Buenas dias todos!!

Disculpe que por los dos semanas pasadas que no pude escribir, fuimos al templo y nuestro pday cambio de lunes a jueves. Pero todo normal ahora. Espero que no me extrañaban tanto jaja

We got to go to the temple last Thursday!!!  It was so awesome. It was definitely about time that we got to go back there, the last time I went I was with Elder Baque in my first area Los Robles! The spirit you can feel in the temple is definitely a feeling you can't get anywhere else. Es un lugar ùnico. I really love going to the temple, and I definitely look forward to going there often once I return home. Take advantage of the blessings you have! If there is a temple close by, go there and do some temple worship!!  There is not a better place to be. We can receive direction, comfort, and just enjoy being in the Lord's home.

We also had stake conference this last week, and it was powerful. The stake president and mission presidente focused a lot on the home. That everything needs to be founded in the home. That kids must grow with the knowledge of the commandments of God, that the first time they hear about the Law of Chastity or Word of Wisdom should come from their own home so when the temptations come, they already know whats up.

We also had a miracle this past two weeks. We found Diego, who is 20 years old. He has epilepsy, where he can pass out or have a seizure at any random point. He was super sad because he said he has done all he could to get rid of his disease, but came to the point that the only person that can heal him is God. When we went to teach him, the spirit was just so strong. I was extremely impacted by his faith, that if he turns to God that God can heal him. I decided that when we started teaching him, that we needed to teach the Plan of Salvation. When I got to the part about the resurrection, the spirit was extremely strong and I couldn't control my tears. I shared the story of Grandpa McGreer, how my whole life when I knew him, he was always in a wheelchair, but had a lively spirit. He always wanted to go on adventures, play in the park, play fetch with his dog Magic, but was restrained by his disease. I shared my simple testimony about the resurrection, that someday all our bodies will be restored into its perfect form without blemish, and that there won't be a single hair on our head that would be forgotten. I felt a great appreciation for the Plan of Salvation, and I felt like Grandpa was there with me helping me say the words Diego needed to hear to have comfort that everything will be okay with his disease. I felt my body get warm and as if a hand was resting on my shoulder comforting me. Diego will be baptized this Saturday. I invited him to be baptized after the second visit, and he put all his faith in the things we have taught him. I don't think I can ever forget that experience where I felt so much love for my own family, for another person, and that someone like me could be the instrument to bring another soul unto Christ. Diego is also known on the street, and was inviting all his friends and buddies to listen to us to get them to come unto Christ as well. He is being a better missionary than us. That also reminded me of Grandpa because every time we went to his house there was always someone random there that I didn't know before haha

I love you guys. I hope everything is going well and are enjoying life to the fullest!

Love,
Elder McGreer

Buenas tardes, esta semana me canso pero esta bien porque es la obra del Señor.

This week we got Vasco baptized!!!  It was a little bit hectic, but we got it done. We went to talk with the mom to get permission and all to baptize her son, because her other son is a member and always brought Vasco along with him! So we went, and the condition to get him baptized was we had to have a room filled with toys. It was a little bit weird of a request, but it was for the moms sister who is special needs, and needed something to distract her while we did the baptismal service. So we got that room filled with all the toys we could find from the guarderia, and we got that boy baptized!!!  It was a rewarding experience.

Also, we went to the municipalidad for our investigadores Cristian and Maria. We are currently in the process of getting them married, so we had to go get the partido de nacimiento for Cristian and see if they qualify for marriage. That was a long day but we got it all under control for now. We are hoping that the 25th they will get married, so keep them in your prayers.

We also have overall just been working super hard this week to find as many people as we can. We have been leaving a lot with the JAS (Spanish for youth group) for them to show us their family and their friends, and we have been finding lots of people that way. It is also way fun because the JAS here is awesome and make missionary work a blast.

