Me Voyyyyy (I'm Going) Transfer News

So yep. I'm leaving..... sad/happy moment. I will be going with Elder Cruz from Texas, who is American Latino, in Moche 2 Trujillo Perú (I put "Perú" because it rhymes) haha, but we will be co-district leaders there. We got the call last night at about 9 p.m., which is super early for transfer calls, and my companion answers and goes, "Turn down the music! Turn it down!.... Alo.. Elder Henao, como esta?" (Elder Henao is one of the assistants.) At this point I'm thinking - Okay, okay my companion is going to be Zone Leader and I'm staying, maybe I'll train or something.. But then he goes, "Si.. aca esta" (Yes...here he is) and hands the phone to me.. So I was like, ah crap, haha, and Elder Henao starts talking and then goes, "Elder Rokovitz, President Rios has prayed about you and has received the inspiration and he has put his trust in you, as well as the Lord, and has chosen you to be a District Leader.. do you accept?" I then said, "No" and hung up... hahaha no, just kidding. I was super hyped and pretty nervous! But I was just FULL with the spirit! It was a great spiritual experience. After I accepted and hung up, I was just hyped and didn't know what to think and I got down and prayed and just told the Lord I would do His will. It may be hard, but I know He will help me. Instantly, I felt this calm and peace within me and it was such a great experience. After that, all the nerves calmed down and after calling Elder Stroud and screaming like little girls after getting asked out by the boy of your dreams, I was just calm and felt normal and peaceful and it was great! But I'm super excited. I will be in Moche Trujillo with my boy, Elder Cruz. He was in my Zone before, so I know him a little. I knew him for about 2 changes. He's pretty funny and crazy, but I'm looking forward to it! 

I was thinking... man this is the week that I started and finished my papers a year ago... this is missionary month!!! It was pretty nuts to think that was a year ago! 

This week was pretty great! I almost got eaten by a dog haha. Me and my companion were walking.. just normal and walked past this giant dog who seemed pretty chill but after we passed, he decided he didn't like my skin color or something and just goes absolutely wack! It scared me so bad! I jumped up in the air haha, and mid-air, I went all Jackie Chan on it and donkey kicked it on the head and then turned around ready to fight haha. But it ran off after I kicked it... Wooo the Lord loves his missionaries. 

Also this week we had a noche de hogar (family night) with familia Proaño. Mom, as you already know, their uncle got diagnosed with blood cancer..(Leukemia.) I'm not 100 percent sure if it's 100 percent sure, but they sounded pretty sure. And it's horrible because he's got an 8 year old and an 18 year old. Their mom has already passed away and so it's really hard on their family. It's Marilu's brother. We went and talked to them about fasting. Marilu showed a TON of interest and wanted to do it right away. She knew what it was before, just didn't know all that it meant etc., and so I think they were going to do it as a family. We are passing by tonight to check if they did it. But I also just testified on eternal families and I got pretty choaked up at the end and the spirit was just so strong. Then afterwards, we got in a happy mood again, laughing and stuff, and Marilu made chifles!! And made this BOMB banana milkshake! So yeah, that was a great night! 

Also we taught Manuela this week. We re-challenged her to baptism and she goes.. no.. haha. She said she wants to continue reading and praying and going to church to know more. As we were leaving she goes, "Invite me to the next baptism you guys have!" And we were like, "Yeah! Okay!' 

Also this week, I went on a little interchange with Elder Stroud. That was fun. Love the guy. I stayed and directed my area and he came to me. It was good since I knew I was leaving, but he's a stud. That's all I've got to say. Me and my companion went off and found 16 new people to teach this week. Still doesn't beat 45 haha, but this week was great! 

Anyway, that's all for today folks. I love you all and just know all is well. My biggest problem is figuring out how to pack my bags right now haha, but all is well. Keep up the good lives, go to church, read your scriptures, pray, and go on missions! I love you all. Take care. CHAO!!! .. for the last time 😢

These are pictures from La Huaca de la Sol where we went last week in Trujillo. These will be in my new area.  

                                                                                 

This is Victor, the shoemaker. He totally fixed my broken shoe.

This is Viviana with her little children.

Vivana and her husband, Gianfranco. Ammon wasn't very happy. 

This is Benjamin, Belen and Gayli. Gayli does our laundry.

Me and Elder Stroud with Gianfranco's son, Juliano.

With the young men in the branch.

This is Carlitos, the one I like to arm wrestle with. 

Getting ready for another arm wrestle.

