To My Family and Friends:

I am so happy right now! I just recieved letters from some of my converts in Arequipa and 3 of them went to the temple in Lima and participated in baptisms for the dead. They sent me a bunch of pictures as well and i cant even describe to you the joy that i feel for them right now. That is the goal. not to just get them baptized, but to get them to the temple!!! and they did it!!! they all have written me and have told me that they had amazing experiences and absolutely loved being in the house of the lord and that they are doing wonderful in attending church and preparing for missions.

It just made my day :)

 

As for me....i guess i am finally breathing okay now. this last week has been a hecktic one again as they always are. the zone got changed up a little bit with some of the elders finishing up and new ones coming in. but it is a great bunch here in the grand city of moquegua and we are excited to get to working really hard here this next change. we were able to go and attend one companionships baptism this last week and their baptism asked that i confirm her so that was really a neat opportunity to do that. 

One of our investigators named doris just accepted to be baptized this 30 of agosto so we are preparing for that and we are trying to help out another one of our investigators named diego get int eh water as well. just need to get permission from the padres. so pray for us!!! we need that help! 

Elder Chipman and i are doing great though. he was one of my good buddys  before so it is great serving with him. the great times continue. as well as megan and gart have been inducted into the pinchy winchy game....elder chipman has been inducted into the weekly fire tradicion. he loves it!! haha we are having a great time here. our goals are to start getting to know the members a lot more and we have been looking for service project to do all this last week. it is amazing what service can do. we got to just find random service oportunidades this last week and we found 4 new great investigators that are going to progress really really well. the blessings through serivce!!! so i encourage you all to look for some great oportuindades to do so!! change the lives of everyone around you. :)

we did also have some training meetings in ilo with presidente this last weekend and so we were busy traveling and helping out the zone on a bunch of things. 

but great stuff. i am happy. :) i really am. i love getting to study the scriputres and getting to preach teh gospel each and everyday. there is no greater work. 

 i love everyone 

back home as well. 

till next week....

Weston

1-4-3

--

      Elder Birtcher

Perú - Arequipa Mission

Hey Guys!

So school started up did it? Excited or not? haha.

A lot has been happening over here this last past week. We did recieve changes and my comp elder priebe left. he is now the new asistent of the mission!!! and my comp is now the former asistent. his name is elder Chipman. and he is great. he is from california from a family of 4. the only guy amongst the bunch!! but he is a great guy. we got ot know each other at many leadership conferences beforehand so we are already best buds. and we are excited to get to work together. it was sure sad to see elder priebe go. he was one of my best friends and one of my favorite companions. the lord sure knew that i needed elder priebe to be my companion to boost me and to get me jsut fired up for the work. 

i am happy right now. the zone did get changed up a bunch and of the ward that i was in (consisting of 4 elders)...3 of them got changed. i am the only one to stay from the group but it is all good. i have just a fire to go a teach and to preach and to find those who dont ahve the gospel or who ahve fallen away from it. i love this work.

this next 6 weeks we have planned a bunch of things. we have talked with the local leadership counsels of the city and have planned to do service projects with the helping hands yellow shirts on. and the leaders of the city took us around to local sites to see what we want to do. so we are going to be focusing on a bunch of service projects to help the work of the lord. 

we have talked to the stake presdient as well to plan many stake activities and we are all just ready to go down here in moquegua. 

i love you all so much and will talk to you all really soon.

con mucho amor,

Weston 

1-4-3

 

JULY 28th LETTER!!

 

 

A Happy 28th of July to everyone!! Today is Peru´s Independence Day!!!!

How is everyone doing? I sure hope everyone is well in health and that everything is going great!

It was an interesting week. It was a week full of stress and fun in some parts. But let me try and get you will all the details that i can.

