"What Can I Do?"

Hello family!!                                                      

another week come and gone!!

Happy birthday Mom!!! I wish you the very best!! If you were here in Peru we would probably throw a couple eggs into your hair and shove a cake in your face, but I hope you find an even better way to celebrate back home! Maybe not as messy... haha

All is going well! This week we got our plans more organized for working with past investigators and future investigators and hopefully we find some quality stuff out of that! We need new investigators. We get those moments where we have so many new people to work with, then the next there is nobody. So we gotta fix that this week. :)

From the pictures last week: Are there missionaries serving in the Morropon area? (And is THAT where you might someday need to wear a coat? :) 

(I'm still trying to figure out why he had to take a coat to Piura, since it is ALWAYS hot!)

There is 1 companionship there. A coat, maybe for the rain... it rains more there but more in the morning and night. But for the cold I really doubt it, it is hot there too. haha

What has been your biggest challenge this past week?

Probably having to deal with the "What do we do now?" thought when it comes. Lots of visits got cancelled when we showed up to their houses. We have grown to have good back up plans set, but even those fall some times! But this challenge has been helping me figure out how to keep myself completely busy even when everybody cancels on us.

What was your biggest success?

Well, the other missionaries in the ward had a baptism!! That was a success for us all! And the church attendance for that day too. V made it there on time and stayed even for the baptism! I didn't get to ask her how it was (we had 2 missionaries in the baptismal service and the other 2 had a quick ward council... I got put in ward council since our ward is giving the example in stake conference next week in how to have an efficient ward council meeting) but it seemed like she liked it! So that was good! We also got a less active and his wife (an eternal investigator who needs to get married to get baptized) FINALLY came back to attending church with the whole family! And another less active family came in late that we have been helping with their goal to go to the temple, and they haven't been coming for a couple weeks. So it was all a big success Sunday!

So yesterday there was Seminary Graduation here in Piura! Our Bishop announced to us that all full time missionaries should be in attendance so we went. And there was only 3 other companionships there, but 2 were part of the program... So we sat in for a bit then left. But in that quick moment I learned something pretty cool!

I don't know if it is a real psychology study or what this came from, but it explains the mentality of Dogs and Cats:

Dogs think: "This human gives me food to eat, a roof over my head, he loves me, He is my God."

Cats think: "This human gives me food to eat, a roof over my head, he loves me, I am his God."

2 equal observations, but 2 different ways of perceiving it. And it relates to us in a way. Maybe we often think "What can my leader do for ME? God needs to bless ME. What should they be doing for ME?" but really we should think "What can I do for the church? How can I show God my love for HIM? What can I do for THEM?"

We should be constantly thinking of "what can I do", be anxiously engaged in a good cause. When we do that and create that mentality, we grow to do great things.

Well, sorry I don't have too much new stuff to tell you all!! The church is true! Jesus is the Christ! I love you all!!

Have a great week!

Elder Russell