Kimber

______________

January 12, 2009

Hey Y'all

Well, we had a pretty good week. Now that I look back on
it, it's one of those weeks that went by hecka slow, but a week later
on Prep day, it went by really fast. I'll never figure out how that
works. Maybe physics can explain it to me one day. Anyhoo, yeah we
had a good week, and I have to say, Elder Calderon was cool this week.
I dunno how it happened...but last Monday I decided I could be
frustrated and miserable for our last three weeks together, or I could
try learn and find ways to be happy. So I tried to "humble" myself
and learn more from Elder Calderon rather than focus on everything he
does that annoys me. That turned out pretty good and we had a lot of
fun together this week, joked around a lot, and taught a lot of really
good lessons.

We had one baptism this week, Janet, who if you remember,
came to church a couple weeks ago, hated us, and did not seem
interested at all. Well, turns out she has changed a lot, opened up a
bit more so she talks to us now, and was baptized on Friday. It was
kinda funny though because in her interview she told our district
leader that she didn't want me or Elder Calderon to baptize her. So,
maybe she still hates us. (haha.) Well, she said something about
wanting to be a missionary's "first" baptism (whatever that means).
At any rate, my comp baptized her, and I was kinda jealous cause it
was a pretty warm day and the water in the font felt sooooooooo good
(jk). So Janet got baptized, which is cool, and we have a few really
good people that we are working with right now. Wow, I have been in
San Pedro for over 4 months now, I think. Crazy. We have cambios
next week, so I will probably be outta here pretty soon. Kinda sad.

I had a really good week, really happy, felt the spirit a
lot, and it just went really well. On the darker side, I also had
about the most depressing moment of my mission so far. You might
remember Kimber, a convert who we baptized a little while ago, Janet's
younger brother. Anyway, he is 13 so we have been trying to get him
ordained to the priesthood, but lately he hasn't been coming to
church. We asked him why, and its because he is working now. (Ugh.)
But then as we talked further, it became apparent that he was not
telling us the truth. Finally, Kimber came out and said he did not
plan in returning to church, because he is Catholic. I then said:
"Kimber, I don't care if you're Mormon or Catholic, both religions
believe in the Ten Commandments, and that includes the dia de reposo.
So you're breaking the commandment either way." He said nothing in
response, and would not look us in the eye. I was so sad and
frustrated. I don't know how I held back everything I wanted to say.
I did tell him that following Christ requires action. He did not
invite people to merely accept Him, to merely like Him, but to get up
and walk with Him. That requires faith, dedication, and sacrifice -
something many here do not understand (due to longstanding
traditions). So, Kimber has been on my mind a lot the last few days.
Really sad to me. Something that I will definitely do differently
when I am a senior companion is take greater care in preparing people
for baptism. They must be truly converted to the gospel of Jesus
Christ, and understand the significance of baptism, that it is not the
end, but the beginning of a life long journey that requires a diligent
course seeking after Christ. Please pray for Kimber. I love him, and
feel that we may have failed him as missionaries.

Other than the Kimber experience, the week was good and I
am really happy. Oh, let's see, last Monday night, we woke up and our
room was filling with water from...somewhere. That was not good. So
we got to clean that up at 4:00 am. That was cool (not). And it
ruined a lot of stuff in our room - sadly, most of my mail, which I
keep on the floor. Sad. (haha.) But it's ok. I thought it was more
funny than anything. But I never knew if the leak was from the sink
or a toilet...and personally... I'd rather not know.

We did a good job working with the members this week, and
had noche de lugar (Family Home Evening) almost every night. The
first night we were with this family and playing with this big ball,
hitting it around and stuff...and I was just waiting for something to
break. Eventually the clock on the wall got hit and fell...hitting
one of their daughters in the head. It was...very funny. Oh, and
guess what? Everyone blamed me. Yes, that's right - blame the
defenseless gringo and then make fun of him in Spanish. (No, I didn't
do it, Dad.) We have a lot of good members in this area and it's nice
to walk into a member's home and see all the LDS pictures of Christ
and stuff. It really changes the spirit of a home (as opposed to so
many other homes with the creepy, gory statues of Christ - the Christ
I know and worship overcame agony and death, ascended into heaven and
is a glorified being who loves me dearly).

