Sept 23, 2014

So.. yeah. This week was the bomb DOT com. Seriously. And ya'll have the special priviledge to hear all about it. Buckle up! 

So, I'm gonna talk about Palma Real real fast. So, we went again, and taught Lea. She was doing well, but she wasn't able to come to church again this Sunday. It's just hard to go so far. I understand, but still. But, our lesson with Maritza was really cool. We talked about the Book of Mormon, and she was really interested. But, because of lack of time, I'm gonna talk about the end of our lesson. As we were wrapping up, she stood up to make us hot chocolate, and she was telling us that her knees have some problems and they always really hurt her. So, we told her that through the Priesthood (which we had taught that day too), we could give her a blessing, and through her faith, she could be healed. So, we gave her the blessing, and afterwards, she stood up, walked around, and then turned to us, and said, "Hm. They don't hurt anymore." It was a pretty cool experience. I hope they keep progressing. Oh, also while we were out there, we were walking, and we heard someone yell, "¡Elderes!". So, we went and talked to this lady who called us, and it turns out that her son is serving a mission in Mexico, but she's not a member. So, we are gonna start trying to teach her.

La familia Quispe. Wow. I seriously LOVE them. This week I'm gonna take a picture to send ya'll, so you can love them too. But, remember how I had a lesson with them a few weeks ago about how they needed to read and pray every day? Well, we met with Yhoseli this week, and she has been reading and praying, like, every day! So, she is excited for baptism again, and she had questions about the Book of Mormon that we could answer, and it was super good. But, I think my favorite was with Rony. We were talking to him the other day, and we asked him, "Rony, do you think that this message has helped you?" So, he sat, and thought for a sec, and then said, "...Yeah. Yeah. I think so, because I have seen God blessing my life more and more since you have started coming, and since I've started doing the things you have taught me." Basically, that's the most rewarding thing you can hear as a missionary. Oh, but at the end of that lesson, he gave the prayer. It was like, a super long, beautiful prayer, that brought me to tears, dead serious. Not because it was such a good prayer, BUT, because the last time I heard him pray, he had to use a contact card to remember how to do it, and now, he's having a full blown conversation with Heavenly Father. They are gonna get married soon, and baptized after, and I can't wait. They seriously are the best. 

Okay. The other investigator I want to talk about. We got her as a reference from the sister missionaries here, but we haven't been able to get in contact with her. But, last Sunday at the conference, we finally met her, and got an appointment. This week, we met with her Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday (2 times), and Sunday. I'm 100% convinced that this girl is a paid representative from the church to see if I got trained right. (Just kidding, that is not how the church works at all, but it's just a joke). Her name is Rosa Nina. She has 17 years, and she is studying Civil Engineering in Cusco, but this semester she took a semester off. She is CRAZY smart. But this is what happened. I guess she was in Quillabamba, and she saw the chapel there, and she said, "Hm. I'm gonna go check that place out." So, she went, we got the reference, and now she's investigating the church. So, she's really curious too, and just loves to learn. So, we started teaching her. Her questions are always super well thought out, and fun to answer, because I have to think about scriptures I know, and all that I have learned in the mission to help teach her. So, after lessons with her, I always have a headache, but I feel super happy, cuz I feel like I have learned a ton haha. But seriously, she is the perfect investigator. She has been reading and praying every night since we taught her, and she is progressing SUPER fast. We think we'll baptize her this Saturday. But, due to lack of time, I'm gonna summarize what happened on Saturday with ya'll. So, she has a hard time understand the Holy Ghost, and that it helps her to know if these things are true. So, really, it comes down to a bit of lack of faith to know if she can recieve answers from the Holy Ghost. So, Saturday, we taught the Holy Ghost and faith, and after, watched Finding Faith in Christ. Afterwards, we asked her what she thought. She sat and thought for a minute, and then asked us a little hestitantly, "Do you think people can receive like... revelation in dreams?" So we told her that it was possible. Then she said, "A little while ago, I had a dream that Christ came to me. When he came to me, all he told me was, 'I am preparing something for you to learn about me, and you need to find it.' And... I think maybe I found it." And THEN, in her closing prayer, she said, "Thank you Heavenly Father, because I know that I have felt something today, and I know it was the Spirit." My gosh, the heavens split open, and the heavenly trumpets began sounding right then and there! Okay, not really, but it was a SUPER cool experience. Because, like 2 days before, she told us she didn't believe that the Holy Ghost could help her feel something to know that these things were true. 

