Week 14: Navidad en Lima Peru!

Buenas Dias Familia y Amigos!

This Christmas was definitely one to remember! It wasn't a white Christmas, but it was filled with the light of Christ and a lot of great and fun memories. Christmas here is really cool because the people here don't have much so Christmas is really only about Christ. I've learned a lot about our Savior on my mission and am so grateful for his example and that through Him I can find true peace and help others feel His love for them too. It's my testimony that Christ lives, and that through His atoning sacrifice we can change our lives for the better and someday eventually return to live with Him someday. 

Anyways, this week was great! On the 24th we had a big party at the offices in Independencia with the whole mission. It was sweet! Presidente Erickson grilled real American hamburgers and hot dogs for everyone and we had a dodge ball tournament against all the zones in the mission. It was good time! After the BBQ, we watched Remember the Titans and had a talent show. Every zone had to prepare a sketch, or a play, whatever you want to call it. We have this Hermana from New Zealand in our zone so we did this dance to Somewhere over the Rainbow, there's some pictures attached for ya'll! 

Christmas day was a great day to find new investigators too, so we have a lot of new people to teach now which is always nice. 

Well, sorry this is so short, don't have much time, but I hope that you all had a Merry Christmas and I wish all of you only the best for the new year!

Love, 

Elder Potter

Elder Potter's Zone Skit for the Christmas Party

Elder Potter and Elder Guerra

Elder Pauro and Elder Potter at Mission Christmas Party

Elder Potter and Elder Guerra (new companion)

Week 13: Feliz Navidad

Mi Familia y Amigos, Feliz Navidad!

This past week has been pretty crazy! It all started on Tuesday with transfers, Elder Pauro isn't my companion anymore, I have a new "papa", Elder Guerra. I definitely miss Elder Pauro and his chill, funny, and spiritual personality. Anyways, Elder Guerra is pretty much the opposite of Elder Pauro. He's Boliviano and is 21. He started out his mission in Venezuela for 7 months, right now he only has 2 more changes before he ends his mission. Most missionaries, especially Latino missionaries, start getting comfortable their last 2 changes, lazy in other words. But E. Guerra isn't at all haha. He was a Zone Leader in Independencia before the change and he's no slacker. It was kinda tough at first, and still kinda is, because in a lot of ways I'm the one training him because he doesn't know the ward or the area, my area is way, way different than Independencia. Independica is a city and not nearly as much poverty. He took Pauros position as zone leader and his teaching style is a lot different than Pauros which has been kinda tough to get used to. But, were getting along alright! He does know more English than Pauro so that's been kinda nice. 

Alrighty, so something I learned this week... This past week I have been really impressed with the character of Mary, the mother of the Savior of the World. In Lucas 2:19 it says that, after the birth of her Son and our older brother, she pondered what had just taken place. No doubt, the birth of Christ is the single most important event of the history of the world and I'm sure it was an incredibly spiritual experience, and Mary pondered in her heart that sacred moment that would become the center of this Christmas season. Like Mary, it would be wise if we pondered in our hearts the birth of Christ and all he did for us and still does for us. I love Christ and my mission has helped me gain a better understanding of who he really is for me. I'm amazed at the sufferings he went through for me in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. I love Lucas 22:41 to 44, please read it, it's a great passage of scripture. Its my testimonio this Christmas that Christ lives, and that only through Him will we find true peace, true love, and true knowledge of who we really are. I hope that this week and this Christmas we will take time to think more deeply about the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, and what He has given me and you. 

This week Elder Guerra and I found 2 less active members in our area named Maria and Liz. They have a lot of challenges financially and in health and live in a lot of poverty. Since we met them this week I've really tried to make an effort to become their friends and we have had some great spiritual experiences with them. Our last lesson, we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and focused on Faith. Maria can't read and Liz can't really read either, but we gave them a Book of Mormon to them and it meant a lot to them. We read in Ether 12:6 and 7 about in who we need to have faith, in Christ. After we read these scriptures the Spirit was so strong and there was no doubt in the room that Christ had touched the heart Maria. I have a lot of hope that through our friendship Maria and Liz will start attending church again. 

We've also been teaching a young couple, well, not really a couple because they're not married, named Antonio y Flor. Antonio is 19 and Flor is only 17..a little to young to be married anyways if you ask me. They don't really get a long to well either, its a tough situation. We first met Flor because she has a little hamburger stand at night. They have had a lot of questions about the Book of Mormon and their purpose in this life which has been really good, that's definitely going to be our "door" to helping them realize that they'll be a lot happier if they accept this gospel completely. 

I also had to go to immigrations 2 times this week which was really nice actually. Everyone in my group from the CCM had to go both times so it was like a little 2 day reunion for district 12A, it was nice. It was especially nice talking to E. Dority. Hes in San Juan Luri Gancho which is the poorest and craziest part of the area. It was awesome to talk to him about our experiences and to see how much we've both grown on the mission. A lot of the mountains he's had to climb (physically, mentally, and spiritually) makes a lot of mine look like anthills. I hope that someday I get to serve in the same area as E. Dority or one of the other elders in my district from the CCM. 

Anyways, the week has been great and I'm really excited for this week. This Wednesday were going to celebrate Christmas as a mission at the mission offices. I'm pretty pumped, the whole mission is going to be there and there's going to be REAL hot dogs and hamburgers (I found out this week the most of the hamburgers on the street are actually horse meet, so I've decided to take a break from those...) and there's going to be a dodge ball tournament and all that good stuff. And we get to wear p-day clothes all day! It's gonna be great!