This is Hermana Herminia. She is our breakfast pencion. She is also the owner of our room. She is the best. 

                                                  This is Geheydi. She is an awesome member.                                                                         

Happy Birthday To Me

I don't have much time.. about 30 minutes. I'll try to type more next week. Also tell family I'm sorry I don't have time to respond to anyone else today. We went to La Huaca de la Sol today which is a temple in Trujillo (of the Lamanites) so that's why our time is short today. That's definitely something we are doing when we come back to Perú Mom and Dad!

Heading to La Huaca de la Sol

La Huaca de la Sol

Exploring La Huaca de la Sol

So last Monday I was super trunky.. haha I just had a moment where I just wanted to talk to my Mom and I was sad that I didn't get to.. I was just a little saddened all day. Not like depressed or anything, I just missed and loved my Momma haha. I couldn't even workout that night because I was just thinking about my Mom. So Mom, I love you! But I'm better now! I still want to talk to you.. duh, but I'm better.

My birthday was amazing! Honestly is was one of my favorites ever. One for the books! It was super awesome and I loved it. Thanks to my pencion and her family and Aracely and her family, it was super amazing! Also I loved the birthday quote on the banner so much! That was perfect and I even teared up a little bit.  Mom and Dad, thanks so much for the birthday notes. It really meant a lot to me! I love you guys so much and I'm glad you guys love me enough to care. I've seen a lot that some families here are so broken and I'm just so blessed to have you guys! I love you both so much, thank you!

                                                                           

The sign says: "Missionary: Someone who leaves their family for two years so that others can be with theirs for all eternity."

With familia Proaño. Aracely, Lucy, Marilu, Mia and Magnu. 

On my birthday, we went to Viru for a training and interviews with our mission president. After the training, President Rios pulled both me and my companion into a room and started talking to us about how we need to "know" our investigators super well, even their birthdays, because how can we be their friends if we don't even know their birthdays? I was just sitting there thinking, "Wow, you don't even know it's MY birthday right now." He hadn't said anything to me all day about my birthday and I was kind of mad and a little sad, thinking he was kind of being a hypocrite. After that, he interviewed us both separately. A little while later, he took us both back into the room again and asked, "Elder Rokovitz, how did you feel when I didn't wish you a Happy Birthday?" And I said, "Oh, don't worry about it." (Lying of course.) And he said, "No, how did you really feel? Tell me." So I told him I was a little sad and mad and he said, "Hay esta! (There it is!) Elder, I knew it was your birthday!" Then he gave me a big hug, tells me Happy Birthday, the whole bit. Then he said, "I hope you never forget this lesson. Love your investigators, know them, really know them - You would never want an investigator to feel the way you just did if it were their birthday and you didn't know and here they were thinking you were their friend." That really hit me! What a stud our president is. After that, he brought in cake.

After the interviews, we were proselyting and I was just so happy to be where I was. I kept thinking, "Man, I only get 2 birthdays in Perú. How cool is that?" That night, Aracely and her family had a surprise for me with cake and a banner, treats and a poster with pictures from home and my friends in Perú. It was the highlight of my day. Flor and her family also had a cake for me. So I got 3 cakes on my birthday!!.....And only 2 eggs on the head!

This week we passed by a church where everyone was yelling and crying and there was a lady banging on a tambourine and then a man with his hands on another man's head who was kneeling down. The one kneeling down had his arms in the air and was shaking like crazy. It was quite hilarious.. some people man.. I just think it's crazy how they do that in a church and think it's something they should do.. it was weird, but man, it was hilarious, that man!

Also this week on Sunday, we had 1 new investigator, and our goal was 10 for the week. So we set our goal for the rest of the day for nine more. That's not super easy, and we got 7 that day (the mission goal weekly is 8.) I was humbled as we went to the last house, and we had gotten 6 so far that day. We only needed 4 more and I was hyped when I saw there were 4 in the house. We talked to one lady and finally after a second she said she would listen. Her name was Amela.. but yeah, she was like, "Okay, one second", went and grabbed 3 chairs and then came to the door and sat down. We tried to get the others to come but they wouldn't. I was thinking.. "Okay Heavenly Father, I get it. I should be greatful." So we got 8 for the week and met the goal for the mission, which was good. We found 7 new investigators just on Sunday! It was an amazing experience and humbling and a great spiritual experience. Our Zone found 108 new investigators as a Zone this week. That's the highest the mission has ever had. Elder Stroud and Elder Daza found.... 45! The new record for the mission. The hermanas, 3 weeks ago, set 35 as the record, then the Zone Leaders set 43 as the record. Elder Stroud wasn't having that, so he set a new record with 45 this week. Each record only lasted a week haha, but yeah, that was awesome!

