Oct 24-29th

Oct 24, 2018

Today was p day and I loved it so much! I wish I came with more typing things because they save so much time! so when I left for the mtc a mom from instagrm mailed me a package to deliver to her son. I thought he had already gone out to the field so I was waiting until I got to Chiclayo to give it to him, well she emailed me an said he's at the mtc, turns out I ate lunch with him yesterday and he is in the room right across from ours! So he had a good laugh about that! and he bought me a drink from the vending machine for all the troubles! This morning we got up at 4 to do laundry before everybody... but the washing machine were already full. We waited and did it later then went back to bed. we got up and went out into the field!Out of 1000 missionaries and 1000s of square miles of zones we got paired up with my companion's childhood friend! It would be the equivalent of serving a mission and going out and spending the day with Sterling or Jared!! They were happy to see each other! We talked to about 20 people about the church and saw if they were interested he taught us about the do's and don'ts of the field. Do talk to everyone, don't look at the stray dogs, they are really mean down here!!!! And the Peru dogs are the ones from the worlds ugliest dog like the same breed! they are nasty! The roads are all dirt with poop every where, not flat nor smooth and some walks to houses are like 200 feet long and go up in elevation by about the same! It was a really poor place in Peru! dirt. bricks. and concrete are what make up this side of Lima! Then we came back to the ccm and had lunch and it was pretty good! We then did dry cleaning and I did my whole suit for $4.00 then I emailed the best group of people ever... an omg I just realizedzed I forgot to email Bennett. Sorry man you will get this email and last weeks at once. but anyway we then played out in the court yard and got to dinner really late! Then another 4 hour Spanish class and now are headed to bed! I love you guys and hope the lord blesses you all!

Oct 25,2018

this morning we woke up late, but esta bein! i got my suit back today and it looks soooooo good! i never notice how dirty it got but from the 12 hours on a plane,and 2 weeks in it does add up! today i read the scriptures in Spanish and i knew what was happening! big win! tomorrow we can only speak Spanish.. and if we do we get churros! the food today was amazing! we had CEO looking guys tour the ccm so we had an ice cream bar for Sundays and chicken burgers, and rice pudding! me and Elder huff my companion arm wrestled like 5 min ago and somebody saw and we had 15 guys come from the 3rd and 1st floor to watch and challenge! i lost in a left handed battle and apparently they have been having competitions and i have the overall champ tomorrow! hes big.. and im organizing my scriptures really well right now! a lot of people are picking up on the idea because its so organized! okay i love you but i gtg! goodnight!

Oct 26, 2018 

Well I'm obsessed with my scriptures! I'll try to send a photo on Wednesday! Yeah they have been telling us p day is on Tuesday but today they changed it back to Wednesday so I apologize for the future when on Tuesday you look for an email. I forgot to to tell you, yesterday this kid who's already really bugging me  due to many reasons, threw me a pencil and said, "hey elder Merritt catch!" and I caught it but only because it stabbed into my hand, like it does in the movies! hurt so bad so I pulled it out and washed it and he was like, "that's not how you are supposed to catch it..". Anyway it looks infected. Well, big news... the ccm arm wrestling champ came down from 3rd floor to challenge me.. with about 20 guys in my room, arm wrestling on a chair and about a solid minute of fighting I beat him!! He does want a rematch but man my body hurts! hahahah and today I went 90 percent of the day talking only in Spanish! I took a break during physical activity time because I didn't know how to say the common phrases like, why do I always get kicked off the team and stuff. lol jk- overall a great day! goodnight!

Oct 27, 2018

Today I saw a strong man crush a turtle, some impersonators, and a man do the trapeze. I laughed, I cried, not to bad for a day in the life of a dog food company. The day started like usual doves cooing, 21 degrees celcius in my room and my alarm going off for the last 10 minutes waiting to see if my companion will beat me to silencing it. We wander down to breakfast where we break our fast from slumber. Today I had a cupcake looking muffin, and a slice of ham.. then I went to class and that was really nice! Since we went the whole day yesterday speaking only Spanish our teacher brought us donuts! They were sooooo good! they were like the classic donut with the hole in the middle but they some how still stuffed it! Perfecto! We killed some bugs, we picked some flowers, and for lunch we had... I can't remember but at lunch we had the best meatballs I've ever had! Up there with Nona Amilias. followed by some questionable spaghetti. My pencil hole is looking better. I just had a Latino do my eye brows with a rubber band! That was cool! and at PE we played hand ball again! Everyone took a break for 4 days so I played it by myself... not as fun! haha Coogath the guy who used to be in my room got hit in the balls really hard so he took the rest of the day off, literally took a 4 hour nap and was in his room for the rest of the day. Poor guy.That's my day can't wait to talk! love you!

Oct 28, 2018

Best. Day. Ever. Honestly on cloud 9! today started as normal Sunday, breakfast was good and I studied up for my lesson and we prepared talks. But because the old elders are leaving we need people to lead the church at the ccm, so today I got called to be the Zone leader, that's the guy who is the presidents 'a really old guy' right hand man! So now I'm 3 weeks in and I'm in charge of looking out for over 130 missionaries. I'm the leader of leaders! Watson says it's karma for eating too many ice creams after dinner.. I think he's right. haahahaha and Jones the guy I really like, also got called to be zone leader so it's the two of us and 12 district leaders under us, my companion is one, then the other missionaries under them! A kid asked me if I was sad I got called to be zone leader and I was like nah I have not been living up to my potential or as reverently as I should be so this should hold me more accountable! And he was like wow a humble zone leader just what I need, and that made my day! Tonight the retiring zone leader got all the young men from all the floors and we sang hymnos! The last one was 'till we meet again' in Spanish and I swear 1000 angels were singing it with us because it was stronger than any other song or talk I've ever felt! Earlier tonight we had a fireside and we talked and these are some tings i took away from it...

Just because something is broken doesn't mean it's of no use, or not good any more. Sometimes in life that's exactly what we need, the scriptures talk about a broken heart and a contrite spirit. You could liken this to shoes, horses, or a baseball glove. Once it is broken in it stops demanding its own will and operates under the will of the person who knows best. When serving we must humble ourselves and work under the hand of God the superior who knows what's best. I love you all and goodnight!

Also the Latinos are so mean I'm glad they are leaving Tuesday. They keep squaring up to me and want to fight even though they are like 5 feet tall and 110 pounds and it's at times like im in just a towel getting in the shower, or they call me fat, or like one time I had my new jacket on and they asked if I was cold and i kind of was so I said yes, they called me a chicken and... crowed at me for 10 min afterwards! Well that's my rant I just needed to vent, goodnight now! haha

Oct 29, 2018

I'm excited for when Mitchell gets home from his honorable mission, though I won't see him I'm proud of what he has done and he is a great role model for me! It is kind of a ghost town here as people are leaving, but tomorrow will be more empty! Well the usual for food, some sort of mystery meat and big shocker... rice all three meals of the day! hahaha but other than that today was a pretty low key day, my friend E. Martinez is leaving tomorrow and he gave me a magnificent drawing of the ccm because hes extreamly talented! and the nicest note on the back! going to miss that man! I love you and hope all is well at home!