Well, that's about all and I'm excited to talk to you on Christmas!

Elder Potter

 

Elder Potter and Elder Pauro

 

Week 12: Weddings the Peruvian Way

Familia y Amigos!

This week was great and filled with some pretty good memories! These past few weeks I've been studying the gospels so I can finish by Christmas and I've had a few things stick out to me... I'm amazed by the miracles of Christ and how they are always a second witness to the divinity of His nature or to a greater teaching. I love the miracle and teaching of the paralytic man that was lowered down from the roof by his 4 friends so Christ could heal him. But the first thing Christ did wasn't heal him, He forgave his sins. But because the doubts of His authority to forgive sins and make others clean by Pharisees or doubters in the room, he told the man to "take up his bed" as a 2nd witness of his divinity and authority to forgive sins. The same goes with the woman with the blood disease. Also, all of the miracles have one common background, and it's that all that he heals have FAITH. I love the leper when he says "If thou WILT, thou canst make me clean." not, "If thou CANST, or CAN, thou canst make me clean.". The leper wasn't asking for a sign or a miracle, he already knew the true divinity of the Savior and his ability to heal and love. In some way or another, we are all lepers! We all have need of something in our lives right now, whether it be a stronger testimony of the Atonement, financial help, comfort, love, charity, whatever it may be,we need to ask in FAITH and BELIEVE that we will RECIEVE like the leper did. The leper is a great example of faith to me and I hope to follow his example and not ask the Savior if he can help me, but rather if he will help me. Because He always can, you just need to ask if He will. Anyways, that's my spiritual thought for the week. 

The most spiritual experience this week though was definitely the baptism of Yesena Payco. On Friday, we married Yesena and Osmar and it was a jolly ol' time. And then on Saturday we baptized Yesena and it was just awesome. Osmar was already a member and he bore his testimony after the baptism and it was so strong, the Spirit was there in full swing. He bore his testimony about how this is the first big step towards them becoming an eternal family a year from now and that he knows this church is true and that he is being blessed by it. It's moments like those that make all the hard work worth it, they are great examples to me of what a humble person really is like and how great of a blessing this gospel really is. 

On Friday there were actually quite a few marriages because of missionaries, including Elder Johnson and his companion! So I got to hang our with Elder Johnson, from my district in the CCM, for quite a bit. It was great getting to catch up with him and how he's doing. He's about an hour and a half away from where I am, he's in San Juan... easily the sketchiest parte de la mision. There's just a lot of gang activity and stuff going on there. Anyways, he had a kinda crazy story... Some guy ran into him and his companion, he was drunk, and told them that he wanted to change his life and so he handed them a bunch drugs he had haha. Anyways, they end up teaching the guy and one night he told them that he had to flee the area the next morning because the previous night he was in a pretty nasty fight and people were after him. But the next morning they saw him so they just thought it was a lie. But the day after that his wife came up to E. Johnson and his companion and asked if they'd seen "Johnny" anywhere... yeah, they haven't seen him since haha. Well, that's North Lima Peru for ya...

We also had a service project on Miercoles (Wednesday, sorry, I'm trying to manage the spanglish), and it was crazy. It was in Jardines, another area in our zone which is all super steep stairs, and someone had tons and tons of sand at the top of this long section or stairs and they needed to carry it down... oh boy, was it hard! All they had to carry it down was 5 gallon buckets and bags. We ended up carrying the sand down for almost 2 hours and we were all dead after it! I wish I had had my camera to take some pictures of the process haha, it was crazy. Me and Elder Pauro got back to our room and could barely move but it was all good. 

Another kinda funny thing that happened... One day this past week, I don't remember which one, but we were at Pilars house. One thing you have to understand about her house is that it's super dirty. Think about the dirtiest, dustiest place you've been in and you're half way there. Anyways, we were teaching her, and one of her many cats drug this dead rat out from inside one of her shoes and she freaked out! It was pretty funny, it was ironic because she couldn't believe that there could possibly be rats in her house... haha. She wouldn't even get down from off her bed and she told us to come back later... good times in Lima Peru. 

Well, I hope you're all doing well and I think that's all!

Love 

Elder Potter

 Osmar & Yesena Wedding Baptism

Elder Pauro, Yesena, Osmar, & Elder Potter

Yesena & Osmar on their wedding day

Elder Potter the wedding cake creeper

Yesena's Baptism Day with Family

Yesena's Baptism with the Elders

Yesena's Baptism Day

Elder Potter, Yesena, and Elder Pauro

Osmar & Yesena

Elder Potter trying on Elder Pauro's pants

Elder Pauro

Week 11: Christmas Trees and Toilet Paper

Buenas Dias Familia y Amigos!

This week was another crazy but great week in Lima Peru! First of all, I want to thank you for the package! Elder Pauro and I have made sure to put it to good use, we set up the little Christmas tree and decorated it with toilet paper this morning to give it more of a holiday look! December here is definitely way different than in Utah, but its great! Summer has come in hot, it's super humid and hot during the middle of the day, but then its chilly at night. It's kinda funny because a lot of the people here drink hot chocolate for Christmas here, but it's really hot haha.

