I'M BACK!!! Week one ...

HEY EVERYBODY!!!!!!!

I am back in Lima, Peru and I am here to stay!!!! Wow it has been a crazy week. I got here and stayed in the office for 2 days, working as a temporary assistant you could say haha. I was able to see my president and he was so excited that I was back. He gave me the biggest hug and gave me my tie that I left with him. Someone told me later that he wore it every fast sunday. I love that man so much.  (so do we!!)

I contacted a little bit with the missionaries in the office and already have some ridiculous stories. Freaking a guy came up to us and told us he had killed 6 people but wanted to repent......yeah. 
I was chased by a Perro Peruano (dog of Peru) and they have zero hair except a freaking mohawk on top of their head. Hyenas really. Anyways, didn't get bit but that thing was pissed off. 
Later on Thursday, I finally got my first companion! His name is Elder Gutierrez and he is from La, Paz Bolivia. So that makes 2 Bolivian trainers I have had. Let me tell you, Bolivians are so great. He has the best attitude and such a passion for the work. 

We live in Oquendo, El Olivar, Callao, Lima, Peru. It is a town near the ocean so we have lots of seafood so this missionary is one happy guy. We have 12 scheduled baptismal dates, yes, TWELVE. We have had much success in the 3 days that I have worked here. 
I have retained SO MUCH more Spanish than I thought I did and I could not be happier. All in all, everything is fantastic here. I am so glad I was able to do this right. Im having the time of my life. Its hard but its such a privilege that I have worked so hard for. I love and miss you all!

 * a few added notes from his email to his mom:
-  He lives on Los Angeles Street! (since his dad and I are born and raised in LA and huge Dodger fans, we thought this was pretty cool!!)
-  I sent him with a "dog dazer" a high pitched alarm that he is SUPPOSED to carry with him to scare off wild mangy dogs... did he have it with him??? NOOOOO!
-  There is a family that lives a floor below them that are members of the church... this is the man who sent me the facebook message with a picture of him playing his ukelele.  They have kids that are 13, 11, and 5 and Elder Sivley says that the 5 year old is a latino Dayne.  :)
-  His hug with his mission president was super great and just what he needed-- President Stauffer was an amazing support to Hunter while he was home for 9 months.  <3
-  He is happier than he has ever been and feels so at peace.  That makes this mama so thankful!

Here's to many more weeks of "freaking" fantastic letters!  Can't wait until next Monday!

ELDER SIVLEY IN PERU TAKE 2!!

Elder Sivley returned early from his mission on October 12, 2016. He served for 2 months and came home to make things right with the Lord and to prepare himself to serve a WORTHY mission. We are so proud of him for having the courage to do what was right and to apply the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ in his life.  To say he worked hard and persevered is an understatement.  He was home for almost 9 months and he made marvelous changes in his life.

This morning , we took him to the airport to fly BACK to Lima, Peru. BACK to his mission that he loved so much. BACK to the same security gate that he walked through last August when he left the first time. However, he wasn't the same person today as he was last year. He is a changed young man. Full of the spirit, humble, kind, happy, and at peace with himself. He has learned a great deal and has suffered long. He returns to do full time missionary work for the next 22 months. He has much to do and he is ready to do it. What an example to us all!!! We love you son! God Speed Elder Sivley!! Cannot wait to hear you've arrived safely and are already about the work of the Lord!!

 His setting apart last night by our awesome Stake President, President Stuart Alleman.  And our bishop, Bishop Nathan Grant, who was absolutely critical in Hunter's growth and progression... as well as our whole family!  He supported us through some very hard times!  Thank you to both of you!!!  We cannot express our gratitude enough.

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!

Week 4 CCM

I went proselyting this week for 3 hours and I got 4 CONTACTS. It was a very proud moment for me and the gift of tongues is real. I am
slowly but surely making my way to the field, my emails will be much
more interesting when Im out there haha. Other than that, classes,
classes, classes.Not too much to say this week but its cool. I love
and miss you all and I will talk to you soon!

Week 3 CCM

Hola mi familia!
This week was pretty average here at the CCM. However, I am now an
Avansado! I am an example to all the new elders coming into the CCM,
I'm gonna try to help out these prinicipiantes (new missionaries) as much as I can and
build their confidence. Because that first week is ROUGH. Lots of
doubting and stressing and questioning yourself. But once you hit that
first Sunday, it's all good. Amazing how satan tries to get you even in
the MTC.

