So Much To Be Thankful For.

With Thanksgiving being celebrated this week, I thought this would be a perfect time to find out some of the things Elder Scott has been most thankful for recently. It was fun to see his responses.

Question: What are you most thankful for or looking forward to this week? 
Answer: Ummmm, the chance to get my mouth-guard tomorrow. I'm thankful for modern medicine and doctors that know what they are doing. Dr. Suarez has been really good for me.
So this answer may need a little background information. Elder Scott has been suffering from some jaw pain for the past several months and after seeing a couple doctors he was diagnosed with TMJ, which basically means the hinge connecting the upper and lower jaw joints is a little out of whack causing some inflammation and swelling within the jaw joints. He's been suffering chronic pain due to this, some days worse than others, but he is finally getting a special mouth-guard tomorrow that will help relieve some of the discomfort he's been experiencing. It has been a long process to get the guard made with lots of appointments back and forth to make it correctly, and he's excited to finally have this part of process complete with some relief in sight.

Question: What are you most thankful for from last week?
Answer: Members that go out of their way to watch over and care for the missionaries. Hermana Iris (his pensionista) has little by little been changing my food to cater to my likes and dislikes without even asking. Like, if she notices I don't eat something or I'm eating something slower, she's been changing my plate to make it special. She's so awesome!

Question: What quality does your companion possess that you are most thankful for?
Answer: Humor. He is so laid back and light-hearted. He's really fun to be around.

Question: What attribute of the Savior's are you most thankful for right now?
Answer: Patience and love. It's a characteristic that I'm working on to develop more because it is so incredibly useful.

Question: What food are you most thankful for in Perú?
Answer: Aji de Guillena. YUM!

Question: What are you most thankful for when thinking about President and Sister Rios (his mission president and wife)? 
Answer: Their love for the missionaries and their constant desire to serve and help.

Question: What comfort item are you most thankful for?
Answer: This week it is my memory foam pillow or the ice cream. Actually, the freezer that makes ice cream possible, haha.
This answer could use a few more details as well 😄 In Elder Scott's new apartment he has a few items that are rare for missionaries to come across in Perú. The first is carpet which is almost unheard of, and the second is a mini-fridge/freezer combo so he is able to store a little food right inside his apartment. On top of all of that, he also has gym equipment and a hammock. The roof of the top floor of his apartment has big chunks missing, but the missionaries don't even care because these other items are such luxuries that they are enjoying them while they still can.

Question: What spiritual item are you most thankful for?
Answer: The scriptures that are a guide and a lifeline.

Question: What are you most thankful for when thinking about your brother Jordan?
Answer: His love to be creative and the many things he is able to do that I couldn't even hope to do. Like at all!

Question: What are you most thankful for when you think about your brother Caleb?
Answer: His love and happiness to serve. He's literally so darn amazing!

Happy Thanksgiving to all. There is so much in this life we can be thankful for, not the least of which is the atoning sacrifice our Savior endured for each and every one of us. I am so grateful for His matchless love, His patience with me, the charity He shows to all, and the faith He places in me to do better and to be better. I'm also so grateful for a loving and kind Father in Heaven who continuously gives us opportunities to become more like Him, and has given us prophets, apostles, and scriptures as a guideline on how to live and return to Him. Finally, I am thankful for the Holy Spirit who is my constant companion as long as I live my life in a way that allows Him to be my guide. What an incredible blessing that truly is.

Photos (hundreds of them) finally came through from the missionaries outing to Cerro de La Paz in October. 

Here are a few of my favorites.

Elder Scott and Elder Pacco

Elder Scott and Elder Cruz

Elder Scott with Elder Gunn

Elder Luna and Elder Parra 😆

Elder Scott back with his trainer, Elder Parra

Elder Pacco & Elder Scott

The Ten Commandments

This is the road they had to travel up to reach Cerro de La Paz.
It was a pretty precarious drive to say the least.

Closer view of the road they traveled. Kyler said he's pretty
sure they almost fell off the rocky cliff numerous times,
but he's alive to tell about it so it's all good.

Throwback to hair-color disasters and the remedy to correct it.

The after look with a treat to celebrate.

Elder Scott was excited to find minion tic-tac's

Pictures of Elder Scott's newest place in Pensacola

One of his first orders of business was to
get a tree and decorate for the holidays.

This child of mine LOVES Christmas!

Gym equipment and a hammock. He's a bit spoiled at the moment.

Hammock life!

Question and Answers ~ Round 4

I haven't done this in months, so here's a new round of 
Q & A  Elder Scott and I had during email time this week.

Question #1: What's the weather like today. Give me a few details about the changing seasons.
Answer: It's getting a little bit hotter each day, but it's still pretty cold (for Perú). Today we have blue skies with partial clouds 😊

Question #2: Have you started dreaming in Spanish yet or are your dreams still in English? Or is it a mix of both?
Answer: Hmmm, I think it's a mix of both, but I never remember my dreams truthfully.

Question #3: What is the *typical* family unit like in Perú? Do moms and dads work outside of the home, or is one parent typically home? Do they have strong family bonds with extended family members?
Answer: Normally all family lives together or in houses that are side by side, like everybody! And normally everyone works. They are usually very close to each other. 

Question #4: How about teenagers? Are they big into Social Media like teens are in America? Is a large portion of their day spent at school? Do they have after school jobs? Basically I am wondering about similarities and differences.
Answer: Yes, they are into social media a ton, especially the WhatsApp. School for them is either from 7:00 until 1:00 or from 3:00 until 6:00. They usually choose which session they participate in for the year. A lot work as well.

Question #5: What's the scariest thing to have happened on your mission so far?
Answer: Ummm, I have no clue. We haven't really had scary things happen truthfully. Everything has been real low key, lol.

Question #6: Do members or investigators ever ask to see pictures of your family? What do you tell them about your life at home?
Answer: Of course! And I show them, too. They ask how many brothers I have and we talk about how there is only one girl in the house. They all say that Jordy looks like dad, I look like you, and Caleb is a mix of both, haha! We also talk about my jobs before my mission quite a bit, and what I'm going to study after my mission.

Question #7: What could we be doing at home to be better missionaries?
Answer: I don't know. What are you doing now? (Haha...he had a valid question I'll need to respond to sometime).

Question #8: What's the BEST thing about being a missionary this week? 
Answer: Seeing a new light shine in people's eyes when they are learning and hearing a new message prepared for them.

Question #9: Where are you living right now (transfers were a week ago and I never heard) and how is your new companion?
Answer: Pensacola near El Carmen in Chimbote, Perú por the Provencia de Santa. My new companion is awesome and things are going great!  Elder Ganoza is from Columbia and was with me in my Moche district with Elder Mich. He's awesome, full of energy to say the least.  

PICTURE TIME 

From his final days in his last area of Chimbote