What Are You Talking About, I'm Latin!

Dearest Family and Friends,

The General Conference was amazing, as usual!!! The entire time I think there was a definite theme: Love. Of course all of us, the white missionaries watched conference in English because it's a load better than the translated version. I'm sure you loved all the talks. Elder Holland is a beast. (And I'm sure he means that in the best way, not at all in the Book of Revelation way...Elder Holland's talk was one of my top two favorites as well.) I couldn't even concentrate on writing notes while he was talking.

Even with the conference and everything (we watched all the sessions) we made time to have the baptism on Saturday and the confirmation on Sunday. Giset and Carlos, two youth that ALWAYS attend church were baptized. The best! Carlos has been going to church for about a year and a half. My district leader who interviewed him recognized him from when he was here in this area a year and a half ago! Finally he got permission from his parents and is happier than ever. He's almost 18 and he's extremely eager to leave to the missionary life in about a year. Awesome. Also Oliver who didn't come to his confirmation on Sunday came yesterday and was confirmed. We have a lot of baptism dates for this month.

In the mission we have a goal to include the members in the work. You know the story of Alma and Amulek right? Well, you should. Alma was a missionary just like me that went and preached unto the people for a while but everyone hardened their hearts against him. He preached with power and authority but they still didn't listen. Then he found Amulek. Alma ate in his house (just like we eat in the members houses) and after they went and preached unto the people together. Amulek was a well-known man, and so it was easy for the people to accept the message with someone they knew. With the help of Amulek, they had a ton of success. That's the story mas o menos. The thing is, this month we're IN THE SEARCH OF OUR AMULEK. We read the story in Alma 8-15 every day with a different member and then ask them, will you be our Amulek? They accept and we're receiving more help because of it.

Up to this point in the change we have 17 confirmations in the change so we still have a long way to go to reach our goal. There's a few people that came to church yesterday we didn't know before that we'll be visiting, so that will definitely help! Keep praying for all of them. Oh, you wouldn't believe it! Yessica accepted to be baptized this 10th of October. She always goes to church with her kids, but never wanted to accept. She was scared of the water. I read Alma 7:14-15 and that helped! Also her sisters Rosalvina and Beatriz are getting baptized on the same day. The mom's of all the youth we've been baptizing! I love that entire family so much. They are so prepared for the Gospel.

I think they mention Peru at least one time in every Conference. Peru's the best. I haven't seen any guys with wood strapped to their heads since Pucallpa, but I do see a little Quechua lady walking up the hill we live on, every morning carrying a football field worth of corn stalks! Haha. She always has a huge dress, braids in her hair, and what appears to me a giant cowboy hat. Awesome.

After we went to the beach on Monday I was finding sand in my eyes for the longest time. I thought I was going to go blind. Haha. Playing soccer next to the ocean was the best especially when Elder Rojas (my old compi) and I ganged up on the rest of the Zone in a huge melee in the damp sand. The member that lived there killed a guinea pig to eat. I didn't watch I still haven't eaten guinea pig. They call it Cui here. I don't know it just doesn't seem right. Last night a ton of the ward members were over at Hermana Martina`s house. We went over and watched part of Joseph Smith and then sang hymns. I played guitar for some of the hymns and did a solo in English. The kids BEG me to talk in English sometimes. Sometimes I just tell them what are you talking about, I'm Latin?

Well, that's about it. Hermana Martina introduced us this week to two more youth. Her grandson and her nephew. They went to church and want to be baptized this 17th. Vacan!

I love you so much. Mom and Dad you mean more to me than you know. Thanks for everything! Nana, you're growing up. Just don't grow up too fast. Remember, you're prohibited to get married until I get home. Thank you.

LOVE,

Elder Layton

It's What the Lord is Asking of Us

Wait. Curtis is 6th grade? I'm confused I thought he was in kindergarten still..

Okay, good morning. Elder Martelo my kid is doing great. (In Peru, trainers are called "fathers". There's a whole patriarchal thing going on with fathers, grandfathers and so on.) Actually he knows more than I do. He's almost 26! He looks young though, so nobody knows his secret haha, his birthday's this transfer so I'll give him a surprise birthday hopefully.

We had 4 baptisms and confirmations this week. Carmen, Brayan, and Angel Apaza, and Elva Barragan. Elva is in her 70's and the great grandma of Astrid, who we baptized a couple weeks back.

