October 12, 2015

Hello Family!

Well first off my official last day working is December 13th. Then Monday is our interview and we travel the next few days and I should be home sometime on Wednesday, probably. I still haven’t gotten any information on my flights yet. And I hope the only person who is using my room is Oakley. I’m okay with that. I want him to be accustomed to my bed so he will sleep with me XD.

Anyway, this week has been pretty good; however, I still haven’t been able to see the conference yet because I need to convert the videos so they work on our dvd player. But I’m going to do that this week. As for mainly women listening to our message, that’s true. Mainly the men are either working or are just too stubborn to listen to us, or they just like drinking... With a lot of people I’ve taught, we usually don’t start out teaching the family but after a time they start to listen to us. That’s something we have seen with the Yuca family, who by the way now have a baptismal date for next Saturday (well, the mom and the daughter). The dad has a date for the 21 of November just because of his work. Also the other elders had a baptism this Saturday which was pretty dang awesome. Also, they have another one planned for this next Saturday with our baptisms. I gotta say that in Espinar we have work and success, a good pensionista who cooks good, and a good ward so I’m pretty content. Oh yea and for the strike, it’s been lifted because they were able to come to an impasse (I think that’s what it’s called). Only for a few days we just had to walk around with our ID always with us and be back in the house a little earlier.

Something I have learned about myself is my patience. There have been a lot of times, especially recently, where I just feel exhausted and stressed and I just want it to end but I just pass through it and later I feel fine. Now at the end of my mission I think I have become a lot more patient. Something funny that happened this week was we had to chase a dog out of the sacrament meeting and an old lady just wacked it super hard with her bag and the dog was a little smaller so I was afraid she might have killed it. Something I learned this week was you should never tell jokes in Spanish because they don’t come out right. My testimony has grown this week with the leaders of the church. I was doing some studying on President Monson as well as leaders from the Book of Mormon and I have been able to feel more grateful for leaders that God gives us and the council that we can receive through their teaching. Also it’s very important that we can have a strong testimony for the leaders to know that they are here to help us and that we can hear the words that Christ himself would say if he were here on the earth.

Well that about it for me this week but I love you guys and I’m getting excited to see you all. (Mainly because my zone leader goes home in 3 weeks) But until next week!

Elder Halverson

"It's wabbit season!" 

October 5, 2015

Hello everyone.

Well there isn’t really much to talk about for this week because Wednesday morning I had to travel to Cusco to basically sign a paper saying that I am definitely leaving the country here shortly (weird thought). But then I only had about a half a day back in my sector we had to travel again but this time only to Sicuani for conference.

Something that sucks right now for Espinar is that we are in an emergency state because there is a riot going on with the miners in Abancay and so because Espinar is also full of miners we are also affected. Basically an emergency state just means that the government makes it so this area can hold meetings to prevent them from getting fired up and rising up to help the riot in Abancay. Right now there are also increased police in the area to help. But because of this, we currently can’t have any meetings (including conference) so we all had to come here. However, as for how our work goes, it doesn’t really affect us too much, we just have a few new rules to protect us such as be home by 8:00 pm, always have identification, and don’t travel at night. But nothing too bad. It would only be bad if Espinar had a riot. But also it’s only a 2 hour bus ride to Sicuani and then 2 hours more to Cusco.

But to be honest, I haven’t seen all of conference yet. Normally we have a separate room for English because we receive both broadcasts. However, this time, the guy didn’t come to make it where we could watch it in English apart so we had to watch it online in the secretary’s room. However, the internet was so slow that we didn’t have time to see all of the sessions and talks because it was buffering. So we decided to just download the sessions to watch them later so I’ll be doing that here this week. However, from what I did get to see, I really liked the talk from Richard J. Maynes and the story of the ceramic teacher. Also, it was cool to see the new apostles. But from what I was able to see, it was good.

The ponderize thing is kinda something as missionaries we already do in a way. But it would be pretty cool to start doing, and for me it will be in Spanish. However, I have been doing that once a change with my favorite scriptures or scriptures that have a message that apply to me. I then have it written on my agenda so I can see it every day. 

I can’t believe after so many years about saying how much you hate cats you got one. And with animals in general. However, I am happy. I need a nice clean animal to go home and love and sleep with. XD But you have given me quite a few surprises since I’ve been out here but this is definitely up on the list. 

But that’s about it for this week. Next week we have to travel again to Cusco as a zone for a multi-conference with a 70 and the mission president. So I’ll be sure to tell you how that goes in 2 weeks (because its next Tuesday) But I love you all and I’m glad to hear that everyone’s doing well!

Elder Halverson 

English room for general conference

September 28, 2015

Hello Family! 

