9-22-15

wow what a heavenly day. another day in the temple, what a relief from the work we have been doing. its such a lift take awayer that temple.

as I sat in the temple today contemplating what I was learning, I learned that everything in the temple, has to do with change. (when those who are not endowed are endowed, you will understand better) and our lives are just full of change 24.7. speaking of change, wow so much happened this week it has been one of the craziest and busiest weeks of my short life.

we first recieved our president of the mission, pres. rios and his assistants and we recieved a training that we desperately needed out here in the mountains. we feel better equiped now to tackle these areas we have. we then had stake conference which blew everyone out of the water, then I got robbed (not by gunpoint, sadly.), then we went to the temple. boy! president told me in an interview, that a big change will be happening though.

I'm going to be closing the area of Yungay.

its filled me with a lot of sadness, Ive only been here but a short time and now I have to leave this place in 2 weeks. but it is also a great change for the members, as they are going to have a family group to have their meetings in Yungay itself, not an inconvenient 30 minutes away. its going to crush some members here who we have helped and shared a lot of time with, but thats how it is. change is progression. I learned that when we sin too, or make a mistake, that is to make us progress not get stuck in a rut. 

more than ever in my mission this is the time where I need to forget myself and go to work. I have a chamba to do before we close this area. it is a little daunting to think that are time here is numbered, like what is the point but that is not our objective. we are to do all we can. I pray me and my companion can do that. 

theres not much more to say this week. I bought a new hardcover of the book of mormon in spanish to read today and I cant wait to restart the book of mormon and participate in that spirit. 

Im enchanted by the people here. Ive never seen a people have a more harder life, more weird life to me, they are like aliens but it has enriched my life bastante. It is a journey everyday to be able to embark into their farms, speak quechua to them, have them laugh at me for a second and then bear my testimony to them about the book of mormon out there in the bloody middle of nowhere. we hear cows moo everymorning as we wake up. i will miss it.

but I love you all, this week should be a good one, pray like crazy.

SORRY NO PICTURES FORGOT MY CAMERA.

elder caldwell

9/14/15

friendskis and famski,

sad and happy to say that the intensity of my prayers have increased while ive been in this area. sad that they werent like they should of been, and happy that I have been able to truly express myself in prayers now, and see the results and answers.

so much stuff happened this week, ah. my head is spinning. time is just slipping through my fingers like sand. 

this week I took a little trip to the pueblo of Carhuaz, to have a work visit with an elder who is feeling a little more than discouraged about his area right now. My purpose was to help encourage him a little and work out some kinks. Midday working with him, we still hadnt found anyone to teach. I was trying everything I knew to find someone and help out this elder. That whole day we only found 2 people who would let us in, and at the end I was feeling a little discouraged myself. the scripture came to mind from somewhere in Moroni, "have miracles ceased?". I shared that with him, and told him that miracles can still happen here, keep working and doing everything you can. a day later I recieved the call that a couple they had been teaching for some time decided to get married and baptized this month, in 2 weeks. I know prayers are answered, miracles pass, and I pray that that elder can keep chugging along.

when I first got here to Yungay, I would try to say hello to everyone walking by, and haha no one would ever respond. but as I prayed and my companion prayed to have the peoples hearts softened, people have started saying hi back. and not only that, but they have let us into their homes. We have found a wonderful new family of four, just sitting on the street. We felt the impression to go talk to them, and wow I was blown away by their humbleness. they immediately accepted us, and they are now reading and praying as a family. the father of the home, Gilbert, we invited to kneel and pray with us on their dirt floor and he was near tears. they came to church yesterday, just after one lesson with them. that never happens!!! im sending a picture I took with them. they are beautiful and so prepared by the Lord!

what a great week! next week we are going to the temple again so I wont write until tuesday, but i am trying to embrace myself for another spiritual experience haha. thanks for everything, love you all too much! miss you!

CON MI AMOR,

Elder Caldwell.

9-7-15

This morning as we studied, some Jehova Witnesses knocked on our door. I opened up the door and started talking to them in english. they got real scared and took off. hahaha.

we are currently teaching the governor and mayor of our little town out here. its wild.

