Cusco

So, here is a pic with my new suit, new mission President Herrera and my companion!

I did not take any other photos lol, but everything is going well over here.

P.S Totally not fair how tall Josh is getting.

We got to see President Herrera in a Multizone meeting this week it was super cool.

 

President Herrera knows a lot of scriptures, since he was an institute teacher before coming to the mission.  

So this week was actually REALLY hard for us, we had pretty ugly numbers except for the things we could control. 

Contacts, references asked and everything alright but a lot of the appointments we had with clients let us down. 

It is pretty sad, because we can't obligate anyone or force them to do anything which we know will be better for them in the long run, sometimes I would just love to do that :/

So 1 baptism we had planned probably is not going to happen, but we are still on track with the family getting married. They are having trouble, but we feel it will work out if we keep trying our best. They will probably be getting married next week if EVERYTHING works out (but it might be postponed).

Machu Picchu trip is planned for the 8th of August, 2 more weeks.  It will cost 245 soles, and I am going to pay it today in the office.

Love you guys a ton will take pics this week

Say hi to everyone for me.

Connor

Working in Cusco

Hello

So I am typing on the worst keyboard of all time at the moment, so that sort of sucks!

Recently I have placed the goal to read the Book of Mormon every night before bed out loud, like at least one chapter.  I have realized that reading out loud helps me understand a lot better sometimes.
I feel like the Lord blesses us RIGHT when we feel discouraged.  I have seen that happen so many times in my mission!

So this week we had a few meals with members.  The first one was where a member invited us to KFC! Haven't eaten that in like more than a year!

The other member fed us at their house.  Here is a worm plate that my comp tried. I wasn't brave enough. Apparently it was like caterpillars (fried) or something like that!

The custom made suit wasn't ready when we went last week, we are planning on going today :P Will take pics and send them during the week though.

I am also going to bring in 2 pairs of paints just to get em fixed, then I think I will probably get more done in upcoming weeks.

So today we are just going to get our suits, and eat lunch, and play soccer, I love playing soccer though so I am happy.  We actually think our new president might play with us today!  So that would be cool.

At the moment I am with Ludlow and Cortijo, they are here in Cusco for their "conselio" they have as zone leaders.

My internet keeps coming and going out, sorta rough, but yeah lol.

GONNA GO EAT SOME RICE AND CHICKEN (LIKE ALWAYS) AND PLAY SOCCER! BYE DAD LOVE YOU GUYS.

P.S.  Tell josh to write me this week, sometimes I think he just forgets about me. :P
BYE!

Staying in Cusco

So changes are today, but I am staying here in Tahuantinsuyo with Elder Damazo still.  That is great, I really love it here!

So Elder Cortijo is going to Quillabamba (jungle) to be with Elder Ludlow! (They are the two to my right in picture below). That is awesome as they are probably two of my most favorite friends in the mission.  I will see them both when we all go to Machu Picchu this change though. We planned it that way.

So I got the cupcakes on WEDNESDAY(6TH)! The office elder told us that they arrived TUESDAY (5TH). But sadly, by that time, they were already gone super bad lol, not sure if its true they sent another batch or whats up, but you can talk with them if you want :P I took pictures and stuff that have the date if you need it. Its okay though if not, lol.

[So Laura and I have discovered that sending fresh baked goods -- even from a Peruvian source -- just won't work with Connor and his mission.  Those are some fairly expensive / gone bad Cupcakes!]

But yeah, Elder Powell finishes today (my DL in Juli), sad but he is excited to go home.  I got to see him one last time as he was in our room last night.

So we still have 2 investigators with baptismal dates.

1. Urpi changed to 6 August 16 , needs 3 lessons still and 2 times at church still. The problem is that she always comes for the first hour, but work pulls her out for the rest. BUT, for the mission, you need to have the person come 3 times for 3 HOURS.

2. Janet and Jose are setting plans to get married this month, for the baptismal date also on the 6th.

My custom suit was ordered 2 weeks ago, have been passing by and we got everything all good. Will be actually picking it up today after internet.

