Monday, November 2, 2015

November 2, 2015

Hola Familia,

It is great to hear from you again. The days just seem to fly by now. I can't believe today that I hit 16 months in the mission. It doesn't feel like it has been so much time. Before I know it it will be Christmas and I will be talking to you all again. I am really looking forward to it. It is good to hear that everyone is doing well. Those shots sound like they were painful but it would have been cool to watch. I am glad that everyone is doing well. I can't believe that winter is coming again. It will be super cool to see snow again but that is still more than a year away.

I had a pretty good week. We started off our p-day by going to a huge park outside of Lima. Since our zone is at the end of Lima, we could get in a bus and drive for about an hour and leave the city. It was so nice (and trunky) to get out of the city and into the country again. There were horses, grass, and even a river. We played ultimate frisbee for a long time. Thanks for sending me a frisbee again. That was a great idea. The Latinos have never seen one before.

The week was pretty normal. Like normal, my patience was tested but I have learned to control it better. I tried to sit down and have a conversation with my comp about how we can get along better but he just ignored me the whole time. Oh well, at least I am doing my part.

This week, the zl came to work with me for a day so he could meet John. When we got to his house, his mom came out and told us that he had left the city for about a week to go work. Since he was out of town, he didn't come to church yesterday. That was kind of a downer. He is supposed to get back today so we are going to go look for him.

Nikol came to church again. We don't visit her that much but she always comes to church. I wish she would just get baptized but I have tried so hard for her to get baptized that I think we are just going to wait until January to baptize her. It is kind of sad to wait but at least she will eventually get baptized.

Nikol was one of two investigators in church. The other one is a lady who is not married and will not be getting married until February. There is not much happening here right now.

Since yesterday was the day of the dead, a lot of people didn't come to church. Also, there is a cementery in my area. There were so many people in my area coming and going to the cementery. It was packed and it made it harder to get to our lessons.

Hopefully this next week goes a little better.

Love,
Elder Isaacson

P.S. I am glad to hear that Uncle Si still works.

Monday, October 26, 2015

October 26, 2015

Hola Familia,

I am glad to hear that you had a good birthday. The week sounds like it was pretty normal and calm. With just one kid in the house it seems like it would be pretty boring. Between Dad's physical therapy, Kenzie and school, and Mom's class, it seems you are pretty busy but not doing anything too interesting. It should be a fun week with Halloween. They don't celebrate Halloween here too much. A few kids will go around asking for candy but not too many. A lot of people think it is Satan's Holiday.

We had a pretty normal week. I am still trying to work with my companion. I am trying to teach him everything he needs to know but I feel like he doesn't even listen to me and is wasting my time. He is more holding me back from working hard than helping me. For example: We were doing our extra hour of study. We are taught to always to practice role plays. He said no and just went to go sleep. We ended up leaving late because I was not going to let him win. We finally did the practice when I threatened to call the zone leaders. But the whole time that I taught, I would ask a question to see if he was understanding me and I would see that he wasn't even paying attention. I tell him this everyday but everyday he doesn't pay attention. I even told him he was wasting his time, my time, and the Lord's time even he wasn't going to try and learn. Hopefully his visa comes through and everything gets better.

As for our investigator Jhon, he is the one that came to church on his own last week. Anyways, we met with him a couple times this week. We had a super good lesson with him and was able to set a baptismal date for him for November 14. It was all going well and then we started to talk to him going to church this week. He told us that he had plans and wouldn't come. He is super cool but he likes to do a lot of other things on Sunday. That will be the hard part with him, getting him to come to church.

As for Nikol, she came to church this week again. I asked her why she didn't want to get baptized and she said that she wants to get baptized but not this year. This year has been really rough on her. Her mom died and she has had 7 more relatives that have passed away this year too. We have helped her a lot but we might just wait and baptize her in January. I hope I can be here for that. There aren't any more investigators worth telling you about. They just don't want to progress.

Also, I don't understand why people always confide in the missionaries so much. This week I have helped one sister stay with her husband and not move out with her kids. I have helped another one whose family member has passed away and a lot of other things too. I am so thankful for the Spirit because when they tell me these things I don't know what to say but I start to talk and something always comes out. I know that I didn't say those words that helped them but that the Spirit did.

Love you all so much,
Elder Isaacson

Monday, October 19, 2015

October 19, 2015

Hola Familia,

Well, to start off... ¡Feliz CumpleaƱos Mom! I hope you have a great birthday Mom. You are going to be super old. Just kidding. That is great that Dad is finally out of his sling and getting back to normal. Hopefully he will be completely healed up in no time.

I can't believe UEA has already come and gone. It sounds like the school year is going by pretty quick. It seems like you just went back to school. It must have been nice to be able to get a break. Sometimes I wish I could get more than just one day of rest. We are always working so hard sometimes I feel super tired. But it is a good kind of tired.

