Off to do house inspections with Elder Napa

For the week ending Jan 12, 2025

Everything seems to be getting  back to normal after Christmas and New Years. If there is such a thing as normal. Maybe there isn’t a normal as a Senior Missionary in Lima Peru. We still call missionaries to encourage and invite them to be consistent and effective in language study. This week we started a new task, inspecting missionary apartments. The goal is to do several each week so every 2 transfers (a transfer is 6 weeks) all the apartments can be inspected. The primary purpose of the inspections as we see it is to make sure the apartments are safe and have everything that the missionaries need to be healthy and happy. With over 70 houses things break every week. Some missionaries are really good about letting us know about those things and  others seem to be unaware. 

The second reason to do the inspections is to encourage the missionaries to keep their apartments clean. Remember the missionaries are just 6 years out of Primary. House cleaning can be a source of contention between missionaries. One may be very concerned about how clean their house is while the other could care less. By making it a rule and it takes out some of the conflict. We started inspections this week and in general, our missionaries are pretty clean. That means very clean to me and almost clean to Hermana Borup. She didn’t marry me for my neatness. In fact, given our differences in this department, I’m not sure how it has worked out so well for all these years. At the end of our inspections, we give a candy bar to the missionaries who have a clean apartment. Everyone has fallen short on an item or two but every companionship but one has earned the candy bar so far. That one companionship will do better next time we are sure. The inspections so far have been a great experience.  We enjoy every chance we have to interact with the young missionaries. 

The new members we have been meeting with who weren’t so available during the holidays are available to meet again. We had several appointments this week with new members. Our primary focus is to help them understand that now that they are members of the Church they are also members of the House of Isreal. This gives them great access to making covenants that bind us to Christ. As members of the House of Isreal, we are part of the Abrahamic covenant that gives us the obligation to share God’s covenants with others. One of the first things they can do to help others make covenants is to go to the Temple and perform baptisms vicariously. 

This week we had several opportunities to help new members find information about their ancestors and prepare that information so they can go to the Temple and do baptisms for them. In the Book of Mormón, the Savior told the people that before the last days he will send Elijah the Prophet to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. The expressions on the faces of the new members as they find the names and important dates for their “fathers” is a real testimony that Elijah the Prophet has come to start this work. Most of the new members we work with are 18-30 years old. It’s hard to imagine someone in that age group getting excited about that, but it happens every time. It’s a blessing to witness. But it’s not only the young, We met this week with one of the members of our ward who is 67 and he had that same excitement.  We have met with him a few times and he keeps wanting more!

With over 150 missionaries, most of who are 18-21 years old, illness, injury and life happens. Missionaries need to go home sometimes for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes they go home for a little while to take care of a temporary illness or injury that will heal better at home and sometimes they need to go home to a different setting where they can thrive in a different environment. We were able to take them to the airport and say goodbye until we see them again.

Occasionally a missionary goes home because they have lost their desire for the work or something at home is more important to them at that time. Regardless of the reason it is always sad to see them go. This week a few missionaries went home, two of them we were close with, and since we can drive now, we got to take them to the airport. One will be back. He had a cyst in a location that will require surgery and then he will need to spend a lot of time lying on his stomach. (you get the idea). The other was a Hermana who and will continue her mission in the United States. We know both of these missionaries well. They are going to do great things as they move forward in life. They are both wonderful examples of obedience and faith to us.

So as you can see there is no such thing as a typical week. We wouldn’t have it any other way!

We love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our testimonies of the power of covenants is growing every day we are here.

Until next time. Have a great week!

Hermana Y Elder Borup

From Rudolph to the Love Bug just like that!

A clean house is a happy house.

Another successful house inspection

These 2 did amazing and we didn't tell them we were coming! Way to go!

Our week isn't complete without attending a baptism or 2.

One of our favorite new members gave her first talk at a baptism.

Another one of our favorite new members baptized his cousin.