Finishing Strong!!

Well this is the last email from the mission! Its sad but great at the same time. On wednesday I´ll be able to tell you everything, you´ll be able to see all my pictures but I just wanted to let you know that we are finishing strong and that we had two baptisms Saturday morning before we went out to say goodbye at Santa Beatriz and Venezuela. Claudia finally got baptized and Linda got baptized too! It was so great! We are happy and I am excited to see you all on Wednesday! Thanks for always writing me every week! Love you all!!! Bye!!!
-- 

-Elder Kevin Torgersen-

Pirates, Lawyers, and Marines

Hello family! I love you all!!! I am super excited to see you all, but Im still staying focused. This last week was actually one of the most successful weeks that Ive had on the mission! This Saturday we are going to have two baptisms and then next week we are going to have three or four. I feel pretty good about that. One of my goals was to leave Elder Ramirez with people ready to be baptized, and together we have done it.

Besides all the teaching and finding we did this week a few other fun things happened: 

We finally got to kick the three elders from La Punta out of our room! The entire change up til now we have been looking for a new room for them closer to their sector. It was a tough search finding a room that the secretaries could approve but we finally found one. Turns out that the landlord has a lawyer that wanted a special contract and everything perfect so we had to spend a while hanging out with the lawyer and the secretaries to make the contract. A few days later when it was finally done and signed by everyone we had to take it to the offices. When we were on the bus a man got on and kept looking at me then he came over and sat next to me, and with a perfect easterner accent he asked me how I was doing. He was an awesome person and we had a great conversation. Turns out that he is from Ohio but his parents are peruvians and he lives here now. He used to be a US Marine (he showed me the pistol he had hidden under his suit coat and everything) but now is retired and teaches English in a university here in Callao. He met four US presidents and served actively about 10 years ago. He his now a catholic deacon but the elders used to live in his house. It was a super cool experience to talk to him and to be able to share the gospel.

Later in the week we were out contacting and we talked to a man who talked a little wierd. I thought that he was Cuban or something but he told us that he was Peruvian but that he had been in Central America for several years. We asked a few more questions and it turns out that he was just deported back to Peru because he used to be a pirate in the Carribean! It was crazy, hahaha! There are so many wierd things that we find here in Callao!

Well, we are excited for Saturday. Claudia is finally going to get baptized and then in the afternoon we are going to go to barrio Venezuela and barrio Santa Beatriz to say goodbye to everyone. I love you all and home you have a great week! 

-Elder Kevin Torgersen-

Misión Perú Lima Central

The Lord`s Hand

Hi everyone! This week was good, I learned a lot about diligence and faith with Elder Ramirez. We had a LOT of meetings: Multizonas, District Meetings, Mission Leadership Counsel, and Weekly Planning. It was crazy! There wasnt very much time to proselyte because on top of all of the meetings we can only work until 7:30pm here in Callao because its so dangerous, but we knew that we had to achieve our goals. This week I really learned why goals are so important, they help us to stay diligent and build our faith. Sunday afternoon came around and we still had to find four new investigators to complete our weekly goal. We were able to see the Lord´s hand working before our eyes as we talked to people who wanted nothing with us but then in the blink of an eye their hearts were softened and they let us into there house to share a message. We were able to find four new investigators and achieve our goals. I know that every number represents a child of God. When Elder Robbins came to visit our mission he said that the missionaries who had the most faith when he was mission president were those who had the highest numbers. Our faith helps us achieve what would otherwise be impossible for us. Its something that Ive noticed here in the zone as well. The elders and hermanas that have more faith always have success and never make excuses. I know that the Lord blessed us for our obedience and our diligence.

I love you all and hope that you have an awesome week! Look for ways to build your faith everyday. Remember that every member is a missionary! I´m excited to see you soon! Bye!!!

- Elder Kevin Torgersen-

Maicol finally got baptized!!!

 The bishop just passed me these pictures that we took when we ate lunch at his house last transfer.

¡Parrillada!

Hello family! Its great to hear from you! I love you all! We´re still having fun here in Callao! There´s always a little stress with the zone but nothing too bad. This week was great! We are getting along really great and Elder Ramirez helps me stay focused and busy. I appreciate it a lot. We have to be examples for the entire zone. I am trying really hard to stay focused.

