Week 104 - My last week in Peru - I love these people!

Buenos Dias!!

This has been an amazing week here in the mission and I am just taking it all in. This week has been so full of service. We helped to destroy roofs, move families, cut hair, build chairs, among other things. Saturday was the first of December and in this wonderful month of Christmas the church has invited us to participate in a program called "Light the world" which invites us to serve in various ways through this wonderful holiday season. I invite everyone to follow this link which will lead you to a few videos and a calendar that explains how we can serve during these next few weeks before Christmas (https://www.mormon.org/christmas). 

This week was my last zone conference here in the mission and my last sacrament meeting because here in Peru next week there is a referendum that will cancel sacrament meeting. A little bit of a bummer but I was really able to enjoy giving my testimony yesterday at Church and sharing a few of my faith promoting experiences in the zone -conference. I guess at some point every good thing has to come to an end. 

This past week was full of service which leaves us a little extra tired for our proselyting time. Luckily, to help us out yesterday we fasted in order to have more strength and motivation while contacting new people. I also had my companion give me a blessing which was a very special experience. Really, our prayers were answered almost immediately. Like usual most of our plans fell through but it seemed like the first house we visited afterwards received us every time. Not only that, but they were people the Lord has been preparing. We met a college aged lady named Sheyla who invited us in telling us that she has been looking for a TRUE church for a few years now without any luck. She was so excited when we explained to her the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and she was even more excited when we explained that she can know that the message is true through something as simple as a prayer. 

Within an hour of finding Sheyla we found another awesome family. The mothers name is Kathryn and we taught she and her 6 children. She had attended our church when she was a little girl but had lost contact after the death of her uncle. She has always seen missionaries in the street but has always been a little embarrassed to talk to them. Well,  she and her children were all super excited when we knocked on their door and she said it was a true miracle that we arrived in that exact moment. 

Yet another blessing we saw yesterday was with the Venezuelan family we met last week. The daughter came to church by herself yesterday. She works every day from 10:30am to 12pm but yesterday she on her own decided to come to church. We were really worried for this family because during the week Del Valle seemed to have found work that would prevent her from coming to church, but luckily it seems that she has been able to adjust her schedule to be able to accompany us. This family has been praying all week and reading. The daughter Robeudys has been doing extra reading in her little free time to learn more about how our Savior has restored His Gospel in these latter days. They are awesome! Yesterday we taught sister Del Valle and Carlos about the Book of Mormon and how this book of scripture helps us to answer many questions we have because it contains the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One could see in her face a show of excitement as we answered her question regarding Adam's original sin using 2 Nephi 2. The spirit was so strong that one could really see it in her face and expressions. It was a truly inspired day and some really amazing appointments. 

This week has been a really awesome week full of service. One can really feel the love of Christ when one is serving other people. 

This I suppose is my last blog entry here in the mission field. Finding people who are seeking Christ is truly an amazing experience. Missionary work is amazing. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. Thanks to Him we can receive mercy for the countless mistakes we make. Repentance is a change of attitude and action to better follow the example of Jesus Christ, and it is the best thing anyone can do to really be at peace here on Earth and to prepare oneself for eternal life. I know that what I have been teaching over the past two years is the truth and that Jesus Christ has restored His church in these latter days. I love this country and these people I have been serving. My return home next week will be a bitter sweet experience, but I know I have served to the best of my ability here in the Peru Trujillo North Mission. I would like to invite everyone to find little opportunities to serve in one's family, amongst one's friends, and in other broader ways. That is what really makes us happy, when we follow Jesus Christ and keep his commandments. The mission is the best, it is truly an unforgettable experience. 

Here are two of my favorite scriptures to ponder on: 

Mosiah 2: 41 "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."

2 Nephi 5:27 "And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness."

Love,

Elder Vassau

Week 103 - Light the World!!

Buenos Dias!!!

