General Conference! (My last one!)

Well, General Conference has come around again, and this will be the last time that I’ll see it as a missionary! That’s a little scary, but it’s also kind of a landmark, ’cause I should be returning around the end of September, and then I’ll watch General Conference in the house!

Oh, and speaking of landmarks, my shirts are finally starting to give out!

When the collar starts dying, that’s a sign that I’ve used it a lot! (As for the not-actually-white color, all my shirts have been a slight shade of yellow since I hit 8 months, and they’re just becoming more yellowed with time!) It’s a good thing because my plan is to destroy all my stuff — clothes, shoes, and bag — before I finish the mission so I can leave it all here. (My shoes are starting to die on me, too, and my bag is now being held together with safety pins in some places! I’ll send some pictures next week!)

More good news: Fanny finally got baptized! You might remember that I mentioned her a few weeks back when her husband Alberto got baptized, and now she’s made it, too:

You might recognize some of these people from Alberto’s baptism a few weeks back, but just for the people that weren’t in the other photo… (Left-to-right, back row): Hermano Romulo, Hermano Dante, Alberto, Fanny, Hermano David, Hermana (I don’t remember…!), Hermana Candy (Front row): My companion, me, Hermano Erick

It was a really cool baptism because we did it Sunday morning, when everything’s still nice and quiet, and the sunlight was a nice change, too (Normally the baptisms are at night!) (The only problem is the extreme sunburn! Look at my face!). Then this is the first baptism I’ve had here that I can actually feel like it’s mine because all the other ones up to this point have been from before my time — I just showed up for their baptisms, basically. But with Fanny I was there working and helping. Fanny told everyone that this moment was really special for her, and I think it’s because she really understands what it means. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be born again and make a promise with our Heavenly Father, and she said that when she actually accepted that this was going to happen she felt an excitement and a happiness that she compared to accepting marriage — something life-changing that happens in one moment! It’s a cool experience for me because I was baptized when I turned eight, and while I did understand that it was important and I knew what I was doing, it didn’t really have any weight for me. So now when I see all these people that make this decision and express how they feel, I understand a little more just how special it really is.

Some last little words of advice for all who may some day rely on someone else to make you meals for free: Make sure you show up when you promise you’re going to!

This is our lunch calendar for the month:

…And if you look here in the bottom-right corner you see a little note from the Familia Amoretti, which says (translated), “Presidenta: they have to come if not never again!”…We didn’t go to eat lunch because we went to the temple that day, and even though we told the Hermana that we wouldn’t be able, my companion apparently set up a dinner appointment… which we didn’t go to… hence the note!

I’ve actually heard stories of areas where the missionaries didn’t eat all the food or actually complained about the meals they received, which offended the members so much that they stopped letting the missionaries in the house to eat with them. They still give them food, but they aren’t very happy to do it, and they usually just give the missionaries money and tell them to go buy it themselves. It makes the mission a lot harder when the ward doesn’t like you, and what makes it more difficult is when the missionaries can’t eat with the members because that’s the best way to gain their confidence and show them that we really do appreciate the food!

Speaking of which, I guess I might as well give my five tips for when you get free food in Peru:

1) When you have an appointment to go eat, be punctual and always show up. If you can’t, make sure you tell them well ahead of time, and if you’re only slightly sure that you’ll make it on time, it’s better to show up early than late so you can help cook (and gain “bonus points”!)

2) Don’t ever say “no” to anything (unless eating it might kill you because of the health risk) and eat all of it, even if you’re about to explode

3) Don’t ever complain or say anything bad about the food (It’s free! That’s always worth something!)

4) If you can’t eat the food, blame it on the stomach virus that someone else’s food gave you (Fast food and street vendors are always good because it’s so believable, and it’s almost never a lie because it probably was the hamburger that you ate last night!)

5) If you use Tip #4, make sure you don’t give too many details or make it sound too bad. Sometimes they’ll give you some nice herbal tea that’s good for the stomach, but usually you’ll end up receiving some pills or, worst-case scenario, tocush (Rotten potatoes that someone left in a muddy ditch for a few years so that they’re nice and fermented, served as a kind of applesauce-y stuff that smells like raw sewage — none of that is exaggeration, just so you know!).

You also can’t forget about Tip #2, and despite all appearances it won’t kill you.

