Week 15 "Box Brand jaja" December 13 - December 20 - (Cajamarca and Trujillo)

A great week with a Christmas program in Trujillo and a visit to the Trujillo temple. The Christmas program took place in the Trujillo Plaza de Armas a famous central square in Trujillo (one of the first places Peru declared their freedom from Spain).  After the two nights of concerts they collected about 900 names of people who would like to hear more about the church.  Every word is filled with excitement and we are looking forward to a Skype call from Jonah on Christmas afternoon!

So this last week was full of a ton of stuff. Like a lot. It was super awesome! So as you may remember, we traveled to Trujillo on Thursday of last week. We left at about 10 in the morning and got there at around 6 at night...all on a big sweaty bus with no air conditioning. It was awesome! Really, I could be doing anything with my zone in the mission and still have a good time. Well almost anything jaja. Anyway, we found out when we got there that we weren't going to be staying in other missionaries rooms. We had something way cooler for us jaja. We stayed in the Mission Temple Hotel!!! We were the first missionaries to be able to, and lemme tell ya. It was nice. First of all, it's like 30 seconds walking distance from the temple, and then the rooms are killer nice :) Best shower of my whole mission, and it'll probably stay that way unless we go there again jaja. Anyway, Thursday night, we had show de talentos in the casa de mision and it was way fun! I played the piano which was pretty lame, but there were some hilarious skits! Plus, Presidente Marler, is like super way good at playing the guitar. And singing. And both at the same time. But yeah, that was an awesome day :)

Then, on Friday, we went to the Temple for the 7:00 session and it was amazing. The temple is actually pretty big! It had a room that fit all of the missionaries from 3 zones, Presidente y su esposa y el presidente de templo y su esposa (50ish people). Then later, we had a 3 hour practice for our show that night..jaja which was way too long but whatevs. Then we had the show in the main plaza de armas en el centro de Trujillo! And like 400 people came! I got the play accompaniment for an Hermana that was singing, which was pretty fun :) But serioulsy there is soooooooo much talent in our mission. There's an Elder, Elder Manly, that before the mission was in a band as a guitarist and lead singer. And right before he turned in his papers, he got an offer from MTV (something like $100,000) to play for them, but he turned it down to go on his mission. And he sang and played! It was tear jerking jaja :) But yeah that was an incredible day. But because I accompanied someone, I had the opportunity to stay for an extra day in Trujillo for the concert the following day which was way cool!

So on Saturday, we basically did the same thing, but with the other zones that weren't there the day before. But because it was Saturday, there were about 150 more people that came to watch! It was so crowded :) Also, I finally got to see Elder Wynn, Elder Herde, and Elder Mead!!! My hometown brotha! It was just another incredible day. But yeah, we stayed in the Asistentes room that night, and had a way fun time. Then we came home on Sunday on another big sweaty bus with no air conditioning, and right now I'm completely wiped. Hopefully I'll catch up on some sleep this week.

Well that was my week! I'm so pumped for Christmas and the all of the joy that we can experience celebrating the birth of Christ! It'll be super awesome to be able to share the words of Christ on the day centered in Christ. I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas! From the bottom of my heart! Y una Feliz Navidad! Y prospero año en Felizidad!   Great song by the way :)   ¡Viva Perú!

One of the families Jonah is teaching had a calendar of Idaho! 

At President Marler's House

President Marler "shreddin' it"

Trujillo, Peru Temple

Reunion with Elder Mead

Can you Find Jonah?

Some of his old Missionary District from Banos del Inca

Christmas concert in Plaza de Armas, Trujillo

One more Concert Picture

 Elder Quiroz, Elder Rareba and Elder Babbel good to see all of the missionaries together.