Good to hear you received my package and the tape. I miss
listening to it. It was hilarious (if I can say so myself). I miss
my buddies in the MTC. Great guys. Hey, good to hear Jordan is going
out with the missionaries there. That is awesome. Hey, could you
guys do something for me? Send a note to my buddy Elder Campbell. He
had a rather difficult start to his mission after leaving the MTC, and
I know he could use a boost. You guys are great at stuff like that.
;)

That's about it. Things are going good right now and I'll
be sad to leave San Pedro when the time comes. Mom, Dad, if you could
send me a hard copy of the Christmas letter, that'd be cool. And
there is a book you guys should get, its called "Especially for Mormon
Missionaries," by Miller and Fugal. It's good. I read a bit of it
from a missionary that has it. It's like a Chicken Soup for the Soul
book - has a lot of good stuff, including a story about a mission
president that helped get a boy on a mission by telling him that a
mission is a foreordained calling that all men have. While we have
the "agency" to refuse, it remains something all men are commanded to
do. Anyway, really good book with lots of great stuff, and that
story, which I wrote down for future reference (page 99) is really,
really, really good.

That's it ya'll. Take care. Thanks to everyone that
sends letters and Dear Elders and what not. They really help me a
lot. And if I haven't written some (or most) of you back, it's not
because I do not deeply appreciate your letters - it's because I am
weak in writing (and these long emails take lots of time). So thanks
for all your support guys (in spite of me). I love the letters and
the uplifting stuff you guys send. Helps a lot. Keep praying for me,
and for those who we fellowship and teach. Your prayers are felt.
Y'all are awesome. Family, friends, everyone. The Church is true!

Elder Royal

Yehhh family!

    Hey Everyone:

 

    I'm not sure how I managed to do this, but I forgot to send out David's email received on Monday.  I know . . . I thought the same thing: SENILITY.  I was asked today about David's letter and realized at that moment that I had completely forgotten to forward it.  (Perhaps it's because I worried all week about whether BYU wide receiver Austin Collie would declare for the NFL draft, then learned today that . . . yes he is.  Doh!)  So, here it is, below all the mail information.  (If for some reason I actually did send this earlier, and my friend was just playing with my mind . . . there will be trouble!)

 

    Mike

 

______________

January 5, 2009

 

            Yeh (that's "Hey" backwards, by the way) Yehhh family!

 

            So so it's 2009 already eh?  That's so cool.  That means I turn 20 in five months.  Cool!  Two whole decades of life!  Who does that make feel old now, huh? (haha). 

 

            So it's probably a good thing that December is finally over, because now I think the missionaries will get back on track.  Last month was kinda slow, slightly less focused, and the people were generally a lot more drunk (uh, as in, people we try to teach, not the missionaries, of course).  New Year's was definitely interesting.  They do things a bit differently here.  They party pretty much all day on the 31^st, which means teaching was...not happening too much.  So we got together as a zone around 8:00 pm for dinner and watched some movies.  At midnight everyone starts lighting bombs off and setting fire to ... almost everything in sight.  They have these things called...munllecas (probably not how its spelled in Spanish, but in English it sounds like...moon yeckas).  It's like a scarecrow type thing that people stuff with whatever, including fireworks.  (haha.) So you have this life size person-doll thing that you light on fire at midnight and the fireworks inside just start going nuts.  (haha.)  It's funny.  So you look down the road and see like 50 balls of fire from these things.  You actually can't see it all far for very long - as the area is quickly surrounded by a pretty good amount of smoke.  (haha.) So that's New Year's in San Pedro, Peru.  The following day was Thursday (of course), and President had us do our weekly planning that day instead of the Friday (our usual day), because of all the hangovers and what not.  So the people generally slept all day after being up all night, and then in the afternoon, they woke up, turned the music back on, and began drinking again.  I dunno how it happened but when New Year's hit it suddenly got a lot hotter.  (Lame.)  Still not terrible...but it's January .  .  .  so I'm like: "Why the heck and I sweating right now?"

 

            This week was fun, though.  We did a couple service projects.  We painted a lady's house one day, and then another day we had a bunch of the missionaries and actually build part of a house.  (haha.) Very, very stable - let me tell ya.  As long as you dig the whole deep enough for the wooden pole holding the roof up, you'll be just fine.  (Building code? What is that?) But it's funny 'cause we would be working and get thirsty and they'd say...hey you want a drink? And my comp would say: "Yea, a Coke please." Then I'd say: "Water for me." And they would laugh at me like it was a joke and say...  "Okay, I'll get you a Coke" and I'm just sitting there...like...  "No, I was serious, actually .  .  .  ." But, whatever.  Nothing like a good Coke to human dehydration, eh?

