Working hard and looking forward to Christimas!!

December 23, 2013

this week has been pretty good.  it went by pretty slow because we are so excited for this week. we have a huge party with all of the mission tomorrow (on Christmas Eve) and then Wednesday (on Christmas) we get to talk to you guys! it will be sweet!  we had another week full of work which was awesome! elder quille and I taught 36 lessons again, and have a baptismal date for the 4th of January.  his name is Jesus Iquiapasa and he is awesome he is a brother of member.  he really is so sweet.  its been kind of hard this week because I have been thinking a lot about Vicente who hasn't gone to church in three weeks.  we are trying to work with him, it just kills me inside and i don't know what to do.  it's all good though, the spirit will guide us and show us what to do!  I studied some cool stuff this week, first in Matthew 7:24-27 which is the parable of the wise man and the foolish man and thought how we really need to build our testimonies on Christ who can be our firm foundation like it says in Helaman  5:12.  also another cool parable I found is in Doctrine and Covenants 101:43-62 and it talks about how we need to prepare now and shouldn't put anything off!  don't know if you guys like getting these, but I just thought it was cool hahah  I'm doing good on everything just wish I could have maybe a couple more ties and a ped egg for my calluses hahah other than that all is well!


                                                                this is a mototaxi in Peru

                                                                            Before

                                                                              After

Armadillo soup and SURE!!!

December 16, 2013

This week has been a good one.  Not much went on, just a lot of work. We had 36 lessons this week, our best week yet! It’s getting harder and harder to distinguish in between the weeks out here so sorry if this one is a little short.  One cool thing we did is we ate some very interesting things.  The bishops wife is from the jungle and they eat everything that moves out there hahah.  On Saturday night we ate sure (pronounced sude) which is a live fat worm.  I have a video of it, just don’t know how I can send it..... I’m working on that though!  We also had armadillo soup and are going to eat a turtle soon hahah.  That’s pretty much all I got. My spanish is getting to be pretty good so I’m pretty excited about that because I have only been gone 3 months.  One scripture found this week that was cool is in romans 5:3-5 and shows how we should face our trials! i love you guys so much, and will find out about the skype this week! do you guys have a skype account?  I think i will get a pre call as well to inform you guys more on the 25! i love you guys so much and hope all is going well!

                                                                      sure (pronounced "sude")

 

this is living with us for a little while

I told Jake I love turtles--do you have to eat it?

He said, I'm not sure, it's up to the bishop--it's his?!

 

Judging between good and bad...and donuts

December 9, 2013

hey mom!  this week has been pretty good.  we had a lot of our appointments fall through, but we are just trying to do our part because everyone has their agency.  everything is going well out here though.  we got three packages this week and they were awesome!!!! i feel so blessed to have a family that supports me so well. also i am very grateful for the members of are ward because they are a great support to me as well.  nothing really crazy happened this week.  i did get to carry cement up a huge hill this week which was a good time...... hahah I did want to share some scriptures, one is in moroni 7 verses 16-17, i really like this scripture because it shows how we need to judge between the good and the bad.  This is really imortant for us because we need fill our lives with good things and not waste our time on this earth!  the other one is in first nephi chapter 15 verse 24.  I like this one a lot because if  we study the scriptures and learn the words of christ, we can be strengthened.  They really are a gift in our lives and we need to take advantage of them!  I would also like to ask for the scripture mastery cards that they give out every year in seminary..... there are four of them, old new test, bom, and doctrine and covenants! also if you could send donuts that would be sweet!  I dont know if its possible, but it would be sweet! love you guys so much!

these are the pictures for the week, elder sepuleveda who went home last week! my first zone leader to finish his mission!

                                                                        salchipapas, the best thing ever!!



Painting Houses @ Christmastime!

