10 November 2009

Welp, Im in puno. PUNO. I was so sad to leave Tacna, but like I said last week I didnt think my luck would hold out for a fifth change in Tacna. I did love it though. But yeah, I left at 730 am yesterday and got to puno at 8pm last night. Longest. bus ride. ever. Longer than the trip I took in the greyhound from Provo to LV to visit britt when I had to sit far away from the driver that someone told me looked a lot like someone shed seen on americas most wanted. ANYWAY, here I am in Puno. I thought Id be a lot sicker from the altitude, but luckily so far Ive just had a headache since I got here. I woke up this morning and went outside and our area is all hills and from the top of the hills the lake is right there!!!! Crazy. From what Ive seen though I definitely feel like Im finally in Peru. Houses of mud with roofs of hay, a man chasing his llamas, ladies with their skirts and bowler hats digging in the dirt, after a year, I think Im finally getting the full peruvian experience. I just got a quick glimpse of britts email and I cant believe you guys want to do that for Christmas!!! I personally think its crazy. Who doesnt what gifts for Christmas?? You all at least have to exchange one gift with each other. BUT I was also thinking maybe for something I got changed here, the area with the most poverty in the mission, for Christmas. But Im not exactly sure what would be good to send for gifts or if money would be better. Im going to think this week and look for what people dont have and need.

Anyway, yeah, Im in 2 wards. One called Huascar and the other...I still dont know. Our pension is like 10 minutes from our room so thatll be different and I hear our area is pretty physically demanding and the work is progressing SLOWLY here, but hopefully things will get better in these few changes here. I know youre all praying for that and thank you.

Oh, so we had an activity in para chico the friday before changes. One day in the park we were contacting and we talked with 4 teenagers from Ecuador that had arrived in Tacna and were going to stay for like a month. Turns out 2 of them are members less actives so we invited them all to church and they came. It also turns out theyre dancers!! They were headed to Chile to tour, but one of them couldnt cross the border or something, suspicious I know, BUT, we decided we had to take advantage of their talent and we planned an activity in the ward. Its was like a ward family home evening. We watched a short movie, played games, they danced salsa and typical dances from Ecuador and we of course had empanadas and chicha. It was really, really fun. We were kind of worried because we planned it last minute and we had heard that ward members dont like going all the way to the chapel at night time, but 50 people showed up!!! So yeah, it was a good way to leave Para Chico. It was hard though, i didnt want to go. A few people came to the terminal at 7 yesterday to say goodbye and I was a sobbing mess. But, Im excited to be in puno too. My companion is Hna. Jimenez from Bolivia. My first companion boliviana. She is great.

Anyway, I hope all is well with you guys. love you and miss you all. Love,
Christa

PS, Mom and Darren,for the record there are 3 northamerican sisters in my mission. Counting me. There are more elders, but there is usually only 1 northamerican elder in every zone. Well, thats how its been in my zones at least.