The Rain Is Slowing

Hellooo fam! The weather has calmed down a little more. We had running water in our apartment (sinks and shower) for about 2 days then it decided to go out again.. love it. We have had church as normal, but in Trujillo there were parts where their church was cancelled. 

At first this week was pretty slow. We didn't do much and couldn't get out much, but eventually it started going up this weekend. Me and Elder Johnson went on an interchange which was awesome. He's a stud, but we didn't teach anyone! It was crazy, we couldn't get in anywhere.. but! We still had a good time. 

On Wednesday we had interviews and a training from Elder Henao and Elder Benitez, the assistants. It was great. Something I loved that Elder Benitez said was from Moses 1:39 and he said, "If God has high expectations for his children, so should we." We were talking about metas and fe (goals and faith) It was a great training and it got me hyped to get out, work hard, and get some people wet!

Speaking of baptisms, our Zone had a tarde blanca (white afternoon) this week and we had 7 baptisms!! YUP!! That was a great experience. We went up on Friday to interview one of them and she never showed up. After an hour and trying to call her and her not picking up, I felt inspired that I should call her from our phone (a number she didn't recognize) and she picked up. The hermanas (sisters) talked to her and she wasn't ready, which was really sad, but they went and talked to her and that night she, Ladis, felt ready and wanted to know if I could come interview her in the morning so that she could be baptized the next night (Saturday.) So I interviewed her and she got baptized. It was awesome! It's crazy how much Satan works on the Lord's children when they're about to get baptized! But the Lord always wins. 

Also this week we went off and found a bunch of new people. We taught Milagros and Tomas (brother and sister) but couldn't teach their mom that we´ve been trying to teach forever. They are 22 and 24. Milagros says she's super Catholic and wants to continue hearing but she won't get baptized... we´ll see about that. I'm hyped for them though, they're a great family. 

Also I met my first ever atheist... it was weird. I just couldn't believe that he doesn't believe in God. It brought to mind a scripture in Alma 30:44 when Alma is roasting Korihor and he says, "Yea, and everything denotes there is a God.." Teaching this man was actually a huge testimony grower and I actually enjoyed listening to him. He's a super nice guy and actually accepted a Book of Mormon to read. I think one day he will come around. Hopefully little by little we can bring the light of Christ back into him. I'm hyped because I'm going to baptize him one day! I know it. It would be so cool to help this man progress and come back to the belief in our Eternal Father. 

Later that day we found another golden family (familia Losano.) The dad has family in Utah actually haha. And 3 of his 11 brothers and sisters are members of the church. They're super nice and we had a great time teaching them (that was all on Sunday) plus one more new person. So we found 5 just on Sunday and they were all golden. I was on a spiritual high after that day! I'm super excited to help all of them progress. We can see through our hard work and our "deseo" (desire) to be obedient that the Lord is blessing us with chosen and prepared children. 

This week was amazing and I'm so glad I'm here performing the Lord's work! I hope that you all have a great week and I love you so much!

Amen su guapaso misionero (your handsome missionary), Elder Rokovitz (Vitz) according to Christian haha.

                                                                           

The squad in Trujillo. We had to wear these this week because of all the dust in the air.

Me and the lizzard I caught. 

I'm still trying to catch a bigger one. They are fast!!

 

The Floods

Heyyyoo, so apparently the internet is back on and they said we could have 2 hours to stay on, soooo here I am haha. So first off, I just want to wish my amazing Momma a happy birthday! I hope it was good. It sounds like you guys had a ton of fun over in Moab! But yeah, I hope you had a good day Mom! I love you so much. I was super nervous when I called today and I forgot to say happy birthday so I'm sorry haha, and I was going to say some other stuff but my mind was all over the place, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! 

Okay, so on to this week. So this week has been pretty nuts. I don't think I can say I've seen anything so crazy in all my life. I've been humbled more than I can imagine and realized how blessed I am. This week started off with us visiting a member, her name is Maria. After we taught their family and were about to leave, she wouldn't let us until her daughter could run down the street and buy an Inca Kola and some Galletas to share with us. It's just so amazing that they have so little and want to give all they can to show their love for us. It's amazing and it's just so humbling that they would give, for them, so much, because they want to show their appreciation to us. I just love it and I love seeing stuff like that. It just makes me so happy! 

