11-28-15

FAM,

I did done love this week. We spent most of the days with one of the Seventy of the Church, Élder Juan A Uceda. That man came with fire. He singed our eyebrows! I wish I could adequately describe to you all how full of the Spirit and with life that guy was. He taught us so much, and it was a great Thanksgiving, to be able to learn so much, and be thankful for it. 

He taught and showed us exactly, exactly what I needed and longed to hear for the longest time. We travelled to all the mission, him teaching us all for long periods of time, the longest to be like 5 hours in total. He just unloaded, on what to focus on, being more converted, converting the people, showing us what truly is important in mission work. Inviting people to Christ. That means we also have to come unto Christ, every single day. At random times during his periods of teaching, he would pause and just you could see the energy in him. He would then say in a higher-raised voice, but not to the point of yelling, (kinda like Jeffrey R. Holland) "You are TRUE SERVANTS OF GOD! YOU HAVE BEEN CALLED BY REVELATION!!" It wasn´t as preachy as it sounds, it was just a great motivator. 

He pointed out at the beginning, before he started teaching, to pay more attention to what we were feeling, rather than to what we were hearing. He said, whatever you write down from this, I hope it is more of stuff you have felt and prompted to put, rather than exactly what I said. I put it to practice. Even though he taught us great things, like not being superficial in studying the scriptures and just really escudriñarlos, I felt a different thing the spirit kept prompting me. It was to profundizar mis oraciones más. To make more profound my prayers. To, instead of just sitting there, and having a one-way phone call with God, to sit there and kind of meditate, ponder, feel the motions of the Spirit and see what God would have me do that day, and who to serve. Im doing that every time I pray now, and it is ... really special and extraordinary, to kind of sit there, after asking a question in your prayer and kind of reach out spiritually for a confirmation or for some sort of feeling. You know truly that the "heavens have opened" just like what happened when Jesus prayed with his disciples.

Well, thats what happened these 7 days. Just a bunch of learning, improving. We also went to a botanical garden today in Trujillo and got kicked out because we put our hammocks up. 

haha sweet. love you guys. I share this email with you today with the hopes that you can also learn much this week, right along with me. I know the opportunity to get closer to God and feel His love is not just available to me because Im on a mission. Its open to all of us.  

LOVE,

Elder Caldwell.

pics.

in our travels we found the mystical poop corn cart. 

11-21-15

Wonderful people,

Hi. It has been another week. Here is a scripture I really like.

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8. 37-39 

This week has been exhausting. It was the end of transfers, so we had a lot of work. Moving missionaries around, saying goodbye to the old ones going to casa, welcoming the new ones. I really enjoyed it though, a lot of good feelings seeing the new missionaries and the fire they bring to the mission. Every time we have new missionaries we have a little meeting with them, before they meet their trainers and they all share their testimonies. This week as they shared their testimonies, I got the impression, "they really had to work and fight for those." In the mission, testimonies and answers come a little easier as you are living the gospel 24.7. But man, I think of the outside world, and see it everyday, I wonder how we used to do it before the mission, or how people even live the gospel in a crazy world like this. So much respect for you guys back home living the gospel. Keep going.

This week I had some interesting experiences with english! Im the one supposed to help the whole mission learn english, because we have a lot of latino missionaries. Its been not the funnest of my jobs, but some things really stuck out to me this week, to lighten the load. So one late night after sending the old missionaries home, a local member who lives in Chimbote decided to come by and try his hand at the final english exam (if you get a good score, a latino could potentially get into BYU somehow. its a big deal). I wasnt too thrilled to give the test because I was tired, but I went along with it anyway. The test involves using the internet, and our internet that night was the slowest, to the point it wouldnt allow him to finish the test. His name was Nelson. Nelson had brought with him that night his girlfriend. As he was pretty devastated he couldnt finish the test, I looked over and saw his girlfriend to my surprise, praying. arms crossed and head bowed, mouthing words. Then I looked over at Nelson, doing the same thing (relationship goals). I was pretty awed and humbled at the example of these 2 good people. No joke, after they said their prayers, a few minutes later the internet started working, and he passed the test with flying colors. Nelson Pérez is the man.

I'm excited for this week, Elder Uceda, the area president is coming to our mission for a mission tour. He is going to set us in our place hahah. We have to arrange everything for him, so that his tour is good. I'm super stoked to see what insight and counsel he gives the mission. It will be sweet. That also might mean I wont be writing next Saturday, we are going to be busy. but we shall see!!

love you always.

Elder Caldwell

pics.

saying goodbye to oldies.

hello newbies.

elder cardenas gave me his old film canon camera from the 80s. excited to put it to use

11-14-15

Family,

Emails are hard to write because sometimes I feel I don’t have much to share, but when I think and sit for a while the experiences start coming and I see how blessed I have been. So for maybe the 200^th time Ive said, its been a good week this one.