 

            As far as investigators go, we have a few good ones right now.  The kinda weird girl that came to church last week, came again yesterday, and was actually a lot better.  She actually...dressed up a little bit this time, which was good.  She is strangely shy, or at least it seems that way 'cause she doesn't say much...and she always seems angry - always scowling at us or something.  So during the lessons I just wanna stop and say: "Dang girl.  Will you please just smile for like two seconds?"  But seriously, there is a dim light within her that seems to be getting brighter.  So if we keep working with her...she may be ready in the next few weeks for baptism.  It is really fun to see the gospel changing a life in action.  We are teaching two teenage boys that are really cool - Michael and Miguel.  They both really like the lessons and wanna come to church.  Of our present investigators, they act the most interested, but their father absolutely refuses to let them come to church.  I would like to keep working with them, but my companion wants to move on - which is a bit frustrating, because I truly believe that one day these two young men will be able to make the decision on their own and we could be a part of that now. 

 

            I love my companion, but he does things differently.  He's a good guy most of time, and is a very good teacher.  He does a good job with lessons, is casual and fun, but sometimes he goes a bit overboard, is too casual, or is sometimes a bit too blunt with people, to the point that some people get offended at things he says and won't let us return.  Still, I realize that I still need him a lot.  It's always a good humbling experience when I'm talking to someone, didn't understand, or don't know how to respond, and I can tap him to have him help me out.  So I do rely on him, and know that I still have much to learn from him, even if i don't agree with everything he does.  And sometimes we have fun together, when he is more chill.  But we really are very different.  He is like the hardcore party kinda guy (in a good missionary way), and I dunno am .  .  .  not so much.  Lots of personality differences, and...yeah, nonetheless, I know I need him to help me.  So, three more weeks until the next transfer, and we'll see what happens. 

 

            Well, I reckon that's about it.  Oh yeah, yesterday when we were walking around these two big guys stopped next to us on a motorcycle and got off and started walking toward us.  At first, I thought they wanted to fight, 'cause they looked at us and pointed to me and said to my comp: "Not you, just him." So I thought they wanted to fight, and was a little nervous about that.  Actually, it was just some guy that has studied English for a few years and lived in the states for a couple years, and...he wanted to speak English with me.  It was kinda weird at first but he was actually kinda cool, and has a lot of LDS friends.  He lives really far from our area so I told him that he should listen to the missionaries, and we left it at that.  It was just kinda funny, especially 'cause my comp later told me that when he saw them approaching he thought they were gay and wanted to kiss me.  (Wow.  haha.) On that note .  .  .  . 

 

            Missionary work is cool.  It's not very easy.  In fact, it rarely is.  But it's still very cool.  I love being in Peru and learning Spanish.  I know the Church is true and that the power of the priesthood is real.  There is nothing I want more right now than for other people to have the same knowledge and blessings and experiences that I have.  Yes, the Church is true. 

 

            elder.  royal.

David has not been very adept at getting pictures to us via email

We got to speak with David, live from San Pedro, Peru, yesterday, which was fun and crazy at the same time.  Quite the adventure.  Coincidentally, we received some pics from David as well, which I am sending along.  Some are from this past week, during the zone Christmas party, others date back to the MTC in Lima, Peru.  The picture of the finger in the sky is David touching the moon his first night in Peru.  The apartment pics are of his present abode, with his trainer Elder Yuppanqui, who has since completed his mission.  David told a story yesterday of his first day in the mission field.  He said he was walking with Elder Yuppanqui when a couple of guys called them over to their house.  The guys had been drinking.  As they stood there talking, David - who could not understand the conversation - had a hand in his pocket.  One of the guys at the house stood up and began speaking to David in Spanish to get him to take his hand out of his pocket.  David did not understand him, but noticed Elder Yuppanqui speaking in his defense, getting nervous.  The guy at the house then pulled a knife on David.  The situation did not escalate beyond that, and David laughed about it.  Elder Yuppanqui told David that he had never before been threatened by anyone with a weapon of any kind, after 22 months in the mission field, and thought it strange that David would have such an experience on his first day.  (David loves relating events like that.)

