Doing Good,No great!..... While In Limbo

"Well we had a pretty good week. We have been working a lot in our new area. Elder Parker is great. Having a gringo companion is great. (Don't you love how he speaks as if he were a Latin.) You just have a lot more in common. It's just easier with some stuff. Not that I am racist or anything. I'll have plenty of Latin companions as well, they are great too.

Saturday we had a baptism, Eduardo. He is 43 and his mom and siblings are all members. It went well. There were only about 5 of us there, but that is how he wanted it. On the 12th we have another girl, Magda, who is 21 and getting baptized secretly because if her Catholic mom finds out she won't pay for her college. So we are excited for that. And now we have two other little girls for the 16th. Their mom got baptized about a year ago.

Sunday was stake conference. It went well. There were quite a few people there. We have 5 investigators. President Fierro came and gave a talk about the importance of missionary work and gratitude. It was good. The second counselor from the temple presidency was there as well.

On Wednesday night President and Hermana Fierro came with President and Sister Groberg from the CCM and they gave a recent convert fireside in the stake center. We went to it and it was really good. President Groberg actually served his original mission here in Ica, and was the first missionary here in Ica to set up a brand new branch. Then he came back in the 80's as a mission president to this same mission and now he is back again (as president of the Lima CCM). It was cool to hear about the history of it all. They were also there for our zone conference the next day.

I went to go to talk to President Fierro about something and he told me, "You realize that your time to go back to your mission is getting really close." I asked him when and he said soon, real soon. I think he is ready to let us go as soon as the Church has a plane ticket for us. Maybe he will know more today in the interviews. I'll ask. The assistants said from what the people have been saying in the offices it could be before the beginning of May. Or this week. But I don't know, we will see. Either way I am content. I am enjoying it here in Ica.

We have found a tonnnnnn of new people to teach. This week we found 13, and none of them are con viviente, or the not married and living together people (very common there, well I guess here too). The members are all great here too, they all want to help us and give us references.

The weather is still going great as well. Couldn't ask for more. (Isn't that nice!?) Love you and hope life is going great. Love, Justin" What a nice email! And yes.... life is great!

A Busy Week

It seems that Justin is spending a lot of time in Lima. He had a zone conference last Thursday and had to spend a day going to the Bolivian consulate getting ready to go back to Bolivia. He said the people at the consulate were really mean and kept yelling at the missionaries for not filling out the paper work properly and not being serious enough. They had a real short interview where they asked them why they were going, who they were going to teach and how long they were going to be there. "But we all made it through."

He and his companion spent the night at the assistant's apartment. He said it was miserable. He slept on just a mattress without a pillow or blanket. He froze and woke up feeling sick. Last time he slept there he had to sleep on a hard floor. Poor guy. He did enjoy the hot water shower. He said he forgot how nice hot water is. He was also in American food franchise heaven! He had Dunkin donuts for breakfast, Papa Johns pizza for lunch and McDonald's for dinner.

"So everything is all set for us to go back now. On Friday they said the soonest that we'd go back would be Tuesday (tomorrow) but if President Fierro said we couldn't go back until the end of the change we won't be going back until the end of the change, May 25th. I was talking with him Thursday though for a while and he said he was basically planning on us leaving on the 24th. But we will see. It will either be between tomorrow (which won't happen, they haven't called or said anything) or the end of May. Guess we will have to wait and see. But in all our papers we had to fill out there was actually plane tickets for the 24th that were purchased and everything. We were going to leave Lima at 9:50 but that may have just been for visa purposes. But maybe we will end up leaving this Friday. Who knows. Either way I am fine with it. Ica has been good." Do you think Justin is just a little excited to go back to Bolivia?! The unknown date must be killing him! Once again.... poor guy!

For now he seems happy and is very happy that summer is ending and they are having pleasant temperatures (he thinks it is between 70-80 degrees. He is not sure because they use Celsius, not Fahrenheit and he does not know how to read Celsius.) Any how, he says the temperature is "perfect." Justin is loving having a North American companion. "Elder Parker and I are getting along greattt."

