Qué Tal!
Okay, everybody, let me just say. Perú is the
COOLEST place ever. I LOVE it here! This letter I'm pretty much just going to
be talking about how awesome it is, so be prepared.
So
I flew out early on Tuesday morning and spent the day in planes and
airports. We got on the plane to Lima and I sat next to a Peruvian lady!
I greeted her and she screamed and got so excited that I spoke Spanish so we
had a really awesome conversation for like an hour! It was so fun and she spoke
so clearly and beautifully. She is an evangelic missionary, so she wasn´t
interested in our church but she was so humble and so nice and it made me fall
in love with all of Perú already. So we landed a little before 11pm that
night and then had to go through customs and everything which was long but ran
smoothly. It’s funny because you just push a button and it randomly
chooses if they have to search your suitcases or not. It was scary but I
got a green light and all was well! There were 39 missionaries on the plane but
only an Elder and I were in the Lima West mission. President Archibald,
his wife, their children, and the two Assistants to the President were there to
pick us up. I went with the Archibalds and the Elder went with the
assistants. We drove back to the mission home and I stayed the night
there. It was about 2am by the time we got to sleep! I got up the next
morning and ate breakfast with them and then we went to the beach! We had a
little mini-orientation for the four of us (2 from Guatemala MTC) that weren’t
there the day before. Then we all went to the mission office and met with
the other 14 new missionaries straight from the Peru MTC and met our trainers
and did orientation for the day.
My
Trainer is awesome! Her name is Hermana Agle. She is from Boston.
She just entered the MTC 6 weeks before me, so both of us are very new.
We´re pretty much the same person which is hilarious. She went to BYU,
we’re the same age, studying the same things, and a ton of other things.
We just have really similar personalities and get along really well. And
we are both stoked to literally “Save Lima.” Haha. So we are serving in
the El Olivar zone and ward here in our mission. It is the most central
part of our mission, and our area borders the Lima Central mission. Our
areas are Previ and Condevilla which are in Callao. Our area is pretty
small so we just walk around all day and always see people we know around. I
love it here! The first couple of days I was just in awe of how awesome
everything was and how much I love it. Seriously.
Our
apartment is pretty nice. I say nice because it’s just like a normal
apartment but apparently it’s like a mansion compared to the rest of
town. Apparently we have the nicest apartment in the mission as well, and
the best pensionista in the mission. Her name is Hermana Juanita and she
is so sweet and makes the BEST food. I love her food. Next Pday we
are going to start going over and having her teach us how to cook Peruvian
food.
Lima
is a very dirty city. There are dogs everywhere and trash
everywhere. And people don’t ever clean bathrooms. It’s very
different and smells very different than anything I’m used to but it’s so
awesome and I love it. I only get to be here for 15 more months which is
so sad! But I’m loving it while I’m here. I’m already forgetting what
America is like and how fancy everything is there and am getting used to life
here.
It’s
pretty cold here. Well, 50s and 60s which totally isn’t bad at all.
There aren’t any heaters or air conditioning or anything though so it does get
cold in our apartment, but I’m used to it now and we just study in our sweats
and everything. It is just cloudy every day. I haven’t seen the sun
yet! Haha. But it never ever rains. Some people only have roofs on
half of their houses because it never rains so they don’t need roofs.
Sometimes at night there is a little “Aguita” but it’s pretty much just mist
coming from the ocean.
It
is so FUN to drive in Taxis here! I see why they don’t ever let missionaries
drive because it is INSANE. The traffic rules are all just
suggestions. Cars just do what they want but it’s sweet because people
are actually really really good drivers, they just are crazy. Every other
second we are almost getting in wrecks, but I’ve never actually seen a wreck
the entire time I’ve been here because they’re always aware and alert.
And if you try to be a nice and courteous driver, everyone gets mad at you and
you usually do end up getting in wrecks. It’s like riding a roller
coaster every time and is so fun.
I
am so in awe of how humble everybody is here, and how strong they are in the
Gospel. They are SO willing to help in every way in missionary
work. We always have about twice as many member-present lessons than
other lessons every week because they love coming out with us. We had ward
council and asked if anyone could come out with us and like 5 people raised
their hands and were all talking at once asking when they could. It was so
cool. Then on Sunday we were walking to appointments and we kept seeing
members walking to the houses of less actives and visiting them. They
were doing that all day which is awesome. So solid.
Our
mission president has really been emphasizing trying to baptize weekly.
Hermana Agle and I have been so stoked on missionary work and are excited to do
it. President Archibald said he would take out the companionship which
the most monthly baptisms out to eat in a ritzy place in Miraflores. And
we are so excited to do that. It’s so cool that He and the Lord trust us
enough to be two Gringas in a foreign country that barely speak Spanish,
preaching the Gospel. We have been using this to our advantage because
people are always staring at us thinking, why are there two white girls walking
around? We definitely stand out and so many contacts have been made because of
it. This Saturday we are starting our pattern of baptizing weekly.
Missionary
work is the best and Peru is the best.
The
Gospel is true. Don’t ever forget it!
Love,
Hermana
Jones
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