Ecuador

MOM

Well I'm sooooo sorry I didn't get to write to y'all last week. Some crazy stuff happened but I'm surprised your not freaking out right now.

SO I'm alive. Last week Monday was crazy. We left the house early to do some normal p-day stuff. We visited a place called 3 Cañones. It was cool and really pretty. So we come back to find about 27 missed calls from the zone leaders. Turns out I'm suppose to be going to Lima that day to do stuff on my papers. So I immediately shower, change and go on the 2 hr bus ride to Sicuani (after the 1.5hr bus ride from 3 Cañones so in total 3.5hrs) then I wait and hour for the zone leaders to send me to Cuzco (1hr wait+3hr bus ride to Cuzco)(total7.5hrs). Then in Cuzco the office Elder picked me up and tells me I'm actually going to Ecuador. I have to leave the country and return to get legal again. So at 4am we get up and go to the airport. I fly out (1.5hrs) to Lima (total 9hrs) and wait for the guy to pick me up who never came (4hrs of waiting)(total 13hrs). Finally the Elders I was going with came and we fly to Tumes a city right next to Ecuador (1.5hrs)(total 14.5hrs) We go to Ecuador and back (1hr)(total 15.5). We chill in Tumbes for the day and go back to the airport and fly to Lima (1.5hrs) and stay the night there (total travel and waiting time 17hrs) then we go back to Cuzco (1.5hrs) (total 18.5hrs) Cuzco to Sicuani (3hrs)(total 21.5hrs) and Sicuani to Espinar (2 hrs)(total 23.5hrs of traveling or waiting). Then we go out and preach the gospel on Wednesday about 3pm. Crazy story of the week. I went to Ecuador. Well that was actually really fun and kinda cool to go to a place hot and humid like home.

The rest of the week went pretty well we did our normal thing. We are finding a couple of people. One is named Diego. He's awesome and has already been taught by missionaries before the problem is he has a  drinking problem but he has a testimony so we are going to work with him on that. On Saturday me and Elder Carranza went to the family group for a FHE and stayed the night there. I'll send pictures when we are in Sicuani. It was pretty cool. We taught one young girl named Jessica. She wants her whole family to listen. So the work is progressing. Its hard but its going. Keep the missionaries in your prayers.

I can't believe 1 year is about to come and go. It seems like yesterday I started and I said goodbye to y'all. I can't believe how fast time goes. Really we have to enjoy every moment or it will pass us so fast I love y'all so much.

Love

Elder Kotter

Another Week

Mom

Well like always it seems like life is going super awesome for y'all. I cant believe school is almost out. I still remember like yesterday when they started school and thinking its going to be so long before the end of the school year. Wow how fast time flies by. Everything is going good here in Espinar except for the cold I'm doing fine. Also just an FYI when y'all send my package for my birthday send sun screen. I'm so close to the sun here and I burn super easy. Now I know what it feels like to be Matt Gerber. I have enough for now,but I might run out. So,6 weeks down for dad, wow. I can't believe that. Tell him to get lots of movies from Redbox or something. He's in for a long long 6 weeks. Get him a video game or something.

Well here in Espinar things are going good. We have our work cut out for us but at the same time I have a feeling espinar can blossom so that's the report on that. I love being a missionary. I know I don't have a lot of stories to tell y'all like the other missionaries probably have but even though not a lot is happening I just love being here and teaching; letting people know that I believe in the true and living Christ and that God has a plan for us. He will not abandon us. I think more than anything that's why I'm here on the mission. I haven't been blessed with much success. Up to this point I don't have any grand stories about people just wanting to be baptized as soon as they saw us. I don't even have any stories of people wanting anything to do with the gospel, but i've realized that I'm doing all I can and I've learned to depend on my Savior just to make it through the day. If God blesses me with success after this point great I'll gladly receive it but I think that's not my mission. My mission is for me to learn the lesson of dependence on the Lord in everything we do and say. I love y'all so much and I'm so grateful I have a family firm in the gospel. I really took that for granite. Y'all mean so much to me please stay safe. I love you guys!

Elder Kotter



Dad

Well I love Espinar, and the comp is great. Elder Calle and me are getting along just fine for now( you know how fast that can change). Well the teaching pool is slim but we are going to be changing that soon. There are some things we are going to put in order. We've got our work cut out for us.

ok D&C 6:36 got it. Everyday we've got to improve to represent the Savior better. I'm trying my best!

Dad I also heard you going to be having surgery soon. Get lots of movies and video games and BOOKS to read while you have to lay in bed for 6 weeks. Good luck with that!

Love
Elder Kotter

Pictures for the week!

I love you mom it was so awesome to talk with y'all . I'll see y'all in 7 months in December.