The next day it started raining all day but we didn't think too much of it. It was pretty crazy because it never rains all day here. So we just walked around like normal but we got soaked. That night, right as we got back to the room, it started POURING and the streets started flooding. We helped out those in our apartment building and then went out and helped a hermana (sister) and her daughter get water off of their "patio", so to say, so it wouldn't run into their house. (The "patios" are on the roof.) We helped out with that and were out until about 12:30 a.m. helping people. The next day we basically had a day of service and helped out all those whose houses had gotten wrecked by the rain and helped them prepare for more, because we knew more was coming. 

Later that day we went and did an interview for the Zone Leader's baptism. It was pretty nuts because the guy was leaving for Spain the next day so all had to be done that day - the baptism and confirmation as well. We waited and waited for a bishopric member to show up. We couldn't call anyone because the lines were down due to the rain. Finally, after basically giving up, and giving up hope, the bishop showed up. He had to call SLC to get approval for this baptism to happen haha. Finally, they approved it and we had a baptism and confirmation in like 15 minutes. It was pretty nuts but, it's crazy, every baptism there is always some type of trial to test their and our faith, but finally it comes together and everything works outs! It's crazy how it works out, but it's great.

The next day we had some real burgers at a member's house and they were amazing!.. We don't get burgers much here so it was a big deal. From there, things started to get crazy again. It had been raining up in the hills and filling up the rivers, so the rivers would overflow and flow down into the city. Mudslides, landslides, and rivers were all passing through Trujillo. Luckily not too much is happening here in Moche, but there are so many houses that have been completely destroyed. Normally Trujillo receives about 1cm to 5cm ( 0.393701 - 1.9685 inches) of rain every year.. so this was out of the blue for them. Most people's houses are built from adobe which is basically dirt bricks with mud to hold them together. Also the streets don't have drainage because this has never happened before.. it's sad and humbling at the same time. It's been pretty crazy to see all of this. 

They've cut the running water for 5-15 days, so for now, it's "cup" showers from the buckets we have. We fill our 2 buckets up with well water and then use a bottle and that's our shower haha. It sure is a crazy experience, that's for sure! But I'm glad to be here to help the people out. The service is going to be crazy. These last 2 days we have been in our rooms and can't leave but when we can leave, which will be tomorrow, it will be pure service to help everyone out. We do everything we can to find all the service we can. We´ve done everything from sweep water out of homes, move sand bags, move a fridge onto a table, dig holes, to building roofs and move giant rocks. I'm tired but I'd rather be tired giving service and be protected in the Lord's hands than anywhere else. I'm glad to be here and I'm glad to be able to help the people of Perú. Please keep them in your prayers as they pass through these difficulties. 

I'm glad I got to talk to you guys! It was so good to hear your voices haha, I was super happy to hear your voices!! I love you guys so much. I hope you have a great week! I am safe and everyone here in our mission is A-okay! Worry for those here that are passing through rough times and please keep them in your prayers. That's all for me today! I'm loving the work and I'm loving the people! Roko out!

Me and Agua man (Water man) a statue without significance, I think.

At the Zone Leader's baptism I wrote about.

On the roof with the Moche 1 elders (We are Moche 2) checking out the clouds. They have been and still are staying with us until the rains calm down.

Me and my cards. Dad, I challenge you to do that with a deck of cards..... without cheating or using the internet or other resources.

Limited water use right now. Filling up the toilet - we can only flush at night.... or if we poop..... so it gets kinda stinky.

Me and Elder Johnson, the one who miraculously got better and didn't need surgery.

The flooding on the first night

Flooding on the first night. This is nothing compared to yesterday and other days in other cities.

Doing service. We dug holes at a ladies house for a roof. All this trash is behind her house and it's straight mud, and it like slants into her house. It's pretty sad. Without our help, they could have died because they would've gotten trapped, but we were able to build a roof for them and they are safe now. 

A better look at yesterday. It still doesn't do it justice but it doesn't even begin to compare to other cities.

