Six more weeks!

Hola familia! Well, you are probably wondering if I got transfered so I´ll start with that first. So I´d been in Santa Beatriz for six months already and I was pretty sure that I was going to get changed, but Monday night President Larson called me and told me that he hasnt forgotten about me and knows that I have been here a long time, but that he wants me to stay one more transfer. He said that my last letter really touched him because I told him that I have worked very hard here for six months and have had very little success and that we are just know starting to see the fruits of months and months of our labor. He knows that this is one of the hardest places in the mission and really wanted me to keep helping the people and families that we are currently preparing to be baptized. He said just 6 more weeks and then we´ll talk again. So, I´m still here in Santa Beatriz! It´s a long time but its great though. This will be the second time that I´ve been in a sector for 7 1/2 months. Most missionaries only spend up to 6 months and sometimes less in every sector. The ward has improved so much! There are a lot of new members and leaders. There is a new senior couple of missionaries from Utah who live in our sector too. They came to our ward for the first time yesterday. They are the Hills from Lindon and they are really nice! I can imagine you guys are senior missionaries in a few years. It would be really fun! 

Well I´m excited to be here another transfer! We are going to have a lot of fun and success!!

Jahairo got the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday and accompanied us like three times last week. He had a really spiritual experience in one lesson were he bore his testimony to and taught a lady who had a lot of problems and he was able to help here a lot. Afterwards, he told me that if that is what missionary work is like then he is going to think more seriously about serving a mission! I´m excited for him I hope he acts on that desire to serve. He´ll be a great missionary!

I cant think of much else that happened this week. I love you all. We are going to be able to do Skype on May 8th. We are coordinating with the Hanke Family to use their laptop cause they are going to give us lunch that day. 

Love you all!

-- 

-Elder Kevin Torgersen-

Oh yea, and they keep giving a lot of false coins to my companion when they give him change cause he doesnt know the difference yet. Hahaha! He´s learning. Can you tell the difference between the real and fake coin?

The Right Place at the Right Time‏

Buenos días familia! I love you all! This week went by fast. 

We spent two mornings sanding and painting Maicol´s house. It was a lot of hard work. All of the new concrete walls had to be smoothed and the old ones had to be chipped and sanded off. Then the fun part was actually painting. Now it looks really good! It was a complete transformation, and just in time for his Grandma´s birthday!

They were all really happy and we won a lot of trust with the family. Maicol´s stepdad came out to help the second day and he started telling us that he is a member too, but very inactive! Thats cool! I want to help him come back to the church. I want to help the whole family! Maicol wasnt able to go to church cause he had to help his grandma go to Barranco. I was a little disappointed to be honest. There is so much opposition here!  He passed his baptismal interview and and got him excited for the 30th of Abril. He told me that he wants me to baptize him if I dont get transfered tomorrow. Yep, I already have 6 months here in Santa Beatriz. Elder Weir does too. It´s probable that we are both going to have changes but I think I´m gonna stay to finish training Elder Patterson.

This week we had several experiences with being at the right place at the right time and seeing the Lord´s hand in our lives. I´m gonna share two of those experiences. The first happened with an older lady named Evangelina. We knocked her door looking for her daughter but she wasnt there. He talked to her for a few minutes at her door about when we should come back to find her and then I felt impressed to just ask her if she would let us in so that we caould pray and share a message with her. She surprised me by saying that we could. She opened the door and let us in. She was watching "Little House on the Prairie" in Spanish and I thought of you, mom! It was the first time that I had seen it here in Peru. Anyway, we started talking and she mentioned to us that she never lets any strangers into her house. That surprised me because she had just let us in so I asked her why she let us into her house. She thought a minute and said that she didnt know and that it must be for something! It was so cool when she said that. I told her that I knew it was for something! 

The last experience happened last night. I dont know if you guys remember hearing about Julio Mendez from about 5 months ago? We visited him and he wanted to get baptized and he came to church with us and then he disappeared. That all happened months ago and we had lost contact with him. His phone stopped working and he lives in the 4th floor of an old university and works until 11pm eveyday except sunday. We thought that he was avoiding us and that he had blocked us on his cellular. I felt impressed to go look for him last night. We went and the university was locked up and his phone didnt ring so we just started yelling his name up to the 4th floor window hoping that he was there and that he would hear us. After a few minutes a head popped out and then disappeared. I thought that for sure he had seen us and then hid himself really fast, but I had hope that he wpould come down to talk to us. About 5-7 minutes passed and Elder patterson wasnted to go but I told him, "Patience is a virtue young grasshopper!" Hahaha! Then Julio came down and was super excited to see us. He welcomed us up to his house and said that we couldnt have come at a better time. He is going throught a lot of really tough challenges! He told us that he had no doubt that we were sent to him last night by God!! It was soo cool and I was so happy to finally find him again!!!

The other elders had a baptism on Saturday. Hermana Teresa is a sweet old grandma and is going to be an excellent member!

