“Send little girls to Paita.”

Below is David's latest email. He sent a few pictures from the trip the took about 10 days ago (he wrote about it last week, see the post on 20 June.). Should be an interesting week, with the change in mission presidents. Maralea and I are going to Georgia this week. Very excited about it. I have been working on putting together the "filmstrip" Lamar Day and I put together while serving as missionaries in the Vidalia Ward in January 1980. I uploaded it on my Facebook profile. It has been a pretty amazing journey for me to go back through pictures from 30 years ago, to put all this back together, and was amazed at how much of all this I had forgotten. If you are interested in viewing it and have a problem, let me know. (By the way, as Jordan was watching it tonight, he actually asked me if some of the pics of me are David. Funny.) Link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/MichaelARoyal?ref=profile

Have a great week.

Mike
________________

Hey Family:

Well, it has been a long week, but I’ll try and keep this letter as up beat as possible. So today is President Solis’ last Preparation Day in the mission field. It was pretty cool, though. We left earlier this morning to a country club place and played basketball and tennis. President Solis is a great tennis player…not so great in basketball, haha, but it was fun. Here’s an interesting fact. When we were playing basketball it was all chill, just kinda having fun, somewhat competitive play, and then President shot it, and I totally packed him. Rejected! Haha! It was so funny…at least for me. Everyone else froze and kinda gave me a look like… “You just…did that…to the President?” It was awesome. I can’t remember who won because the President’s phone went off and he pulled it out of his sport pants and the game just kinda ended. Aside from that… I’ve been working today. Hooray. That’s usually how My Prep Days go. I don’t know if I’m just terrible at my job or what, but it seems like I am always having to do something.

So as long weeks go, this one went by really quick. I had a ton of work. July is quickly approaching which means I have to have all the money ready for the missionaries…and it’s just been insane. I finally have the new system figured out, and think it should turn out a lot better this month. June was an absolute nightmare, and it’s finally coming to a close – so I’m just praying to not have a repeat in July. So, I was completely occupied the entire week, and wasn’t able to get out and teach – which made me pretty sad. We have some good people that we are teaching, so I’d like to get out more – that and getting out of the office is ALWAYS nice. Seriously, when the phone rings in the office, it seems like it’s for me 90% of the time. But, I’m doing everything possible to keep my sanity. It’s almost working.

This coming week is gonna be very interesting. President Solis is leaving on July 1st, and President Chipman arrives the same day. The missionaries are going to take out money on that date, and will want to kill me if it’s not right this time – also on the 1st, and we have transfers – which has thus far proven to be taxing with so many making demands at the same time. Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. Actually, I am, it’s gonna be cool. It will be interesting to be in the office and receive a new president – and, according to Grandma Kelly’s amazing family history work, President Chipman and I are eighth (8th) cousins, three generations removed (or something like that). I have very little knowledge of what that means…but, we’re pretty much gonna be bros (ha).

Since Dad mentioned some embarrassing, dumb things he did while serving in the office during his mission, I figured I’d share the latest for me. We had some missionaries here for interviews the other day, and at the end of the day, I had to give them money to send them home. Now, they were all being rather difficult, giving me a pretty hard time - making demands, not being very patient. So I gave them money and asked them to please leave my office. I had to make a receipt with the amount and what for and - in my rather upset state - wrote: “Send little girls to Paita.” I completely forgot about that the next day as I went through all the receipts with President Solis. When he came to this receipt, we had the following conversation:


President: Eight-seven soles to send kids (he read it as niños : little boys) to Paita? What kids, Elder?
Me: Oh, right, (cough) that was the money for the Paita missionaries last night.
President: Don’t put little boys, Elder, little girls (he then saw niñas)! You put little girls! Elders, they are Elders, missionaries!

Anyway, awkward, yet I found a little humor in the midst of it all. Sorry, Dad, I know, it was dumb, and you have told me repeatedly to always refer to my fellow missionaries as Elder. Well, I walked into one there. You know, Dad, I remember first talking with you about that when Brad was on his mission. So, I’m working on it. I know it may not seem like it, but I really am growing with patience. I have just been so frustrated with all the office work, the problems/hassles with the money management - from bad protocols that existed before my arrival, to the mistakes I have made, to the audit, to the new system we are implementing, to my mistakes (did I mention that already?). I feel kind of chained to a desk, and have had so little time to proselyte. I really miss teaching, and hope I will become good enough with the money that I will find a way to do more teaching and testifying.

