7 Months in the Mission!

Buenas Tardes mi familia amada,

Another week gone by! Man is time just flying or what... I already hit 7 months in the mission! It feels like yesterday I was at 4 months thinking "only 20 whole months left..." but now I dont even want to think how many I have left. 2 years really isn't that long!! well... ok, maybe sometimes. And Mom, I bet sometimes you wouldn't agree either, right? haha

But things are going well! A little bump in the road this week was that both myself and my companion got a little sick... I am all better now, I think I ate something just a little funky, and my companion ate something quite funky. But we are still working hard and staying strong! It was a little frustrating for us to miss a couple visits because of it, but in time we will be right back to top speed and overdrive before you know it!! :)

One cool thing about this week was visiting a newer investigator. We actually met him on a bus ride back to Tambo Grande. So we had splits that day and I went to visit him with a member who is a Scripture whiz, and a great guy. I have gone on splits with him before. He shared several great scriptures with the investigator from Ether and Alma and then 2 Nephi, and the investigator was writing down all the references, absorbing the words very attentively, and in the end he told us he was done with the things of the world and going to start more with religion. He started to see how amazing the Book of Mormon truly is! That investigator just got a big boost in his testimony for the convincing evidence of the church and the gospel of Jesus Christ! The Book of Mormon is the best, and that was a great experience that helped me remember that a little bit better.

Today for P Day we changed apartments! I am still dripping in sweat from it. haha Pheww!! It was a great living space, but the new one has cement roofing, so it is much cooler temperature wise. But moving - not fun! haha but we had the magnificent help from the family of the pensionista.

Well, it is great to hear all is well back home!! And holy smokes to that hair photo!! It's like Tangled! Crazy deal, haha! (I sent him a picture of some of the cousins with their "extreme" hairstyles :)

Well, I love you all!! I will probably get the letter this next week or two, and I should get the package before Easter! Thank you all so so much for sending stuff to me! Now all of Tambo Grande looooooves Tootsie rolls! The children are always like "giiiiiiiiiive me a piece of candy." ("Daaaaaaaame un caramelo" in Spanish haha) and now the parents are even starting to do it too!! haha I love Tambo Grande!

Well, take luck! I will talk to you next Monday! Love you and thank you all so much for all you do!

Con amor y Felicidad,

Elder Collin Russell

At my Pensionista's house.

 With some Tambo Grande Branch members at Stake Conference.

Learn How to be Obedient and Stand Firm

Dearest family,

How are you all doing?! I forgot to tell you I had forgotten all about St. Patrick's Day until I received your email title and the packages, But we took full advantage of all those goodies the day afterwards. :)

Yes, transfers are today. But, Tambo Grande is the same. Just the two of us missionaries here, Elder Martinez and myself. It looks like our district has changed though. Before, it was us, San Pedro, Miguel Grau 1, and Miguel Grau 2. The other three areas are in Piura, so it is a 30 minute bus ride for us to get there for district meetings and everything. Elder Inocente and Elder Pin were in San Pedro. Miguel Grau 1 is the zone leaders, Elder Castillo and Elder Toolson, and Miguel Grau 2 were the Sister Missionaries, Hermana Hood and Hermana Hualinga. This transfer, Elder Inocente has ended his mission. His two years are up and by tomorrow afternoon he will be back in Guatamala. Seriously he is one of the best missionaries I've met, and I am so sad he is leaving because now I have no clue where to go for all my advice! haha And now, San Pedro is recieving 2 more missionaries, so I believe it will be its own district. So sadly all the friends I've made in my time there I will probably not see for a good deal of time... The zone leaders did not have a change and that is awesome because they are solid missionaries and I love working with them. And the sisters, Hermana Hualinga is being transfered to Chulucanas, which is actually quite close, the same stake, but different zone. And Hermana Hood and her new companion will be sister training leaders, which are like sister leaders over the sisters of a couple zones, I'm not quite sure how it works, but they will be great at is. And her companion is from Venezuela. So now I think our district is just Tambo Grande and Miguel Grau, so a district full of leadership, we are gonna ROCK. I am still district leader, and for districts there are only one leader. For zone leaders and assistants there are 2, but only 1 for districts.