Flooding in Perú - A message from Cory's mom.

There will be no email from Cory this week...... But we did get a phone call from him. Before Cory left for his mission, he was told by a friend that had served in the same mission that he probably would see very little rain in Perú, if any at all. Cory's friend had only seen rain a couple times in the two years he was there. Well, this year is different. Areas of Perú are experiencing rain that they haven't seen in 20 years. The streets don't have drains so there is significant flooding going on right now. I have almost daily contact on Facebook with Aracely, the oldest daughter of the family that was baptized in Cory's last area in Chao on Christmas Eve. Some of the members and investigators that Cory worked with while he was in Chao have lost their homes from the flooding, which breaks my heart. I don't personally know these people, but have come to know and love them through Cory's emails home. 

Twice this week, the mission president has sent messages out, letting parents know that their missionary children are all safe. With all the flooding, we weren't sure if we'd get an email from Cory this week. Finally, around 2:30 p.m. today, an international call through on my cell phone. It was Cory!! We were super happy to hear from him and he was equally happy to hear our voices. He told us that where he is at, in Moche, (about 10 minutes from Trujillo) they are not as bad off as other areas. His last area, Chao, is pretty bad off. Since many people have homes made of Adobe in Moche, some have lost their homes. The bridge in Virú, which gives the smaller towns access to the bigger city of Trujillo, has washed away. This makes it difficult for many to get the food and water they need. Prices have gone up, looting is starting to happen and many will not go out at night right now. Over 70 lives have been lost in the flooding in Perú

Cory told us that most people have a water tank on the roof of their houses or apartments and that the water has been shut off for 5 days right now. He said that their apartment is currently out of water and he has had to go a couple days without a shower, but other missionaries still have water so they can shower there. He assured us he is fine and that all is well, but he has been humbled by the things he has seen. Hopefully, he can email next week. Please keep the people in Perú in your prayers. The rain is suppose to continue for a couple more weeks. 

The following are not Cory's pictures but are from Facebook friends in Perú.


                                                                                  

                                                                                 

Meeting New Friends With Stingers

Alright so for this week, so first off.. remember how last week I told you Elder Johnson might have to go home and had to have surgery.. yeah well.. he is 100 percent healed up. He went back this last Monday and they told him that it’s healed. The doctor said he’s never seen anything like that before. It was pretty nuts! Such a blessing and a miracle. The Lord blesses his missionaries, that’s for sure!

Being District Leader is fun! I’m loving it and the city life sure is a lot different from Chao.. and man, taxis are expensive here!

I’ve figured out how awesome my companion is. He’s super funny. In high school he got bullied and didn’t really have much friends. He is a little different and shy and weird at times but he’s so cool. He’s a stud. He really wants to work hard but he seems to just go with what his companion does, so we are working hard! Also he got a package this week and the first thing he did was give me some Snickers and Kit Kats and jerkey. He’s super selfless and just a stud!

                                                                             

Me and my companion, Elder Cruz

This week we found 8 more new people. One of the golden ones is Viki. She’s about 30-ish and is co-living right now but we put a date with her for the 15 of Abril (April). She’s really cool though. She’s super open to the message and asks a lot of questions.

Also this week as I went to go wash my hands in our "kitchen", I found a little friend in my sink.. Also, a couple days later, found another little friend under my laundry basket.. this time bigger. So in Chao we had a little cockroach problem.. well here.. the little problem... Scorpions! Yup, scorpions! Haha I was so rattled! I’ve never seen one in my life, so yeah.. if I don’t respond next week.. well you now know why hahaha.

