Be Bold in Commitments

Hello my family!

Alright, oh things are going great down here! It's so hot down here, I never knew it was possible for me to sweat this much. haha! But you gotta love it, I sure am treasuring this experience! :)

Yeah, New Year's was sweet!! Here in Sechura they have this tradition. They make life size dolls and set them out in the streets. Then at midnight everyone lights them on fire!! and they set off fireworks and its quite a deal! I woke up at midnight and went over to the window to check it out. I sure did want to go out and about, Hermana Mara invited us to eat at their place and light off their doll (yep, the doll of Elder Inocente, dressed in a missionary shirt pants and shoes, was set to flames New Year's!!) but we have rules here in the mission, so of course we could not go. But from the window I could see like 5 dolls burning in the street, right outside our house they were shooting off some big fireworks, and you could see the glow from the fires in every street!! It was such a cool thing to see!! I am totally wanting to bring the burning doll tradition back home…(burning the doll signifies getting rid of the old and starting new)

Elder Tamani and I are doing good!! It's been an interesting week as we figure out how to mesh our different working styles. I'm learning how every missionary has their distinct style of work, and that has been good to learn and see! Elder Tamani is great at being on top of things! And one thing I especially LOVE about him, that at first just took me back in shock was his boldness to commitments. I have been more about building confidence and friendship then getting into the lessons and commitments, but this has been a wonderful thing for me to learn! We are here to invite people to come unto Christ, and we need to be bold in commitments and help people understand up front why we are here. So I love that about Elder Tamani.

This has also been a great experience as I have been like a senior companion this past week as I show Elder Tamani around. Having to take a lot more initiative has helped me learn how prepared I really am! My Spanish is feeling AWESOME! Elder Tamani says he thought I had more time in the mission based on my Spanish, and I feel like I am very close to being able to speak freely anything I need to say. There is one investigator who says she has troubles understanding me, and that has been frustrating to me, and I think it's just making a downward spiral sometimes. I have learned that good Spanish comes when I am positive, happy, and have the spirit with me. It's like 100% gift of tongues, I have a strong testimony of that gift. :) But when I asked Elder Tamani about my Spanish and why she can't understand me, he has no clue, he says I speak great! But maybe he was just lying to make me feel good... haha But really I do feel confident in the language and I still am improving every day! I hope to be very fluent when I get home!

More about Elder Tamani, he is from the jungle of Peru, he loves fruit, he has served in Piura city, Paita, and Talara. He always says "Claaaa-a-a-a-aaaro" and talks with a bit of a sing, it's the accent of some Peruvian areas, it's awesome. I am trying to pick that up. :) This is his first time as a District Leader, and I think in this companionship we are going to learn a lot together and both progress a lot. He has a strong desire to be obedient and be a strong missionary. And he is!!

Things are going well in teaching, getting people to come to church is the big thing to work on right now. But this last week we had a full Sacrament Meeting, which was AWESOME, the first I've seen! And a lot of people didn't come that said they would, and when we asked them why not, a lot are blaming it on the water. Sechura hasn't had water for a couple days to wash or bathe with, so some people didn't quite feel clean enough to come, I guess. But now the water is back so no worries, next week with water back and running and lots of extra effort on our part, we will get some ROCKING attendance!!

I hope these emails make sense, I just type fast and hope it can be interpreted. haha

But things are great, I am feeling very great and hear all the time that I am noticeably gaining weight! I'm noticing too and I love it!! :)

Well, that's all for today, hope all is well for all of you over there!! Read your scriptures every single day!!! They will change your life, I know that because I'm seeing it in my own life right now!

LOVE YOU ALL! Talk to you next week!

con amor y felicidad,

Elder Collin Russell