Communications from the Lima West Mission...

Well, he made it to the mission home and had a quick moment to write us a note on the mission letterhead.  It's short, but oh so sweet...

And they sent us a quick picture of Elder Sivley with his first companion, his trainer.  We've zoomed in on the picture and it looks as if his name is Elder Alanes.  But that's all we know so far!  We don't know what area he is serving in or anything else.  :)  Can't wait for more details next Monday, but the smile on his face says it all.  He is happy to be serving the Lord.  We couldn't be more proud.

Last week at the CCM.... YEEEAAAAHHHHHH!

Hola mis amigos y familia! This is the LAST email I will send at the
CCM. As of Tuesday Oct. 4, I will be in the field preaching the gospel
with a new companero!

Stories this week:
1. Soooooo I kind of broke my companeros ankle. We were playing
soccer and he was defending me. I went to kick the ball, he went to
kick the ball, our legs collided. Elder Sivley was blessed with tree
trunks for legs, Elder Thompson was not. So I now carry him up the
stairs to our 3rd floor bedroom every day because there is no
elevator. Good news is its not a complete break so he doesn't have to
go home! They said 3 weeks healing max so he will just have some fun
on crutches. I felt so bad, but luckily hes super nice so he isn't that
mad at me.

2.  We committed our hardest investigator to baptism! She was finally
able to accept that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, therefore
verifying the truth of the Book of Mormon. Glad to have had such a
tough one that brought up polygamy, the fact that she used to be a
prostitute and had 2 abortions, and smokes weed at 45 yrs old. *knocks
on wood* cant get worse than that.

3.*TEAR JERKER ALERT* My favorite latino elder is Elder Mazco. 
He is from Iquitos, Peru which is smack dab in the middle of the Amazon. Its
a tradition here for elders to trade ties with each other. Elder Mazco 
has this really cool one so I asked him to trade and he said that it
was the only tie he owned that his mom gave him. I asked him why he
only brought one and he said it was all he could afford. This really
struck me so I took a couple of my ties to give him for free to help
him out. I presented the ties to him the next day and he just broke
down crying and gave me the warmest Peruvian hug (they are all so
short so their foreheads just bury in your chest) and said "Gracias
Cap (Capitan America), Le amo (I love you) elder." This is where it
gets sad. He told me that when he was 14 his mom, dad, and 2 little
brothers were killed in a flood. From age 14-16 Elder Mazco was living
by himself until a ward member took him in and scraped up enough
money for him to serve a mission in Bolivia. This elder who literally
had NOTHING is willing to give EVERYTHING to God. Needless to say I
was balling my eyes out. He is an awesome elder.


I am so thankful for my mission for teaching me more about charity. I
have only been out for 5 weeks but I feel like I have changed so much.
I have a list that i self check myself every day, from Preach My
Gospel on pg 126. Its about Christlike attributes and i feel so happy
all the time when I follow it and work hard to attain these
attributes. I am excited to develop them more over the next 2 years
and for the rest of my life.

New thing: A quote, scripture, hymn or saying of the week at the end of every email!
***Week of 10/2: "Senor te necesito; si te necesito; bendiceme oh Cristo;
vendre a ti."  Translation: "I need Thee, oh I need Thee, Oh bless me now my Savior, I come to Thee."


My district here at the CCM.

My branch here at the CCM.

The next time I email will probably be next monday on my first Pday in
the field. So itll be a long week full of stories. Lima Oeste, here I
come!