Elder Talon Hicken: The Missionary: Photos from First 6 months in Peru

Photos from First 6 months in Peru

Here you have it: The first photos from Peru!

Remember these guys from my MTC district?

Elder Bradley, Elder McKell, and Me

This is the first day back together at church on Saturday for General Conference (4-6-13)

Elder Bradley in the AP's apartment on the first morning

Now it's my turn to pose -- the morning view from the AP's apartment on our first morning there.

Elder Bradley's companion, Elder Cuttiani, el otro líder de zona.

With our companions:

Elder Hernandez y yo, Elder Bradley y Elder Cuttiani

Of course, we had to include Elder Mckell!

These are the zone leaders and the "nuevos" at zone training.

Awww. Home Sweet Home in Perú.

Here is our living space. We're grateful that the microwave in our kitchen is strong enough to hold up our closet :)

I get the bottom bunk :)

Our desks. Mine is a la izquierda (on the left)

That's better. My desk -- My Style

Our sparkling bathroom -- notice the electric showerhead that is SUPPOSED to warm the water...which is broken.

Breakfast of Champions: Cereal from a bag, in a cut down bottle, with milk from a bag.

Our Rearranged Bedroom

Elder Hernandez and I leaving a note in ENGLISH for Elder McKell

A Room with a Peruvian View

View from outside our bathroom window

Same view, but zoomed in ... notice the little houses all up the side of the hill

The soccer field we pass on the way to the church building

And we got to visit the temple this week!

A view from across the street.

Sorry about the telephone wires.

We wanted to take them down, but the white handbook said no.

(Glad he's obedient!)

Me outside the temple entrance

Elder Hernandez and me

As the sun goes down

Sporting the Peruvian Flag at the Temple

Loving it!

And bringing a little bit of home -- the Colorado flag -- here to the Peru temple

Just Me, Peru, and my Camera
(and my companions, too, of course)

One of the many advertisements that are planted into the grass on the side of the highway -- so cool!

I wish they did this in the United States.

Just a street...and a flower.

Ahh...Pretty Flower

Steps, steps, and more steps up to the city.

...and THIS (below) can show you why:

The mountains are made of houses!

LOTS of stairs in Peru.

These are the bottom half of the old stairway leading down to the beach.

Halfway up some stairs, with the beach in the background, on the "short side" of the cliff.

View of the beach from the mall on the side of the cliff.

View of the city from the beach

At the beach

Elder Bradley

With our 'soccer ball'

Attn: Tsunami Evacuation!

What??

Elder Allasia in the background

Me with random statue

The View from the Cerro (hill) in my new sector (area)!

Elder McKell and his Inca Cola (aka agua)

And Back To Why I'm Here

Elder Bradley, Elder McKell, and I on our first day of church

The church dog, Mango, and his -- uh, best friend!

Ahh, good dog!

Elder Hernandez tinkering around on the piano -- he always asks me if I want to go play the piano, but we get there and I play for 5 minutes and then he gets bored and takes over for 15 while I write in my journal. ha ha :)

Eloy with me and Elder Hernandez

Eloy and his family

Eloy and Elder Hernandez, right after the baptism

A Pic of Me and Elder Pérez Albela writing this letter right now!

Me in front of a huge Cathedral in downtown Lima. The Plaza is called Ovalo Gutierrez. I'm not sure what the statue is in the back.

Breakfast! Fruit Salad! Mine doesn't have papaya because I can't stand it!

Elder Perez Albea's birthday. It's tradition here to smash eggs in their hand when it's their birthday. The Zone Leaders did it to Elder P.A. and he said it's the first time that's happened since middle school :)

Some kids playing in the park in front of our dorm. I thought it was a sweet picture, which I took incognito.

La familiar Villarde: our golden family that just neeeeeeeds to get baptized ASAP.

La familia Molina: first counselor in the bishopric.

Waiting in a HUGE line to get our Peruvian IDs.

What is this?

What IS this?
“Granadia! It’s soooo good. It’s a fruit. I’m bringing some home.”

Plaza de Armas with a waitress outside of a restaurant

Us with Mauricio, the 12 year old kid in our investigator family

I FOUND the fruit! We have them at our churches!

Yummm...

Hola de Las Flores!

Well here are a few pictures for you! Pictures are worth a thousand words!

Sent 5-27-13

Last week at Matucana, Peru with Elder Perez Albela

There was some sort of presentation that we walked in on in the square, and we asked some people to take pictures with us, here is one of my favorites

museo del congresso y de la inquisision

In the square in front of congress!

