Monday, May 7, 2012

Week 10

hey hey hey!!
 
how is everyone?   you would not believe what i have been through in the last five days.  holy cow, where do i start.  well i guess i havent written for two weeks. i will just start at the beginning.  easter wasnt that exciting.  all we did was eat a chocolate egg and watch a bunch of bible videos at the mtc in peru.  our last saturday in peru, my companion and i went tracting in lima.  we had a lot more success than when i was with hermana caicedo.  we taught a few lessons and got some references.  my companion, hermana moscoso is just the coolest in the world.  she knows english and spanish, she has been a member her entire life. and she is just so smart.  i hope we are companions again once i learn spanish.  we would rock!!  well anyways, i guess i need to get to the good stuff.
 
the flight there was so long.  we went to the airport early in the morning and flew for two hours to santa cruz, bolivia.  and then had a nine hour layover... so much fun... not.  but! i can officially say that i have been in the amazon.  because that is where santa cruz is at.  so then we had a 25 minute flight to cochabamba... it took us all day to fly for two and a half hours.  o boy.  we were taken to the temple, and they have a sweet hotel on temple grounds. so we got to stay there.  we didnt get there until like midnight. one of my suitcases got left behind in santa cruz. so we had to wait all day the next day to get it.  ugh. but we got to hang out at the presidents house for eight hours.  my president and his wife are so cool.  they have only been here for nine months. so they will be here for my entire mission.   
 
the climate here is totally perfect.  it is cool in the mornings, but then it is just perfect during the day. 
 
we woke up the next morning to finish up all of the paperwork for our permanent visas.  and then i met my trainer.  her name is hermana fuentes.  she is from argentina, and she has been out for nine months.  we are going to be companions for 3 months.  and the ward we are serving in is called Jaihuayco.  i dont know how to pronounce it either, dont worry.  she is from argentina and she is very proud of her country. that is all that she talks about. ahaha i dunno.  she still cant pronounce my name at all. she is a hard worker.  and we really have a language barrier problem... hopefully we will get over it soon.  this is her first time training so neither of us know what to do.  it is tough, but i cant imagine that first five days of any mission is easy.  o ya and she has no desire to workout in the mornings.... she would rather snooze a little bit.  so i am working out by myself in the apartment.  so ya. chelsea!! you should definitely send me those little workout lists, because i dont even know where to start. when i am trapped in my apartment. she has only been in the area for a month so both of us dont know the area or the members. it has been interesting.   
 
my apartment is really small. it is just me and my companion.  our toilet barely works some of the time. and we have no food in the house.  and if you touch the showerhead or handle on the shower... you get shocked.  i learned that one the hard way.  the electric coil heats up the water as it comes out of the shower head... ugh.  unpleasent.  o ya and sometimes they turn off our water.  hahaa.  that is always a pleasent suprise when you try to flush the toilet.  i am adjusting okay.  i think i need a few more days and it will be awesome.  o ya and guess what!!  i have to hand wash my clothes.... wow.  this is just going to be quite the experience. and then we hang dry them outside of our apartment.   
 
the food is really good. they like chicken, rice, pasta, and really randon natural teas and fake coffees.  bleh.  not my favorite. the almost coffee is the worst.  but everything else is good.  we actually have a cooking lady that makes all of our meals for us.  her name is carmen and she is a member of the ward.  she is so nice.  she cooks lunch and dinner for us, and we are on our own for breakfast.  but my companion doesnt eat breakfast, so i just have to starve until one o clock everyday.  so i dont know what to do.  they really dont have cereal or milk here... as far as i know... of course i dont know much at all. we arent allowed to eat pork, lettuce, strawberries.  we only really have eaten bananas and apples because they are easy to clean.  so i havent been able to try any cool fruit.-  
 
we study for four hours every morning.  1 hr personal. 2 hrs. companion. 1 hr. language.  my companion is supposed to be studying english but she just goes and lays down during my spanish study. then we go eat lunch, and then we tract or go to our appointments.  then we have dinner.  it gets dark at like seven thirty and there arent many streetlights in this part of town. so if we dont have an appointment. we have to go back to the apartment.  it is a little sketchy here. but it is fine during the day.  but there are a lot of barrachos around here.  they are kind of like these random drunk guys that wander the streets.  they usually cant even stand up.  but sometimes they yell at us.. i dont know what they are saying, so whatever.  one of them tried to talk to us and followed us into a store.  the store owners chased him off, and then we got to ride in a police car to try and find him... that was interesting.  that was one of the most interesting things that happened so far.  the people are so nice here.  they are patient and try to help me speak as much as i can.  we got to go to a primary activity on saturday and all of the primary kids in the stake did all of the different dances from the different countries.  they did an elvis song for the united states. it was so cute.  it reminded me of the dance recitals i had when i was a kid.  their costumes were totally cool and traditional.  it was fun to experience the culture a little bit more.  it is funny when they try to make me translate all of the songs into spanish.... haha then they realize that it is my third day in the mission field. and then they tell me that it will get better soon. yaaa..... sure.... ahaa the streets here arent very crowded and there is much organization to the city... i have never j walked so much in my life.... haha.  and most of the time we just walk down the middle of the street.
 
okay the mailing situation. they said that most of the mail gets here just fine.  all of the mail goes to the mission office first. so i am pretty sure that the address i gave you is right.  you can double check in my missionary packet.  they said it usually takes 2 to 3 weeks to get a letter.  so ya you should definitely write me a letter. ahaha. i reallly really hope they forward my mail from the peru mtc to here.. but i dunno if that will happen.  well i really hope that everything is going well at home.  i gotta go.. and i love you!!
 
hermana milne

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