely feel the prayers.  Thanks

     And for you mom and dad,  I will plan to make the call in the evening  around 5 at night, I think-  my time.    That's like 3 your time  or I can do it later like at nine like we did before for Christmas.   Those will probably be the best times for me to call.   My hours are flexible so if you can tell me before hand, I will figure it out. 

Well, I love you all.   I will write again on Monday and I will talk to you soon!

 

MRE'S Aren't That Bad

23 April 2012

Dear Family,

     So, I only have a short time to write.  First, I will answer the questions.

Tell Ken that I did enjoy the MRE´s. I was surprised that they tasted good.   I thought they would taste terrible, but actually, not bad! I would be up for more of those.

     With the Seventh-Day Adventists,  I got frustrated with an Adventist sister the other day and burned her a little bit with her own Bible, but she started it. She pulled out her Bible and started to Bible bash.   She tried 10 or 15 times to burn us with different scriptures.   Then I lost a little patience and showed her a few things in her own Bible.  It was an interesting lesson, but she invited us back so maybe we will fight again...

     So an uplifting story for the newsletter...  I would say to trust in the Lord. We are following the trail of life. We are as a person lost in a valley, mountains on everyside, and we can only see a short distance in front of us.  We have to choose a trail, but can´t see beyond the next turn. Some of these mountains could be volcanos and others could be filled with dangers that we can´t combat.  But, God is above us; he CAN see these dangers and he CAN guide us WHEN we chose to follow him.  Sometimes, following his guidance, the path might look bad and we might think there is a better one to choose, but we can´t follow our desires.  We need to follow him and he will guide us to Machu Picchu. (Isaiah 55: 8 y 9)

     So the pants did fit perfectly. THANKS!!!!

     Thanks for everything and the fotos too!   Tell Jeff and Kels congratulations!!  I will try to get a letter off to them but I have like 2 minutes left.   So I can´t send the pictures here because the Peruvian computers, most of them, are so antiquated that they can´t handle the higher definition pictures.  

     Tell Roger sorry about the divorce, but I do hope that one day Roger will start thinking about more long term stuff and I hope younger rather than older.   Older people hang on to ideas and become incapable to change their minds. (I see that every day.) We found one guy here who is Catholic, but prayed about our church and the Book of Mormon and feels that its true.  He accepts Joseph Smith as a Prophet and Thomas Monson as a Prophet, and that the church has the authority of God and no other (his words).  But,  he is Catholic and doesn´t want to go to our church. nor be baptized.  He is about 88 years old.

     Well, thanks for the letters.  Could you send me my baptismal pants and my baptismal tie. I really could use some.  Thanks!

Love you!

Ketch-Up Is Good!

     Hey, I am going to try and send that video file again.  I am working on a better computer this week.  This is a video I made of my birthday.  I have one more, but I will send it apart.  For now let's see if one works. 
     So this week was interesting.  I have come to learn that I can eat anything with the proper quantities of ketch-up (ketch-up is really hard to spell by the way) and that it can be used in infinite quantities with rice. 

Elder Thomson with his comp, Elder Samame

     So I am short on time today.  I was fighting with the computer to send this video to you but it won´t do it.  So here are a few pictures instead.   Probably similar to the pictures from Facebook, but these are what I have.  I will ask Hma Graciela to send the video to you if it's possible.   Other stories this week... we found a religion out here that has their own Christ.  Nobody is allowed to see him,, but everyone has to send him money and do what ever he says.  He is supposedly the reincarnated Ezekiel and  that Ezekiel is Jesus Christ.  We had a very fun conversation with this poor woman about it and now she wants us to teach her more so it worked out alright.  This church, to gain members, says that Jesus Christ is in the mountains here and that if they don´t follow him,  they will be condemed.   People out of fear that he is the real Jesus Christ, go join the religion.  It's interesting.  
     We have 2 people preparing for baptism right now. One is a 14 year old kid and the other,  a 20 year old guy.  The older guy is way cool to talk to, but his dad supports every doctrine from every church he has found and so it's way frustrating to talk to him.  He says he believes in the Book of Mormon as the word of God and in Joseph Smith, but not that this is the Restored church.  He is in the 7th day adventist church.  (their church believes everybody is right. Their prophetess is Elena White who was the Secretary of Brigham Young.  She told him to give her the priesthood and when he said no, she got mad and formed her own church.)  Anyway, this guy is all over the place its really annoying to try and talk to him.  His son is way cool and wants to investigate the church.  The brother of this guy is way funny, too.  They know that their dad is all over the place and is super confused about the churches.  Sometimes he makes fun of his dad in English.  I feel kinda bad sometimes but he's so funny.  Anyway. here are a few pictures.   I will send more later. I love you and take care.  I will answer more questions next week.
Chao!

