Feliz Navidad

Eyyoo. It was super good to talk to you guys yesterday! It just made me soo happy and I didn't get too trunky haha, but I loved it. I forgot to bear my testimony about how I feel about my mission when I was sharing my testimony with you guys in Spanish. I was just super nervous so maybe if I have time, I'll bear it at the end of my letter. It was so great to see everyone's smiling faces! 

                                                                               

Our video chat with Cory on Christmas day.

Okay so with my week, this email will probably be pretty short because there's not much to say since we talked yesterday. On Monday we had a really good noche de hogar (family night) with Lilia and her whole family at Viviana's house. It went really well and we talked about the birth of Christ and being "the light" this Christmas. Then we played this game afterwards with a mango. I don't know how to explain it.. haha but it was super fun! 

On Wednesday we had the multi Zone conference and Presidente Rios talked about baptism. Always be thinking baptism. Have fun, but baptize, haha it was kind of funny, but it's true. That's what we are here to do. To baptize converts. It was a really great conference. Then afterwards we had our little party. Each Zone did a little skit. There aren't pictures but there are videos.... so wait about 1 year and a little over 6 months and you can see them. Sorry, I just can't send videos. But don't worry, I have tons of videos! After the multi Zone conf. and seeing the awesome surprise from the family and the video that Amber convinced you guys to make with the elves.. that everyone loved and was cracking up at, we went to the boda (wedding) of Marilu and Magnu and it was so nice! We only really got there for the after-party but they were so happy. It was great! (Note: The mission asked families to make a short video for their son or daughter to see at the Christmas Zone conferences. We decided to do an "Elf Yourself" video clip. Apparently we were the only "goofy" family, but Cory said everyone thought it was great.)

                                                                              

Cory didn't have pictures from the Zone party but these were sent to me from the Whitneys. Cory is kind of front and center.

Cory, back row, third from the right.

Chocolate cake after Pollo a la Brasa.

Later in the week when we taught Diana and Durli, we were able to teach Jorge, the boyfriend of Diana. She is so funny. She kinda dragged him in, but he came in and listened and was receptive and asked lots of questions and it was great! They're such a great family and I'm very excited for them! They're progressing great and coming to church so we just have to keep up our good work.

                                                                               

Me and my companion with Durli

Later on Friday, I think, we had a talent show within our District (Stake) in Viru and the missionaries did a bunch of funny skits.. also don't have pictures, only videos.. I'm sorry. But it was a bunch of fun! There were a bunch of sweet cultural dances too which was awesome. 

And then on Christmas Eve.... the moment we have all been waiting for.. the BAPTISM of Marilu, Magnu, and Lucy!! It was so amazing! It just made me so happy to see them baptized. I'm so happy for that family, and one day they're going to enter into the temple together and get sealed as a family. Man, I just love them so much! I had the opportunity to baptize Lucy. Elder Valasquez came down from Trujillo to baptize Marilu and Magnu (Elder Valasquez is a stud, he is basically the one who found and taught the whole family.) It was so special though. Satan was working so hard to destroy this family but they weren't about to let that happen! They kept pushing and here they are. Baptized and confirmed into The Church of Jesus Christ! Lucy was super afraid to get baptized, so when it was her turn, she was hiding and crying, but Elder Whitney (the couple Elder and Sister) went over and comforted her and finally talked her into coming down into the pool to get baptized. She was super worried because she didn't know how to swim or hold her breath, but she did great and it was so great to see the happiness on her face when she came up out of the water! It was such a great baptism and one I will never forget! 

                                                                              

Magnu, Marilu - holding Mia, Aracely, the oldest daughter behind Marilu (already a member of the church), Lucy, Elder Valasquez and me. (Lots more baptism pictures below.)

That afternoon during lunch there were two turkeys running around in the back room at Flor's place. Flor told us that we were going to kill and eat them for dinner.. (the big Christmas Eve meal) Haha, me and Elder Stroud looked at each other and asked her if we could do the honors of killing the turkey. She said, "yeah sure." And so we got to kill our dinner! I held it down while Elder Stroud cut it's throat open and killed it... a little gruesome, but that's how it went down. That night, Christmas Eve, we had a dinner with all of Flor's family and all of familia Risco plus Casto. It was great. We had turkey and rolls and paneton! 

                                                                              

That's our turkey! Christmas Eve dinner minus the paneton. Mom, you have to get a recipe for paneton. It is so good. 

The whole group having Christmas Eve dinner at Flor's.

