culture shock

DAD!!! man i'm so happy its pday. where to begin.. so i was so excited to fly out to iquitos but that all changed when i got there. so the mission president and his wife picked me up and took me to the mission home to meet my companion. shes awesome. then they took us out for dinner and showed us the mission home which was beautiful. sooooo luxurious and massive. that's where they live. then they dropped us off at out new place. and let me tell you..... i just wanted to go home (but going home early will never be an option) there was a cochroach in the dresser and the beds were super dusty and the house was all dirty from the elders that were staying there before and it smelled like dead cochroaches and dog pee and dead everything. ewwww.... so the next day we went to the pensionistas house to eat. her house is pretty much dirt floor and a tin roof. it smelled bad and that's when the culture shock hit me. i tried so hard not to cry because she was talking about how happy she was that god has been so good to her and she is grateful for her life and as soon as we left the tears came down. i started bawling! and my companion was like whats wrong! and i was like well she is so happy with what she has meanwhile there are mice running around everywhere in her house and back in canada i have it all!.... then my companion was like don't worry they are happy! and then the next few days were super tough. i would breakdown during our studies and cry and bawl and cry and i missed home so much but my companion was super awesome and comforted me and told me she knew how i felt. and then yesterday and the day before that were much better because we went teaching and contacting and found people and we also went to the bank and met up with other missionaries and i saw american hermanas which was nice because they were going through or went through the exact same thing i went through. so that made me feel a lot better. now i'm doing really good. i still get a tad homesick but that's going away now. last night we taught a guy named richard and he told us that all religions are welcomed in his home but that none can convince him to join. so me and my comp were like "well we are the ones to change your mind" and he laughed. so we taught him about the book of mormon and i felt prompted to invite him to read alma 32 because it talks about planting a seed which in this situation was his testimony and it talked about having faith and a little bit about god. so he agreed that he would read it and pray to know if the gospel is true. the spirit was strong and when we left my companion was like " that is totally the scripture i wanted to invite him to read but i couldn't think of it! i'm so happy you thought of it!" so we high fived and it made our day so much better.

           Anyway the members here are super nice and absolutely love the sister missionaries! they are so happy to feed us. there are lots of inactives so we are working with them to help bring them back. its weird cause in the middle of church the women with babies show no shame in feeding there babies out in the open if you know what i mean. haha they don't even use a blanket. lol. sooo the food is SO GOOD!!!! i eat two plates everytime and they say i eat like the elders ahahha but sometimes for breakfast i don't want some of the food that is served cause i have no idea what it is so i ask for a little bit and i say when enough is enough and they keep putting it on my plate and its so annoying!! cause i really don't want to eat it... ahhahaaaa 

       everyone here has a hard time saying my last name, its so weird cause its like the easiest last name in the world to say in canada. haha there are TONS of dogs here. i really don't like it. they are super dirty and skinny. there were two dogs that started booking it towards me and i knew i was going to get bitten but right before they got to me i said a super fast prayer and closed my eyes and i felt like there was a shield around me and they didn't bite me. i'm sure it'll happen one day but i really don't know why they didn't bite me,. they were so evil looking and crazy! i wanted to kick it sooooo hard but i just closed my eyes. hahaha oh man when it rains here... it POURS!"!!! if you stand outside for a second you are soaked!!! and it rains so hard that you have to yell in order for someone to hear you lol. but its super humid and hot. like right now i'm sweating... or else its the humidity. lol and on sundays everyone parties!! there is music blaring everywhere and drunk people everywhere, the neighborhoods don't have roads, its all sand. and all the houses are attached. its crazy. sooooooooo different than canada. i think that when i go home i will be so happy that there is snow and that its the christmas season and that i will get to be with all you guys but for now im here and its where i need to be. i am going to print off your email to me so i can ponder your awesome and helpful advice throughout my week. seriously dad it helps me so much. i think about mom lots and imagine how her living conditions were when she lived in nicaragua. i love you all SO much. more than you know. thank you for everything you have done for me. i think about how fortunate i am all the time and thank you for raising me in the gospel. I LOVE YOU AND MOM AND BRENDAN AND LANA AND TEN AND VIX!! i hope vicky had a great b day!!! BYEEE!!!