May 1, 2017 – Week 31!

This week was interesting, but cool! 

The start of the week was pretty normal. We had lessons, and we contacted people like we do every day.

On wednesday we had our district meeting, then stopped by Dunkin' Donuts because I had some extra money to spend this transfer (we got 4 donuts for 10 soles. Good deal!), and then went to lunch. That day was strange because for the first time, I ate faster than everyone else at lunch, and had 2 plates of food! we ate Picante de Carne, and it was just too good to only have one plate. That is one of my favorite dishes. 

      Later that day as we were working, we got a call from the secretaries, but we were in a lesson so we called back. Then after the lesson, the zone leaders called, and told us we had an Emergency Transfer. These happen for various reasons, not just because of an emergency. Could be personal things, or mission reasons, etc. So I had to quickly go home, and get clothes packed for one week, and then we went to the offices. I met up with Elder Saavedra, and we went to Pueblo Libre, which is in the same zone. So now I'm here! I'm not sure how long I'll be here, but I'm here for now!

This week has been good though! Elder Saavedra is awesome. He's from Iquitos Peru. He only has one transfer more than me in the mission. We've been working gret together this week, and we've been contacting tons! he knows his way around the sector pretty well, so I've been trying to learn it too just in case I end up staying here for the next transfer! 

We've been teaching Victor this week. He is about 70 years old, and it's a bit difficult to understand him since he doesn't open his mouth a lot, but the lessons have been good! He's been reading the Book of Mormon, although he has trouble believing that it's scripture too. He's also been praying, and this week he came to church for 2 of the 3 hours! We'll be visiting him more as long as he keeps progressing!

Speaking of people coming to church, we had 6 investigators here come to church this week! Not many of them stayed for all 3 hours, but at least they came for a part! It's always gret to see new faces in the ward. I'm now in the Pueblo Libre ward, which is in the Magdalena stake. 

This week, we had an activity clled "capilla abierta' which is like an open house for the church, where all the rooms had one of the organizations in it, and we did 15 minute tour rotations so that in 15-20 minutes, people could learn about what we believe, and how we do things in the church. It was a good success! We got lots of references as well at the end of the activity, and it sparked interest for many people who werent members of the church! I dont know if we've done one of these in our ward in utah, but it'd be really cool to try it out! it takes lots of preparation, but if done well, it can bring many new members! 

we also heard that the church where the pueblo libre ward attends will be remodeled so that more people can fit into the sacrament meeting room. the church bought some land right next to the lot the church was on, so now theyll be taking some months to expand the church! The members will be going to the stake center, which is a bit further away, but it will all be a part of this big change that's happening. It's cool to hear this because it really shows that the work of the Lord is moving along here in Peru every day!

This morning for p day we played sports with ward members. We played volleyball, and even though our team didnt win any of the games, it was really fun, and lots of the members really knew how to play well! It's also fun when everyone's willing to play!

This week has been pretty interesting, but really awesome as well. I know that serving a mission is the best thing I've ever done. It may be difficult and unpredictable at times, but it's awesome! I love it, and I love peru! The gospel really does bring blessings to everyone that accepts it!

Hope you all have a great week!

--Elder Bruner

me on top of a big rock

cool pics of us jumping in the air because it was foggy.

us eating in a restaurant called "tres continentes" (3 continents.) all of the food is good there, and they give lots! only 10 or 15 soles.

dunkin donuts, YES!

the new apartment room im in here in pueblo libre. its smaller than in las brisas, but its cool! we've got a little porch area so we can look out into the city a little and study outside on a couch if we want.

there was a baptism that the hermanas had, but they asked us to help out, so we cut out paper ties and balloons to help decorate.

elder saavedra baptized the hermano that the hermanas were teaching. it was the first time he had baptized someone, but it went great!

photos from the capilla abierta. (open chapel)

us and the Yaranga family. The husband is the one who washes the clothes in this sector. They're an awesome family! The food they cook is really great too!

a big group pic with us and some people in the ward who we were playing volleyball with

me and elder saavedra eating lunch in a market today. The market here is aweome. Theres a bunch of pig heads and chickens and beef and it smells just great... haha. I wanted to eat there though. The food was pretty good! Theres a lot of small restaurants (called menus) inside. Gladly we didnt smell the raw meat as we ate, because I wouldn't have wanted to finish my food if we did.