Well that’s all from here in Peru. Hope everyone is having an awesome summer. Jordan, Whitney, got letters from you guys this week. Thanks! Oh, and Grandma and Grandpa Kelly, I received the pedigree chart (obviously) and the letters from forever ago that I forgot the mention. Sorry! So I am going to work on a reply, but just wanted to let you know I got them. Church is true. Live it.

Elder Can You Spare a Soles, Hermano? Royal

Pictures from my trip to Kuelap Fortress

Kuelap Fortress as seen from a satellite.
(Link courtesy of Uncle Rich)

Me and Liliana

Kuelap Trail

Walking the Kuelap Trail

Kuelap Wall

Kuelap Path

Kuelap Path and Me

Kuelap Path: Powering the Sky

Feliz dia del padre

Hey hey hey,

First of all, happy Father's Day, pops! I hope you enjoyed your day. It is just another excuse to drink for many of the people here. We had some guy come up to us in his moto taxi and try to charge double the normal because: "It's a party today! I have to charge more!" Then I told him that he was drunk and sent him away. I'm all about arguing with taxi drivers (haha). Well, here's a Father's Day note. Thanks for all your help over the years, Dad. I've grown up a lot in the past couple years. Going to BYU was a huge step up for me. Going on a mission was an even bigger step. And it's all be so good! I thoroughly enjoyed my childhood, and would do it 10 times over. I owe so much to you and Mom. You were and are absolutely amazing parents who did all you could for your children. I guess children and teenagers are just blind sometimes - that we have a hard time looking at the big picture, or get so absorbed over one thing that we don't always realize the blessings and love for us that we have elsewhere. But one conversation that you and I had together at a time of decision really stuck with me:"David, just have faith, do what you know is right, and your Heavenly Father will take care of the rest." From that moment on, I pretty much based my life around that. I think that I greatly improved the last year before going on my mission. So thank you for keeping me straight, keeping me on track as a teenager. If you hadn't, I may not have had the grades to get into BYU at all. But not only in school – I followed your example in the Church. I doubt it would have been as easy to be a good Church member without parents who weren't doing it themselves. And then for pushing us to develop musical skills. I still regret not doing better with the piano, but I love playing. Actually, Elder Nash, the Area President here, came and spoke to us recently. He gave an amazing talk on Helaman 5! I played prelude before the meeting. I love playing prelude. I am pretty good and just making something up and playing and received a lot of compliments, including from Elder Nash – always special. The hymns, though, that's something else. They are hard for some reason! Don't tell Jordan I said that, then he'll put that in his mind and won't develop them either. But that's still something for me to do, a goal, to be able to play the hymns well (at least more of them). Anyway, Pops, I owe a lot to you and love you tons. I am grateful for the relationship that we have developed together. I am grateful for a father that taught me correct principles. I couldn't be happier. I am proud to be your son and call you my father. I love you, Dad. Thanks for being awesome. ¡Feliz día del Padre!

Okay, now . . . about the week. It didn't begin well. I was having a hard time getting all the money problems figured out, which continue to just be endless . . . and my patience was running thin. But ya know, as far as my patience has been tested lately, I'm just proud of myself for not freaking out on anyone. There was this missionary in the office who is a bit…different, who asked me the same question about his personal money about every 45 minutes. And it was always at a stressful moment for me. And yet, I never yelled at anyone. Not once. I just had to stomp on my own feet underneath the desk and take really deep breaths to avoid an explosion, but I did it. (No, I don't normally explode on people, but I just wanted to show you that I can master - or mask - my stressed out emotions better.) So, I made it through another week.

