Week 44: Small Dog, Big Problem

 On Tuesday we went to the offices for a little bit. It just happened to be the same time when all the ZLs were receiving new supplies, so I got to talk to some of them, including the two gringos who are currently serving in Cajamarca. They were stuck there until the night waiting for their bus, so I got to get to know them a little better. I also spent some time talking with the APs and secretaries. It was pretty fun and a chance to bond with other elders. I'm still suffering from the effects of my mistake two weeks ago when I forgot to wear sunscreen. Some skin on my arm has been peeling all week, so I've been called "snake" more times than I would've liked. But maybe I deserve it for my stupidity.

I kind of love how intrigued some people are that I'm here. Last week there was this march of young students near our house (I don't know what for). As we walked past I could see a large group of girls whispering and pointing at me. I cleared my throat and uttered the magic word, "hello." It kind of looked like a bunch of dominos falling over because they went crazy. I should've pulled out my sunglasses because I felt like one of those movie characters who walks away from an explosion.

Josai is progressing really well and now we're getting him ready for his baptism on Saturday. We leave him with a couple verses to read from the Book of Mormon every time and then ask him about what he read the next day. He proceeds to quote to us the verses he read almost word for word from memory. Now that's awesome. We did get some sad news that our friend Alan and his family were moving. They moved to another ward in the stake, but it's sad because we had a lot of fun together teaching them the gospel and they were actually interested in coming to church.

We're also teaching a lot of people who tell us they want to change but don't want to keep commitments. I'm sorry, but those two don't go together. Some of them might progress, though. We just have to rely on the spirit and move on if they don't. We're teaching this one woman named Maria who's interested to be more in tune with the spirit. We taught her how to read the scriptures and we all felt the spirit strongly. She was on vacation this weekend so she didn't make it to church, but if she can have her own spiritual experiences with the Book of Mormon I feel she can progress. We also contacted with hermana Agripina's oldest daughter Yojani. She too has interest but works a lot in a different part of the city so she isn't at the house a lot of the time. We're going to start having some video calls with her. On Thursday night we had dinner of steak and mashed potatoes with our friend Jaela, her son Ivan, and a few other people. The young men of the ward are eager to help out with them so I hope we can get Ivan to some activities.

On Saturday we helped dust off the railing of an old building. I said two weeks ago that I climbed up the sketchiest ladder ever? Well that one doesn't compare to the ladder I climbed on Saturday. It was really tall, one sided, and made of really old wood. I had to flick off a huge spider with a brush before climbing up. Of course my comp immediately said that I would go inside to dust, forcing me to risk my life. I don't have any photos, but it was scary being up higher than I've been before on a ladder on the scariest ladder I've seen. This is exactly what safety zone told us not to do. On our way back from the service we witnessed a motorcycle crash. We were somewhat close to our apartment when we saw two guys riding on a motorcycle with two stupid dogs chasing them. One of the dogs ran in front of the motorcycle, getting its neck run over and sending the riders and motorcycle to the ground. The dog ran away so it's not dead. We quickly ran over to help. One of them started walking in the other direction and looked pretty hurt. The other one just had a few cuts on his hands. We helped him pick up his motorcycle, which had broken in some places. We picked up the pieces in an attempt to put it back together. The other guy came walking back and said his arm was hurt pretty bad. I offered to give him a blessing of health but first helped him patch up a wound near his hip. Luckily I have an emergency med bag in my backpack so I was able to disinfect and patch a pretty big gash. They rode off quickly before we could do anything else, but they were giving us a lot of thanks. I'm glad to have been there at the right time.

Saturday night we got permission to go to Arevalo where Alan, Jenifer, David, and Flavia now live for a cita with Elder Wride and Elder Barrantes. We talked about commandments and had some cake. They decided to come to church with us one more time to say goodbye before attending the ward in which they lived next week.

At church we saw Josai, Alan, Jenifer, Flavia, Diego, Victoria, as well as Dayiro. Dayiro is another kid we've been teaching recently and on Saturday his grandma, Francisca, (who's a member), got back from her month long trip to Chile so he could have someone to go with. We talked with them on Saturday night and it seems like he's going to progress well. Later, around 1 o'clock, we got a phone call from Alan. He told us that Jenifer wants to get baptized. We didn't even have to extend the invitation! We told them that they'd have to get married first and then they could do it. But he also told us that they keep wanting to come to our ward, even though they don't live here anymore. I don't really know what to do because I want to keep teaching them, but they don't live in our area anymore and we presented them to the Arevalo elders so they can move ahead there. We'll see where this goes and what will end up happening, but it was so cool to get that call.

That's it for me! We also got the news from Presidente Hiatt that Elder Zeballos of the Seventy will be coming to our mission at the end of the month! I'm excited to hear him speak. I'll see you all next week!

1 Timothy 4:12 - "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity."

We are a peculiar people. Others may think we're weird for living righteous principles, but we know why we are doing it and what blessings we will receive. Don't be afraid to stand out and let your light of truth and right shine forth!

Elder Jensen

(Sorry I don't have any photos from this week except this one of me eating and drinking some weird Arequipan soda. I'll do better next week I promise)