My second week..ish..in the field is behind me, and I still haven’t been robbed...

    Here's the latest email from David aka Elder Royal from Piura Peru.  He is doing well, was involved with his first baptism this past week, and is very upbeat.  I was surprised that there was very little discussion about his struggle with the language, which indicates it is probably coming along pretty well (that's our take, anyway).  Mail appears to be arriving slow.  Perhaps it is taking a while to catch up with him.  I still send David letters via www.dearelder.com (go to "write a letter", then to Piura Peru, then just write in David's name, type or cut/paste - whatever, hit send, and hope it eventually gets to David).  David's physical address for letters is as follows: 

 

Peru Piura Mission

POB 30150

Salt Lake City, UT  84130-0150

 

or for packages and air mail stamps:

Los Naranjos Mz H, Lp 4

Urb. Los Geranios

Piura PERU

    Also, David says he can receive emails, too, at royal_d@myldsmail.net.  I send him short emails on occasion (you know, BYU scores), but have learned that he has little time on the computer, so I try to keep them brief, save all my rambling for the letters, but David loves hearing from family/friends. 

 

    Have a great week.

 

    Mike

_________

September 29, 2008

 

Family!!

 

            Alright, so my second week..ish..in the field is behind me, and I still haven't been robbed...threatened...shot at or stabbed.  So, we're in good shape.  I can't remember everyone I talked about last week...but...we had our first baptism here in San Pedro Saturday night!  It was way cool.  And of course...because I'm being trained I have to do (or rather I get to do) all of the baptisms...so...yep.  I was the one doing it.  We baptized the girl Silvana...whose whole, entire name is crazy long... I can't even begin to remember it and I practiced by literally reciting it 50 times in the font before we did the actual baptism.  But, I said the prayer right...did the dunk... a perfect 10 ;) ...and it was pretty much awesome.  And I was way nervous too, so I was really happy that I got through it without messing up.  There was a very strong spirit at the baptism, I can tell you that.  Really cool experience.  I am very excited to have many more of those.

 

We are teaching a very cool family.  The Mendoza family.  Every time we go it's quite the adventure.  The father is a less active member so we are teaching all of them and their...6 (or so) kids.  There are lots of little guys running around...and for some reason...Sister Mendoza decides...oh the elders are here - come here baby girl time for breast feeding.  Wow, talk about uncomfortable.  So, during every lesson so far, I have had to teach gospel principles by looking away, at the ceiling, stuff like that.  Anyway, they are cool and I believe they will get baptized soon.

 

            I love it out here.  Doing great!  Did you guys get all my letters?  I sent a bunch a few weeks ago.  Hopefully, you did.  I haven't received any of your mail for the past month, but we are going to the mission office today and I hope to get something there.  Mom, I was going to have you send me more ties, have you get into my stash of cool ties, but I think I'll wait on that – because I can't remember where I put them.  By the way, you can give my email address out (which would be nice, since I don't get many physical letters here).  I can receive emails, but I cannot respond directly – only to immediate family.  (Mom, I know you are worried this will cut down on my writing home time, but I promise to be good about all that.)  Jordan, great to hear you made the grade in geometry.  Keep working hard there.  Mom, see if you can get me contact information for TJ.  Just want to send him a letter since he's leaving on his mission soon.

            Anyway, I am sorry to say that I have only two minutes left!  Ah!  Yeah, I spent a lot of time reading through emails – all good (great actually).  But really, life is going great, awesome!  My comp is sweet.  Life is great!  Mail has been incredibly slow, but I am not discouraged.  Well, sorry I have to go so soon.  Lost track of time, but I'm loving it here!  I love you all.  Keep working hard with all your stuff – school and all that...and...love ya.  Yep.  And I look forward to hopefully getting some letters tonight (crossing fingers).  It's all good.  Thanks fam.  You're the best.  Tell my friends to write me.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is true!  Bye. ;)

 

            Elder Son Royal

I’ve been in Piura for...five days now? Something like that.

