transfers (I'm staying!)

Dear Family,

It's a bummer when everything I write gets lost. I didn't even get a chance to save it or anything. Just a slip of the hand, the wrong combination of keys, and I selected the whole thing and turned it into an "h". I'm not a big fan of repetition, so I'll sum up what I just wrote, but this time without the details.

My companion was trunky this week: we spent a lot of time saying goodbyes, eating unapproved food, and taking pictures. I learned a bunch from Elder Caviedes, but now he's on a bus to Trujillo for the final meetings and preparation to go home. My new companion, Elder Cavazos, will arrive Wednesday. The olympics passed by without us, but I caught a few glimpses in homes where the TV just didn't get turned off.

I'm working in a ward where the members have great missionary attitudes. There isn't much difference between them and any other ward I've been in, other than the fact that they just invite their friends to come to church and to listen to the missionaries. It's a new experience for me, because some of the sweetest memories of my mission were those amazing, miraculous finding experiences where the Lord guides us to His prepared children. Here, I hardly do any finding of my own. We knocked just one door in the last 6 weeks. The idea that members are "full-time finders" and that missionaries are "full-time teachers" is taking shape here.

We talked with a member lady who gave us a referral, and she told us that it was a woman she worked with who was having some family problems. We went by yesterday so that the member could tell us the address - instead, her husband took us in his bus right to their door and talked to the lady so that we could come in. The woman belongs to another congregation, but our message awoke a little bit of interest when we talked about eternal families. Working with members opens doors that we never could have entered just knocking them randomly.

Well, time's running out. I better get going. We don't have much to do today, so I might have time to write a letter or two. Best wishes to all those returning to school (or going off for the first time)! Thanks for your letters and your prayers! And thanks, John and Marie, for your political insights - they'll be helpful in my overseas voting experience. I don't get much of the US political conversation down here, and according to my manual (the "white bible"), I'm not here to get involved in such discussions. My prayers are over the land of the free.

Love,
Elder Withers

mountains, miracles, and imagination

Dear Family,

Winter here in the Southern Hemisphere is treating us well - we've been blessed with a number of breezy, sunny days where the temperature hovers around 80 and the wind keeps you cool enough to trick you into thinking you aren't getting sunburnt. As we rode home in the all-too-familiar mototaxis from our weekly zone meeting, the scarcely cloudy sky revealed the beautiful Andes mountains in the distance. Normally, one can only see the sandy hills that surround Chimbote a few miles away. Beyond them are even more hills and mountains, still sand and rocks. Finally, far far away, stand the powerfull shadows of the "everlasting hills," only coming out when the sky is crystal clear. It has the effect of making one feel a bit small.

We experienced a much-prayed-for miracle this week. An elder in our zone had been having some attitude problems and just didn't want to work. The ward members were starting to notice that the missionaries in their area weren't following the mission rules, too. Ever since I arrived, we've been wondering what we could do to help that missionary. We've been fasting and praying for him, and I've been talking to his companion, who is a great friend of mine (he started the mission the same day I did), trying to figure out what we could do. This week, we called them and invited them over to our apartment, because this elder's companion needed to sign and fingerprint a legal document to renew his foreigner ID card (or something along those lines). After taking care of the paperwork, our troubled elder took a moment and asked our apologies, saying that he had received a firm rebuke from the Lord for his attitude and that he just wanted to work. I talked to his companion later, who told me that this rebuke came in a dream that the missionary had. I smiled and offered a quiet prayer of gratitude; I imagine it got close to what Alma must have felt when Alma the Younger had his angel experience. It reminds me of the scripture that says the angel appeared because Alma had prayed with so much faith. That must have been my companion. Our dear friend is now working hard and the results are there to show it. Who can say this isn't the Lord's work? Who can fail to see His mighty hand over it? Fantastic!

I was privileged to perform about 4 baptismal interviews this week - our zone ended up with ten by the end of the week. It brings to my mind a little story that Elder Wirthlin told in the February Ensign about a little boy who asked his veteran grandfather, "Were you a hero in the war?" The aged soldier thought for a moment and responded, "No, but I served in a company of heroes." I'm serving in a zone of great missionaries! It looks like next week is going to have similar, if not better, results.

I was reflecting a little bit (funny how I do a lot of personal reflection in mototaxis - maybe it's cause the noisy rumble of the motor makes companionship communication difficult, if not impossible) this week, wondering just how to help a family whose "atheist" father won't let his under-age daughter get baptized. I remembered something Mr. Jonas said in my World Literature class - that we all have mental faculties: emotional, imaginative, and rational. He said we can't discover truth just by limiting ourselves to any one faculty: by simple rationalization alone, we can't discover the truth that God exists or who we really are in this world. As a missionary, we seek to have the Spirit with us and to work by that Spirit. It reveals things that are rarely visible to a natural eye, and it brings feelings that pass our understanding. I've realized that in my own life, I have allowed what I've seen on TV or heard on the radio define for me what I thought was reality. But reality isn't just what we see (in fact, that's rarely the case): it's something that's born upon our souls by the Spirit of God. The reality that I'm a child of God is something that wasn't written on my soul by singing a song, writing the words, or picturing it in my head. Rather, it was truth - the pure truth - poured into my spirit by the Holy Ghost. By that same power, I know that God lives; that His Son, Jesus Christ, is the Savior of the World; and that His Church is on the earth today, guided by a living prophet. They have revealed the plan of salvation, the reality and purpose of our existence. I'm glad we're here to have joy! I love it! I've discovered a little more of what's really going on in that plan by feeling the Spirit of God. It's difficult to explain, and requires one to use his or her imagination for it to make sense sometimes. I suppose that's why God gave us the ability to imagine: not to escape reality, but rather to escape the deception of sight and thereby discover reality.