I really need to take ALL my pants and suits into the tailor and get them re-sized.  I will have to get that done. The only pair of pants I have that fit me well are the blue ones, the rest are super baggy.

The other day we had the conference with President Herrera, and Elder Ludlow told me whispering "Dude get your pants stitched" grinning. Lol. Apparently they all look super baggy.

New zone leader (and roommate) is Elder Arias. He was comp of Elder Ludlow before coming here. He finishes in November. He was my zone leader when I started my mission lol, ive done divisions with him before, so its all good.

Oh yeah, forgot to tell you guys something interesting this week happened.

So remember how I said I was starting to feel better Monday? Well it got worse lol.

I woke up with like THE WORST sore throat I have ever had Tuesday, and I was taking cough drops and just trying to wait it off,

Wake up Wednesday, WORSE. So I am like, well, if its not gone today that is gonna be weird.

Wake up Thursday, WORSE! So we call the office, and pretty much get told to just power through it (like I have been doing) because it looks like they don't pay attention to Elders health until they are on their death bed.

So by SATURDAY (it was still hurting a ton, like worse every day), Elder Kline (my ZL) was in the room and he kind of got mad, called the office and finally convinced them to let us go to the doctor to see whats up. Apparently when Elder Kline was in his training he got super sick in his training and the office didn't pay attention until he was super bad, so he knows how it is.

SO, we go to the doctor, its like the mission doctor at some hospital, he is a returned missionary, and he takes a look and apparently I have some kind of infection in my throat.

Due to having the nose super blogged up all the time, I have been breathing through my mouth and it just got super messeed up. So yeah, gave me some antibiotics, and a few other stuff, I wake up the next day after taking them, and the pain is GONE! Was such an ez fix!  The doctor said it was good I came though because it was just going to get worse.

Sad news, my bag broke! The mission bag I have is falling apart. That is not very rare though, but It just doesn't have a shoulder strap anymore or a waist strap so I have to carry it like a briefcase walking around, sorta sucks.

So I am gonna see what to do, I assume I can find some bag here in Cusco pretty cheap, after all, I am only gonna need it for a little less than a year :P

So yeah, about sending some sweaters, I just hope they fit well! I feel so stupid (in a good way!) wearing like super baggy clothes but its all good lol.

Here is another group picture from our meeting last P-day.  New mission president, his wife and daughters in middle.

Well I gotta go.  Love you.

Hump Day and 4th of July

[Connor's emails came on Monday morning early (4th of July) and caught us in Lake Arrowhead and honestly just having forgotten it was even Monday!  So we didn't get to "talk" with him much through emails as by the time we saw his emails his time was up. Connor also sent a fairly long video of him burning a white shirt to celebrate his one year mark.  I didn't upload it -- but you can just imagine it I am sure :).  I was a little disappointed as his mom and I had sent him cupcakes from a service that delivers packages to all the Peru missions.  He hadn't received it -- so the service was going to cook up a new batch and try again.  Here is a picture of what they evidently tried to get to him.]

Hi!

So yeah, 1 year this week, was alright. Yesterday we all had to get showered in FREEZING water because the whole city didn't have power. I got like super sick in the 3rd hour of church. I still feel pretty bad right now too. I have like shivers, aches and a really sore throat but yeah its okay.

Any special plans for 4th of July?

So, here are some pictures:

1. Other missionaries had a baptism

2. Me with the flag of Cusco. (Strange it looks very similar to the gay pride flag)

3 and 4: Some sunday morning modeling.

I feel somewhat better now, but still a little sick.  We are all a bummed out because we have a conference with the new president today at 3. A P-day conference is a first for us, so everyone sort of upset that we are losing the time we usually play soccer. Evidently the assistants told our new president, "well monday is P-day" and he was just like. "Yeah , I know, they are going to get to know me for their P-Day".  So a new mission president seems to want to shake things up!

Love you all -- sorry for short emails -- have a lot to do today.  Say hi to everyone for me! Sheesh swimming sounds pretty good right now! Or eating it on the wakeboard or kneeboard a couple times.  Happy 4th!

[I received another picture from Connor's camera later that evening -- so looks to be from the conference on P-day]