Elder Crump

FAMILY  AND FRIENDS!!

How are all of you?  I hope you are doing great!!  So this week has been amazing, along with every week out here, but this week rocked!!  So Its all started out amazing when i recieved the best packages in the world!!  Thank you mom, i got everything in the big white one like you said!!  Seriously just the other day i was saying how much i missed peanut butter, and beef jerky!!  And little did i know that my mother was inspired!!  Thank you i loved all of it!!  Especially the calender! That is so cool!!  I love it, and the book!!  You really are so amazing thank you soo much!  So this week has been awesome!  We recieved a bunch of packets from the mission to give to are recent converts.  I cannot tell you what an amazing expirence that was!  There is something about it when you recive your vary own set of scriptures!  Every single person we gave a packet to was so happy, and the spirit was so strong!  They are all doing so good!  The Gozmen family is doing incredible!  They are all coming to church, dressed in church clothes, and are all showered up and clean!  Hermano Royelio recived the Aaronic Priesthood on sunday, and i was such an amazing thing to see!  There family is active in the church, and now he holds the priesthood keys!  I couldnt of asked for anything better!!  So We went to visit hermana Isabel, and when we went is we had originally planned to teach her about eternal marriage, but right away she told us that one of the Johovahs witnesses came up to her, and gave her one of their bibles!!  At first we were like shoot, oh no, but the spirit was there.  She said she didnt have one of our books so she wanted one of theres!  The reason why we havent given her a B of M is because she cant read!  So i pulled out a libro, and said here lets trade!  Haha she was so happy!  So now she is going to read it with her daughter who can read!  Haha so now we have a Jehovahs witness bible!  haha its so crazy, apostasia!  Haha also she is getting married on Feb. 18 , and We commited her to baptism for Feb. 26!!  Im so excited!! 

So the other day we went to the family palomino, they are the family that live on top of the mountain, and have a bunch of crazy kids!  So they are recent converts, and we orginally went to go teach their 21 year old son, miguel but he wasnt there!!  Ugh so we started to give a little message to the fam, and then he walked in!!  We were so happy!!  So we went right into the restoration, but the problem was the kids were being so crazy, that the spirit wasnt there, so it was difficult!  So i said a prayer to please allow the spirit to be there, and suddenly all the kids ran out of the house and started playing outside!  So we shut the door, and the spirit flowed in! haha its amazing what a simple prayer can do!  So the lesson went awesome, and we asked him and he really wants to follow Jesus Christ, so he is getting baptized!!  Im so excited!!  We dont have a date, yet because he couldnt come to church because he works, but its ok we will work with him!

So I went on another exchange the other day, this time with The Zone Leader, Elder Purvis!  He is white, and from American Fork Utah!!

It was so much fun!  He is such a stud!  The two gringos together at last!!  It was really so fun!  So many people came up to us, haha we didnt have to knock on hardly any doors, the people contacted themselves!!  It really was a great expirence to go with him!  I learned a lot, and i actually felt really comfortable in teaching, and we taught in unity which was awesome!!!

So I learned how to cook!  One of the ladies in the ward, was running late on making our lunch so we decided to help her!  Haha i offically know what it takes to be a peruvian!  Haha it was fun!  The food is good here! Tons of rice with chicken, pork, steak, fish, lots of potatoes.  Soups of all kinds! Its really good!!  Im always so full!!

So funny story, so last night elder blas and i were really hungry, our lunch that day wasnt a lot of food, so by 6 o clock we were hungry again!  But we couldnt buy any food, because it was sunday, so we decided to go see Hermana Maria!! She is like our mission mother, she is always asking how im doing, feeding us, and making sure that we are always happy!  She reminds me so much of you mom, i love it!  She really is so sweet!!  So i actually was perfect, we went over there and her husband was home, and he is less active so we taught him a little lesson, which was so spiritual, and amazing!  Then she made us food!!  Haha she is the greatest!  She gave me her number, so that when im transferred, if i ever need anything i need to call her! She said: no matter where i am, nothing is impossible for Hermana Maria to do!  Haha

It really was such an amazing week! I love you all and i am so happy you all are doing good!!  Im glad to hear spencer went back!!  What happened?  Also i am so happy for Korban!!  He is such a stud, and is one of my best friends!  He is going to be an awesome missionary!!  I cant wait to hear from him!  Give him a big hug for me!  I love you guys so so much! Thank you for everything you all are amazing!!! 

