Week 29 - "Trueheeyooooohhhh!!!!" Mar 21 - Mar 27 (Cajamarca)

This week while in Twin Falls I received a couple of photos of Jonah and his companion at the Baptism of Marcelo and at another missionary farewell.  The photos were sent by Placida, his former pensionista.  Even though we couldn't talk with Jonah, it was fun to get some photos at the actual time of the event.  He also says that he is so glad to be in Cajamarca because it is much cooler.  It sounds like other missionaries are jealous of his current location he is glad to have been in Cajamarca.

Hello vosotros!! So this last week, we got to go to Trujillo!!! Another 7 hour bus ride where none of the entire flippin road is straight!!! Wuuuujuuuu!! For some reason, the bus ride seemed especially terrible jaja, and about half of the people in our zone (or like 15) threw up! Yayyyy!! But I didn't so that was pretty nice. Jaja, there was one Elder that literally threw up 8 times. That's like more than one time an hour lol. But anyway...we finally got to Trujillo and we found out that we would be staying in the Temple Hotel again, which is just the best. Seriously, it's just a huge step up from any other room in the whole mission. The shower is just glorious. There's moderately hot water and it comes out in a full stream instead of a trickle lol. Be grateful for you showerheads in the U.S. okay?? And also hot water jaja. So yeah, we stayed there that night, and then the next morning we had a session at 6am! It was super early, but it was still fantastic! I learn something new every time that I go to the temple...trying to follow the example of the Apostles that learn something new every time as well. And then afterward, we had a multi zone training! And there were actually more than just one zone this time!! It was super great...but super hot. I was seriously sweating like a pig the whole time, and really need to wash my suit jaja. Ew. Bueno, after the whole training, we had a little time to buy some stuff in the temple store, but then we headed straight back that night at 10pm. Which really sucked eggs jaja...We arrived in Cajamarca at 4am, and had about 2 hours to sleep that night, because it is literally impossible to sleep on those dang buses. When you're 6 foot, leg room doesn't exist in Peru jaja. But that same day that we got back, we had a baptism! It was super awesome! Hermano Hugo baptized his son Marcelo (por fin lol) and then I confirmed him the next day in Church. It was a super great week..not a whole tone of work got done just because we were travelling a whole bunch and stuff, but still a great week :) Oh yeah..and then on Sunday, I had two more surprise musical numbers!! That I didn't know about until 4 hours before! But it all turned out alright, so nobody freak out okay? I'm talking to you Mama.

Welllll, that was about everything that happened this last week! We are looking to have some Almas Rescatadas this coming week, so I'll let you know everything next Monday. Alsooooo, a super incredibly large shout out to my little bro SEEETTHHHHH!!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! IN LIKE 4 DAYS!!!!!!! LOVE YOU SO MUCH BUDDY!!!

I love all vosotros too, have a great week. Stay cool, and say your prayers. Chau! 

My new record..this thing is quick :)

Jaja...basic

The original Baños Crew :)

Hermano Hugo baptized his son Marcelo...he's got the same amount of baptisms as me jaja

More baptism pics

Week 28 - "helloooo|" Mar 14 - Mar 20 (Cajamarca)

If you remember last weeks email about a zone training that related the Atonement to pushups and Jonah had to do a lot of pushups, I wanted to add an update.  Sister Nielsen who is in our Stake is also serving in Cajamarca in Jonah's zone and she sent the following letter and photo that I would like to share: "We had a zone meeting and they were talking about the atonement. I'm sure you guys have heard that story where they kid in seminary had to do 10 pushups for every donut for the students in the class. Well, we did the same thing. They asked Elder Babbel to do the pushups for our candy. At first everybody was cheering him on, but by the time he got to 10 or 15, he began crying. Everyone was crying. (Im getting goosebumps just thinking about it). When they offered me my candy all I could do was accept it. I looked at Elder Babbel and he smiled at me through his tears and got down to do 10 pushups. Man, I wish you guys could have been there. It was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life. I just wanted to hug elder Babbel afterwards and thank him for it...(But I couldn't) so we just shook hands for a long time haha. We both cried when I told him thank you. He is so awesome. I told him that I would get his picture sent to his mom. If you could do that...that would be awesome. Tell her that her son is amazing."

