Wedding, one step closer to the family baptism's

Hey this week was super great!! Wow, we have been sooooo busy that me and my comp honestly feel really dead haha. But it’s good because it means that we are working really hard! Saturday was the wedding of Hermana Leonor and her now Husband Enrique! It was a civil wedding where 23 other people were married at the same time haha but it was cool. The wedding was supposed to start at 9 a.m. but Peruvians are the worst ever with time and we waited until like 11 to actually start. Also at the end of the wedding they were doing a broadcast thing for TV and this guy came up to me and shoved the microphone in my face and asked me how awesome was this wedding and how other couples can get married there for cheap hahaha so I think I’m famous now hahaha ;) look me up in weddings at the Municipalidad in Pucallpa(;  Then later that night we had their reception! but it was super bamba because hardly any members were there ahh.. We left at 9 p.m. and I guess some other members showed up at 10:30 p.m. and danced until 11:30 p.m. but yeah. it was super cool though because at the reception Enrique gave his speech and just said how much his life has changed in such little time and how he already feels like a different person. He said that he just wants to be a member of the church and is ready to follow Christ(: ahhhh seriously the coolest thing ever how prepared this family is.

On Sunday we had 8 investigators in church! 5 people from the family Allain, and Jose and Lorena who have a son in the mission and are trying to get testimonios of the church so they can also get baptized. Lorena knows that it’s true, but Jose still has trouble accepting the doctrine because of his catholic background! But he reads like 2 chapters in the Book of Mormon everyday and then tells us almost word for word what happened in the part where he read haha. Honestly I think they’ll be ready to be baptized for October.

Yesterday it rained all morning! And our whole area was MUD! I don’t have boots so I was tromping around in my toms all through the mud and my comp was laughing super hard at me, but we were super happy for the rain because it’s been suuuuper hot lately!!!

Last night we walked home from church and we stopped by a less actives house and were able to talk to her. She said that she’s not assisting because of a million things that happened with the members and also she said that every time she has a calling in the church, she has more problems in her house. Honestly tons of member less actives have this excuse! But it’s just that, AN EXCUSE. If they really understood the doctrine then they wouldn’t drop the church for others, the promise they made is with our Heavenly Father and not with their vecinos (neighbors). but we are gonna try to help her come back.

Right now we really are just focusing on preparing this family to get baptized, so after this week things will cool down a little bit for us haha(:

Also this week I’ve been reading in the Book of Mormon about the two thousand stripling warriors! Today I read that they were so obedient to Moroni because their parents had taught them correctly and I just couldn’t help but pour out my heart in gratitude to my heavenly father for my parents and how they raised me and my siblings(: I am sooo grateful for you guys!!

I love my mission!

I honestly can’t remember anything else from this week haha

Love you guys(:

Hermana Jackson

This was at a service that we did for one of our investigators! We helped her clean her house. her name is Aniam! Her aunt who lives in Piura is a member. One night we were walking home from an appt and she stopped us and asked us to visit her at her house.. We were super stunned but super happy cause

 that never happens.

Enrique & Leonor with their cake.  They had other refreshments called te-cacho, its like a fried banana ball thing, not my favorite ;)

With Hna Mora and Leonor at her wedding

Our Bishop and his wife 

 I ate Lagarto (Alligator) Super Yummy!

I think this is called Uvillo, its a weird grape thing that I really liked at first

 but later decided its really gross.

Busy Week

Hey guys!

This week was all about getting the family Allain ready for their wedding this Saturday(:  We had to fill out a million papers and do a bunch of things to get all of their certificates and stuff ready.  Hermana Leonor didn’t have her birth certificate with her so she had to call her dad who lives on their farm like a days trip in a boat away from Pucallpa and he had to send it to her and then we had to get everything done in 4 days so it was a little stressful! But we did it (:they are super pumped and can’t wait to get married and baptize their whole family of 5 on the 24th. It’s the coolest thing how the Lord was preparing us to come to this area! Especially from being in a super hard area for 6 months where the progression was slow, to coming to Centenario where everyone is READY to hear the gospel. So happy!! Also the family Allain told us that their parents are coming down for their wedding and they want to investigate the church!

