24 Octubre

Hi fam. :)

Ive just been really happy lately. Life is good, im just happy doing what im doing and enjoying every minute! People are just the best here, love em. And nothing better than sharing the gospel. 

This week our ward went to the temple. It was cool to see converts go for the first time and here that they had an awesome experience. They are planning to go again in April, and it makes me realize HOW blessed we are that if we wanted, we could go EVERY day! These people do all they can to pay and have the chance to go to the temple. Its really a test of faith for them! But it makes them appreciate it so much more. They drove back Saturday night, so were pretty tired at church, but thats okay because my comp and I spoke in sacrament..:)

So Paulo is doing AWESOME. Daniela's nephew. He wants to change his life SO bad, has seen so many changes in his family's life. He told us that he is drinking way less, and now he is reading the Book of Mormon, and making little small changes. It is cool to see how before he was so not into in and all the sudden he is wanted to be a part of it. Everyone's time always comes. 

Interesting week. Like all of Tumbes either has the flu or chicken pox, and its SAINTS month! Which means that there are random saints being worshipped ALL OVER THE PLACE. Just makes things really interesting around here. This week there was a Señor de los Milagros fiesta right in front of our house, the whole street was decked out with banners and baloons. We actually had plans to visit a bunch of people around where we live this week, bad idea because when we went to visit them they were busy decorating. :) But its easy to spot out people who need the gospel! It is very interesting to see how things in the scriptures are in real life. 

Love God, love my Savior, know this church is true! Every day is just another testimony to me that we have the truth and we are so blessed! Helping people to understand the Atonement in their lives is one of my favorite things. Because it is the best thing we have, and my testimony is strengthened every time. Love you all, have the best weeeek!!

Hna Richan

17 Octubre

Hola fam!

This week we had a Multizone Conference here in Tumbes. It was my LAST one, which means I had to give my "last testimony." And i was SO SAD! Every "last" makes me sad. Love this place, and love all of the things that I have learned out here. But we talked about what it means to be a disciple of Christ. And we talked a lot about how the ordinances we do help us to come unto Christ, and know Him. Got me so excited to go back to the temple! I know that is where we can go to have added strength in our lives in order to be better disciples of Christ. 

On friday we had intercambios, and me tocó with Hna Spainhower! Good to catch up with her again and learn from her. ALWAYS learn from her. Shes the best example of charity for these people, so it was a good reminder that I need to love these people even more. Charity beats all, and thats when we see miracles here! 

We are still teaching Misael. He doesn't have a very good understanding of God, because recently he believes in Him. So we have been teaching very slowly, but he comes to church, and tells us how great he feels there. So we are going to start speeding things up, and see how he feels about baptism. 

Alver is starting to feel wishy washy with baptism again. Still awesome, he went from never praying to praying everyday and he is recognizing God's hand in his life. I think more than anything he is scared and feels like he isnt good enough, so we are hoping to help him gain a better understanding of Christ's role in his life. Because if he understand His role, we know that His grace is sufficient for ALL of us, and we can change!

Life has been a little bit CRAZY for us lately. But this is our first week FREE of a lot of things so we are excited to take advantage of the time we have to work. Hna Pay is great, life is good. Shes super diligent, understands her purpose. And Tumbes is still the best area. :) 

Today I loved studying about grace. D&C 93 talks about how we receive a little bit of God's grace at a time, and how it is given to us gradually as we strive to follow Him. So grateful to know of God's love for us!

Love you all, have a good fall break. :)

Hna Richan 

Cutest Kids

Multi Zone Conference 

 

10 Octubre

This week in Tumbes:

Alver is CHANGING. Before he seemed like he knew the church was true, but wasnt really willing to change. This week we were teaching him, and he told us that he had been thinking a lot more about baptism but just didnt feel prepared. So we got out of him that he hasnt been drinking for over a MONTH. But he sees all these less actives drinking all the time and he doesnt want that to be him. Which is awesome, he is taking this very seriously and wants to make sure he is converted before making the decision. but FINALLY he accepted to be baptized november 5. :)

Lil Aaron was baptized on Saturday. :) It was cool to see that he had a lot of family supporting him. His uncle is a bishop in Piura, and his great uncle is the pátriarch here in Tumbes. And his grandma takes him to church everyday here, even though his parents are very less active he has great support all around him! The smartest kid ive ever met. 

Its been kind of a crazy week with people here. LEAVING US. Katerine, coolest most receptive and independent investigator, moved to PIURA! She told us how much she loves the church and everything it teaches, and begged us for the missionaries' info in Piura so that she can keep learning and going to church there. So im a little sad about that, but obviously so happy for her and I know she will be a golden investigator in Piura! Also another golden investigator, that was a member referral, Luis, moved to Chiclayo! After giving him the Book of Mormon he read all of 1 Nephi and loved it, and then moved away. So two great investigators moved this week but in leadership counsel this week President gave us a cool promise, "If you send good referrals, you WILL receive good referrals." So we are banking on finding some cool people to teach this week. :)

Also Harold, convert, moved to Cusco this week. Love that guy, one of the most humble, sincere people I know. Hard saying bye to great people.

A lot of good things to come in Tumbes! I get more and more excited to share the gospel as I learn more about Christ and His atoning sacrifice. Ive been trying to be really diligent about studying the Atonement, and it amazes me more and more every day. I know that Christ justifies us because of his infinite perfection and infinite sacrifice. If we are on His side, We can overcome anything and do anything. 

Hasta la proxima semana, les amo!

hna richan

 Daniela and family

Aaron's Baptism

 Leadership Council

  Leadership Council

Leadership Meeting

3 Octubre

well conference pretty much sums up the week. :)

more area updates next week, but our investigators are all progressing really well, and after teaching the cutest 11 year old boy (comes to live with his member grandparents on the weekends) he is getting baptized Saturday. Its gonna be a good transfer!

I loved conference! Of course I loved Elder Uceda's talk, peru mission shoutout. I went into conference with 2 questions.... A lot of times in the mission God has answered my prayers in the weirdest ways, and a lot of time hard things for me to accept. So I went into conference thinking about how I can accept God's will and do what He wants instead of what I want. And also how can i make prayer sincere and spiritual every time I pray. And I was thinking these were two questions that had nothing to do with each other, but finds out they have everything to do with each other! If we pray for things without real intent, it is going to be really hard for us to feel the power of prayer in our lives. And real intent IS being willing to accept the answers God gives us because we love Him, and want to do His will. I thought about how Elder Uceda denied the impression 3 times to turn back, just like I received 3 answers that i needed to serve a mission and it was STILL hard for me to accept. But i know that whatever answers God gives us they are for our benefit and we will be happier if he do His will. Just like I will be forever grateful for the impressions I received to serve a mission, it has changed my life in so many ways and i know that God sent me knowing I would be happier and be better off! Plus it is the best helping other people to be happier.

Had an awesome transfer with Hna Spainhower, learned SO much from her and I know a lot of the things I learned will help me for the rest of my life. Love her. Shes off to Zarumilla (super close) and im staying here with Hna Pay! Very sweet, diligent missionary from Laguna Niguel, Cali and im SO excited to work with her! Good things to come :) 

Love da fam! Hasta la proxima semana

Hna Richan

Peruvian Cemeteries

 Celeste is Engaged

 General Conference in English

 Saying goodbye to Hermana Spainhower and Elder Meier

 Monkeys with Flabia

Marilyn, my favorite member