Elder Collins

Hello family!

     Givem Chicken and Rice Mom! haha. Well this week was a pretty good week. We had two baptisms this week. Frank and Damaris. Damaris is a little girl who´s parents are members and her mom is the only active one who is 9 and wanted to be baptized. Frank is one of the friends of the other two teen guys we baptized last month. Its kind of funny because when we started teaching his friends he would tell them lies about us and the church and didnt want to listen to us. This past month he has seen his friends change and that they are happy so he just came to church one day, liked it and then asked us if we would talk to him too. He told us that one night his family was having problems and he went into his room to pray to ask if our message was true and said he just felt really calm after and was ready to be baptized. He is a really good kid and is adapting well and making friends in the ward. I heard that the poblete family has been having some problems so i asked the bishop to talk to them to see if they need help. They dont have a lot of money right now and there roof is falling apart and every time it rains water enters in. The ward is going to go over to his house Sat. to fix his house. When we visited them last night Jose poblete was worried that I thought he was just baptized to get help financially. We explained to him we didnt think that at all and that the ward will always be there to help and that he should always ask for help if he needs it.Well this week I really tried to focus on teaching people who God really is like you said Dad. Here everyone prays to him as if he were some imaginary being and as if he is a God of punishment or a God who can give them power like star wars or something. Even the members have problems "please don't abandon us my God" is what some of them say. Its so important that they just realize he´s our father. They get so scared going to hell and I always try to explain it like if your son did something really bad would you tell him to go burn in a firey pit forever and abandon him for the rest of his life? they usually say "well no he´s my son." Then I just explain that God would not either.One thing that is frustrating here is when I can see that somebody understands our message and I can see the spirit testify to them that its true and they simply wont change because they are catholic!!! I am sure you had that more than I do being in Italy Dad haha! No mom, there is not one house that I  always want to eat at because we eat the same in every house. haha. Last P day we went to the natural park. Like the zoo but in the jungle. Its cool the first time but this was my 3rd time and i dont want to go anymore. 3 trips to the zoo in 4 months is too much for me. And YES! finally we had people in the chapel. 8 actually with 3 families! It always makes the week better. Well thats about it. I think today we are going to play soccer. I love you all! love, Reg

Elder Crump

Ok so sorry yesterday, i didn't really have time to write. So yesterday was p day, and we had a plan to go to the temple.  But we weren't going to go until the afternoon, so i thought well i will have plenty of time...oops sorry i was wrong.  So what happened was i got a call from from one of the members from my old ward Tahuantinsuyo inviting us to their family sealing in the morning!  So what happened was there was a kid in Tahuantinsuyo named Jefferson, and he was never really active, and neither were his parents.  But we always dragged him with us to come teach, and he slowly became active.  Then he became a seminary teacher, and was just plain active and awesome!  So about 2 months before i got changed, he got his mission call to Areiquipa Peru ( Arie key puh)  That's for you mom, haha  anyway it was so awesome to see his change, and for him to decide to go on a mission!  So then i got changed to the jungle, and then i came back to the city like a week before he left!  Talk about perfect timing!  So i got to say goodbye to him, and he headed off to the CCM.  But the cool thing was his family started to get back into the church once he got his mission call.  So while he was in the CCM, he got permission to be able to go to the temple with his family to be sealed, and he asked if i could come!  It was so perfect, because My companion Elder Paucay used to be in my area before me and the family used to be his pensionista, so they wanted him to come too!  So we got permission from President Blunck to go early to the temple to go see their family get sealed!  If you think a baptism is great, just wait till you get to see a family get sealed for all time and eternity!  Wow, words cant describe it!  I know i didn't baptize the family, but I'm glad we were able to help them get back into church, and more importantly help his son get out on a mission.  It was so awesome! He just broke down and got emotional and just went off thanking me for all I did for him! Seriously, it was one of my favorite experiences!!

