Dec 17th-31st

Sorry for the long email! and a heads up my English keyboard does not translate symbols too well onto the Spanish computer so you might get random ñ, ¿, }, things.

DEC 17, 2018

Today was a fun day we got up and had breakfast then went and picked up our refrigerator! Ah I’m so happy because now I can buy yogurt, milk, and my water won’t be hot when I drink it! People do not know how great it is to have one until they go 2 months without one! Haha I know I didn’t! Then we went and played soccer at big Baugua, I scored three times so that was nice! Might not sound impressive but these Latinos know how to play! Haha my idieoma was not as good today because I spoke a lot of English. Eh live and learn. It was nice getting to write today and all our appointments fell through so we went and talked to Julia an Tatiana tonight turns out Tatiana the woman I am baptizing was a model back in the day! She made several more jokes about me marrying her, she says esperarme which is a command and she points to her finger. Funniest part is my companion only knows English from WWE so he says watch out, watch out, watch out! And I die laughing! he also says smackdown a ton! Then we had rice and chicken for dinner. love you goodnight!

DEC 18, 2018

So no appointments went through again today, Moses says it’s because of Christmas. But at the end of the day we had another fun visit with Julia and Tatiana! We had another double dinner with them and our pench. Then I came back to the room to find out I have really bad ring worm and my cut I got on my leg is really swollen and hot. So I scraped the scab off put a ton of Neosporin on it and covered it with the massive band aids you sent me with mom, and said a prayer. Should be good by morning! I struggled a lot with the language this morning but picked it back up after a lot of prayers and listening to Spanish rap, when I do this I understand fast Spanish so when people talk it slows down. And I can sing Feliz Navidad like a native right now! Lol good night! Love ya!

DEC 19, 2018

What a great day! We went to breakfast then had a district meeting, so I got to see my favorite elders, Elder Norman and Wilson! We then went and had lunch and headed over to the Big Bauga and interviewed a guy for baptism Elder Norman has been teaching, he passed but said he needed another week to prepare. We headed back to Little Bauga and that interview took most of the day. Julia and Tatiana’s lesson went awesome! I spoke so fluently it was magical! Put in some un'expected scriptures and answered questions! Afterwards I gave them each a quarter, and they were like what is this? And I said it’s a symbol, similar to the parable of the talents. One person received one talent, the other received 2, and the third person 5 talents, I then told them baptism is their first covenant. After they are baptized they need to multiply their talents... examples are receiving endowments, temple marriage, Santa Cena or sacrament, etc.. and not to bury their talent in the ground. Because that is common here people get baptized so that missionaries stop knocking on the door, it’s so sad and my heart breaks because they do not see the endure until the end aspect of his gospel. well that was my day super successful! Goodnight

DEC 20, 2018

today was another intercambio with Elder Montellanos, we had some really good lessons and I talked about the importance of family on Sundays and the spirit was so strong they were all crying! Afterwards Elder Montellanos told me it was one of the best lessons he has ever been a part of!! I was pretty proud of myself! We had some pretty bland food, we ate roots, but we also had Jello so that was great! But I can’t remember much more from that day so I apologize! Goodnight!

DEC 21, 2018

Today was a great day! I had many full conversations with people and convinced one guy I’m from Columbia. Hahah my companion goes home in 6 weeks, so he’s been kind of cashed out and it’s been difficult, I had a heart to heart with him and kind of smacked him back into the mission. Not literally. We then met 5 new investigators who I think will be getting baptized and receive eternal life! so that is great! We had a talent show for the ward and let’s just say it was the equivalent of when Dwight threw a birthday party on the office... haha they never do show a lot of emotion down here! the photos are like 1820 pictures with the straight face! I got to shower! Goodnight say your prayers and remember the little tender mercies of God!

DEC 22, 2018

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MITCHELL!! Well today was great! I had an activity that the church put on where the members went to a park and shined shoes while the missionaries i.e. me talked to them and got their contacts so we can set up a future lesson. My weakest point right now in the language is small talk, because it can go in any direction about any topic and my vocabulary is not that big. We call this how to begin teaching. Where we find out what the persons home life is, if they have struggles and if we can help them with their problems. Then plan lessons around what they need from us, a lot of question and listening. well today at the shoe shine helped a lot because I had 4 min to get to know them, and I was talking in the fastest Spanish I have ever heard! Then afterwards I baptized Leydi Tatiana Torres Sordiano! Ah it was amazing!! I hope Mitchell had a good birthday too! Goodnight!

DEC 23, 2018

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN!!!! I am on a bus all day long. I hope today is great!