Something that has struck me this week has been Mosiah 27, the story of Alma el hijo. For me, it is crazy how him and his friends went off and were the vilest of sinners. They committed some pretty serious sins, and then the angel appeared to them because of the prayers of his father. While I was studying it, it impressed upon me how Alma repented and changed, and later became one of the greatest missionaries that we have to record. Because of him, we have the account of many amazing and sacred conversion stories that gives us the the spiritual strength we need to make it through these days. However, how did Alma repent? He was knocked out for two days and to nights, but the first thing he said when he woke up was I have repented. How does a man so wicked repent just like that? I didn't understand. The consequences of his actions were still there. Many still fell away from the church because of him. All of a sudden he sees and angel, goes to sleep, and now he's repented?  I learned that repentance, we often feel that it is a long process and a burden. We feel we have to earn forgiveness. It takes the same amount of time to say I will change and MEAN IT in order to repent. Often times where we struggle is the meaning it part. I know, that if a man such as Alma el hijo can repent and change from all of his wickedness, that it is never to late for us. Rarely I believe that we will get the title as one of the vilest of sinners. I know because we can be saved from the depths of hell, and be wrapped in the arms of His everlasting love. I know repentance is a vital part to our learning here on this earth, and we can do it everyday to receive the blessings of heaven. I know it is true!

I love the mission, I love Peru. I honestly am super content here. Maybe I will rent myself a little cuarto when I am done with the mission hahahaha I love you guys! Hope y'all have a great week!

Buenas tardes mi familia, mis amigos, mis conocidos, vecinos, profesores, novias que nunca tuve, la conferencia general era una experiencia tan inolvidable que estoy muy emocionado por el siguiente vez que tendremos la oportunidad a escuchar al profeta.

I loved general conference!!!  I definitely noticed a huge theme in repentance, and shunning the adversary. I am so grateful for the lessons taught, and wonderful examples we have in the scriptures such as Moses who can withstand such great forces from the adversary and triumph in the glory of our heavenly nature as children of our Heavenly Father. I learned so much, that we must constantly repent and build our defenses against the enemy who desires to destroy our souls. I know that it is not easy, and never will be easy, but we have the responsibility to get on the side of our Lord and Savior and represent His name with glory and power in all that we do. In our actions, thoughts, feelings, and words. I love the prophets and apostles that we have and their divine revelation that they relieve specifically for us in these times.

In between sessions today, we finally baptized Yarixa!!!  It is a crazy story. So we heard the other missionaries were going to have a baptism in between sessions, and Yarix just needed to get in the water. When we found out we could get her to General Conference, we asked her if she would be willing to get baptized in that moment and she said yes lets do it!!!  We have been fighting for a while because her parents did not want her to get baptized at all, but would let her come to church. Well since she now is 18 years old as of a month ago, we don`t need permission and the work of the Lord was not obstructed. It was a powerful service, but what was the most powerful was her beautiful testimony that she bore after that touched my heart. To see her faith, and strength in the gospel when she feels so alone and no one in her family supports her, really showed me the example of the type of person I need to be.

True integrity to stand alone when the world is against you. I know that is true because the world is against us. The world doesn't want the work of the Lord to continue. The world is ever change, and as the prophetic words of Russell M Nelson is that it will soon be impossible to survive spiritually without the constant nourishment of the gospel. We are in a war, a war of good and evil and we need soldiers of righteousness. I invite all to ponder this general conference, and to repent. Make the changes in your life. Every one of you are sinning and may not even know it. Find that sin and change. Become closer to your Heavenly Father. Allow yourself to be humbled unto the dust and not let pride impede your repentance. Make amends with those you have done wrong. Talk to the bishop if you need to. Don't justify sin, for woe unto those who call good evil and evil good, for surely we cannot wait until that last day to say we will repent. We just cannot do that. Change NOW. Do it NOW. Don't hold off the blessings that await you. Forgive and forget NOW. As I have been putting this process in practice myself, I know it is true and am a witness that when we give our all to the Lord that He truly can heal our lives and change the way we think, feel, and act only if we let Him.

I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!

Hey!!

So it is finally the new change, and nothing is changing! I am still with Elder Pacheco and I will still be serving here in Gran Chimu with him for at least another 6 week, so let's get down to work!

