January 19, 2015

At the end of the Earth

Dearest Family,

I hope you are enjoying that fall weather because it is burning hot here in Iquitos!! Last night our fan broke and we just had to laugh it off as we went to bed--oh well! Who needs to be comfortable when they sleep anyways? :) This week has been busy--we are working to find investigators and see if they are willing to progress. We have some leads and we`re hoping to find more. Everyone needs the beautiful message of the gospel!!

This week we had another baptism on Saturday night--Jowan age 13. He reminds me so much of Alvin. Very sweet, sober kid. His baptism was the sweetest experience. It started with the usual scramble. People here do`t have a sense of urgency--everything is done at the last minute. We waited for 45 minutes for the bishop to arrive (he is the ONLY one in the ward with keys to the chapel). And then we waited even longer for Hno. Randy--who came without any baptismal clothes. We ran back to our house to grab some and on our way we saw a bunch of people screaming and running out of a house. Running away from this man (super drunk) who was chasing after them with this huge machete. It was quite the sight to see (and no we don`t think anyone was harmed ;) We finally were able to start the baptism. Very simple but very sweet. Jowan bore his testimony and tears ran down his face as he said  that his baptism was more beautiful than he imagined and that he wanted to serve a mission one day.

Sunday morning he received the gift of the Holy Ghost. Since I play the piano every Sunday I was sitting in the front. As he walked up tears rolled down my cheeks. What a privilege it is to see and help bring someone closer to Christ by way of baptism. He is such a sweet spirit!! After the baptism we hopped on the bus with the bishop, his wife, and the two other missionaries in our ward to get a chicken dinner. It was quite the place--Peruvian food is delicious, and a lot of it is fried. My comp and I came home a little too full of food. We have set the goal to begin running as healthy food doesn`t quite seem to be in the vocabulary here in Iquitos. All for the mission!

This week we also found Michel (20) and his later his two grandparents Alejandro y Auria. Michel started talking to us one day on the bus as we had to go downtown to pick up Hermana Arone`s glasses. He asked about the church as his cousin is currently serving a mission. We got his info and went on over to his house. WE first met with Auria--she is a staunch Catholic--and then we came back a second time to meet with Alejandro and Michel. Michel had already started reading the Book of Mormon. Alejandro was very attentative during the lesson--and Hermana Auria was not happy about that. Michel came to church on Sunday which was great though! We will see how it goes with this family. We teach and teach but ultimately it is up to them to decide to act upon what we say.

Well--all is well here. We are laughing everyday--and sometimes cringing :) but it is all for our good! Love you all. Thank you so much for your letters!! They just lift me up--I am sending another pack of letters out today.


Be good!!
Love Love,
Kayla

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