Week 54- Huanta, Ayacucho, Peru: Another Week Here in Huanta (and PICTURES!)

This week has been a lot of change; after the last two baptisms we were in need of new investigators and we kept finding new people and putting fechas bautismales (translation: setting baptismal dates). we went from having two with fechas (dates) to 8, with three more hinging on a signature from a parent. Now we just need to work on getting EVERY one of them to church. That will be the refiner's fire for our new investigators; we will teach them clearly to give them the best opportunity to follow Christ.

Another cool thing that has happened in our district (four programs: the zone leaders, two sets of sisters, and us) is that we have a total of 28 people with fecha bautismal this month. That's a ton. Also we found more than 20 new investigators. We just need to everybody to progress and it will be awesome. I'll keep you updated.

So just a quick spiritual thought for this week. I was reading from 3 Nefi and found some great things.

"Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, and itis also written before you, that thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment of God; But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of his judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore, if ye shall come unto me, or shall desire to come unto me, and rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee—Go thy way unto thy brother, and first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I will receive you.

 And behold it is written also, that thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy; But behold I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you;

For, if ye forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you; But if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Judge not,that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and withwhat measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye,but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye Or how wilt thou say to thy brother: Let me pull the mote out of thine eye and behold, a beam is in thine own eye. Thou hypocrite, first cast the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother’s eye."

Don't judge others cause they sin differently than you!

I love and miss you all!

Elder Bromley



Now, PICTURES! (with captions by Elder Bromley)

The zone leaders and us

My comp is Link and locked us out

The glass store of the bishop

Service

How to prepare tuna (prickly pear)

My stressed comp reading the stress book after nightly planning

My pet dead scorpion

Look!

Week 53- Huanta, Ayacucho, Peru: Transfer 4 in Huanta (and PICTURES!)

So Elder Riveros and I survived cambios and we are still here in Huanta!

So this week has been one of the craziest ever. Elder Riveros and I had to go to Lima for his immigration papers. We were gone until Friday, (I didn't arrive until Saturday because I was interviewing) And then that same day we had two baptisms!

Luis Bustamante is a little kid of an investigator who cannot get baptized yet. He is easily the smartest kid I have ever met and liked to memorize the things we taught him. According to his mom, as he was reaching his 8th birthday, he walked up to his mom and said, "I'm going to turn 8 soon, it's about time I get baptized. We told him that he needed to read every day to prepare for baptism so every day he got up at 5 a.m. to read with his mom before she went to work. Now all of you should know that there are no excuses as to not read in the Book of Mormon haha

Yenifer (Jennifer) Fermín is the daughter of two less active parents. One day my companion and I decided to trek up to the corner of Huanta where she lived and visit her parents. We found her there also, and she said that she wanted to be baptized. We talked very plainly to her mom what her baptism would require and what she needed to do as a mother to help her out and since that day she has gone to church 6 out of 6 Sundays. Now after seeing Yenifer be baptized, her older sister Elizabeth was inspired to do the same! We will see how that goes with time!

Anyways, I hope everyone had a great Easter. We should all be very thankful for Christ and all that He has done for us. He died for us; let's live for Him!

You all should watch Missionary Work and the Atonement by Elder Holland and President Eyring ASAP

I love and miss you all!

Elder Bromley

La Zona Ayacucho (missing 2 hermanas)

La Zona Ayacucho

Giant fruit (one avocado filled a bowl with guacamole that Elder Bromley y Riveros couldn't finish)

Birthday breakfast

Week 52- Huanta, Ayaucho, Peru: Week 18 in Huanta

Next week there will be transfers, so I will not be writing next monday.

This last week has been a fun one. The Seventy has given all members in the area South America, Northwest, the assignment to read the Book of Mormon starting today, personally and in families, and to try to finish it within a year. My companion, Elder Riveros, and I were assigned to give talks about the Book of Mormon; it was super fun telling everybody how I gained my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I remember that that the first time I truly "felt" it was true in my heart was when I heard the talk "Safety for the soul" by Jeffrey R. Holland (LOOK IT UP EVERYBODY). But even though I felt it was true then, as soon as I began to read it as a habit, my testimony grew more and more until the day I finished it! It's like a flame that never goes out, I'm not sure how many times I've read the Book of Mormon now, but I know more and more that it is the word of God as I find more help in its inspired pages. I invite all of you, whether you have read the Book of Mormon or not, to read it daily and see for yourselves the blessings you will receive.

This week has been up there for the most lessons that have failed on us in a week; 25 lessons. Sometimes as a missionary it is tempting to wish that you could talk away that agency of people so that they could just do as you ask all the time, but that's not how life nor God works. Our agency has been part of us since the pre-mortal life, and the way through which we learn what is right and what is wrong. Not even God will take that away from us; it would be a contradiction to His very own plan. If we truly understand how important agency is, there is just even more reason to forgive and be patient. Sometimes we will get frustrated based on the actions of others in our lives, but it is our duty to act, and not be acted upon.

Choose now to forgive, Choose now to forget. Choose now to be grateful, Choose now to be happy.

These are just a few of the personal choices we have to make. Don't be confused and think that any of those blessings are dependent on anything else; They depend solely on us. So just do it. Haha

Elder Riveros and I want to have three baptisms this week, Luis Bustamante, Yenifer Fermín, and Sullivan Rojas. We are hoping that all goes well with them; we will be going to Lima this week to do some immigration things for Elder Riveros, and then I will be in Huamanga, another area, doing a baptismal interview. It will be a very busy week hahaha 

I love and miss you all!

Elder Bromley  

Week 51- Huanta, Ayacucho, Peru: One Year Ya

This last General Conference was amazing. I hope that everybody was able to see at least one of the sessions, and I am happy for those of you who attended all 5 (4). I'm sure that those who opened their ears, hearts, and minds were able to be spiritually edified.

In Huanta, we were able to see conference straight in the chapel; it was a great blessing. The audio kept freezing as the picture proceeded, so the voices didn't always match the faces, but it was a great oportunity to learn patience. Elder Riveros and I sat ourselves near the podeum so that we could fix the computer every time it froze up; at first it was stressful but at the end I was at peace and also learning all that I could from our leaders. It truly was a very inspired conference, which is normal, but the Spirit in the talks was so immense.

After the conference, I was surprised when one of the members started complaining and insulting the bishop and us for the faulty connection. Immediately came into my mind the talk of Jeffrey R Holland about the longsuffering of Christ. Although this member was loosing his temper I remained calm and disciplined my response, "we just needed to learn patience."

Everybody, to what avail do we listen to conference if we are so quick to forget its teachings? Please, use this spirit to liken these things to youselves. Remember that our learning isn't so much like the filling of a cup as it is the kindling of a fire. You put a cup under a faucet until it's full, and soon enough it is completley dry again. A fire requires constant fuel which we supply, and grows as we feed it; just as a fire we kindle, our learning only has the limits we give it. It is often said that things that don't change remain the same, but that is not true.

Nefi explains this concept very well.

"For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, herea little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that recieveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have." (2 Nefi 28:30)

Keep the fire burning. Be patient with others and love at all times. Never complain so that you can be happier, and always pull away from every situation what God has intended for you to learn.

Elder Bromley

Another cake from Milagros 

A packet of Taco Bell seasoning that Jeff's sister Melanie sent to him- they used it to make Mexican food as a zone