Buenas, todos que son mi vida,
It's your very favorite gringa!
Goodness gracious. First of all I just have to tell you what the people are like here in good ol' Puente Piedra, Lima, Perú. The ones we contact and teach are generally really, really, REALLY fantastic. Ah. They are so incredibly giving and humble and really fun to be around. The men on the streets, however, generally have the same basic idea about myself and Hermana Moody, which is that we are in need of solely two things ALL THE TIME:
a) A cab ride. They honk at us and slow down and wait for us when we are actually standing there having a conversation with someone on the sidewalk, quite obviously not searching for a taxi.
b) A reminder that we are still, indeed, gringas. Literally. They will whistle. And whistle. And yell "GRINGAS" or other random phrases in English (Hello. I love you. My preencess.) or Spanish (Hola bebe. Bonitas. Hermosas. Lindas. Mi amor. Sus ojos. Su cabello.)
OhwaitasecondI'mstillwhite? ¿Que pumas?
Pero.
Still love the Peruanos. Reppin' it hardcore.
Some more wonderful and quite ordinary things we've encountered this week:
A man sleeping on his side in the middle of the afternoon, in the middle of the sidewalk, in the middle of throngs of people right next to the Panamerican Highway. Let's just say the Peruvians know how to party.
Hector the Italian from Boston who visited the Salt Lake City temple daily for a month nine years ago because he loved it and who takes care of sick puppies and has an extraordinarily Italian mustache and really, really, really wants to be taught the gospel.
Many JDubbs. They are not exactly interested in listening to us. But we like being their friends when they don't turn the other cheek completely.
A 12-year-old chico watching, with great focus, My Little Pony en español.
The calle Rollin Thorne (who needs the Rolling Stones?)
A whole heck of a lot of quince años kissing on each other's faces. Perú is inexplicably, unbelievably, wildly uncomfortably amorous. That's probably the most tough thing about being a missionary here.
Quite a few individuals with flat eyelashes like Big Bird.
SUPER DUPER FANTASTIC MUSICIANS ON THE BUS. This guy was playing a violin and su esposa was playing this wooden thing and they were singing some freakin' sick harmonies which I think were in Quechua. Real live Peruvian music. Like, Inca business going down in this hizzle.
On the same bus, a man wheezing loudly to all, "
Repeatedly.
I was frightened.
On another bus in the afternoon, a young man with a carry-on microphone headset and a little speaker who just flat-out began to rap with much intensity. Oh man. That was incredibly difficult not to giggle about. People here will do anything and a bag of banana chips to advertise their wares or simply get attention. NO SHAME. I love it.
Many
many
many
too
many
women
nursing
toddlers.
nuff said
In other news, WE HAVE A FECHA BAUTISMAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, I cried a lot of joyful tears. My first baptism! For this Saturday!
The only problem:
She didn't come to church yesterday!
AAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH
Her son is having a tough transition phase because he went back home to the United States to live with his dad last night, and so I guess he was being difficult and didn't want her to leave yesterday morning. Which I can actually understand in some ways. But it's just a testament to the fact that Satan really doesn't want us to receive these ordinances because he knows how incredibly vital they are to our salvation.
On this camino, I believe I have experienced my first real devastation as a missionary.
There is a 12-year-old girl, Claudia, in our ward who has an active mother and inactive father. Her father refuses to let her be baptized, in his words "until she fully understands the baptismal covenant." Entonces, we met with them yesterday and explained with as much clarity, scripture, and power of the Spirit as we could muster. We did everything we could to teach Claudia exactly what she needs to know, and her father still hardened his heart against our words. After we left I absolutely wept for Claudia and for her father. I felt probably a miniscule portion of the pain our Heavenly Father feels when we choose not to accept His Spirit, His teachings, and His exhortations to us to choose those things which will allow us to progress. There are a lot of frustrating things about the situation. A lot of holes in this man's logic. But I don't want to focus on that. I want to do everything I can, to pray with all the energy of my soul, that his heart will be softened and he will come to a remembrance of why he was baptized and why these things are true. It was a sad experience, but I refuse to give up hope.
Later in the evening we met with Wayner, then the family of Hna Irma and Hno Danny, then Marco and Sari. Man, I have never been asked for so much marriage advice in my life! (Besides from you, Ma, and still it's a situation I actually understand in fulness.) As missionaries we are relied on for a lot more than just reciting scriptures and reading aloud from Preach My Gospel. Of course, we can't tell people what to say to their difficult esposos, but I am coming to realize that the gospel of Jesus Christ truly applies to every problem and every question that we have. It is really beautiful to recognize this in my life as I have the grand privilege of helping others to see it in theirs. I love this gospel and I love the Lord and I love being a missionary.
TAMBIÉN
I saw Elder Lee from the Lima Norte mission at a conference on Saturday! And I shook the hand of Elder Tad R. Callister and Elder C. Scott Grow! And they are awesome! And Elder Larsen and Hermana Hooper are also still alive. It was wonderful to see them. I don't really know how or why, but the tres de nosotros have become super duper tight.
I have about six thousand pictures I need to send really soon. I apologize sincerely for not sending them more consistently, but with such a short time and such slow computers, it is increasingly more difficult to do so. I can assure you that, eventually, you will receive them!
Best quote of the week (though there have been WAY too many to count - Hna Moody and I have a lot of phenomenal conversations about our investigadores and zone. Our ZLs are wonderful. They are the Little Animals. And our DL is Elder Scroggins, aka Chancho. I need to stop with the nicknames.):
Yo: "I don't think those little kids are actually not Christian. Everyone here is Christian."
Hna Moody: "...maybe they're Judists."
Yo: "WHAT? Buddhists? Nudists?"
Okay, everybody. Jews. Jewish people.
L'chaim.
De Perú con amor,
Hermana Hewitt
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