I love missionary work! Thanks for writing me! Until next week.

Love,
Elder Withers
(Elder Weethairs, as we say it in Peru)

diet and exercise

Dear Family,

The secrets to taking an inch or two off one's waist are much more easily said than done. I took the first steps towards making a decision to start trying to get some results this week - I decided that if I'm supposed to be in charge of the health of some missionaries, I ought to follow the suggested exercise routines in the missionary health guide. The book said to be creative, so I did a few pole-vaulting exercises (that I've missed for over a year) out in the cul de sac (well.. it's not really a cul de sac - it's not a street - it's all sidewalk) for my cardio workout. I'm also eating about 1/4 of the rice I've been served for the last year and exercising a little more self control when numerous bread rolls are placed before me to only eat one of them. My pensionista complained a little bit at the start, but it doesn't match my complaints when I got to squeeze into my baptismal pants the other week. Motivation has to come from somewhere, I suppose.

A recent convert took us to meet one of her friends and share the gospel with her on Tuesday, and we had a long, spiritually-packed lesson on the Restoration. The recent convert bore her testimony and opened things up. The Spirit prompted us to promise specific blessings and helped her friend see how the gospel really applies in her life.

On Thursday, we had a work visit with the elders in San Jacinto (a little isolated town built aroud a sugar-cane processing facility). My companion taught me how to solve a rubix cube (said rubix cube is now broken and its location is unknown) during the trip there, and then I traveled back to Nuevo Chimbote with Elder Giles for a day of working together. We spent the morning talking to people in the streets and looking for some old investigators. We knocked only one door, and a woman came out and let us in so that we could say a prayer. That prayer turned into a 45-minute lesson on the Restoration. She had investigated the church in another part of Chimbote some 6 years earlier. I love it when the Spirit takes us to the right doors.

In the afternoon of the same day, we had a couple baptismal interviews to perform for another area. When we came out of the church and were walking away, the elders yelled at us to come back. Apparently, a couple of theives (at least, that's the word I heard "ladrones") running from the police ran in the open church doors and went upstairs. A couple of police pick-ups followed, and a couple uniformed officers ran in and ushered them out. It was a little exciting, but it delayed us in going to the house of a recent convert who had just suffered a difficult situation. We sang hymns and shared scriptures until the Bishop got there (I'm grateful for good bishops!), then headed to other appointments.

On Saturday, our pensionista's son-in-law was baptized. His neighbor, who had fellowshipped him in Family Home Evenings, performed the ordinance. Once again, all we did was push play on the DVD while they got changed. I'm extremely grateful that we're in a ward that works!

However, our ward currently has no high priest group leader, so we have combined classes with the Elders' Quorum. Yesterday, somebody was asleep and snoring quite loudly as we were reading from the manual. My companion and I had a chuckle about that. Our Ward Mission Leader woke up the snorer, but it was only a matter of minutes before the snoring began again.

Today, we went on a little field trip to the ruins of Sechin (around the time of the Jaredites). Sechin, unfortunately, is not the lost city of gold. It didn't appear to be very lost (it cost 6 of the best to get in) and was made of rocks; and it wasn't much of a city anyways. My companion was upset for having paid so much for not much attraction. I was okay with it. We emptied a full jar of Nutella over some soda crackers with the sister missionaries (and really the big purpose of going was so that the sisters would feel a little more involved in our activities as a zone), so I was content with the activity.

Right now, we have a baptismal service to attend in 15 minutes. It's the 8-year-old son of the 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric, but we've been invited because he told us that he has invited 4 non-member families to the baptism. Now THAT'S missionary work! Woohoo!

The missionary health guide said that just 20 minutes of cardiovascular exercise every day will help you feel happier and increase your self-esteem. I'm happy! The manual must be right!

Well, time up or not, I don't have any more time! Thank you for your letters! Even though it takes half my internet time reading them all, it's worth it.

Love,
Elder Withers

a miracle and a broken chair

Dear Family,

I always seem to be running out of time when I'm on the internet. I've got 12 minutes left, so I'll see what I can churn out in that time.

We had a miracle this week. On Tuesday, we taught a woman named Veronica. Her husband is a member, but he's less-active and recovering from some alcohol/drug problems - at least he's on the upward turn. It was the third visit that we've had with her. Last weekend was a spiritual feast, and we made an effort to teach by the Spirit and let Him work through us. As we answered her questions about the Book of Mormon, we began to teach and testify about baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. We had talked about baptism before - and she had expressed doubts about being baptized before, when she was little. But this time, the feeling was different. After sharing our testimonies, we invited her to be baptized on August 9th. She said "yes," but asked if she would have to get baptized with other people, too (we had expressed that we were planning a baptismal service for that date for a couple of other people as well). My companion said that she could be baptized alone if she wanted to, and we invited her to do it this Saturday, August 2nd. She accepted. On Friday she came to her interview and was baptized on Saturday. When she came up out of the water, she cried, saying that now she understood just what we were talking about when we had taught her about baptism. My companion and I were reflecting on the experience afterward, wondering just how it all happened. We're starting to understand a little better just how important the Spirit is in the conversion process. A heart was changed 180 degrees. It was amazing.

Saturday morning, we had a training meeting with the district leaders in our zone, and we went out to eat together afterwards at a Chinese restaurant. In the middle of the meal, I was trying to reach behind my chair and get my water bottle out of my backpack when the staples holding my chair together came undone. The whole thing collapsed. It was quite embarrassing. Time to lay back on the Choko-Soda crackers, I think.

Alright, the internet man says it's time to go, though my watch says I have three minutes left. Thanks for your letters and your prayers!

Love,
Elder Withers