The small things make the biggest impact

The Trujillo Perú temple

Internet speed continued to be an issue for Elder Scott this week so pictures were few in number, but he did get a chance to send part of his journal entries. Last Tuesday turned out to be a very good day because he received his first packages from us. There was a wide assortment of items he had been missing or in need of including a few Christmas songs, a pair of pajama shorts, a couple boxes of American Macaroni and Cheese, and a few assorted treats, but what he loved receiving most were the following 3 items: 

First, the latest edition of the Conference Ensign. His entire zone "freaked" out when he pulled the magazine out of the box and the front cover was a picture of a Peruvian sister serving in Temple Square in Salt Lake City. She is wearing a Peru flag pin and holding an umbrella with the traditional red and white colors of Peru. The missionaries thought that was the greatest thing in the world. Elder Scott looks forward to pouring over the words found within the pages of this magazine every single day.  Here's a link if you'd like to check it out: https://www.lds.org/general-conference?cid=HP14GC&lang=eng

The second item he was sent that touched his heart was a stack of "Open When" letters. These are a series of sealed envelopes we created specially for him to open at various times with sayings on the front such as "Open when you feel hurt or angry", "Open when you need a laugh", "Open when you are feeling discouraged", "Open when you need inspiration", "Open when you need something sweet" etc. It was a lot of fun putting special notes, small treats, missionary appropriate jokes and inspirational quotes inside those sealed envelopes for him to open when he needed them most. 

The last thing he was overjoyed to receive was an English hymnal. What made this such a special gift is the fact that the hymnal belongs to his dad and bears his name. In his words he said, "I love having a personal hymn book and it's 10x better that it's my dad's. It makes me feel so close to him when I carry it around." 

His dad's hymnal that will now be carried close
to Elder Scott's heart throughout his mission

One of the packages was a "greenie" package a dear sister
put together for him in Perú. All those green treats were sent
by her. Isn't that a cute idea for a brand new missionary?!

None of these "favorite" items cost more than a dollar, yet each was given the title of "favorite" because of the meaning behind it. As we get ready to celebrate a season of Thanksgiving and the season where we honor the birth of our Savior I hope we can all remember this. So often we underestimate the power and influence of the little things, yet those are the things that stay with us the longest. The words we say to each other, the way we serve one another, the way we help each other, the way we lift and encourage one another~ it all matters. One thing Elder Scott has been very impressed about the Peruvian people is the way they look out for each other. He says they treat everyone with great respect and show their love to each with no regard to their differences. How great is that? We are all so much more alike than we are different, and if we focus on that the world will be a more peaceful, loving place. 

Driving past Chan Chan

Arriving at the Trujillo Temple