WEEK #3 - Fide et Fortitudine

A shared pic from another missionary
Momma's son's page. I SO appreciate connecting with
the other Moms to learn new and interesting details
of the mission life! These other elders write SO much more.
I've got to talk to Connor about this ha ha

FIRST A WORD FROM MOM...
I was getting ready to paint a canvas art project as a gift for one of Connor's friends this week so I requested that she share a fav quote or scripture that I might add to her canvas. Expecting a pretty traditional response, I was pleasantly surprised to hear her request to paint this Latin motto on her canvas:
Fide et Fortitudine  

I had to look that one up!! ha ha  Here is what I learned:

It means: "Through Faith and Strength" - The implication is that one will come through trials and tribulations, win a battle, overcome difficulties or achieve arduous tasks if one believes in a positive outcome and one remains strong

....which pretty much sums up how I feel about Connor's experiences thus far in Peru. He is rockin' it and I am in awe at his positive attitude as he tackles a thousand new things laid before him. New culture, new language, new way of life, new responsibilities, new friends, new EVERYTHING!!! He's embraced it all with grace and a positive attitude - WOW!! His testimony has grown and his heart is full of love for the Savior and for the people of Peru. 

It's hard to find the right words to express my feelings, but I am so very proud of him and all his fellow missionaries - elders AND sisters. They are amazing and have grown so very close in such a few short weeks. Another 3 weeks to go and they will all embark to different areas of Peru for the remainder of their missions. I'm certain the bonds of friendship will last for eternity!!
THANKS - and now on to the reason you are even READING this blog....

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Here is Connor's letter for the week:

Elder Clancy, Elder Jensen & Elder Cheviers (from Atlanta)

Hi family and friends!! 

Quite an exciting week here!! I had the opportunity to help other missionaries with the death of a relative, being dear-Johned on the second week of their mission, and even being Mom for a sick missionary all day going to check on him and bringing powerade and crackers and doing the best I know how...which is pretty good thanks to having the best Mom ever.

SOME GRAND ADVICE FROM MAESTRO ROJAS : If you are doing the best you can you can do nothing wrong. 

While talking to him about feeling a bit inadequate to handle a lot of these problems here he shared this wonderful advice with me and gave me the confidence to keep doing my best!! 

The older groups all left this week so now we are the oldest group here for the next 3 weeks!! Pretty wild!! The new groups come tonight!! 54 Americans are coming...This will be interesting.

I´m learning a ton and loving every bit of it! The schedule here is similar everyday so not too much more exciting things going on other than finishing our 13th lesson yesterday! (All in Spanish) We teach about our church to our teachers who act as investigators that they encountered on their missions. It´s really special for them! 

Hardest part of the week was my good buddy Elder Oliva left for his mission in Bolivia yesterday so I won´t get to see him for quite a while. The best parts were the devotionals we heard on Sunday!!

Always remember the hardest things you ever do will be the most beneficial things you ever do - whether to you or to someone else or both. 

Anyways, I love y´all and hope all is well wherever you are in the world! 

More to come next week!!

Hope to hear from you!!

Elder Clancy

Elder Clancy and Elder Oliva

SOME QUESTIONS THAT I (MOM) HAD FOR CONNOR THIS WEEK:

1.) Where is Elder Oliva from?  Is he going to Cusco or elsewhere in Peru?

He is from Santiago, Chile! No he left yesterday to go to Bolivia.

2.) Who is Maestro Rojas?

Maestro means teacher. He´s my night time teacher that I just adore! He´s been home from Argentina since January

3.) How's your Spanish coming?

Yolo! It´s coming but slowly. I know that it will come though so I´m not worried. 

I´m just loving life

4.) You're not the District Leader anymore? Tell me more.

They switch every 3 weeks! I feel like our district is doing good. I can relax from all the paperwork and interviews and study a lot more.

This might be Connor's friend Ryan from Especially For
Youth in Buena Vista, Virginia. They would have met
a few years ago at EFY. Connor mentioned that he
was in one of his pics today but I don't know which one.
Either this or the pic on the right.

Still trying to figure out the language here.
Connor did not say. Pretty sure
it is a Native dialect - perhaps Quechuan
(I'm working on finding out!)

These pics were sent to another missionary's
Momma. She was kind enough to share!!.

Wondering where he is here. I need more details ha ha