Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Elder Collins

I LOVE IT!!
  Wow im one blessed missionary. Hey family hows everyone doing you all enjoying the summer?! Well im officially in Moyobamba. Only after being alone in a 2 hour flight delay then a hour flight with a rough landing then a 2 hour car ride from the airport in winding mountains i made it! Its awesome here. Its really green and is what i had always pictured what the jungle maybe would be like before knowing it. It really is so beautiful and its a lot more cleaner than Iquitos and a million times more than Lima! 
    So first of all my comps name is Elder Osorto from Honduras. He is the only comp that i have had where i had met him before. he is a good guy and we get along well together. He wasnt super focused as a zone leader before i got here but thats alright because we are going to change that together. Our house is really nice, especially for being in the jungle. 4 of us live together. The other two Elders who live with us are E. Rafagnini and E. Duarte. Im the only gringo but that doesnt even matter to me anymore because sometimes i forget that im a gringo anyways. We dont have a pensionista so we cook our breakfast and dinner. Funny thing...i realized i dont know how to cook. Always thought i could but ya not really. I just bought some packs of pastas and have been cooking that. Also i now give thanks to mom for teaching me how to cook an egg. I do like cooking my own food but i just have to learn how to cook. My area is a branch. Ive never been in a branch before so its intresting working here. The mission is a lot more involved in things with the branches here. Im excited to be here to be able to still work hard. Moyobamba is kind of like how Comas was when i first got there so looks like i gots some more work to do..again! haha I think that its good and its the Lords way of keeping me busy. Im happy that im still zone leader because once every month ill be going to Iquitos to zone leader conference so ill be with Nick. Also ill be able to see sisinio. Yesterday wasnt my Pday so thats why im writing today. We had the farwell of President and Hna Blunch yesterday. Wow it was soo sad for me. It was impossible to fight back the tears. I didnt want them to go. They both kind of gave us there last trainings and advice. They also gave us a white tie with there names on the back and the name of the mission to use in the temple at home. I love President and sister blunck and am so grateful for all they have done for me. It will be wierd with the new Pres. The new president comes on friday i think. We dont really know anything about him yet. We had to go to tarapoto as a zone in a two hour bus ride. So far in my travels we have killed a dog a pig and almost hit a cow. haha. Well hope your all well and doing good. I love you! love reg. 


 

Monday, June 24, 2013

Elder Crump

Oh hey family!  How is it going?  So just as a heads up, I still don't know when we will have our P days.  I think it might go back to thursday, but I dont know.  Tomorrow the offices will be officially done.  Today we are going to take our p day and tomorrow we will go back to the office...I'm a little bummed, but excited to get to work, because their is still so so much to do before Saturday when the new president comes.  Wow, it's so crazy! 
 