Well this week has been pretty dang sweet. My new companion, Elder Delgado who is from Trujillo here in Peru, arrived on Tuesday. The altitude gave him a nice slap across the face but nothing too bad. He just had to rest a bit. Funny thing is that he also came from Juliaca. We were there together but I just couldn’t remember who he was until I saw him. But even in Juliaca, I didn’t get to know him very well. Also, the other elder who stayed with me, Elder Alan, is training a new elder from Chile who is super excited. He is also trying to learn as much English from me as possible right now because after the mission he wants to go study at BYU and then live in the states for the rest of his life. Speaking of which, it’s a lot different now going from three Americans and 1 Latino and speaking a lot of English to now only 1 American and 3 Latinos whose English are very limited. But I like it this way because it will allow to really better my Spanish before I go home. But other than that, this week has been pretty awesome. Even with the changes we were all able to work really hard and we had more success than these past few weeks. 

Also, Saturday we had a talent show which went really well. The young women and young men did a few dances that were really cool and then the other organizations just did some skits that were funny. We were able to have some of the people that we are teaching assist as well and we were able to contact a lot of people that came from being invited from friends that are members. As for those who we are teaching, nothing big has changed with them. We have had to move some people’s dates back a bit because they have been traveling. But as for the Yuca family, the date we have set with the parents and one of the daughters for October 24 is still holding. Actually, if all goes well for this next month, we are planning on having around 5 baptisms. As for the ward, it’s still slowly getting better. This week we had an attendance of 114. It’s funny because we actually have the strongest ward out of the whole Sicuani stake with the best attendance even though we are so far away from everything else. A lot of our success has to do with our bishop who is working really hard.

But it kinda sucked this week with one of our investigators named Gladys. She has attended 2 now and is a relatively newer investigator but is really excited to learn. However yesterday we had a really good lesson with her but at the end she told us that she is going to move to Arequipa for the next few months to work and so we are really hoping that we don’t lose her in this time. She doesn’t know exactly where she is going to live so we are going to have to wait until next week to call her to be able to pass her information to the Arequipa mission. But with another investigator we are teaching, Luz Marina, she attended for her 3rd time yesterday and this is her second time attending on her own. But she is progressing really well and we are thinking about putting a date with her the next time we go to visit her so that will be pretty awesome.

Man that’s crazy though all of the people going on missions right now. Most of which are sisters. But as for Richard G. Scott, I did see that this morning on lds,org. It really surprised me. Especially so soon before conference. But me and my companion will be going to Sicuani to watch it. Mainly it’s all for me just so I can see it in English. The other 2 elders are staying here in Espinar so they can watch it with the people who they are teaching. 

Hey but dad should try and learn how to not just cut glass but bend it to make little glass statues. Of course we would have to get a blow torch but that would be cool to see him get into something more, arty. XD  It’s funny though, because Aaron sent me one of those invitations a few months ago when they first made them. Actually, I think he said I got the first one. Aren’t I just pretty dang special. XD  

But I’m still working hard here and trying to stay as focused as I can with the time I have left. It’s really starting to scare me though with how little time I have left. But I’m glad to hear all is good back home and I love you all! But until next week!

Elder Halverson

All pictures from the talent show:

September 21, 2015

Hello Family!

This week has been a bit strange. Almost all of our appointments fell through and for a big part of the week the power went out from a bad transformer. (And no I’m not talking about a Deceptacon.) But regardless of that, we still had the highest attendance here in Espinar since I’ve arrived of 123. The only investigator we had come this week was a mom and her 2 kids who also came last week. She is also married but like most people here, he works in the mine and can only be in Espinar sometimes so he’s hard to get in contact with. The interesting thing about this investigator is that she was an old investigator who the elders had dropped and never before had come. So last week we went to her house to go pick her up for church but this week she came all on her own. So it will be interesting to see if she progresses much. Other than that we had 8 less actives come this week as well. 4 of them had come for the first time in forever.

But to be honest, Peru has kinda ruined dogs for me. I still love them but at least most the dogs here I don’t like. They are mostly super mean and dirty. Even if they are owned by someone, they look like they may as well be street dogs because most of the people here don’t care about their animals. However, my pensionistas' husband is a German Shepard fanatic and he also breeds his dogs. The nice thing is that he actually does take care of his dogs and they are super awesome and nice. Currently he has 2, one a male named Binxes (I think that’s how it’s spelled but it’s pronounced like Been-xes) and a female one named Pastora. Right now Pastora is about a month pregnant and will probably have her puppies sometime in late October or early November.

As for all of our other investigators, I don’t really have anything else to say about any of them because for whatever reason they left or were busy or something and we weren’t able to meet with them. But a few of them are most likely going to get baptized in October. Also, as for changes, I’m staying here in Espinar like I thought. My comp has a change to Cusco and another elder from my district is going to Puno. The other elder that’s staying with me is going to be training but I’m not going to train. So sadly I never will have a son in the mission :T  My new comp that I’m getting is a Latino I think who I’ve never met before but I imagine he will probably be my last comp. However, my old comp from Juliaca, Elder Bordon, is going to be in my zone here so I’m pretty excited to see him again. Also I did hear about the earthquake, a family here has a son in Chile near there so they were a little concerned but they heard that none of the missionaries were killed so they were fine.

