I feel completely inadequate trying to describe the temple dedication over email. It's like trying to describe a live stunt over AM radio.
On Saturday, there was a cultural celebration. The youth of the north of Perú have been working on this for over six months. The format that they gave it was so cool. They had a kid sitting and reading the Book of Mormon and wondering if it was really the stories of his ancestors. Then, several ancient Peruvian royalties from the time period of the Book of Mormon (the Mochica, the Señora de Cao, etc.) presented themselves and explained their cultures. During their presentations, youth from different stakes all over the temple district performed traditional Peruvian dances from that culture. Then at the end, they connected it to the temple and all of the descendants of the Lamanites that will be able to receive saving ordinances. It was so well executed. I am in love with ancient Perú.
The actual dedication was in three sessions and was broadcast to all stake centers all over the country. The stake centers were transformed into extensions of the temple needing a recommend to enter. Each session contained some similar aspects but had different speakers. President Uchtdorf came accompanied by Elder Bednar of the 12 and Elder Teh of the 70. The area presidency was there (President Uceda, Elder Wadell, and Elder Godoy). All spoke as well as the new temple presidency and their wives. It was absolutely life changing and ultimately the pinnacle of my mission. Everything that I have done in the last 20 plus months has been to help families arrive at that dedicated temple and be sealed.
I was very surprised when one of my converts from Chao, Geheydi, arrived at the stake center that I was at instead of her home stake center. What a special experience to watch the dedication seated next to one of my converts. Geheydi understands very well the power of the temple and I hope that yesterday changed her life and cleared her vision.
I also saw Elder Leavitt and his family, Elder Boekweg, and Elder Meaker in the stake center. It was a joyous day full of the Spirit, old friends, and great memories.
Info on Elder Thorpe: He is 19 years old, six feet and four inches, and from Lehi, Utah. He got to the mission when Elder Craft did roughly a year ago. He is humble, hilarious, and fun to talk to. We are doing great.
I love you all a ton and cant wait to see you all soon.
Elder González
Sorry that I am emailing so much later than normal. A missionary with a soy allergy ate a bunch of pancakes, swelled up, turned red, and was having trouble breathing, so I was in the hospital all day (he's fine now).
So last night was the change call. Actually, we didn't get it until this morning. President Marler actually called us personally with the changes because Elder Meaker has been called as the first assistant of Mission Perú Trujillo South. He is excited, scared, and the best choice that Pres. Rios could have. I am staying here to finish my mission with Elder Thorpe. He is going to be a new zone leader. He was companions with Elder Meaker for two weeks and a great guy. Super tall, super blonde, super righteous. I'm super excited!
So I guess that these are the last Seattle inspired pictures. But they are good ones:
I Alternative light fixture
II Home grown fig plant
III Slack-lining
Have a great week everyone. I'm planning on having a stellar one here with Elder Thorpe!
Love you guys!
Elder González
Hello.
I kind of mis-managed my internet time and am therefore left with very little.
It has been a really great week. Now that the open house has finished up, we were able to teach a lot more lessons. We have really seen a lot of people here with some really strong desires to progress. Sometimes, Moche is a little hard because it has some very strong traditions but we have found a lot of families that we see a ton of potential in.
This is the last week of the change (Elder Meaker could be changed). You'll all be updated on that this next week.
Love you all a ton. Thanks for all of the emails, letters, and prayers.
Elder González
Sunday dinner: Home-made Pad Thai (this is really just getting silly)
Seattle pics: Mexican corn and us in a hammock that we made out of a sheet and some cables.
The open house is over now. Over the last three weeks, Elder Meaker and I have shuttled over 38 people to the temple. They were all brought into a tent, split into groups, shown a 10 minute video explaining the purpose of temples, and then taken through every room of the temple. At the end there is a tent with a bunch of sister missionaries to answer whatever questions people have. I attached the official pictures of the temple, the baptistry, the creation room, the celestial room, and the sealing room. It is a BEAUTIFUL temple. On Saturday (the last day) there was a massive amount of people there.
The temple has been such a focus of the mission right now that there isnt much more to talk about. Elder Meaker and I have just been trying to take advantage of this great opporitunity.
Yesterday, we decided to try and eat as well as we could on our food budget using a water boiler (the only approved kitchen appliance). We had quite the menu.
Breakfast: Deviled eggs
Lunch: BBQ chicken sandwiches with baked potato salad
Dinner: Homemade chicken noodle soup (including homemade noodles)
It was delightful.