DEC 24, 2018

Well we got on a bus yesterday night so I did not have time to write so I will try to remember both days! Happy birthday Megan! Today was Sunday and we were leaving for Chiclayo tonight so we kind of had some senioritis going on with not walking and taking taxies, long lessons, etc... We had a great time in church Julia got the gift of the espiritu Santo and Elder Montellanos gave a great blessing, Tatiana got up there and my heart sank... she better not ask me to bless her... she did, so I gave a blessing in Spanish in front of the whole church of native speakers... it was all right.. then we went and had a ward dinner at Moses’ house, it was a pretty awesome experience, great food and I talked with the members a lot, afterwards we had a lesson with another member and she gave me and my comp. presents with ores, and chocolate! Oh my it was awesome! Lunch at Julia’s and she is adorable! She reminds me a lot of Stella! Haha afterwards we had a third lunch at Moses’ again! Then we took a taxi to the Big Baugua and he had the best music playing! First time hearing American music in 2 months! And he was crazy aggressive driver! Then we boarded the bus to Chiclayo for a 7-hour drive at 10PM, we got to Chiclayo this morning at 5... I slept terrible. Well we got to the assistant’s room and went to play soccer this morning at around 8 played for a few hours then went back to the room and kinda sat around until the dinner tonight. President had a big dinner where I had a ton of food, got some chocolate, ice cream, watched a movie of photos from missionaries and saw the cutest family! Awe I loved the video you sent! I cried the whole time, but it was awesome! Now I’m at the zone leaders and they have majabanca!! Or peanut butter in English! First time with that in 2 months as well! Ok I got to get to bed! Goodnight love you!

DEC 25, 2018

FELIZ NAVIDAD!! Today was a low eventful day but very exciting! we woke up and had waffles and peanut butter! The zone leaders said it will be the first and the last time I will have either in my mission! So mom please try to prove them wrong! Haha then we went to the mission home to call families, they asked me if I wanted to skype my family at 7, 8, or 10 this morning and I was like any time works for me! And they were like what time works for your mom? And I said my mom will move mountains to talk to me, and will be ready at any moment I call her, because that’s the kind of mom I have! They chuckled and said I can have the 10:00 time! So that was nice! And I have a list of things I forgot to tell you guys so I will try to send one or two every day! I do not know if I made it clear but next package please send quarters! Please and thank you! The hardest part of this mission is spending a lot of time with an investigator growing to know and love them with all the energy you have, and they get baptized for you. Though it’s great to get children of God baptized, you want it to be for the right reasons, because they know the church is true. Missionaries won’t be there for these members 24-7 365, but God will be and the members of this church will be too! Too many times members get baptized to please the young man or woman sitting on their couch just to please them, but it does just the opposite to be that missionaries that goes to a zone conference and you hear your first baptism, first family, or whoever is inactive. it breaks your heart. On a higher note, the Peruvians make big bamboo buildings and light them on fire and its pretty cool! I want to watch one! it’s called the bamboo celebration I believe. I had a little extra time to type tonight so that is about all I forgot to tell you guys! I love you! everything in life is a milagros! miracle goodnight

DEC 26, 2018

Today was a hard day, my companion is really bad at small talk, so he started a conversation with an insult to my family which he saw on the Christmas skype and it took everything I had not to go off on him. Well I didn’t talk to him for about 5 hours and then Elder Norman called me and was like hey Elder Merritt how are you doing? and I thought my companion talked to him, but it turns out he just had a feeling to call and check up on me. I ranted to him about it and he was like well I can’t change your companion, or what he said but I can get a taxi and go get McDonalds for you or some Taco Bell. Which is like a 2-hour taxi drive and probably 50 soles. So, I declined the possibly empty offer, but it goes to show why Elder Norman is my absolute favorite! He called again tonight to check in on me! But after he called I cooled down and started working with my companion again and we went to Julia’s and had dinner, rice and chicken. Then went to our pench and had rice and turkey. I’m so full! I love you guys so much! One thing I forgot to say in my Skype was they build houses here so fast! The ones made from dirt take about 3 days, 1 day to drop off the bricks, one day to assemble them, and one day for electrical and roofing! I saw a 3-story dirt house! It was not too shabby! I’m off to bed goodnight!