 

It was impressive hearing David's Spanish to people in the background.  Occasionally he would say something to someone there with him, have a brief conversation in Spanish, then get back to the phone.  We put him on speaker phone and had him say a blessing for our food - in Spanish, of course.  David seems to be very happy, doing very well - despite the fact that he is spending his first Christmas holiday away from home, in a foreign land.  It is quite the blessing to be able to speak with him by phone, and to receive regular email communications from him.  We would like more pics, though.  David has not been very adept at getting pictures to us via email.  Still working on that.

 

It is a wonderful thing to see our young men in the mission field, growing, serving.  I have to admit, as much as I love having David out there, I miss him - but I am grateful that he is willing to serve and look forward to all the growth he will receive through his mission experience.

 

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and continue to enjoy the holidays.

 

Mike

 

P.S.  For those of you who do not know, David's cousin, Cody, was called to serve in the Iowa Des Moines Mission - English speaking.  David was sure Cody would be called to serve with him in Peru and that they would both be fluent in Spanish, so a little disappointment there.  Cody leaves in mid February.

Anyone who waivers about serving a mission is out of their mind. Just do it. It’s so cool.

December 22, 2008

Alright sorry ya'll, we are late coming to internet again. I guess you can just make a general rule for now that if I don't email at the usual time, about 10:30ish for me...you can assume it will be late because we are doing something.

So . . . this morning we had our normal meetings and then had to get read for mission conference with the president at 12:30 p.m. We were running around the centro of Piura doing a bit of shopping and stuff beforehand, and didn't have time to do internet first. I almost bought a guitar, but the one I found last week was gone, because I didn't have the money last week, and pretty much all the rest are way too nice or . . . um . . . way not nice. Soooo, I didn't get a guitar for Christmas. :( Maybe next week. Anyway, we had about five or six zones all together today, and saw a few guys from my group that I haven't seen since the first day in Piura over three months ago. That was cool. We had a big lunch together with the president - chicken, mashed potatoes, and veggies. Yum, yum, so much better than rice. A nice change for a good Christmas dinner. Then, everyone did a special musical number, or something. So there was a lot of music, singing and what not. It was a little sad that I wasn't able to get a guitar because there were like 4 other gringos with guitars that did stuff...and I was depressed. Okay, not really, but I was...wanting to play something, too. So it was a cool conference. Lots of fun. The president and his wife took a little bit of time at the end too, and of course we got lots of pictures...which I was planning on sending right now...but the USB card reader I have mysteriously disappeared today from my backpack. Lameeee!! Hopefully it just fell out when we went back to our cuarto afterward...otherwise...not really sure what happened to it, because I had it at the church...know that for sure...anyway... a fun conference. Good Christmasy stuff. Oh, and I received a letter from the Footes today, Christmas letter, that was great, and I got a bunch of dear elder letters from like...September. Not sure where those suckers have been. But hey, it's mail. I'll take it.

Speaking of guitars. . . umm . . . I uh . . . have a question. Hmmm, how can I say this? Jordan is playing my guitar??!! Hmmm, that means he is probably playing my ukelele too . . . . Jordan, I love you. We both love music. So, you will understand when I say that I also love my beautiful, wonderful instruments - even more than banana cream pie. So, well, don't make me choose between you. Take good care of my little children. They are precious. ;)

San Pedro continues to be good to me. I am really liking it here. It's cool to run into brand new gringos at conferences now and see how my Spanish is coming. (haha.) Maybe that sounds mean, but it's true. You know, I felt so lost when I first arrived here, unable to speak the language, so it is awesome to speak to someone in the early stages of learning who will admire my great grasp of the language. ;) And I love learning Spanish. It's so cool to study and learn a different language. I'm sure I'll keep saying that, but really, it's the best. Sure it's a struggle, but I'm motivated, and I study it A LOT, so it's coming along, and it's way sweet! It's also getting warmer here. Summer is just starting now. So, to be honest, it doesn't really feel like Christmas. More so at night when it's cooler and you can see Christmas lights. But either way, it's different. But people are starting to complain about the heat. I'm doing alright. Vegas did a good job prepping me for that. In fact, the heat here can't even touch Vegas yet. So, we'll see what happens in the next couple months because I hear it gets pretty intense.

