Week Twenty-Nine: Talent Show

I do not have very much internet time left so if I send half of an email...whoops.

We have been planning a huge talent show for about a month and it finally happened this Friday. Some of the acts are as follows:
-Two 6 year olds dancing the marinera (a traditional Peruvian dance)
-Three 9 year old boys dancing to Gangnam style. At least we understand the "hey, sexy ladies" part. They don't understand anything
-A sketch from a professional acting studio that we invited about gangsters that was hilarious
-Me and a teenager from the ward singing and playing "Soul to Squeeze" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers
-The Elders quorum did a re-enactment of the story of Korihor
-A mother and son dancing and lip synching to a duet by Marc Antony and J-Lo

It was a rip roaring good time and our attendence in church yesterday jumped from the normal 80 to 101. The activities and things we do in our church are great opportunities to invite friends and show that Mormons know how to party.

Peruvian computers are silly and it won't read my camera so pictures next week, yeah? Ok.

Love you all,
Elder Gonzalez

Week Twenty-Eight: Safety and Anecdotes

Hey errybody,

You can all get up off of your knees and unpack the canned food and flashlights that you were going to send me; everything is fine. The earthquake mostly hit Chile and the tsunami hit Lima. I didnt feel a thing up here in the Great Wild North and didnt even know what happened for a couple of days. Thanks a ton for all of the thoughts and prayers. You are all the best.

Heroes in a half-shell: scripture power! (Raise your Book of Mormon in the air)

This week went by super quickly and not a lot of interesting stuff happened so Ill just share a couple of funny anecdotes:

1. We started talking to this man and he told us that he was a member of our church. We asked him if other people in his family are members and he said that everyone in his family were members. After walking with him for five minutes to where he said that his house was, we just found a long dirt road. We asked him where he lived and he told us about 20 minutes down the road. Then he says, "Hey, what church are you guys from?"

2. An investigator the other day literally looked me in my eyeballs and told me, "Your little lessons dont interest me. What does interest me is the Old Testament. I bought a new Bible and I want you to come over everynight and we can read it together from cover to cover and you can prove to me that it is bad to cheat on your wife." Sir, I dont need a Bible to explain that its bad to cheat on your wife.

Stgo. de Cao: Lazy fisherman town or post-apocalyptic war zone? 

Love you all and wish you a great week,
Elder Gonzalez

Week Twenty-Seven:Santiago de Cao

Hidey hoe Ranger Joe,

This week, I thought that I would tell you about Santiago de Cao. Stgo de Cao is an annex of Cartavio that we are technically in charge of.  It is a little fisherman town off of the beach. Everyone is either a fisherman or works in the nearby paper factory. There is this weird radio tower in the middle of the city that plays weird 50s music out loud and since all of the men are working, the women are cooking, and there is aboslutely nothing fun for the niños, the streets are empty. Its kind of like the way the world is in zombie video games.

Around ten years ago, there were two missionaries there. They had no success for four months and then they finally baptized a woman who named Francesca "Panchita" Charcape. Panchita is, by far, the most popular person in Stgo de Cao. A little later, her whole family got baptized, and then some friends, and pretty soon there was a little group of 20 members meeting in Panchitas house every Sunday. Eventually, the church told them that they need to attend in Cartavio until they get a few more members so that we can build a church in Stgo de Cao.

That day, everyone went inactive except Panchita and her family. Long story short: There is no reason why they cant attend in Cartavio. It is a ten minute ride and it costs 1 sol (around 30 cents). Everyone just whines and makes up excuses.  Weve been trying to help by holding activites there every Tuesday for 3 weeks but so far, no one has come except for Panchita. For those of you who know me pretty well, you know how much I like it when people dont show up to things that they said that they would show up to.

So thats a struggle. On the other hand, we had a TON of success on the mainland this week (Cartavio). We taught 13 new people and the members of the ward introduced us to 11 people to visit.

I took a pic of me in Stgo de Cao to attach but left my camera in Cartavio. Dope de doh. Ill attach it next week.

Catch you on the flippity flop,
Elder Gonzalez

Week Twenty-Six: Getting Along Great!

I finally have a working camera again so here is a picture of E Flores.

Elder Flores and I taking an awkward photo so that you can all see him

We are still getting along great. He has almost 14 months in the mission which means that he is old and wise. He is a goofball but he works hard. I think that we might get to start reaping what I have been sowing if you are picking up what I am putting down.

My new camera is super fancy and has all kinds of features. I can take super instagrammy photos so I thought I would show you what I would look like if I were drinking a beverage in a room in Cartavio, Peru in the 1950s.

My dope nasty hipster cam selfie of me drinking a beverage

Theres not a ton to update you all on. This was a pretty calm week. We have been teaching a lot and focusing on getting our investigators to come to church. I dont know why that is so hard but it is always a struggle. People sleep in, go to the market, or just say that they dont feel like it. Yesterday, I fought with a 12 year old boy for twenty straight minutes trying to get him to come to church. Then I had one of those "George, you are fighting with a Peruvian tween" moments and gave up.

