Elder Gavin Milius: PERUVIAN FOOD CURES TRUNKINESS

Hey everybody!! Week three has gone by so flipping fast! I can't even believe that it's Monday already! Like, I don't even know where this last week went. All I can say is that if my entire mission is like this, I'm gonna be home before I can even blink. But I don't want to think about that or else I'll end up getting really homesick and then my mission will be a lot longer than I think.

This week was honestly really fun. I was nervous that it was gonna be loong because last week was REALLY fun but when I put my mind to the work and focused specifically on the people I'm teaching, it's quite enjoyable. Monday night we went around checking up on some of our progressing people but the fact of being a missionary is that you do this 24 hours a day. Our friends on the other hand, actually have lives outside of us teaching them so they usually don't show up to lessons or don't answer their doors. which is what happened Monday. But we then decided to visit a really cool couple in the ward and had a great time talking with them to end out the night pretty much.

Tuesday was really cool cause we finally had interviews with our mission president finally! What's funny is right before interviews, we were doing service at the farm and we were hauling out some hay bales for some cows and horses. I had hay in every crevice of my body from head to toe, just hay in my hair, down my shirt, my pants, and in my shoes! We also had to go straight to interviews after so we rushed over to the church building. We had our church clothes to change into and we changed really fast and had to go wash out a bunch of hay out of our hair so we looked presentable to the president! It ended up being fine and I loved talking with the president, sharing my successes and also some areas I can improve on and seek guidance on.

Wednesday and Thursday were just basic "Grind the Find" days. We spent all day Wednesday making calls and knocking doors. We actually had a lot of success knocking, we found three, maybe four really interested people that we are hoping to keep in contact with this next week. Thursday we also made some phone calls and stopped by some people's houses, but we also did some service for this lady who needed a bunch of stuff taken out of her daughter's house. It was great and all and she really appreciated us but there's something about doing service on a farm that can't be compared to anything else. But we got to help out this lady which was really nice and she did really appreciate all our help.

Come Friday and Saturday! We had an exchange with our district. I spent the night at my district leader's house and the other elder spent the night with my companion. It was so fun and I learned a lot. I will say some of the things I learned is that I'm grateful that me and my companion keep our apartment nice and clean and also that I'm starting to get comfortable in my area because when I wasn't in my area for this exchange, I was a little awkward lol. But I also learned a lot about how I can teach people and also the importance of prayer. Praying before and after every lesson, every daily activity, every time we leave the house. It's just really nice to know that the spirit is always with you and the one way we can make sure we always know that is through prayer. Praying invites the spirit like nothing else and if we can pray for the spirit to be with us in all we do, we will know and will have the spirit wherever we walk.

OK Sunday was really weird! We were a little late to welcome people in but we invited one of our friends, and he came!! He was super chill, he stayed for just a little bit but we got to talk about what a bishop is and about songs and about what happens during Sacrament meeting. It was great! He stayed until after the Sacrament, so he got to experience that, and he also sang all the songs which was lit too!!! But after he left we finished up church and basically sat in the family history center eating lunch, making calls, doing family history work for like 4 hours! We were honestly so exhausted but we had a dinner appointment which we were super excited about! And they made the most delicious food ever!!!! This guy was an artist when it comes to food. He made us this like Peruvian meal, lots of chicken, rice and beans but it was so flipping good!!! Then we played a game with them, shared a spiritual thought and also he gave us ties!! Sunday ended out pretty flipping amazing but the vibe all day was like weird, still an awesome day though!

That just about wraps up my week. I will share a scripture that really stuck with me and it's Jeremiah 1: 8,19 which says "8 be not afraid of their faces; for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. 19 and they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee." The adversary will fight against us. He will send temptations and cruel things and even people to tear us down and try and break our happiness. but knowing that we are part of this church and knowing that we all have the holy ghost to direct us, to keep us safe, and to make us feel true joy, the adversary can't prevail against us. He will fight but he won't tear us down. We will be immovable from our foundation if we build our lives upon the rock of our redeemer who is Christ.