Re: Reflections on two years and one testimony

Beautiful reflections, Elder Child! We have absolutely loved following your adventures, reading about your faith-filled experiences, and seeing you change lives for the better - including your own! Thank you for your dedicated service on the front lines for the Lord! We know that you are loved and appreciated, honored and revered by so many. Your influence could never be measured! Those whose lives you have touched will be forever blessed because of your actions as an instrument in the Lord's hands. We certainly have been blessed by your example, testimony, and the love you show to all who know you. WELL DONE THOU GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!!! Thanks for being you! We love you forever, and can hardly wait to see you and give you gigantic hugs again!  With love and gratitude, G and G Anderson 333  Onward, upward, and outward to your next adventures! 

On Wed, Apr 6, 2022 at 10:32 PM Evan Child <evan.child@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello all you wonderful people!! I hope you're doing absolutely fantastic and I'm excited to see you! I am happy, grateful, and well, and currently on a plane en route to see my family. Tomorrow I'm to be released as a full-time missionary of Christ's restored Church. This is a longer email, but I wanted to reflect a little bit on my mission and what I've learned. I hope that these reflections can be of use to you; they most certainly have been for me!

How I have loved proclaiming the gospel of repentance in Jesus Christ these two years! There is no greater nor more important work than that of gathering Israel, and during these years I have come to know much more what it means to be of Israel. For many missionaries, their favorite aspect of mission life is seeing how letting God prevail changes people's lives. Some of my most treasured moments of these years have been those of seeing people do just that, especially when living and making covenants with God has been involved.

I want to share three stories of people from my mission who were willing to let God prevail in their lives (taking a leaf out of the other Elder Child's book and changing all the names, since this will include some personal info).

One afternoon, Geraldo was praying fervently to know which was God's true Church. He got a peaceful feeling and decided to leave his house. Two elders felt an impression to talk to him, and they began to explain to him about the First Vision. They asked him if he believed, and he said yes! In that brief conversation, he'd felt that their message was true. If I remember correctly, he went on shortly afterwards to pray about the message and received a stronger impression that it was, in fact, all true. However, in the following weeks, it became difficult to get ahold of Geraldo. He didn't answer calls, canceled several lessons, and rarely attended Church. After about two months of this, something changed. We began to be able to teach him regularly, he began to never miss Church, and he kept every commitment with joy. What changed? I think it wasn't his answer but rather his faith and courage to act on that answer. That faith is essential to let God prevail in our lives.

Martin was married to Yanet, a wonderful member of the Church who decided to come back to living her covenants. She invited the missionaries to their home and they began to teach Martin and their two sons. We began traditionally, teaching the plan of salvation and the Restoration and helping the family develop basic discipleship habits. In a subsequent visit, we were told that Martin had overcome some difficulties the previous weekend, something that was extremely difficult for him. We went on to find out that from then on he'd given up drinking... before we'd taught him the word of wisdom. Dear Yanet had invited him to give up alcohol, and the faithful man had the faith to lean on the testimony of his consecrated wife to let God prevail even when he did not understand all the reasons why.

Alyson was a nine-year-old girl who had come to know the Church through her member aunts and had been attending Church for five years. Her parents were very supportive but did not yet desire to be baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ. Her testimony was that of a child. It was not based in complex doctrinal understanding or the result of patient doubt-weeding but rather a simple knowing of truth that this is the restored Church of Jesus Christ. She was able to let God prevail based on a simple and strong testimony.

Elder Razhuilca was the only member in his family. He was baptized at 12 and left on his mission without knowing yet the truth of the Book of Mormon. He felt that the Church was true because of how he felt in all the meetings and activities, but didn't feel yet that he knew the Restoration was real. However, he had a profound desire to repent and to develop Christ-like attributes and felt that the mission would help him to do so, and so he decided to serve!

In these stories, we can see that it takes true faith to let God prevail. The faith to act on an answer, the faith to lean on the testimony of others, the faith to act with unwavering determination based on a simple testimony, and the faith to keep the commandments in spite of unresolved doubts are all examples of having the faith to let God prevail. How joyous is this work!!! Geraldo, Michel and his two sons, and Alyson were all baptized and confirmed and are progressing steadily towards making more covenants with God. Elder Razhuilca now knows that the Book of Mormon is true by the power of the Holy Ghost and is bearing powerful testimony.

