Monday, March 30, 2015 11:03 AM

Sent: Monday, March 30, 2015 11:03 AM
Subject: esto me basta

erro mis amigos

we had a good week ova here in good old trujillo. we were able to baptize a very tranquil, intelligent young man of 10 years of age named Yasser! we had to teach him all the lessons this week, because he wanted so badly to get baptized this last saturday! he has great desires. his mom has been a member but he had never made his own decision to be baptized, but all of a sudden he made the decision, it was a privilege to be part of that! all he could say after he got baptized was, "I feel happy... I feel happy." yo siento feliz. yo tambien siento feliz a escuchar palabras como asi. 

other than that little slice of nice news, we just walked a lot, appointments fell through which was a slight bummer but it happens, no day goes totally perfect. we're trying to make more progress with some investigators but they just plum dont come to church but I still love them. haha, its been very laid back. I wish I could provide something else with you all to read or something, but my brain is as dry as this climate here right now. 

I love you all too much, hope this week is stellar, Im super excited to watch that general conference though. I cant believe the time that has gone by, im still reading the conference talks from last time!! 

bueno, here are some pics as well. some of the baptism, one with elder Pacheco! He was almost my companion when I almost got sent to an area called Huarmey, but President Marler changed me the day before. hes in our zone now! and also a nice picture of a roof dog chilling.

chau,

elder caldwell

Monday, March 23, 2015 9:44 AM

Sent: Monday, March 23, 2015 9:44 AM
Subject: :)

So this week was a whirl. my heart was full as we wrapped it up. so many miracles happened, we were able to have our baptism with not only Felix, our golden boy, but his mom, Esther. We had given her a powerful lesson at the start of the week, where she told us that she wanted to wait until the next month. I just started crying in that lesson after we showed her a mormon message and that life is so hard, but all the blessings she would recieve if she didnt delay her baptism. The spirit had to be working in her a lot, as we were a day before the baptism, Friday when she gave us a ring a ding. I said, "hey look esther is calling! wonder what its about!" my comp was like "shes probably going to be like, I want to get baptized." I picked up and he was so dead right. she said, "Elder Caldwell! so Im thinking about getting baptized tomorrow!"

I was so excited that I started jumping up and down and I accidently hung up the phone, haha. After that experience I knew for a fact that miracles can happen. I was able to baptize her the next day, saturday and participate in her confirmation as a member on sunday. its been a couple very spiritual days. Im so grateful for that little family, for being so prepared and willing to do the will of the Lord. They are going to be amazing converts. Got some great pictures with them for all of you to see!

Umm, lets see. well, we keep working with a bunch of people, just working working haha. Peru is a funny place with funny people. Yesteday our stake pres. came up to us and said hey I know this kid you guys need to baptized next week, can you teach him all the lessons this week? things just kind of all into your lap as a missionary, its a wonderful thing and we are always busy. 

This change just ended, so changes came through for a lot of our Zone Palermo, but Elder Lloyd and I are still together kicking trash, so Im excited to spend another 6 weeks with him. Im learning a bunch. 

I love you all, enjoy the pictures and the week. I promise trujillo is hotter than mesa haha.

Elder Caldwell.

pics: all pictures of the baptism, and one of the "souls rescued" (inactive person who we reactivated). his name is Yiro and the biggest 15 year old peruvian ive ever seen. Hes a joy.