There's really not much to say for this past week as far as investigadores go. Right now we only have one investigador, Yesena, and she's awesome. Her and her husband aren't married, so I guess that he's not really her husband yet, are both awesome. They are some of the most humble and kindest people I've ever met. They live at the top of one of the cerros (hills) and they don't have many "worldly" things, but they have plenty of things that will benefit them in the eternal perspective of things. Osmar, her husband, is a member and has been a big help in the conversion process. Anyways, this past week she has really progressed a lot. Were helping them get married on the 12th of Diciembre and her baptism is the next day. It's pretty normal here to have to marry a couple because most of the people aren't for some reason or another. There are some couples that have been together for years, but don't want to get married because they don't know if they're ready to, kinda strange. So yeah, I'm super excited for her baptism. they have a little baby girl. We've also been teaching one of Yesenas friends, Betty, who has also been progressing a lot but actually lives in Independencia which isn't our area but she's been living with Yesena y Osmar for a few weeks now because of problems back home, she also has a newborn baby, and once everything is sorted our for her she should be getting baptized soon as well. 

One last thing! There's this great talk by Lawrence E. Colebridge from June of 2002 title "The 4th Missionary" and it's awesome! It explains four different missionaries, the 4th being the best and the one that benefits the most from the mission. Some things that stuck out to me were...

1. "To believe that weaknesses and deficiencies in your character are unchangeable is to reflect the central truth of the Plan of Salvation.

    "You cannot be spiritually changed against your own will."

    "Your world is in your head. Get your head right and your heart will follow and you will be right"

The whole talk is just great! And how true it is that we can always change our ways, character, personality and what is important to us. Many people have an excuse that's something like "well, I can't change, it's my personality, it's just the way I am." Our Heavenly Father hasn't set us in stone, hes given us bodies and minds and spirits so that we can all act for ourselves and continually work on improving ourselves and helping others at the same time. This life is a time to improve, and you'll never find out who you truly are until you start serving God and realize your divine potential. That is just one of the thoughts I had from the talk and I challenge all of you to look it up and read it and ponder over what it says.

Well, I think that's all!

Love, 

Elder Potter

 

Decorated Christmas Tree - TP and all

Sunset - not sure

Lunch with the missionaries

 

Week 10: Baptisms and Belly Button Rings...

Buenos Dias Familia y Amigos!

This past week was really, really sweet! The highlight was definitely our 2 baptisms for Melany y Manuel. Another guy, Emilio who was taught by E. Coleman y Vela, got baptized as well. About an hour before the baptism Elder Pauro and I went to visit Melany to make sure everything was still good, turns out it was except for one thing. I'm still not sure how we got on the topic, but for some reason the topic of weird piercing popped up and it turned out that Melany had one! It turned out to be a great moment though. We taught her really quickly that piercings like those are contrary to the word of wisdom and that our bodies are literally temples. She thought about it for a minute or two, then gave us her ring as a promise that she wouldn't do anything like that again. I was inspired by Melany and her willingness to obey Gods laws before mans laws and to give up something that she didn't think to be wrong so quickly. The baptisms were really great too and the spirit was there. After the baptisms the new converts bore their testimonies. I missed Manuel's, but I got to be there for Melany's y Emilios and they have great testimonies. Melany even said that she wants to be a missionary some day, it was really awesome. Emilios wife, Betsy, bore her testimony and said its one of her goals to get married in the temple, it was really cool and a great spiritual moment. After the service and all that was over Manuel's parents invited us over for some cake and stuff. That turned out to be a little bit awkward though because they started serving some sort of alcoholic drink, it was weird. So we had some Inca Kola and left. All in all, it was a great day. Right now, we have on marriage lined up for December 12 for Osmar y Yesena and Yesenas baptism is scheduled for the 20th. She's also an investigador de oro, she's great and willing to accept all of our message, it's really cool because they don't have much, they live at the top of the cerros, one of the poorest parts of Lima, but they're some of the best people out there, I'm really excited for them. 

Also, this past p-day we got to go to cento Lima, and its really, really cool and really pretty. Its way, way cleaner than north Lima too and there's not any dogs. It's pretty much a different country. We went to this huge catholic cathedral and it was amazing. But I had a thought while I was in there about how different their cathedrals are than our temples. I think its great that Catholics have a foundation of faith and hope through our Savior, but it's sad that they focus on his death. It made me think about our temples and how they're the exact opposite, they focus on the fact that Christ still lives and is glorified and that we can be with our families forever through the atoning sacrifice and resurrection of Christ. So yeah, central Lima is really cool. For lunch we ate at McDs, the good ol golden arches. Before my mission I wasn't a big McDonalds fan, I was more of a Wendy's guy, but let me tell ya, I have never been so happy and excited to eat at McDs. After lunch we went to this little mall place that had a bunch of little touristy stores, it was really cool to see all the cultural stuff of Peru and just chill in a nicer part of the city. 

Thanksgiving was pretty good this year too for being in Lima Peru. After all of our appointments me, E. Pauro, E. Coleman y Vela, y E. Ruiz y Segura went to KFC for a Thanksgiving dinner, it turned out to pretty good, I got a little apple pie so I was satisfied haha.

Elder Potter

(This is a little excerpt from his family email.)  For part of our weekly zone and distrito meeting this past week we watched a segment of the movie "Facing the Giants" and a line really stood out to me that went along the lines of this..."our actions follow our beliefs...". I was thinking that if we think were going to fail at something, we most likely are. But the same goes for if we know we can succeed. If we have faith and truly believe and hope we can do something,than we can. I related this to missionary work in that if you believe their are people to reactivate in the church, we actually spend a lot of our time with menos activo miembros, or people to teach and to help to progress,  then you will be able to find, teach, and help those people. Just an extra thought I had that I forgot to put in the big email. 

