Hey Hey Hey
Ok, sorry, so sorry. I’m sure to have worried you by not writing yesterday. But it’s all good, here we go. So as I mentioned yesterday, there is some pretty big news going on in La Victoria. To begin with, I am no longer in La Victoria. I’m in HEAVEN! But I’ll get to that here in a minute. First, we finished INCREDIBLY for the end of the cambio, completing 10 baptisms during the last week. That was great, and we finished the month of April with 18 for the entire zone. It turned out pretty well. I am very happy with that but more than anything for the incredible work of the missionaries. We really did have a good zone there. Well, at least for the month of April. As you may remember we had a few problems here and there at the beginning of the change, but we got that all figured out and really just had an all star squad for the last four weeks of the cambio, and it turned out great.
So we had a great time in La Victoria. Elder Vasquez and I did well together. It was an interesting time with him. I learned a lot about him, and a lot from him, and we got along great even though we are pretty different. We had an activity with the stake and it turned out really cool. We did a Night of Parabols, in which each barrio was to act out a parable. Well, only four of the seven wards showed up, so they asked us to put on a couple of little skits to fill in some time. Yeah, our skits were by far the best. Haha. Well they were funny and stupid, and that’s what’s important. We did the Good Samaritan, but pretty much took out all of the doctrine ... I was the guy walking alone until I got jumped by robbers, but ending up beating THEM up, until I got jumped from behind from a secret robber. It was dumb, but funny, and we all enjoyed it. We also created a parabol of two missionaries that get locked out of their room for the night and sleep on park benches, and get robbed - in a nut shell. But it was cool. Anyway, even though a few wards didn’t show up, it still turned out really cool.
Hey, I finally figured out why I never took out the Plan of Salvation puzzle you got me before now - because after using it for just two weeks, I already lost the Terrestrial Kingdom. (Dang it.) The weather started cooling down a lot in Chiclayo, and that was really awesome. The shower was even colder which, well, I didn’t like so much. But, actually now it’s even colder where I am . . . in Heaven!! Oh and by the way, I received the two packages that you sent me for by birthday. Thanks! I didn’t eat much of it yet. I am gong to save most of it for this Monday, and it’s gonna be cool. I am looking forward to it.
Ok, now I’ll tell you about HEAVEN. Elder Machacuay called me Saturday morning and said that I would be going to Chachapoyas!! That is pretty much the promised land of our mission and there are only four missionaries here at a time - so it’s quite the honor. My new companion is Elder Tietjen. His name sounds like he is probably some crazy jungle man or maybe Asian - but he’s from Kansas City. He is pretty new in the mission, and I am his second companion. He is way cool. He has a positive attitude about everything and whatever he talks about is, "The Best." He is cool and his Spanish is pretty good too for not having much time in the mission. It should be a pretty cool change with him. So I am the district leader here in Chachapoyas, which is far away from the rest of the mission. It’s pretty far from everything - four hours or so to the closest city, Jaen, about 10 hours to Chiclayo, and about the same time, maybe a bit more to Piura. So yeah, we are very far from everyone else. It is kinda sad in the sense that there are a lot of people, or missionaries at least, that I might not see again. I will definitely be here until the end of my mission, two cambios. Chachapoyas is sooooo beautiful. My room is incredible. It’s on top of a hill and upon walking out the door is just the million dollar view that anybody would die for. I guarantee a house like this in the states would probably cost a bundle, but we pay about $60 a month. Uh huh. It is very different in the sense that there are a lot of hills, whereas the rest of the mission is fairly flat, the majority at least. I ate a banana for lunch today and it was probably the most delicious piece of fruit that I have ever peeled. In one word, Chacha is AWESOME. We are gonna see how the work is here. That will probably be the difficult part. President called me Sunday night and said that I had a special assignment in coming here to help strengthen the unit, leaders, and members. It is pretty small, a branch actually. I am really looking forward to it. It should be awesome. Of the four missionaries, we are all Americans - which is another interesting fun fact. All of them have seven months or less in the field, so I am pretty much the big bad veteran - which actually scares me. I guess that means I should have all the answers and always know what to do...but . . . . Well, we’ll see. Oh, and since it’s colder here, I bought a hoody yesterday!! So EXCITED about that! Oh and I bought a handsome little proselyting vest, too. I am super ready for some cold weather. And since I have been here it has already rained. And guess what? After not needing my poncho for 21 months, I gave it to a missionary from La Victoria that was leaving for his mission in Bolivia, and I figured he was probably going to need it more than me. Oh well. That’s what I get for being charitable. Haha. JK! Charity is the best. I’ll just buy myself another. I’m sure I can find one cheap here.
Well, that’s about it. La Victoria was a good time. I would have liked to have seen more success in my ward there, but it was good. They have three baptisms planned for this month. So hopefully that all goes through. The ward and my pension and all those good people were sad to see me go because they wanted to throw me a birthday party, including kidnaping me from my room early in the morning without me knowing beforehand. Good thing I left. That would have literally scared me to death probably thinking I was getting kidnaped by La Victoria gang bangers.
Okay, I guess I should close this long, long letter. Pretty exciting news, I must say, and I am looking forward to my three months here in Chachapoyas. Should be a lot of fun. The elders here are cool and it should be a fantastic finish! Gracias por todo. Thanks for praying for us in La Victoria. I know it helped us. The Church is true! Can someone ask Elder Foote if he knows an Elder Delgado in his mission? It’s another connection from La Victoria and cousin of the Elder Delgado in Cody’s mission. Small world. Bye!!
Elder “No One Accepted Last Week’s Challenge” Royal
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