This has been an awesome week here in Buenos Aires. This week we had our ward mission night which was a huge success. Here in Peru Thanksgiving is not celebrated so we decided to organize a missionary night where everyone could come and share something spectacular... Desserts. Who does not love a good dessert. Well the activity was called friendly desserts where any friend, member, or whatever person from the street was welcome to come and enjoy some good arroz con leche, mazamorra, flan, gelatina or a number of other free desserts. Along with the desserts we played a get to know each other game/scavenger hunt where the first people to finish the game/get to know everyone would be entered in a raffle to win christmas themed prizes. It was a great blast. At the end we switched it up and turned the chapel into a movie theater to show the new church videos for the "Light the World" December Christmas project. It was an awesome way to end the night and invite everyone to serve this holiday season.

This week Elder Anchiraico and I were also able to have interchanges with the Elder from Central. Both of them came here to Buenos Aires to help us with the ward mission night which was a good fun. This time around I was with Elder Romney who is from Spokane Washington. He recently has 4 weeks in the mission field so it was a good time. 

On Tuesday we had companionship exchanges with the assistants here in the mission. Elder Peterson came here to Buenos Aires while my companion Elder Anchiraico went out to Tumi. Elder Peterson started his mission here in Buenos Aires almost two years ago and so it was fun to spend a day with my good bud where he started everything off. 

Saturday night Elder Anchiraico and I had a super cool experience. It was about 830pm and we were out looking for a referral that we received. We were having a hard time finding the address when we pass by a man and his wife who seem to be unloading porceline tile and bags of cement from a Taxi. We passed by without thinking much but my companion had the strong impression that we needed to go back and offer our help to move all of the material inside their house. The man gladly accepted and I can understand why. Each bag weighed 25kg ( 55lbs) and each box of tiles weighed 30 kg (66lbs). We spent a good 15 minutes moving all of these inside his home. A little bit of work but I do not know how the man could have done it without us. After finishing the service and after I ripped my pants Lionel invited us in for juice and cookies as a form of giving thanks. As we began talking to him we presented ourselves as missionaries and said "you know what? The other day I met some sister missionaries who were just the coolest. They came to my house and we talked in the doorway for over 30 minutes. They were super cool. I told them I would go to your church and they even left me with a pamphlet. He then went and brought out his pamphlet. Sure enough there on the back of the pamphlet were the names of the two sister missionaries from our ward "Sister Chatwin and Sister Baldiviezo". What an awesome coincidence. Not wanting to steal the sisters investigator we then began to ask if Lionel had any rentees that would be interested in listening to our message (he rented a few apartments). He responded by saying that there was a venezuelan family that lived in one of the apartments that he would love to present us to. As he led us to the apartment when the venezuelan family was we heard a knock at the door and sure enough it was the sister missionaries. They arrived just in that very moment. Well we left Lionel, now very content and impressed, with the sisters and we began to teach the venezuelan family that lived out back. Carlos and his wife Del Valle. They are the best. They are a very humble family from Venezuela and they not only were super excited to receive us but they also came to church with us yesterday accompanied by their daughter Robeudys. It was such an awesome miracle how a little act of service opened the door for us to teach this super cool venezuelan family as well as helping the sister missionaries gain the trust of their investigator. It was amazing and it was most definetly a situation guided by the spirit. 

This has been an awesome week here in Buenos Aires and this coming week we have our zone conferences. The mission is awesome. 

Love,

Elder Vassau

Week 102 - Dog Attack!!! and a Visit to The Temple

Buenos Dias!!

This has been an awesome week here in Buenos Aires. Many amazing miracles and fun happenings. This week we had companionship exchanges with some Elders from an area called California. I was with an Elder named Elder Foutz. A great tall Elder from Boise Idaho who has about 2 months in the mission. Well we were having a great time while walking through the street contacting at night when all of a sudden Elder Foutz says "Elder Vassau, it is weird, so far I have yet to be attacked by a dog in my whole mission..." Literally as Elder Foutz finished speaking 3 dogs came out of nowhere and attacked. Luckily they were small yappers so it was a funny moment. 

