I have been in Peru for 5 weeks already, is that crazy to think? That sounds like a long time but at the same time if feels like I've been here for a year! In exactly 7 days I will be on my way to Bolivia! I can't wait to get to the field! It's going to be so much better than being locked up in the CCM all day! It definitely won't be easy, especially not at first, but I'm ready and excited for the challenge! I don't know when my P-day will be there, so again I'll have to let you know what changes will be made to my schedule!
Me and Elder Hudson just got back from what was supposed to be a dentist appointment, because he's a novato and left his retainers on his lunch tray and threw them away. So we were supposed to go today at 1:30 and he was going to get molds taken for new ones. So we drove out there, but the dentist wasn't there! Can you believe that? So we had to stay in our church clothes for extra time cuz we got back from the temple at about 12:30. Anyway they are trying to get another appointment set up, hopefully its tomorrow during class time! Fingers crossed! I'm just glad I'm not the one that has to get any work done on me, not a huge fan of the thought of getting some dental work done here haha.
Not a whole lot happened this week. Pretty boring and ready to get out of here! One thing that was awesome though was last night they had a lighting ceremony of all the Christmas lights they put up! It was so sick. they had like a choir, Speakers with other Christmas music playing, cookies, brownies, fruit cake, hot chocolate, tons of stuff! It was so much fun! We all just got to hang out for like an hour and a half last night and enjoy. One of the very few times we have ever had any down time!
And as always the most eventful part of the week was proselyting. This time around I got assigned to an area called Musa, just about a 20 minute bus ride from the CCM. My companion was Elder Morales, who happens to be the second shortest Elder here. So it was pretty comical to see us walking down the street together. When we first got there we thought we had a super nice area because the capilla (chapel) was in a really nice neighborhood. Maybe it wasn't super nice, but after our experience in San Gregorio, this place was upper class for sure. The houses were actually houses, they had garages which I assume means cars as well. They had the little doorbell buzzers they could talk to you through, and in turn reject you through. But definitely a way nice area. But turns out Musa is a pretty big area, so only one companionship got this nice neighborhood. Me and Elder Morales were assigned to one of the outlying areas, and we were accompanied by Elder Reyes, who has been out in the field for 22 months and is the one of the "real" missionaries over that area. So we left the capilla and got on a combi for a little 5 or so minutes, then had to walk an extra 10 or so to our area. We get there and it turns out we have probably the poorest area. Super similar to what I described last time with San Gregorio. Houses with no roofs, kinda pieced together with pieces of sheet metal, pure dirt roads with rubble on both sides, and on the side of the mountain. And by the way, the mountains here are some of the ugliest mountains you've ever seen. Absolutely zero plants or trees on them, just brown dirt. So its not like its scenic. And whats more is that near all these houses is a big bowl. The hillside to this bowl is really steep and drops down probably around 200 feet. That also happens to be their landfill. People literally just take their garbage and throw it over the edge, its one of the craziest things I've seen! I wish I had my camera to take a picture, but of course, rules, rules, rules.
Anyway now to the actual proselyting. Our first door we knocked on was a part member family, and so they let us right in. We just taught a little bit about the Restoration and asked if there was anything we could to for them. The dad, who is not a member, asked us to give his newborn baby a blessing, cuz something was wrong with its knee. So that was really cool, I've never been apart of a blessing in Spanish! But it was great to see that the father had faith in us and that he could recognize the power of a Priesthood blessing. After that we walked around not having a whole lot of success, most people said they were too "busy". But then we actually ran into one of the references for the missionaries on the street (Elder Reyes knew he was a referral since he is in charge of the area). We were right by his house so he let us in and we gave him and his daughter like a 40 minute lesson on the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. We gave them each a Libro de Mormón and they committed to read it and pray about it, so I think it went pretty well. Hopefully Elder Reyes and his companion can keep having success with them! Overall it was a pretty slow day, nothing out of the ordinary. Which is funny cuz now what I consider "ordinary" is walking through the dirt roads of the mountains of Peru and teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Spanish. Remember what I was doing two months ago? Cuz it wasn't that!
Anyway turns out that Musa was a pretty tough area. The super nice area that I told you about earlier was basically impossible. The companionship who went there didn't get the chance to teach a single lesson in 3 and a half hours. They said that people would usually just reject them right through the little doorbell speaker phone. And if they were able to get someone at the door, they just wouldn't be interested. I just found it interesting to see the difference. People who don't have a lot or who don't have nice houses or anything like that are so much more accepting. But the people who have more don't see a need to change anything about what they are doing. They are comfortable and don't want to change. Like I've said before, I hope none of us take what we have for granted. We are all extremely blessed and lucky to have the success and wealth we have. But don't let that go to your head, be grateful and humble, and know that it comes from the Lord.
Well that about wraps up this week! If everything goes according to plan then this time next week I'll be in Bolivia! I hope you guys are enjoying the Christmas season! Any fun plans for Christmas? Like I said I'm not sure exactly when my P-day will be, so keep your eyes peeled for an errant email (I honestly have no idea what that word is, but I think it fits there, or I just made a fool of myself, I'm good either way). Keep all of your letters and emails coming, I love to hear from you guys! I love you and will talk to you soon!