Elder and Sister Anderson at zone conference

Sent 6-3-2013

Caricature of Elder Perez Albela and I

Dinner at a Member's House who is a high class Chef!

I want to bring him back with me to start a Peruvian restaurant in Provo!

Brandon Palomino and Daniel Melendez, two members

Service Project at Hermana Betty's!

Sent 6-10-2013

Baptism of Hermana Silvia

Hemana Silvia and Jeffer, Elder Perez Albela and I

Hermana Silvia and Jeffer

Lunch with Stake President, Presidente Manuel De La Cruz

In the bus or taxi or something, from a long time ago.

Elder Obeso, Gutierrez, Eklof, Me, Lopez (then my District Leader), and Perez Albela

The wall says KAI !!

Elder Fankhouser ate too much!

Contacting Practice

Sent July 1, 2013

Running with Elder Eklof

Still running!

Happy Birthday, Kai!

My Zone!

Sent July 8, 2013

We bought Zone Jerseys!

Billboards here are just great!

This one is for John Mulhern.

I don´t really know how to explain it, but please, pasa la voz por favor.

[looks creepier to me...uh, crepier, I guess]

A member that always comes with us to investigators, who we buy fruit from all the time-Roberto

Scout and I. His name is scout because he sits at the very end of a dead end and watches over the neighborhood with ears as sharp as razors, and when a stranger comes in he runs off to go investigate. He always comes to me when I whistle to him. My fingers are black because I pet the dogs, who get super dirty super quick because the air is so poluted. Gross, but worth it for all the friends I have!

Elder Gaete, Elder Sagostume, and Elder Gomez

made me think of Grandpa Steimle, so I took the picture

in chorillos! (with the granny-bikes)

Mmmm...Ocean!

climbing up to the Cristus with the bike

Sent 7-15-13

The bag exploded...

This is what I eat every morning for breakfast.

With Yogurt.

Any guesses?
It's tasty, but I can't stand more than a few.

They were filming a music video outside our dorm room...interesting!

Mission Map before the change!

Sent 7-22-2013

Servicio!

Ashley, before her baptism.

Yes, before her baptism which is why she isn't smiling yet.

Just Kidding.

That's the path??

Yep, that's the path!

Object lesson in District Meeting

[can you guess the object lesson?]

New cover photo for FaceBook!

It's my trainer's last exchange.

I won't see him until I go to Santiago!

Sent 8-5-2013

Pizza Raul´s with E´ Gaete, E´ Claros, and E´ Eklof!

Yes, we ordered 9 pizzas...no I did not drink the Coke.

Servicio!

Daniel Ricse Aguilar and his family work with wood,

and we sanded doorframes for 2 hours.

Sergio Llosa Fae is the son of our pensionista, and he cockfights.

Check out my rooster.

Roberto Fernandez is the bomb.

He used to go out with us almost every other day,

but now that he works 8 hours a day, we just go out on Sunday.

One of the coolest future elders ever.

No comments:

How great is my calling!

I am called of God. My authority is above that of the kings of the earth. By revelation I have been selected as a personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is my master, and He has chosen me to represent Him, to stand in his place, to say and do what He would say and do if He were ministering to those to whom He has sent me. My voice is His voice, and my actions are His actions. My words are His words and my doctrine is His doctrine. My commission is to do what He wants done, to say what He wants said, to be a living witness in word and in deed of His great and marvelous latter-day work.

Where to Send the Good Stuff

Inspiring Words from Elder Hicken

Feb 21, 2013: Anyone who can't decide about serving a mission, start studying the Atonement with all of your energy of soul. You will not be able to resist the desire to share the amazing effects of a knowlege of the Atonement. As for everyone who has already been on a full time mission, congratulations, you're now a part time missionary--you're not done sharing. If you lack an intense desire to share the gospel, you'd best start studying the Atonement right along with everyone else. If you don't fit in either of those categories, you should study the Atonement. In summary, STUDY THE ATONEMENT! It is so wonderful, so happy, so inspiring, so spectacularly amazing! I know it is because as I study it every day, as I share it every day, as I pray about it every day, my happiness has grown exponentially, my energy has increased in duration, my attention has been refocused, and my desires are being tuned! If you seek happiness, seek a testimony of the Atonement, and the happiness will come with a flood of our Savior's love.

