Dear
Familia,
Well you were right, I
met a ton of people this week, more for the changes than anything, but I did spend
the last two days or so hospitalized. What happened is that theres a stomach
virus going around in the mission, and we don`t really control our food intake
apart from leaving some rice on the plate when I can`t move anymore.
Also, I was only in
the hospital accompanying an elder that has been sick a few weeks. I`ve been
assigned as zone leader in Zona Collique in Las Casuarinas ward. As part of my
duties, I stayed with Elder Ortiz in the hospital while his companion went back
to work in his area. I will be writing more this afternoon. My morning internet
time this morning is more for reports on the zone.
Love you,
Elder Nelson
Of course I wasn´t
sick. I wrote that I was only accompanying the elder that was sick. I have been
just a little bit common coldish, but that is very quickly going away. I am one
of three zone leaders in Collique, which is a part of San Felipe Stake in Comas,
Lima. Part of my duties have been to accompany Elder Ortiz in the hospital,
write a bunch of reports on Monday and look for apartments and make the move
for a couple of elders that are opening a new area in the zone.
The district leaders
don`t take as much of a load in the MPLN, due to President Blunck´s policies,
and so the Zone leaders do a LOT of extra work outside of what is regular
proselyting. My companion, Elder Oliva (from Guatemala) told me that one week
last transfer, he and his companion spent approximately 5 hours
proselyting as compared to the regular 50 or 60 for various leadership tasks
that they had to complete. I`ve definitely seen that this week, as my other
companion Elder Rosi (Argentino) has been in and out of the clinic as well for
an ingrown toenail that he had to have fixed. We taught from about 5 or 6
PM forward for a few days while he recovered.
The area I`m in is
pretty hilly, not like the stairs in my first area, but just up and down
streets everywhere, and nowhere is really all that flat. I like it, it’s about
as far from the offices as you can get in one of the three directions of the
mission. It takes somewhere around 45 minutes to get to the offices from our
area, if the right bus passes at the right time.
Elder Oliva came to
Collique this transfer as well, together with me, and has 14 months, so he
basically has the same time as me, but he`s been a zone leader for a transfer
more. He`s a bigger guy, loves to laugh, more of a disciplinary leader but with
creative punishments, like the seminary teacher that has you sing I`m a little
teapot for coming to class late. He keeps things interesting, and really wants
the zone to be better missionaries one by one. (Our zone finished the last
month at the bottom of the pile in terms of numbers, and has only been a zone
for one transfer.)
Elder Rosi is pretty
relaxed, but he has a very different perspective than Elder Oliva and I because
he`s already finished his two years, and is here for three weeks more to show
Elder Oliva and I the area and zone, by special request from presidente.
He loves his investigators and is preparing all of them to stay faithful even
when he goes.
As far as journaling
goes...well my journal habit died about a month ago when I was well invested in
helping Elder Viza out. And now as a zone leader there’s even less time to
dedicate even though when I remember about my journal I feel bad. I know how
important journals are, and to have left it for so long hurts quite a bit.
Maybe this change I will be able to figure out a good time to write. We are
often awake more than until 10:30, making phone calls with the assistants
or making the financial reports of the zone. It´s exhausting, but I can at
least control the other half of the mission schedule by getting up at 6:30 every
morning. I am finding things to control little by little. We have autopension
completo in this area as well. This room even has a hotplate and a large fridge,
a microwave and a blender. Recipes are welcome :)
I`m gaining a
testimony this week about selfless service. Really there´s little or nothing
that Christ did for himself, and as His servants we should show equal desires
as we serve our fellow servants and brothers and sisters. We should do
everything possible to make things easier for one another and look for ways to
be serviceable, without expecting a reward. Serving like that gives us greater
access to spiritual guidance and more gifts of the spirit.
I love you all, I`ve
loved hearing about all the changes in your lives and thinking about how
different things are in two years, be it in Peru or in the US. The changes I see
here are eternal. Question of the week: Are the things you worry about most in
your life of eternal significance? If they aren`t, what can you do to change
that, if they are, how do you mediate the worry?
Love,
Elder Nelson
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