Baptism Day - November 29, 2014

Elder Potter, Manuel, and Elder Pauro

Elder Potter, Melany, Elder Pauro

Elder Potter and Melany after being baptized

Elder Potter and Manuel after being baptized

Elder Pauro and Elder Potter at the Catholic Cathedral in Centro Lima

The city

The Catholic Cathedral

 

In the city - Lima

Elder Potter and Elder Pauro on the hills in his area

Overlooking his area

Elder Potter and Elder Pauro

Little Llama - Kimball has always had an obsession with llamas so Peru is a great place for him!

Overlooking his area

Week 9: Another Week in Good 'Ol Lima!

Familia y Amigos!

I hope all is going well with all y'all! This past week has been great, we found a new family to teach and I really hope their genuinely interested. I think they are. I found them on a split with Elder Ruiz, we go on a lot of splits in my zone, especially new missionaries to see different teaching styles. And we knocked on the door and one of the daughters answered and we started talking and all was going well but then the Dad showed up and he looked really grumpy so we were kinda worried he wouldn't appreciate our message, turns out we had nothing to worry about! We taught them the first lesson and have another appt. set up this upcoming week. The dads name is Felix and there's 5 in the family, I'm pretty excited. Melany and Manuel are getting baptized this Saturday, really excited for them! But the bad news is that we decided Teodora just isn't ready for baptism, so were moving the whole families baptisms back a while. I'm not sure when, but I hope Teodora starts progressing because her 2 children are ready but its more important to baptize a family than just part of a family. 

Also, I went on a split with one of our zone leaders, on Friday and Saturday. I'll leave out his name because I know he would be embarrassed if I said this because hes humble. I learned a lot just from his example. I went to his area and I was amazed when he knew literally everyones name that we passed, pretty impressive for Lima because there's millions of people here. He also talked to everyone and invited everyone to church on Sunday that he talked to. He taught me an important lesson that it's important to invite all to church and baptism because its our purpose as missionaries "invitar a todas las personas a venir a Cristo...".If we never talk to anyone then we never give them the chance to exercise their agency to either accept o reject the message God has given all people in hopes that they will use their agency to accept it. I also learned more about what it means to lead by example, he was kind and interested in everyone we came in contact with, and hes had a lot of success because of that. It reminded me of the scripture that says "If all men would ever be like unto Moroni 

Well, lets see what crazy things happened this past week.... oh yesterday some dog tried to attack me, it's always the little dogs that are super crazy. We just walked by it and it jumped and my leg and bit it! It was about the last thing I expected haha. Oh so yeah, the split with my ZL was really good but one of the best parts was I got to take a hot shower! It was easily one of the best things of the week haha, seriously though. I'm used to the cold now though and its not to bad. I also found out that Elder Pauro is quite the Katy Perry fan, so its been nice hearing him sing some songs, its pretty funny hearing Latinos sing American music haha. Speaking of music... I heard Taylor Swifts new song sometime last week, blank space or something like that, good stuff haha. 

Oh yeah, it's great hearing the DXC boys finished second at NXR. 72-75 against AF?! That's awesome. They'll get em the first week of December for sure. I hope the girls get that wild card pick, they definitely deserve to go! Oh yeah, speaking of running... I did get to run once this past week! Actually it was a race/bet against Elder Pauro. He wanted my Davis track and field 100 years shirt for some reason and he kept asking for it and he finally said he would race me for it, and I just couldn't turn that down. So after a good game of soccer we raced against this little soccer complex type thing and I'll just say I got to keep my shirt. Victory is sweet. He also saw a picture of me and the team at NXN last year and asked me to ask you, Mom, to send me my NXN jacket, he's really determined to win all of my pday clothes from me haha.

Well, this week was great and I wish you all a great Thanksgiving!

Love, Elder Potter

And... Feliz Cumpleanos Papa!

Here are some pictures for you re enjoyment, were going to central Lima later today so next week I'll have some cool pictures. 

The apartment

Eatin' pizza and drinkin' Inca Kola - Kimball's new favorite drink

Lima at night

Always a goober

Elder Pauro

Inca Kola - he said it tastes like Bubble Gummy Goodness

Week 8: Chicken Feet Soup? Por que no?!

Familia y Amigos, 

Yeah, this week was also crazy but really good! Elder Pauro and I have 5 baptisms lined up for the 29 of this month which I'm really excited about. They are...

1. Melany. She is 14 and is good friends with Hermana Giovana, their neighbors. She is easily progressing the most and has attended church twice now, always a good sign. Shes turned into a golden investigator, I think her family would be too, she has a big family and theyre all very nice people. 

 

2. Manuel Santo. He is 12 years old and is in a part member family. His mom and dad are going through a rough time right now and so me and Elder Pauro are really trying to strenthen and save that family. I shared the "7 Vital Signs" in our last lesson with them which I thought I would never use. Turned out to be a great lesson and the Spirit was there. His mom isn't a member, an investigator and his Dad is, but very inactive and really needs help changing a few things with his family life, but I see a lot of hope in that family. 

 

3,4,5. Teodora, Iana, and Derek. Family of 3. Honestly, I'm kinda worried about this family getting baptized because I don't know if Teodara, the mom, is totally in it. We haven't been able to get her to follow through with a visit since I've been here. But her 12 year old daughter Iana came to church yesterday, she's progressing little by little, shes very shy. 

Anyways, the work here is great. Yesterday we found a new family to teach and they're really interested in the gospel and want to know the truth. The dad, Osmar, is 25 and is a member. His wife, don't know how to spell her name, is 27 and isn't a member. They have a baby. Right before we started the lesson, the wife's 19 year old brother came in along with their mom (Heiner and Idaura). This family is looking pretty good right now and I think they're really going to progress. 