I guess I’ll finish with a picture of my district and another picture that shows how unkind the Peruvian sun is to me (I look like the Red Skull from Captain America!):

And to remind you all who we are: Elders Gallardo, Vasquez, Davila, and Schroeder and Hermanas Ascanta and Dennehy (left-to-right)

Have a good week and I’ll write next time about anything else interesting that happens!

— Elder Schroeder

Another week down!

Well, not a whole lot’s changed since the last time I wrote, but that doesn’t mean that it’s been bad down here! I’m still very happy with how everything’s been going, and we’re still working hard. But, since not a whole lot’s changed, I’ll just mention some of the more interesting things:

… Well, for starters, I lied: A LOT of things have changed here because we’ve had huaicos (?) all over Peru! I say “huiacos” because I’m not really sure what to call them — the translation says, “avalanche”, but that usually requires snow (I think). I’d call them “giant mudslides” or something because “mudslide” sounds like some mud came down the hillside; apparently these things have taken a whole bunch of the major roadways out of commission! It’s actually kind of funny (Maybe it’s bad that I find it funny…): The reason for these disasters throughout Lima: We got rain! It wasn’t even that much — I know because I walked in it for an entire day! Without needing a jacket! Rain is such a strange thing this time of year that it’s broken the city! I haven’t actually seen any huaicos here where I am, but even then the fact that it’s shut down roads and filled the rivers with mud means that everything’s more expensive (If you can’t get food to the markets, they can’t sell it to make a living…) and we don’t have much water (The water filtration system uses the river, but the water’s too dirty to clean quickly). It’s not really dangerous, but it’s made life a little more interesting now that we have to start taking emergency precautions and stuff!

As for the mission work, my district and I painted a house:

Just so you know who these people are… (left to right): Elder Gerken (Actually my zone leader — we went on exchanges), Elder Gallardo, Elder Vasquez, and Hermana Dennehy.

…And then the hermana in yellow is Hermana Ascanta.

Then we also went to the temple!

(This picture would be a lot cooler if I didn’t have my shirt bulging out! This is why I hate tucking my shirt in because it never stays!)

— Elder Schroeder

This week’s been pretty good down here in Perú. I can’t complain about the area (By the way, I realized I need to correct myself: I’m now in Industrial, Zona Santa Isabel, not Zona Comas. Comas was my last zone and I got mixed up!) and it’s good here with my companion. We’ve decided that to relax a little bit at night that we’re going to teach each other different things. I’m teaching him a little bit of martial arts, and he’s teaching me a variety of other “skills”, such as sign language (He doesn’t actually know words, but since we both know the alphabet we write the words out) and how to throw and do tricks with a trompo (a big wooden top):

(The trompo is on the bottom left, in case you didn’t see it)

So that makes our downtime a little more interesting! (If you want to know, I still haven’t mastered the trompo or sign language!)

As I said, it’s been good, but I also feel like I’m dying slowly… I’m on that slow, eventual slide to the end of my mission, and I’m not sure if I’m liking it or not. It’ll be great to be Stateside again, but I’m really going to miss the mission, and the fact that I can’t ever do it again freaks me out! At the same time, I’m struggling a little bit with my companion — he’s having a hard time in the mission and it’s affecting me — and sometimes he makes me feel like it’d be so great to just relax and not do anything without feeling guilty about it. Here in the mission, you’re on the Lord’s time, and it’s also so short that I don’t want to waste it. So I’m there…

The area’s still great! Fanny didn’t get baptized this week like I said because her husband, Alberto, who did get baptized, had an operation, but she’s planning to be baptized in a few weeks, on the 25th. But either way, we still had a baptism! (Sorry that there are a few splotches — it was drizzling. And the red eyes… Well, it was night and the flash did that!):

His name’s also Alberto, and he’s the one there in the middle with his arms open, as if to say, “Look, here I am, about to be baptized!” (He was so thrilled to be baptized! My first day here in the area, we went to visit him and he said, “I’ve been thinking lately and I’ve decided that I want to be baptized!” And ever since then he’s been excitedly preparing, changing his life without us having to do anything!)

