Week 96: ¡Fuimos al zoo!

Hola!

Another week has came and gone, every week just passes by faster and faster and faster. This last week was really great! Some really cool things happened. 

To kick it all off, we went to a zoo for our p-day, which is a big deal in our mission because theres not much to do for p-day except play futbol. But we received special permission this week to go to El Parque de las Leyendas en San Miguel, its a huge zoo here in Lima and it was awesome! Ill send a few pictures for ya'll! 

Also, this week a family of 5, la familia Trejo (Jose, Nancy, Grecia, Arnold, y Friseli) was baptized in our zone! They are not from my area but I've gotten to know them because of the interview that I've done with them. I have said it before, but every time I interview someone I always feel the power of the Atonement working in the hearts and souls of the people. The Spirit is always so strong! It was a great moment for us to witness their baptisms. I don't have pictures because I forgot my camera, but it was awesome. Also, Jose, the dad has my birthday! He is only the 2nd person that I know that has my birthday. 

Well, those are some of the highlights from this week! ¡Que tengan una buena semana!

Elder Potter

La Zona Santa Isabel at TGI Fridays after the zoo

Elder Potter at the Zoo

Zone bus ride to the zoo

Elder Potter at the Zoo

Lion at the Zoo

Week 95: Looking for partidas!

Muy buenos días!

This was a very eventful week for us here in Santa Isabel! We finished up the process of looking for the partidas of 2 couples in order for them to get married and baptized this week and it all turned out well! I was also able to interview many of the family members of those two families (la familia Trejo and Calderon) and theyre awesome! I love interviewing investigadores, its always a testimony to me that the Atonement has no limits; it redeems every sinner that wants to repent and follow the Savior. 

Elder Chinga, one of the assistants, came on a work visit with us this week and talked to us about a few changes that President Godrey wants to make in the mission, like only sharing the first lesson (the Restoration) in 15 minutes the first visit and a few other things. It was a good visit and we found a lot of new investigadores. It was fun to be with Elder Chinga because he is from my group, it was nice to talk about old times jaja. 

Well, that is about it for this week! I hope you all have a good one!

Elder Potter

This is a picture of Elder "Harry" Potter that a member made for me here in Santa Isabel.

I didn't know horses existed here in Lima!

For last pday we went to this big field and played a lot of futbol

Week 94: La Gracia de Jesucristo

Hola todos!

This was another good week here in Santa Isabel. We were super busy with work visits and running and looking around for partidas de nacimiento (birth certificates) to marry and baptize about 5 families in our zone. Its been crazy! But with the grace of God nothing is impossible. I have been thinking a lot about that this week; just how powerful the grace of God really is. After doing all we can (after having looked for partidas for hours and making endless phone calls to different government buildings all over Peru) small miracles are happening to make it possible to marry these families so that can keep the law of chastity and be baptized. I feel like I've learned a lot this week about grace and that it will only help us and work miracles in our lives after we have literally done all we can. I am so grateful for Jesucristo and the love that He shares with each and every one of us. I really do know that He is our Savior. 

I was also able to interview one of the investigators from the Progreso area. His name is Kevin. He is only 24 but has had a pretty rough life. The Spirit was super strong in the interview as we talked about the doctrine of Christ. He has made very big changes in his life. At one time he considered himself to be atheist, but as he began to look for more meaning in his life, little by little he began to change. He now believes in God and wants to be baptized! It is amazing what a little bit of faith does when you put it to the test! 

It was also our first Consejo Misional with Presidente. Godfrey and it was a lot different than our Consejos misionales with Presidente Erickson! They are very different personality wise but I know that Presidente Godfrey is going to be great. He loves to interact with the missionaries. For example, on Thursday he called us just to pass us a reference, it was pretty cool to see him so excited about missionary work and to see that he is totally into his calling. Tomorrow our zone has interviews with him and Hermana Godfrey is going to do the room revisions. 

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

Elder Potter

Week 93: Presidente Godfrey!

Hola todos!

