May 23, 2011

Hello friends and family,

Well i just finished the craziest week of my mission.  Things just get crazier and crazier each week.  We have an emergency change in the zone this week.  My companion left and the companion of the other zone leader left and now we are companions and they combined our areas. They called us at 1030 at night and told my companion he had to leave first thing in the morning.  It was a little sad because i really liked my companion and i only had one week with him.  Its been a really hard week to try and combine the two areas and visit all of the investigators.  But that was the least of what happened this week.

The next day after having the change the assistants came on a surprise visit to our area.  That was all well and good but we had to take some time out of our day so taht they could do some errands.  We were in charge of organizing and setting everything up for a multizone conference on friday.  Then on Saturday we got lost in the middle of a giant farm trying to find the house of a member for lunch.  All in all we were walking for 3 hours.  In the middle of a farm field.  So that was interesting.  Lets just say that this week has been a little stressful for me.  But im doing relly well.  The area we are in is having a ton of success.  There is a family of four that should be baptized this coming saturday.  Im really excited for their baptism
because we have been working with them for a long time so that they could get to this point.  Today we have to move rooms.  Im going to live in a different house now.  So that should be fun.  

My new companion is Elder Bruns He is from New York.  He is a really good missionary.  I dont know why but i always seem to get american companions.  Its almost unheardof to have to americans together in the mission but its the second time for me.  But its all good we are working hard and having fun.  We had 10 investigators in the chapel this sunday which was awsome.  So im hoping that we have a lot of baptisms in the weeks and months that come here.  Ive said this from the beginning but i really like my area here.  Its a great area and has a ton of potential.  We just have to work.  This week has deffinitely been the most eventful and maybe the most difficult of my entire mission but i know when we have  the challenges we get the rewards.  Im hoping that today we will be able to rest and take it easy a little bit so that we can recharge the batteries a little bit. The weather here is starting to cool down quite a bit.  Im now wearing  a sweetter at night to keep warm.  We are in the desert so the temperature drops a lot at night.  But durring the day its normal. Everything is going good i have nothing to complain about jsut hope i can find an hour or two more durring the day to get some stuff done.

Love you all tons,

Elder Hesselgesser

May 16, 2011

Hello Family,

Well this week has actually gone pretty well.  All the stress was on monday and after that we could finally settle down and start to get to work.  We had a really successful week.  As an area thigns are going really well for us.  We have a baptismal date for a family on the 28th
and they came to church as a family on sunday and stayed all three hours.  It was awsome to finally get them all there.  We also started to teach a super old guy this week.  he is almost deff so the lessons are funny because we are shouting at him so he can here.  

There is a lot of great things happening here.  Its been a little stressful trying to help all of the new elders in the zone.  Two new areas opened up here so the Elders dont have any idea where anything is. But its all a part of the process.  I really really like my new companion.  His name is Elder Fuentes he is from the northern part of Lima so hes not too far from home here.  He is a really good missionary and is helping me out a lot.  The only bad part is that
this is his last change so he is headed home really soon.  But hopefully we will be able to do some work while he is here.  Nothing too crazy has happened this week i have just been working hard and very busy.  Sorry for the short letter but i dont have a ton of time. One of the snior couples in the zone bought a ping pong table so we are all going to go and play ping pong today haha welp thats it miss you all tons and see you all later.

Elder Hess

May 9, 2011

Hello Family

Well this week has been extremely eventful and just like every day in the mission a learning experience.  On Tuesday we had a meeting with the zone leaders and surprise surprise the assistants came without letting anybody know beforehand.  Apart from that one of them came with me for the day.  So i had a surprise visit from the assistants on Tuesday and he stayed with me until 11 in the morning on Wednsday.  He told me on Tuesday that i needed to go to a meeting for all the zone leaders in the mission the next day.  So the next day i got together with the zone leaders from here and we went to Lima together.  We got there at about 8 at night and had time to go out to dinner.  The mission office is in the richest part of Lima.  Everybody that has money lives in this part and if they have money they have a lot of money.  So all the restaurants in this area were super expensive.  We went to a mexican restaurant and payed a ton of money for a tiny bit of food.  The wierd part was there was more english speaking people in
the restaurant than spanish speaking.  It was really wierd.  Im not used to being around other people that speak english.  That night we stayed with the office elders in their house.  They have an entire floor of a skyscraper as their house.  So it was cool to be able to look down on the city from up high.  The next morning we left super early and went to the temple.  The temple was fantastic like always. I enjoyed it very much.  After that we had a zone leaders council. And for lunch we had pizza hut! that was awsome.  It was a really interesting experience and i learned a lot.  

