Service and hikes to WATERFALLS!

Howdys all around!

This week was full of service. We helped with a move and we made a crutch for a member who needs crutches to be able to put their leg in a cast and we´ve been doing small things too. We´ve also had some great citas and we put a new date this week! Hermano Jean Pier is now preparing for baptism on the 24th of March.

Our sector is progressing, we´re finding new people and teaching well.

My spirits are super good, I´m feeling the Spirit more, I´ve been getting up on time recently and things are just going good despite trials as always.

How is being a ZL? I bet it is both challenging and rewarding. How is the area? Are your new glasses working well? How was the training? 

It´s good, I can be  more of a leader like I´m used to, but it´s great.  helping out people more. The  area is good, we´ve got some really good investigators and we´ve put  date this week! Yes, they´re slightly crooked I think, but they´re good. Training? Consejo? Chill, other thing, I don´t know what it´d be.

We made a crutch!

Yuli who is (Julie) seated had a something  happen to her ankle playing BB and now she needs to put it in a cast, but needs crutches before the doctor will do that, so we made a crutch and we´re going to do another one today if they have the wood. That was super fun, I really like my brain too and the Lord´s inspiration because He inspired me to know how to do the thing, everyone else helped.

Also, we helped a new family move into where our pension lives and they´re super open, so we´re going to be teaching them once we´re back from Cusco this week after a multi zone conference. We talked to the guy yesterday as he invited us to eat at his restaraunt (first time I can remember eating at a restaraunt on a Sunday, the second was that night when our pension took us out to eat pollo) 

Jean Pier like I mention arriba should be getting baptized next Saturday and that´s super awesome! He´s coming to district chior and doing the best he can with studies and all, he´s super cool.

Today we hiked to some really cool super big waterfalls, one was 86 meters or about 300 feet and I think the other was  bigger, We went right down to the cascade and it was like being sprayed by a fire hose almost bu t very misty and spray-y. I got completely soaked! like 100%, even though I had my waterproof jacket on to begin with. I took it off because it didn´t really help.

That´s about it for this week, enjoy yourselves in good things and until the proxima semana!

--

Hurrah for Israel!

~Elder Fincher

¿Mi Primer Consejo? ¿O no?

Howdy peeps! What´s cookin´?

This has been a good week, our sector was a little neglected, but it was good on a whole.

Our sector has a couple people that we´re working with and we´re going to be working on finding more people.

Consejo was cool, I wasn´t completely sure what to expect despite having been to parts of it before, but it was good and I think what I took out will help me and the other missionaries.

How did you see the hand of the Lord in your life this week?
It came in the form of pain but it prevented worse pain. The ride from/to Cusco and Quillabamba sucks, bad. Imagine the switchback part of Provo canyon going up that one peak to Big Cottonwood or something, now multiply that by 3 1/2 - 4 hours and add 1 1/2 - 1 extra hour of mostly normal country roads and now you know what it´s like to go from Quillabamba to Cusco. Well, I was in a car without sufficient leg room for me and so I got quite stiff and sore. But I didn´t end up getting motion sick because I was crammed in that spot and just didn´t move. So that was nice.

On Tuesday we had a noche misional or mission night and we had the people there act out a scripture story and then we talked about how the scriptures help us in our day to day lives. The first group acted out "The parable of the 4 Virgins" and our group acted out the parable of the Good Samaritan. It turned out pretty good. Then we played Caballero.

Wednesday we traveled to Cusco and that was a little rough, but Elder Carlson and I switched seats at a pit stop and I got the middle, my stomach was better and I just had to have my hands on the shoulders of the seats in front of me to be able to not get tossed around and thrown into Elder Carlson or this old lady sleeping next to me, and for my stomach. My arms were sore after the fact, but my stomach was good.

Thursday was consejo, it was my first time there.... as a zone leader. But not my first time ever, having been in the office I frequented parts of consejo. It was pretty cool, but not as spectacular as I thought it might have been. Good stuff talked about though and I often commented. I do that... :)

Then as Elder Carlson was doing fondo de zona afterwards I went and did a vaina with Elder Ordoñez as we volunteered to take a package to ship to Lima for Elder Larsen the financial secretary. It´s a surprise though, so I can´t say what happened, but there´s a picture of a part of it around 6PM on the 1st. Maybe that picture can be found. jejeje

We went to citas with Elder Ordoñez and Elder Lema after that in their sector. They´re the zone leaders in Inti Raymi now. Then we ordered pizza and that was delicious. Also, I took many selfies with the zone leaders, knowing that it could be the last time I see them in the mission.

Friday was divisions with the assistants and that was good. I was with Elder Peña and Elder Carlson was with Elder Coil. Those were good, learned, had spiritual experiences and good all.

