This week was great! My Spanish
is getting much much better, the only problem is, now I am starting to realize
my mistakes! The verb tenses especially! But people understand that I have only
had 3 weeks of real Spanish! (I don´t count the MTC as learning Spanish
anymore, since I technically have to re-learn everything! Haha!)
The food here really
is great! I sadly had my first day not eating a potato... August 31st 2017...
Sad day. I don´t exactly know how, but they can slip potatoes into every lunch!
I don´t know how they do it! I have had rice every day without fail! So that’s
good! They use either no salt here, or over-salt their meat, and there is no in
between! But it is so yummy! Nearly every morning we have rolls with something
inside! Always followed with a cup of quaker (pronounced: guakay)! There is
something different every morning! Same concept, but different fillers for my
rolls!
Lots of people have cell
phones! We have phones! We use them a ton! In my area there are many people
with smart phones. They also have Facebook and Instagram, use “whats app”, and
everything!
Someone said Mexico
listens to a lot of English music, but it’s not just Mexico! It’s also here in
Peru, in Equador, Bolivia, and the Philippines! I hear normal music every day,
and its hard not to sing along They also have lots of Spanish songs...but
still! I hear Usher, Maroon 5, everyone knows Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Green Day,
Justin Beiber…. Especially Justin because “despacito” is popular in South America
unfortunately as well.
I am listening to
Shake it off right now, because they always blast music in every computer
area...
The dogs here are
either really really cute, really really mean, or really really nasty! They
especially do not like gringos! Even worse when a gringo is wearing a white
shirt. I think other missionaries messed with the dogs, so some of them are
fine until they see a white shirt...
Moto taxies are
everywhere! They are so funny, and they drive like they are from Mexico. The
taxies are loud, the people know everywhere, and its nice and small for people
like me! Not Peruvians! But me! (HAHA!)
I have hot water, and
it is a normal water heater. Some missionaries do not have them. The
missionaries are always on the second floor, just a mission rule, and the
places are all different sizes and shapes. Right now I have a really large place.
Others only have a little space, with two beds, two desks, and another room for
a bathroom.
The people here want
you to eat and eat, but especially during Lunch. It is a big deal, and if they
offer, you eat. This is a problem when you are doing service, they invite you
to eat, and then you go to lunch. I can eat a lot, but the people here can eat
even more!
There is no way to get
away from dust. I polish my shoes, and 10 minutes after going outside, they are
scratched and dirty.
We sit on whatever
they give us, which is sometimes cardboard so you can sit outside on rocks
with them.
Every house is like an
unfinished basement, if not a shed. The walls are concrete, brick, or fake
wood/cardboard stuff. Every house is different, but all have a TV, a large
speaker set, and food. So it really isn´t that bad!
What IS bad is the
smell here. Since there are so many dogs, it just smells like a jumbo toilet
for dogs. Seriously, dogs and cats one day rained from the sky, and no one
knows what to do with them. But it stinks, the dogs stink, and many people have
stray dogs in their house, so the house stinks. I am pretty much used to it. It
takes a month...
We have water filters
on our kitchen sinks, so there is fresh water, and people always offer inca
cola or coke. So I haven´t had to worry about the water.
Some of the tea is
nasty because it feels like they found a weed in the middle of the mountain
dirt stuff, pulled it out of the horrible nasty dirt, and made tea. But it is
cold for the people here, so there is always hot drinks! Hot drinks in morning
and night, and Inca cola for lunch.
Also! There is only
one type of Juice here, and that is Peach. It is so yummy, but weird that they
have infinite peach juice!
Drunk people are very
drunk, and there are always groups of guys drinking the same beer outside of
their favorite tienda.
The stores here are people’s
houses, and all have the exact same stuff, almost exact same prices, and they
are everywhere at the foot of the mountains!
People obviously like
their fútbol...
Watch me whip is now
playing... why????...
Anyway! We have a good
time! We set high goals, work hard and have a great time helping people find
the gospel! Most everyone believes in God and Jesus, and they like to learn
more! It´s fantastic!
There is some information
about Peru!
This Week we had so so
many appointments! We are pretty packed! But at the same time, we only had 5
people come to church! We keep working harder and harder, but there is only so
much we can do! Right? Rosendo is going to be baptized this Saturday at 6pm!
So excited!! He is such an amazing guy, with an awesome testimony! He has
worked hard, and is now helping us find new people! I think we have 3 new
investigators now! It’s pretty awesome!
There is a Young man
leaving for Brazil on his mission, Anthony, and he is going to be a fantastic missionary!
We have been bringing him with us to our lessons, and he is learning a lot, and
we are learning from him as well!
A normal day goes like
this:
It doesn´t!
Every day is
different, and we are doing random services, helping people, contacting people,
going to lunches early and late, studying whenever we can, and always teaching!
We wake up in the morning and turn on our hot water to shower (we wake up at
7:30 and the water takes 30 minutes to heat up…), we get ready, eat breakfast
with Mama Luz, study and usually leave to do something at 9. Then if it is
P-day, we go email, shop, help, call, and contact! If it is Wed. we go straight
to service! If it is Sunday, Church starts at 9, and if it is Thursday,
we have a District meeting. On Tuesday and Friday, if we don´t find
service, we study or drop off our laundry/pick up our laundry. We study and
work until 1:30 which is Lunch. We eat lunch, share a scripture, talk
about my home for at least 20 min, and go back to study and get ready to teach.
We leave our house
again at 4 to go teach. We usually have appointments at 3 we have planned. We
go walk all around, up the mountain, down the mountain, up the stairs down the
stairs, back and forth! And whenever there is free time, we either contact
people on the street, or we ask for references from members! Always working! At
9 we have our last meeting, and it always is late. We always find more to do
until 10:30 when we return to our house, turn on some music, study a
little bit, write in my journal, pray and go to bed!
And that’s what a day
is supposed to be like! haha! Busy and teaching everyone we can!
It really is an
awesome experience, and there is something new every day! Always something more
we can learn, always someone else we can teach!
Thank you guys for all
you do! And as always, I will try and send more pictures next week! There is
just no time! Haha!
Love you all!
Elder Ball
Leonardo - Some random kid who asked for a picture! HAHA!
This is about as much "green" as you can squeeze into one picture in Peru
Breakfast with Mama Luz
Service Project
Mama Luz - We live on the second floor of her house.
She loves and takes care of the missionaries.
Anthony, Elder Mendez and I - Anthony is the one going to Brazil on his Mission.
Scary Dog
Up the mountain with members/investigators
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