I cant believe the 49ers lost!!  Ugh  Well im rooting for the anyone against the patriots!! haha

You all are amazing I love you so much!!

All my Love,

ELDER NICOLAS COLLINS CRUMP

P.S im sending a little package home, Look out for it im sending it today!!  I hope you like it!!

 

 

Elder Collins

Well this week i did a lot better with homesickness. its hard but i guess im just starting to realize hey im a missionary and thats way cool. my friends are all going to be missionarys and i have more support then i have ever had in my entire life. Im glad dad told me to read my partiarticle blessing because it helped me a lot and it had been awhile since i read it. it talks a lot about how Satan wants me to go home and i can definitly feel that. i told myself after i read it that if he is trying so hard to get me to go home then that means i really am meant to be here and do some work! So that is what I am going to do! So this week Elder Terry finally left and its been kind of wierd having only the two of us. I have been in a trio since the mtc so its definitly a lot different. i think that i like it more though. so some stories of this week. First on friday for lunch we ate at this really old ladys house who is an investigator and her son is a member and she made up cow intestine! it actually was my second time eating it and the texture and flavor is chewy and gamey. but i just swallowed it in whole chuncks so that i would taste it to much. but about a half an hour later when me and elder araya ran to the bathroom because we have both had diarreah this week. i had just flushed and it hit me so hard i turned around and just started throwing up like crazy. About 10 later the same thing happended to araya so i guess that was some bad cow intestine. we both kept throwing up so we called it a night and just took turns the rest of the night using the bathroom! it was our pinsionistas birthday this week so we made her a card with a pic of us and a picture frame and i gave her some american candy like lifesavers. haha she put them in the fridge! haha. but she was way greatful. so we are teaching this awesome couple who have a son who is a member and he has been telling his parents this church is true forever. they are an older couple and super nice. so they visited church two sundays ago and after told the bishop they wanted to talk to us. so later that night he just told us he could tell us the church is true just by attending and praying and he asked when they can be baptized!! we were like wow what the? haha slow down we gotta teach ya first. we have taught them twice now and the second time i freaking owned the lesson. my spanish wasnt great but i was able to answer every single question. i was so happy! there the garcia familia! So the last couple of days Araya is freaking trunky! Its so hard for me to get him to wake up or leave his guitar but once we get out he works way hard, but i still love him. ha ha the missionary who delivers my packages every monday says he wishes my mom sent him something. ha ha so you should slip candy or something in my next package with a note to be funny! Well thank you so much for all the packages and all your love and support I can really feel it!!!! Love you so much and have a great week! Reg

Elder Collins

Hey, So this week was kind of hard. I have been feeling really homesick and just missing you guys. A big part of it i think is i have regrets about how i was at home..Mom i regret so much the kind of brother i was to myles and max. i just feel like i wasnt there for them and that i wasnt cool and nice to them. I feel like i didnt spend enough time with you guys and was always with my friends. im so worried that they are going to change so much and i wont be able to make it up to them and hang out with them but im doing better now.im trying so hard to control my thoughts and just have positive ones! by saturday i was feeling a little better but its just so hard in the mornings when i wake up thinking im home then im not. Try not to change at all! or just the tiniest bit because you know i dont like change very much! ya i got your byu shirts and cookies last week and i got like 2 from you this week! i havent opened them yet but it sort of feels like peanut butter! haha :) i got one from debby too. did you tell everyone about mailing stuff now? not to use the one part of the mailing address?
So we tried to go to the temple. We got on the bus paid and everything and i realized i didnt have my freaking temple recommend. so we jumped off and the rest of the zone would just wait for us there! so we paid for a bus to go back to our place and get my recommend. Took three more buses to central Lima and we get to the gates of the temple and my recommend isnt in my pocket anymore! are you freaking kidding me!!!! i have no idea where it went. it was my comps last time going to the temple with this zone and he couldnt so i felt bad and bought him lunch. I am kind of ashamed of this week i feel like we did not accomplish nearly as much stuff as i wanted to! My comp is kind of getting lazier but im trying to be elder calhoon! i baptized rubi gutierrez this last saturday and it was a way cool expirience! also i got bit by a dog but it didnt break the skin so im all good! i hate every single dog in this country, there all from satan. But im glad its P day and were going to go buy some stuff maybe i can buy an x box or something! haha jokes. Love You all so much!!!! Thanks for everything! Reg

