August 25, 2014

Hello everyone! 

This week was good. Though we didn’t have much time, we were still able to work. We did some service for an older couple out in their field. We basically just mixed together different types of dried grass. What they are going to do is replace their roof because some of the houses here (especially the houses outside of town) have grass roofs. Anyway it was a cool experience except for the wife doesn’t really know Spanish and was talking Quechua to us the entire time. (I finally learned how to spell Kechua correctly.) XD  

Anyway other than that, we got a new investigator who is progressing really well. And wouldn’t you know that she is a reference from a member. Really goes to show how important references are. Also we made contact with Delia again and it sounds like she still wants to be baptized. It’s just hard for her to come to church because she has to work a lot for her 2 daughters. Also we are going to start having family nights twice a week with the members, starting with the leaders.

For P-day today we are going to a small town called Lampa that has an old Catholic church with catacombs. So that will be cool, and I’m pretty sure we are allowed to take pictures as well so next week my letter about that should be pretty interesting. It’s about an hour and a half drive from Ayaviri but for whatever reason driving here feels really fast.

Also we are doing divisions with the zone leaders so I will once again be in Ayaviri for a few days. XD Well there are 2 more weeks till the changes and we'll see if I get a change. However, this change has felt like it’s flown by. Also next week I will officially be 1/3 done with my mission. My how time flies.

Anyway glad to hear you are all well and I love you all. Until next week.

Elder Halverson

August 18, 2014

Hello everyone!

I think for the most part I got sick at the beginning because I was adjusting to the food. Now I think it’s because everything we eat is fried in a lake of oil. Especially eggs which we eat like 4 everyday. But I’m trying to eat more fruit and drink more juice and yogurt. I also need more vegetables which I can only get if my pension makes a dish with them. The problem is just where I am I think. We are so far away from everything that it’s hard to get good ingredients. Plus my pension’s family isn’t the richest so it’s hard for them to go to Juliaca where they can buy this stuff. But I’m doing good right now; however, there is a pill called the bomb pill or something and it wipes out anything you might have in your stomach so that would be nice to take when I get back.

We were only able to work for a few days this last week because my companion got back Wednesday night. However, we were able to visit quite a few less actives. We are teaching a less active mother right now and her three daughters. The oldest daughter is active but the 2 younger ones (whose ages are 11 and 8) are not baptized. The mother wants them to be baptized so we have been working hard with them to rescue the mother and baptize her 2 kids. However she is on a trip to Lima and won’t be back for 3 weeks so I probably won’t be here for the baptisms, which is a little sad, especially because the mother said she really wanted me to baptize one. So I may have to wait till my next sector before I get my first baptism. But that’s not a big deal.

We still haven’t been able to get in contact with Delia yet but we'll keep trying. We also went out to the compo (or farmland) with our pension to visit a few less actives, so that was cool. All we were able to do, though, was make appointments for this next week.

I’m in Ayaviri again for this week because my comp had to go back to Lima to finish his papers. The thing with him is he hasn’t had a visa for his whole mission and has been waiting. He basically has been working on a visitor visa this whole time and every few months he’s had to leave the country for a day to get it renewed. But now he will have his visa so this will be the last time.

But that’s it for this week. Also Elder Davis, well now just Blake, is sending me pictures from home and it’s still weird to think that he’s not in the mission anymore. But glad to hear you’re all well and I love you all.

Elder Halverson 

This is Elder Flores, my comp. This is when we went out to the fields to visit some people.

Here are a few more random pictures:

 The streets of Pucara.

Celebration in Pucara. 

Chase's room in Choquehuanca - view 1.

Chase's room in Choquehuanca - view 2. I believe that's Chase's bed on the left -- not made, of course! Notice that there is no heat in the room.

August 11, 2014

Hello Everyone.

Me and my comp are still getting along really well and in these 2 weeks with him I think my Spanish has progressed quite a bit. I can understand basically everything he says. But yea I’m his first American companion and so he has never spoken English before. He has a little more than 14 months right now (about the same time as Elder Nicholls) so he's a pretty experienced missionary. There really isn’t much to say about this week. For most of it I was in bed because I was having stomach problems. However I’m feeling a lot better now.

We had a few lessons with some of our investigators but more than anything we were visiting leaders and finding less actives. For half this week I have to be with the Elders in Ayaviri as well as half of next week. My comp has to go to Lima for his papers and then next week he has to go back to finish them. So I think this change will be going by pretty fast. But yea rather than that not much else has happened this week.

We just had a wicked game of monopoly last night as a zone that I won. XD 

But I love you all and until next week.

Elder Halverson

August 4, 2014

Hello Everyone!

Yes, I now have my new comp! His name is Elder Flores and he is from Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Also he doesn’t speak a lick of English. However I do have enough time here now that I can talk and understand Spanish so I can communicate with him. I still am lacking quite a few words and my grammar is not the best but it will only be getting better now that I can only speak Spanish. It’s kinda funny because I’m pretty sure this is the first full week I’ve spoken only Spanish. My zone leader and me are the only 2 English speakers in my zone now and I’ll only see him every week or so. But it’s fun with him, he's a hard worker and we get along good. Also I get the privilege of starting to teach him English so that will be fun. But yea it was nice to have 2 gringo companions because even though my Spanish didn’t progress as much as it could have I also didn’t have to suffer trying to learn the language very much. Also now that I do have a Latin comp my Spanish is good enough to be able to talk with him. The only problem is where I am people have Peruvian hick accents mixed with Kechwa so it can be hard to understand them at times but I’m getting more used to it.

Also we don’t get snow here because winter in Peru is also the dry season. I also miss the storms that we used to get every few days. Also while we were eating at our pensions' house, Mount Pucara caught on fire. I wish I had my camera to take a picture of it but by the time we got back to our house it was only smoking a little. But yea now a big chunk of the mountain is black. The wind was blowing up the mountain, though, so the flames didn’t make it to Pucara.

Ok as far as the work goes, most of this week was visiting members and leaders and making appointments with people because last week my comp was getting ready to go so we didn’t really have much time to work. Also Delia is in another town right now and won’t get back till the middle of august so that is kinda on hold for right now. But yea that’s basically everything that’s going on today. Also, this morning while we were walking home from breakfast, we passed a group of drunk people. A lady starting following us trying to get our attention. She kept telling us to come back and kept calling me che, which in Argentina means dude. I guess she thought I was Argentinean.

But yea I love you all and will write you next week.

Elder Halverson