December 28, 2015

Weeeellll Hola and Merry belated Christmas! I was a little disappointed with our call because I had so been looking forward to talking to you all, but I was happy to chat for the little time we had and hear what is going on with you all. It sounds like it was a good Christmas there. It was a good Christmas here too and I will just give you a little recap because it was a big week:

Wednesday - We had a zone conference all day basically, but they called us the night before and told us it would be in the mission home! We were so excited. We never get to go there! We went to the ritzy protected houses part of Iquitos to the mission home, which is a literal mansion. We had training from President and Hermana Gomez and the assistants, ate a lovely lunch of chicken filled with ham and cheese, and then played games. We played Jeopardy and then, because it is their last Christmas as President, President and Hermana Gomez tried to make it as Mexican as possible. We broke a piñata and did posadas and then they gave us mazapan and paletas payasos candies from Mexico. It was really fun and nice just to enjoy the Christmas spirit with our little makeshift family. We were there basically the whole day. 

-the zone now! It has changed so much. 

And my zone leader is from Santa Margarita Stake. His name is Elder Smith

Thursday - La Buena Noche! The day was pretty much standard and normal. Then, that evening at 7:00 we went to a plaza in Iquitos with our zone and Zona Iquitos to sing Christmas hymns. It was awesome. There were almost 50 missionaries and we just started singing on the steps of the central statue. We sang for a little bit and then the wind picked up and we knew it was going to rain, but we kept singing. It did rain, a lot. All of our hymnals were soaked but we kept singing. Then we walked from that plaza to the central plaza in Iquitos, Plaza de Almas. We sang as we walked and it rained. In Plaza de Almas it was packed with people because they had all the trees decorated with lights and everyone was taking a stroll with their families. We set up shop and just sang. People took pictures of us and watched and we had other missionaries going around contacting people as we sang. It was an awesome experience. I really felt peace as I sang those words that a Savior had been born. After that we went home. We went to bed as normal and then were rudely awakened at midnight by the sounds of all the fireworks below and the cheesy Christmas music being blasted and people calling us on our cellphone to wish us a merry christmas. It was fun to see but I was so tired when I woke up. The party never ended for some people. We passed some men still drinking in the bar on the corner as we went to breakfast and they could not tell us if it was morning or night. Feliz navidad! 

Friday - Actual Christmas was pday so that was fun. Basically we spent the whole day trying to figure out Skype and such. We did go for a walk on the boulevard by the river and eat some ice cream so that was fun. We also ate a bunch of panetón! I ate (and I´m actually not joking) an entire panetón by myself. I love it! It is so yummy! That night we went out and worked and it was just a calm night. We shared the Christmas video a lot and it just brought peace to see it on the day of Christmas.

-getting photobombed by a stray dog on Christmas day by the river

Saturday - We had a baptism! Hermano Leoncio was baptized. He is the first person that I have found, taught, and baptized so that was cool! He is a crackup, so crazy! One day in church he brought his dog with him to all three hours. After being baptized, he wanted to take a bath and swim for a little bit in the water. He also pretended to fall when they opened the font for everyone to see. But he was baptised and confirmed! It was awesome for me because I have seen how much he really has changed and how converted he really is even though he is crazy. He walks with his crutch every Sunday to the chapel alone, and gets there early. I respect him a lot. 

-Leoncio! He looks angry, but he is really actually happy

Oh, and I am in the same area, Clavero in Punchana, and my companion is Hermana Laura from La Paz, Bolivia. She has already taught me so much. She is a worker and she has overcome some really big challenges in her life. Today is her birthday too! So we are going to do something fun.

-Hermana Laura! In the mission home after the piñata

No package yet, the mission isn´t receiving any materials either and the offices are out of a lot of things because Serpost is apparently still on strike in Lima. Looks like everything is trapped there and will be there for a while. 

Love you all! Hope you have a great week and a happy new year! 

Hermana Fitz