I hope you all keep having fun and being obedient. Read you scriptures everyday! I love the scriptures!!! Be good!

-- 

-Elder Kevin Torgersen-

Misión Perú Lima Central

Service! -Painting Maicol´s House‏

We had to sand EVERYTHING before we could paint. It took two days to finish, but now it is SOOO much better.

Election Week‏

Hola familia! Sounds like yall had an awesome spring break! Things have been interesting down here too. So yesterday there were no church meeting because it was the Peruvian national elections and apparently it is illegal to have any organized event or gathering 24 hours before and during the entire day of elections. We couldnt even contact in the streets or anything. We could only go to scheduled appaointments and if they fell through we had to go back home. It was a really wierd Sunday. Now its been two Sundays in a row since we have had sacrament meeting. We are all excited for next Sunday!

On Wednesday I had three baptismal interviews, which made my day but also completely filled it up because we had to go all the way to Barranco and back. I love interviewing people for baptism. I get to hear their conversion stories and learn what had the biggest impact on their testimony. They are always spiritual. I interviewed a sister who used to have problems with drugs and alchohol and the law of Chastity but now has completely changed. I saw in her a complete 100% change of heart. I know that that is something that only the atonement of Christ can do. Nothing else has so much power to make people better and to strengthen them.

Speaking of Barranco, well a few weeks ago some elders in my district got put into quarantine in their room because apparently one of them has tuberculosis. So now they are going to test the whole mission. They started with our zone cause thats where it started and we just took the second test this morning. Im not worried though because we all got vaccinated before the mission. Its all kind of a secret so so shouldnt tell anyone but its something cool to write about! Hahaha! It makes the mission sound more adventurous!

We also started chopping down a big tree outside a member´s house. The first day we started we only had two meat cleaver knives that Hermana Cris, our pensionista, lent us. Then the next time we went we got a machete and it went a lot faster. We still have to go back and finish but a lot of neighbors stareted coming out and getting mad so we called it off for the week.

We got Maicol a job with some members who have a store close to the church so he is really happy. Its just going to be harder to teach him cause now he´s working and studying and doesnt have much time. He still wants to get baptized though and is going to go to church this week. Last time we went to see him I could see a difference in him too. He is changing. Its so esciting to see! 

We are also teaching Bianca, who a family member of one of the other elders. We have taught her several times and she went ot church once. Now she wants to be baptized and everytime we teach he a commandment she is willing to make any sacrifice necessary to fulfil it. She has so much faith and has a huge desire to change her life.

I know that the church is true and that the restores gospel changes lives! I love it! I love you all!!!

--

-Elder Kevin Torgersen-

Misión Perú Lima Central

Service- Tree Choppin´‏

Upgrade from meat cleaver to machete!

General Conference was Awesome!!‏

Well I really loved this General Conference! It made me sad to think that this was my last one in the mission.  There were so many great talks that I loved so much. I know that we have inspired prophets and apostles who lead and guide us in these latter days. We were all super excited to hear the announcement of the second temple here in Lima. It was a complete surprise. Ever since I´ve been here I´ve heard rumors and theories from members and missionaries that they were either going to make the current temple bigger or build a new one, but they have been saying that for years and nothing ever happened, until now!! All of us gringo missionionaries got to watch conference in english in a separate classroom in the stake center on a little TV. When the prophet announced the new temple we could hear the gasped and excited voices from all of the faithful members in the chapel. It almost brought tears to my eyes. Even as I sit here writing this and thinking about it, it brings a powerful feeling over me and almost makes me want to cry. The Work is progressing here in Perú! There is a huge need for a new temple. The current one is frankly too small, and too overused by members who come from all over the country to recieve its blessings. A second temple in Lima is a testimony to me that what we are doing here in contributing to this part of the Lord´s Vineyard. I felt really bad that Maicol and Bianca and our other investigators, less-actives, and converts all cancelled at the last minute and werent able to go to the conference and I was really sick and tired of people not being obedient and always failing us. Its something that happens your entire mission and I was just about sick with it. I was wondering why it isnt easier and why people just cant understand? When the prophet announced the new temple I felt better. I know that even if there are challenges and we feel like we arent making a difference, we really are. I know that we are laying the foundation to a great work. We dont know yet where the new temple will be built exactly, but we are all super excited for it. I loved how so many leaders taught us about temples and blessing of the priesthood that we can enjoy thanks to the restoration of the gospel, church, and priesthood authority of Jesus Christ.

Just for an update, Maicol still wants to get baptized but he has to go to church at least once more before we can do it. He wasnt able to go to the conference becasue of a training meeting he had and next week there are no church activities becasue it is the Peruvian national elections so he will have to go on the 17th to get baptized on the 23th. He is really cool and he testimony is slowly building. I know that he will get baptized I just hope that Im still here to see it!

I hope you all have a great spring break and thanks for always writing! 
-- 

-Elder Kevin Torgersen-