The mission is great. I'm loving life and my birthday was great! Thanks to all who wished me a Happy Birthday! I love you all!

Elder Rokovitz (Yup, I'm 19)


                                                                             

Me with Elder Stroud and my birthday cake at the Proaño's.

Getting ready to celebrate my birthday with the elders.

The candle is lit......

......and then POW!!! Look what Elder Stroud did!! He pounded my face in the cake. He straight used 2 hands. 

Cake face!!

Looking at the awesome photo poster Aracely made for my birthday.

She put so much time and effort into making this for me. I loved it. 

Face in the cake at Flor's too. It's a Latino thing.

You can see the egg on my shirt from the 2 eggs that got smashed on my head..... Also a Latino birthday tradition. 

It's only been 6 months and my good ol' missionary shoes are already dying. There is a member here who is a shoe maker so hopefully they can help me out. 

I Miss My Mom

If you couldn't tell by my title, I miss my Mom. I don't have much time to write this week because I have to write to a lot of people, so this might be shorter! I'm glad to hear that you all are doing well and keeping busy! 

Mom, thanks for the "shout out" to my friends about my birthday. Some friends hit me up, so thanks, that was actually an awesome idea! And it was great to hear from them. 

Okay, so I forgot to tell everyone that last week I tried Guinea Pig for the first time! It's actually really good. It's super tough though. If no one would have told me what it was I would have eaten it like normal because it's super good! 

So first off for this week, just real quick about the investigators, so Manuela's doing really good. We taught their whole family, and they're awesome. We were going to go back but I was sick.. I'll explain in a minute. But she came to church all by herself this week! Normally she comes with her nephew who's a member (Gabriel) but she came all by herself which was awesome! We re-taught about the restauracion (restoration) with her and we hoped she could understand the apostasy and the priesthood better and I think she did. But yeah, she's doing great. 

Lilia and Abraham.. well, we are about to drop them, They have been investigating over a year and they promise and promise and promise, and then just don't complete. This last Saturday Abraham was saying, "si o si" (yes oh yes) that he would be there, on time, with the whole family. We called to remind them on Sunday 3 times and no one picked up and they didn't show.. they just are becoming "eternal investigators" and well, sadly we might have to drop them. We love them so so much and want the best for them but it's so hard because they just promise, then don't complete.. so yeah. I don't know. I'll update more next week, but for now, we just don't know what to do.

Diana and Jorge and doing great. They couldn't come to church because they went to Trujillo (their 8 year old is studying up there so they went to visit) but Durli came to church and brouht the girl that cleans their house (she's like 16 or so also.) We taught them the Word of Wisdom earlier in the week then visited again. Diana always gives us something to drink or eat when we visit and she points to the Coca Cola and goes, "This no, right?" And we laughed and were like, "Haha, nah, that one's alright!" Haha, they're the best. Jorge's always just cracking jokes and stuff too. 

This week I was sick.. well not really sick but I got a pain in my head that was worse than anything I have ever felt in my life. I think it's from the heat, humidity or stress or something but I was in my bed for 2 days straight. I normally have a high pain tolerance, but there was one point I was just bawling because it hurt so bad. I've never missed my Mom so much in all my life haha, I'll be honest! I just wanted a Momma hug haha, but I'm all good now. That was Wednesday and Thursday. but all is well. I still get little headaches but I've just been chugging water (I drink a lot anyway) but yeah, I'm better now. 

Also, this week I finished the Book of Mormon all the way through for the first time on my own in my life!! It was so awesome! I just felt so at peace afterwards. I just sat there for a minute, just sitting there, and thinking and sitting there with just a calm peace. Then I just got down and prayed about it and felt just such a full assurance of the book. I know that the book is true and I testify of it's great power! 

We´ll see how this week goes. It'll be weird... just proselyting on my birthday haha. It'll be different. But thanks everyone for the birthday wishes! I love you all and hope you all have a good week! Chaufa!

                                                                               

Zone Conference.

Getting ready for lunch with Elder Stroud. Have to use hand sanitizer before we eat. 

Having a great lunch with some great elders at Zone Conference. 

