April 21 2014

Hey everypone, this week went alright, but not great. We had a bunch of fun and had an activity called Puertas Abiertas. All of the missionaries in Tumbes and Puyango se runieron in the stake center and we invited ppeople to enter the church and learn about us. All the missionaries left to contact people in the streets and fill out referencias and invite them to the church for a cultural night on Friday. We filled out about 150 referencias and handed out a lot of liahonas and books called Our Legacy or Legend. In spanish it's called nuestro legado. On friday night all the missionaries in the two zonas farthest away from Piura got togetther and did a skit for a ton of members and investigators. It was way fun. Everyone laughed super hard. Our skit was about the life of a missionary. In the skit I was an investigador de oro (gold) father, with my wife and son. It was really funny. Me and my 'wife' (a sister missionary) changed our 'son's' name to Nefi because we read the first 23 chapters of the Book of Mormon and found it to be true. Sorry I dont have a video. The skit lasted like 45 minutes because every missionary had to enter and play a role.

Today all the same missionaries went to the playa again. But this time we went to Zorritos. It was great. Afterward, Elder Villena and I went to a teenage member's house to eat with him and his family. His name is Luiggi. He is the only active member in his family but his sister and mom siempre let us in. The mom doesn't want him to go on o a mission though. He turned 18 today and so we ate with him and then surprised him by smashing eggs on his head. His mom recorded it on my camera haha. He always tells me I haven't accepted his friend request on facebook yet but I remind him it's because I am on the mission and who knows if my family goes on or not haha. 

Anyway, my companion goes to lima tonight to fill out papers since he is from Ecuador and doesn't have his visa either. So I will be with Elder Castro from Chile for a few days. He is one of my zone leaders.

[This next part is in response to some specific questions: 1) Do Peruanos have any Easter traditions? 2) What was one hymn you sang yesterday? 3) What did your pensionista cook for you recently? 4) Do you ever shine your shoes? and 5) Do you ever speak English?]

Sounds like it was a great Easter. Here there isn't much of a specific 'Easter.' But the whole week a lot of people take time off of work and school. It's called Semana Santa. En la iglesia cantamos un himno se llama Dios Bendícenos. numero 100 en el himnario en espanol. [Hymn #163 Lord Dismiss Us With Thy Blessing] Oh and the dropbox site isn't working for me. It won't open up at all. It never goes to the home site to put the passwords or anything. I'll try sending a few pictures by email. 

I rarely shine my shoes. Only for meetings really important. At times I brush the dust and sand off but I dont actually shine them except for special occasions. The olives that the people here eat are super different. And theyre nasty. the flavr is really strong. Here they are callled aceituna. The members of the ward know that 3 of rthe 4 missionaries in their ward (Elder Stanley, Mamani, Villena, and I) do not like the aceituna so they never prepare it for us when we eat in thier houses haha. And I hardly ever speak english, unless I'm with a latino trying to learn english, or when another gringo and I are naming songs, meals, restaurants, that we miss haha. Last night was fun because the 4 missionaries in my ward were all together and we talked about a bunch of super funny and stupid movies, but we all talked about them in spanish.

That's all I got for now, hope you all have a great week!!!!

Love,

Elder Evans