Week 70- More photos from Christmas

Hey guys,

It was a great 24th.  After we Skyped, we actually went to a lesson. We found a man who wants to listen to us. His name is Ofelio. He is really cool. We had a great day on the 24th.

On Christmas Day, well we actually could not leave the apartment. We went to do an activity we had planned with the ward to give out some Books of Mormon along with some treats to a few families. We were starting our activity when the zone leaders called and told us we needed to go home. Apparently some missionaries got robbed on the 24th. It was a little boring having to stay home. But we understood why when we were walking home, there was no one in the streets. There is a Fair going on here from the 25th till the 31th.

I'm really happy that you guys had a nice Christmas. That you were able to spend some time with Dallas and today with Iris. Sounds like fun watching movies in the theater room and all.

I was really happy that I got to talk with Darren and Mel and the kids. I didn't know you could do a conference call on Skype like that. That was the greatest thing ever. That made my day. You don't even understand how much that made my day. It made my week even.  Everyone is so big.  I love my cousins.

That is so awesome that you're able to see Jeffrey before he enters the Provo MTC. That is super great. He is going to love his mission. He will be a great missionary.  Devon is leaving in January on his mission. Awesome. Sam has her papers in. Wow, that is awesome. I didn't know she was planning on going. That is so cool, the work goes on.

Yes, I am getting along good with my companion. He's a hot mess but he is great.

This week is been a good one. Kind of starting again. Christmas time is hard, not too many people want to listen. We are finding a lot of families. We have contacted a lot and are going to be teaching a few. It's great to be able to teach whole families. A goal of mine is to baptize a complete family. So we will keep working at it.

I'm really happy. We had a great Christmas. We have a great district. The sisters are awesome. Hope you enjoyed the pictures I sent. The sisters say thank you for the candy you sent. They really did appreciate that.

Thanks for the pictures you sent of you and Jarrett eating at Cafe Rio.  Are you trying to make me jealous? I really miss Cafe Rio.

Thanks for the gifts and treats you sent.
Loved all of it.

Love you guys.
Elder Pead

Week 69 - Merry Christmas

We were able to Skype with Elder Pead on the 24th of December.  We love and miss him, yet we are full of gratitude for his service and the blessings that he receives while he is in Colombia. 

Skyping with the Family

Making Faces at his cousins he hasn't seen in 17 months

Excited for the surprise of Skyping with his Cousins

At the Multi Zone Christmas Activity

The District

Photobombed

Christmas Candy from the States

Week 68 Feeling Excited- Letter to Home Ward

Hey mom and dad,

We have been working hard this week. We have found some new investigators!

We have actually done a lot of Christmas caroling, it has been great. We have been going out with members for the caroling. A lot of them are beginning to not be so afraid of singing. It has been a great experience. I have loved it a lot.

My companion and I have been talking a lot about missionary work in December. It's the first Christmas in the mission for my companion. It is a little difficult in December to do missionary work. But if we put forth our best efforts to invite all to see that in reality a Savior was born to help each and every one of us, we are doing a great work. We will see the fruits of our labors.

This week we had splits with the zone leaders. They came to help us do a lot of contacting in our area. I went out with Elder Herrera. It was great talking with him. He has been one of my zone leaders for a long time. Even in my last areas. I have had a lot of conversations with him but have never able to go out and work with him. It was good.

I am so excited about Christmas. We don't have a lot of investigators at the moment. But we are sharing lots of messages and meeting lots of people.

In our apartment, my companion and I are speaking a lot of English. He has a lot of potential to learn and we are studying hard to help him with English.  Because all the English I feel like I need to double my efforts to study Spanish. Our study time has become very precious. I have been reading a lot about Elder Richard G Scott who passed away recently. He spoke perfect Spanish. I would like to become like that. He served his mission in Uruguay. I would like to be able to come close to what he did with the Spanish language.  It's a good goal to have.

Everything is fine here. It is kind of hot. Today we didn't do a lot for P Day. We have been really tired. Our district will be singing a Christmas Carol in English for a zone conference coming up next week. Boy have we been practicing hard.

Thank you guys for all your help and support.

I am so excited for Elder Jeffrey Seamons. That is so great that he will now be serving in Missouri. I'm also excited for Jessica leaving on her mission this week. She will do great.

I am so excited for this coming week. Don't know any details yet about calling you guys. I will let you know next Monday.

I love you guys have a great week.

Chao chao

Elder Pead

Letter sent to the Home Ward


Hey great 5th ward,

I wanted to write a small letter to you for Christmas. There is one thing I would love to ask you to do this Christmas.  Before I get to that I want to tell you about the difference a mission can make on a person.  The truth is a mission is a great experience. It is a great life changer. You really do change and feel better about many things. It is hard to explain sometimes. I can just say that I am really grateful that I've had this opportunity to serve a mission.

It's getting close to Christmas and I'd like to tell you this one thing. Everyone says we need to think more about Christ during this time. That is so true. I would like to talk about the study of the Scriptures.  When we study the Scriptures there is a difference in our lives. We feel less tempted and we become stronger. We feel better about ourselves and we learn more about the word of God. I feel so much better when I read the Scriptures. If we all continue to put forth our best effort, we can learn so much from these sacred words.  Things we really do need to learn and focus on. We can learn so much more about God and Jesus Christ.  So what I would ask you to do this holiday season is to make a goal to read the Scriptures.   Start even before the New Year's.  Start now, I can't lie, it will help you increase the way you feel closer to God. I know for a fact that I feel better in the sense that I feel something that brings a spiritual warmth. It also brings happiness, and that is what we need during this season. Read the Scriptures and learn from them. They really do give us the answers we need.