Just to tell you a little about the baptism it was hard to baptize a great grandmother. But she was the easiest of the four! Angel was first, but we know the promise of the Lord. The last shall be first and the first shall be last. Angel stood in the water for 20 minutes, then watched his brother and sister and Elva get baptized and still didn't want to go through with it. Hahaha. But, I told him that it was shameful that his brother and sister and an old lady would beat him, so he went through with it. He has a fear of water cause he almost drowned in a pool before I'm thankful he could get over his fear.

Today were going to watch The Pursuit of Happiness with Will Smith (not to be confused with "Man's Search for Happiness" - GRIN).

Elder Rojas, my old companion, is my Zone Leader now!!! It's awesome because we're best friends and I haven't seen him forever.

This transfer I was talking with my new companion. We put the goal to have 30 baptisms this transfer. You can call me crazy but I know we'll do it. It's what the Lord is asking of us. We started out on a good note...4. If we work harder than ever I think we can have 9 next week. For the whole mission, our goal is uno mas!! or one more!!! One more than yesterday, to work a little harder than last week. Please pray that we can complete our goals. More importantly pray for the people to keep commitments, and to come to church, and to get baptized.

We're extremely blessed in this area. We're working hard and being happy.

Love,

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

They're All My Family and Everything

VOY A IQUITOS!!!

Iquitos is located in the Northern part of Peru in the Amazon Basin. It is the largest city in the world (about 400,000 people) not accessible by roads. Access is limited by plane or boat. Three rivers, including the Amazon, surround the City.

Click Here for some great information on Iquitos or Here to learn more about the Amazon River.

Left - to give a bit of perspective, the Amazon River is well over 1 mile wide at this point. The Amazon is the largest river in the world in terms of flow, and with some controversy(according to Guinness Book of World Records), it is also the longest, even surpassing the Nile.

Iquitos, like Pucallpa, is subject to flooding during the rainy season. Many of the local homes are built on stilts.

Padres!!! Amigos!!!

VOY A IQUITOS!!! I'm excited obviously, but I'm kind've bummed at the same time to leave everything and everyone in Pucallpa. It's my favorite. It's time though, I've been here 4 and a half months.

This week's been the hardest and the best week I've ever had. We ended up marrying 6 couples. Leyder and Romi were baptized right after the wedding. We helped marry Leyder y Romi, Americo y Nilma, Isaac y Aurora, Eduardo y Stephanie, Cesar y Betty Luz, and Sarita y Jose. On Saturday we baptized Prisila y Antoni, the kids of Cesar y Betty. They actually have a family of 9 so the rest of their family will be baptized on 11th of April. It was actually really amazing to meet the goals of the mission. I know I can take what I learned here to Iquitos.

The changes are crazy. Elder Rojas is staying here in our area. I'm grateful for that because he knows everyone. I'm going to miss everyone here a ton. They're all my family and everything.

Elder Hyde is going to Iquitos, but a different Zone than me. Elder Stewart is going to Bolivia. And of course Elder Rich is staying here, holding down Pucallpa.

Everyone, the mission's the best!!!
CHAO,

Elder Layton

(Thanks to Sr. Rich for forwarding us the pictures at the left. They were taken in Pucallpa and sent by her son, standing to the right of Sean in the both pictures, Elder Landon Rich.)

Fishers of Men

Sean and Briana (left) were conquering local fishing spots as soon as we moved to Oregon. Sean was seven years old. Now at twenty, he's still fishing both literally (see last post) and figuratively.

Locos! I never said pday was on Monday. We had to change that one day no mas when President came. haha. Well, I have a ton to tell you and barely any time.

I love the mission. I'm learning so much, and serving the people only gets easier. Everyday I feel more love for them.

Well, I want to tell you about Friday. On Friday Elder Rojas and I both prayed before we left the house to help our couples get married. Finally thanks to our great new Zone Leaders we have a wedding. For real. They were rejected by a couple municipalidades and some other places but we kept trusting in the Lord. Somehow they gave us the best deal ever.

Only DNI (that's like a drivers license) , a birth certificate, and sixty soles (Peruvian currency). If they don't have the birth certificate they can pay and additional 10 soles. THANK U!!! So it turns out we're marrying 4 couples, maybe 5. We are still trying to get all the paper work from the 5th. two of the couples are getting baptized the day after the marriage, and one of the couples are members. Eduardo, the member getting married is one of my best friends in the ward. He always takes us everywhere in his moto taxi.