So after the temple session we still had to wait for all the office elders to come meet us, and then we had another session at 1 pm. So then we did a temple session with all the elders, which was awesome!  So while were were finishing, we find out that there was a young couple from Cusco who were there for their first time, and were getting married and sealed right after the session.  So we were about to leave, and then we find out that they were alone.  None of their family had come with them, they are the only members.  So we asked them if we could come in and watch their wedding, and they were both like YES!!! They were so happy! So we went in and got to watch a random family get married and then the best part was their little daughter came in and got sealed to them! Wow! Seriously such a spiritual day!  So i was in the temple from about 8 am to 6 pm!  It was the best day ever! But the best part is i had my phone turned off all day! It was so nice to have a break!  Because even on P day i still get calls, and i still end up working.

So that was my story, but how are you guys doing.  I hope great!  Kenzie, I can't believe that little girl hasn't come yet!! I can't wait to see her! 
So that is awesome that McCall's brother got his call!  Um, I don't think I will see him, because he is in the East Mission, but maybe! He is going to the part where its higher altitude.  But I have some friends in the East mission!  Spencer McGee just got home from there!

So mom, Yes i did get my last package!  Thank you so much, It was very much needed!  So mom, don't worry im not loosing weight, I'm eactly the same!  I gained weight in jungle, but here for some reason nothing is happening!  I am sitting down most of the day, so you would think i would gain weight, but NO!!  Anyway dont stress out mom!

So the mission is going through some big changes.  So everything I learned from Elder Wilson, is different.  We have to change all our codes, forms, and our paperwork for immigrations.  It's crazy here now, but its going to calm down soon.

So things are going great with Milton! He passed his interview and his date is all set!  I'm so excited!  We're going to to it this Sunday before church, because he has to work like all of Saturday!  But things are gonna get pretty slow in these next couple weeks in our teaching, because my companion went in to the hospital to have surgery today!  I guess he has been sick for a while, and he had to go get something removed...I don't know what that something is, but it was making him sick and it was hurting him.  I think its something personal, so I'm just gonna leave it at that. So I've got to be with him while he recovers, and I'll go on a couple companion exchanges with the assistants and the other secretaries.  Hopefully all goes well, and my comp will be able to recover and we can get back to normal!

So another story...sorry this might be a long letter... but anyway, so today we had the doctors come in today.  They can't speak Spanish, so I had to translate for them.  But really today was so crazy, because we had like 5 missionaries come in today to talk with them, as well as President had a bunch of interviews today.  it was so crazy here!

But anyway i have been getting way involved with the medical stuff, because i have to translate every Friday and now I'm in charge of the Sick missionaries in the Jungle.  

It's actually interesting, but sorry mom i don't think i want to be a doctor, but who knows....

Anyway family and friends i hope all is well with you guys! Sorry it took so long to respond! But i hope mom didn't stress out too much! haha

All my Love,

ELDER NICOLAS COLLINS CRUMP

Elder Crump

Family Friends,

I'm sorry first off you need to forgive me!  Today was P day, and i was planning on writing, but some things came up....BUT hey don't worry all was good!  Boy do I have a lot to tell you!  I'm going to write more tomorrow!!  Don't worry!  TRUST ME YOUR GONNA LOVE IT!

I love you guys!

All my Love,

ELDER NICOLAS COLLINS CRUMP

Elder Collins

Family!!

Wow sports stats...max really slacked off this year. 