This week one of Hermana Brake´s grandaughters, Juleysi, turned 8 and wanted me to baptize her. The baptism was on thursday, the 28th, which is a big holiday here. Almost the entire Brake family was there. Most of them are less active or inactive. It was cool for them to all be there. Then yesterday we were able to teach one of her older grandsons and he told us that he wants us to help him come back to the church. It was really neat. I think seeing the baptism helped him a lot. 

We also organized a ward family home evening. It went really well and quite a few members showed up. Antonio showed up too, he was the first person to show up. He is becoming more active than the members hahahaha! He was there at church on Sunday too. He has a goal to be baptized on the 20th. Benigno came to church for the first time too. He is an alcoholic that we met last week. He really wants help getting out of his addiction and is doing a good job so far. He used to be so bad that when he would go a day without drinking his hands would tremble. It is tough but he really wants to change his life and get baptized. It cool to see how much progress he has made so far.

Today we had a zone barbeque! (Parrillada) It was a blast! We just finished cleaning everything up. It was my last zone pday!

Well, I think thats it! I love you all!!! Have a great week!
--

-Elder Kevin Torgersen-

Misión Perú Lima Central

It´s fun to be a missionary!

Hello family! I´m doing great! It´s still fun to be back here in Callao even though its all so different from the rest of the mission and 100% different from Utah. This week we had a lot of highs and lows. We are a little worried about the baptisms in the zone because we are seeing a lot of challenges with the investigators and some of the missionaries. This week it hit me how much responsability we have as zone leaders. It isnt a game, it´s the LORD´s work! It is the most important work that is happening here on the Earth! We all need to give a little more and be a little better.

This wednesday we had a zone conference and the assistents surprised us and showed up to watch and participate. We had planned it out and we did a lot of practices. We invited three members to be our "investigators" and the companionships took turns rotating through the three stations. Each investigator was given a specific excuse or challenge and the elders had to commit them to go to church and stay all three hours. It went super well and the assistents said that it was the best zone conference that they had seen. The missionaries enjoyed it as well. At the end we did a practice where every companionship had to teach the Restauración and everytime they hesitated our mixed up their words or said something wrong a big marshmallow was put into their mouth and they had to keep talking. it was really funny and we could see how many times we say wierd things or dont make sense when we are teaching a lesson.

I was super excited that Juan Carlos came to church yesterday for the first time for the three block hours. Hermana Claudia still wants to be baptized but there are so many things getting in the way. She couldnt go yesterday to church because her husband had relapsed the night before and was all drugged up and she couldnt leave him. AHHHH! Its so frustrating!! He was doing so good and went more than two months without using any drugs. Speaking of drugs, I have seen so much in the last few days its kind of scary. They buy and sell here like crazy and we see it all the time but I know that we are protected. The good thing is that they all know us so they dont do anything.

Well, there are still three other elders living with us. Its pretty uncomfortable and stressfull. One of the elders, Elder Sotomarino, finally got his visa and got sent to his real mission in the states. We thought that there were just going to be four of us but when he left they sent an elder here who has a lot of problems and so now he is living with us too. Oh well, its fun to be with them sometimes just terrible to shower in the mornings and sleep at night.

As a companionship we had a great week. I love teaching the Restauración and everytime we taught it this week I felt the spirit. I know that it is true! We taught a lot of fun lessons and a lot of fun people this week! Its fun to be a missionary! I love you all! Have a great week!

-Elder Kevin Torgersen-

Misión Perú Lima Central

Elder Ramírez

¡Hola familia! This has been an awesome week here in our sector! My new companion is Elder Ramírez. He is from Chiclayo, Peru, but now he lives in Argentina. He has about 14 months in the mission and he is awesome! We get along really well and he is really humble. He used to be one of the district leaders here in Callao but President moved him up to be my companion and one of the new zone leaders. Looks like he is going to be my last companion. Now there are sister missionaries in Callao! President Larson opened up a new sector in the rich part of La Punta for them. Its the first time that Callao has had sisters for over 20 years. Hermana Larson was really worried about it so we have a bunch of rules and a lot of responsability to make sure that they are always safe. It shocked the entire mission that there are sisters in Callao, but I think that its a good change. Now there are sisters in every zone in the mission. The elders in La Punta are in a trio and they got kicked out of their room so that the sisters could live there and until they find a new place to live they are living with us. Its pretty uncomfortable because we are five missionaries with three beds and one shower. Its crazy but it looks like they are going to be moving out next week! Hooray!!!