Week 14 "ay está" December 7 - December 13 - (Cajamarca)

Jonah had another incredible week.  His letters are so inspiring, they make us want to do good things, be better people - Thank you Elder Babbel.  He seems very happy in his emails that he sends.  He says being a missionary is the greatest thing he has ever done in his life.  He enjoys it more than anything (except maybe running and eating good food).  He is looking forward to Skype with us on Christmas afternoon (I would venture to guess that we are looking forward to it even more).  We have figured out that his letters are transitioning from the interjection "haha" to "jaja" - which mean the same thing.  Factoids - Jonah says that Cajamarca (the city he is in) translates to "Box Brand" and the area he is in is one of the few that has a waterfall (picture below)

So this past week was a week of miracles! It was super incredible to see the fruits of our labors this past week in church. As you may recall, or may not jaja, the asistencia in Baños Del Inca is slightly below par as of right now. We were usually getting around 80 to 90 people at church every week, which is almost enough to take us from a ward to branch. But anyway, this past week, we worked our buns off. And in church we had 114 people show up! It was pretty jaw-dropping jaja. So yeah, I guess work does work :)

This past week, we also saw one of the coolest things ever happen. So about a week ago, we taught about the Sabbath Day to one of our Menos Activas. She has been struggling a lot and hasn't been able to find work for a long time. But when we did teach her, we gave her a promise. That if she would come to church and sanctificar el Dia de Reposo, she would find work. It was a super spiritual lesson, and I really felt like she was going to come to church. And she did! And then this week, she found work! It was super sweet! We've been learning a lot about having confidence in our callings, and part of that was having faith in our promises that we give to people. The mission has made me have more confindence in this every day. Jaja, I'm believing less in casualidad every day too :)

Also, our fellow missionaries in our ward had a baptism, which was super cool! I'll send pictues of them in just a sec.

Oh yeah! And on Thursday, we all travel to Trujillo for a 4 day Christmas program! All of the mission! It's gonna be out the hood and off the chain :)

Yeah that's all folks. Love ya bunches! Besitas! ¡Viva Perú!

One of the few waterfalls in his area

Always the goofy one!

Jonah's district of missionaries on the waterfall outing

Behind the Waterfall

Another baptism - and no those Elders are not super tall.

Because they were running late getting to Church, Jonah thought it would be quicker to give this youngster a lift!

Week 13 "Spiders, Baptisms, and Spider baptisms :)" November 30 - December 6 - (Cajamarca)

During the last week Jonah had quite an experience with playing the piano (you can read about it below) so the moral of the story is, In Peru if you let people know that you play the piano be prepared to play frequently and with little notice and if you are not 100% confident in your skills a faithful prayer will go a long way!  Jonah tells us about the difficult situations and poverty that face many of the people that he meets and says that he is constantly humbled by their meager ways of living.  He is so happy to help and serve the people of Cajamarca, Peru.

Hey everybody! So this week was super great! And full of tons of changes! And super duper stressful! But it was awesome! This week, I've really learned to rely on prayer this week. My own strength is not going to carry me through the mission, and definitely not the rest of my life. Turn to God! He'll help ya out :)

So first, the area closing. The Hermanas always said that they had a tiny area with almost no people to teach. But, as I've learned, the Hermanas can exaggerate sometimes hahaha broma. But anyway, their area is huge! And there's tons of houses. And it's been a ton of work to get to know all of the people they were teaching. And it's even harder because all of them were in love with the Hermanas, so when they found out that they were gone, it was heartwrenching for a lot of them. But we're gonna get them to love us just as much haha. But yeah, now our area is flippin ginormous. We can literally walk for 2 hours in a straight line and still be in our own area. We've got a lot of work to do!

Also, this week, we had our ''5 Semana'' training! In week 7 hahahah! But yeah it was super fantastic. It was just in Cajamarca, rather than in Trujillo which was kind nice cuz we just had to travel 30 minutes instead of 7 hours. So anyway, we had one on one training with the Asistentes and Presidente. Just about mission stuff, but it was so incredibly spiritual. I love the presidency here, they're phenomenal. It was super good to have that. Por fin jaja.