                                                                           

I got told Friday night I was supposed to give a talk this week. I whipped that up in a hot minute. I realized in the mission.. even speaking Spanish.. I like giving talks more. Maybe it’s just because I know more haha, but I love it. Before, I had to try and fill up a talk to barely make time.. this time, I had to cut it back a little bit to make my 15 minutes. And I got a note near the end saying, "tiempo" (time) haha, but my talk was about repentance. Something I shared was in Alma 36 when Alma hijo (the son of Alma) is talking to his son and tells him about when he was visited by the angel. Something I really liked though in verse 3 is how it says if we will just put our trust in the Lord, He will strengthen and support us in our trials and dificultades (difficulties) and it’s so true. All we have to do is put our trust in Him and do our part and He will guide us and support us. Also something I learned about repentance is that we have to accept the Lord. Accept that His infinite love and mercy is there and that He truly is there and has forgiven us. Sometimes we skip this step and let the flashback of our sin weigh on us. The most important part of repentance is that we accept that the Lord has payed for our sins and that if we keep the commandments and promise to never commit the sin again and we don’t, then the Lord will put that on His shoulders and carry it for us. I testify of that and know how true it is.

Also, I loved what President Hiskey said! Man I was crying.. it’s so true though. I am so happy! But thanks for that story. That’s so cool. That makes me so happy! (The story Elder Rokovitz is referring to happened Sunday morning in a youth morning side for our Stake Conference. A while back, parents who have missionaries in the field right now were asked to send pictures of their children in the act of missionary work to the Stake President. I sent maybe 7-8 of my favorite pictures that Elder Rokovitz has sent to us. The night before the morning side, President Hiskey came up to me and said in awe, “That picture you sent me of Cory, where he’s sitting on the bed with his companion with that one couple and the walls of their house are only as wide as their bed?????......” He was blown away seeing their living conditions, but in awe with the happiness that was evident on Cory's face. At the youth morning side, President Hiskey had made a slide show of the missionary pictures he had gotten from everyone in our stake. A friend of ours was at the meeting and she told me that when President Hiskey got to Cory's picture with Ivan and Clarita he said, “This is Cory Rokovitz serving in Perú. Look how happy he is!! See that bed that they’re sitting on? That’s their furniture. See those walls touching the bed? That’s the size of their house. See that table? That’s where their kitchen starts. But look at how happy Elder Rokovitz is!! Some of you are afraid to serve a mission because you don’t want to leave your electronics or other posessions, but look at Elder Rokovitz!! He. Is. Happy!!” It sounds like it was a pretty cool presentation. We told Cory that we felt he was being a good example to all the youth of our stake. Here is the picture that was used in the slide show.):
                                                                               

Not too much this week though, sorry haha. We’ve been trying to know the members better, the less active and the recent converts to help us in the work. So we have done a lot of walking.. But that’s the work ladies and gents! I’m loving it though. At night at the pensh (pencionista's) we teach her husband English.. he’s terrible at it hahaha. We just teach him all the jerga and pronunciation like “Sup” and stuff like that. Also we play hyped card games after dinner.. trust me they get hyped. Life is good. I’m loving the mission and loving the work!  I love you all and hope you have a great week. Keep up whatever you’re doing haha. Cuidense muchísimo! (Take care very much!) Su guapaso misionero (Your handsome missionary), Elder Rokovitz.



I’ll take more pictures, haha sorry. I’m starting off slow, but I’ll start getting more pictures here.
                                                                             

Welcome to Trujillo

Hayyyooo, okay so let me start off on all of your questions.

- Tell us about your new companion, Elder Cruz. Do you like him? How are you getting along?

Okay so Elder Cruz is a really cool guy, I love him as a companion and he's really great. He's a little nutsy and crazy sometimes, but he's a good kid! 

- Tell us about your apartment. Is it nicer, not as nice or about the same as in Chao?

The apartment we have is a lot nicer than the last one, it's a lot bigger too! But we have a roof that isn't cement and so sometimes it gets hot if we are there in the afternoon or after lunch. 

- Tell us about the ward. It must be so different from being in a small branch where everyone probably knows everything about each other.

The ward..wow it's so different than a little branch. Even consejo (ward counsel) and everything. It's a crazy change but wow, having a ward helps so much with the work. A branch doesn't do as much! I still love them.. but wow. It's a huge change. 

- Tell us about your pencion. Do you like her food? Better, not as good or about the same as Flor's?

The pencion is awesome! Her name is Ana. She has 3 kids, Gaby, Abram, and.. I don't know the other yet, but he doesn't live here. They're all older though. And her husband isn't active, his name is Jorge but he's so cool haha, he is super funny. He served in the navy here and is a machanic and always tells jokes. He's a big dude.. but her food is awesome! Ana actually asks what we like, don't like, and is super nice. I love her! 

