General Conference + TGIF = Awesomeness

Wow! I feel behind, how is April already here? I blinked and somehow landed in a brand new month. Elder Scott keeps writing home and is so positive about all the experiences he is having in Perú. He honestly loves the people, the culture, the food, and even the random dogs he meets when he is out and about. I may have seen one too many pictures of dead rats he sends photos of, plus he has a mouse living in his room (aka a garage), but other than that, his life is pretty sweet right now.

This past weekend was especially welcoming because it happened to be our semiannual General Conference (⇦link alert...I promise it is awesome) which is always a special time for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Twice a year members from around the world gather together to listen to the words of our beloved prophet, the apostles, and other leaders of the church as they give us direction, guidance and encouragement based on the gospel teachings of Jesus Christ. We're so fortunate to live in a day and time where these special events can be broadcast live in over 200 countries in about 100 different languages in addition to streaming live through various social outlets and media forms. 

I look forward to the sessions every six months, and as a missionary, Elder Scott has truly learned to cherish every moment of this dedicated weekend. At the end of Saturday's sessions which involved two separate 2 hour blocks as well as a 90 minute Priesthood session, he had this to say, "Wow! It was honestly just an amazing first day of General Conference. So many great speakers who gave just mind-blowing talks. I noticed some different themes in each session. In the first there was a lot about families and in the second it was about following the Savior and service. Then priesthood was about both priesthoods working together with the power of the Aaronic Priesthood along with how to become better disciples of Christ by serving others and seeing them as Christ and our Heavenly Father see them. Really just mind-blowing sessions. The spirit was incredibly strong in so many talks. I'm so glad I got to watch it today, to learn much and be filled with the Spirit of God." 
That's what General Conference does for me every single time, too. I always come away craving more, anxious to improve in areas of my life that are lacking, and with more love for our Savior, Jesus Christ, our divine Father in Heaven, and the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Other highlights from the week

Elder Scott and Elder Chapman got to go on exchanges this week, and boy, did he LOVE it! They get along so good, and had some amazing lessons with investigators, performed some good acts of service, and got to do a couple super fun things together  like make brownies and chocolate chip cookies for their multizone conference.  

Elder Chapman was
designated as the
official fly & mosquito whacker

Caleb wrote home that there
was only room for one
walrus in the house

Can you tell these two get along?!

Trying out the raw cookie dough

Looks like the Elder's are fans!

The Elder's also helped one of the members demolish part of her home. When the rains came so hard last month, it destroyed part of their roof causing the walls to get wet which can become highly dangerous with mold and other bacteria so they had to tear it down and need  to rebuild. The cleanup of flooding is still going strong in Peru and as of last week, there was still no running tap water so people have to wait in a line when a water delivery truck comes by to fill up their buckets, use a well, or buy water from a store. I'm praying the country can rebuild and thrive very soon.

On Saturday the Elders were able to eat at RealPlaza which happens to have a TGIFriday's and Elder Scott got to eat a massively delicious burger. The thing was HUGE! On the same day he also ran into his old comp, Elder Chacon and by total random chance saw 10 other missionaries he hadn't seen in a while. They had traveled to the area to use an ATM because the ones in their city weren't working. It was such a random and coincidental blessing for them to see each other. 

The "Italian Burger" came piled high with bruschetta,
toasted parmesan, more cheese, pepperoni and cheese sticks.
Whoa!

They also celebrated Elder Moran's 8th month of being a full-time missionary with some pretty delicious banana bread and muffins. Thanks Hermana Moraima and Hermana Patricia for keeping my Elder well fed and so happy. 

All-in-all it was a pretty spectacular week filled with great lessons, touching moments, spiritually charged conference sessions, and friendly encounters with people all along the way. 

This next week we get to celebrate  🎈Elder Scott's BIRTHDAY🎉  
which is happening on Sunday, April 9th. If you have a moment, I'd love it if you could drop him a note at kyler.scott@myldsmail.net.  Sometimes it can be hard to celebrate away from family, but I have a feeling this is going to be one of his most special birthday's ever.