Jake's email from December 2, 2013

Mom!

this week has gone bye very fast!  it was kind of disappointing not having thanksgiving, but the other north american elders and i are going to celebrate it today! they were cooking yesterday so we will see how that turns out!  this week was awesome though!  its pretty crazy that we just finished a transfer because it seems like i just got here!  this past week elder quille and i promised that we would try to go through the week with exact obedience, and it really paid off!  we found this family that had been attending church for around 8 months, but wasn't baptized because they weren't married (nobody is in peru) and we are going in for round two hahaha.  we also have another family that is progressing pretty well and I just felt really blessed this week!  I know that obedience is really one of the most important things in this life.  even if something seems small and unimportant, it is there for a reason and we will always receive blessings when we keep the commandments.  I have some pictures that i am going to send of this week, because elder quille and I were practicing our painting skills this week because everyone paints there house around Christmas  hahah. other than that all is well here. I got one card this week which was awesome! please keep those coming.  also if its possible, could you send us some sunblock, sunflower seeds, brownie mix, more peanut butter, twizzlers and a Christmas decoration for hna soledad (our pencionista)?  if you could that would be awesome, if not don't worry about it!  I wanted to send this email first to make sure I had enough time!

love

elder zundel

 

 

lthe first picture is vicente's brother hector or alberto.... he goes by both.  that's my alianza jersey and he is wearing it in saul cantoral which is pretty much crazy.  there are two gangs here, la u and alianza... they are both soccer teams and their fans are crazy.  hector used to really be in deep, but he got baptized and served a mission in guatemala and is so awesome!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Painting Houses!!(everyone paints there house around Christmas)

 

 

 

Trials are there to help us learn....

November 25, 2013

ok mom here is my long email for the week.  this week has been pretty normal, but we had a lot of meetings.  one with the mission president and a couple zones was awesome.  he talked about how we need to obey every rule even the little ones. luke 16:1-11 is a really good example of this!  we also got to have a conference with the whole mission with elder russell m nelson! it was amazing!!!!!!!!!  seriously so awesome.  he is so crazy!  he was talking to us about how missionary work is hard, but we just need to push through and do our best!  it was really awesome and the spirit was definitely with us!  we also started teaching this other family, the Valverde family, and they ARE awesome!  its rare when we get investigators that really understand what we are teaching.  I recited the 1st vision and they were kind of skeptical, but we are returning this week to teach them about the Book of Mormon!  its going to be sweet!  we also had a broadcast conference yesterday that talked about the importance of working with members!  Its really important to help out the missionaries in any way possible!  this is the lords work and we need to help it move a long as best as it can!  we were blessed to grow up in the gospel and should share our great knowledge with all the people we know!  those were just a few of my thoughts I had and I will end it with a scripture in doctrine and covenants section 121:7-8 this scripture is awesome and can help us get through our trials! also remember our trials are there to help us learn! Love you guys so much and miss you, but I will see you in a month por medio de skype!

love, elder zundel

 

 

First Baptism!

November 18, 2013

Hello family!

This week has been good!  It went by really fast and I feel like there really isn't enough time to do everything in the week! Vicente was baptized on Saturday by the one and only Elder Zundel!  I will be sending pictures shortly so you can enjoy them!  Not much out of the ordinary happened this week, I know I am a little bit early today, but we are going to play soccer two hours away which I'm not too excited about hahah.  hopefully I will get to see some of my friends from the ccm though!  I sent you guys a letter this week so I'm not sure when it will get there.... I got juju and bernies package which was awesome! elder quille and I enjoyed the candies!  I also gave a talk in sacrament meeting yesterday which was interesting, but it was good.  I even got compliments on my spanish and one guy thought i was getting ready to go home because how good my spanish was!  it was awesome to hear that the people think my spanish is understanable!  one thing I do need is to know if any of the older facer boys served missions in argetina!!! rosario to be specific!  there is an elder moreya here who was baptized bye an elder facer from california and i wanted to know who it was... it could be a cousin or someone but i thought it was cool!  im not sure about the camera yet, i think i can go and buy one when we have a free pday, but im not to worried about it right now! i have some good pictures so i will send them after this!  i hope all is going well for you guys because i am doing great!

 

love, elder zundel

                                                                              Vincente's Baptism 11/16/13

 

                                                                           Soccer Field we played at!