This last week we had our goodbye devotional with Presidnent and Hermana Blunck, boy was it sad.  We made this video of them, with pictures of them as teenagers and when they got married.  It was so funny, and we put a bunch of missionaries in the video telling them thank you for all you have done.  They were crying in the end.  It was such a spiritual expirience.  Then they gave us all gifts.  The guys all recieve a white tie with their names on the back saying Misiòn Perù Lima Norte and they gave all the sisters veils.  So pretty much it was a super trunky gift, and they said that these are for our future weddings.  And then president was like and some of you will be able to use this tie in a couple of months, and he looks right at me and some more elders from my group and started laughing! haha anyway it was a great expirence, and I really am going to miss them.  So we also got to see the new Misson home...and holy cow it is so nice!  It is like a mansion!  Seriously!  A masion in the Jungle!  Its got like 7 bedrooms with 7 bathrooms.  Patio with a BBQ pit and outdoor ping pong.  A pool, yes I said POOL!  A gym! Huge kitchen.  It has a little courtyard, and a bunch of little gardens!  It is going to be so nice when we go over there for dinner! haha  Were gonna have some great mexican food! 
So, I'm so happy that Elder Collins is in the Jungle! He isn't in the same area I was.  He is in Moyobamba, and I was in Tarapoto.  He has to fly into Tarapoto and then take a 2 hour car ride to get to Moyobamba.  His zone is the prettiest of all the jungle.  He is going to love finishing his mission there! 
So some more new about the missionary work.  So like it says in the Subject, references are the best!  So this week we have received some references from the sister missionaries, and we have found like 4 new families.  One is Wilder and Maria and they have two little kids.  Wilder wants to be baptized.  He has met with the missionaries before and has read the Book of Mormon and has prayed about it.  The only problem is, they are not married and his wife is a really strong Baptist!   Anyway, we have been working with them and they came to church for the first time and they loved it. Even maria.  She said that she felt something different.  And in this past week she has noticed that her church is missing a lot of things.  Like just last night, she wondered what had happened to the Prophets because they had the preisthood...so now she is doubting her church!  So hopefully all goes well!  We also have another family Evelin and Jorge, Jorge is a less active but he wants to come back and his wife wants to be baptized.  The only problem is they are in the process of him getting divorced from his first wife.  So we will see how that goes.  And there are many others that we have found and are all preparing to be baptized in July.  This week we haven't been able to find Cristian because he has been work all week from 7 am  to 10 p.m.  But his mom just told us that tomorrow he finishes this work and will be free again!  So things are going great for us.  This next month many people will be baptized.  We cant wait!
So today is a holiday here in Peru.  It's called San Juan.  Its were everyone remembers John the Baptist or
Juan el Bautista.  And they remember what happened to him, and how he got his head cut off.  So the Peruvians in the Jungle make things called Juanê,  it's pronounced (Huanay).  It's like a ball of green rice with chicken and hard boiled eggs all wrapped up in palm tree leaves and then tied up into a ball that represents John the baptists head that was cut off! haha man they are crazy! haha so all day were going to be given Juanè.   Haha, the good thing is, it's actually really good.  But after your 4th Juanè, you get kind of sick of them! haha
So i have yet to recieve my card yet...Hopefully, it comes!  But I will let you know when!  So mom I'm so glad you did a great job on your lesson!  You always were such a good teacher!  I bet you had treats! haha

So thats weird what happened to the Phone.  I glad you, Rin and Brady have done so much to save all the stuff!  Thank you mom your the best!
So like I said this might be our last P day on Monday, so I dont really know what were gonna do today...We might go this week or the next to this place called Quistacocha.  It's this outdoor zoo place that's right in the jungle where everyone is going to make me eat live suri!  It's this jungle worm!  Plus they are going to make me face my worst fear...they are going to make me hold the big snake and take pictures!  I'm kind of freaking out...But we`ll see what happens, haha.  I will be sure not to look too scared when they take the picture! haha

Well family and friends, I do love you guys!  Devon, that is so awesome about your call! You're gonna rock it! I'm so proud that your heading out!! 

All my Love,

ELDER NICOLAS COLLINS CRUMP





Monday, June 17, 2013

Elder Crump


So right off the bat I want to wish Dad a HAPPY FATHERS DAY! I hope it was the best day!  You really are the greatest dad ever! I love you so much! Thank you so much for your example!  You really are the Mr. Incredible!