So, this week was an interesting one! First of all, Presidente Godfrey came on Wednesday to introduce himself and his family to our zona and to San Felipe. He is a lot different than Pdte. Erickson, but were excited to have him here. It was crazy, as we was introducing us to his family I found out that I competed against his son Harrison in cross country! He ran for Ogden High, it is crazy to have someone so close to home as my mission president! He is really cool. Hermana Godfrey doesn't speak much Spanish and neither do their kids, but they are all really cool and good people. 

Also, another exciting thing...this week as a zone we had 48 people come to church! Our zone is super excited to work durazo (super hard!) to reach our goal of 30! It is the highest goal that we've ever put, but it reachable and were excited to get it! 

Two weeks ago it was our stake conference so this week I finally got to know the ward members a little better, so that was also exciting for me. There are a lot of great members, but the ward in general needs sooooooo much help! There are only about 4 elderes that actively attend church. There is looots of work to do. But that also motivated me to "ponerme la pilas" and get to work! 

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

Love, 

Elder Potter

Elder Potter had an awesome work visit with "mi hijo", Elder Escobar!

What a goof!

Week 92: El Comienzo de la reinada de Presidente Godfrey

Hola!

Well, this week sure was interesting! I've only been out of Retablo for a week and I already miss it! I love the mission, but if there's one thing that makes me kind of sad sometimes, its the changes. I'm really going to miss Obispo Manuel Fernandez and his wife, Fanny, the Familia Benavides de Chavez and several other people. I learned a lot in that area. But the good thing is that things move on and that my new ward is great!

I'm kinda short on time right now, so I'll write a lot more next week, but this area is a gold mine and we are going to have a lot of success here. It is also the biggest zone in the mission, there are 22 missionaries here in Santa Isabel and Carabayllo so it is going to be a great opportunity to help other missionaries. 

Also, President Erickson came to our stake conference in his time in Lima on Sunday, President Godfrey will arrive here to Lima tonight!

Well, I hope you all have a great week!

Love, Elder Potter

Week 91: ¡Se selló la Hermana Josefa!

Hola!

This was an incredibly great week for Elder Iglesias and I! We had several exciting things happen in our area and in our zone. First of all, one of our super awesome recent converts in Retablo, Josefa Chavez, finished up one year of being a member and was sealed to her husband on Thursday and we there to witness it. Rafael was baptized on Saturday. I attended the best Stake conference Ive ever been to on Sunday. And, last of all, I'm leaving Retablo tomorrow to be a zone leader in Santa Isabel with Elder Landero de Mexico. 

So, first of all, Elder Iglesias and I went to Hermana Josefa´s sealing on Thursday and it was a super awesome experience. It was the second sealing that Ive been to on my mission, but this one was a little different. A year or two ago Josefas husband passed away, he never knew the restored gospel, so as this past year has come and go, he was baptized and confirmed in the temple, and on thursday, the time finally came that they were able to be sealed for time and all eternity with two of their daughters that had also passed away. It was a super spiritual experience for every one there. She also asked me to be one of the witnesses of her sealing and it was another testimony to me that families really can be together forever if we make, keep, and honor our covenants. Its only through covenants that we make with our Heavenly Father that we can experience the power of the Atonement in our lives. I'm so grateful for the temple, I really do know that its la Casa del Señor. 

Another exciting thing that happened here in Retablo this past week was that Rafael Araujo Prícipe was baptized! We've worked super hard with him these last few weeks as hes prepared to be baptized. He was so ready to be baptized and I know that hes going to make an awesome convert. Hes going to be confirmed this week because on Sunday we had stake conference. We taught him yesterday about the priesthood and temple work and hes super excited to be a part of it and help his family become an eternal family. I'll send some pictures of the baptism in another email apart from this one. 

Thirdly, we had a killer stake conference on Sunday! The entire Stake Presidency was reorganized so Elder Montoya and Elder Mestre from the Quorum of the Seventy came to speak and announce the changes. Presidente Soto, the ex stake president, was easily the best stake president that I've had on my mission, he was so supportive with la obra misional. Im sure that the new one, Presidente Romaní is also going to be awesome. But for me the high light was Elder Hugo Montoya´s talk. It was out of the park! He spoke about the importance of putting God first and keeping the Sabbath day holy. He owns one the biggest tortilla factories in Mexico and he spoke about how when the company started everyone asked him if he was going to open it on Sundays, he always said no. His wife even asked him if he would open on Sundays, but he said no. He promised her that the Lord would bless them for it, and they were. It turned out that on Saturdays, everyone bought double of tortillas because they were so good and their company grew to be one of the biggest in Mexico. He used many more examples to teach everyone this principle. It was very impactful for me. 

