Dec 20, 2010
Dearest Family!
I hope you have a very, very Merry Christmas!!!!!!!. I am thinking of everyone of you in this special season. I know each of you are thinking of me because I received nine letters today! Thank you so much for taking the time to write me and email. me.!!!
Yesterday was wonderful. First of all, Hermana Cuenca and I have the opportunity to baptize Ciprian. Ciprian is the spouse of Martha. Martha and Ciprian were recently married in Dec. 11th thanks to the hard work of my former companion Hermana Pizarro. Ciprian has been coming to church for about four years with his wife, but he could not receive the ordinance of baptism because he and Martha were not married. There was a special spirit at the baptismal service. It made me excited to continue working with my new companion Hermana Cuenca so that we can help other people in our area receive the eternal blessing of baptism.
Hermana Cuenca is a hard worker and is very focused on her purpose... to invite others to Christ. The doctrine of Christ is clear, the necessary first step is baptism. I like this because we are extending the baptismal invitation a lot more. I am feeling more comfortable inviting people to be baptized. It is an invitation to others to take some action in their life to come unto Christ.
I am excited about the plan Hna. Cueca and I have for the week. We are going to contact all of the people in our area book who have attended church before but have not been baptized. We hope that now might be the right time for some of these people to be taught.
Yesterday I also had the opportunity to give a five minute talk in sacrament meeting. The bishop let me choose the theme. My theme was the Book of Mormon is the best gift we can give to our families and friends this holiday season. I think the bishop likes me more now because he met Mom and Dad at the temple. It's pretty fun because he's starting to joke with me. Even greater than my opportunity to give a talk, was the opportunity to participate in two performances of a major Christmas program that the two stakes in Cusco and the Cusco Mission have produced, entitled "De Nosotro, El Mayor." For this program, a combined choir from the two stakes sang the songs composed by Kenneth Cope about Jesus Christ. We have Kenneth Cope's CD at home. While the choir sang, there were continuous video clips and images of Christ displayed on a huge screen above the choir. The missionaries joined with the choir to sing the final song about the second coming of christ. We all dressed in white tops, and we were supposed to represent the angels declaring the second coming of Christ. The program was a huge success. We had one performance on Saturday and two on Sunday because so many people showed up for the Saturday performance. I loved singing in this performance. The spirit was incredible! Every person who attended the performances knows we believe in Christ.
Here is my huge story of the week. Hna. Cuenca and I went to talk with Martha on Wednesday about the baptism of her husband, Ciprian. When we arrived, I noticed that Martha had a friend over. I tried to strike up a conversation with her, but she appeared unattentive and distracted so we preceeded to talk with Martha in Martha's kitchen. A while later Martha's friend, Yanida, joined us in the kitchen. We talked to her for a while, and then she started crying. She told us that she was three months pregnant and she had almost taken a pill to abort her baby but "could not do it". With that, she opened her hand and threw a pill on the ground. I was in complete shock at this point. When I had said hello to Yanida, it was moments before she was going to take this pill.
Yanida almost aborted her baby because she is in extremely difficult circumstances. Her husband is a drunk and spends all of their money on alcohol. He is violent when he is drunk. He always promises he will change but he does not change. Yanida feels badly for bringing a baby into the world when there is no money to provide for it. Hna. Cuenca and I did our best to inspire Yanida. We commended her for saving the special spirit within her. I think the experiecne with Yanida will forever be in my memory. I could literally see the pain, the poverty, and the humility in Yanida's face. I was heartbroken for Yanida.
Every time I think of Yanida's story my testimony of the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are reinforced. There is a reason why we marry in the temple. There is a reason we go to church. There is a reason we live the word of wisdom. Truly the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring us happiness in this life and in eternity!
Remember I love you!!!!!!!!!!!
Hermana Blunck II
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Dec. 13th
Dearest Family,
This Friday and Saturday was pretty crazy. Our couple that we were trying to help marry needed to sign paperwork on Friday. The sister never arrived at the municipalidad
to sign the paperwork. We went to her house and she had forgotten. We dashed off to the municipalidad again with only thrity minutes to spare until the municipalidad closed, and blessedly she was able to sign the paperwork. There is a lady in the municipalidad that is a true angel. She could go directly to the celestial kingdom for how nice she has been to us in our frantic moments.
