APLAO IS EPIC!

Hola Familia,

Wow this week has been crazy. Well I will start by telling you about my new area. It is in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Ha Ha SO EPIC! It is gigantic also. So there is one branch that six Missionaries work in. The branch is tiny and the Missionaries are part of the Presidency and we teach a lot of the classes. Our area is in this huge valley; my Companion and my area is about four hours or more from one end to the other. So for one visit we travel about an hour or so. It is what I expected when I got my call to Peru.

I absolutely love it also ha ha. It is all farmland and

Link

agriculture. But it is amazing. And wow it is hard.  This is one of the two hardest areas in the Arequipa Mission. It is all we can do to get members to go to church on Sunday let alone having investigators come also. But our purpose here is different; we need to strengthen the branch because they don’t really know the Latter Day Saint’s culture or how to run the church.

My companion’s name is Elder Pinedo. He is from Iquitos in Peru. We are not used to each other yet and he doesn’t quite have the same drive as me to do the work. When he is sleeping after lunch I get to study. It is hard because I just want to go out and work really hard and talk to as many people as I can; but I will work with him and make him love to work again ha ha.

This week was awesome. After traveling four hours alone in the night to the middle of Peru ha ha I finally found my way to our area and met up with my companion. Then in the morning we traveled two hours on a bus to go to our zone in Pedrigal. Then we came back and ate lunch. I love my new Pensionista she is the best. She always asks what we want and how much we want. She is a great cook probably the best that I have had so far. Then we came back and went and talked to some members. Then on Wednesday we traveled a hour to a farm and met with some members and we made honey. We took the honeycomb and got all the honey out it was amazing, what a cool experience. In this area we do a ton of service and work a lot with the members. We didn’t get many lessons this week but we did help the members.

Funny story:

Saturday we had a baptism of an eight year old child and she would not go under the water. I was baptizing, and so for about a hour and a half we worked with her and nothing. We were close like three times ha ha. I even fake baptized my companion as an example in the water totally immersed. But nothing, WOW my first baptism was my companion ha ha.

This week I have had a ton of time to think about life and what we need to do. Definitely visiting all the members here is a priority. It has been interesting to examine my life and make plans and goals to be better and progress more personally and spiritually. I love it so much. I always find answers reading the scriptures. Reading old General Conference talks are so nice for me to be able to find answers in my life.

Well family, I love my new area. It is a ton different and I am ready for the challenge that is before me. I hope that you all have a great week. My prayers will be with you all this week. Next week I will give more details and pictures ha ha.

I love you all so much, 

Elder Cooley

Questions:

1. Did you receive the third package from us yet?

I have not received the third package yet.

2. How are you accessing the Internet there?

Just at an Internet cafe that is extremely slow ha ha.

3. What is your favorite thing about your new area?

Just being in Peru and not in the city ha ha. It is so awesome.

4. What is your companion like?

He is good, a little lazy and not too motivated at times.

5. How did you travel to your new area?

Just by a bus and somehow I got to my area ha ha. Thank you for the power of the Lord.

6. Was anything lost in transit? Did you have enough room in your suitcases for everything?

Nothing was lost and my suitcases were stuffed full ha ha.

7. Did you have to open the packages to transport the items?

Yeah I had to open the package. I am stoked for Christmas ha ha.

8. Favorite scripture this week?

My favorite scripture this week was D&C 64:10.

9. What was the hardest part about the transfer?

Just getting a new companion that wasn’t the same.

10. What would you compare your new area to in the states? Is it like Arizona, New Mexico, etc.?

It is like Arizona with a river in the middle of a valley and a ton of farming.