A Little Experience In The Field

So, this has been another great week here at the Peru CCM. The two higlights of the week were last Saturday when we went proseltying in Chosica (a suburb of Lima) and today when we went a mini tour of the old parts of Lima. Oh yeah......and a third highlight, there was a plague of food poisoning throughout the whole CCM and I had a real fun time a couple nights ago. Like if I could probably say how fun it was I would probably say.......zero. But first, some of the good news.

Last Saturday all of the "Norte Americanos" were paired of with Latinos to go proselyting in Chosica. I was paired with Elder Villacrés from Guayaquil, Ecuador. I thought it would be nice to get out of the main part of Lima but the poverty only got worse as we headed East. The people here are very humble, and it´s hard to imagine that some of those houses are even houses. Some families that the missionaries taught that day lived in homes made of bags full of trash, cardboard, sticks, and plastic bags tied into ropes to hold it all together. All in all, if you ever think America has it bad......don´t. But the huble circumstances of these people never keeps them from being happy, and that´s what makes America "bad" I guess you could say. People here are much more willing to listen to what you have to say.

The first part of Saturday we went out to visit less actives. The whole experience was exciting and eye-opening. First, because I realized how fun it is to preach the gospel in Peru. Second, I realized how much I really don´t know Spanish when listening to the people speak. But that´s ok, I´ll be speaking like one of them by the time this whole mish thing ends right? Anyway, we first visited a middle-aged woman up in the hills of the city who was less active. She was so excited to see the missionaries, which is actually pretty surprising because many of the less actives are resistant when the missionaries show up. She welcomed us in and we taught her about the importance of reading the scriptures and I was able to bear a simple and powerful testimony about how the Spirit will guide her in taking care of her family if she reads the Scriptures each day. It was cool to look out her window, see all those poor makeshift buildings dotting the desert hillside, and realize that the gospel really is such a universal and all-welcoming world religion. She certainly felt the Spirit like I did, and said that she would attend church the next morning with her husband and kids (they´re all members but weren´t home).

After lunch, we were able to just knock doors. The cars can no longer go up at a certain point up the hills, and so the dirt paths between homes are very narrow. We placed two Book of Mormons and got a few reference cards. The first woman we talked to was very interested because although she was separated from her husband some 15 years ago, he was actually an inactive member. She didn´t know much, but we all bore testimony to her and she willingly accepted the invitation to go to church! We also found another man walking home and he also took a Book of Mormon. Family was very important to him, so we talked about the Plan of Salvation, and I had a hard time understanding, but that´s why they pair us with the natives thankfully. Anyway, chosica was incredible and I loved the whole experience!

Yeah....so about my sickness. There was a rampage of food poisoning, but just know that I´m perfectly fine! I had it Sunday night, but I was better by the morning so it´s all good. It wiped out many of the Norte Americanos, but we´re all good!

I sent some pictures of our tour today. The first few are of the cathedral where we visited the catacombs. The next few are of the plaza and the palacio. The kids making the weird face is my companion, Elder Wilcox! He´s pretty awesome. Hope you enjoy!

I´m overtime so I should go, but just know that I love you! Have a great week!

Elder Lundberg