Sorry, today’s a little weird, so I don’t have any time to write! We’ve got to install some curtains in our room, and then we’re eating lunch, having a mini-fiesta as a district, and I’ve got to take my companion to the hospital at 4pm, so… there goes P-Day! Not much to report, either, so I’ll make up for it next week!
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
Finally! Baptisms!
We had a pretty good week because some of our investigators FINALLY GOT BAPTIZED! Unfortunately, Diana, the woman who gave us ginea pig to eat that I mentioned last week, wasn’t one of them, but she’s still a possibility and the other two, Yeferson and Camila, are awesome!
We found them when I was with Elder Marino, about two months ago, and at first they didn’t want to listen to us. Whenever we were close by we always went by their house to see if they were there (And for a while we had no idea why — something just told us we should pass by! Turns out it was the Spirit!), but they didn’t have any interest — Yeferson later admitted to us that he’d hidden and had sent his wife, Camila, to go tell us that he wasn’t home or that he was really busy!
But we were persistent, and it paid off! Finally, Yeferson decided to listen to us and see why we were so determined to share our message (He told us later that he’d only done it out of obligation!), but we did something right and set another appointment, and in the next appointment he felt something, and that Sunday came to church! I wrote about this a few weeks back, but it was all in Spanish, so I’ll put it here again, but in English:
This week we only had an INCA (Investigador con asistencia (Investigator with attendances)) in the chapel, but how he came to go is the miracle: We taught him (Yeferson) Monday and asked him if he would be willing to go to church, read the Book of Mormon, and pray every day. He told us he found it a bit difficult and didn’t want to, but the Spirit led us to say, “And what would you do to be with your family forever?” He was silent for a second and then said, “When you put it like that, yes, I’ll go to church and read! (Miracle part 1)
Well, Sunday came without us having found him again and he didn’t answer his phone. After the sacrament, we went outside to call him and found him outside the chapel with his mototaxi. He told us that he’d come earlier, but he saw all the people with ties and pants and he only had jeans and a t-shirt, and he thought, “I can’t enter like this!” and went to work as a mototaxi driver. While working, a family of members (dressed in jeans and t-shirts!) flagged him down and asked to be taken to the chapel! He thought, “If they can come in like this, I can too!” and he came and found us. He told us that God was calling him here, because God led him to the chapel twice so he could attend! (Miracle part 2)
From there he kept progressing! It got to the point where he asked us when we could come back to teach him, and he invited Camila, his wife (Who actually wasn’t his wife at the time) to listen with him! From there they decided to get married (Here’s a picture of them outside their house — we passed by in the night to congratulate them: )
… And get baptized! (Here we are the next night, but with Yeferson’s uncle and their oldest daughter, too: )
Their baptism was really great because they really had to fight to make it there! The entire week, from the 20th to the 26th, they had a lot of things happen! First, they had a bunch of things to do for their wedding — finding papers, sending them to the municipalidad, signing the stuff, finding witnessess (They weren’t able to come at the last moment!) — and then, the night before their wedding, a spider bit Camila’s ankle and she became SpiderWoman!… (Nah, but that’d be pretty cool!) No, actually it ruined her wedding! She couldn’t stand up for very long because it hurt, so she didn’t stand up much or pose for photos, and that night, during their party, she developed a headache and a fever! They ended up going to the hospital after we’d passed by to visit them and found that the poison from the bite had eaten a hole in her ankle, almost to the bone! The next day — the day of their baptism — she was OK because she’d taken some pills, but then the next day, Sunday — when she should’ve been confirmed — she was sick and couldn’t come! She’ll end up getting confirmed next week, but I felt so sorry for her! She was crying when we came to her house on Friday because she was too sick to enjoy her wedding, and all the stuff that they’ve had to do has made it so they really earned a break!
Aside from this, not a whole lot new. I’ll include some photos of stuff that’s happened lately:
My companion decided to try the french toast I made for breakfast, but he accidentally ate the one I’d just taken out of the frying pan!
Here’s Elder Gutierrez Friday night. We accidentally left the keys in our cuarto and the landlady wasn’t home, so we had to wait until her daughter could find the copy (We ended up waiting until 11:00pm)!
And, to finish, here’s my zone, Comas:
At least, it was my zone! We have cambios today, and I could leave, and at least some of these others are leaving as well!
Until next week!
— Elder Schroeder
Well, it’s been a good week this week, but not really a week that’s been different or interesting. No dangerous service projects, no strange food, no birthday parties… nothing.
… But last week, yes!
There still aren’t any dangerous service projects (But we had something a little more scary happen: our mission president called us out of nowhere and asked us to come to his office one morning!) (It was just so he could teach us some cool new stuff), but because the 10th was my companion’s birthday we did some interesting stuff.
First, we ate cuy:
For those of you who don’t know, “cuy” means “guinea pig” (Explains the little foot, doesn’t it?)!