Elder Crump

HEY!  How is everyone doing?  Its so crazy I cannot believe i have already been out a month in the field!!  Seriously time is flying by!  I am loving this place! Every day is a new adventure!!  Im jealous you guys went up to wolf creek!  I dont think i have ever been, but it sounds fun!  Oh i am jealous though of the skiing!  And the snow!!  haha its sounds like you guys had a good time, good im glad, just dont have too much fun without me!:)  Haha so everything is going so good here!  So more to the story about Bob Duffy!!  So i was in my 2nd lesson with him, and we were talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we were reading in the Book of Mormon together.  He was loving everything that i was saying!  The spirit was so strong!  And then we got to the verse in 2 Nephi 31 about baptizm, and i was about to pop the question, but then he asked me how many times have I been baptized?  I told him once when i was 8, and he said well i have been baptized 2 twice.  Once when i was little in the catholic church, and other into your church!!  I was like what!!  He is already been baptized, and is a member!!  But here is the tricky part, the first missionaries that contacted him taught him one lesson, and asked him to be baptized, and that was it!!  They didnt teach him anything else!!  He honestly knew nothing about the church he was a member of!  I couldnt believe it!!  The missionaries only wanted to add another baptism to their numbers!  I was so happy i was able to talk with him, and to be able to help him understand, and learn more!  It makes me sad to know that there is missionaries like that out here, but i know as long as im not one of them ill be good!!  So it was really good, i was to meet with him 3 times, and i got all of his information, and i set up a reference for the missionaries in New Jersey to teach him more, and get him and his wife to know the ward in their area!  It still was such an amazing expirence, and i will never forget my 3 lessons in english!! 

So the language is coming!!  I feel so much more comfortable talking now!!  Im mean i still am not that good, but im able to teach all the lessons, so thats good!!  The hard part for me is understanding what they are saying back to me.  When they talk really fast, i have no idea what they are saying but when they slow it down, its a lot easier!  Just a little bit each day!!  So the other day we went on exchanges, where i went to another area for a day and slept over with another missionary in my district!  It was awesome because he is one of my favorites!!  Its Elder Rivera from equador!  He speaks pretty good english!!  Guess how he learned...By watching FRIENDS!!!  He is my dream companion!!  haha  that sounds weird but he is an awesome guy!!  So it was fun being in a new area!  I was a little bit frustrated at first, because he was like you are doing all the talking!  Ill follow you!  So when we went to give a lesson, he wouldnt talk!!  So i had to begin, it was difficult at first, but as the day went on it was so good!!  I felt so much more comfortable talking!!  Heavenly Father definatley was helping me out there!

So Guess what Elder Blas is being transfered to the Jungle!!  I was like what!  Your my trainer! He said dont worry you´ll get another, but you need to be the one to know the area, the investigators, and all the members....WHAT?  I have only been here a month!  I was a little bit stressed out, but then i remembered what dad said, how whatever my mission president says or does, its direction from the Lord.  So that was helpful!  But then i found out just today, that not only is Elder Blas getting transfered, but me as well!!  I guess some missionaries were sent home and they need to do a change!!!  Were leaving on Feb. 7  I have no idea where, hopefully they will tell us soon!!  But im excited, it could be the jungle!! 

So This past sunday was the greatest!!  We had 3 investigators come to church, Hermana Erika, Hermana Palacid, and Hermana Isabelle!  I was honestly so shock to see them!! Also The Cayan family came to church!!!  Everyone one except the mom!!  Frustrating, but hey its a start!  Also i got to teach the mission prep, recent converts, investigators class in sunday school!  I had to do it all by myself!  Elder Blas said it was my turn!!  So i taught about the importance of the restuaration, and it actually went really well!  Heavenly Father is seriously blessing me here!

