[Hunter finished the MTC this week. We did not receive an email from him, because of the timing of his MTC preparation day, and his preparation day in the field. We anticipate receiving the next email on Monday, September 29th. Below is the email we received from his Mission President.]

September 24, 2014

Dear Brother and Sister Kehoe

We are pleased to inform you that your son, Elder Kehoe, has arrived safely here in the mission. The enclosed picture was taken at the mission home the day he arrived.

Please accept our appreciation for raising such a fine son with good qualities and talents that will bless the people of Peru. My wife and I feel he will be a dedicated and hard working missionary. We are committed to his health and well-being, and consider it an honor and privilege to serve with him here in Peru.

As president of the mission, I am happy to answer your question at any time. . . To help maintain the spiritually and focus of the missionaries, we ask you not to call your son directly except for Christmas and Mothers Day. Your son will indicate how to make these calls. To send regular mail and packages please use the following address:

Elder, Kehoe Hunter Muir
Peru Arequipa, Mission
Casilla 1884
Arequipa, Perú

We hope that you will write to your son as often as possible, only the positive things of the family so he does not lose sight of the purpose of this mission. He should write home once a week and we hope you will reply to his letters.

We appreciate your dedication in preparing your son for his mission. We pray that you will continue to enjoy the Lords choicest blessings.

Sincerely,

Richard Zobrist
President
Peru Arequipa Mission

My final week here in the MTC has come. It has gone by really quick. It’s weird to think that I have already completed 1/24 months of my mission.

Things have gone pretty well here. Learning lots of Spanish still. Eating lots of rice still. Giving priesthood blessings still… My companion sprained his ankle this week playing volleyball. He went up to spike it and landed on the tire that the pole is supported by. It was really swollen and purple after a day and a half, so they took him to the hospital to get x-rays. It isn’t broken, but they put a cast on it to heal it quicker. After he got back from the hospital, he asked me, his companion, for a priesthood blessing. It was another great experience to be able to use the power of God to help someone I love and care about.
We are going proselyting again this week, but sadly my companion can’t come because of his cast. I am going to be the “senior” companion this week with a 2 week “principiante” Elder as my companion. Hopefully it all goes well. I’m excited to go out and teach people again, but I’m a little concerned about my Spanish ability. I’m sure it will go alright, though.

The Church is true, everyone. It is simple, too.
Have faith in Christ,
Repent alright,
And be baptized like him.
The Holy Ghost will come to you,
And always be your friend.
Then as you endure to the end,
You’ll get to live with your Father again.

(If that makes sense as a rhymn, then it’s a rhymn. If not, then it’s a paragraph with really bad grammer)
Have a great week everyone!

-Elder Kehoe

Not much has happened this week. We are still as busy as ever learning Spanish.

We went out proselyting this week was a good experience. I didn’t have many opportunities to talk to people, but those that we did talk to seemed to like our message. We didn’t get into any houses again and only talked to a few people on the streets, but it was good. The area we went to this time wasn’t as poor as the other area, so it was nice to see another section of the city. I was paired with a native speaker this time, so it was harder to communicate and plan what we were going to say and teach, but the conversations we had with people went well.

I like playing soccer now! We have an hour of gym time everyday and I’ve been playing soccer with my district during that time.

I know that this gospel can bless lives. It has changed mine, and it can change everyone’s for not only this life, but for the eternities.

Also, this week I was able to see the power of the priesthood in my life.
I am the district leader in my district, and one of the Hermanas (Sister Missionaries) in our group hurt her leg while playing soccer. We were going out proselyting and were going to be walking around a lot, so she asked for a blessing that it wouldn’t hurt while she was proselyting. Since I’m the district leader, I’m in charge of giving blessings to the Hermanas. I did, and I blessed her that she would be okay and that her leg wouldn’t affect her proselyting. We left and came back, and I never heard anything from her. But then I heard from some of the Hermana leaders that she said her leg didn’t hurt at all while she was teaching and only started to hurt again when we got back to the CCM (MTC). So that was cool. It was a neat experience to see the immediate results of a priesthood blessing.

I’d love to hear from everyone! Thank you for your prayers!

-Elder Kehoe

We are so busy here. We have 16 hour days everyday, and every hour of that time is used being busy. We are always learning Spanish or practicing in Spanish or reading in Spanish or eating Spanish food. It’s great, though, because I love Spanish.

The Spirit is so strong here, and we’re able to feel it everyday. We are praying all the time and asking God for help constantly because we need it so badly to learn a new language, and He is blessing us. We have learned so much so quickly, and we keep learning more. On Saturday, we’re going out to teach people what we have learned. It’s a little bit intimidating going out to teach people that we don’t know in a language we don’t really know. However, I do know the Gospel, at least some of it, and I know without a doubt that it is true. I want to convey that to the people I teach. I know this is true and that it can change lives.

I don’t have much time this week to write, and I still can’t post pictures, but know that God loves you and that He will always help you when you ask for it!

-Elder Kehoe

Hello

I cannot send photos while I’m in the MTC. It’s a rule here that they have for some reason, otherwise I would. I will send photos when I get to my mission, though.

I already asked about my companion knowing any Nays and he said he didn’t.

I miss having all these fun adventures with you. Everyone here is mostly serious and focused, and nobody says “Gurgle”. We don’t play what are the odds either, because there’s nothing that we can do without getting in trouble.

Tell Tanner happy birthday for me! I don’t have any stamps or envelopes, so I can’t send him anything right now, but I will definitely bring home some Peruvian money for him in 2 years! Maybe sooner if I ever send anything written home to you guys.

My week was pretty boring. Just learning lots of Spanish. We have been teaching “investigators” (really just our teachers) a lot, and I think the lessons are getting better. On Saturday, we went out of the CCM and went proselyting. We were paired with an advanced student. We went to the super poor area of Peru, which was up against the hills like Brother Riddle said. We were walking up and down stairs the whole time. We didn’t have a lot of success, but I didn’t mind because missionary work is like that sometimes.

My roommates are still great. We get along and joke together. The food is like it has been, lots of rice but still good. Spanish is still coming along nicely. I try to speak it all day, but my companions and the others in my district don’t, so I end up reverting back to English.

Glad to hear everything is going alright at home! Have fun in school! I’ll talk to you again next week!

-Elder Kehoe