We have finished one change and now we enter the next.  Time is going by fast and yet I feel I have much to learn.

I am with Elder Fajardo for another transfer, so we are going to work hard this next change. I don't want to let myself get relaxed as I finish, so I am setting high goals to finish strong which include lots of exercises and an intense study of the scriptures.

With all this news of the coronavirus, I sure am scared of what is going to happen. I know I will be washing my hands a lot haha.

This week I learned the importance of really being diligent. We show our love to God through our diligence. If we aren't diligent in the things we do, we allow room for slothfulness and the adversary has more power over us. We must always be ready for the attack, diligent in all that we do. I know that Christ was the perfect example of what it means to be diligent. He was able to resist all temptation and continued trusting in his Padre Celestial which allowed him to fulfill his purpose here in this life.

I know that as we strive to be diligent, we can succeed in this life with many blessings showing our love and gratitude for the savior.

I love Peru!

Hello!!!!!!

This week we had the baptism of the wonderful Farid, who was a miracle.

The story all started out when we were in the plaza de armas. That place is pretty exciting. We contacted an atheist, who didn't want very much to do with us. However, his friend came which was our now good friend Carlos. We come to find out through the contact that he is actually a member!  He is always working in his business of selling bus tickets to other parts of Peru. We set up a cita to visit him there in his work, where we went the next day and got to know him a little more!  We find out that he has some kids, who don`t live with him, but live in another country. He does however have one kid, who was Mark. Mark and Farid are the same person, he just goes by the two names. I don't know why, but we just refer to him as the two. We came back the next day and got to know Mark, where we taught him a little, then the next day we already put a baptismal date for him.

Throughout the transcourse of the lessons, Mark progressed super fast. Became good friends with Joseph, who was feeling lonely because in the young men there wasn't anyone like him that was his same age and all. Joseph is also the son of the stake president, and our pensionista. Mark started going to seminary with Joseph, to EARLY morning seminary too! While we are visiting them, we run into a friend of Carlos, who is actually the stake secretary, and we come to find out that Carlos was the branch president of a small branch in a nearby town called Roma. When we found that out we were kinda shocked!!

It was beautiful to see how strong of a father bond relationship that they have, and that when we visited Carlos that his first desire was the best for his son that he can go down this path. It was guided by the spirit everything we did there. Carlos is in the process of coming back to the church while his son Farid found this spiritual refuge where he can learn, grow, and develop in a safe environment. I am super content with the miracles that we saw throughout these two week with them.

I also had an interchange with Elder Nordhagen!!  Elder Nordhagen was actually in two of my last areas, Los Robles and Gran Chimu!!!  We had an awesome interchange talking about all the miracles of these two areas and how awesome they both were. He is also from my group, because we go home together the same day!!  It was an awesome interchange where we topped it off with some pòllo a la brasa.

Besides Mark, I have been profoundly impacted by a new way of personal study that has enlightened my mind in the scriptures.  We have been taught to study with the Prinicipio, La Doctrina y La Aplicación. The Principle is the `what` of the topic, the Doctrine is the `why` to what we do, the Application is the `how` we do what we need to do for the reason why we do it. It has really helped my way of looking at the commandments and has made my study a lot more effective.

For example: Law of chastity

Principle: The Law of Chastity is the sexual purity of men and women before God.

Doctrine: Fornication is an abomination before god. Our bodies are temples. The power to procreate is God given and given within a set of laws of heaven to follow.

Application: To avoid the serious sin before God, we must first wait until marriage to start a family. in addition, we should avoid anything that can suggest breaking this sacred commandment by keeping our thoughts and feelings pure.

Example: Word of wisdom

Principle: A law of Health given to us from God through Joseph Smith

Doctrine: Our bodies are temples, and deserve the right that we treat them as such from the things we consume or do.

Application: We should avoid 5 substances in particular of Alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco, coffee, and tea. We should also be conscious of the other things we are consuming such as too much red meat, or too little vegetables. Too much sugar and caffeine, or too little fruit.

As I have been studying in this method, obviously a lot more profoundly with scriptures and personal notes and questions, I have found that I better understand principles and doctrines that maybe I didn't understand the same before. I hope you guys can put in practice this way of studying in your own personal lectura of the scriptures!!!

Love you guys!