So like I said the changes have come!!!  Drum roll please......................................................................................
Elder Collins is coming to the JUNGLE!! He isn't coming exactly to Iquitos, but he is coming to the Peru Iquitos mission.  I am so so excited!  I don't want to say exactly where, but lets just say he might say hi to my ex pensionista! But the most important part is, I will get to see him every month, and we will finish together!!  He should know by now!  Man it has been so hard not to let him know! I have know forever, and I have been avoiding calling him!  He is seriously going to love where he is going its one of the prettiest places in all of the jungle!
Anyway, this week has been a good one!  We have been working so hard, and the members love us and are giving 0references like no other! Last week we met up with a reference named Cristian.  He is 29, and his mom is a member.  He has never been too interested in the church, but now he is wanting to learn more.  Seriously, our first lesson with him was amazing!  I have never met a person more prepared to hear of this message that we have.  He had all the right quesitons and knew that there was a true church out there, with Prophets and Apostles.  He said that he has been to other churches, but knew that they weren't the right ones for him.  He says that there is so much that out there, and I have yet to find it.  We explained to him our message of the restoration, and he just was like, Baptize me.  This is it.  So we invited him, and he asked us if it was ok if we knelt down and prayed about the message.  I was just starring at him with my mouth wide open.  So he got down, and he said such an amazing prayer.  When he finished he just waited, and then he gets up and smiles and says yes that day sounds perfect for me, what do I need to do to prepare?  So here I am still on my knees just astonished!  It was so amazing!  Then that very same night he came to our ward activity, and the next day came to a baptism to see how it was.  It was so crazy!  Everything was going perfect until Sunday.  He had planned on coming, but he got caught up with his friends and with all the partying on Father's day, he drank.  It was sad, and because of that, he didn't want to come to church. He said he felt bad.  So this week we are going to really help him understand the Word of Wisdom.  It makes me sad, but you can't blame anyone who doesn't know its bad.  He has been so prepared to hear this message, now we just need to help him make the changes and feel the power of repentance. 

So, I still havent gotten the card yet, but I can Imagine this week it will happen.  Plus on saturday all the supplies, desks, computers came, so today they are going to put together the offices.  Hopefully this Wednesday, we will be able to get in and get everything ready!  It's going to be so nice.  The offices look great!  So nice, and everything is brand new!
That is so cool about Devon!  I am so proud of him.  He will be an amazing missionary.  The testimony that he has gained during this time will truly blesst the lives of those in Colorado!

Well family, this next week is going to be amazing.  Pray for Cristian, to help him make these changes in his life.

Oh yeah another fun fact, I am now the District Leader of the Office Elders, haha plus they put the sister missionaries in my district as well.  And now there is only going to be 4 Missionaries in our ward.  The sisters and us.  They took out the other two!  So it's going to be great to have our own area!!  Can't wait!

All my Love,

ELDER NICOLAS COLLINS CRUMP

Elder Collins

Haha! imagine how i feel! So on Friday afternoon we went to the offices to pick up some forms for the weddings and President Blunck was there doing final interviews with couple of missionariew. He said hi to us and gave us a hug and just said " Well, elder Collins will be receiving a transfer to go to the jungle so that he will be able to see his brother before he leaves." Wow i didnt expect him to say anything because he never says the transfers! I think he knew i was dying to know. Im leaving tomorrow in the morning like at 11 the time here and im going as zone leader to Moyobamba! Its a zone thats in a district thats called San Martin. The most jungly out of all the jungle zones in the mission. Im pretty excited. My companion is from Honduras, elder Osorto. Well.. at least thats what ive heard. Im pretty excited to go there. Its one of the hardest zones to baptize in the mission but im just grateful to finish in the jungle. Since ill be zone leader ill be able to go to iquitos once a month for zone leader conference and see crump and also Sisinio. That will be great. I heard that i fly to tarapoto first then i go in a two hour car ride to moyobamba then another half an hour to my area. I gotta buy some anti nausia pills our something. I think ill be traveling alone too.
          This week was a good. Week. As a zone we already have 19 baptisms which is a record in Comas! I feel good to be able to leave the zone the way that it is. In preach my gospel it says to always leave your area better than you found it. My goal when i first got here to Comas is that Comas could be the best Zone in lima and that people would be happy to get transferred here. It was a lot of work and i know Heavenly Father helped a lot but i feel like we achieved that goal. Comas right now has the most baptisms in the mission and not just lima this month. My comp is happy for me that i get to go to the jungle. He wants me to see Myles too. His new comp thats coming is kind of a punk but i know he will do great. Im of course sad to leave my area. The ward here is so incredible but they are happy for me too and are all inviting me to eat haha!

