LAST TRANSFER, BACK TO MY OLD AREA IN CHIMBOTE!!!!!!



Well, so I know that everyones questions are 2.  how are things with my companion, and did I get my b day package.  The answer to the second is yes.  Its here, open, and I had milk dud popcorn last night.   Those milk duds were an awesome idea.  thank you Janae and family for the cookies.  Me and Elder King have eaten just a few.  I love cookies haha.  

So to answer question 1 there.  So, I truely found out why we never got along.  He wants to be assistant.  Or we could say a somebody....  He doesnt want to obey Gods will.  I have learned that we need to just follow his will even if we dont understand why.  I tried doing all that I could to just stay calm all week long. 

So to help with the calming, I went with Elder King to his area.  Ya...  That was fun haha.  we just went walking all day long.  haha And we did a really fun Family home Evening.  We could try it at home but just a warning,  it makes a big mess of flour haha.  So that day really helped me calm down and just be a lot more chill.

So yesterday,  We received changes.  Well... Lets just say that I wont be here with Elder Vera, or here at all.  In fact I am leaving Trujillo.  I am going to Chimbote.  BUT,  Im also doing one that I never thought would happen in my mission.  Im going BACK to my OLD AREA in Chimbote!!!!!!!!!!!  And my companion is going to be a North American!!!!!  Im gonna try to stay focused but wow haha.  President sure is doing something crazy haha.  I will be able to say that I only had 4 areas but 5 different changes haha.  I always wanted to end my mission down there.  Im excited.  So tomorrow, I head back to the crazy heat in Chimbote but to the greatest ward that I know here in Peru.  

Love you all sooooooo much!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Sam Spencer

PS:  for every moment of suffering, there is a greater and more amazing blessing. 

Love you all.  5 more Pdays........

 Preaching the Gospel in Ostuzco

Can you believe it.......John Deere in Peru

Our small Branch, but amazing members

I found a donkey hmmm to take me on my travels.                  I'm not sure these are big enough!

On top of the world

OH MY HECK...  Where am I?  I just learned today in the morning that yes, I can write whoever I want now in Pday using my email.  Wow that was super crazy to get that announcement so Im adding the only 3 emails that I know or are in my email to the list. 

Well This week has been an awesome week.  I got a new companion last tuesday.  His name is Elder Aguilar.  Can I just say trip down memory lane haha.  He started his mission in the same area as me.  He also was down in Chimbote and always talked with my converts from there.  I am super excited.  We are working extremely hard and we are just going to continue.  Idk why Im so happy. haha.  Maybe its just the really awesome fact that you can just publish my email address to the family now haha.  Im gonna be looking into it a little bit more.  So this is whats going on here.  This week, we focused a lot on bettering our relation with the members.  And then we learned what we need to better is the relation with the leaders.  I had my mind kinda blown this past week when I heard from our zone leaders that our mission has the same structure as a ward.  I was confused at first but then I realized that it is actually a big responsibility to be part of a quorum presidency.  It is really necessary to work really hard and rely on the counselors in your quorum.  It was a big eye opener. 

Well what else haha.  BRYCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  What!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I thought you were waiting to leave until after summer.  July!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  That is literally going to come in.... well 2 or 3 months...  Oh how weird....  But IM SUPER EXCITED!!!!!!!

ALSO, JAXSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And a photo?  hahaha That is so awesome!!!!!!  I have been here in Peru and tried working with parents to allow their children to get baptized.  When they dont accept, it really hurts because the parents arent helping their children.  Parents say that they want to wait to let their children make the desicion on their own and really it doesnt make sense.  They dont help their children.  They inhibit them from being able to progress.  Im so happy for him as well and hope to see a photo real soon.

 Grandpa Spencer and Jaxon

Well Im actually out of things to write now.  ummmm  Oh Grandma, yes last week I received the letter from the Stout Family.  Please tell them thank you for the letter and if they want to send anymore, well just send it straight to the email.

Well Love you all,

Elder Sam Spencer

2 BAPTISMS AND ITS MY 21ST BIRTHDAY!



So first off....  Baptism!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Actually 2 Baptisms!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  That made the week awesome haha.  Charlie and Sandra got baptized this week!!!!  It was awesome.  I was so happy for that.  I was able to help them out to become members of Gods church.  And they are definitely going to be enduring to the end.  They are both really excited to continue learning.  Charlie should receive the priesthood this next week.  How awesome no?  So that is what happened today in the awesome area of progreso.