We went to Chachapoyas again. We left Friday morning in the combi with President and Sister Solís. The 10 hour car ride was not much fun. We drove all day and made a few stops and got to Chacha at about 9:00 pm. During the drive, Elder Calderon pulled out some Big Red gum, and I told him to lick the wrapper and stick it to his forehead. Now, Elder Calderon is a pretty tough guy :] so he wasn't gonna say no. (I told him it would burn.) I dunno how many people know about licking a big red gum wrapper and sticking it to your forehead, but man, wait and few minutes and it becomes pretty painful. He lasted about 30 seconds before he ripped it off in pain and complained for about 10 minutes about how bad it burned. I was laughing the whole time. We got to stay in a hotel, which was cool. I thought it was really nice, and it was funny the next day when I asked the president, "so hoẃd you like the hotel?" He just shrugged his shoulders and said, "eh." It was hilarious. But I thoroughly enjoyed it.

We woke up at 4:00 a.m. on Friday and started driving up the mountain with the Chacha missionaries until we arrived at Kúelap. It was cool because Elder Bult and Elder Borup are both there right now with their companions. So I got to hang out with them again and that was sweet. Kuélap is awesome. It's considered the Machu Pichu of northern Peru. It was BEAUTIFUL! It is way up high in the mountains, took forever to get to, and was probably in the 40's when we got there. Nice and cold. We had to hike a little ways before we got there. It's like this big ancient fortress that has all these big walls, and staircases to get to different levels of the…fortress. Pretty cool stuff. Elder Borup and I decided it was most likely the hideout of the Gadianton Robbers. So we got a big tour around the whole place and I took about 160 pictures before my camera died. I will get those out as soon as possible, because they are awesome. Probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It's very green, and actually part of the Amazon. Very, very cool experience. On the way back everyone was really tired and falling asleep in the car. I couldn't sleep very well, just because it was ridiculously bumpy. Elder Velez de Villa was driving, and this was the only time during the whole trip that I decided to check on the driver. I sat up as everyone was asleep and looked in the rearview mirror, and as we drove on mountain cliff roads, I saw in the mirror that Elder Velez de Villa's eyes were closed. I yelled his name and his eyes shot open – and I decided it was the spirit helping us so we wouldn't fall off a few hundred foot cliff, explode and die. Later we went back and got ready to go, and Elder Calderon, Elder Bates, and I left Chacha last night at 7:30 a.m. on a bus. I was SOOOO happy to not ride the combi back. The bus ride the Chiclayo took about 11 hours, and we missed our scheduled bus from Chiclayo to Piura, and had to wait a bit in Chiclayo. From being in the office and traveling with President Solis, I have been to almost all of the mission.

Since we got to Piura late we went around to a couple different wards before we actually got one in time to take the sacrament. Awesomely enough, we had to go outside of Piura to Catacaos. Everyone was really excited to see me there – it was exciting. And this was WAY COOL – there is this kid that was being taught before I got there, and we taught him the three months I was there, and today he was up on the stand to bless the sacrament. It was so awesome!! His name is Luis. I can't remember if I ever mentioned him or not, but he finally got baptized three weeks ago. He blessed the water and after he finished, the spirit was just so strong. It's so awesome to see and hear about people that I taught that get baptized later. Very cool. And Catacaos is a great place. I miss it.

Alright this is just starting to ramble now. The mission is going G-G-GREAT! I absolutely love being out here. Peru is amazing. The mission is the greatest experience ever. Those who aren't sure whether they should go, or don't want to go – change your mind right now, because there is nothing better. We have been able to teach a lot more lately, and are started to build up a good pool of investigators here in the office. I don't think it will be any less crazy this week, or ever really, because the whole transition of presidents will probably be insane – but it doesn't matter, I just love being out here. The Church is true. Live it. Love it. Embrace it.

Elder feliz dia del padre Royal

Make Someone Else Happy Today

Received David's email yesterday. Missionaries are tested in many ways - and David had one this week involving a camera. Perhaps a lesson in humility and in following the promptings of the spirit - and in just being more careful. The saga is laid out below. Also, David likes to think he was nearly mugged. Hopefully, this "near miss" experience will result in heightened awareness of his surroundings in the future. Enclosed are a few pictures from David's trip this week. He does not get to see much of the green, beautiful Peruvian landscape in the Piura area. Also, it's good to see David is getting good use of the sheers Maralea sent to him several months back. ;) Have a great week everyone.

Mike

________________

How to write Elder Royal...

1. Dear Elder (my favorite): 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). (Post by Thursday at 11:00 a.m. PST.)