Alsoooo.. we had a stake wide fireside on Saturday with Presidente Marler, and our whole zone (now 30 missionaries instead of 14). It was awesome! And super stressful! Here's the back story. So on Monday of this week, I was asked to play a solo for it. Not a problem, already had something prepared. Then on Wednesday, I was asked to accompany an Hermana on her violin. Not a problem, I can handle this with a couple days of rehearsing together. Then on Friday morning, I was asked to accompany a singing duet. Little nervous at this point. Saturday morning of, I was asked to accompany another singing duet. At this point, I was pretty stressed out. I had never even seen the two new songs until the afternoon of the event, and all three accompanies were pretty tough. So we get to the rehearsal on Saturday late afternoon, and I'm asked to accompany the choir. 3 more songs. And I am just sweating freaking bullets haha. 2 hours to practice my 7 songs, and then showtime haha. But this is where I turned to prayer. Sometimes, it'll seem like the smallest, most insignificant things in the grand scheme of things, but our Heavenly Father is going to listen. And he WILL answer. Everytime. Listen and look for the answer, and it'll be there. Everything went nice and smooth that night. I was tan cochino by the end of the night from all of the sweating, but everything was a-okay and everything was according to plan.

I love this gospel. I love it so much it's crazy haha. We have a Heavenly Father! Literally! A Father in Heaven. And he loves us so much, that despite all of the wars, contentions, presidential elections, and really huge important things, He will take the time to listen to your prayer. And answer it. Even if it's just a couple of dumb songs in a fireside. Talk to him. He'll listen. I love you all! Stay beautiful :) ¡Viva Perú!

Baptism of Nicolas - His family and other Church members

Nicolas his family and Elder Salinas

Some sights around Cajamarca

Hailstorm!

Jonah says the area around Cajamarca reminds him of Idaho

Week 12 "Woahhhhh yeah" November 23 - November 29 (Cajamarca)

Jonah did not end up traveling to Trujillo last week.  They had a conference in another part of Cajamarca so he only traveled 30 minutes.  He will be going to Trujillo for a Christmas program.  They may actually have some kind of a broadcast concert but we are not sure.  He also said that he may have the opportunity to start teaching piano lessons as a means to meet more people and find investigators.

So this last week was kind of a roller coaster.. A lot of good and some mas o menos too. But everything turned out okay, and in the end, there's two more children of God that have entered into the fold of Christ :)
So on Friday, we found out that the Hermanas in our area were leaving. But not only that, they weren't being replaced..their area was closing. I think it was because of the low asistencia in church. It was really tough because they bring a different spirit to the ward that the Elders just can't bring. Plus my Idahomie left :( But then later that day, Nicolas (our 8 year old investigador) and Haime (the Hermana's 60 year old investigador) had baptismal interviews and they both passed! So that meant that they were going to be baptized the very next day! So Saturday came, and we had to clean the baptismal font and fill it (which took 3 hours to figure out..) It was actually kinda fun ''baptizing the spiders in it''. Then I had the opportunity to baptize Nicolas! And the Elder Wirthlin (in our ward) baptized Hermano Haime. Super fantastic day. It was so incredible to see both of them all dressed in white. And their clothing wasn't the most pure thing about them. They have a clear countenance, and pure spirit now that they have been baptized. It was so incredible to see the changes in them because there was literally a difference in them. They were both beaming ear to ear :) Oh yeah.. haha so the water in the font isn't heated like it is in other places. So it was freazing cold. And Hermano Haime about died when he got in. After he was completely soaked head to toe and was leaving the font, he yelled ''¡FRIASO!'' before we could close the doors. It was hilarious! Everybody was dying laughing haha.
So yeah, that was my week! We had a tough time saying bye to the Hermanas, but they have been called elsewhere for a reason. Just trust in the voluntad de Dios y todo serán perfecto! I love you all! ¡Viva Perú!

Not sure where these were taken? 

Some kind of tunnel

There are some ruins nearby

Looking down at Cajamarca

Another view of Cajamarca

Feeling Good

I think he may be imitating a photo that David took on his mission?

That's right! 1989 - Sao Paulo, Brasil!

