We Should Help Everyone We Know

DEAR EVERYONE

I´m not going to be able to write that much I was filling out a calendar that the offices wanted with the zone plans of this transfer.

This last transfer is going to be the best!! Early Wednesday we traveled to Lima for the transfers, I stayed in Elder Ridge´s place for the night and Thursday was my last zone leader conference…L and we talked president into letting us stay for the meeting in the peru MTC on Friday (CCM), the ZL´s in the jungle had to travel back to their areas on Thursday night so we lucked out because we got to listen to Elder Jenson from the Presidency of the Seventy!!! I forgot my notes so I can´t tell you everything he said, but it was the BEST!!! He first talked about the power of hymns, and told us the story about Called to Serve, and then he talked about the priesthood.

I think I´ve been teaching apostasy my entire mission because I often say that in the grand (in Spanish the word for "great" is "gran") apostasy the priesthood was taken off the earth…..hmmm…. sounds okay, but according to Elder Jenson, the priesthood has NEVER been taken off the earth, and has been here since the creation….but then he explained that during the apostasy, the priesthood keys were lost, which is the right to use that power and preside the church and exercise all the ordinances of the gospel. So since then I´ve simply telling people that during this time people couldn´t get baptized. Haha. The keys today are meticulously protected by the first presidency and the quorum of the 12 apostles whom are the ONLY men on earth that possess ALL the keys of the kingdom.

The zone is doing well. All the missionaries are excited to work this transfer and I have to verify their baptism dates como loco so not one falls. We´re going to have the missionaries carry around a different object every week that helps them remember 1 principal, like diligence, obedience, etc… also every Wednesday we´re going to do a supercharged day where they set really high goals and in the night we call them to see what the results were. We´re going to some different ruins this transfer called FORTELEZA, we´re going to a synthetic soccer field, and other things.

“And it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall commence his work among all nations, kindred’s, tongues, and people, to bring about the restoration of his people upon the earth and with righteousness shall the Lord God judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth. And he shall smite thee earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. For the time speedily cometh that the Lord God judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth. And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. “ (2 Nephi 8-10)

Remember to always read the scriptures, pray, and do what you have to do.

I love the gospel. We should help everyone we know to know what we know.

Bye bye,

Elder Layton

We Have to Know That He Really Suffered and Lived For Us

Dearest Everyone,

Iquitos is the place to be. Right now I'm sitting next to Elder Ridge. Tambien my papa (trainer), Elder Acevedo's here and I here Elder Griffin's in my Zone. The airplane ride to Iquitos wasn't too exciting. We had some unexpected turbulence and Elder Hyde and I were victims of the scalding hot coffee behind us. Elder Hyde got the worst of it I think.

Iquitos is great. It's sand instead of the dirt in Pucallpa so no more dust in our eyes. I think that was the only real downside of my last change.

Our ward mission leader's the best. His wife's our pension and he has a particularly big interest in the work of the Lord.

I'm way excited to get this place moving. It's kind've been hard to start out cause my compi, Elder Hernandez and I (He's Columbian) are opening an area. Basically we do a lot more contacting and working with all the members… not just the less actives. It's great though!! We have two wards so little time on Sunday to work a lot but it's good.

Iquitos is very clean. Compared to Pucallpa the people here are more accepting to the missionaries. I think if we just keep being obedient and diligent we'll be able to have success. It's amazing to be here. I don't miss Pucallpa that much cause I know I'm supposed to be here, but I do miss the people. They were my family. In April Elder Rojas is going to baptize our family of 8…we baptized two already. Yeah, that's about it for the news.

There's more jungle here and we're next to a big river. Oh yeah….my area is 9 de Octubre and Internacional.

I'm reading Jesus the Christ right now. It's an amazing book, like everyone says. Everyone, I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I don't know why in the world we lose sight of that sometimes. We have to know that he really suffered and lived for us. His example was amazing! Every single temptation he overcame. He completed everything his Father sent him to accomplish. We can do the same.

Something I learned in the mission is that we can't do the work of the Lord if we aren't obedient. Maybe it seems impossible to be 100% obedient? It's not. It's hard no mas (It's not hard now). If you want spiritual experiences go out and get them. The Lord wants us to see miracles. The Lord wants us to be closer to his presence. I think that if we completely understood that and only had faith more of us would be progressing a lot faster.

Happy Birthday to Andrea, Nathan, Gabe, ….and all the other March birthdays I can't remember right now! (Elder Layton's birthday was on March 6th)

I love you guys and pray for all of you. Pray for my investigators!

Elder Layton

There's Not a Single Problem In Our Lives Jesus Christ Can't Fix

HOLA ¡!!!!!

We just found out our changes. YEAH. I'm here again. Change three in Pucallpa... lo maximo. Elder Rich is going to be my Zone Leader which is awesome! He´s always kind've been my example missionary...maybe because he was the first missionary I went with in Peru, plus Elder Ridge and I stalked his blog before the mission.

Everyone....I'm doing okay. The mission only gets more difficult. We had a huge turnout yesterday in church. 12 investigators but the sad thing is the investigators we needed to attend didn't!!! So our baptism dates fell....well all except one. We have a baptism for this week. His name´s Rosalio. He's actually been talking with missionaries for a year now. He's came to church the past two weeks which is tight! Now our challenge to set dates with all the people that attended yesterday. It shouldn't be too hard if we get right on it.

I found out some cool things about Pucallpa from some less actives. The original name of Pucallpa is May-ushin, which means land of the demons. It turns out that there was some cannibalism going on in the 19th century or something........ eek. I drank this drink called chicha de mais which isn't the best but hey.....it's 100% Peruvian so I'll take it.