So, this week has been full of blessing and miracles, and I know it has been because I have been focusing on the Lord, and being more obedient. The blessings TRUELY come when we are obedient. I could see that this week. It gave me more motivation to be a better missionary, always. It's a beautiful thing, that even though I'm not perfect, if I'm trying my best, the Lord makes up the rest.

So, now that I've brought you all to tears with my awesome stories, I'm gonna make you laugh. Remember that rat thing I talked about a few weeks ago? This week, we were visiting with that family again, and we asked about it. The mom started laughing, and pulled up the woven basket thing... and this rat thing had eaten a HUGE hole out of it, and gotten out. I'm not a huge fan of the idea of that thing running around free... 

Anyways, I gotta go! We're going to Waterfalls! Until next week, love and  miss you!

Elder Richman

¡Purificándome!

Hey there everybody! It's time once again to hear all about the life of Elder Richman here in Peru! I hope you're excited. 

This week was good. Learned a lot! On Wednesday, we went to Palma Real again. To help relieve some amount of stress, I'm not going to talk about the drives there, or back. Let's just say... we made the hour and half trip... in 40 minutes. But that's all I'm gonna say. But! The families out there are... pretty cool. The first one we visited was frustrating, cuz we asked her (Ana) if she read the pamphlet, and she told us, yes. Okay, cool. So we started trying to talk to her about it, and she wouldn't answer. Basically, after 15 minutes, she finally told us she couldn't read. So, we taught her in very simple terms, and I think she started to understand. I think she has a learning disability of some form, cuz her father walked in and said she never really understands things properly. So we'll see how she goes. 

The second family was like, YES! Their names are Jacobo y Lea. Lea went to a church here called Peruanita, but now she doesn't go, and Jacobo is Catholic. They have a little baby boy. Anyways, we started talking to them about the law of Chastity, and Gallego challenged them to live the law... they seemed sort of hesitant, and I felt like I should talk about... familias eternas. I can't think how to say that in English. Families Eternals? That doesnt sound right. Anyways, I told them about that, and bore my testimony about how I knew that after this life, they could live with together, and with their children. After that, they were really interested, and before we told them about church, they asked, "Do you have a church we cuold come to attend?" YES! Haha, it was a really good lesson. We challenged them to be baptized, but we can't set a date until they're married. 

The other family, Maritza y Antonio were good. They're devote Testigos de Jehova, but they want to get our lessons... so yeah. So, they have a crazy amount of knowledge about the Bible, and it's awesome. So we taught them about the Restauracion, and challenged them to pray. We'll go back to Palma in Wednesday, so we'll see.

Franklin y Judith! They are a less active family that we found. He served his misson in Trujillo Peru 4 years ago. So, we went and visited them, and taught about the temple. It went well, and I think they're gonna start coming to church again. 

Rony y Yhoseli (la familia Quispe) are doing well. They're still crazy busy right now, so we can't teach alot, but we visited with them last night. They have been reading and praying a little more, and now they seem a lot more interested in being baptized again. So, that was good. I really hope they keep it up. 

Um... la familia Velasco! They're some investigators we've had for forever here. They're son and daughter are members, but the parents aren't. But, right now, they really are having some tough times, so they are trying to turn to the Lord, which is great! So they're starting to progress a lot faster than in the past, so that's good. 

Well, other stuff this week.. we had a meeting with the mission president and the assistants! It was really good. We talked a lot about obedience. It is really the way that we can see the blessings here in the mission. So, they challenged us to do an activity, and I'm gonna do it this week. It's called Purificándonos, or Purifying Ourselves. Basically, we start out with a fast, and during the fast, we write down a few things that we think we aren't being perfectly obedient. Then, for 40 days, we do everything in our power not to do those things. Basically, the idea is to turn our thoughts always to the Lord. So, I'm excited. I want to see the miracles that come from obedience, and I know that if I try to be obedient, the Lord will bless me to have success. So, I'll keep ya'll posted on how that is going. 