Rain

So this week has been really good. Also really fast. The last few weeks have just absolutely blown by, it’s been crazy! I like the new schedule a lot. We proselyte a ton, but it’s all good because that’s what we are here for! We had a little training about the schedule and just.. well, a training in Trujillo. Also, Elder Asay (from the CCM, the Zone doctor) was there and basically told us, we don’t have a worm, we are fine, we aren’t going to die, our stomach is fine. Get over it, do exercises, haha so yeah, it was a good training.

It’s actually been raining a ton here, which is super unusual. I was expecting from what I’ve heard, that I would only see rain twice my whole mission but now it’s like normal. It’s usually super light here but yeah, I’ve seen rain about 5 or 6 times already in Chao. I’ve gotten more accustomed to the heat. But I’m not feeling so hot right now, I’ll explain in a second.

I forgot last week to tell you about Angel. I was having a bad day one day and I looked tired apparently, and Angel wrote me a note that said, "Don’t slep plis, okay", haha I was cracking up. It made my day and turned it around!

This week we taught Diana, Jorge and Durli twice. Once was with just Diana y (and) Durli and the other time was with Jorge and Diana. So the one with Durli y (and) Diana, we taught the Plan of Salvation and it was one of the most spiritual lessons I’ve had. It was awesome and they asked a ton of questions, like.. deep doctrine questions haha. It was awesome though, and we challenged Durli for the 4th of March with her family and she gladly accepted. So, that’s cool. Also, we taught Jorge y (and) Diana about the Word of Wisdom. Jorge has a bit of a drinking problem and so we wanted to touch on that. They both said they would keep it, so hey, it went really good. Afterwards Jorge said we need to come work on his chacra (ranch) one day. So we might do that this week or next week. I have no doubt they’re going to get baptized! We have to start working on their marriage as well though. Also, during that lesson with Diana y (and) Jorge, it started pouring. Not like the states.. maybe like a normal rain in Utah, but here it was pouring haha, and then mid lesson, the power went out for about 15 minutes. Then the next day it went out at night so we had to be in our room at like 7 p.m. We can’t be out or we will get robbed or something haha, so yeah.

Also, Manuela is doing great. She didn’t come to church again, probably wasn’t feeling good, because she likes coming to church. And she also told us she isn’t sure if she really got baptized before or not.. and me and my companion were both thinking.. well great! Haha, because her only worry is why she "has to get baptized twice" but we are going to re-teach the Restauraction (Restoration) over again as well, to see if that’ll help her out. But she’s doing great.

Also, Lilia y (and) Abraham are doing great.. they say they are going to the marriage office thing this Monday.. well, today.. but we will see. They have told us that for months and it usually never happens. I’m a little frustrated honestly with them because they kept telling us si o si (yes oh yes) that they were going to come to church, and they didn’t come because they said their 16 year old daughter was sick.. and I was just like.. ummm she can take care of herself.. the whole family doesn’t have to skip church because of that.. Also, we saw her (their daughter) later and she was fine.. I’m a little worried about them. But we are doing our best with them right now. I don’t know if their date for the 25th this month will hold or not.. we will see.

Also, we had a good lesson with Joiner this week as well as Lucho. We put a date for the 18th of March with Lucho, and that was like one of the best lessons I’ve ever had.

So this week everyone, and I mean everyone, was commiting to come to church, so we were super hyped. Then Sunday comes and we had 0 investigators in the church.. it was really hard. But, what can we do? We will just keep working and the Lord will take care of it. It’s hard when that happens but.. it’s all good.

Yesterday I felt like crap. I have a fever, not grave deadly, but pretty high, and so I was burning up and my whole body felt completely weak. It got really bad at about 7 p.m., right before dinner. After dinner I asked Elder Stroud if he could give me a blessing (I wanted it in English) and honestly, it was one of the best blessings I’ve ever received. He blessed me with health and strength and blessing on my family and me through my diligence and obedience. Also, that I would have patience and love for my companion. It was just an indiscribable blessing and feeling that night. It was awesome. Then I went back, wrote in my journal, took some Nyquil and put lavender oil on my head and knocked out. I woke up feeling a bit better but still not too great. Then after studies, I knocked out for 3 more hours and I’m feeling a lot better now! Only a little pain in my head, but my fever is gone and my body feels fine. The Lord blesses his missionaries! Anyway, I’m short on time! I gotta go! Les amo mucho! (I love you very much!) Take care! Chaooo!



                                                                             

Eating a lucama. It's really delicious.

Payback to Elder Stroud for taking pictures of me sleeping on the bus.

A little art work done at Caesar's...... don't worry, he said I could.

For Dad........ GO UTES!!!!!