 Well its kind of funny because the other day someone started talking about the NFL. I completely forgot that its probably playoff time. Then I realized its actually probably almost playoffs for basketball then I got trunky talking with another gringo about sports. I havent done that for awhile. I guess thats a sign that im sort of lost in the work. So this week we have just been trying to get people committed to come to church. I cant lie, im frustrated with the people here. Everyone had committed to come to church. Like 8 people and only 2 came. Its the most frustrating thing I think about Iquitos. I cant get them in the dang chapel. They all promise to come and we call them the night before and all is ready and they know we are going to pick them up and then nothing! Makes me want to punch a baby in the face. :) I kind of feel like I am in a rut right now. In other news, its been raining everyday after 5pm. Gettin some good use out of my boots. I did a couple of my first baptismal interviews this week. It sure is awkward asking a 13 year old kid if he has ever had a homosexual relation before..but hey someone has to do it. haha. I now do training every Tuesday with my district. I also did a work visit with Elder Mossman, he´s one of my friends from Sandy and he went to Hillcrest. We should have 3 baptisms this next week as long as they pass their interviews. Its almost the month of carnavali when all the little kids throw water balloons at everything. I think they are starting early this year because im already seeing water balloons flying around. Well I hope your all great! I love you all have a great week! love reg

Elder Crump

Well family and friends how is everything going?  I hope great as always!  So first off mom, i enjoyed your worried mom email!  The funny thing was i made Elder Baker Respond! haha, but i was right behind him when he was writing!  Sorry I'll try to give you a heads up next time! It was a suprise to us that we weren't gonna have p day!  But it was a training with all the new missionaries that came in!  It all went great except for the fact that one of the new white elders got really sick, and was throwing up. So i had to sit with him and talk with him to calm him down.  Oh boy it ws so hard not to throw up with him! haha  But its all good.  He is doing a lot better, his stomach just wasn't used to the food here!  So this past week was pretty calm.  It wasnt as crazy as the last! I dont think any week can be as crazy as the last! But like i said, i learned a lot!  And the next change around president, told me he wouldn't wait so long to do the changes!

So funny story.  So the other day president comes up to me and told me that he recieved a bill of all the expenses of the mission.  Apparently for the past like 3 years, the mission has been paying for things that we shouldn't be paying for.   At first i was like, OH NO WHAT DID I DO!  But he was like, oh don't worry I'm not mad with you, we have had this problem for many years! For example the mission pays for the flights within the mission like to the jungle and back to Lima, but we have been charged for all the flights when the missionaries go back to their countries as well!  But that is the Area´s expense, not ours.  So yesterday, i had to sit down with the Financial Secretary  (Elder Baker) and look up what was the problem.  We found out that codes have been put in wrong, and the travel company and the Area don't want to take the blame.  Haha but all is good now, we have the right codes.  So we´ll see if it gets better!

So i found out this past week now that another one of my jobs is I'm in charge of the sick missionaries in the JUNGLE!!  WHAT!  Haha  So yeah, i have to send medical forms to them and information for the clinics.  And when its really serious, we have to bring them here to Lima!  And then when they are here in Lima, my Comp Elder Paucay takes over!  So thats some new information. Also i have to translate for the doctors of the Area, because they don't speak Spanish!  They are so funny!  So everytime a latin elder needs to meet with them, i translate.

But yeah it wasnt too crazy this past week.  Right now, I'm preparing to send missionaries home.  So I'm working with their passports, and this is the time when all the WONDERFUL PARENTS... start to call in! Haha, no it's all good they just want to know when their kid is coming home, or when they have their P DAY:) Haha, I love you mom!

SO I HAVE GREAT NEWS!!!  So i don't know if you remember one of my investigators Leo that i had when i was serving in Tahuantinsuyo.  Well what happened with him was he always wanted to be baptized, but he had the hardest time picking a date.  So finally after a long time with him, we had to let him go.  It seriously was one of the hardest things i have ever had to do in the mission.  I actually cried that night.  Because it so hard to see someone so amazing, so prepared and has really felt the spirit deny the feelings, because of fear.  Well thats what happened.  But just the other day, the elders that are in my old area came up to me and said that Leo has a baptism date.  This has been like 5 months ago since i last taught him.  So i was like um, i dont believe it.  And they were like no really, and he wants to talk to you.  So i and talked with him, and he just broke down and said how bad his life has been since we stopped teaching him.  He didn't come to church and when Elder Flores and I got changed out of that area he kind of was forgotten.  When the elders looked him up in the Area book under old investigators and went and contacted him, he said right from that he knew that he need to be baptized and no longer wanted to put it off!  Right then he said, but i really want to be baptized by the Elder that found me, Elder Crump.  But, i know he is in the Jungle... then The Elders were like no hes not! He's right here in Tahuantinsuyo in the offices.  So then Leo got really excited and came to the offices to ask if i would baptize him!  All i could say was WOW, and OF COURSE!! I have been waiting for this day forever! So tomorrow, i will be baptizing him!  Im so excited! Seriously, i miss the jungle, but Heavenly Father has plans for everything, and how perfect that this worked out!  I'll be sure to send some pictures!

