Week 18 in the Office

So Christmas was this week. It was a good time to reflect on the Birth of Jesus and how my conversion has grown to him since becoming a missionary. The week was pretty crazy I guess with all of the stuff that was going on. We kept ourselves busy. We had the opportunity to meet a lot of cool people that have desires to follow in the steps of the Savior. Some of them were references for other areas, but we still had a few in our area too. One of the things that we did to find people was that we did a big Chocolatada in our area with the zone on Christmas day. We wrapped up Book of Mormons along with folletos (pamphlets) and stuff to give away with hot chocolate. It was a pretty effective activity and a fun way of mixing stuff up, and we got some good references out of it too. I like this whole mission wide fast that we did again! One thing that I've really been able to gain a testimony of is fasting. The mission was able to find a lot of people directly because of that fast! Elder Pardo and I were also able to find someone as well. We were sitting there in a correlations meeting with the ward on the day of the fast and I turned to him and said, "Hey, remember that time that we got a reference for the prima (cousin) of that less active member? We should try visiting them again since they weren't home last time." So once it was over, we went over there and knocked on the door. The person that answered the door was the primo (from Santa Felicia) of the prima that had originally gave us the reference. So we went in there, where his sister from Provincia was visiting too. We were talking to them and they were cool, but they said that their prima doesn't ever get back from work until late at night. So we went to take out a cita with them for another night, but justo en ese momento (right then), the prima (Nereida) arrived. That was pretty cool. We were able to teach her the gospel and invite her to church and to attend our baptism, which is tonight. Tonight Diego is going to get baptized! We've gone through a lot of drama with his mom. He's 9, but his mom is a member. She's really dramatic because she wants this huge elaborate celebration for his baptism. She's kinda lazy really, which makes things complicated sometimes. The baptism date has been moved back and forth, but we finally pulled it back for tonight. So yeah, that's where we're at right now. Elder Pardo and I are working hard trying to find more people who have desires to follow the path of Christ to baptism. Have a good week!

-Elder White
 
Saturday
There's a quote that I really like by President Nelson: "It is mentally vigorous to look unto God in every thought.  But, when we do, our doubts and fears flee."  I testify that this is true.  I have seen it in my own life and the lives of others.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  Today was a roller coaster of a day.  It started with us going to Manchay to play soccer early this morning.  There's a brand spanking new court 5 minutes from where I used to live.  I was exhausted and not sure how I got up, but I had fun playing.  The ward Christmas party was tonight.  We sat through all of it until 10:30 just to have them cancel our funny skit we had planned.  We were a little frustrated with that one.

Sunday
I know that the Lord won't forsake us.  Sometimes people may feel like he has, but in reality, he loves us with a perfect love and never truly abandons us.  Sometimes God will put us through the refiner's fire.  It's not always a pleasant experience and it may seem like God isn't there, but He is.  When Jesus was on the cross in the last moments of his mortal life, the last trial he had to go through was to feel like it is to be forsaken.  For the first time in his entire life, he didn't have the spirit with him.  For a short bit, he was totally and utterly alone.  What a terrifying experience that must've been for him.  That was the last thing that he had to go through to "descent below them all".  Because he did, I know that he can comfort us in whatever hardship we're facing.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  Well, the special church sacrament meeting was today.  Everyone had told us for all of December to have our musical number ready, so we did.  So right before it started we asked where we were in the program and the bishop was like, "What?  We don't have you guys on the program."  Someone somewhere was misinformed.  Pedro came to church today, so that was cool.  There weren't any classes today.  Instead we all went to the cultural hall and had paneton with hot chocolate.  Believe it or not, this was my first chocolatada of the year, which is pretty odd considering that last year I had not chocolate and/or paneton at least a bazillion and a half times.  We talked to Diego's mom after church.  Elder Pardo roasted her pretty good again.  We all decided it'd be best to move his baptism back to this Saturday like it was originally supposed to be.  That was pretty cool.  For lunch, we ate with the Garahm's, a Senior missionary couple.  They invited a bunch of other senior couples, as well as all the English-speaking Latinos they know.  One of them was a 16 year old named Maria.  She was a super cool and nice but not a member yet.  She went to church in Utah when she was a foreign exchange student there and liked it.  She lives in Lima Tambo though which is too bad because it would've been fun to teach her.  The other Elders had a contact come to church, but he showed up to the cita super drunk.  Funny, yet sad at the same time.

Monday
I know that if we keep the commandments, we will prosper in the land.  But if not, we'll be cut off.  It talks about that 18 times in the Book of Mormon, which probably means that it's important.  I know that this promise is true.  The blessings we receive are in accordance to compliance with Celestial laws.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  I don't know why, but I forget to shave every day now.  I'll get all the way ready and then look in the mirror to brush my teeth only to see my gorgeous scruff.  "Dang it."--Elder White almost every day for the past 2 months.  I think it's a sign that I'm meant to grow a beard.  Oh, I can't wait.  One thing that I do do every morning is shout like Terry Crews when I put on my Old Spice deodorant.  I leave the house smelling like a "leyenda-epica (epic legend)" every day.  The Lindstroms invited us over to their house this morning for breakfast.  It was good.  I've got 2 canker sores in my mouth right now--on the upper right and lower left.  Having 2 at the same time just ain't fair.  All the stuff I eat is so acidic.  Oh well, it builds character.  We went into a market and I somehow ran into Consuela (from Manchay).  I almost walked right past her.  She was there working with her abuela.  She got baptized right after I left, but unfortunately she is less active right now.  It was nice to have run into her at least.  Tonight, Hermana Juana made fried cuy (guinea pig) for dinner.  I've wanted to try it for my entire mission.  I've gotten close before, but this was my first time trying it.  In conclusion: there's not a lot of meat on it.  At first it tastes like chicken, but then it gets kinda weird.  It's good, but over hyped.  Elder Pardo was grossed out, so I talked to him wit the fried head the whole time.