"and it came to pass that when they were buried in the deep there was no water that could hurt them, therefore when they were encompassed about by many waters they did cry unto the Lord, and he did bring them forth again upon the top of the waters. and it came to pass that the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land." ether 6.7 and 8

I know that challenges are here for a reason. that when we are covered with them, like the waters, we can cry unto the Lord. He will send to us tender mercies. In the end, the wind, our trials, are for our good and will send us to our promised land.

This has been a challenging weekof my mission. Ive learned much. A thought occured to me the other night as we walked around, searching for more people to teach under the very starry sky and the snow capped mountains(dream). In my last area, we strived to have great numbers and achieve many baptisms. That is a great thing to have, and we accomplished much. I feel the Lord has sent me to a very remote, different area to realize, that that is not all that matters. What matters is what happens after this life. How can we impact people for the eternity? We will see the people whom we have loved, in the mission or in life in general, whether they be members or nonmembers, people who we have taught, or people who have rejected and hated us. There is still so muuch hope for these people, other chances to accept, change, and live the gospel. I cant wait to see these people perhaps in the Spirit World. Id imagine theyd say something like "thanks for trying when you were a missionary, even if you didnt see me get baptized, you still helped in my conversion." or maybe, "im sorry I rejected you and your companion at first. but the testimony you bore at my door, I remember perfectly here in the spirit world. it helped me make the decision to accept the baptism one of my descendants did for me." and then i would say, "thank you for enriching and blessing my life, because of your mark on it, Im eternally happy and blessed." Ilove this thought, because it shows to me out here that we are working for eternity, not just the now. We will see these people again. How lovely.

the gospel is the best. we are seeing a little progress here and there, and I enjoy watching it. We recently had the opportunity to visit a 75 year old man. His name is Antogenes. He has only been a member for 3 years here, and has become very ill and is dying. we take the sacrament to him each week. He can hardly walk, but somehow he always makes it downstairs just to wait for us to come with his bread and water. You should see him partake of these ordinances. it is sacred to him, as it should be for all of us. He has impacted me forever. we talk a little bit of spanish and then I try my hand at speaking quechua with him. we laughed and laughed. He is a great man. 

I miss you all as always. keep sending me emails por favor they brighten up my week. con mucho amor a todos ustedes. kuidakoyanki. thats quechua for cya later. hahaha. 

elder Caldwell

8-31-15

ay ay ay.

Hello.

wow I miss you guys with all my heart. Im out here in the middle of nowhere, let me tell you. after travelling 8 hours on the bus, we came up over a hill and there I beheld where Id be living for who knows how long. I think I grew a few moustache hairs looking at the mountains and stuff. I think they send boys here to become men. I live at the base of a mountain, and behind this mountain we can see what looks like the Matterhorn straight out of disneyland, it is breathtaking.Its just covered in snow, so im back to wearing sweaters and jackets everyday hallelujah.

Where we live, it is just straight people from the chacra. They actually speak a different language, all of them. Spanish is their second language, and their first is an ancient indian language here called Quechua. Im learning a bit and I can communicate with some really ancient people out here. imanotanquekanki is how are you doing? Im convinced these people are the straight descendants of the lamanites. Im stoked to be out here. All ive been hearing lately as well from the zone is how hard it is to do the work out here, and oh man am I tired of hearing that. of course its going to be hard, no matter where you go but you just gotta work and find solutions. My companion is from Ecuador and is also 25 years old. he resembles a vampire. 

We dont have a ward here, or a branch. we have to travel 30 minutes to go to the nearest ward, so its a little hard to get investigators to come to church because they cant pay for the movility. Im thinking that we need to start a family group here, the most basic unit of the church. There is only one really active family here, and we live in their house and eat with them. They are the best and so so strong in the gospel. Im really hoping I can create a good friendship with them so we can start brining people into this family group, and then eventually into a branch.

so much to talk about, wow. ahhh so we recently found the best family in the world out here, just the upmost humble. they are the cordero family, and they live waaay out there. we have to travel 15 minutes to get to their house in the middle of the fields. they dont have much, but they do have a car which is really out of place haha. we are hoping we can help them progress and get them to church in Caraz. They always serve us food when we come, and because of the rules we cant eat it. but if we dont eat it, they will be offended. (everyone gets offended really easily here). you have to eat all of it. last night we had some orange slop with watermelon seeds in it. I dont know what it was, haha. But I love them and I cant wait to keep you guys updated on how they go. 

