Different Gringo

Hey Familia,
What's up yo? Its so good to say hi to you all this week and hear
about all of your experiences this week. It makes me happy to hear
about the Jazz winning for the most part despite the youth. I would
have liked to hear a little more about March Madness, but I guess I
should be more focused on the work! That's great that its warming up
there in Utah. It's pretty much the same here in Arequipa, the sun
burns, the shade freezes, its clear in the morning, cloudy in the
afternoon, and a chilly wind at night. That's pretty much the weather
all year round unless it's raining.

This week was actually really special. To be completely honest I was
feeling a little down becuase we just weren't finding people like we
should have. It was like we just were in the wrong places at the wrong
times. Maybe satan had a little to do with some things that happened
that kind of distracted us. But that all changed Thursday night.
Thursday was pretty stressful for me becuase we missed out on some
appointments and my comp was struggling walking. So we had to turn
down an appointment and reschedule for another day and I was losing my
patience. We were walking to another appointment trying not to be
late. We wanted to catch the bus but it didn't come so we just started
walking. I had to break some cash to pay for the bus so I went into a
store and when we came out there was this young man standing on the
sidewalk. I saw him but I was a little preocupied with catching the
bus. As I was looking out for the bus my comp starts talking to him
and the moment he started talking I knew he was different. For one
thing, he took of his hat to talk to us, like out of respect. His name
is Cluver and his 24 years old and is in the military. He told us up
front that he wanted to call out to us to talk but was scared and too
shy to do so. He said that he was unhappy in his life, and he didn't
know why. He was looking for something, but didn't know what. He was
desperate to talk to somebody about his life and how to improve it. He
goes to work five days a week then comes home to his apartment, alone,
sleeps, then goes back to work. When he told us all of that stuff my
heart almost exploded with the Spirit!!!!

We taught him the Plan of Salvation on Saturday and he thought it was
all just awesome!! He lives alone because his parents are divorced and
live on different sides of Peru. He's been alone for like 11 years and
was never happy. We challenged him to get baptized in two weeks and
said, you know what, I really have been waiting for this in my life, I
really would like to do that!!!! We were so stoked!!! He's awesome.
This really testifies to me that everthing happens for a reason. THIS
IS THE LORDS WORK, not ours. He knows which of his children needs help
and the precise moment to send that help. I know the chruch is true
and that we have prophets on this earth once again. I'm so happy to
have the opportunity to listen to these leaders this week. I can't
believe it's been six months since I listened to conference with my
temp Luis in Moquegua. Seems like just yesterday. I invite you all to
make the time now to be able to listen to ALL of conference. Ponder
about the things you need help with right now in your life. Make a
list of questions you want answered from the Lord and listen attently
to all of the speakers and I know that our Father in Heaven will
answer all of these questions.

Well, that's about all the time I have this week to write. I hope
everyhing goes alright and that you're all safe. I've been explaining
baseball to my comp and he seems to actually like the sport. I would
like to see some of the half price Pujols merchandise (just
mentioning) one day. Ooh, there's a tour guide in our ward that takes
people on hikes so that part about pres. Nordgren was cool. I think if
you hike the Inca trail its something like 4 or 6 days depending on
how fast you want to go. They make it to Machu Pichu (not to be
confused with one of the three volcanoes in Arequipa called Pichu
Pichu). One day I hoped to see that marvel of the world and walk where
the Lamanites walked.

Love,
Elder Child


P.s.You're probably all wondering about the subject of my email. It was
becuase one member told my comp that I'm not like all the other
gringos because i'm calm and reserved and I'm mature and stuff like
that. He kind of said it like hey enjoy it while it lasts!! I thought
it was funny but then I thought how much more out going I am nowadays
than before haha! Well, take luck!