So last monday we got permission to go to ilo, its another part of the mission to have a combined zone activity with the missionaries there. and it turned out to be really fun and we played a huge game of soccer that was way fun! soccer is so awesome now. i have a huge goal to get good at soccer now. its way fun.

we were full of meetings as well and president came into town to have interviews with the zone and to have some meetings with us and the stake president. he took us out to eat with the asistents afterwards to a pizza palor here (like the only one in moquegua). it was soooooooooooooooooo good. i love pizza. dont get to eat enough of it. :) Last thursday was also pioneer day, so the hermanas here from utah obviously wanted to celebrate it so we got permission to watch 17 miracles and make pancakes for the whole zone and then got to talk about the pioneers and the sacrifices that they made and how we can learn from them and strengthen our testimonies from their stories. I must say i have never felt such a strong spirit. it was so powerful and so real. i am so grateful for such a heritage for the faith that they had to cross those plains and to put their trust in the lord in everything that they did. as gordon b. hinckly stated. we must read and reread their stoires that we may be edified and strengthened in our own times of need and when we have dificulties. it really brought back a lot of memories of the trek to me and i can testify as well that angeles did help us, that we all came closer to knowing the lord more and we all had spiritual experiences. i love the trek, i wish i could go and do it again.

This last friday we had 2 wonderful baptisms. where? IN THE RIVER :) her name is agripina and her son jorge. they were references from a lady in the ward and when we first got to teaching them about the restoration, we didnt challenge her to baptism. we just asked her...hermana if these things are true, what do you need to do?....and she responded...IM GOING TO PREACH IT TO THE WHOLE WORLD!!!....haha we laughed for a sec...and then she added...Then im going to get baptized.....so we began to explain the importance of baptism and she was totally up for it. BUT...the way christ did it. we explain that we baptized in the font in the church but she said that she wouldnt be baptized in any font or pool but in a river as christ did. so elder priebe and i went look for a river and we found just the spot! we had to go there a couple of times this last week to cut and clean the brush and make pathways and such and then the water wasnt too high...so we had to get in and make a dam which turned out PERFECT!! and it raised that water level from my knees to over my waist. it was a beautful service as well. perfect weather. i was sure praying that the sun wasnt going to scorch us as it usually does here in moquegua. and the lord blessed us. a wonderful breezy day with cloud cover. we had 2 special musical numbers from the help of our zone and i got to play the violin along iwht another sister here in the zone who also plays!!! turned out really great! and i sure felt the spirit. one of the most special baptisms that ive gotten to participate in. :) we then got to confirm them members of the church yesterday in our sacrament meeting. 

those were really the highlights. other than that, it was kinda a rough week. basically ALL (and im not exagerating) our lesson fell through and in trying to find new people....nada! we were pretty frustrated. and then we had one of the worst turn outs in sacrament meeting as a whole and had ninguna investigator there with us and then one of our most awesome investigators left hte area because her husband is on drugs and there were a ton of problems and then we find these wonderful references but they all live outside the area. and then get to teach this WONDERFUL, i mean AMAZING investigator who is so sincere and ready to here us and to come to church....well she goes back to arequipa tomorrow for studies. elder priebe and i are kinda bummed at that. one cause we want to work, we want to help and serve but nobody wants to listen. the teaching pool gets smaller and smaller and we just cant find anyone new. and if we do...we have to pass them along to other missionaries. i wonder if the lord is trying to teach us something. no se. but the lord is with us. he will bless us with those children who are ready and willing to listen. we just have to be patient and work even harder this week. 

this next monday we will be heading back to arequipa for leadership counsel with president so we will be busy doing informes and papers and just getting ready for that. its sure a busy time. so much to do. but i am happy and ready to give the lord more of me and serve mas. i love him. i truely do. Brents question of are you truley converted? aply it to your life. if there are things we need to correct. get on it. we dont have any time to waste in preparing ourselves for the second coming. 

oh and one more announcement. so i think i told you that Elder Anderson of the 12 is coming here to the mission at the end of august along with bishop davis of the bishopric of the church and elder grow of the 70 and other leaders of the church....and president has asked me to get prepared to go and play the violin again for them. i am excited and nervous.... :) 

and that sums up the week i guess.

i love you all so much. 

see you all in a year! :)

con mucho amor,

Weston 

--

      Elder Birtcher

Perú - Arequipa Mission

Hello Family!!!

