Muchos Huesos y Ramen

Feliz Día de la Pascua!! (That's Easter.)

Hey, errybody! It's me, your favorite Elder Smith serving in Peru Lima East (I may or may not be the only Elder Smith in this mission). It's my favorite time of the week! The time that I can pester you all with my boring missionary life, and there's nothing you can do about it. :D

Well, let's get started today by giving a better description of my area. I just moved to San Cayetano, a small ward in between El Agustino and La Victoria. My entire area is sidewalks, streets, and buildings. We have a giant hill in our area that is entirely covered in houses, and we have to hike up and down at least once a day. There is hardly any green here, other than the abundant garbage that lines all the streets. The people here are pretty much all really poor, and are super closed in the way that no one accepts us. 

 

 

Our ward has a few problems. Okay, not a few, it has a LOT of problems. None of the members care about doing Mission work, we don't have a ward mission leader, nor do we have our Elder's Quorum president. About 2/3 of the members are in-actives, and it is super hard to work even with the active members. This is probably going to be my hardest area in the mission.

So, now that you know a little more about my area, you might have already guessed that I'm pretty stressed. It's okay, nothing that I can't handle, but still, this is not an area that I'd want to be in forever.

So this week was pretty alright, it started out pretty fun. Remember when I went to the catacombs a few months ago, when I couldn't take any pictures? Well, that's in my zone now, and we went again this past p-day. I took lots of pictures. I'm attaching a few so you can see how it was, more or less.

 

 

The majority of this week, we've been spending trying to train the families in our ward and get referrals. It hasn't been working very well, because the members don't want to let us in. I've wanted to kick a few doors in, but it's okay, if the members don't want to help, I can't force them to want the salvation of others. Sigh, I'm so tired.

So, on Thursdays, we've been going at 6 in the morning to play soccer against another district. I've been finding out that I'm really not half bad at soccer (fútbol). I'm going to want to play when I get home. EVERY. DAY.

So, the way that the people celebrate Easter down here is a little different. Okay, It's really different. Since everyone down here is super Catholic, they celebrate "The Holy Week" (La Semana Santa) or better stated, the passion week of Christ. I guess this is one of the reasons why nobody's accepted us this week. BUT! What they do is for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, everyone closes their stores, and goes home to watch their videos of the life of Christ, or anything that has Romans fighting. Others actually go to church, but the rest spend their days inside sleeping. 

 

 

So just about every morning, our pensionista gives us Ramen to cook up in our apartment for breakfast. I don't know why, but it makes me feel right at home, (since that was my favorite after school snack).

Well, that's about all the time I have to write today. Stay cool, don't do drugs, and don't run with scissors until I can be there. Chau! 

-Elder Dañel Jacobo Esmitho