he has told me where to go and where to stay away from

hi dad. thanks for your email. i needed it! so i got a change..... i hopped on a plane on tuesday and now i'm in.... IQUITOS! my home! haha in family history... but family history here is full time. but this change we are going to take care of our area AND work in family history. its great. so we are in the offices with air conditioning! SO NICE! so right now all the missionaries in iquitos are sitting in an internet cafe sweating and here i am in air conditioning!! HEHEHE! so i thought i'd be sooo happy to be back in iquitos since that's where i started my mission but i felt sooo sad when i got here cause so much has changed and i missed tarapoto and the climate there and the people. but its ok. i'm getting used to it. i'm killing my new comp! (killing on the mission means they finish this change with you) so she goes home this next change. she's awesome though!! love her! she's from Lima and is 24 and very kind. we laugh a lot and worked very well together right off the bat. so remember how i said there was one other canadian on the mission here? well i FINALLY met him! haha i was so stoked cause he is from cardston and to talk to someone that is from the same place is super cool. i was talking about raymond and lethbridge and Beazer and he knew exactly who and what i was talking about. it was soooo weird! we were so weirded out hahaha.  his name is elder hilderman. he's one of the best missionaries on the mission is what EVERYONE says because he is super dilligent and loves the work.

     anyway.. so being back in iquitos has been very interesting. i forgot how different and unique it is. you can really feel how much iniquity there is here. i felt super sick in my stomach my first couple nights proselyting here. the poverty hit me hard like it did at the beginning of my mission. i sometimes feel so helpless because there is nothing i can do for them... well dad but like you said to me before the mission... the best thing i can give them is the knowledge of the gospel. right ? that is true..

    so we are teaching a boy and his mom and the grandpa is a little crazy like super out of it but he is hilarious. and you have to yell at him so he hears you. so we went there the other day to teach and no one answers but then we see the grandpa just wandering around and we asked what he was doing cause we saw he was looking in cracks and houses and garbages and he said he was looking for food. our hearts dropped. he's very skinny too it was clear that he was hungry. so we went and bought him a meal and brought it to him and he was SO happy! it about made me cry.. i cry for the people here but never in front of them. i always manage to hold it in. but i felt so bad for him. its just crazy how people here can have so much faith to stop working on sundays to keep the sabbath day holy and trust that the lord will help them with their next meal. i love this mission. it really is a special mission here in the jungle. i can't believe i've survived a year here! its sooo great! i've learnt soo much. i love jesus christ so much and its amazing learning how to discern the spirit. i notice that when i am working super hard and just super concentrated in the work the spirit talks to me, he helps me read minds and know what to say or ask the people we teach. he has told me where to go and where to stay away from. there has been some sketchy experiences here but the lord is with us. he always protects us and is on our side. thanks mom and dad for teaching me to choose the right. i was and still am far from perfect but i know where to look to when things are awesome and when things are tough... and that's Jesus Christ.

take care and i love you all!

man i miss him!

that is the most adorable picture of kazan!!!!!!!! man i miss him! can you please send me his address?? or what's snail mail? does he get on email?? i want to send him a letter. 

Uncle Kazan's B-day shirt

so today are changes. so we will see how that goes! we played soccer last monday and it was so fun! i scored 6 goals and the latinos told me they were surprised that i could play loll it was so  fun! i havn't played in soooo long! and today we are going to play  basketball. 

that's what happens when you play hard! soccer!

 

aww he's so cute .. trying to make a living for his family. be  grateful for what you have!

but this week was awesome. jesus (the hubby)and melissa got married! then the next day got baptized! it has been awesome. this whole mission experience so far. its amazing how god is always aware of us. he loves every one of his children. and i feel the love he has for this family. when they bore their testimonies on their baptism they mentioned how now they know that the next thing they must do is prepare to enter the temple and become an eternal family.  

 

 

the peru trujillo temple is going to be dedicated next month and i can't wait to watch it! finally i get to use my temple recommend. one of the first things i want to do when i get back to alberta is go to the temple. i need it so so so so much. i miss it a lot. we are so lucky to have temples around us. but i miss you all a lot. i want you to know i'm doing super well and my testimony is growing more and more each day. i'll never fully understand the atonement but i sure am eternally grateful for it. it works and we need to apply it everyday. love you very much.