So today, we are in central for a little bit and then we are going to go to the mall and eat.  They have a lot of food there to eat.  Im not sure what else to say.  

Love you guys a ton,

Elder Sam Spencer

BORING P DAY....WHAT???

Well this has been a pretty boring pday.  I just went to downtown trujillo with my companion all day so that he could buy souvenirs...  idk how to spell haha.  No, it was actually one of the funniest things today.  As we were there, we saw... well about every single missionary in Trujillo and the part up north.  We were only missing like the people that are an hour south from trujillo.  It was really funny.  I got to see elder may, elder cottle, elder mano, wow...  honestly, im not so sure how many missionaries I saw just in one day.  It was pretty funny.  

So last pday, we ended up going to the mall.  It isnt that fun at the mall here...  Everything is way to expensive, you cant bargain with the people.  The only good thing about it is the food court haha.  

So what happened this week...  Well this week I got to celebrate my companions birthday. It was his birthday yesterday.  Really, not a lot happened this week.  It hasnt been too eventful.  Really.  I havent had an eventful week or really month haha. I just have been working hard trying my best at every moment.  I am really loving this area, and this work.  I dont know what will be happening this next change, that starts next week but whatever.  Its all good.  We will see some miracles in every moment of the day.  Well, I love you all a lot.  Im sorry that I couldnt write more... this computer is so terrible...  It erased everything that I had written for President Turk.  But whatever. What can I do haha.  

Love you guys,

Elder Sam Spencer

CRAZY WEEK

What a crazy week its been haha.  So first off, my companion is still here haha, Elder Yaicate.  He is supposed to be in Argentina or something at some point.   When, we dont know but we are waiting to see what happens with him.  We thought that maybe he would be taking off today but nope he is still here sitting next to me and cant understand what I am writing about him.  It was even funnier telling him that I was writing about him haha.  It has been a lot of fun with him.  We are working really hard down here.  But we werent working eficazmente this week.  We didnt work a lot with members at the beginning and it just went downhill from that one.  But its ok.  We are going start coming out of the rut we hit.  I think one of the biggest problems is that we dont have money in our phone to make calls.  The phones are like prepay but we cant go put more money on them.  Elder Aguilar made the mistake of using our phone and credit to call whoever he wanted....  I was a little annoyed but whatever... its ok.  

So in our area, we really didnt have a lot of success.  It just passed by really fast haha.  Oh also, we are now living 4 elders together.  Im not exactly sure how all will work out this time around.  Haha.  We got to work a lot on keeping up with our schedule.  

So I am thinking about what is going on in our area.  Not a lot really.  We are just trying to start working a lot more with members.  Its what we need to do.  We need to apply the things we learned from last Sunday in the leadership training. 

Well, there is my week.  Sorry its short, but not a lot happened here.

Love you all,  

Elder Sam Spencer

BEST P DAY EVER!

Alright, this week was so much better than the other ones haha.  We didnt really have a lot of lessons, but we visited with a lot of members and well they are all ready to help.  The problem from last week... we couldnt call anyone......  Elder Aguilar ended up using all of our credit.  Oh well.  So this week we really only found a few new people to teach.  But the few we found, WOW...  2 are preparing to get baptized the 27th.  That was awesome when they accepted the baptismal date.  Their names are Charli and Sandra.  They are progressing really well.  When they told us the first time that they hadnt read, we were sad.  We started reading and he said, oh now I just want to read because its interesting.  We realized that maybe if we read with our investigators what we had left with them to read they would realize that its something really important.  We tried it out with other investigators and they didnt really pay much attention....  It was sad to know that we wouldnt be going back as often to visit them because they dont want to progress but we know that it may just not be their time right now.  

So, we played monopoly as a district.  Since we live together, Sunday nights have become another time to be together, just like Otuzco haha.  It was great.  But ya, we played real monopoly.  I realized that I really dont like the game at all... It takes so long to play... It was a long night haha.  

