October 25, 2010

Dear All,

So, I had an awesome week! This week was the baptism of Hermano Miguel.
He and his member wife got married last month and we had his baptism
on Saturday. He is an awesome guy. Just knows the Church is true and
is willing to do everything to have a happy family. I have had such a
good time teaching him and his family. He was so prepared and ready to
have the gospel in his life.

Next week is the baptism of Elder Jay's birth-mom Carmen, her daughter Jazmin
and Carmen´s brother Jesus. It's going to be an awesome weekend. Pray
hard for them, they need the support. I'm really excited. It's going to
be a good week.

I'm happy to hear about Aunt Lora!  109 1/2 Wow!!  A female pastor.... don't have
anything to say about that, and a blessing at the end of the funeral... let me
know what that means. Teach them a thing or two about the plan of
salvation. And hurry to the temple to do her work! You could do her
sealing to Uncle Bryan. That would be sweet!

That reminds me, I got to go to the Temple on Thursday. It was a really
good day, just nice and peaceful. I love the temple and I always learn
something new while I'm there. Sorry this is short but I'm kinda short
on time but I want to share about Hermano Carlos. He is about 65 and
just awesome. We have been teaching him for a few weeks now. In a
prayer that he said the other day he said this. "Father, I was hungry,
but i didn't have support. Thank you for sending the missionaries. "
He really is awesome and will be getting baptized the 13th of
November.  He came to Miguel's baptism and said after that he wants to
get baptized. He really felt something special. We just contacted him
in the street a few weeks ago and I'm really glad that I talked to him.

Hey we are going to try and do an activity with all the pictures of
the members from their baptisms. We want to put ours up there too. So
if you could send me some pics from my baptism next week that would be
awesome. I think that they exist don't they...?

Mom have dad write me and tell me about that Porsche that he drove. I
want to know how that went. Sounds like an awesome time.

I'm so happy that I made the decision to serve a mission. Everyday I'm
thankful to be here. Everyday I learn something new that will always
be a help to me in the future. I love the mission! Thanks family for
all the help that you have always given me. I love you all! Thanks for
your support.

Love Elder Bearnson


Mom

I had an offer given to me the other day. Elder Brinton knows a very
professional artist from Peru. His name is Albaro Suarez. He  
knows the President of Peru. He's a pretty big deal. But he gave Elder
Brinton a few works of art and he said that he would do one for me.
He would do it for 800 soles. I know that's a lot of money, but I'm
kind of feeling like it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. The guy has
sold paintings at $30,000. He would do one especially for me. I want
him to do that pic of me in Mala on the hill at sunset. He does big
2x3 foot paintings. I don't know how you feel about it but I think that
I would like to do it and have a really great and special memory of
Peru. 800 soles comes out to $288. I know it's a lot but I think that it
could be something really special. Let me know what you think. I love
you mom!  You're the best!

Hey, I forgot to tell you a funny story. So the other day we were making a street contact and talking with a family. A ball came flying at me and I stopped it. I tried to kick it back to the two teams that were playing but... I kicked the ball and it went flying off in some weird direction and I landed right on my butt... it was spectacular...!!! There were about 30 people or so that saw me fall. It was right in the middle of the street. I have no idea how I fell. I actually play soccer pretty well. It's funny to look back on though. We got an apoointment with the family that we were contacting, ha ha, so it was worth something i guess. Thanks mom I love you.

October 18, 2010

Hey fam!

Happy B-DAY D-MANNNNNN!!! Dude, I can't believe that you're going to be 13... Crazy! In six years you´ll be serving a mish! Whoo! I'm going to send a b-day/Christmas package for sure this year. I owe you guys.

Sounds like you guys had a blast in Idaho and Wyoming!! Looks like it too from the pics that Lauren sent me. Awesome! I can't believe how fast my mission is passing... it's really kinda ridiculous actually. The weeks just melt by and I feel like I'm sitting here at the computer every day writing to you, haha! I'm a little bit jealous of all the fun you guys had, but I'll be able to go hang out with ya next year.

He tenido una buena semana aqui en Miguel Grau. I have had a good week here in Miguel Grau. We have five people with a baptismal date. Only one of them is for November, so it's going to be a few awesome weeks for us here. We have Miguel Angel that got married last month to his member wife. They have a beautiful 4 month old baby girl. Miguel is really excited to get baptized and start the journey to marriage in the temple. We also finally have the family of Elder Jay. They are really getting a real testimony of the gospel and will be getting baptized on Halloween. Really it's going to be a very special couple of weeks. We had an awesome week with tons of lessons and lots of success. I love my area. We were walking a couple of weeks ago and we started talking to a guy who is in his sixties or seventies named Carlos. HE is AWESOME. His first week at church was the conference weekend. Taking an investigator to church for the first time on conference weekend can be a little nerve racking because honestly sometimes they get bored... But he loved it and he always applies the things that we talk about to himself and makes changes without anyone needing to tell him. HE has a date for the 13th of November.