            Well, we received David's email today, the first in two weeks. He was at the Peru MTC this week when about 100 missionaries arrived from Boliva (pulled out recently due to government unrest), so that was a unique experience for him. He is serving now in Piura, Peru. I am surprised that he has not received any physical letters in a while, but we keep sending them. My favorite is www.dearelder.com, because it's so easy. Just get in there, click on write a letter, select the Peru Piura Mission, and put in David's name (Elder David Royal). I suppose it is taking a while for the letters to catch up to him. Hopefully, I've been doing it right. David's physical address (for packages and air mail) is as follows:

Elder David Royal

Los Naranjos Mz. H Lt 4

Urb. Los Geranios

Piura, Piura, Peru

 

Letters sent as pouch go to the following address:

 

Peru Piura Mission

POB 30150

Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0150

And now . . . Heeeeeeerrrrreeeee's DAVID …. (cue music) …….

___________

            Hey Fam!

            So, this is my first time contacting anyone for two weeks now...figured Mom would be getting a little worried if I waited much longer. But...I've been in Piura for...five days now? Something like that. Yeah. So, we had a flight Wednesday night from Lima and stayed in the mission office the first couple nights...and spent one day with the president and his wife. They live in a huge house by the way. Crazy.  Anyway...so out of the six North Americans with us...two of us stayed in Piura...me being one of them - one to Tumbes up north - and three to Chiclayo. My good buddy, Elder Campbell, is in Chiclayo now. So I stayed in Piura, pretty close to the mission home in an area called San Pedro. That's the ward and area that we are in. So...my companion is Elder Yupanqui from Boliva. He speaks English almost fluently so that's really nice...but he makes me speak Spanish a lot and helps me a lot with that. He's a way good missionary. I was really worried about getting a bad trainer but he is really awesome. He can teach really well...knows how to do everything. Good stuff. He's been out 21 months...so he's assuming that we will be together for two transfers. So I should end up being his last companion. He'll go home in December. 

            There were two baptisms in our ward they day before we arrived...and five confirmations on Sunday. None of them were people we taught...but the members here are very excited about the work and they aren't shy about sharing the gospel. We are the first missionaries that they have had in San Pedro for a while. I guess the president closed the area a while ago...and opened it back up with Elder Yupanqui and me. We've already taught a ton of people...and have a bunch of people with baptism dates set. We made a goal to have four baptisms before September ends...so we'll see if we can get that or not. We almost had our first last night – a 19 year old girl named Silvana...but she's still a little iffy on going through with it. Too bad because we had the font filled and everything. haha. Oh well. I think she'll get baptized this week. She has some really good friends in the ward who are helping her and are very recent converts as well.

            Let's see … we live in a house with a family who are all members with...five kids or so. Not really sure because every time we walk in there is someone different...kinda confusing...but they are way nice. One of their kids had a birthday yesterday so they had a ton of family members over for cake...none of whom are members...so we taught them all the first lesson and had them watch a video on the Restoration. Cool kids.  So we could end up baptizing all of them within the next two weeks!  That'd be so cool. A lot of younger kids here are way nice...they are more patient with me and my Spanish. One of them, named Darwin, 11 years old, is a way cool kid. I'm really hoping that we can teach them more and baptize them. One of the kids that lives at the house with us... a two or three year old girl...cute as a button. Always says hola to me and gives me a high five when she sees me. haha. But I remember when Brad was in the Philippines and said something like ...wanting to be able to speak at least as good as the two year olds there.... Well, I think I'm a little bit ahead of the game... I'd say I can speak pretty good with the three year olds here, 'cause sometimes that little girl asks me something...and I have no idea. haha.

            I think my Spanish is coming along pretty well. I still give my dumb blank stare to people every once in a while...actually now that I think about it, I make myself look dumb a lot. haha. Like...I think I have tripped while walking at least everyday...but that's been my entire life. haha. Always fallin', never quite learned how to walk..... actually I had a really bad trip and fall in Lima when we went to the temple and I was running across the street to catch up to Elder Brown… got into the median area where there was some grass...foot caught a hole...totally ate it, in suit and all. Good, good times. Hurt my ankle, too. Worst part though...none of the missionaries saw it...so I didn't have anyone to laugh about it with me. Just thinkin' about all the taxis driving by that saw it and thinkin'... "stupid gringo". haha. Anyway...my comp says he didn't expect my Spanish to be where its at...and says that I'm doing better than most new guys...so I guess that's good. 

