Reunited . . .

Friends since they were just babies. 

Together again after all 3 serving honorable missions for the

 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 

in different parts of the world.

 New York, New England States & Peru.

Amazing young men. All now headed on different life paths.

(RtoL) Matt is heading  back to BYU, Coy is getting married in September and hoping to get a baseball contract this fall, Dylan is staying in AZ for school this fall and possibly heading to BYU in the spring (all depends on scholarships). As I have said many times, there is no institution in the world that could have educated these young men they way a mission has.

 So proud of them. So happy to see them together again, even if only for a short time.

He's Home . . . .

Elder Rider and Elder Paolacci arrive in Atlanta - Elder Rider's sister surprised him by being at the airport.

They had to say goodbye in Atlanta. Elder Rider to Salt Lake and Elder Paolacci to Phoenix.

Here we are ready and waiting !!!!

The plane has arrived. There were other missionaries from a few of the other missions in Peru on his flight from Atlanta to Phoenix.

I cannot even explain the swelling in my heart as he walked off the plane.

7.16.12

Bittersweet is what you say in moments like this right?
I seriously cannot believe it. I feel like it was yesterday when I sent my first letter from the mtc. It has gone by sooooo fast. I cant believe it. But I know I cant stay forever, I guess.
Well this week we were going crazy on old investigators, I wanted to see if anyone I have taught here wanted to get baptized before I left. And well it worked. We have 2 baptisms this Saturday! I am super excited, I really wanted to make sure I baptized my last week. What I really need from you guys this week is that you pray for them, make sure they stay excited. You may remember me talking about them in past letters. Their names are Jessica and Ingrid.
Well this week I have alottttttt to do. I am trying to write a little summary on each of my converts, how I met them, how we helped them progress, what they taught me, and stuff like that. I most likely won't be able to finish it before I get home but I figure it will be something good to do when I get home also. I also have to write my goals and stuff that president is asking for, I am excited to see what I write. Also, I gotta start packing the bags, just a little behind in that department.
We are going to invite all the members to the baptism Saturday. Really want to make the last one the best one, or atleast try. Sunday, I am gonna give a talk in sacrament meeting and then I cruise over to Huancayo where I am gonna have my last interview. Conveniently, President Ardilla is gonna be there so I am gonna have my last interview and then I hop on a bus to lima!
Monday in Lima we supposedly have all day to do whatever we want. So I think we are gonna go to the centro and get our last shopping in. Also, I am gonna try and meet up with some converts and members from Lima. Vitarte and Manchay. I think Milagros and Katy are gonna meet up with me to say bye. And I hope I can get ahold of some others so I can say bye to them in person. Blows my mind that all this is happening. I always saw other missionaries ending their missions but I always thought that it was way too far away for me to think about it. But it seriously sneeks up on ya. Like I have said a ton of times, it is a mix of so many feelings. Yesterday we ate with some members and they asked if I was happy or sad, or a little of each. I responded "ummmm more like alot of each" its so hard to explain how I feel right now. It is like im super excited to see everyone, to start working and get back to school and studying and stuff. But at the same time I feel like I am not gonna be able to leave this place in one piece. All I know is that it is gonna be (as coach Peterson said in freshman year baseball) a rollercoaster of emotions (haha im pretty sure Coy is the only one thats gonna get that joke, and if not just forget I said it haha). Ahhhhhh I love all you guys soooooo much and I am so excited to see ya in a week, but not for another week haha. I am gonna give it my all this week and hopefully I can pull off more than 2 baptisms. Pray for me please. This is not gonna be an easy week.
Well hope you all have a great week! Love ya!
Elder Paolacci

