Elder Crump

Haha, wow its has been a crazy week!  We just got done with all the changes....and boy was its rough!  Everything went great, but seriously I am wiped out!  So first off, it all started on Saturday.  The missionaries that were finishing their missions were all coming into Iquitos that day.  So we had all the flights set, but we get all these calls saying that none of the Elders have their passports to fly.  And of course they don't, because their passports are at Immigration getting processed, but they are able to fly with a copy.  But of course none of them made copies like I told them to.  So I was like, oh its ok, I'll call Elder Sepulveda who is now the Personal Secretary of Lima North.  He received all the Passports during the mission change and took them to the Immigrations to get processed, but he forgot to make copies as well!!  So I had to call the airline and explain what was happening, and they straight up told me no.  So i had to call another guy, and finally they let them pass with a drivers license.  We lucked out!  So then on Sunday was all of the Interviews with the missionaries who finished and Presidnet Gómez.  Then it was the dinner.  Oh my goodness, it was so good! Me and my companion spent the day on saturday making tortillas.  Yes we actually made home made mexican tortillas.  It was so good!  We made 130 tortillas for 15 people! Haha so that night, I finished by eating 11 Tacos.  It was so good!  It was sad to see them give their final testimonies and with all of that, we finished at about 8:30pm.  So this is where it gets reall ¨Fun¨ haha so bright and early we had to go to the airport to send off the missionaries who are finishing and send them to Lima.  We had to get up at 5:30am to get to the airport by 6:15am So we get there, and we are waiting for all the missionaries to show up.  All the Elders get there by 6:30am, but the two Sisters from their group show up at like 7:20am. I wanted to kill them! Haha, so I hurried and got them checked in.  Then they were running a little late, so I hurried and got them to the gate.  Everyone said their goodbyes, but one of the sisters was delaying, she didn't want to leave. They did the last call for everyone to get on the plane, and she wouldnt go, she was waiting for a member to come and say goodbye, but I was like sorry Sister but you need to leave.  She was a little mad, but she needed to leave.  So she got on the plane and she headed out!  YES!  So then I just had to wait to see if all goes well when they are in Lima.  So I receieve phone calls and all is going great.  All the missionaries got on their planes, except for that one sister.  She said she had problems with her passport.... so I had to call her family saying that your daughter won't we coming home today, and they next flight isnt until tomorrow... The mom was sad, but she understood!  So then it was the Change day!  Everyone found out were they were going and Tuesday was the day for all of them to leave! So It was a little tricky, because the Presidente wanted to do all of the training and interviews of the new missionaries in his house.  And it was going to work out perfectly, because we would send out all the missionaries who have changes in the morning, and then at 12:30 the new missionaries were going to arrive.  But it started raining like no other! It seriously was pouring! Haha, so the plane got delayed...And the new missionaries didn't get here until about 2:30.!  It was teriible.  By the time we finished everything it was 8:30pm.  It was a long day!  Then bright and early again we had to go to the airport and send the new missionaries to their new Zones, and we had to send off those future missionaries from our District to their missions. Seriously, I am just wiped out! 

Wow that was a lot to say.  Anyway on a brighter note, we have been working really hard with Wilder and Maria.  Now we are just in this process of getting them married.  Wow, it's even harder than it was in Tarapoto....so many thing that we have to do!  But we are doing all we can to make it for this month the 26th their wedding, and the 27th their baptism. They have really come such a long way!  They are ready to make this step, it just all depends if we can get all the paper work done in time!  Plus, I have like 7 other companionships that are asking if I can look for a Partida (Birth Cirtificate) for them as well.  Its pretty crazy with just us 4 here in offices, but we´ll manage!

Well Family I hope all is well!  It's always so good to hear from you guys!  I love and miss you all!  Wow, I just realized that Lexi went to the MTC yesterday! Wow crazy!  Give Tammy a big hug mom, you know she will need it!  Well guys, I love you all so much!   Thank you for everything!  Corinne & Bradford, I still cant believe you guys are heading out! Wow, it's going to be such a cool experience for both of you! Can't wait to come see you guys! :)

Have a great week!