Saturday was the car trip I explain above. And we had a cita when we got home. Also, it was fast Sunday, so Saturday´s lunch was a pack of vanilla crackers about 5-10 crackers less than a pack of saltines would be and then I fasted until yesterday at lunch. That was fun.

It was a good week, we learned some new stuff, we´re getting along better and we had some fun while we´re at it. Yup, I think I like being a zone leader. Also, Primary Children´s songs are so underrated, they´re great!

Have a great week and until the next,

--

Hurrah for Israel!

~Elder Fincher

Quillabamba!

Good afternoon, I hope that you´re all well. Life´s good though here in Quillabamba.

The sector, it´s much better here than in Puno, good in Puno, but better here. We have a couple people with baptismal dates and a couple with a marriage date! We helped them plan that a little more last night. We´re also getting lots of references from the members and we´ve taught quite a few people this week. I´m really excited to be here and be able to do a lot more with investigators than in Puno I was able to do.

Our companionship, Elder Carlson and I get along well. We´re both pretty in sync, we work well together but we can get better at ping ponging in lessons. I feel really bad for Elder Carlson though, he wants to end his time in the mission here and with me showing up and not ending in April now we are both pretty sure that he´s going to have a change. Unless we make history and finish together as a companionship.

I´m doing good. My spirits are nice and high and I´m excited to work a lot more in the obvious parts of the salvation of others here in Quillabamba. I´m really happy to be working more.

I gave a talk last week, not yesterday, but my last Sunday in Puno I gave a talk about peace, it was a good talk. We have peace when we live the Gospel and let Christ into our lives, then we can be calm and sure.

Quillabamba is great! The climate is much more chill than Puerto Maldonado, but I just love the jungle, and I prefer the town parts sometimes. (small country mouse city mouse reference)  But I like the people here even more! We´ve gotten a handful of references and I haven´t even asked for any yet!

I´m making a very concentrated effort to learn everyone´s names when I meet them and it´s going well. I know many people´s names now and I´m getting to know people. Things are good and I´m really excited to keep working here in Quillabamba.

This week we´ll be going to Cusco for consejo de lideres and we´ll come back with hopefully better ideas of how to help the zone. It´ll be fun at the least. :D (I´m going to do exercises with Elder Lewis!)

I can´t think of anything else to say other than the Gospel is true and Jesus loves us all.

Take care y´all!

--

Hurrah for Israel!

~Elder Fincher

Eternal.... summer?

I don´t know what to think about my change other than what I told myself before I knew it, iré y haré. But it´s good. Alright week, not much what with the Candelaria and all, but it´s been good and we´ve visited some more members to support them, and we had a lesson with an investigator yesterday too. Also a couple good activities with the ward and another between Central and Inca, they turned out pretty good. District service project too to clean a trashy stream. It´s been a good week.

Spirits, I´m good, but I know that it´s right, even though I´m also nervous. I´m just hoping to get it all good before I leave. Do the right and all. I´m a little incoherent right now.

Yeah, I´ve got a change. And the hint is, I really need a haircut now.

I don´t know what to think.

The Candelaria was good. We ended up going right by one of the dances as we went to go have the chess day with the members. But it wasn´t an immodest dance, so it was chill.

We had a great time making stir fry and playing chess with Hermano Cristian who is the really smiley one in the picture in this kitchen. And Monday we just played chess all day long and it was fun.

Then we had a district service activity where we were going to herd sheep, but it fell through, then we just cleaned 5 medium garbage bags out of a small stream. That was good. After that we had a district family home evening with the 2 wards and it was pretty good.

Then we had other things that I don´t remember. But it was cool.

Then, this morning we had changes meeting...

And now I need a haircut. I need to see about getting some sunglasses. I need to pack. I´m glad I said goodbye to people yesterday. I also need a shower after this morning and sports.

I´m going to be a zone leader in Quillabamba! WHAT?!?!?!??

My companion is going to be Elder Alexander Carlson who is from Nevada, (Henderson I think, maybe Reno.) and his dad is Peruvian I´m pretty sure. He´s cool, but slightly weird. And I haven´t even left Puno yet! #OfficeEffects So yeah, those are cool beans that shall be done up with a little bit of butter and be delicious.

I´m really out of it. I knew that I was going to be leaving Puno, but I thought I would train or just go be a district leader somewhere, I´m going to be a zone leader! What?!?

Anywho, I love you all, I love the members here in Inca Pachacutec, despite it being less than half the time I´ve been in other sectors, I love them. And I´m going to love the people in Quillabamba.

