Tres Mil Papas (Three Thousand Potatoes): Week 8 - October 26

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!