Great Letter from Jonah this week. I just love his perspective on being grateful for what we have and how truly blessed we are. And also another piece of advice: Just go serve a mission you won't regret it!
Hello! This week has been so great and was full of work and walking..but it totally paid off! We started off the week with this great activity called ''Capilla Abierta''...I honestly don't know how the title is in English..maybe Open Chapel or maybe just Open House...not sure. Anyway, it was organized by the Area, which means the same activity is being done in every chapel within Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Perú. So its a very well put on activity that the Bentley's have been doing in our mission for the past couple months. Last Saturday, we got to do it in our own chapel and it was so great! There were guided tours with all the members and their auxiliaries and then a reference table with a bunch of free things to take home. It was really cool because several people (about 100) went through the church that had never seen inside before. It really helped us to get to know people that were interested in the Gospel as well, and we are starting to visit some of the people that went through and were interested enough to leave their name, number, and address. We have been visiting these people and also the secretaries and because of it, we have found a few different families that are now progressing well. During the activity, we were in charge of talking to everyone in the streets and trying to get them interested in the activity. It was SUPER FUN!! We were going nuts, trying to catch the people before they would run away... hahaha it was probably pretty funny to watch because someone people really didn't want to talk to us, but we would sort of chase them down and everything, but yeah, anyway, we had a great time.
Later on in the week, we were able to have 2 different interchanges. First, we were with Elder Argueta and Elder Parkinson, and we had a great time. With Elder Parkinson, we found several potential investigators and also taught some of the people that we have met in the highly damaged area from the mud slides. People are still without homes in some places and are still cleaning up all of the mud and dirt. Its crazy how much dirt has been here in Trujillo, and its even crazier that its still here. The next time you feel like complaining about how slow the wi-fi is in your room or that they got your order mixed up at Chipotle....just be grateful that your house hasn't been full of sewage mud for 2 months and that you live on dirty mattresses on the concrete floor. There's a lot to be grateful for :)
Anyway, the next day, we had another interchange with Elder Ledesma and Elder McKamey. With Elder Ledesma, we were heading to an appointment that we had taken out with Elder Parkinson the day before and we thought that it was just going to be this 15 year old kid, but we found out that it was this whole family of 5 and that they are really willing to listen to us and try new things. We taught a small lesson with a part of the family and were able to gain their trust quickly and we're really excited to go back tomorrow. Hermana Yanina, the mom, reminds me of Mom haha, she is a strong believer in having her kids stay very active, and she does everything she can to hold the family together tightly. Hahaha, she was the first mother I've met here that also has the ''one hour of screen time'' rule in the house. They should be a wonderful family that hopefully can get new answers to the questions they have always had.
After our interchanges, Elder Nuñez and I are always really happy to be companions again because its a little more than 2 days that we don't get to be together. Don't get me wrong, I love doing interchanges, but its always nice to meet back up with my best friend.
I love you all so much! I'm so happy here and I'm enjoying every second of every day....even when its hard and maybe things don't go how we would like them to go, at the end of the day, I'm always so grateful to God that I can be here in Peru to teach the restored gospel. There has been NO decision in my life more important or of more worth than deciding to serve as a missionary. If you are considering, thinking about, questioning, or even doubting going on a mission, I invite you to just go. There is nothing better, I can promise you. I love you a whole bunch!! Have a wonderful week!
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