Justin said this past week was a long one and a lot of work. He has so many people to visit and teach and not enough time to do it. ( I know... a missionaries dream!) It is frustrating as the people aren't home when Justin and his companion arrive at their homes for their appointments. He had 10 -15 appointments the past two days and no one was home when he arrived! Oh the laid back mentality of South America. It is stressing him out! As he puts it, "I think it's because of them (his investigators), just thinking about all we need to do, all the people we still need to get a hold of, teach, talk to, the people who weren't there when we went to visit them, and how we are going to get everything done we need to." My responsible, reliable, perfectionist one!
He says the members there are great and really want to be involved. Most of their investigators are from member referrals.
President Bush and his wife, Laura were in Peru this past week. Laura was in San Clemente (ten minutes away from La Villa) and Justin was there on the same day. He said the missionary he was with that day has a fear of crowds so they walked the other way.
Justin gets a real kitchen installed in his home complete with a microwave, oven, refrigerator and blender. He will be cooking his own breakfast and dinner now. He will only be going to his pension for lunch. Justin would have been thrilled if he was still in Bolivia, as he couldn't stomach the food the pension forced him to eat. But now he loves the food his pension makes and he does not have the time to cook and eat. Oh well! He had it good for a while! I wonder what he'll cook? He says there isn't a big grocery store with American things. He thinks he'll lose weight again. He probably will because he is not one to make his own food. He'll just eat what he needs to survive.
The good news is he thinks his pension has something up her sleeve for Thanksgiving! She will be inviting all the gringos in the area for an American dinner. I'm so happy to hear that! American food is just heaven for the missionaries from the U.S.. Justin said besides the Latins, there is a Canadian, a Utahn, and another Californian from Fresno or somewhere like that.
As he was emailing us in the Internet cafe, (I finally know where he goes to email!) the High School Musical soundtrack was playing and he said it reminded him of his little siblings.
He is going to the beach about one hour away for his pday. He is so happy to be near the ocean and have sunshine again.
Justin still hopes and prays to be able to return to his beloved Bolivia, but he says for now he is happy in Pisco!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Another Week
Justin's emails are so short these days. His dad and I came to the conclusion that that is probably a good thing. When things are going well, he doesn't have a lot to say.
One of the highlights of his week was when he found a lady 3 blocks from his house that sells Snicker bars for about one dollar. He told her he would be visiting her regularly! (Justin will be thrilled when he receives the NINE packages I sent him for Christmas with his favorite cookies and candies! My boy who never was that into food now LOVES food (especially candy) that he got here in the good ole U.S.A.. I think his mission has been a cure for his picky eating habits. Hooray!
His new area sounds amazing. He is kept busy everyday as there are so many people to teach and they keep finding more. At the end of this month they have 4 people getting baptized and in December they have about 7 more. He says his area is huge (we thought it was small when we google earthed it) and he keeps finding little towns that are in his area too. Justin says that they have only been working in 1/4 of his area and still hasn't been to most of it. The good news he is very busy and he says the days pass really fast that way. It is good to be busy. Or shall I say "anxiously engaged in a good cause."
One of the highlights of his week was when he found a lady 3 blocks from his house that sells Snicker bars for about one dollar. He told her he would be visiting her regularly! (Justin will be thrilled when he receives the NINE packages I sent him for Christmas with his favorite cookies and candies! My boy who never was that into food now LOVES food (especially candy) that he got here in the good ole U.S.A.. I think his mission has been a cure for his picky eating habits. Hooray!
His new area sounds amazing. He is kept busy everyday as there are so many people to teach and they keep finding more. At the end of this month they have 4 people getting baptized and in December they have about 7 more. He says his area is huge (we thought it was small when we google earthed it) and he keeps finding little towns that are in his area too. Justin says that they have only been working in 1/4 of his area and still hasn't been to most of it. The good news he is very busy and he says the days pass really fast that way. It is good to be busy. Or shall I say "anxiously engaged in a good cause."
Monday, November 10, 2008
Things In Peru Are Just Fine
Justin with his new companion, Elder Gil.
As the title of this blog says, Justin writes,"things in Peru are just fine." He had a good week. He says it was hot, but still nice to see the sun. Justin always preferred being hot over cold. There are a lot of sand dunes in his area and so you can picture him as he says in his last email, " We are always hiking around in the desert through a bunch of sand trying to find the people that we have appointments with." The great news is that he is always busy. He says, "We have so many people to teach here it is amazing. We are busy all day every day. On Saturday we had a baptism of a nine year old (Miguel Monroy) whose parents are inactive. His aunt got back from a mission in Peru a few months ago and helped us teach him. .... We also have four people that are going to be baptized in a few weeks and probably more to come."
