I touched a leopard!

dad! ok i think the reason why you didn't get the pics is because it takes forever to load in the internet cafe place i was at!!! the internet it almost like dial up. but today we are at a different internet place and it seems to be working way faster! so i will try sending pics after i write this email. anyway yes i am in iquitos and i'm pretty sure my address is #680 Lourdes De Leon.

it intersects with the street called Tupac. haah i hope you can find that on google maps! sometimes i feel like the rest of the world doesn't know iquitos exists because its so out dated here and old school and they don't even have a place you can buy toys for kids! its cray cray. so last monday after i wrote you we went to the jungle! it was soooo cool! saw tons of animals in cages (outdoor) and if i wanted to i could of reached my hand in the leopards cage and touched it...  soooo when it wasnt looking i quickly touched it just to say i did... haaaa.

 then after we were done at the celva (jungle) there was this place on the way out where you could buy suri( that ugly gross nasty looking slug thingy) and ALL the missionaries in my zone were trying to get me to eat it cause its like initiation when you eat it and i was like "i PROMISE its not going to happen and ill never eat something that's alive" and they were sooo sure that they would be able to convince me and all the other new missionaries did it but i was firm and stubborn with my decision. EW. there was no way i was going to eat one of those things. it seems so unhuman. hahah sooo they tried to get me to eat it for about half hour and i said NO. hahah 

   whats lanas mail daddy so i can write her a letter? so last zone meeting i had to give the lesson. i was a little uneasy about it cause i'm still getting used to speaking spanish. but the words flowed and i was able to teach a good lesson. hna rodriguez said she could really feel the spirit so that made me feel good, i taught about why it is important to use the spirit to adjust the lessons of the investigators. sooo i wish i could show you what the peruvian accent is like! its an accent that i honestly do not want to pick up. hjahahah we always talk with the accent in our zone meetings just for fun. its not an ugly accent i just know that you and mom and bren would make fun of me if i got the accent cause its soo obvious.

    so we have this fam. carlos y españa and there baby Cielo. they are soooo cool! Carlos lost his leg in an accident and that's why he accepted us because he wanted to know why god let it happen. so he has been progressing and coming to church and at first his girlfriend (noone here gets married and they just call each other hubby and wife) didn't want to listen to us but she was always nice so we prayed that we would be able to get her to listen to us and she is now listening and they both accepted a baptism! and are going to get married! we are so happy. their baby though... SOO GORGEOUS! seriously she reminds me of bryella with all her hair. i am going to get a picture with her and send it next week. but they are super cool.

   so... highlight of the week.. well kinda: i decided to wear my hair down in iquitos for the first time. WORST IDEA!! and since everyone is asking me about my hair and how its doing here in the humidity and what not ill tell this story. so we go out and soooo many guys were yelling really inappropriate things at me and they always make this high pitch kiss sound and say i love you. its weird annoying and uncomfortable... and i wanted to put my hair up but i didn't have my ponytail. and so a little while later about 6 little girls attacked me! touching my skin and asking questions and grabbing my hair!! i was overwhelmed at this point. then one of my investigators started calling me baby and reina (queen) and i got real uncomfortable. and another investigator got all creepy with his words. and my comp was like what the heck is going on... and EVERYONE was staring... ;( sooo when we went to have dinner with our pensionista she was like hows your day going?? and i was like oh not to bad! then all of a sudden i started bawling!!! and she was like woah whats wrong!! and i was like everyone stares at me because i'm white and i'm different and i don't get it because i'm still a human like them and i feel like i don't fit in and people are always yelling things at me and starring so obviously!!... and she made me feel better and hna rodriguez had to tell the zone leaders about the investigators and what had happened and sooo ya i'm not allowed to wear my hair down anymore. they told me to keep it up. which i'm sad about because that means i cant wear my hair down for almost 17 months....but i'm okay now! we had interviews with the president of the mission and he made me feel better and now i'm all good and loving the mission!!!

      when i get home i'm always going to go out with the missionaries and help them! cause we really appreciate the help that the members give us here. and i feel bad that i didn't do more to help the missionaries in lethbridge. so hows your new comp(uter) dad! love it? so we had divisions. that's where the missionaries separate and go out with a member so that we can have more lessons. and at first i was like NO. i am not ready for that... and then i asked the president if i have to and he said it would be good for me and i was like ughh now i have to do it cause the president said its good for me. so i did it and it was sooo fun! i got to teach by myself and lead and it was a really good experience.tell ten happy birthday!!!!!! and i cant believe he is 17. wow. well i will try sending pics! thanks dad for the email. like usual i'm going to print it off :) I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!! OXOX

ps.

forgot to say something.. haha so i had candy in my bag and i put it down for like a second and picked it up and strapped it on and i felt weird feelings on my body.. EVERYWHERE. and it was ants !! i looked down and on my bag there were literally hundreds! i was like whoa what the heck! i quickly unstrapped the bag and was trying to get the ants off. it was NASTY! there were seriously TONS all over my upper body. dad i think that when i get home i would be able to spend the night in the middle of the forest and not be scared of a single thing. haha i can now kill any spider no matter what size... i can kill any beetle and i can touch any squirmy living creature... but i wont eat it :) and i also think that spending the night on forest grounds would be comfy :) lol

oh and i love the gospel dad and i love the plan of salvation and i love the BOM and i love that my testimony is being strengthened. thank you so much mom and dad for supporting me financially and with all your HEART!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!