October 26, 2015

Hello once again from the jungles of Perú! It was the craziest week I've had so far this week. We just did so many things. The time goes so fast, it seems like it was P Day just yesterday. 

We spent P Day in the city again. Sometimes I forget how awesome it is here until we are on the bus and I feel the breeze and I see the people and all the hustle and bustle that is Iquitos. It is really a sight to be seen. I also ate three ice creams that day so that didn't hurt either - they´re everywhere for one sol which is basically 30 cents. Who can resist that?

On Wednesdays in the morning we do service and this week we did service as a zone. We went to the area of the zone leaders and helped some of the members there. It was so fun! We built a boat! The Brother builds boats and sells them and we helped him make one. It was a giant canoe looking thing. I hammered in metal pieces on top of the tar so I´m basically your average Amazon woman now. I actually learned many things that day. The family lives in one of the houses on stilts so I got to climb up there and see how life is - very scenic, lovely view of the river. Then, the Hermana, who sells watermelon and yuca, had the other Hermanas and I help her weed her plants. Who knew they weeded with machetes? I did not. It was awesome. We should really implement that technique at home, much more effective than a shovel.

-The area we had our service project in

-weeding with machetes!

 I will say this about that day - it was the most infernal heat I have ever experienced. It was roughly a bajillon degrees and I was sweating from every pore. I had to wear my boots and I didn´t know it was possible for my ankles to sweat like that. I took my boots off after and my socks were soaking wet and my feet were wrinkled from the water. Just awful. I also didn´t know I sweat from my upper lip, but that is a thing here. People´s faces are always wet but I have never really sweated there, but wowzers I did on Wednesday. I just cannot express enough how sweaty I was, how sweaty we all were. I also had a cold this week, super bizarre to sniffle and cough when it´s 100 outside, and I couldn´t tell if what was dripping down my face was sweat or boogies. It was incredible. We went home and reshowered because hello, nobody needed to be subjected to that.

I also learned on Wednesday how to make a cake at my pension. We just started throwing things in a huge bowl and I was thinking where is the whisk or mixer? Turns out I was the mixer, more specifically my hand. They just kept telling me to wait until it was all one feeling. I mixed it all up, and this was directly after service without washing my hand with more than sanitizer (sorry Mom) but I will sadly admit I have done grosser things here. Such is life in the jungle. I ate that cake with no reservations and it was delicious. Also, for vanilla cake we added a whole bottle of coca cola. I was doubtful, but it really made it taste good! Yum, cake.

 -Mixing up that cake with my pensionista Mariela :)

-Eating said cake with yummy banana smoothie

Then, this week I went to Lima! On Wednesday we left and Thursday we came back. It was so nice! We stayed in this seriously luxurious hotel (with warm showers!) and were waited on hand and foot. It was a dream. We went to Immigrations in the morning and collected our residency cards, so I am now an official Peruvian! Then we went to the temple! It was such an unexpected treat to do a session. I love the temple so much and there is just no other place where we can feel as close to Heavenly Father as we can there. I felt rejuvinated. We also got to go to the temple store which was a huge blessing becuase I had been needing a hymnal (the chapels here don´t have any, and I don´t know any of the words) and I also got a book for the simplified version of the hymns so I can play better in sacrament. I also got to see my friend from the CCM who is in Pucallpa, where Elder Sheppard is. So, turns out Pucallpa is way more developed and modern than Iquitos, they have the Peruvian equivalent of Walmart and Target, and a mall, and good internet. There is a lot more money in Pucallpa I guess. Lux life. Hna. Vasquez said that Elder Sheppard is doing well and that he is always excited to serve and that he doesn´t speak very well yet but he really tries and the people like him. Oh and we had pizza! It was so yummy! Papa John´s, my favorite! It was the best thing I have eaten in weeks I wanted to cry I was so happy. 

I am learning to trust more. Everything depends on trust and faith in the Lord. We don´t progress without it because we don´t truly want to progress without it. It´s hard sometimes. A lot of times we ask people to give up work to attend church every week. It´s hard to think that things will just work out if we do our part, but they will. I see it all the time with the things we do. Sometimes we meet people in the strangest way but it´s all part of the Lord´s plan and His timing. We just have to trust, and work. 

I love you all. Hope you are all well

Hna. Fitzpatrick