 

 

Tuesday
It's Christmas Eve.  I'm grateful for the opportunity that I have to be a missionary.  I've learned a lot about the gospel and doctrine of Christ.  I'm grateful for my family and the opportunity that I have to live with them in the Celestial glory if we endure to the end.  I'm grateful for the Amatos and for the things they've taught me, the example they give me, and the love that they show for me.  More than anything, I'm thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ and the knowledge that I have of His restored church.  This morning we had a consejo de distrito.  Not much really happened there.  The zone leaders thought that it'd be a good idea if every companionship brought their favorite talk and shared insights on it.  It was a good in theory, but after a while it really started dragging on.  Everyone put on a video of the full talk.  I almost fell asleep.  The zone leaders had asked us a week ago to prepare a motivational training for consejo.  But by the time that we finished, it was too late, which is a shame because we had a super cool Superman clip that we were gonna use.  We worked like normal today.

Wednesday
I know that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Marry and lived his life with the expressed intent of helping us to be able to have the gift of Eternal Life.  I know that if we follow His example, we will find more peace and happiness.  He is always there, even when you can't see him, I know it.  As much as I know that the sun is coming up tomorrow, I know that Jesus Christ is my brother and Redeemer, the Savior of the world.  In His name, Jesus Christ, Amen.  So last night the fireworks were straight up boring.  Huge disappointment.  La Molina passed a law forbidding fireworks.  You fools!  Fireworks are more iconic to a Peruvian Christmas than Santa Clause.  We had to watch the fireworks out in the distance.  Speaking of Santa, I took that role upon myself this morning.  I got up early, opened my package and filled the stockings, then did my best to sneak around to leave them on people's beds.  Step aside Santa; there's a new jefe (boss) in town.  And he's got a sexier beard too.  I called my parents and brothers this morning.  We talked for a while, like, a 3 1/2 hour call kinda long while.  I enjoyed it.  As I sat there watching them open gifts, it occurred to me how blessed we are economically.  Like there were a lot of cool gifts.  They were getting all this cool jazz when a kid down here stays entertained with a mere bouncy ball hours on end.  Kinda funny how different the cultures are.  Believe it or not, I had work to do in the office today.  Working unpaid on Christmas.  I think a missionary might be the only person in the world to do that.  Elder Pardo and I made a bunch of hot chocolate while the zone wrapped a bunch of Book of Mormons and pamphlets and stuff.  Then we went to our area to do a chocolatada and give all it away.  Half of the time I was contacting with Hot Chocolate instead of contact cards.  While they would take it, it was harder than you would think to hand out.  One lady said, "How do I know it's really not chocolate?"  It was hard not to be sarcastic.  All in all the activity was a big success.  We had a special dinner with the obospo (bishop).  Hermana Juana really liked her gift and gave us a gift too.

A lady trying to decide whether or not she wants a cup of delicious homemade missionary made super tasty gourmet hot chocolate.

Thursday

I know that the Lord hears and answers our prayers.  When we pray with faith in real intent, the Lord will answer our prayers as long as our will is aligned with his will (which is easy to know if we're following the spirit).  I know that God loves me and hears and answers my prayers according to His infinite wisdom and mercy.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  Since we're at the year's end, I had to do the entire expense report for December today.  It was a fun marathon.  While I was doing that, I listened to a BYU speech called "Be 100% Responsible".  It's one of those speeches that really opens your eyes spiritually and helps you to know how to be better.  It's gotta be one of my favorites.  We had a cita with William and Rosa tonight and tried to teach them a few more commandments.  Questions.  I mean, it's good to ask questions, but then sometimes I just want people to say, "I knew it!  I knew coffee and tea are bad!  I hate those things if you say so."  Then go and get all of it and burn it in a righteous bonfire in the center of the room.  That'd be cool.  We had a correlations meeting tonight.  Andre wasn't there again, so Takeshi did everything.  He's surprisingly responsible for an 18 year old.  While we were there, I suggested to Elder Pardo that we try visiting Piedad Chávez (MA with a PF niece) again.  Some cousins of the PF had told us about her a few weeks back.  So after the meeting ended, we went to check things out.  Upon arriving, we found the cousin that gave us the referral (from Barrio Santa Felicia next door) and another cousin from Provencia.  They were like, "Yeah, Neireda (the cousin) doesn't get home until 9."  But just then she walked in.  Milagro!  We were able to do a lesson with her.  She's good, but at the end we felt not to invite her to baptism.  I was confused and did anyways.  She said no.  Hopefully I didn't screw anything up.  We're gonna keep teaching her though.

Friday

Today is 18 months.  I know that fasting works.  To be honest, I have to idea how it does, but when I do fast, I can definitely feel the blessings of Heaven.  We did a mission wide fast starting yesterday and ending today.  It was a fast to help us find people to teach.  It worked; yesterday the mission found more than double what we find in a normal day.  Today the mission found a lot too.  It worked in Covima too: the other Elders had some really promising contacts and we did too, including Neireda.  Long story short, I know that God rewards us for sacrifices that we make to Him, like fasting.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  Today was super long.  And nothing much really happened either.  Elder Wilcox and I went to Subway with the assistants to break the fast.  Being trunky is a real threat to missionaries.  I've met very few missionaries that haven't gotten trunky at the end of their missions.  As my friends and I progress in the mission, they've started to get a little trunky.  Today was one of those days, especially since there wasn't a lot to keep us busy during office hours.  But ya know, you fight it.  It turns out that Elder Pardo is a lot easier to scare than I remember.  These popp-it things that I bought last year really do the trick.  At one point when we were in the house, he was looking for me.  I was brushing my teeth in the kitchen, so I hid behind the door.  He was nervously checking each room while jokingly holding a broom like a baseball bat.  Then as he walked in I scared him and he yelped pretty good.  I like the people that scare easily.

Week 17 in the Office

Saturday
I know that His grace is sufficient.  If we dutifully follow the gospel, then we will be saved in the last day.  What we fall short of, Jesus Christ will cover with his grace.  I know that God loves us.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  Elder Pardo gets phone calls all the time because he's in charge of referrals.  Last night, he received a really weird call from a 9 year old while we were planning.  He tried acting like an adult saying señor and stuff like that.  He wanted to know where the church was, but was refusing to tell Elder Pardo where he lived.  I mean, stranger danger is good and all, but the kid called us...  Elder Pardo told him, "Look kid, you've gotta tell me where you live or I'm gonna send you to the church in Chosica."  So we figured that out and were about to hang up when he said, "Wait!  Can I bring friends?"  We said yes and were about to hang up when he said, "Wait!  Can I bring my radio?"  "No." "But it's to listen to my regatone pe."  I died laughing at that point.  It was a funny call.  I went 2/2 in Risk today, so that was cool.  In today's episode of the crazy ex dueña from Santa Clara, she called me and whined trying to tell me I had to pay 1300 soles to paint her house.  I told her no and that I needed the rest of the down payment of 1000 PEN back.  But then she was like, "That won't even cover the cost of the paint!"  So I went asking around and the most expensive paint I found would cost her 260 PEN.  Man, she's crazy.  The very first iHop in Peru opened up on Wednesday, so we went to eat there.  They only problem was that when we got there, we found out that a company had rented out the whole restaurant, so we couldn't eat there.  Ah!  So close!  Instead we went to Jockey Plaza and ate a whole bunch of Taco Bell.