On Saturday night the changes came and more than half the zone left.  In one of the areas president took out both of the elders and put in two new ones.  It was really crazy and im not exactly sure how its gonna work but we will make it work.  We have a lot of work cut out for us this change to get things going here.  Im hoping that we can get the work going here because its been dead for about 6 months now.  To complicate things more im not even companions with the other Zone leader.  Im not exactly sure how thats going to work but its going to be a little
difficult.  On saturday two of our investigators got married.  It was stressful trying to put their reception together but everything turned out really good.   And at least,  they are now married.  Well thats been my life this week hope everything is going well for you miss you
all and love you and happy mothers day!

May 2, 2011

Hello family.

Well this week was a really crazy and hectic week here.  I was to say the least sressed to the max with all the things that we had to do. We were after a lot of effort able to baptize a family of four.  we have been working with them really hard for for about 4 weeks to help them be baptized of saturday.  We had to plan all their interviews and baptisms and confirmations and coordinate with the leaders of the branch so that everything went according to plan.  To say the least it was stressful.  But it was great to see all of them as a family be baptized together on saturday night.  It was a pretty special baptismal service.

My birthday went pretty well.  I didnt really do anything to celebrate.  We were helping a couple of investigators get married that day so thats what we were doing all day was helping get a reception and everything ready for them.  At night we went to my pensionistas house and she had bought a cake for me and they sung me happy birthday.  After i blew the candles out they all smashed eggs and flower over my head.  Thats a tradition here in peru is if its your birthday they crush eggs over your head.  So after that pleasent experience I ate my cake and we went home for the night. Thursday we went up to Lima because my companion had a doctors appointment.  He also had an appointment with the optomotrist.  While we were there i had the guy look at my eyes and got myself a pair of glasses as well.

On sunday we were able to confirm the whole family that got baptized a family of four.  Then we gave babies blessings to the two babies in their family.  We also helped give a babys blessing to another baby in the ward whos dad isnt a member.  To say the least there was time for only two testimonies after all of that and one of them was the dad of the family we baptized.  It was something really special.  It was neat to finally help a family get to baptism together.

Thats all thats going on here miss and love you all

Elder Hesselgesser.

Pictures

1. Me and the sunset cañetano

2. The bride the groom all their children and the wedding cake

3. Me and the wedding cake

4. Me and the birthday cake.

5-6. Me covered in eggs and flower.  (My birthday present)

7. The family and us all dressed in our baptismal clothes 

April 25, 2011

Hello Everybody

Well this week was another good week.  Im actually exhausted to be honest.  We are rediculously busy i dont have an extra second to breath here.  I got the package that you sent me.  Im really escited to eat the cake i just dont know when im gonna eat it because this week is going to be super busy and im not going to have a spare second today.  

A couple that we have been teaching are getting married today and we are in charge of their reception.  So yeah you can imagine. But we should see how it goes. Anyways this coming saturday a family of four has a goal to be baptized and it looks like they are going to be able to be baptized on saturday.  Im really excited for that it will be the first full family i have been able to baptize in the mission.  So im really excited for that.  On thursday i had a really
crazy experience.  President Manning came down to do interviews with us.  And one of the investigators of another area in my district had talked with him months previously and wanted president manning to baptize him.  So he did it.  It was pretty neat.  President manning is a guy that just radiates the spirit of God in all places.  One of my old companions called him a portable temple because anbody thats with him always feels the spirit. So it was a neat baptismal service.

Yesterday i got bit by a dog.  Its the second time this dog has bitten me.  its the dog of my pensionista so i cant avoid it because i go to that house every day.  But may ill just kick it in the face or something to teach it a lesson.  I ate a couple of wierd things this week.  Duck and cow stomach.  Ducks good cow stomach is not.  We are working hard here and trying to get the investigators we are teaching to baptism.  

I dont have any crazy stories this week i spent two days in other areas doing interchanges with missionaries in my district so like i said im very busy.  Too busy to take time to think or to miss home or anything so i guess thats a good thing.  Welp thats all for this week.  Oh and thanks for the tape recording i loved it and ive already recorded all sorts of stuff to send you.  Ill probably send it out next week.  Miss you all tons and hope everything is going well up in the states.