Saturday and Sunday was District Conference here, so Saturday, we had a priesthood meeting, and then a general meeting for all of Quillabamba. There weren't a ton of people, but it was still good. I actually went with our Zone Leaders during Priesthood to visit a less active member here. His name is Boris, and he served his mission in Italy, and he made us some bomb pasta. But, Sunday was a broadcast for all of Peru from Robert H. Hales, and David A. Bednar. and some other people. It was awesome. A ton of people came! And they were good talks. They talked a lot about the importance of the youth here, and the value of women, and how they are the most important creation of God's. Pretty cool. But it was a cool experience.

Um. I think that's it for this week... Just something I want to say in closing. Something that the President talked about with us that really hit home. I'm a represantive of Jesus Christ. I literally, have been called to say the things he would say, act how he would act, and do the things he would do. It's pretty powerful, and it reminds me of what kind of person I have to be while on my mission. I hope I can live up to it, and I know that with His help, he'll help me to live up to it Thanks for everything everyone. Until next week. 

Elder Richman 

I don't wanna be a bishop!!!

Phew! First off, sorry! Power was out in Quillabamba on Monday, so we couldn't email. Also, my letters are FINALLY starting to come through! So, thanks! Monday, I got 13 letters haha! I feel so full of your love I don't think I could take one more bite. Mmm! But, no. Keep writing me.

So last Monday, we bunked our beds, and we finally got a fan. That may be the best thing that has ever happened in my life. Now, I can FINALLY sleep in peace. And study. Basically, my whole life is more comfortable, and less sweaty now, which is always a beautiful thing. 

So, question. What's going on with the US and Syria right now? I don't know why everyone has lacked telling me about this, but I'm a teensy bit out of the loop. But, to give you an idea of how frustrating it is, I'll give you the dialogue I've been having this week. Me: "Hi, I'm Elder Richman. I'm from the USA!" Random Peruvian: "Oh yeah? Did you hear about the war? Everyone thinks World War 3 is going to start, they're going to bomb Syria....blah blah blah...."  Me: "........what?" So yeah, if anyone would like to enlighten me a bit, that'd be super cool.

So, I did exchanges with Elder Mendez, my zone leader, on Wednesday. He's from Mexico, and he is super awesome haha. He's like... 27 or something though haha. But, it was a good day. I learned a lot, and taught a lot, so it was really good. It was the first time I've done exchanges with a Latino, so they're trust me with the language now! Haha. 

Our investigators are all right. We were on splits on Sunday, and I went and met with the familia Quispe, and I was pretty bold and straight up with them. I told them that they needed to read and pray, or they weren't ever going to get their answer if this gospel is true. So, I got them to commit to try to read at least one verse every day, and then to pray. We'll see. We still can't seem to find Guillermo... but yeah. Another new investigator, Benedicta, has a fecha for the end of this month, so we're working with her. She's an old investigator, but she is interested again, so that's good.

So, this Thursday, we went to Palma Real. So, to give you an idea, Quillabamba is the main city, then you drive 30 minutes into the jungle, to get to Echarati. THEN, you drive another 1 1/2 to go to Palma. But, we had a reference there, and we wanted to go. The problem is, when we asked about Palma, we had two responses that we heard from different people. "Yeah, it's normal there, don't stress." and "Yeah, go if you wanna die." Terrorism.... uh... más adentro (I don't remember the English for it... sorry.) is pretty prevelent, so we were worried... but it was awesome! I loved it there. All of the people were happy to listen to our message, and the town just had such an awesome feeling. But, from what we could figure, we were the first missionaries to ever go there. So, that's cool! We're going again today to work with some of our contacts. I'll let ya'll know.

Um... Sunday, was not a happy day for me, at least in the morning. We have some problems with the leadership here not helping us, but I won't go into that, but, Sunday, we had no leaders... so... I got to preside, and direct the Sacrament Meeting! I don't wanna do it again. But, I was frustrated about that. But, I taught a lesson about the Millenium in Sunday School, and it went well, and the rest of the day was very successful, so all in all it was good haha. 

Wow, this letter is long... I'm keeping going. Sorry.

