So, guess what! I'm opening an area! It's called Santa Victoria 3, and it's in the heart of Chiclayo. It's the most affluent area in the whole mission, and the ward is ridiculously cool. Plus, Santa Victoria 1 and 2 are the elders that work in the office. That means they don't have a lot of time to go out proselyting and that we've got our work cut out for us here, but it also means that we're super close to the president and that we're super well taken care of. And I've got another suprise! I have a daughter! Oh, well a step-daughter. In the mission, when we train new people, we're called their "parents" and they're our "son" or "daughter." But this time, my compaining got transferred with me in the middle of her training, so I'm just finishing it up. Lots to do! Prayer's become a big deal. Hahaha. But I'm glad for the oportunity to do it. She's also American! I wrote some thoughts to a sister that used to serve here. She and I have become penpals. So, this is what I wrote her on the subject. There's this article about unhealthy perfectionism that Elder Alviña randomly gave to us that was the source of my inner reflections this morning. There were a couple of parts that hit me pretty profoundly, but the one that changed the game was this: "To be perfect is to be a Savior. My investigators need only one Savior. And my job is to invite them to come unto him." I had a teacher at BYUH that once told me that any lack of faith is a lack of faith in Heavenly Father. Hermana Sonictrumpets, I know that sometimes times get rough, in the mission as well as out in the world. We're not exempt from pain because we're returned missionaries. But I hope you perservere. And it sounds like you are. I know that the Savior of the world died so that you and I could have the ability to make mistakes, to learn, to grow. I hope the challenges you face right now won't keep you from believing that there is good in the world and peace to be found in Him who died to make us free.

I'm leaving Jaén! I don't know where they'll send me when I get there, but I'm leaving for Chiclayo in a little bit to be reassigned to a different area. I'll miss Hermana Norabuena, but I expect my new compy will be just as cool. I have another funny story to tell today. We went to visit an investigtor who has a part-member family, but didn't find him at home. But we did find his son, who was baptized when he was a teenager but has since left the church, instead. We're sitting there talking about the restored gospel because he has a ton of questions about why there are so many churches in the world with so many different doctrines. Restoration, right? Duh! Haha And it's marvelous. At the end, he's like, "Oh, yeah I remember that I had heard about Joseph Smith, but I didn't really realize who he was. He just has to have been a profet!" We love it, right? We're like, "Oh yeah, this guy's coming back to church! He's gonna receive the priesthood and go to the temple and seal his family together forever, etc." All this stuff, right? And then, after we've already said the prayer and we're putting our scriptures back in our backpacks to leave, he says this one little thing, "Oh, one last question." "Yeah, of course! What is it?" "Why do I see duendes?" Now, to give it a little perspective, a "duende" is a type of sprite-like creature that doesn't really exist. "Duendes?" We ask. "Yeah, duendes! I always see them with there little shoulders like this [he hunches] and their nose like this [he gestures at his scruntched nose and snorts]." "Oh. Oookay." I say. Hahaha rrooooouuugh! I had no idea what to tell him! We promised to study it out and get back to him. I still haven't found anything. But if anyone knows anything, I'm open for advice. Haha

Yes! I have a people to add to the list! (Mom's explanation of the list as requested by Gabby: We are doing a 21 day promise in our Ward.  We put on a list we fast and pray for them.  We read scriptures as part of obedience.  Then someone will accept the missionary lessons is the promise from the Lord) One of them is really, really special. His name is Michel. He's fourteen-years-old and he has a super strong testimony already. We found his grandma sweeping up the leaves that had fallen in front of her house and offered to help her. She hasn't shown incredible interest, but one day we went to visit her and found him at home alone instead. We started to visit him, and it turns out that he's super prepared. We explained the Restoration to him, and, at the end, he was like, "Where is this church?? Where is the church of Joseph Smith??" And we responded, "Calle (which means street) Iquitos (which is the name of the street)." And he bursts out laughing. "Are you serious?? The church of Jesus Christ himself is in calle Iquitos??" He's incredible. In another lesson, we presented him with a bible (which he had never owned) and a book of mormon of his very own, and, you'll never believe this, but he almost cried. He even wants to be a missionary! Trouble is, his mom is not into the idea at all. We've almost never been able to talk with her. Everytime we come by, she very forcefully says, "We are busy. We don't have time right now. Look. Look at me. We. Are. Busy." And for this, Michel has never even been able to go to church on Sunday. The one time he asked, she beat him. His mom took her nails and scratched his neck and chest. So... Yeah. That's where we're at. We're going to keep teaching him, feeding his spirit with the good word, but we've run out of ideas at this point. We fasted, we pray, we've had members try to visit her too. We just don't know what more we can do.