Cajamarca Missionaries 

Pizza Peruvian style

Clean Baptismal font and no Spiders

Week 11 "Olo" November 16 - November 22 (Cajamarca)

Another fantastic week for Jonah.  He is so excited about the Vasquez family that they are teaching.  Apparently he did have a hamstring injury a few weeks ago while doing a 400 meter race (he says that he did win).  He is all healed up now.  He will be traveling to Trujillo this week for a training meeting of all missionaries that have been out for 5 weeks.  He is not looking forward to the 7 hour bus ride - each way!  Since he was going to be traveling on Thanksgiving he was able to celebrate Thanksgiving the week before and had mashed potatoes and turkey.

So this last week was super fantastic! We had some really great experiences, that will probably lead to some baptisms this upcoming Saturday! Which includes a family of 3! It was just a fantastic week in general :) 

So it started out with the family getting married about 3 weeks early which was incredible news. (by the way it's a thing that they families have to be married before baptism) Anyway, they talked to us and said that they think they are ready, but they need to have a stronger testimony of the Libro de Mormón, which is suepr essential. So later in the week, we had a testimony meeting specfically for them with the obispo y sus consejos y el presidente del estaca! It was super great, and I think that they are going to be ready to literally walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. Later in the week, Nicolas (tiene 8 años), decided, out of nowhere really, that he wanted to baptized like his mom :) It was super cool and it really unanticipated haha. Elder Salinas and I both kinda looked at each other with our jaws to the floor because it's a big decision for anybody, especially an 8 year old. But yeah, It's possible that there are 5 baptisms in our ward this coming Saturday! And this is huge because our ward right hasn't had baptisms in over 2 months. I'm so excited to help all of these people progress closer to Christ, And baptism isn't the goal. The Vasquez familia could possibly be sealed in the temple this upcoming year. That means that they can literally live with each other in happiness for all of the eternities to come. It's difficult to comprehend eternity, especially when that eternity is one of bliss. I'm so excited that they can change their perspective to the eternities, and experience the joy that my family has right now. I love this work so much! And I love all of you so much too! ¡Viva Perú!

2nd Nefi 3:7-8
Mosiah 3:9
Romanos 1:162nd Nefi 9:5
1st Nefi 1:12

Jonah apparently likes the warm barley beverage

There are lots of stray dogs in Peru and Jonah apparently likes to take pictures of them.

Not sure if this is the turkey they ate for Thanksgiving

Week 10 "Wowza" November 9 - November 15 (Cajamarca)

Well here is a quick turnaround, I just finished posting a delayed week 9 entry and we were able to hear from Jonah again!  He is having many great experiences that you can read about.  Some of his communications contain Spanish so get out your Google translate if you need it.  A couple of additional experiences that he had that aren't mentioned in the letter are also posted. He loves the haircuts.  He says he can get a shampoo, haircut, back massage and shave for $3.25!  He is still having a lot of rain but it doesn't seem to bother him at all.  He says that his area of the city in Cajamarca is kind of dirty and that the people are very "laid back".  He is really learning to love the people of Peru and is having great experiences. 

¡¡¡Holaaaaaa!!! This past week has been super incredible! I've learned a whole bunch more about the truthfulness of the gospel, but not just by hearing about it. I've had some pretty incredible experiences of living it first hand. Anyway, yeah, this past week was great. On Tuesday, we had a Zone Conference Training, which is even better than just a Zone Conference. Because it was all of Cajamarca, so 2 zones! It's always super fun to meet up with all of the other missionaries and practice together and also have fun together. We had lessons from both zone leaders and also the sister missionary leaders. They are all incredibly fantastic at teaching, and their Spanish is almost fluent even though most of them are whiter than sour cream lol. Hopefully I can speak like them at some point in the mission..because right now, it's rough with the irregular future and past tense. Like really rough haha. But I'm studying and praying every day for help. But yeah it was super fun to have that training. Also, on Thursday I had an incredible experience with fasting. So we've been having a tough time with members attending church lately, so we (missionaries in our barrio) decided that we should fast for our barrio, and our investigators, and it totally changed everything. We happened upon a missing dog of an investigator that really needed some cheering up, then taught 6 lessons which were all incredible. There was just an incredible envelopment of the Spirit. We met a super drunk dude in a park, and he told us that he never wanted to drink again and that he wanted to turn his life around and he felt something when we walked by and immediately knew that we could help. I know that this was the Spirit, and I know that we can help him come unto Christ and develop his faith. We sat him down on a bench in the park, said a prayer with him, and taught a short lesson about the love that the Savior has for him and the beautiful gift that we have called the Atonement. It was truly an incredible experience. I love giving people hope and joy. And I especially love being the answer to someone's prayer (which also happened but I don't have time to talk about it right now. Ask me if you want to hear more about it :) 