- Tell us about your new area. I'll bet it's so different to be in Trujillo than Chao. More stores? More people? Do you use more transportation in Trujillo or do you still walk a lot?

Going from a little town to here.. wow huge difference! I feel like everyone here is loaded.. haha. It's a bigger city, lots of transportation, we have a giant mall in our area.. like 5 times as big as Orem haha, but I love it. I'm my Momma's boy, I love the city. 

- Will you get to go to the temple more often with it being in your area or are you still only allowed to go a certain amount of time?

The temple visit.. same.. I don't know when or if we will go here.. we will have to see. 

- What do you think about being a District Leader? Is Elder Cruz letting you have some of the responsibility?

Being a DL is pretty weird. Not as bad as I thought. We are having a training Tuesday which will help a ton. And Elder Cruz wasn't a DL before.. and he's kind of shy at times so I try to balance the responsability and remember that he is a DL too. But we are working good. 

But anyway, let me start off my email! So the last day in Chao.. was an eventful day! We went and played some pick up futbol at a random court, the four of us and 3 other investigators against a bunch of like 14 and 15 year old stars haha. It was so fun because me and Elder Stroud were just going off the whole time in English and getting in their heads hahaha, it was so much fun and we were just getting hyped the whole time. 

Later that night we went to Diana's to say goodbye to their family.. they didn't know about my transfer call, and then they all of a sudden asked, "Oh yeah, we heard there are changes soon, do you guys know yet?" And me and my companion just look at each other and go, "Oh crap..", then I told them and they just all go, "NOOOO!!! YOU CAN'T GO!!" And I was like.., "Yes.. it's true...", and it was pretty sad, but they were all like, "No!! We have to have a dinner! Do you guys have time?" It was like 8:20 p.m. and we still had to go to famila Proaño.. and so we were like, "Nooo.. we don't have time", but then Diana goes, "DURLI, GO BUY A CHICKEN, JORGE, SHOWER, PAULO HELP ME WITH THE TABLE!! We will make it quick!" So we had some pollo a la braza there.. haha until about 9-ish, and then we walked out and they were all saying "thanks" and "goodbye" and Diana was just telling me how much they appreciated me then goes.. "Oh, I just need a hug!", and goes in to hug me and I was like, "No, no, no, no, no.." but she swooped in, and me and my companion were just looking at each other, laughing like, oh crap haha. Then Durli goes, "EVERYONE!" Hahaha so yeah.. my first group hug with girls involved on my mission.. haha. But the last day was good. Diana and Jorge still need to get married, so they aren't being baptized yet. But I will try to communicate with Elder Stroud and let you guys know/keep you updated. I'm going to miss Chao but it's in good hands, the Lord's hands. I know He's got them now and I'm here, assigned to my new area. 

                                                                         

My last visit with Diana, Jorge, Durli and Paulo

When I got here to Moche, the first day was pretty good, but after a few days.. I realize they have been doing nothing here! The elder who I'm replacing had his last 2 months here and then died..(went home because his mission was over) so yeah, he didn't end on a strong note. My companion doesn't know the area, the people, we have about 5 investigators that he knows of.. it's not good. They barely left to proselyte ever and found 5 new people here to teach in one month.. we doubled that in 5 days here this week.. so yeah. I feel like I'm opening a new area here to be honest. It's really hard.. But, that's what I'm supposed to do. It's really going to help me grow, that's for sure! But it's a good area, we are literally on the beach, like part of our area that we teach, people have their beach houses and beach tiendas (stores), which makes me want to live in California or something haha. I love the beach! And just seeing the giant waves here and everything is great, the air is fresh, it's cooler, wind exists here! It's nice. A lot less dirt too. 

