anticucho de cuy

Dear Family,

I apologize to any animal rights sentimentalists for the subject line, which translates to "guinea pig on a stick." I thought it would be an interesting fact to point out: there a lot of street vendors here. They sell candy, hamburgers, bread, ice cream, popsicles, cookies, fruit and other beverages, and varios meats, often skewered and grilled. We were walking by one such vendor and I saw the above-mentioned animal being grilled, so I had to tell about it. As missionaries, we aren't allowed to eat anything that doesn't come in a sealed package with nutrition facts, unless it's cooked in our approved pension. Exceptions are bread and ice cream, which one can't prepare so incorrectly that they carry sickness-causing bacteria and other invisible nightmares.

It was a promising week. Elder Rojas and I committed to reaching the goal of daily and weekly contacts, being 15 each day and 105 by the end of the week. We didn't rest until we had reached the goal and passed it, reaching 110 by the end of the week. Our mission president is stressing those daily contacts a lot, so we put our shoulder to the wheel and reached our goal. In the meantime, the Lord brought his prepared children into our path, and we found a handful of new families who are now exercising faith and progressing spiritually.

The other elders of or district have now moved in, which made work visits easier. Sleeping in one's own bed is one of those new comforts we received. As I was out with Elder Feril, we had a long lesson with a man who had been a Jehovah's Witness for fifteen years. Elder Feril and I agreed beforehand that we would only teach and testify, that we wouldn't Bible-bash or try to destroy his beliefs. We began teaching about the Plan of Salvation, and only got halfway through before the man began to contradict us, starting from the beginning. But we didn't fight back. We resolved his questions with testimony. Then we explained the Book of Mormon with a power I've never felt so strongly in a lesson. I bore my testimony of its truth. Elder Feril bore his testimony. We shared the last words and testimonies of Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni. I can't tell you that the man accepted what we were teaching him, but I do know that he felt the Spirit carry our words to his heart. Although my beliefs were contradicted and practically mocked for the time we were there, my testimony grew in leaps and bounds.

The phone call announcing transfers came on Friday night. Elder Rojas has been transferred to Casa Grande, a zone north of Trujillo in the valley, known for its intense heat and unreasonable number of mosquitos. My new companion will be Elder Iverson (my first English-speaking companion!), who started his mission just three months ago. He'll arrive by bus on Thursday morning, just like I did (but hopefully without the landslide). Half of our zone has been transferred, so there's going to be a lot of changes here this week.

I love missionary work more every day. We worked our tails off this week and I've never been happier. Though we have faced many disappointments as well, the Lord keeps our excitement high as we let Him take care of the things we can't control. Thank you for your letters and prayers, and especially your encouraging words therein.

Love,
Elder Withers