Week 88: Nuestra fecha cayó...literalmente

Buen Día a todos!

I feel like every single week on the mission passes by faster and faster. This month in generally has gone by flying! Elder Iglesias and I have worked super hard this change to try to help the zone reach its goals. We didn't quite reach our goal this month but we still had a decent results. We finished up with 11 baptisms. We were going to have a couple more but some of them disappeared out of nowhere, others moved or lived in another zone, and others baptismal dates literally fell. Elder Schaffer, one of our awesome district leaders,  called us to let us know that his investigator Segundo, who I interviewed, wasn't going to be baptized and so of course I asked him why and he told us that a few hours earlier he was working and had fallen off a ladder and was in the hospital! He is a lot better now and is going to be baptized in two weeks after Peru's presidential elections. He is awesome and he is going to make an awesome member of the church. But his baptismal date this past week really did  "fall" through...

Yesterday Rafael didn't come to church but were going to try and visit him today to see what happened. He has been progressing a lot lately and has had a lot of desires to change and be a better person. His mom is Israelita and so sometimes she talks to him about her church and he gets a little confused about some parts of the doctrine. But I know that if he reads the Book of Mormon he won't have a doubt in the world that this is Christs church. 

Although Rafael didn't come to church yesterday, we had a very successful day afterwards. We decided to do divisions yesterday to reach our goals and find more new investigators. I went with Andre Arana, our new ward mission leader and one of my best friends here in Retablo (he came home from his mission in Chile about 1 year ago) and it was awesome! We went to a part of our area that we hadn't gone to for a while to contact and look for some referrals and we contacted this family in the street, the dads name is Andre and the wife is Melissa. We started talking to them and asked them if we could go by there house some time  next week to share a message with them, but instead of inviting us to come back next week the told us "Well, were close to our house right now, do you want to come in and share you are message with us?". So of course we told the ¡Sí! It was easily one of the best lessons I have had here in Retablo! We taught them about the Restoration and the understood it so well, it was awesome. They are only home on Sundays but they are going to try and make it to church this Sunday. We are super excited to be teaching a family now, it was an answer to a prayer. 

Well, that is about all for this week! Que tengan una excelente semana! 

Elder Potter

Week 87: Cambios en la Zona

Buen dia a todos!

There were a few things that made this week a little different than the rest, but it was still an awesome week! To kick off the week, we had 2 emergency changes for two of our district leaders in our zone.  On Wednesday morning, Elder Von Gunten and Elder Landero (two of my good friends) were called as zone leaders in other zones because a lot of the zone leaders are going to be finishing their missions this change. So President Erickson is moving things around a little bit. Their replacements are Elder Saenz and Elder Peralta. They are super excited to work in the zone and I'm excited to work with them. Elder Saenz is from Elder Sandovals group so I'm excited to get to know him. 

I'm kind of short on time this week, but Elder Iglesias and I really happy with the effort that we have given this month. Not everything has worked out as planned, but we have given it our all and have been really blessed for our efforts because Rafael is going to be baptized on the 4th of June. 

Well, that is about all I got for this week! Que tengan una buena semana!

Elder Potter

I haven't sent a picture for a loooong time, so here is one of Elder Iglesias and I last night...

 

Elder Iglesias and Elder Potter

 

Week 86: Esperanza en Junio!

Buenos días a todos,

This was a great week! First off, we are programing a baptismal service for our investigator Rafael A. for the first week of June, after lots of hard work and prayer, Retablo is going to have a baptism! Elder Iglesias and I are super excited! We also have another investigator named German Z. that is progressing and starting to read the Book of Mormon, but it is looking like we are going to have to marry him and his girlfriend though. It is funny, 2 years ago I never would have thought that I would be running around Lima in 2016 trying to get people married so they could get baptized. But I love working with families here, it is hard work but it is very rewarding to help form a future eternal family.