Also it rained pretty hard this week! Like, really, really hard. The streets were flooding. They haven't seen rain like this in years they said. It was a huge eye opener though because some people here don't have roofs. They don't have cement houses, they're adobe, which is basically hard dirt, and so there was a lot of service on Thursday! We helped this one lady sweep all the water out of her house, it was pretty crazy. We are just so blessed.. I mean, even to just have a roof that doesn't leak and to not have to worry if it rains or how hard it rains.. it was pretty nuts to realize that. 

I had a pretty crazy eye opener earlier in the week.. So I didn't notice our shower head is lower here than in my apartment in Chao and also the electricity is stronger.. if you hit your head on the shower head here.. well.. it hurts!! I got shocked half to death mid shower. The water is heated electrically and you'll get shocked if you touch the shower head while taking a shower. I don't think I've ever seen a bright light before getting shocked.. haha I straight up think I had to have lost some brain cells during that experience hahaha. 

This week I was able to do my first baptism interview for an investigator who was ready to be baptized. It was pretty cool. It was an investigator from Hermanas Fullmer, Klunker, and Guerrero.. by the way, Hermana Fullmer is Jason Money's girlfriend (ex Spanish Fork Quarterback) Yeah she's from Provo. We realized we know a ton of people and actually heard of each other's names before the mission haha, that was pretty cool. Also Hermana Guerrero is good friends with Madi (the girl I took to Senior prom) haha small world! Anyway, so yeah, I interviewed the mom of the family of 4. It was so cool and such a great experience. I'll be looking forward to more soon. It's so much fun, I loved it! It's so cool to see the light in these people as they are preparing for baptism. 

At the baptism, Presidente Rios gave a talk and I loved it! He talked about this blind man in Mark (in the Bible), and how he was brought to Jesus to be healed. But Jesus brought him like 5 blocks down the road, then spit in his eyes, then healed him. Presidente Rios put us, step by step, in the blind man's shoes and how he would have felt. He said that Jesus could have... (holy crap, they're playing music from Remember the Titans! Hahaha trunkaso!!) Haha, anyway, but Jesus could have healed him in an instant but He wanted to test the man's faith first. Presidente Rios said sometimes we feel like we are getting dragged around, and even spit on and that Heavenly Father isn't there, but He does that sometimes to test our faith and see if we can handle those trials. I loved that analogy and it's so true. Sometimes we feel like He just isn't there, but He is always by our side. Sometimes we just don't get our answers right away or we don't get what we want, the way we want, but something I have learned here is that the Lord knows. It's His timing and He will always do what He thinks is best for us and what will help us grow the most. Always rely on Him. Always put your trust in Him and He will never lead you astray! Sometimes He will test our faith though, but most of the time it's for the better. I'm sure I'm about to learn that in this new area as we struggle to find and teach. There are a bunch of rude, hard core people here that belong to other religions, and I have had a lot of doors literally straight slammed in my face here.. haha, it's not too fun. But the Lord is testing me and the harder I work the more He will see my diligence and bless me. I invite all of you as well to always put your faith in the Lord and never give up in the hard times. Get on your knees and ask Him for strength. He will give it to you, and He will do it in the time best for us. 

I know this church is true and I know our Savior lives. Thanks for all your support and love and I'm always praying for you guys! I love you tons! Besitos! 

Elder Rokovitz

                                                       Pictures before I left Chao, on my last day there.  

Me with Casto and his son, Eddie. (Eddie was the one that went "HAYUTUAH" right before the prayer that one day.)

With Victor, the shoemaker.

Me and Elder Alarcon with my favorite family, familia Proaño.

The Proaño's little cousin, Lucy, Marilu, Magnu, Aracely, Mia and me. I will miss this family so much.

Pictures in my new area.

Me with my new companion, Elder Cruz. This is on the beach. We're standing on the street with the beach in front of us and houses behind us. It's pretty awesome!

My new best friend by the beach.

Part of my new area. I love this!!

This, ladies and gentleman, is the best thing ever! It's called Maté and it's soooo good. It's an Argentine tradition but Elder Johnson had some. (Elder Johnson is one of my new favorite elders. He's like Elder Stroud, but is here in Moche. He's getting surgery this week. He was going to go back home to do it, but decided to stay here and do it. He's a stud.)

Scripture study with my Maté

Back and front views from our apartment. See the flooding in the street?