I have absolutely loved helping people like these, seeing miracles, and changing during these years. However, on my mission, I have been very far from perfect. My mission president and companion shared some powerful thoughts on the topic. How can we know if we've been successful, if we've done something in our lives "right" or "good enough?" First off, because of Christ's Atonement, if we repent, "Did I do it right?" is not the right question, but rather, "Am I doing it right?" Christ will make up the difference. He just asks that we don't give up as we keep repenting and living His gospel. However, there are a few questions that can be educational and motivational in helping us reflect on past chapters of our lives without falling into the trap of "Did I do it right?". A few I like are:

  - Did I feel joy in my labor?

  - Did I see the Lord's hand in my life and those of others?

  - Did I work to gather Israel?

  - Did I repent of mistakes?

  - How can I learn from these experiences to be more Christ-like tomorrow than I was yesterday? 

I've re-learned on my mission that we can know these things. Every human being has chosen once to follow Christ, and because of that, we are beings of intelligence imbued with a light from Him that allows us to discern between good and evil, light and darkness, truth/intelligence and the lack thereof. Knowing this is far more than an urge to avoid cognitive dissonance or rationalizing oneself out of fearing death. It is the power in us as children of God to KNOW.

The Book of Mormon is true. Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. Christ's Church is restored. I know this by the power of the Holy Ghost. I bear testimony that Jesus Christ lives. He is the Son of God. He stands today on the right hand of His Father with arms of mercy extended to all those who will receive Him. He is our Savior, our Redeemer, our Healer, our best friend. There is no wound He can't heal, no scar He can't fix, no soul He can't lift, and no sin that He won't forgive if we truly repent. By living His gospel, we can receive the eternal glory that He and His Father live. That gospel is thus the most important message for anyone to come to know! I've loved proclaiming it for two years. Here's to ninety-two more 😁🎉🙏

Love you all dearly! See you soon 🤗

Elder Child

--
To see all of Elder Child's email, see https://elderelichildinperu.blogspot.com/
 
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Reflections on two years and one testimony

Hello all you wonderful people!! I hope you're doing absolutely fantastic and I'm excited to see you! I am happy, grateful, and well, and currently on a plane en route to see my family. Tomorrow I'm to be released as a full-time missionary of Christ's restored Church. This is a longer email, but I wanted to reflect a little bit on my mission and what I've learned. I hope that these reflections can be of use to you; they most certainly have been for me!

How I have loved proclaiming the gospel of repentance in Jesus Christ these two years! There is no greater nor more important work than that of gathering Israel, and during these years I have come to know much more what it means to be of Israel. For many missionaries, their favorite aspect of mission life is seeing how letting God prevail changes people's lives. Some of my most treasured moments of these years have been those of seeing people do just that, especially when living and making covenants with God has been involved.

I want to share three stories of people from my mission who were willing to let God prevail in their lives (taking a leaf out of the other Elder Child's book and changing all the names, since this will include some personal info).

One afternoon, Geraldo was praying fervently to know which was God's true Church. He got a peaceful feeling and decided to leave his house. Two elders felt an impression to talk to him, and they began to explain to him about the First Vision. They asked him if he believed, and he said yes! In that brief conversation, he'd felt that their message was true. If I remember correctly, he went on shortly afterwards to pray about the message and received a stronger impression that it was, in fact, all true. However, in the following weeks, it became difficult to get ahold of Geraldo. He didn't answer calls, canceled several lessons, and rarely attended Church. After about two months of this, something changed. We began to be able to teach him regularly, he began to never miss Church, and he kept every commitment with joy. What changed? I think it wasn't his answer but rather his faith and courage to act on that answer. That faith is essential to let God prevail in our lives.

Martin was married to Yanet, a wonderful member of the Church who decided to come back to living her covenants. She invited the missionaries to their home and they began to teach Martin and their two sons. We began traditionally, teaching the plan of salvation and the Restoration and helping the family develop basic discipleship habits. In a subsequent visit, we were told that Martin had overcome some difficulties the previous weekend, something that was extremely difficult for him. We went on to find out that from then on he'd given up drinking... before we'd taught him the word of wisdom. Dear Yanet had invited him to give up alcohol, and the faithful man had the faith to lean on the testimony of his consecrated wife to let God prevail even when he did not understand all the reasons why.

Alyson was a nine-year-old girl who had come to know the Church through her member aunts and had been attending Church for five years. Her parents were very supportive but did not yet desire to be baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ. Her testimony was that of a child. It was not based in complex doctrinal understanding or the result of patient doubt-weeding but rather a simple knowing of truth that this is the restored Church of Jesus Christ. She was able to let God prevail based on a simple and strong testimony.

