Drunks and Children - - Heart Wrenching!

June 8, 2015

What a week it has been for Elder George!!  Seriously guys just wait!!!

So sometimes there is just not enough hours in the days to get everything done that you need to get done.  I am sure that you all understand that.  But really, sometimes I just need a day with like 2,934,871,234 (yes, I inserted the commas - just so I could determine the actual number) hours so that I can get everything done that I want to get done and need to get done.  Speaking of that, I haven´t even thought about what I am going to teach my little district tonight, so there is that!  If you could all send a prayer my way for my lesson I would greatly appreciate that!!;)

So here is my story for the week - prepare yourself with a box of tissues.  We were walking in the street like any normal day laughing and talking.  My comp is a short little Peruano and is scared of anything that weighs more than him.  There are a lot of fat drunks here.  We were walking down a street and were about to turn the corner when we heard someone screaming around the corner.  The very corner we needed to turn on.  We needed to walk down that street, but my companion said we better not.  I had a strong feeling that we needed to walk down that street.  I was a little scared also.  Peru is different than the United States.  But I remembered all the stories from President Monson and knew that I had to walk down that street.  As I turned that corner I saw what we had heard.  There was a big drunk was yelling at his 3 young kids.  The oldest was a little girl and she was standing in front of her two little siblings - she was probably 5 years old.  As we walked in his direction, we would have usually crossed the street, but I knew that I needed to walk up behind him.  Right as I was about 2 feet behind him he raised his hand to slap the little girl.  I don´t know what happened, but before I knew it I had his hand in mine and he was stumbling to catch his footing.  As he turned around I could smell the beer on his breath.  He just turned around and looked at me (his hand still in mine).  I quickly told the little girl to run home with her brother and sister.  She just looked up at me with her little brown eyes and said, "We don't have a home." All I could do was cry.  Tears welled up in my eyes as she looked at me and said that.  I talked to her dad, as he was quite angry with me.  The situation calmed down and we were able to go on our way.  There were some people that took care of the kids and we went on to our appointment.

I have thought a lot about that moment and am so thankful to be writing you this day  I want you all to know that as we follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost we are protected.  I am grateful for the life that I have and all the prayers in my behalf while I have been here in the mission!!

Love Elder George

I Am So Happy To Be Here In Peru!

June 1, 2015

Hey there family and friends!  Today has been a rough day.  We had troubles in the internet cafe and I couldn't write earlier today.  But here I am alive and working really, really, hard.

This week I worked harder than I have in my whole mission.  I felt like I had kind of lost my will and energy to work the past two weeks and so this week I told myself that I was going to work harder this week than I ever have in my life.  And I did!!  That is the best feeling in the world, you know that?  When you set a goal and you accomplish your goal, it really is the best.  I really had this desire.  I wanted to work really hard and, we did, we worked really, really, hard.  I am soooo tired!!  I have never been so tried in my whole life.  But it is the best feeling in the whole world.

Today I have been thinking about what I was going to teach about in District meeting.   I am going to  talk about the Holy Ghost - how important he really is in our lives.  I talked with a recent convert about how important the Spirit is in our lives.  It really is so cool how a recent convert understands the importance, sometimes more than people who have been  members their whole lives.  They sometimes understand better than us because they have gone years without him as a gift.  He is vital in our spiritual progression.   Without Him, we CANNOT return and live with our families and Heavenly Father again.

This week was really good.  We found a few new people to teach and that is always really very  exciting.  I love this work, and I love my Savior.  I am so happy to be here in Peru.  It is cool to look back on the person that I used to be and see how I have changed.  It is weird that time here goes by so quickly.  I will have one year before I know it.  How crazy my first 9 months have been, but I wouldn't have it any other way love you all!!!

Take care and stay safe!!

Elder George

First Week in Cusco!!!

May 25, 2015

Family and Friends!!!!

A few final pictures of my good friend Elder Garcia and
myself.  I will miss this companion of mine.
He may be short but you know the saying, "Big things come
in small packages!"  That is oh so true of him!

