Treasure Hunt

[Email dated 9.30.13]

So this week was pretty cool.  I heard my letters got home so that's good.   If you didn't get a letter and wanted one, well maybe you should write me!

Anyways, so this week we had a baptism of W*.  He's 16 and awesome.  He basically doesn't have much of a family and it's kinda sad but he just accepted everything and changed everything that he was supposed to and was just one of those really prepared investigators. 

However, him being 16, he doesn't have the greatest memory all of the time.  So we had his interview this week and because we’re out in the middle of nowhere, it's a bit of a time drain for the Zone Leaders to get out here to do an interview.  So, when we got out to his house to go with him to his interview, well, he wasn't there... We went everywhere that we thought he could be and asked everyone that knows him (which is a lot of people out by where he lives), but nobody knew.  So the Zone Leaders were already waiting for us so we kinda just had to find him because if not, they'd lose at least 2 hours and maybe not be able to do the interview this week.

By this time, we had looked everywhere he would logically be. Then the thought came to mind: he went to go and work in the workshop of this one member.  That really didn't make any sense because I didn’t think it was what he would be doing.  But we just went out that way and when we get out to the workshop/house, we don't even have to knock the door because W* was just outside walking back and we're like....what?  He had gone to the river to swim!  I was just like, “Cool man, let's go they're waiting for us”. 

In all honesty, if we hadn't gone to that exact place at that exact time we wouldn't have been able to find him. The Spirit didn't tell us that he was going to be walking back at that time. Nor did it tell us that he was swimming in the river.  But it told us what we needed to to be able to find him.  It put us in the right place at the right time.  It didn’t save us from running around with our heads cut off for like 20 minutes.  Sometimes we have to work and suffer before the Lord will just tell us where to go because sometimes we really just don't have the answer, nor could we have possibly had the answer.  The Lord will always just get us what we need and get us where we need to go.  It was cool and there was a similar experience on Saturday for his baptism but I don't think I'll have time to talk about that one too. 

So I guess the wards are all getting split and changed up [in his stake back home—we are organized geographically and sometimes it’s necessary to adjust boundaries.  We become comfortable in our ward/congregation families, so change is always difficult]. It's sad but also a good thing.  Change is good and just take it on the run.  That includes you Bryce.  The girls are gonna follow a good lookin’ guy like you even if you're in another stake so don't worry about them. Everything works out, there are no coincidences, God knows best.  I don't know that I can say too much more about that.  Even though right now it doesn't affect me all that much, it is weird to know that I won't be going back to the same ward I left from...

Anyways, Love you guys and hope you all have a great week!!

Elder Peacock

Hope

[Email dated 9.23.13]

hey everyone,

So things are the same ol’, same ol’ here in Nueva Cajamarca.  Still working hard here with Elder Villar and things are going relatively well.  

So once again, I feel like I have run out of things to say, but luckily, pictures are worth a thousand words and I've got one of those for you...reminds me of the turkey leg from Disneyland [November 2012- last hurrah with our Payne friends before Tyler left, see above], but this is much better.  It's the leg of majaz which is some jungle thing that looks like a giant guinea pig...haha  [See picture below courtesy of Google Images]

This week was a little tough but we did find this family from a referral who had listened to the missionaries before but did not progress.  But they've been through a lot of stuff in the past years that has really changed everything for them.  Now they see the importance and are much more willing to act than they were before.  Sometimes the Lord lets us fall, so that he can lift us up higher.

From what I keep hearing at home, there are some really tough things going on in the lives of a lot of people and I think it's always like that in any group of people, it just seems a little bit more prominent right now and it really is just a part of life.  There are always ups and there are always downs, so we can't be surprised when things are going good that something goes wrong.  The most important thing to really do is just to stay positive and have hope that things will get better.  They always do get better it's just that sometimes you have to wait a little bit.  Just remember that things will get better and then go to work and do what you're supposed to.  I've seen so many people that just don't have hope.  When things go bad, it's the end of the world and when things go good, they can't figure out why it's not always like that.  Also people need to remember that people can change.  Everyone really just needs to be a little more positive and understand that a lot of things are going to happen in life so just be happy about it.  That's really the only thing we can do, just be happy. If you think you can't control your happiness, you're very wrong.  Just choose to be happy and it'll happen.  One of my favorite scriptures (I have a lot of favorite scriptures right now) is Juan 14:26:  

“But the ^aComforter, which is the ^bHoly Ghost, whom the Father will send in my ^cname, he shall ^dteach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

What God gives us won't really make sense to the world but that's because he is not of this world.  