Love,
Elder Sehestedt
Me and Elder Hudson just got back from what was supposed to be a dentist appointment, because he's a novato and left his retainers on his lunch tray and threw them away. So we were supposed to go today at 1:30 and he was going to get molds taken for new ones. So we drove out there, but the dentist wasn't there! Can you believe that? So we had to stay in our church clothes for extra time cuz we got back from the temple at about 12:30. Anyway they are trying to get another appointment set up, hopefully its tomorrow during class time! Fingers crossed! I'm just glad I'm not the one that has to get any work done on me, not a huge fan of the thought of getting some dental work done here haha.
Not a whole lot happened this week. Pretty boring and ready to get out of here! One thing that was awesome though was last night they had a lighting ceremony of all the Christmas lights they put up! It was so sick. they had like a choir, Speakers with other Christmas music playing, cookies, brownies, fruit cake, hot chocolate, tons of stuff! It was so much fun! We all just got to hang out for like an hour and a half last night and enjoy. One of the very few times we have ever had any down time!
And as always the most eventful part of the week was proselyting. This time around I got assigned to an area called Musa, just about a 20 minute bus ride from the CCM. My companion was Elder Morales, who happens to be the second shortest Elder here. So it was pretty comical to see us walking down the street together. When we first got there we thought we had a super nice area because the capilla (chapel) was in a really nice neighborhood. Maybe it wasn't super nice, but after our experience in San Gregorio, this place was upper class for sure. The houses were actually houses, they had garages which I assume means cars as well. They had the little doorbell buzzers they could talk to you through, and in turn reject you through. But definitely a way nice area. But turns out Musa is a pretty big area, so only one companionship got this nice neighborhood. Me and Elder Morales were assigned to one of the outlying areas, and we were accompanied by Elder Reyes, who has been out in the field for 22 months and is the one of the "real" missionaries over that area. So we left the capilla and got on a combi for a little 5 or so minutes, then had to walk an extra 10 or so to our area. We get there and it turns out we have probably the poorest area. Super similar to what I described last time with San Gregorio. Houses with no roofs, kinda pieced together with pieces of sheet metal, pure dirt roads with rubble on both sides, and on the side of the mountain. And by the way, the mountains here are some of the ugliest mountains you've ever seen. Absolutely zero plants or trees on them, just brown dirt. So its not like its scenic. And whats more is that near all these houses is a big bowl. The hillside to this bowl is really steep and drops down probably around 200 feet. That also happens to be their landfill. People literally just take their garbage and throw it over the edge, its one of the craziest things I've seen! I wish I had my camera to take a picture, but of course, rules, rules, rules.
Anyway now to the actual proselyting. Our first door we knocked on was a part member family, and so they let us right in. We just taught a little bit about the Restoration and asked if there was anything we could to for them. The dad, who is not a member, asked us to give his newborn baby a blessing, cuz something was wrong with its knee. So that was really cool, I've never been apart of a blessing in Spanish! But it was great to see that the father had faith in us and that he could recognize the power of a Priesthood blessing. After that we walked around not having a whole lot of success, most people said they were too "busy". But then we actually ran into one of the references for the missionaries on the street (Elder Reyes knew he was a referral since he is in charge of the area). We were right by his house so he let us in and we gave him and his daughter like a 40 minute lesson on the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. We gave them each a Libro de Mormón and they committed to read it and pray about it, so I think it went pretty well. Hopefully Elder Reyes and his companion can keep having success with them! Overall it was a pretty slow day, nothing out of the ordinary. Which is funny cuz now what I consider "ordinary" is walking through the dirt roads of the mountains of Peru and teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Spanish. Remember what I was doing two months ago? Cuz it wasn't that!
Anyway turns out that Musa was a pretty tough area. The super nice area that I told you about earlier was basically impossible. The companionship who went there didn't get the chance to teach a single lesson in 3 and a half hours. They said that people would usually just reject them right through the little doorbell speaker phone. And if they were able to get someone at the door, they just wouldn't be interested. I just found it interesting to see the difference. People who don't have a lot or who don't have nice houses or anything like that are so much more accepting. But the people who have more don't see a need to change anything about what they are doing. They are comfortable and don't want to change. Like I've said before, I hope none of us take what we have for granted. We are all extremely blessed and lucky to have the success and wealth we have. But don't let that go to your head, be grateful and humble, and know that it comes from the Lord.
Well that about wraps up this week! If everything goes according to plan then this time next week I'll be in Bolivia! I hope you guys are enjoying the Christmas season! Any fun plans for Christmas? Like I said I'm not sure exactly when my P-day will be, so keep your eyes peeled for an errant email (I honestly have no idea what that word is, but I think it fits there, or I just made a fool of myself, I'm good either way). Keep all of your letters and emails coming, I love to hear from you guys! I love you and will talk to you soon!
Love,
Elder Sehestedt
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