Yep… Así es…
Well, this week had it’s share of interesting activities, but it’s also been really tough because it’s just been discouraging. My area is the first area that has actually been legit city (At least partly), meaning that there are actual buildings and streets and stuff. But here in Peru, the only people that live in flat areas in real buildings are those that can afford it, and that means that, in Peruvian terms, they’re rich. Soooo… They don’t want to listen to us because they think they’re good! So we don’t have anyone to teach and spend all day contacting in the hills, because at least those people want to listen to us! It’s been tough.
But, not going to bore you with that stuff! We’ve had a couple interesting experiences recently, and it’s been kind of fun. The first is that we lost the keys (AGAIN!) and figure it all out a keymaker had to come, break into our house, take the doorhandle, and switch it all out. So now we can get in, but that was interesting! Here’s a picture of the door:
It’s almost scary to see the way that Peruvians do their jobs and make their houses and stuff! They’ve got this kind of “do-it-yourself” mentality and if they need something, they figure out how to fix it by themselves. It’s only when they can’t that they call someone! The guy came in, popped off a few screws, and then forced the door to open by wedging a screwdriver inside! I’m proud to say that I’ve started learning a few things from them, so hopefully I can save some money when I get back! They really are creative here!
Then I’ve got another interesting story about Peruvian creativity, but this one kind of messed up our day. We went to a new part of our area that we’ve never gone before to do some contacting, and we found that a few “Mormon missionaries” had gone up there about a month before, and both, like my companion, had placas that said “Elder Marino”! Then these missionaries, after learning when the people weren’t home, came back and robbed the houses! Sooooo… they were all a little cold towards us… Hopefully we can gain their trust a little bit in the future!
But that’s all the time I’ve got for today. Thanks, folks, you’ve been great, I’ll be here all week! (‘Cause almost nothing changes here!) See you all later!
— Elder Schroeder