It wasn’t all dandelions and warm fuzzies though. For about my whole mission now, one of my ears has just been really agitated and it itched all the time. I woke up one day this week and the pain had progressed quite a bit. Luckily my companion is a registered nurse (what luck) and he whipped out all the bells and whistles to see what was going on. After giving the inside of my ear a good look he found something really weird. There was a SPLINTER in my ear. We were super confused as to why and how a large splinter was in my ear haha. I figure that in my first area, we had a lot of investigators who were carpenters and they always did some work near us. I think a little chip of wood just might’ve flew and lodged itself into my ear. Haha, really weird. So he got it out and then it got infected but ill spare you anymore of that talk.

On to the real experiences of the week. In my new position I have the great opportunity to be surrounded by the great leaders of the mission. A few days ago we had Leadership Council with all the zone leaders of the mission and listened to some really inspired stuff. It was one of the more spiritual meetings Ive had here, so good man. I also got to partake in the training and get up in front of everyone and share a few experiences and what Ive learned is most important in finding chosen people of the Lord. I shared the experience of my good friend, Esther and how she was truly prepared because she had prayed asking God to guide her to a good church for her and her son before we had received the referral to her from a recent convert. God and Jesus are good, and they are in the smallest details of our life.

We then went to a beach called Salaverry and hung out with all the Zone Leaders. We played soccer on the beach (walter mitty type of vibes here), then watched the waves come in. It was so refreshing and fun to be back on the beach after a year of being in the mountains and in the downtown. Some good pictures were taken, but more importantly great memories were created with people whom I will miss. I know why God has created family and friends, so we can have memories with them. If we were alone all the time, who would we share that stuff with. That’s why He tells us to go out into the world and share the gospel. I love that, man. I miss you guys and cant wait to have a lot of memories to come. But Im also glad to be with my peruanos and share beautiful spiritual moments with them. It’s a great time.

November is my favorite month.

My companion walks really fast.

Love,

Elder Caldwell

Some pictures of the adventures this week.

11-7-15

Habla familia!

Im happy! I dont want to go home! (sorry mom)

As I was wrapped up my personal studies on Wednesday, I stood up looking out the window just thinking about life. I watched for awhile outside and viewed as a man rode up on his bike that had a lot of collected bottles and trash. He started looking through our trashbags that was lying out in the street waiting for the garbageman. I watched as he looked through our filthy trash, trying to find some bottles or something of worth. At first, my first impulse was to judge him and maybe make some assumptions on how he had lived his life and that was the reason that he was picking through trash now. I then realized how hypocritical I was to judge someone, wearing my nametag that says the Saviors name on it, and after I had just studied the scriptures about how to be more charitable. After contemplating that fact and watching him a little more, with more compassion now filling my heart, I felt the small impression to serve him. Moved, I sat down and looked around, and prayed in my heart to know how to better serve this humble man. We had a stack of Book of Mormons laying around. I grabbed one, put it a plastic bag so it wouldn’t get dirty. I went to the window and said, “hey amigo! Tengo algo para usted.” I dropped down the copy to him and he caught it with grateful arms. He gave me a smile. He probably would’ve liked some money or maybe some extra bottles to put onto his bike instead, but I really hope that act I did helps him somehow, and that he can read that book.

That morning I had done something we exhort every person to do, which is to read, ponder, and pray. Those small acts prepared me to give that man a Book of Mormon. I hope we can all do that.

Haha, I hope this letter doesn’t sound preachy or like Im trying to show off my act of service, but I always like to share a small experience that highlighted my week. I really love you guys! Its been a good week and there is always something to learn, for all of us everyday.

Also, a funny experience happened one day when we were waiting at a crowded bus terminal to pick up some missionaries and take them to the hospital. As we waited in the baking sun of the coast of Peru, a random guy came up to me covered in tats and with a Mohawk. “Yo wass good dawg?? Whatcha guys doing here?” He looked like a normal Peruvian haha til he started speaking straight up hoodrat English with me. He was so confused as to why two gringos who had it good in the States would come down to Peru. He was a native Peruvian but immigrated to Florida and was now apparently a gangster. We told him we came down to spread the good word. He still couldn’t believe it, and asked us how much they were paying us. “Nothing!!” He was so shocked. I love being a missionary!

BYE!

Elder Caldwell

pics

thanks for the tie aunt sadie and uncle jeff! best one. sailboats

i finished my journal after starting 2 years ago. this thing is a bible

my breakfast every morning. pan y juevo. con nutella

10-31-15

hi my friends,

good stuff today. we had a really great pday, we carved pumpkins, ate big macs, I drank mtn dew for the first time in a year, and we just had a great time together as friends. Happy Halloween! dont want to think about next years halloween. spoooooky

So usually I try to be super positive in my letters home. Today Im going to take a kind of different perspective though. Mission life is amazing, but at the same time really hard and humbling. Im going to stray to the humbling side this letter.

