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

Week Twenty-Two: Actual Changes

Hey everyone,

So remember when I told you that changes happen every six weeks. Well that was four weeks ago. That leaves (I'll give you sometime to do the math) two weeks left until the change. However, last night, E Leavitt and I were laying in bed talking and the phone rang. It was the mission president, President Marler. He asked E Leavitt to be the new financial secretary of the mission. That involves handing a LOT of money so he leaves tomorrow so that he can receive two weeks of training before the change. He's been in Cartavio the last 9 and a half months and it will be hard to leave but he is going to the mission office where there is air conditioning, and a dry cleaners, and grocery stores and all kinds of tomfoolery so I kind of hate him, haha.

Where does that leave me? Well, no one really knows. The plan is to call a youth who is preparing to go on a mission to be a missionary for two weeks to hang out with me. They haven't found one yet and it'll be hard because school here starts next Monday but it is a lot better than the alternative of getting put in a three sum and us all having to travel between two areas to not lose investigators.

If that is what happens, then that pretty much means that I am teaching a 16 or 17 year old how to be a missionary. He will have made the decision extremely quickly and just gone. He'll have no MTC training and no field experience. I would have to teach him everything and do a ton of work that E Leavitt and I usually split up. It'll be stressful but fun to get to have my own kid in the mission. (Your first companion is called your Dad).

Whatever happens, I'm going to have a pretty crazy two weeks. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. We have two investigators with baptism dates and three inactive members who we are bringing back to activity and I don't want to screw anything up. Cartavio is E Leavitt's baby and it just got left on the doorstep in the rain at my weird broken down carpentry shop and I have to make sure that it doesn't play with saws and die.

I'll tell you who my temporary companion is next week and my real companion the week after. Love you all a ton.

Elder Gonzalez

Week Twenty-One: Guinea Pigs...

Hey everyone,

So this week is crazy-go-nutz picture week!
After last weeks email sesh, we went to a little town called Sausal and climbed a mountain

It was weird to get exercise and I got to the top really tired and thirsty

E Leavitt and I like to match on Pdays (we are adorable).

When we got to the bottom we found a log over a river and decided to take some awkward family pictures as a zone

This awk log pic goes out to Kerrie Heckel

When I got my mission call, the first thing that my friends and I did was Google "Peru" and one of the first things that we found is that people eat Guinea Pigs. When I got home from preaching Tuesday, Hna. Lijia (she feeds me) had a burlap sack in her hand full of three live guinea pigs

We played with them for a little

And then she told us to take them to her mothers house show she could kill and skin them for us.

It was extremely gruesome.

She ripped all of the fur off by hand

Then our pensionista cooked them up and gave us each a half of a cuy with papas and arroz de trigo. Each guinea pig here costs 30 soles ($12ish) because guinea pig is a delicacy. I'm not going to lie, it was delicious (sorry anyone who has ever had a pet guinea pig)

I am having a great time in Cartavio. I have a hard time believing that there could be any better area in the mission. I'm super happy here and fitting right in.

Bretheren, Adeiu

Elder Gonzalez

Week Twenty: Some Tidbits for Your Amusement

Some tidbits for your amusement.

We found out some deets about jello-man. His name is Carlos, he lives in a neighboring town and commutes to work, and he supports a wife and kids soley of his jello business.

I saw Frozen last P-day. It was phenonmenal in Spanish and I only imagine it was great in English.  Who caught that Arrested Development reference?

Do you even lift?

I went to a little town called Ascope to do a service project. Ascope is snuggled up against a mountain.  The service was shoveling dirt from this ladys backyard into 5 gallon buckets, putting them on our back, and climbing up the mountain to drop off the dirt on top.  I learned that I am a human instead of a mountain goat for a reason.

Me, E Leavitt, and our Peruvian mom, Lijia

On our way to district meeting in a town called Casa Grande (Big House) we saw a building on fire. Who did they call to out it out? The Cartavino fire fighters. Do you all remember that night where I helped that crazy homeless lady who we thought was dying? It was the same fire fighter. His name is Aldo Nunja and he saved Casa Grande from flames. #Cartaviototherescue

Aldo to the rescue

A guy contacted us this week and asked us to help him build a church. Uh...do you know what we do?

I love you all and hope everything is great.

Bretheren, adeiu.

Elder Gonzalez