Saturday, May 23, 2015

Week 35: ¡EL MUNDIAL!

Buen Días Todos!

Bueno, these past few weeks have been really good! Sorry if I haven't written much these past few weeks, because they've been crazy. This week especially has been crazy. We've been preparing a few people for baptism, had a work visit this week, a training by President Erickson and Elder Niños birthday. But it's all been really good! 

Thursday was Elder Niños birthday and a few of the members threw this little party for him in their house, it was a good time. But what made it the best, just like any Peruvian birthday, was when we cracked raw eggs on his head jaja. That is easily the best part of the birthdays here! I forgot my camera but I'll try to send some from Elder Niños. 

On Wednesday and Thursday I had another work visit with Elder Brimhall so that was fun. It;s always kind of weird to be with another gringo for me now jaja. 

We also had a special training with President Erickson this Thursday about "lifting our voices" and our potential to become like our Heavenly Father, it was really good and it is so important that we as members of the Church help all people know the divine potential that they have as literal children of God. It was a great training and has really improved our teaching this week as we've put it in practice. 

Mami Chio, my mission mom, left with her family this Thursday to go to Trujillo for the temple open house. We talked to her a little bit yesterday and it turns out that one of the members of the first presidency has already gotten there for the dedication in a week and a half. Its a super sweet temple and its going to be a huge blessing for Peru! I'm way excited for it to open up even though it is way far from my mission. Temples are so great and such a blessing that the Lord gives us, it makes me happy to know that God loves us so much that He has provided the way for us to return back to Him through the temple, it is great. 

Anyways, that's about all I got for this week, sorry it's so short jaja.

 ¡Que tengan un excelente semana!

Elder Potter
 
We ate at McDonald's this week!

From Comas - Obispo R. and his wife
Trujillo Peru Temple at night

Trujillo Peru Temple
 

Monday, May 18, 2015

Week 34: La Creacion y El Plan


Buenas Días Familia!

This week has been really good and filled with success and many blessings. This week Juan J, Wendy L, and Moises P were all baptized and confirmed on Sunday. It's been so great to work with them and help them and to see the changes that they have made in their lives to be baptized and enter in through strait gate of eternal life. They're all great new converts and are all super excited to progress and to recieve the priesthood, well, Juan and Moises. 

This week I've learned a few important things about the Plan of Salvation and the creation. As we learn about the plan that God has created for His children, we learn that we have the potential to become like Him, glorified and perfected. When Chirst came to the earth He also taught and explained that we, as His children, have this potential. In John 11, Jesus explains this "know ye not that you are Gods" (I have no idea what it is in English, something like that). This week I've been able to study this a bit and apply it in my teachings. But before you can apply it to someone else, you need to apply it to yourself. First, you need to understand that God, or Heavenly Father, had and has a body of flesh and bones, glorified and perfected and immortal. He had this body in the pre-earth life as well, but we did not because we are He created us spiritually first. Knowing that we could not become like Him without a glorified and perfected body, He created a plan, the Plan of Salvation. With this plan in mind, He counseled with the most valiant of His spirit children of how He could carry out this plan of salvation and eternal life and happiness for His Children (Abraham 3:22 to26). In this counsel, He chose a Savior that would save us from our sins and defects so that we would be able to overcome sin and temporal things so we would be able to return to His prescence. 

After Christ was chosen to be the Savior, Heavenly Father carried out His glorious plan of redemption. He created all things spiritually first, and then created them phisically. And now, we have our physical bodies here in the earth. If we learn to control our bodies and minds here in the earth, when we are resurrected we will also be able to master and control a body glorified and perfected. We will be able to become like our Heavenly Father and live with our heavenly family. I hope that we can all learn to master ourselves here in this life. I hope that we can learn how to overcome all evil and only do the good. We need to follow the counsel in Mosiah 4:30 and Alma 38:12, that counsels us to master our thoughts and actions in this life so we don't perish in the next. When we learn how to master ourselves and control ourselves, we will be recieved by our loving Heavenly Father. This is my goal. To become like Him and to help all people realize the potential they have as His children so that they know they can live with Him forever. 

I learned a bunch more about Him and His plan too this week, but if I wrote it all, I would probably be here all day haha. 

We've been working with an inactive sister these past 2 weeks too, her name is K. She hasn't been to church in about 6 or 7years, but came for the first time yesterday in all these years! As we've been teaching her we found out that the reason she went inactive was because she has been scared to go through all the parts of the repentence process. This week when Elder N. and I were planning we felt the strong impression that we should call her and tell her to read Alma 39 that explains in detail the repentence process. When we called her, it turned out that she had already been reading the chapter! She had been praying too, for comfort and courage to keep moving forward, and afterwards opened up her Book of Mormon to Chapter 39 of Alma. It was a really cool moment to see how our Heavenly Fathers answers the prayers of His children in times of trial. She is really making a lot of progress and has found great comfort in prayer and the Book of Mormon. The power of sincere Prayer and the Book of Mormon is incredible to me. I'm so grateful we have these 2 tools in our lives to help us. I know the Book of Mormon is true and the we can and need to communicate with our Heavenly Father through sincere prayer. 

Well, that's about all I got for right now for the week. But I hope you all have a great week and learn something from prayer and the Book of Mormon too! 

¡Que tenan un excellente semana!

Con mucho amor, 

Elder Potter
Yep, still the same goofy boy!

Elder Potter, Moises, Wendy, Juan, Elder N.

Elder Potter, Juan, Wendy, Moises, Elder N.

This is at our pensinistas house.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Week 33: El Día de la Madre en San Juan de Lurigancho!

Buenas Días Familia y Amigos!

I hope that you all had a great Mothers Day and were able to appreciate the importance of our moms in our lives. It was great to be able to talk to my mom this mothers day and remember all that she has done for me and continues to do. This week was great in Los Manzanos! We've been working hard and we've been able to see a lot of blessings this week. Elder Niño and I are really excited for this week and the rest of the month. Two of our investigators passed through their final interviews for baptism for the 16th of this month, Juan J. and Wendy L. They're both super excited and are happy that they have found the truth. It has been great to see their progress. 

Well, sorry it's so short  this week! Have a great week!

Con mucho amor, 

Elder Potter
 
Dante and Luz's Wedding with daughter Yulisa

San Juan de Lurigancho at night

San Juan de Lurigancho in the day
 

Monday, May 4, 2015

Week 32: Listo por el bautismo

Hola Familia y Amigos!

This week has been really great and it's gotten me really excited for this month in my new area! We've had a wave come to us of awesome investigadores that are so ready to accept the gospel. This past week we set up 3 baptismal dates  for the 16th and 4 for the 30th of this month. I'm super excited to help these people on the way to their salvation. The three that were preparing for the 16th are... Wendy L. she is 17 years old and parts of her family are members but inactive, she has been coming to church for a while now and finally is ready to get baptized and make promises with God. Moises P. in a single guy that has been coming to church for some time now too with his brother that is a member. He works for Inca Kola so I'm pretty excited for that too  jaja. The 3rd is this guy named Juan J. He was a reference from a member, he is 25 years old and is so ready to learn and jump right in to the gospel. Hes been going to the institutes for the Book of Mormon and has been coming to church for over a month now. He lives with his parents and plays his guitar studies. He's been getting really involved and even plays futbol with us on Tuesdays and Saturdays. I'm super excited for this month!

Well, that is really about it for this week! 

Que tengan un excelente semana!

Elder Potter
Hermana Alisha from La Habana feeds us breakfast

Miguel and Camila from La Habana get married

Miguel and Camila's Wedding