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Elder Collins

Hello family!
   Well hows everyone doing? Thats super cool that myles is all graduated and swimming in lake powell. I remember we waited forever in the parking lot trying to get out of there. Well i wouldnt be me if i didnt ask if he got to eat a Ridigios Grill? hahah! Thats cool that he got to meet his mission president ( Ya esta chupando las medias Huh?) So sams video that i took of him dancing when i skyped you guys is pretty popular and they are requesting another one.
    Ya pue, its been pretty cold here the last week and i have a cold, would you believe that? Not very fun. Well on Saturday Hno. Jhonatan Savaleta got baptized. He definitely was prepared by the Lord, his testimony that he gave was really strong and was asking what do i have to do to get a calling haha. You know your converted if your looking for a calling..a little different from utah. I have definitely been blessed lately with the Lord helping me with the baptisms. We got 8/4/2 this month which is the goal of the mission. Ive been trying to work harder to keep going and to reach my goal that i have. We had zone leader conference this week. While President Blunck was talking he called me and my comp up in front with him. I thought he was going to correct us on something or maybe chew us out a little but he said "they didnt know i was going to call them up here but i have been watching there zone and these two zone leaders are the examples of proactive missionarys and leaders" WOW. I was really surprised with that. He had us share experiences and answer questions from the other zone leaders. He said in the last 4 months Comas has improved the most than any other zone. It made me feel really good. As a zone this month we already have 15 baptisms with 4 families. The record for comas is 16 with 3 families, we still have 3 weeks to go before the month ends and we have something like 15 more baptismal dates. Im really excited how the zone has gotten soo much better. So this week the assistants and president are going to do the last changes before the missions split. Im nervous. I want to go to the jungle so bad. President knows i want to go there too. If i go it would be on the 17th i think. Thats why i have been working so hard to be able to leave my area and zone behind to be the strongest its ever been. So pray for me a lot huh? I got a letter from Sisinio and his family and they have been praying that i go back too. Well thats pretty much all thats happen just hoping to go to the jungle. I love you all have a great week Love reg


Elder Crump

Hey family and friends how is it going?

Wow, first off congrats Lex on you call! How crazy is that it's the Philippines!  You will be great!  Don't worry about a thing, God sends his missionaries where they are needed and those Philipinan people need you!
So this week has been so great!  I'm in an area called Castañas.  It's a great ward.  We have 6 missionaries in it though! haha  What happened there was two wards but both were pretty weak, and didn't have great attendance so they combined the two wards which made 4 missionaries 2 sisters and 2 elders.  And then they just kind of put us in with them.  It's been kind of rough because apparently the two wards didn't get along.  So the change has been a little hard for the members, and some aren't coming to church which is stupid.  It's the same church, it just has some new people in you ward.  But anyway, some of the members are a little cold to the other missionaries that weren't in their ward to start with.  But they love us, two white kids that are new to Iquitos. haha It's so great, they all have been pretty helpful and really want to work with us.  We have been given many references and hopefully this next week, we will be seeing the fruits of it.  We are really working hard to gain the confidence of the members and work with the leaders.  It really has been paying off.  
So a little more about my area, like I said it's near the offices, but it's also near the river.  So part of our area is the jungle swamp, where you need to walk on planks to get to the houses.  Its so awesome.  But kind of sketchy at night, I took a picture, but I'll send more later. So we have found  some people, but none of them came to church.  So this week, we will really help with them with that.  That's the problem here, everyone is so welcoming and they let you in, but they just don't really progress.  But no worries, all will be well.
So the offices still aren't ready yet.  They take Mormon standard time to a whole other level.  It's Peruvian time.  When they say 3 p.m. they will arrive at 5 p.m. or 6.  It's the same with days.  They told us the offices would be done like 2 weeks ago, and they still haven't even ordered the computers or desks.... haha hopefully they come in soon, we need to get things ready!  But hey while were waiting, were gonna take advantage of the free teaching time!  So I am in the Zone Iquitos.  It's been pretty awesome.  We have a pretty big zone and everyone is way excited to work.  It's funny, because in the zone, it's the ex assistant the 2 new assistants the 2 secretaries and like 2 ex zone leaders.  Its super funny for the Zone Leaders.  They are sweet, but it's the first time I have had zone leaders that have less time than me in the mission.  It's going by too fast, and my companion loves to tell all the members how much time i have left!  Not how much I have, but how I only have 4 months....left.  Wow, it's too weird.
  
