Where's Ammon?

Dear Family,

It was a wonderful week. We're up to our necks with things to do, so sometimes I feel like we don't have enough time to teach all the people I want to. But all the same, we're seeing wonderful things happen.

Our Mission President has started coordinating some new activities, one of which is called "Dìa de Gracia". On Saturday morning, every zone in the city of Trujillo (some 72 missionaries in total) went to the stake of Porvenir. We went to the wards of Laredo and Progreso - we traveled in a little bus (one elder of us 17 sat on the floor) and arrived a little before 8am. We changed into service clothes and half of us headed to a member's home where we were directed to "move the earth" (that is, use shovels and pickaxes to break up the soil in the back yard so that they could plant crops). The other half of the missionaries began sweeping the street. We finished moving the earth in 2 hours, and the woman rewarded us with "agua mineral con gas" (yuck!) before we headed back to the chapel. We still had two hours until lunch, and the other elders were sill sweeping the street. A couple other missionaries (including my companion) went inside to rest, but Elder Tacachira (another Bolivian elder in my zone) and I went across the street to seek more service opportunities.

We saw a man painting his house and asked if he wanted help: he told us he was just finishing, but directed us inside where his brother-in-law invited us to clean the large concrete floor. We were delighted and swept the whole thing clean. I'm not accustomed to Peruvian floor-cleaning procedure, so I was a little surprised when the man and my (temporary) companion started filling buckets with water and dumping them all over the floor, creating what appeared to me as an indoor flood. The man - whose name was Constante - opened a bag of laundry detergent and emptied its contents all over the floor. I grabbed a brush and began scrubbing. It was fun service, and as we talked with Constante, he told us that he was an "unbeliever". Elder Tacachira took the lead in sharing our purpose as missionaries, and I was left to clean the floor alone as they talked. But I paused every few moments and gave my two cents.

I finished rinsing and sweeping all the bubbles into the back yard, and we both were able to share the Gospel message with Constante. We testified of the hope the Gospel brings and the power of the Atonement in our lives - we taught that with a little bit of faith, great things can come to pass. Constante told us that he wanted to change, but he had tried so many times and never could. He began to cry when he told us how he had prayed and prayed and never gained the hope he sought. The Spirit filled our mouths as we shared with him the hope that every person needs to hear: that God lives and loves him, that his prayers are heard, that he need not fear, "but be believing". We invited him to come to church on Sunday, and having finished our service in his home, we returned to the church. It filled my soul with joy to see the amazing effects of service, and I offered a silent prayer of gratitude that we had been able to continue serving and change the course of a person's life because of it.

I couldn't stop helping after that. We changed into proselyting clothes and were directed to various homes to eat lunch. I couldn't sit still and let the members serve us, so I started carrying plates from the kitchen to the missionaries waiting at the table. Elder Tacachira stood up and helped, too. When the elders finished their soup, I started washing the dishes. It just felt like the right thing to do.

In the afternoon, we accompanied members of the ward to visit various less-active members and a few of their friends who aren't members of the church. We gave a blessing of health to an elderly (nonmember) woman in a wheelchair, then sang a hymn before leaving her home. She wouldn't accept our message, but we left her smiling. I felt like a whole different person: my mouth was filled with words to comfort and bless, my eyes were changed to see every person as a child of God who I could help.

It was one of the most special days of my mission, mostly because I had the opportunity to be the kind of person I want to be. Service is an amazing influence, and that's what we did all day - although part of it was of a more temporal nature, it was all spiritual for me. We got home (around 8pm) more exhausted than ever. I've heard it called celestial fatigue, and it surely was.

This coming week is Stake Conference, and Elder Marcus B. Nash, the Area President, is coming to speak. There are activities all week long, so it's difficult to coordinate appointments. The biggest difficulty is that we can't teach investigators when they're going to Stake activities! But I suppose that's a difficulty I can appreciate, not really a problem.

Summer is upon us, and the days are getting hot. The little kids have started their "carnavales," which are basically water-fights, but anybody in the vicinity is vulnerable. So far, it looks like they respect most adults and the missionaries - but it's so hot that we want them to drench us anyways. We'll see if they go that far.

I'm healthy and happy, and I love being here. I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing well. Thank you for your prayers! You are all in mine as well.

Love,
Elder Withers