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.