Like a Hobbit - Home and Back again

Well we had a very unexpected Thanksgiving this year.  We got to have Dylan home with us.  He had been having medical issues for some time and was not getting any results from the doctors in Peru.  After multiple diagnoses and no results his mission president decided to send him back to the United States for treatment.  We found out on Friday November 20th in the afternoon that he would be coming home.  He flew into Salt Lake City on Monday November 23rd.  It was great to see him.  He spent two weeks here and after multiple doctors’ appointments they found out what the problem is.  Luckily it is nothing too serious and he will be okay.  That was a relief after everything that he had heard in Peru.  Dylan sent his letter into the Missionary Department on Sunday December 6th and said that he was ready to go back and finish his mission.  He stated that he would serve wherever he was needed and we all thought that he would stay stateside.  On Monday the 7th he received a call that he was going back to Peru to finish his mission.  The specialist cleared him and that is where the missionary department felt he should go.  The next 24 hours were very busy and he left on Dec 8th in the afternoon.  He was so excited and thankful to be able to go back to Peru.  He made it safely and is currently serving in Arequipa.

12/14/15

Hola Familia,

Well this week has been great.  I am so blessed to be a missionary.  I know that this is the work of the Lord.  Well traveling back to Peru was a trek haha.  It was crazy to get back out here.  So funny story, I got into Lima nice and early had a 3 hour layover.  I was super tired from flying all night.  I was trying to stay awake, I had a ton of nerves and then I started dosing on and off for like two hours.  When I had about 30 minutes left until my boarding time I was out cold like a rock haha.  Then by the grace of our Heavenly Father, I heard my English name in a Spanish accent, to come and board the plane.  So I quickly woke up, still half asleep and was the last person to get on the plane to Arequipa haha.  I am so lucky and have no idea how I managed to wake up to get on the plane.

I am with Elder Garcia from Columbia.  He is awesome.  We are in the area Alto Misti in Arequipa.  I am so grateful to have him as a companion.  He loves to work hard and we are getting along awesome.  The area is really cool and the people are great.  It is fun being back in the city.  I am grateful to have been called back to Arequipa to finish my mission here.

Well I would to share with you guys 2 Nephi 31:19-21 (Spanish version).  It is really cool.  We shared it with this one member and she started crying saying that she was looking for an answer to her prayers and it was in this scripture.  I would like for each and every one of you to look for your answers in the scriptures.  God really does answer and helps us. 

 

So cool experience...  We were trying to look for some less active members and were just walking and walking when we decided to go to this house.  They answered and said to come back, which is usually to just get rid of us.  So we went back two hours later and had the coolest lesson that I have had in a long time.  We shared 2 Nephi 31:19-21 and they knew that they needed to come back to church.  They also knew that Heavenly Father is helping them and has a path for them.  It was awesome to help them

Well I love everything and once again am so grateful to have you guys in my life.  I hope that everything is going great this upcoming week; remember the Lord and he will help you have a wonderful week.

Les amo,

Elder Cooley

Matthew 16: 25-26 (Spanish version)

Illness and Prayer

Hola Familia,

Well this week has been a super interesting week.  On Monday we went to a area super far away to do a family home evening.  It was awesome and I talked with the bishop and his wife for a while.  It was so cool to see the relationship between them and how they work together to have an awesome marriage.  Marriage is not easy and I have seen that.  The best marriages are the ones where each spouse work on them every single day.

We also were able to have President come to our Zone Conference.  It was great and we had an awesome time with him.  He even took us out to eat pizza after.  It was great to talk with him and with the Stake President.  I am so glad to work with these leaders and see what I can do to help them. 

Then this week I have understood finally in all my life what it really means to pray with all your heart.  So the past few weeks I have been sick and have just not gotten better.  Even with all the pills that I have been taking and the doctors that I have seen I still haven’t gotten better.  On Friday morning I got a phone call from the mission president telling me that I needed to go to the States to figure everything out but I needed to talk with the doctor in Lima first and see what was happening.  So I was freaking out that I was going to go home and what that means.  We were in a service project super far away.  While we were at the farm I walked out found a really quiet place and knelt down and started to pray.  I asked God if I needed to stay here in the mission or go home.  I know that from that prayer and from my mom that I need to stay here and that everything will be all right.  I am so glad to be out here on the mission and I know that the sickness will get better.

