WEEK 5: PERU MTC

November 7, 2018

Today was a dang good P-day. We went to the temple, and the session was so good, it was so peaceful. I love Peru already, just from driving around the city, and I can't wait to get out in the field. Mama, thanks for all you do, I love you and thanks for sending me so much stuff. Also, please send me ties for Christmas, ties are like currency here legit hahaahaha. Also, I would love to have some pens too, like those pens I liked that were way nice and they were like all the way straight with two little hearts on the clip. Thanks so much mama, Love you.  We played soccer and handball for like 3 hours today, and I'm lowkey getting better at soccer. Love you all and goodnight.

November 8, 2018

Today was a really good day. I love all of the Elders. Elder Gomez is from Mexico and he runs for an hour straight every day. You can see him run around the soccer field - like sprinting for a long time - and then jogging, and he's way dope. He also does this sick yoga stuff every morning and night. Elder Castillo is a super good runner too, and he is always trying to learn English, so I speak in Spanish and he speaks in English. Elder Merritt is taking his Zone Leader position very well, and he's doing pretty good with Spanish and all of that stuff. The gift of tongues is real, and I'm doing pretty good with Spanish too, honestly. I started reading the BoM in Spanish and I actually understand everything they're saying. The food is constantly getting so much better, and I'm starting to love chicken and rice. I think I'm losing weight already, and we eat like 30 ice cream sandwiches a day, so I don't know why I keep losing weight ahaaha. Every night we have a black market trade of ties, and everyone digs all the ties I have in stock, everyone wants to trade for my merch, but I only trade for sick, once-in-a-lifetime ties. Love you all and gn.  

November 9, 2018

I figured out how to play soccer for real today. You just have to move your feet around like crazy and it works pretty good. Nothing is changing at the CCM, and I want to go to Chiclayo so bad. We are street proselyting tomorrow, and I'm way excited, I just want to go talk to everyone and baptize people and learn how to talk to others better. I Love the CCM and the challenges of being a missionary. I have never eaten so much fruit in my life, and I had this fruit that was legit an alien egg, you have to crack it open and then peel the skin off, and the sweet part looks like little frog eggs with seeds in them. It was really good, but it looked so nasty.

November 11, 2018

Hey fam, we went proselyting yesterday and it was probably the most spiritual experience of my life. We got on the bus and headed to downtown Lima where it was so crowded with traffic and music and shops and people and so many things. We went to a church where we met some missionaries and were paired up with a missionary in Lima East. All of the missionaries there knew Jackson, so that was cool. I was paired up with this gringo guy and Elder Neilson from one of the districts at the CCM. We walked about 15 minutes to a giant mall supermercado type thing and there were thousands of people there, so we started talking to everyone. Elder Neilson and I were killing it - oh, also, Elder Neilson is basically Sam's size but I think a little taller, so he's a complete giant on the streets of Peru. We talked to so many people in Spanish, and we actually took a lot of numbers and addresses of people so the missionaries could contact them later. Our other companion was talking to this lady for a really long time, so Elder Neilson and I went to talk to other people. I can still see this picture in my head as I am writing about it, but I saw a man sitting on a bench, and he had a blue coat on, and there was nothing different and nothing stood out about him. I saw him through the thick crowd of people, and I knew we were supposed to talk to him. There was something that made it so clear in my head that we were supposed to talk to this man. Elder Neilson and I went up to this guy, and he had never heard about the church before. His name was Juan, and I felt so much love for him. Juan had a wife and 3 kids, and he busy with work. He was a normal guy, but he wasn't. He asked all of the perfect questions and Elder Neilson and I answered all of them - in terrible Spanish - but he got the point. We had a full-on conversation with Juan about our church and the Book of Mormon for more than 30 mins and I felt the spirit so strong through the entire thing, telling me what to say and which questions to ask. At the perfect moment, Elder Neilson gave Juan a Book of Mormon. We said goodbye to Juan and we said we hoped to see him at church. After, this really old lady came up to us and started yelling at us in super quick Spanish about how we were terrorists and that's all I understood, hahahhahaa. Anyway, as this lady was yelling at Elder Neilson, I looked back over to Juan and I saw him look at the Book of Mormon, and it was like a movie legit, I saw him look at the book that we had just bore testimony over, and he opened it and started reading it. I was filled with so much love for Juan, and I knew that we were supposed to give him that Book of Mormon. This is cheesy but in my heart I had the best feelings of glory to God that he had guided us to Juan. This is what a mission is about, and I knew then more than ever, that this gospel brings only love and happiness to everyone. That is why I served a mission - to give everyone the happiness that I feel. We took Juan's information, and he was patient in spelling his address out for us, and we gave his info to the missionaries in the area. I doubt I'll ever hear about Juan ever again, but I know God loves him. I am so grateful for this oportunity to serve, and there is nothing I would rather be doing. I know that God lives and he wants everyone to come to him and receive joy. I have felt the love of God, just by sharing my testimony with Juan. Love you all.

November 13, 2018 

What up familia, things are the same at the CCM, and everything is getting boring hahahha, I want to go to Chiclayo so bad. The skies in Peru are always grey, except for like once or twice a week, but it never rains ever. Every night we have our normal tie exchange except I have the best approach to trading ties. Most people bring their whole tie rack out, but I take like one or two of mine to trade, and I scout out what tie I want for a couple nights. If I get the right people to trade their ties for the ones I want, then I can trade them certain ties that they would like so I get the best deal. And I'm not about trading for normal ties - I want the best, once-in-a lifetime ties, and I got one today. It really be a black market here a mercado negro, but I have learned to be smart about my supply. I love the Latino elders - I have all of their names memorized. We have Elder Piedra Johnson, the 'Rock Johnson.' Elder Flores, 'Elder Flowers', Elder Traves, 'Travis Scott', and so many more and they're all so great. Oh, also today I gave my first blessing for the sick. The CCM presidente anointed this hermana in my district, and because I was her District Leader, I sealed the anointing. The Priesthood is amazing to me, and I love using it. Love you all.