Baptism of Sabina

Hey everyone!

We had another baptism today! Our investigator, Sabina, got baptised. She's the mother of a member in the ward, but she's always been againt religion before. She's had a ton of problems and bad expiriences before and didn't want to get involved at first. But when she prayed and asked God if it was true, she got her answer and everything changed. We had to help her out a lot though, because she can't read or write. So we were always reading from the Book of Mormon to help her gain a personal testimony. She really found everything through prayer. She really has a ton of faith, and even though her other daughters were telling her not to get baptised, she told them that she made up her mind. She told them that she made a promise to God and nothing would stop her from following Him. So that was super cool. One of her daughters told us that she wanted to listen and would like to get baptised as well after she listened to the testimony of Sabina. She lives in another area, but she will still be a wonderful reference for someone.

And as a side note, we finally had a baptism where everything just worked out. There was noise from all the children, but that was about it. We had planned everything a head of time and it actually turned out like we planned. That was pretty amazing. So that's the first time in my mission that that's happened. So I could feel the spirit and relax a lot more that day.

Other than that, I've been eating cow liver with rice and showering in ice cold water every day, so everything is normal. We got "pizza" as well, so that was pretty cool... Though I'm gonna have to eat real pizza as soon as I get back. I can't wait for that and a real hamburger. And real ice cream. And Root Beer. And, well, the list could get pretty long, so I'll just leave it there. But I can't complain in all honesty, I'm really happy here. I guess my blessings all come in different ways.

But I've really been blessed with the chance to help people here. I love every day and every person that we teach. We'll be working really hard to help others see the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Just keep those I teach in your prayers and I know they'll find the faith to come unto Christ.

Thanks for all of your love and support! I love you all and you're all in my prayers!
Take care!
Elder Seth Prestwich (prezz-weish)

And now I'm counting down....

Everything has been going well here in Laredo! We've been working really hard to keep people coming to Christ. We've had a little success in our new goals of finding families as well! We've managed to find two families that seem really nice. We'll have to work really hard with them so they can make covenants, but I feel like they can both progress with a little time. We're gonna keep looking hard so we can find a family that's ready and willing to come unto Christ, though.

I was really impressed by the other Elders (Elder Palma and Elder Coronado) in Progresso with their baptism. Their investigator was pretty sick the day of her baptism, but she was still willing to do it. So the two of them brought her breakfast in the morning and managed to find a big portable stove to heat up the water for her as well. She was able to be baptised in luke warm water at least. But it really impressed my how they went as far as bringing her breakfast to make sure she was alright and happy. They really know how to make her feel loved and show that they care.

Nothing way too interesting happend other than that this week. We're just working and hopeing that all goes well! Thanks so much for your support and care!
Love ya!
Elder Seth Prestwich

I still put my fingers on W S A D....

Well, I feel really great about what we could do this week. We've been really trying to follow the Spirit and be obedient with all the rules, and it's shown. We've been able to find new people and the people we're working with have started to progress. Well, two or three of those people. We're really excited about our two fechas and have, as always, high hopes for them.

When I was on divisions with my mission leader last Sunday, he started asking me what it was like to be a missionary and how I felt about it. He's preparing to go on his mission, but in this last while he seems to have gotten excited about going. He asked me how I felt being a missionary, and I started wondering about how normal it seemed to me these days. It's what I do every day without rest. I do the same thing every day in the same area, but it somehow stays interresting. I feel a consistent happiness that doesn't often leave me. I guess I just got used to having all that, so I didn't really think about it much. So I sat there thinking about how blessed I really am. I guess I've let consistencey rob me of the wonders that come from this work. So I'm rededicating myself to looking for the little miracles that happen every day.

Oh, and I found out that two more of my investigators that were close to baptism in Huanchaco got baptized recently!
Hna. Cleidy and Hno. Pepe. So that was super exciting to hear about. I'm super happy for them and really hope they can keep strong as well.

As for cool things that I've done these day, it would be when we went to the lake here in Laredo. There a tiny little village that's about a half hour away called Conache, but there's a little lake and some sand dunes over there. It was actually super fun to go. They've got a nice little picnick area to go to and a field to play soccer. We went with a few families from the ward and it was tons of fun. We played soccer for a while, then headed up to the dunes. It was about a 20 minute hike through the farm fields so it was nice and green. Then we went sprinting up the dunes (as far as we could get, anyway) and running or rolling back down. It really made for a good time.

But thanks for the updates! I hope all is well and that everyone is healthy!
I'll be praying for everyone!
Elder Seth Prestwich

Happy Birthday, Jaren!!

Hey, everyone!

Well, I feel pleased with this last week's work. Our numbers weren't anything out of the ordinary, really, but the Lord really blessed us with success! We now have two fechas [dates] and two progressing investigators! So we're really excited and working really hard to take care of them. Their names are Esther and Carmelo. Esther is the neighbor of a member family and she's only 8 years old. We've been teaching her and her mom. They both want to be baptized, but her mom has to get married first, so she'll have to come later. Carmelo is a 17 year old who's pretty quite, but seems really excited to hear about the Restoration. He's always receptive to our message.