This week we saw some great progress in Nicolle Cueva. On friday we were able to have a lesson with her parents. They arrived as we were about to say the opening prayer and they accompanied us for the short visit. On Saturday Nicolle went to the Temple with Isaias and Rosalinda, two members of the ward that have been visiting her to read the Book of Mormon. She loved the temple! When someone attends the temple it is hard not to feel the spirit. After the temple she attended the young women's activity and on Sunday morning she even brought a friend to church. Awesome. Yesterday we met with her mother who will also start coming to church with us in 2 weeks when she stops working. This week we will be doing service in their home to paint some chairs. It is awesome. 

Here in Buenos Aires there are lots of young men who are heading off to the mission and others who are recently arriving. It is lots of fun to spend time with these young men who are passing through a very similar experience as to what I am enjoying. The mission is awesome. 

The mission is going great and time is going by way too fast. 

Love,

Elder Vassau 

Week 101 - The Power of Prayer

Buenos Dias!!!

This has been another awesome week here in Buenos Aires. The weather is starting to heat up just a little bit, so it will soon be time to lose the suite coats on Sundays. This week we had companionship exchanges and I had the privilege of proselyting with Elder Rojas. He is from Santiago Chile. He speaks near perfect English and loves music, especially Jack Johnson. He reminds me a lot of my former companion Elder Nuñez. We had a great time contacting lots of people in the street and it was a great experience to feed off of Elder Rojas' enthusiasm speaking to people. One could say ''strangers'' but if we are all just children of the same Heavenly Father no one is really a stranger. 

This week we saw a lot of spiritual progress in the Nicolle Cueva who we have been teaching for a little over a month now. Yesterday she attended church once again and this week we have been visiting her with some ward members Isaias and Rosalinda. They are both great friends from the ward and have been visiting Nicolle to read the Book of Mormon together. They have developed a great friendship and are helping her to have spiritual experiences. This week we were visiting Nicolle with one of her neighbors and we had a little bit of a humbling experience that taught us about the importance of verifying commitments we have extended. We arrived and Nicolle told us that she had only read a part of the pamphlet that we had left with her. We decided to begin to read a page in the pamphlet when all of a sudden, she stopped us and said "wait, I want to tell you something". We were so anxious to teach that we had forgotten to give her time to tell us about any spiritual experience that she had had. Well she began to tell us that after reading her pamphlet she went and looked for a quiet place where she could kneel down and pray. She found a nice place in her room, she knelt down and prayed, asking our Heavenly Father if what we teach is true. She said that as she finished praying, she became overwhelmed with a sense of peace and comfort. She said it was as if someone had come over and given her a huge hug. She said she took that as a sign of the Spirit and that she knows that what we teach is true. Although she is not yet sure about baptism, at least she knows that what we teach is blessing her life and helping her to change. Awesome right?!?

This week we also had a super fun family home evening with our Relief society president and her renters. We have begun to teach a family that is renting part of a member’s home. Well with a little bit of luck we were able to find this family with a little bit of free time this last week and we were able to begin to teach them. The Family Home Evening was an awesome way to help this family to feel the spirit and to enjoy time with positive influences. Sometimes we get so down on ourselves and we just need small simple things to lift our spirits. The family home evening was great, and it especially fun to be able to finish with a game that was a sort of mad libs game. We all had a good laugh. 

Everything is going so great here in Buenos Aires with Elder Anchiraico. Stay tuned for some fun Elder Vassau planned Missionary Christmas activities here in Buenos Aires. 

Love,

Elder Vassau 

Week 100 - Juan's Baptism and The Gift of The Holy Ghost

Buenos Dias!!!!

This has been a great week here in Buenos Aires. This past Sunday Juan Morillas had his confirmation where he was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost. It was awesome to be a part of it, but he almost did not make it to this point. All week long he had challenges. Last Saturday he had been baptized, but because of a Stake Conference he was unable to be confirmed the following day. Last Sunday he was sick throwing up from something they ate after their baptismal service. Monday he had high blood pressure and headaches. Tuesday his car wheel blew up while driving through the mountains to a remote town. Wednesday he found out he had high cholesterol levels. Thursday he was in a car accident when he was T-boned. Friday he spent in the police station and Saturday once again he was sick. Despite all of the challenges he still made it to church on Sunday, sick as a dog, but he still made it. He was confirmed and it was awesome! 