Good stuff.  Tonight we visited Aaron, who's less active.  Hopefully he and his prima (nonmember) come to church tomorrow.  We went to go visit William and he had a bunch of family over.  There was an evangelical couple there that really seemed to like the Book of Mormon, so we left them with a copy.  We read 2 Nephi 31 with everyone.

Sunday
I know that humility is a critical attribute of Jesus Christ.  He that is humble with find many blessings because of it.  It just kinda makes sense if you think about it.  I don't really have a complex explanation for it; I just know that God blesses us when we humble ourselves before Him.  One thing I've had to learn here in the mission is to humble myself.  Sure, my favorite jokes are sometimes meant to seem prideful, but that's not how I am at all.  What I've come to realize is that most of the time, it's ok to not be right sometimes.  Sure there's some things that you've gotta stand up for and defend, but other times it's better if you take the L even if you know that you're right.  I know that the more humble we are, the more happiness we will find.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  Elder Pardo.  This guy will sleep through 6 alarms and a slap to the face, but as soon as he gets a text or call he wakes up without a problem.  Bah!  We had some really good potentials lined up to come to church today, but none of them actually wound up coming.  Somehow someone put the piano on the stage in the back, so Elder Pardo and I teamed up with the whole bishopric to move it back. That was one pesado son of a mahogany.  During Sunday School I learned how to tie a noose in a rubber band.  It was one of those days.  We did yet another round of weekly planning this morning, which is number 77 if I'm not mistaken.  You could say that I've got a lot of practice I guess.  But today Elder Pardo gave me a lot of good pointers on how I can talk to people better.  Before I forget, William and Diego came to church.  We had a cita with Diego after.  He's 9 years old, but he has a few learning disorders.  Elder Pardo was really good at making it fun and engaging for him.  There was a stake Christmas devotional that the zone went to tonight.  It was a musical program.  Our zone sang a pretty rendition of the primary song Miracle.  It went well.

Monday
I read through Mosiah 3 today.  It really made me reflect upon the joy of the saints.  The desire to feel that joy is part of what motivated Enos to pray, an experience that changed his life.  This joy is described as a happiness above all other levels of happiness.  It's something that's only attained as we earnestly follow the Lord Jesus Christ.  King Benjamin says that it's attained as we have faith in Christ and repent of our sins.  Or in other words, as we follow the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The knowledge of knowing our sins won't be weighed against us, the blessings of God in this life, and the hope of Eternal Life in the future is what gives the saints happiness.  I know that as we follow the gospel, we will become partakers of salvation.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  Mondays in the office are always pretty crazy.  I spent the majority of my day doing stuff to reimburse caja chica.  Since the end of the year is approaching, the area is shutting down al the credit cards from the 21st-31st of December while they put all of their stuff together.  So we're really gonna need that fresh 10.000 PEN to get us through.  This morning I went to the area office to drop off the monthly expense report for November.  I felt kinda bad doing it since it's closer to January than it is November right now.  Whoops.  Hermana Houghton and Hermana Black leave tomorrow.  If that's not weird then I don't know what is.  We're spending a lot of money.  President had Elder Pardo buy enough fridges and blenders and what not to last all of next year.  So much for saving the budget.  Elder Pardo wanted to make brownies for la familia Iqueda here.  I'm not quite sure why I let him do that because it took a while even though he cooked them in the microwave.  He went to go with Elder Armstrong, so Elder Wilcox and I went out together just like in the good 'ole days.  I got in as much contacting as we could.  It was nice.  I kinda miss being a normal missionary now.  I just can't proselyte as much as I want now.  We had to go get stuff ready for the 2 week training tomorrow.  Elder Pardo can be a really prideful guy sometimes, but I love him and am patient and quick to defuse the situation.

Tuesday
Ya know, I've come to understand the Book of Mormon a lot better in my time as a missionary.  Up until probably around 6 months ago, I thought that there was only 1 church and that everyone either belonged to it or was simply an apostate and that any time a prophet said something it was because an angel or God spoke to him directly every time.  That's not true, which makes the Book of Mormon even more applicable to our day.  From my understanding, there were a few churches after a while, which meant that people had to get a testimony of the truth like today.  Most of the time when prophets act/give a lesson, it's because the spirit moved them to do so, not always because they heard God talk or had angels appear to them.  That last one I really like because it's applicable to our own lives.  Chances are, we're not going to hear voices nor see angels, but will always be moved upon by the Holy Ghost.  And when we heed those promptings is when we will find happiness and conversion to Christ.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  I had to go to the 2 week training this morning.  I got back and hustled to get some bills paid.  We hurried and made a video for the multi zone.  It was pretty dope.  We basically just recreated a Piano Guys music video.  It seems like they make music with random stuff, so we did the same.  After weeks of planning, we scrapped it all and made a quick video with a last second change of plans, and it turned out great.  It was hard core improve.  I started with 2 staplers.  Then I found a saw and a hard hat, so I started sawing it in half.  Then I found an expired fire extinguisher and randomly sprayed it.  Good stuff.  We had to download the Piano Guys video from YouTube, but the thing is that those converter websites have inappropriate ads.  So basically there were 2 of us trying to hide the pics with papers while another clicked.  There was a lot of screaming and panicking closing tabs.  Funny stuff.  Elder Pardo and I had to be at Gamarra at 6 to pick up the shirts we ordered, but the lady didn't have them ready, so we did some window shopping and then waited.  We didn't leave until 8:30.  I had 2130 PEN in cash in one of the sketchiest parts of Lima.  Exciting.  When we got back, we had to hurry and buy break and prep the chapilla for the Christmas multi zone.

