Hey! The pictures I'm sending are of our north american investigator, our lu`au, and this crazy rope-bridge thing we crossed a river in last p-day. The govenor of Bagua Chica area also happens to be the second counselor in the stake presidency, so last week he showed us around and gave us  a bunch of free local fruits and stuff. It was really nice of him.

This week I'm just going to write you one of my journal entries with the preface that I ate something weird at the lu`au, which is how I account for the following. (I'm fine now.)

Picture this:

We're at an appointment with this teen aged girl who's asking us if real change and repentance are possible in her life. I step up to the plate. I hit a home run with my tale, winningly told. "I haven't been feeling well today," I say. "My companion plead with me to think of my health and stay in the apartment, but I said, 'No. [we'll call her] Nicole is more important.'" Really noble, right? And she's hooked too, leaning forward, listening intently as I explain (and this part in truly awful Spanish) that if I didn't believe in her ability to change, I wouldn't be with her today, or in Peru, or trying to learn Spanish. (If I hadn't meant every word, I would have deserved an academy award. The whole thing was very tense and sacred.) And in this poignantly triumphant moment, as my companion is expounding (and this part in infinitely more excellent Spanish), I realize that I am about to erupt. Responding to my urgent pokes, my companion, thinking quickly, asks, "Can we borrow your bathroom?" Of all the rotten good fortune, it's four steps in front of me. Of all the rotten MISfortune, I don't get the lid up in time. [¡CAUTION: It WILL become more graphic!] Chunks spew everywhere (we're talking EXPLOSIVE vomit), and the only cleaning utensil I know how to say in Spanish is "napkin." "Do you have a napkin?" I ask Nicole. She does, and hands me two. Awesome. Too embarrassed to tell her what happened, I pathetically and ineffectually dab at that which would have watered the Sahara. Eventually, she realizes what just happened, tells me to sit down and not to worry. As she cleans the entire mess up, I have to laugh at the remarkable and rapid decline of my dignity. And all I have to say is that the Lord does His best to keep us humble. Hahaha!

Also! I got mail! Thanks go to the Wilders for the Easter card. And a picture of Bagua for Brad because the outrageously detailed description of my mayordomía will have to come later.

Guess who's planning a Luau for the ward! Recipies would be awesome (especially for otai)! Of all the dirty, rotten luck. And, speaking of... During the break between the Saturday sessions, my companion and I had fifteen minutes before we had to be somewhere, but we were already there. So we decided to take a seat on the side of the road and read some scriptures. Along comes this kid on his motorcycle who sees us, shouts, in ENGLISH, "Are you Mormons? Are you reading the Bible? What IS the Book of Mormon anyway?" I don't have much time, so, to be short, he agreed to be baptized during the Sunday afternoon session. Killer, right? Blessings, blessings, blessings! Today for preparation day, our zone went and hiked Gocta falls, which is one of the largest in the world! So, that was cool. :D

Also, just heard some rumors about people going nuts in Korea. We're pretty secluded out here, so I don't know all the details. But the scripture in DD&C 100:4 really helped me out. Therefore, I, the Lord, have suffered you to come unto this place: for thus it was expedient in me for the salvation of souls. http://www.lds.org  I want to be panicky and freak out, but I know that I'm here for a reason and that I'm on the Lord's errand. There is literally nothing better I could be doing right now to help His children.

I can receive packages now!!

Mission address

Peru Chiclayo Mission
Calle Maria Izaga #690, 3er Piso
(Cruce con Av. Balta)
Chiclayo, Lambayeque
PERU

Aight. So, I just wrote to my mission president; my first letter in Spanish. Woo! SO rough.

Kay, so first off. I didn't wish Grandma a happy birthday in my last email. But, Happy Birthday, Grandma! I swear I had it written in my agenda at least three times, and I told my companion at minimum once each day to remind me. In the moment, there were thirty screaming missionaries in one room, all trying to maximize their computer half hour. Excuses, but anyway, I'm so sorry!! And I love you!!

Next, one of the members of my CCM district dislocated his knee and has had to be in the CCM for two weeks more. He's had a rough time with the language, with being a missionary, and with his testimony (which is only a year and a half old or so). He asked me this one favor, so if anybody knows Katie Green, please ask her to send one of her stories to the Peru MTC in behalf of an Elder Thomas Logan Gray. He said it would cheer him up a lot.

So, okay, next. I'm here in my mission! Whenever I told people in the CCM that I my mission was Chiclayo, they would respond, "Very hot!" Once I got to Chiclayo, I was assigned to the Bagua Chica area of the Jaen district, about which I was told, "Very hot!" Hahaha. But, anyone that knows me well knows that I'm loving it. Heat, I can do. I was also told that it's the most beautiful place in our whole mission, it's in one of the three most coveted zones, it has a killer pensionista (the lady that cooks for us, and also happens to be the bishop's wife), it's ward is the largest in the mission and is amazing, and that once I went there, I wouldn't come out until I was transferred because it's one of the two areas in our entire mission that are in the jungle (the Amazonas), and it takes over 9 hours to get here. What I wasn't told is that my companion, Hna Castro, is amazing, Bagua also has a set of elders, and one of them speaks English, and that mine is one of the few  areas wherein the district AND zone leaders both speak English. SO it's pretty bomb sauce.

I still don't speak Spanish, so I'll leave off telling you about our investigators because I'm not entirely sure about what's happening with them from day to day.

I will tell you, though, that I'm pretty much the weirdest thing that's ever hit Bagua. Everybody stares and asks if I'm from Argentina or Mexico, where the people are lighter and taller, and then I speak and they're even more confused. Hahaha! We had a 16-year-old member with us yesterday, and she kept laughing at me the whole time! Apparently I'm pretty chistosa (funny). :) C'est la vie (<--not Spanish).

I have more pictures to send, but I'm about out of time, so hasta luego!

Also, there's a chicken literally at my feet right now. Hahaha