And just so you know who these people are (I image someone would like to know why there are three missionaries!):

Back row, left to right: Hermana Lidia (the bishop’s wife), Obispo Orson (the bishop), Alberto, Presidente David (the Elders quorum president), Hermano Dante (the first counselor in the bishopric), and Candy (one of the sisters in the ward)

Front row, left to right: Me (Obviously!), Elder Kilts (Elder Davila’s companion three months ago, when they started teaching Alberto), and Elder Davila

And, of course, something went wrong in this baptism, too! We went to the chapel in the morning to clean everything and get it all ready, so we thought for sure nothing was going to go wrong! But we needed to empty the baptismal font to clean it and add fresh water, and when we tried to do it, the pump that sucks out all the water wasn’t working! We had to call someone to fix it, and then, about 30 minutes before the baptism, we were able to suck out the water, clean the font, and fill it up again! But at least it went wrong before and not during!

So it hasn’t been a very interesting week, as in with dangerous service projects or something along those lines. We did celebrate Elder Vazquez’s year mark in the mission (He’s one of the missionaries in my district):

He didn’t really want a party, but we threw one for him anyway! (It was kind of a lame party because it didn’t really work out: The cake was past it’s expiration date (It made us all sick!), the Coca-Cola we bought was warm, and we didn’t do anything else because we didn’t have anything else we could do! It was so sad that it was funny!) Elder Vazquez didn’t really care, so it all worked out!

Until next week!

— Elder Shweder

(I can’t tell anyone how my name’s actually procounced because they can’t make the noises, so I tell them it’s like this. It’s even worse when I show them my placa — they try to read it, and almost everyone gives up halfway through!)

I hit 17 months today!

I feel so old… In the mission, at least! I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but here in the Misión Perú Lima Norte, half the mission has less than seven months here in the mission! Of course, time doesn’t mean much here — a missionary that only has one month can do miracles if they work with the Spirit — but normally there’s a mix of greenies and experienced missionaries, and you don’t see that here! (I’d only consider a missionary “experienced” if they have more than eight months, because by that point you know just about everything basic that you need to know and just work on improving.) This isn’t a bad thing, but it’s interesting!

Anyway, the first big thing that happened this week was cambios! I left Año Nuevo after 4.5 months there and now I’m in Industrial, Zona Comas, with Elder Davila:

He’s pretty cool, and because we’re always together I’ve gotten to know him pretty well in only a week. He’s a hard worker and likes the mission, but it’s also kind of difficult for him at times because he misses being in his house.

The next cool thing is the area: It’s really easy and I showed up just in time to baptize! Elder Davila and his other companions worked hard here and have a lot of success, so I show up and we already had a baptism this Saturday, and other baptisms are falling out of the sky! I show up and in my first week we have two investigators that suddenly tell us, “Hey, I want to be baptized”! I guess I’m just so awesome that the people want to be baptized when I show up!… Nah, just kidding! I feel bad that I basically show up and steal all the credit for someone’s hard work, but it’s a nice break after 4.5 months of hard work without a whole lot of success (Not that I’d change the success I had for anything else! I’m happy that I’ve done a lot of good in Año Nuevo, and I’m especially happy that Yeferson and Camila got baptized and that a few other people that I started teaching are progressing!)

Anyway, last Saturday, the 4th, a man named Alberto was baptized, and it was cool to see! He and his wife are great people, and even if I don’t know them very well I’m happy that I could be here for their baptisms (His wife, Fanny, is getting baptized this Saturday!). Sadly, I don’t have any pictures except for this one:

… because we had a couple of things happen and didn’t manage to take more! EVERY..SINGLE..TIME..! I don’t know why, but every time there’s a baptism something happens! Anyone that is or has ever been a missionary knows that the baptisms are some of the most stressful days for us! This time, we found out that the baptismal clothing that the ward had provided didn’t fit Alberto (He’s really tall and super thin — he has an incurable illness that makes him weak) or the person that was going to baptize him! So we had to run from the chapel to our house to get our baptismal clothing, and obviously the baptism started late because of that!

Then, when all that was good, we could’ve taken some pictures, except that my companion’s a little sick and he started having trouble with his chest, so after the actual baptism we left so he could get some air. Sooo… Yep. But at least we’ll have more the next time!

And then I also have another first for service projects: Mixing cement and making a floor!

Another strange, only-in-Peru service project! (Seriously, they do everything by themselves here!)

So it’s been a great week and it seems like this next week will be even better (And hopefully more interesting, too!)

— Elder Schroeder