It was pretty good, but it’s flavor reminds me of what a pet store smells like, as in the smell of all the wood shavings and strange plant material. Like I said, it wasn’t bad, just weird! We ate cuy with Diana (The woman next to me in this photo):
She’s great and we’re planning to baptize her this Saturday, if everything keeps going well! When we first taught her in December, I honestly didn’t think much: she didn’t seem that interested, but we set another appointment, and when we came back she told us she’d prayed and asked if what we taught was true, and she’d received her answer in a dream! It took us a while to get her to accept baptism because when she started listening to us and changing her life, she started having more problems. She has a lot of faith and knows that these problems are trials, but it’s made it hard for her to go to church and things like that. But now she’s finally going to get baptized (And just before I leave the area, too! (Maybe))! I’m excited for that and also for the other family we’re planning to baptize, Yeferson and Camila! (I’ll write about them when I hove some pictures!)
After eating cuy, we also went to visit the Gallegos family, who are the people that threw a birthday party for me on the 31st. So we did a family home evening where we played games, and the losers got painted. Just about everyone lost, so…:
But anyway, that’s all I’ve got! Next week is my last P-day before cambios, and hopefully a few people will get baptized!
— Elder Schroeder
Well, sorry, but I’m not going to be able to write much today. If you notice, I’m writing this on Tuesday (not on Monday like I should!) because yesterday we had a few emergencies with the wedding we’re setting up so we can baptize a family, and then we were busy all day with other stuff.
I have pictures and things, but unfortunately I’m not going to be able to send them now. I got permision to write an email today (So you all know I’m not dead or something!) (And yes, I did get permission!), but I don’t have much time right now. But I’ll let you all know what’s going on next Monday when everything should be a little more tranquilo…
But yeah, well… duty calls!
— Elder Schroeder
Well, since I didn’t mention a whole lot last week about how life’s going and stuff like that, I’ll give you all a two-week recap, ’cause it was pretty interesting:
For starters, another “first” in the mission: Praying for our dead neighbor’s funeral (!) That was certainly a little new. One of our neighbors died this last week, on Friday, and because they’re richer here they had a massive funderal/party that involved lots of loud music and lots of alcohol, punctuated by moments of silence to mourn. I’m not entirely sure how Peruvians normally do funerals, but whatever. Anyway, on Sunday we were returning to the house and a woman ran up to us and asked us if we could offer a prayer for this man. I was a little confused because they’re Catholics, but one of the things about Peru is that basically any religion will do, as long as they don’t have to change their religion, and anyone who devotes their time to God like we do is more “holy” or something. So we entered their house and I said a little prayer for this guy, doing my best to not mess up, becuase that would.. kind of.. ruin everything… and be super awkward… Yeah.
Then, for those of you that haven’t heard, we recently had some changes to our daily schedule! Before, we woke up at 6:30am, studied or got ready until 10:00am, went out to work until lunch at 1:00pm, left to work again at 3:00pm and worked until 9:30pm. Now we wake up at 7:30am, study and get ready until 10:30am, work until lunch at 1:30pm, and work from 2:00pm until 10:30pm, with freedom to choose when we take an hour to study as companions and to study the language! I’m still not used to it because I keep on waking up at 6:25am every.. single.. morning!
Of course, the 31st was my birthday, and it was pretty awesome. We celebrated a little on Monday, too, because it was P-day and all. I’ve added some pictures below.
Me, eating ceviche (Which we’re not supposed to eat in the mission because it has raw fish, but this is a special kind of ceviche that doesn’t have raw fish (Ceviche de pulpo)! So I can eat it!). (Ceviche is a mixture of fried fish, octopus, onion, lime juice, cancha, and aji, for those of you who haven’t heard of it before. Sounds weird, but it’s really good!)
This awesome family that we have here love the missionaries, so they threw a party for me and bought me a cake!
… And then shoved the cake in my face! (Well, actually, Elder Escobar also helped a little with that!):
Then, a few days later, I bought dinner for a drunk guy we’d contacted a while back. Why not, right?
So it’s all good here, and I had a good birthday! I’ll keep you all posted about how everything goes this week! ¡Nos vemos!
— Elder Schroeder
I’m going to be 20!
Well, first I want to thank all of you for the birthday wishes — spoken, emailed, or unspoken. I’m so grateful to everyone who reads my emails and keeps me in their prayers! I can feel that I get a lot of help and support from back home!
This week I’m not going to write much because I don’t have much time. I’ll write about everything that happened next week, but this week I’d like to share a little of my testimony.
I’m just so grateful to be here in the mission that I can’t express it. I’ve realized that about a lot of parts of the Gospel: There’s no way to say it; you just feel it. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me and knows me, that He has a plan for me that is perfect, even if I’m not, and I know that this applies to everyone. No matter how much we mess up, our eternal destiny is certain if we just try to do the best we can. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that He died for me, just like He did for everyone else.
It’s hard to explain just how much I’ve come to understand these simple things while I’ve been out here these 15 (almost 16!) months, but I know, with every fiber of my being, that it’s true. I have so much faith in these things that I literally cannot stop believing them. All of this is such a big part of me that I can’t imagine life without believing in and knowing my Father and my Savior and everything that they’ve given us. Everything is so perfect and so incredible that it blows my mind sometimes, and I promise everyone that reads this that even if you can’t feel it like I can, it’s true and if you just keep going with a little bit of faith, hope, and good actions, you’ll eventually come to feel it and know it too.
— Elder Schroeder