Things are going AWESOME as we are newly putting efforts to talk to everyone, we have a load of visits set to visit all these contacts, and we are really going to get started on finding solid new investigators! And when we put forth our effort, the Lord blesses us to find ready souls. Like today, we just stopped by for a second to converse with the old branch President, and he went to buy us some sodas, and then walks in this 20 year old man and says "Are you guys Mormons?" "Yeah!" and we started talking to him, and he seems really solid, his parents had actually talked before about how Mormons are such good people, and now he is wanting us to teach him. He lives next door to the old Branch President and he later said his whole family is solid, so I am excited to see what comes of that. We are really finding solid people once we really hit the road and talk and search!

We had stake conference this Saturday and Sunday, and man it was awesome!! We had an Area Seventy there, Elder Calderon, and he had everyone laughing! During the Priesthood leadership meeting Saturday night, he was talking about preparing to have the Holy Ghost be with you and be prepared when Satan tries to get you. Then he was looking at the group of missionaries and wanted one of us to come up. Then he goes "You, Who looks like Joseph Smith when he was 15." He was talking to me. I walked up red as a beet (Classic me, right?) And he asked me some questions about my obedience to the mission rules. What time I wake up, if we study, when we plan, etc. I am proud to say I was able to give all the right answers. I have really been trying hard to be more obedient. There are hard rules in the mission to follow! And I will be honest, sometimes you stand alone when you want to support them. Solo. One thing I want to emphasize for all of you that are preparing to leave on a mission, learn how to be obedient and stand firm when opposition is given. You will need it, and the blessings that come from following it are high class and necessary.

Also from the conference, basically every single talk was about the work of salvation and missionary efforts. Our goal as a stake is to have a convert baptism for every family in the stake for this year. A solid goal! And it was amazing how strongly emphasized it was about the importance of member participation in missionary work. I honestly believe it is more important than full time missionary efforts. I feel like the things I am learning now will help me in these two years, but more importantly, these two years are helping me learn how to be a missionary for the rest of my life. I want to invite you all to think about our stake's plan, and try to follow it too. Yeah, maybe in Morgan Utah just about everyone is a member, but I invite you to become the hands of the Lord to bring someone unto Christ or RESCUE someone and bring them back to Christ from inactivity. It is a commandment that we all enter into the efforts of missionary work.

During the stake conference, we had a CCM companionship reunion!! We are all in the same stake now and Elder Miller and I are once again in the same zone! Elder Miller is serving in the office, I am district leader, and Elder Chapman is a trainer this transfer!! We are all really growing up! :) It was so awesome to see them all again. It sure is fun, all the friendships you build in the mission.

Oh, and Mom, you'll be happy to hear I played piano for the Saturday night adult session of Stake Conference! Hermana Rowley came up to me right before it started, asking if I could play, since apparently there wasnt a single other soul there that could play... hahaha so after 7 months without a solid practice, I played! It went pretty well... haha :)

I got pictures downloading in Dropbox for you mom!! Hope it works out ok! :) And I also got the tootsie roll package yesterday! I told the pensionista the story and she is quite happy. haha She is awesome, Hermana Brenda, very motherly to us missionaries. Oh, and also the peanut butter is good stuff!! That powder has an exquisite taste and the knead and squeeze is quite the savory snack! I think I got enough to last the rest of my mission!! haha Thank you very much for the shipments! (oh, and Elder Martinez will be with me for Easter, if you were thinking about that...)

Well, I think this is going to be the first P Day we are going to take a NAP!!! That is always what I want to do, but my companion LOVES playing soccer so we always end up doing that instead. It looks like I've convinced him for today though, just one hour at least to sleep!! One thing - the mission wears you out!! haha

Well, I know the Doctrine of Christ is true. I know that the Atonement is the key to everything. It is why we must accept Christ. And it is the thing that Satan is working so hard for us to forget. I love 2 Nephi 31. I love 3 Nephi 7 in the missionary efforts of Nephi to teach this Doctrine (thank you Chase, for showing me that one while I was in the CCM) and as we grow to understand the Doctrine of Christ, every other teaching in this gospel follows. I invite you all to study it. Read the Book of Mormon DAILY. It will change your life like it is changing mine. I know we grow daily as we strive to be closer to God. I have especially felt that as I have grown in Patience recently. I have a LOT left to learn and I am working to become better every day.