Things are really awesome down here and I really am happy and loving what I'm doing.  Send me some questions so I can have something a little more interesting to write you about next week.  Some of you should be getting some letters in the weeks that are coming, I just sent a bunch to mom so that should be coming.

Love you guys and have a great week!

Elder Peacock

Apostolic Counsel

hey everyone!

So this week was awesome, pictures just still don't want to load so you’ll just have to take my word for it... These computers aren't exactly state of the art... [Here’s one from just before his mission for fun]

Anyway, on Sunday there was a District Conference here and in all of Perú actually... and we got to hear from Elder Bednar and Elder Scott with a Seventy and someone from the Relief Society Presidency.  Being the middle of nowhere in Perú, we only really got to see like half of it [likely it was broadcast via satellite or internet] but from what I did hear, I can tell you that they are really men inspired of God and they speak directly to our needs.  At first, I couldn't figure out why they were doing a special conference for Perú, but they really spoke directly to what we need to hear here.  They talked about chastity and the youth because really that's where they're getting hit the hardest here.  A lot of youth go inactive [fall away from the Church] especially due to chastity.  It's really sad.  As a youth, there are sometimes just so many voices surrounding them.  Sometimes we let the voices that lead to the bad speak louder than our own that lead to the good.  It’s really all just because sometimes we don't want to open our mouth for one reason or another.  But one of the many things that I've learned is that you just have to open your mouth and speak for the good. [Stand as a witness of God at all times and in all things and in all places…Mosiah 18:9]

Another thing I learned from it is that sometimes when we need to hear something, God is telling us exactly what we need to hear but we don't want to listen.  I spent half of the conference trying to keep the youth from yelling in the church.  It's really sad that even when an Apostle is talking directly to someone, they don't want to listen. 

My companion is coming along.  I have a hard time just having a few minutes of silence so I usually just talk.

Love you guys, Gotta go....Pictures next week?....Maybe.

Elder Peacock

10 Months!!

Well, this is going fast....I hit my 10 month mark this week and I really feel like I just started not too long ago.  Apparently everything is going to be going even faster by the time I hit a year though...And I think that I've changed quite a bit since getting here as you may notice from this email.

Anyway, this week was good, but I'm jut really annoyed by one thing:  Procrastination.  Anyone who knows me should be confused by that because I procrastinated my way through high school [true, that.  A surprisingly successful strategy for him, though I would not recommend it] and that's just always how I've been.  Now, I’m the exact opposite.  I don't get why everyone wants to wait to do good things, especially when they understand everything and know what they should be doing.  That seems like a very common thing here that they can know something, and know it with their mind and with their heart, and yet still just want to do things later.  People, just know that there will never come a better time to act.  Doing everything all at the last minute is not a very efficient way to do anything and the thing is, with the Gospel, we don't know when we're actually preparing for, so really there is no way to procrastinate this and get it done.  Because by the time we know it is about to be all over, it'll already be over and we won't have time to act. 

Also, we were talking to someone yesterday and they said something that mom would be very shocked about.  They were talking about companionships of missionaries and how there's always the really friendly talkative one and the one who is very quiet and doesn't say too much...well apparently I'm the first one...I think it's partly out of necessity because Elder Villar is very nervous whenever he has the  opportunity to talk to anyone so he doesn't say all that much or talk to all that many people, so I'm doing a lot of the talking and a lot of the teaching right now (not the same things).  He's a good kid and all but it's just not something he's comfortable doing. [YET!]

[Mother’s rebuttal here:  Tyler and I are nearly polar opposites.  Where I think more words are always better, whereby to assure clear communication (ok, my bias is showing, I’m aware), Tyler feels no need to use 3 words when 1 is sufficient.  He’s a man of few spare words and is more likely to watch in amazement as I ramble on, and then reply “OK”, which is usually considered by me to be a totally inadequate response.  OK is not even an actual word.]

And for the record, every week I start off my time on the computer starting to load a picture but there really just isn't ever enough time to load the picture...these computers aren't exactly the fastest machines in the world, so just know that eventually you will get to see my beautiful face mom....eventually....maybe after i get changed again....

