Week 41: Cuy and Baptisms

 This was a great week! We saw lots of miracles and 3 baptisms!

Wow I only got in 2 personal studies this week. We ended up doing things most mornings so I wasn't able to get it in. I usually feel horrible when I don't because I lack the spiritual boost I need for the day. On Tuesday we had pday so this week was a little shorter. On Wednesday we went to the stake center to take our language exams and receive new phones! We still only have one, but it's new and doesn't have cracks or ghost touches like our old one did. But this morning took a whole lot longer than it should have since we were there till 1 in the afternoon. But it was really fun to tslk with the other elderes y hermanas for a few hours and play the piano. Elder Rios and Elder Castillo came up to give us the phones and it turns out Elder Castillo us actually insane at the piano. People need to stop asking me to play because I know that everyobe else thinks I'm better than I actually am.

After we got the new phone we went up to a member's house for lunch since they had invited us. Hermano Milton and hid family had promised a feast and a feast it was. I had cuy for the first time, papas reinas, inca kola, etc. I really enjoyed the cuy. I didn't get one of the entire guinea pigs, but I got half of one and it still had it's shape. The meat tasted really good and it was quite chewy and had a lot of bones. I guess that's ine food I can cross off my list. Now I just need to eat one whole.

One miracle we experienced this week was with hermano Dante. He's really busy all the time since he's working and is a single father with two little girls. I had only had one lesson with him in person before I asked him to be baptized after he had come to church a few weeks. Normally when we'd try to call him durinf the week he wouldn't pick up. But since we set the date for his baptism for saturday we needed to teach him pretty much everything except the restoration in seperate 15 minute phone calls each night. We were able to teach him one of the lessons every single night, which is something 2 weeks ago I would have considered impossible. We taught him every lesson and commandment over the phone and he had his interview on Friday night. This was a miracle and shows that the Lord will provide a way for all to be baptized and have all the blessings he has promised even through difficult circumstances.

Saturday morning we went to the chapel to prepare for David's baptism. Eventually a decent bunch of ward members showed up, with a lot of hermano Diaz' family. He's the ward mission leader and became friends with David really quickly when we invited him to join us for our lessons with him. David asked me to perform the baptism so I brought my white clothes, but he had to wear Elder Macedo's pants. Baptismal clothing must be a problem down here because every ward is supposed to have their own but it seems like no ward ever does. It's like there's only a few going around the stake and you just have to ask the right people or another missionary to lend you the clothes. And of course the water in the font is "supposed to be" warm, but it never is. It was actually quite cold. But other than that the baptism started at 10 and went well. David had the biggest smile on his face when he came out of the water!

We had Dante's baptism at 4 the same day, and Indoamerica had a baptism at 3 so we didn't need to empty the font. No one really wanted to create a second program so it was mostly the same for all 3 baptisms. I again baptized and this time Dante used Elder Barlow's pants. He shared his testimony with one of his daughters in his arms and it was very powerful. Our zone had a special fast for our friends in la estaca Esperanza, because the record for baptisms in a single month for a zone after covid right now is 17, (still held by Zona Esperanza), but with this 5th week we can break 25. We fasted for all the people on date and for miracles to occur. We're going to try our best to find someone we can try to baptize next Sunday. Elder Macedo didn't fast because he didn't want to, so it was just me. We had a noche de hogar with one inactive sister. It was canceled, but she introduced us to a bunch of her coworkers, family, and friends, many of whom are interested in the gospel. This was a blessing so now we have new people to meet with!

On Sunday David and Dante were confirmed. Dante even started crying during his confirmation. Milagros came too, so we could have her baptism at 3. We had to find baptismal clothes for her so we asked around until the ZLs finally said they had some. So we walked over to Jordan and got the clothes. Right before the baptism we met with a reference named Rocio. She's eager to come to church and wants direction in her life. She actually lives in a different area, in el barrio Esperanza, but it was still cool to meet with her. At 3 we had Milagros' baptism. Even her friend Maritza who we're teaching right now came! She's actually the person we were trying to see when we first met Milagros. So we'll definitely be trying to get her to come to church now. Elder Macedo baptized her, which had to be done three times because she wouldn't really bend her knees. But she has a strong testimony, even through her health problems and we're going to help become a bit more stable. After they got changed I confirmed her. I wasn't expecting to do that but I stepped up and gave the confirmation. It was a really cool experience and I felt the spirit so strongly. But now that all three are baptized we're not going to have any asistencias! But this is better. Hermana Sandra, the RS president, gave everyone some Inca Kola and a littlw packet of these red balls. I know it was popcorn, but it seriously tasted as if Cap'n Crunch made his own popcorn. It was pretty good.

For pday we went to Huanchaco, which is the beach part of Trujillo. We fit all six of us into a taxi so we were squished. We walked around in the water and found some crabs (most of them were already dead). We had lunch at a restaurant and shoved all six of us into a taxi again. Elder Varlow had to sit on me during the trip but it was alright.

That was my week! Thank you for your prayers and I know that we can help David, Dante, and Milagros have a home in the church! Have a fantastic week!

Elder Jensen

1/7. Hermano Dante
2/3. Hermao David
4. Hermana Milagros
5. Cuy!
6. Cangrejos!
8. District pic at Huanchaco









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