The Seattle inspired pictures this week are: 1. Greek yogurt and 2. Wind chimes
Hope that everyone has an incredible week. Its been a great school year (probably) and I hope that everyone is ready to start a great summer.
HAGS,
Elder Gonzalez
Hey everyone!
It's been another 7 days here in Moche. They were quick ones and crazy ones. Remember when I said that no one should feel bad for me anymore? Well, that was a premature statement. All this week, we have had problems with light, water, and cell coverage.
It's been another great week of the temple open house. I can't even begin to explain what it means to missionary work to be able to take a family through every room of the temple and tell them, "This is why we are teaching you." This week we brought several great families. On Saturday, Elder Meaker and I went and ran into the Chao branch. It was so neat to be able to see the members and our converts going through the temple. They were happy to see us and surprised that we were companions. I also ran into my ward mission leader from Cartavio.
So since our pensions restaurant doesn't open on Sundays, we fend for ourselves. We aren't allowed to have any cooking equipment in our room except for a water boiler but since Elder Meaker is a chef, we were able to pull of fettuccine Alfredo with home made garlic bread. It was divine.
This weeks Seattle inspired pictures are: I.) Whole wheat pita bread sandwiches with lean turkey and low fat cream cheese. and II.) Wool ties
Love you all a ton! Have a great week.
Hey folks!
This has been a great one. For the zones in Trujillo, we can go to the temple with the people we teach up to three times a week. Elder Meaker and I have been taking advantage of that and taking all of the most important people. This week we took the Lescano family (a wonderful family who is a little less active), the Casana family (the parents of a girl who is currently serving a mission in Ecuador. They aren't members) and Blanca, Gloria, and Victoria (the three women who work at the restaurant that we eat at.) Taking people to the temple completely changes their perspective of what we do.
Elder Meaker and I are working to collect pictures of us doing things that are inherently a part of Washington culture. I think that I'll send like 2 a week. This week is frozen yogurt and recycle tshirts.
Love you all a ton. Finish the school year strong everyone. Do your homework!
Elder González
So I know that you have all been feeling bad for me for the last like 20 months because I have been living in really small little towns far away from Trujillo with a ton of dirt and like no water but the good news is that that is all over now, haha.
I'm in Trujillo now. Not like the center but a little suburb called Moche. Moche is way cool. It is VERY Catholic which is cool because Catholic people are a lot nicer that some of the people from the other little teeny churches that are told not to listen to us and that we are evil.
When I got to Moche, Elder Meaker looked at me and the first thing that he said was, "I've got bad news. Our room is huge and we have a mini fridge." The room is huge and on the fourth story of a building. Finally, I have a place where my bedroom, study room, and bathroom aren't all just the same room. Our pension is a restaurant that is not owned by members. The restaurant doesn't serve breakfast and doesn't open on Sundays so we have to cook for ourselves which is awesome because Elder Meaker is a chef and it gives us an excuse to eat American food (Yesterday, we ate Top Ramen for breakfast, hot dogs for lunch, and taco salad for dinner).
We had the opportunity to go through the temple open house this week and it is beautiful. Like ridiculously beautiful. The detail is breathtaking. The coolest thing in the world happened to me as well. Elder Meaker and I took a man named Moisès and his family through the temple and as I stepped out, I saw Ligia (my pensionista from Cartavio), and Lucia, Cristhian, and Cesi (three of my converts from Cartavio). Cesi was there with her husband who recently got baptized. It was so neat to see them and to hear that they are active and doing well.
They told me that they sometimes read this blog which was something that I hadn't really thought about before. Here's a little shout out to them:
A todas las personas que leen mi blog desde Perú: Gracias por tomar el tiempo de leer lo que escribo. Las personas que he podido conocer y enseñar aquí en mi misión son muy especiales para mi y quiero mantenerme en contacto con ellos por toda la vida. Lo siento si el Google no siempre traduce las cosas a la mejor manera pero, en verdad, el esfuerzo que hacen para poder leer esto significa mucho para mi. Les amo y les escribiré cuando llegue a casa.
Hope that you all had a great Mothers Day. I sure did talking to my family. I love you all a ton and hope that you have a great week!
Elder Gonzalez
Also, when Jose found out that I was leaving, he asked me for my ship in a bottle so that he could finish it. So he finished it over night and gave it to me. What a great souvenir!