Wednesday
I read some stuff in Alma 41 today that I really enjoyed.  Alma is teaching about the restoration (resurrection) and and in verse 5 it says that well be restored to good or evil based upon our desires of happiness, which he explains is to choose the right.  I think it's very true; if we truly want to be happy, then the only way to achieve lasting and true happiness is through following Christ.  He also explains how we'll be judged according to our desires, which is arguable more important than our works.  For example, if there's a poor guy that wants to help the world but can't, he'll be blessed as if he did.  It works the other way around too; if there's a guy that seems like a nice guy but really just would like nothing more than to ruin someone's day, then he will be rewarded for that desire.  I know that if we have good works and desires, we will be saved in the last day.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  Elder Pardo and I showed up at Dunkin donuts at 8:35 this morning and ordered 168 donuts.  "Wow." --The lonely worker.

Today was President and Hermana Amato's 21st wedding anniversary.  President nailed it.  He read a really nice poem he wrote to her for everyone there.  Elder Pardo and I bought a fancy bouquet of flowers for her.  I was almost teary eyed.  We all watched our video we made in the office like 5 times last night.  It's golden.  Everyone laughed when we showed it today.  Score 1 for the Republic.  All the zones had to make a presentation on what they did to light the world.  There were some pretty cool videos.  Then we all stood in a big circle and  read out the nativity and sang Christmas hymns.  That was cool.  Hermana Black ended her mission and her parents were there to pick her up.  Nice people.  Elder Horton, Elder McClellan and Elder Salway prepared a special version of O Holy Night to sing for the multi zone.  It was pretty dang good.  Like probably the best version I've heard.  We surprised everyone by taking them Pardo's, a high end chicken restaurant.  President told everyone to eat as much as they wanted.  Elder Cabral was there.  I had to bring up all those good times: throwing up because a normal lunch was too much (he ate 3/4 pollo today).  Me: "That's the bishop and relief society president."  Elder Cabral: *runs over* "Hey guys!  Do you have any references for us???"  Me: *facepalm*  Hahaha, good times.

Thursday
I know that the prophet, apostles and other general authorities are called of God and that if we follow their counsel, we're really following God's counsel.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  So President officially announced it to everyone today: There's an apostle coming at the end of January.  He's going to talk to us, Tambo and Lima North.  We found this out in the office at the beginning of December, but they can't tell us who it is yet until the week before.  Last night I had a dream that it was Elder Rasband that came.  He showed up in gym shorts and a t-shirt, and he also shook everyone's hands with the classic sloppy Peruvian handshake.  It was an odd dream.  The multi zone was literally the same as yesterday.  I edited our video to add in a slo-mo bit at the end. 

Everyone freaked out when I sprayed it in the video, which is hilarious in slo-mo.  But in the multi zone almost no one laughed today.  Tough crowd.  President knows the son of one of the Piano Guys and sent it to him to show his dad.  The Piano Guy responded saying he thought it was funny and was pleased to work with us.  Cool beans.  President had his brother visit from Canada, and Isabella came here from BYU too.  His brother is an accountant, so it was fun to talk to him a bit.  Today I ate 3/4 of a chicken and 2 plates of fries.  I couldn't easily eaten the last 1/4, but my common sense beat my pride on that one.  Like yesterday, we had a gingerbread  house competition, and like yesterday, we tried making the Lima Temple.  We didn't win, but at least our walls stayed up today.  I made a deal with Luigi.  Since he and his family lived in Orlando, he's a big Magic fan.  So I told him that I'd take him the next time they play the Jazz and then the looser has to wear the opposing team's shirt.  I was talking to Elder Lewis and he said that he ran into Ruth in Huaycan.  She's 8 months pregnant....but hey, it looks like she might get reactivated!  There were some kids selling candies in the street.  I wanted to give them a sol, but I only had a 5 sol coin.  I wasn't about to ask for change, so I just gave it to them and took a few.  The kids got really happy and I felt good.  We had a cita with William tonight.  He's been given 6-8 months to live.  It was a good cita, but we need to tell Rosa that she needs to sleep in a different bed now.

Pictures from the multi zones:
 

Friday
I know that tithing is a Celestial law.  It heard that there's a bit of a situation going on back home with the church, tithing and the IRS.  I guess that the Washington Post posted a story saying that someone is trying to turn them in for potential tax fraud.  Also, apparently there's a 100 billion dollar bank account.  I'm not sure how accurate that that last part is.  I imagine that that a lot of people are freaking out back home.  I'm not too worried though.  The matter is in God's hands.  I think it's time to purge the vineyard a bit if you know what I mean.  Only the faithful will remain.  The First Presidency released a statement saying that they were abiding with all tax laws.  I trust them because I know that they're men called of God.  I know that we don't pay tithing because God needs it necessarily, but because it's a commandment for the which we're blessed immensely when we pay.  The church teaches it's members righteous economic living, and they live by what they teach.  If you have any doubt of it, just look at Utah's economy.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  The other Elders showed me a funny video made years ago in our mission called No Tomes Esa Agua (Don't Drink That Water).  Funny stuff.  We did a movie night with Centenurio.  Basically we went to a neighborhood, set it up an knocked on everyone's door to tell them to come.  There was a weird middle aged smoker lady sitting on a swing outside of her house who tried to seduce me in broken English.  (Spoiler alert: it didn't work.)  We also wrapped up Book of Mormons to gift away.  We sang for all the 15 kids and 4 moms that were there.  We didn't sing well though.  It was a good idea, but didn't turn out well.  But you know what they say: A captain goes down with his ship.  Good thing that I left after our bad song performance.  We had a cita with Diego tonight.  There was a lot of drama with his mom.  She wanted to postpone his baptism until the 24th of January for a big party, but we talked her down to January 4th.

 Elder Pardo's proof that I close my eyes when I eat.

 A cool Yoda picture someone found.

