Letter home

The good news is that the Familia Alzate and the Familia Rincón are with fecha in Agosto and are excited to be baptized, and se we are happy with that. The Lord promises blessings for obedience and for disobedience no blessings. If I am obediente and do everything I can to deserve blessings, I´ll recieve them.

In Ezequiel 20 the ancianos of Israel come to Ezequiel to consult Jehova. In short, God tells them that he´s not going to say them anything because of the idolatries. Then, by Ezequiel he tells them "Cada uno eche de sí las abominaciones de delante de sus ojos, y no os contaminéis con los ídolos de Egipto. Yo soy Jehová vuestro Dios." [Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. Ezekiel 20:7]or if that they would repent and leave their idols, he´d respond them. "Pero ellos se rebelaron contra mí y no quisieron obedecerme; no echó de sí cada uno las abominaciones de delante de sus ojos, ni dejaron los ídolos de Egipto; y dije que derramaría mi ira sobre ellos, para consumar mi enojo contra ellos en medio de la tierra de Egipto." [But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.Ezekiel 20:8]or that they brought upon themselves an effectual curse for not wanting to leave their idols. If they would have concentrated themselves in God, they could have received a response. But, as they didn´t want to , they received the promise of destruction.

It´s rough but true. Don´t be destroyed, repent.

Always Great,

Élder Hicken

Hey Party

I have very little time to write. On Tuesday we knew our new companions and I was talking to another elder about our new companions and I told him that I was happy with anywhere except Peru because I had already had 4 peruvian companions. Not anything against peruvians, but I´ve been with them much. I said especially not from Arequipa because they are famously prideful and serious. 

When I finally asked my companion from where he is from, he´s from the "Independent Republic" of Arequipa, o sea Arequipa, Perú. the cambios are revelation, people. For many reasons, just that that´s another evidence. He´s named Élder Valenzuela and comes from a pueblito. It must be real pueblito because i had to teach him how to use a microwave with other very basic things. But, he´s learning well and last night put two baptismal dates. I´ll write more next week.

Always Great,

Élder Hicken

Happy 4th

Well, this week was much better, and Mirian came to church! We´ve been teaching her and her (legally married) hubby and they`ve had their list of challenges to come to church and they still have but Mirian came this week and loved it. I found myself thinking in the sacrament meeting. I analyzed everything that was happening, trying to see everything from the eyes of an investigator. Things improvised, the old lady starting to sing a hymn in the middle of her testimony, the bishop announcing that only two people came to clean the capilla, and thinking pailas. But, I realized something, well maybe not realized but reminded myself. The Church is true. Here is the Priesthood, we have the Profet, the Bishop is set apart and called by revelacion, and here is the Holy Ghost. If the person is prepared, they´re going to notice all the good, and they´ll love it. In the end, she loved it and her 4 year old daughter also.

Élder Velázquez, as he´s AP now, came to Zona Pereira for accompany people! It looks like the mission has their sights on Élder Martinez for a couple of commentaries from him and the LZ, and it was great spending a day in trio wirking with my old comp from Armenia. It was a day of laughs. Two stories cuento.

1. In companionship study Élder Martinez and I were practicing teaching to Élder Velázquez. In the middle of the practice, the vecina [neighbor] started blasting a champeta (genre of music popular in the coast that isn´t very virtuous) and we paused the practice. When she turned it down, we continued, thinking the bit had passed. It was funny becasue Élder Velázquez and I have both passed alot of time in the costa. After a couple seconds she blared it again and I started dancing and we started laughing harder. The best part was when she turned it way down that we couldn´t hear it and we had just calmed down started the practice again when she sings the song yelling "¡¡AGÁRRALA!!" and that killed us.

2. Singing the hymn 50 Más cerca Dios, de ti [Nearer My God, To thee]  with the familia Valencia (see foto 4935 for to see the corner of their house) the kid Miguel only remembers the lines "más cerca Dios, de ti quiero estar" which is the first line of the first verse and "y angeles habrá" which is the third line of the third verse. The funny is that he thinks the two lines are right after eachother and gets confused when we end up singing something else. He literally begins every line with "y angeles habrá" and looks around confused because we´`re singing something else. About the 10th time, Élder Velazquez and I couldn´t contain it and laughter filled the rests.

It was a good day.

Always Great,

Élder Hicken