 

my comp

i didn't even say happy mothers day to mom!!!

wow brendan's talk is awesome!! it brought a little tear to my eye! well done well done.... so it was nice to talk to you guys!! i realized that i didn't even say happy mothers day to mom!!! i feel so bad!! i was just so excited to talk to you guys i guess. its crazy to think that the next time i hear your voices will be in person. it was nice to talk with every single one you... brendan's still a pest because he ran over my longboard but i love him. ten's still the coolest kid on the block but he's a blast. vicky's still the most beautiful girl in fort st james but pure in heart. mom's still the hottest mom out there and the most funnest bubbly person but knows when to lay the law down and dad is still a jokester and amazing father but clearly shows the love for his children. i love you all.. when i get home i wanna do a little slideshow for you guys like what brendan did when he got home and just talk about everything.. but its nice to know i made it this far. god loves us so much and helps us every step of the way. i hope we can all continue to give thanks for all that we have. prayer is so important. if we don't feel like praying we should instantly get on our knees till we feel like praying... summer will go by fast so enjoy it! do scriptures and enjoy the whole  family together. we will have to get new family pic when me and lan get there. we have never done winter pics but i think it would be awesome. love you all! CTR

there is a coffee factory by our apartment

hi everyone!!! ok so dad.. i'm calling today.. its just a precall though to coordinate when i'm going to call on mothers day. i'll probably call around 4 my time so it'll be like 6 your time. WOOT!

    so this week was crazy. this whole month was full of trials and hardship but i'm so grateful for them. we watched a few families suffer because they didn't have any food and it really got me down. we gave them the fruit in our fridge that we had and the church helped them out. i thought a lot this week about how we are so lucky that we don't have to starve or worry about what we are going to eat the next day. we don't have dirt floors and we have locks on our doors. there is a coffee factory by our apartment and every monday the workers carry sacs onto this big truck.. so that night every night there are two poor women who come with plastic baggies and pick out the coffee beans from the dirt that may have spilled out of the sacs and they sell it. its so sad. i always like to give them my fruit or yogurt if i have it in my fridge and they get soo so happy. so be sure to thank god for all you have . give thanks in every opportunity you have.

    i've been enjoying my mission and my area so much. the people are great and i know the members so well and i know who to go to if we need something and where to go and the streets... its always so sad to leave an area. but that's how the mission is. everything comes to an end but we will always have that testimony with us. we just gotta feed it and nourish it daily. do you guys take the time to watch the mormon messages? they are a great way to build your testimonies. well i have some cool stories for you guys when we talk on the phone. 

     but dad i like your last email. they talk about all the christ-like attributes. there really is no other better way to live life than trying to be like jesus. because if we don't try to be like him we really won't get closer to our father in heaven and that's sad. i love the perfect example that he set for us. and the more we try to be like him the more we love him and our desires to be obedient increase.

i love you lots. stay righteous! and can't wait to hear your voices! make sure everyone is home sunday night!

fear god and not men

dad! and mommy! man i miss you guys a lot this week. we have been working super super hard. i'm addicted to achieving goals! i used to hate setting goals cause i thought they were stressful. happy to say i overcame that and i have goals for when i get home. big ones. that i will achieve and no one will stop me. on the mission i've learnt to put my foot down and fear god and not men. before i wanted to please both. i've learnt that that is impossible. it does not work and will never work. and if you're obedient and as diligent as you can be physically and spiritually you will receive revelation necessary to do the lords will and find his chosen children. man i love this work. i feel like i just cant get enough of it. i don't even miss you guys.. well i do... a lot.. but its not like an "i miss you and wanna come home" but man dad.... some days are draining and crazy hard and i could use your advice... BUT i'm SO grateful for every trial and hardship in my life... its an opportunity to show god that i will not give up... i like to pray and ask god to show me my weaknesses.. and let me tell ya.. he showed me this week. i'm so stubborn and prideful but man the lord is so merciful! i think back on how i used to be at the beginning of my mission and i was not the best missionary... i thought i worked just fine but truth is that i wish i would have put my whole heart and soul into the work. i really believe that we become converted on the mission. thanks for supporting me. you guys rock. 