On Thursday we met up with Juan and talked with him. He was telling us about all of the challenges he was having but then paused and said '' But Elders, do not worry about it, I knew this was coming. Elder Vassau had told me after my baptism to prepare for some crazy obstacles, so I prepared myself for the worst.'' God gives us the gift and right to have his Holy Spirit with us at all times after baptism, it is an extra strength to help us keep trudging along after making a covenant with Him. When someone is baptized but not confirmed it is someone who has made a covenant with God but does not have that protection of the Holy Ghost. It is a crazy time where one is very vulnerable if they do not have a strong testimony. Juan Morillas was able to power through and he made it. How awesome. 

This week we had the opportunity to start teaching a new family. The father's name is Edwin, the mother Marleny, and their two sons Edwin and Jefferson. They rent some rooms in the Relief Society President's house. We stopped by to visit her the other day and we found Edwin the father. We started to chat with him and a simple conversation quickly turned into a lesson about the Restoration. Yesterday we visited them and arrived at a perfect time as they were passing through many family problems. It was crazy to see the difference in their faces between the start of the appointment and afterwards. There was a new light in their eyes. Today we are going to have a family home evening with them so we will see how it goes. 

In other news today we organized a zone Pday (preparation day) and it went great. We had a water balloon toss and some other great activities to get to know each other better. It was a super fun time and I think the sister missionaries really loved the opportunity we gave them at the end to peg all of the elders with water balloons in a firing line style. 

Well everything is great here in Buenos Aires. The mission goes on and His work continues! 

Love,

Elder Vassau 

Week 99 - A Still Small Voice

Buenos Dias!!!

This has been an awesome week here in Buenos Aires. Today I begin the final transfer period of my mission. My companion for the past 6 weeks, Elder Torres, has now gone to a new area, and my new companion is named Elder Anchiraico. He is from Callao, Lima, Peru. He is awesome. He has been a member for 3 years and has 16 months in the mission. Elder Torres had 9 months here in Buenos Aires so yesterday was full of goodbyes. It is hard to leave an area after being there for so long. I think everyone is ready to see knew places but it is just sad to think that one will not see many of these people again. 

This week Elder Torres and I had a super cool experience teaching a young lady named Nicolle Cueva. We found her last week when we contacted her father who was washing his taxi outside of their house. He was busy but his daughter came outside and decided to let us in to teach her and her Grandpa. We taught her a little bit and we left her with a small reading about the Plan of Salvation, which is the plan that God has for all of his children. The knowledge of this plan helps us to answer many questions that we have such as "Where are we from? Did we exist before being born on Earth? What is our purpose here on Earth? What will happen after Earthly death?". We left this reading with her and invited her to read it and to pray and ask God if it is the truth. Well a few days later we returned to see how she was and to follow up on her reading. At first we were disappointed because she said that she had not finished reading the pamphlet and that she had now lost the reading we had left with her. As usual we expressed our disappointment but she then began to explain to us what she had read. She remembered perfectly the part she had read, and even better, after explaining what she had read she looked at us, took a pause, and said "and I know it is true". She explained that the very night we had left the pamphlet with her she had begun to read. She had read about the first half of the pamphlet before falling asleep. In the moments between consciousness and sleep she said she heard a still small voice, a whisper that told her "Nicolle, this knowledge is of grand importance. This day will change your life". She awoke the next morning with a conviction that what she had read was true. How amazing the many ways and the speed in which the spirit can work. 

On Sunday Nicolle Cueva and her cousin Jean Pierre accompanied us to Stake Conference which was full of young speakers that were trully inspiring. 

This week in Buenos Aires has been awesome and I am super excited for a great transfer ahead with Elder Anchiraico. I started the mission with an Elder from Lima and I will finsih it the same way. 

Love,

Elder Vassau

Week 98 - All Peru Missionary Conference, Jaun & Lillia Getting Baptized!

Buenos Dias!!!