I love you all!! Thank you all for your letters!! You are all so great! Take care this week, I will keep you all in my prayers! :)

Con amor y felicidad,

Elder Collin Charles Russell

A CCM Reunion!

Elder Miller, Elder Chapman, Elder Russell (and a photo bomber :)

Talking to Everyone

Hello family!

This week has been a good one! A little crazy and out of ordinary, but good! We had exchanges, where I went to San Pedro and worked with Elder Pin for a day, My companion was sick for a day, and then we had interviews with the Mission President!

So during my exchanges in San Pedro, it was awesome. One visit especially, we visited a young woman named G. So we visit, and the plan was to check up that she read Alma 32 about Faith and maybe touch up on baptism and see if there was any interest there. Well, in the end we set a baptismal date!! She has seen that God has answered her prayers, and now she just needs to talk to her family. I am so excited for her, she has a lot of friends in the church which is Awesome!

I DID feel the earthquake this week! It wasnt terribly big, but you could hear the buildings shake a little bit and ALL the dogs went crazy. haha but no harm done here! But when I heard about Sechura I almost died!! It sounds like so much crazy stuff is going on down there since I left!! I haven't heard anything really from down there so I hope all my friends are doing ok!

One thing that we are really starting to do this week is TALKING TO EVERYONE. That was our District Meeting theme, and when we showed up, President Rowley was waiting outside, then asked "Elder Russell, may I attend your District Meeting today?" WOO! That was a little intimidating but he is always SO much help! After the class he got up and got a little at us for setting goals! So we set up a goal about how many people we are going to talk to this week. We set up goals and this week the majority of us in the District have been working wonders with that goal, we have talked to so many more people! And I LOVE it!! You meet AWESOME people! I met the Regional President of Piura just outside our apartment! haha it was a sweet deal, they have talked to
the missionaries before too! Some things I am really learning in the mission is how receptive people really are to hear about the Gospel, and how many people already know a little bit about the church! The Lord truly is preparing the people and His voice is being heard by every single person.

President Valverde of the Branch gave an AMAZING lecture about the Sacrament during the combined Priesthood and Relief Society, and how it is necessary to attend!! He was exclaiming much like I imagine the prophets, power in his voice, the spirit filling the room, and tears in his eyes from the intensity of his desires for the members to partake of this sacred ordinance. The most sacred in this entire Gospel is the Sacrament. By participating worthily of it, we renew ALL of our covenants with God and can become newly clean. I invite you all too to prayerfully ponder about the importance of the Sacrament. There is STRONG reason that people cannot be baptized without attending, nor recieve further covenants (or PROGRESS) without attending afterwards.

I love this Gospel. I am growing and repenting daily, or at least trying the best I can. And I know the Lord blesses us in our efforts. I KNOW that exact obedience is the most difficult thing we can ever do, but it is possible and we can see and be the hands of miracles as we are exact.

I love you all, thank you all for your emails!! I wish with all my heart I could write you all personally, but that would be an all day job, but I hope you all know I love you all very much and think about you all the time!!

Con amor y felicidad,
Elder Collin Russell

Things are Going Great!

Dear family!                                                                                                  

I sure hope this email doesn't explode on me again... This internet is a patience builder for sure! But I did look in the drafts for my big email last week, and it wasn't there... sorry! I always try so hard to keep you informed the best I can!!

Things are going great! Elder Martinez and I are really growing together. To answer your question Mom, It is actually quite possible Elder Martinez won’t be my companion.. we have transfers on the 22nd of March so we will see. But his name is John. John Martinez. So it has been Juan, Jhon, and John as my companions I just realized! haha

The pensionista is great, we eat a lot of rice! We always eat it with this type of hot sauce which really isn't that hot (nothing is spicy here in Peru. haha) but it is tasty! Also pasta is common. My favorite is when she makes Lomo Saltado. Yummm! Another thing I have learned this week is about Lucuma. The yogurt here there are tons of flavors. I had had Lucuma ice cream before, but now the yogurt. And I love Lucuma!! It is a type of exotic fruit it would appear. Although the fruit itself isn't grown here.

Well, church attendance jumped from like 25 to 50! That was awesome! I think it is because Mango Season is ending. So we get more attendance, and that is great.

