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!!

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-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!

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-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!

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-Elder Kevin Torgersen-

Misión Perú Lima Central