January 18, 2010
Hey hey hey
Okay, so it’s been a pretty eventful week here in Hot Land aka Piura. To start, I have had a cold all week that came on out of nowhere last Monday. (Strange having a cold in the middle of the hot summer.) That was with me all week and was kinda lame, but I got through the week fine. My nose is still bothering me, but the sinus congestion and cough are gone, so it’s getting there. On Wednesday, my nose was really stuffy, and I was doing a work visit in another area and wasn’t in my room. I was so desperate for relief that I put Icy Hot up my nose to try and clear it. To make a long story short, that was probably the worst minute of my life (because it is ICY HOT), but it did work…for at least a half hour or so…but some relief is better than no relief. Later that night I went back to my area and got the pressurized nasal spray that Mom sent me a long time ago. That stuff is a miracle worker. Side note... The next morning I walked around for about five minutes after getting ready before realizing that something was walking across the top of my foot inside my shoe…and it was a cricket. That was not cool. I freaked out! Lesson learned… snooze to check the shoes or I may lose. (I don’t need THAT kind of company!)
The week was kind of a struggle - a bit slow - because of the cold symptoms. Martin got confirmed yesterday, and that was great, but there is not much more to tell about our invetigators. Harold did not get baptized yesterday. During the middle of the week he decided that he wanted to change his date until the end of the month. So, hopefully when that day comes he will feel ready and go through with it. He is still coming along pretty well though, so I’m not too worried about it. Melina is doing pretty well, too. However, she went to Lima yesterday and we don’t know when she is returning . . . could be up to two weeks. We are just hoping that she doesn’t get any negativity thrown at her while she is there.
On Friday, I did a baptismal interview for another area. I love doing baptism interviews. This was one of those times that was just awesome. I interviewed a 14 girl named LucyMar. She was great and had such a good testimony about the gospel. She told me about how happy she is whenever she does something gospel oriented. That was definitely one of the highlights in a week that was somewhat slow. On Sunday, I was playing prelude music when the bishop came and told me that my companion and I were scheduled to speak. I just love how organized my ward is…lots of things happen last minute like that here in Los Ficus. But, oh well. So I thought of something real quick to talk about and actually pulled a 15 minute talk out of nowhere. So that worked out pretty nice. The best part was that the bishop didn’t even tell my companion, just me while I was playing, so my companion didn’t know until the bishop announced us to speak, about seven seconds in advance. But I spoke first, so no worries.
My zone needs a bit of help right now. And to be perfectly honest, I am not sure what to do. We are finding and teaching a lot of new people, but we are struggling to get commitments, such as church attendance, acceptance of baptismal dates or to otherwise prepare for baptism. So I need something to help my zone get out of this little funk. But I am not sure what to do…so I ask for your prayers that my companion and I will be able to figure out what our zone needs right now.
Finally, I completed 18 months on Saturday! I absolutely cannot believe that. I am so happy to be here. I have heard a lot from missionaries that just recently went home and they pretty much all tell me the same thing…that getting home has its own set of challenges and to keep working hard on the work to the end. That is obviously what I intend to do. I don’t know why, but I was thinking of something amusing that probably only Brad (and maybe Jordan) will understand (from Arrested Development):
Michael: "It’s take your daughter to work day."
George Michael: "Hey Dad, does this skirt go good with this blouse?"
I dunno if that’s exactly how it is…but it’s something like that. I know, it makes absolutely no sense, but that just popped into my head and made me laugh. (Sorry Dad, not real spiritual, I know.) So on that note…life is good here. As far as anything I need, nothing really - besides maybe sun screen. (And please enclose the family Christmas letter. I still haven’t got to read it yet. Come on!) I am very happy in Peru, and so grateful to still have six months to serve as a Special Witness of Jesus Christ. I love my Savior. I love His gospel and I especially love testifying of His plan of salvation. It’s pretty hot here now, kinda miserable, but the Church is now and will always be true. And THAT’S what’s important. So love it, live it every day.
Elder “Still a Lousy Soccer Player” Royal
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