Hey Family!
Sounds like everything back home is going great!! As for your question
about dear elder letters....i dont think you could send them now because the
mail service down here even with the dear elder program doesnt get here for
about 2-3 weeks. i got all the ones from faith, the smiths, you, and kc, and
danilynn like 2 weeks late. i got a letter from marlee and that was 3 weeks late
so i dont think dear elder would be good because i wont be in the ccm when they
would get here! haha anyways...oh there are some things that i left in the
closet that i wanted so...idk what you are going to do about that. anyways
things are going great down here. i really love being a missionary and a
representivte of our savior jesus christ. this last week has been sort of the
usual schedule...work, work, work, study, study, and study. but i love it and
all of us down here has felt the spirit so strong every day! especially on
sunday. i went to bed so spiritually exhausted, i basically fell asleep kneeling
down in companionship prayers! we had the opportunity to have elder cook of the
quorum of the 12 come here with elder tad callister of the 70 and speak with us.
we also had elder wadell of the 70 and elder grow of the 70 so basically a way
important meeting and man was the spirit there. it was a question/answer type of
a devotional but some of the questions that were asked and the answers that were
given hit me so strong and either i learned something new about what i need to
do as a missionary or answers to questions that i hadnt know before were
answered and the spirit was sure there. we all got to shake his and elder
callisters hands along with their wives as well. such an awesome experience. oh
funny story about that actually...so on sunday we had icecream cones which is
the best down here because we rarely get them and so i had this big icecream
cone and i walk outside to go eat it cause the weather is beautiful down here
and so im taking a big bite of my icecream cone and i look up and there is elder
cook and elder callister along with pres. cardon and they all just gave me a big
smile and waved...probably becasuse i had icecream on my face or
somehthing....haha so i am probably ´elder icecream´ to elder cook now. oh well!
well now here in the ccm we just sent off another batch of missionaires to their
fields which makes us the advanced group here in the ccm! so weird! honestly i
felt like i just got here. the spanish is coming along great. i am now at the
point where i dont think much about what people are saying and just talk with
them. all our lessons that we teach have been in spnaish and it is just coming
along so great. what a blessing from the lord. on tuesday night we also had a
live broadcast from provo in which elder anderson of the 12 spoke and it was so
cool because as the camera was going around showing all the missionaires
singing...i saw josh free and micheal armstrong! haah i was looking for some of
my other buddies but didnt see any! it was way cool to see them and know that
they are serving the lord right beside me. elder anderson talked about love and
sacrifice which really hit home for me and he taught us how to love the people
that we are going to serve. i am so excited and nervous at the same time to be
going out into the field in 2 weeks! but i am getting more and more confident
each day as we speak to the natives here and you can understand them more and
more clearly each time. what is way cool about the spanish is during my prayers
at night...the ones i speak in ingles...i find myself switching back into
spanish without me even realizing it! its getting hard to pray in english now!
but know that i pray for each one of you and hope that everything goes well for
you back home! i especially pray for you faith and jacob asking heavenly father
to allow you to have the desire right now to gain a strong testimony. so strong
that as elder holland said that it is so ingrained in your soul that there is
not anything in heaven or earth that can remove what you know to be true. i pray
that you will always choose the right and make the right decisions. i pray that
you will take seminary serious faith, so that you can gain that testimony early
on and be so excited for your mission...if you choose to serve. The hermanas
here are really inspiring. such faith and such great attitudes. we actually got
a ton of hermanas today actually filling in the spots of those who just
left...and 3 are from arizona and one knows my buddy max nelson! small world,
¿verdad? anyways i just hope and pray that you two young ones
will do those things and come to know your savior jesus christ by reading the
book of mormon. i just finished it all the way through again and i can say
without a doubt that that book is the only correct of any book on the face of
this earth. i testify along with the words of joesph smith that a man can get
closer to god through reading this book than any other book that has ever
been written. i testify of the truthfulness of the book of mormon. i cant wait
to read it again. i actually started reading jesus the christ and that is a
fabulouos book. i look forward to the times when i can just sit down and read
the words of james e. talmage about our savior. i know he lives. i know he loves
me and all of you. he is holding is arms outsretched to all his children and
beckoning them to come unto him and recieve all that the father has to offer us.
i love this gospel with everything that my heart possess.
Sorry...little testimony run there. anyways back to this last week.
umm...on saturday we were supposed to go proselyting again but because of elder
cooks visit it got canceled so they brought in a bunch of real investigators
here and members for us to teach for 4 hours. elder ellsworth and i taught some
great lessons and sure felt the spirit in what we were saying. it was really
good spanish practice for us. oh kacie...i accidently left my scripture case
with my picture book in it in a classroom and when i went to go get it a guy was
looking at it and i really didnt mind but he pointed at you and said that is
hermana birtcher! he served his mission in aregentina in buenos aires i think.
im sorry i forgot his name but hey someone knows you down here! oh another funny
story. so a new elder came in 2 weeks ago and he also plays the violin. well
there are 3 violins here in the ccm and i knew that hermana cardon and him were
talking about trying to set up a trio but that was all i heard. so im at lunch
and sister cardon pulls me aside and says so i will see you tonight then? i was
all confused saying well i dont think i going anywhere outside the walls...if
thats what you mean. she laughed and told me that we were practicing our music
that night for sundays fireside!! so we are playing this sunday! haha it was a
good practice and we are making history in the first ever trio violin
preformance in the ccm!! sister cardon and pres. cardon are so awesome! i got to
sit with them at lunch and we have such a good time talking to each other.
president cardon actually comes up at night and talks with me sometimes about
whatever as he is checking the bedroom situations at nights some times. he was a
quarterback and loves football so we got to talking and then really couldnt
stop. such a great man and his wife is so awesome. we laugh and have a good
time!
Well today we woke up and went to the temple and had a great session,
really felt the spirit. man, peru is such a celestial place cause i feel the
spirit all the time and learn so much! after the temple we got to go walk around
the little shops that they have here and got to ride on the buses again which is
just a roller coaster ride!! dad dont be worried about the transportation in
mexico...you want to be concerned...come here because here is insane!!! last
pday we got on a bus and it didnt start so we had to push start it in the middle
of the street with all these cars backed up behind us honkning!! haah i bet that
was a sight...8 gringo elders pushing a bus down the rode in peru. the people
here like to call us the gringos! But pdays here are so fun just getting out and
talking with people and just really being immersed in the spanish! But i think
that sums it all up for the update from down here! the soccer skills are
definatley improving and oh most of the ccm is sick from food poisioning but me
and elder ellsworth have been perfectly fine and healthy. i did get my first
haircut in peru and it looks like a totally military haircut...no big deal!
but nothing to complain of down here!
just know that i love you all so much. like i have said before and will
continue to say...this is the only true church upon the earth. Heavenly father
is our loving father who is very mindful and aware of each of our needs and
desires of our hearts. Jesus christ is the savior of the world who laid down his
life for us. i know that. joesph smith did in reality see god the father and his
son jesus christ in the grove of trees and through joesph smith brought about
the restoration and fulness of this gospel. I love this gospel. i am so excited
to share this message with the people of peru.
I love you all very much and hope everything continues to go well at
home!
till next week!
1-4-3
Elder Birtcher
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