So the real fun was today haha.  We went to a place called Conache.  Its like a little lake out in the middle of nowhere.  But that wasnt the best part because, well we cant get in.....  The best was behind the lake, there were sand dunes.  Like a sand mountain.  And one of the little tiny attractions there is...  Sandboarding.  Yes.  I, with my comp, zone leaders, and other missionaries went sandboarding today in the sand dunes.  I realized that it probably was one of the coolest pdays of my life hahaha.  I honestly dont know if it was 100 percent legal as a missionary, but our zone leaders told us we could.  Good enough for me.  I got a video of it.  Im sad that I wasnt able to get the other photos.  The other elders all have the good photos.  haha.  I just watched the video and realized, I dont have as great of balance like before haha.  I just got to practice again haha.  Well, at some point in September. 

So that was my week and pday haha.  I had an awesome week.  I think the sandboarding helped, but really it was to find these two children of God, Charli and Sandra.  

Well I love you all, see you soon, 

Elder Sam Spencer

WITHOUT A COMPANION ...WEIRD



What a strange week haah.  We started it off obviously with the sandboarding that you all got to see last week.  That was the greatest.  I honestly dont know if it was legal as a missionary to do.  Our zone leaders said it was ok and they did it, but im also realizing now that they are hypocrites... Oh ya... I had an interesting week this week.  Ready?

So first off, Tuesday, we got a call from the zone leaders telling us that we had to be in the office that night at 8 to drop my companion off.  He got his visa and left.... That one was sad.... Im gonna miss him, but that is the mission... So wednesday and thursday I was without a comp...  I walked around our bishop, ward mission leader, and the elders in my district.  It was weird to know that I had no companion.  I got a call Thursday afternoon that I was getting a new companion.  I was excited...  Until that night and I learned what had happened...  My companion is from callao, its lima.  He had interviews that day with president, and told president that there had been a problem with a young woman or young single adult.  But he got changed out that same day.  The thing was is we were supposed to both be in the office at 8.  He got there at 9:30...  We didnt get to our room until 10:30 that night...  so ya.  We have honestly had a few problems these past few days.  Im looking to find a way to better the relationship but man it is hard...  

So last night, the zone leaders call us and ask us what we are going to do for pday.  We wanted another awesome pday and it cant get much better than a movie and billards.  The zone leaders have played it before.  I was thinking that they would be cool and say that its all good.  They told me, well the movie is ok but you cant go play pool.  I will just say I got annoyed for the hipocrisy.  Im trying to take a chill but it gets difficult when so many things are going against you.. I hate it...  but oh well.  So our pday today is going to be a movie in English cause we havent watched one in english for a really long time.  I wanted to play some pool but it will have to wait for another week haha... I will play pool in Peru before I come home somehow haha.  I have to say that I have done that one.  

Well so there is my super interesting week full of.... fun haha.  I am just praying for help.  Any suggestions?  I know I wont receive a single one until next week but Im open for suggestions haha.  You all know that one.

Well Love you all

Elder Sam Spencer

BUILDING A SPEAKER...MORE FUN TO BUILD THAN TO USE IT



Haha... I really dont know what to put on the subject line.  I mean, I could put the letter number but that just is a little bit trunky...  

So this week, we almost had 2 baptisms...  Almost...  4 hours before their baptism they sent us a message saying that they wanted to get closer to Christ and then get baptized.  How messed up is that logic right?  That is what 39999378904 churches does to this world... (ok so not that many but it feels like it sometimes)  The only way to grow closer to Christ is following his example and getting baptized.  But with so much apostasy, especially within their family. We are going to be working with this couple helping them so that they can make the decision.  

So really, I just want to say sorry.  I didnt have that great of a week haha.  Honestly..  I mean just look at my letter.  There wasnt really anything else going on this past week...  Well there was... a lot but better just let all that stuff go and stay in the past.  We had a lot of problems with our zone leaders, but we got it all worked out somewhat.  Oh actually we did have something really dumb go on this week.  

Elder King and I decided last like tuesday that we wanted to build a speaker.  We put together 3 or 4 speakers into 1 and actually got it working.  Its really loud haha.  It was really funny.  I took a picture of it.  It has 7 different little speakers.  It may have been a waste of time, but it was during our free time to take a nap or do whatever so here is a picture of it haha.  It is really sketchy but it was a lot of fun.  As we built it I had a talk from President Monson come to mind when he talks about 2 brothers building a tree house.  After the two brothers had spent all summer making a tree house, the sat in it for like an hour and then never returned to it.  I realized that that may just happen with us and this speaker haha.  It was probably more fun to build it than it will be to use it.... 