Ok, now with the crazier stuff. So a few days ago for lunch we went to our pensionistas house for lunch (normally it's just breakfast) and she gave us this soup that looked really good, and it was, but I couldn't help but notice that it seemed as though there was a foot in there still attached to the leg...hmmm... I thought to myself, is this a joke, for decoration, or am I supposed to eat that? Well, I think it was for all of the above haha. I ended up eating all of the soup then giving the foot to Obispo (Bishop) Balboa, they love chicken feet. Oh, another thing. I went on a split with Elder Segura and for lunch it was the usual, chicken, rice, potatoes, meat. But the meet kinda looked like it had an eyeball in it. Don't get me wrong, the meet was super super good, but it was interesting haha. The food here is really good and there is more than one way to eat rice I've found than just Hawaiian haystacks haha. 

que mas... I'm charging my camera right now so I'll be able to send some pictures next week of all this stuff. 

Well, Nick, I hope you don't catch ebola from Porky, that would be bad. Also, I haven't ran once since I've been here, plus there's just not any time. Besides, I would get chased by all the dogs haha, no kidding. The dogs here are really gross haha, I've got some good stories. The love to fight and so most of the dogs only have 3 legs that are capable of functioning, kinda sad but it makes you feel safe when you see a dog with only 3 legs because it means they can't run as fast as you haha. (We really dont get chased, but it's a funny thought). 

Kate, I hope you had a great bday, sounds like you did! I hope everything is going good with you still and are still being you! 

Sophia, I hope you have a great birthday today and all of youre wildest dreams come true (you did vote for pedro, right). Anyways, have a good one!

Hope, I loved seeing your pictures of you on halloween, did you get to scare Aubrey, I forgot to ask you! Love ya sis. 

Mom y Dad. I love getting your letters and learning how simple the gospel really is through them. So, some more about my area because that stuff is important. The name of my area is Caraballyo and my Branch is Habana 2. The branch is awesome and the active members are just the best, that's the only way to describe them. So many people here really don't have much but none of that matters in the gospel because God is no respector of persons, he doesn't care if you have a tv, if you have carpet, a solid roof. None of that matters, what matters is that you're happy and living the gospel and that's how the members are, they're happy despite their many challenges, and they don't have a lot, and they are the  living the gospel to the best of their abilities. Obispo Balboa actually got released last week so we have a new Obispo now, hes really young. Obispo Balboa is the best, he has 4 kids and is just a spiritualy, hard working man that knows whats important in this life and has much faith, as does his family, he's probably 45 or so. There's probably about 70 people that come on average which is tough because the chapel is really small. That's another thing, the sacrament meetings aren't to organized, por ejemple...last week the chorister decided she wanted the 6 elders and anyone else to sing llamado a servir, it was quite the fun haha. Then yesterday, the bishop decided the new elders in the area should talk about themselves, so that was interesting too. Its alot of fun haha. 

 

So my companion is from Arequipa Peru and it's kinda a weird place because they declared their independence but haven't done anything about it besides make their own flag...so yeah, not really independent but they say their a "different" country. It has been good, he has really helped me learn the language a lot faster. 

 

So we do have a pensionista, but only for breakfast, the members feed us lunch. Hermana Lestina is our pensionista. She talks really really fast and can't really understand her, but she's really nice so it's all good. Her whole family is less active so were also helping them out. 

 

On p-days we email at 10:30 with our zone then go out to eat and play games or just chill, p-days are the best, let me tell ya haha. 

Well, that's about it! Hasta lluego!

Elder Potter

Week 7: Peru!

Familia y Amigos,

Not gonna lie, this week has been so crazy! It's kinda made me not like the CCM too much because the CCM makes you feel like you're a master at the language and then you go into the field and can't understand anything! It's frustrating at times but its all good. It's really not that bad. You just have to tune your ears to be able to catch what people are saying. Apparently it just takes time. All the other gringos say it takes about 3 months or so to understand everything and around 5 months your able to speak fluently. 

Also, this place is crazier than Mexico City! In some ways. I'm in one of the poorest parts of Lima right now, but the members here are incredible. Everyone is so so nice and giving and they don't have very much. There's one family in particular that's just awesome, I cant even remember their names but their all very humble and nice and patient with new gringo missionaries, it's just the Mom, and then 3 kids. But we've been teaching one of the daughters friends, Melany, who is 15 years old and we just committed her to baptism. We taught her about Jose Smith and I really felt the Spirit when I testified that Joseph truly did see God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. It was a great moment. 

When people say that Peruvians only eat chicken, rice, and potatoes their not foolin' around because they only eat chicken rice and potatoes, but its actually really good! The rice is really good here, don't know why but it is. We have one big meal a day, Lunch, and it is BIG. I think it was my second day here that I was pretty sure I was gonna throw up all over the place, but I didn't so that was good. I did eat cow stomach without knowing it though, wasn't bad to be honest, it kinda was after I found out what it was that I was sick haha. 

The people here love American food too, I gave this little boy a part of a pop tart and he was freaking out! Not really, but he loved it! He was asking me for more the entire visit. But I don't blame him, pop tarts are the best. 

My companion is Elder Pauro and is from Peru. He's a good companion and has been in this area for 3 months now. I've learned a lot of Spanish from him which has been a huge help to me this past week. He laughs at just about anything too, all Peruvians do, their just happy people in general. Anyways, its been great! 

One of the biggest shocks here were the dogs haha. Their not really mean, their just EVERYWHERE! They just mind their own business for the most part, just snooping around in the trash. If they are mean you can usually just act like you're going to pick up a rock and they'll run off. 