Oh! Just something interesting. I can't remember the word for it, but we were talking to a member this week, and they had a woven box thing that was shaking, so we asked what was in it. They told us to go look at it. Basically, it was like a 2 foot tall rat, and it was inside huffing and growling... so we asked what it was for, and they told us they were going to sell it was a pet. I was seriously busting up, cuz they were like, "When it's trained, it's like a puppy!" Nah. It's just a giant rat. But, it was only a baby, so they showed us its mom (who they had in the freezer cuz they were going to eat her... ughhhhhh) and it was like seriously 3 1/2 feet long. Giant pet rat. Welcome to Peru!

Um... this Monday, the power was out, but we went and had a picnic as a zone at a river, then played football, and soccer. So, I was pretty tired by the end of the day, but on yesterday, we went to Abel's in the morning to celebrate his wife's birthday. They made me hold the legs of a chicken while they killed it... I didn't like that... but later, we tried to catch their rooster to kill it... after an hour of running through the rainforest, tripping, falling, grabbing thorns, and ultimately failing, I would have been more than happy to kill the stinking thing... but, like I said. We failed, But! I am quite sore today. Haha. 

September 11, 2013

So, I just have a few more minutes. Funny things that happened this morning. While we were walking to the internet cafe, I stopped to turn around to look for something, and some little 4 foot tall abuelita (like.. little old lady..) ran into me, and then started rambling away at me in Quechua, then walked away. It was just really funny for me. Also, we got the priviledge of sitting in the front seat on our drive here today. Usually we sit in the back, but I never want to sit in the front again. This is how I imagine the driving test to become one of the drivers is.

"You are driving, and go to pass a car, and when you are side by side, another car is coming towards you in your lane. Do you:

A. Slow down and give right of way

B. Speed up

C. Never Surrender

D. Both B and C."

The correct answer is D.

Anyways. This was long. Sorry. Hope all is well back home. Love and miss you all! But, I'm doing good! President Harbertson is coming tomorrow to give us some training, so I'm excited for that! The work is moving along. Maybe not so much with our investigators right now, but I feel like the group here is really starting to strengthen, which is really good. I know this is where I need to be! Until next week! Hope to hear from you. Thanks for your support!

Elder Richman

Cusco!

September 2, 2013

Hi!

So, this week was slow as far as investigators went. Honestly, we didn't have tons of time to visit a lot of them, but, we were able to visit lots of members and less actives... but, I'll talk more about that in a sec. 

So, this week, Tuesday night ( I forgot how to say Tuesday for a sec. Haha ) we got on a bus and drove to Cusco. Let me put this in perspective for you. So, it's a HUGE charter bus. However, the road we drive on is basically like the road in Payson Canyon... so it's really narrow, but it's CRAZY steep, and CRAZY curvy. So, it's like a 7 hour drive of that. We left at 9 at night from Quillabamba, and I was super hot and like sweating, and when we got to Cusco at 3, it was raining, and I was freezing haha. It was crazy. So, we went to some missionaries house there, kind of sat around for a bit, and then we went to the meeting. So, our meeting started at 8 in the morning, and ended at 4. Elder C. Scott Grow of the Seventy came and talked with us. In the beginning, he started by shaking all of our hands, and asking our names, and where we were from. So, that was cool. But we just had basically a big lesson with him, and with other leaders, talking about how we need to involve members a lot in the work, and how we need to focus a lot in less actives. So, it was a cool experience. But at the end, Elder Grow is like, I'm going to interview 6 of you missionaries here. There was over 200 missionaries at this meeting, so I was like, "Hahaha... poor sap that has to get interview by a Seventy." Elder Grow: "I'm going to interview Elder Castro, Elder Blahblah, Hermana Blahblah. Elder Richman...." Me:".....dang it." My whole zone was sitting on the same bench and they all like peered over at me and started laughing. I have no idea how I was one of the people haha. So, I was kinda nervous, but excited at the same time. 