Emelda's Baptism

7.9.12

(to preface this letter - Dylan's best friend Coy got engaged this week - and I was the one who told him the news this morning)
Familyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!
Well as you guys know my universe was just shattered to pieces.
Definitely wasnt expecting that one. But congrats to Coy! Seriously, that takes guts hahaha. I am so excited to meet the girl that stole my best friend from me. Sure she is great if she got Coy. Haha what a stud.
Taught him everything he knows tho. Wow, still cant believe it. Haha funny thing is that today I was thinking that I have nothing to write about, well haha there we go. September 28th huh? Well I hope they have gotten to know each other well enough by now cause after I get home she won't be seeing Coy until September 26th or 27th. Haha sorry, I just have no idea how a best friend is supposed to respond to this kind of news! Well congrats Coy for real. Big step in your life and I'm glad you are taking it. I'm pumped to get to see ya in a couple weeks, I am pretty sure we have both changed a ton, it is gonna be awesome getting the band back together. But dont worry I understand now that I am gonna have to be content with being #2 on the list. Well Coy don't let me forget to sock ya when I get home, and dont forget I love ya man. Congrats bro, way to go. Thanks for waiting for me.
Well my life was still intact until about 15 minutes ago so I guess I should let you guys know how my week went. We had changes on Wednesday, IM STILL IN JAUJA. Sadly Elder Janco left. What a great kid. He is gonna be an awesome missionary. My new comps name is Elder Choque, sound familiar haha. Not the same kid but almost the same last name (the other was spelt Choqque). He is awesome. great kid. He has 6 months in the misión and wants to learn ton. Also, on Saturday we had a baptism!
The sister that was baptized is named Emelda. It is a pretty cool story too. Her daughter got baptized with Elder Bean about six months ago when he was in Villa Rica (the jungle). When the missionaries visited her she didn't want anything to do with the church. About a month ago they moved here to Jauja. When they got here her daughter sent us a message with their address so we could visit her. Long story short, she went to church with us a couple times but still didn't wanna get baptized. Until Tuesday night in our lesson with her we challenged her and she sat thinking for awhile and She said "you know what I think it is time". I was soooooo happy. One of my goals was to be able to baptize her before I left. The baptism was awesome, she ended up crying when she gave her testimony. It was a really cool experience, and I hope I can have a couple more of these experiences before I go. It is just awesome.
Well I am gonna go now and try to recover from this insane news. Pray for me haha.
Wanna know something crazy? Only one more letter!
Have a great week. CONGRATS COY! Logan have an amazing game tonight. At 7:30pm your time I am going to be saying a prayer for you and I will be thinking about you guys all night. Go get em !!!
Love
Elder Paolacci

More Pictures . . .

7.2.12

Famillllllyyyyyy!!!!!
Great week. Monday we played soccer with the district. It was fun, we just messed around the whole afternoon. Tuesday we had a great district meeting, I was kinda sick but everything turned out great.
Wednesday up till Friday I was busy doing baptismal interviews in the district, it was cool working with pretty much all the missionaries in the district. Saturday was awesome, we had 7 baptisms in the district.
Isabel was baptized Saturday. She is such an amazing convert. I am so glad we got to help her. I had the privelage of baptizing her, it was an awesome experience. Oh I forgot but on Tuesday we went and did her pre interview and she told us she wasnt sure if President Monson was a prophet. I was kinda surprised because she pretty much had a testimony of everything we had taught her. So what we did was we went to the room and searched for something we could give her to help her out. And as a matter of fact I am pretty sure we found the best thing posible. It was the Liahona from March I think, the one where Pres. monson is on the cover. Inside theres an article that I am guessing is called have I done any good in the world today in english.We dropped it off to her and asked her to read it for the next day.When we went to talk to her on Wednesday she said she had read the article twice and recieved a strong answer that he really is a Prophet of God. What an awesome experience.
Well after the baptism we went and ate dinner with a bunch of members. had a great time.
Everyone thinks I am gonna leave and they are all super bummed. I still have hope that I can stay her till the end. I have been praying for it, we will see where the Lord needs me these last 3 weeks.
GOOD LUCK LOGAN! I wanna see you play when I get home! 
I'm super nervous, scared, anxious, and just a little happy about the fact that I only have 3 weeks left. I am giving it my all and I am taking advantage of my last moments in Peru. 
Well I love you all, have a great week, it's weird that I will only be writing 2 more times.
Love
Elder Paolacci

Pictures . . .