That's pretty much my week. I'm so thankful for this mission and all the opportunities and blessings it has brought! I love you guys so much and thank you all for your prayers and support! Cuidense mucho!! (Take care!!)

                                                                              

At the celebration after Magnu and Marilu's wedding.

Baby Mia. She is so cute. 

Elder Alarcon, Magnu, Mia and me at the wedding party celebration. 

Elder Alarcon, Marilu, Lucy, Magnu, Mia and me at the wedding party celebration. (Cory did not identify who the young man was in the background.)

The wedding food.

Getting ready for the baptism.

A farmer had a pool that he said we could use for the baptism. This is by and on the stairs to the pool.

Me and Elder Valasquez

Familia Risco singing at the baptism.

Elder Valasquez and Magnu going down into the pool for the baptism. 

Elder Valasquez showing Magnu that he will need to hold his nose. 

Elder Valasquez with Marilu.

Me with Lucy.

Yes, the children are swimming.

All those who came to support Marilu, Magnu and Lucy.

Elders all together.

Me, Hermano Castillo (who always says, "Mis angelitos" - my angels) and Elder Valasquez.

These are some paintings on the walls. They had a painting contest in Chao and these are a couple of the paintings. It was pretty awesome. 

Donald Trump newspaper. Just reading our news in Peru.

Me at the club in Chao on the vip section. A member's brother owns the club and I got to see inside during the day.

Getting ready to arm wrestle Carlitos.

I beat him. We are one and one now.

Feliz Navidad......Todovia (Merry Christmas.....Everyone)

Okay, so to start off, my stomach pains aren't too bad. I had a blood test and the Whitney's are updating me on that. So yeah, it's being taken care of. Really nothing I haven't had before, it just got a tiny bit worse. Really nothing to worry about haha.

I'm glad you guys enjoyed my testimony in my last email. I really have seen my testimony grow so much here! I'm so greatful for this oppurtunity. I love what I'm feeling now and never want to let it go. I will never give Satan one inch. I can't remember exactly where, but I was studying exactly that this week during studies, that Satan starts with the small things and those just grow until he's got you. I think it's in Matthew or Mark, and it said you have to bind a strong man before you enter his house to rob him. Satan starts with the small things to rob us until he can bind us up and then he can destroy our houses, so never give him that inch or he will take the whole yard! 

I love what you said about how the Lord blesses his missionaries. That's so true and I have just seen that so much! I'm so thankful for this amazing opportunity.

I'm just pumped out of my mind for this next week! We are going to have a multi-zone meeting this Wednesday and then come back and try to make it to the wedding of Marilu and Magnu! I can't believe I forgot to tell you guys about Aracely's family last week! Marilu and Magnu are getting married this Wednesday! Dad's birthday!!! Then they and their daughter, Lucy, will be baptized on the 24th and confirmed on Navidad! (Christmas!) What a gift, right? The best gift you can get for Christmas! Like.. BOOM here's the gift of the Holy Ghost! Top that! So yeah, super stoked for that. And this time it's for real haha. We've had so many problems but it's taught both them and us patience and I'm so thankful for that and for this opportunity to have been able to have taught them.

Anyway, so this week not a ton happened. Monday after p-day we had a nice little noche de hogar (family night) with Marilu and her family. We had what's called chocalatada.. I honestly don't know if I spelt that right haha. It's Paneton with hot chocolate. Paneton is a sweet bread that is usually eaten at Christmas and New Years. And no big deal, I just burnt my tongue off haha.

                                                                             

Elder Alarcon and me having Paneton and Hot Chocolate with Lucy.

Me and Lucy.

Good stuff.....but hot.

The next morning I was a little frustrated with my companion. Nothing he did.. he just couldn't understand what I was trying to say. I was trying to say a phase in Spanish but he wasn't understanding and it was actually important for planning for an investigator so I got a little frustrated with that. But then I prayed.. asked for some alone time. You know, the bathroom is a good place for "alone time" on your mission. Sometimes our prayers are answered in ways we don't recognize. Weird I know, but it was a blessing for me. 

Later we found a man named Gabriel. He is the old guy with the cool Jesus soccer jersey in my pictures. The guy is awesome! He knew the Bible front to back. He would ask us if we knew some random scripture, then we would kind of look at each other and be like.. no.. what does it say? And he would recite it and go.. si o no!?.. (yes or no?) and we would say, ya.. así es.. (yeah...it is...) and he would go claaaro! (clear!) haha he's the best! 