Really more important to me now than anything is baptising. We're having success with everything else all we need to do is challenge them to baptism a lot better. Remember that time when we taught the big group of people at the funeral? Well 6 of them have been attending the church so we have an appointment with them this week, hopefully with the outcome of two or more families we can baptize.

I would love more letters. And sweets!

The Church is true. Never forget that Christ really is our Savior. Lately I've been working on my patience since my companion said I have a patience problem haha. It's true.... I just try to make things perfect a lot of the times but it often comes out making things more of a problem because of my impatience. I was reading in Alma 34 this week and the very last two verses caught my attention.

(And now my beloved brethren, I would exhort you to have patience, and that ye bear with all manner of afflictions; that ye do not revile against those who do cast you out because of your exceeding poverty, lest ye become sinners like unto them; But that ye have patience, and bear with those afflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions.)

We really have to have patience in the weaknesses of others. We're not perfect and we're all learning and we're all children of God so we have to have patience, and we hope that others will have the same for us. I know there's not a single problem in our lives Jesus Christ can't fix.

Love,

Elder Layton

Randomivity and Allovertheboardness

...picked this up from the Rich Mission site - viewed here - http://richmission.blogspot.com

"Refering to Elders Hyde, Ridge, & Layton, who are having visa problems. We need them down here. They will be good elders. If they come down by themselves to Peru, and come straight into the field, I will most likely go pick them up. That would be sweet!"

Elder Rich (shown at left with Gabo - the young man in Peru who is a recent convert and is preparing for his own mission in Argentina) is the missionary that some of the Elders had heard about in the MTC. He is now serving as the Secretary in the mission office. We're told that he may have some of the earliest information on the visa status of these Elders. Naturally we're watching carefully. It's not what, but who you know, right?

Ricky asked about Elder Layton's mailing address while in Arizona. You can find it located on the sidebar under "Missionaries Love Getting Your Letters!" Thank you all for your letters and support to Elder Layton.

The poll at the right is now closed. Andrea won - I suppose - depending on how you want to look at it. I reserve the right to comment on this at a later time (GRIN).

Lima Peru North Mission - Next Stop

(We received a package day before yesterday with some items that Elder Layton didn't feel he could take with him. Included was this letter, which was not dated, but obviously was written before the last two that we most recently posted.)

Tomorrow morning Elder Ridge and I part ways, and same goes for my whole district. Elder Harris and I get on a bus and they take us to the Salt Lake Airport, where I go to Arizona, and he goes to Ventura, Ca. I really have no idea what I should expect, even after 9 weeks of training. Today was hard because it was the last time I saw Hardy Dos (He's my teacher, we have two teachers of the same name, no relation) and leaving my district is also very hard; we're great friends.

I don't feel ready, but there's no turning back time. I have few regrets about the MTC, I think it was a good transition for me to be honest and I worked so hard, but I have the most important part ahead of me.

I can't post Elder Layton's new address yet, because I don't know where Brenda put it. She's out of town, taking the Young Women on a three day wilderness hike in the Cascade Mountains somewhere. She returns tomorrow, and I'll do what I can to add it to the sidebar on the right.

Thank you all for supporting Elder Layton with your letters and prayers. Oh, and Angie, I love ya hon! This ones for you. MMMMMMMM, roasted Guinea Pig.

Patiently Waiting, Growing in the Gospel and Having Fun

Hi Everyone!

I'm still at the provo mtc, and we have no idea when we're leaving. They'll probably tell us the night before we leave and they said it would be 1-3 weeks 1 week ago. Elder Sheets, my District leader, says it's because he's praying for continuing support from the Peruvian missionaries (Elder Ridge and I).

MTC life is as busy as ever. I love being here. We think of it as a bubble. We're in Provo Utah but we're completely cut off from the rest of the world which is nice. I often see the SWKT and my old heritage hall at BYU from our 3rd floor classroom so that's nice.

Today we recieved new missionaries! We totally mess with the new Spanish speaking Elders as we walk around the MTC, Elder Ridge and I, by talking really fast spanish to them, and so they have no idea what we're saying. In fact, we barely do. I think we're getting some new members in our district too. After Elder Griffin (my first companion) and Elder Briggs left we were left with 7 Elders which is a way small district. Hopefully we get some more today. I love my district. We're all super close and they're way awesome Elders that like to work hard and help each other.

Please send letters I would love to hear from you.

I heard Elder Ridge's (My Current Companion), and Elder Hyde's parents get to go to Landon Rich's house for a BBQ or something. That's just wrong. I'm sure I'll be companions with Elder Landon Rich (He's a big deal everybody) before Elder Ridge is.

The Church is True. I love it with all my heart!

Elder Layton

Update on Visa Status, Change of Companions

This morning (Wednesday July 16, 2008) we did a companion exchange. My companion, Elder Griffin, left this morning and Elder Ridge's companion, Elder Briggs, left with Elder Griffin to Peru as well, so we were left with each other. Elder Ridge is way cool and outgoing so that's going to be good for me. We are both about on the same spanish speaking level, so I'm excited to start teaching lessons with him. He's from Utah but he grew up in Rocklin California, Elder Talyor Griffin was from South Jordan Utah (I can't remember if I already said that or not in my last email)

Just so everybody knows, the chica in the travel office said that our Visa's are in Salt Lake, so it's an in-country problem. We're not the first Peruvian missionaries to have this problem. Several missionaries just left last week to Trujillo, Peru after they had been delayed a week. It looks like it's just a spur-of-the-moment thing. Basically we'll get called down to the travel office the night before we leave so we won't really know when that is, but we have high hopes for next Wednesday! In the meantime we're here, still working hard.

It's way hard to write while I'm in the MTC because our days are so set, we do the same things pretty much every day so it's not like I have a bunch of new stories. I'm learning tons of new things of course about the gospel, and I love it. The church is true.