Monday, July 5, 2010

News from Peru

How did the move go on Thursday?
Ugh headaches! just so you know i love traveling but hate moving our previous landlord was a real jerk about letting us go but i think that is just normal world wide when someone is loosing business, oh well he was a great guy every other time i saw him.

Who is your companion this week?
Haha i have had that same joke playing in my mind too! but no it is still elder Quispe (for the moment his normal changes are this upcoming week but we think that we will remain companions but who knows!) oh yeah missionaries enter the field every 3 weeks and transfers are every six so normally you have two groups and elder quispe and i are in different groups

How many Elders live in your apartment?
just me and elder quispe!

I'm guessing that the apartment you were taking pictures of was your old apartment you just moved from, right? How is the new one?
Yes you were right and the new one is soo much better!

How are the contacts going? Any new leads or baptisms?
this week has been the `normal´ missionary week with nothing exciting lots of people not showing up to appointments and since we were moving we really didn`t do very much contacting but this week everything has settled back down and we are working really well with a part member family that we are hoping to baptize before transfers (mine)

What is yours?
Patience!

Have you received any of our letters from Dear elder.com?
Just got Marlee`s today!

Weird huh? Timothy with a baby?
umm yeah but that is way exciting!

OK story time!

hmm let me think...

ok so this week we have been really busy with the move right and i don`t want to bore you with the details of that so i am going to tell you about noche de hogar or family home evening that is one of the tools that we as missionaries use to gain trust and help investigators make friends or even simply gain references from members.

ok so this is the general course of NDH sing a hymn say a prayer a brief lesson from me or my companion then a short lesson from the other my companion or me, then a closing prayer and a game. pretty standard right? well the real reason people like to have NDH with the missionaries are the games after the closing prayer we have three standard games cat and mouse, hot potato, and Indian fire.

cat and mouse is a game where everyone sits in a circle and has two ties one tie is the cat and the other is the mouse. two different people start with each tie and tie a knot and untie the not and pass it to the next person and it starts a chase. the mouse has to toe two knots and the cat only has to tie one.

hot potato is the same

and the Indian fire some one strikes a match and says by wisdom we learn by experience we burn and passes the match to someone else who then says the same thing when the fire goes out or someone drops the match they are the loser and the person who passed them the match writes on their face with lipstick giving them Indian lines or not depends on the person!

anyways this is just one of the tactics we used.

wow this is a lame letter...

ok today we are going sand boarding! yes you heard right sand boarding! here they have giant sand dunes i mean the size of mountains in Arizona! and you either hike of ride to the top and strap a snow board to your feet and ride down! we are only allowed to go about once a transfer here in ica and we are going as a zone today so i hope that it lives up to the reputation that everyone gives.

ok i also learned a little something about the ward i am currently in there are 1500 members thats right on thousand five hundred members and only about 180 active members yes one hundred and eighty active members. just a statistic that might help you understand a little better the area I'm working in!

ok i also learned this week just how huge our area is we were asked to come give a family bendiciones de salud (forgot how to say it in English) and we got in a taxi and were taken out of the city through about four small towns and to a house where a older lady a jovencita of about 21ish and a baby girl live it took us about a half hour a travel to reach them! they are an amazing family and would be probably the most faithful members if they didn`t live so far from the church the jovencita only works three days a week and makes enough to take care of everyone they actually own their house what is her job you ask? that's right CABLE! ha ha. but really they are an amazing family and we will be visiting them again tomorrow.

another family that we are working with is the Mendosa family. The Aunt (Edelmira) was baptized during the previous transfer and the niece asked if she and her mom could receive the lessons. WELL OF COURSE so we have been working really well with the niece (Bridget) and only recently have been able to talk with the mom (Delia) but we are making great strides with them and their aunt is always there to support them which is amazing! ok the daughter of Edelmira is from Spain and has red hair! and this family is not very Latino but still have Latino blood in them!

anyways happy fourth of July i actually forgot! ha sound like everything has been really busy at home though! ok SHANNON BE CAREFUL and umm please tell me when I'm getting a new sister! :) anyways i love you

i got a letter from Marlee on dear elder and a letter from Tate postmarked 23 jun 2010 if that gives you any idea how long letters take!

umm.... wow this letter is way scatterbrained

ok LOVE YOU ALL SO VERY VERY VERY much and I've decided that whoever rights me the most on my mission gets the best souvenir! so start you engines sharpen you pencils and write me! haha! anyways this week i have been studying JESUS THE CHRIST and have been really interested in everything that's in there! i `can`t believe i haven't read this before!

Questions answered!

well I'm trying to send pictures so this letter will be more of an answer question and if I have time a story letter.
Is this week a week off or on the thrown? Well i have no idea what this question means but i have been working hard with a lot of different people!
Does the town you are in one that has grocery stores and modern type stores, or is it like markets with meat hanging out and chickens running around? Well there are actual stores in Santiago, but I am no longer there I am in San Isidro with Elder Quispe as my new companion!
Have you found anyone to alter your pants so that they fit? no not as of yet probably this week
Dad was wondering if you have a mamasita to do your laundry and cooking?
Do your "helpers" know how to alter clothes? Yes we have a variety of people helping us every lunch and dinner is with a pensionista and breakfast and weekends we are on our own either eating with members or by ourselves, we have separate people for our clothes but I'm not sure if they know how to alter clothes!
Which of us is right?
MOM of course i simply forgot the camera in our apartment
Has everything worked out?
How are things going?
Everything has worked out my companion Elder Rodas had a friend from his ward in the mission and they are now companions during this hard time in Santiago!
How is the family you challenged to baptism?
How soon will they be baptized?
I'm not entirely sure because I'm not in that area and couldn't follow up with them but i think they are doing great! and they are supposed to be baptised this Saturday!
Are they pretty kind for the most part to the elders? most people are very nice and others not so much people vary here as much as in the united states
Do you knock on doors and tract?
Do you have many referrals or not?
we haven`t knocked doors yet we are always working with members and contacting in the street because everyone is outside here!
What do they think about your fair complexion and red hair?
Do you get any second looks?
of course i have even been bowed down to and worshiped like a king and let me tell you that was awkward but I'm pretty sure they guy was drunk so not sure if that will ever happen again!
Is there anything you need other than our prayers?
Well here it is freezing at night but we just found a new apartment that is warm so no prayers are all i need! oh no its not i just remembered! the rules for music in this mission are MOTAB AND CLASSICAL HYMNS so all the great instrumental variations of hymns and motab (English and Spanish if possible) would be beyond amazing every apartment has a cd player so send me cds if you can! LOVE YOU but prayers are more important than music they are a lot more helpful!
I'm going to send this one and write a story in another just in case time runs out!

Short and sweet!

ok wow a ton has been going on at home! ayah! and you should definitely dear elder me ALL OF THE JUICY DETAILS of everything because right now i really only know that events have occurred! ok zone leader just told us to stop so events

cold
no water in shower
not able to lock door at night
looking for new apartment
found moving on thursday

LOVE YOU HOPE TO WRITE MORE NEXT WEEK