Peru? No prob-llama!: Week 17

December 7, 2015

So this week was kind of hard... I finally felt comfortable speaking Spanish in our lessons but then it hit me this week that I can speak in lessons but I can't talk and be friends with anyone. Most of the members run up and hug my companion, but then they just greet me like just another person. Lots of them will even talk to my companion about me, with me standing right there. It was kind of frustrating. Even when I was trying my hardest to ask them questions and just talk to them... it seemed like it didn't change anything. But I know with time I will be able to do it! Just for now I have to struggle!

Fun thing we did this week: Sanded down the wall of a member´s house so they could then paint it. We were covered in dust from the previous paint afterwards but it started raining and washed it all off. So I couldn't get a picture of me covered in paint dust. I do have a picture of us sanding the wall though! hahaha

Sanding down the wall ... everyone thought it was so funny that I only need a stool to reach the top!

So down here they have a superstition, that if it rains on the first day of December, it means this winter season is going to be full of rain. And so guess what happened the first day of December this year? It rained and it rained hard. Basically it hasn´t stopped raining since Tuesday, so I guess their superstition is correct. It's actually a big pain because all the roads are sand, so when it rains we have to walk in mud and my legs are always super gross and dirty when we get home at night. Also it prevents anyone from going anywhere. Usually we have 200 people come to church each Sunday, but this past Sunday only 70 people came, mostly because of the rain. So while I love the rain because it cools things down, I also hate it hahaha.

A sweet story though- we´re teaching this sweet elderly couple that want to get baptized, but they have to get married first. It's a huge pain to get married because they don't have their birth certificates ... it's going to take a long timeeee. They have no money, like literally no money. They walk to church every Sunday (except this past Sunday because of the rain...) and neither of them can walk well! They walk with their canes and they leave their house at like 7 am in the morning. It made me really think about my life.. if my car wasn't working one Sunday would I walk all the way to church? I don't know if I would... They´re certainly a great example to me of the importance of going to church!