Week Seventy-Four in Cusco

The Infamous Double Dragon

It is strongly recommended that women and small children do not read this paragraph, for the horrific “double dragon” will be explained. Most elders proclaim that it is only a matter of time until the fire-breathing monster reaches you, and only a few chosen make it the 2 years without its fatal visit. In general terms, the double dragon is a sickness. When one has the experience of the same substance spewing out of the rear and out of the mouth, but at the same time. It is a scientific phenomenon, a miraculous happening. And it is painful! I testify that nobody wants to have the double dragon, but I am glad that I can say that I am a survivor.

It happened while we were in Puno with Presidente for the conference. We were there for about 4 days, doing splits with zone leaders and for the conference. My companion and I only got to the conference to set up and then after to our part because the rest of the morning we were in the clinic pumping liquid drugs into my forearm vein. President mentioned afterwards that they had to talk firm on obedience with the missionaries, even more so than the other zones. We are continuing to progress!

Marco Antonio was baptized this Sunday! On his 30^th birthday, he entered the waters of renewal and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. The service was super spiritual and his testimony in the end showed his Christ-like character. He didn’t do this for him, Marco just has a pure desire to help out the individual. He is going to be a strong disciple of the Lord.

Gloria and her daughters didn’t make it this weekend.. At the last minute, Victor felt like his daughters weren’t doing this for them and didn’t allow it. Am I sad? I was extremely pained, but not weakened. I hold fast in the hope that this family is going to make it. President Herrera told me the other day that on his mission he had a similar experience. He learned back then like I am learning right now that the opposition is real. The opposition needs be present and is often fighting strong! Our work is to keep an eternal perspective and stay on the right team. If we fight alongside Christ, then He empowers us to victory at the end of it all. We may be fighting different battles. It may be losing a loved one, financial worry, family or friends straying from the correct path, or perhaps the fight against our own doubts, weakness and errors; but I know that all will be made perfect in Christ eventually. I would say our work is also to help others have an eternal perspective and find/stay on the right team. If we strive to do that for others, the happiness and salvation we seek will be a natural consequence. As for Gloria, Veronica and Victoria: We are shooting for the 7^th or the 14^th of October! ¡Lucharemos!

Keep fighting and keep loving and keep sending me things. Les extraño un montón.

Sigue sonriendo –Elder Daybell

the IV fighting my double dragon sickness (intestinal infection)

Elder Valenzuela being lazy

Blessed Puerto missionaries

Soccer in the morning with LZs of Quilla

Street kids

Hip Hop album

Bautismo de Marco Antonio

Week Seventy-Three in Cusco

I am still in Peru. Stop. Things have gone pretty good this week. Stop. I am healthy and happy. Stop. We are still working hard against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world. Stop. Ephesians 6:12. Stop.

We had 3 conferences this week! One in the jungle of Puerto Maldonado, another with all the Cusco zones, and a final in the jungle of Quillbamba. They all turned out well and we taught much on obedience. Presidents training on being teachers of the Gospel is amazing like always. And Sister Herrera always delivers with the importance of cleaning our sheets and bathrooms.

For Quillabamba, President couldn’t make it last minute because of a minor health problem. He ended up sending us with the senior missionary couple, The Johnsons. President told us to give his training, Sister Herreras training, and all the rest! In my opinion, he has way too much confidence in us jajajaj. But it turned out okay and we were able to transmit it. It’s easy to talk about teaching the gospel, but not so easy to talk passionately about the cleanliness of our bathrooms like Sister Herrera does so masterfully. The Johnsons are awesome. They are from Hurricane, UT. They always travel with us to teach and interview the Latino missionaries about learning English. I am definitely going to visit them in Hurricane afterwards!  They are good friends and they help the mission in so many ways. Shout out to Grandpa Jack and Grandma Sheila, who are preparing to serve!! More missions need involved senior couples.

Gloria passed her interview along with her two daughters! I couldn’t adequately express the happiness I feel. That happiness is going to double this Saturday as they are dressed in white, ready to do this covenant with our God and receive all the accompanying blessings. YES.

We have another baptism this Sunday too. His name is Marco Antonio! Super funny, musical, sarcastic dude. He has been attending church for like 8 months but at the wrong ward. His bishop just told him that he can’t be baptized there, so the Sisters had to pass the reference to us! We have been teaching him for about 3 weeks, but he already had a testimony and baptismal date. Super excited to see him as well! It is wild how fast you come to love the people you serve, as you serve alongside the Lord in His vineyard.

Love you and miss you! Keep being real and pray for Victor to come to his wifes baptism this Saturday, and to have an open heart to feel the spirit tell him what he must do!!

Sigue sonriendo- Elder Daybell

Sister Herrera taking pictures of my exhaustion hangover as we drive back to Cusco… Again!

Excersise from Elder FIncher in Consejo de Líderes

Week Seventy-Two in Cusco

Demasiado cansado estoy

I am going to have to do a day-by-day breakdown this week because it was another wild one! I am beyond tired and happy to be so, because it makes me feel like I am “wearing and wasting my life” for this cause (D&C 123:12-13).

Monday: We had the Goodbye Dinner with a few missionaries. People ask me if that ever makes me “trunky” but it never has. Yes, it’s been weird seeing many old companions bear their final testimony there, but not nostalgic. It is really a privilege to hear those testimonies! They always talk about how the mission is so life-changing and it really is. I have the chance to reflect on how it is changing my life and more importantly changing me.

Tuesday: the newbs got here. Jaja no they aren’t newbs, they are studs! We spent the day with them for their interviews, lunch at Presidents house, taking them to the hotel, eating Papa Johns at night. It’s pretty much a day where we get more fat.