A Happy Birthday

9 April 2012

Dear Family!
     Hey, how is it going back home?   I only have a minute to write.  We were doing service all day
today moving the sister missionaries to another house (the roof started falling in on theirs 2 days ago),  so we spent all day over in Monsefú moving them.    I have an idea to send home a few pictures and a couple videos so let me know if it works.  They will be in a zipped folder so you will have to unzip it on the computer, but let me know if it works for future reference. 
     OK , I now have all the packages, I think.  I got 3 in one day and then one the other the week
before.  I have my visa.  If you could activate it and put some money on it I would appreciate it.  I don´t have time to do it today.

     This week was good,  just work like normal.  We didn´t do anything too special.  For my birthday, we had a quick little party in the Pension as you saw.  I am trying to include a few more pictures and a sister is going to come by the house this week with a package for you.  Thanks for all the birthday wishes from facebook and from you and dad and the fam.  I appreciate it.
      How are things back home?  I was sad that Polly died.  She was our bird for a really long time.  I am glad she wasn´t here because when animals die here, they eat them.  I don´t have any new
stories this week.  We have officially "whitewashed" our area.  We dropped all but 3 of our old investigators and now have 15 or 20 new ones that we are working with.
      I am going to try and include this video file for you but it's distinctly possible that it won´t work.  We will see.  I appreciate all the food, but I don´t need so much!  haha!!   I appreciate it but my pensionista has more than she knows what to do with.  Tell Ken and Grandma that I appreciated their package.  I got the mp3.  Thanks for it!!   I have greatly enjoyed the change in music.  (I did
delete a bit of the music but not Marty Robbins or John Denver or Johnny Cash. Thanks!!)  My birthday was good.  I had 3 separate cakes from different members so I am gaining a bit of weight back... and tell Matt he got fat.(haha just kidding... but not really...)

Thanks!!! I love you all.

Yeah, Pictures!

Elder Thomson ripping up Peru!

Dear Family

     Hey! I am working to attach some pictures. I have 2 DVD´s coming home with almost all my picture minus like 8,  so I will see if these computers can handle a few.   All is well here.   My companion, Elder Samame' speaks all Spanish and can more or less read English. He knows lots of words but can´t quite talk.   He sounds a touch like a dictionary, but I understand.

    So, this week has been good.   I did end up getting one of the packages.  There were some changes in the office this last transfer and also the office was reorganized so lots of stuff got lost (I have been telling mom for years that stuff gets lost when my room is cleaned and reorganized but she never believed me).   So, I got one package and there is for sure one more in the office that I  saw a while back.   It's possible it's the one from Ken and Grandma.   I also discovered this week that Korean superglue can be used to repair the leather on a football.  That was good to know.   I also learned I can glue 2 fingers together with said glue.   It's strong stuff.   I would rivel it to Gorrilla glue except it lacks endurance.   It only lasts for a few weeks where as I had something gorrilla glued for almost 2 years in the basement!  

    I found a sister here in the other ward that lives in PG.  She spoke with Matt a while back and has the address of the house so I am sending home a package with her.   It has more pictures, also, a little Peruvian cookie.  It should be good for around 10 years so I hope it makes it home... (If opened it will only last for a week or so.)

     Cookies were good.   All the Latinos liked them. I was afraid to eat the first one knowing that they had been in there for a while, so I shared one of the packages with all the missionaries in my Zone. They all looked okay afterward so I kept the other package... thanks.   And yes, you found the right Graciela.   She was rather confused with who Nathan was, but she accepted and asked me about it.  Haha and yeah, I explained,  but it was funny.  She told me we were friends on facebook right after I finished telling my companion how important it was to follow all the rules in the handbook!   Then, she told me she accepted me as a friend on Facebook.    haha oh well!

