Hola familia!

Well it looks like my P-days are on Tuesday!  holy cow! was a really long, really exhausting, and amazing week!  So much has happened that  I can't get it all into one letter, but I'll try. 

First of all...thanks so much for all of the emails, I loved reading them.  I only have one hour to write and read, so it would be best for people dearelder.com or pouchmail.  That way I could spend more time on my letters.  Also, don't send me any packages here, its kinda a pain if you do.  But letters are wonderful. 

So, I'll just explain a little of what has happened.  So Elder Wilkinson and I are already such great friends.  We clicked right when we met each other and we have been getting along really really great.  We have a great time together.  In our room, we have 4 Latinos.  Three are from Peru and one is from Paraguay.  Only one of them speaks English, like at all. They are probably our best friends here.  Some of my favorite time of the day is from 9:30 to 10:30 because that is when we get ready for bed, so we get to hang out with them.  Elder Wilkinson and I are trying to teach elder Diaz some English words.  It is so funny. He is a convert who was baptized 14 months ago and he is the funniest guy ever.  We have tried to teach him to say "investigator" and he pronounces it like "in-beast-e-gautuur".  Elder Wilkinson and I were dying laughing.  Last night, they were all trying to switch nuevo soles for dollars, and they were trying to cheat  us, so we called them 'robadores', all in good fun.  I really am going to miss them when they leave in a while. Teaching them English is like the hamnurger scene on Pink Panther.  We call them gringos and they call us Latinos, so it is pretty fun.  

A couple of days ago, we were assigned a distrito and I was named the District Leader.  I have really enjoyed to get to know each of them a little bit better and we have so much fun in class together.  Our distrito is soooo diverse its crazy.  We eat our meals almost everyday together and we are such close friends.  We each taught our first lesson last night with our very very very limited knowledge of Spanish.  Elder Wilkinson some how filled up a whole lesson, but we both came out of there exhausted and confused.  I felt the Spirit, but I am almost sure the investigator didn't know what was happening.  Elder Wilkinson and I know about the same amount of Spanish, and it basically doubles everyday.  I am so glad for that base I had in high school. 

Ahora por la comida.... the food here is actually really really good.  I am eating whatever I want, and I feel really good.  For desayuno, we usually only have one egg, a single slice of bacon, some really runny yogurt and a little bread.  Breakfast is the worst, and I am always starving after.  For almuerzo, we eat like kings.  We usually have a really good bowl of sopa (once I had bones in mine), some rice, fried potatoes, and a big thing of meat with some good sauce on it.  Then there is a side which is pretty good, like a salad, emplandoes (bolivian hot pockets) and some dessert. 

The juice we have every meal is real juice from fruits like cantaloupe, fresas, apples, purple corn, mango, and granadia.  Granadia is my favorite. look it up.  I think it's passion fruit.  So the shell is like a some plastic that you can break through.  Then, under the shell, there is a weird coating that looks, feels, and tastes like dry bread.  once you peal all of those away, there is a greenish gray color flesh surrounding tons of seeds.  It's like a mix between mucus and a pomegranate.  It tastes really good though.  I eat at least two a day.  Look it up. 

 

 

The Elders here say the food and bathroom relationship is "siempre o nunca"...meaning "always or never"...and that is true...I was a nunca for a while, but I'm normal now. 

At four o'clock cada dia, we have physical activity. And holy cow...it is fun!  They have a turf soccer field here so we play soccer all the time.  I like it most when it is just norteamericanos, porque the Latinos are so good.  None of them are really great players, but they have such a good ball handling and passing techniques, and us gringos just kinda kick and run.  A couple of days ago, I scored a goal.  Once there was a concert and barbeque going on just outside of the walls, so it was so fun to play and listen some awesome live Peruvian guitar while playing futbol.  Too bad no one has an interest in basketball, cause we could beat the Latinos in that...

There are two spots in the CCM that we can see outside of the walls, so sometimes we just go up there and look at the outside world to see cars, people, and a little bit of Peru.  The 28th is their Independence day, so I'm pumped so see fireworks and stuff.  

When they let us out to go to the temple today, everyone was soooooo excited...and we have only been here a week.  We stepped outside and it was crazy.  We caught a packed bus for a ride and it was only like 50 centimos which is like 15 cents.  The temple was soooo cool, I was kinda tired during the session, but I loved doing the talking stuff in Spanish. (we had English headsets though).  The most spiritual moment this week was when I said a prayer in Spanish in the celestial room.  It was so cool and I could really feel the spirit strongly.  The most I have felt the spirit this week was every time in Spanish.  Cool how that works.  So far, I know how to bear my testimony, pray, and contact in Spanish.  The rest is kinda my old knowledge and what I can pick of from the Latinos.  I love the Latinos, each one of them is so happy and so friendly.  If the people are like that in my mission, I scored!  (actually i heard a story about my mission that a guy baptized 108 people during his mission in Piura).  I really think this is the best part of the world for missionary work.

After the temple, we had an hour to go to some stores.  We went to a distribution center and bought some decorations for our room.  Everything is sooooo cheap.  I could buy a book of Mormon for about a dollar, a bag for five, and a picture of Christ for 10 cents.  We then went to Metro which is like Walmart.  There we got some Inca Kola...and by-the-way...its way better here.  Then we went and bought some churros (I'm working on rolling my rr´s) off the street.  SO GOOD.  Better than Mexico.  Here, the churros aren't as covered in sugar, but they are filled with caramel!  Holy cow, they are celestial.  Lima is so awesome, but I am so glad that I am going to Piura.  I can't wait to get there.  Spanish is so fun to learn, but I am super jealous of Miles and my other friends going English speaking, because they are able to teach right away, and I really feel bad for my friends speaking Russian, Chinese, and anything else. 

I love the CCM, it is kinda like a Hawaiian hotel, the weather is perfect everyday, even though it is cloudy everyday. And, actually, I am really sorry that you are all still stuck in Alpine!

Everything is going so well here and I love it.  We are busy and working hard every second from wake to sleep so I haven't had anytime to really think about anything at home.  I am so happy, even though it is so hard.  The only time I am not happy is from 6:30am to 7:00am.  But I am adjusting.  Mom, our room is clean and Elder Wilkinson and I have a goal for Obedencia Con Exactitud.  I pray almost every time in Spanish, and it is going well.  I really love you all at home.  And I hope you do well this week.  I will try to send some pics, but I don't know if I can.

I love you!

Elder Bradshaw II