Like always, thanks for the sports update. I can't believe that the Utes are ranked #3 in the country. That is amazing. They must be playing amazing. It sounds like almost all of the Utah sports teams are doing pretty good.

I feel bad about Aunt Jill. Tell her I wish her the best and hope she gets well fast.

The weather here is starting to warm up. We have some days that are really hot and the sun just bakes us. The next day can be cold and chilly though and I go out in a sweater or long sleeves. But I can tell summer is coming. I am not looking forward to it because it is so hot and about kills me.

I am sure they are sending Elder Lopez to the Provo MTC so he can learn English there. His training is going well. I am not going to lie... but he is probably my most difficult companion that I have had. I have already trained one elder so I wasn't too worried, but this is a different story. A lot of times he doesn't want to listen to me or do the things that I tell him. I would think he would like to get some advice from me so he can be prepared to teach the Gospel after I am gone. Also, where he is an only child, everything has to be about him. He has started to invade my space too. I think he likes my desk better or something, because he always sits in my chair and at my desk even though all my stuff is there. I think I am just going to pick up and move desks to not cause any problems. I will be alright though, I am going to talk with him and try and get along with him.

As for investigators, we are doing pretty good. We had a few investigators in church this week. Nikol, the one who's mom passed away, was at church again this week. She keeps progressing but doesn't have a lot of desires to get baptized. We are going to keep working with her so she can get baptized. Also, this week a guy just showed up at church. He told me that he had talked to the missionaries before but had never gotten baptized. He came yesterday and stayed the whole three hours. I have my first lesson with him today so I will see how that goes.

Other than that, my week was pretty normal.

I love and miss you,
Elder Isaacson

Monday, October 12, 2015

October 12, 2015

Hola Familia,

Like always, it sounds like you had a busy and exciting week. That is great that you should be losing the sling this week. Hopefully your shoulder will start to heal even quicker now. AYSO soccfer sounds like it was really fun. Kenzie needs to stop bullying all the boys when she plays soccer.

Life for me here in Peru is good. Sancarranco did have a transfer. I was kind of sad to see him go because we got along really well. Where he got changed I got a new companion, and gues what? I am training again... crap. I really didn't want to have to train again but that is what President wants. I actually won't be doing the full 12 week training because my companion, Elder Lopez, is waiting for his visa. His real mission is in Wisconsin. He will only be my companion for six weeks. It is still really hard to train him though because he never went to the MTC. He is going to go to the Provo MTC when he gets his visa. He has no background on being a missionary and I have hard to start from square one and teach him everything. Elder Lopez is from Lima, Peru. He lives in The Molina, where the temple is and is one of the richest parts of Lima. He is an only child and it kind of shows. I am just trying to help him get used to the mission and not miss home too much. I have also learned to try and walk slower. He is really short and kind of fat. He walks super slow. I have to stop all the time to let him catch up. I think we are both learning patience right now. Also I am trying to teach him english. That is really hard too. Both for him and me. It is now hard to speak english.

The area is doing alright. We are teaching a family that is really cool. About 12 people live in the house. Only two are progressing but it looks like they might be able to get baptized in the coming weeks. Nikol, one who is progressing, Mom passed away two months ago. The whole family was suffering a little bit. It was cool to be able to see the blessings of the gospel in their lives and help them understand God's plan.

We are teaching a few other people right now but not great potentials for any baptisms this month. Other than trying to train another new missionary my week was pretty normal. Just walking around trying to teach people. I felt kind of stressed due to all the responsibility but now I feel a lot more relaxed.

Yes Mom, I am still the same pant size. My shirts are fine right now and my socks are doing fine too. I know I said my shoes were holding up but this week the rockport's started to give in. The shoes from Brasil are doing great. They will make it to the end of my mission easily. If you want, you could send me another pair of the Brasilian shoes size 10 with the soft inserts. I don't know anything special that I want but I don't need hot chocolate. That is already here. Maybe Nutella.

Les Amo,
Elder Isaacson

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

October 5, 2015

Hola Familia,

It sounds like you have all had quite the busy week. It sounds like almost all of Utah's sports teams are doing good. It is always fun to hear what is going on back home. I can't believe Homecoming has already come and gone. It sounds like Kenzie had a good time at the dance. It is good to hear that your arm is getting better. It seems like it is taking a long time to recover, but that is probably because it is. I am sad to hear that Keith Anderson passed away. I always loved listening to his stories. I will never forget when we went over to his house and he showed us all of his antiques. He was such a cool guy and he will be missed.

Conference was amazing like always. It was fun to finally find out who were going to be the new apostles. I really enjoyed all of their talks. I didn't get to see the last session on Sunday because there was a small problem and we never made it. I will just have to read it later. So like always, I would like you to send me General Conference in English. I really liked (I think it was Holland) Talk. He talked a lot about Mom's and parents. It was kind of a trunky talk but I enjoyed it a lot.