DEC 27, 2018

Well today was full of ups and downs! Elder Norman and E. Wilson come to Chica to talk to my companion who has been struggling adapting to leaving his mission. So, we got some issues worked out and had some good lessons, taught an old man who is a member and he had a lot of nude pictures on his walls. We talked to Bishop about it. Hahha well I thought it was kinda funny looking back on it! Then the ward here is having their New Year’s party tonight and eating 2 pigs!!! Well the gringos cannot eat the pork down here because it has a lot of bacteria so a member bought the missionaries a really fancy chicken and french fries for dinner and we got soda too! Elder Walker and I talked a lot, he had 7 baptisms planned for this Saturday and they all fell through. I felt so heartbroken for him. So one family was saying they had doubts, and after E. Walker kept pushing and finally she told him they are moving to be with family on Friday and won’t be back till February... but she did say she was skeptical of the church for a long time and the night I did the intercambio with E. Montellanos she said when she heard my testimony about families she knew the church is true and will be baptized in the future when they get back! That made me feel really good! He also said him and E. Montellanos have been having problems and it must be common with training people who have no idea what you are trying to say! So, it was good to know I’m not the only elder who is impossible to train! Haha but the take away from today is I never knew how powerful a testimony could be and I will try to share it more with these people! Oh and Lillie cooked us roots again! they are not full of much flavor! Haha that is pretty much my day! love you guys! Oh and I forgot to tell you during skype, some guy once said there are two ways to go about life, you can live your life as nothing is a milagro, or everything is a milagro! milagro is miracle. I can testify of this-- everything happens for a reason, everything and one has a purpose in this life! Some things might not make sense right now, some may never make sense, but I know that everyday I wake up and talk another language with someone it truly is a milagro now when i am upset with my companion or I do something dishonest I can feel the Holy Ghost leave me and I can no longer speak or understand people, this is something that has happened every week and is no coincidence. This church is true! Goodnight!

DEC 28, 2018

My sun glasses broke... but overall it was a good day! I had the gift of tongues, so I was able to talk with a lot of people! I also found cheaper milk, and bought some Oreos! I have been a happy camper! Haha we woke up early this morning and went for a run! So that was new! Oh and I forgot to tell you guys, so many people here cannot read and its really difficult because you can’t challenge them to read the book of Mormon or conference talks, etc... so we had a group of three women about 65-70 years old and one could not read, the second had a vision problem where she knew how to read but could only see with 1Ñ00 sunlight, and the third just read really slow, like 3 words a minute. They all lived next door to each other. Super difficult! I’m starting an English class next week for the children of Bauga. I’m kinda nervous! Haha that’s about my day! Goodnight! love you guys!

Dec 29, 2018

Today was a sad day at the start! My companion being the district leader, went to Big Bauga to interview a family of 4 for their baptism today while I’m talking to E. Huff and they had 7 baptisms today! the family of 4 and two old ladies, super exciting! The family of 4 called and canceled... E. Huffs companion looked at me and was so sad, and he said why do people deny the truth, I don’t get it. We had 11 baptisms fall through this month! I’m so sad! We drove back to Bagua Chica and my companion got super sick. Then we went to teach Dora, she always cries during the lessons and is super embarrassed to pray, she hides her face and talks so quiet, today after the prayer she was crying again and after the lesson I asked my companion why she cries. He said every time we ask her to pray she does, and every time she prays that her kids will come visit her. Awe my heart broke for her! She is like 60! Then we did our studies and my companion slept. We went out and taught Julia and Tatiana about the Book of Mormon because Tatiana still has not read any, but is baptized.. eye, eye, eye... we had some really good rice milk! Afterwards we came back to the room and called it a night early, so my companion could sleep. So I’ve been in the room for an hour and just reading scriptures and studying because I have to wait up till 9 for our dinner... soooo guess I’ll find something to do, I’m really bored. I have 145 mosquito bites! I might eat some Oreos. Goodnight I love you! 

Dec 30, 2018

Today we are getting our calls to see what missionaries are moving around.. very suspenseful! We have not received the calls yet but with time we shall. So last night E. Espinosa said I was talking in my sleep in Spanish! That is a big mile stone for all elders! He said I asked someone if they spoke English, and after a long pause I said perfecto! We also got our come follow me books with amazing pictures in it! We teach a lot with pictures because of how many people cannot read! So mom if you can in my birthday package send the Gospel art book, thank you! We had some good lessons today and I was talking a lot! I had little to no encounters of not being able to understand the people! It was a really nice day! We had a nice dinner with E. Montellanos because he has been here in Bauga Chica for 6 months and he is guaranteed to leave at this transfer, so we said our goodbyes! I love you guys, goodnight!

Dec 31, 2018

The last day of the year... and it was amazingly weird. We had companion changes and so we went and did goodbyes with E. Montelanos with all the members, he’s been here for 6 months so the members and him became really close! E. Walker my only gringo, gave me a root beer, we then went and taught a lesson, and it was alright haha well after lunch I went and spent some cash on a cake, yes, a full cake for me and my companion. We had some lessons today but not much because people started getting drunk for the new year, well they actually started getting drunk last week... lol then we sat in on Moses getting set apart as an elder! the first E. Florez! Only his mom supports him so none of his family came... he bought me and E. Espinosa ice cream! So tonight, we had ice cream, cake, root beer floats, and it was amazing! I called our zone leader and was like... hey E. Norman we get reimbursed for buying cakes right because I spent all of our money for the month on an awesome cake! And he was like... YOU WHAT!!! HOW MUCH DID YOU SPEND ON THAT CAKE_ and I was like 200 soles, but it’s okay because we get reimbursed right? Haha he laughed so hard when he found out it was a joke! and with that i got to get to bed! Goodnight I love ya!