Saturday morning was kind of the same situation as Friday. The couple arrived forty five minutes late to the marriage ceremony. This is so Peruvian, arrive when you can. I was a nervous wreck until they arrived. Saturday was also fun, because I was able to be one of the two witnesses in the marriage of this couple. Can you believe I was a marriage witness?
The spouse ultimately decided that he did not want to get baptized on Saturday like he had planned. His baptism is tenatively planned for this next Saturday. It was heart breaking because he can finally be baptized now that he is married. The big problem that exists in Peru is a lot of couples live together and have a family together but they haven't been married by law. Peru does not recognize church marriages. We can not baptize them until they have been married by the state, as we believe in living the law of the land.
Here is my favorite experience of the week. I was riding in a combi ( a small van they pack a lot of people in) and I started up a conversation with a man in his fifties. He first informed me that he solely believes in God. Shortly there after this man named Juan started asking me all sorts of questions. All of his questions centered around the first lesson we teach. So, in the bus I shared the first lesson with Juan and gave him a Book of Mormon to read.
All the questions Juan asked lead me to believe that Juan believes in more that just God. I think he made that statement becuase he did not want me to be pushy with him. I tried not to be pushy. Rather, I tried to honestly answer Juan's questions and sincerely share my testimony of the message we share. One of the questions Juan presented, which I loved , was how is your church any different than the Jehovah's Witness church. I explained that we believe in personal modern day revelation and that we have a living day prophet. I also explained that we do not ask the people we teach to believe our words as missionaries or as a church. The promise in the Book of Mormon is very clear in that every person can pray and ask to recieve a witness from God in their hearts if our message is true and if the Book of Mormon is true. Everyone can find out for themselves if the Book of Mormon is another witness of Jesus Christ. The one thing that saddens me is Juan doesn not live in my area. The elders I have given Juan's name to are lucky. Juan asked some great questions. I think Juan could be a very strong investigator and member of the church.
The news is in, I will remain in Raymi for a least another six weeks. Tomorrow I am going to meet my new companion. I don't feel nervous to meet her. My only hope is that she is not finishing her mission at the end of six weeks. I hope to have a companion that I could potentially work with a couple of transfers in Inti Raymi.
Mom and Dad, I can't believe you met my bishop at the temple in Lima. How awesome! Heavenly Father's tender mercies are truly amazing. Of all days and hours to be at the temple at the same time.
I am thrilled Janeece has our house in Oregon decorated. Christmas is my favorite holiday. I can envision it perfectly in my mind.
All my love,
Hermana Blunck II
Dearest Family,
This Friday and Saturday was pretty crazy. Our couple that we were trying to help marry needed to sign paperwork on Friday. The sister never arrived at the municipalidad
to sign the paperwork. We went to her house and she had forgotten. We dashed off to the municipalidad again with only thrity minutes to spare until the municipalidad closed, and blessedly she was able to sign the paperwork. There is a lady in the municipalidad that is a true angel. She could go directly to the celestial kingdom for how nice she has been to us in our frantic moments.
Saturday morning was kind of the same situation as Friday. The couple arrived forty five minutes late to the marriage ceremony. This is so Peruvian, arrive when you can. I was a nervous wreck until they arrived. Saturday was also fun, because I was able to be one of the two witnesses in the marriage of this couple. Can you believe I was a marriage witness?
The spouse ultimately decided that he did not want to get baptized on Saturday like he had planned. His baptism is tenatively planned for this next Saturday. It was heart breaking because he can finally be baptized now that he is married. The big problem that exists in Peru is a lot of couples live together and have a family together but they haven't been married by law. Peru does not recognize church marriages. We can not baptize them until they have been married by the state, as we believe in living the law of the land.
Here is my favorite experience of the week. I was riding in a combi ( a small van they pack a lot of people in) and I started up a conversation with a man in his fifties. He first informed me that he solely believes in God. Shortly there after this man named Juan started asking me all sorts of questions. All of his questions centered around the first lesson we teach. So, in the bus I shared the first lesson with Juan and gave him a Book of Mormon to read.