Mother's Day Skype

We talked with Elder Kotter via Skype on Mother's Day!! He is growing in ways we never thought possible!

Here is a letter written by Stephen for his mom on Mother's Day. Our bishop read this from the pulpit yesterday!!

Mom

Hey so I’m suppose to be writing this letter to you and I know it won’t measure up to how I feel but here we go….. First off, I want to say anytime I said that I didn’t like your food, I lied. Your food its the BOMB. What I would give for some of your fresh chocolate chip cookies right now! Now that I got everyone hungry, I’ll talk about other things. Mom, seriously you are the best thing ever. You may not think that’s true, but it is, so stop lying to yourself. You are probably the closest example of Christ like love that I have ever seen. Mom, I also want to thank you for everything you have ever done for me. It is about a million billion things but you did it all to help me. I want to especially thank you for reading the scriptures with me as a kid. You may not remember, but I still remember you reading me the picture book, Book of Mormon to me while I was eating grits or cereal every morning. That did more for me to learn the scripture stories than anything else. I also want to thank you for having a love for the gospel and showing me how a true disciple of Jesus Christ is really supposed to be. Mom keep being awesome and making everyone else jealous because they aren’t as awesome as you. I love you mom, I really do. You have helped me out, and basically I am on the mission because of you. I love you soo much mom!!!!

Love Elder Kotter

Transfers

MOM

Well here is the news of the transfers.......... I'll be staying in the zone Sicuani but I'm moving to a different sector called Espinar which is actually kinda far from Sicuani. It is supposedly a really cold sector. Kinda like Puno so I'll be going back to a cold sector during winter. So that's the news my comp will be elder Calle. This week was a good week nothing crazy happened and nothing bad happened it was just a normal working week. I can't believe Shelby went to prom. Its crazy that everyone is leaving for a mission. Congratulations to Matthew Bennett. Well I can't wait to talk to y'all on Sunday.

Elder Kotter

The pictures of stuff are the contents of the package we sent him. He was very grateful for it!

Roller Coaster

MOM

Well this week was really a roller coaster ride. It's crazy how the mission can be like that. One day your on top of the world the next you are in the very low. So here's the story... Wednesday night we had this awesome lesson, probably one of the very best I have ever had on my mission. We have been teaching a less active named Jose. He was baptized when he was 8 and hasn't come back to church since. We basically have been teaching him trying to remind him who he is and what he is a part of. He has been pretty accepting of everything we have taught, but he still hadn't had a testimony. So we taught him who he is and what he can become. The spirit filled the room and then we testified of the Book of Mormon and that is the way how we get closer to God so we can become like him. Next thing we did was ask him right there to pray if the book was true. He did and then we sat there and waited for his answer. The room filled with a spirit that I have only felt in the temple. He Got his answer and now he has no doubts about the Book of Mormon. The very next day we walked up to Huitaca to teach Frandu (that's like an 30-45min walk up hill) we get there and he's not there so we wait for 5 mins and gets there. We try to teach and he's not even paying attention and then basically he said he didn't want to take the lessons anymore. Sad and disappointed we walked the long way down trying to get happy when a dog just comes and bites me in the butt with no warning or nothing. I storm off in an angry fury and then in sadness I plop on the side of the dirt road and start to cry (lots of littler things had happened that day too). Meanwhile Elder Woolner is trying to throw rocks at the dog and tells the kids that their dog is bad. They end up telling him that their dog isn't bad that he's the bad one. One little girl said why are you even here? "Go home"(she had like 12-15years) basically one of the lowest points of the mission we just ended up crying and then laughing and after a short break we went back to working. All I've gotta say is if this wasn't the true church nothing else would of gotten us moving again. That's why the atonement of Jesus Christ is so awesome. The very fact that we could even endure that is because of Him. The price we have to pay to know our Savior is sometimes expensive but every penny is worth it. I wouldn't trade anything in the world for those two days in a row. I got to feel the love of God in both its forms. Who doesn't want to feel that. It was all thanks to the mission and my savior Jesus Christ.

I love you so much,

Elder Kotter

ps here are a few old photos our pention had of me and elder Gomez.


In these pictures you will see Cuy (Guinea Pig). He ate it!!!

Look what I got today!!!

A kind soul traveling through Peru sent this to me today, it was just what I needed! Today is a great day to be a missionary mom!!!


"As I was traveling through Peru Yesterday I had the great fortune to run across your wonderful sons serving missions here. I want you to know that though our encounter was somewhat brief, they are healthy, happy and carry a great spirit with them. You should be proud to know you have raised such fine son's that are representing our Lord with dignity and enthusiasm."


Thanks
John Renouard

John@WHOlives.org