So on a side note to that! Milton has his baptism date set for the 27 of January!!!  I'm so excited!!!  He is awesome!!  Seriously, we are being so blessed with our limited time to get out and teach here.  I really have learned a new form of patience, and have gained an overwhelming trust in the Lord.  If we put ourselves in His hands, and trust Him, he will provide the way!  Its amazing the mission.  It doesn't matter where you are.  We're all doing, and teaching the same message.  I love it here!  I hope one day before i got home i can find my way back to the Jungle, but honestly whatever happens...happens.

Family / Friends i love you guys so much! I'm so grateful for you!  Thank you for your emails and letters!  Friends sorry letters are coming back, i have been a little slow in writing, but I'm still waiting for a couple from some of you!  (KORBAN) haha  ps. mom i love the emails from my friends keep sending them!  Also i got 2 of the 3 packages!  Thank you!!  I hope you have the best week! Kenzie i hope all goes well, and we´ll get to see that cute little girl soon!

I love and miss you all!

All my Love,

ELDER NICOLAS COLLIN CRUMP

 

 

Elder Collins

Ya pues,

 Well family im still in the jungle and I am still with Elder TTiTo looks ill finish training him. I got put as District leader so thats neat. There is 6 of us in the district. Its kind of the same i just take numbers down now and have to give trainings on tues and find birth certificates to marry people. This week was frustrating. I have been working really hard to get all of the people that we are teaching in the church sunday so that they can be baptized this month. I have like 4 families that we have found in the last week and none of them came. Before they can be baptized they have to attend church twice so this was the last sunday to be able to baptize this month. Its so hard to get people in the church here! there is so many excuses  its incredible. Im a little sad  because for the last 8 months ive baptized at least one family every month  and were not going to be able to do that this month... But ive been thinking about that and i believe the Lord wants me to learn more patience. This week i think i ate like 4 new fruits that ive never heard of before so that was just fantastic. One was the fruit that coco comes from. Well i love you all. have a great week! love Reg

Elder Crump

So Family and Friends how is everything going?  I hope just great!  So to start off thisc past week was so tiring...  We had the changes, and the Zone Leader Conference in the same week!  I think President Blunck was testing me! haha but really this is what happened.  So normally President does the changes like 3 weeks in advance, and then gives me like 2 weeks to buy all the flights, buy all the transportation, and prepare for all the new missionaries, and send all the old missionaries home....well not this change. He gave me the changes 2 DAYS before the change!!  I was getting so nervous!  And what made it worse was i couldn't even buy the flights for all the zone leaders who were coming in because i still didn't even know the changes.  So, when we got the changes my fingers when crazy typing, and calling people.  So as we all know buying flights like one day or two days before you leave is rough, so i went right into that. The problem is when i book a flight, i have to send an email with all the information of the person flying to the travel agency, then they email me back....sometimes fast, sometimes like 4 hours later!  Then i have to send it to the Area for them to pay for it, then i get another email of the flight info, then i have to do the Check in, then email the Boarding pass to the person.  So because it was so last minute, it took forever! And because i had to buy like over 50 flights the agency made mistakes on some of the names, and what time the filght really was.  So i also had to cancel like 10 flights, and rebook 10 more!  But the good news is, i don't lose money if i buy the flight and then cancel it the same day!!