Que mas... that's about all, lots has happened but its too much to write. I wish I had pictures to send right now but I don't, but next week!

Chow

Elder Potter

Oh, one last thing, I guess another big shock was that in our apartment we don't have any hot water! Nada! But that's okay cause it wakes me right up in the morning!

Familia,

Thought I'd send you guys more of a personal email besides the general one. 

This has been the craziest week of my life but its also been awesome. Sounds like it was kinda the same back home too. I'm sad Hal died, he was a great guy and I can't wait to see him again. And then I forgot about Nate and Ashley's wedding haha. I wish I could have been there, sounded like it was a great experience. It's really cool that Grandpa Page got to seal them, how awesome. 

So I guess we get to go to the temple aqui about 2 times a year, or is it once a year, I don't really know. Oh, and a little bit more about my area... So I'm in the hills, or fovellas, and the people of the hills are a lot crazier and drunker from what I've seen in the city part. We ran into this one guy who was trying to talk to us and he was so hammered! Haha, it was kinda funny. The dogs really aren't bad here, their just kinda there.

Oh yeah! You're not gonna believe me, but Ive started drinking soda again... but only Inca Kola. People are always looking for the "holy grail", but all they need to do is go to a corner market in Peru and buy an Inca kola... yum. its yellow and it tastes like bubble gummy goodness. That's another thing, everything here is super super cheap! Inca Kola isn't even one sol, so not even 30 US cents. Crazy awesome.

The transportation here is super crazy! They drive these 3 wheeled taxis called motos and it only costs one sol to go in them. Then there's these vans that only cost .50 soles and their even crazier! Its just a normal van but they pack those suckers! and they drive like maniacs! Its pretty fun but its just normal now haha.

I have had diarrhea this past week, starting last Saturday at the CCM. A few days ago I'm pretty sure I had nothing in my system, it was bad. I'm fine now, I think. Every gringo gets it though. My best friend here has been A.D., its short for Anti Diarrhea haha.

The food here is really good. The chicken rice and potatoes are really good. But the hamburgers here are really good for some reason, maybe its because I haven't had a 5 guys burger in a while. I dont know. But the bread is toasted and the mayonnaise here is different, I think its better actually. Then they put thick cut fries ON the burger. Only down side is that the patties are super thin for some reason which is weird but their awesome burgers. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be fat when I get home, go ahead and laugh but its true haha.

Elder Potter

Week 6: Adios CCM....Hello Peru

My husband and I are Senior Missionaries at the Mexico MTC.  We have enjoyed getting to know and love your wonderful missionaries!  We will miss them!

                                                Robert and Sue Jones

Kimball's MTC District

Trained and ready!

 

Dear Potter Family,

 

We are thrilled to welcome Elder Potter to the Peru Lima North Mission and look forward to serving with him. His preparation day will be Monday and he will e-mail you then.

 

Sincerely,

Hermana Erickson

Kimball and President and Sister Erickson

At the mission home

Flight Plans for Peru

Familia!

So I just got my flight plans! You know how I thought I was leaving on Wednesday? Nope! Monday! Pretty pumped! I leave at 1:57 PM and get there at 8:57 PM, no layovers or connecting flights. I may or may not be able to call ya'll at the mission home. Don't get your hopes up, but I've heard some mission presidents allow that. Anyways... Monday is the day! Love you all and wish you the best!

Con amar, 

Elder Potter

P.S. I'm not sure when I'll be able to email you next... I'm pretty sure Monday, Lunes, is our pday out in the field and that's when I'm leaving so it could be a week and a half or so.

Week 5: Coriantumr: The Unluckiest Man in the Book of Mormon

Hola Famila y Amigos!

This week has been great! The elders in my district had a pretty good discussion who the best person to be in the Book of Mormon would be and the worst. The best, at least for me was Captain Moroni, but after a long conversation we came up with the conclusion that Coriantumr, the last of all the Jaredites, was pretty unlucky and probably pretty crazy. Think about it.... He just killed the last of his people, Shiz, and then just wandered around until the people of Lamoni found him. I would have to say that´s not a bueno situation. But that's just me. Elder Johnson said he probably had a pet rock or something.... give that some thought, its sad, but its funny thinking of someone having a pet rock. 

On a more spiritual note, I finished the Book of Mormon this past week and started Matthew, I think I´m gonna try to read all of the gospels before Christmas. And I think I came to a conclusion of what the real temptation was when the Adversary tempted Christ after His 40 day fast. If you read closely Satan says to Christ "If thou be the Son of God...". As we all know, Christ was sent to serve others, he was and is the Son of God. So when Satan asked him this, he was really asking Christ to deny who he really was. If you just go down a few more verses, Satan says something like... You can have all this IF you worship me, aka, if you deny who you really are. All of us are sons and daughters of God and every time the Adversary comes along and wants us to sin, he ultimately wants us to deny who we are and where we came from. That´s the thought that really hit me this week. 

Also, the International Manager over all the MTC´s came and spoke to us last Tuesday. Hands down the best devotional Ive ever heard. Elder Anderson was pretty cool, but I gotta give it to Elder Mills. He spoke about our purpose as missionaries, as does everyone who speaks to us, but it was cool because he showed us a bunch of pictures of people before their missions and after, and its amazing the lights in their eyes and the happiness on their face after or during their missions. It was really cool, he also told us to be grateful for the food her at the CCM because it could be a lot worse, he said we could be at the Ghana MTC. He left us to ponder what they serve there and it kinda gave me the heebee geebeez. He was cracking Ghana MTC jokes the whole time, kinda funny. Overall, it was just another testament to me of why missionary work is so important. 