We had a great week! Elder Ramirez is always happy and positive and is a hard worker. It helps me to keep working hard too. We are going to work hard until the last minute of this change. This week we met almost all of our goals and taught a ton of lessons. We found a bunch of good new investigators and it surprised me how many accepted a baptismal date so easily. We were expecting a lot of people in the church yesterday. So many people had promised us that they were going to be there. Claudia had to be there so that she could be baptized this week. Nobody showed up. Then just before sacrament meeting was about to start an investigator named Antonio showed up on his bike. It was his first time at church, the missionaries had invited him before but he never went. He really enjoyed it and felt good there. He broke down crying during princples of the gospel class and told us that he is going through a lot of family problems. His girlfriend and her kids left him a few months ago and he feels super alone. He is trying to lose weigh too because he is like 5 times my size! He is a good person and as of now he has a baptismal goal for the 13th of August.

Last night there was a pretty strong earthquake. It only lasted like a second though and nothing happened. We felt it when he were planning and the assistants called us and told us to be ready with our shoes by our beds and our emergency money at hand. President and Hermana Larson have been teaching us a lot of emergency safety and since last month we have been creating a mission emergency plan. 

Something fun about this week is that everyday this week we contacted someone who was either born in the States or had lived there for a long time. I got to contact them in english. Its wierd to contact and teach the gospel in english. For me its so natural to do it in spanish now. It was interesting though that in one of the ugliest parts of the whole mission is where I have done the most contacting in english! haha!

Im glad that you all had fun on your camping trip and time at the Walquists. Thanks for sending all of the pictures! I love ya´ll!!

--

-Elder Kevin Torgersen-

Misión Perú Lima Central

-Hermana Jany, our pensionista and her daughter made the four of us elders our own candy-filled tie box before Elder Luis and Elder Winn went home last week.

 -All of the suitcases in our house. There are 5 of us living there!

 -Elder Ramirez is the elder on the far left.

A LOT of food!....

I´m always so happy to hear from you guys! Thanks for sharing everything with me! I love you! Well, not much happened this week that was out of the ordinary. We keep improving, finding people, and preparing them to get baptized. Its so hard to believe that today I am starting my last transfer of 6 weeks in the mission! I dont want to think about it too much. Its sad. 

After sacrament meeting we went straight to the offices for Elder Luis´s final interview with President Larson and then we spent the rest of the day saying goodbye to his converts and the members in the sectors that he has served in. It was fun but last night I was exhausted when we got back to the room. I think I gained 5 pounds too because every person that we visited wanted to give us food and Inca Kola. We had two big lunches, dinner, and a lot of food in between. I still feel a little sick to my stomach. It was nice to see how so many of his converts are progressing and going to church ever week. I think thats the best part of missionary work, seeing the impact that the gospel makes in the convert´s lives.

Cambios are tomorrow and Elder Luis is going home, so obviously I´ll be getting a new companion. Sometime this afternoon they should be letting us know. 

In my personal study I just finished reading the epistle of Paul to the Hebrews and I love all of the connections that it makes to the Law of Moses. I have read it before but I felt like this time it helped me to better understand the atonement. Christ gave his life and his blood for us, offering us a remision of our sins, remission that can´t come from the blood of goats of bulls, but only through a perfect and final sacrifice. He was the only one who could have done it, being the only perfect being that has ever walked this earth. Being the greatest of all high priests, because without the need to first be purified gave himself as a sacrifice. I am so greatful for the scriptures and the atonement. I love how the scriptires help me to understand and appreciate all that has been planned out and done so that we can return to our loving Heavenly Father´s presence as eternal families. 

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

-- 

-Elder Kevin Torgersen-

¡¡¡HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!! This week was a good one. I felt like we improved a lot. We had two baptisms and three confirmations in the zone this weekend. 

Martes we went to Parque de las Aguas. It was fun but wierd because it was in my last sector. I used to walk past it everyday. We went with the La Libertad zone and I got to see Elder Tasker, which was fun. He is going home next week with Elder Luis. The mission is going to get a lot smaller because next week 26 missionaries are going home and only 9 new ones are coming.

This week we had a good experience with Claudia and her less-active husband, Matthew. They are both awesome but Matthew has some Word of Wisdom problems. He stopped using drugs and was down to only one cigarette a day. Apparently the other day he had a relapse and Hermana Claudia was mad because he didnt want to admit it. They were having a lot of fights and couple problems. We went to visit them and helped them understand that they have to pray and read the Book of Mormon together if they want to improve their relationship. We all decided to fast together. We started it with a kneeling prayer and when we went back the next day to end it they took each other by the hand and as Hermano Matthew said the closing prayer they both started crying. The spirit was really strong! I know that Heavenly Father loves them! Claudia decided that she is for sure going to get baptized! 