They have a baptism this Saturday. A man named Eduardo. He is 43 and his family are all members. He wrote that they have 5 more people that said they want to get baptized as well. He really likes the ward, San Joaquin. He said it is really organized. "I guess a lot of people here know people in Pisco who knew me so they already kind of knew about me which is cool."

Thursday, all the missionaries from the South are coming to Ica for a zone conference and will have interviews with President Fierro on Sunday. They are having stake conference this Sunday and President Fierro and President Groberg are coming to town. "I'll ask President what he is going to do with us as far as going back to Bolivia, he should tell me." Once again, do you think he is a little excited to go back to Bolivia?! Justin went on to say, "I was talking with him the other day about how much Lima blows, he agrees with me. It's all grey and ,makes you depressed. I told him not to send me back to Lima. Oh yeah, he told me the reason that he gave me the change to Ica instead of leaving me in Pisco was because I was leaving soon and he wanted to make the goodbye to Peru a little easier. He didn't want me to be really attached to my area when I left so it wouldn't be hard because he said he knew it would be, having to change missions again. That was nice of him. They (President and Hermana Fierro) end their mission here soon."

Justin lives on the fifth floor of an apartment complex. He says, "It's not too funny climbing all the stairs everyday, but the apartments not too bad. It is a one bedroom, a large living area room, a little kitchen and another nook out back where we sleep. Our pension is not too bad. She lives on the first floor and just gives us our lunch in tupperwares and we eat in our room."

On Friday night on their way back from Lima they stopped by Sonia's house to get Justin's bowls and plates. He said she was happy to see him and meet Elder Parker. It sounded like Justin was equally happy to see his old friend as well! "They are doing well. Elder Gil and Elder Carpenter have about 5 baptisms programmed from all the people we were teaching, Love you all, Justin"

Transferred

"Well I am not in Bolivia. I am in Peru, Ica, like an hour south of Pisco. I thought for sure I was going back to Bolivia and everything because they called me and said I needed to come to the offices Sunday night night even though changes were Monday morning. But Saturday when the assistants called with the changes were Monday morning. But Saturday when the assistants called with the changes I had one and it wasn't to Bolivia, but to Ica. Elder Gil is still in La Villa and now my old CCM companion Elder Carpenter is there with him. I went to Lima Sunday night with all my stuff (and he has A LOT of stuff!) and then Monday morning we went to back go do papers to go back to Bolivia. From Lima Sur there was only two of us, me and Elder Tanner from my group, going to Cochabamba, then there were two from Lima East. The other 18 or so were all for Santa Cruz. I met that elder from grandma and grandpa's ward. He is going back soon as well. We had to go to the police station to do finger prints and get our letters saying we weren't criminals or anything. Then tomorrow night I go back to Lima for our zone conference on Thursday. Then I have to stay until Friday because we have personal interviews at the Bolivian consulate to go back. They told us that if everything goes well and all papers go through a week from this Thursday we will be gone! So quick. But for now I am here in Ica. It's not by the beach, but inland with a ton of sand dunes and everything. It's a lot bigger and nicer of a city though with a lot more nicer markets and everything. It is a lottt hotter here though. The bus ride here from Lima is 5 hours. And I think I'll be travelling back and forth a bit in these next few weeks."

"My new companion is a gringo!I'll get a little more English in and a little less of a cultural barrier. He has about a year in the mission and has been a district leader. He has been in Lima his whole mission. He is from Ogden, Utah, Elder Parker. He is pretty cool. I'm excited, although it looks like I may not be with him for a while. We both got to this area together, so we are starting out new. I guess there is one guy who is getting baptized the 25th, but we still don't know him. We've got a lot to do today. Got to go find the banks first off and pay our electric bi and phone bills. Yeah, but everything is good. I'll work here in Ica, until I get the call that I am out of here! It is all an adventure. Love, Justin"

In mom and dad's email, Justin wrote," Elder Tanner and I feel lucky that we were the chosen two from Lima Sur to go to Cochabamba. Sounds like the rest have to wait another change or two, but but the area offices told me yesterday that it is 100% sure that every missionary that ends his mission AFTER August 31 IS going back. Pretty cool. Elder Brinton (Justin's first companion in Cochabamba) ends August 15 so he is staying, but he's over it. It's nice to be with a gringo again. Everyone always says that I always get really lucky with all my changes. I think it's true. (Good thing he seems to have a short, or forgiving memory) The members in La Villa were all sad to see me go.

