January 25th, 2016

First of all I want to tell my little sister HAPPY BIRTHDAY this Saturday on the 30th! Can't believe that you are turning 9 Ashlee! 

This last week was really great. In fact I would almost be able to say that it was one of the best weeks that I have had in my entire mission! You all are probably wondering what was so good about this last week and so I will tell you! To start off we had an incredible zone training! In fact everyone was coming up to us after it telling us how inspired and edified they were throughout the whole training. Now I can't say that the reason why they were inspired and edified by anything that we said, but rather by what they felt. I as well was inspired and edified through the one the can inspire and edify being the holy ghost. What great joy I receive as I recognize the holy ghost working within me and testifying to me of truth. In our zone training we focussed a lot on Conversion and how it is that we can be converted and what we are able to do as we are converted to the gospel of Christ. I love what Elder Oaks says about conversion. "Conversion doesn't mean that we know but rather that we do" The principle of conversion is exactly that. 

Then on Thursday night I got a call from a family that I was teaching in Moche asking me to go down to be a part of their baptism. I was filled with such great joy to know that they were going to be baptized and that I would have a part in baptizing. Truly one of my favorite and most spiritual moments that I have had here in my mission would have to be the baptism of the Perez Moron Family. Now the whole family is baptized and are preparing to enter the temple a year from now. I have no doubt that I will find myself back here in Peru to be at their sealing. I love that family so much and I feel blessed to have been able to know them and be a part of their lives. 

Sunday as well was great. My companion and I were actually invited to go and do a training for a ward council here in the stake which went really well. We focussed on the importance of a ward council and that the purpose is found in the scriptures. Moses 1:39 To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. What a great way to end off the week.

I know that my purpose is to do exactly that. I feel comforted in knowing that this last week I was able to help others take their first steps to obtaining all the blessings of eternity. I love the gospel and I know that it is perfect.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Thorpe

January 18th, 2016

Well another week has come and gone. This week went by super fast since we went to Trujillo to our leadership council, so that was really good. We were actually able to go to the temple while we were up in Trujillo and so that was really good! I really enjoyed being able to go to the temple. I feel blessed that I have been able to go to the Temple so many times in my mission! Let's see here, this last week my companion and I set a goal to give out more books of Mormon which we were able to have a lot of success in doing so. Our next goal is to give out 50 books of Mormon this next week, but not just to give them out but rather help others come unto the gospel and learn about the greatest thing that God has given to us. We realized that we must help others realize the blessings that come from the very book that has blessed our lives. 

Anyways there wasn't a bunch of exciting news this last week because we did a lot of traveling but I can say that I am super excited to give our zone training this next week and help the missionaries understand how important our callings are and how we can achieve our full potential. 

Sorry this week is so short, but I want you all to know that I love you so much and hope you have great weeks!

Love,

Elder Thorpe

Hauraz, Peru

January 11th, 2016

Well another week has come and gone. It seems like as I have been on this downhill part of my mission the Lord has continued to show to me that I don't know everything quite yet and there is still a long ways to go. This last week I came to realize how important it is to never sit back and feel comfortable. Just because you have less time left in the mission then that doesn't mean that it is time to sit back and relax. It doesn't mean that you go through the motions just because you know exactly how a mission is and what you need to do, in fact it is time to really look at how much God has blessed you in your mission so far and work even harder so that you are continually blessed by him. 

I'm not sure why that thought came to me the other day but I haven't really been able to think about anything else. I was thinking about the Savior the other day and how when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane as well as upon the cross he didn't give in nor give up. Instead he went through and completed his work. He came into the world to do the will of the father and was indeed exactly obedient. It makes me think about how we as missionaries need to be exactly obedient all the way to the end and truly do the will of the father if we want to continually see miracles and his blessing in our lives. It isn't enough to say that we have done enough just because we have had so much success or just because we have already seen so many blessing in our lives. The gospel doesn't work like that. That is why it is called Enduring to the END. 

This week for me was actually pretty good. We had a lot of success in teaching less actives. We weren't able to find a whole lot of new investigators to teach this week but we were able to see some progression in a few less active families. We also ended up doing a training for our ward council which was very edifying. We were happy to see a change in our ward council after that training so we decided that it was successful. Other than that the week has been pretty normal. 

Well, I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Thorpe

January 4th, 2016

Well I sure can't believe that the new year is here! 2016! It amazes me that this is the year that I will finish my mission. Many people say that the one "whole year" that you are in your mission is your golden year and all I have to say about that is they are right. 2015 was probably one of the best years of my entire life! It was full of miracles, love, and most importantly the spirit! I sure have learned a lot in this last year on my mission. I learned what it means to be a consecrated missionary, how to teach by and through the Spirit, and my favorite was being able to understand how the Spirit talks to me and being able to recognize right away when it is the Spirit. What a blessing it has been to see such great miracles and to have been able to understand a little bit better what the will of the Father is for me. 

This week being new years has been a little bit rough since everyone was out drinking and partying and so we didn't have too much success. It was super hard to find someone that wasn't drunk or that wasn't at a party. We did however find a couple of new investigators to teach this week which was really good since we have a hard enough time as it is finding people to teach. But the new year was good. We pretty much just slept all night which surprised me because last year I couldn't sleep until 1 or 2 in the morning because of all the fireworks.. They still shot off a ton of fireworks here I was just so tired to hear them.

Anyways.. nothing else really happened this week.. I'm super excited for this year being the year when I will finish my mission! I can't wait to see what God has in store for me and for the miracles that will occur here! I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Thorpe