     So, not a whole ton of new stories. I did see conference in English - all 5 sessions of it.  I was with 4 other missionaries to watch it in our zone, one Latin elder from Nicaragua named Elder Nicaragua, also Elder Seitz, Elder Martin and Elder Callis and a couple sister missionaries.  That was cool. Elder Seitz´ is going to be heading back to Utah at the end of these transfers. Well, I need to go. Take care. Tell the family I love them and thanks for the birthday wishes. I will write again next Monday.

 

Training Is Good

26 March 2012

Hey family,

     So training is good; I really like it. It's tough because my companion sometimes is afraid to talk or doesn´t know what to say so that is interesting, but he is a super great missionary.  I have been struggling to teach alone though.   Sometimes he just recites the lessons memorized,  so I have been trying to teach in ways that he can´t recite the lessons.  That sometimes means that the lessons are a little tougher to teach but that's okay.    He really wants to learn and to be a better missionary.   He is from Panama City and his name is Elder Samamé.   He has made some excellent progress in the last few days here.   We have hopes of having a great deal more in the next few weeks.   I will be in this area with him for 12 more weeks training; from there, we will see.   I will have a combined total of about 27 weeks here.    Truly I am in Mission Peru Chiclayo. hahaha   I will almost have a year in mission before I could be transfered out. ..but that's okay. Its a lot of fun here. 

     I am still in the house of my Pensionista and she has a facebook if you can find her. You two can post on each others walls.    Her name is Graciella Serquen.    I don´t remember her other last name, but she is in la Victoria, Chiclayo Peru  if you can find her.   I think she has a few pictures of me and my last few companions.

     Other news, as of this moment, no, I have yet to see any packages.   The last one I got was the little Christmas package you sent me.    I saw one in the office the other day, but my zone leaders have to pick it up.   I can´t take it out.   I should get that tomorrow.  I will let you know. 

     I am glad that Tucker is okay. I didn´t even know he was old enough to drive, but I am glad that he is okay. I hope he recovers without any problems and that he doesn´t skip class anymore.

     Tell Devin and Aaron that 10 lessons a week is bad.   Normally,  we have close to 24 or 25.   (and normally 2-3 baptisms a month)  just to rub it in.

     I hope all is well at home. I will keep you posted on what is going on here. I love you all!

--
Elder Thomson

Staying in Chiclayo

19 March 2012
    
     Hey how is everything at home?    So, I tried to send some pictures
home, but the computer stopped reading my camera after one.  Here is the one! 
A few quick things for home.  I lost my credit card this week.  I have no
idea where it is.  I didn´t even know it was gone until about a half hour
ago.  The last time I saw it was last Monday.  So, could you cancel it
and maybe see if it would be possible to send a new one out here.
Aside from that little fact, I have had a slow week. True to tradition, the
week before transfer week is always the slowest.  We had a combined
total of like 10 lessons all week.    Haha... terrible!
But for this week,  no, I am not getting transfered.  I am going to be
training a new missionary in this area so for sure, I will be here for
at least 2 or 3 more months (12 weeks).  I was hoping to get moved to
the mountains, but maybe in July or more likely, August.  Sounds like
the mountains and Cajamarca are for the more experienced missionaries.
I am really looking forward to training.  It will be interesting.

     SO... stories for out here.  Well, the other week, we got to do service out
here for a  bunch of people.  We were working with the other two missionaries
that we live with to clean up a carpentry workshop for a
less active member.  It was actually quite a bit of fun.   Elder
Fernandez and I are always messing with each other.  We were making fun
of each other for two hours.  He was making fun of me in Ingles and
yo estaba molestándole en español.  It was great fun.  Then, we got bored and
started rigging new ways to do things.  We built a rig with a couple
barrels, a steel piece of pipe and a rope with a metal platform we
lashed together with cable.   We worked a way to move a great deal
of stuff from the 1st floor to the 3rd floor of this building.  It was
hard work, but we found ways to keep it interesting.

     This next story was kinda cool, and a touch overpowering.  For
the last couple weeks I have been studying about the power of god and
how he does things.   I came to a partial conclusion that was
correct, but not complete and I didn´t realize that until the other day.
I was asked to give a blessing.  During the blessing, I felt the
power of our Heavenly Father for just a moment.  I
felt it for only  a few seconds.  I realized he can do anything he wants
in anyway he wants.  It was a humbling experience.
    
     I will keep my eyes open for the packages.  I am now
a 34 waist, I think.  My 36 inch jeans are a touch a bit big now.
However,  I did fit into a 32 inch waist for the baptism, so 34 is
probably about right.
     I hope all is well  and I will write again next week.



