First Week of the new year come and gone. It has been an interesting week haha. Turns out that sunburn I had wasn't actually a sunburn, but a really weird allergic reaction to something I must have ate. My ears and eyes swelled up, oddly enough and my whole body was red and itchy, so i was pretty much doing the itchy monkey dance most of the week. As I type that out I realized how interesting of a mental image that must be. I guess if you really think about it, all those symptoms kinda made me look like a monkey. Yeah I guess I dug that hole myself. lol
Our area is really great. Its called Urrunaga. The members are really supportive of the work and it is really helping out our investigators. Transfers are in the beggining of february, and my companion has been here for quite a while, so we are betting that I'll stay and he will go, I wouldn't mind another 6 weeks here in my first area, but who really knows what will happen right?
This week we had some real quality lessons, which is great. Sometimes we forget that although numbers are important, quality is better than quantity. Because when you really focus on the person and really teach to their needs, they are going to be way more likely to feel the spirit and have those desires to make those changes in their life and accept the gospel.
I had an experience yesterday that I{ve been thinking about. We were teaching a less active member, Cesar. He has been a member for about 10 years, and only recently has become inactive, because of his work on sundays. We have had visits with him before but this time I just felt this heart wrench for him, you know what I mean? He is the nicest guy you've ever met, with an obvious strong testimony, and you just want to grab him by the shoulders and say everything you possibly can to help him regain that desire and to excercise his faith to come back to church. I don't know, it was an interesting feeling, kinda like the feeling you get with investigators sometimes, but with someone who knows what you know, and knows it is all true. I guess you could call it a lesson with a less-active-investigator. All in all I guess what Im getting at is all the new powerful emotions you experience on your mission. They really are powerful. I guess thats what we can experience as we become representatives of the Saviour. Really amazing, to feel a little for what he feels for his children, wow. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a missionary, teaching the people of Peru, What an adventure.
Love you guys take care!
Elder Lonsdale
