Letter to Adam from a Mexican Elder serving in Jessie's zone (translation is in bold/italics)

hola hermano que tal!
Hey brother, how is it going?

bueno yo soy mexicano estoy en la misma zona que su hermana,
I am Mexican and I am in the same zone as your sister
 
ella me conto que usted habia servido en mexico,
She told me that you had served in Mexico.

bueno pues quiero saludarle carnal espero que este bien saludos a su familia
Well, I just wanted to say hi. I hope all is well. Say hi to your family for me.

Elder Abinadi Dominguez Medina
Mision Peru Arequipa

Fam!

Hey fam! How are you all? It sounds like you are accomplishing amazing things back home! This week has been great. A few disappointments here and there but this week we are going to work as hard as we can to seek the Lord’s will in these situations that we have passed this week. We just have to trust in him, and the people that he has prepared.

Brian is unbelievable. He is always hungry to learn more and his will to follow Jesus Christ is unreal. However, this week came the challenge. His dad works in a Circus and is never home but this week he came home and Brian had the chance to talk to him about his baptism and his choice to follow Jesus Christ. His father said that he refuses to give permission. Brian will turn 18 next year but has every desire in the world to be baptized now. We are continually praying and fasting so that his father will be able to soften his heart but also we are willing to accept Heavenly Father´s will if this isn’t his time quite yet. We are going to trying to find his dad to talk to him today and we are going to do all we can to give Brian this opportunity to be baptized!


With the family of Claudio and Lisbeth, we have planned their date for their marriage to be on the 25 of October and we are going to try to have the reception in the Stake Center. It is unreal to see the change in them, as they both decided to finally after five years to keep the commandments of God and get married. I will update you guys on the wedding process as we get more details!

I was able to go and watch the general women’s conference this week! It was so amazing! I absolutely loved the messages about the sacred covenants that we make in the temple. At times we forget how sacred these covenants truly are. We must prepare fervently each time we go to the temple. And we must go constantly in order to find our potential as children of God. Through making and keeping our sacred covenants we will be able to become the people that Heavenly Father has created us to become. However, you all need to go constantly to the temple. We are so spoiled to have a temple so close to us and at times it is so easy for us to make excuses as to why we can’t go. But go! The people of Peru and the people of my ward dream and prepare unbelievably hard for six months in order to make the journey to Lima one time. We must have the same dedication and diligence. It is such a blessing!

I won’t be able to have the opportunity to listen to general conference this next week. This week in Peru they have elections for the candidates here in Arequipa. Sunday is when everyone will vote. So we will not have sacrament meeting or watch general conference and we will stay in our apartment for most of the day because apparently it is a little scary to be out on this day. I could only imagine! So we will be watching the next week!
 
This week we contacted a family of five who are Baptists yesterday we had a lesson with two of the daughters of this family and we talked about Book of Mormon and the prophet Joseph Smith. This lesson was so powerful and the two daughters were surprisingly receptive! We asked them when we could come back and they invited us to teach their entire family of 10 and some of their congregation on Thursday. Haha a little intimidating but it is such an amazing opportunity! We are going to have to prepare this entire week to know exactly what we need to say to them!

Today we have another Noche de Hogar with Brian’s family! The last lesson with them was great but their entire family is Catholic and they have their own Catholic church that they run so they are a little closed. But slowly we are going to try to open their minds and hearts a little bit!

This week we have seen many difficulties but many miracles like always! We just need to work even harder this next week to find those who are ready to listen to the truth. Thank you so much for your prayers. I love you all so much! Until next week! Keep smilin!

Love, Jess

With the ladies of the ward at the Stake Center ready to watch the Women's General Conference

FAM!

Hey fam! How are you all? I love hearing all that you are doing, it sounds like everyone is doing great! This week was a good one. A lot of things going on and a lot of work to do! But it’s all good!
At the beginning of this week we had a talent show with our stake and as missionaries we presented a few lovely numbers. One of them was the Abraham and Isaac and another one was of our own imagination. They were hilarious. I wish I could send you the videos but they are way, way too long to send through email. This talent show was a huge success. We received many references and many families came who were not members. One of our investigators, Brian, brought his 12 foot unicycle to do in the talent show. It about gave me a heart-attack when he was trying to get on. Ahhh! He has practiced his entire life because his dad has his own circus and when they were little they would participate in the shows.

Brian is amazing and has a baptismal date for this next October. He is completely ready and goes to seminary every day. We had an unbelievable lesson with him the other day about the Book of Mormon and the prophet Joseph Smith. It was really special because we had our new convert Marvin come with us to bear his testimony about the subject. His testimony is just "fresh out of the water," so pure and sincere. As he bore his strong but simple testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon, no one could deny that the spirit was right there with us. After this lesson I just saw a hunger in Brian´s eyes to read this inspired book, which is the key to conversion. No one in this church can receive a strong, abiding, unfailing faith in this church without a testimony of the Book of Mormon.