 

All my Love,

ELDER NICOLAS COLLINS CRUMP

Elder Collins

Family family family,

  Well hey there again. Sounds like you all had a good week! Thats pretty crazy what happened with cole. Probably should learn how to ride a motorcycle...haha no all jokes really i hope hes ok! Well this week has been kind of slow to tell ya the truth. Maybe its because E. Raffagnini finished his mission and kept telling me im next or maybe its because we didnt have a baptism or maybe its because it was the week before transfers. Oh ya today is transfers because of the new mission this transfer was only 4 weeks intstead of 6. Wow myles got his suit huh? Nice.. Lets see. I used mine in the mtc and ccm, Special conferences with area 70s or zone leader conference but we usually end up taking it off at the first part of the meetings anyways. But hey i dont know how maybe it is the mold and the heat and rain but it still got thrashed. Wow so last week going to the caves was the coolest! Definitely the best pday that i have had. We rented hard hats with lanterns on them and paid some dude who lives in the town where the caves are two soles each to show us to the cave. It was fun climbing around and avoiding falling over. Normally there isnt water in the cave but this time there was so we had to do it the hard way without entering the water of course. Its a little stressful doing activities as a zone being a zone leader because if something goes wrong its my fault. Still cant cook very good. Actually not really at all. I just end up always cooking soup. haha. I did however buy raw vegetables and have been eating those to eat better. Also i found cheese, it cost a lot but it was worth it. My body sure wasnt used to it either...if you know what i mean! haha. Hey question does myles get my emails when i send it straight to his email? Im going to send him his jersey today just in case! You guys might have to wait to get yours because it would cost me like 100 soles to send them all together. i mean i could do it if you want. depends on you guys. Well hope you all have a great week and what not!. I love you! love reg

Elder Crump

Well, so sorry that this letter is coming to you guys a little late.  Today we had our last P day on Mondays....I think haha, yes it's going to be on Thursdays from now on.  But if anything changes, I'll let you know.  

 

So today we finally went to Quistacocha! It was awesome! Seriously, so fun!  It's this out door zoo that is just right in the smack of the Jungle.  Then it comes out to the river, and there is this beautiful beach where we played beach volleyball.  It was a blast.  It was cool becuase all 4 zones here in Iquitos came, so we have like 50 missionaries there! This is also the place where you take the picture with the big anaconda, but today the guy wasn't there!  What luck huh?:) haha, no but dont worry I will go back and conquer my fear.  But we did do the classic Iquitos Tradition, we all ate suri.  If you dont know what suri is look it up on google.  Its this fat worm, that has pinchers that you have to eat when you come to Iquitos.  It was nasty.  So you have to put the whole body in your mouth, bite the head off and then eat it.  When I did it, the suri POOPED in my mouth!  I almost threw up!  It was so hard to do, but i knew if I threw up, they would make me eat another one! haha, but it was all good, I finished it! haha, I'll send some pics, and i'll try to send the video.  So today was an awesome day.

So this week, so many things have been happening.  We are doing so much here in the offices as well as in our area! Its like there just isn't enough, time.  The president is coming around great, but there is still a lot to learn.  We are just getting prepared for our transfers.  Were sending off 8 missionaries who are finishing their missions. Were preparing to receive 8 new misisonaries, and to top it off, I have 3 future missionaries that are from the Branches that are leaving on their missions.  So we have to go shopping with them and get all the stuff they need for the mission.  It has been a busy busy week, and the best part we still have been able to go out and teach!  We have really been working hard with Wilder and Maria.  He has come so far, and she has been in her home village for about a week and a half now, and she still is reading her scriptures praying everyday.  The best part is that they call each other every morning and night to see how everything is going, and to verify if they are completing the goals that we left them.  They have had many problems in the past and he said, that this is really the first time that my wife and I have really expressed how much we love eachother.  He was like, I never used to just call her to talk or to ask her how her day is going, but now I just can't get enough of her.  It is amazing how the gospel changes families.  It truly is the medicine for any broken up family.  But the coolest thing was the other day, the sister missionaries called us and said that they had ordered something about a month ago for Wilder.  They ordered him a set of scriptures that are giant and in big print, because he cant see very well and has a hard time reading.  So he wasn't really reading the Book of Mormon.  Now that he has his new set, he is reading like crazy! He loves them! He even brought them to church!  haha  This week we are going to set the date for the wedding.  She is coming home, and I know that they are going to set the date to be married and baptized!  So if all goes well, at the end of this month we will marry and baptize a family!  We're so excited!  So many people that we are teaching are doing so great.  They just need to find the time to come to church! haha  

Anyway, it's so good to hear that Corinne and Brady finally are heading out! I'm happy for them, and I cant wait to go see them!  So the address that I sent is our official office address.  The other one is for the institute building.  So you just need to put the new address for everything.