Remember the funeral/ viewing we spoke at? Three of the non member couples are from there. Leder and Romi were investigators we've been teaching for a while. Isaac and Aurora were a surprise on Friday morning. They had all the papers and money ready for us, we had no clue they wanted to get married, and then they accepted a baptism date. Isaac was a man that basically bashed us in front of all the people in the funeral.....haha, well he announced that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost were one person. Somehow he had a change of heart and that was an easy obstacle to get over. I feel so blessed... Americo and Nilma, nonmembers, were also at the funeral. Americo's travelling right now but we're sure they will accept baptism as soon as he returns. The 5th couple we're still working on was a reference of Hermana Zulma. They are a family of 6 and we've been teaching the kids. We have baptismal permission from the parents but the kids decided they didn't want to get baptized unless they were baptized with their parents Cesar and Betty luz. Soo....now we have to marry them, and I think we can pull it off even though the deadline passed a while ago.

Last night I had the privilege to baptize Carlos and Antonino!!! Carlos is 19 and has the hugest desire to serve a mission. I'm pretty sure he has other motives, like the girl he loves is LDS...haha, but he's great. Accepted everything we taught him because he received an answer that the Book of Mormon is true. He's preparing to receive the Priesthood next week.
Other than that we have other various baptism dates for this month. Homero, Leah, and Christian. They're all young men and women with desires.

This really is the work of the Lord. These people were prepared not by us, but by the Lord.

Love,

Elder Layton

I'm Happier Than Ever

Dearest Familia,

This week was awesome. Yeah, I'm blessed to have a great companion and a bunch of investigadores de oro (golden investigators). Really there are so many people that are ready to hear the message of the Restored Gospel.

A local "taxi" in Pucallpa

The green jungle of the Amazon - this just outside of Pucallpa

Saturday and Sunday were kind of crazy. Two different people in our ward died, so Elder Rojas and I had a full weekend. Actually, one of the people that passed away was one of my investigators who had a baptism date and everything. It was a good thing though because he was suffering. We gave him several blessings last change and this change.

Last night and the night before at the viewings, there were tons of people and we had the opportunity to share the plan of salvation with them. It was crazy. We had to yell almost so everyone could hear. We sang too (Families can be eternas). There were tons of investigators there and in the church, so everyone that believed in what we taught we're going to visit. The plan of redemption is something amazing. It wasn't a very sad weekend, because we knew exactly what happened thanks to the plan our Heavenly Father has given us.

A Small Farm on the Banks of the Ucayali River

To correct my email a couple weeks ago thank you Angelique and Nana for the letter too, and also we're not marrying 9 people. 9 Families. Cool huh? I don't know exactly when now because it's been postponed.....dang.... but were waiting and teaching patiently. Plus it gives us a little more time to get all the paper work from everyone and make sure everythings perfect.

I love my mission more than anything..... I can't even describe it, but I'm happier than ever. I love you all.

Nos Vemos,

Elder Layton

It Was Great and a Very Spiritual Experience For Me

This week has been the best! I'm grateful for my new comp. He's Columbiano, se llama Elder Rojas, and he's great. He's an awesome missionary. Before the mission he had long hair and played in a metal band. He's a hard worker and teaches well too.

(Above - The City of Pucallpa from the air, a city of about 250,000)

So before I tell you about all my investigators I'll talk about the Peru experience yeah? Well, I ate another fish which is HUGE called Doncella. Two dogs bit me this week... they just came out of nowhere. The river by Pucallpa is called the Ucayali. It's big. We have some investigators by the river so we'll be going back. We also went down there the other day and found some less active members we never knew existed. Haha, then we had an appointment with an hermana called Leyla but we couldn't get to her house. It took us forever to get into the area, climbing on whatever floats, but they haven't built bridges yet and the water's not deep enough for canoes. I don´t know if we'll be able to go in the canoes but there's always the puentes.

(The Ucayali River at Pucallpa)

One thing that I've found out that's key for the mission is that you have to love the people, yeah. But you have to take that love and turn it into diligence. It talks about diligence all over the Book of Mormon. I still haven't totally figured it out but I know I can work harder.

