April 30, 2012

FIRST! Before I say anything, I have to answer your question, because I think you have asked more than once, haha, : Yes, you can send stuff to the mission home in chiclayo, thats where everything goes, and then they send it to our respective zone leaders to give to us, not just every transfers but during too. So dont worry, I dont have another address here. No se preocupe :)
Secondly....wow, you parents of mine sound like you have had some amazing adventures. Travelling overseas will do that to ya right? I learned that at a young age. haha. But I loved hearing about your trip. The Vatican? The Pope?! Golden. Its surprising how much I´ve learned about the pope and the Catholic religion here in Peru, really quite interesting at times. History can be riveting at times, as im sure you guys know. I have gained a greater appreciation for cultural history here in peru because there is SO much, about the Incas, the native ancient inhabitants. but anyways, my point is......History is cool. And you guys saw tons these past few weeks haha.
Toilet seats? what are those? lol, I havent used one of those in a long time. Bathrooms really depend here, from not having one, to a hole in the ground, or to some actually pretty nice bathrooms. But they all do the job right? :)
Smoking here in peru?...I have actually noticed that there really isnt that much, thankfully. Its not a problem we run into  a whole lot. More with drinking, now that is a different story.
Oh yeah, And you guys saw singing in the rain? I believe I have seen that movie about a million times, and almost every one of those times was in our van in korea. good times. Well, mom and dad, I guess you guys listened to that movie a million times instead haha.
Things are going great here. Elder Davila left early this morning, so I have been with the zone leaders who are awesome. A bunch of us are travelling to chiclayo tonight for transfers tomorrow, I have been assigned to train a new elder this next transfer so we will see how that goes!
I love you all! Safe trip mom and dad!
Elder Lonsdale

April 23, 2012

Hi Fam, And my world traveler Parents.
Paris sounds amazing, Im pretty jealous of you guys. But more than jealous, Im happy FOR you guys. You parents of mine do SO much for our family and the ´world´, you deserve a vacation. I hope you had an awesome birthday mom! And I hope you continue to enjoy your adventure! You´ll never forget it.
This week was pretty good. We are working with some really awesome investigators that really have been prepared by the lord. Its a little scary sometimes for me though. When you find amazing investigators that progress really well, keep commitments, and attend church, you really give them your heart and everything you got. But like I said, thats a little scary sometimes, because of how you feel when they take those steps backwards after youve put them in your heart. Stab to the heart sometimes. Its not always easy, but its part of the work right? Being representatives of Jesus Christ you feel a teeny tiny bit of what he feels for us. Wow. But saying that, I know I need to help ALL of my investigators with all of my heart. Because thats what Jesus would do. Its easy to just go through the motions, saying the words, teaching the lessons, because its less emotional attachment  But thats not enough, we have to really teach THEM and love them with all of our heart, because pain does come, but more importantly, the joy and happiness does too. And in the end its all worth it.
I´ve just been thinking about that lately, and wanted to share :) Im doing great here in San Pedro. The people are great and the branch is growing. its Elder Davila´s last week in the mission, so we are going to work hard, and make sure he doesnt get any more trunky lol.
Love you guys! stay safe and enjoy your trip!
Elder Lonsdale.  

April 16, 2012

Wow! Thanks for the huge awesome email from the fam. It warms my heart to know that you guys are all doing great and are keeping busy. That was pretty neat to hear how everybody is doing. I feel bad though now that I don’t have an email for you guys from tons of different perspectives. I thought about sending you guys an email with various points of view from ¨created¨ multiple personalities… but quickly realized that might not be the best idea, possibly redundant, seeing that one of the purposes of these emails is to let you guys know that I am well, safe and sound.
I have no doubt that Dad rocked the night away like a pro, he always does. Its funny because I can clearly imagine you guys dancing and joking, our family is pretty good at having a good time if you ask me.
Im glad to hear that heather has work and is living the tv series The Pretender. Heather has always been the sneaky shifty eyes kinda girl.
And I have to say, I had a pretty good laugh hearing about Renae and micah. THATS where true happiness comes from. Laughing at your children, nephieces, siblings, and the funny things they say and do haha. Ive never had the guts to introduce my friends to my twin in the mirror. No fear renae, I like that ;)
Things here are moving along great. Ive found that areas are different, in reception, trials, and positives. I really like this area, as we get to know the people more and the members better, you feel more capable and motivated to do the Lords work, because you get to know people, and see them as our family. And we ALL need to make it home.
I love you guys, take care this week! Enjoy your birthday mom!!!!
Elder Lonsdale