Oh yeah, funny story, so this week there was a workers strike!  It's where no one works!  Everyone goes and throws their trash,  burn stuff in the street and the go and break glass bottles so no one will drive.  The people are crazy! They burn down businesses if they are opened!  And if someone gets in a motocar, the people attack them and pop their tires! It really was so stupid, because after 3 days, everyone runs out of money and need to go work again.  So they were all in the streets cleaning up their mess! haha, oh Peruvians,  gotta love them! haha

Well family, hopefully all goes well this week! I love you guys so much! I'm grateful for all of you! 

All my Love,

ELDER NICOLAS COLLINS CRUMP

 

Elder Collins

  So this week was pretty good! To start off we went to iquitos on Tuesday night. Nick and i got to go proslighting together that night and we also stayed in their room. Yes, we did share a bed. Nothin funner then sharing a small bed sweating in the jungle with your cousin right? The conference was super good! Really different but still it was great. Pres. Gomez and his wife are great people and are really excited to be here. They feel really honored to replace pres and sister blunck. I dont think they are going to change much at first so thats good. They are both still learning all the basics so its kind of funny to see them do certain things because they are just as new as any new missionary would be. I learned a lot in the conference and it sure did help me a lot with some questions or thoughts that i have had. The new offices are super nice. Crumps desk takes up the whole place and hes got a plasma for a computer screen. Im just saying he might be tempted to watch the restoration all day on that bad boy. haha. While we were there the city of iquitos was on strike against the government. It was pretty crazy. People were rioting in the streets, throwing glass bottles in the roads to pop the tires of the people who wanted to work, burned stuff, tore down trees and what not too! So we didnt up leaving until Thursday afternoon like at 4. I went and visited Sisinio and Hna Nancy Thursday to eat lunch with them. It was so good to see them and they were super happy to see me. Haha it was like i had never left. Best pension ever!  At first the assistants said we couldnt go which bugged me a lot because they knew i wanted to go but then we just got permission from pres. Gomez. I got back super tired. Its hard traveling so much! I dont know how pres. Blunck did it. The two hour car ride to come back isnt the funnest either because its kind of windy the roads and its hard to sleep. On Saturday we had a baptism of Nilser! he is a really good guy who has been attending for about a month or so now. He was really excited but really nervous too. Its been kind of rainy the last week and every morning its cool to see the jungly mountains with haze. It looks like the movies and what not.  Today for pday we are going to go explore some caves the jungle. Should be a fun time. I love you all love reg

P.S.
Hey i was thinking we bought so much stuff that i don't use so i was thinking i should write you guys a list to save you guys the trouble of buying stuff for myles and not using it...

1. A secret pack to put your documents in is not necessary and worthless.

2. You don't need to buy and umbrella, only girls use those and the mission will usually provide one.

3. You don't need to buy those wood molds for the shoes. I think i used them in the mtc and thats it. Just buy really good shoes. Not from mens warehouse! haha It doesnt matter if they are ugly trust me just comfortable and strong. Almost like a tennis shoe boot looking thing

4.  Don't take so many p-day clothes. Its only once a week and you really wont use them that much.

5. I have not used my adapter for the wall outlets once in the field.

6. Don't need to take any books apart from the scriptures. They give you everything in the mtc!

7. Leave your i phone for me.

8. Leave me some clothes too!

9 You start in 2 months..i finish in 3.

10. Love you!!

Elder Collins

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! I HOPE IT WAS SUPER GREAT! Sorry its a day late but hey it still counts!  I love you a ton have a great day and week love REGGIE!!

FAMILY!!