Actually funny story wiith that, so President did a change, but the elder didnt want to go.  The elder was here in Lima finishing his mission, because he gets to go to the sealing of one of his families he baptized in the jungle.  But two days before the sealing, he got his change to go back to the jungle.  He was so sad, but i bought his flight. But when i bought the flight, the time got mixed up.  So I called the agency and they told me they would change it, and the day of the changes i could just rebook the flight.  So the day of the changes came, and this elder went to the president asking if he could stay here in Lima.  President wasn't too happy, but said well elder let's find out if we can cancel the flight without losing money.  So right before this happened, i had just bought his other flight!! haha but because i had bought it that same day we were able to cancel it without getting charged! haha so its a good thing we made the mistake the day before or the elder might of missed seeing this family get sealed! haha

So we also had to send all the missionaries that were finishing home....oh boy that was so crazy!  I was on the phone for like 2 hours trying to find out what happened to a passport.  It was frustrating.  Haha but the best was last night, we finished the zone conference and then right away the elders that were from the jungle need to start leaving to go back to the jungle. And then an elder comes up to me and is like Elder Crump do you have my passport or my Peru ID?  I was like no the Area has it, but its ok you can travel with you ID from Ecuador.  But then he is like, well i dont have it, i left it in my room in Iquitos....WHAT!! haha man it was crazy. So i had to call the Area to see if they could meet this elder at the airport with his passport, so i sent the elder off and i said if they don't get there call me.  So we waited and waited, and then i get a call from a lady at the area telling me that she has good news and bad news.  The good news is that the elder now has his passport...But the bad news is we got there a little late, and his companion got on the plan without him, and went to Iquitos!!  So then we had an elder alone in the Airport!  So yeah we had to go pick him up, and he had to fly out early in the morning!  Oh boy it was a stressful weekend! haha  But after like 3 days without sleep, seriously like 3 days  the changes and the zone leader conference, its all over!  The offices were nothing like I thought! haha but no all is good, because this was just the beginning test.  And i made it through it!  So this next change will be a breeze! haha

 

So besides the office life, lets talk about missionary work!  That's right we had our baptism!!! Eloy got baptized!! It was awesome! Despite the fact that he was sick the last week, and he has to walk with a cane, he still wanted to get baptized!  It really was such an awesome experience!  He truly was so ready.  Milton still doesnt have his date set. with all the changes that we had we really didn't have too much time to go up and teach this past week, but the good news is tonight we get to go up!!!  Im so excited!

 

Well family, I love you guys so much!  I love hearing about all that is going on!  Trevor Happy Birthday man!! I can't believe you hit the big 25! wow! And any day your gonna be a dad!! Thats so great! i cant wait to meet your cute little girl!  So family I leave you with the best wishes for this week! 

All my Love,

ELDER NICOLAS COLLINS CRUMP

 

 

 

Elder Collins

Well to start off the typical rumors of the day of changes. Ive been told im staying in my area. I was kind of hoping to leave and change areas but i guess ill live. I wanted to see Crump. Sounds awesome that its cold right now! i dont even remember what cold is..this last week i completed 9 months in the jungle! wow! This week we had a baptism of a younger guy, Freddy. We have been teaching him for about a week and finally dunked him. We got to the chapel with him and no one is there! Then we look in the font and there isnt water! The ward mission leader finally came after an hour of waiting with the key to fill the font. Asu!! So i had buckets going crazy trying to fill it up faster. This week ive been working really hard to find familys, its just so hard to get them all to attend church because there is always something and here in the jungle if you have a cold your pretty much done for and they think they have to go to the emergancy room. Really though here its like the smallest illness or papercut and your a dead man. Also there is always a fruit that can cure it! im always joking about that it someone is sick i just say hey rub some coconut on that! Hey un favor. Tell trish to tell nick that its his solem resposibility to let me know if im changing, he knows all the changes like 1 week before because he has to book the airline tickets. Well not much else to say. Love you all!

 

Elder Crump

Family and Friends!