This week we almost got to baptize Yarixa, but it just wasn't possible. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. We went in the morning to fill up the font, then we came back at 6 to check up on the church before the baptism planned at 7, and the font was completely empty..... and we came to find out that there was NO WATER in the building. So we started freaking out because we didn't know what to do, so we called the Zone lideres and they said we could do it in the other building so they filled up that font over there, while we waited for everyone to come, and then all head over there at the same time. Well we waited and waited, and some members came but Yarixa never came. We called and called and called until like the 50th time she finally answered just to tell us she was at her university and wasn't going to make it. Like bro, we did everything we could and Satan still won that round. By that time it was around 8 and we just told everyone they could go home. It was a long and stressful day. I still have faith that she will get baptized some day.

Other than that, we went up the mountain to visit some members and we came across the most sketch cemetery in the world. A little story on this part, the area is called Tupac Amaru where some time ago there was flooding, and the flood came running down this mountain and smoothed everything out because it was like a river. When the flood was over, it left everything flattened out, and what better place to start building your home?? So everyone who doesn't have a lot of money but wants a good place to live, just went right on up there to build their house. A nice, safe, secure place UNTIL THE NEXT FREAKING FLOOD COMES.  Then it will flatten your house out too, and you can have a fresh start!!  Well in this area there is also a cemetery nicknamed Donde la Vida no Vale Nada, and it is super freaky because they are very poorly buried and it is just like a mound of sand covering the body and it gives me the jeepers.  There are lots of graves where there isn't even any tombstone or cross or anything, just a mound of sand and you know there is a body there. We were up visiting members for that area, and we let curiosity get the best of us and man that cemetery freaked me out. I tried to show some respect for them and fix some broken crosses and clean up some trash around the graves, because for me it actually made me super sad to see it because I am sure there were many good people that died there.

We also have been doing some service shoe making, because here in good old Porvenir, they are best known for them good old fake brand shoes, so I learned how to make some nike shoes with your adidas, and your puma, but they are totally fake. They have marks that say made in Indonesia when it is being made in Peru?  It gave me lots of laughter, but it is awesome. I love making shoes and helping with the fake shoe business.

I know this gospel is true and Christ can strengthen us in all things whenever we are down. I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!!

Con amor,
Elder McGreer

This week was a super fast week. So last week I bought a pretty awesome hat and it has been doing a great job at protecting me from the sun, so I am grateful for that. We also had an awesome Zone Conference this week where we had a super intense ping pong tournament, which was the most hype ping pong tournament I have ever seen in my life.

This week we put a fecha for hermana Yarixa, and with lots of faith she will get baptized tomorrow. I am hoping everything runs smoothly. She is 18 years old, but her dad does not want her to get baptized. I don't know why, but for some reason there are lots of parents here that do not want their kids getting baptized or going to church. The plan is to get her baptized on her way home from school and her parents told her she can go to church just fine, so I am praying that this week it will all work out!

President Hinostroza has asked us to memorize ten scriptures of virtue and a whole hymn with all the verses, so I am working on that even though me memory is terrible. This last week I have been practicing my voice to see if I can sing well, like a Broadway singer, and well that was a dumb choice because the next day my throat hurt so bad and my companion Elder Pacheco was dying laughing from all that hahaha

While I have been here in the mission, I have developed a really strong testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Ï have lots of respect for him, and know with all my heart that he truly did see God the Father and Jesus Christ. I can't deny it, and know that the promise is we too can know it. When we have sincere hearts, true intention, and faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost will make manifest the truth of all things if we ask Heavenly Father ourselves if it is true. I know it is, and it is the most important message today that can be conveyed.

I know the importance of always focusing on the Savior, that all our thoughts and feelings must be directed towards Him. I truly know that today we are in a war, a war between good and evil. That we need soldiers of virtue and good moral character that can stand strong against the face of evil. We must be focused on establishing the kingdom of God here on earth and to allow His blessings to be rained down upon us. In DyC 130:20-21 it says:

20 There is a a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—

21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.