Alright, now to people. We did have one baptism this past week, a young girl of a less active family. We are hoping that with her baptism we can help the whole family start coming back to church. They have nine kids, all of which have now been baptized. A few of them came to church the last couple weeks, so we'll see. Hopefully it gets the mother motivated to get everyone there. She is kinda disconnected, though. She didn't come to her daughter's baptism or to see her confirmed in church the next day. That doesn't help much. But, we'll see. The most important thing for those children is for their mother to become converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are also teaching a couple other families that live just a few houses down from them, all friends of the kids, so things are looking good on that block. Hopefully, we'll see good things there in the future. One of the new ladies we taught is a widow. She is really great and is scheduled to be baptized next week. (Fingers crossed!) I do not like to see people rushed to baptism at all. We work with them and do our best to ensure that true conversion is taking place. That is so important, and is something both Elder Calderon and I feel strongly about.

Let's see . . . we also had a big reactivation event yesterday where we went around to all the members in the area with all the missionaries in our zone, and leaders and young men of the ward - just for San Pedro. We did it once a week for two weeks with the missionaries, one ward at a time. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But it was funny because we announced it during church and told the young men that they needed to come join us and got the usual groan of after church activities...and I was just like...c'mon guys you get the help the less active members!! Don't you realize how cool that is?! And then I realized...wow I have become a nerd. Because three years ago, I would have been one of the groaners. (ha!) But anyway, I found some interesting things with those members...really very sad some of them. It's amazing how easy it is to stop living the gospel, and to fall away from the Church - to become ensnared in the world from all its pitfalls . . . and how difficult it is for so many to follow the Savior, live the gospel, and allow Heavenly Father to pour blessings upon us. Weird, huh? Because, the key to happiness is always right there before us. We know what to do; yet, we so often ignore it, resist, rationalize away our choices, then follow a path of defiance and destruction. Human nature is just so strange. The plan of happiness is, in reality, so easy and simple. It is a matter of merely doing the right thing, following the right way. (See 2 Nephi 25:28-29.)

I also was called on the spot for some more piano play recently. (Ahhh. Thanks for those "mission prep" piano practice sessions, Dad.) The other ward needed me for the primary presentation. Well, I thought I was pretty smart, and knew the electric keyboard in our church didn't work, because we tried several times before, even three days earlier, and . . . nothing. So I thought I'd humor them, plugged it in, and oh, look at that the light . . . is . . . on? Uh oh. At that point, I wanted to run. My first thought was: Wow, that is not being powered by electricity, that is the pure power of God and He is forcing me to play the hymns today just like Dad forced me to play back home. Wow. Heavenly Father has a good sense of humor. Luckily, I didn't butcher the song too bad.

And I wasn't gonna tell you this one . . . but . . . a guy got shot and killed in my area, even on the street where I live. Ahhh! Mom, don't be scared. It's ok. But crazy, eh? Apparently this guy tried to rob another guy, shot at him, so the guy that was getting robbed pulled his gun out and put him down! Crazy! And guess what?? We were walking home and missed it by like two minutes! Woah! It's okay, Mom. (Maybe I should erase this . . . . nah.)

At any rate, let's get to the highlight of my week - when my companion fell off the seesaw. We were at a little school party on Friday with the zone, and riding seesaws for a few minutes. And ...my comp fell off. And I got it on video! It's hilarious. And I probably woulda laughed more on the video and stuff but I thought he was seriously hurt, so turned it off. But it's so funny! And I was gonna send it too you...but...read above about the USB thingy. One day you'll see it and laugh with me.

The Church is true. Being a missionary is awesome. Anyone who waivers about serving a mission is out of their mind. Just do it. It's so cool. Hope everyone has a good awesome, Christmas. Love you all. Thanks for the love support, and letters. Sorry for the bad grammar, Dad. I know how much you don't like it when I don't try harder with all that. But hey, Merry Christmas ya'll!

Elder . . . um . . . Royal

Elder "Seriously Loving Peru" Royal

    Heyy Fammmy

    Okay, I have a slight headache right now, from a slightly stressful morning. So last week I probably should've sent home the Christmas stuff I have for you, but didn't. So I am trying to get that done today - pictures, tape, and some letters. The problem this morning was trying to get the pictures on a DVD for you...not working out...few technical problems. So hopefully I'll get that done before the end of the day and get it sent out...seeing as you probably wont get it by Christmas...but it will get there eventually.

