We like pancakes

Farewell for missionary

Colca Canyon Condors

Colca Canyon 1

Colca Canyon 2

Colca Canyon 3

Care package after four months

Brownies at 12,000 feet

Be careful with hammers

Traditional meal

Feeding pigs

Drinking from waterfall

I’m glad that I don’t have any homework assignments right now. All I have to do is wake up, exercise, shower, eat, get dressed, study, walk around a lot, talk in Spanish, eat again, walk again, talk in Spanish again, eat again, sleep, and repeat. Pretty easy life. Plus, I have the help of the Lord, so it’s even easier.

I don’t think I could get a package from Lima. It turns out we won’t be going with the ward because the family that we were going to be witnesses for isn’t going to the Temple in December but later with their friends. It’s a real bummer because it would’ve been really neat to go with the ward and visit the Temple again, but oh well. We’ll stay here and work, I think. Our pensionista is leaving, the Bishop is leaving with his counselors, our lavanderia is leaving, and basically the whole ward is leaving. We’ll see what happens…

Warm gingerbread would be so delicious right now. It doesn’t feel like the holidays, though. It’s warm here and there’s no snow, no rain, no decorations, and very little talk of the holidays.

Scientology: I was thinking this week, and I don’t understand why not all of the scientists in the world are members. They find truth based on science experiments, and for an experiment to be valid it needs to be documented and repeatable by others. That’s exactly what the Church is. Here is more or less a experiment that all of them should try.
Objective/Hypothesis: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true.
Materials: Book of Mormon, faith in Jesus Christ, sincere heart, real intent
Process:
1) Take the Book of Mormon and read it.
2) Ponder what you read.
3) Ask God, with faith, a sincere heart, and real intent, if the things you read are true.
4) Wait for an answer to your heart or mind. It will likely come as a feeling of peace and a desire to learn and read more.

That’s it. It has been tested, repeated, and documented by over 15 million people in the world. If it worked for them, it can work for you, too. Sure the required materials might be a little difficult to come by (such as faith or real intent) but they’re available to everyone.

Thanksgiving was great. The food was awesome and it felt and tasted like home. We also had another baptism this week. #5 of my mission! I baptized her and then Elder Mananita confirmed her the same day because we had Stake Conference this weekend. We should be baptizing her mom and 2 others on the 13th!

I still have my latin companion, but probably only for 2 more weeks. I was on splits for Thanksgiving so that the gringos could celebrate our traditions together.