Feb 21, 2013: Fear to take advantage of the scriptures. Be afraid of falling into the category of people Nephi spoke to in 2 Nephi 32:7! But even more so, fear to hearken unto the evil spirit which teacheth a man not to pray. Which whispers "you're too tired", "try it first and then pray", "see if you can do it on your own". If you're ever thinking of praying, you should be praying. Ye must pray always! (verse 9) The ability to do things without prayer is a vice, and a weakness. It is harder to rely on the spirit, than to do it yourself.

May 21, 2013: I only want to share a thought that I had during our Stake Conference this last Sunday. We were singing “Praise To The Man” and a thought came to my mind forcefully, that what I am sharing and preaching each day is true. I know without fail, with every fiber of my body and I cannot doubt, because of this I am made. This is the true gospel, and there is no other way, path or salvation. The happiness that I feel grows each day, and my experiences are helping me in each moment. I am extremely grateful for the gifts of knowledge that the Spirit gives me, and I hope with all my heart that you are feeling a new desire to study, search, and pray with more effort often and regularly. There is no other way.

July 1, 2013: I know that God loves me, that He knows me, such that He puts details in my day that He knows only I would recognize. I know that God listens to my thoughts as well as my prayers, and that He is helping me develop a will similar to His. We please God when we help His children come closer to Jesus Christ, but our most important conversion is ourselves. God takes care of me every day, in a way I cannot understand. I know that Jesus Christ thought of my name, our friendship, when He was praying in theGarden of Gethsemane, and that I have his strength as a support when mine is weak. I love my Savior. I love my God. I have His love for you and I want to help you just like my neighbors here to know Christ. Believe in God; believe that He exists, believe that He has all wisdom and all power, believe that man does not understand everything that the Lord can understand. Know that I believe it, I know it, and I want to live it.

_

October 14, 2013: Look for the time each day the Lord gives you to rest, and use it. It´s a gift from God, and he gives it to you because he knows you need it, not because he knows you have something else to get done. Read the scriptures for fun sometimes. Forget about any goal or need you have, and just open somewhere and read. The Lord has control, but only if you let him. Sometimes we want to do so much good, that we don´t let our Savior do anything--sometimes we want to help our investigators so much, that we don't let our companions do anything. But not in either situation does it turn out for our good.

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Dec 23, 2013: The work of the Lord is progressing at an incredible rate. The adversary is fighting to keep up. His work is disgusting in every way, and even worse is that he disguises it to not appear that way. In Elder´s Quorum this week, President Jimmy said that everything Satan does is to divide the family, and he works with the weakest member. Don´t be the weakest! Even better, don´t let there be a weakest! When a family is united in persevering to the end, there is no place for Satan! No handhold! But he has many workers in this world, and he will pull at every seam, and tear at every fray. I testify of the importance of gaining a testimony by way of the spirit. The devil reasons with perfect reasoning. There is no outsmarting the devil, but there is overcoming. We overcome the devil by rising above reason and learning to listen and understand the spirit.

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April 7, 2014: This week I have learned the importance of setting goals so that in the future we can measure our progress. I remember the feelings I felt when Sister Borg explained to us that she can see our progress, even though we can´t see it. It´s like my family: they send me pictures, and everyone seems so much older, though they have no idea. Sometimes we need to look ourselves in the mirror spiritually, compare ourselves with a snapshot from the past and see just how much we have grown.

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July 8, 2014: One thing that I¨ve learned to always ask myself is if I am a blessing or a burden. When I call my leaders to ask for help, I ask my self how I can be a blessing for them in this moment. When I call my missionaries to verify their work, I ask myself how I can bless, not burden them. It has been one of the biggest changes in my life, and I believe it all started with something Dad taught me: whenever you go to a meeting or meet with someone important, always make sure that by the time you leave, they are glad that you were there. I always try to make people really, truely glad that I am there to help them, and never feel like life would be easier if I weren´t there to bug them about an assignment, or get after them for not doing something.

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Nov 15, 2014: Many times it hurts to not have materials for those who need. It makes me think of the spiritual application of the same; the feeling of guilt and pain that one encounters when lacking a testimony to share in another´s time of need is a cringing experience. It is not as easy as asking a companion for an extra pamphlet, or looking for the extra you always keep inside the cover of your scriptures. I urge all who are within the reaching of my words to prepare themselves. There is not much time before the Lord will require your testimony. The days are accomplished that the battle front has disappeared. The enemy is within the walls, and we must sleep on our swords. There is no child too young, no soldier too wounded, no scout too lost, and not one too weak to be strengthened by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We all need it.

Photos from First 6 months in Peru

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