So other day i got one of the packages that you sent, it was a little one with cookies, and propel packets.  And today i just got a big white one, and another small one!!  Haha Finally!!  Yeah its true about the package thing, that reg said.  I guess when you dont put that its sends it directly to the mission home!!

Oh yeah also i forgot to tell you i am teaching an English class now on wednesday nights!!  Its for all ages, and for members, and investigators!!  Everyone is really excited for it!  Its cool because we have been telling people about it, and its helping the investigators become interested!!

We have about 8 progressing family investigators right now, and it makes me sad that we wont be here to get them baptized, but as long as they get baptized and live the gospel of Jesus Christ thats all that matters!!!

Thats awesome about stacy!! And Mitch!  What is it with all these double missions!! haha  Tell korb i love him, and good luck in his farewell!  I cant wait to get a letter from him!!  Also if you see mr Alex olsen tell him to get his butt in gear and write me back!! Its been three months!!  haha

Hopefully next week i will be able to send you pictures!!  I have so many!!!

So how is everything at home!!  So the patriots are in the superbowl, now that stinks, but i bet shay is happy!!  Im so happy you guys are enjoying yourselves!  Congrats on your new calling mom!!  haha i love it!  I love you guys so much and i am so grateful for all of you!!  Stay safe, and know that all of you are in my prayers.  Thank you for all the letters, and packages!! They really are amazing and they mean so much!!

All my Love,

ELDER NICOLAS COLLINS CRUMP

Elder Collins

Here are some pictures Reg sent me this week. I got to chat with him online back and forth because we happened to be online at the same time(not sure how that happened  ha ha )Reg had a babtism this week and is going to have one on Sat. They are still working with the Guiterezz family . The son Luiz is still having problems with drinking, but  they were able to talk to the Dad of the Guiterezz family about getting married and he said that went well. They are teaching a father and son right now and the Son asked Reggie if he would baptize him because he thinks Reggie is cool! (I agree)  Reggie said his companion is very Trunky, he only has two and a half months left , and that is making Reggie crazy and a little homesick himself.  Reggie said his actual p-day this week is on Thurs. because they get to go to the
Temple, they only got e-mail  time this morning because his comp. is a zone leader and he had business stuff to do. I asked him if we would get another e-mail on Thurs.  He said he did not know. (I will cross my fingers! ) He said to tell everyone he loves them and misses them a ton!

 

Elder Crump

Familia y Amigos

 

How are you all!! Sorry about the confusion about last week, ill try to find out next time!  Haha i told my comp that mom would have a little freak out when she didnt get an email till thurdsay!!  Sorry mom i hope you were ok!! Oh dont worry about the water i didnt have any open sores and it wasnt too bad!  Haha there is no way the lord would let me get sick, by cleaning out a baptism font!!  haha so i have so many pictures i want to send to you!  But i dont have a cord!  Did you say that you sent one to me to put my memory card in?  If not i need one!  So i havent recieved any packages yet...or the christmas card or the card from grandma.  I dont know what happened, you might have to send them again?  They say sometimes things just get lost in the mail, but who knows it just might take a long time. But i let you know if any come!:)  So this week has been good!  Its only been like 4 days since i last emailed, but it was awesome!  So along with investigators, we have been visiting less active members.  One of my favorite families is the Cayan Family.  The Dad is the only one who is active, and The mom, (Norma) and the 7 daughters (7 daughters! Can you believe that ugh i have a headache just thinking about it!! haha)  anyway they are less active.  So the first time we met with them i only said a couple words.  It was the 2nd day in the field, and i was nervous!  Haha so anyway ever since then they alway tease me about how i never talk, i just smile, and nod!! haha so anyway we have been visiting them a lot, and they are so awesome!  The youngest daughter is 4 and she is so funny she kept bringing out her toys everytime we come, and is always wanting me to play with her!  And your gonna die when you hear this...her name is sammy!  I am not joking!!  And the other day at dinner she said ¨Quiero Elder Cumb jugar con mi!¨  Haha all the way in peru i found another sammy!  haha i love it!!  But anyway we are having the whole family come to church with us next week so we´ll see how that goes!  So yeah everything is going good!  I feel more comfortable each day in spanish.  I still dont know a lot but i can understand a lot more, even the old ladies who have no teeth!!  I am loving the food here!!  I have gained 10 pounds!!  I know me gaining weight!! i love it!! They definatley keep us well fed here!  Im never hungry! haha 

So here is some questions i have for you guys!

