Called to Serve: Assigned to Labor in Piura, Peru: Week 96 - Earthquake! / Finishing it Out in Castillo

Well Saturday night was the last time experiencing that unique rush of anticipation on receiving transfers! I got what I was praying for and I will be finishing my mission here in Castilla! I really love everything about this area and ward.
Also, I have had such a great time being a zone leader, and working with the elders and sisters in this zone. Im gonna give it all ive got for these last 6 weeks! No regrets.

This week was a mad rush to try and get our guy Juan (Mendez family) married to his "wife" Soledad, so that he could get baptized before he heads out to the sea to work for a few weeks. Juan wants to be baptized SO badly, but despite the tough economic circumstances of his family, he has never been able to get married to Soledad. So this week, we were literally running all over the city trying to help the two collect birth certificates, copies of ID, and other documents to be able to get them hitched. Unfortunately, time got the best of us and we werent able get them married. Luckily, it looks like Juan might not leave to work for at least a few more days, so we are hoping for a miracle in these next few days. If we cant get him married and baptized this week, it may be about a month or so until he comes back. Whatever it takes, we are going to get him dunked!!

Around 3:00 Sunday morning we woken up by an earthquake! Apparently there was an 8.0 magnitude earthquake to the east of us in the Peruvian jungle, that we were able to feel here in Piura. Luckily it wasnt too strong here, so there wasnt any damage or anything. Pretty crazy though. Having the ground sway under your feet really makes you count your blessings and realize who really is in charge of this earth!

As we did a while back with the Book of Mormon, we have been reading the new testament in 90 days as a mission. Lately, Ive been reading through all of Pauls epistles to the members of the early church. It has been amazing to me to see all the striking similarities of the early church of Christ and the modern one. It has really been a great testimony builder for me. As latter-day saints, we can really learn a lot from these counsels to the "early-day" saints. I invite all of you to really engage in the New Testament study this year!