Time is flying and I am doing great. Cartavio is my home. I love the people here.

Shout out to my nephew Jacob for turning eight this Saturday. For those of you who dont know him, he is cooler than you.

Love you all,
Elder Gonzalez

Week Twenty-Five: No, For Real

Did someone just say "Week 25" because they cannot be talking about little old Elder Gonzalez the newbie from Seattle.

Life is still good in Cartavio. E Flores is awesome. I was super worried that he would be disobedient, or have annoying habits, or just not be fun to talk to but we are all good. He is from a part of Lima called Chorrillos. The fact that he is from a big city means that he is a normal person and has culture. For example, he is the first Latino I've met who has seen all 6 episodes of Guerra de las Galaxias. We get along really great. He is really funny and charming and that helps us a ton to find new people. He has a really good memory and is already learning all about Cartavio really fast. His big focus as a missionary (because everyone has their thing) is putting baptismal dates on people which is exactly what this area needs.

Sorry that I havent sent pics in a while. My camera broke about 3 weeks ago and I had to wait until we went to Trujillo to buy a new one. I bought one about an hour ago so I'll send a pic of E Flores next week.

The focus as a mission right now is to find the "Waldos" or rather than talk to everyone and force them to listen, to find the people that the Lord is preparing to listen.  Yesterday, we found a family so great that we have been calling them the Waldo family. They have family that are members, they have two kids, they are legally married (that is a needle in a haystack here in Sodom and Gomorrah) and they completely understood our lesson. Their names are Walter and Lisbeth and I am so excited to keep teaching them even though they live REALLY far away in a really poor area of Cartavio that smells like 10 year old milk.

Thanks for the emails and the letters (especially the letters). Y'all rock.

Elder Gonzalez

Week Twenty-Four: Elder Flores

So E Rojas time in the Great Wild North has come to a close. We thank him for his service and wish him the best in all of his future pursuits.

Last night was changes. Like I explained in the past, you usually end up waiting for the call for about 5ish hours.  I was pretty nervous so I cleaned the entire house and bathroom to think of something else.  E Rojas helped even though he is leaving tomorrow (what a Good Guy Greg). 

The call finally came. I was super nervous and asked who my companion was. My district leader said, "Elder Flowers." I was confused for a second and then asked "You mean E Flores?" and he said "Bingo." Then I asked "What do you know about E Flores?" and he said "Nothing." You end up waiting for  5 hours just to find out a name that doesnt mean anything. So I get to be nervous until I go to pick him up tomorrow.

This last two weeks has just been really weird between companions. E Rojas is awesome but we always knew that it was a temporary thing. It was like a weird two week purgatory where I had a companion but I was practically by myself.

Companions are weird. They are kind of like assigned best friends. Ive been lucky so far but there is a lot on the line if they suck.  But one way or another, I know that E Flores and I will get along and figure out a way to change Cartavio.

Until then,
Elder Gonzalez

Well, CJ  got a donkey shout out on his birthday so I went on an elephant safari to get a pic for Lillians birthday this Wednesday. Happy birthday Lillian, love you a ton.

Week Twenty-Three: Elder Seuss

First of all, I would like to give a birthday shout-out to Dr. Seuss yesterday. At Sunnydale, in 2nd grade we had a HUGE Dr. Seuss party and since then, I have never been able to forget his birthday.

OK, so heres the situation. On Monday in the night, they sent me a member of the church in Trujillo to be my companion for two weeks. E Leavitt left for the office Tuesday afternoon.

My temporary companion is E Rojas. He is quite a story so here we go: He was baptized seven months ago by an Elder that is still in the mission. He let the missionaries in and his heart grew three sizes that day. He was baptized two weeks later and since then, he has not missed a Sunday or activity or any opporitunity to serve in the church. He sent in his papers to go on a mission last Sunday, and Monday morning, he recieved a call asking him if he would be willing to be a missionary for to weeks in the lovely city of Cartavio. He threw three shirts and some ties in a bag, hopped on a bus and showed up just a few hours later.

Leading the area is SO much responsibility. Dont get me wrong, I meant what I said and I said what I meant; I was working before, but now I am WORKING. Oh the places youll go when youre on a mission. E Rojas is awesome and when Im teaching, he helps a lot but I have to plan for who we are going to visit, I talk to people in the street, I take out appointments, handle the money, have the cell phone, update our records, keep track of our numbers, make sure that we are obeying all of the rules, and keep track of the time. The good news: Im alive. We havent lost any investigators. We taught a ton of lessons this week. This opporitunity really boosted my confidence.

Next week, I should be able to tell you the name of my next companion and the week after that, Ill send you a picture and tell you about him.

I love you all a ton.
Elder Gonzalez