Justin says his new companion is doing good and likes being there. His email was short, but he sounds happy. He was off to play some volleyball on his day off. Thanks for the pictures Justin!
Baptism of Miguel Monroy, a nine year old boy whose parents are inactive but has an aunt that returned from her mission a few months ago and helped teach him. How cute is this little boy?!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Out Of Lima! (smiles)
We got our email today and found out where Justin is! It actually sounds like a quiet vacation beach town. He is so happy to be there. It is a little town 4 hours south of Lima called La Villa, outside of Pisco. He says he wakes up to sunshine everyday (finally, the sun!) and can see views of the ocean from his whole area. As most of you know, Justin LOVES the beach and the ocean. It makes him happy. The roads that are not paved are all sand and seashells. Sounds idyllic.
To every good, there is some bad. The town of Pisco is where the center of the big earthquake happened last year! He says the people are still recovering. He also said that there already has been two small earthquakes in the short week he has been there. The area is not very safe either. ( Maybe NOT such a good vacation spot after all!) The other two elders he lives with were robbed with guns to their heads last week a couple of blocks from their home. Sheeesh!
He says his home is nice. He lives up above his pension (cook). She cooks wonderful American food! Pancakes for breakfast, spaghetti for dinner.... he is in heaven! Apparently she was the cook for former mission presidents and their wives taught her how to cook food from the U.S..
He is hoping to stay there while waiting to go back to Bolivia.
They even have Halloween there. I was surprised to hear that. He said there were kids in the streets trick or treating. It made him think of his little brothers and sister back home and the fun they must be having.
He still doesn't have hot water and the water only trickles out of the sink and shower. He says he can't complain. The area is so nice and he is SO happy to be out of the dirty, smelly city of Lima.
His companion is brand new. He is from Guatemala and his name is Elder Gil. Justin was surprised to find out that he will be his trainer. ( He said he was freaking out when he found out about that. He became a trainer 1 day after finishing his training.) He went to having two trainers to being one. We are not surprised after his great patience with his last companion and the positive outcome as a result. The Lord blessed both him and the area.
He didn't mention how the area is going with missionary work. I know he will get it going if it isn't already. Justin has proved to be a very diligent and obedient missionary thus far. We continue to pray for him and his success.
Justin also said the language is coming along better. He feels much better about that. He feels his accent is improving as well. One man he was speaking to thought he was from Brazil. He was happy they at least thought he was from South America. The Latins used to think he was speaking English when he was in fact speaking Spanish! He would get so mad when they thought that! Probably more like frustrated.
He just received a bunch of letters. That makes him SO happy!! So please keep the letters coming! He said that letters get to Peru pretty quick. Justin's dad and I are so happy that he is so happy in his new area! Enjoy the ocean views while it lasts!
To every good, there is some bad. The town of Pisco is where the center of the big earthquake happened last year! He says the people are still recovering. He also said that there already has been two small earthquakes in the short week he has been there. The area is not very safe either. ( Maybe NOT such a good vacation spot after all!) The other two elders he lives with were robbed with guns to their heads last week a couple of blocks from their home. Sheeesh!
He says his home is nice. He lives up above his pension (cook). She cooks wonderful American food! Pancakes for breakfast, spaghetti for dinner.... he is in heaven! Apparently she was the cook for former mission presidents and their wives taught her how to cook food from the U.S..
He is hoping to stay there while waiting to go back to Bolivia.
They even have Halloween there. I was surprised to hear that. He said there were kids in the streets trick or treating. It made him think of his little brothers and sister back home and the fun they must be having.
He still doesn't have hot water and the water only trickles out of the sink and shower. He says he can't complain. The area is so nice and he is SO happy to be out of the dirty, smelly city of Lima.
His companion is brand new. He is from Guatemala and his name is Elder Gil. Justin was surprised to find out that he will be his trainer. ( He said he was freaking out when he found out about that. He became a trainer 1 day after finishing his training.) He went to having two trainers to being one. We are not surprised after his great patience with his last companion and the positive outcome as a result. The Lord blessed both him and the area.
He didn't mention how the area is going with missionary work. I know he will get it going if it isn't already. Justin has proved to be a very diligent and obedient missionary thus far. We continue to pray for him and his success.
Justin also said the language is coming along better. He feels much better about that. He feels his accent is improving as well. One man he was speaking to thought he was from Brazil. He was happy they at least thought he was from South America. The Latins used to think he was speaking English when he was in fact speaking Spanish! He would get so mad when they thought that! Probably more like frustrated.
He just received a bunch of letters. That makes him SO happy!! So please keep the letters coming! He said that letters get to Peru pretty quick. Justin's dad and I are so happy that he is so happy in his new area! Enjoy the ocean views while it lasts!
Here are some photos Justin sent of the city of Lima.
Lima ......................... it's goodbye (again!) for now.
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