In order to receive the blessings that we desperately need, it requires that we be the faithful, obedient servants that He needs us to be in this time. Also DyC 121:45-46 has been a scripture on my mind mucho that has been something to ponder. It reads:


45 Deja también que tus entrañas se llenen de caridad para con todos los hombres, y para con los de la familia de la fe, y deja que la virtud engalane tus pensamientos incesantemente; entonces tu confianza se fortalecerá en la presencia de Dios; y la doctrina del sacerdocio destilará sobre tu alma como crocíodel cielo.

46 El Espíritu Santo será tu compañero constante, y tu cetro, un cetro inmutable de justicia y de verdad; y tu dominio será un dominio eterno, y sin ser compelido fluirá hacia ti para siempre jamás.

That is a pretty amazing promise. That if we follow as directed, el Espiritu Santo será nuestro compañero CONSTANTE. Tu dominio será un dominio ETERNO. Cuan asombroso es esta promesa?! Sè que tenemos que hacerlo como soldados de Dios.

Les amo!!!!!!

Con Amor,

This week was a very interesting week.

So Thursday, I woke up throwing up like crazy. That was NOT fun. I thought maybe it was just a one and done thing because that has happened before, but when we got to the pension I again threw up there. Then, I went back to the room and called the enfermera, and she said to take some bismutol because apparently it is something called the pitts. I took the bismutol, and couldn't even hold that down before throwing it up all over the floor because i couldn't make it from my bed to the bathroom. I couldn't keep anything down!!  I went to bed and passed out all day. The other elders came and we did a division so that we could still make it to our citas.

BUT, we had a baptism that day for hermana Stephany Lucero Llapo Vega!!!  I manned up at night to put on my suit and make it to her baptism and it was awesome. When I transferred to this area, the only challenge for her baptism was getting permission from her mom, so I went to their house,  shared my testimony and what I knew would bless and help them and she agreed, signed, and BOOM al agua!  It was a pretty special experience.  I am so excited for her!!

We nearly had another baptism, but it looks like the dad does not want her daughter to get baptized even though she is of age.  It was a stressful experience, but we did all we can and it didn't work out. We also had another one planned, but the kids disappeared from the planet so we couldn't do much there hahah.

The mission is full of wild experiences, and stress, but lots of blessings. I know that there is nothing more important than this work. The Lord deserves all that we can give. I know with certainty that this is His true church, and when we have faith we are humble, diligent, and able to endur our trials that come to us. We must always seek to learn and grow. I know this is true and I know it is something I need to practice every day.  I love you all!!!

Hey!!!

So this week we had another surprise baptism!!!   We had the blessing to baptize Deivy Beckam Casiano Aguilar, Sunday morning before church. We put our goal as one baptism at the beginning of the week not knowing who, and before the week was over we found out we could do it!!!  It was so awesome. Beckam is a 13 year old kid, which some of his family members are members of the Church as well. Two of his sisters are members. We had some interesting lessons, but he understood the commandments and was ready to make the sacred covenant with the Lord so we were super excited for him.

This week we are also hoping to have three more baptisms, but I will keep you guys posted on what happens. We had been working super hard, and Gran Chimu is a place where there are lots of people super prepared.  It is so exciting to be here, in the work, where we are always super duper busy.

My companion and I have also been getting up every morning and doing some intense exercising with the football that was gifted to me, so that has been fun.  Every time we drop the ball, we have to do ten burpees (I rarely drop it) so it has been funny making my companion work his butt off, but it worked!  He could fit into his baptismal pants when he didn't before!!!  So we needed that because that was just a ridiculous challenge at the baptism when he couldn't fit into his freaking pants.

Our district is super small, there is only four of us.  But we had interchanges where I went with Elder Chicaiza and that was pretty fun.  At the end of the day, when we came back to the room, we found the movie 17 Miracles and we put it on and wow that movie was super powerful.  To think of all the sacrifices the saints made of their families, homes, health, their pride, even their lives to build Zion. It really motivated me because it seems like I have it way easier than they did.  I know that when we truly understand the doctrine and know these things are true, I know I can overcome all things through Christ who strengthens me.  So when the challenges come, we must face them head on with ourselves pointed in the direction of Christ and all will be well.

I love you guys and hope you have a great week!