Week 16 in the Office

A milagro every day

This was a crazy week! It started with a family of 4 that got baptized last week. We worked really hard and were able to see the fruits of our labor as the week came to a close. We had a lot of miracles happen too along the way. One example of a milagro Elder Pardo and I saw was one night when we were looking to visit some converts. To do so, we needed an accompaniment, but we had called everyone we could think of and had had no luck. We were walking by a park and Elder Pardo said, "Hmm, I think that there's a member that lives around here somewhere. Maybe he can accompany us. Right as he said that, his wife walked past and said, "Hey Elders, my husband has the week off of work. You should take him out to visit some people with you guys." That was a pretty convenient miracle. It's funny how the Lord blessed us with something as simple as finding someone to go with us. We were also able to take our convert Renzo to the temple with us before he left to go back to Huancayo for the summer, so that was good for everyone. Last night, Elder Pardo and I decided to contact with the red Santa hats. It was something small just to change things up a bit and it worked incredibly well. It gave us a lot more animos (encouragement) to be contacting. I think that it also made us more approachable for the people in the street because we didn't get rejected very much at all. While that helped, I think God did the rest. We had more success than we had had in the whole past 2 weeks combined. We were able to meet a lot of cool people from the which we were able to write down a few numbers and take out a couple of appointments. We even got the number from the waitress at the restaurant we decided to eat at! All in all, it was a solid week. The Christmas spirit is getting strong. I love this time of year to be able to remember the Savior's birth. I know that Christ is my Savior and He loves each and everyone of us and will bless us according to our obedience to the commandments. Take care y'all!

-Elder White

Saturday
I know that my patriarchal blessing is revelation give to me straight from Heavenly Father.  I treasure it.  I firmly believe in those counsels and promises give to me.  I know that if I faithfully keep the commandments, then I will receive all the blessings that God has waiting for me.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  Not too much happened today to be honest.  It was a pretty boring p-day.  I'm starting to stress about home life a little bit.  I don't know what to do about housing at USU.  I don't know hardly anyone that's going there, and the few people I do know seem to have all their stuff figured out already.  It's starting to look like I might just need to room with some random other people in my same situation.  In my online gaming experience, I've learned that teaming up with rando's in generally a bad idea.  But on the other hand, Elder Wilcox said that his sister found her 6 best friends doing that.  In conclusion???  It'll work itself out I guess.  But then I realized: What about transportation?  Elder Armstrong and Elder Pardo baptized the Iqueda family (a mom and 3 daughters) tonight, so that was neat.

Sunday
I know that we must do the will of the Lord.  I mean, it sounds pretty obvious when you put it like that, but it goes more in depth than just that.  It means doing his will first, not ours.  There are several examples of this in the scriptures of people saying they want one thing, but then they acknowledge that God's will is above their own: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; Jesus with the bitter cup; and a leprous man asking Jesus to heal him.  "Señor, si tú quieras, puedas sanarme.  (Lord, if you want you can heal me.)"  That's a good little verse.  Even if we want something good, we've still got to acknowledge that His will comes first because he knows best.  Humility.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  Church was interesting today.  There were a lot of people there, so they had to open up the overflow, which has only happened once before, and it was for the primary program.  Diego, our 9 year old investigator wasn't able to come because his mom was having this super weird problem where she had a bloody urinary tract.  That's a decent excuse I guess.  There was this guy named Cristobal that randomly walked into church.  No one invited him.  He just kinda showed up.  He seemed to really like church too.  So afterwards we pulled him into a classroom to teach him LO.  He was a really cool dude.  He likes music and sports and is also 26 and single.  That's what I call a power combo.  We were at the most spiritual part when a bunch of toddlers burst in, screamed and ran around, then left.  Kinda weird, but it didn't chase away the spirit too much.  I went to resume teaching when a primary worker burst in and said we had to leave because it was primary time for the other ward.  So I said, "Can we have 30 more seconds to end this lesson real quick?"  As she left, she counted "30, 29, 28..."  Less than a minute later the bishopric came barging in.  Then less than a minute later the same lady did it again and tried to burn us saying that junior primary was the most important thing in the church (only 5 kids).  Never mind the fact that the room next to us was empty.  But by that point Cristobal didn't accept baptism.  We both felt that he was going to accept it if that hadn't of happened.  Oh well.  He still seems open to that though.  Later, I taught Elder Pardo what it meant to TP someone and the first thing he said was, "We should TP that primary lady's house."  That was funny.

Monday
I know that forgiveness is a celestial commandment.  God gave us the miracle of the atonement so that we can repent of our sins.  And when we repent, He forgives us of our trespass and remembers it no more.  Sometimes in life, people commit wrongs against us and it hurts us.  But we must forgive them, especially if they try to do their best to follow the repentance process.  If they've repented and received forgiveness from God, who are you to hold a grudge?  Is  your judgement more righteous than His?  We've been commanded to forgive all men, despite whether they seek forgiveness or not.  I know that if we can do so, we will find more peace and happiness in our own lives.  The spirit of contention is of the Devil, and grudges are a form of contention.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  Yesterday we went to eat lunch with la familia Belaunde.  Let's just ssay that he has a lot of spiritual knowledge.  I never thought I'd run into anyone here who knows what the Apocrypha is  down here in IPeru. How in the world that lead him into talking to us about how Jesus greeted people with kisses, I'm not sure.  We had our office meeting this morning.  I brought up how the budget is doing a lot better.  Everyone clapped and I felt good.  Then President added, "That's great, but now we need to make sure that we actualy use it all so that we don't get our budget reduced for the next year.  I need you to make me a report to show how much money we need to spend to end the year on budget."  That's a pretty hefty task, but I took it to heart.  Stay tuned until tomorrow to catch all the details of the spreadsheet to end all spreadsheets.  Tonight we went to a NDH (FHE) hosted by the bishop.  They invited William and Rosa who're some old investigators recently dropped by Elder Pardo and Elder Armstrong.  It's kind of a complicated situation.  They're both basically members, just not baptized.  They are in their late 60s and living together.  Basically 25+  years ago, William cheated on Rosa, and she refuses to get married for that reason, even though he really wants to get baptized.  But church has changed them little by little.  Bishop gave a great lesson on forgiveness.  We were walking out and William called out to us, "Hermanos!  Para el 11 Enero. (Brothers! For the 11th of January."  He set his own baptismal date!  Milagro!  I guess they'll be sleeping in different beds now.  William also has cancer and is probably going to die soon.