(We asked about it and his experience is posted below)

Anyway, yeah this week was awesome. All is well in Cajamarca and we're holding out in the rain haha. Love you all! ¡Viva Perú!

(Here is the experience he didn't have time to put in his letter)

Okay. So we were in between citas on Friday, and we decided to buy some powerade at a little tienda. We bought the powerade, and then decided that we should have a short little lesson with the owner of the tienda. She was devoutly religious just like basically everyone else haha, and so it was easy to start talking about Jesucristo and the Biblia and el evangelio. Anyway, we taught her about faith, and that fe sin obras es nada. And it was super spiritual and we knew she could feel it too. We asked if she would say the closing prayer, she said yes, and then gave the most heartfelt prayer I think I've ever heard. She started bawling in the middle, thanking Heavenly Father that we came and talked to her that day because she's been having a really difficult time with her family and has been struggling with a lot of things. She said she knew that we were an answer to her prayers and that she could feel God's love when we talked to her. Pretty awesome experience. Anyway, we have another appointment with her on Friday, and we're going to teach her the Restauración and ask her to be baptized. Super cool :

Jonah thinks Catamarca is kind of like Idaho

Elder Babbel and Andres (this is the son of their pensionista, who cooks 2 meals a day for them and does their laundry)

Josue (another son of the pensionista

Elder Babbel, Josue, Andres and Elder Salinas

Week 9 - November 2 - November 8 (Cajamarca)

Leslie and I were at a medical conference in Grand Cayman of all places, so I am late updating Jonah's blog.  He is doing great and says that it rains most days and probably will for the next several months.  He hit his head because there are too many low doorways.  Not much damage done.  Here is the letter: 

Hey everybodyyyyy! So this week, I'm deciding to be a little more short in my emails, so that I have more time to reply to other people. So yeah, this week was pretty incredible. It's been raining a butt load and we basically need our umbrellas and boots every day. I didn't know how much it was to jump into huge puddles of water with boots on until I came to Cajamarca. I only had to travel to Peru to find that one out lol. But yeah, I learned a lot about having an attitude of success, what that means, and how it can affect literally everything you do in your entire life. Elder Bond, one of the asistentes al Presidente Marler went proselyting con nosotros en Sábado. El dijo algo que es de gran importancia, ''Siempre tienen un actitud de éxito. Hay una diferencia entre de una actitud de éxito, y una actitud buena. Necesitan aprender y saber la diferencia, y si saben, su éxito será arriba de los cielos.'' We can`t just have a good attitude because that will only get us through the moments. By having an attitude of success, we can not only get through the difficult moments, but also succeed in the most difficult times. Elder Bond is truly incredible. We also had interviews with Presidente Marler on the same day, and he talked to us about the conditions of our heart. Not if they were healthy haha, but if we were really giving the mission everything that we can muster. If our desires are in line with God's desires. It was super poderoso and kinda chastizing too, but that's why I love Presidente. He is really straight and to the point, which is exactly what we need. Okay, besides that, everything else has been pretty normal this past week. Normal as far as being in back country Peru haha. Alright, I love you all, and you are always in my prayers! ¡Viva Perú!

A toilet in Peru - Jonah is glad it is not his

Too many short doorways in Peru!