I was able to go to the temple on Thursday. It had been ten months since I had went. I love to go to the temple. It was really needed. I just needed to destress a little bit and feel the spirit a little stronger in my life. It was kind of like a purification. We left super early. We left at 5 in the morning and went to a session and 8 in the morning. Afterwards we bought a few things in the temple and a few things in a store by the temple. Afterwards we went to subway. That is the first time I had Subway for more than 15 months. It was so good. They even had chocolate chip cookies. I haven't had cookies like that for a long time either. Maybe I could make them one day but I don't remember the recipes.

We are going to stay away from Jose Sandoval for a littl bit and let him revaluate what he is doing. I will probably go back and visit him in a few weeks. The area is kind of slow right now. We are trying to find a lot of new people to teach but it hasn't been going so well. This week I will manage to do better though.

Transfers are this week. I can't believe six weeks have already passed since I got here. There is a good chance that my companion will have a change. Where he has had a problem in this area before I think he might go. But you never know what is going to happen. He could still stay. I don't really care if he stays or goes. If he goes I don't have to worry about his problem but if he stays I will be fine because we get along really well. I will just have to wait and see.

les amo,
Elder Isaacson

P.S. I took a little money off my card this week to go to the temple.

Monday, September 28, 2015

September 28, 2015

Hola Familia,

I am so glad that it is Monday again so that I can read your letters. It sounds like everything is going well back home. That is good that Dad is starting to get better. It sounds like everything is pretty normal back home and that everyone is staying busy. I am sure that you will be able to figure out what to do with your class and they will start to progress. Thanks for all the sports updates. I can't believe that Utah is ranked number 10 in the nation. That is crazy.

I had a pretty good week. Andrea was baptized this week. She was supposed to be baptized last Saturday but she coudn't. This week she could and she got baptized on Thursday and I confirmed her on Sunday. She was super excited. Her mom was baptized a couple of months ago and Andrea has been going to church since then.

Jose Sandoval had a problem. We couldn't find him all week. We found him Friday night, the day before his baptism. He told us that he wasn't ready and that he was worried he would give into temptation after his baptism. We sat down and taught him a really powerful lesson. If I had heard our lesson I would have been baptized. At the end he still said no. We went back the next day and his brother told us that he came home drunk. That is the second time that this has happened. We might have to leave him.

Other than that we had a long week of finding. We found a lot of new investigators this week. We will start to focus on them. I am doing good on clothes and don't need anything special. The only thing that I could use would be a new pair of blue pants and maybe gray ones too.

I didn't go to the temple this week but I hope I go this week. I am excited and I keep working hard.

Love you a ton,
elder Isaacson

Monday, September 21, 2015

September 21, 2015

Hola Familia,

It sounds like you have had a long, good week. Your shoulder should start getting better now. Just keep taking care of it and don't push yourself or it will make it worse. Like you said, it sounds like Kenzie is the only one in the house that has an interesting life. Her internships sound super fun. I remember when people went to school and sat in classes, but it is cool that she gets to do so many cool things.

My week was kind of boring. It started out deep cleaning the house on Monday. We had room revisions and interviews with the President on Tuesday. It is always a pain to clean the house because there is so much dirt and dust in Lima. It just gets everywhere. Then on Tuesday we had interviews. I always enjoy the interviews with President because I come out really motivated to work. He also told my companion and I that we need to go to the temple while we can and don't have leadership positions or are training. We will probably go to the temple next week. He also told me that he put Sancarranco and I together because we both have a lot of experience and wants the ward to progress. It made me feel really good.

We were supposed to have a baptism on Saturday, but the lady never showed up. Her work ended up obligating her to stay late. We ended up having to reschedule her baptism for this week. We also have another investigator, Jose Sandoval, that should be baptized on Saturday. He has been an investigator for quite some time now but was struggling with an alcohol addiction. We have kept working with him and it has been a long time since he has drank. He should be good to go this week too.

We found a few new investigators this week but not a ton. One of them, Jonaton, was a missionary for la iglesia Aventista for 5 years. He knows a lot of stuff. It was kind of hard to teach him. We then started talking about the Book of Mormon. He then proceeded to tell us that he has read the whole Book of Mormon. He said he liked it and learned a lot but wasn't sure if it was true. We are going to start working more with him. The only problem is is that he is only at home on Sundays. Oh, he also came to church with his family.

We had 6 investigators in church this week. We were super excited and we are hoping to have a lot of success in these next few weeks and October. I get along really well with my companion. We have a lot in common and we usually don't disagree.

Love,
Elder Isaacson

P.S. I will stay safe around the motos.