So we live in a pretty cramped apartment with 6 dudes in total. Sometimes it gets a little stressful trying to keep it clean and things done with so much distraction. Its 4 gringos, (me, my comp, and the assistants) and 2 latinos from Bolivia (other secretaries). I got really frustrated one night because things just werent going well that day, with everything. I said a few harsh words to the other secretaries and they shot a few back. I felt justified, but there was a really bad spirit that entered the apartment. As I said my prayer that night, I got the strong impression to go say Im sorry, and to please forgive me. That was the opposite of what I wanted to do, and sometimes the Spirit tells us to do hard things like that. After a few minutes of internal struggle, I got up, knocked on their door and just kind of explained my feelings to them and said I was sorry, and to please forgive me. They didnt really say anything, but that bad feeling went away. I felt Gods assurance telling me I did the right thing. 

I was pretty humbled that night, to do something I didnt really want to but was so worth it in the end. I was also humbled as we entered the field one night. We hadnt had really planned very well, and we walked around a good 2 hours trying to find, and enter into a house. Nothing worked. I went home that night feeling discouraged. I promised the Lord I would do better. A quote by the prophet comes to my mind, thinking about that, "Sometimes courage is the little voice that says, try again tomorrow". Thats probably not the exact quote, but thats how I feel it. 

We also had district meeting today. I was thinking a real lot about the talk that Thomas S. Monson gave a few days ago, about being an example and a light. When I got here, I read a list of my duties. One of them was to be the example to the whole mission. That really struck me. We are pretty much in the spotlight of the mission, the face. I spoke to my district about how we can accomplish that, throw away that dang contention, throw away the attitude, put our heads down and just work and have that look in our eyes, that says, as it says in 1st Timothy 4:12, "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an exampleof the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." 

When we are an example in that way, people will notice the difference and we will be a light in dark times. We lit candles and talked about it for awhile outside, it was real spiritual and its little moments like those that really make me love what I do. 

Love what you do this week. Have a good one.

Elder Caldwell.

pics

the candles. 

pumpkin head

a picture on my bulletin board

10-24-15

I also had joy with the hammock this pday. muchas gracias al pituco parque en peru.

this one is for you jye. and the shakadoys

10/24/15

Hi there!

Love you guys. Today is a good day. We've been working hard here. We've made a lot of friends, and I'd like to talk to you guys about them today.

Well, I don't think first of all I've talked about my companion yet. His name is Elder Talbot, and he is from the great, almost unknown town of Cornville, Arizona. He is hilarious and looks kind of like Woody from Toy Story, haha.

As I've talked about before, we've made a lot of friends with our taxi drivers (we have to go around the whole mission a lot to do random things). One of them is named Joel. He is kind of like our personal chauffer now. He isn't a member of the Church, but he loves us and we love him! I know that the love he feels from us will help him one day to maybe make the decision to get baptized perhaps. He lives in a different area so we don't really get the chance much to sit down with him and teach him the gospel, but we have a great friendship. In fact he actually made us some Arroz Chaufa with his wife for us just to be nice recently.

Another friend, not a taxi driver, but a hard factory worker, is named Francisco. He works all day so we only get the chance to meet up with him a little later at night. He has come to church now a bunch, and we are excited about that. He was baptized not too long ago in another church but we sure enjoyed explaining a little about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Restoration. He is understanding as some of them do, little by little precept upon precept. Sometimes as missionaries, it's frustrating, to accept how slow they progress but it gives you... well, like a perspective on our lives. It took me a good 16 years to finally understand what I'm doing and if I thought this church was true. Imagine how Heavenly Father feels, I think sometimes. It is a miracle every day to be able to teach this stuff, and I treasure it a little more every day.

Regarding that, I like to think about a mormon message David A. Bednar was on awhile ago. Sometimes we recieve revelation, or answers to our prayers, like how a sunrises. Slow, but surely. Or sometimes it is like a lightswitch. It all depends on the Lord, and if we are truly ready.

I've also come across the opportunity to be able to visit one of my areas a bunch here. The area I was in for 7 months, called Intendencia. I'm close to that area here in Trujillo. The people there feel like some of my family. I had the chance to go to a family home evening deal there to help out a missionary who was without a companion. I saw the people I had taught, struggled with, prayed for, and it was kind of like a dream. I imagine how that'll feel in the next life when we see those who we love but haven't seen for awhile. It's amazing. It shows me, how worth it was the struggle. It was so worth it all those hours thinking, praying, trying, working. To see them again and strong in the church. Those tender mercies.

I also have a crazy amount to study. This is my third time reading the Book of Mormon here in Peru. The first time was all in Spanish, and I had marked that thing so much it looks like a coloring book. I had thought, well, that's good enough for my two years. Studied enough. Marked enough. But then I kept reading. I bought other books. It's crazy how much you can learn from just one book. How different it is for us each read. It shows me and adds to the testimony that it really is scripture from God.

I pray the week is good to you all. I want to share a favorite scripture I found today, in Spanish: "Orad a él continuamente durante el dia y dad gracias a su santo nombre en la noche. Alégrese vuestro corazón." 2 nefi 9:52.

I also shaved my head again.

Les amo.

Elder Caldwell.

pics. 

I have made a goal to take a selfie with every taxi man. the first of many. 

ceviche de pota. this is squid with a lot of onions. peruvians love it. 

the whole office crew kickin it eating food poisoning. I mean seafood