I have a great testimony of this Gospel. I know it's true and I'm here to help people be baptized and be cleansed through the reception of the holy ghost. What a blessing it is to be part of such a great cause. I love you family! Keep being awesome!

Love Elder B

Hey mom,

Just so you know. You can come pick me up from the mission when I get done. It would be awesome and we could visit so many cool places and people. But we need to start planning it right now. So let me know so that I can make the necessary preparations with the office. I love you mom! You're the best!

October 11, 2010

Hey fam!!!

Ok, so this week was pretty cool. We had transfers today but luckily I get to stay! Whoo! Only a couple of Elders left so that's good. We have a really powerful Zone and I'm happy to be able to a part of it! I'll answer the questions that you sent me first so I don't forget.

The best thing that I have eaten. Would have to be bistek a lo pobre. It's a thin steak on a mountain of white rice with a fried egg or two and a fried banana. It's pretty awesome.

My back, hips, knees are doing pretty swell. My knees hurt me a little when I'm going down some of the crazy hills but other than that, not much. My back is doing much better and I don't have any problems with my hips. The blessing that the Stake President gave me is really coming true.

Oh and fleas... Only sometimes. But I got some wicked sweet bug killer that won't make me sterile so that's a win win! My clothes are doing good. I won't need new shirts at all and I don't think pants either. If I do, it's much easier to buy them here and much, much cheaper. I could even get them tailored haha! Christmas... Beef jerkey.

The chapel in Mala. I know that they were looking for a lot when I was there. They should have it I would think. That means that they should be close to starting I would think.

The pic you sent of Zach is pretty sweet! You didn't let that little shrimpy kid beat you, did ya!? I bet not. Sweet Adidas by the way.

That's hilarious about the rock and Uncle Dave and Elizabeth. Next time you could say something like this. Amigos pueden poner esta piedra por aca. When you say that first point to the rock and then to the spot you want it. Hope that helps haha. I'm pretty good on the Spanish front. I can pretty much say whatever I want. Sometimes the complex past and future tenses get me but yea I can understand it well. I think that when you can understand drunk guys talking to you, you can pretty much understand everything.

So, I had a pretty good week. My companion and I are finding some good new investigators and talking to everyone in the street. We have a couple baptisms coming up in the next couple weeks so that's exciting! We will also be helping two couples get married and then baptized! The family of Elder Jay is also progressing and they have desires to get baptized so we are going to talk to them and get back into teaching them. They had some pretty rough problems and we weren't able to talk to them for a couple of weeks, so it's good to get back to teaching them.

I had one awesome time watching Conference. I got to watch the Saturday Conference and Priesthood Session in English and Sunday we watched in Spanish. The talks were awesome! There were so many that the entire time I was thinking that applies directly to me. Watching the Priesthood Session and seeing the Greenie Elders sing in the choir was cool. I remember being in the MTC and not knowing what was coming haha. Seems like just the other day! It goes by super fast...

Family, I love you all so much. Thank you all for giving me the opportunity to serve a mission. Thanks for helping me to prepare and for all of your much needed support here in the mission. You have been such a great help without even knowing it. I know that this gospel is true. I'm positive. It's not easy to live the gospel but it's worth it. I have seen it and felt it change the lives of so many people and their families. I have felt the change and every time that I am able to participate in a baptism and they come up out of that water I can see it on their faces. I can see that they feel the power of the Holy Ghost. I know that this gospel is true I can feel it every time that I feel that someone has understood a principle and then wants to apply it to their lives. I'm so thankful for this opportunity to be a missionary! Thanks for helping me be here.

Love Elder Bearnson

October 4, 2010

This last week has been a little crazy! We are helping two families get married so we have been going to different court houses and looking at how we can get it done. They are really cool and always come to church. This is the only thing that is keeping them from making covenants with Heavenly Father, so I'm more than happy to help them. Their names are Jefferson and Diana and they have a brand new baby boy, Gianluca. They are awesome! Diana has been member since she was 9 but went inactive for a really long time. Jefferson's family are all members except for him and he is actually the most active… Then there is Antonio and Mily. They are awesome too. We are seeing so many changes in their lives. They have had lots of problems but everything is just getting better for them.

So Sunday was election day for Peru... So to make sure that we were all safe and sound we couldn't leave to do anything but eat. So we were stuck in the room all day. We studied and took a much needed nap and got some good stuff done. Because of the elections there was no church because it's required to vote in Peru or they tax you, and pretty heavily if you don't do it. So that meant that there was no conference either. We will get to watch conference next week. We also had a zone leaders conference on Friday and we were well instructed on some really great topics. The week flew by really quickly but it was good.

I have some questions though. I haven't heard anything about Stevie Wonder or Adam or Kalab. How are they all doing?

That's awesome to hear about Samson! I was praying for him this week. It's good to hear that everything went well!
IM SO STOKED THAT USU BEAT BYU!!!!! I have some friends to make fun of haha! Good for Frank! That just makes me happy to hear.

Sorry this note is so short. This week was pretty chill and not too much exciting happened. I guess I'll send some more pics! Thanks so much family for being the best! I love you all!

Love Elder B