Whats the situation with bradford?

Has korb got my letters if so tell to write me back!!

How is maegan K doing, and did she get my letter?

Oh yeah i already ripped my suit pants, dont worry im getting them fixed!!

Did dan collette finish the choice rings he was making for me? Will you ask him?

 

So anyway everything is going so good!  We have been visiting the Gozmen family a lot lately getting them ready for the temple!  They are so excited!  They are already saving money to make the trip!  This family literally has nothing they have daughters, and they live in a half card board, half flmsy wood house!  They are so amazing, and they work so hard everyday to keep food on the table!  He works all through the night, and she works half the day!  I am so happy you are doing this fundraiser! There really are so many missionaries here with nothing!  They come from families like this and even though they dont have much, they still srive to serve their lord, and serve a mission!  Its truly a humbling expirence to see their faith in the lord, and i am truly honored to have known them!  Any way last night we taught them about Family Home Evening!  They loved it!  We sang a hymn, had a prayer, we gave a lesson on patriaticle blessings, which i taught!! Then the best part we played games!  The little kids loved it, and it was so fun to share what we used to do when we were little!  Everything is going great, we have quite a few new investigators that we are comminting to baptism.  Pedro, Tomas, Marisa, and a couple more!  So pray for them, and their families that they will know the truth!!

I love you all so much im so happy to hear you are doing wonderful!!  Stay safe!

All my Love,

ELDER NICOLAS COLLINS CRUMP

Oops, my mistake

The last blog post I sent out was that Nick's Pday changed to Thursday from Monday, I was wrong!  Last week it switched to Thursday because they wanted to plan a trip to the temple so it was just for that week.  So Reggie and Nick's emails will be coming on Mondays like they always have been.  Sorry for the confusion. 

Also feel free to email them!  I know that letters can be time consuming, but it is so quick to write an email.  I am pretty sure they can email back, but I don't know how much time they have on the computer so you may not get an email back.  If you give your address in the email you send I am sure they will write you a letter in response.  It really means a lot to them to get something, so please, please write!  Their address and emails are on the right side of the blog, just scroll down and you will see it.  Thanks everyone! 

Update

Nick's P-days got changed to Thursday and Reggie's are still on Monday so the blog will be updated on Monday for Reg and Thursday for Nick.

Elder Crump

HOLA FAMILIA AND FRIENDS!!!

How are you all!'?  I hope you are having the best day!  So crazy stuff happened this past week!!  WE HAD 4 BAPTISMS!!!!  It was so awesome!  SInce the day i got out in the field, we started teaching The Gozmen Family.  They have 4 daughters, and a mom and a dad!  So right away we commited them to baptism and they were way excited, and they started preparing!  So they had there interviews, and they all passed!  Its only the dad, Royelio, and two of his daughters that are getting baptized.  His other two are really young, and his wife is already a member, but very inactive!  So after they got interviewed, the zone leader told me that Hermano Royelio wants me to baptize him!  I was like What! Me!  He said yeah he really wanted you to baptize him!  I was so happy, because he has always been so nice to me, and really patient with my spanish!  Haha he always laughed at me when i first talked to him!  Haha my spanish was terrible when i first got here!  But anyway i was so excited!  Oh yeah the other baptism is Josue, the 9 year old from another family!  He is a little punk, but he is an awesome kid!  He was so excited to get baptized! So the day of the baptism, we had to go to the chapel and get everything ready.  We need to clean the font, and fill it up!  So when we get there we open the doors, and the font is filled with dirty water with bugs and nasty stuff in it!  So i was expecting to you know pull the plug to drain the water, or press a button or something, but then i saw that there was no drain!!  So because i had the longest legs i had to jump into the font to open the door, and because i was already wet( funny how that worked out) i had to get back into the water and fill up buckets and hand them to others while they take them to the shower drain!  It took forever, and i was so dirty, and wet!! But its for the baptizms!!!  So after that we cleaned it, and then filled it up.  (You know how that is dad)  It took forever!  We spent like a total of 4 hours doing all this! So then we had the baptism.  It was awesome, we were both so nervous, but everything went perfect!  I said his name correctly, and the baptism prayer!  The water was so freezing, but we didnt care the spirit was so strong. And when he came out of the water he had the biggest smile on his face, and he gave me a big hug, and said gracias Elder Crump, Gracias!  It was the most incredible expirence i have ever had!! 