Pps, me and my comp bought milk, and cereal, and ate breakfast heaven for the first time in months. Was sooo good, and we ate too much, easily. haha

April 9, 2012

Here are some pictures, I hope they turn out alright. One is with me and my last companion, elder Tamani, and the other is a picture of me with a hopefully not sacred peruvian artifact haha. a couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to go to a really neat museum.

April 2, 2012

I apologize for the short scatterbrained letters these past few weeks,
including this one, I dont know how Tanner finds the time to write
novels, or whole editorials on every conference talk haha How is he
anyways?
Ok, WOW. Wasnt conference the most amazing thing EVER? I can honestly
say that was THE best conference I have ever heard. I believe part of
that goes to the fact that being here in the mission changes
priorities quite a bit, and that thirst for spiritual knowledge is bit
deeper. But wow, going into conference with specific, personal
questions, and coming out with specific, personal answers is a great
testimony for me that God does answer prayers and spiritual
inspiration is available to ALL of us. I really tried to focus on
those personal revelations or insights that came as I listened to the
speaker and the spirit, and when I was willing and ready to hear them,
they came. Sometimes I had hardly written down things the speaker
actually said but more of what the spirit said to me.
Conference really was an amazing experience for me. And Like the
prophet said, now we need to ponder on those truths we have learned
and apply them in our lives. I know that if we do that, the Lord will
grant us more light and knowledge, What a blessing.

March 26, 2012

Hi family, I have a feeling that this letter is going to be a little
scattered, so I apologize in advance....
Well, where to I begin...?.....NOT in Urrunaga! Haha. So, wednesday my
companion and I were tromping through the mud in our gumboots, ( it
had rained recently and the rain really does some damage to the roads)
coming back from a lesson at about 10:30 in the morning when our
pensionista flags us down and told us that we got a call from our Zone
Leaders. So, we called them back and they tell us that I have 2 hours
to pack and be at the place where we have transfers.....yup. It was a
little unexpected haha. So we get back to our apt. I pack. and we had
recently given our clothes to the Sister who does our laundry, so my
clothes were all wet, she air dried them as best as possible and threw
em in a bag. Said a few difficult goodbyes and headed off to my new
area. And here I am, in San Pedro de Lloc. with my new companion elder
Davila, who is awesome. He was in my zone before and is a great
missionary. He has about 23 months and so this is his last
transfer/area/companion and all so we are gonna work hard to end his
mission right. The thing is though, they had two sister missionaries
here in San Pedro, so 1-we didnt have anybody to show us the area,
investigators, members, so we{re pretty much starting from scratch
haha. and 2- we have to compete with sister missionaries haha. we´ve
heard a lot of óh...the sisters are gone!? how sad¨ .lol. But its
great, it started off a little slow, but now we know a abunch of
members and are working with them to help us get on our feet. The area
is really neat. Green, which is awesome, real different from chiclayo.
We have San Pedro and then a few little towns outside of it. So we
will see! Yeah it was hard to say goodbye to urrunaga, but maybe it
was better to leave quickly without tons of goodbyes, and its time to
turn another chapter anyways, new people to meet, new things to learn,
part of the mission right? :)
I love you guys, I hope you are all doing well! Happy conference!
Elder Lonsdale