Our pensionista´s son, Adrian got baptized this week too! They are a really fun family! 

This week we found an 83 year-old man who is super smart and knows a lot about the Bible. He let us right in and just started talking, we had to control the situation a lot. The missionaries visited him about 6 months ago and apparently he even went to church a few times. He went back into his room and came back out with three bibles, one of them was an english leather bible from our church (like one of the quads but only the bible.) He reads his bible in english and started off asking us about what he read in the bible dictionary that Adam and Eve didnt have blood before they ate the forbidden fruit. I just thought to myself, "oh boy, this isnt getting off to a good start." We were able to teach him the restauracion and I felt like we explained it very well. I felt the spirit very strongly as i bore testimony of the restauration, I know that it is true! At the end we explained how he could get an answer from God if what we had taught him is true. He wants us to come back. He knows so much and he already believes in most of the church´s doctrine. Im excited to go back to teach him.

Well, I think thats it for this week! Love you all! Have a great one!

-- 

-Elder Kevin Torgersen-

Misión Perú Lima Central

Priesthood Keys and Break-ins

Well, I`m definitly back in Callao. I think its the only place in the mission where street dogs wander into the church and you have to mop up pools of blood in the chapel during sacrament meeting. Yep, there was a lot of blood. There is an older, double amputee member who had accidently spilled a lot of blood from a bag of chicken all over the floor during sacrament meeting yesterday. I didnt really understand why it happened or why he had a bag of fresh chicken at church, but yeah. Elder Winn just about fainted when he saw it! During the last hour priesthood class we were talking about the keys of the priesthood and the brother from Spain who was giving the class was using Elder Stevenson`s example of being locked out of a car without the keys from last General Conference. The discussion was going really really well and he had everyone`s attention but then an 80ish year old member said, " But if you were really smart you would just break in and jumpstart the car." It made the four of us elders laugh. Only in Callao! In real life it could work, but it is impossible to "break in" to the power of the priesthood without the restored keys. I really enjoyed that talk from last general conference and I am so thankful that the priesthood keys have been restored again to the earth. This morning one of barrio Callao`s investigators called them to tell them that some people were robbing a chapel here in another part of Callao. Crazy, no? 

Andre got baptized on Saturday. There was so much opposition but we were able to pull it off. His baptism was supposed to be baptized at 12pm but he lives with his grandparents and they didnt let him leave the house. They dont like the church and are a huge opposition. They gave him a lot of chores to do, so we postponed it to 7pm. It was really good and there were alot of members there. Hna. Claudia came to watch as well! After the baptism and after they had changed back into their clothes the power went out in the church for a few minutes! Hahaha! It was really wierd. Andre is awesome! He is already good friends with almost all of the members. In one year he could go on a mission, and he is thinking a lot about it!

This week we found a new investigator named Jose. He is over 80 years old and has smoked since he was 18 years old but he`s still kickin´. We want to help him quit and he wants to stop too. He used to smoke three of four packages a day ( each package has 20 cigarettes) but yesterday he said that he only smoked 4 cigarettes. We confiscated and got rid of all of the packages that he had in his house to help him quit. I feel like he has a lot of potencial. When he was younger the Peruvian government used to send him on expeditions to explore and map unknown parts of the peruvian jungle and he always wants to tell us stories about living with the indians and stuff like that. He looks a lot like an older version of Mr. Clayton from Tarzan but smaller!

Im glad that you all had such a great time at Young Women´s camp and at the family reunion! I love you all and hope that you are all safe and happy!!

This is what we eat everyday, but before we eat it.

EVERYDAY we eat: 

1) rice

2) potato

3) chicken

Wierd Dreams and Miracles

¡Buenos días! This week was great! We had a lot of success and we improved a lot, actually, the entire zone improved this week. Yesterday we were looking at the numbers and I was really happy with the elders here in Callao. We had stake conference but we were still able to get investigators to attend at the stake center. The stake conference was awesome. President and Sister Larson, the Lima Peru Temple President and the Stake President all spoke to us. The spirit was so strong and Im pretty sure that after the temple president spoke there was no doubt in anybody´s mind that the church is true. Im sure that all of the investigators were traumatized after hearing him. He explained everything so clearly and directly. I hope to one day have the knowledge of the scriptures and the gospel like he has. 

