Hey everyone! First off, thanks a ton for all the birthday wishes. I blushed. No but really, its been great to hear from all of you! I may not have time to write all of you back, so if I dont, know I love you, and you rock! So, I have a lot I want to talk about this week, so we'll see how fast I can type.
So, this week the language is really starting to click.
The problem I have now, is that I can speak Spanish a lot easier, so I
think less about what I have to say, so I'll randomly switch between
languages when I talk. Its pretty funny, and it trips out my comp haha.
My accent is coming along nicely too.
So, this week was crazy. Tuesday,
I was sick as a dog. Long story short, I cant count how many times I
went to the bathroom that day... BUT, when we are sick we have to call
the President and his wife. So, I called Hermana Harbertson and was
talking to her, and it was just super funny, because she was talking to
me, and heres what happened, "So, this is your bodies way of saying you
ate something bad, so right now, you just want to let it flow out of
you.". When she hit the word "flow" she kind of started giggling, and it
was just so funny haha. But yeah. It was not a fun time.
But, Wednesday,
we had intercambios! Basically, I came to Quillabamba to work with this
other gringo from Utah, his name is Elder Haefelmann haha. We just call
him Elder Haffy, because the Peruanas cant pronouce it haha. Anyways,
we both struggle with the language, so we both had to be really bold!
And it was super good, because I was more confident with my Spanish! We
taught a great lesson about tithing, and it was really good for me I
think. So that was a lot of fun. But, I found out, that one of the
plants that a ton of people grow here, Coca, is the main ingredient in
cocaine. So... yeah. Theres that!
So, another fun thing I found out this week, is that
there were two missionaries here a while back that went on a baptizing
spree, without attendings of church, and permission of their parents, so
theres a ton of inactive people, who are baptized. So that was NOT
good. Kind of sad.
Um, so sad news about the family Quispe. They had
all their stuff in order, and gave their money to their uncle to pay for
the wedding... and he ran off with it. So. They cant be married this
month. So that was seriously heartbreaking. But, hopefully theyll be
married and baptized next month!
Other investigators.. Rosalia! She is one who
approached us, and told us she wanted to change her life, because she
drinks a lot. So, we have been teaching her, and we have seen such a
difference in her! Theres this new light in her eyes that is awesome.
Um, another cool thing. We were frustrated because
we didnt have any of our investigators come to church this Sunday, but
we saw a new guy with one of the really old members. So, apparently,
when I taught Sunday School a few weeks ago about mission work, he felt
like he could really help with it, so he invited his friend! So, we
taught him yesterday,
and he is gonna be baptized! He is super prepared, he was like, "Im
looking for a church with these things", and we were like, "Chevere, cuz
we have all that stuff!" Im pretty excited about him. His name is
Guirmo.
So, another investigator we have is Cintia. She is
new this week, and she only has like... 22 years I think? But we taught
her yesterday, and it was really great! She is really prepared too. She
said everything we taught made a lot of sense, and that she wanted to
really know if it is true. So, she is gonna pray and we are gonna meet
again tomorrow. She is really chevere, and her mom is gonna start listening to the lessons too, so thats cool.
Um... so, my leader of our zone told me that we need
to work on having lots of families join, especially with worthy
priesthood holders, and we need to teach tithing, because if we get
enough, we can become a branch, and if we do that, Quillabamba will
become a stake, which is AWESOME. So, we went and visited this hermano
called Renzo this week, and he is bien chevere tambien. He has a ton of
faith, and he is really prepared, the problem is, he isnt married too,
so we are gonna teach him about that this week... but I think thatll be
good.
But, speaking about tithing, yesterday
in church I taught about tithing, and it went really well. I told the
story of mom and dad after they got married and tithing, and it really
affected the members. After, I saw 3 of the people in the meeting get
tithing slips and pay. It was really cool, and it was good, because I
feel like we can become a rama soon!
So, thats about it as far as investigators go, so
I'm just gonna talk about some of the other fun stuff this week haha.
So, just something funny this week, after we got back home one night,
Gallego went to the bathroom. So, our bathroom is basically an outhouse
in our courtyard, and theres a big open window outside. So, I snuck over
right outside the window, and started cracking my knuckles and neck. He
was like, "Ri...Richman?" and then I shoved my hands through the window
and he yelled haha. He was mad haha. Later, when I was going to the
bathroom, he was like, "Si hay un zombie.. no te preocupes." (If there
is a zombie, dont worry yourself). It was funny.
That same night, I was sitting outside, and I saw
something glistening out in our courtyard so I went and looked at it. I
took pictures. But, it was a MASSIVE spider, and there was like, a
billion little baby spiders on its back. Freaking nasty. Its dead as a
doornail now, but bleh. It was huge! Ridiculous.
So, tonight, because its my birthday tomorrow,
Gallego and I are going to go eat hamburgers. I am so stoked I cant
even believe it. If I'm REALLY lucky, they MAY have Dr Pepper. Im
hoping. Last week, we found Mtn Dew, so that was delicious. Haha. But,
as far as soda goes, Im starting to get addicted to Inca Cola. Its
actually really good... strange, but true haha.
So, the pictures this week, are of my mosquito bites
that I had last week, which were gnarly! Also, some bird that chills
outside our window every day when we study. Then some pictures of
intercambios, and then of the spider. Oh! And the other one, the house
next to us, that tractor lost its brakes, and plowed into that house.
Its been like, 4 days and its still there haha. Kinda strange. The other
one is this monster moth that was outside our door the other day. It
was seriously huge haha.
Well, I think thats all for this week. Thanks for
all the birthday wishes and the support and love. I miss you all, and
you rock! But, Im having a good time here! I am really starting to love
these people, and be confident and have a good time. Language still isnt
perfect, but its coming, and I can communicate most of the time haha. I
hope to keep hearing from all of you! Weird that my birthday is tomorrow,
and I'll be celebrating it with Elder Gallego, and all my investigators
haha. The birthday parties here are nuts, so everyone thinks its super
weird that I wont be drinking or really partying for my birthday haha.
But Im excited, and excited for another great week! This week flew by!
Crazy. These 2 years are gonna fly haha.
I know that this church is true! It truely can
change lives, and I have been able to see that change working in people!
The Lord truely is preparing people for us to teach, and I can feel his
help in this work! Im excited to be here. Thanks for everything
everyone! Until next week.
Con Amor,
Elder Richman
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