There´s only 10 missionaries there. My companion and I, Elder Valenzuela the AP is going to train and die there, Elder Eaustaquio with Elder Vilca, don´t really know them. And Hermanas Laime with Calvillo who was in Inti Raymi when I was in the office. As well as Hermana Mantilla who will be training as well. It´s going to be very interesting. I am going to be a much better example than what I´ve been here, I´ve not been bad, but I haven´t been good either. I´ve been average, and I don´t like it. So I´m going to change.

I love y´all! Take care and see ya in time after the best 2 changes yet here in the mission!

¡Chou!

--

Hurrah for Israel!

~Elder Fincher

Candelaria...

Imanaya Cashanki?

Howdy all!

This has been yet again another better week. It´s not been perfect, but it´s been better.

I´m proud to say that the constant exercises are finally paying off and I´ve got a 6 pack coming in on my abs, that´s good motivation and I´m really happy about it.

Our sector has more citas set up for this week and we´re trying to work with more people, we´re really focusing on strengthening the members because they´re not the greatest in their spirituality, but this Sunday we noticed a big change in how the Bishopric is doing things and we have a mission leader for the first time since I´ve been here. So it´s getting better.

I´m doing well, I´m working on putting things for in my house on paper, like what my overall vision is, what goals, plans, ideas, hopes, etc... I have for when I get home I´ll not be at a loss, but I´ll have a plan. I got really worried the other night, but I got over that and I´ve been doing good since and I´m going strong.

Our companionship is going well, Elder Lozano was super worried they´d send him to replace Elder Lewis in the office, but they didn´t. So he´s happier now.

This week is the Candelaria, AKA Very large pagan festival that results in missionaries being in lockdown for 2 days. That´s exciting!

The general details are that this morning we all came to the stake center in Chanu Chanu since 8am until 1pm and then we were considered free to go eat lunch and lock ourselves in our rooms until bedtime. With tomorrow being the same except for just in our houses. But we got permission and we´re going to hike a mountain, because being in the house all day is cool, but we´d rather not.

That´s about it this week, I can´t think of anything else besides encouraging you all to be great people like is your destiny. That´s right, even you, the one who is reading this, is a child of God, unless someone makes their dog read this blog, which I don´t know how that would happen, but assuming that humans are the only creature capable of reading, then, that is true; you are a child of the Most High God and He loves you and He wants the best for you, so go forward with faith in Christ.

Love vosotros!

--

Hurrah for Israel!

~Elder Fincher

Gran P-day, again?

Hey howdy hays a todos!

Question:

Just wondering, what do you feel has made the greatest impact on your life by serving a mission? What have you learned that is most valuable to you?

Working with people and being better despite it all.  How to work with people.

It`s been a better week this week, we were able to talk to more people and we also had more visits with the members.

Our sector has had more people and more effort this week, we`re still not at much, but we`re working at it.

Our companionship is good, we`re working together and we are trying to help each other more and more as we go along.

I`m doing well personally, I`m good. 

President Herrera helped me renew my temple recommend the other day during the multizone conference. So now I don`t have an expired Temple recommend like would have happened had it waited until just the next day, so that was good that it happened then.

We had gran p-day and a multizone conference, they were pretty good, but I`m slightly struggling with new rules that the APs are putting that seem to be just dumb. But I`m going to try and work with them.

The gran p-day was with President and Hermana Herrera. It was pretty fun, we played a trivia version of tic tac toe with 4 different teams then a couple team games, Cast Away and Russians vs. French were the names. Papers one a hula hoop to try and beat the cast aways that tried to beat the sharks. And then the other one everyone was on their backs and had to run to their base as the other team tried to tag them.

After that we went and played more sports with other missionaries at the Central chapel. Then we went to go move Hermano Cristian who was moving from our ward to central, that took the rest of the day, but it was good and I was happy to see that I could do a lot more than I used to in moves, considering that Elder Lozano and I were the only ones moving things off the truck after loading it before. Though Hermana Perry does a man´s part in moving, she`s tough for moving. I think she said she had worked with furniture before the mission as well as a mint oil factory. It was a good, but tiring move; I thought that I had over exerted myself, but I decided that I was going to be okay and that I would be healthy in the morning, and that`s what happened, it was cool.

Friday at the sports afternoon we played frisbee and it broke at the end of the night, so I am at a count of 0 with frisbees now, but they were fun while they were in use.

The Bishopric in the ward has completely changed besides the Bishop, but it`s good and we`ll be working together good. We`re going to pension at the house of the new 1st councilor so that`ll be good to coordinate some things.

Hermano Pablo who was the bishop`s secretary moved to Cochabamba the same day as the gran p-day so we couldn`t help, but we said goodbye the night before and he`ll be good there.

There`s more I could say, but there`s not much significant things that I can say, so I think that`s it this week, but be good.

God loves us, when we serve we are blessed as we bless others.

--

Hurrah for Israel!

~Elder Fincher