This week we found a bunch of new investigators and many of them are very prepared. Our pensionista, Hermana Jany, lives on the first floor of a 3-story house that is owned by a family of investigators whose niece is a recent convert. Anyway, we were standing outside talking to Heraman Jany when the mom of the family poked her head out and asked us if we wanted to come in. We asked if there was a man home and she said that her 19-year old son was there and that he wanted to talk to us. I almost said that we couldnt because we were on our way to another appointment but we decided to go up. I had one been in that house one time before but it is crazy because the entire family has been listening to the elders since december and when we ask them about what they learned they all have a testimony of the church and believe that the Book of Mormon is true, but they arent baptized yet! I dont really understand why they werent baptized a long time ago! We went up and started talking to Maritza (the mom) and Jordan (her son). Turns out that he recieved his answer and that because of college he hadnt seen the elderes for a while. We invited him to be baptized and found out that he wants to but is scared. In my personal study I had started reading the story of Moses in Exodus. I shared with him my impression that everytime Moses told the Lord that he couldnt or that he was scared the Lord would always tell him to not fear. Jordan really made a connection with that and told us that his second name is Moisés (Moses in spanish). Then it got kind of weird and he asked us our first names. He told us that the other day he had a dream that three elders went to visit him and that one of them had my name. Then he started getting freaked out. Then Elder Luis told him that I had started my mission here and that it never happens that an elder goes back to a sector that he has already worked in. I think hearing that just about traumatized him! Haha, he was really scared, I think he´s pretty superstitious. Anyway all of that helped him to see that God really wants him to get baptized. He accepted a date for the 2nd of July! 

I talked to Miguel at Stake Conference! He´s doing great and he´s even working now! He looks so much better. He said because of the joining of barrio Heros and barrio Jose Galvez there hasnt been an active temple prep teacher. He still needs three more classes before he can go take out his endowments. That is going to be our goal. We are going to talk to the bishop to make sure that he can get to the temple as soon as possible!

Andre is going to have his interview tomorrow and should be baptized this Saturday!

Claudia said that she wants to get baptized but that she feels really pressured. She told us that her friend has been going to an evangelical church for 9 months and just barely got baptized so she felt like only a month was way too soon. She decided however that she wants to get baptized before Elder Luis goes home so she decided that she wants to be baptized on the 9th of July!

This week I feel like I have progressed but I also feel like I am so far from being a good leader like Elder Luis and so many other elders are. I really want to be better and that is what I want to do this week!

We´ve seen a lot of miracles and I often see the hand od the Lord working here with us in the Zona Callao! I know that this is his work and that he loves us. I know that this is his only true church!

Love you all! Have fun at Camp!

--

-Elder Kevin Torgersen-

Misión Perú Lima Central

Picture: This morning we had a zone study session!

A Smile and a Twinkle in Your Eyes

Time is flashing by, but I`m enjoying it!! It`s been fun! It was fun to hear about Katie`s trip to DC and all of the fun stuff you guys are up to. This week we had a special meeting with Elder Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve in Los Olivos with the Peru Lima West and Peru Lima North missions. It was a very cool and spiritual experience but we were all so tired! The meeting was from 8am to 10am but we all had to be seated at least one hour early. Los Olivos is outside the mission but not too far, but someone in the offices decided that we needed to get on the rented busses at 4:30am which meant that we had to get up at 3:30am to get ready. The elders from barrio La Punta had to stay the night in our room because there arent any buses or taxis at that hour in their sector. Needless to say we all got there way early and sat in our seats for like 2 1/2 hours before it started. Everyone was dozing off and sleeping. I dont think I have ever felt so sleepy on my whole mission. It was even worse when we had to go back and proselyte all day aftwerwards. I really enjoyed it though. Right before it started. All of the missionaries went up row by row to shake Elder and Sister Rasband`s hands. It was so neat to be in the presence of a living special witness of Christ. During the meeting, Elder Rasband told us that while he was shaking our hands he wasnt looking at our badges but he was looking in our eyes. He said that he wanted to see the "twinkle" that we all have. I really liked how he said that we all need to have a smile and a twinkle in our eyes and people will see how happy we are and they will want to hear our message. I always try to be happy but I want to smile more when we are in the street. I know that Elder Rasband is a true apostle of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Even before he was chosen and we were waiting for the three new apostles to be called I knew he was going to be one of them. 