Service in Chiclayo 

 Love you all

Elder Thomson

Getting A Tan

    12 March 2012

 

      Hey, only have a few seconds today...

Sounds like exciting news back home! Congratulations to Matt and Keira! That is cool, but do we have a date?   Matt told me November and Mom said December...anything more specific? 

    The weather here is super hot and I am starting to get fairly tan.  Our pensionista told me that I am starting to look semi- latin because my skin tone has darkened a good deal.   It looks like Peru has really 2 distinct times of year - summer and winter.  The summer is super hot with a luke warm breeze from the ocean; winter is relatively hot with cool breezes from the ocean.  That is about the extent of it.  Other news here is its possible that I will be transfered from here next week.  I talked with the ZLs and because my companion is going home in a couple more transfers its possible, even likely with how things have gone with President Risso in the past, that I will be changed so that this area doesn't get whitewashed.  I have already put in 3 and half months in this area, so its possible.  

I have a few stories this week but not enough time to tell them, but I'll send them in my next letter

Thanks for the support! I love you all at home

-- 

A Size 32 Waist?

Dear Family

     Hey,  I tried to send some pics home but I couldn´t make the computer  work again.
I will wait for the USB or if it's cheaper, I can buy a 8 gig USB for
about 25 dollars.  If it costs more than that to send one, don´t worry
about it.   (just for future reference.)
     So this Saturday we baptized 3 people:  Edith, her son José and her
brother Christian.   Only two were confirmed. Christian will be
confirmed this next Sunday because he had a tooth that was hurting him.
      I have a few pictures to send.  Also a couple showing how much weight I have lost.
 It's a bad picture, but you can see I have lost quite a bit.   I fit into a 32
waist baptismal pant on Saturday.  It was tight but I did wear them. I was a
38 waist when I left home.   We are going to look for new pants this
afternoon.    I didn´t get the letter from Clayton Christensen.   Is that
Preston's professor that is like a world famous businessman?
 I think P told me about him a couple times.
     So my current companion is from Lehi not Saratoga Springs.  Maybe it's
the same family but I don´t know.   Burymski is not a super common name
and Saratoga Springs is fairly close to Lehi, so it's possible.
     I have a question for you.  Could you try and get in contact with
Kelsie Stilson again?    Via facebook is probably the best way or if
it's still possible to retrive my old contacts from my phone, she was on
there too. 
      As far as stories go,  I don't have too many cool ones this week.  We had
changes this week and I was with Elder Seitz in the other ward.   That
was a lot of fun. We hung out and talked about guns, shooting
competitions, John Wayne and country music for 24 hours.
It was like hanging out with all my friends back home
again. He is a lot like Kyle Loveridge, but he is going home in 2
months so it will be short lived.    We legitamitely made a 100%
American meal to eat. (Elder Seitz is a ZL.  They don´t have a
Pensionista.)   We managed to make grilled cheese with Kraft cheese and
chicken nuggets with SwissMiss hot chocolate. It may be common back
home,  but I cannot tell you the joy of eating an American meal again.
     Sounds like the family is doing good. I hope everyone is doing fine
back home and I wish you all the best of luck with things at the house

     Anway. I have to run. Take care!

Busy Time

27 February 2012
    
     Hey, I only have a few minutes today to write.  All is good here.  No, I didn't get the basketball, but don't worry about it. I found a place here to buy a cheapo one for about 25 American dollars  and at the moment,  I don't have enough room to store one.    We are actually changing the date of Edith's batism to next Saturday so she can be baptized with her family.   She and her son as well as one of her cousins will be baptized and we are working with everyone else in the family.
     As for music, I think a USB is a great deal cheaper and not as big as a target whereas a new MP3 player might be. I have the other one you sent me and I can transfer music on and off of it fairly easily I think. I dont think i need any special software to do it.  Asfor Itunes, no, we are specifically asked not to use it.  I would like at least some country and some irish music if you can manage it. Those are the genres that I miss the most. Most of the music I hear here is good but only for a minute or two.It is all the same, just different lyrics.
    PTE Risso, he is running from all corners of the mission trying to get everything going here.  He is super busy.  Unless someone writes him specifically, they probably not going to hear much.
    As for the rest of the family, sounds like all is well.    I too am  keeping everyone in my prayers.  Well I have to run.  We have an appointment in a couple minutes.