The Rains Came Down

Hola Familia,

This week went by even faster than last week if thats even possible.
It feels like yesterday I was emailing you guys. Well, as always, Ill
try to let you know as much as possible about my life in the mission.
First off, lets just say right now, that I hate the rain. Since last
Monday, it has rained every single day without exception. Its also
gotten cold too. Its pretty bad becuase all the roads are dirt, so
theres some mud and dirt envolved too. If the rain was just a personal
annoyance, I wouldnt really care, but theres like nobody in the
streets and people are less likely to open their doors when its
raining too, which has cut down dramatically on our new investigators
numbers. But its all in the mission experience. So last Monday was
kind of special because after I emailed we went on splits so that we
could buy a camera for Elder Ruggieros comp. Elder Gamarra. He didnt
have one, and he was really sad. So Elder Ruggiero bought one for him
and said it was from all of us. Elder Gamarra almost cried when he
opened it because it meant that much to him. Its crazy to see how
little the people have here and how much they are willing to sacrifice
to serve a mission. It rained a lot last Monday so we werent able to
have Family Home Evening with our investigators. So we went and got
pizza for dinner. The pizza here definately isnt as good as in the
states though.

Tuesday was pretty different too. That pizza we ate actually made me
pretty sick on Tuesday. It wasnt very fun. We just stayed in the room
and I slept all day because I was feeling bad. So it was boring.
Wednesday wasnt very interesting either though. We taught some lessons
to some cool people and if all goes well we should be able to baptize
them next week. We taught the Mayors daughter and her cousin. They are
super interested and believe all we are teaching them but whether or
not they keep their commitments is another story. Wednesday is when it
REALLY RAINED. It was the day that started the trend for the last five
days. I guess in January and February is when it gets cold and rainy
in Arequipa. So their Summer is the season that it is cold and rainy
(ironic right).

Thursday was cool because Elder Ruggiero went on splits with another
Elder in our district so we got that elders comp in our apartment with
us. His name is Elder Calizaya and he only has three months left in
the mission. He acts like he doesnt want to work and wants to be a
little rebellious but really he is a good missionary. We went and
taught a bunch of stuff to the Mendoza children on Thursday too. We
taught for like an hour and a half because we werent able to teach on
Tuesday. We finally got them ready for their baptizm on Saturday.
So Saturday was special because the three Mendoza children got
baptized at the stake center which is like 20 minutes from Characato,
but it was all good. I baptized the two girls and my companion
baptized the boy. It was special. Baptizing kids is a little different
than adults because their understanding is so little, but I just think
how little I actually understood about the Gospel when I was eight
years old and it is amazing to see how much faith they have to want to
be baptized. The baptism was actually a good opportunity for their
father to see the ordinance and feel the spirit. We just have to marry
the parents and then they can get baptized too. I think the father is
more open now.

Sunday was another sacrament meeting at our house. Every week we have
to try and drag people to church. Its a little bit of a pain but its
worth it if we can get people to church. We only got one investigator
there, but the Mendoza family was there too, so that was nice. The
branch president and his family was there too. Hopefully we can get
some improvements to our house/church this week. They werent able to
do anything this week because of the rain. It rained a ton last night.
We tried to go to peoples houses but nobody was home or wanted us to
talk to them, so we did a lot of contacting in the rain. It was tiring
and we were wet and cold, but we got through it.
This week was interesting too because I learned how to do laundry by
hand. Its pretty easy, but it takes a lot of time, and we have to have
sun in order for the clothes to dry, That was a little bit of a
problem this week though. All is well on the kitchen appliance front
though. We got permission to go to the mall today, so we are going to
buy some stuff to cook with. Dont worry mom, we are doing just fine.
We will ask for more stuff when we need it okay. Im doing good all in
all. Love the mission but the language is still hard for me. I
understand a lot but the speaking is difficult.

I had the chance to read the Book of Mormon a ton this week. I learned
a bunch of stuff, and its even better when we actually take the time
to study the book and look for principles and things we can apply. I
abslolutely love the scriptures and hope you all take advantage of
your opportunities to read it. Well thats all for me this week,
hopefully more baptisms this week. Also, pray for the Sun.

Love,
Elder Child