Navidad/ Año Nuevo

Had an awesome week filled with a thousand fruitcakes and meals with members. Before all that, I went on splits with Elder Hatfield in Yunguyo and then the next day I went to Ilave and did splits with Elder Stevens which was a super fun experience. I can only do splits with two missionaries because there's only 4 missionaries in our entire district of Yunguyo and Ilave but I love our little district. 

Last Monday two missionaries from Puno and our district came to Yunguyo and we ate seviche with chicken with a couple of members. Gringos took over Yunguyo that day. We've found a couple more investigators so I'm excited to work with them in the upcoming weeks. This area is so hard to find and teach so I'm excited that we've gotten more opportunities. 

Christmas weekend was soooo much fun. In Peru, Christmas Eve is bigger than actual Christmas day, everyone shot off fireworks that night, it was a better show than Disneyland I've never seen that many fireworks and also insanely close to me before in my life. I think we ate 4 or 5 dinners Christmas eve, it was awful I was about to explode but it was really good food. The best part about the weekend was skyping my family!!! It was so nice to see and talk to them, it was actually kind of hard to talk in english so that was pretty funny, I hope you all had a great Christmas and Happy New Year!!! I still write 2015 on everything so I don't know how I'll do 2017, excited for what's to come. Alma 57:21 / Alma 58:40

21 Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them.

40 But behold, they have received many wounds; nevertheless they stand fast in that liberty wherewith God has made them free; and they are strict to remember the Lord their God from day to day; yea, they do observe to keep his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments continually; and their faith is strong in the prophecies concerning that which is to come.

¡Feliz Navidad!

I'm going to keep this email short and send a lot of pictures. All the missionaries in the Puno area had a Christmas party which was so much fun, we ate a ton of food and performed skits and other fun stuff like that. 

A Mexican member moved into our city and fed us tacos which was the greatest christmas present in the world, I swear I almost started crying eating those tacos they were so good. He wants to open a taco shop here but no one in Peru eats tacos:( 

I had to say goodbye to one of our zone leaders Elder Cacoango who went home a couple days ago which was a bummer, I went on splits with him a couple weeks ago and he taught me so much. Tomorrow I'm going on splits in Ilave again which is exciting, my spanish is getting better every single day and the members are a blast, we're contacting like crazy but not having huge success but the members are bringing us investigators and church attendance is super high right now which is awesome. We drill the members about this because Sundays here are the best days to buy and sell food or whatever so it's difficult to tell them that you'll miss out on those things but you just have to trust in the Lord that you'll be blessed. 

I'm excited to Skype my fam this Sunday and eat a thousand meals with members. I hope you all had an awesome week and I hope you have a Christmas filled with family and food! Jacob 2:18-19 

18 But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdomof God.

 19 And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.

Ok Now It's Week 10 / Comida

First, HAPPY 40TH MOM!!!!!! 

This week was a ton of fun, we had a multi-zone conference with another quorum of the Seventy so I was able to see my CCM homies again which was awesome. We visit with the members a ton now, it's so hard to get investigators here because we don't start our day until like noon and then we have a couple of appointments and then by 5 there's no one on the streets. It's insanely quiet here at night, except for the weekends and holidays, then the people throw ragers but other than that Yunguyo is so peaceful it's weird. 

Elder Cubillas and I run Family Home Evening, which is a blast because everyone just tries to practice their English with me and we play games and eat food. Teaching English is my favorite thing in the whole world, the members love it and they get a taste of their own medicine since I mess up in Spanish all the time. I'm learning so much Spanish everyday I always have a headache by 6 PM. 