So we'll be working hard to make sure they keep excited about coming to church, reading, and praying. We're helping them learn how to endure to the end so they can be baptized and keep going afterward. But it'll be very possible that they're our first baptisms here in Laredo! We're super thankful for the blessings that the Lord has given us (and them at the same time).

Oh, and they're iguanas here! I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but we were walking over a little bridge one day, and there was this giant green iguana that leaped out of the river and went running across the bridge! It was super crazy. And he was a super vibrant green. He totally freaked us out, but it was cool to see a little wildlife (other than stray dogs and chickens).

I really hope everyone is doing great and enjoying life!
Don't forget that God intended us to enjoy this life and find eternal happiness in the next! =P

Take care, everyone! Love ya!
Elder Seth Prestwich

Another cambio that flew by...

Well, time seems to be flying by these days. We're working hard each day. As of late, I've been really trying to focus on putting my whole effort into today. I want to be able to look back at each day, happy that I did what I did. I don't want to laze off and end up with regrets. I know I don't have much time here in the mission, especially for how important this work is. But I'm rededicating myself to working like every day is my last chance to change the lives of others. It really helps me change my attitude. I may have to make a lot of sacrifices, but it's always worth it.

It's odd to think how little we do, but how much the Lord makes of it. He's really relying on normal, 20 year old kids to go preach the most important message that anyone will ever hear. We have tons of weaknesses and struggles, but the Lord always carries our words and efforts to the hearts of those we teach. He leads us to all the people who are ready to accept the Gospel. I love being here.

Thanks everyone for your prayers and support!

As for a good story, I got to eat my first guinea pig! There's pretty much no meat at all, and it's kinda slimy. But they put a really good sauce on it, so I couldn't help but like it.

Well, time is up again, sorry about a short letter, but I love you all! Take care of yourselves!
Elder Seth Prestwich

Who's gonna play soccer with me when I get back?

Well, the week went by well again. We're getting to know more and more people here. We're finding a lot of new people to teach. The only thing we aren't finding is people who want to progress. We're trying really hard to help our investigators keep their commitments and make it to church, but it's just not happening. We talk and invite and follow up but they just don't follow through. So we'll keep looking, because the Lord is preparing someone here. Someone is ready to accept the Gospel. We just need to find out who.

Other than that, I can really see the difference between now and when I started the mission. Instead of getting down on myself when no one progresses, I'm on my feet working to find someone. I know someone is out there and I'm determined to do all I can to find them. I now know how to do things a lot better and I never feel helpless or lost. There's always something I can do.

In other news, we play soccer every Monday and Friday morning as a zone. That tends to be my moment to just have fun and lighten my mood. I'm getting a whole lot better at it, but I'm still nothing compared to the Latinos. They tend to have played soccer all their lives. So I've got a lot of catching up to do... Though I'm learning pretty fast. I just think it's funny how the things I practiced as a kid (I took Spanish classes and played a little bit of soccer) just all came back for these two years.

Hope all is going well for everyone! How goes the new school year?
Elder Seth Prestwich

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Hey Dad!

Wow, those are some crazy Olympics stories. That's really impressive and a great insight. It's definitely the same here in the mission. You can see a huge difference between the success of the missionaries who give up when things don't go their way and those who decide to try harder. I'm learning to be the second. I get over myself when I feel down and put all my time into the mission. That's what made the difference in my last area, and that's what's gonna get this area started. Because in the moments when you just feel down right tired from doing all that you can, God steps in and leads you to the one person who's ready to come to Christ.

And Mr Butcher is quite the funny guy... XD

Hope all is well!
Seth

A couple of pictures

Each time I post here I add the link to Seth's Facebook account. Often, when I login there are friend requests from various people in Peru. Seth told me to add them, so I do. This time Korin was on the add friend list, and when I did I saw she had pictures of her baptism. Which included Seth. Since we don't really see pictures of Seth I downloaded all of them and put a few here :). Hope Korin doesn't mind. In looking back at Seth's emails here is the description of this day in July. -- Alan

"Our baptism was scheduled for Sunday after church on Sunday, so we left in the morning to fill the font, and there wasn't any water. That tends to be a problem when you have to dunk someone completely underwater. So we called the Bishop, the other members, we did everything to get it working, but there wasn't any solution. Members were trying to fix the problem during church even, but in the end, we had to tell Hna. Korin (our investigator) that we weren't going to be able to baptize her here. We suggested Casa Grande (30 minute bus ride) but that was too far and she was pretty sad. But the members came to the rescue and suggested that we go to a nearby river to do it.

 

Baptisms in rivers are adventures, just throwing it out there. We all hopped onto the bus and left to the river. The service was nice, but Elder Castro had lots of trouble making it to a deep part of the river. He was super timid and it turns out, it was the first time he'd ever been in a river before. We could tell... It was super funny seeing him try to get around. But he managed to get out there and baptise Hna. Korin. So all turned out well in the end, despite the havoc (emotionally speaking as well) that happened in the morning. But just as long as the havoc isn't for the investigator, all's well."

Elder Castro, Korin & Elder Seth Prestwich

Seth called it a river, looks more like an irrigation ditch

On a "bridge"? :)