Tuesday
I know that trials are necessary part of life.  I read through Helaman chapter 12 the other day and for me that made it super clear as to why God has to humble us.  Basically what happens is that when we're having it good in life (which is always a direct blessing from God), we tend to forget about him and are super prideful.  God gives us challenges in order so that we can learn to turn unto Him and let him be our strength so that we can have a better relationship with Him.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  We had cansejo this morning; nothing new there.  So let me tell ya about this super dope spread sheet that I made to tract the budget.  Basically I have it so that every time we spend money all I have to do is type it in on one page.  Then that expenditure is automatically added into the account and sub account that it belongs too, which subtracts from the budget.  Then it automatically finds the percent of the budget spent in that account/sub account.  Basically it shows everything you'd ever need to  know about the budget.  The coolest part is that at the top of the page, I got it to show live percentage of what percent of the year has passed by.  It's accurate down to the second.  That took a lot of headache to figure out all of those equations but it was totally worth it.  We're ending this year on budget.  I'm pretty proud.  Tonight, Elder Pardo and I were out contacting and began to look for an accompaniment for our cita with la familia Iqueda (Sonia, Chazel, Hade and Kiara, who were baptized Saturday).  We tried everyone we could think of and found no one.  Then Elder Pardo was  like, "I think a member lives on this street.  Maybe he can come with us."  Right them his wife passed by and said, "Hey Elders, my husband's free all week.  You should take him to citas with you."  That was a very random, but convenient, miracle that we were thankful to see.  Shout out to the man upstairs for that one.  Our cita with la familia Iqueda went well.  From there we went to the church for our correlation meeting.  We starting planning our skits for the ward's Christmas party.

Wednesday
RIP Elder White's hair gel.  Sometime in and around August 1, 2018-December 6, 2019.  You served me well Suave.  You done good.  Now I'm stuck using this low quality super oily Peruvian hair gel.  Anyways, I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God.  I know that He is my Savior and Redeemer.  I love Him and I know that He loves me too.  I know that He gave His life to take away my sins.  I know that when I exercise faith in Him, I will see miracles in my own life.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  This morning Elder Wilcox and I went to the temple with Renzo.

He's going back to Huancayo until March, so it was basically an effort to get him a solid spiritual experience so that he doesn't got inactive.  Renzo really enjoyed being able to go there with us, and we enjoyed it too.  Ya know,  I think that all of this weight lifting is finally starting to work; while I was out contacting today, there were like 3 or 4 girls at different points in the night that stopped to talk to me only because they wanted to flirt.  Gosh darnit, if ya want to flirt with me, then we'll talk about Jesus and nothing else.  We went to go visit William tonight.  Rosa was there too.  Elder Pardo forgot to warn me that they talk a lot.  Long story short, they talked a lot.  William is super pretty solid for the 11th of January for his baptism, but Rosa still isn't quite as down yet.  Long story short, she thinks that she's perfect and doesn't need to be baptized.  I would've dropped that 2 Nephi 31 doctrine on her, but she never stopped talking.  Besides, Elder Pardo came in with the hammer and started roasting her "bautizo (christening)", saying she needs a real "bautismo (baptism)".  That man held nothing back hehe.  Well, Carmen finally moved back here today; we saw her at the chapel doing her zumba class or whatever it is.  It's good to see them back together again.  Tonight Elder Pardo and I wanted to scare the assistants.  So we hid in their tiny closet for 20 minutes and almost died from heat stroke.  We stealthily snuck up on them while they were planning.  We were going to jump out and scare them, but we were having trouble counting to 3 to coordinate and Elder Pardo starting laughing.  Why???

Thursday
I know that Jesus will return to Earth someday.  I just finished reading the book of Revelations today and understood almost nothing, but I did catch a few things, like about the second coming.  I'm personally very excited for it.  I find it to be a topic of great interest.  I know that His coming will be great and marvelous.  The righteous need not fear.  I know that as time gets closer to the second coming of Christ, the World will become more and more perilous.  But if we build our house on the rock of Christ, we will not fall.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  President did a lot of interviews in the office today.  He had a minute at one point so I showed him the budget.  We met with Elder Pardo and made a big list of all the stuff that we need to buy to end the year on point.  Two days ago, I was out making a contact on a Flora Tristan when Elder Pardo started saying, "Bishop!  Elder White, it's the bishop."  I was kinda confused, so I hurried and finished the contact and turned around to find the bishop pushing his car (bad alternator) across the street.  So we ran over and helped him push it back to his house.  That was a cool bit of service that we got to do for him.  I don't believe it was a coincidence that we happened to be on that street when that happened.  There's a self-sufficiency training tomorrow so we had to go buy food for it.  There's an entire isle of paneton! (Peruvian fruitcake)

If you were to tell a gringo Walmart had a fruitcake isle, he'd call you crazy.

Friday
I know that the priesthood is a sacred gift given to worthy and righteous members of the church.  With it, we have the same power as God to bless His children here upon the Earth.  I know that we can heal the sick, comfort the comfortless, and guide the lost.  One of the best examples I have of priesthood blessings for the sick is Mario.  He was super sick, but then we taught him the Word of Wisdom and gave him a blessing and he healed immediately.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  By the way, Mario is a spiritual power house.  He reads the scriptures an hour a day and is even on chapter 7 of the Saints.  We visited him in the clinic last night (he had the flu).  There was another self-sufficiency training this morning that Elder Pardo and I had to set up.  After setting it up, we left to go straight to Gumarra.  We were going to meet up with the stake president from Las Flores so that he could show us a good store that he knew about to mass produce shirts for the mission, but we got there 30 minutes early and he was an hour late.  And he showed us a store we already knew about.  We were there at the tienda (store) for like an hour and a half.  Being there so long really wiped me out.  Since that's a sketchier part of town, you kinda have to walk like a thug/tough guy.  It because you are one, but because that's what makes people respect you and not rob you.  There were a few payments the area called me about that I need to fix because they weren't done right.  After 17 months, the zipper on my book broke.  Sad stuff.  We wore Christmas hats out proselyting today.  Ya know, just to mix things up a bit.  I'd say that it gave us a lot more motivation to work.  I don't know if the hats had anything to do with it, but we saw a lot of miracles tonight.  We took down a lot of good numbers and took out a cita or two as well.  I think the hats made us a lot more approachable too.  God is good.  Tonight Elder Pardo and I went to go eat at Subs where we ordered Schawarma.  It's basically a chicken soft taco.  Good stuff.  The waitress was cool.  She might come to church on Sunday.