            Alright, I don't really know what else to say. The lady that cooks for us - our Pensionista (I guess that is how you spell it)...anyway she's awesome - makes us way good food and her family is really nice. Her husband is in the bishopric. Really cool guy. They usually sit and talk with us while we eat. umm...to be honest the most frustrating part of being here so far was church...because it was my first time that it was 100% Spanish...and it was a struggle. And at the moment...it takes me a while to understand people. I have to talk with someone for a while and figure out how they talk...kinda weird I guess...poco a poco...step by step. But everyone kept coming up to me and my comp afterward and I had no idea what anyone was saying...when we walked out my comp just looked at me and said...wow that was intense. Everyone just gave us a reference....so all that went right over my head. haha. Oh well. It'll get there. It's coming along. 

            Alright, well I think I've talked enough about how it's going here. In one word: Awesome! I really like it. So let's see...I just saw some of your emails about BYU football...so awesome that they are doing well. And UNLV beat ASU?! En serio? I refuse to believe that. And no Dad...I can't get on youtube or anything...but man the temptation was hanging by a thread when I opened that email you sent with BYU football highlights. haha. Um...I'm not sure how the mail here works yet...guess I'll find out this week. But, I haven't received a physical letter or anything for a bit now...(including the "dear elders" and such). I'll let you know when they come. 

            So that's it for now. Wow, that was kinda long today. So Brad...happy birthday this week! Sounds like your party will be pretty awesome. Keep working hard in school, Jordan. Cody and Jason Foote should both starting this year at BYU, right? Good luck, guys. And a final goodbye to my dear friend Jack! You're gonna love the mission field, buddy. I can promise you that. It's so awesome! So that's it for now. The Church is true.

            David, the Elder

One week left here in the Peru MTC.

Heard from David this morning. He has ONE WEEK LEFT in the Peru MTC and seems very happy about that. I am sad he has not received any of our "Dear Elder" letters, because I've been sending a ton of stuff to him through that medium. I hope they arrive soon. (Maybe I jammed up the system.) I think it's just mail in general that is slow to Peru. If you would like to send David a "Dear Elder" letter, go to www.dearelder.com, select "write a letter", then Peru MTC. Letters are sent once a week. The deadline is Thursday at 11:00 PST. After this week, the address will simply be the Peru Piura Mission.

Thanks for all your support. David seems much more upbeat this week.

Mike

---

Hey Fam!

Alright, so I have one week left here in the Peru MTC. Thank goodness!! I like it a lot here in the MTC ...sure...but it's starting to drive us all crazy. Anyway...the last week went pretty well. I mean...nothing all that special...10 hours of class...6 hours of grammar. We don't learn any doctrine in class...normal week here. Every Sunday we are just starving for doctrine in priesthood because, seriously we don't do anything for that in class. It's all just learning Spanish. I need a break every once in a while! But it's its all good. All good.

We did get to do some proselyting again this past Saturday. That was awesome again. It was my first time going out with my new companion - Elder Villacis. He did a good job. It went really well too. We taught a few lessons all throughout the day...and the whole time I was actually understanding almost everything and teaching really well. Pretty sweet. I finally memorized the first vision in Spanish and used it in the first lesson we taught. Cool cool. Kinda butchered it a bit...not gonna lie...but it still sounded pretty good (I hope). But yeah, it all went really well. And I just love walking around the hills where its all the poorest of poor houses. Really nice people and all that. One of the houses we went into was a three foot wall all around the house...with a front door that went above the wall...but still had a lock...it was just funny, because we were looking around the door for someone to talk to. Gotta love it here. The last house was weird though...for whatever reason. We were there for about 45 minutes...and for some reason it was like day one for me with Spanish again... I couldn't talk...understand...nothing. I just sat there. It was lame. Weird though, because the entire day I had been talking and and listening with understanding. It's all good, though. I am getting it, and see improvement, which is exciting. Oh and I had a group of girls yelling from a window: ¨hello!¨to me...and trying to speak English. My companion just laughed at me. We have a lot of good stories about the girls here trying to talk to the North American missionaries. So yeah...that's fun. haha.

Well let's see...I dunno everything is going pretty good. Walking around in the mud to go proselyting and stuff...teaching people on their dirt or cement floors...couldn't be happier with how it's going right now. Loving it. Seems like I don't have as much to say as usual right now. Hmmm. So I hope school is going good for Brad, Jordan, Whitney, Cody...all of them who might be starting that up now. And Mom...hope the seminary is going well...and work is...grand at the office I'm sure for Dad.