[I might have mentioned that I’d love to see some pictures…*SIGH*]

Love you guys!

Elder Peacock

PS did you know gasoline is a cleaning agent here? well now you do. also just remember not to use too much of it...that's a bad thing for sure....haha

It’s a Small World!

[post by Lisa]

When Tyler (Elder Peacock) was a junior in high school, he took this cute girl to the prom:

She is now Hermana Morris and serving a mission in El Salvador.

She wrote this to her family last week:

“Hey I forgot to tell you last week to tell the Peacock family that I met the parents of Tyler’s companion! It was the weirdest thing! We were in a different area in Modelo looking for a house for new elders and we came across some members. They were reading their son’s emails, showed us there pictures and lo and behold one of the pictures was of their son and Tyler at a baptism. I was freaking out!? How crazy! What a small world!”

We think it must have been Elder Carrillo’s family…

I’m a Father!

Ok, so I guess that subject line could use some explaining...

For those of you that have never been missionaries before that means that my companion is fresh out of the MTC [Missionary Training Center] and I'm training him.  His name is Elder Villar and he is from Huanuco, Perú which is like a 12 hour car ride away so really not very far away.  The weirdest thing ever is that he is taller than me...I did not even know that a Peruvian that is taller than me existed and now he's my comp.  I haven't taken a picture with him yet so you’ll just all have to wait to see him, but he's a lanky fella and he told me that he wants to gain 20 kilos on the mission....or 50 pounds....That is a lot.  But that means he wants to go to the gym a lot which I like because I hadn't had a companion that would get up to go to the gym until now.  

Because he’s new, he's not really used to teaching at all, nor does he really know how to do it, which is why I'm his father, because he's like a newborn in this world of being a missionary.  But going to our first lesson (we hadn't had any time to study or to plan together just because he had just gotten here and we had a lesson right then), I was trying to talk to him about what we were going to teach and trying to tell him which parts I wanted him to talk about, and he was just like yeah! yeah! I got it don't worry, I got it.  So I was like alright I guess we'll just go with it and see what happens...so we get into the lesson and I start teaching and then I look to him when it was his turn to talk and he just looks right back at me with the widest eyes I have ever seen and mouths to me "NO" while shaking his head.  It took pretty much everything I had to not just bust up laughing because of that.  Afterwards he apologized and now he likes to listen a little bit more when we talk about what we're going to teach.  He is a bit timid and does not like to talk to people in the street...or do more than bear his testimony of what I'm teaching and then look right back at me.  But I think it'll get better....hopefully.  Right now it feels a little bit like I'm dragging him around right now but it's alright.  

Anyways this week was good and training is definitely a different thing seeing as I'm the only one with any idea of what's going on...haha

Love you all and hope you have a good week!!

Elder Peacock

Down to the River

This week was good.  We had another baptism this week but this time in the river.  It is so cool to do it in the river.  His name is C*.  Even though he's 16, he really is much more mature, he's already graduated from "high school" (it's different here) and right when we first started teaching him, he started going to seminary and to church on his own even without really any friends there.  Probably the coolest part, he is the biggest Justin Bieber fan in the world.  haha he's always listening to JBiebs when we get to his house.  But yea, the baptism was in the river which was awesome, even if when we showed up, there was a guy taking a bath in the river right where we were going....haha there are just some images that we have to choose to block out...

Then, we also had training with Prez. Gómez this week and they {he and his wife} stayed in the zone for a few days and visited all of the areas.  Also all of the elders from the offices came and divided with Elder Carrillo and I because all of them wanted to get to see Nueva Cajamarca because it really is the coolest are in the mission.  We are just so far away from everything and everything is just so green and so cool here.  But yeah, Prez and Sister Gómez are really cool.  She told our pensionista (sister who makes our breakfast and dinner) that she should start to give us salad and fruit and stuff.  She was so surprised and asked us and really I would love that.  I'm used to eating a fried piece of meat with a mountain of rice for dinner and I really could use some variety...I don't think that I've ever just wanted to eat a salad or something so much in my life.

Time feels like it's absolutely flying right now.  We already have
changes today and I feel like I just got here.  I'm not going anywhere
but my comp might be going somewhere....Nothing is for sure but I keep telling him that he's leaving and it bugs him because he doesn't want to go at all.

Love you all and have a good week!!
Elder Peacock