Well I like how my letter really takes up a ton of space just about the speaker.  That was how well eventful my week was.  I need to try and find out how to write more about the work down here.  We are just working really hard with Charlie and Sandra.  Well that is about it haha.

Love you all so much,

Elder Sam Spencer

INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT MARLER



I have like 20 minutes left to use internet, and I spent most of my time reading letters.  A lot of letters... haha  There were so many today.  But now I can write.  So I am doing better, I think that I will be working on trying to change a little and we will see how everything works out on our relationship as a companionship.  

So we had a really hard week this week.  I honestly dont know why... But we didnt have anyone in church...  Our week started off with our zone leaders playing games.... It got about everyone of us annoyed but its ok..  I dont care much anymore about it haha.  I realized that I was just letting everything bug me these past few weeks.  I have realized what I need to let it all go.  Im not gonna let anything bug me anymore.  I know it will help in my companionship and everything.  Yep, Im half venting here haha, and Im done.  

So Wednesday was awesome.  We had interviews with President Marler.  He is a great leader and I know that he has been called of God to be our president now in this mission.  He is quieter than President Turk, but is powerful.  I learned so much with him in our interview that we had.  I realized that, other than my exit interview, that was my last interview in my mission...  Weird...  But thats ok haha.

So Saturday, we had an activity as a zone to try and help us as elders find new investigators... It didnt help us much.  I feel as if we had just wasted our time as missionaries there...  But it was really fun.  I liked it a lot.  I just now know that we shouldnt do another activity the same because it really didnt give us a lot of results like we were hoping.  You live and you learn haha.  

Sunday was sad..  We didnt have investigators at church...  We are trying to figure out a new way to get our investigators at church.  Its something that we are always struggling to do...  All of our investigators decided to get sick the same day... 

What I have learned this week is that God answers our prayers when we put all of our heart into our prayers and we do all that we can.  I saw a lot of miracles in the form as answers to my prayers.  I love every time that I can see the small and simple things that bring to pass the greater things...

Well, love you all so much.

Elder Sam Spencer

LOVE MY NEW COMPANION

I love my new companion.  He got me off my trunky bike or whatever we want to say there haha.  I love it.  We had an amazing week this week.  We started off terrible... Our first day was terrible.  We didnt find a single person.... I was really down.  The next day, we realized that our investigators well, no pasa nada con ellos.  Sorry its easier in Spanish with that one haha.  So we got to Thursday.  We were supposed to plan but my companion got sick.  He just rested and that afternoon guess what, again we didnt have success.   Now Im going to share why.  When we or better, I, planned, I was trying my own thing.  It didnt work out.  We were trying to figure out how to have more investigators and we applied a plan that we both liked.  Well, Saturday, we found 5 new people to teach.  Pretty much our entire week got a huge change.  We also had a ton of activities and meetings this week.  One was a meeting with the District leaders.  I learned a lot about how to have animo, or like to be excited.  We left with all ganas haha.  It was amazing.  We saw a lot of miracles this week.  The biggest miracle of all was to have a new ward mission leader called that is active and will work.  He lives in the same house as us.  That is gonna be a huge help.  He is always able to help us at night.  I can see this ward becoming a huge power in the church if we work with animos.  This ward needs animos.  That is all it needs.  They need to realize like yesterday in the training, we arent here to do missionary work.  We as missionaries are only here to HELP with THEIR missionary work.  I will forever more remember last night.  That was amazing.  I didnt understand a lot what Elder L. Tom Perry said but I think he was talking about how missionaries will soon be using Facebook.  What apostasy is that?  I guess Im an old fashion missionary now haha.  When we got permission to write friends I thought how weird is this haah.  Now Facebook?  Well its a new age of missionary work.  I will be here as the world transforms from a door to door to a computer age in missionary work.  Interesting that is all I will say.

Well I really hope that all is well with everyone back home, and Grandma Spencer, get well soon haha.  Remember that life gets better as we move on in life.  How interesting was that knowledge when I learned it.  I cant wait to see what is in store but for now, Im here working with a new enthusiasm for this work.

Love you all

Elder Sam Spencer