2. Snail Mail Pouch Mail rules: one sheet of paper folded in thirds and taped shut. No envelopes allowed.

Peru Piura Mission

POB 30150

Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0150

3. Packages and Air Mail Stamps

Peru Piura Mission

Los Naranjos Mz H, Lt 4

Urb. Los Geranios

Piura PERU

4. Email

royal_d@myldsmail.net

________

June 13, 2009

Hey everyone,

This was a good week in many respects, because I got out of the office and didn't take a single angry phone call from . . . anyone. It was beautiful - and I'm not just talking about the lack of phone calls, but the drive to Jaén and Chachapoyas was amazing. I got some good pics that I'm sending home. We left Tuesday in the morning for Jaén and arrived in the afternoon. During the afternoon, President Solis had interviews with the missionaries. It was cool to be there, especially because a bunch of my buddies are there right now, including Elder Borup, who I thought I wouldn't see again before he went home. We also had the zone conference that evening and Elder Calderon and I were sent to buy some things for it. Kinda an interesting thing happened on that little errand. We bought some things, got into a moto taxi and told him to take us to the LDS chapel just around the corner. It was the first time either of us had been to Jaén, so we didn't really know our way around. The moto turned onto the main street that I recognized, but going the opposite direction. I told the driver he passed it, but he just saying: it's okay, it's okay." So I thought maybe he'd do the whole circle around thing, take the long way for the bigger fare, and all that. I figured we would eventually arrive, argue a bit, and he would drive off without getting his 50 extra cents – ya know, another normal day on the streets of Peru. So he kept driving, never turned, and got into a real shady looking area, very dark, and then Elder Calderon began yelling: "Stop! Stop the moto!" Then he gets out and says, "You're a liar! Quit being stupid!" That's pretty much the equivalent of what he said anyway, in Spanish. The moto guy said: "The church is right there down the hill" (pointing to a shack with no lights on). So Elder Calderon yelled at him again, told him to go away, and we didn't pay him anything. And then me, being the skilled navigator I am, was in charge of directing us back through the dark Jaén roads to the church on foot. We made it, fortunately. So we were pretty much about to get jumped big time. Good thing Elder Calderon caught on quick, because we both had a lot of money on us – at least a few hundred soles. Dang. I was that close to finally having my first mugging experience. (Does that count as a mugging? I think it should qualify, seriously.)

The conference was cool and then we slept that night and left in the morning for Chachapyas (popularly known as "ChaCha"). It is an awesome drive - very green, and along side a river the whole time, with amazingly large, beautiful mountains. We took lots of pictures, which I am passing along. Chacha is a way cool town, too. Up in the mountains, small, lots of hills, and more like Colonial style. There are lots of stores and places have wooden floors (not at all common in this country) and other awesome things. At any rate, I'm jealous that I didn't get to stay and work there. It would be so awesome to serve there one day. The drive back was…long, and we arrived at the office at 2:00 a.m. and passed out. It was a cool trip, and we may be going there again soon, before President Solis finishes his mission. That would be nice.

All was not perfect on the trip, and I could use some help. Please say like 50 very humble meaningful prayers that we will be able to find the president's camera. Spread that around the world. Urgent, please! We have to find it. I guess I should explain. We came back from Chachapoyas, and it was an all afternoon drive, and we got back late, as I mentioned. Now, when we started the drive, I was holding the camera, and asked Elder Larsen to put it in the glove box, but he didn't want to. So I kept it in the cup holder next to me. No problem. It was there all night. I was sleeping, so when we got back we all went to bed because we were too tired to unload. When I woke up the next morning, I started to unload the car. There have been about 10 guys here from the morning to the afternoon working on the house - so I started to unload and tried not to get in the way. I got in the side door of the car and I remember thinking "I need to get the president's camera..." I looked and saw that it was still in the cup holder, and kept taking out suit cases. At that moment, another missionary said that someone was calling for me. So, I put down what I was doing to go answer the phone. Maybe 15 minutes later after talking to people, I went back downstairs to continue unloading. At the same time, the usual guy that cleans the cars showed up. So I backed the car into the street for him to wash, and then unloaded everything else so he could clean. The combi was a mess, lots of bags, trash and stuff, so I just gathered up everything I could, handed some stuff to another elder, then walked inside after seeing that nothing was left in the combi. I threw away trash and the rest of the stuff I set on a table. Afterward I started getting ready for the day. Probably about two hours later, Elder Larsen asked me for the camera, and my head suddenly exploded. I had absolutely no recollection of what happened to it. I remember, as I said before, thinking that I needed to get it and seeing it in the cup holder. After that, I don't remember doing anything with the camera. So that consumed the day for me. I searched absolutely everywhere. The car, took items out of the trash one by one on four occasions, every corner, under every bed, tore apart every suitcase of every elder, every drawer, box, pocket, went to the bus station and got onto a moving bus to ask another missionary who left in the midst of it all...everywhere. From about 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. I was panic stricken. And I went to bed...feeling incredibly bad about it.