So, I went in and interviewed with a Seventy! It was cool. He asked about my family, my comp, my area... we just talked. I want to tell ya'll about 2 things he told me in the interview. The first, when I was talking about my comp, I said that I really like him, but sometimes he was kind of disobedient and that frustrated me. He said, "Yeah... sometimes that happens. Heres the thing. Maybe he can be disobedient and feel the Spirit. You? You can't. You know too much!" Not in like a prideful way, but it just made me feel a little better, because I was frustrated that sometimes he still seems to have the Spirit, even when he is lax with the rules. The other thing is something that he told me I'm supposed to write home, but it was really cool. He told me (the wording might be a bit off cuz my memory isn't perfect... haha.) "Elder Richman, thank you for this interview. I have felt your excitment for this work, and your energy, and it's a good thing. When you write home this week, I want you to write about this interview, and let people know that a member of the Quorum of the Seventy looked in your eyes... and saw a man ready to serve, free of guile, and someone with whom the Lord is well pleased and in whom he can trust. Thank you."

So. Yeah, that was a pretty cool thing. Yeah.

But yeah, the rest of Cusco was cool. We went to the Plaza de Armas, and we ate hamburgers,  and then we went back to Quilla. I put in some pictures of the Plaza de Armas, but it was dark, so they're not great. 

Rest of the week was normal. We worked a lot with members, and met with lots of less actives, but most of our investigators were gone with week.. I dunno why. But, Saturday, we went and did a service at the house of Abel. He is trying to build a new house, so we dug out a ton of dirt, and then sifted it so he can make bricks. The shovels here are like, 3 feet tall, so my back is broken still. Haha. But it was good.

So, I want to talk about church yesterday. We were fasting that lots of members could come, and they did!!! So, it was good. But I was fasting personally that I could help motivate the members to help us out. So, again, the Presidente de Groupo didn't have a lesson planned for Gospel Principles, so I had to give the lesson. I didn't have anything prepared, so I asked, "Is there anything anyone would like to talk about?" Some sister suggested the chapter about sharing our talents. Phew. It was awesome. I somehow was speaking Spanish completely fluently, and involving all the class, and they were laughing together, and brainstorming, and it was seriously AWESOME. I was so stoked. But, I used the topic to motivate them to use their talents to help the less actives. Then, I went and got each of them to promise to do something this week with their talent, to help build this group here. So, it was good. I hope they actually do it haha. 

But yeah. Not too much else. Took some pictures with our new zone, while we were on a hike this morning at Estudio de Zona. I like our new zone a lot, but now, we have like no gringos haha... I'm gonna have to speak Spanish all the time... ugh... No, but the Spanish is like, here now! It's great. I can communicate and understand pretty well now. It's good. I'm blessed.

Thanks for everything! It was a good week, and I'm excited for the coming week. The Lord is truely looking out for me. I appreciate all the love and support. This work is awesome, and I'm so excited to be a part of it. Until next week! Love and miss you all!

Elder Richman

I'm Building a Boat

August 26, 2013

Phew. This week was craziness. The whole week just felt like the pits. But, there's a light at every tunnel! That was Sunday this week. So, I'll tell ya'll ALL about it!

So, the work was way slow this week. Didn't have too many new investigators, all of our appointments fell through, and all that fun stuff. But, Wednesday, we had intercambios, and I was with my Zone Leader, Elder Nolan, in Echarati. That day was awesome! I felt like we worked really hard, and I got to actually call some of the shots that day. So, it was a good experience. He was the missionary in Echarati before me, and the people there just love Gringos, so they were stoked to have us there haha. 

Saturday, was lame! Everything fell through, our baptisms, citas... With our baptisms, we could not get ahold of Guillermo all week. And then, with Alexandra, every time, she has told us she is 9. So, what she meant was, she is going to TURN 9. So, because she is 8, and her mom is member, we can't do anything without the permission of both parents, because she's not in our jurisdiction. So, that stunk. But, when she does get baptized, she wants me to do it! So, that's cool haha. But, yeah. Saturday was just not the best.. except, it rained like all day, so the weather was really cool and I loved it.

