"I look like Rocky"

Hopefully I'm sending the letter today! That's actually a somewhat difficult task. haha.

I got bit by a bug on my eyelid. I look like Rocky. I'm too ashamed to send pictures.

Aside from that, not a whole lot has changed since Thursday. 

I love the scriptures you sent in the letter. Especially 1 John 3:11. The Epistles of John contain a lot of my favorite scripture, as of recently. We had a lesson with an investigator, who we love to death, and she communicated that she has great desire to be baptized, but she doesn't know if she can change. Any missionary can tell you, there's a boat-full of scriptures for that, but I felt prompted to search in 1 John. I actually didn't know what I was looking for, as I'm not familiar with 1 John in the least, but I began to read in chapter 5, verse 2 until verse 5. I can honestly tell you, I had no idea what it was going to say. Even after reading it, I din't completely understand it, it being in Spanish. But I can tell you that the Spirit filled the room, and she felt it. I bore my testimony that she could conquer the "world" and become pure. And after that, we set a date. It's not something huge. But it's my favorite experience in my mission so far. 

My clothes are great, haha. Everything's well here! Thank you so much, my family!

Much love,

Elder Alexander

Oxypampa and Chanchamayo.

 I only have 15 mins. today. But here is what I will write. I don{t even know where to start. On the previous Monday we went to Oxypampa and I taught a bunch of kids how to make a whistle with grass, which they thought was super cool. In return, they taught me how to play all their patty-cake style games, which was much, much cooler. 

Later, we went proselytizing and I taught a lesson to a gringo family in English, which was super difficult, actually. My Spanish kept slipping out. We actually stayed an extra day there, because of the crazy landslides on the road to La Merced. We were driving and there was road and then there was just a giant heap of dirt. Apparently there were two houses inside of it, too. The more recent Monday we had a multi-zone p day, with more than 50 missionaries. We did a tour of Chanchamayo, with a guide, buses, and all. Man, I saw some of the most beautiful things in the world. 

Then, we dressed like natives, and, respectfully, were taught by natives how to do their traditional dances, and I may or may not now be technically married to an 11-year-old. We're going to have to see about that. Then we went to a butterfly zoo, and wow, I have way too much to say and not enough time. I love you all so much! 

Much love,

Elder Alexander

Where is Elder Alexander?

We did not receive any emails from Elder Alexander this week. :(
We discovered the reason when the Mission President posted these pictures on his blog of their multi-zone P-day activity! :)

Looks like they had a great time!

"Carnival"

Hello lovelies! So, this has been a great week. It rained a ton, which is cool because it´s less hot when it rains, and the thunder echoes off the hills, and more people are at home. But it always rains in relatively short increments. And it´s really funny, becasue when it´s sunny, all the kids come into the street and throw water balloons and buckets of water. Even sometimes while it´s raining. It´s a month-long holiday they call "carnival", in the which everybody who happens to walk in the streets is a participant by necesity. Kids throw balloons and dump buckets of water from the roofs of three-story buildings, as well. Guess how I found that out. They also throw them from taxis, and motos. We´re more popular amoung the kids than any group of people here. This morning, we contacted a group of about 9. A couple of which had never seen a gringo before. What I like to do in this situation is try to act more fascinated by them than they are by me. I remember a video I saw a while back, of a man of an isolated tribe in Africa, greeting a white man for the first time. The white man tries to act just as astonished, so as not to intimidate the native. Though, I don´t think I´m as good at it, because in my experience, the people only become confused. I´ll keep working on it though.

 I still don´t have packages. I don´t really know where they are at this point. haha. But I´ll let you know when I find them. Or they find me. My glasses? I have two pairs. One are in my bag, next to me, and the others, I lent to an investigator to read with. I´m good on clothings. But we painted the other day, the basement of our pentionista, and now my P day clothes are a little green (like the color when the spring is born), but time will tell if that´s a problem. I kind of miss the basics, you know. The Sees´ and Garidellis as well. Mmmmm. They have some good stuff here too, but it´s different.

 It is a little colder, but I´m still sweating. And it´s raining. My companion´s great! And my health! haha. I´m coming to love the Proverbs a ton. Right now, I really like in Prov. 15:1-4, where it talkes a little about how we sould respond to contention. We receive a bit of that, here. I don´t know what it says in English, but in Spanish it says that the sane tongue is the tree of life. Y asi es, amen. Yesterday, we talked to two different teenage girls who were having issues with their parents. I guess that´s a world-wide thing. But I´ve found that you learn more from teaching than anything else, because, if it´s a good lesson, you say many things that have yet to occur to you. Speaking of teaching, I have to teach an English class Friday I don´t even know where to start, ahhhh. I´ll let you know how that goes. haha.

I love you all so much!

Much love,

Elder Alexander

Day 131

Day 131 of survival in the deep jungle. I´ve found decent shelter for the winter. For emergencies I´ve set aside a storage of lollipops and gum. I have reason to believe that the natives are beginning to recognize that I am not one of them. I´ve augmented the amount of dirt I cake onto my skin, though it´s possible that they still smell my old spice deodorant. I´ve become close with the chief, but having missed Ward Consulate on the two previous occasions, I find the chances of marrying his daughter unlikely to nonexistent.

La Merced, view from the mountains.

 We actually met a woman this week who is actually from a tribe in the mountains around here. And it´s super cool because she speaks this beautiful language that only a couple hundred people in the world know. Could you imagine how inconvenient that must be? 

My new companion is an Ecuadorian. He´s super great. I already love him to death. The lessons we've had have been super spiritual, and we communicate really well, despite his lack of English. My health is great! The people here don´t drink water that hasn´t been filtered either. So, it´s not really a worry. The water from the faucets smells funny. But you´re right, I need to be more cautious. My new companion comes from the cold and he´s sweating buckets right now. Or as they say: "He is made a soup." Or do they not say that?

I´m really loving life here. The people are so wonderful. We have an investigator getting married and baptized on his birthday this month. And our ward has two other weddings/baptisms as well. That´s actually a popular combination here. I always have so much to tell you and so little time! I´m making this letter a long one. haha.

I love you all so much! 

Much love,

Elder Alexander

I can´t say that I know what this is.