Well I am so glad to be working with all these people in Chen Chen they are awesome.  I am also so glad that I have this time to help out these people. I hope that everything is going great will you guys.  I hope that everyone is having the life that they would like. 

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”

George Bernard Shaw

I love you all,

Elder Cooley

Typical meal - Goat meat, potato, corn and RICE.

Service Project

San Fran?

Last photo

Happy Birthday

The Fable of the Fruit

Hola Familia,

Well this week has been really good.  I have learned so much and it was amazing to see all the miracles in my mission and in life.  I would like to first start of with a cool story that helped me understand the power of service and being charitable.  The other day we were visiting an investigator and she ended up giving us two huge bags of fruits.  We were quite far from our house and so we were trying to think about what could we do with two huge bags of fruit.  The first thought I had was to eat the fruit but the sheer amount of fruit was quite overwhelming.  We started walking with another thought in our minds to hide it until we could come back and pick it up.  That did happen either so we were walking we thought of a family that has been struggling economically for a while. Then we went to their house to give it to them but nobody was there.  We tried to call but nobody answered.  So we ended up just putting it inside and left it there.  The next day at church this Hermana started talking about how out of nowhere a person left some fruit in her patio and she was crying.  Literally it was such a cool thing.  I think sometimes we forget about other people and focus more on ourselves and forget to do things.  I know that the little things can help out people so much.

We were able to go to Arequipa for the monthly leadership council for the Zone Leaders.  It never seems to surprise me all of the things that I can learn.  I have been reading the book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie and it is so inspiring.  I know that the small things we do really make a difference in how much our relationships can help people and help ourselves.

I have learned to trust in the will of God and to follow his plan for us, not the plan that we have thought of.  I know that we need to focus on Him and we will change our being and become better.  I know that through the power of the priesthood many amazing things can happen and we also need to do our part.  Through the priesthood blessings that I have received I know that this power is real and that it has been RESTORED once again on the earth.

I love you all and I would like to invite all of you guys to learn something new this week and start to do the little things to be able to prepare yourselves for the eternities.

Les amo,

Elder Cooley

D&C 133:37 (Spanish Version)

November!

Hola Familia,

Well this week has been amazing and everything has been going great.  So I would like to tell you all about some experiences that I had when Elder Acosta came to the Stake Conference in Moquegua.  So he directed the Stake Conference and it was amazing.  We had the opportunity to represent the Mission President because he could not make it and we are the Zone Leaders here.  We gave talks and it was a great experience.  Then we had the amazing chance to learn about the priesthood and the authority and power of God.  So we have the power of God and then the authority but we also need to be worthy and ready to use the priesthood.  He used an example about how if your young daughter came out to go to a party and was wearing a mini skirt and you just started yelling at her and told her to change then she would change and then when she got far enough out of your view she would pull out the mini skirt and put it back on to go to the party.  Essentially you had the authority and the power but it did no good.  Then he said if you tell her why and talk with her lovingly then she will change because she understands the worry in your heart and knows that she is a daughter of God.  Everyone the has the priesthood use it wisely and know that you can help a lot of people through it.

Second thing that I loved was a talk about the temple.  What is the temple?  A big fancy chapel or what?  It is the house of God where we do sacred ordinances.  If a family wants to become closer and have a happier life then go to the temple frequently and love it there.  It has been so interesting to listen to him talk about the house of God.  I really loved how he described his own journey there.

He was getting ready to marry his wife and she want to get married in the temple and she was like I want to take my prince and go to the castle.  That really made me think. Literally we are taking our prince/princess and going to the castle to be sealed together forever.  I can’t wait for that day to take a princess to the castle. 

Overall this week was amazing and we have seen so many miracles with finding people and helping them remember and learn the restored Gospel on this earth.  I know that we have the power and authority of God and there is no other church that has it.  Our church is the restored church of the true church of Christ.  I love it so much and I know that the Book of Mormon will help anyone in their life come to know who God and his Son are.

Les amo,

Elder Cooley

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