Tuve Me Primero Bautismo------------October 25, 2008

tuve me primero bautismo------I had my first baptism.
It was weird,(interesting) we had met Milagros Grados on the street one time and I guess she was investigator pior to us meeting her. We invited her to church and stopped by her house a few times. At first it didn’t sound like she wanted to change. But come last Sunday she showed up at church and after Sunday school she said, “I want to get baptized”.
She had an interview with the bishop on Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday we went over the lessons with her. She passed her interview on Friday. She was baptized Saturday then confirmed on Sunday.
Milagros Grados was my first baptism. Saturday my comp said ”Hey, your going to be doing the baptism today, get your stuff ready.” I freaked a little ‘cause I didn’t know the prayer in Spanish. Throughout the day I tried to memorize it. It went ok, I was so worried about saying her four names that I forgot how the first part of the prayer went. The other elders were there to help, so that was good.
Elder Seanz and Elder Morton had four baptisms that day too, we did them all together. It was a good week

Stupid Stealth Dogs October 24,2008

This week was a bad week for dogs. We had two encounters with them.
Yesterday my comp got bit, not bad, but I am sure it still does not feel good.

The other one happened to a little kid, we were walking with his family. This kid was walking on the wanna-be sidewalk and he walked past a dog that had puppies. The dog freaked out and put its front paws on the kid’s shoulders and bit him on the side of the face, his cheek and ear. My companion ran over and kicked the dog really hard in the stomach. The wound looked bad and was bleeding. I felt really bad and I was not sure what to do.

Some dogs are dumb and some are chilled. I have tried the no eye contact, it usually works. Some dogs we call stealth dogs. They don’t bark or anything as you go past but they sneak up on you as you walk away and attack. That is how elder Maldonado got bit. Stupid stealth dogs.

Elder Christofferson and President Costa

Elder Todd Chistofferson

Wednesday we had the opportunity to go to the CCM (Mission Training Center in Lima, Peru) and listen to Elder D Todd Christofferson. it was amazing. We actually got to listen to him, his wife, and PresidentClaudio R.M. Costa of the seventy. What was really cool was they all spoke in Spanish and I actually understood a lot of what they were saying. Now just if I could speak. I took some pretty good notes too. That experience took all day.

Iffy Chicken

Last Sunday (October 19th) I had some really iffy chicken. There was some blood in it. I don’t know if it wasn’t cooked good or what but I ate it. Monday I felt ok, not the best. Then on t Tuesday I was feeling the results of the chicken. I was on the toilet for a most of the day and was not able to go out and work. i felt really bad for not working but I could not get up and walk comfortably

My week October 20, 2008

My week has been good. For some reason we can’t get the members to help us a lot. They do help the most they can I think. We are teaching a couple of lessons each day.

I am reading “Jesus the Christ”, it is an awesome book. It is so interesting.

Our apartment is one of the nicest that I have been in so far. We have tile floors.
We have a shower head that is suppose to heat up the water, but it is broken. While I am in this apartment I will be taking cold showers. Our roof leaks when it rains. It is not really a rain though it is a mist.

They give us three big bottle of purified water that last a change. (6weeks) I buy a lot of crush pop, they don’t really sell water. When we eat at members houses I can’t ask what we are eating because I probably won’t understand what they say.

When we asked Derek how he was doing with Spanish he replied,” Mas O Menos” It’s ok, but I speak really simple and can’t really speak my mind. It is getting easier though. One time I was teaching a woman, I got the feeling she did not understand what I was saying.

Today (P Day) we are going to be playing sports at the church and having a barbeque with the other elders in our zone. I am excited.

The Weather, The Haircutand The Earthquake October 13, 2008

Sorry I didn’t email yesterday. The elders that were delayed(Elder Layton, Elder Ridge, Elder Ellison ) had to go and do some paperwork and stuff at the office.

That is awesome that Luke Hobbs is going to Guatemala City. Tell Brad Lloyd (going to Louisville Kentucky in Jan.) good luck and he is going to make a great missionary.

Kevin and Brian are the names of the young men that went to general conference with us. We go to a lot of less active member’s homes. We have a lot here. We do a lot of street contacting. We have a goal of contacting 20 people a day. We don’t really know on to many doors, maybe a few. We have district and zone meetings every Tuesday.

The weather is perfect. The weird thing is everybody asks me “A tiene frio? Do you have a cold? They are all wearing sweaters and stuff, I am in short sleeves. I just think of the snow that you guys have and I am all warm.
Funny Story

Friday we went and got a haircut. The first one in two months, yeah I felt a little apostate. I had gel in my hair and the lady didn’t put water on it. she cut it so it would still have to be a comb over. That probably doesn’t make sense so to make it a short story, one side of my hair is longer than the other. I have a crazy cool picture. It is not bad but I do have to keep the part down the side.

