surprises

Dear Family,

It has been quite the week here in Cajamarca. The rains came back to visit - for the moment they're making quite a bit of noise on the roof. Luckily the streets don't flood here: the whole city is designed to transport all precipitation (which, incidentally, carries most garbage left in the street along with it) downhill and to the rivers through a series of gutters and canals. But that doesn't solve the problem that we came all the way to the internet station without rainjackets or umbrellas. I'm told that "summer" starts here in May and lasts till about December. They say it won't rain any more in May. I think it's the third month I've heard that (and I've only been here about two..). Summer here implies frigid mornings and hot days with infrequent rain. I've been good about using sunscreen, mostly because it provides a little bit of moisturizer and the air is pretty dry here.

My new companion is Elder Iverson, who comes from Albuquerque, New Mexico. He's got about 5 months in the mission, but his Spanish is wonderful. I imagine it has to do a little bit with the culture he lived in. Anyways, we're working fantastically together. This week was something special: we spent a lot of time searching for new people to teach, and the Lord put people in our path in unexpected ways. We sang hymns ("Families Can Be Together Forever") and bore testimony standing atop a large, cement sombrero, the central feature in one of the nearby parks. We helped unload groceries from the back of a taxi and talked to everyone we could. We climbed flights of stairs in large (and slightly unsanitary) apartment buildings. Hundreds of people got to hear the phrase, "Somos misioneros de la Iglesia de Jesucristo..." and several of them got to hear in depth why we're here.

There was a baptism this week, and Saturday afternoon I was a little worried about the organization of the event. Who was going to fill the baptismal font? Who was going to do the baptizing? Who had the keys to the chapel? Who was going to talk? Would there be a musical number? I was a little surprised, however pleasantly, to find that the bishopric had planned it all already. Although we still had a little part in the program (a little talk about the baptismal covenant), for the first time in a while, I was able to attend a baptismal service in peace. Nevertheless, that was only the beginning of my joy. In Sacrament Meeting, a new Ward Mission Leader was called and sustained. I also received the opportunity (another surprise) to confirm the investigator who was baptized. Also, there was an activity announced for this week involving the Relief Society Presidency and the Missionaries (lots of surprises this weekend), a giant Family Home Evening. Somewhere, somehow, the entire ward decided that it was going to work with us. I love surprises.

Today we walked around downtown, looking at what the stores had to offer in the way of handcrafted, cultural items. We didn't buy anything, though we did decide to come back another day. We walked around the Plaza de Armas and took several pictures. After that, we hiked the short distance to the Santa Apolonia Church - or rather, to the base of the enormous staircase and garden that leads up to the church - and took pictures from the bottom. You can imagine a little what it's like if you picture the stereotypical 1000-step, treacherously steep stairs of famous, ancient-American ruins (it doesn't have quite so many steps, however).

I'm loving the work here. There are so many amazing things happening, and I don't want it to stop. I appreciate your letters and your prayers, and I hope all is going well in those wedding preparations and schoolwork.

Love,
Elder Withers

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

service rocks!

Dear Family,

A lot happened this week! I'll do my best to write it all, but I only have a few minutes, as p-day is ending fast.

My companion has been somewhat sick, and President Mora told him to get checked out at the doctor. We had interviews this week, and it was during the interview that he was told he had to go to the clinic. I went on with one of President Mora's assistants on Saturday morning while my companion waited in the long line at the doctor's office. Later, I accompanied him for further testing and receiving the results. The doctor ordered a change of diet, prohibiting basically everything that makes eating fun: fats, lots of carbohydrates, condiments, ajì (that's what makes food spicy here), and some other things I hadn't heard of. So far, I'm trying to be supportive by joining in the diet and putting it to the test as well. For a couple days we were worrying that Elder Rojas would be sent to Trujillo, or even to his house; but it all depended on the results, and it looks like he's staying at least until transfers.

Yesterday afternoon, we were in a part of our area that we only visited one time before, for its being a bit of a hike from our house. We had some appointments, but before we got to their homes, we saw a few people unloading long sticks and planks from a big truck. Those sticks and planks are used to support the drying cement that I've mentioned before in "filling ceilings." We walked past them and realized that we had passed the house we wanted to visit. On our way back, I felt impressed to offer our help. Without waiting for them to say yes or no, we took off our jackets and backpacks and rolled up our sleeves and started carrying the sticks and boards down the hill and piling them with the rest of them. It was a direct violation of the Sabbath Day according to the Law of Moses, but we decided that it was "lawful to do good on the sabbath day" and got a little dirty in the process. After unloading it all, they let us wash our hands and gave us bottled water to drink. We found out that the people we were helping all belonged to the same family - I had assumed they were neighbors coming to help. They brought us our jackets and backpacks, and one of the women was inquisitively flipping through the copy of the Book of Mormon I had been carrying around and reading it as well. We explained to them what it was and gave all of them (about thirteen people total) a pamphlet of the lessons we teach, along with two copies of the Book of Mormon. A few of the little kids even wanted a picture with the "gringo" and so I favored them as they took a few. It was an amazing experience. Just a little (well, I suppose it wasn't the smallest) act of service can open doors and hearts that we don't expect.

We were in the rain with our umbrellas on Saturday night, and a taxi zoomed past us just as we were walking by the river that formed in the street. My companion was wet up to his waist - luckily I was on the other side of him and only got drenched up to the knees. There are some things that umbrellas just can't help.

Alright, time is running out. I wish I could write more, but it's a busy day. We're moving from our upstairs apartment to a bigger room downstairs that we're sharing with another companionship, so we've been working on that all day.