Thanks for the updates on BYU football, Dad. Good to know they are doing well, even with all the controvery in the Washington game. At least BYU won. Well, I think that's about it really. But I want you to know that I am absolutely certain that this Church true...missionary work is amazing and I can't wait to leave for Piura next week. Finally!! It's gonna be awesome. Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father are watching out for us. I know that for sure...because there are always things that happen, that work out for us...that just didn't seem like they should. I feel their influence on my life every day. Anyway...the Lord always finds a way for us if we choose to follow Him and trust in Him. It's all true!

Love, Elder Royal

My new companion is Elder Villacis

Received David's email this morning. Sounds like he's going a bit stir crazy, ready to get to Piura. I think he has a couple weeks left, but not sure how long. May be a bit longer than that. Always fun to follow the ups and downs of missionary life. David is very real in his expressions, a fun read. Have a great week.

---

Alright, well we all got new companions this past week...last Wednesday and Thursday, and last Wednesday actually...we were the only missionaries at the CCM... The 11 Americans...and we got to go out on a tour of Lima. That was cool. I took lots of pictures...and picked up some cheap souvenirs (not sure if I spelled that right). So that was a good day...and we finished that up with about 3 hours of straight soccer. It was awesome! And I'm becoming quite the goalie. I made a pretty good first impression with my goalie skills for the new Latin missionaries...and apparently I'm the guy to score on now. So I have my place in the box...which is good 'cause I still can't dribble and shoot all that well.

My new companion is Elder Villacis. He's a cool guy. He is 23 and from Ecuador. He actually has a little brother who is 19...also at the CCM with us. So Brad.... imagine if we were on our missions together right now?? Kind of a weird thought, eh? But he's cool. He can understand English pretty well...but doesn't speak it. It works out nice though because I can say something in English and he can tell me how to say it in Spanish. So I'm liking that. And the Spanish is coming along a lot better. I can teach pretty well in Spanish ...and understand . . . eh . . . most things that are said to me. Still working hard on it, though.

This new group of missionaries is definitely different than the previous group. All of the new Latinos . . . for some reason . . . don't seem to need much sleep. They wake up and like 5:00 a.m....making a ton of noise.... (Ugh.) By the time I get up at 6:30 a.m. most of them are completely dressed and reading scriptures or something. That's not necessarily a bad thing - it's just that among the many rules we have as missionaries, one of my favorite relates to getting eight hours of sleep daily. That's not technically happening, so in the spirit of total compliance with the rules, I would love to have eight instead of say . . . six and a half. Know what I mean?

Let's see, what else? Well, we didn't get to go out teaching on Saturday...for whatever reason...and might not get to go again this weekend, which is terrible really...because frankly...I'm getting a bit of island fever in the CCM and just loved getting out and talking with people. I love it, of course, and am learning a lot. I am just anxious to get out there and talk with people. I am anxious to get to Piura. But, I know my day will come soon enough.

I always knew that I would be battling frustration on my mission, wrestling with challenges, and therefore I think I have dealt well with adversity (or at least I think I am). I want so badly to be completely focused on my mission 100 percent of the time. It is very difficult sometimes to not think about home...or friends...family...music. But I try so hard because I want to be completely focused on the Lord's work here. All of the missionaries seem to go through that together. I am really going to miss Elder Brown when I leave here and he stays in Lima. He and I have become very good friends. But anyway, I really have to thank Brad. He set such a wonderful example of dedicated missionary service. When things get rough and discouraging (and it happens), I think of how Brad served so well. I want to serve like that for Jordan, and others that will follow. I know Brad has been so blessed for his faithful service and continues to be blessed. I mean, come on, he married Whitney, who is awesome, and is really a great brother and friend to me. Brad, I miss you, man. Thanks for your awesome example to me. It is something that really keeps me focused on being my very best.

Thanks so much for all the letters. We get mail about once a week here and I usually get a nice load of Dear Elder letters and usually one mailed letter from the family. Every once in a while I'll get a letter from a BYU friend or something - always a great pleasure. Dad, a favor if you could. Ah, could you tell me more about BYU football? I know you have all the inside scoop, and well, I would love to know how the season goes. From what little Dad has told me (and it's not enough), it sounds like they'll have a great season. Go Cougars! Well, I love you all very much. Thanks for your continued support for me. I am SO happy to be here and love learning and working. I know I will be tested and challenged many times over the next two years, and also know that I grow from each experience. I can't wait to see what comes next!

Forever your Royal son,

Elder Royal