The bishop`s counselor presented me in sacrament meeting on Sunday. It was funny that he said that I`m back here in the ward. Everybody thinks that I am going home. They always ask me if i am coming by to say goodbye and I tell them that I still have three months left and that Im here back in the ward. Its funny though that they all think that Im going home. Everyone says that its for something that Im back here and I know its true.

Heramana Brake will be excited to get the chocolate! She doesnt give us pension anymore, we have a new pensionista, but I think that she is going to start giving us food on the weekends. 

Right now we are working with a 17 year old named Andre and a lady named Claudia. They are both preparing to be baptized this month. Andre has a lot of friends in the church but has a lot of family problems. Claudia is probably one of the best investigators that I`ve had, she is awesome. her husband is Matthew he is a less active and their 4year old daughter is super cute and super smart, she makes me think of Elizabeth. We just need to work on Claudia`s testimony because she doesnt feel all the way ready yet to be baptized.

On Wednesday we had a zone meeting. We invited Hermano Alex from Pueblo Libre to come help us because the elders here in Callao dont know him. We pretended that he was a real investigator from our sector and we had the elders practice teaching him and it turned out really really good. They all thought that he was real, hahaha!

I love you all!! Read your scriptures everyday!! I know that the church is true!
--

-Elder Kevin Torgersen-

Misión Perú Lima Central

Back to the Beginning

Well, its true! I`m back here in barrio Heros, estaca Callao, my first area! What happened is a couple of months ago barrios Heros and Jose Galvez got combined so now the ward is a lot bigger and from what I heard the attendance has tripled. We didnt have church yesterday because it was the second round of the Peruvian presidential elections. It looks like PPK, the half american won but the government hasnt officially announced the winner. Anyway, the zone leaders used to be in Jose Galvez but now we have all of that sector plus my first sector. It is so wierd walking down the same streets that I walked down everyday for six months a year and a half ago. Its really fun though. Its funny though cause two or three weeks ago I was thinking about my time back in Callao and I was thinking about how I didnt know how to do anything and how it would be to go back with all of the knowledge and skills that I have now. I guess the Lord was listening in on my thoughts and decided to send me back. I will miss Santa Beatriz though. 

My companion is Elder Luis form Huancayo, Peru. He is going home this change in only 5 weeks. He is awesome and we are already good friends. Its funny cause after I was with Elder Ango here for three cambios he went to be Elder Luis`s companion for three too, so we both have that in common.

Oh yea I forgot to tell you guys that last week Elder and Sister Hill invited us over to their house and Hermana Castañeda, my spanish teacher, was there. It was fun to see her and she gave us a lot of american candy. The Hills had coordinated with Presidente Larson so that she could come see us. It was fun!

I am really excited to be here, it is a little different though. The peruvian president declared a state of emergencia in the entire providence of Callao so now all of us missionaries in the zone have to be in our rooms early at 7:30pm unless we have a really important appointment or ward meeting.  It feels really wierd going home so early but I guess its for our safety. We have a lot of time to get stuff done at night now and our new favorite pastime after daily planning everynight is dropping water balloons on all of the wild street dogs that pass under our third floor balcony outside of our room. Its pretty fun, hahahaha!

I havent seen Miguel or Jeremy yet. The sector limits got moved one block so now they both live one block outside of my sector but we can still go visit them. The other elders say that Miguel is one of the most active members in the ward. Im really happy about that. Its funny everytime we run into members that I knew when I was here becasue they always look at me and then do a double take and stare at me again and say, "Wait I know you, youre Elder Torgersen."  Im surprised how many people recognize me cause I didnt speak spanisk too good when I was here cause I was just starting. Its funny though when everyone sees me. Herman Brake says hi and also jokingly said that shes still willing to recieve any packages of american candy from home, hahaha!

Our zone is small. Right now we only have seven companionships. The entire mission is downsizing now because starting last change until october about 50 missionaries are going home and only about 20 are coming to replace them so President has had to close a lot of sectors. The missionaries we do have here are all really young. All but two of them have about 4-7 months in the mission. They work hard though. 

This week we had so many leadership meetings and other stuff going on plus we only work until 7:30pm that we didnt have much time to proselyte. What time we did have we used very effectively and we found SOO many prepared people. I really feel like we are going to have a lot of success here!

This morning the secretaries called me and asked me what airport I wanted to go home to and if my parents were going to come pick me up. I told them that I didnt think so but that I was going to confirm with you guys. We are going to the (oregon) beach, right? That will be fun!