                                                                               

Me and Gabriel

The next day we fit 25 people in a convi. That was cool . Haha usually 18 in a convi is pushing it. Nope, they didn't care, they were trying to stuff as many people as they could in the van to get to Viru. So I had to stand bent over for 25 minutes haha, oh well. That night.. I was a little frustrated. Just layed in bed for the night after planning. I'll see if I have time to share the story. (Looks like he ran out of time, because there is no story) but yeah, that story plus I was frustrated because I couldn't express myself to my companion like I was wanting during planning and ugh. Sometimes it's hard to have a Latino companion but I'm just learning patience and man, it's hard. Don't take this the wrong way. Trust me, I'm happy! There's just those moments sometimes when I just want to have a white companion to speak English. But I won't learn the language that way, so here I am, being all patient and stuff. Oh what fun!   

The next day got a lot better! Like a hundred times better! We woke up and Aracely texted us saying Durlee had told her that she wanted to come to church with her mom but didn't know how to get there so she needed us to come pick her up (Durlee went to an activity Saturday night with the young men and women) that made us so happy! I was stoked. So we went and got her and her mom and they came and loved it. That night we taught them again and they asked a ton of questions! It was awesome. 

Also it rained.. twice this week! (It rarely rains there) That was great. Only like 20 minutes and just a light rain but enough that we got wet. It was pretty cool. I pretented it was snow. 

Sorry I honestly don't know how much more time I have so this could end short. Oh crap... I just got my two minute warning... um yeah... well I guess that's it. I'm sorry, I had to do some more things today, ugh. I'll add my picture discriptions and then I have to go. Ah shoot. I'm so sorry but my time is up. I only have one minute. Ugh. Sorry to cut it short. There was so much more to say. Well I love you guys! I will talk to you Sunday!!

                                                                                 

A nice picture of me doing our mission sign.

Me eating a lizard.

The moon was really pretty this night.

Juan Mendoza in the tree picking Mangos. He's a recent convert. It was cool, he was barefoot and just climbed the tree.

Up in that Mango tree.

It was Flor's birthday so we smashed eggs on her head. (Apparently this is a common birthday tradition in Peru.)

Flor with the eggs all over. 

She loves us! Happy birthday Flor. 

¿¿Quien Vive?? (Who Lives?)

Ayyyyyy fam bam holy ham. (Silly boy) Wow it's so weird that I'm talking to you guys in two weeks! It came super fast. I love you guys so much! Thanks for the prayers and support!

So last p-day was a blast. We played futbol (soccer) for like 4 hours straight and we actually played hard this time and it was super fun. Then that night we had a lesson with Julten and then Manuel y (and) Melissa treated us to pollo a la braza!! It was my favorite p-day, minus the beach, so far! 

                                                                               

Me and Elder Harper getting ready to play futbol (soccer) with Magnu, Lucy and Marilu.

After futbol - hot, sweaty and dirty.

Manuel and Melissa (in front) took us out for pollo a la braza - a BBQ type chicken that I love. 

Elder Harper se fue (he went). Sad day. The guy is a stud and he's going to do great things in Chimbote! Elder Alarcon is my new companion. I had to go all the way up to Trujillo to get him. I was supposed to have a blood test there because I was having some sharp pains in my bladder/stomach so I was told to come up to Trujillo instead of Viru to do that.. turns out they told me to just do it in Viru... after I got in Trujillo, haha, so I just chilled there for a bit until my new companion came. (Cory didn't elaborate on the stomach pains, so what you read, is all we know. He was off-line before I could ask more. Hopefully things are ok.)

                                                                             

My new companion, Elder Alarcon. Elder Valasquez (Elder Harper's old comp in Chao before me) said that my companion kind of looks like Nevil Longbottom from Harry Potter. Haha I can see it. (We think Elder Alarcon is from Chili, but Cory didn't confirm that in this email.)

Elder Stroud's new companion from Columbia - brand new in the mission field, Elder Stroud, Elder Alarcon and me. The four Chaocinos.

Elder Alarcon is super great! He's just chill and sometimes quiet, especially in the street at times haha, but he's pretty cool and just layed back. But also super strict on times and stuff. He's a stud and he's taught me a lot about contacting and just talking and helping people in the streets. Before, me and Elder Harper just usually walked appointment to appointment and didn't really stop to talk to many people. But Elder Alarcon does that a lot and it has really helped. 

We found 6 solid new people to teach this week. One of them (Kevin and his wife Asulema), Kevin asked, "Why is Jesus called the Father and the Son?" And I was just thinking - OH HECK YEAH! Because Dad gave me this answer 3 or 4 weeks before haha, so I just whipped that doctrine out on him and he was all like Woooowww. Yeah, I felt like a bacanaso! (sort of slang for "cool" or something like that.)