But I love you all and I’ll tell you how everything goes with my new comp next week. Until then-

Elder Halverson

September 14, 2015

Hello family!

Well this week was pretty good, too. Sunday night, like I said, we traveled to Sicuani for the interviews with president. Then for the next 3 days we were also in Sicuani. Monday was the zone meeting. Tuesday we were just doing divisions in Sicuani so we wouldn’t have to travel more. It was funny, while I was doing divisions, I was with a North American named Elder Steele. While we were out working, he had hot dog to throw at dogs that would bark at him because he was so afraid of dogs. I just told him that if dogs tried to give us any problems I would just kick the dog in the face like I have done here in Espinar. Actually, there was a dog that looked like it wanted to bite us and would always bark at us like crazy. However, one day, I was getting tired of it and ran at the dog and kicked it in the face so hard that it flipped over backwards. Ever since then I have only seen it twice and when it sees us it runs away.

Anyway, Wednesday we had our interviews with President and it really helped me out understanding how I can be a better district leader. Also, I talked to him again about my ecclesiastical endorsement and he said he would go in probably this week to try and do it again. If it doesn’t show up, that means that my application isn’t showing up. Also, I was able to talk to his wife about my health and she was able to tell me some pills to take that I have taken this last week. So hopefully they will work but for right now I’m feeling fine.

As for this week, even though we were only able to work for a few days less, we were still able to do some good work. Also, we had 6 new investigators that attended for the first time. They were all made up of 2 different families with whom we are starting to work. Also, as for the Yuca family, we are still working with them on their dates. At least for Sandra, we may possibly have to put her date in October because she may not yet be ready, at least with her understanding of the teachings, but she still has a desire to be baptized. 

The funniest thing that happened this week... I actually can’t think of anything really funny that happened this week. My most spiritual experience was probably while I was with the President in my interview because it kinda refreshes my desires for working. He also really helps me understand my purpose a lot better. Whenever I go to him with concerns, he really knows how to help me understand my trials and use them to help me get better.

This week, or at least today, we went to a Catholic church that was in the middle of nowhere. There is a little spout that comes out of the ground with fresh water that apparently is blessed from some virgin but it wasn’t anything exciting and was actually really boring. The others wanted to go because they thought that there were going to be a lot of people there but there wasn’t anything. But I got to see more of the area around here. This week my testimony has grown with respects to the Priesthood and its authority. I have been studying the book Our Search for Happiness and it has been talking a lot about why the priesthood is so important and it really just helped me understand it better.

But that’s about it for this week. Next week we have changes and I’m really hoping that I will be able to train to finish my mission. But I love you all and I hope that your week goes well.

Elder Halverson 

September 7, 2015

Hello Family!

Well, first off, I’ve gotten a lot better now so don’t worry. I talked to the zone leaders for some pills I could take and now I’m not having any problems. However, I would like to take that bomb pill thing when I get home just to make sure. I don’t think they give that to you in the mission when you end but I’m not sure.

Anyway, this week has been a lot better than my previous few weeks this change. We worked like crazy this week and got some pretty good results out of it. We were able to get 9 new investigators just between me and my companion. We also have 2 new people with baptismal dates. I don’t remember if I told you this last week but we have a date with the dad and mom from the Yuca family (the family we have been working with whose kids got baptized). Also we have a date with the one daughter who hasn’t gotten baptized for the end of this month. We also put a date with an older lady whose kids are all older and she has been coming constantly for a few months. The problem was that she wasn’t married to her husband but he has left the family and has another family in another little town so they don’t have any relations now. Her date is also for the end of the month so that’s going to be pretty exciting. Also it was pretty crazy because we got a new investigator this week who is also a middle aged lady named Juanna and she was telling us how her ex-husband would beat her all the time and started showing us some scars on her arms and face from the beatings. The guy even broke her wrist and she had to get nails put in to fix it. Anyway, she separated from him a few years ago but it’s just crazy the things I hear and see here sometimes. One of the biggest problems is that most of the men don’t have any respect for their wives or other women. Here you could even say that it’s worse because of all the mines around here. 

Last night we had to travel to Sicuani for a zone meeting. However to save on travel money we are going to stay here till Wednesday for the interviews we have with the mission president. Then on Thursday our day is completely filled, and I’m not joking, with appointments for every hour except for like 2 hours in the morning so we are also going to be working our butts off when we get back.