Elder Razhuilca was the only member in his family. He was baptized at 12 and left on his mission without knowing yet the truth of the Book of Mormon. He felt that the Church was true because of how he felt in all the meetings and activities, but didn't feel yet that he knew the Restoration was real. However, he had a profound desire to repent and to develop Christ-like attributes and felt that the mission would help him to do so, and so he decided to serve!

In these stories, we can see that it takes true faith to let God prevail. The faith to act on an answer, the faith to lean on the testimony of others, the faith to act with unwavering determination based on a simple testimony, and the faith to keep the commandments in spite of unresolved doubts are all examples of having the faith to let God prevail. How joyous is this work!!! Geraldo, Michel and his two sons, and Alyson were all baptized and confirmed and are progressing steadily towards making more covenants with God. Elder Razhuilca now knows that the Book of Mormon is true by the power of the Holy Ghost and is bearing powerful testimony.

I have absolutely loved helping people like these, seeing miracles, and changing during these years. However, on my mission, I have been very far from perfect. My mission president and companion shared some powerful thoughts on the topic. How can we know if we've been successful, if we've done something in our lives "right" or "good enough?" First off, because of Christ's Atonement, if we repent, "Did I do it right?" is not the right question, but rather, "Am I doing it right?" Christ will make up the difference. He just asks that we don't give up as we keep repenting and living His gospel. However, there are a few questions that can be educational and motivational in helping us reflect on past chapters of our lives without falling into the trap of "Did I do it right?". A few I like are:

  - Did I feel joy in my labor?

  - Did I see the Lord's hand in my life and those of others?

  - Did I work to gather Israel?

  - Did I repent of mistakes?

  - How can I learn from these experiences to be more Christ-like tomorrow than I was yesterday? 

I've re-learned on my mission that we can know these things. Every human being has chosen once to follow Christ, and because of that, we are beings of intelligence imbued with a light from Him that allows us to discern between good and evil, light and darkness, truth/intelligence and the lack thereof. Knowing this is far more than an urge to avoid cognitive dissonance or rationalizing oneself out of fearing death. It is the power in us as children of God to KNOW.

The Book of Mormon is true. Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. Christ's Church is restored. I know this by the power of the Holy Ghost. I bear testimony that Jesus Christ lives. He is the Son of God. He stands today on the right hand of His Father with arms of mercy extended to all those who will receive Him. He is our Savior, our Redeemer, our Healer, our best friend. There is no wound He can't heal, no scar He can't fix, no soul He can't lift, and no sin that He won't forgive if we truly repent. By living His gospel, we can receive the eternal glory that He and His Father live. That gospel is thus the most important message for anyone to come to know! I've loved proclaiming it for two years. Here's to ninety-two more 😁🎉🙏

Love you all dearly! See you soon 🤗

Elder Child

God's Tender Mercies

Hello everyone!

I love being a missionary so much!! We get to help people figure out their eternal redemption by helping them come unto Christ every single day. Plus we get to work shoulder to shoulder with angels on both sides of the veil. The Lord is involved in this work on every single level, and we get to be instruments in His hands. I love it!! And I am so humbled as I ponder on how blessed I am to get to participate in it. And maybe the best part is that it doesn't stop in two weeks! I'll be involved full-time in the Lord's work for the rest of eternity 😊

Quick update on my situation, sorry for the lackluster information in previous emails 😂. It's now been two and a half months since I was transferred out of Chorrillos. I was transferred to Huanta, a small town with one ward an hour to an hour and a half away from the city of Ayacucho, where the stake center and the other five wards are, with Elder Loayza, who became my dear friend in the month we were companions. He finished his mission February 9, twelve days before the transfer, and I went off to live with one of the two companionships in Ayacucho. During those two weeks, we made it work with our three wards, two in Ayacucho and one in Huanta. Then transfers came with a bombshell... The companionship I was with were both getting transferred, without replacement. So ever since I've been working in two areas, living in two rooms 2-4 days at a time and training Elder Riojas, an absolute stud from Northern Peru.

One fantastic miracle since I'm way out of time. Two weeks ago we got a referral for two girls who aren't baptized whose uncle is the ward secretary. Then the referral turned into, "elders, she's attending seminary and needs credit for it. I need her baptized now." We got on that, and long story short it became necessary to super-fast-track the baptismal prep to the point that their inactive member mother is teaching the missionary lessons to her unbaptized daughters so they can get baptized 11 days after we first talked with them as we've been calling and reaching every single day and they're both getting baptized on Saturday!! God works in mysterious ways and His ways are higher than ours. Miracles upon miracles.