This week I went on a work visit with Elder Kimball, one of our district leaders and he is really progressed a lot here in Comas and has ended up becoming one of my best friends. When we left to go work things were moving along pretty slowly. He started training for the second time in a row this week and was a little exhausted and stressed, but we made some good goals that we wanted to reach before the day ended and did the best we could. We ended up finishing the day with 5 lessons in the afternoon, we found 2 new people and contacted 2 referrals and contacted a bunch of families. When we got back to the room we had a good talk about what it means to have faith. Many times we pray and hope that God will just help us. In the scriptures, we learn the faith can move mountains, but usually the Lord is going to give us a shovel to get it moving. I have learned on my mission that faith isn't just hoping that things are going to happen, it is hoping that something is going to happen and then going to work to get the job done. My perspective on what faith really is has definitely changed.

Well, for right now, everything is going well in Comas and I am excited to see what la zona Comas is going to be able to reach with it's faith. 

Que tengan una buena semana!

Elder Potter

Week 85: Milagros! Muchos Milagros!

Mom note:  We were able to talk to Elder Potter yesterday for Mother's Day.  He is doing great.  His goal is to finish strong.  He didn't want to talk much about coming home.  He wants to stay focused and give all that he can to his Heavenly Father.  Elder Potter feels his time as a missionary is precious.  


Buenos dias a todos!

This week was an amazing week and we honestly saw God's hand in the work this week. Going into this week in our zone we had about 6 people in our zone with baptismal dates, but now we have about 10 and were hoping that by Wednesday well have about 12 or 15ish. It is amazing what hard work, diligence, and a lot of hope and faith can do do! We've really helped our our zone get united and super pumped to reach our goal of 20 baptisms this month. 

It is funny how the changes work, right when the zone gets super united, we have changes. This week there are 5 missionaries that have a change and we are going to have 2 new missionaries come into the zone. I love working with new missionaries. I love watching them progress and become good Christlike missionaries.

Elder Iglesias and I decided to do a little training with our district leaders last Friday to train them about how to do baptismal interviews and teach the Atonement and it was awesome! Hno Yoyi, the brother that washes our clothes came and prepared breakfast for us. He prepared hot dogs and we drank coca cola! It wasn't your average breakfast, but it was still awesome and I was really grateful that he came and helped us out. After the training all of the district leaders and their companions were super excited to go out and work and get their districts excited. We are definitely seeing eye to eye and have the same vision now. 

The drought of Retablo also ceased this week! After 3 weeks of not having a single investigator come to church, one person came to church! Our prayers were definitely answered this week. His name is Antoni and is 19 years old. He was going to church in Ica a while ago and is now living here in Comas to study. We have an appointment with him on Tuesday. We were super grateful that he came!

Well, I think that that is about all for this week! Que tengan una excelente semana! 

Elder Potter

Week 84: Entrando en Mayo!

Hola!

This week was a very interesting week for Elder Iglesias and I. I finally got better from being sick after about two weeks and we worked super hard! Even though we worked super hard, we didn't see to many fruits from our labors, for the first time in a long time we didn't have a single investigator come to church, actually, it is the second week that we haven't had anyone. But I know that the Señor will bless us for our hard work, sometime God gives us hard and trying weeks to keep us humble enough to keep trusting in Him and in His power, justice, and mercy. It is amazing to me how the Lord shapes us, He is the perfect teacher. 

Although we didn't have anyone show up to church, our zone had an awesome week! As a zone we had about 30  people in church! And for many of them it was their 2nd or 3rd time there! It is looking like were going to have an awesome month! 

Also, this past week we had a work visit with Elder Bedoya, one of the assistants, and it was awesome! I learned a ton from him about the importance of preaching the gospel to EVERYONE.

I learned a lot from him. We ended up finding 6 new investigators and an awesome new family that were excited to start teaching. There names are Willy and Sara and they are already married! Were going to pass by their house today or tomorrow depending on what they tell us when we call them. 

To wrap up the email, we went to el centro de Lima as a zone for last pday and after almost 20 months in Peru I ate Cuy! Guinea Pig! It is super fatty but I'm glad I tried it! We also went ot the parque de las aguas, its a super cool park in Lima that has a ton of fountains, I'll send more pictures next week. 

Que tengan una buena semana!

Elder Potter

El centro de Lima on Pday

 Elder Potter finally ate cuy---Guinea Pig

Elder Potter and Elder Iglesias at the fountains in central Lima