I don't think I've ever been more frustrated my whole life. I looked absolutely everywhere but to no avail. I remember taking everything else out of the car, but for whatever reason, whether I took it out or someone else took it out, I cannot remember the camera coming out of the car. We talked with president about it last night and came up with possible answers – that it accidentally got misplaced and its here somewhere (I don't believe it, I LOOKED EVERYWHERE), that a missionary took it, whether by mistake or on purpose, or that one of the workers took it. They have been questioned, all deny any knowledge of it. These guys seem pretty straight though because we were gone for two days and they painted every room and had every opportunity to steal, and we came back to rooms actually more organized.

So it's pretty sad. In the end, it is my responsibility. I was the one that started taking stuff out of the car. I had the impression to take it earlier, and ignored it. I allowed myself to let my guard down, leave it unattended, and feel I let President down. (There is a good lesson in there about not only listening to the spirit, but acting upon it.) So I figure that in between the time of me removing things from the car, going to answer the phone, and then returning – that someone could have taken it. I don't remember seeing it the second time - that or I was just extremely careless, put it somewhere without realizing it and forgot, or put it somewhere and gave someone the perfect chance to snatch it. Either way, I feel absolutely terrible and the last two days were probably some of most depressing ever. I prayed, pleaded, begged, on at least 50 different occasions on my knees that we would be able to find it, but…we can't. And I don't think I have ever felt worse. (I would be frustrated enough at losing my own camera, but the president's camera? Really bad.)

Other than that, it's been fairly normal missionary office work. I've been trying to get all the money problems fixed, but it's like playing Wack a Mole. There is no end. Oh well. Um, trying to think if there is anything else left to mention. I think that's about it. Oh, right. Happy 17th birthday Jordan! And have fun with all your volleyball tourneys. I am definitely jealous. (And thanks for sending the volleyball pics, Dad. It's almost like being there.) I sent off a package last week to you guys too, mostly for Jordan's birthday. But there is one on the way. I also sent off a two month old letter to Brad and Whitney. Just got lazy and never sent it. Haha, but it's coming. Alright, well, I guess that's about it. One thing I continue to experience and have come to know without a doubt: life is full of challenges and setbacks. It doesn't matter who we are, where we are or even how faithful we have been, our faith is constantly being tested. We have blessed times when everything seems to be going right, which are usually followed by times of trial. I sometimes wish we didn't have to experience the hard times and challenges, but realize that without them growth would be impossible - it would never occur. The key is to bounce back, to stay focused on the Savior, and remember that He experienced the worst of mankind (through no fault of His own), and therefore knows all we are feeling in times of trouble and sorrow. So, regardless of what happens in our lives, the one thing we can all rely on is the knowledge that our Savior lives, that He atoned for our sins, and has established the fullness of His gospel on the earth, found within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If we remain faithful, we will be as the wise stewards in the Parable of the Talents, who heard the Master's words: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." (Matt. 25:14-30.) Enduring challenges, being faithful to the end, is the key to success and happiness. So, remember that the gospel is true, and endure well. Know it. Embrace it. Love it. Live it.