 

this week has been a roller coaster seriously. We have been trying to visit a ton of menos activos and try to find new investigators but really no luck. the ward is literally falling asleep on us and are not helping us at all. its been rough.

but we have had some very spiritual experiences. 

the one of which i will tell you takes place yesterday (by the way HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG CHIEF AND DANILYNN!!!! - love you guys both a ton!!)

so we went to church and had no investigators again. our baptism from saturday didnt show up for her confirmation and we were both just bummed. we didnt get any references (not that we do anyways...havent gotten one in about a month) and we went home and just got on the knees and prayed. our fast yesterday was dedicated to the area and to help us find new people. we sat there and discussed where we should go and what to do. and we really didnt feel anything or recieve any crazy reveleations but we went out with faith that the lord would help us. and we knock a ton of doors with no luck. after a couple hours we did find some old investigators but nothing great. and then we decide to knock this last door before quiting and trying something else. and this girl answers the door. she is talking on her cell phone and we were expecting her to say...im busy come later...like we always get but she lets us in. and we got to teach her about the restoration...she was glued the whole time listening to us. asked for the book of mormon so that she could read it and just was amazing in her questions and everyting! we even asked her if teh missionaries had already taught her and she said no. but her last question to us after the lesson was....is it bad if i switch religions?? the lord answered our prayers. he is so aware of our circumstances and knows who is ready and who isnt for his gospel. but what a testimony builder of ether 12:6. we do not recieve any testimony until after we have the trial of our faith. that is when we prove to god that we are serious about helping his kids that we love him enough to forget ourselves and go to work for others. 

i loved it and it gave us such a huge boost to go work like crazy this week. 

this last we for the year mark we had a fire of course :) and we have 2 elders finishing up their missions here so we had the whole zone over for a farewell party. turned out really great and we are going to be sad when there are changes in the zone. 

but thats all i have time for. i love you all so much

Weston

1-4-3

Hi familia!!!

i love you all so much. i loved reading your letters this week. sounds like everything is going just so well. 

congrats to dan and to everyone for their callings and for your service to the lord. he will bless you in numerous ways. 

as for this last week really fast.....cause i just have about 5 mins today. it was a really fast week with all the things that we were doing. last pday was glorious as we made tacos :) and it was awesome!!! we have found some wonderful people to teach as well and had a huge turn out in the reunion sacramental. we share the ward with 2 other elders and between us both we had 10 investigators in the meeting. we were sure happy!!!! we got a bunch of references as well and life is just going great! i love my comp. elder priebe and i get along soooooooo well. i hope we are together until he ends his mission in november!!!! this week we will be having 2 great baptisms in a very special place!! (its a suprise...so i will get you the details next monday!!!) 

but know that i love you all so much.

till next week...muy pronto!!

Weston

--

      Elder Birtcher

Perú - Arequipa Mission

Well...hello again. 
I know i wrote you guys Thursday so nothing much has changed since 
then. but we have seen great progress in our search for new 
investigators and especially working with the less actives. President 
Zobrist is really hammering us on that. and the area....and the 
prophet...so it must be pretty important. we do have the promise that 
if we rescue those menos activos then we will baptize more 
investigators. so we will be focusing on that these next few weeks. 
Elder Priebe and i are doing very well. We are happy working together 
and we have enjoyed feeling the spirit as we teach and are able to 
watch these people change as they come closer to their savior. i just 
love teaching and people able to share the gospel. i really do. 
as for me. i am very happy. the area is great, the zone is working 
hard, and we are becoming more unified each day together. we have been 
trying to plan out those activities to help build the trust and unity 
in the zone and we have seen great results. we did a service project 
as a zone this last saturday and got to clean up this ladys backyard 
of all the stuff she has been storing for the last century. peruvians 
are such pack rats. but i love them!! 
Funny story about the service project: 
haha so we were cleaning up everything and had finished this one side 
of the yard. the lady has a ton of chickens and roosters there just 
running around and as we were all working on the other side of the 
yard....the wall on the side that we had finished comes crashing down! 
and it crashed on top of a chicken and a rooster!!! the whole zone was 
like...woah, those things are goners.... and the lady was freaking out 
saying save my chickens!!!! so me and this other elder run over there 
to start clearing out rocks to uncover the smashed chickens. well the 
chicken runs out a few seconds later and is squaking like crazy! so 
one saved, one dead....we thought. so we uncover a TON of rocks and 
underneath we find the rooster. not moving. we touched it and were 
like its dead. the lady was in disbelief and was frantic and then we 
move this rock off its head and POP. the head pops up and the thing 
jumps out and runs away!!!!! IT LIVED!!! couldnt believe it! so i did 
my good turn for the day :) the lady kept saying..you saved my 
rooster, thank you, thank you, thank you so much! haha she bought me 
Inca Kola and cooked the whole zone lunch. haha but we saved a life 
that day. :) 
 