Estoy es muy triste por que mi Latino compañeros es no mas. Our Latino buddies left yesterday and we got to know them really well and ended up being really good friends with them, especially me and Elder Dority. Their names are Elder Ventura y Elder Nuñez, Nunez is actually from Peru and said the Lima North is pretty poor and dirty. He also taught us a little bit about the culture and told us that the women down there love white men, especially ones with blonde and light brown hair, so that will be interesting. Anyways, they were both really cool and Ill send a picture. 

The most exciting thing on my mind right now is that I only have one more week here! Don't get me wrong, I think the CCM is great and Ive made the most of my time here I think, but, I cant wait to teach others about what Ive learned here. Ill probably be leaving next Wednesday, all of us probably will be except for Hermana Platt who is going to the Salt Lake City mission, I think shes leaving on Monday. Were getting our flight plans tomorrow. Pretty pumped. 

Grandma and Grandpa Page, Thank you a ton for the Krispy Kremes, that's the greatest sign of love and support you could have shown me! Just kidding, I loved you email and loved hearing from you. Thanks for your great examples and constant support and love for me in all I do. I'm glad I was able to visit you before I left. Love ya tons!

Mom and Dad, 

So you were wondering if the visitors center tour was in Spanish, it was in both and it was really cool. And speaking of temples, that's awesome that you got all that temple work done, that makes me happy. Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm leaving next Wednesday, but well see. Thanks for your many prayers and for the package that I'm excited to get when I get to Peru! Love ya tons!

Hamslice (Nick), 

That's too bad that you're breaks went out on your bike, you should fix them up and go on some sweet fall rides then tell me about them! That's cool that you got a new plane and the black one is still kickin´. Hopefully work is still going good for you, it might be kinda crappy but its worth it so stick to it. Its also good to know that Geddy is still as wild and ferocious as ever and that Porky got out of the Hamster ICU, poor thing. Give Geddy a treat for me. Por favor. Love ya bro. 

Kate, 

Please send me a picture of the creepy lady on the Potters porch for Halloween, I bet its quite the scene... haha you crack me up. I'm really bummed about the Davis Boys taking 2nd at state, did AF win? That'll make me even more bummed, I cant believe how good cavemen are at running (that was a joke, I have a lot of respect for those guys). But still. That's great that the girls won. Keep me updated! Also tell me how the corn maze goes, that's a pretty fun thing to do! Love ya Cowberry. 

Soda!

Youre gonna be a hobo for Halloween!? Thatll be pretty funny! Make sure to send me pictures! One more thing... guess who? Chicken poo. Guess how? chicken cow. Thats all. Love ya sis!

Hope!

A gypsy eh? Don't cast too many spells on Nick and Geddy, okay? Also, let me know how scaring your friends go and yes Halloween is pretty darn big here in Mexico. I will try my best not to break a leg, thanks for helping a brotha out haha. Love ya Hope! keep me posted!

Some wise words from Elder Coomer... I'm smellin' what you're steppin' in. He says that all the time and I just had to tell you cause I think its great.  

Hasta lluego!

Elder Potter

Here's some pictures for your enjoyment...

Kimball's District

Kimball's Latino Companions - Elder Ventura and Elder Nuñez

Week 4 One Month at the Good Ole CCM

Dear Familia y Amigos!

Its SO crazy to think that one month of my mission is almost up! I think I'm starting to understand what return missionaries mean by taking advantage of every moment, because it goes by so fast. This past week was pretty sweet (here and back home)! I guess Ill start off by another spiritual experience... So, it would have been last week sometime, but anyways, there's this picture of Jose Smith praying while he was in liberty jail on his knees, just crying looking up. Ill try to send the picture because its one of the few times Ive just looked at a picture and felt the Spirit so strongly. After I saw it I read Doctrina y Convenios Sección 121 where Jose is in jail and prays to God and asks him why the saints are struggling so much, why hes in jail for doing the Lords work, and why his life is what it is. The Lords response and revelation to Jose is so inspiring and I challenge all of you to read it because it is an incredible sección of scripture and is truly comforting even if you feel like you dont need comfort. I know that our Heavenly Father is always there for us, in our good times and in our tough times and will always listen to you if you need help or just want someone to talk to. He is a real being who loves us and is literally our Father in Heaven in every sense of the word.

Also, Ive been reading a lot in the scriptures lately, go figure... But its been great and I recently finished Heleman, 3 Nefi, y 4 Nefi and I just love those books! I loved reading the Sermon on the Mount in 3 Nefi, especially where it says in capitulo 12:8 where it says something like the pure in heart will see God. I thought about this for a while and I came to this conclusion.... There are a lot of Christlike people in the world, a lot of people who are pure in heart and though a lot, most, of those people wont see God in a literal sense until they pass on. But they still see God. Here's what I mean by this, I think of people like my Mom and other family members who have always been so kind to me, and always see the good in people, always see the true divinity of God in everyone, and that's what I got from that verse. As we strive to be pure in heart and learn to love everyone for who they are, a child of God, we will see how truly important everyone is and be able to see where they really came from, heaven,and be able to see all the good that we have been surrounded with despite the bad things.Those were just a couple of thoughts Ive had this past week. 

We also got new Zone Leaders on Sunday, Elder Coomer and Elder Atwood, they're gonna be awesome! 

So, Neil L. Anderson was really cool! Before the devotional we all got to shake his hand as well as Elder Richard G. Maynes and Elder Pipers (area presidency). It was a great reminder that those guys we call the quorum of the 12 are called of God and modern day prophets. Pretty cool. I had 3 thoughts that really stood out to me from his talk, here they are...