    Uh... Mom. I got all your boxes, but I wasn't sure if they were meant for Christmas day, so I opened all of them and I thought it was a pretty cruel joke that there were directions for a razor but no razor, until I opened the cookie box a week later and found it hidden in there. Funny. And the new temple announced is in Trujillo, which is the closest mission south...probably a few hours on a bus away from Piura at least. And don't stress about the Christmas call. I'll be calling from my pensionsitta's phone, so it should be easy. So don't worry Mom (although I guess I kinda like it when you worry about me).

    I'm pretty excited this morning about finding a song that I sang with Cody, Karalyn Hastings and Brook "Skittles" Taylor on the Church history trip. It's called: "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need." I love it! It's wonderful. Beautiful music is an awesome thing. My pensionsitta is downloading it to my mission music Ipod. Awesome!

    My 3^rd transfer officially started, which means I am no longer a "greenie" and being trained. So, hooray for me. Spanish is still...fun. To think that I'll be fluent in it someday is a happy thought, but until then I'll continue to try and figure out how this language works and what not. Kinda funny though. Now I understand why native Spanish speakers speak English the way they do, because they directly translate their Spanish into English, like English speakers do with Spanish. Doesn't work out too well either way, sounds weird. Nonetheless, it's funny.

    We still struggle a bit to get people to come to church, which means we haven't baptized in a while. But my focus is on giving my very best effort at all times. I cannot control how other people act or make decision, but I can control my own faithful diligence and have faith in blessings associated with that. There is a great amount of joy and satisfaction in this work. I say that because, well, at times I have to really push my companion and it gets frustrating for me on occasion, but once he kicks into gear we can actually get a lot done. I had another interesting dream this past week. I don't remember what it was about, but I remember that I had been stressing about the lack of accomplishment, feeling that we were not doing enough. Then a voice in the dream said: "Many of us worry about what to do or how to do it, instead of actually doing it." I don't know if that's a real quote or not, but I woke up right away and thought it sounded kinda cool (General Authority material even!), so I realized that as long as I am personally moving forward, doing things towards improving, working harder, then I can still feel satisfied in the work...even if that means just studying the scriptures and Spanish while my companion takes the morning off. But, it's all good.

    So, I received another tape from you guys. That was cool to listen to. I really enjoyed Brad attempting to pray in Spanish, if you remember...you really just did English with a Hispanic type accent. It got me laughing pretty good, though. Let's see Brad Welch was on there too...and . . . not dating. tsk tsk. (haha). But that was cool. And Dad talked a lot...and it was funny because after the BYU/Utah game...not gonna lie... Dad sounded really, really sad. (haha.) But life goes on.

    Heard about Trevik's mission call to Lubbock, Texas - Spanish speaking. Cool man! We can speak Spanish together when we get back. Hooray! Speaking of missions...where is Cody going? Man ... been waiting on that one forever...and did he ever get my birthday card? I sent a big thing of letters to Brad and Whitney with a bunch of stuff for people up there....still waiting to see if they got it. Oh, if you guys can...give my love and send a how's it going to my buddies in the missions...if you have found them...Elders Brown, Higley, Hoyjberg, TJ Gibson, and of course, Jack and Aaron. That would be sweet.

    Dad, I love hearing about the mission preparation class. Please help all of these young men!!! I can't stress enough of how important I know a mission to be now, and no young man should deprive himself of the blessings - especially my friends. Dad, I love you very much and I loved Elder Yupanqui very much too. He was technically my "father" in missionary lingo (my trainer), and I respected him as such. I am a young missionary, but I don't know that I will ever met another missionary that I love and respect more than Elder Yupanqui. He recently went home this week, and returns back to his home life. I meant to bring his email to give you to contact him, and he speaks fluent English and may even be going to Provo sometime next year...and you could maybe meet him. But, I have to admit, going from Elder Yupanqui to my present companion was quite a change - and challenge. Sometimes life gets difficult and I come near to a breakdown and really need comfort from someone. Always, besides having Jesus Christ himself sit and talk with me, that person is you, Dad. I have a huge amount of respect for you, for your knowledge, and wisdom. Nowadays I miss the times when you would walk into my room, sit on my bed, have me put the guitar down and visit with me. I didn't always like that, sure, but I'd do anything for it now. I love you Pops, and love getting your huge amount of letters each week, which is always a huge spiritual boost to start the week. Thanks for that.