   we have been working with 2 couples who are getting married and every time we baptize or marry a family satan is so strong! so i always like to warn them at the beginning and i prep myself.. so this week has been stressful but i'm learning lots! love it!! well i am so proud of vix for going to young women's stuff! young women's is the best! i can't believe that she's gunna be 13.. WOW. ahh i feel like it was yesterday that  became a teenager! hahaha oh man.. can't wait till i get home to give her advice! lol. well i get to do a precall home in like 2 weeks. yay! so make sure you answer strange numbers.. ALSO. it'll be the last call home and the next time i hear your voices it'll be in person.. woot! love you all so much.. be good..

when i did sleep i would dream of teaching

 well hello everyone! well i just wanna say this week went much better than the last. we worked our butts off and i hardly slept and when i did sleep i would dream of teaching and try out different teachings in my dreams to see what would work. so i basically did practices in my dreams ahahhaha i dreamt like that all week. or i dreamt of ways i could be MORE diligent! hahah so i applied what i dreamed and felt good with heavenly father at the end of this week with the work we did. so its been great. hna child was telling me how on saturday she got her trunky letter! that's what we call it.. it asks what airport you wanna fly into and stuff about your mission and life and family.. weird to think i'll be getting that letter in about 3 months or 2 changes.... AH. 

     dad i like the story a lot about joseph and the coat of many colors.. i've been reading the bible from the beginning and the coat actually has a lot of symbolism. its interesting how each thing in the bible or each story has some sort of symbolism of the gospel. i couldn't imagine how joseph felt when he got to see his dad again and his family. its amazing how he stayed obedient and at the end realized that the lord let all those bad things happen for a reason because he basically saved egypt and his family from a deathly famine. its like our trials on our missions. in the end they are for our own good and teach us what we need to learn to get closer to our heavenly father.

   well i'm enjoying my mission more than ever. i love this work and feel so blessed to be a part of it. when i get home i want to go out with the missionaries all the time and help them as much as possible.

    have you guys seen the new bible videos?? they are absolutely amazing. the character of jesus christ is perfect... we show our investigators elvive.mormon.org a lot and they love it.. i've seen it a million times and still don't get tired of it.

   i love you all lots! take care and do whats right and i'll see you on skype in three weeks!! WOOT!

 

ps  forgot to say.. i gave a talk on sunday (president basically asked me to burn the members a little because they are a little flojo ahorita) so that went very nice.. used a bit of alma 5 and jefferey R Holland lol but when i was up there my investigator's little girl kept screaming... NANA!! aka hermana.. and she was pointing at me and she kept yelling for me.. it was so cute!! love the little kids!

i feel like i can't ever dare break the sabbath day

hey dad! well thanks for your email! its what has been on my mind all week. conference was amazing hey? i learnt so much and i think it impacted me more than ever before. i think its cause i am more spiritually strong than ever so the messages penetrated my heart so much. i didn't really have a testimony on the sabbath day before but now... oh man... i feel like i can't ever dare break the sabbath day. and the talk that talked about always being there and loving those who have fallen away from the church. pray wait and watch is what he said... elder nielsen i think it was. its so sad when someone falls away but we should never give up on them because they are a child of god as well. conference made me so happy and i received lots of revelation but i also felt sooo sad for the world. so many worldly things out there that don't matter and so many people blinded by satan... including the most righteous at times. that's why its so important to pray and read our book of mormon EVERYDAY. i don't like excuses. they will never work when we answer to god. 

   mom and dad. i cannot express how i feel about jesus christ. my love for him has grown so much. its hard to explain because when you have a change of heart its a little indescribable. i have never viewed the gospel in my whole life the way i do now. he is the ONLY one who was able to atone for the world. he did it with his free agency because he is obedient and did god's will. he is the light of the world. my saviour. and i can't wait for the day that i can see him again. i want everyone to know of christ. i want everyone to feel the joy of the atonement in the way that i have. heavenly father loves us SO much! the more i ponder it and think of it and pray and see miracles on my mission the more amazed i become and i get to comprehend a little portion of the love he has for us. when we feel discouraged we need to pray. even if we don't want to... we should remember how merciful the lord is! prayer is powerful and it works. i testify of that. i know without a doubt that the tomb is empty and jesus lives as a glorified being. i love you all. 

    i pray for you all all the time everyday begging god to protect you all and help you comply with the commandments so that we can be an eternal family. 

    we have changes today.i will be sad if i get separated from my comp. i love her a lot and we make an awesome duo and are always in agreement. there is unity and that has been a huge blessing. stay righteous and enjoy spring time!!!

JUNGLE FRO!!

JUNGLE WOMAN