My favorite thing this week was Sunday. I had the greatest sabbath day
en mi vida (in my life). It was all about Joseph Smith and The Restoration. I sang
a song in sacrament meeting in front of the whole CCM with Hermana
Ford, a sister going to Cusco for her mission. Best part: she wrote
the song herself. Its fantastic, all about our purpose as
missionaries. Im going to send my mom a picture of the lyrics to send
y'all because it really hit me and gave me a pat on the back as to why
I'm here. Glad she asked me to participate in the song with her as she
played piano. Our MTC president and his wife thanked us after.

And then, after sacrament meeting we did a timeline of the Restoration and we
are so blessed by those events, I know they are true. To end off the
day we watched "Joseph Smith Prophet of The Restoration." If you havent
seen this before WATCH IT. Best representation of Joseph I've ever
seen, and the relationship he has with Hyrum and Emma really touched
me.  (Click on title above)

In our district meeting that night we went outside and sang the "Star
Spangled Banner" around the American flag in the courtyard. In honor of
9/11. Super patriotic and special.

The Latino Elders we all came to know and love left yesterday and we
already miss them. My favorites were Elder Mambo from Spain, Elder
Ticeran from Peru, Elder Rodriguez from Uruguay, Elder Hurtado from
Bolivia, and Elder Momani and Hermana Viviani from Brazil. Sadly, no
pictures because you can only use cameras on P-Day and Latinos had a
different Pday than gringos so I never really saw them. Tomorrow we get
new Latinos though. We love los Latinos! Except Chileans, Chileans are
punks. haha

Thats all this week! I go proselyting outside of the CCM on Saturday! Wish me luck! Adios!

This is my typical breakfast... good food!

 

 

I bought these ties... they're pretty cool. $5 each!!!  Love them.

Week 2 CCM

Hola mi amigos y familia!
A lot has happened this week. I went to the Lima Peru temple which is
literally just like the Dallas Temple except everything is in Spanish.
I loved it though and I bought a cool little Himnos (Hymn) book with a
Peruvian knit cover.

We finished our lesson with our first MTC
investigator and helped him reach baptism. Now we have a new one and
she is TOUGH. So much fury and attitude in such a small lady. Also
they announced that next friday we are leaving the walls to proselyte.
That means I have about 1.5 weeks to get pretty good at teaching the
restoration in Spanish. Our teachers talk super slow so these rapid
español words are gonna be killer.

I went to interpol to finalize the visa process and I think everything went great.
So unless I hear otherwise, I get to stay in Peru! After Sunday, I will no longer be a
pricipiante (beginner) amd will be an avanzado (advanced) missionary.
All that really means is I´ve completed 3 weeks at the CCM.
Here are a few hilarious things this week:
-Hermano Quispitupac ripped his pants during our lesson and screamed
in a high pitch Latino voice, "AYE MIS PANTALONES".
-2 elders from Bolivia and Peru think I look like Captain America and
everytime their entire district sees me all I hear is "CAPITAN AMEDICA" sooooo funny.
-Herman Rivera (my favorite teacher because she is so funny and I can
understand her spanish super well. I love talking to her because it
makes me comfortable with how much I know, and we talk about complex
stuff too not just basic vocabulary). anyways she says sloths are
called "oso perezoso" or "lazy bear" HAHA.
The food is great, my diet consists of chicken, rice, granadia, Inca
Kola, and Princessa bars (my new favorite candy)
Completed my goal to only speak spanish for the week besides Sunday so
super proud of myself.

I miss and love you all! Talk to you next Wednesday!
My mom should be posting pics because my signal is too bad to send you all some.

My companions, Elder Thompson on the left and Elder Bunce on the right

 The courtyard at the CCM-- it didn't rain, this is dew from the morning.  It rarely rains here.

 Mi Distrito (my district)

 Me and Elder Federico-- he is a convert of 2 years before coming on his mission... STUD.

 Inca Kola-- Nectar of the Gods.

 El Templo de Lima... a lot like Dallas but everything is in Spanish!

 Safety Circles... HAHAHAHA the safety circles. is case of an earthquake, these circles
are deemed the "safest" places to be. Right like if a building falls
on the circle we gonna live.

 The nicest and best place in the CCM

Our group of missionaries travelling to Lima from Atlanta

 Gave away my first BofM on the plane! (sorry for the sideways pic-- I'll edit it later!)