We have not only been teaching Brian but we have been trying to work with his family. His entire family lives in the same house and surprise; they are all Catholic and will not accept our visits inside the house. So we always have to go to the capilla in order to give Brian his lessons. But his last week, as a companionship we tried to figure out a way we could enter into their house and teach the family. And finally, we decided through service. We asked Brian if we could come over and help them hand wash their clothes and he willingly accepted! This last Saturday we went into their house and the entire family was washing together. And although we didn’t come with a lesson prepared as we sat there and scrubbed the clothes the questions of interest came from each one of them without bringing anything up. There was such a spirit of love in those two hours and my testimony of the power of service grew tremendously. Our actions can preach this gospel a lot more easily and strongly than our words can! We have a noche de hogar planned with them tonight so I hope all goes well!

There are miracles each day! Yesterday we had about 10 minutes until we needed to be in our apartment so we decided to contact a guy in one of the tiendas close to us. We went in and started to talk to him and after he asked a lot of questions and also told us that he has a cousin who is a part of our religion, who he respects more than any other person he said, "Ah I want to be Mormon so badly, but I just have a fear to let go of my business." What? I have never heard that before here in Peru. The normal response is "Cree en jesucristo?" "No, soy Catholico." But little did we know that this man in the store right next to us had the desire to become a member of the church! What a blessing.

Well, this week has been great. Full of little miracles each day and also full of political campaigns about everywhere we turn, cars blasting music or putting a speaker outside of their cars, speaking from the inside to convince people to vote for their candidate. All day and all night haha. But anyway, I love each and every one of you. Thank you for your prayers. I can feel them pushing me along my path each day! Keep smilin!

 Love, Jess

Investigator Brian and his unicycle from the talent show

Mom, she loves your shirt!

FAM!

Hey how is everyone this week? From reading your letters you all sound like you are doing great! This week was great, we had our baptism this last Saturday which was such a special experience and a lot of work. On Thursday he had his interview with the president and everything was perfect, however, the next day on Friday he called us and said, "I don’t want to get baptized anymore." Hna. Mendo and I were shocked and had no idea what to do. We prayed for guidance in order to know what we needed to do to bring another one of god’s children into the fold. We had the impression to call our zone leaders for help. That same day all four of us sat in the capilla with Marvin and had one of the most powerful lessons I have had. The spirit was so strong. And in that moment he told us, "I want to get baptized tomorrow!" Such a miracle. Heavenly Father truly answers prayers.

The next day we had his baptism which was such a special experience. When Elder Anderson came he told us that we "NEED to see the change in the hearts of the people and if you don’t, PLEASE wait." I was asking myself this question during the service the entire time. But, there was a moment when he was up in front giving his testimony and I looked directly into his eyes and the spirit confirmed to me that he had had this change. Now it is our responsibility to keep him active and not run away from the fold.

Also, this last week we have been making amazing progress with Claudio and Lisbeth. Claudio has been a Baptist his whole life and al pricipio he was extremely closed off and thought that only his ideas were correct. However, through the power of the Book of Mormon he is completely changing. His heart is softening just through reading its words. And this last week, the spirit made them realize how they were living in sin and needed to repent as soon as they could. So we set a date for their marriage and we are hoping to do it in the capilla! They have such potential. And I know that they are going to go to the temple in the future!

This last week Heavenly Father sent us to a boy who is completely ready to accept this gospel. He kinda reminds me of a modern day Joseph Smith. He is 17 but when he talks about spiritual things he sounds like he is 30 years old. He came to church yesterday and connected with all of the young kids immediately and was so attentive in all of the other classes. In the end he told us that he had been asking god a question for a long time and today it was answered. He wants to start going to seminary and get involved. So amazing! I was thinking back at how we contacted him. One day we saw a young girl carrying two heavy bags and we offered to carry them to her house. We set up an appointment with her the next day and Brian, her brother, just happened to be there and joined in on the lesson. Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways to help us find those who are ready to hear this gospel!

Well, that was my week this week. Many miracles each day. This week I would ask each of you to search and study the Book of Mormon. If there is a question you have or a feeling of sadness, disappointment or discouragement the words of the Book of Mormon will heal you! Thank you all so much for your prayers. I love you all more than you will ever know. Until next week....keep smilin!

Love, Jess

With Marvin and the Zone Leaders

The view from my roof

Hey fam! 

