Primer Cambio!

Wow! Well I'm already at my first transfer.That was way fast, woah! Being with Elder Rod was a great experience. I learned a lot from him. I learned to love him and to become friends with him. Hopefully my next trainer will be able to help me even more, but I'm excited to have a new comp. 

Un sublime con galleta; My fav candy down here.

So last week was Temple P-day. We got to go to the temple on p-day which was on Wednesday. That night we received a reference from Elder Espinoza while we were out contacting and so we call the number a couple of times and head over to where the house is but no answer. We don't know exactly where the house is so we start walking away but then the guy calls us and gives us his address so we head over. We get to the house and it's a family of four and we start teaching them. The dad tells us how it feels like they are missing something in their lives and how he had a dream about these 2, white, blonde chicks saying how they needed help or something like that. We invite all of them to be baptized and they accept. Me and my comp were super happy because this family is just perfect. We set up an appointment in 2 days and we call them that day but he says how his daughters are moving to Cusco and they are trying to get them ready but that they'll come to church the next day, and he agrees to have us come pick them up. But of course, that morning we call and no answer. We go to the house and no answer. After church we call them and later that night we go back over but no answer. So sadly I didn't get any baptisms my first transfer which was a bummer but I'm excited for next transfer to find people to baptize. 

The food from my mamita.

I am getting a new companion on Wednesday to finish my training. He's from Argentina as well, haha, so I'll have been trained by 2 Argentinians, haha. 

Ronaldo Jersey

On Sunday, my suit pants were dirty and they were getting cleaned and I didn't have my other gray pants so I wore my blue pants with my gray suit jacket, and it just happened to be the day that Presidente Amato and a member of the seventy was there, lol, oh man. (Side note from mom: This experience made me laugh out loud because Jackson is pretty particular about how he looks, haha, so I bet he was dying a little bit because he didn't match!)

A hamburger from this Argentinian grill. Holy cow, so good!

Mountain part of my area, Valley Cenai.

Fetch!

Alright so these past few weeks were crazy. So last p-day I was super sick so I just stayed in the room and slept all day. 

So Zeus, we dropped him because every time we came to his house he was never there. Also one of elder Rods old investigators called him and she said that she wanted to start receiving the lessons again. She was in a tight spot where this guy would only pay rent for her if she would have sex with him but she told us she wanted to change. She has a boy whose 12 named Hans and he's pretty funny. We had a baptism date for her and were teaching her and stuff but she was really struggling with not drinking coffee and she still wasn't living the law of chastity and one night she told us that she couldn't keep the commandments and that it was too hard so yeah. 

FETCH. lol I want to find the Lord's chosen down here in Peru and bring them to the light of the Gospel but man, this trial of faith is tough. Elder Rod and I are still working hard everyday to find people. Contacting is going great but finding people isn't. We're still struggling to find people to teach. The thing is, Elder Rod isn't that experienced either. This is only his 3rd transfer here so he's pretty young. His trainer did a lot of the stuff for him so I am learning how to a bunch of stuff out on my own. We both are learning. He is kind of scared to contact people so I do a lot of the contacting and he will help me with the Spanish. I encourage him to speak to people and he will do it sometimes, but a lot of the times I have to do the initial contact or walk up to them or else he will just let them walk by but its alright. I would rather learn this way than have a trainer that tries to do everything for me.

Anyways so Elder Whitby went home last Wednesday and that made me kinda trunky, lol. 

So our Mamita Zoil, to say the least, her food just went downhill. It gave me, Elder Rod, and Elder Burley the hershey squirts and fever so we dropped her. She has been a pension for like 20 years, longer than I have been alive but hey, the servants of the Lord need sufficient, good tasting fuel. She was pretty sad but we gave her a jersey of her favorite soccer team and signed it. 

We also had to change apartments. A 25-year-old woman moved in so we had to move and that sucked. Elders had been living in our room for two years and man oh freakin man are elders messy. We moved to our new room but we're still not done cleaning the other room. Our new room is a bit smaller but it's not too bad. Monday night, after we had finished moving in, I just got the worst stomach pains and then I was throwing up all night. 

I'm still trying to adjust to the food and the hygiene down here. Gosh, hygiene doesn't even exist down here, haha, no but it's part of the culture so it's great. Transfers are in a week from today so we'll see what happens. Being here in Peru is such a strange, but great experience. I am just glad to be down here among the children of the Lord, living in their conditions to give them something that will change their life forever and will give them purpose to their life. 

The miracle of the week was getting our new pension, Hermana Anali. She flippin bakes cakes for us ..... and cupcakes! Her food is pretty good; I'm not too sure yet because she is only my second pensionista but she's great. So there are no siestas down here but after lunch everything is super chill. Lunch is usually a bit bigger and we eat dinner now at 7 because she has 2 little girls and it's easier for us to eat earlier with her.

I forgot my converter again for pics so I'll send a ton next week. 

Love Elder Shockley

TORTA

Cake here is so flippin good. 

So this week was good. Last P-day Elder Whitby and Elder Burley went to La Victoria to buy all these clothes that are dirt cheap. Elder Whitby goes home next Tuesday. 

Chickens in the market

Last Tuesday we had a training with all of the newb missionaries with the APs and president. It was very helpful and useful and I learned a lot more about how our mission works. That night me and Elder Rod went on splits with Elder Whitby, and we were at the church to go to the bathroom and this member came up to us and told us how she has been feeling an evil presence in her house and how she heard a voice say levántense which means to stand up, so that was pretty sketch. We gave her a blessing and told her we would come dedicate her house but we still need to get permission from the bishop.  

On Thursday, after a long day of contacting, we finally had a lesson with this 17 year old named Zeus. He accepted to be baptized but he has been avoiding us the past couple of days and yesterday we went to try and meet with him but he wasn't there. We ran into his aunt and she was super nice. She seemed receptive to what we were telling her and she told us how Zeus is addicted to marijuana and how he needs help in his life. We offered to come teach her, Zeus and his parents tonight so pray for them! 

Mamita Zoila

Food made by Mamita Zoila

On Friday we had a ward activity where non members were invited to come play football and eat chaufa at the church. Chaufa is this really good rice chicken noodles and egg stuff kinda like fried rice but Peruvian style. 

Chaufa

On Sunday for lunch we ate with a member and she loaded us up. It was the first time I have actually been full on the mission. It was her son's b-day, so we had cake and Inca Kola. It was sooo good, mmm. 

Also a ward member named Pool is leaving on his mission on Wednesday, so we went to say goodbye and we got this good stuff called arroz con leche. 

Pool

The miracle this week was finding Zeus. Elder Rod and I have been working really hard these past few weeks to find people to teach and we finally found Zeus. 

The cemetery

This morning Elder Burley and I went running and we ran up the insanely long stairs here and we destroyed our legs, lol. After, I decided to take a cold shower and I realized that the mission is a lot like taking a cold shower. At first it is really hard and it's a slap to the face but after a little while you start getting used to it and then it feels good. Once you get out and get ready, you're wide awake and ready for the day, LOL. 

 

Hope everyone has a good week. 

Love Elder Shockley