Jonah said his face is really red from doing so many push-ups!

Here is the latest news from Elder Babbel

Hi everybody! So this last week has been crazy insane! We've been working like mad dogs, and have really been seeing the fruits of everything that we've done. It's been a way sweet week in the terms of missionary work, and I'm way excited to see how it's going to turn out later on. Sooooo...basically what's happened this week, is we've had a ton of success working with the ward. It has been super great to see all of the work that the ward has been doing in these last weeks. Usually during a week, we have about 4 to 7 lessons with members, but this last week we had 15! It was super great.. but the best part of everything was what happened on Sunday! So usually we have anywhere from 80 to 100 people at church every week, which is actually better than it has been in the past. But this last week, we had 128 in the church! Including 2 families that are less active and haven't come in years, but Elder Rios and I have been visiting them recently, and they came! It has been a super good week in terms of things like that....might be kinda boring to you guys but really it's been one of my favorite weeks of the mission. Also, Marcelo (Hermano Hugo's son) is preparing to be baptized this Saturday!!! His dad is going to baptize him and it's going to be fantastic! Also, we are going to be travelling to Trujillo this Thursday to go to the temple as a Zone, and also have a multi zone training with President Marler which is gonna be sick as all get out :) Wellllll...sorry I don't have a ton to write about this week, basically just a lot of work jaja. I did learn some new words like sacolargo and pisado which are some jergas and super hilarious to use. Don't call anyone a sacolargo or tell them that they're pisado without knowing what it means.....jaja it's hilarious :) Yeah, that's just about it! I love you all so much! Keep saying your prayers! Work hard everyday! Oh yeah! A huge shout out to the Toone family!!! Thank you so much for the Christmas card and gift!! Very much appreciated :) Chauskis!

On the roof of an investigator's home

jajajajajaj...vienna sausages. Better come and buy em here Arin :)

New record :)

A blurry picture of a spider flying around in our room.

My new notebook of the ''Blacks and Pleace'' I think it's Black Eyed Peas, but hey, maybe they're a new band that came out while I was here jaja

Week 27 - "yay :)" Mar 7 - Mar 13 (Cajamarca)

Last Monday (P-Day Jonah was able to take a trip into the mountains 13,000+ elevation and visited some caves.  It is amazing that it is so green even at that high elevation.  He said it was quite cool and rainy.  He is also so excited to have Elder Herde (one of his MTC companions in his zone.  He is in several of the pictures below.   One update - Hermana Melissa who was baptized a few weeks ago when she was 9 months pregnant had a healthy big baby!

Hellooo everyone!! This week has been a load of spiritual goodness wrapped in blood, sweat, tears!! Woooohhhh!!! No but really, this past week, I had one of the best moments of my entire life. It was the greatest faith building experience that I've had in my whole mission....so I'm pretty sure that seals the deal for my life too jaja. Well....what happened is we had a zone training this past Tuesday. And it was fantastic. We learned a whole bunch about asking inspired questions and stuff like that, but at the end of the training, we had an Atonement lesson. And they basically taught the whole thing through an activity, and I was asked as a volunteer to help out with it. 

      Basically what happened was that every person in our zone was going to receive a piece of candy. But in order to receive it, I had to do 10 push-ups. With 32 people in the zone, it seemed impossible. It seemed outlandish, and I thought the Zone leaders were going to stop before I could finish. I started doing the push-ups in the beginning fairly easily, but by 15 people, I was starting to struggle. Some of the people started saying that they didn't want the candy, because they didn't want to be the cause of the pain. But even if they rejected the candy, I still had to do the 10 push-ups. By 20 people, I was crying. Not completely because it hurt (because it did), but more because I started thinking more in Christ, but on a level that I had never quite experienced before. I started collapsing on every person, and I thought of how Christ personally, collapsed because of pain, for the things that I have done wrong. That the pains that he suffered were so personal. I had never felt this before...the Atonining sacrifice so personally in my life. The Elders started doing the push-ups with me towards the end, and I thought of something that I had never thought of before.. When the Elders were doing the push-ups with me, it still hurt. It still hurt a lot. But, the fact that they were laboring with me, comforted me. That they had appreciated the candy that they had received, and wanted to come down with me, and work. I feel like this is comparison exactly with missionary work. The pain that Christ suffers will always be more, but we should still put in our effort and work, to show that we are thankful. The pain is still there, regardless if we work or not. But it is our opportunity to bare the burden with Christ. This is what I want to do for the rest of my mission, and for the rest of my life. I want to bare the burden with Christ, to really show Him that I love Him and what He did for me..... Anyway, I finished. 32 people minus me and the 2 zone leaders in charge.. By the end of the activity, it had hit everyone pretty hard, what we were doing. A lot of people were crying...then we all shared testimony about the Atonement. It was seriously the greatest thing ever. The only thing that kinda stunk is that my arms and chest hurt pretty bad for the next 3 days jaja.

