FIRST WEEK!

WOAH. That was probably the slowest week of my whole life, lol. It was good though. So the church building was right next to the CCM so we just walked through a gate and bam we were in our mission. We all met our new companions, had an interview with presidente and then we left to the field. Elder Rodriguez is my new comp and is from Argentina. His Spanish is super slurred and he mumbles so much but its aight cause I told him to speak slower and we can now talk to each other and pretty much almost have a full conversation. So we get to our room and I change out of my suit and then we go contacting. Tuesday was such a hard day. I had no idea what to expect but we teach the gospel really differently down here. A lot of people are religious down here and have faith in Christ. So what we have are 3 filter questions that we ask which are: Do you have time on Sunday; Are you married, single or live together, and if they have a desire to learn more about the gospel. Pretty much if someone has a true desire to hear the gospel from us and makes time for an appointment with us then we teach them. So Elder Rod had no investigators when I got here... so we just contacted the first day. Pretty much what we do all day everyday is contact which is the missionary life. 

On Wedneday we had a zone meeting in the morning. Elder Woolf and Elder Lewis are in my zone and Elder Woolf is in my district so that's dope. Then after the meeting we contacted again. The mish life is hard but its just great especially when you find people that want to listen to you. 

Thursday was super long, just contacting all day. We had this FHE thing at some members restaurant and it was a member's bday so we had this amazing cake. It wasn't some fake American cake but a legit Peruvian cake that tasted sooo good. 

On Friday, we finally had someone to teach. Gabriela and Alejandro from Venezuela. They came here to get away from Venezuela and all they had was a single room with a mattress on the floor and a folding table with a cooker. We invited them to be baptized in two weeks and they both accepted.. except we invited them to church and only Alejandro came and we had an appointment but they bailed and they said they both didn't know if they'd have time again so ugh. Please pray for them! 

On Saturday there was a church activity and a bunch of different wards came out to church and they all dressed up and marched around the block and all the missionaries handed out cards and then they did this dance and I wish I would've filmed it. Also on Saturday we went up these stairs in our area to the mountains and there are houses up there that are like shacks and it's just like this dirt mountain. We were walking and then this group of dogs just come out of nowhere and were barking at us. I jumped down unto this lower pathway so they couldn't get me but Elder Rod just stood there and one of them took a bite at him but it got his B of M in his hand instead and then he jumped down. There are so many dogs here, and they are so trashy. I feel so bad for them. 

Anyways on Sunday we had church and then went to a members house to eat and it was pretty good. Then we went tracting again, lol. So also in our apartment, we have 3 zone leaders, Elder Whitby from Washington, Elder Espinoza from Cusco and Elder Burley from Arizona. Elder Whitby and Elder Espinoza go home next month. I am so glad that I have a couple of elders that speak English though because I am able to ask them questions that Elder Rod isn't able to answer so that's great. 

My mamamita is this super cute, petite Peruvian grandma and she cooks some good food. So overall, the mission field is nothing at all like the CCM. There's dirt everywhere with dogs everywhere, people speak super fast, its pretty cold, it smells weird where ever you go, the mission is hard, but everything is just great. This past week I have had to remember that I'm out here to find others and bring them the truth and that this isn't for me. When I remember this I feel a ton of peace and I am able to have a positive attitude and to keep looking for those people.

I forgot my connector for my photos so I'll send a lot next week.