June 29th, 2015

Dear Family,

Wow I can't believe we are at the end of June! In just 2 days my mission will be officially split and President Rios will be here! I am super excited to meet President Rios! What I have heard is that he is super powerful and such a great teacher. Also that he is half my size! This last week in the mission Peru Trujillo has been a good last week. The Marler's set up a going away type of thing which was nice. They shared with us such great testimonies and advice for our futures which was nice. We also were able to go to a restaurant with them which was good. The departure was a little rough, but we all know the reasons why we are really here in Peru.

I have been thinking about something for a while and I thought I would send you my thoughts about a question that I have.

Why does the Lord require changes?

My answer is this. The Lord requires changes because he knows our potential. We live in a gospel of changes. Not necessarily the doctrine itself, but the people. The Lord is going to offer us opportunities to change and is going to bless us if we choose to change, because that is what it means to become more like the savior. To change. If there were no changes, we would never be able to reach our full potential. We would never be able to become like our savior, even if we lived a pretty good life without change. The Lord wants us and expects us to change. It is up to us to decide to allow the Lord into our lives and accept those changes so that we may become like him. 

On the other hand, why does the Lord require changes in his work. Once again the answer is easy. The Lord knows the potential of his work and will change it so that it can reach it's potential. Just as he changes missions, stakes, wards, and the actual work itself. If there were no changes there would be no progression and the work of the Lord wouldn't be.

This week has been a little rough because my companion was a little sick and the sickness got passed over to me, and so it was a tough week of sharing the gospel. The good news is, both my companion and I have bounced back and are excited to keep the work going. We had a pretty good talk while walking in the streets, thinking about what we can do with our zone and the vision that we want for our zone. We want to be able to set a clear vision so that our whole zone can be on the same page so that we are able to become more united and better servants of the Lord. We look forward to the leadership training that we will have with President Rios so that we may have a clear idea of the vision that he has and how we will be able to transmit the message to the missionaries in our zone.

I love this great work. I hope you all know that I have a huge testimony of the Work of the Lord and of the blessings that come from it.

I love you all and hope that you have an amazing week and a great 4th of July! My companion and I will be making Hotdogs to celebrate!!

Love,

Elder Thorpe

june 22, 2015

Dear Family,

This last week has been super busy! I never new how much there was to do as a Zone Leader until this last week. My first week here in Moche  has been such a great one. Something that I learned really fast is how to love the missionaries in my zone. This last district meeting that we had made me super excited to work with such great missionaries. I love them all so much and I see such great potential in each one of them. We were also able to do a little training for our district leaders, which 2 of them are brand new, and so that was a great way to start off the change so that we all have the same vision and are able to lead the zone in the same direction. We were also able to do a couple of baptismal interviews for a couple of areas, so that was great. I was able to meet some really awesome people that are ready for this next step in their lives and have decided to take it in such a great time. I am really excited for this next change and in working with everyone in the zone.

We didn't teach a ton of people this week, due to being super busy, but we were able to have a few really great lessons with a few investigators that are so prepared in this time of their lives. I look forward in helping them progress on their journey to the Tree of Life.

The Temple dedication was absolutely fantastic. The spirit was so immensely strong as we accepted the temple of Trujillo into our lives and dedicated it to the Lord. It is an experience that I will never forget. President Uchtdorf was so inspired in his messages that he shared with us, and I know that there are so many people that are ready to receive the gospel into their lives. President Uchtdorf and Elder Bednar came, which was so great! I learned so much from the dedication!  It was a day that we have been waiting for forever! I loved the dedication so much! Something that stood out to me is that Elder Bednar talked about Family history work and how we need to do ours. He said if we aren't doing our family history work, then we won't be able to receive exaltation, which I thought that was way cool that he said that. It was a testimony to me of how important it is and how I want to put more of an effort in doing Family History work. 

We didn't do much with the Temple dedication. We went to the cultural event on Saturday

 night, in a chapel and then to the dedication, as well in the chapel, for all three sessions! I learned so much from President Uchtdorf and Elder Bednar! I wrote a little bit about that in my big email and I am sure I will write more to you in a letter. I also said hi to President Uchtdorf... We were doing random zone stuff (bringing a mattress to a missionary's room) and so we were standing on a dirt road waiting for a taxi and all of the sudden I saw our mission President's car, which I thought it was him, but it was some random guy driving President Uchtdorf, Elder Bednar, and their wives around to see some historical sights. So that was really cool! haha
This last week was so good! I learned so much being a new zone leader! For the Temple dedication we didn't do too much, but that was alright! It was so great! I can't believe how fast the time goes by! It amazes me every week! I mean, I am about to hit a year! That is so crazy!