Jonah often talks about the stray dogs all over the streets

More stray dogs

Week 8 - October 26 - November 1 (Cajamarca)

Jonah had an amazing week.  Filled with rain and a bit of sun and a lot more rain.  He actually was able to find some size 11 and 1/2 boots to wear.  He said if his feet were "a half size bigger I would have been done for. "  He loves their pensionista (a wonderful Peruvian woman who cooks meals twice a day for him).  He said "she is a miracle worker".  He also loves the fresh made "pan" (bread) available on every street corner.  His companion Elder Salinas will only run with him every other day because at 9000 feet elevation it is tough to keep up with Jonah (I'd say that would go for any elevation).  Elder Salinas does not know that much English and every morning Jonah gives him a lesson.  From his emails he sounds happy and thrilled to be in Peru.  Here is his latest letter:

Okay hey everybody! This past week has been fantastic! And one thing that I learned about Cajamarca is that it rains a buttload haha. It's been raining a whole ton, and really heavy rain, and then one of our investigadores told us that this was just the beginning haha. But yeah, I'm loving it here and I've had a whole load of super awesome, super spiritual experiences already. Alriggggghhht.

On Tuesday, it rained like crazy. There's no drainage system at all in Cajamarca so all the streets flooded and yeah it was insane. Luckily, I bought boots, and an umbrella literally the day before haha.

On Wednesday, not a ton happened. We had some lessons with menos activos and that was about it. It's tough sometimes when nobody is home and you do a lot of walking. But one thing that I've found, is that the Lord only gives us one super tough day, and then we'll have fantastic days right after. So far, I've never had two super tough days in a row. I feel totally blessed every day, and can feel the prayers of people from back home :)

On Thursday, we received 4 new investigadores which was super fantastic. We've been asking everyone for references to teach other people, including non-members, and to our surprise, everyone has been excited to tell us other people to teach. It's really cool because literally everyone in Cajamarca has a super strong faith in Jesus Christ and everyone wants to hear the good word of Him and His gospel. Peruvians are the bomb :)

On Friday, it was super tough again. We only had one lesson the whole day, and everything in Cajamarca flooded again haha.

On Saturday, it was HALLOWEEN YEAHHHHHH!! And Elder Salinas and I dressed up too! As missionaries lol :) We had some really solid lessons and we watched the most fantastic video of all time for missionaries by Elder Holland :)

On Sunday, it was my first real Sunday with the Baños Del Inca barrio. It was interesting haha. It started 10 minutes late with only like 20 people, but then everyone shuffled in around 9:20, so 20 minutes late. But yeah, it's really small, and Hermana Nielson and I will take turns playing the piano every other Sunday.

Okay that's about everything that happened this last week. We had a really cool experience on Sunday as well. We were teaching an investigadora, and had one topic planned, but Elder Salinas and I both felt prompted to teach something else during the first couple minutes. So we taught a completely different lesson than planned, and eventually asked if she would be baptized (not planned either). And to our surprise she said she would! This month! It was really incredible. I phrased sentences that I had never been able to before. The gift of tongues is so real :) I'm so happy for her, and I know that this change will bless her, not only in this life, but for eternity. It is honestly the best feeling in the world to teach something, and then have the Spirit testify of the truth, and then have that person come to a realization of the truth. There is no way we could have taught her on our own. We are truly on the Lord's errand :) I love you all!

¡Viva Perú!

A photo of Elder Wynn, Elder Babbel and Elder Herde in front of the Trujillo, Peru Temple

A view of the outskirts of Cajamarca

Jonah's favorite Peruvian dish - Lomo Saltado

Typical street in Cajamarca

Week 7 - October 20 - 26 (Cajamarca)

Jonah arrived in the Trujillo North Mission and today we found out he was assigned to work in Cajamarca.  Specifically the Baños del Inca area.  When he arrived he found out that he is in the same location that Sister Candace Nielsen is working.  She is also from Caldwell, definitely a small world He seems to have had an amazing week.  Unfortunately his camera did not upload photos this week so we will be posting some pictures from the blog of the Mission President kurtandkathymarler.blogspot.com