Love you all so much!! Excited to be home and excited to work here these last two weeks and miraculously those feelings are peacefully coexisting, due to God's mercy and Christ's power.

I testify this message is true.

Happy, grateful, lucky, and blessed, 

Elder Child 

Happy Elder

Hey all!

I love you! I love this work! I love my Savior! I know that He directs this work. I know that this is His Church. Thank you so much for your prayers and efforts to gather Israel. Have an amazing week!!

Elder Child

this is His work

Audio this week 😊

[edit from Dad] Here is the link to Eli's audio letter. I also added a few pictures from the last several months. There may be a picture of our other South American missionary Brigham in there, too. :)

Love you all!

Elder Child

Hello!!!

I absolutely love my life! I'm so grateful to my Savior for His gospel and for His using us to spread it. We saw miracles this week. 

It was hard to say goodbye to Elder Loayza this week. We've really loved our companionship, and we've both learned a ton and loved the people here in Huanta together, and it's hard to see that chapter end. Wow am I grateful that President Holt and the Lord put us together for this time.

I want to share about humility! I've been reflecting a lot on how we can develop humility to become more Christ-like. A few excellent scriptures are Ether 12:27, Jacob 4:6-7, Lucas 18:19, Alma 26:12, and Mosiah 2:21. My thoughts on what I've learned are basically that if I spend time thinking that I'm a great missionary or that I know how to teach well or that I deserve any leadership assignment, etc., I'm missing the point. God is good, and Jesus Christ is the only person that's lived perfectly. King Benjamin explains that we can't take credit for anything because even the good things in us are thanks to God's inviting us to be better, and He rewards us instantly when we accept. Hence, we are unproductive servants with regards to our own personal progress, and when we teach others, progress only happens when we teach by the Spirit, further evidence that we have nothing to boast of but our God.

Huge miracle highlight this week was Brus. His son (also Brus), just got his mission call. We taught him for the first time on Wednesday and he's so receptive! We were prompted at the last minute to change gears from plan of salvation to Restoration, and the change was inspired. He's committed to reading the Book of Mormon and attending Church whenever he's in town (works far away), and he accepted a baptismal invitation in that first visit. The Lord is working His miracles to prepare people to receive His message. What made me just want to jump for joy was every time 17-year-old Brus helped his dad understand and commit during the whole message. He's going to be a fantastic missionary in Perú Trujillo South and is preparing like crazy.

We need prayers for Ruben and Liliana. They've stopped answering and haven't come to Church and I'm unsure of the reasons. They're such a wonderful family, we need them gathering Israel.

I love my life! I could use your prayers as well to help navigate being in a trio in a city that's more than an hour away from my area while I wait for a new companion. I love my comps here, but it's a little complicated taking care of my area at a distance.

Please let me know if there's anything I can do for you or pray for! Love you all, thanks for your thoughts and prayers, and I'd love to hear updates on your life! I'm not supposed to use messenger except for family, so if you don't fall into that category please email 😊

Happy, grateful, lucky and blessed,

Elder Child 

A Life Focused on Christ

Hello everyone!!

This week's subject line has two meanings. First, I absolutely love being a full-time missionary and testifying of Jesus Christ full-time. Second, I don't want my life to be any less focused on Christ when I go home. it's been a time of a lot of reflection for us, given that my companion goes home in two weeks and me a transfer later. He's been working a lot on his plans for after the mission and I've been supporting, helping, teaching, and learning from him in all those respects.

The central doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ is that Jesus Christ suffered, died, and was resurrected, all out of an infinite love for us. The Come, Follow Me from this last week was impactful for me as I've been learning a lot about Christ and His Atonement recently. Enoch's seeing-all-of-infinity perspective on the importance of Christ's Atonement is just impactful.

We need prayers for Ruben and Liliana to come to Church, for everyone and their dog to get better from COVID so they can keep learning about the gospel of Jesus Christ, for Elder Loayza to prepare to start his life as a YSA disciple, and to be able to find the people that are prepared to let God prevail and whose ancestors are waiting for ordenances.

We're seeing miracles!! I wish I could call every one of you and just tell miracle stories for a while, because we see miracles every day. I know without even a shadow of a doubt that this is the Lord's work. He is at the helm, and He knows us perfectly in all of our imperfections and wants us to be freed of them. I testify of my Savior Jesus Christ. He lives and loves us infinitely. In the name of Him whom I worship, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love you all so much! Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and efforts to gather Israel. Hurrah for Israel!

Elder Child