Collin Russell: A Missionary: Two Months!

Which one of these elders is not like the others...? :)

Hola Familia!!

Thank you ALL for your amazing letters, you are all so spectacular! I draw so much strength from you all and hearing from you all is the highlight of my P Day!!

So, as of TODAY, I have been in Peru for 2 MONTHS!!! Crazy, ¿no? I can't believe it. Sometimes it rushed by, and other times, well, I'll admit it, it has felt like 2 long months. haha! But I am loving it and every week I get a little stronger and more confident and better! I hope you are all doing well back home! and oh my goodness, I apologize about the birthdays, these past couple weeks there have been bunches of birthdays in the family!! I apologize to all that I have missed, I will get better. And Dad, if I'm not mistaken, yours is on the 3rd, right?! If so, I wish you a happy, happy birthday!! You are the best dad I could ever ask for and you have been the strongest example for all my life!

Ok, so I figured it out, letters take usually 8 to 11 days to get to the office I believe. Packages I still don't know because they don't mark the arrival date on them, but it is less than a month. But we recieve all of our mail at zone conferences and such.

We had a zone conference this Thursday, and our homework for it was the fourth missionary packet, the same one I read in the CCM! Oh it is fantastic, only this time I read it in Español, I already was familiar with it in English so I decided it would also make good Spanish study material! It is a great read. The multi-zone conference was with my zone (Castilla) and the zone Paita. I really enjoyed it, I learned a lot and I really got a vibe for how things roll in the mission and whatnot. We studied scriptures of Book of Mormon examples of people who followed the principles of the fourth missionary, great stuff!!

Zone Conference

One thing that Elder Inocente showed me yesterday was so profound! I believe it is 1 Corinthians 14:16 or 19... But it is about how 5 words in the language people can understand is better than a thousand in a language they can't! On Sunday a man in the ward asked us to give him a blessing, he was having some real pains I guess. But Elder Inocente had me anoint, and that was difficult to figure the words! Elder Inocente helped me step by step and in my language study this week I plan to memorize those words. But I was asking Elder Inocente later that day about if it was ok to give blessings in English, because that is the language I know how to do it in right now. And he showed me those scriptures. Also in my blessing in getting set apart as a missionary I was told that my power to heal rests upon my faith and the faith of the individual being healed. How can they have perfect faith if they don't even know what they are having faith in?? It blew me away. And I am beginning to be much more grateful and showing of my gratitude to my Heavenly Father for when I have the gift of tongues. This gratitude also helps me become more prepared to recieve more, and those blessings I really need! However.. the Spanish is coming very well! When I get concentrated and dive into the lesson, I can really do it! For example in a lesson with some investigators, I could feel the spirit so strong and I don't rememeber ANY struggle in trying to find the words to say. The spirit is AMAZING!!

I do stick out like a sore thumb here! Elder Inocente also told me, he has never had a companion that has been called out as "GRINGO!" as much as me. People always call it out! Or just stare... haha

Oh, last Tuesday during lunch, it was delicous!! Then they told me what it was. Cow Intestines. Yep. And I cannot deny it, I thought it was tasty. I don't know what has happened to me. haha!! Later in the week I think they also said it had stomach in that mix too... Who knows sometimes, eh? :) And today I had something that they explained to be more or less, Shark. A cousin to Shark.. But family and friends, I ATE SHARK!! It kinda tasted like crab to me... also Tasty! And they have grapes here that are GIANT, like double the size of the biggest grape you find at the local grocery store. Big and delicious! Also, one night me and my companion made Huevos Rancheros, we are getting good at preparing dinner! :) I am not sick, and do not worry about the food, I am doing great!

We now have 3 baptismal dates! One wants to be baptized in the ocean, so I am so excited for that! It is a 30 minute walk from the center of Sechura.

They do celebrate Halloween here, I don't think its terribly big, but then they also have Dia de los Muertos on November 1st and 2nd where many people spend most of the day in the cemetery, I will have to tell y'all more about that next week because I still don't know for sure.

Elder Miller is in my zone so I see him whenever we have conferences, or zone Pdays together, so maybe 3 or 4 times a month, but he seems to be doing great!! Sadly, I have not seen Elder Chapman since our days in Piura, I do miss him though, he is awesome.

The other Elders in area Sechura 2 are the other missionaries for our district. OH!! I never mentioned this! This week, Elder Navarrete, the District leader, got called off for an emergency transfer to be in a companionship elsewhere. Elder Arce is now with a mini missionary, just serving until the end of this time between changes, or 6 weeks. We are now starting week 4. But now, Elder Inocente is District leader!! haha!! So that will be a fun new thing! I actually will be going to Piura on Thursday while he has a work transfer here with one of the zone leaders, and I will be in the zone leaders area for the day, so that will be an adventure!

Piura to Sechura is Ogden to Morgan. So, many many people travel to Piura for their purchasing and whatnot. Area wise, I would say Sechura is a bit bigger, but I think comparing it to a 3rd world Morgan is kinda accurate... Just a little bit bigger, more city styled.

Many of the men here for work are fishermen. Also many work with spearfishing or oysters and whatnot on the ocean floor. It is quite interesting, but the downfall is that many of the men are gone for multiple days on end, therefore the missionary work with men is less effective and the church attendance is the same. But those that can come, do come and they are VERY great in the work.

Oh, I taught the Primary on Sunday with my companion about sharing our testimoniues with others!! it was awesome and a great opportunity to improve my Spanish!

Well, time to go! Thank you all for your prayers. I feel them always. I know you are all here to support me, and I am growing to become a stronger and more confident and more powerful missionary!! I love you all, and never forget that your Heavenly Father loves you and you are a child of God!!

con Amor y Felicidad,

Elder Russell