 

What a week I have had here in Picchu.   I am really happy to be able to serve here in Cusco.  It truly is a blessing.  Things are a little different here.  Everything is a little more organized.  I am having a few difficulties with the Area Book.  It is a complete disaster.  I have had a hard time adjusting to that.  We worked hard in Puno to get our area book up to date and almost perfect and then you get a transfer and the area book is a mess it is a little frustrating. My sister mentioned this frequently about her mission.  She told me numerous times that was the best think I could do for missionaries that followed me into an area.

Elder Alen is a good elder.  We have lots to learn together and we will grow together here in Picchu!!  He is from Lima and he is probably one of the most humble Latinos I have met.  We will get along good but there are always things that you can improve to have a better relationship.  This week I learned that I need to learn more about paciencia (I believe that is patience?!?) - - with everybody.  We had a "lesson" with some seriously less active people this week.  And actually they were basically anti-Mormon.  They had, before the lesson, looked up on the internet things that they could use to try to prove that the Book of Mormon is not true.

They had a lot of things.  I was blessed to have an answer to every single one of their questions and doubts.  The problem is, if someone is looking for the bad in something that is exactly what they will find.  If someone is truly looking for the true church, the somehow they will meet us.  But if someone is looking for the bad in a situation that is what they will find!!  We have to look for the good in everyone.  That is how we can become better people and improve ourselves.

Love Elder George

The First and Last Paragraphs - - REALLY Elder George?!?!?

May 18, 2015

Okay, my family and friends, I have so much to tell you all.  It has been a WEEK!!!  We are working so hard here.  It is weird to think that it has been a whole week since I deleted an entire email.  I really am a goof ball.

This week I have really felt the hand of the Lord is in my life.  As you come to understand the atonement of Jesus Christ (or at least as much as we can) it is lots easier to see His hand in your life.  I can feel the love that my Savior has for me and everyone else in the world.  This week I finished the Book of Mormon in Spanish for the first time and have been thinking lot about Moroni´s promise.  I have been thinking about how important it is that we apply that promise to our lives every day!! I finished the Book of Mormon this Friday and that night I just knelt down and said my prayers - -pretty normal.  Just about half way through my prayer I thought about this promise that we have.  I prayed and thanked Heavenly Father for all my friends and people that I love and then I thanked him for the Book of Mormon.  I know that book is true!  I love that book with all of my heart!!

Anyways, I have my first transfer.  I am going to CUZCO!!  I am soooo happy I don´t even know how to describe what I am feeling.  After you are with people for a little bit of time you become attached to them.  I am leaving some people that I pretty much consider to be my family.  But I am so grateful that I have the chance to build new friendships and meet new people.  My next companion just finished his training and so I thimk that we will work hard and he will help me get back a little of that spark!!

Not much to say this week!!

Love Elder George

Computer Skills - - NOT

May 11, 2015

Well I just erased all that I had to send to all of you, so just know that I am an idiot and also I am doing really well.  I love you all and hope that you are all doing well also.  We had a really, really, good and successful week!!

I am so sorry.  Just know that I am alive and healthy!!

I Will Never Be Able to Repay My Savior For the Blessing of Peru!

May 4, 2015

Well here I am in this little internet cafe and I am panicking because I kind of forgot that I get to call my family on Sunday and I don't know what time I will be calling them.  So I am like freaking out and a little disappointed in myself.  Like, how could I possibly forget that I get to call my family?!?!  LIKE REALLY, IT IS MY FAMILY!!!!  Haha!  Anyway, I will have to figure something out real quick!!

Sometimes when I really, really miss my mommy I just buy a 4
sole candy bar and split it with my comp just like she always
did with me !!!!!!!! :)

This week was......good.  Every week is good but some are a little better - but every week is good!!  This week for 4 days straight we didn´t teach one lesson.  It was a lot of walking and I had a lot of time to just think and talk to my companion.  I really am going to miss this little guy when I have a change.  I will have a transfer in 2 weeks.  So this week I am going to tell you guys all about my companion!!!  And a little about me.

ELDER GARCIA!!