How are you all this week! This week has been good.  We have faced a few disappointments here and there but it’s alright, with the Lord we can overcome them. Many of the families that we were teaching this last week were extremely interested, however, as the husbands get involved the wives started to get scared to listen to us which frustrated the work a little bit. But, this week we are going to go out and find more people who are ready and willing to listen to this message that we have! We are truly trying to work with the families of the ward in order to gain their trust and confidence and more, in order to increase the love we so desperately need in this ward. The lack of this love is the reason we have so many less-actives.  We need to start with the root (the ward) in order to make any progress in our area! 

We are hoping to have a baptism this week.  His name is Marvin! We found him in the Antiguos Investigadores section of our area book the first week we got in this area. He has such a special spirit and has an unbelievable desire to get baptized and make this covenant with the Lord. We just need to pray for him this week with his interview with the President that all will go ok!

We are really making progress with our less-actives. One of them, Sonia, who has been less active for over 10 years has come back each Sunday this month.  This last Sunday she had the bishop bless her baby which was such a special experience. Another young girl, Myreya, who has a baby, has left the church for over five years and now is coming to all of the activities during the week and is participating in the Sacrament each week! Seeing these people come back has been such a blessing in my life.

We are working with this couple, Cloudio and Lisbeth.  Lisbeth wants to get baptized right now and Claudio has a few doubts. But, he has been reading the Book of Mormon and is slowly changing. The only problem is that they are not married.  We are working with them this next week to set a date for their marriage. I can tell that they will be a strong family in the church! 

We are also working with Mapy.  She is so sweet! She was one of the results of our "attack of the area" a few weeks ago. She told us that five years ago she lived in Cuzco and the missionaries lived in her complex! She has such an amazing view of this church because of them! She called them "angels in her life." This went to show me that just our example alone can plant the seed for the future. Even though the missionaries did not teach her they planted the seed with their examples. As members of this church we always need to be aware of what example we are setting because little do we know we could be planting the seed of the gospel in the heart of another walking beside us! Let the gospel shine through your countenance.  Have the plaque of Jesus Christ painted on your heart. You are all representatives of Him and like these missionaries were for Mapy, YOU could be the one to plant the seed in the heart of another even though you can’t see the results!

We had another attack of the area the other day and as a companionship we had many special experiences contacting people. We contacted this one family in a park and the mom told us that  "as a family we are thirsty for the word of God." What a miracle! We are staying in contact with the elders of that area and they told us that they all came to church yesterday! So amazing!

My mission president is amazing.  He truly is like a dad to us. Other day he called a group of a few of the new missionaries and their companions to go to lunch with him. I though we were going to have a training or something.  But no, he just wanted to talk about how we were and have a few laughs. He cares so much about us!

Funny of the week (mom phrase):  We just got in bed to go to sleep and what do we hear directly outside our window? A full-on Mariachi band (not sure how to spell that) and right at the same time my companion and I just started cracking up! haha This went on for about 30 minutes. Welcome to Peru!

Well, this week has been a struggle at times but it’s all good.  We just have to work even harder this week and with the power of the atonement we can do anything. So can you! I love each of you so much.  I can feel you right beside me during this journey. I miss you! Keep smilin!

Love, Jess

At the Plaza De Armas feeding the birds

Hna. Riverin from my group in the CCM

Our Zone playing basketball

Hey fam!

How are you guys?! I hope everything has gone well for you this week.  It sounds like you are all doing great! Well this week was extremely special. There were many miracles and experiences that truly made my testimony grow, especially the opportunity we had to see and listen to Elder ANDERSON! It was an experience that I will never forget!

All of the missionaries in the mission got to the ward at 9AM and Elder Anderson wasn’t going to get there till 12 haha. My mission president didn’t want to take any chances. In these three hours we practiced for the choir and our president told us to sit quietly and study in order to be ready for the instruction that we are going to receive. And all of the sudden as I was studying my scriptures, everyone stood up all at once and there entered Elder Anderson, his wife, Elder Grow of the 70 and Bishop Davis from the general bishopric! He made his way to the pulpit and the first thing he says with a giant grin on his face, "Que tal, mis misionaros fantasticos!" We all had the chance to shake his hand, which was such an unbelievable opportunity! He started out by walking through the isles with a microphone asking everyone questions, trying to get a discussion going about the atonement of Jesus Christ and how if we as missionaries understand and make these people feel the power of it we will overcome any challenge that we could ever imagine with our investigators and less-actives.   