So, Sunday was the bomb.com! The 1st Counselor of the Mission came, and I was like ready to have a migraine, cuz I was stressing. So, he comes, with the District President from Quillabamba, his counselors, and then the Branch President from Quilla... how many members came? 2 adults, 2 youth, and like, 7 kids. I was just sitting there thinking, "Yup. They're gonna kick us out of here cuz they will think we aren't working." So, I was stressing hard. But, President... ugh, I can't remember. Gonna call him President A. President A stands up, and starts talking. So, since we are a family group, it's pretty informal. So, he was asking everyones names, and then thanking them personally for coming. And then, he compared Echarati to the boat that Nephi built. He was like, "We're here trying to build this boat.. but we need everyones help to do it. Can we all do it?" I was like, "YEAH! BUILDING BOATS! LETS DO IT!". Okay, not really, but I was pumped. So then Elder Gallego and I got to meet with him for a bit and create a bit of a plan of what we need to do here, so that was super nice. Then, we went with all the leaders, and members that were there, and we all split up, and we visited a TON of members and investigators. Ah. It was so awesome. This is what we need here, is other people getting involved in the work. (And the missionaries where ya'll are need you too!) Anyways, it was a good day. Oh, and then halfway through our meeting with President A... Guillermo came! It was like Christmas morning. He apologized, because he had to work in his chakra all week, and so he couldn't answer his phone. But, he still wantsto be baptized, and we're planning on the 31. Hoping that still goes through! But that night, we went and visited a family of Old Investigators, and wow. I have such a good feeling about them. We taught about the Book of Mormon, and they were asking all the right questions, and the Spirit was so strong... yeah. Feeling good about that. The Familia Díaz. I'll let you all know how that goes.

Anyways, Rony and Yhoseli (Familia Quispe) are doing well, and still progressing. They're little son is so funny, cuz every time we come, he knows what to do, and he shakes our hands, and gets our stools... he is so cute. We couldn't meet with Cynthia, Rosalia, or Edgar this week... so that was too bad. But this week we have plans to. But, tomorrow, we're going to Cusco!!! I'm stoked, cuz we're gonna listen to a Seventy too. But I'm gonna get Dr. Pepper. My mouth is already watering...  

Um... oh! I'm putting in a photo of my pensh, and then my zone. I love my pensh haha. She is so awesome. "Pa", her husband is so funny. When he heard it was my birthday, he just threw out his arms for a hug. But its funny, because he calls her his "gordota". Basically, he calls her his big fattie haha. But that's not mean here, so she just giggles, and her giggle is so hilarious cuz it's like a little girls. Cracks me up. 

Sorry, this letter is kind of short! But, I want to share a thought! Ether 12:6.. I believe. The one that says that we won't recieve a witness until after the trial of our faith! But, this week, I really saw that. At the end of Saturday, I was feeling pretty hopeless. But, I offered up a sincere prayer that Sunday could be better, and wow! It was honestly probably my favorite day in the mission so far. It was awesome. I am so incredibly blessed. 

Sé que esta Iglesia es verdadera. Sé este, por que he orado a Dios, y he recibido una respuesta. Si alguno de ustedes quiere saber, hay una manera! Lean El Libro de Mormon! Este es la promesa que enseñamos a nuestros investigadores, y sé que con todo mi corazón que es verdad. Si leen el Libro de Mormon, y oran... van a recibir una respuesta de Dios. Estoy haciendo el barco de Echarati, y estoy agradecido por esta oportunidad. Gracias a ustedes por todo. Les quiero mucho, y les extraño mucho. Pero, estoy haciendo la buena obra. Hasta la próxima semana. 

-Elder Richman

Crazy Week Here in Peru

August 19, 2013

Hey everyone!

So, time is short so I'm gonna try and be fast haha. 

So, Monday, I ate a freaking hamburger. Oh my goodness. I bought it out of some sketchy bus, but it was fantastic. Seriously, made my day. 

But Tuesday was my birthday! It was honestly totally normal haha. A sister who is super less active, invited me to a hamburger (again, yum), and for dinner, our pensh bought chicken from a polleria, with french fries. I love the french fries here. Although, theyre not really French Fries... haha. So that was awesome. But other than that, we worked all day like normal. But it was good.

The next day we had our Reunión de Distrito, and they got me cake, so that was cool. I have pictures. I think it was supposed to be a pig? I dunno. But after my zone sang, they shoved my face in the cake... so that was fun! Haha. 

Thursday, nothing really happened. But Friday! My gosh. Friday was weird. 