6.25.12

Familyyyyy!
Wow this week went by way too fast. Monday we went to some ruins for pday, they were awesome beside the fact that it was like and hour and a half hike to get there. Haha everyone was making the joke that I started my misión there haha (back when it was a city). So ya it was a good pday, definitely worthwhile.


Tuesday and Wednesday I was with the missionaries from Concepción. If I havent told you yet Elder Parada (my first born son) is there. I went to be with them because Elder Janco had to go to Lima for a training that all the new kids have. So it was cool being with him for a couple days. He has progressed alot and is a great teacher now.


Saturday was the multizone conference. Awesome. They surprised me and asked me to give my "last testimony". I was even more nervous than I was giving my testimony in stake conference.


Well bad news. I lost almost all my time today trying to send pics and it didn't work. I'm gonna see if there is time to go send them from a different computer. I'm super sorry. Wish me luck. I love you all so much - keep being awesome - reading your scriptures and praying !!!!
Love, Elder Paolacci

6.18.12

FAMILYYYY!!!
Great week. Monday we had the traditional multi-zone soccer game. Fun as always. But it also reminded me how long I have been around this city(Huancayo) for a long time haha. I think ive had like 4 of these pdays.
This week we've been helping out the people we found last week, really focusing on helping them prepare for their baptisms on the 30th. Kinda bummed cause I totally failed on my whole baptize once a week goal to finish but I am glad we have found the people we have. We have 4 baptisms that we are thinking are sure for the 30th but we are trying to not get ahead of ourselves. But the truth is that we have been super blessed with the people we have. One is named Isabel, she's the one that came looking for us and it took us like a week to find her. She is amazing, already has a very strong testimony and is excited for her baptism. She couldnt go to church yesterday because she got super sick and it made us super sad cause we really wanted her to experience stake conference (more details to come). We also are teaching another lady named Ingrid. She's super funny and we've grown to have a super strong relationship with her. We contacted her about a month ago in the store she works at and she's been progressing Little by Little and is very excited for the 30th. And the other two we have are mother and daughter named Gloria and Shirley. Haha they are great.
We were also bummed for them yesterday because they were super excited to go with us to stake conference but Sunday morning at around 3am glorias brother showed up drunk and she had to take care of him. Its funny how the opposition does his best to try to stop this work, but the truth is he cant. Last night we went over to their house and taught them about baptism and the spirit was super strong. They are so prepared. And they aren't gonna let anything get in their way before their baptismo n the 30th. Sooooo i need you guys to pray especially for them so they can be strong in these two week that are coming and also so they can go to church Sunday. So ya, well Saturday we had our multi zone conference with president. He's doing it kinda different here in Huancayo, he's doing it in 2 parts. The first was Saturday and the second is this Saturday. It was really spiritual and we learned alot.
Sunday we had stake conference and President was there with an area seventy named Elder Mestre. It was a great meeting and we wish all of our investigators could have gone. Haha but the highlight was that during Elder Mestres talk he said "well at this momento I am going to ask that Elder Paolacci come up here and bear his testimony" Oh man what a surprise! It was quite the experience. I have never talked in front of so many people in my entire life. But the spirit was sooo strong and the words just came out. What an amazing experience.
well my time is up. Have a great week! i love you all
Love
Elder Paolacci

6.11.12

No Pictures :(

Heyyyy fammmmm

Ay yay yay what a week. We are working super hard, trying to get our baptisms ready for these next couple of weeks. We fasted and prayed and decided last night that it would be better for us not to go to that little town of Chacrampa. We realized that even though there are a ton of people that wanna listen, it is impossible for them to go to church. The bishop is gonna try and find a way to start a little branch there to see how it goes, but it seems as tho this month we are gonna just stay here in Jauja to help the people we have here in a better way. It also made the decision alot easier when we had a ton of success here in Jauja this week. We found a family whose lifelong bestfriends are members in another stake and they are super excited to get baptized. They are super awesome and I am excited to help them out. We also had a super cool experience this week. I wrote it to president in Spanish and I don’t have time to write it again, but im sure someone will help you out as far as translating it goes.