 Christmas photo with the Amato kids.  The tall guy with curly hair is actually Giovanna's boyfriend  hehe.

Elder White standing next to the average height Peruvians (line added to show the height difference).

Week 15 in the Office

Crazy Week

This week went by so fast I don't even know what happened. Transfers came in and although no one is leaving the office. The companionships got changed up a bit. Now I'm compañeros with Elder Pardo. My trainer was a Chilean as well, so I already have a head start on the Chilean slang. Mondays are always crazy because people come to the office on their p day to get stuff done, and then the other 4 days we had a meeting every day. And since I'm companions with Elder Pardo now, I have to do all the stuff with him to help him prep for that. I swear it was Monday just yesterday. Time flies when you're super busy I guess. Due to all these meetings, we didn't get very much time in for proselyting. But somehow we still managed to end the week with a few potentials that we can call and visit later, so that's a pretty good miracle. Elder Pardo and I are getting along well. I think we'll have some good success throughout our time together. The work in Covima is going pretty well. Yesterday we did this big activity where we got a member to dress up as Santa and we contacted nearby and had people take pictures with him. Then we sent the pictures to the people, and later we'll send them the Gracias a Él video too. It was a super fun, effective, and different way of working. It was a pretty big success I'd say. I'm pretty excited right now because our budget is looking pretty good. When I got here, we were like 3-4% over budget, and now we're only .5% over budget. Oh if the old me heard me say that jajaja. Am I that boring now that the budget excites me? Anywho, I'm excited to work this transfer! Have a good week!

-Elder White

Saturday
I know that the temple is the house of the Lord.  I know that once they are dedicated, the temple is an extremely holy structure that bridges both sides of the veil.  I know that the ordinances that we do there last for us in this life and for all eternity.  The work we do for and in behalf of the deceased is real.  The dead have the gospel preached unto them.  They have the opportunity to accept those ordinances to have the same blessings we have.  I know that the temple is part of God's work of glory: to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  This morning Elder Wilcox and I got up early to make a 6 AM temple trip with the ward and some CRs.  Well, we had been planning on having 6 or 7 of the CRs come as well as ward leaders, but in the end there was only Obispo, Takeshi, Mario and Marleni that came.  One thing I find interesting is how much more popular baptisms for the dead are in the states than here (almost no one does them here).  We were kinda worried about Mario because we didn't remember how hard his baptism was to do until we were already in the temple.  It was hard still, but he got 6 names done and had a good attitude about it after.  He and Marleni both had great experiences.  The bishop bought us breakfast after, so that was cool.  Pday seemed to last forever today.  I decided to call my family and say hi since they were at Grandma White's dipping chocolates.  I enjoyed it even though I called on Thanksgiving too.  This morning the zone leaders in Santa Clara and Elder Koch initiated Operation Elder White Bamba.  It would have been a total waste of my time.  The dueña claims it'll cost 1600 PEN to paint the house, which is totally ridiculous.  So now I need to hurry and contract a painter by Monday so that she doesn't steal the 1000 sol guarantee.  La familia Velasquez was supposed to go to the temple this morning, but Carmen sent us a 3 AM text saying she couldn't go due to a family situation.  We inquired further and apparently she and Juan Pablo got into a big fight and is staying with family on the other side of Lima.  We had a cita scheduled with Monica. She came late, but also with Camila, her "atheist" 17 year old daughter.  Basically Monica locked us alone in a room with Camila and told us to talk to her about God.  She was polite and all, but she was obviously only there out of obligation.  It was a little awkward.

Sunday
Wow.  It's already December. Crazy beans.  I know that my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ, love me.  The Holy Ghost is right there with them, so I'm assuming he loves me too.  It's kinda interesting how little we know about him, by the way.  I know that no matter what happens, God will always love us and will want us to return to live with him someday.  All he asks is that we live the Gospel and keep His commandments.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  I had to wake up Elder Pardo this morning because he slept through his alarm.  When I did, he immediately started laughing and said, "Dude, last night I gave an Elder a haircut.  It's so bad!  The shaver slipped and I took out a big chunk in his hair when he moved."  It was pretty bad, but also pretty funny.  He took out the whole left side of his bang like 1 1/2 in into it.  Completely shaved.  He tried wearing a baseball hat to church, so we were kinda like, "....you're kidding, right?  It's not even that bad. You know you can't wear that to church."  He kept his hand glued to his forehead the whole time.  Obispo thought he was super depressed until we explained that he might be if he let anyone see his hair.  We went to go pick up Monica and Camila.  Camila left early to go get breakfast, saying she'd go to church after.  Monica brought another one of their 'slaves' named Andrea to church with her today.  Camila showed up to church about 35 minutes late.  She ran off after the 2nd hour before we could talk to her.  I've turned a lot over to Mary, who's a great YW hermana.  Camila is super influenced by her friends.  I've never worked with an "atheist" before.  I say "atheist" because I don't think that there's anyone in Peru that denies the existence of a higher being.  Hopefully she progresses.  Speaking of which, we still have no idea what to do with Monica.  Tonight the 4 of us had a little presentation with the ward leaders.  My part was on escogidos and references.  Short and sweet.  They all laughed at the parts they were supposed to laugh at and I seemed to get my point across.

All in all, it was an effective ward presentation that should boost our relationship with them.  Today was judgement day.  Despite what we thought, there were no changes to the companionships in the office.

Tuesday
I know that faith is a critical part of our daily lives/testimonies.  This is one of the must have traits that marks a true disciple of Jesus Christ.  Sometimes, things will seem bleak.  Questions or doubts may surface.  Questions are ok, doubts aren't.  We just need to remind ourselves that we can't understand everything that God can.  I know that if we have faith through the dark times, brighter days full of blessings will be ahead.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  Life's gotten crazy recently.  Judgement day lied to me.  We got to the office yesterday and the assistants told me that Elder Pardo and I are going to be companions.  Here's our jobs in the office: Elder Pardo- official errand runner and handyman, Elder White- official bill payer and guardian of the receipts, Elder Wilcox- official note taker/the guy that makes sure that  you're not an illegal immigrant, Elder Armstrong- official drug dealer that makes sure no one dies.  Yesterday morning we did a mudanza (move) for Clo Ortiz.  The reason why is kinda sad: she and her husband are getting divorced.  It's so sad to see a temple marriage ended.  Their 3rd child is two months old too.  She's still in the ward boundary though, so I'm sure she'll be active still.  We were running around liked chickens with our heads chopped off last night trying to get stuff ready for the first day training today.  We didn't get home til 11:30 PM  Hermana Amato is super loving.  She's always telling us how much she loves us.  She sent us a super nice message.  Today was just super busy.  I had no idea that Elder Pardo had to run so many errands.  I think we did a bazillion and half of them during the first day training this morning.  We had to buy pillows, sheets, more food, pick up backpacks, etc.  Nearly all the Hermanas in our mission are training; there's a lot of them.