I wish I could send you all pictures, but my computer isnt too good today. next week you will see the matterhorn! also something really random that happened, is that a sister Flake came into my district, shes brand new, and my cousin! from arizona and everything. shes great, my district is great! if any of you though have ideas on how I can better change their attitude towards their difficult areas, please help me out. 

love you all con un gran amor que no puedo describir. 

elder caldwell

8-24-15

´´for the eternal purposes of the Lord shall roll on, until all his promises shall be fulfilled.¨ mormon 8.22. a small verse that gives me a lot of hope and peace.

I love being a missionary of the Lord. it´s nice to know that as I leave this beloved area of mine, just like that scripture says, the work will roll on. I´m so excited to hear how my companion and his new companion do, and what miracles what they see. I loved this area, and the people I met here will forever be apart of me now. it hurts to leave, but when changes like this happen you have to know that it´s only for the better, and that the Lord wants you to become something greater.

I got the call last night to be a district leader in a super far off land in the mountains again, called Yungay. It´s pronounced like yoonguy. It´ll be close to a big popular area, called Huaraz. you gotta look up pictures of this places, I hear it is super pretty. there are snow on the mountains there. I´m so unbelievably excited to return to llama land. I´m gonna hop on a bus here pretty soon to be travelling for 10 HOURS. holy moly. There is some crazy legends about my area, maybe not legends. in 1970 the missionaries were where I´m going. the people were super wicked and totally rejected the elders, even they started like fighting with them. Eventually they left the little town and they returned to try again, and they warned the people that if they didn´t stop being wicked, and repent, they would be destroyed. they kept up being evil people, so the elders left again. soon after a huge earthquake happened, and a landslide completely destroyed the town and everyone in it, except the children were miraculously saved. hahaha. you might think that im just saying some made up story, but everyone I ask tells me about how yungay had been destroyed. Í´m so scared and excited. 

I´m so grateful to learn more and progress, I´m so grateful that I have been trusted with a district, I feel super unqualified for that but I´m going to do my best. holy moses such crazy news. Our fantastic family, are getting married this week, and atleast 2 of them are getting baptized the next day. my heart is full, and I wish I could fully express myself how blessed I have been to be apart of their lives. everytime I look at my patriarchal blessing and read the promises therein, I realize how they are being fulfilled. I´m excited for life and the future, man. thanks for everything, everyone. I´m so happy to be apart of your lives and know each one of you. our lives are so enriched, yet sometimes we don´t even realize it. the most important thing we have in our lives, is the people. 

ahhhh can´t wait to go to yungay, and tell you all about the crazy adventures I will have up there next week! we have the whole town to ourselves, my new companion Elder Pacuasi and I. The whole town is gonna know us! 

Love you all so much! la misión es lo maximo.

Elder Caldwell.

pics.

one family, where im holding a cat is a family we baptized not too long ago. they are great.

the next family is the obeso leon family! love them!!

8-18-15

Hey everyone.

we went to the temple today. wow was that a spiritual recharge. It was the most peaceful hours of my life. I hadn't felt that amount of the spirit in a long time. I'm really thankful for the temple, man. it's a lifesaver. 

as my first year in this service comes to an end i've been reflecting a lot and it is amazing to me how blessed I have been in so many aspects, when I look back on all that time I just want to shout and yell and say "i did it!" because it was hard, and because we have done so much. and because we have seen so much of the Lords hand in our lives. I know that there are other missionaries who feel the same way. I read a talk about being more of a consecrated missionary the other day, and the author included a quote he had recieved from an elder just finishing his mission. I would like to share the same quote, as I feel it matches my feelings exactly.

"I was reflecting yesterday if I would call the mission a sacrifice. And for everything it seems I might have sacrificed, I feel like I have been given tenfold. If I say I have sacrificed time with my family, then I must realize that I have been rewarded with a family more united and loving than ever. If the has been a sacrifice of time, I have been rewarded with knowledge that no university in the world could have taught me. If it has been a sacrifice of my talents, I have been rewarded with more than I ever had before. I can speak Spanish, I care more genuinely about people and I am less quick to judge and more anxious to serve. If it has been a sacrifice of human relationships, I have been rewarded with practice in speaking to men and women from all walks of lifeand in diverse situations. If I have sacrificed my earthly possessions, I have been given new ones that I value infinitely more. For anything I have sacrificed I have been given more." 