So, Friday, I really learned how horrible alcohol is. Seriously. Don't do it. We went to visit Rosalia (who has been drinking again ) but her boyfriend was there, and he was drunk. So, they were outside their property, and we walked with them back to their house, and when we rounded the corner, he punched her in the face and threw her to the ground. So Gallego and I were freaking out, and we jumped between them, and he was yelling, and threatening her, and we were trying to talk to him. But he kept like trying to pick up rocks to throw at her and stuff. So we finally got them somewhat calmed down, and then Rosalia goes, stands behind me, and then starts threatening him! So, he is trying to come after her, and shes using me as a shield! I was freaking out. He left, and we took Rosalia to stay with her daughter for the night, because we aren't allowed to involve ourselves with the police here. So, its kind of sad, but I hope we can help in other ways. 

But, we have a family we have been teaching. The mom is a less active member, and the daughter wants to be baptized. They live with our pensionista, because the mom, Liz, is sisters with our pensh. So, we have been teaching her daughter Alessandra! She is gonna be baptized this week, but on Friday, when we went to eat, their step-dad, Ivan, was totally wasted. He was yelling at us but I didnt understand him. Our pensh told us that apparently he thought we were attracted to his wife and thats the only reason we were teaching his daughter. So, he was taking his anger out on us, but then he was yelling at his daughters and his wife. SOOOO.. the thing you have to understand, is that Alessand reminds me of my little sister, Kailee, like crazy. She is honestly a Peruana version of her haha. But, when he was yelling at them, she started crying, and it just was really frustrating, because it was like someone bullying my sister. So that was hard. Fortunately, the next day, he came up and talked to us, and apologized, and said, "Elderes, quiero cambiar, por mi familia. Esta semana, voy a asistir Iglesia, y quiero aprender." Basically, he said we wants to change and wants to take the lessons. They couldnt come to church this week, cuz they had to go out of town, but next week!

Um... another thing this week was just that tons of our appointments and stuff fell through. Wasn't a terribly successful week. We worked a ton, but just didn't see a ton of success. So it was frustrating, especially when like no one came to church. But oh well. Thats the mission! I have a spiritual thought about it, but I'll write it at the end. 

So, something funny that happened yesterday. We went to our neighbors to see how they were doing, and they needed some wood cut, cuz they're kinda old and can't do it. So I'm cutting wood, and I hear Gallego talking with the little old lady who lives there, and he's like, "Oh, Hermana, we don't need to eat. I'm still full from lunch. Thanks a lot, but I can't. This is for my compy." I was like, "Wait, what?" cuz I just dont like to eat a lot, and I was full. So then he comes outside, and he says, "Hey, compy, shes inviting you to some soup!" So, as I'm walking inside, making sure she can't see, I give Gallego a death glare and he just laughs. It was chicken noodle soup, which I like, but the thing is is they only put one piece of meat in the soup, right? So, the piece in my soup was the neck of the chicken! Which, normally, isn't bad, but the way that most people kill the chicken down here is by breaking the neck, which makes the blood pool in the neck, and then they cook it. Basically, the neck is full of blood Jello. I couldn't do it. I took one bite, and about lost it. So, I ate all the potatoes, noodles, and then was like, "Phew, I can't eat another bite! But that was so good!" Afterward, Gallego was just laughing haha. It was pretty funny. 

That's about it I think. Guillermo is doing well, and I think he is gonna be baptized this Saturday, and Alessandra too. The Quispe's are doing great, they made me a birthday dinner yesterday that was super yummy. But they're gonna be awesome. Um. I dunno what else! 

This week was pretty tough! I won't lie haha. But, it was good! I grew a lot, and I continue to learn to trust in Heavenly Father to help us. In Doctrine and Covenants 122:7-9, there is a scripture that has really bolstered  me this week. First off, all of our trials are for our benefit. Second, Christ knows exactly what we are going through, and he had it worse than all of us. Third, keep on keeping on! My days of trials and tribulations aren't going to be forgotten, and the Lord is ALWAYS with me! It's powerful! And the same goes for all of you! I love this gospel, and I love Peru haha. I'm doing well. THANKS FOR THE BIRTHDAY WISHES! Seriously. I'm going to try and write you back now, but time really is short. Sorry. But yeah. Thank you everyone. 

Pictures are of my birthday, and then the wallet I bought myself for my present. It's pretty dope. Anyways, love and miss you all, but until next week!

Con amor,

Elder Richman

It is SO hot!

August 12, 2013

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