Im glad you all had a great time in Manti! Thanks for all of the pictures and fun stories! Love you all, have a great week!
--

-Elder Kevin Torgersen-

Misión Perú Lima Central

Letter from Pesidente Larson

LA IGLESIA DE

JESUCRISTO

DE LOS SANTOS

DE LOS ÚLTIMOS DÍAS

Dear Torgersen Family,

 I am delighted to inform you that your son, Elder Torgersen, has been assigned to serve as a Zone Leader in the Peru Lima Central Mission.  I am sure that you are pleased with the accomplishments and leadership ability that have made him worthy of this great responsibility.

Elder Torgersen will lead a zone which will consist of at least two districts and several missionaries.  He will have the stewardship of administering to their spiritual as well as their temporal needs.  He will meet with the District Leaders to train, uplift, and edify them.  He will also be involved in the Mission Leadership Council, which meets every month.  As he serves, he will gain valuable experiences which will assist him in the future both in his family and in callings in the Church.

Thank you for all you have done to make him the fine young man that he is and for your continuing support of his missionary service.

 Warmest regards, 

Stephen J. Larson

Presidente

Misión Perú Lima Central

Return to Callao!!!‏

Wow, this was a good week! On Saturday Bianca was baptized! As usual the baptismal service was a little disorganized and everyone came a little late but it was very spiritual. After the actual baptism we invited Bianca to share her testimony. I was super impressed by how strong it was. Then on Sunday she was confirmed. It was fast and testimony meeting and I was thinking a lot about everything that I have done here in Santa Beatriz. I feel like the ward is a lot stronger, but I was feeling like I hadnt had much success here even though I have worked super hard. In 7 1/2 months we have only had two baptisms. Then Bianca stood up to bear her testimony. it was so strong and I felt the spirit so strong! I felt like Heavenly Father wanted to tell me that everything was alright and that I did my part. I thought of the scripture in D&C 18:10-16 how how great is the worth of every soul and how great is the joy that I now have for seeing their progress in the gospel. I think it was the best three hour block that I have had here in Santa Beatriz. I felt the spirit so much the whole time. i will miss this ward! It was hard to say goodbye to the Serrano family and some other members.

Our zone was the zone of excellence this month so this morning President Larson invited us all to his house to eat breakfast and play some games. It was a lot of fun. Speaking of which, while we were there President pulled me aside and told me that i will be getting changed tomorrow and that he wants me to be a zone leader. Now just 5 minutes ago he called me and told me that I´m going to Callao with Elder Luis! Im excited for that!!! I think the zone leaders are in barrio Heros now too because Heros and the ward where the zone leaders were got joined!!! I´ll get to end in the ward that I started in!! Wow! I wasnt expecting that! 

I hope you all have a great week!!!! I´ll keep you posted about what happens in Callao!

--

-Elder Kevin Torgersen-

Misión Perú Lima Central

 Serrano Family

Zone of Excellence May 2016

...Today is a good day!‏

This week was a good week. We are now starting the last week of the change and I am almost for sure getting changed a week from Tuesday. I´ve been here a long time but I´ve been able to see the ward´s progress which has been really cool! This week we had a lot of good experiences, some of them were pretty funny too!

Last Wednesday the four of us were standing on the side of the road after district meeting waiting for our bus to come when a taxi pulled up and asked us were we were going. The taxistas are usually really annoying like that, but this guy asked were we were going and then told us to get in. When we hesitated he said that it was free of charge so we hurried and got in. We talked to him and it turns out that he was a super inactive member from years ago. We invited him to go back to church and wrote down his address to send to the other missionaries. I could tell that he just really needed to talk. Right before he dropped us off he said, "Today is a good day!" I really liked that. The gospel can make all of our days good ones. 

A few nights ago we were walking down the street and contacted an older lady who was waiting outside of a store. Before we talked to her I noticed that she kept looking at us. It turns out that she wanted us to talk to her and she wants the missionaries to visit her. She said that years ago she was about to be baptized and then she moves and lost contact with the church. She told us that for her we were "angels sent by God." It really touched me when she said that. Another investigator this week told us that when we walk into his house its like Jesus Christ himself is walking in!

We went to see Maicol one day and we were there talking to some of his family members when we saw this big rat under the table. Everyone freaked out and the rat got scared and hid itself in the corner behind the fridge. Jokingly I pointed to the ground close to someone´s feet and said "there it is!" She screamed and Elder Patterson shot out the door! He was so scared that he literally ran to get out and left me all alone in the house. i had to follow after him and I just about died laughing! Hahaha, they were all so scared but it didnt both me at all!