Buenos días presidente!

Ha sido una semana excelente, estamos teniendo bastante éxito aquí en Jauja. Hemos encontrado una familia que esta bien animada y quieren bautizarse. También mi testimonio en cuanto de los susurros del espíritu y como escucharlos ha aumentado bastante. El domingo anterior llegamos a la capilla y el obispo nos dijo que una hermana vino buscando como podía bautizarse. Por su puesto fue un momento de gran gozo pero cuando le preguntamos sus datos nos dijo “ohhh eso me faltó” jaja. Bueno después de la capilla salimos a buscarla pero no tuvimos éxito. Le buscamos toda la semana pero nada. Y bueno ayer (domingo) en la mañana estábamos super ocupados recogiendo investigadores donde sentí preguntar una señorita en una tienda si conocía la hermana (solo sabíamos que su nombre era Isabel).Y la verdad es que toda la semana sentía preguntar allí pero yo siempre rechazaba el sentimiento al toque. Pero fuimos y le preguntamos y bueno, nos dijo que tal vez era su prima. Nos dijo donde trabaja y pasamos en la tarde. La hermana supuestamente fue informada por su prima que íbamos a buscarle porque cuando llegamos ella estaba super animada y nos dijo que estaba esperando. Ella de verdad está muy preparada y es una escogida. Nos contó que su papa en lima se bautizo hace seis meses después de ser alcohólico por 25 años y ha cambiado completamente. Ella ya tiene un gran testimonio y ahora tiene fecha para esta 30. De verdad hay personas preparadas y necesitamos buscarlas. El espíritu nos va a guiar, ya tengo un testimonio muy fuerte de eso. Solo necesitamos saber como seguir sus susurros, y si lo aprendemos se que todos encontrarán los que están preparados por las manos del señor.

( Translated )

Good Morning President!:

It has been an excellent week, we are having a lot of success here in Jauja.

We have found a family who is very motivated and wishes to get baptized.

Also my testimony regarding the whispers of the spirit and how to hear them has increased a lot. On the previous Sunday ( hes talking about Sunday the 3rd) we got to church and the bishop told us that a sister came seeking of how she could get baptized. Of course that was a moment of great joy, but when we asked him for her info he said "oh I missed that" haha. Well after church we went to look for her but didn't have any success. We looked for her all week but nothing. And well yesterday (Sunday) in the morning we were really busy picking up investigators where I felt I needed to ask a miss in the store if she knew the sister ( the only thing we knew was that her name was Isabel). And the truth is that I felt all week that I should ask there but I always rejected the feeling right away. But we went and asked and well, she said that it maybe they were cousins. She told us where she worked and we went by in the afternoon. The sister was supposedly informed by her cousin that we were going to look for her because when we got there she was really excited and said she was waiting for us. She is truly very ready and she was chosen. She told us that her dad in Lima was baptized six months ago after being an alcoholic for 25 years and has changed completely. She has a great testimony and has a date for this 30th. There truly are people who are prepared and we need to look for them. The spirit will guide us, I already have a very strong testimony about it. We only need to know how to follow the spirit's whispers, and that way we will learn I know that everybody will find that which was prepared by the Lord's hands.

(I am sure that promptings would be what he means instead of whispers, but just translated it exactly)

What an amazing experience. Helped me out alot.

Well I gotta go! Love yall! Have great week!