Elder Make Someone Else Happy Today Royal

David’s 17 Points of Advice for a Seventeen-Year-Old

Alright Jordan, let's get one thing straight. I realize that I waited until two days before your birthday to finally write you and make your card. And I also realize that I probably won't send this until Tuesday, that day being your birthday, and that you may not read this until you're lighting off fireworks at 4th of July parties. Alright, what can I tell a lil' brother turning 17? (I have to write my 7's with that line in the middle because Peruvians otherwise think "7" is a one. So now this "7"is my seven.) Alright, so you're 17. Cool. My advice . . . (and take this seriously):

1. Have fun. High school will be over soon. Enjoy it.


2. Meet new people. The more the merrier. Make tons of friends.


3. Be yourself. Don't worry about people judging you harshly. You can't fret about things outside your control. Just be you.


4. Don't get a serious girlfriend. It's pointless, pointless, pointless. (Did I mention it's pointless?) And all the time you wasted with her you could have used to perfect music skills and help close friends stay active in Church. So . . . don't. Me entiendes? No seas estupido. So, no pre-mission girlfriends. (See #1. Have fun with lots of friends.)


5. When I say, "have fun with lots of friends" I mean good, wholesome "fun" - and I think you know what I mean. Be your best self always.


6. Take care of yourself. Eat good, eat a lot. That's what teenage guys do. Stay active. Work out. Work your physical and mental strength. You'll get awesome at v-ball. Don't be a lazy slob.


7. Perfect your music skills. Seriously. You'll regret it if you don't. So do it. Do your best to develop all talents now, while you have the time and opportunity.


8. Build and maintain a strong bond with Mom and Dad. Just do that one well. It's so important!


9. Daily scripture reading. Even if it's just a little! I know it seems impossible–but you can do it. Just have to prioritize. Reading scriptures helps us remember who we are, where we came from, and where we are going if we choose to follow Him.


10. Good personal prayers. Don't just quickly blab something to check it off as done and have it bounce off the ceiling and land on your pillow next to your face. Develop a relationship with your Heavenly Father just like with me, or Mom and Dad. Get to know Him and be comfortable speaking to Him (and to Mom and Dad!) Never pray in bed, even if you are on your knees in bed. Humble yourself, kneel on the ground, and pour out your soul to Him. The more your knees ache, the better.


11. Take advantage of being able to kneel and pray on carpeted floor. Hurts your knees a bit more on cement floor.


12. Speaking of flooring, take advantage of carpet. I miss it - a lot. I have not even lied down on a floor of carpet since July 16, 2008, at Colin and Jen's house the night before entering the MTC. That was soft and sweet. Use it wisely.


13. Learn to love the Church and revolve your life around it's principles. You cannot go wrong. The world has nothing to offer that will begin to give you what is available through following a righteous gospel path.


14. Do things that build self-confidence and self-esteem. We love you, Jordan! You have a grand purpose, as we all do.


15. Relax. (Trust me, I know this one from sad experience. Stress doesn't ever help.)
    
16. Continue your foreign language studies. Knowing a second language is pretty much awesome and you never know, you could go Spanish speaking.


17. Like Dutch and I used to say, "Just have fun with it!" (See No. 15, above.)

Alright, I think I covered a lot of what I wanted to cover in "David's 17 points of advice for being an awesome 17 year old." But, maybe I have a few more pointers left. As for your own mission, prepare for the most awesome, difficult, amazing, strenuous, and indescribable experience of your life. I have a good chunk of time on my belt, so I'm pretty well adjusted to being a missionary, and it's awesome! You'll love it. If you do it right. I'm doing my best to do it right. Remember the example of Elder Rogers in "Best Two Years." Life was lame when he didn't work, and awesome when he was totally immersed in the work, being the kind of missionary God wants us to be. It is the same in real life. Hardly work, hardly happy. Work well, way happy. Simple. So you be like the Elder Rogers at the end of his mission, better yet, be Elder Calhoun - way into it from start to finish.

The mission area in Piura Peru is pretty hot and sandy - just the way I like it. It's all good. I would love it hot/cold, wet/dry, etc. I am happy to serve where I have been called. Period. Well dude, I think I'm fresh out of things to write. Um...yep, creo que si. So, Happy Birthday. Happy summer. Good luck with v-ball and everything else you got going on. Hopefully the package I'm sending will be cool and pleasing to ya'll over there in the Royal household te amo mucho. Ciau hermano. O sea, hermanito! Paz afuera.

Tu hermano para siempre,
Elder David Royal