This has been a great week here in Buenos Aires. This week we had the privilege of listening to a devotional given by President Falabella (area president), Elder Stevenson (apostol) and President Nelson (Prophet). They were in Lima so we did not attend but we were able to participate in the transmission via satellite. It was so awesome. President Nelson is truly amazing. In the devotional with the missionaries he analyzed chapter by chapter the Savior's ministry here in the americas (3 Nefi 11-3 Nefi 30) and in the in the general devotional he actually gave his talk in spanish. The guy is amazing. 94 years old and is still learning new things. His message was so simple but so true... Keep the commandments. It really brings so many blessings into our lives. 

This week we have been helping Juan Morillas prepare for his baptism which will be this coming Saturday. He is very excited. Today he invited us to his house in Huanchaco and we joined his extended family for a grill off. It was pretty amazing. A little bit of a change from all of the chicken and rice we eat here in Peru. He really is trying hard to learn about the gospel because he knows the blessings that a Christ centered life offers the family. When a family is able to place Christ as their focal point they can be at peace even when it seems like a storm is raging around them. Easier said than done but it is truly a promised blessing. 

We are now rolling into the last week before transfers and it looks like Elder Torres will be sent off to a new area considering he alread has 8 months here. Who knows though so it is not a done thing yet. 

Yesterday we coordinated an activity with the ward Elder's Quorum President called Casa Abierta (Open House). Here in Peru each ward once a year has a church open house where visitors come to receive a tour of the chapel and go from station to station learning about the different organizations. Well we did the same thing but in President Sarango's home. It was a little cramped but a very fun activity. At the end of the activity there was a brief time given to share testimonies and one of the young neighbors that had come decided to share his testimony. It was so sweet. Sorry to say my camera's memory got a virus today so I lost all of the photos I took from the activity so one will just have to imagine. 

I would like to say Happy Birthday to Stewart jr. who turned 18 this past week. Crazy to think you are an adult now.

This past week has been awesome and this coming week we will have possibly 2 baptisms so keep Juan Morillas and Lilia Peña in your prayers. 

Love,

Elder Vassau 

Week 97 - Teaching at the University, and a Baptism Scheduled for Juan Morillas!

Buenos Dias!!!!

This has been an awesome week here in Buenos Aires. This week Elder Torres and I had two companion exchanges, one with the assistants, Elder Peterson and Elder Villanueva, in their area and the other here in Buenos Aires with Elder Gutierrez and Elder Foutz. Companion exchanges are always a really fun time to be able to get to know new people. 

Tuesday we had our exchange in a place called Florencia de Mora. Lots of fun to spend the day with Elder Villanueva, he is from Santa Cruz Bolivia, while my companion was with Elder Peterson. I got to know both Elder Villanueva and Elder Peterson very well while I was in the office, so it was just like good times. We spent a great day proselyting and in the morning we even took their pension's german shephard out for a run. 

On Thursday we had our interchange with Elder Gutierrez and Elder Foutz. I spent the day with Elder Gutierrez who is from Guayaquil Ecuador. We had a super cool experience where a proffessor from a nearby university called us asking for us to come visit her. The University was in Elder Gutierrez area so we received permission from president and we went to go visit the proffessor while she was on break in between classes. It was a really interesting appointment because Judith (The proffessor) was a very success, educated, wealthy women but she came looking for us because she feels a void in her life. She has a young son but ever since she was in a near death experience in a car accident a few months ago she has felt a void in her life. She says she has bought her self all types of things, she has redecorated her house twice, and she has dedicated even more time to her work, but she is just not happy. She knows something is missing in her life. As missionaries we have the awesome opportunity by helping people to fill this void in their life by living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the most recent general conference there was a speaker who emphasized this point that the only true lasting joy that one can feel here on Earth and in the eternity

comes through Christ. When we decide to live Christ's Gosepl we decide to be joyous. As it teaches us in 2 Nefi 5:27 And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness. It is an amazing opportunity, as missionaries, to help people find this happiness and that is exactly what we have begun to do with this proffessor. As long as one is willing to be humble enough to repent, one will be able feel this joy. 

This week we were also able to commit Juan Morillas to a baptismal date for the 27th of October. He is so excited and is just so full of questions it is almost hard to teach him. We just kind of listen and respond because he is just so full of energy and information. 

