So this be Elder Royal, calling in. Sorry it's kinda late. We had a pretty crazy day today. We went to a town outside of Piura called Moropon. It was awesome, 'cause it had mountains, and I love mountains, and miss mountains very much. So we hiked up through that a bit, got some waterfall action. Yes Mom, I got some pictures and what not. I have plenty of pictures that I am working on sending you along with a letter, and no I have not yet sent anything - to the family at least. (Oooooouch.) But I have some some to Brad and foos out yonder in Provo, so holla back if ya'll got what I sent. Don't worry Mom, yours is coming too - just taking longer 'cause its extra special. ;)
So this week was cool. I got punched in the face! Yeah, seriously...got in a little run in with a mugger, and one thing led to another...but I got the best of him.......no (jk). It was actually from a seven year old kid that I was playing with. I was holding him upside down and he just took a swing right into my face...pretty good hit, I might add. But yeah, so there is my first punch in the face in Peru. So far nothing real with a mugger or anything...but I have had some pretty shady looking dudes come up to me and say... "Hey you're the guy from Las Vegas, right?" Soooo...not sure how I'm becoming so popular here in San Pedro...must be from all the people whistling at me. Oh yeah, I'm a big attraction, at least for the 9-10 year old girls. Sometimes I get a whistle from the old maids (the 13 year olds - ha) on a good day. Probably a good thing that I'm unattractive enough that they lose interest in me a few years after hitting age 11 - one thing less to worry about.
Alright, we had one more baptism yesterday - 15 year old kid named Humberto. It was a bit weird, because although we had permission from Humberto's parents to teach him, we did not yet have permission to baptize him. Humberto was with us at a baptism held by the zone leaders and they were like: "Hey, let's baptize Humberto now." And they did - just like that. Now my companion is a bit freaked out. It was definitely not done according to proper protocol, but I just do what I'm told (assuming I understand it in Espanol). Anyway, I'm sure it will all work out. By the way (and I really don't mean to complain), but my companion, Elder Calderon, can be a bit on the slightly annoying side. But, I don't say anything because I don't wanna get into arguments or anything. He is cool sometimes, and usually when I get frustrated with him, he does something nice for me, so I end up feeling bad for being frustrated, even though I never show or tell him. Yeah, anyway, so I'm trying to learn to be more patient. This week I studied the Christlike attributes a lot, and I think it really helped me. That's one thing I plan on studying more, hoping to become more positive, Christlike in general. Overall, Elder Calderon is a good guy, and I'm doing fine with him.
Let's see, I'm trying to make this interesting...yeah we are teaching a lot, and have a lot of good investigators right now, and personally I think we should have at least one baptism a week for the remainder of the transfer (especially if they are the impromptu kind with Humberto - ha). We'll see. In other news, I lost my CTR ring, which was chained to my oil thing and I walked around all day with the ring on my finger flipping and twirling it around. Really, all day. And it's really quite depressing. to make up for it. (Remember how the guy in Castaway was hooked on the Wilson volleyball? "Wilson!!" It's kinda like that.) But man it was such a cool one, not a fan of the shield CTR. But it was a solid band with CTR in different languages. Man, so sad. So, to make life more interesting, and take my mind off my loss, I started a new game where I step over dogs that are in the road. It's fun, because they are all super paranoid and for the most part, afraid of people. The first day I did it, I got over five without any freaking out and running away. Pretty fun - gotta admit. So the second day I just had Brian Regan in my head. (". . . Alright, record's 5, record's 5 Brian, Ready? Go!") Yeah, so one dog...wooo boy, I got a little running start and just leaped over him and, as I was suspended like Michael Jordan in mid air, he got up, and I thought he was just gonna swallow me whole. (Pretty big dog, too, haha.) He went nuts, and about 50 other dogs started going crazy, too. I got scared and ran as my companion laughed at me. It was funny. So Mom, anyway, if you could find it within your tender heart to please get me a CTR ring chained to a new oil vile. It might keep me from participating in my new sport of dog leaping, and ultimately save my life.
Oh and a shout out to Mom for finding Elder Brown's family!! Woo!! That's so exciting. Best part of the day so far probably. Oh, and please keep it up with the Dear Elder letters. Man, it is so awesome getting like 20 of those each week. Everyone is SOOOO jealous and I just feed off of those. So much fun to read and such a boost. I do get real mail every once in a while...sending mail is kinda a hassle, only because I don't really wanna write. Oh so lazy. But I did get a letter from Jordan's friend's sister, Liz, who I went on a blind date with. Kinda random, but I guess Jordan can alert her somehow to let her know the mail system is working. But seriously, getting letters is just awesome...so thanks a ton to everyone. Oh, and I'm glad to hear another tape is coming. They are so fun to listen to. I am still working one that dates back into the CCM. Oh yeah, my pensionistta is really awesome, and I want to get her something for Christmas. Last year an elder gave her a calender with temples for each month, and she loved it. I know Mom is good with that stuff, got something little in mind that you think would be possible to send also? Just wondering.
Alright, well this is getting long. I miss everyone, that's for sure. Dad told me that David Robertson and Jack's sister are engaged. If that's true . . . well cool! And if it's not, well that's not a very good joke, Dad. ;) The people of Peru are awesome. I've met so many awesome, humble people. I can't wait until I can fully understand everything, but in the meantime the Spanish is really coming along, and I'm very happy to be here. But things are good. Peru is quite the country. Oh ya, know what. I had a really interesting dream this week. I had a dream that I was with you guys here in Peru, at the end of my mission, finishing up, and had my coming home interview with President Davie, was released and everything. I even remember President Davie telling me that I could remove my badge. How do you say . . . .uh . . . it was the most vivid dream I have had in a long time. I woke up and remembered everything and expected to feel just downright homesick. But amazingly enough, I felt so good because I think a lot about what kind of quality missionary I am, and whether I am a good, faithful, worthy servant, and I have prayed a lot the past few weeks for comfort, for everything really, all aspects of missionary life - but mostly to feel the spirit, to be comforted, to know and feel that I am a worthy servant and that God will accept my sacrifice and in the dream when I went home I knew that I had been faithful, and that my sacrifice had been accepted. and, well it was pretty much just a really nice dream - a direct answer to prayer, really.
Very sad to hear about BYU and the loss to Utah - sounds like a very sad day for Max Hall. (Ouch.) On that note, the Church is true. Love it. Live it.
Elder I'm gonna buy myself a guitar for Christmas Royal
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