    Well everyone... I don't know what it's like to read my letters... I have a feeling that it's kinda weird because I just throw out all my random thoughts...and don't really talk about the mission too much, or the area and all that stuff...but...the people of Peru are awesome. My area, San Pedro, I love it. And my companion, although annoying at times, really is a great guy, and I enjoy working with him. The blessings of the gospel are real, and there is no greater joy than serving the Lord and being a missionary. I love being here, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I urge all young men to stop contemplating whether or not to serve a mission, and decide right now that you're going to serve, and begin preparing hard now. It's one thing that you will never regret. I can promise you that. The Church is true. I love my family, and friends. Thank you for all of your love and support for me. Friends of mine...please join me in the mission field! Thank you mucho for your continued love and support. I love you guys like crazy. Thanks for the letters. You guys are awesome. Love you. Talk to you in 10. Bye. Peace out.

    Elder "Seriously Loving Peru" Royal

How is My Guitar Doing? I Miss Him/Her/It

    Hey Ya'll:

    Alright, so an interesting week, interesting morning. The whole week I was kinda stressing, all worried about the cambios (transfers) for this week, which we found out today. Good news, I am staying in San Pedro for six more weeks! I doubt I'll be here any longer than that, but at least I'll be here for Christmas so that's cool. Other news, Elder Calderon and I will still be together for the next cambio as well, and our zone, which is...well kinda drives me insane, is not changing much. However, the zone leader that does most of the driving insane...is leaving! So...woooo! Things may be looking up for zone miraflores.

    Well, I know this will sound strange, but the theme for this week was my companion's birthday. It was (and I'm not exaggerating) a week long celebration. (Oy.) So, after celebration day no. 3, I began to feel like I was living out a missionary version of that episode of "the Office," where it's Michael's birthday but everyone else is concerned about whether Kevin has cancer and it drives Michael nuts. (Ha). Looking back, though, we did actually get some work done, and found some really good people to teach - which makes it even cooler that I get to stay and hopefully see them progress. We had two baptisms fall through yesterday, a mother and daughter, because the mom (Karina) drank on Saturday. But, I'm pretty confident that they will both be baptized soon, along with many others during December and January hopefully. We'll see.

    Mom, got a bunch of stuff from you this week. That was cool! There was like, two boxes and two folder packages things, with like the CTR ring and what not, and the book you sent, the Brent Top book, awesome. I started reading it on Tuesday and finished it Friday morning. I haven't read a book that fast since Harry Potter! It was way good - lots of good stuff in it.

    Oh, so we haven't had water in our cuarto all week...because we drank it all, and never called anyone to get more. Sounds so simple...yet... we are a week without water. So I have just been buying some everyday which is silly because I know we can easily get more delivered to us. So that's something I'm trying to get resolved. Alrighty...well I guess that's about it. Everything is still going good. Learning Spanish is cool. Learning a different language in general...pretty cool, quite the struggle and frustrating...but man once it starts clicking...it's so cool. So it's coming along. Still a lot that I don't understand, but it's cool to understand more without having to think so much about what people are saying.

    I am very happy to be a missionary. The good times, even the bad times that I have had so far, it's all so cool, and so worth it. How much I have learned is amazing to me, especially knowing that I am going to learn so much more before my time is done here. There is definitely no better place for me to be. This Church is indeed true and the power of God is more real than anyone can imagine. I love it, and I love you guys like crazy. Thanks for all the mail and packages. Mom thanks for the stuff for my pensionistta - she'll be thrilled. and yes she is taking excellent care of me. You'd be proud. Love you guys. Say hi to everyone for me.

    Elder "How is My Guitar Doing? I Miss Him/Her/It" Royal

    P.S. By the way, not sure how much this matters but on a lot of the letters and packages I have got, the address says Mz. H Lp. 4...when its actually Lt. 4...not sure if its holding anything up cause I still have got all Mom's packages...but... thought I'd toss it out there. Bye!