All the questions Juan asked lead me to believe that Juan believes in more that just God. I think he made that statement becuase he did not want me to be pushy with him. I tried not to be pushy. Rather, I tried to honestly answer Juan's questions and sincerely share my testimony of the message we share. One of the questions Juan presented, which I loved , was how is your church any different than the Jehovah's Witness church. I explained that we believe in personal modern day revelation and that we have a living day prophet. I also explained that we do not ask the people we teach to believe our words as missionaries or as a church. The promise in the Book of Mormon is very clear in that every person can pray and ask to recieve a witness from God in their hearts if our message is true and if the Book of Mormon is true. Everyone can find out for themselves if the Book of Mormon is another witness of Jesus Christ. The one thing that saddens me is Juan doesn not live in my area. The elders I have given Juan's name to are lucky. Juan asked some great questions. I think Juan could be a very strong investigator and member of the church.
The news is in, I will remain in Raymi for a least another six weeks. Tomorrow I am going to meet my new companion. I don't feel nervous to meet her. My only hope is that she is not finishing her mission at the end of six weeks. I hope to have a companion that I could potentially work with a couple of transfers in Inti Raymi.
Mom and Dad, I can't believe you met my bishop at the temple in Lima. How awesome! Heavenly Father's tender mercies are truly amazing. Of all days and hours to be at the temple at the same time.
I am thrilled Janeece has our house in Oregon decorated. Christmas is my favorite holiday. I can envision it perfectly in my mind.
All my love,
Hermana Blunck II
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Dearest Family,
Did you enjoy the Christmas Devotional last night? I got to watch it
in English. It was so much fun to think that all of you were watching
the broadcast at the same time as me. What I love about being a
missionary is that it totally changes the way you think. For example,
Elder Eyring said something that really stood out to me as it applies
to missionary work. The majority of the truths we know about Christ,
and how we worship Him in this season, have come thanks to the
restoration. Because a fourteen year old boy had a lot of faith, we
know during this season that we worship a Christ who is a distinct
being. We can read about Christ in the Book of Mormon.
Here is an update on the three families we were trying to help turn in
all their paperwork last week for a marriage on December 11. One of
three families will get married on that date. In the afternoon, the
father of the family, who is the only nonmember of the family, will
get baptized. The man`s name is Ciprian. His spouses` name is
Martha. It is funny because I did not expect this family to be the
one to follow through with their paperwork and make a marriage a
reality in their lives.
I have fallen in love with Ciprian, Martha, and their family. There
have four kids now and are expecting a fifth. The kids love to speak
to me in English. This family is probably the poorest one we are
teaching. (I helped them wash their laundry a few weeks ago and sent
a picture). I would love to introduce you to this family. I think I
will forever have pictures of them in my mind.
I am trying to do lots of contacting like Dad encourages his
missionaries to do, but I am still waiting to receive the fruits of my
efforts. Many people and families are nice and say ´come to my home,´
but then they reject us when we come to their doors. I am not going
to give up on contacting with everyone, however, because it saddens me
when we missionaries do not share our knowledge with everyone.
All my love,
Hermana Lynette Blunck, Hermana Blunck II
Did you enjoy the Christmas Devotional last night? I got to watch it
in English. It was so much fun to think that all of you were watching
the broadcast at the same time as me. What I love about being a
missionary is that it totally changes the way you think. For example,
Elder Eyring said something that really stood out to me as it applies
to missionary work. The majority of the truths we know about Christ,
and how we worship Him in this season, have come thanks to the
restoration. Because a fourteen year old boy had a lot of faith, we
know during this season that we worship a Christ who is a distinct
being. We can read about Christ in the Book of Mormon.
Here is an update on the three families we were trying to help turn in
all their paperwork last week for a marriage on December 11. One of
three families will get married on that date. In the afternoon, the
father of the family, who is the only nonmember of the family, will
get baptized. The man`s name is Ciprian. His spouses` name is
Martha. It is funny because I did not expect this family to be the
one to follow through with their paperwork and make a marriage a
reality in their lives.
I have fallen in love with Ciprian, Martha, and their family. There
have four kids now and are expecting a fifth. The kids love to speak
to me in English. This family is probably the poorest one we are
teaching. (I helped them wash their laundry a few weeks ago and sent
a picture). I would love to introduce you to this family. I think I
will forever have pictures of them in my mind.
I am trying to do lots of contacting like Dad encourages his
missionaries to do, but I am still waiting to receive the fruits of my
efforts. Many people and families are nice and say ´come to my home,´
but then they reject us when we come to their doors. I am not going
to give up on contacting with everyone, however, because it saddens me
when we missionaries do not share our knowledge with everyone.
All my love,
Hermana Lynette Blunck, Hermana Blunck II
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