  Well hey. So this week was pretty good. Im still cleaning up this zone. Before i got here i dont know why but these missionarys were super unfocused and doing a lot of things that they shouldnt do just thinking that our zone is an exception to the rules! There is still work to do Its also been kind of hard because E. Raffagnini is finishing his mission in two weeks and doesnt want to work and since he lives in the same house as us he likes to remind me that im the next one to finish and how many weeks i have left! . So we finished out this month with ten baptisms in all! its not too bad because the last two or three months they have only been getting 4 or so baptisms. We had a great week. We married a family and baptized them too! The Paredes family. They are a great family who have been listening to the missionarys for about a year or so in other parts of the jungle. They always had problems with their paper work to get married but we got that all done and the first of the week so they were able to get married. The dad is super funny and really sarcastic. Like the day of his baptisms we went to his house and he was sleeping and had just woken up so he was tired and looked like he was drinking or something so i said"hno how many beers did you drink" and he looks at me and says " now how are you going to say something like that? After all we have been through and what your teaching me?!....you know i only drink wine!" haha. Hes a lot like sisinio. Speaking of which im going to iquitos tomorrow afternoon for the zone leader conference! im super pumped excited to see that family! Also i think nick arranged it that i spend the night with them in there room! All this week has been celebrations here in moyobamba. They had san juan. san Pedro and pretty much all of the other apostles celebrated here this week. A lot of parades and a lot of beer. Its funny that they drink beer to celebrate the apostles haha. I still dont cook well at all! mom Thanks for the tips on how to cook but i hate to tell you there are not any bell peppers, tortillas or parmesan cheese here in moyobamba! haha. Well maybe there is i just have to look harder! But ill definily try to cook some of those things! Well that pretty much wraps this week up! Hope your all well! i love you have a great week love reg!

Elder Crump

So family to start off, today is not my P day...I don't know when it will be, because all this week we are going to be training the Pres and His wife!  Next week, we are going to have P day on Monday, because we are going to go to that cool outdoor zoo.  After that, I think our

P days are going to be on Thursdays again.  But for this week and the next, it will be normal.  

So great news!! I finally received my card!  And it works! Thanks mom and dad!

So some important news the address to send packages is different here it is:

 

Nicolas Collins Crump

Misión Perú Iquitos

Jr. Napo # 478

Iquitos, Maynas

Loreto, Perú

So if you want to send anything you need to put this new address.

So wow, we are officially in the new misison.  IQUITOS!  It's so great, but their is so much work ahead of us.  So on Saturday, the new president arrived, and seriously they are so nice.  He is shorter than me, and I just want to pick him up and give him a big hug!  haha Sister Gómez is already like another mother.  She is so sweet, and even in her first 5 minutes she was worrying about the missionaries.  They are going to do great!  They are excited, and you can tell how they have such a love for all those around them.  So we took them to their house, and  Hermana Gómez about died when she saw her new kitchen.  She is so excited to start cooking! Haha, we are excited for that too!  So then we let them get all settled in and get a little rest, because they had been flying all day.  So then about 4 hours later we went back to pick them up and take them to the Welcoming Program the members of Iquitos had done for them.  The had this big celebration, with all these dances and special numbers.  They talked about the history of Iquitos, and how wonderful it is now to have an official mission here in the Jungle.  The problem was Presidente started to feel sick and had to leave fast to go to the bathroom.  On the way, he threw up twice.  So me and one of the assistants went with him, and he was just throwing up.  The Peruvian food didn't do him good.  We asked him if he wanted to leave, but he insisted on staying.  He had to leave 2 more times that night to go to the bathroom, but he made it through the performances with a smile.  He is a strong little guy. haha  

So things have been going well in our area.  We had a lesson with Wilder and Maria, and she said that she has prayed and she now knows that Joseph Smith was prophet.  She had said it was always so hard for her to accept him, because of all the rumors and stuff that you can read on the internet about him.  She said that after watching the Joseph Smith movie, and praying she knows he was a prophet, and that this is the ONLY true church on the earth with the Priesthood.  Those were here own words! It was awesome!  So now we just got to get them ready for their wedding.  They are having some doubts about that, and I think it has to do with money issues, but hopefully our ward can help out.  But really, it was such an amazing experience to see her have this change of heart.  Hopefully all will go well, and when she gets back from her visist with her family we can get started on the wedding!

Our other investigators are doing great! Jorge and Eveline are just trying to get everything done with the divorce, but its kind of just a waiting game with them.  Cristian had a big fight with his mom, and now doesn't want to do anything with the church.  We were shocked.  He says he just needs some time to cool off.  But when we went to talk to him, he said he really doesn't want to be apart of the same church as his mom, dispite the fact he knows all that we taught him is true.  It's been frustrating with him, but hopefully he´ll come around.  Right now we really are focusing on the two families that we have.  We are still looking for more, but if all goes well, I know Wilder and Maria will get married and Baptized this month!  Please pray for them!

 

That is so crazy Lexi will be heading out soon!  Like you said, she will make a great missionary. The Philippines will just love her!

Well family, I hope all is well!  Next week, hopefully I'll have some better pictures to send, this past week we havent had too much time!  

All my Love,

 

ELDER NICOLAS COLLINS CRUMP

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.