Well first off Happy New Year!!! How did it go there? So here as you know was as crazy as ever!!!!  It was seriously like a war zone again!  People were going go crazy!!  Peru seriously enjoys their parties!  And it doesn't help that they mix beer, and fireworks....haha but anyway we lived through the night! haha  So i feel like its been a long time since i have wrote you guys! sorry about that!  But know that my P days are Thursday, but sometimes it gets changed to Saturday if we have stuff to do during the week!  But I'll let you know!  So i am going to answer a some of your questions.  So my job as the personal secretary is that i am in charge of President Blunck's Schedule.  I have to always set appointments, rent cars, and book flights.  Also I am in charge of doing all the changes, so i have to prepare for all the new elders that are coming in, and the ones that are leaving!  So the president the assistants and I are the only ones who know all the changes before they happen.  So also i have to buy all the flights for all the Elders who get there change from the jungle or those to are going to the jungle.  Also, I am in charge of all of the passports of all the missionaries.  And their Peruvian IDs.  So i am constantly working with the Area in south america, to make sure all is going well, and all goes well when the elders have to go to imigration.  Also, because my comp is in charge of all the sick people, I have to set up the appointments for the elders that go to the clinics, and i have to call the mission insurance to make sure everything is getting paid for.  I'm also in charge of setting all the interviews with president and his counselers.  And then there is a bunch of other little stuff that i have to do like everyday!  SO pretty much im just always on the computer or talking on the phone all day!  Im tired... haha no but is going good! Its a lot of work, but Elder Wilson is helping me out, and i feel like im getting the hang of it!  But this next week Wilson, is getting changed, and I'll be alone!!!  I'm nervous but excited!  So to sum up my job, I'm a travel agent, and i work with the government of South America. 

But the good news is if we dont have too much to do, we get to leave at about 5 or 6 pm to go work!! Its awesome!  Our baptism got cancelled because saturday our investigator got sick and went to the hospital! AHHHH! we were sad, but he is back now and is doing good!  He is so excited for his baptism, and just keeps asking us when he is going to get baptized!  He says that man satan really is trying to keep me from getting baptized, but i wont let him stop me!  His name is Eloy, and he is about 65 years old! He is so awesome!!  So this week he will get baptized!  Also we have another guy that is preparing for this month named Milton!  His girlfriend is a new convert, and he is reading the Book of Mormon.  He loves it, and this week were gonna commit him to a date!  So even though we dont have too much time to work out in the field, were doing good!  We found like 12 new people this week, and 4 families!  It was awesome!  Being here really is a different mission.  I miss the Jungle like crazy, but i just found out that 3 of my investigators got baptized like we had planned! And 2 of our families are getting married this month!!  I'm so excited for them! I obviously wish i could see them get baptized, but im just happy that they're getting baptized!

So to fill you in a little bit more.  There are 6 elder in the offices.  4 Secretaries, and 2 Assistants.  Secretary: Personal, Finance, Packages, and Baptisms forms.  We all live together in the same house! Its so funny!   We have a kitchen, so somethimes we make food, but normally we just go buy food, but we eat dinner with the members.  Elder Carranza, and Elder Uribe are the Assistants.  Carranza is from Peru, and Uribe is from Colombia.  Then There is Elder Baker from Texas who is the Finance Secretary, Then Elder Sepulveda from Chile, who is theiSectretary of the Baptism forms, and then My Comp Elder Paucay from Chile.  He is in charge of all the packages, and the sick people.  So I hope that has filled you all in on what s going on!  Let me know if you have any questions! 

So family I do love you all so very much!  I loved seeing all your faces one christmas! It was the best present ever!  2013,  wow I can't believe this year is here! Wow time is going by like crazy!  Family, friends thank you for all you do!  Mom, Yes i did get all of your packages, and they were amazing!  I'm still waiting on letters from some people... you know who you are! haha well i hope you all have the best week!

 

All my Love,

ELDER NICOLAS COLLINS CRUMP