Love you,
Elder Withers

the Standard of Truth has been erected

Dear Family,

Yesterday was a sunny day and a torrentially rainy day followed by a perfectly cloudless night. I went up on the "roof" in my pajamas just before bed and saw the Little Dipper hovering just over the north-eastern (I think) horizon. I didn't know how to say "Little Dipper" in Spanish to translate for my companion, so I think I called it a "little spoon." Orion's Belt is also a common sight this time of year, but the houses on either side have 4 stories each, so I couldn't find it from the roof. There were thousands of other dazzling stars out, every one of them testifying of their Creator's hand. It's a message forever engraven on my heart: God created those brilliant lights and this beautiful earth, and anyone who has seen those creations has seen His power.

In the middle of a busy street in Cajamarca, there lies a newly decorated park, with cars going opposite directions on either side. There, in front of a large monument of three bronze men giving an enthusiastic thumbs-up to all the passers-by, we set up a tent canopy and a few signs announcing General Conference the following two days. We also had a 2-meter, wooden Book of Mormon to draw attention. All fourteen of the missionaries in Cajamarca gathered there, and we began contacting everybody in sight. We handed out small invitations with President Monson's picture and the conference schedule on it, and we also gave pamphlets of The Family: A Proclamation to the World, the Restoration of the Gospel, the Plan of Salvation, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Testimony of Joseph Smith to those who appeared interested. A couple of us devoted a few minutes to playing the guitar and singing the hymns in harmony: it was fascinating to see how people were just drawn in by the Spirit. We were there all morning, and beyond just getting a little sunburn (and it was cloudy out!) I managed to lose any fear of what people think of me. As people passed by without talking to any missionaries, I literally ran after them to talk to them and at least give them an invitation.

As two of us were there singing, a man (rather enebriated) approached in a dirty black coat and said something that I didn't understand and was probably vulgar. Elder Merckley, who was playing the guitar, happily invited him to sing with us. We started another hymn, and the man burst out (shouting at the top of his lungs, I think) into what appeared to me a drinking song about a girl named Sheyla. Both of us decided it was a bad call to have invited him to sing, but we couldn't contain the laughter after we finished singing "Abide With Me" or whatever hymn we had attempted to sing.

I talked to one man who, after a little discussion, decided that we were worshipers of Satan, used the name of Christ to further our business and pocketed tithing money for our own benefit. I suppose every missionary, in time, will have his Alma vs. Korihor moment, but this friend didn't want to linger long, so I just told him that I loved him and to have a great day. He made some kind of gesture of sticking his finger in his mouth and some other things that were easily construed as offensive, called me a liar, and walked away. I wished he would just listen for a moment, but I suppose it just wasn't his day.

In the afternoon, we followed the same procedure out in front of a shopping mall near our area (right across the street from the internet place I'm at right now). I didn't encounter any more people quite so opposed to living prophets, but there were more people who didn't have time to listen. It started to rain, so we pulled out umbrellas and continued talking to everyone until it got dark. It was cold and wet, but I loved it. I haven't had many more days in my mission when I've felt so content. I'm here to sound the everlasting Gospel in every ear: many are called and few are chosen, and we called nearly a thousand that day. The more people I talk to about the restored church of Jesus Christ, the happier I am.

General Conference was spectacular. The five American missionaries had our "salòn de los gringos" to watch the conference in English. It was the first time I remember participating in a solemn assembly to sustain a new church president, likewise for the other elders in the room (I guess we were only 7 years old the last time it happened). Afterward, we were only constrained to say that "the church is true." It bore testimony to all of us that Jesus Christ is guiding this church and has been ever since that spring day in 1830 when He restored it to the earth.

During yesterday's afternoon session, it started raining so hard that we could barely hear the conference from our little TV set. During Elder Christensen's talk, the satellite signal cut out and it all went black. We were all going crazy: waving our hands in the air, pressing buttons on the TV, opening and closing the windows trying to get it to come back. I suppose we thought our efforts in the English room would bring back the signal for the whole church building. Realizing the import of that fact, we tried a different approach. We said a prayer of thanks and asked the Lord to bring back our precious conference, motivated by Elder Bednar's recent talk about praying with faith. After a couple minutes, it came back on and we caught the last part of Elder Christensen's talk. I suppose we'll have to wait for the May Ensign for the rest of that talk (which will likely arrive here in June or July).

This morning, I finished reading a copy of the Book of Mormon (in English) that I started anew just three months ago, reading 15 minutes every morning and marking every reference to the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I took some time to apply Moroni's promise once again, taking an hour or so to ponder on "how merciful the Lord hath been" to the world and to me ever since the world began up till today. Just pondering on that was a powerful witness that God really loves us. Then I knelt down on that same "roof" and asked Heavenly Father if the Book of Mormon is true. I testify that it's not only true, but it has also made the biggest impact in my life. When you think about all the thousands of things God has done to bless the world, the Book of Mormon fits right in and takes a high place.

I was impressed by the church's humanitarian aid report at the Priesthood session of conference. The Spirit whispered a special truth to my heart that I was able to share in a lesson with an investigator yesterday. Many people wonder if God exists, thinking on the suffering, hunger, sickness, war, and other peace-destroying evils in the world. They ask why He doesn't do anything to stop it. In seeing what the church is doing in the world, I was able to see exactly what the Lord is doing. The reason He allows all of the bad things to happen is so that we have a chance to serve others and thereby gain our own salvation by ministering to their needs. And He's doing so much through the service of His kingdom on the earth - how could we ever ask why He doesn't reach out to save? His hand has always been extended.

Well, time's up for this week. I hope you all enjoyed General Conference! You're in my prayers and I love you.

Love,
Elder Withers