I know that that quote we can apply to all of ourselves, not just those in a mission. we can all devote ourselves to our callings more, or other causes, and get more than that we have sacrificed. how lovely is that assurance.

our beautiful family that we are going to marry, had some complications with the papers and stuff so the wedding and baptism is going to be the other week. This upcoming sunday we recieve transfer calls and im 100 percent positive im leaving, which makes me sad but I'm so excited as well. so many things are happening. missionaries make a joke that when we are at our year mark we are just like at the top of a rollercoaster. I truly feel that way. I just want to baptize the world haha i have so much desire. but I just gotta put my head down and work. I hope I get sent to a hard area so I can just put in my all. 

we had a classic experience this week, elder mollo and I. at this point we really dont have many investigators so like ive said in the past, we are knocking on doors and contacting like crazy. my goal is that everyone knows us in this tiny little area. we knocked on one door in a creepy little alleyway and a woman answered so we talked to her. she seemed disinterested, and then all of a sudden her furious grandma waddles up to the door. we didnt have any teeth. she says this, "HELLO. WE ARE CATHOLICS. DO YOU UNDERSTAND? LEAVE." in just the most menacing voice. we smiled and said, "we just want to talk about Jesus with ya!!!" she frowned deeply and shouted, "VAYANSE POR OTRO SITIO. SOMOS CATOLICOS, ENTIENDEN? ENTIENDEN??" and slams the door. I just started busting up laughing, it was the funniest thing. I love when stuff like that happens to us so I can provide you guys with stories or when I can tell them around a campfire. maybe one day ill get robbed. hahahaha.

love you all, 

elder caldwell.

8-10-15

hello dearly beloveds,

what a spankin great week. we just got back from making some genuine leather sandals with the craftiest man you'll ever see this side of the rio pollo. His name is Charles and he had bushy white eyebrows. He showed and guided us in the long process of making the sandals, and it was tedious but worth it at the end. now they're going to last a lifetime!

that process is similiar with all of us. I've been learning a lot and thinking a lot about becoming. A few weeks ago we recieved a training on how we can better teach with the end in mind. I also recently read a talk by our prophet Thomas S. Monson from 2012 about the same subject. In my 7 months here in this area I've seen many people change and grow in the gospel - including myself. "we should develop the capacity to see men not like they are now, but what they can become with a testimony of Christ." No matter who these people are, rich, poor, drug addicts, nobodys, depressed, God has a plan for them to unlock their potential. God doesn't see us for who we are, only what we can become. Imagine them in baptismal clothes, in the temple, then work towards that goal until they realize it. We can look at ourselves that way too. If we are burdened down by sin, feel depressed, like a loser, focus on what you can become. With a happy family, in the temple, living a healthy lifestyle with a good attitude. think of your best self, and remember that is the person that Heavenly Father wants you to become. It is so possible, I have come to realize in this year of my mission. 

just like it is found in alma 15.4-11, we can change even as zeezrom did. 

our wonderful couple and family we are teaching, I told you all last week, are getting married! they plan on the 21st of august now for their marriage, and the next day will be their baptism. When we first met this family, they pretty much wanted nothing to do with us. But when I saw them I knew they could become an eternal family. I tried to imagine them being sealed, and joy swept over me. This can now become a reality because we decided to put all of our efforts, prayers, fasts into them. They too have been working, and working more than all of us has been the spirit. I testify of the change in people. i am eternally grateful for the impact the gospel has had in my life and the lives of those around me. can't belive it's taken me this long to learn all this, enjoy all this, and fully live the gospel, but it is so nice. hope you can all enjoy the gospel this week, and your lives. love you all so much. keep keeping the Obeso Leon family in your prayers!! 

back to work now :)

love ya,

elder caldwell.

ah by the way ill be emailing next week on tuesday because we are GOING TO THE TEMPLE

pics: 

enjoying a nice peruvian meal and drink with our peruvian grandma.

the man, the myth, the legend, carlos helping us with our sandals.