Elders George and Garcia

He is from Colombia.  One of his favorite sayings, that he writes all over my papers and his papers, is "Colombia the other planet."  He really is in love with Colombia.  He is shorter that just about everybody I know in the United States.  He has 3 siblings that he knows of, but he says that his dad is a little crazy(drunk) and he probably has more, he just doesn't know them.  He loves soccer. .  . . LOTS!!  He has been a member for 5 years and 22 days.  He loves the Book of Mormon.  He doesn't love the Bible as much as he loves the Book of Mormon.  Sometimes, he blames me when his Spanish is not perfect (I just tell him that he just doesn't know Spanish).  He wants to learn English really badly so he can come go to BYU and marry a North American girl.  He like white chicks.  He HATES eating bread in the mornings.

This is my companion.  Now you know a little more about who I am with 24/7!!

We have no idea what's on his mouth!!  It is a little disturbing!

This week we walked a lot and I thought  a lot about.....well, I thought about a lot of things.  Sometimes when you are a missionary thinking about a lot of things isn't so good.  So yes, I was a little trunky this week, haha.  But really I don´t want to come home for a long, long, time.  Actually, it was really weird; we were studying (we will both go home at the same time) and my companion said, "You know that we go home in 15-16 months."  I literally started crying.  Time flies by here.  I never thought that I would love this place so much but I really, really, LOVE it here. I will never be able to pay my Savior back for this time.  I thought at the beginning of the mission,that this is how I was paying him back for the life he has given me.  However, I have found that I just owe Him more, thanks to the mission.

Well it is hard to have fun stories to send home when all you did was walk and walk and walk a little more.  I am sure something crazy will happen this week!!

Love Elder George

♥♥Claudio!♥♥ and LOVE - It's All Just About LOVE

April 27, 2015

Okay, okay, okay!!  This week was a good one!
Zone Conference
Claudio
And lots of walking.

So first off we had our multi-zone conference.  It is always good when we get to have one of those.

Elder Balliston from his CCM group!  He loves his Brothers!

 We get to spend a whole afternoon listening to President and Sister Harbertson.  I really do love those guys!!   Sister Harbertson talked a lot about the first two commandments.  Love the Lord with all your heart, might, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor like unto yourself.  I have been thinking a lot about before the mission, and how, when I asked Dad about what was the most important he said, "What it all really boils down to is LOVE."  That is the purpose of our life.  To learn to love.  Love unconditionally.  If I can learn that here in Peru I will be a successful missionary.  If I can truly love the drunk guy who gets drunk after he has told us that he won't drink, or if I can love the person that says that they will read the Book of Mormon and doesn't, then I will truly be successful.  We were given time to share our testimonies.  Lots of missionaries talked about repentance because we also talked about that lots.  A few were sharing how hard it is to love people.  Then I got up there to share what I had learned and what I liked.  In my mind I had planned on talking about repentance.  But when I was up there I started talking about love, and how, if we can see the people the way our Father in Heaven sees them, it really isn't that hard to love everybody!!

Anywasy, (See, "anywasy" - - he almost always types "anywasy" - - along with lots of other misspelled words (see previous post).  One of the many reasons why he makes us smile.) yeah, we need to love everybody!!!!!

Our little man Claudio!

Yeah we got Claudio Baptized!!  It was a good day.  We spent lots of time in the church trying to get the water heated up but finally gave up and just thought that he and the ward baptism would just have to be in cold water.  Then we went into another room to watch some Mormon messages. (we left the broken water heater on for 4 hours).  Anyway, everybody was there and we opened up the door, and it was like a hot tub.  We had to drain hot water and put some cold water in there for the baptism.  The little guys couldn't handle how hot the water was.  "Anywasy," the moral of the story is, when you are obedient and in the Lord's service he works miracles and sends tender mercies.

This week we walked a lot trying to find new people.  We are having a hard time filling up our schedule.  It is sad that we are in a ward and don´t have a FULL planner.  We will keep working.

Elder Goerge (Yup, he even sometimes messes up his name - just a little.)