Wednesday we did service in an investigators house who’s son is on a mission in Lima, but he’s the only member! A couple weeks ago her house caught on fire in the back, so we came with 4 elders and tore apart her roof and all of the burnt wood and this week we´re going back and re build it. It was super funny though cause by the end of the service we were all black! Especially Elder Robertson (from Layton) he looked like a chimney sweeper haha !!

My favorite lesson that we had this week was with a less active, Sandra! She hasn’t come to church in 4 years but these last 2 Sundays she came! Her son who is 13 is suuuuuuper active and the coolest kid ever. He goes to church every week and brings his little 6 year old brother with him and for the longest time has been trying to help his mom come back to church. Lots of things happened with their family.  Their parents were separated and since then Sandra hasn’t wanted to attend church. In this FHE we talked about families and how our goal should be the temple, to be sealed forever with our loved ones. She started to share with us that this Sunday, when her son got up to bare his testimony; she had felt the spirit and knew that she needed to come back to the church. Then her son started talking and he ended up in tears, just saying how grateful he was that his mom was FINALLY trying to change, how he can already feel the difference in his home and how grateful he is for the gospel. It was super spiritual! Like I said Mark is the coolest!

Then we were visiting another less active family and the sister called her brother Juan who isn’t a member and who the elders were visiting like 8 months ago and he came in and started talking to us and said he wants to be baptized because he knows that its true! Like what? This area is crazy! I’m still so stunned. This guy’s wife doesn’t want anything to do with it though and they arent really married so we’ve got to work lots with him!

Yesterday the whole mission did a sick activity. We all tried to make it a day where we could feel the spirit the whole time - one day with the spirit. Me and my comp really felt a difference in our work, our studies and our teaching, I think when I get back home, this is what I’m gonna miss most! Being able to feel the spirit so strongly (:

Also last night I lost our celluar and I was gonna have to pay 100 soles to replace it but then one of our investigators called our pensionista and said that they had found our phone in front of their house.. soooo blessd (;

love ya!!!

Hermana Jackson

Hey guys! 

This week has been super crazy and me and my comp have been dead at the end of each day. There’s literally so much to do here its nuts! Me and my comp get along pretty good. She gets mad super easy but she realizes it and later apologizes so it’s cool haha

I gotta tell you about this family that’s literally the biggest blessing! We found them last week and taught them Saturday. They came to church late on Sunday because they have to walk and their house to the Capilla (Chapel) is like a 40 minute walk, so when they got there they didn’t want to come in because it had already started! So we visited them during the week and yesterday they were able to come to church EARLY and they LOVED it. This family is absolutely prepared by the Lord. Hno Enrique and his wife Leonor and their  4 kids - a 9 year old daughter, a set of twin girls who are 8, and a little boy who just turned 1. The dad works in construction but when we found him he didn’t have any jobs to do, but the day after we came and invited his family to start to pray, he said that his boss called him the next morning saying that he had work. And every time we come and he does what we invite him and his family to do, he says he sees the tender mercies from God! This family is really poor. They rent a room (about the size of the room by the family room in our house) and have a little twin bed to share with their 4 kids.. but they say that they don’t need material things because they feel really blessed already for their family. They told us that everything about the church just feels right. Anyways yesterday they had an interview with the bishop and they want to get married and baptized! They asked him who they needed to talk to about baptism ….. hahaha THE MISSIONARIES(; so right now we are preparing all the marriage stuff for the 17 of September and we are going to extend a baptism date for the 24 (: SO CRAZY! so it’ll be a family with 5 baptisms (:

Another cool miracle that we saw was with another investigator Solange. She said that she has been going through a bunch of problems with her family. We taught her about the plan of salvation and her purpose and how she can have an eternal family, and she said that after she said her prayers in the night that she woke up the next morning and felt so alleviated from all the stress and sadness that she had felt the night before!

I’m super excited to see what else God has in store for us because this area is really blessed(:

Love,

Hermana Jackson