The first few days with Elder Alarcon I was super exhausted because I had to show him the area, make sure he knew everyone, make sure everything was right and had to do it in pure Spanish. Haha it's super hard sometimes to talk in pure Spanish but I can already see it has helped me progress a ton! Sometimes he talks in a way that it's hard to understand and fast and a little slurey but after asking him what he said 5 or 6 times I can usually understand. But now I'm all good and everything is going great! 

Wednesday we had the first District meeting with Elder Alarcon. It was different. I got the taste of an actual District meeting. Elder Harper always made them super fun and then killed us with some super spiritual deep doctrine or something! But this was straight up, the whole time.. and I kind of miss Elder Harper's District meetings. 

One day last week when we were contacting in the street, one guy we started talking to asked where I was from. I told him and he said, "Oh okay, so you studied Spanish a bit before you came out here right? Like a few years?" And I was like, "No.. I learned all my Spanish here on the mission in 4 months." The guy was like, "WHAT?? Wow! Four months!! Wow you must have a gift from God! Your Spanish is almost fluent and you've only been here for four months!" Haha so that was pretty cool. I said, "Yeah I have a gift, called the Gift of Tongues", then tied that in with the gospel and pulled a cita (appointment) with him. We are going to visit him this Sunday, I believe. The guy is super cool. His name is Perci, and his son's name is Perci. They're great. He said he wants to come to church! So yeah, we will see. 

That night it was Ani´s birthday (little Ani at the restaurant, daughter of Catty.. the one in that picture sleeping from last week) and so she was going to have cake for her birthday. At 9:10 p.m. we were about to leave and Catty said, "Oh you guys have to stay for cake!" We were like, "We can't, sorry, we have to be back by 9:30 p.m. and she goes, "Oh you guys can run, right?" Haha we were like.. "Ugh, yeah sure..", so we hurried and sang Happy Birthday and then they cut us some cake and we started to run back to our room at 9:23 p.m.! And our room isn't close.. haha, so we started sprinting to our room and as we were running, Elder Alarcon´s cake fell, haha, he didn't notice until like 2 minutes later! We made it back right at 9:29 p.m., it was crazy! 

                                                                             

Ani's brother, Joseph, sleeping.

The next day was looong. We only taught one lesson and it was super short. I was so exhuasted from walking haha, and it was hard because my companion didn't talk much the whole day. The lesson we got in was with a new lady. We started to talk and she said, "I only listen to Catholics" and crossed herself. We said, "Oh can we just offer a prayer in your house?" After a minute, she finally let us in. We got in and talked a little then asked if she would say the closing prayer. After asking a few times we decided we would just do it. So we asked if we could say it and she goes, "Oh no no no, I'm Catholic, I only listen to Catholics." Hahaha we were like, what the heck, we said an opening prayer? But after she said that, she just got up and left.... and after a couple minutes of sitting there confused, we just left hahaha. It was super weird. I guess she really didnt like to pray with us.  

Sunday was awesome. My spanish was good and we taught Eldon's ex-girlfriend and her mom. Her mom, Diana, is super nice and friendly and just loves the message! The whole time she listened and when I told her the Joseph Smith vision, she was just so interested and was just like, wooow, the whole time. She loved it! Which is pretty rare, most people don't get it. But she got it and it was amazing! 

Something I wanted to share from my studies was Matthew 27:27-31 (Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.) It just opened my mind completely. Like yeah, I always knew that Christ endured so much, but this time it just completely opened my eyes. I just realized how horrible it was for Him. How horrible the mockery was, and everything that he went through for me. And the whole time, He was doing the will of the Father. Not once did He think of Himself. It really was amazing to have that understanding this time. I just can completely testify of His love for us and how much we can learn from His charity and love and selflessness. I've learned that a ton here on the mission. That it's about other people. That I'm so much happier when I serve and am not all "me, me, me" and focus outward like the Savior. I can testify of that! 

That's all for this week! It was a great week! I have to go now. I love you all and have a good Christmas! Enjoy your snow. There's no snow here.. just dirt.. dirt is fun, I guess. Anyway, I love you all! #CRISTOVIVE (Christ lives) 

                                                                             

Me and Elder Hernandez and Elder Rodriquez.

My Christmas stocking hung on my bed.

That nasty fish that I told you about.....yep, that's its eyeball.