Oh yea and I ate cow foot for the first time this week. Hermana Cris made it for us. You boil it until its nice and soft and then you cut it up and put it with a sauce and rice. It wasnt too bad. We didnt tell Elder Patterson what it was until after he ate it, hahaha! Otherwise he probably wouldnt have done it.

 Bianca has been progressing a lot and is going to have here baptismal interview tonight and she should be baptized this weekend!!!! Exciting!!!  We are way excited for her and her family!

Thanks for writing! I hope you all have a great last week of school. Be good and dont get into trouble!!! Love you all! Chau!!!

Sunday lunch with Elder and Hermana Hill

the view from their 19th floor apartment

playing futbol

--

-Elder Kevin Torgersen-

Misión Perú Lima Central

A lot of little experiences!‏

Buenos días familia! Its been a great week! Its was a lot better than last week. We were able to teach more lessons and teach more people. I just felt good! Yesterday was stake conference and our investigator, Bianca came!! We were really excited for that. 

I had a lot of little good experiences this week. Julio Mendoza gave the reference of one of his friends named Francis and he presented him to us. We´ve taught Francis twice now and he is awesome. He is only 19 years old and lives here in Lima with his 16 year old brother while they both study in the university. Francis is super receptive and humble but its funny that he is super short. He only comes up to our waists. Ok, he´s not that short but he´s small. I know that he is going to progress a lot. He told us that when his mom was his age she came to Lima and met the elders and almost got baptized too. Now history is repeating itself, hahaha! They rent out a tiny room in the third floor of a house and last time we were there teaching him we left the door open cause it was hot and uncomfortable and about halfway through the lesson a lady who rents out another room next to his came up and asked if we make house visits to read the bible to people and what she had to do to sign up for a visit. We made an appointment and when to visit her yesterday with Kevin. (We always have to have a man-member accompany us to visit single women). She is super prepared as well. Her life got kind of messed up and she cried like half the lesson and told us all her problems and she wants to repent really bad so we taught her how to do it. She was super thankful. Its always cool when we invite people to say the closing prayer and sometimes they thank God for sending us to them.

Wednesday we went to the Temple!!! It was great to go back. It had been a while. I think one of the best parts though was that we ran into Evelyn and Enrique from Callao. If you dont remember Enrique was a less active who had just got married to Evelyn and we were teaching her and she got baptized. They are still active and doing good. I think they are going to get sealed soon, and Evelyn is about to pop! She is due with their baby any day now! I love going to the temple because the spirit is always so strong and I ALWAYS run into someone that I know. I also saw several good members from barrio Venezuela who are temple workers!

Thanks for sharing your fun weeks with me, I always love hearing about you guys!! I´m proud of you all!! Bye!!!

--

-Elder Kevin Torgersen-

Misión Perú Lima Central

We washed Yako with Hermana Cris. She asked for our help.

  The four of us with Yako

museo del banco y monedas‏

 We went to the national bank museum and got locked in the safe! Just kidding!

Look what we found in the museum!‏

What does this look like to you?

a picture of our church from the freeway

God`s Love‏

 I am so happy that you all had such a great week. Trevor will be an awesome deacon and example for the other young men. Sometimes bearing testimony is hard but it makes us feel so good afterwards and is so much easier the next time. Good job mom! 

Well, this week was a little slow. Im excited to talk to you all on sunday!

Last night we had a awesome experience with Julio Mendez. We went to go visit him with a returned missionary named Orlando. We were there teaching him about the Gospel of Jesucristo. He was acepting it all and at the end we invited him to be baptized and he said that he would like too but that he didnt feel ready and that he didnt want to put a date. We started asking why not because he had faith and was repenting. He said that he had faith in Christ but he didnt believe that God really loves him. He asked how he could let so many bad things happen in his life if he really loved and cared for him. We invited him to kneel with us and to pray and ask God if he really loves him. He did it and as he was praying I could tell that he really wanted to know. He had real intent. He never really closed his prayer, he just stopped talking after he made his question. We  kneeled there for like 15 minutes in silence. When he finished we asked him how he felt and he said that he felt peace and that now he really feels that God loves him. It was so cool. We invited him to prepare to be baptized on the 21st of May and he accepted this time. 

Well, thats it for this week. I hope you all have another great week. Love yall!! Bye

-- 

-Elder Kevin Torgersen-

Misión Perú Lima Central

-This morning there was a big fire not too far away.