I Am Lucky

In a letter to our family dated April 10, 2009, Justin wrote, "It is the Friday before changes (they are always Mondays). I still don't know what is going to happen as far as Bolivia. They normally call us the Saturday before with the changes. They called me the other night and said that I have to go to Lima to do some stuff for my passport, which I assume is for Bolivia. I'm not sure if I am supposed to bring all my stuff with me because I'll be going to Bolivia or if we are still going to wait longer. But I guess I'll see tomorrow."

In Peru, they do not celebrate Easter. They have a week long celebration called Samana Santa or Holy week. Justin said they don't understand why we celebrate resurrection Sunday (Easter). "I don't think the Easter bunny exists here. It's mostly the Catholics that celebrate it through processions and stuff. Today they did a reenactment of the cruxifiction. At the top of the big old hill there were 2 crosses and they had a guy dressed as Jesus with Roman guards and all who carried a big wooden cross from the highway and climbed the hill followed by a huge parade of people. Then they put him up on the cross and hung him there on top of the hill. They focus a lot more on the cruxifiction here."

"Well it is Monday, April 20th now. This month is flying by! Like you know we had changes and everything and I'm in Ica now with Elder Parker from Ogden, Utah. He's great. It's really rare that President puts 2 North Americans together, so I guess that I'm lucky. We are both new to this area, but things are going well. We are being blessed with a lot of new people that want to get baptized and seem to be ready. We should have a lot of success. But we'll see how long I'm here for."

"I got to have a nice 10 minute chat with President Fierro last Thusday in Lima at the zone leader conference. We just talked about about Bolivia, his hometown and stuff. He's a good guy. Changed a lot. But like I said, my Lima trip last week was great! Dunkin Donuts twice, McDonalds (yes, I kind of like it in Peru), Papa Johns and Chili's. (Justin wouldn't touch McDonalds before his mission. He also only ate Domino's pizza back home. He was quite a picky one.) It made me excited to go back to the States and eat."

Justin got his cousin Cayleen's wedding invitation and thought it was a "cool picture." We will miss him at the temple and celebration. But we wouldn't want him anywhere right now but where he is.

One of the elders that Justin was in the CCM with lives with him again. Elder Buhlur, "this huge, gigantic, tall kid. He's like the encyclopedia Brittanica. I just ask him questions about random stuff all night and he always has answers. He was on Jeopardy as well. I should learn a lot this change from all of the knowledge he has."

"There are 14 missionaries in our zone here. Four sisters and ten elders. They all seem great and ready to work. We will probably only finish April with 9 baptisms as a zone, but we are going to put it up in May. There is actually only 1 Peruvian in the zone. There are 8 gringos, 1 Bolivian, 1 Chilean, 1 from Guatemala, and 2 from Ecuador. We are going to do an international food day or something."

He is happy with the weather. They are in between summer and winter. He says it feels like California weather. He hears it gets freezing at night in the winter there. Typical desert weather. Ica is a pretty big city and has more supermarkets. He said the people from Pisco come to Ica to shop.

"One of the members here is actually the aunt of the new bishop's wife in La Villa, so she knew who I was before she met me. She has an internet cafe that we go to Mondays to email and she called the bishop in La Villa and had me talk to them. Got to go. Love you and talk to you later, Justin"

Ready and Waiting, But Loving Peru

In a letter dated April 3-7, 2009, Justin wrote that he is in "Bolivia mode." He is waiting to go back when he gets the word. He said he has convinced himself he is going back at the end of this change (in 10 days). "So it will be a bummer if I don't. I'm trying to stay concentrated while I am here. Six months is a long time though." He is ready for a change, in both a companion and area. He said after tracting the same area for so long, you are ready for a change.

The chapel in La Villa and the sunset in town.