This coming week we will have zone conference with President Marble and on Saturday we will have two Peru wide devotionals with President Nelson. 

Today we had a fun zone pday where Elder Torres and I lead the zone in Gospel themed Trivia and Charades. A nice highlight was when the two sister missionaries from our ward tried to act out in Charades "Elder Vassau". We all had a good laugh. 

This was an awesome week and the mission is the best. 

Love,

Elder Vassau 

Week 96 - No Church because of Elections! And, Lilia is getting baptised!

Buenos Dias!

This has been an awesome week here in Buenos Aires. Yesterday were elections here in Trujillo and we can relax without all of the crazy propoganda and parties all over the place. In addition due to the elections we were not able to attend church yesterday to view the sunday session of General Conference. On Saturday however we did see the morning and evening session. Crazy. Super exciting about the changes to the church schedules, but the focus on home study will be a great addition to all people who are willing to apply these teachings from these latter day prophets. 

This week my companion and I had a great companionship exchange with Elder Rojas and Elder Johnson two missionaries from our zone. I spent the day with Elder Johnson, a brand new missionary from American Fork Utah. It was really fun being with him as he only has 3 weeks here in the mission field. It reminded me of when I was just starting out and it makes me feel real old. 

We made some awesome progress with our investigator Lilia this week. She had previously not been able to reach her baptismal goal for the 29th of September because she has been missing that little spark that one needs to take this important step of faith. Well this week we had a great appointment with her where we spoke about the importance of realizing that faith is not having a perfect knowledge of all things but rather it is following what we feel is the truth. We had planned a well organized and beautiful lesson for Lilia, but about 5 minutes into the lesson that lesson plan went out the window as our pensionista's daughter Milly (3 years old) decided to come participate in the visit. When I say participate I mean she came and began to take everything I own and strew it all across the room and behind the couch where we were seated. Literally as I would speak she would come over and put her hands over my mouth. The cute little girl was just trying to have fun, but she did not realize the situation we were in. One might think that this distraction would scare off the spirit, but ironically it did the exact opposite as, even with all of the distractions and games Milly was playing as we tried to teach, Lilia still felt the promptings to take a step of faith and she accepted to be baptized on the 27th of October. It was awesome. 

Yesterday in the chapel the ward organized an activity where we said goodbye to two young men who go off on the mission this week and we watched as another future missionary open up his mission call. It was a really fun time, but the coolest part of all was what happened with a friend who decided to come and watch his best friend open up his mission call. Jose Vigo was the young man who opened up his call, and his best friend from a very young age, Diego, came to support him in this exciting moment. The spirit was so strong in the room as everyone was excited to hear where Jose was called to serve. I know this spirit during the meeting was working miracles in Diego's heart because, even though he has never spoken to missionaries, Diego after the short meeting came up to us and said "What do I have to do to be a part of all of this? I feel something special here and I think I want to be baptized like my friends." It was so crazy. This desire to follow in the footsteps of his friends who have been good examples since their youth prompted this young man to search for something more. We will see what happens with Diego but it is so exciting to see a young man searching to change his life and to follow our Savior. 

Yet another crazy happening this week was a run-in with a monster of a dog. Imagine the dog from the Sandlot, but black. Well it was late one night around 930 and we were just leaving a member's house. She had given us jello in a cup to take on the road. I decided that it would be nice gesture to gift my jello to a little kid that was playing in front of his house. I go over and hand the little kid the jello cup when all of a sudden just about every dog in the neighborhood began to bark. I turn to my left and with no time to react I see a giant, nearly waist high dog coming full speed right for me. The dog came, slowed its pace about two meters from me as it began to ready itself to attack. I literally had no time to react and before I knew it the dog was lunging for my left knee. I do not not know what got into the dog, maybe I had jumped out of the way just enough, or maybe the Lord was protecting me, but instead of biting my left knee the dog just head butted me as hard as it could. I jump back and then it bites, missing me and just snapping in the air. I quickly backed away and the dog left me alone. I am not going to lie, I was a little startled, but I know the Lord protects His misisonaries and as ridiculous as it sounds I know someone was looking out for me and that chunk of my leg that very well could have been removed by that monster of a dog. Crazy right?!?