I love my new zone and area so much! I have a new companion named Elder Gonzalez and he is from Washington! We have so much fun together and this next change looks like it is going to be amazing! We have a huge room and are able to make breakfast, and all meals on Sundays which is so great. You all might be suprised by this, but we cook everything with a water boiler and that is it! Last night we made spaghetti! 

This was such a great week for me! Really busy, but full of the spirit.

I love you all so much and hope you have an amazing week!

Love,

Elder Thorpe

June 15th, 2015

Dear Family,

On Sunday Morning I got a call from my mission President and he told me that I would be getting changed from being a district leader.. He then went on and asked if I would accept the assignment as a new Zone Leader! I told him I would love to, and so I went to a training and was notified of my new Zone, which happens to be in Trujillo in Laureles. I will also being serving in the Peru Trujillo south mission with President Rios as my new mission President! I am super excited to be serving in the Trujillo south mission! Although I loved President Marler as a Mission President, I look forward to serving with President Rios! I will be leaving my area tomorrow to start the work in the new zone that I have been assigned!

For P-day last week we went to a restaurant and ate octopus, squid, fish, and crab, which was pretty good, and then on Wednesday we had cake for my Birthday, so that was really good!

This last week that I have had here in Esperanza has been amazing. I love this area so much. There are so many blessings that I am able to see here in my area as well as in all of the zone. It sure is a chosen place and I know that Heavenly Father has placed his children here so that they may encounter the gospel. I have loved my time being here, but I know that the Lord has a new purpose for me in the mission and that I am to go to Laureles and serve the people there. I look forward to the time that I will be able to serve there! 

I loved my time as a district leader. I loved getting to know each of the missionaries in my district and in offering a helping hand to them when needed, and now I look forward to doing the same with such a great Zone. I already feel a love for all the people in my new area and for all of the missionaries in my new zone. 

I love all of you and am so grateful for your support and love! The Gospel is true, Jesus is the Christ, and the Father lives!

Love,

Elder Thorpe

June 8th, 2015

Dear Family,

First I want to say thanks for all of the Birthday Wishes! It made me feel really good to see how loved I am! My week and birthday was so great! Just like every other week!

This week in the area was really good. We had a lot of success working with the members this week and with the consejo de barrio. Every week I am able to see how much people want to help serve and work with the missionaries, and it is such a huge blessing being a missionary. Once again the church attendance went up once again to 330 in sacrament meeting, which was really good. 

Elder Salinas and I are doing great and continue to grow as a companionship. We are always looking for what we can do better as missionaries, and so we were really pleased to do and intercambio with Elder Brown this last week. We were able to learn a lot and were able to apply things that we learned from him the next day. 

The area is doing great. Our only challenge is getting investigators and less actives to come to church. We are working really hard so that we can help them all come to church. 

Once again, thank you for the birthday wishes! I love you all and hope you have amazing weeks! 

Love,

Elder Thorpe

June 1st, 2015

Dear Family,

Happy June first! Each month that goes by seems to go by faster and faster!

This week was the last week for the open house of the Trujillo Temple, which will be dedicated on the 21st of June! I am so excited!

The last week of the open house for the Temple was such a good week. My companion and I were able to bring many of our investigators that we have to the Temple and were able to explain the reasons why we are here in Trujillo preaching the gospel. There was such a great spirit that could be felt this last week as we took advantage of the time that we had to bring Heavenly Father's children to his Holy house. We look forward to helping all of these people learn more about the great plan of salvation that our Father in Heaven has as well as visiting the referrals that we received from the Temple.

We didn't have as much time as normal to teach this week since we went to the Temple 4 times, but I know that is what Heavenly Father wanted us to do. The work in the Robles ward continues to go forth. Last Sunday we had a total of 308 in sacrament meeting and yesterday there were 337 in sacrament meeting. The ward is strong, but something that us missionaries here in the ward have talked about is strengthening the consejo de barrio (ward council). We struggle a little with the consejo, but we are hoping that we can work more with the leaders so that the consejo can be stronger and in strengthening the consejo the ward will be strengthened. 

Yesterday I heard about the death of Elder L. Tom. Perry. It was bittersweet. He was such a great apostle but I know now that he is on the other side of the veil doing the work of the Lord for those that haven't been able to accept the gospel here on the Earth.

Elder Salinas and I are doing great. We love the area that we are serving in and are grateful for this time that we have to serve in this part of the vineyard.

Love,

Elder Thorpe