Also speaking of sweets, I have begun making a list of American foods I want to eat when I get back so I don’t forget. But you should definitely send me some of this [Dad’s] delicious fudge. I think that’s the only medicine I need. Currently I am buying a box of chocolate bars at the beginning of the month to try and put on some weight but I end up eating them all in the first week.

But I’m glad to hear that your friend finally got baptized. I think I’m going to start working on my friends a lot more when I get home. Especially Ryan cuz I feel like he will probably be more likely to listen to me more than some of my other friends. But it’s been crazy how much I have realized how important this work is. I think especially now more than ever I am getting more desires to work now that I don’t have much time left but I feel like everything just makes so much sense and it’s just logical to try it out. Especially because now I can really testify of how real it is. This was something that we kinda touched on in the zone meeting, our purpose. A few of us in the zone are about to end so it was good to hear that we got to really live obediently now more than ever and make sure we leave it all on the court. Anyway I feel like I’m ranting about this but I really am little by little coming to love the work.

But I’m glad to hear all’s well at home and I hope everything continues to go well. Until next week!

Elder Halverson 

 Well, this isn't really anything special but I know you love pictures so here is a picture of my district with some dang good fruit drinks.

 Also, here are some purses/bags that we found so you guys can each pick one out that I'm gonna get for your Christmas present.

August 31, 2015

Hello everyone!

Well, this week wasn’t too special either. We had a bug or something go around our zone but we all got a little sick. I’m not sure what caused it but I couldn’t really leave bed for the first 2 days and then the third day I was just weak from not eating plus my bum hole was like a broken dam. Speaking of which, this allows me to tell you the thing that made me laugh this week. So one of the elders here was also a little sick in the stomach and I think it was Wednesday night as we were walking home from dinner and he just demolished his pants like 2/3 of the way home. He was very distraught to say the least.

Speaking of fires, we also had a little fire here in the outskirts of town. However, it’s a traditional thing people do here each year. Plus it’s so cold and high up here the fires can’t survive for very long. But it still looked cool at night.

But yea with my comp, he had to go renew his visa in Cusco. He told me that I’m going to have to go next change some time to start the work to cancel mine... :/ kinda a weird thought.

Also, speaking of baptisms, the dad of the family we are working with is back in town and so we are planning on putting a baptismal date with him and his wife (because she wants to get baptized with him even though she’s ready now) in October. That’s kinda far away, but unfortunately, because he works in a mine, that’s the closest date we can put with them. But at least we can have a goal with them. Also, with the other daughter, she told us that she wants to get baptized in September so we are also going to put a specific date with her. We also had a new investigator this week. It was funny because he came up to us last Sunday and told us that he had a friend who told him about the church and he wanted to come check it out. Also, he is learning English because he wants to move to Australia for the work of his wife. We were only able to visit him once this week due to the sickness that has been going around but he seems like a pretty sincere guy who is interested in the family teaching of the church. Also, he said that his wife is a member but hasn’t attended for a while now. Oh, and his name is Luis. I still don’t know his last name, though. But that’s about all I have to say on what’s going on here more or less.

As for the rest of your questions, something that made me sad this week is we got word from the bishop that the mom of a really strong family has been apostatizing a little bit. Apparently from what he told us, she has been saying that we shouldn’t go to the temple and has been encouraging her older children to live with their boyfriends/girlfriends without marriage. However, I am a little skeptical on these claims on her. Ever since I have been here, she has only been helpful with us in finding new people and building the ward. Also, she let 2 of her kids go to the temple with all of the youth. Not to mention her oldest daughter, who is our pensionista, has a goal to get married to her fiancé by the end of the year. However, they have been living together for a while now and already have 2 children. But they also are excited to get sealed in the temple as well. To me, it seems like the bishop probably heard rumors and wants it to get verified or something. But if it is true, that would be super sad.

This week I could probably feel the spirit the strongest with that new investigator, Luis, we have. When he was telling us about his desires to learn more, he just seemed really sincere about it and I could really feel the spirit in that lesson. Something I learned new this week was my pensionista’s dog (Benxis) gets really bored when there is no one else to play with him. Normally me and her "husband" are the only ones to play with him but I’ve been sick and he fell down some stairs a few weeks ago and he broke some toes so he can’t really use his foot at the moment.

Also, as far as my testimony, I just want to testify about your little quote [“It’s easier to avoid temptation than to resist it”]. Through all of my personal experiences I have had throughout my whole mission and also through teaching it, only a thousand times. But I can really testify of the strength that comes from that and now it’s gotten a whole lot easier to avoid temptations when they come. I don’t remember who gave this example but I’m pretty sure it was one of the apostles when he said he just got into a habit of humming a hymn when temptations came (however I don’t hum). But it’s true, after a while you just build up a wall of resistance whenever it comes from just avoiding it so much.

But yea, I think that’s all I got for this week but I’m glad to hear from you and I love you all very much and until next week!

Elder Halverson