2 November 2009

Hey Hey HEy,
What is going on? Things are pretty good here in Tacna. Not too much to report this week actually. OH, but I DID get your package and big envelope this week and THANK YOU!!! The brownies and desserts have been a hit already and my companion and I have gorged ourselves on cereal bars, gardettos, peanut butter crackers, etc. I also love the pillow case from Jen. Tell her thanks. And thanks for the pictures. Its been fun to FINALLy show people who you guys are!

So how was Halloween? So it turns out hardly anyone celebrates halloween here so I didnt feel like I was missing out on too much. I only saw 3 witches and 1 little ghost trying to collect candy so it looks like peru still has a ways to go for Halloween to be popular. I kept talking about halloween and people kept telling me that only that people that worship satan believe in halloween here? Woops! Someday peru will come to appreciate halloween like we do. It might take a few thousand chili dogs, homemade rootbeer, and truckloads of candy to convince them, but I think itll be worth the effort.

OHHHH, but want to know what we did do on halloween? We got wrangled, WRANGLED, into helping a little old lady construct her alter to the virgen mary because there was going to be a parade and she had to construct an alter with flowers and balloons and the virgen, etc. I saw wrangled because we could not get out of there. There we were, walking down the street, late for an appointment, and this little old lady grabbed us, GRABBED us, and asked us if we could do her 1 tiny, little favor, if I could help her hang a balloon from her window outside because Im tall. Can you believe Im tall here by the way? So I hang one balloon and then she just kept giving us stuff to do and every time we told her we HAD to go and that people were waiting for us she said we couldnt abandon her and that God wouldnt be happy with us and that she needed us more than the people we had appointments with!!! She kept promising us it would only be 2 more minutes, 2 more minutes, well 2 hours later my companion and I, 2 mormon missionaries, had completely assembled this altar for the virgen mary!!! I like to think God will understand. The worst part is though the counselor to our bishop drove by and saw us doing it!!!!! Luckily he just laughed. He got out of his car to tell the lady we really had to go, but she wrangled him into helping too!!! So yeah, thats how I spent my halloween.

Changes are next monday. I would really like to stay in Tacna, but I think 5 changes here would be pushing it. Well see.

Anyway, I have to go, but I hope youre all doing great. I love you and miss you. Thanks for all your prayers and emails and packages and support.