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!

 

El Cerro---The Hill

November 11, 2013

this week has gone bye fast for me too!  I'm glad to see dad is still working hard out there hahah. I hope you guys are enjoying yourself!  this week hasn't really been much more than normal, but it was a good one. my spanish is coming along. i can understand most of it, but my vocabulary is very limited hahah.  one bad thing that happened this week was my camera lens broke....... not really sure what Happened, but we are going to get it checked out today so don't worry! I also took some sweet photos with elder quilles camera, I will send those shortly!  we don't have any new dates, but Vicente is looking good! he came to church with us yesterday and his brother spoke!  his brother is freaking sweet!  his name is hector and i think he is the only member in the family not really sure, but he got baptized and then served a mission.  he comes with us like every night to teach and hes really funny.  he really wants some twizzlers so if you can send those that would be sweet! also elder quille really wants to try swedish fish hahah.  also whatever else you want to send would be sweet!  we had a lesson with a less active member this week that was crazy! She is really having a hard time right now and it was awesome to be able to help her!  I think that's one of the main purposes here is just to help others in anyway possible!  I also think that its important to remember this after the mission too! I am going to send some sweet pictures and theses are for Juju and Bernie..... i finally made it to the "hill" hahaha

talk to you next week! love you!

my whole area is cerros and it does get a little tiring.

mom:     what is a cerro?  a big hill?  you are probably in great shape!

jake:       yes ma'am, cerros are hills and I would be, but we have to each
               so much food out here its rough!  i am not sure when, but I think I will be
              eating guinea pig soon hahaha

mom:     why do you have to eat so much food?

jake:       because the members give us so much and you cant turn it down haha

CASABLANCA, PERU

November 4, 2013

this week definitely flew by!  it was a lot better than the first one haha.  the Spanish is coming along, but I am still definitely a gringo.  I can understand a lot better though which is good.  I got both packages and cards too!  I don't think the other address is wrong, i just think it is easier to send it to the other one for the mission president and everything else.  elder quille and I love everything you sent us and would love more haha.  we had a pretty solid week this week.  we have one investigator committed to baptism, Vicente Mendiz and he's awesome.  he is 18 just like me and i really hope all goes well!  Thats so awesome about missy, she said she wanted my address here, so if you could send here that that would be sweet because i dont even know it hahah.  i am going to email her after this!  I have some good pictures to send to you this week!  only two though haha.  i also got to go on splits with a north American missionary, elder walker and he is from arizona!  he used to be in the ward that meets next to the temple.  it was awesome! we were walking down this street and this lady came up to us and was talking to us about the rapture and other strange things hahah.  he decided he wanted to try and give her a book of mormon so we started to walk with her, but it soon became apparent that she wasn't listening so once we got to the door of her church she left us for a minute and we booked it hahah.  i thought it was a pretty funny story.  other than that not much is happening, just enjoying Peru more and more! one more thing, if you are going to send money, could you send it in Soles?  i just don't know how to exchange it here sorry!

con mucho amor

elder zundel