Monday, March 16, 2015

Sent: Monday, March 16, 2015 9:53 AM
 Subject: espeluznante

 "I can live with some human imperfections, even among prophets of God - that is to be expected in mortals. I can live with some alleged scientific findings contrary to the book of mormon, time will correct those. And I can live with some seeming historical anomalies, they are minor in the total landscape of truth. But I cannot live without the doctrinal truths and ordinances restored by Joseph Smith, I cannot life without the priesthood of God to bless my family, and I cannot live without knowing my wife and children are sealed to me for eternity. That is the choice we face - a few unanswered questions on one hand versus a host of doctrinal certainties and the power of God on the other." - Tad R. Callister. This week was honestly one of the best in my mission, and I aint lying yo! At the first of the week I was kind of skeptical and a little worried about the progression of everyone who we've been teaching, especially Esther and Felix, but we got just completely slammed with answers to prayers and major blessings. Well, to start off the week, we visited our good old friends who Ive been talking about for awhile, esther and felix. Right off the bat, esther was like "yeah... well Im going to get baptized without a doubt. Felix said he wants to get baptized this next saturday too." HOLY MOSES! I have never felt so happy for someone, they are totally going to get baptized and enjoy the spirit and inner peace they have longed for for awhile now. I wish I could express to you guys in voice rather than an email how happy I am for them. Ill be sure to send many pictures of this Saturday! Another nice tidbit that happened this week was that we met a sort of stressed single mother this week named Andrea, she is super prepared for the gospel, and the first investigator Ive ever seen, and elder Lloyds ever seen, to accept a baptismal date the first lesson. She had never prayed before, and we asked her if she could pray with us as we were closing the lesson. She did, and started crying. Pretty soon we were all crying with spirit so strong in that room. Immediately afterwards she said to us, "I really want to see this church, what time do I come, in what type of clothes?" she also told us that she is comfortable getting baptized this 18th of april. It was super sweet. Also something funny. Elder Lloyd and I were walking around in the peruvian suburbs and we paused in the street for a sec to check our agendas, when something exploded right next to our feet. I looked up to a roof to see like a 13 year old kid with a waterballoon in his hand. We were getting hit with waterballoons! it was payback probably for all the stuff I did with my friends in highschool. hahaha bueno, I compartir con ustedes my love, stay gringo. Elder Caldwell some pics. I was with an elder chempen for a day. this is him and also us eating a classic peruano meal, chicken and that gold drink

Monday, March 9, 2015

Sent: Monday, March 9, 2015 9:51 AM
Subject: roofdogs and trashfires

"The ultimate end of all activity in the church is that a man and his wife and their children can be happy at home." -boyd k packer.

i love the simplicity of the gospel, how we get to go around as 19 year old kids and spread what brings us joy. I learned much this week, to just keep taking life, and the mission one step at a time. enjoy the simple things, and keep it simple. its so easy to over complicate the gospel with all our terms and mix up the principles, but when we look at it all from an eternal perspective and take one principle at a time its so beautiful. 

this week we had the opportunity to fast. we specifically fasted for our golden investigators, mom and son, esther and felix. we fasted for them to recieve a firm answer to the book of mormon and their baptism, which we now have planned for the 21st. they also fasted, which was special to see, ive never seen people so desirous to search for the truth. today we are going to try to teach them about the grace of god, that when we do all that we can, god will fill in for the rest and that all will be made right. we hope that that principle will encourage to keep working for an answer, and to be baptized. 

we also provided a lot of service this week for some members, which was a good time to get out for a little and do some stuff with our zone! i got some pictures of that stuff. 

other than that we had a great week, probably sick of me saying that everything is good every week, haha, but it really is! love you all bastante, quiero decir que ustedes son tan importantes para mi. siempre estan en mis oraciones. 

love, 

elder caldwell

Monday, March 2, 2015 9:45 AM

Sent: Monday, March 2, 2015 9:45 AM

Subject: la cabeza y el corazon

howdy howdy!

super good semana this one, we learned and experienced much. We were expecting to have a baptism tomorrow, but it fell through as our dude, felix told us he wasnt 100 percent in the book of mormon yet. I respected that and we've been praying a lot for him to recieve a firm answer. He's a great kid and no doubt will make some covenants with our father in heaven in the future! no worries on that. We've been experimenting a lot recently with talking to more people in the streets. im super timid in these kinda situations but being constantly thrown into uncomfortable settings ive been learning a lot and how to start talking and teaching the gospel to these people, and through this ive been gaining a lot of love and respect to meet and get acquainted with these people and share a little of my testimony. 

we had stake conference this week, with a great guest, Elder Carlos A. Godoy of the seventy, he talked in portuguese last general conference and was just pouring out great revelation on all of us, we recieved a lot of council and help about what we can do for our investigators, and the members. Something I liked that he said was that we always must remember our potential, as sons and daughters of God, to become like him one day, and that he has individually prepared the way for us to get there, all we need to do is stay strong. I love that. Also our awesome bishop, Bishop Valdivia was called as stake pres. so we are out of a bishop for a sec! haha. 

I'm loving everything going on now, just to soak up this time with these rich, great people, who have left such a big imprint on my heart. there really is nothing else like serving people, you learn so much how to help others and to help yourself. always look for one good thing we can do a day, just like those cub scouts out there . bueno, I love you all and espero que sus semanas puede ser lo mejor. gracias por todo.

Love,

Elder Caldwell

1.our ward mission leader, whos name literally is Joseph Smith Silva.

2. investigator, carlos carranza!

3. jamming out on my pan flute after a planning sesh