So my new Zone is cool. Elder Nathan Stewart is in my Zone. Ha. I was stoked for that. We were friends at BYU and he's from the Bolivia misison. My District leader's Elder Garnica, and it just so happens that his brother, Elder Garnica, is in our district. Haha, weird huh?

When Elder Stewart came he brought my letters from Lima, bless his soul. I want to thank the following: Mis Padres, Grandpadres, the Rau's, Elder Rau, and the Greene girls for great letters!!! Everyone else, I would love to hear from you. Oh and yes i got Bryan´s letter, I still haven't written back. I'll work on that today...

Okay I had the oportunity to baptize Cesar Jr. on Saturday and be part of the confirmation yesterday . He's a great kid, and he want to become a missionary just like me. When we were changing on Saturday I told him a lot of the same stuff Dad told me when I was about to be baptized. It was great and a very spiritual experience for me. His parents want to be married now for sure so we're going to get 'em married and baptized. One big Mormon family.

Also we have the best families. Gonzalo y Luz are getting married. Luz was a little discouraged yesterday because they don't have enough to be able to get married. We explained that they needed to pray with all their faith, and do everything possible. Of course they will. They always pray and always read their scriptures. We talked to Bishop and the ward is going to have an activity to raise some funds for them this week, so they can get married, and get wet on the 24th. We're hoping and praying everything can work out. Please pray for the investigators that need marriages here. It's a huge sacrifice for them, and prayers do make a difference. (Mosiah 27!!!)

I love all of you.

Elder Layton

We Can Choose Who We Want To Be

Man, this week has been busy. I was just thinking about everything that's happened in my mission so far and I can't really believe I have 6 months out already. We found out our changes Saturday night. I'm staying here!!! I was definitely elated, if you could call it that, to hear that I wasn't going to move somewhere else like I've been doing every other change. This area is getting better, mejorando.

We have 4 baptism dates set for January and I'm sure we can manage to get more. My new companion's name is Elder Rojas. There are a lot of Elder Rojas but I've met this one in Lima one time.... no more than a handshake but I know who he is. He's from Columbia, and I'm going to work his little tush off. Elder Paz leaves tomorrow, Tuesday, and Elder Rojas comes tomorrow too. So I´ll just be waiting.

Yeah... I've eaten lots of pretty cool stuff. Mostly fish. The turtle an hermana promised us never happened so I was kind've bummed about that. We ate part of a huge fish called Paiche. I didn't have my camera but it was good. We also ate Yahuarachi. I have pictures of that I'll send you in the future. When we ate it, it still had everything there. The eyes, the head, the tail. You'll see. Yeah.... what else.... My favorite fruit of all time is called copoazu. Barely any of the people here even know about it. I ask everyone where I can find it... Nobody knows except one hermana. Mmmmmmm...

We're baptizing a 10 year old boy this Saturday named Cesar. We're trying to get his parents to get married but so far they say no. No, just means we haven't tried hard enough. Haha, no, they're great and they'll be baptized in the future just watch. Also, we have a golden family, familia de oro, that we're baptizing on the 24th. His name is Gonzalo and her name is Luz. They're going to have a baby any day now, she's past her due date, but they've come to church the past two weeks. They're not married, but we're teaching them and committed them to be married the morning of January 24th and to be baptized that night. Marriages are always a pain cause we have to get tons of paperwork, but it's worth it. They are awesome! We have a appointment with them this Wednesday...if Hermana Luz isn't in the hospital that is.

Other than that we have two really great girls, Daisy y Cecilia, ready to get baptized but are scared of their parents. We gave them the permission slips so we'll see what happens. I really want to talk with the parents but they're never at home. Luckily they get a lot of help from a young man in the ward....who happens to be their cousin. I told you about Juan Carlos yeah? Yeah he's great. The assistant to the president right now, Elder Herschi, baptized him. Elder Herschi's basically my model missionary. He´s an example to all of us, and when he came with me and my companion to teach a couple weeks ago I learned a ton!

2 Nefi 2:27-29 – We can choose who we want to be and who we follow. Always choose the right. The Church has all the truth we need in this life. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and The Book of Mormon was written by prophets other than Joseph Smith. Thomas S. Monson is our living prophet, along with his counselors and the twelve apostles. I know Christ lives.

I love you all, and for the C5 specifically always remember: We live together, we die together, bad boys for life. Tienen un buen dia!

Elder Layton