So about my comp! His name is elder blas, and he is from Trujio Peru!  He has been out for a year now, and he is such a funny guy!!  He has been helping me so much with my spanish, and i have been helping him with his english!!!  He has made this place so fun, and he knows the area really well, he has been here for 7 months just in independencia!!! I love that you guys are doing that fundraiser!  There really are so many missionaries, who really have nothing!  Being here, and seeing how people live has been such a humbling expirence.  Many people have nothing, but it doesnt stop them from happy!  The people and the members here are so friendly!!  Every day we go to a different members house for Lunch!!!  They make us so much food, and its really all they have.  Its so sad, but they love helping the missionaries!!! I love it here!  It is such an amzing place filled with wonderful people!!!  I cannot tell you how much heavenly father has blessed me on this mission!  Oh yeah I met with bob again and it went great!!!  He headed back to the states today so i sent a refferal for other missionaries to find him in new jersey!!!  I tell you more next week!!!  I love you guys so much i am so grateful for all of you!! you are always in my prayers!!!  Stay safe i love you all!!!

All my Love,

ELDER NICOLAS COLLINS CRUMP

Elder Collins

FAMILY!

First of all i would like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to SJ! im sorry i meant to send it in the last email so it wasnt late but i guess i just forgot! i hope you had a great birthday. when are you getting baptized?! well this week was a lot of walking and teaching! we have like 6-7 families that we are teaching right now and some of them are so close to baptism but just need the parents to freaking get married!! well last week we sent our clothes to the laundry to get cleaned and when we got them back i was missing my new strippling warriors shirt, two church shirts and two pairs of shorts! are you kidding me! freak. we ended up not going to chilis you could i was kind of sad..there might have been a few tears shed and i felt like i had just broken up with the love of my life and that i was told i would never walk again...kind of like that haha! i got the chase calander. i love looking at pictures. it is so hot here right now and wearing church clothes makes 10times hotter. im have a constant sweat going on and im so worried that im dropping pounds like crazy! when i showed our family picture to the Gutierrez family they said i look a lot skinnier now. crap. ive been pounding that rice but it doesnt do much. so i guess i got to rely on my peanut butter stash! ya im still in a trio. this is probably the last week tho but who knows. E. Araya is a little trunky right now and im not going to lie its making me a little trunky! i honestly cant wait for time to start to fly like dad said.  hmm ya i was wondering about that blog. hopefully you edit out my personal stuff! Well i had the most stressful and crazy day so far yesterday. So right as i finish my morning prayer our pinsenista knocked on our door saying there was a boy yelling for us outside. me and E. Araya ran down stairs and it was Luis Gutierrez (he´s 17) drunk. As soon as he saw us he started bawling and just came over and started hugging us. He was saying he hates his mom and he ran out last night and had been out all night doing who knows what! Well we told him the best thing for him to do is go home and talk to his mom. he didnt want to but he did. So we went to church and i just kept getting a feeling we needed to go check on them right then instead of at 4 like we planned. just then E. araya got a call from the mom and he couldnt understand her but she sounded upset so elder terry stayed with the ward mission leader and we ran up those steep steps as fast as we could. ( keep in mind we had been fasting and it was almost our 24 hour mark so i felt like i was going to pass out!) anywho when we got there Luis was trying to run away again and his mom was trying to get him to stay. So me and Araya walked him back inside sent to family upstairs and talked with him. He didnt want to listen but we talked anyway. we said a prayer with him and he was still a little drunk and had been out all night so we finally convinced him to take a nap. once we knew he was really asleep we went upstairs and just talked with the mom! haha a 19 year old kid giving parenting advice. i just told her to love him no matter what and to let him know that. we said another prayer and we returned later at 4. Luis was sober and his girlfriend was there. Araya did a great job about teaching them how to do 3 compliments before 1 negative comment. Luis said he didnt think it was possible for him to change but that he wanted to. We said thats all you need is that want to change and you just need to take action. i just told him he has to start praying so we had him say a prayer. they were sitting at the oppisite ends of the couch and i just told them that i want to see some i love yous and a hug! they did and the mom just started to cry and they both were saying sorry and that they love eachother! i was like heck ya!! i told them that my dad always talks to me after we have a big arguement and its always better after and thats what they need to do. so ya there baptism isnt until 2 sundays. and the mom is really working on asking the husband to get married so that they can. and there daughter Rubi came up to me and asked if i would be the one to baptize her! well im sorry this is so long but im sure you guys dont mind especially mom! we email every monday at 10 so its 8 there so if your online one day that could be cool. right now since im the zone leaders comp i get extra time! i love you guys so much! im sending a package so be ready for it. love you so much and thanks for all that you do for me constantly! oh and where is my sister? i didnt talk to her on the phone and i think i have only gotten one christmas letter from her. love you so much and family and pray for you constantly! reg