Elder Hesselgesser

April 11, 2011

Friends and Family

I was thinking that tylers graduation was coming up soon.  Thats crazy he is now a college graduate! I bet that feels good.  Too bad its just the beginning for him but thats alright.  And im glad to hear that all the family is now at home minus me.  Should be a busy funfilled summer for all of you up there.  As far as the work goes i have no complaints.  Im in an area that is completely different than my first area.  There is a lot less people and a lot more area.  A lot less garbage and dogs in the streets and a lot less hills as well.  all in all i really like it.  It reminds me a lot of home actually.  Well minus the houses and the people.  The landscape reminds me a lot of home.  Theres lots of green fields surrounded by brown hills.  After being in Lima for so long i feel like im in paradise.  

The week has gone really well and we are starting to have a lot of success.  When i first got here there wasnt any investigators with a baptismal date but now we have 7!  And we should have more by the end of the next week. We are teaching a lot of families which is really neat.  Last PDay we went to a place called Incahuasi.  Its some aincient ruins not to far from cañete.  We got there and it was closed and nobody was in the offices.  So in order to see the ruins we crossed the streets and climbed up a hill.  Turns out the ruins were probably the ugliest part of the view from the top.  It was really cool.  Im going to upload some pictures of it.  

Last week i weighed myself.  And concequently I am now starting a diet.  For dinner im only eating fruit.  And the only real meal im eating is lunch.  Just a small breakfast and fruit

for dinner.  Its a little difficult but necessary.  Other than that theres not much new to say.  Im really really busy and enjoying the work right now.  My new companion is a nice change from the last one. He is really calm and go with the flow.  He is a good missionary and likes to work.  So we get along fine and have had a lot of success in these two weeks.  His name is Elder Perez and he is from a city in northern Peru called Iquitos.  Its in the middle of the jungle where they eat insects and aligators and stuff... so he always has some funny stories to share.  The only hard thing is that he for some reason has the goal to gain as much weight as possible on the mission.  Exactly the opposite as me.  So he is always eating.  And eating a
ton of food.  But im learning to resist.  Okay love you all tons until next week....

Elder Hesselgesser

Pictures:  

1.  Me in a Cactus
2. Me on top of the hill enjoying the first green thing ive seen in 7 months.
3. Me and two other missionaries Elder Ewing and Elder Peterson that i was with in the MTC we are in the same zone
4. Name tag
5. Me and my companion Elder Perez on top of the hill
6.  With my new pensionista eating fruit for dinner

April 4th 2011

Hello Family,

Well being in a new area has completely changed everything.  It couldnt be more different than where i was at in Lima.  I am in a small part called San Vicente in Cañete.  Cañete is what you might call a farming town.  Its surrounded by farms and many of the people that live here work in the farms.  And since there are farms that means that there is plant life and greenery.  Which is a new thing for me too because in Lima there was nothing green.  Nothing at all. Overall i would say it is a pretty area.  It actually reminds me alot of the lower valley.  Its got farms surrounded by hills.  Im still in the desert so it never rains, but there is a river that runs through the town so its got plant life.  The peruvian way of farming is very different than the us.  For example yesterday i saw a guy on top of a 10 foot tall pile of hay stacked on a cart being hauled by three donkeys driving down the street.  And thats not an unusual thing.  

We are pretty close to the ocean here even though i havent seen it yet. And my area is giant.  theres is the city and then tons of small neighborhoods of people to the south.  Some of these little neighborhood are a half hour or more away in a car.  So its deffinitely a change.  For the first time in 7 months i was able to see the stars last night.  It was really cool.  Theres a lot less pollution here and the air is really fresh.  My new companion is Elder Perez.  He is from the jungle.  He is a good guy we are getting along good.  The only thing that is a little hard is taking on the duties and responsibilities of being a district leader in an area that i dont know at all.  Its a little hard and it will get easier as i get more time here.  There are also two senior couples in my zone.  Which is really really unusual.  Im pretty sure we are the only zone in the world with two senior couples.  They are both from the United States so consequently i had American Cake for the first time in a very long time the other day.  It was amazing.  So that was cool.  none of the senior missionaries speak spanish so they are quite dependant on the missionaries to help them out with what they are doing.  

Today we are going to go see some ruins of some ancient civilization or something. IM not sure on the details but ill be sure to take pictures.  Im doing well and happy to be where im at right now.  I hope everything is going well for everyone at home.  The heat here is starting to go away little by little.  Im actually pretty cold at night.  But its still pretty hot durring the day.  We are now starting to reach what would be the fall months.  Not much new to report this week.

Elder Hesselgesser