1 Nephi 17:13 - "you will know"

Dear Family,

Today, the transportation union had a strike - I'm not sure if they have a union, really: they enforce their demands with sticks and stones. Nevertheless, their influence seems to have gotten the buses stopped for a while. But money talks, so we rented out a tiny bus for 4 soles a piece and rode to a little town called Llacanora. After parking in the modest Plaza de Armas, we followed the signs and the direction of friendly locals to find the legendary waterfalls. A mile of hiking later, we wound our way up to the top of the rocky hills and took pictures from above the waterfalls. The scenery was almost as breathtaking as the climb up the hills, but fortunately we didn't have any run-ins (unlike the other elders) with the unpopular arachnids that are a little too common in these parts. After climbing back down, we were in a little store buying cold soda when we overheard four men, sitting at a table, talking about the law of tithing. That interested us, so we started talking to them and turned the subject to the Restoration of the Gospel. Though friendly enough, they weren't eager to accept anything not found between the books of Genesis and Revelation. We testified and shared a little of what we could remember from Elder Holland's talk in conference about that subject. It was a delightful little chat, but we had to go, so it didn't last too long.

We're happy with what we're doing in Chontapaccha, though this week was a little stressful. We had a baptismal service planned for Saturday at 7pm, and we had hoped to coordinate with the member who usually makes all the arrangements for us. Unfortunately, he, along with a few other key players, was out of town from Thursday to Saturday. When crunch time arrived, Elder Iverson and I were the only ones at the church. We had just about everything ready: baptismal records, cameras, baptismal clothing and keys to the church building. However, a few key elements were missing: investigators, members, witnesses, keys to the baptismal font, and a whole lot of water. We left our things in the church building, and we ran (literally) all over the town, trying to find, firstly, the keys to open the baptismal font and turn on the water. But our attempts yielded no results. When at last we couldn't find anybody to help us, we went to visit the investigators to see what was up. They had a few doubts that they had to ask us about - the father of the family has a brother who had discouraged them a little bit (being of a different faith) when he announced his baptism to the rest of his family. But it was something special when we heard him tell us that he wants to be baptized and he's doing it for the right reasons. It was a testimony to me that I had been longing to hear. We resolved his doubts and planned for a baptismal service the following Saturday. He came to church on Sunday morning, too; so we were glad that he hadn't gotten discouraged from the events of the night before. All in all, nobody was left with ill feelings, though we were rather tired at the end of the day. We were glad that nobody was offended by the failure of anybody to attend. The members didn't organize a baptismal service, and the investigators didn't come - I think we might have been the only ones who knew what happened. Next week shows a little more promise.

Well, that's news behind enemy lines - at the battle's front, however, we've been prospering. Over the course of the week, we taught seven new families in their homes. From my family at home, I've heard a lot of talk about "green" - Cajamarca is one of the greenest places I've seen on my mission, but I must admit that the field is white when I look at it. I love teaching the Gospel to the families of Peru. There's no greater experience than this. I love a quote I heard from Elder Holland: "Welcome to the big time! Welcome to the Church! Welcome to the life of Apostles and Prophets! Welcome to the life of the Savior, who knew quite a bit about cups people don't want to drink and paths people don't want to walk." I love this life. As I face down the trials, the hard times and the great times, I come to know more every day that I have a Father in Heaven who loves and knows me. I reflect on the trials and struggles of Lehi's family in the desert and on the ocean and realize how they learned who their God was; they learned it as they passed through their difficulties. He even promised them that they would know that He was their God. I, too, know He lives, and I know He is my God.

Love,
Elder Withers