Here are some of the notes from him (haha sorry, maybe Huggy can translate.) He did his entire presentation in Spanish with his French accent.  Imagine all this in a French accent....:)

Al empezar su discurso él nos señaló como sus compañeros en la obra, ¿Entendemos eso?      Somos siervos autorizados para traer la salvación a los hijos de Dios, en calidad de misioneros tenemos parte del Apostolado, ellos confían y delegan responsabilidades  a nosotros para que se cumpla la palabra que se encuentra en DyC 65:2 “Las llaves del reino de Dios han sido entregadas al hombre en la tierra, y de allí rodará el evangelio hasta los extremos de ella, como la piedra cortada del monte, no con mano, ha de rodar, hasta que llene toda la tierra. “

Al  aprender de la expiación, nos damos cuenta de que antes de poder enseñar a alguien el significado de la expiación, tenemos que sentir nosotros realmente lo que hablamos, tenemos que ganar experiencias de la expiación, tenemos que ser puros y limpios, o en otras palabras, “Es imposible ser un misionero indigno.”

En 2 Corintios 4:18 dice: “No mirando nosotros las cosas que se ven, sino las que no se ven, porque las cosas que se ven son temporales, pero las que no se ven son eternas.”

¿Qué son las cosas que no se ven en nuestros investigadores? Pensamos muchas veces que los cambios se generan desde afuera hacia dentro, pero es todo lo contrario, al momento de enseñar directamente al corazón, más que a la persona misma, descubriremos realmente cuales son las cosas que necesita cambiar para renunciar al mundo y aceptar convenios eternos. El corazón cumple un papel muy fundamental en la obra, ya que allí se producen sentimientos que luego van a abrir nuestra memoria al recuerdo, es allí donde parte el deseo y la conversión de una persona.

Al cambiar el corazón, se gana una experiencia de la expiación.

Elder Andersen dijo “Primero el cambio, luego el Bautismo” Queremos conversos en la iglesia, aquellos que tengan una convicción de que Jesús es el Cristo, que la expiación de Cristo les hizo limpios y nuevos, y tengan un testimonio firme del evangelio restaurado por medio de José Smith.

“Podemos tener bautismos sin un testimonio del Libro de Mormón pero no podemos bautizar Conversos  que no tengan un testimonio del Libro de Mormón”

Esperamos que nosotros tengamos la necesidad de ganar experiencias con la expiación al ser honestos con nuestro trabajo, nuestro prójimo, nuestro presidente, nuestro salvador.

Busquemos a los de un corazón quebrantado y un espíritu contrito, aquellos que saben desde la vida pre terrenal  las cosas que vamos a enseñar, a quienes el señor escogió para que sean nuestros investigadores.

A part of his instruction to us and what truly struck me was his energy, light and happiness he had with him. It just seemed like his smile and happiness never got tired! I thought to myself that there are some days on the mission I don’t feel like smiling. However, with the bright example of Elder Anderson, i will never make excuses again.

At the end of his instruction he switched back into English and said with power and authority, "I am a witness of our savior Jesus Christ.  I know through experience that He lives." He paused for a minute and looked through the eyes of each missionary.  In that moment the spirit filled the room testifying that he was a chosen apostle of God and that he was evidence that Heavenly Father and Christ live. I could not describe that moment even if I tried. 

My companion and I are working really well together. This last week we found a family of five who had just moved into the area.  They said they had been praying to find friends and a group of loving people to get to know. I am positive that Heavenly Father knew the hearts of this family and led our steps to them. The day before this a guy in our ward gave us a reference of a woman who lived near him. As we went to find her, we could not find the number so we decided to knock on a random door.  She opened the door and obviously had no idea who it was because she was new to the area, but before she closed the door we asked her name and I started to say, "Maybe you don’t have time right now to listen but can we come back another da...........?" She said, "No, we have time, come in now!" haha It was a miracle. We talked with them for a while about the plan of salvation and how families can be together forever. There was such a special spirit there. I can’t wait to go back!

My zone is amazing. We are all very supportive of each other. We did another zone attack the other day in a different area. It was probably the most poverty-stricken place I have seen yet.  We all split up to contact and we found amazing families who were waiting to hear that they can be together forever! We all went home together on the bus.  On our way back we all made it a goal to share our testimonies on the bus. My zone leader started out by saying, "We have some good news for all of you!" Then we all individually shared our testimonies as we were riding back to our area.  It was such an amazing experience. Goes to show that a bus in Peru can be turned into a temple!

It has been a good week! Many miracles seen and many amazing experiences to come! Thank you for all that you do for me. I can feel your prayers lifting me and pushing me along here in Peru! I hope you all realize how much I love each and every one of you. Our family ties are more of a strength to me here than any other power. Each day try to look for evidence of the power of the atonement in your lives. Keep smilin!

Love, Jess

Breakfast!

Clothes-washing fun

My cute companion