And holy smokes I never told you guys about my last Sunday in Sechura!! I got Grandma and Grandpa Peterson´s letter this week which reminded me. Thank you all SO SO much for your prayers for church attendance!!! Investigators wasn't overly high, but less active was awesome. Especially amazing and special to me was the family Ronceros Flores. The mother has Parkinsons. So she takes super expensive pills every morning so she can walk and more from about 9 am to 11 or 12 am. But she hasn't gone to church because of her Parkinsons and in fear that the medicine wears off when she is away from home, which could be bad. But my last week, she came and her family as well!! She couldn't get up the stairs to the Sacrament room, and her husband had to help her walk, but she partook of the sacrament. That was one of the most uplifting sights in my mission so far. So thank you all for your prayers.

Here we got some great new stuff coming! We got A., who came to us saying he wants to be baptized! That always catches you off guard!! He lives in the rural area about 30 minutes out of Tambo Grande and his uncle is a member. He has been reading the Gospel Principles book and wants to learn more and be a member! So we are starting to teach him. 

Also I., she was a reference from a less active. She is a social science and religion teacher! We taught the first lesson and left the Book of Mormon for her to read. And MAN!! She has been studying that thing!! We came by and she started out asking us who Amlici is. (Alma 2 and 3) And she just keeps studying and wants to talk about it all and she is awesome. 

Oh, back in Sechura!! Xiomara and Esteban got married and baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHH!! Holy smokes, I am so happy for them, I just wish I could have been there to see it! Man, that is just super awesome.

Right now for Less Actives I think we are going to really start on the Young Men and future missionaries. When I first got here, we had like 2 in attendance, of 33. So yep. We got our work cut out for us for that. But when searching them out, I found out the COOLEST thing! We met J., who is 17. And his birthday is August 20th!! Sharing a birthday like that was a quick way to build a friendship, so we got a visit set for tonight. haha

I love reading the Book of Mormon and studying Preach My Gospel. One thing I learned about Repentance that really stuck out to me was about how it is a daily thing. I never really understood that and how it should be a daily thing. But like it says in Preach my Gospel, repentance is also in developing Christlike attributes, growing in knowledge, and PROGRESSING! It’s not just stopping bad things, but starting good things. It has a lot to do with what you shared with me Mom, about not just stopping bad habits, but replacing them! It is so great to learn that and I am finding so much joy as I learn more and more every day about repentance and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. One day we had a visit and I asked the family (all members) what the Atonement was, and they didn't know. Holy Smokes, I FLIPPED. It's not like that is the KEY TO EVERYTHING. My challenge for you all this week is to study the Atonement a little more, and it will bless your life.

I love being a missionary!! Thank you all for your prayers and    personal service in the missionary work! The church is true!!

I love you all, keep up the good work!

Con amor y felicidad,

Elder Collin Russell

I keep asking Collin to send pictures, and this is what he sent me:

three pictures of the inside of his apartment…

AHHH -- he's killing me… but I sure do LOVE him! :)

Remember.

Hello Family!!                                                   

Well.... I actually just wrote you a big good letter... Then the page for some weird reason couldn't load when I tried to send it, and it ended up disappearing I think... I really hope you got it! we didn't :(  But if not... I am so sorry! I will type as fast as I can and at least recap!

Things are well here! Less active members keep popping up and we are working hard with them! This week 28 people were there for sacrament meeting... of 313 members... So yep, we've got work to do! But we are seeing progress to return and that is really good!

Investigators are going well, we really need to focus better at finding new investigators. One big problem I have seen here is that people get married, then get separated with time. The divorce system here is really hard, it can take over a year and is expensive, so many people don’t get legally divorced and just leave. Then they start living with someone else. And when we teach the law of Chastity and invite them to get married and repent, it can take years and a fortune to work out, so yeah, Satan is working hard. But we work hard too and we are doing everything we can to help these people and be there for every step possible!

I had exchanges with Elder Inocente this week! It was so awesome to work with him once again, he is such an awesome missionary! He actually ends his mission at the end of this month! Crazy!

Well, I am sorry this is all I got time for! I love you all, I will do my best to write a lot more next week to make up for it! The church is true! Remember the theme the Stake Presidency here has put forth:

Remember.

Remember your covenants and that the church is true!

I love you all! Have a great week! 

Con amor y felicidad,

Elder Russell