Heyyyyy Everybody! So I kinda had the biggest 2 weeks (ish) in mylife! It was incredibly memorable and I can't believe that I've madeit to my area with my new companion! So I'm basically gonna skipeverything that happened in the CCM because it was super boring andjust classes. Except the last day! We found out that only the TrujilloNorth mission would be leaving a whole day early on Monday instead ofTuesday! So that was super crazy and terrifying haha. But yeah, onMonday all we did was travel and get settled in at the mission homefor one night. The mission home is a little slice of the USA in Peruhaha. Anyway, now I'll start with the good stuff :)

On Tuesday, we had some introduction classes in the mission homewith the AP's and Presidente Marler. We had a short interview, andthen we were told that we would be assigned our new companions andareas in a few short hours. We walked to the chapel when it was time,and we all sat down in the capilla across from the trainers. Theyannounced my name first, and so my new companion for at least the next12 weeks is Elder Salinas!! He is so fantastic! He's from Lima Peru,and he's been in the field now for 9 months. And we have been assignedto the Cajamarca, Baños del Inca Area!! It's at roughly 8500 feetwhich is super loco, and it reminds me a lot of Idaho because there'stons of farms and vaqueros and cows haha. Anyway, we then learned thatit would be a 7 hour bus ride which kinda stinks but whatever :)

On Thursday, all we did was travel haha. But yeah, there were about10000 turns on the way there on this super sketch road, so about anhour away from Cajamarca, vomitè lol. We arrived safely and then haddinner with the missionaries in my ward. And get this. Hermana Nielsen(Candice Nielsen) is in my ward! Probably the most loco coincidence inthe world haha. Then we taught a Noche de Hogar with the Hermanaswhich was still hard for me to comprehend because Hermana Nielsen, inmy same stake, was teaching a family in Spanish with me lol.

On Friday, I was super humbled. In more than one way. During ourlessons in proselyting, I had no idea what was going on for more than50% of the time. Elder Salinas is a phenomenal teacher, but whenever Iwould say something, I would stumble everywhere, conjugateincorrectly, and basically repeated what was just said haha. Anyway,we also visited a less active that lived in super poor conditions. Hishouse was completely made of stone and dirt, except for thedeteriorating wood ceiling. He was bed-ridden, but still has a superstrong desire to learn the gospel. He seems super happy even in histough conditions.

On Saturday, Elder Salinas started to get up 15 minutes early to gofor a run every morning and it is so fantastic :) We had a zone anddistrict meeting and it was super cool to meet everybody. Also, I hadthe best Lomo Saltado in my life, and I had to take a picture of it.Our pensionista is a miracle worker! 

On Sunday, we had a multi-stake conference with a live broadcast ofElder Neil L Andersen. It was specifically for just Bolivia and Peruwhich was super cool. Elder Andersen tried to speak Spanish eventhough he only knows Portuguese, but it was super cool to hear him. Itwas super easy to understand him because he talked really slow haha.Also, Sunday night, I had my first door contact and it was terrifyinghaha. But we are going to teach them on Tuesday!!
Well that pretty much sums up everything. I've been working super hardon my Spanish and I feel like I've learned a whole ton. But also Ihave a whole bunch more to learn. I've been humbled every day here andmy new catch phrase is 'otra vez, pero mas lento por favor' haha. Ican't wait to teach more and to bless peoples' lives cada dia. It'sprobably the coolest thing that I will ever be able to do. Alright!Love you all! ¡Viva Perù!

Elders at the Mission home - Jonah playing the Piano

Elder Marshall teaching Elder Wynn, Elder Babbel and Elder Herde about the mission rules

Herrmana Esmelda and Hermana Alicia preparing lomo saltado

Lomo Saltado - Happy Elders

Jonah - giving a piano concert

Elder Babbel and Elder Salinas

Elder Salinas, President Marler and Elder Babbel

Leaving the mission home and off to their new assigned areas - Catamarca for Jonah!