Anyway, I do love it here.  It never stops raining!  It gets super hot, then the wind starts to blow,  everyone freaks out, and then it pours!! haha I love it!
Well mom to answer some questions.   Yes I got the package with the sunflower seeds and Jerky.  Not the card yet, but hopefully soon! haha
Well guys I do love you! I hope all is well!
Today we are going to play soccer... don't worry mom, I'll be careful!  It's cool, were gonna play on an official field with turf.  It's gonna be awesome!
All my Love,
ELDER NICOLAS COLLINS CRUMP












Monday, June 3, 2013

Elder Crump


Dear Family and Friends,
The time has come.....I finally made it to Iquitos!  Wow, its been such a long wait!  First off, it's blazing hot here! haha but its so cool!  I never realized how much I miss that first feeling when you step off the plane and the Heat just smacks you right in the face!  And then you take a breath, and its FRESH AIR!  Wow, it's awesome!  So right away, we went to the old pensionistas of Elder Collins, and boy do they love that Kid!  They are happy that I'm here, but they still wanted Elder Collins! haha they said it's my job to get him to come back!  haha oh boy I'll be doing a lot of praying and fasting!  But no, I'm not worried!

So things went great our house is nice, and the offices look so good.  They are slowly putting all the computers and supplies in so its not quite ready, so that means for a couple weeks I get to be a normal missionary and work in my Area!! I'm so happy! It's gonna be a blast!  Just the other night we found 5 new investigators with 2 new families!  It was awesome!  Our área has parts of the city, but we are on the river, and the houses are on stilts on the wáter and we have to walk on planks to get to them.  Things are going great, its so nice to see all the people here in Iquitos. There are some elders that I haven't seen for over a year!  It's awesome!  Well, I just want to let you know that for a couple weeks I think monday will be my p day until the offices get ready!  So when you guys can respond back and I'll get on later today or tomorrow to see what you said!  I love you guys and I'll write more when we get all settled in!

P.S.  I ate an alligator burger and it was awesome!!
All my Love,
ELDER NICOLAS COLLINS CRUMP





Elder Collins

Family,
   So this was a great week. The Mejia family got baptized! It was a great baptism so many people from the ward came. They have been waiting for this family to accept baptism forever! I had been teaching them the whole time that i have been here! The dad (Huamberto) mom (martha) and their daughter (Everlin) got baptized. Another area in our zone also had a family getting baptized so we just combined the two and had a white wash! They were all so happy and all shared their testimonies after the service. Last night we helped them send the pictures to their son who is on his mission. They were so excited. 
    This week was pretty great, apart from the baptism i have been working hard to find new people because its all great until after the baptism when you realize you dont have any more people! haha. We are teaching the Savaleta family. He is an investigator and she has been an inactive member and they just love the church. The ones who call us to have lessons with them.  He is getting baptized this Saturday! I'm really excited for how the zone is looking. We should have more baptisms at the end of this next week then we had last month and there is still 3 more weeks to go! So E. Crump is in iquitos! He called me this morning to say hi and said that he met the Sisinio Family. Dang Nick hes with my jungle family! haha. Im sort of nervous thinking about  the changes. I do want to go to the jungle to be able to finish with Nick and prayfully see myles!
   Thats crazy that Myles is Graduating.  Im so happy for him and hope all goes well. Congrats on finishing seminary,  i dont know how he did it because he always seemed to be sleeping during the seminary hour haha! Be safe at that Pepperwood party and all your trips you go on! You have a calling now so you have to be extra safe! Well i loves you all have a great week love reg