I felt my first earthquake. It happened last Monday. It was not bad.

We eat lunch at member’s homes and we fix our own dinner and breakfast. We mostly eat rice, chicken and bean. I have not gotten real sick, I have been a little sick from adjusting to the food but that is about it. I did eat some cow’s feet. It was weird and not very good. That day my stomach was the worst, so I didn’t eat a whole lot.

I am in Peru October 6 email

Collique Area
My first week in Peru has been AMAZING. I am in an area call COLLIQUE. It is cold in the morning when I wake up but throughout the day it is warm. The showers are freezing it will take some time to get used to.
I don’t know if it was culture shock or if I am just excited to be here, but Tuesday, my first day here, I was just amazed at everything.
My companion is Elder Maldonado and he is from Lima Peru. I think he said house is just a few blocks from the mission offices, that would be in the central mission. He does not speak any English.
I have seen a lot of the missionaries that I was in the Provo MTC with. I saw Elder Ridge and Elder Layton at a multi-zone meeting.
Surprisingly, I have eaten mostly rice, beans and chicken. The weirdest thing is the soup. They cook the chicken in the soup and don’t take it off the bones. Se when they give you the soup they give you bones and EVERYTHING! It is kinda weird tasting soup but I really like the noodles.
We are teaching a few families and a few teenagers. A couple of them went with us to conference on Sunday. They didn’t pay as much attention to conference as I had hoped. It was kinda hard for me. I will need you to send me a copy of the Ensign in English, because I had to listen in Spanish and got the most of what they said, but not all of it. It would be nice to read it.
I am grateful for all of you guys and your support. I am grateful to be here in Peru.

Oh yeah and your big hugs )_____ _____(

I Am Leaving...On a Jet Plane... September 29, 2008

Today, on my parent's 26th wedding anniversary I will be flying to Peru.

The President called last night after our meetings, about five o'clock and told me that I needed to pack and would be leaving in the morning.

So we packed and cleaned. I am sending a box home with a memory card and things that I do not need.

Derek called home from Chicago and we had a wonderful visit.

He called Chantel from Atlanta and spoke with Connor and Chloee.

He will arrive in Peru around 10:30 tonight.

September 24, 2008

The last couple of days have been slow, a lot of tracting because all of our appointments fell through. I don’t know what we are doing wrong. I know it is not what we are doing. I know that satan is trying to get us down. He is not going to get me down. I am getting along with the people here.
During our zone conference yesterday the president pointed me out to everyone and told them that I would be going to Peru. I will be excited to go to Peru. We were taught how to become better happier missionaries.

Chicago--Fun On P Day September 2008

We went to the beach and played football. It was very fun. It is a little different in the sand. We rode our bikes a long way to get there. We are very tired tonight!!!

I had a hard time getting used to riding the bike with Elder Meja because he loved to ride extremely fast. I was not used to riding fast so it took some time. Now I can keep up with my companion.

Chicago Baptism September 2008

One Of My Favorite Spiritual Experiences.
We rode our bikes seven miles to get to a baptism today. It was a good thing that we took extra clothes because it was pouring rain and we were soaked. The baptism was amazing because the spirit was so strong. We rode back seven miles again in the rain, and that was all before noon.

The familia de Jesus was on of our favorite families to visit. The fed a a great dinner. This is making really excited to get to the jungles in Peru. Now all I need is a monkey. We did not eat much with ward members. When we did it was very delicious. My favorite was a vegetable soup another was rice and meat.

My favorite meal that I fixed was a bagel sandwich. (toasted bagel with lunch meat)

Chicago Sears Tower--- September 2008

A view of the Sears Tower from our apartment.

Chicago--Knocking On Doors-- September 2008

One experience that happened to on

September 9th,

we saw a lady walk out of her house and we told her we wanted to share a message with her.

She sat down on the porch and we taught a very brief first lesson. We got her information and we will give it to the English elders. I thought it was a little strange that she just sat down and wanted to listen. We don’t get a whole lot of those.

Elder Hyde knocking on a really small door.

Chicago-- About My Companion-- September 10 2008

Elder Meja is from El Salvador. He is really funny. He has four brothers and is the only member of the church.
One good thing about my companion is that he went to the MTC to learn English. In this mission we speak both English and Spanish. Right now we only teach in Spanish, so when we get someone that wants to listen in

English we give them to the English speaking elders.

Elder Meja on P day at the Navy Pier.