Welp.. besides that, not a lot else happend. Oh btw, the barber cut me shaving my sideburns, so that's why it was BLOOD, sweat, and tears jaja. We have a few baptisms that are coming up soon, so I'll let you guys know with all that good stuff in the next few weeks. Love you all!!! Use the Atonement!!!! It wasn't free!!!! Jesus loves you more than me!!!!! But I still love you guys a lot!!!! Chauskis :)

Outside of the mountain Caves

Carved out Caves

Cave Carvings - Jonah thinks they are "fake"

Spelunking

Neblina

Elder Herde!

Week 26 - "Wuuuujuuuuuu :)" Feb 29 - Mar 6 (Cajamarca)

Jonah thinks that he may be getting taller.  I'm not sure if it is the Cuy or the Exotic fruits that he is eating or it may be that the average height of a Peruvian 5 feet 4.7 inches.  All we know is that he looks tall and happy!  Jonah has a new Pensionista (this is what the missionaries call the wonderful person who cooks meals and does laundry for them)  He was sad to see his last Pensionista (Placida) move but his new one is an amazing cook and he is quite excited about that.  Lots of super photos after his letter so read on...

Hello everybody! How yall doing?? We had a flippin fantastic week these past 7 days, and now I'm here to share it with you. So we've been teaching this family for the past 2 months or so, and they're just so awesome. Elder Salinas and I found him in his last week here. The youngest one in the family was outside playing soccer with a bunch of other kids, and so Elder Salinas and I joined them for a couple of minutes. It was super fun, and Elder Salinas and I smoked em all lol. But then we talked with the youngest kid, Jack Erick (super white name huh?) and he introduced us to his family. And just this last Friday, Erick got baptized!!! His older brother is progressing a whole bunch, and also his mom is just about to get baptized, but just needs to get married first. Her husband is finally listening to us, and actually really enjoys it. He came to his son's baptism and to church the next Sunday, and is looking like he will get married and baptized with his wife and son soon :) They are truly an incredible family, and so devoted to what we teach them. They love reading and praying as a family, which has really helped them a whole bunch. 

In something called ``The Family..A Proclamation to the World``, you can learn a whole bunch about the family, and the importance of it. Just search it on Google and it'll come up on the first thing. One of the things that it says is that the family, if based on the teachings of Jesus Christ, will become closer, more united, have more love one for another, have more trust, and better communication. I can testify to this. We have seen it in Jack Erick, and his family. They have grown closer, and love one another more than ever before. If you haven't read the Proclamation, read it! If you have, read it again! More than anything, read it with your family, and apply what it says. I'm not making this stuff up guys, I can promise each one of you that it will help you and your whole family.

Welllllllll...the rest of the week was jam packed with teaching, service, and other super sweet gospel stuff. I'll have to tell you guys about our new pensionista next week. She and her husband are literally the funniest people that I've ever met in my entire life. We seriously have such a good time at their house. They're a little more humble than Hermana Placida, especially their house, but I've had some of my favorite memories with them just in the past week. That's basically everything! I love you guys so much! Remember to read the Proclamation! Chauskis!! :)

Above Cajamarca

Santa Apalonia - above Cajamarca

Santa Apalonia

Cashew fruit with the cashew nut on the end of the fruit

Elder Rios and Jack Erick

Jack Erick and Family with Elder Rios and Elder Babbel

Cuy

Future meals!