Wednesday: Full day of training! The news also meet their trainers and we eat more food. The fun part is going to contact with them in the Main Square! I always remember when my trainer and I went and I stumbled through a few contacts in my pathetic Spanish. Feels like yesterday…

Thursday: we had Leadership Council. We usually have it next week but we wanted to kill ourselves this transfer. We were up the night before at like 11pm to set up tables… This whole week I haven’t had the chance to really sleep on time, but I can sleep in the U.S of A. The Leadership Council was amazing. We invited the district leaders for an hour to give a training about how to ask for numbers and President had us to a practice of the wrong way and the right way to ask numbers.

I have had another really spiritual experience in the preparation for our final training too. I won’t tell all the details, but just know that the Lord magnifies the weak servants that He calls! We have been improving in so many things as zone leaders, but we have been having the same results. I couldn’t figure it out until 2 days before the Leader Council I was kneeling to pray/sleep. Don’t tell me you have never done that! Started the prayer and then in the morning finished “in the name of Jesus Christ, amen!” Anyways, there I was almost asleep on my knees and then I was suddenly woken up to thoughts flooding my mind. I hurried and grabbed my agenda, found a blank page, and began to jot down scriptures and phrases to remember using my flashlight. After that I passed out on my bed. The next morning, I went through the scrabbled notes in my agenda and had a powerful personal study. The thing our leaders are lacking is unity! Unity in the companionships of the zone leaders and unity as the leaders of the mission. We gave a neat training with an activity of scripture study and my companion rocked it on his first time directing and teaching in a Leadership Council.

Friday: We had driven to Abancay the night before and so Friday we had a conference with the zone. We only talked a bit about a few points in the Missionary Handbook, but President gave a killer training. The drive is still a horrible 4 hours of winding and turning, but nobody threw up so no worries.

Saturday-Sunday: Finally in our area… A rough one for our investigators not being able to see us all week. The fantastic news is that Gloria and her daughters are still progressing! They are reading and coming to church with no problem. They even invited us to eat! I got super sick and received a running case of diarrhea, but it was a nice thought of them. Never can trust the food in South America.

That was my busy week. I know that the day-by-day letters aren’t very dynamic, but I don’t know how to get all the information to you. Please, forgive me. I love you! I miss you and am always praying for you. I am confident that blessings from missionary service reach to the family and friends back home! I hope you count those blessings and send me lots of things.

Sigue sonriendo- Elder Daybell

Elder Valenzuela and I in front of the Pachacutec Fountain

Right before the new missionaries meet their trainers

The newbs sleeping deep

Palo de selfie in Sister Glorias house

Week Seventy-Two in Cusco

Una vez más

One more time! Another transfer has terminated and I am still here. This will be my 7^th transfer (period of 6 weeks) in the office! I am honestly just happy that I am on a mission, I couldn’t care less where! I have never had a problem with being happy where I am at in life. Crazy to think that I got here last Christmas and I will be leaving right before Halloween though! This next transfer we are going to be on the road a ton with conferences starting up again, and I have planes to go hard.

Muy bein. This week was pretty neat. We did more splits with the leaders in Cusco and Inti Raymi, the two zones in the actual city of Cusco. I was with Elder Yangali (Peru) and Elder Haws (UT). We had a good time and they taught me much. Elder Yangali is a convert since 2 years! Impressive. And Elder Haws knows the last girl that I kind of dated before I left, so it’s a small world after all. Especially when you are Mormon.

Last week I said that I would tell you about my investigadores, and I am no liar. The family that is progressing a ton is a family that you have heard of for months. Sister Frida got baptized with her 2 kids and her nephew in Feburary. Later we baptized Raquel, her oldest daughter, in May. Ever since May we have been working with the sister of Frida whose name is Gloria. Gloria has a baptized son (the nephew in Feburary). Right now she is progressing a ton with her two other daughters and they have a date for the 23 of September! The biggest desire of mine is that Glorias husband Victor can get baptized with them. Or in other words, PRAY FOR VICTOR. He is super interested and wants to make the decision but he “hasn’t felt a change of heart.” I know when he has a strong spiritual witness of the Restoration and of the Atonement, he will be down. He only needs to sacrifice a little more of his time and effort to pray and read and attend church with us. He is going to be a leader for the church in Cusco once he knows!

These are two families that I have grown to love beyond measure. I cannot wait to have my parents and my own family meet them one day! I have been here long enough to create many memories with them. The rest of the extended family live in my sector as well, but they hate me with a fiery passion. It’s okay though. I don’t take it personal, it’s more because I represent those demonic Mormons that want to change the Sabbath day to Sunday when it should be Saturday. JAJAJ I always say hello to them with a smile and oh boy do they hate me. It’s all good! I can feel them warming up to my charm little by little. No mere mortal can resist my charm for that long. Funny story: One time we were teaching Raquel in the laundry business when one of “the sisters” of Frida arrived. Her kids saw us and immediately hid themselves. After about 5 minutes her little kid comes around the corner and just stares at us. I said, “hey whats up!” and he responded warmly. We had a brief conversation and then he turned to his mom and exclaimed, “don’t you see?! They are not evil!” We died laughing. It was a blessing for Raquel because she always gets family members coming to her only to bash the church and Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, but that little kid spoke an eternal truth that day. Mormons are not evil!

Well I hope that you are happy and all that jazz. I love you and always miss you!

Sigue sonriendo- Elder Daybell

When I study, the light sometimes shines on me and causes hard revelation

Working with E’ Vargas in Sicuani

Panorama of the Sicuani Valley

Going to “the office” (la oficina)

Luciano the infamous child of our pension

Converts playing “Dota” when we supposedly had an appointment

The good-bye treats in the office for Elder Ordoñez (so sad)

Fine dining in the Main Square with my companion

A rat thing on my cabeza