sunday was ward conference and we had a huge turnout in the ward! 
160!!! we were so happy! great stuff. and we had a meeting with the 
stake president and are excited to get to be working with him. in the 
past he has hated the missionaries and there ahve been a ton of 
problems so elder priebe and i are trying to sort all that out and end 
those problems or the work here in moquegua will stop. and we are 
seeing some great results. excited about that. 
we have found 3 new investigators and have 3 others progressing 
towards their baptismal dates and the end of this month and for the 
first week in august. 
But it is my testimony that god lives. this is his work! i love being 
apart of it and serving him everyday. 
i loved the pictures that you sent me. dad, fantastic job on the shed. 
it looks awesome! you have always been an inspiration to me in 
buildiing and constructing things. great job! 
faith....what happened to your hair?? no se but HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN! 
YOU ARE SO OLD!!!! and this week would be the big birthday of big 
jake!!!!! awesome man!!! love you so mucho. 
 
well i shall talk to you guys real soon. hasta lunes. 
love you all so much. 
 
Elder Birtcher 
1-4-3 
oh and please send a ton of fotos from the family reunion. i want to 
see them so bad!!! 
mom have fun getting ready for girls camp!! dont stress over it too 
much....you always do a great job!! 
 
-- 
*      Elder Birtcher* 
*Perú - Arequipa Mission* 

Hi guys!

Well i dont have any time. we are so busy around here doing everything. i am so tired. so it might just turn into a bullet point letter. but i am so jealous aobut the family reunion! sounded liked you guys had a BLAST!! i wish i couldve been there with you guys. 

but que dice la vida aqui. well. moquegua is great. i really really like it. my comp is great. the lord has blessed us with investigators that both have accepted baptismal dates for the end of the month and we are just running around all of moquegua doing things for hte zone. but i am happy and well. 

We did go back to arequipa this last monday for the meeting with president and teh leaders of the mission which turned out really great. learned a lot of great stuff and got to see a bunch of my good friends again in the mission. a lot of them will be leaving these next ocuple of changes which is sad. love those guys. 

we were informed that elder neil anderson of the 12 will be coming along with bishop davis and elder grow of the 70 at the end of august to have a mission conference wiht us! that should be aweomse!! i am super excfited. 

today we just got done having a whole zone conference as well and i got to teach for about 45 mins. turned out really well. i was sure relying on the spirit and he put the words in that needed to be said. 

i sure love hte zone here. great missionaries and sisters. we have 6 sister missionaries here and 12 other elders. so its fun. 

i hope all had a great 4th of july. we celebrated here (well just the gringos...) by making peach cobbler, browines, bought icecream and made shephards pie. JUST LIKE HOME IT WAS!!!! IT WAS AWESOME!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA. we did sing the nation anthem and i played it on the violin. how truely blessed we are to live in the US. too bad we lost in the world cup. haha i really love soccer now. the skills are improving and we sure love playing. 

but thats about it. wish i could right more but....dont got the time. 

have an awesome week!

Weston

ps. happy birthday to faith!!! jakes is just around the corner!!!

and congrats dad on the shed. send me pics! 

love you all mucho. 

--

      Elder Birtcher

Perú - Arequipa Mission