now that i got your attention, hows it goin.
this week was nuts and full of miracles. lets break it down.
so on monday we went to eat at a place called Norky`s. here rotissery (spell check?) chicken is a huge thing here. i mean i was satisfied with going to bashas and eating it at home. but we got full on restaurants here for it. so we ate there. we then went to the giant christ statue on the beach. the dude that took us there charged us over double and refused anything else and acted like an absolute child. it was a good thing to see how ive grown in controlling my temper. the old kendall wouldve blown up on him and said stuff in english that only elder larsen wouldve understood and it wouldnt have been nice. but. after he stole from us, i paid the dude, walked away, and did yoga poses and took deep breaths on the wall haha. we then went down to the beach where i had a verrryyy deep Lord of the Rings discussion with a kid named elder Lewis. he was in Savanah rush`s district in the mtc and we basically became best friends as we let out our inner nerd.
tuesday, normal work day. we had to get chairs and tables set up in the chapel for..... MULTIZONE CONFERENCE.
it was nuuuuuuuuuts. the zone from Huacho came up here with us. i got to see my old companion elder rivera again. and elder schagel. me and my companion, along with the sister training leaders, had to go up and do a practice, teaching the assistants an assigned commandment. we taught tithing. i dont think i would have been so nervous if president archibald wasnt sitting right behind me. but it turned out well. i think my ears were glowing red though. after reviewing the commandments and the importance of declaring repentance as missionaries, we ate more chicken from norkys... then president brought us in for one of the gnarliest doctrinal lessons ive EVER heard in my life. i cant give details because i cant explain enough to not have confusion and questions arise, and i just cant do it the way president does it. lets just say my mind was sufficiently blown as we talked about the godhead. i learned things i never comprehended before. even though alot of the stuff he said was huge and new, the cool thing was it ALL made sense. the gospel makes sense. all of it. tall truth works together. there are no conflicts.
in the huacho zone theres another elder brown. he is from queen creek and hes in his first change in the field. i was surprised when he told me that he graduated in 2014. didnt know that was an option haha it made me feel kind a old.
oh. and i think the biggest news of all. I GOT A HAMMOCK THIS WEEK.
so Amalia`s son, john, was supposed to get baptzed on saturday. but. he decided that he is moving away to go work in the mountains. he`ll be back in about a month. peace out john.
BUT carmen, amabilia, and mayra are set for the 30. we went to see them on saturday. mayra was strssed to have us over because she was studying for her huge test the next day to get in to her university. we told her to not worry. if she listened to us and then read and prayed before studying and taking her exam, it would all be fine. we went back the next day and she informed us that she not only got in to the university, but she got the highest rank out of everyone on the test. he later told us that when she prayed she told god that if she got in, she would get baptized. she beat out EVERYONE on the test, and she`s that much closer to making it back home now. BOOM. we are also teaching carmens ex husband. marriages are weird down here. they are separated and are still just normal friends who come and go to visit their kids and everyone just gets along. kinda reminds me of Reba. anyways, he went to church when he was living in lima a while ago and he wants to be baptized. he lives with his oldest daughter snf grandson in another part of our area. they arent feelin it too much but we`ll keep working with them to get baptized with sillverio in september.
oh, and here is a part of the letter i sent to president this week because i didnt want to type it again.
"another miracle occurred yesterday. so when i first got here back in april, we had a couple, dimas and rosario. the first lesson i was here for was a review of the book of mormon. they both didnt believe there could be anything but the bible. we taught straightened that all out, bore testimony, then invited them to pray about it again. they came to the chapel that night where President Archibald came for a conference with the District. they heard his message and testimony about the book of mormon and left in tears. we left them a longgg time ago, but theyve gone to church almost every week since, waiting for a way to get their papers from their hometowns to get married. in fact dimas has asked multiple times since if there`s any way to be baptized without being married haha. well rosarios father is from another church, who came and shook things up a month or two ago in church. before he left we told him of the need his fdaughter had to fix her life and get married. well. he showed up yesterday. the whole time i was worried that he would defy what was being taught again so i sat realll close just in case. after surviving a stressful day of waiting for another argument, we were closing up and dimas informed me that rosarios dad had brought his daughters papers! he kept his word. we went to visit them after church to get dimas`s info because a guy in our ward is from his town. after reviewing repentance and seeing their desires to follow through, her dad piped up and asked why he hadnt given us a book of mormon yet. surprised we wreote our names in a book of mormon and gave it to him. which is weird he then expressed how grateful he was to us. all though we arent his "brothers" he is grateful to know that his daughter, who lives far away, has a family she can refer to as brothers and sisters, and that they are happy and in good hands. he admired us for our youth and desires to know the word of god and share it with others. solid day and best encounter with someone of his church ive ever had.
so this coming transfer is going to be good! my only worry is that now that the work is rolling along so well, gods going to say welp, youve done your part, now GET OUT. haha so we`ll see what happens next week. there will be 84 new kids coming in within the next three months. i am almost more than likely going to receive another son soon here. wish me luck!
to answer your questions, my favorite part of being a missionary is that im a missionary. im not kendall. nor do i EVER have to go back to being him. illhave the same name when im done but that old dude is out of here.
favorite chapter of pmg... im going to have to say chapter 6. christlike attribultes. read it. live it. become it. everytime i go through it i realize how much i have left to change.
no the streets are not all dirt. about a third of my area is.
when i study the sciptures it is in ENGLISH. elder uceda, a peruvian of the 70, told us the scriptures are only 98% true in spanish. its a translation. and the bible already has too many errors and changes made in any language haha. but when inm at church or im studying spanish i read from them. other than that, all english.
ohand president sent us a talk from elder uchtdorf about missionary work. it talks about the apostle peter. he was a "rock" yet when it came down to it he was weak. he sunk when he saw the wind and waves, he dewnied knowing christ when accused of doing so. but when christ resurrected, the game changed. he was a new man. he was reborn as peter, the leader of the church.
it talked about a missionary who feared NO ONE. his boldness bothered his companion. he exclaimed that he was a disciple of christ and he doesnt fear ANYONE. that was the main theme of the talk. christ lives. the reason we dont celebrate easter in the exrtemes like the world is because we already do every week in sacrament meeting. he lives. andbecause of that, we have no reason to fear anything. no matter what happens, we have christ on our side. he lives.
love you all, thanks for the prayers, love and support.
elder brown
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