Elder Paolacci

6.4.12

No pictures this week :(
Fam Fam,
Another great week here in jauja! Monday played some soccer, downside was that i didnt have my contacts in so i played half blind, but it was still fun. Wednesday we had district meeting and elder avalos came. Haha i love that kid, taught us some useful tips and had a nice little talk with him. Really cool kid. Also Wednesday i did splits with a companionship in my district, its always cool getting to work with other missionaries and getting to know them better. And Saturday we went back to chacrampa to work with the people there again. They are just amazing people, i love them so much, my main goal before i leave is to start baptizing some if not all of them. They really need your prayers, it seems as though they are scared to make the decision.
I know they feel the spirit when we teach them but they arent used to making changes in their way of life. In the little towns here they kinda have a set way to live. But i know we are going to be able to help them. We are planning an activity with the ward to go visit them with all the ward leaders. So ya we are praying for success, they deserve it, pray for them.
So update on jonathan! Haha this guy is awesome. On Sunday he was ordained a priest and on Friday hes gonna go to the temple with the ward to do baptisms! How cool. Hes loving the gospel and whats even cooler is that the ward is loving him. Hes progressing a ton and its possible that he could get the melchezidek priesthood this month after stake conference. He wants to serve a mission but hes not able to because in 1 year hes gonna be too old. But i know hes gonna serve a big part here in jauja. We told him his mission is going to be helping his family get to know the gospel.
Oh so ya we would also like that you guys pray for an investigator we have named ingrid. Shes 19 and has all the desires to get baptized but its always a challenge for her to get to church. She has a baptismal date for the 23rd, so pray that she can achieve it.
Well cole trains bday is tommorow huh! Happy bday bro! Cant wait to work you in bowling!
Well thats all i got for today. Sorry for the lack of pics, i promise some next week Love Elder Paolacci

5.28.12

Well hello there family!
Great week, nothing out of the norm really. Monday we went to Capps area and chilled all pday haha I love talking with that kid. Tuesday we didn’t have district meeting because of transfers on Wednesday.
Capps left for lima to be a zone leader. I was bummed cause he left but I was happy for him, he deserved it. Wednesday we went to a little town called Chacrampa. It's what we call in the mission a mine. When we showed up and everyone's eyes lit up, some of us even asked how they could become members of the church. I am way excited, there's a ton of people there to teach and I feel like my last month in Jauja is gonna be a good one. On Saturday we went and did a service there so they could finish picking potatoes early so they could go to a baptism in Huancayo with us. We helped out and ended up taking 5 investigators to the baptism with us. It was awesome. The families there are the nicest and most humble people I have ever met. We have about 8 people we've met so far there that could baptized in June. Pray for them because they really deserve it. So ya I am kinda having trouble thinking of what to talk about. It is crazy thinking that I have less than 2 months left. I try not to think about it usually. A lot of missed feelings and I am not a big fan of that stuff. But finding people like these makes me forget about it 100 percent. I can't believe Johns is home now too. Haha I love that kid. He was an amazing missionary, and a huge example for me. Makes me feel a little more comfortable that he forgot how to say a few words in english too.
Well tell Logan to hang in there, Coleton I will rock you in bowling when I get home, Karleigh get ready for a Cali trip when I get home, Morgan I was looking at the pics of Malorie today haha she is so cute, Marissa we have to do the trips we planned when I called, dad you are the man and congrats on your calling, mom…..best mom ever
Love you all Elder Paolacci

5.21.12

Oh family,
Awesome week. So Monday we had a zone pday and went to that place called Ingenio (where they have those cool ruins). It was fun to be with the zone and only have to worry about my comp and I, and not the whole zone. We had fun, ate trout. Tuesday was district meeting, it is fun teaching the new kids in district meetings. They are learning a ton. Elder Janco is learning a bunch and is getting a lot better at teaching. This week we found a bunch of new investigators that are gonna get baptized in June! Looks like I am gonna have a good birthday month.

But the highlight of the week was the big baptism! Jonathan was baptized Saturday night around 6pm. It was so awesome. Not many members showed up but the spirit was insanely strong. On Friday Elder Capps did his baptismal interview because the zone leaders didn’t want to take the hour and a half bus ride to Jauja, and Capps is only a half hour away. They ended the interview and Jonathan asked me to baptize him, can't say I wasn’t insanely happy at that moment. Well, the next day he showed up about 10 minutes early for his baptism and when we showed up he was sitting there waiting. I was so pumped. We went in got changed to start the baptism right away.