Wednesday
I know that gratitude is good.  It goes a long way.  We should always thank God for what we have with a sincere heart.  If we do so, I believe that He is more willing to bless us.  The more grateful we are, the happier we are as well.  It's just cool to be thankful.  One question I like is, "When I pray, do I sound like a well behaved, thankful child?  Or do I sound whiny and unthankful?"  While it's definitely recommended to ask for things, it's also important to give thanks, which is something I can be better at.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  The new leaders training was this morning, but Elder Armstrong took one for the team and went with Elder Pardo instead of me.  A few days before transfers, we were informed that 4 missionaries that were to report to the Cochabamba mission in Bolivia would come start their missions here until things over there cooled down a bit more.  It kinda caused us a headache to hurry and get them all their stuff and put them in areas last second, but we did it.  Then this morning the area called us and was like, "Hey, remember those Bolivian missionaries?  You don't have to worry about them anymore.  They leave tonight at 8."  At that point I think everyone simultaneously said, "On, come on.  Really man?"  President had to reorganize a bunch of areas and we had to do a bunch of stuff to undo the other stuff we stressed about in addition to more stuff we had to do to ship them off.  Needless to say,  we weren't the happiest bunch of people for that reason today.  We had the craziest taxi driver on our way to Tottus tonight.  He was weaving in and out, swerving all around, all at super high speeds.  When we got there, Elder Pardo stepped out while I looked for my passage inside still.  Then all of the sudden, the driver sped off with me inside.  My first thought was, "This dude's gonna kidnap me!"  I shouted and he pulled over 20 yards from where Elder Pardo got out.  I payed and got out ASAP.  That guy must've been drunk or on drugs or something.  Elder Pardo bought poll a la brasa for a dish at the meeting tomorrow.  He didn't need the skin, so I ate it plain.  It was tasty; no regrets, especially since I only weighed 189.5 on the scale this morning.  I haven't been below 190 for at least 2 1/2 years.

Thursday
I know that my Redeemer lives. What comfort this sweet sentence gives.  He lives.  He lives who once was dead.  He lives, my ever living Head.  He lives all glory to his name.  He lives my Savior still the same.  He lives my mansion to prepare.  He lives to guide me safely there.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  We did our workouts like normal.  I did my stuff and then went to make a protein shake.  I watched Elder Napier make one for me yesterday, but I had never made one before.  You know what they say; if you don't know what to do, just improvise your way to victory.  I didn't do half bad, by the way.  Today was consejo de liderazgo (leadership council).  At the end, the assistants had them all do some reflecting on their zones.  While they were doing that, we talked to President.  We showed President everything.  No limits.  The assistants showed a video of the haircut Elder Pardo gave that Elder and President had to leave because he laughed so hard.  Then Elder Pardo showed a video of a time he scared Elder Leite pretty good.  He did an impersonation of me and President laughed and told Elder Pardo to imitate him too.  It was a good time.  There's been a problem that's surfaced recently where mission vendors haven't been getting their money, and I'm not sure why.  Like, I do everything right on my end to get it sent through and all, but then for whatever reason it doesn't get processed in the system.  Elder Pardo suggested praying.  I forgot and went to check my email when we got back to the office, only to find a Light the World reminder to pray thankfully.  So I did, and then checked all the payments.  They all said that they'd get processed tomorrow.  That was a miracle.  I received my Christmas package today.

(A picture the delivery company took of the delivery.)

We went to go drop off my package off in our room, but our bedroom door was locked.  Weird because A: we never close that door and B: How'd it lock itself?  We thought there might be someone inside, but in the end we got it open and there wasn't.

Friday

Last night, Elder Pardo and I decided to share a scripture with Juana, our pensionista (cook), before leaving to buy break.  I pulled out Moroni 10:32 to share with her.  This experience was a testimony builder to me because it was a reminder to me that the spirit teaches you while you teach.  "Open your mouth and it shall be filled."  I explained how this scripture basically summarizes the Book of Mormon.  The entire purpose is to draw ourselves nearer until Christ.  She started to cry a bit.  Her husband is kinda old and doesn't talk much, so that's kinda rough for her I think.  This morning Elder Pardo and Elder Leite had to go to trunky trining, which meant that Elder Napier and I had to prepare the break for it.  On our way there, Elder Napier said, "Ya know, we'll have to go to this in 2 transfers from now."  I wasn't ready for that.  After that we went back and got some work done.  Then I took Elder Wilcox and went to Tottus for the fifth time in 5 days in order to pick up some pizza for the training.  I can only imagine what those people think when they see us walk in there.  "Oh no, these white guys again?  What are they gonna do this time?  Buy all of our fruit and chicken?  Or will they buy another 6 cakes like they have the past 4 days?"  I spent my whole day working on end of month expense reports.  Exciting stuff.  Speaking of reports, I got one today that says we're only .5% over budget right now.  We were 3-4% over when I got here.  Cool beans.  Be wise with your money kids, Elder White is watching hehehe.  Today we had a Christmas activity with the assistants, as well as the Hermanas from Mayorazgo and Centenario.  We got a sleigh and had a member dress up as Santa Clause.  We contacted nearby and had families and people take pictures with him.  

We texted them the pic and later will send them a church video.  It was a pretty big success.  There was one guy I contacted but was like, "No, I'm atheist," kinda rudely.  So I said, "Well, do you want a picture with Santa then?"  "No, I said I'm atheist.  Besides, that's stupid American crap."  Elder Pardo called after him, "But our Santa's Peruvian!"  That was funny.  Elder Wilcox and Elder Armstrong had to leave to go to the hospital at 10 tonight.

 The temple at Christmas time.

Me imitating a fish at Tottus.

 The activity we did with the priests in our ward the other week.