Elder "I’d love some of the Provo snow right now" Royal

    Hey family and Ya'll:

    Well, I'm getting an early start on the emailing this week. Glad it's finally P day again. Last week was kinda long because we had a lot of weird things going on in the zone, guys going to Lima with visa problems and stuff, so we had a lot of splits, and trios and what not (got kid of annoying actually). My zone is a bit weird (as you may have figured out after the baptism of the 15 year old I described last week). My zone leaders drive me insane sometimes, and we are constantly with them because they are all close buddies with my companion. Let me give you an example of why they drive me nuts. Saturday night they called us and said we had an "emergency transfer" to take effect the next morning, that I was leaving to Tumbes - city up north - and that Elder Calderon would be going South to Chiclayo. Then, about 20 minutes later they called back laughing, telling us it was a joke. (Pretty lame.) I was not amused, since it was very disappointing to think that I would be leaving my area before Christmas. I really love it here - the people, the ward. It would be sad to leave. Transfers are next Thursday and I am really hoping to stay in San Pedro longer. Anyway, what happens, happens.

    Okay, enough of that. We had a pretty good week for the most part. We did not have a baptism this week for the first time since I have been in the field. (Okay, that brings up one more thing that bugs me about 80 percent of the missionaries here - they are way too focused on numbers and have the belief that higher numbers equal increased righteousness. I am not really interested in baptizing hordes of people who will never come back to church. And yes, that happens a lot. Fortunately, I use Alma 8:15 as my personal measure.) We did have a few investigators come to church yesterday who look like they might be getting baptized in the next week or two, which is very cool.

    Let's see, we did a lot of door knocking to find new people this week. Knocking doors can be pretty fun at time. Sometimes I create really awkward situations, or my comp will make it awkward and want me to say something. (Yeah, I really don't need other people to make awkward situations for me, though, pretty much my specialty.) Anyway it's fun. It's what makes for good stories. And knocking on doors reminds me of my days selling for APX - good and bad memories there too, but all funny. I'm thinking about implementing the APX skills into my work here, because getting inside the house is always important. Something like..."so do you guys have a bible in here? you do? k perfect, lets take a quick look at that...and walk in." It's bullet proof. (That will probably only be funny to APX people.) Knocking doors on the weekend is fun, because it's nearly impossible to talk to people. Everyone and their mom is blasting music and getting drunk. And I don't mean that as an expression like "a lot of people are getting drunk" - seriously, everyone and their mom. It's crazy. And people walk around dressed up worshipping the saint people and stuff like that. Very interesting to see.

    Oh and you guys had Thanksgiving this past week.... Yeah, not gonna lie, that was slightly sad. I like Thanksgiving a lot (those days with the huge Kelly family gatherings playing all kinds of games in the gym, hanging out with my cousins, watching all the ladies stress about whipping up a fantastic meal). So I hope you all had lots of fun, and that Cody ate my share of turkey and what not. Speaking of Cody, has he received his mission call yet? Man, it seems like forever ago that he put his papers in.... Oh, and he has a girlfriend? Really? Hmmm. Well, he's always been the lady's man.  If I got the kinda attention from girls in the states as I do from the girls here...I'd be like the cool guys in America: guys like Brad and Cody...  Unfortunately, it's not that way...so I have to live with little Peruvian girls whistling at me...not so much what I'm looking for... ;) Has Brad said anything about getting the big letter I sent for him and other Provo people? I received a letter from Al Cruz today, too, which was awesome! Please send him my regards. So cool.

    Well, overall things are still going good. Elder Calderon is cool, too, and we are getting along, and having fun together. Yes, my zone is weird, but the Church is still true. So it's all good. My Spanish is definitely coming along, which makes me feel good. And...I am really learning to appreciate America, too. Good place we live in up there. I always remember hearing to not take America for granted (is that how you say that?)...but even though I tried to appreciate our country, I think I really did not realize the greatness of it all. I guess it takes a change of circumstances like this to really help bring that realization home. So yeah, America is very cool. Hopefully, it still will be there when I get home (and not sink into the depths of hades). ;) Okay, missions are way cool.  Wow, I have to say that I'm looking forward to reading my many Dear Elder letters later today. Everyone is sooooo jealous of me. It's great. Love you tons Daddy (the biggest Dear Elder client in the history of www.dearelder.com), and I have a ton of respect for you and Mom. You guys are awesome. Hope everyone is happy and doing great. Until next week!

    Elder "I'd love some of the Provo snow right now" Royal