So a couple days ago I had to eat sheep foot. Probably one of the nastiest things I'v eaten in my life. There are so many parts of a sheep I don't know why these people choose to eat the foot, they eat the scalp too. We don't have a pensionista anymore so we basically live on the street when it comes to food but you can get a huge bag of bread here for 50 centimos, that's like 15 cents in American dollars haha. A member feeds us only lunch and that's when we had the sheep foot. Food here can be extremely good or just plain trash. Breakfast is usually just bread and cheese and sometimes eggs, (but it's the best bread and cheese in the world), Lunch is always rice and then either something disgusting or something amazing on top. My favorite meal I've had is rice with chopped up onions and tomatoes with eggs, meat, and french fries all mixed together. Dinner is always just a little smaller than lunch like bread with chicken or whatever, and we always have hot chocolate with every single meal, the people here don't drink water, it's either Inka Cola or hot chocolate or tea.

 I'm finally in Yunguyo for P-day so after I email ya'll we're going to go visit the border of Bolivia and the lake and all that cool stuff we have that I still haven't seen haha. Tomorrow we're going on splits with the town next to us called ilave. I'll be going with a homie from the CCM but that bad news is we're both new so it'll be interesting haha. Wednesday we have our Christmas party with all the missionaries so we have an awesome week coming up. I hope you all had a good week!! Let me know how things are. 

P.s We find dogs in the chapel all the time I have no idea how they get in.

Week 10 / Mas Tinieblas (we have lost count of weeks might be 9)

Very fun and normal week of fighting dogs and more insane thunderstorms, I'm loving Yunguyo, the members are a blast and even though we have like 15 strong members and almost no investigators, I've grown to love this place so much. 

We had another insane thunderstorm during the week that cut off all the lights during one of our lessons with a member so we whipped out candles and kept teaching and it became the best lesson we've taught so far. Other than a flashlight I carry a rock with me now because when dogs start running at you, you don't want to look down and not see a rock by you. 

As soon as December came, the old ladies on the street started selling fireworks, and all sorts of Christmas stuff so I'm barely in the Christmas spirit. You forget what day or month it is when you live in the absolute middle of nowhere but it's a blast.

 Yesterday I conducted sacrament meeting which was interesting but it helped me practice my Spanish, Elder Cubillas teaches me a lot of Spanish everyday which is awesome, I'm learning so much everyday and growing spiritually and in the language. We went to a different town called Juli to listen to a member of the quorum of the seventy talk, from what I got out of what he said it was a very good talk haha. 

Other than that it was a very normal week, I'm loving Yunguyo more everyday and I love visiting and strengthening the members. I always hear that a successful missionary isn't the one with all the baptisms, and I can agree with that, Yunguyo isn't growing in membership or anything crazy like that, but the members love to hear what we have to say and everyone is a strong family, they're are lots of less actives here, but they love to have us come over and hear our message and sometimes all you can do is invite. I think one thing I've learned more about is respecting people's agency, the best thing we can do is be their friend and sometimes that means a lot to the person. I'm having so much fun meeting the people of Yunguyo. Service is the thing we do most here and it's my favorite thing to do to meet people. I hope you all have a good week! Go do some service or something:) Alma 18:7-10,17

7 Now it was the practice of these Lamanites to stand by the waters of Sebus to scatter the flocks of the people, that thereby they might drive away many that were scattered unto their own land, it being a practice of plunder among them.

 8 And it came to pass that king Lamoni inquired of his servants, saying: Where is this man that has such great power?

 9 And they said unto him: Behold, he is feeding thy horses. Now the king had commanded his servants, previous to the time of the watering of their flocks, that they should prepare his horses and chariots, and conduct him forth to the land of Nephi; for there had been a greatfeast appointed at the land of Nephi, by the father of Lamoni, who was king over all the land.

 10 Now when king Lamoni heard that Ammon was preparing his horses and his chariots he was more astonished, because of the faithfulness of Ammon, saying: Surely there has not been any servant among all my servants that has been so faithful as this man; for even he doth remember all my commandments to execute them.

17 I say unto you, what is it, that thy marvelings are so great? Behold, I am a man, and am thy servant; therefore, whatsoever thou desirest which is right, that will I do.