Thank you for all of your support. Please continue to help the missionaries there with you in our stake.  As well as helping the young men and young women prepare to serve missions because it really does change their lives.

Have a Merry Christmas and continue to feast upon the words of Christ.

Con amor

Elder Pead

Week 67 - Got Sick

Hey guys,

I read your letter, wow a BYU game and a Jazz game.  Sounds like you guys had fun this week. That's great that Jarrett had a fun time at the game.

Sela is going home this week?  Wow, just wow. (One of Dallin's friends is returning from her mission.)

I don't know what Eric did to end up in the mission office.(Dallin's friend serving in Ecuador) All he told me in an email was, it should be an adventure.

Nice pictures you sent of Jarrett, he makes me laugh.

Yes, I heard about the elections in Venezuela yesterday. That's good, that should be a good start.

Well this week, don't get too worried but, I was sick for like four days. Kind of like the flu or something like that I don't know. It was horrible and I was like yeah this isn't very good. We were all geared up to have a great week this week and then I got sick. The first day I got up and did some work. The second day I could not get up. The third day I could not work. The fourth day I was able to get out and work a little and then after that I was fine.  Yesterday was perfect, I wasn't sick at all. Now my companion is sick. Today he's feeling a little better.

This week we are pretty much starting new again. We are working hard and we'll see how it goes. We really don't have anyone to teach but we are looking for new investigators. Working a lot with members to get references. We will find some great people to teach. I know we will.

I made lots of food this week. Being at home I had more time to cook. I made chocolate chip waffles. I made orange juice. I made bacon and scrambled eggs. I made that for lunch for us yesterday. My companion really wanted to taste an American breakfast. It was good except for I forgot to take out the seeds in the orange juice, that was interesting.

Everything is awesome. We have been happy this week things are going OK.
That's pretty much it this week. We are just going to keep working hard this week.
Also will be sending a few pictures this week.

Your son,

Elder Pead

The District

         

The grand americano breakfast

He Likes!

Elder Pead gets emotional.

Saying goodbye to my dear grandpa Elder Perez

Week 66- A Bucket full of Sunshine

Hey mom and dad,

Everything is going good this week. Glad you guys had a happy Thanksgiving with everyone there. I actually had thanksgiving here as well. It was great.

We had two baptisms this week. Gladys and Clara. I am just super happy, they are so great. They are some of the strongest converts I have met. They are striving so much to become more like the Savior.  They love the book of Mormon and are getting a lot of fellowshipping from the ward.

I have a new companion this week. He actually came little bit earlier than normal. He came last week on Tuesday. His last area was Pasto.  My old area there. He knows my converts. Well not my converts but the spirits converts. I am so happy. He is great.  His name is Elder Requilme.  He is from Chile. My first Chilean companion.

We have done a lot this week. It has been a really good week. This week I think I have worked the hardest of my mission. I feel very good. I felt something different this week. I decided this week that I was going to work very hard. I wanted to share with you something special about this week. I have been trying to be very diligent this week. I have felt the spirit a lot this week. As I was taking the sacrament this week, I felt a joy and tranquility that came over me. The words came into my mind that said This Is Conversion.  I really do feel that I am being more converted unto this gospel. When we really do put our work ahead of us and do the things that God wants us to do you can see his hand in things.  I didn't know what was going to happen this week. With the surprise transfer of my companion, and with the baptismal service planed and you never know what might happen. There's always certain things that seem to come up every time. Things did happen and we had to work really hard.  The sisters turned around their area. We are turning our area around. We are doing better. I feel good and more at peace. I feel happy. I am a bucket full of sunshine!

This week with sister Mendez leaving, don't worry we sent her off in style, we were talking about the mission. I realized I have now 15 months in the mission. Hard to believe. She reminded us that the mission really never ends. As you go home you keep going, forever a missionary. I feel really good here, I know that I can continue on and do good. I am looking forward to doing the best I can. With these continued feelings of conversion towards the gospel, I know that I need to continue forward, you can never go back. This area is great, my district is awesome. This is been the hardest area of my mission. I know that I can continue to have success. I just have to continue to do my work. I feel like I'm giving it my all. I cannot tell you how much I feel that I have changed.  Today is the day.

Have a great week.

Elder Pead

Week 65

Hey guys,

So this week what can I say? We have two investigators with baptismal date!. Do you know how great that is? That is really great!  I love it! It feels good and also I feel relieved. We are really hyped about that. Hoping that everything goes good this week with them.

This week we have a good plan of how to get our area to progress more. I will be on the lookout for the packages you sent thanks.

This week we have Sister Mendez who will be going home, ending her mission.  We will be trying to help her get through the week and send her off in style.

Yes dad, I have been studying Spanish more this week and I know what you mean when you say we should always continue to study more.  It feels good to study more.  Thanks.

This is the last week of this transfer. My companion is kind of trunky to leave this area. We are still focusing on contacting all the time and meeting new people. We will see what happens come transfers.

Just trying to continue to see how we can help the area be better. Trying to come up with good ways to help the area and our district do better. We are going to be doing a district fast this week and we know that it will help us do good during this week.

I will be putting into practice your advice. Life is good if you make it so. So, make it so!
So,  I will make it so.  Super so.

Love you guys. Talk to you next week.

Elder Pead

the golden plates of elder pead

time for service

new keys to the house