This week has been awesome here in Buenos Aires. The mission is the best. 

Love,

Elder Vassau 

Week 95 - Juan & Local Elections in Peru

Buenos Dias!

This has been another amazing week here in Buenos Aires. This week we sadly did not see Lilia's baptism. She just misses that spark of the spirit to take that step. Keep here in your prayers. We are working with her so that she can develop a stronger testimony of the restoration of the Gospel. 

This week my companion and I have begun teaching a man named Juan Morillas. Juan out of the blue has attended church the past two weeks with his whole family. Juan, his wife Patricia, and his two sons Juan (2 years) and Lucas (4 months). Patricia has been a member since she was little but has not been very active in coming to church. Well this week we were finally able to get in contact with the family and we met with them here in the Buenos Aires Chapel. Juan explained to us that as a father he has felt a strong need to provide more spiritual nourishment for his family. He and his wife had begun attending church a year ago but at that time Juan did not feel ready to be baptized nor commit himself to anything. However, over the past year the Spirit has spoken peace to his mind and heart and he has now expressed his desire to be baptized, to be an "active family" here in the ward, and to be married in the Temple. How amazing right?!? We asked him what had changed his decision over the past year and he expressed that he has just felt a peace and calmness in his home that constantly reassured him that this was the best decision for him and his family. He and his family are awesome. 

This has been a bit of a crazy week here in Buenos Aires because on the 7th of October are the local elections for Mayor and regional governor. Literally there are 17 candidates here in our district and it is an all-out war. All day long there are people passing out flyers, candidates walking through the streets giving kisses, cars driving by blasting each candidate’s customized campaign song (They are all re-using songs with changed lyrics), and even last night each candidate had huge street parties where they brought in performers and live music. It is ridiculous. One of the candidates even came up to me and invited me to compete in his political party’s promotional surf competition. I had to politely tell him that I would think about the offer 😎 It is a little crazy but at least we only have one more week of this. To make it that much better, because voting is required here in Peru, church has been canceled on the 7th. We are not allowed to meet together to watch general conference, so we will have to wait until the following week to see it. Oh well, what can one do. 

Everything is going great here in Buenos Aires. The mission is awesome. 

Love,

Elder Jack Vassau

Week 94 - Buenos Aires Peru - it's actually cold! Working with

Buenos Dias!!


This has been an awesome cold week here in Buenos Aires. We are right on the wáter here in this área and every evening there is a blistering sea breeze that comes through that adds a nice chill to the air. Buenos Aires is the best though. This week Elder Torres and I have been visiting lots of members here so that I can become more familiar with the área. My companion has 8 months here in Buenos Aires so it seems like he just about knows everyone. On every Street corner there is someone who calls his name. Even the drunks know my companion. It is a great time.
 
This past week Elder Held came to visit the misión in a Mission wide conference. He is an área seventy. A colombian German. Born in Colombia to German parents. He has lived in germany for over 20 years and has lived in just about every country in south america. A very interesting leader who brings a whole mixture of cultures together. He gave an interesting message about the importance of, as missionaries, being spiritual personal trainers. Pretty cool to think of it that way. His wife also gave a great message about our thoughts. It is extremely important to control our thoughts. Any thought that is not a positive constructive thought does damage because it takes energy away from one and decreases one's desire to serve. Everyone has to find their own way to control their thoughts but it is so important to find a way that Works for you. 

This week we have been working with an older lady named Lilia. Lilia has been listening to the missionaries for quite some time now and she loves the church. This past Sunday she came in and it seems like every other lady gave her a hug or a kiss. She knows what we teach is true, but she has this fear of being baptized that she is trying to overcome. This week we have been reading the scriptures a lot with her, but please keep her in your prayers so that she may be baptized this coming Saturday. 