Elder Collins

Family!
    Wow what a week! I was so happy to be able to call you guys! the only problem is i keep thinking i get to call home every week! Ah the classic last minute party at our house..nice. I knew i would happen as soon as i leave everyone gets all i phoned and i paded up!! thats ok because i like my sweet rock that i pretend is my cell phone anyway. You guys have no idea how crazy New Years is here!!! I have never seen so much fireworks in my entire life put together. its looked like iraq here and i was almost riotish. People took there old furniture out in the streets and just set them on fire! and im pretty sure one family set there house on fire. it was super hard to sleep because they make homeade bombs and set them off every 20 min so we stayed up and watched the fireworks it was insane! we had to stay in after like 6 because people get crazy drunk. the next morning there were people passed out on the sidewalk while we were walking to church haha classic. Well so far i like the field a lot more than the mtc! Its just not as depressing i think. Well you heard about those three kids we were going to baptize this sunday, well we might have to push it back a week because the oldest son might have had a few on new years eve. So this might sound cheesy but i think its the coolest thing that has happened to me so far. so we were proslighting and we were just walking up these giant stairs and we were passed a house and i got a feeling that we needed to knock that door. i remember reading your first instinct is the spirit so you need to follow it. so i said lets go back to that house. Long story short. the wifes parents are members living in cali and they were super nice and had a lot of questions that we answered and they are going to be baptized. its a couple with one 10 year old daughter. We dont have a date yet because they arent married ( of course!) but we are going to teach them again tonight so i hope all goes well, im excited to see if they want to. haha its kind of one of those typical missionary stories but i loved it. On sunday we got the Gutierrez family (the family with the 3 kids were going to baptize) to come to church but the awkward part was we told them it was at 8 and they changed the time to 11. You would think they would tell the missionaries that! but they came back later. Today is Pday! we are totally taking a bus and getting all the missionaries together and going to Chilies! im so excited! no rice today! I got a medium sized package i dont think its the peanut butter yet but im excited to open it! i feel like mail here is super delayed! we get a little more email time so thats good and we go to a place were a guy just rents out his computers. they switched my medication so i hope it still does the same thing.. Its so hot here! i am constantly sweating! tell shay and brendon congrats. I love you all so much and hope that you are doing great. Have a great week be safe and have fun. thanks for all that you always do for me and send me..means the world.