We had an awesome experience in the bathroom after we had changed. I shared with him my experience with grandpa and how much I knew that he was put in my path as a missionary for a reason. I have learned so much from him. He bore a super strong testimony to me thanking me for the help we had given him. So ya all this was before the baptism. The baptismal service started with the hymn the "Spirit of God", not gonna lie I totally chose it. After, Elder Janco shared a really cool little message on baptism and afterwards we passed to the font. The baptism itself went great and after he left the water he gave me the biggest hug. It was amazing. Such an amazing guy. Yesterday he showed up to church, early haha. Came with a dress shirt and I gave him a tie, he is such a stud. The bishop said that next Sunday he is going to get the aaronic priesthood and if he can prepare himself he is gonna receive the melchezidek during stake conference in June. The ward Is super excited for him and I know he is gonna progress super fast. Well this week we gotta look hard for someone to baptize, a couple of the people we had fell away because they haven’t come to church. Well fam that’s all the time I have got, have a great week!

p.s. I haven’t read about Logan's arm yet, hope its not too bad.

Love you all

Elder Paolacci

5.14.12

Well hello there family!
It was awesome being able to talk to you guys Saturday, not gonna lie my head was not in the game for most of Sunday. But now I am good. It was awesome hearing all of your voices, you all sound so great. I am so pumped about dads new calling he's gonna be amazing. (I know gotta keep it hush hush until Sunday) I truly felt like he was gonna get the call  but I was trying not to guess. I am way excited, its gonna be a great experience and such great blessings for our family.


So ya this week was awesome. Monday we spent pday with Capps and Parade in their area, it was fun. Tuesday we had district meeting as usual, it was cool. Our district meetings are a little different here because half of the missionaries are in their first transfer. We are focusing a lot on practices and learning all the tactics from PMG (Preach my Gospel)
Wednesday we had divisions, I went to go check on the other missionary in the district that’s going through training right now too. He is from Mexico, really cool kid and a great missionary. Friday we had interviews with President Ardila, such an awesome guy, it was a great experience. 


Saturday as I said was quite interesting, the bishop disappeared with the key so we had to go do the baptism in the river. It was an awesome experience, the truth is that I was hoping to be able to do the baptism in the river but Elder Janco ended up doing it. It was really cool, it was his first baptism in the field and in the river.

But ya who knows, maybe I can convince president to let us do it again. After the baptism I shared the story of Jesus´ baptism. It was pretty awesome because everyone was involved and shared their testimonies.
Afterwards we passed by the chapel to see if any investigators arrived to the mothers day party. There s was only one but it was totally worth stopping by because all the older lady's were dancing and stuff, got a kick out of it. Sunday was awesome and depressing at the same time. We had the confirmations of Anthony and ,the kid that got baptized Saturday, Robinson. The depressing part is that no investigators went.
But we had to understand it was mothers day. But the good news is that this Saturday Jonathan and Ricardo are gonna have their baptisms. Everyone continue to pray for them please! 

Also a super cool experience I had yesterday, I had the opportunity to dedicate two graves. The prayer was 100 percent lead by the spirit, I actually learned a few things during the prayer I gave.


So that was a really cool moment for me. The wife of the man that passed away chose to finish with the hymn “God be with you till we meet again” I remembered you had told me that’s the hymn you guys sang in grandpas service. Not gonna lie, brought tears to my eyes. Great way to end the week.


Well tell the Jenks theres no elder teemsa in the mission, must be another mission here in Peru.
Yes let's sing the "Spirit of God" best hymn ever at my homecoming. Are you going to tell all my friends we are singing ? Congrats again to dad, you are gonna be awesome!
Well, love you all. They sent me my flight plans today! Super nerve wracking! Can't be thinking about that stuff right now.
I Love You all so much, 
Elder Paolacci