Mission and Adventures in Peru: Milk and Cookies

Hola Familia,

Wow it is already December. It is absolutely crazy that I am approaching 6 months in the mission field. This week was good, had a ton of fun and great experiences with members and investigators. My companion and I are doing a lot better.

Weekly overview:

On Monday after P-day was over we went back and got ready and went to Cosos, a town about 45 minutes of walking away. We had a family home evening planned but of course the family was not there ha ha. So we walked back and found a family of less actives and then had a awesome lesson. Raul and Valerie are great and we were able to teach them about the importance of being married and having a temple marriage. It is always fun and very spiritual to teach about eternal families.

On Tuesday we had our 2-hour bus ride for our Zone meeting. Then we came back and had lunch around four, traveling is just a way of life ha ha. Then we gave a 15 day old baby a blessing because he was sick. It was really cool only using one hand and very powerful.

On Wednesday we gave another blessing to a girl with chicken pox. It was so sad because she scratched them all and was in a lot of pain.

Then on Thursday we went and had a planning session for the week. It was Thanksgiving but nothing cool happened so it was just another normal day ha ha. I did buy a mini apple pie to celebrate the day ha ha.

Apple Pie

Happy Thanksgiving

Then in the night we played soccer as a branch which is always fun. I still don’t like soccer ha ha.

Then Friday we taught a young adult named Ruben. He has totally changed his life around in about 3 weeks after he had an accident. He is awesome and so we are working really carefully with him so that we don’t lose him. Then I made No Bake Cookies that were super delicious, thanks Mom for the recipe. Now my Pesionista wants to learn how to make them and sell them at her store ha ha.

No Bake Cookies

Later that night we had a mini MTC at the branch and I was directing. It was really cool and my Spanish is coming along really well.

On Saturday we cleaned the church and were able to have a great lesson with Raul and Valerie, it started of with a video about maternity because I thought it was different video. I was like crap we are watching a video only for women, but then I had another video about fathers and so it turned out really awesome. Thanks for the guidance of the spirit.

Yesterday church was good and we had some good lessons. I was able to get a electric piano to start to learn how to play again ha ha. Then we went to the hospital and visited a really sick member. He really liked talking to me ha ha. We gave him a blessing and that was awesome.

Overall I love this area, it is never the same and I learn something new every single day. We are able to work a ton with members and that is what the branch needs. I want to be able to leave this area and have the branch run well without the missionaries doing all the work. I have learned a ton about the work of the Lord. I have learned a lot about the power of the Priesthood and the blessing it gives here. They either don’t have the means or the things to make them better so they need the help of the Lord. I think that we all can learn from this. I hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving and I loved the photo of me there ha ha.

Remember the importance of families.

I love you all,

Elder Cooley

Questions:

1. Did the fruit that was pod like with black seeds (you sent us a picture) taste like vanilla and have the texture of cotton candy?

It has a texture of cotton candy but tasted like nothing I have tasted before. It is very delicious might I add ha ha.

2. What was the most meaningful Scripture you read this past week?

Meaningful scripture was it Matthew, I started the New Testament this week. The Sermon on the Mount was awesome.

3. Have you set up the Christmas tree yet? (You should send us a picture)

I have the Christmas tree set up and with Rudolph on it.

Merry Christmas

Festival of Crawdads

4. Have you tried any new food recently?

I have tried a ton of crawdads because it is the festival here and they are so good. Other then that not really ha ha.

5. What do you think the most crucial piece of advice somebody would need to survive a zombie apocalypse? Ha Ha Ha!

Go to small cities to find shelter.

6. In Aplao since you are working a lot with inactive members do you still knock on a lot of doors? What is the response?

Yeah kind of we make a lot more contacts in the streets but we still knock on doors. People are pretty open and then some still just shut the door ha ha.

7. What is your favorite Christmas song?

Favorite Christmas song wow that is hard I will get back to you.

8. How do they celebrate Christmas in Peru?

I do not know the answer to that question. We will eat a ton of Paneton (recipe) I know that.

9. Do you get to Skype with us for Christmas?

Yes I will get to Skype with you guys on Christmas :)

10. Have you completed any service projects in Aplao yet?

We have milked cows, harvested honey and we will build a house this upcoming week ha ha.