Letters From a Missionary

So our other children received letters from their brother today. They were dated April 13, 2009, so that's not too bad. Here are a few exceprts.

To Curtis:
The mission is fun. I've learned that studying the scriptures is actually one of the best pastimes ever. You'll learn how to read better too when you read the scriptures. That's how I learned Spanish.

We have an investigator named Sintia. one day when I was on divisions we went to her house and I felt impressed to sing "Praise to the Man". We sang it normally...we were about to start the lesson. She asked, "what's the song that talks about the pajaritas?" (little birds) I remembered Joseph Smith's first prayer, and knew that's what she was thinking about. We began to sing it, and she started bawling! Curtis, I know the church is true. She's getting baptized on April 25th after she's known about the Church forever, almost her whole life.

Keep choosing the right. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. The Book of Mormon is true. We're children of God. Remember, give Eric the monkey claw if he tries to beat you up.

To Briana:
We are busy busy. Everything goes just right when we're obedient. Briana, I've had so many experiences I can't even say them all, even if I had an entire day. My last change in Pucallpa we left our Pension, Hermana Rubi. It was sad because she's one of my favorite people in the world. Yeah, that's right. I even left my monkey.

Jesus Christ didn't want to suffer for us when He felt the pains of His INFINITE atonement, but He submitted to the Father, and completed His Messianic mission, and made it possible to overcome death, both physical and spiritual. Nana, we're blessed. Always be obedient.

To Eric:
Iquitos is great! You would ove it. It's different than you think. There aren't monkeys running around or animals everywhere. All the houses are made of cement or wood and generally in the more populated places the houses are all together. There's not really anything called a yard.

The average person working hard here could make $325 a month. That's just an estimate from listening to people. The average person here in Peru has a T.V. and good speakers, a couple tables, pictures, beds, the occasional hammock.

The average cement house is cement, including the floor. Once in a while someone will have a computer. Only the richest homes have glass in the windows. Normally it's rebar with blinds made from sheets.