the missionaries were in charge of making the ceviche when we couldn't even eat it...!

hey y'all!!! whats up! dad thanks for the email. i think that i am going to warn my investigators about those three specific things that satan will try and do to make it so my investigators are led astray. it has happened... so i think this week has gone by the fastest than any other week in my mission. i'm going to complete three months soon. it seems like yesterday that i almost missed my flight to peru and had only 20 seconds to hug you all.. did i hug brendan?? hahah i was thinking about it and i think i was hugging you all so fast that i forgot to hug him!! LOL!! it used to make me tear up when i thought about it but now i laugh!! so we helped carlos plan a proposal to ask españa to marry him. here in peru people don't really "pop the question"! its more like they talk about marriage and decide then and there if they're going to do it and then they'll tell people what day they're getting married and its not a big deal. its so casual! like what the heck! but españa has always wanted her future husband to propose! sooo we helped him plan it. we had a ward activity on saturday (it was also españas birthday) called "conociendo mi peru" (getting to know peru) and it was so fun! so first people were doing dances. like typical dances. 

and españa did one with the relief society and it was actually awesome cause she taught the relief society how to do the dance. i can picture her as a relief society president one day. and then after the dance she went to change. and when she came back the bishop talked in the microphone and was like " carlos has a few words he would like to say to españa but first we need everyone to be very quiet please" and españa thought he was going to say happy birthday. so the dj put on the song " i don't wanna miss a thing by aerosmith" (i totally suggested that song) and he begun talking and expressing his feelings to her and she clued in and started crying jaajja and then he asked her to spend the rest of ETERNITY with him! it was awesome! so hilarious cause EVERY woman was crying!! lollll. she was so happy and i definitely got everything on film.

 i'm thinking about sending you guys my camera cause there are awesome vids on there that none of these computers will let me send!. but anyway it was awesome. after the dances we ate food. and there were booths with different typical foods from peru. we were in charge of the ceviche. that the almost raw fish with other stuff.. missionaries aren't allowed to eat it. which sucked cause it smelled SO good and EVERYONE was at our booth crowding it trying to get a plate and we had so much ceviche but not enough for everyone. it was gone in such little time. but it was so ironic that the missionaries were in charge of making the ceviche when we couldn't even eat it. españa and another investigator of the elders helped us make it. 

      so the president wrote a letter to the presidency of the church asking if only certain areas could pension all three meals with a pensionista but it was rejected. so ALL the missionaries in south america have to have a pensionista with all three meals cause too many missionaries are getting sick. ,man i am so lucky that i havn't gotten sick ONCE!!! everyone is so surprised. i'm super glad. and now that we have a rule that if we are sick for more than two weeks we get sent home i am more glad that i havn't gotten sick.sooo its sad cause we told our old pensionista that we prayed and made the decision to pension with hna Flor. cause she lives in our house and its much more efficient for us to eat with her. we save so much more time cause we had to walk a little ways to get to our old pensionistas house. and with hna flor we will be able to start our studies on time. the canayo family was so sad that they cried. but they understood our decision and thanked us for the time they were able to serve us. we felt bad but we had to do what we had to do. with all the meeting we have been having on how time is so important and its the lords time we felt it was the right thing to do.

    but hna flor is awesome. shes like our mom. i think i mentioned in a previous email that she has a daughter on a mission to and she takes EXCELLENT care of us. she is making us a skirt right now! i'm so excited for it.shes always checking up on us and finding ways to serve us and calls me "mi hija" i love that she treats us like that! but don't worry mom, you will always be my number one!!

     so there is this 13 year old girl that we thought was baptized cause she goes to seminary attends church every sunday alone and is super awesome! she loves the church and at school she said that she sang battle hymn of the republic and that everyone laughed at her and made fun of her but she didn't care and i felt so bad but i was like " why didn't you choose a different one!" lol  she laughed about the fact that people made fun of her cause she didn't care. shes awesome. so when we found out she wasn't baptized we were surprised. she is in the area of the elders but they cant visit her cause shes a single girl and her parents don't want to be present in the discussions. so we went to visit her....at night....not realizing that it was super dangerous there..... nothing happened. while we were walking on that street this drunk guy came up to us and at first it was hard to tell he was drunk but then all of a sudden he tried hugging me.. i pushed him away and he kept trying but i wouldn't let him and i was like ya okkkk BYEE. and then he took the picture of jesus that we gave him and ripped it and threw it... and the next day the elders (district leader) was like make sure you go there during the day. and we were like oh what why?? we went there last night. and he was like NIGHT!???? WOAH NOOO!!! its dangerous! and he was like please only go there during the day.... we had no idea.but i didn't feel scared at all or unsafe. but now we know for next time. there area is called pampachika and its right by the playa and that's why its so dangerous cause people from all over the place go there to swim and drink and bad things are always happening there apparently.

    anyways!! so the last zone conference we had they asked me to say the closing prayer. and they always say the prayer in english. even the latinos. and i was so excited cause i havn't prayed in english in AGES! so i begun the prayer and let me tell you.. it was soooo awkward. i couldn't talk!! i was making so many mistakes and caught myself speaking spanglish. i wasn't nervous at all but when you are speaking spanish all day every day its weird to all of a sudden say a prayer in english. ahahah

    so can you please print that talk called unleashing the dormant spirit in spanish?? i really wanna photocopy some and give them out. that talk has helped me so so much on my mission and i want my comp and future comp to have one. 

     dad i love my mission. its hard. but so worth it. my testimony is growing each day and my knowledge of the gospel is increasing more and more and more. i am learning more that i thought i ever could. i love helping people. i love that i'm doing this for the lord. thank you and mom so much for raising me. for doing scripture study and prayer with us. i don't think i have realized how important it really is until now. because doing those things really did bring us together and it taught us to be firm and keep our standards high. it taught us to put the lord first. so thank you for supporting me and lana on our missions. i know i'll be sad when i leave peru. i'll miss the people and the way i live right now. it may not be luxurious but i don't even care. i love it and i love that i'm learning. so thanks for supporting me financially and spiritually. i love you all. and hope you continue praying together and doing scripture study and i promise the lord will bless you all. I LOVE YOU MI FAMILIA TAN LINDA TAN BELLA TAN AMOROSO!! xoxoxo