Another cool family we have been working with is the Zavaleta family. They were baptized well over 10 years ago, but have not been coming to church for some time. This week we went to visit them with a few members and the visit went splendidly. Luis Zavaleta recently has had the desire to improve the spirituality in his home where he feels as though his family is slowly drifting apart. We arrived just in time and I believe Luis Zavaleta recognized it as the answer he was looking for because sure enough the whole family came to church on Sunday. There is nothing like the Gospel of Jesus Christ that brings a family together. 
Well everything is going well here in Buenos Aires. I promise to take some pictures this week so everyone has some idea of what Buenos Aires looks like. 
Today we had lunch with all of the Elders in our zone. About 80% of the missionaries in our zone and new to the mission, it is crazy. Many are struggling to learn Spanish and are still getting used to mission life. It makes me feel real old. 


The mission is awesome. 

Love,Elder Vassau 

Week 93 - Moving to Buenos Aires (in Trujillo)!

Buenos Dias!


It is time for a transfer. After a little over six months here in the mission office working as the Mission Secretary it is time for me to move on. My new area is Buenos Aires (Not Argentina). It is an area in Trujillo on the ocean. Pretty nice view but no beach. My new companion is Elder Torres from Rancagua Chile, it is just a coincidence that I previously had a companion by the same name from the same city in Chile. We are the zone Leaders from the central zone here in downtown Trujillo. It will be an exciting new challenge. My companion now has about 8 months here in the area so he will show me all of the ins and outs. This week I have said all of my goodbyes to friends in Primavera. A hard goodbye was with Jessica and her sons Juan and Daniel. Coincidentally today I was not the only one leaving Primavera but also Jessica Quiroz is moving to Spain for work. Keep her in your prayers so the family can stay strong  during these changing times. Here in Primavera I have had a ton of amazing experiences working in this ward and in my office assignments. I think the most important things I have learned are how to balance temporal and spiritual work as well as a little bit of quick thinking in stressful situations. It was super cool to work under President and now I am ready to go to hit the ground running here in Buenos Aires. 


On another note for my last pday in the office we went and saw a Caballos de Paso show. Caballos de Paso are dancing horses that dance the Marinera. It is a very famous performance here in Trujillo. 

The office was great and Buenos Aires is going to be an awesome last area. 

Love,
Elder Vassau 

Week 92 - Finding Tender Mercies with the Superintendent of Immigration, moving out of the office

Buenos Dias!!!

This has been an awesome week here in Primavera. Last Sunday evening I received the call that my replacement was coming to replace me as the mission secretary. Even though it has been an amazing experience I am super exciting to get back out to the field. I am not sure where I am heading off to just yet, but I know it is going to be a great change. My replacement is Elder Ray from Las Vegas, Nevada. I will spend one more week with him here in the office training him up and then I will be transferred out. 

This week Elder Ray and I had a super awesome experience when we went to the immigration office here in Trujillo. I frequent the immigration office about two to three times per week, so we were there to show Elder Ray the ropes. On our way out the door we took a moment to chat with the Superintendent Milagros. As a superintendent she has the job of keeping order in Immigration office and she loves to make up funny rules out of nowhere to mix things up. That being said she is a friend of ours and we always take the opportunity to talk to her. This week I gave her the news that I would be finishing my time as the mission secretary and she would no longer be seeing me in her Immigration office. To that she somewhat jokingly told me "What a shame because we never prayed together...". The idea then came to me to invite her to pray with us in that very moment. She accepted! She took us up to her office and she began to open up to us. The hard-strict Milagros turned from one moment to another into a very honest and sincere concerned mother. She began to tell us of her daughter in the United States who has been emotionally suffering for well over a year after suffering from a miscarriage. In Milagros' second floor office we said a very heart felt prayer with her, thanking our Heavenly Father for the many blessings we have as well as asking comfort for her daughter. She shed tears and as strange as it sounds the spirit was very present there in her immigration office. To be honest it was a very sentimental moment for me. I have spent so much time there with missionaries and with the workers that I felt in that moment I was truly helping them to feel Christ's love after they have helped us so many times to be here in Peru legally. I have met so many interesting and amazing people there in Immigration office and this experience was one of the many memorable experiences I have had there. 

This week we also had our multi zone conference which are always wonderful times to learn from President and his wife. The next time I write I will know my next and probably final stop here in the mission.

Love,

Elder Vassau