Ice Cream, Tarantulas, & Cockroaches

we eat ice cream here every week! (stefano's)

hello hello, gringos! how's everything in the united states? it's a very big deal that i'm writing this e-mail, because as i was peeling my 15th mango this week (it's that time of year again - dinner has been nothing but a bowl of mangoes for three days straight), the knife went under my thumb nail and cut me (so, these keystrokes aren't pleasant).

twelve mangoes. this was dinner! i was so full!

this week has been interesting in that we are losing almost everyone we've been teaching. bummer, but the lord has a plan for this area. we spent two days walking around for five hours straight with no lessons, but it was all worth it when we found susan at 8:10pm on sunday night! it was our first lesson with her, and as we explained the restoration it was a true delight to see in her face what the right reaction to that message should be. her eyes got huge, and she said "so what did god tell joseph? which church was right?" i almost laughed out loud i was so thrilled. :)

just chilling outside a member's house

going to an investigator's house
on a "straight and narrow" plank

there's a new rule in the mission and in our area (shout out to ecuador and colombia) that missionaries can no longer eat PORK! no "chancho!" the pigs here are too sketchy. but, they didn't say anything about playing with the pigs or taking selfies, so don't worry, that will still be a thing.

look who we found wandering the streets...charles II!

our district being swaggy

for service this week, we helped celide (a member) clean her "huerta." i think that means "garden" or something in english. she had piles of wood and garbage EVERYWHERE, and she basically didn't want to move any of it; it's called "relleno," and it keeps the houses near the [amazon] river from flooding during the rainy season. in fact, MANY families purposely keep garbage and wood piles around the base of their houses. anyway, we helped her put all the wood into a pile, and as I lifted, tarantulas and cockroaches went scrambling. that got the attention of celide's chickens, who came and ate the bugs as i lifted wood and helped clear garbage!! i also dug out a 26-year-old beer bottle, which took about 15 minutes to unearth. my back still hurts. ;)

life is good in pucallpa. smile, jesus loves you!

hermana wood

More from this week's message to Hermana Wood's parents:
hey parents! this week i decided i want to extend my mission. i'm working with president li and the mission secretary, elder marriot, and i'll have my answer/approval in about two weeks! i'm pretty sure it's what i want to do, because i love being a missionary and the time is so short. i can't leave yet! i've had a bit of a change of heart. i guess that's what the mission does to you. :) anyway, if it gets approved, i would be coming home march 20th instead of the first week in february. LOVE YOU BOTH.

More from this week's message to Hermana Wood's mom:
hey, mom! it's been a good week! and yes, solange is getting baptized on saturday!!! isn't that so exciting??? we met her like less than a month ago! she was so prepared! we didn't do much; it was all the spirit.

yeah, sometimes there are sisters in certain areas and then sometimes there are only elders. in our ward, there's us and then two elder companionships. a little over a year ago there were only elders in my area. idk why it changes - revelation from the [mission] president, i guess.

also, the package didn't make it in time for leadership council at the beginning of the month, so it will come at the beginning of october. no worries!! LOVE YOU.