Elder Crump

Wow its has finally come!  I am actually out in the field! No more fake investigators, or long boring hours in a classroom!  Its real this time an i am so excited!!  The area that I am in is called independencia!  Its totally in the Ghetto, but i honestly love it!  When i first got here i was freaking out a little bit, and i was really nervous! But once we got started knocking on doors, and beginning to teach the lessons all that fear, and anxiety went away!  I loved meeting, and talking to new people!  Its difficult because i feel like i know, no spanish but its ok everyday im improving!  So even though I was having fun, and feeling the spirit, I still was feeling a little homesick at times. I kept praying to Heavenly Father asking why here. Why peru.  On friday night i know heavenly father answered my prayers!  It was about 8 pm, and out 8 o´clock appointment got cancelled.  So we decide to go contacting for another hour!  We started down the street, and all of a sudden a woman came running up to us, and was like (In spanish of course) Elders, elders do any of you speak english, my uncle is american and he wants to talk to you guys!  So with a big grin on my face, i say i do!  So we walk into their house and we find out that her uncles name is Bob Duffy from New Jersey, and his wife is peruvian, and they were just visiting her family because her father had died.  He said that he has met with the missionaries before and loved what they taught him, and he wanted to know more, but for the some reason the missionaries werent very helpful, and all of a sudden just stopped coming to see him!  So ever since he has been wanting more missionaries to come, but none has.  How perfect is this!!  So i at this point am jumping for joy because not only have we found someone that actually want the lessons, but i get to teach them in ENGLISH!! haha it was so awesome!  I just dove right into it!  We began with a prayer, then i started asking him questions about what he already knew, and if he had any questions about anything.  He started asking about joseph smith, and the athority, and stuff about why adam and eve had to sin. Get this so during personal study i decided to read more about joseph smiths life, and more about how the restoration came about!  I had no idea why i wanted to study it, but i just did! IT WAS PERFECT!  All his questions he asked me i honestly had just read about earlier that day!!!  It was so amazing!  So after that we went into the first discussion, and it was awesome!  It was funny because my two comps just sat there and smiled while i talked!  It felt so good! haha our placed had switched for once! Haha so after i bore my testimony about all that i had taught him, (i wanted to talk more about the book of mormon, but i only had spanish copies, but wait... for some reason this morning i put and english version in my bag for who knows what reason!  I had bought it in Provo and i forgot that i even had it!  So i introduced the book of mormon to him, and had him read the introduction, and moroni 10 3-5, and he loved it!  So i was able to bear testimony, about all that i had taught him, and how i know that this church is true, and he said he was so happy!  He said he had been wanting this for so long, and he had no idea that an english speaking missionary would be in Peru!  He said just from me being here this church has to be true!  IT was the coolest expirence of my life! We are meeting with him a couple more times before he heads home!  Wish me luck!
I know why i am supposed to be here!  Not just for Bob, but for all the people that have been praying to know the truth!  I am so excited for whats next!
So guess what else we already have 4 baptisms for this saturday! Actually 6 but i didnt teach the other two.  First is the Gozmen family.  They Whole family was taught, they have 4 little girls, but only one of them is over 8 so its just her and her parents!  They are so nice, and it was so cool that they are already gonna get baptized!  The other is a boy named Josuve (Ho-Sway)  He is 10 and is a little punk, but is funny!  Its so awesome!  I cant believe its happend so fast!! I will let you know how they go!
So new years eve is so crazy here!  All day people are going crazy!  It was so funny, and at night the party began!  We were in our rooms and all of a sudden the fireworks started going off!  Its was like 1130 at night and there was no way we could sleep!  So we went on the roof to see everything.  Imagine the best finale of a firework show you have seen... got it, now times that by like 1000! Every home had their own finale going on for like an hour!!  I felt like i was in a battle zone!!  It was the coolest thing every! Kind of scary though because fireworks were wizzing every direction, but its ok im alive!  The partying lasted all night!  Haha and in the morning i saw like 30 people passed out all over the city!  Haha  I honestly am loving it here!
Fun things to know-
They give us so much food here i think i have gained like 20 pounds!
I ate monkey butt!!  I had no idea until after!  But it was actually way good! haha
I still havent gotten the package, but i asked the zone leader and he says it just takes time!
We play soccer like 3 times a week in the mornings for our work out!  Its so fun!
We get to go bowling for our p day today so i am excited for that!
My apartment looks like a dungeon when you first walk in! haha
But the good news i havent gotten sick yet!!! (knock on wood)
Alright guys i love you all!  I miss you tell me more about what going on!  How are rinne and brady. Anything happen yet. Keep me updated!!
All my love,
ELDER NICOLAS COLLINS CRUMP