We moved!

This week was super busy.

Monday: We just relaxed. We watched The Lego Movie. At night we went
to visit that investigator who contacted us in the street. She had
talked to missionaries before, but needed some help and advice. We
went and talked with her, shared some of the Gospel with her, and
really helped her out. She was feeling a whole lot better afterwards.

Tuesday: We had weekly planning today because we weren’t able to do it
last Thursday. There were a ton of people here in Chivay because it
was a holiday, Peru’s Independence Day. The main plaza was full. There
were tons of cars. It was crazy. Tons of white people, too. We
contacted a little bit and found a new family of 4. They were really
receptive. He asked us to help him in his bakery one day, so that
should be a lot of fun.

Wednesday: We were planning on going to Arequipa today. We had a
Multi-Zone Conference on Thursday. We usually leave the day before in
the afternoon, drive the 3 hours, and go to the mission home, eat
dinner and stay there, then go to the conference the next morning, and
drive back home that afternoon. This time, though, we almost couldn’t
go. Because there were so many people here visiting from Arequipa for
the holiday, every single bus/minivan was full. There were no tickets
available. Everything for that night and the next morning super early
was taken. We didn’t know what we were going to do. Finally we found a
business that was making an extra trip because there were so many
people wanting tickets. We got our tickets and left 3 hours later than
we wanted. We got to the mission home at midnight. Made something
small to eat and went to bed.

Thursday: We made pizza for breakfast in the mission home. The plan
was to make it last night for dinner, but we got there at midnight
instead of 8. Then we went to our multi-zone conference. It was good
to see all the other Elders and talk with President and the
Assistants. That afternoon we drove back to Chivay. We called ahead to
order our tickets. They told us to get there at 5:30 to pay for them.
We got there at 5:45 due to traffic. They had sold our tickets. And no
other car leaves after 6:00. That was the last car from any business
going to Chivay. They only had 1 seat open. After talking to them for
a while, we were able to buy the 1 seat and get a stool put into the
car for an extra seat. I sat on that stool for 3 hours. It wasn’t
terrible, but certainly wasn’t the best car ride. At least we got
home.

Friday: The WHOLE day we were moving to the Tower that’s on the same
property as the Church. In the morning, we were moving out of our old
room. It took forever because it was filled of stuff from other
missionaries that had stayed there over time. We went to eat lunch.
Then we rented a truck to take all our stuff up to the Church. We
unloaded it, but the owner was still working on finishing the Tower,
so we couldn’t quite move in yet. We went to get something from the
other Elders’ old room then had to get everything out of that room,
too, and take it up to the Church. We got another truck, loaded that
one, and unloaded it in the Church. They finally finished the Tower at
like 9:00.

Saturday: We finished moving our stuff into the Tower this morning. We
went to lunch and then to Seminary. Sadly, nobody came. So we went
back up to the Church to clean it and get ready for Sunday. We got it
mostly cleaned, then went to an appointment. They were really
receptive and could be baptized soon. They’re a family of 3. We
finished cleaning the Church. Then we went to visit a less active
family in their chicken store. They have so much raw chicken just
laying out all over their counter. But that’s just like normal here.
They also had a 180 lbs. pig on the floor. It was dead, but they asked
us to help them cut it up. That was kind of really gross. And that pig
was huge. It literally weighed more than me. It was an interesting
experience.

Sunday: We had Church. We start at 9:00. At 9:00, the first member
walked in, a 70+ year old lady. We started with just her. But after a
while, the people started coming. We ended with 31, which was
basically a miracle, because we’re still in the middle of school
vacations and we haven’t had more than 25 for a while. Sadly, many
left after Sacrament Meeting. The classes went alright, though. Then
we did tithing and fast offerings. Ate lunch. Taught Mission Prep to 1
youth. Then visited a couple less actives at night.

We’re staying busy, and that just makes the time pass even faster.
It’s crazy how long I’ve already been here in Peru. I hope everyone
has a great last couple of weeks of summer break!

-Elder Kehoe