From Chiclayo With Love

Hey hey hey

Okay, let's get started. This being my first email ever outside of Piura. Hooray! I showed up to Chiclayo Tuesday afternoon after a three hour bus ride from Piura which consisted of an old man leaning his seat back and sleeping in my lap and watching the Transporter 2. We don't have any control really of the in bus movie...and it's kinda hard to avoid with it over the speakers and what not...anyway, while I wasn't trying to watch it, it was pretty much the most ridiculous movie ever. Dad (the self appointed Royal family movie critic) would have hated it. Fijo. Ok, so that's out of the way. My new comp is Elder Hanke, which I think I mentioned, but this week has been awesome with him. My zone is La Victoria, and so is my area and ward. There are 21 missionaries here, which is a ton. Yes, 21, because there we have trio of sisters right now. In Piura Central there were 14, so it's a lot bigger than my last zone, which is pretty cool.

I kinda did a bad job of making little notes of the things that happened this week (imagine that), but I think I can remember most of it while under the pressure of the weekly timed email challenge. So Chiclayo is nuts. I forgot what it was like to be in a real city. After 18 months of pure Piura, coming to Chiclayo has made me realize that Piura is just a little town, pretty much. Chiclayo is a lot more alive, moves a lot faster. But I like my area. Elder Hanke has already been here for over four months, so he knows the zone and city very well. We have quite a few good investigators here right now so I am off to a good start here in Chiclayo.

Friday night it started raining here a bit...and Saturday it just went nuts. Well, that's probably not true. It rained pretty decently, and it didn't hardly stop all day. I know it's not Iowa rain (that's for Cuz Cody), but it's as much as I have seen since I was in Catacaos a year ago. Wow, a year ago? That is so weird... anyway, so Chiclayo has a lot of dirt, and a lot of rain turned this city into one big mess. I think I almost fell trying to walk like 50 times. Well, I don't wanna exaggerate too much...it might have been 49. Luckily I didn't (or I would have been a mud pie). I did fall in the mud once last year in Catacaos...and that was not good. So all the rain and mud made Chiclayo extra feo and had a huge effect Sunday morning for church. The attendance was half the normal - 90 people, and no investigators were able to come. Actually, I talked to Elder Campbell, my first comp in the MTC who is now the new AP and my bro, and he said that it rained everywhere in the mission and there was hardly any investigators at church yesterday. So rain is cool, but wow. It mostly dried up today, which made it humid and hot. Awesome. We were pretty busy with zone stuff this week, but managed to get some work in our area. Saturday morning was very significant and probably one of the most depressing two hours of my life. We taught one man who is physically and mentally sick, and feels rejected by his family and that no one understands him. We taught him a lot about the Atonement. It was a pretty sad hour listening to his story...but I hope we can help him. Immediately after that we visited another man that Elder Hanke has tried to visit a lot but not been able to find home. We sat down with him, and he was totally normal at first, but then he just started crying. He lives in a big house, but just rents a room. He invited us upstairs to his room, and I really felt like crying when I saw it. It wasn't the poorest situation I have seen, but was so sad. It was just a little room with a bed, a chair with a few things on it, an extra pair of pants, and a pair of shoes. He felt the same way as the other man we met with: alone, rejected, depressed. So we taught him the same lesson about Jesus Christ and hope in the Atonement. It was a very interesting morning. We left and Elder Hanke told me that he had never had any lessons like that his whole time in this area. So, it was something new, interesting, sad and humbling for both of us. I just hope that we can help them. So many people are like that - alone, sad, searching for truth and happiness and wander around without hope. It is a beautiful thing to see how the gospel light can change all that - if those searching will simply allow the light of Christ to burn within them. That is the part of missionary work I love the most - helping others see the light, His light, and to then see the change it makes in their lives. There is nothing better than that!

Okay, so now I'll explain what we did today and why I am emailing so late. (So, don't be mad at me anymore.) We cleaned our room this morning (yes, first things first). Hooray for us! We hung out a bit with the zone in the morning, and then went to center. I bought a cheap tie. Awesome. Then I saw one later in the day that I liked better. Dang. Elder Hanke showed me all around the center of town, and we went to a place called Real Plaza, which is pretty much like this one mall in Vegas, that I can't remember the name. But you always pass it going on the 15, it's all outside and has big white covers over it. So we went there and what did I have for lunch? That's right: Pizza Hut!!! Please let Elder Jack Winn know that I finally had some American restaurant food. I have been so jealous of him with his Taco Bell stories and all that from Guatemala. It was delicious. Oh, and as we were walking through, we walked by a big CD store...and I just happened to catch sight of one of the CDs in the window that was...that's right, the new Muse album. I also happened to notice that there were headphones right by the CDs to test music...and then I walked away, fighting the urge to cry. Ok not really, but once again I avoided it. I know someone out there will be proud of me. Elder Gale, for one. And Mom, always Mom. I got the package with the family Christmas letter - finally! Great read! ;)

Well, that's about all I got. I am definitely happy to be here. We are feeling good here in La Victoria. Elder Hanke is awesome and we are having way too much fun together, which just makes life that much better. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love being a missionary, serving Him by bringing the message of His gospel to others, testifying of Him - it is just a totally awesome time of my life. The Church IS true! Embrace it and make it great by being great in the Savior's eyes. Everyone have a great week.

Elder "I Love Chiclayo" Royal