Sorry for the long email, I know Mom loves it though. Just one more thing though... I'm getting changed! Ive worked super hard here with Elder Iglesias and were so united as a zone and in July were going to have so much success, but I know the Lord does everything for a reason. I'm going to be going to Santa Isabel with Elder Landero as a zone leader. Its the biggest zone in the mission so I'm pretty excited to see what we can do! Also, one of my best friends, Elder Dority, is going to take my spot here in Retablo, he is going to do awesome with Elder Iglesias! 

Well, that is all folks! Have a great week todos!

Elder Potter

Elder Bedoya,  Elder Buckner, Elder Potter, and Elder Iglesias

Elder Iglesias, Josefa Chavez, and I after her sealing.

Rafael's Baptism

Elder Potter and Rafael before his baptism

Rafael and Elder Potter after baptism

Elder Iglesias, Elder Potter and Hermano Yoyi . He has a company owned by the church that washes all of the missionaries clothes of 6 zones. He is a good friend of mine and is an awesome member of the church, he invited us to eat pizza with him after Rafael's baptism.

Week 90: "¡Estoy listo para meterme a la piscina!"

Muy buen día a todos!

This last week as awesome! A lot of exciting things happened here in Retablo. Elder Rasband came to visit our mission , la mission Lima Central and the Lima Oeste missions. He was awesome! He came with his wife and Elder Montoya and his wife (from the area presidency) also came. Elder and Hermana Montoya talked about how the importance of being good, Christlike people that influence others to be like Him. But the best part was, of course, being able to listen to Elder Rasband. I have had the opportunity to see and listen to 3 apostles and about 4 of the seventy on my mission, but this last one was the best. We had to wake up at 4:00 am to get to the chapel in Los Olivos on time so we could shake Elder Rasband's hand, there were about 650 missionaries there but shook every one of our hands. He told us that we were only "one hand shake away from President Monson", it was kind of funny. What struck me the most from his visit was that he was just so full of Christlike love. His message was very clear: that he loves us, that President Monson loves us, and that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ loves us. The Spirit was so strong in that chapel. I feel like know I understand the scripture in Mosiah 3:13, "Dios ha enviado a sus santos profetas para declarar estas cosas a cada familia, nacion y lengua; para que asi, quienes creyesen que Cristo habria de venir, ellos mismos recibiesen la remision de sus pecados y se regocijasen con un gozo sumamente grande, aun como si él ya hubiese venido entre ellos." When we follow the prophets, we can truly feel Gods love for us. I definitely felt it and know He loves me. I learned several other things  about service and how to pay closer attention to the promptings of the Spirit that I will have to write about another time, but it was an incredible day for me and for every other missionary that was there. (Sorry for the Spanish, I don't know that scripture in English🙄)

Even though this week was awesome, there were a few crazy things that happened as well. We went to go visit Rafael A, our investigator that was going to be baptized on Saturday,on Monday and he was really doubting baptism and told us that he wasn't sure if he wanted to go through with it. He taught him very diligently about how to páy attention to his feelings and the Holy Ghost and how to invite him into his life. We went back again on Wednesday and he told us that our church was the truest church that he has been in and the church that has made him think most about Jesucristo. Then, on Friday we went back and he told us "yo sé que esta es la iglesia verdadera" or "I know this the true church" but still had a few small doubts and what not. But on Sunday after church we went to go talk to him and he told us " estoy listo para meterme a la piscina!" or "I'm ready to jump in the pool!". There is nothing better than seeing someones heart change and helping them recognize the Spirit in their lives and to desire the Spirit. Hes going to be baptized this Saturday. 

Anyways, those are the most exciting things that happened this week. I know this church is true and that President Monson and the members of the Quorum of the Twelve have been called of God to lead us in these days. 

Well, I hope ya'll have a great week!

Elder Potter 

There is a sister in our ward that cooks super, super good and prepared a huge pan of lasagna for lunch for each one the missionaries in the ward! It was awesome!