April 29, 2011
Hey family,
Well, this week went really fast. We have had a whole lot to do. I have been all over Lima a few times and I have had to pay a bunch of legal documents and things like that. Elder Olivera and I have had a lot of things we have had to do because of the recent changes. Changes for rooms, sending letters to families of missionaries. Sending letters to the future missionaries of the mission, but it has been a good experience so far.
One of the many things I have noticed since I got here were the huge difference in the areas. It is only 20 minutes but I went from run down rooms that didn´t have their own water to apartment buildings and houses with water heaters. I went from only knowing 3 people with cars, all old and beat up to seeing a Ferrari in the street one night. (It was a sweet Ferrari). It was interesting to see the difference between wards. I love it here in Lince. I miss being able to teach more people, but I still hope to teach a bunch of people.
To start the week of, we went looking for a reference which we were given on Monday and then we knocked some doors. To make a long story really short. A lot of doors got slammed in our face. Actually to be honest no doors got slammed in our face. They just all turned us down from their 2nd floor windows and their intercoms.
Tuesday we didn´t have any lessons. We happened to be in the office or doing things for the office all day. We had three missionaries come in during the week. 2 who finally received their visas to come to Peru from the United States. (looks like I got here at a good time.) Because of that, we were really busy.
Wednesday was pretty cool. I had a cool experience. Elder Bate (assistant) and I went out to help some Elders look for a new room. Its kind of hard to find rooms that follow the rules the church wants to keep the spirit with us and keep us save. (Things like a bathroom inside our room, avoiding living in the same house as young women and mostly just keeping us in a place where we can feel the spirit.) We didn´t find a room for them, but in the search we stumbled across an 82 year old lady who had assisted the church in Miami for a year and a half. We taught her again, and she invited us to come back. We won´t be going back personally, but we both felt like she was ready to be baptized. She was awesome.
Thursday, Elder Olivera and I had the opportunity to drive to El Augustino (one part of the mission) to San Martin (other part, other side of the mission) to take things to missionaries. During this time we were using a small truck, and we were able to teach Caileb a little bit. Caileb is basically our mover guy. (I will later be sending a picture of his truck. Its pretty awesome) Caileb has been moving things for missionaries for 4 or 5 years and has never really been invited to come to church. Caileb is awesome and we hope he will progress to the point that he gets baptized with his family. We also met with an inactive family and it was a great experience. We had a great lesson with the children of the family. They are interested in coming to church again, and I really felt like they felt the spirit.
Friday was by far the best day as far as proselyting goes. As I mentioned before (i think). As part of my responsibilities in the office President Tyler also asked me to be a District Leader in the mission, which means I will have the opportunity to do baptismal interviews. Yesterday I had my first one. It was a young man named Fernando. He was awesome, and he was really prepared to be baptized. He has made mistakes in the past, but really understood the meaning of Repentance. I loved the opportunity. While I was doing that, my companion went with one of the other two missionaries there to a lesson in my sector. He found an inactive woman who´s husband isn´t a member of the church. He challenged them both to come to church Sunday and they both said they would.
I have learned this week of how the Lord blesses us when we strive to do his will and we accept the responsibilities he has given us. I know that this work is important and I want you all to know that same thing. I love you all,

Tyler