Letter from July 25

It was a crazy week, but ended on a great note!! We were planning the baptisms of Paulino and his wife Saturnina on Sunday, but Paulino harvests coffee and couldn’t come home until he finished his work in the Chacra (not sure what the word is in English).  Well it rained a bunch in the Chacra so he couldn’t finish in time, he ended up coming down Sunday night.  We were worried that he wasn’t going to be as excited, but they accepted to be baptized this Wednesday!!!!!!!!!

Last night we did splits. My comp went with three members to the house of a family that have come to church a few times and he said it was a great lesson. They are going to travel for a week, but accepted to be baptized in the middle of August. They show a ton of excitement and come to church on their own. The Family consists of Celia, who is a single mother of three.  Her husband passed away awhile back.  Her kids are around the ages of 23, 14 and 12.  They are awesome.  We also have Ivan who hasn’t accepted a baptismal date yet, but we sent four members to talk with him and invite him to an activity that they are going to have today. Hopefully that can help us out.  He is the man, he is 22, and attends with his family. His mom is living with her boyfriend so we are helping her towards marriage and she is very excited to take the steps.

A few priceless stories that I wanted to share, that make the mission even more exciting. There is an old lady that sits outside near the house of our pensionista.  As we pass by she always says “Ohhh Gringito lindo, ohh que lindo.”  Which basically means handsome little white boy! Haha! Oh and yesterday I gave a talk in sacrament, taught Sunday school and Elders Quorum. I also directed the music at one point. Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to bless the sacrament, or clean the bathroom after church to complete the whole round.  It helps me a lot though to talk in front of people and teach, and with understanding of the gospel.  I still get a little nervous at times, but not too bad. Good times!!!!

Elder Riggs

Letter from July 18

I just finished one of the best weeks ever.  I am very happy and very excited for the next couple weeks.  Yesterday we had quite a few investigators at church, and they are all progressing and very excited to follow the example of the Savior and be baptized. I was actually a little surprised to see all of them in church. I was expecting most of them But to my great surprise they ALL showed up!  They arrived on Peruvian time, which is anywhere from 20 minutes late to... well there really isn’t a limit, but the good thing is that they made it! Then we spent the day visiting, and teaching the majority of them.

This weekend we have the baptisms of Paulino and Satornina planned out.  They are very excited, and progressing a ton!   We also are preparing a few others for the next weekend.  I told you a little bit about Hector, he is 30 years old, he is the man!  To my surprise, he came to church. He has his business and said it would be hard to leave because he is in charge, but he found someone that can help him there so that he can come to church. We also are teaching Helena and her family.  She has come to church many times, she isn’t married and her boyfriend has been traveling, but when he returns we’ll work towards marriage.  She has 2 kids that have come to church with her.  One is 12 and the other (named Ivan) is 22.  We have talked with Ivan about a baptism date of July 31^st. He said that he would love to, but we are going to continue to visit him and secure that date. This is the best progress I have seen in Pichanaki!

We have a new mission President.  He is from Colombia, President Ardila!  He is the man too!  ( I know what you’re thinking, everyone is the man, haha but it’s true.)  He taught us a lot about the importance of members.   My interview was awesome! He told me that he knew that I was a great young man, and a wonderful missionary.  He told me that he can feel that I have matured a ton in the time I have had in the mission. Oh and we did a service project, and I worked with a machete. Just know that I am living in the jungle, doing the Lord’s work, and loving it!!!!

Letter from July 11

I had a little surprise the night of my birthday.  I didn’t think anyone really knew the day of my birthday, but I remember telling a couple members when we were first here in this area and they must have remembered.  The members bought 2 cakes.  It was the best!  I really can’t believe that I turned 20, I feel like a little kid still. Some of the members threw me a party. On one of the cakes they had my name printed and boy did it make me laugh.  I told you that our last name is hard to pronounce here, well apparently it’s even harder to spell.  Instead of Riggs, it says, ¨Ritch¨…funny!  But they are all so awesome, they sang, they all said a few inspirational words to me and we celebrated with the amazing taste of cake. They are like my family here, it’s funny how close you really get to the ward that you serve in, I love it. 

We are progressing with the investigators. We have the goal to have three baptisms in this month, and things are looking very bright, with hard work and the help of the Lord, we will for sure reach the goal and hopefully pass it.  We have a couple that are about 50 years old, they are preparing for this

24th of July and it was great to see their smiling faces yet again in the congregation all three hours of church. We also have 3 others that we have been challenging for the 30^th of this month, they are very excited, some have come to church a few times.  We just need to help them understand the importance of baptism and they can be baptized the 30th.  One of the three is a lady that is about 65 years old.  She loves coming to church and comes early, but she doesn’t want to be baptized yet.  But I know we can overcome that challenge, her daughter that is about 40 comes too, she isn’t married and her husband is away for a few months, but in the meantime she is progressing very well.  We also have a guy named Hector, he is 28, he is a stud!  We have been teaching him a lot about the Book of Mormon because he had doubts about it, but now he has received his own testimony. I am praying that he can be in the baptismal font the 30th.  The third is a guy who is 25 and living with his girlfriend, they have 2 kids and want to get married.  She has doubts of the church still, but little by little we will help her out.  He is the person that I have seen the most change in during my mission.  When we found him he was a little resistant, but he began to pray, read, and come to church, and he made so many changes, really he has changed his life.

I appreciate your prayers and support.  They help so much.  Just know that I am doing awesome!!

Photos from the Jungle!!!

This is an inside view of Elder Riggs' apartment

Apparently someone used a McDonalds ad to cover their chicken coop and Skylar has now gone 9 months w/o eating a double cheeseburger. Can you feel his pain?

This is the church house

The baptismal font. If you remember Skylar and his comp spent most the day cleaning it out before his first baptism in this area.

Letter from July 4

Happy 4th of July!  I was just recently reminded that it was a holiday today.  When I entered in the mission, I heard a few missionaries that said they forgot about a holiday. I thought they were crazy, but now I’m the crazy one!  I started my Fourth of July off very well!  We traveled in the morning to La Merced, and it’s a pretty crazy drive, and the drivers are even crazier with all the turns and curves.   Well long story short, we arrived and as we were walking I felt a little car sick.  Let’s just say I’m pretty sure some dog is eating my breakfast that at one point was in my stomach.   If you were wondering, the answer is yes, I did throw up, but don’t worry, I feel great now!! ha a little car sick nothing more. 

This week was an awesome week.  The 16th of this July we have our first couple that will be entering the baptismal waters together. That will be a beautiful sight to see.  They are progressing so much and are stoked for their baptism.  They are MARRIED TOO!!  They are a couple in their 50’s, I believe. We are working with some of their kids too. I will keep you posted on them. And the lord blessed me very much on this wonderful 4th of July weekend. You are not going to believe how many investigators we had yesterday in the Sacrament meeting….10!!! Can you believe that? I couldn’t at first. A few aren’t married but it’s a possibility that we could see a marriage this month.  We will have to wait and see the Lord’s hand at work. I love this work!

Elder Riggs