1) Nothing y no one is as or ever will be as important as our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

2) If you have never repented, you have never felt the power and reality of the Atonement. 

3) And a quote by Boyd K. Packer... "His mercy is the mighty healer, even to the wounded innocent."

Anyways, it was a really cool experience and I'm really luck to have been here when an apostle came because only one comes each year to the Mexico CCM. Its kinda cool meeting an apostle though because you expect them, at least I did, and they are, but not as much as you might think. It was a cool devotional because he was asking us questions and all that good stuff. Cool experience. 

This morning we got to go to the temple which was really cool! The Mexico City Temple is awesome, but they've been trying to fix it up for the past 4 years or so because Mexico City sinks about 4 feet each year so it really messes with the foundations of buildings here. But we got to walk around it and got a tour of the visitors center, which was really really nice and gives the Salt Lake one a run for its money, although the Christus Statue isn't quite as big, really cool though. Ill send some sweet pictures. Also, I was just as happy to leave the CCM and go out into the City as I was to see the temple. Ok, not really but it was close. Going through Mexico City is an adventure in itself! The roads are crazy, there's graffiti everywhere (literally) and its just awesome. I love it haha. I think that before you go out into the mission field they should make you survive a week in Mexico City, that would be pretty gnarly. I also got this sweet back pack at the store on the temple grounds, Ill send a picture of it. 

So, Elder Dority has a brother on a mission in Truijo Peru right now and apparently they just had elections and there's a lot of unhappy Peruvians, so they decided to have a pretty crazy mail strike, so what I'm saying is dont send mail, especially packages, to Peru for a while as crappy as that is. Also, some other Peru stuff... So the reccepcion center here lets us know our flight plans 9 days prior to our departure so Ill know what they are by next Wednesday or so, should be about 7 to 8 hours. I'm getting pretty excited because after so long, the CCM turns into an insane asylum, not really, its great but it really starts closing in on you haha... it was really sad today when I got on the bus for the temple today and realized that it was the first time in a month Id been in a vehicle... haha, boy was it nice to get out! Ive also met a couple Peruvian missionaries here and the talk so fast! Its crazy! Norte Lima, from what they've told me, is pretty dang poor, one of the more poor areas of Lima, it'll be pretty crazy there I think, but I'm so excited! We've had 3 Latino companionship's in our dorm since weve been here and they've all been really cool. I still miss the first set, Elder Para y Nefi, dont even remember his last name, I dont even know why I know his first name haha. They were really cool and we became pretty good friends. One of the most important things to do to learn the language is to speak to the natives, that's helped a ton! 

Mom, so the water here isn't bad because they buy it, and the CCM has its separate water well so I haven't had to use the mix to much, I did at first but then I was thinking, I'm pretty much gonna be drinking disease when I get to Peru so maybe I should save my mix. But I will want more because its really good. And also, I am mostly speaking Spanish now, especially in class, my tag also has a sticker on it that says "solo español", that's what you put on it if you only want to talk in Spanish. Elder Weaver is slowly getting the language down, not to say I have it down because I dont, but hes been doing a lot better this past week or so, our lessons have been getting way way better now that he can say something. I'm glad you liked Sampson's story and the she bear story, its good stuff haha. Love ya. 

Dad, I was excited when I read that Mr. (well, now President) Brown is the new stake president, he's an awesome guy. Also, please tell me whats been going on with the whole middle east right now, I'm deprived here of any outside information. Apparently someone from Sierra Leone or something flew to Dallas with ebola and infected a few people, is that true? Elder Johnson told me that, but he thinks he knows everything that's going on right now haha. Well, keep letting me know how things at home are going, love ya. 

Nickelope, I am glad and disturbed at the same time that Geddy has been keeping my shorts in good shape, please send me a picture. Actually dont, I would probably pee my pants from laughing so hard and that would be no bueno here haha. Also, please stop sending me Porky updates, I cry myself to sleep every night. And shes in the ICU now?! Poor thing. When she dies, will you send her to Peru so I can bury here there, por favor. haha. Well, I'm glad to hear that you're doing good and still tolerating Mr. Dobson, bless his soul. haha dont fall asleep to much!

Cowberry, I was gonna get ya a picture of the Mexico City temple today but I didn't know if I could send it without folding it up... Sorry, in Peru! So, Brady and Kialey are back together? Cool. And that's really cool that you passed by the Sojo half! I would probably be running it if I were home, while Dad and Nick devoured Betos haha. Well, keep sending my your phunny emails will ya? Gracias! Oh yeah, in case you were wondering... Halloween is a big big deal here in Mexico, its called el noche de brujas here, the night of the witches. and the word for to bewitch is hechazar. So there it is. 

Soda, sorry to hear your throwing up and that it looks like spaghetti... that's gross. I hope you get better soon and I love ya! and thanks for your emails! 

Hope, I hope you're happy and being nice and all, I love ya sis! and I hope Grandma Sandall gets better soon! Tell her hi for me will ya? 

Well, I think that's all!

Hasta Luego!

Elder Potter

Elder Potter and other missionaries

On the way to the Mexico Temple - 1st time off CCM grounds in 30 days

Mexico City

Mexico City Temple

Elder Potter at Mexico City Temple Visitors Center

Oh no --it's the ribbon (Kimball's tie or ribbon is something Kimball and
Nick used to fight over and hide from each other. It has been gone for years
we snuck it in Kimball's suitcase. It may reappear in pics from time to time)