Today's pday is "companionship" pday. He wrote that his president "recently took away our freedom of pday. Now one has to be cultural, one playing sports, one for cleaning our room and one as a companionship. For our sports one we played soccer and volleyball (big surprise) in Pisco. For the cultural, we went to the Natural Reserve of Paracas. It's just miles of coast with beaches, caves, cliffs, arches and stuff. It was pretty cool. I tried to get permission to go back this Monday to go look at Paracas in a boat tour instead of taxi. The rule book says we just can't go in private boats or planes and I figure that a tourist boat isn't private. But President vetoed that one. And for our companionship pday last Monday, members wanted to take us out for a day. They planned it all for us. Johnny and Synthia Lainez. They came and picked us up in their car, we went to San Andres (the area right on the beach0) and we ate at the restaurant on the beach. It was really nice actually. Felt kind of weird being in a real restaurant again. I had seafood with a rice plate that was really good. I've grown to like this condiment they always serve with fish here. It is one of those purple onions cut up and you squeeze a couple of limes in it and some salt. A lot of the time for breakfast I just eat that mixed with a can of tuna with Ritz crackers. After lunch they bought us a big tub of ice cream and we went and drove past the new Hilton hotel that just opened over by Paracas and all these big mansions that foreigners have built right on the beach. He was telling me that to buy the land ( they are on 1-3 acres) is only about 30,000-40,000, and the actual house is only about 50,000. I couldn't believe how cheap they could build these big old nice houses with pools and tennis courts and everything right on the beach for."

He hasn't had a phone line for a couple of weeks and won't for another 5 months. Not that we can call him or anything. But I'm sure it is inconvenient for him when he needs to contact people there. He said the the road that goes from the highway (Panamericana Sur) and La Villa into Pisco is all torn up and they messed up the telephone lines. To get to Pisco now, they have to take old, bumpy roads that take "forever!"

"Conference is tomorrow. I'm excited for that. We should have a room to watch it in English. A year ago I was there in the conference center. Weird."

"Well, it is Monday afternoon. Conference went well. It was great to be able to watch all the sessions of conference in English. It just isn't the same in Spanish, not hearing their voices and what not. Having learned another language, or I guess I'm still in the process, has made me appreciate a lot more all of the foreign speakers in conference. Especially President Uchtdorf. It is amazing to me that he has mastered English so well. I can't imagine being that good at Spanish."

It is a humbling experience for him to serve the Lord on a mission. What a great thing! We feel very blessed for the opportunity Justin has to serve as a missionary for the Lord.

I Think I Am Ready To Go

In an email this week, Justin wrote, "Still haven't heard anything about Bolivia, but I assume and hope that I'll be there in about a week. I figure they won't say anything until the changes that come this Saturday, then maybe Monday , Tuesday or Wednesday I'll be on a plane there. But you or I probably won't know until it happens. You'll probably find out once I'm already there. I think I am ready to go. I have kind of been separating myself from all the Peruvian stuff emotionally this past week or so since I've known, getting ready for the move. I don't think I'll be too sad. I'm excited for a change. It might just be because I have been in one area with one companion for 6 months now. I think I'll accept any sort if change that comes my way."

He wrote that summer is finally coming to an end and says, "It's great." It is still hot during the day, but not as hot. The nights are colder and he says it's nice.

They are working with the Quispe family, getting them ready for baptism. There is the dad, Luis, Margarita the mom, and Yeveli the daughter. They have not been showing up at church and that is something Justin is working on with them. Their goal is to get baptised as a family the 25th of April, but to do that they have to come to church as a family for the next two Sundays. Justin thinks he will probably be gone by that time.

He is excited about the new bishop that was called in the ward. "I think since I have been here we have had about 18 baptisms and most are active with callings and everything. Vicki showed up to conference Sunday in Pisco which is about 45 minutes away right now and we didn't even tell her about it. She is great. We happened to run into her niece so we are going to start teaching her as well."

"Well until next week. Hopefully it is an exciting big week. We'll see. Love, Justin"

He is living everyday in hope of "the phone call!"