Episode 1 Chapter 5, New Year's Edition 1.5.15

Area: Yunguyo   Comp: Elders Cedeno/Estigarribia

Happy New Year's Everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic New Year's! I celebrated by going to sleep at 10:30 and waking up at 6:30, which makes me feel both very boring and at the same time very happy.

-Transfers are next Monday, but Elder Vargas had an unexpected transfer yesterday and is currently en route to Puerto Maldonado. That means that for this week, I'm in a trio with Elder Cedeno and Elder Estigarribia.

-Peruvian New Year's Traditions! The tradition here is that you decide how the year will go based on wearing certain colors and running around at midnight. Yellow is money, white is peace, and if you carry around a suitcase it means you'll travel a lot. Basically everyone was wearing yellow all day New Year's Eve. Then, on New Years, they all pile into trucks and wear bread (bread hats, bread necklaces, bread canes), while throwing more bread to the people. This started at 8:00 in the morning, and continued until 10:00 at night.

-The lady we gave the death blessing to passed away on New Year's Eve in the morning.

-I went on splits with Elder Zohner, and we had a lesson planned with a guy he's visited a million times before. This time, though, we couldn't find the house, and in our lost-ness we ended up running into a member who had a son who desperately needed a blessing. As we left, she commented, "It's amazing how the Lord guides His servants right where they're needed." I thought that was pretty cool!

-Spiritual thought! D&C 121:1-8-- this is one of my favorites, it starts off with Joseph Smith in jail asking God where He is and why He's not helping, then God responds and basically tells him don't worry about it. It's great though, read it.

Anyways, things are good here! I get to be a normal missionary this week for the first time in forever, and next week I'll know who my new companion is! Stay awesome!

Sincerely,
Elder Steele

Series 12 Episode 29, The One Right After Christmas 12.29.14

Area: Yunguyo   Comp.: Elder Vargas

Merry Post-Christmas everybody!

-Christmas! What an awesome thing! Except, no offense to millions of people, but I really dislike Latino traditions. I mean, they take the Christ right out of it. They believe that Jesus was born at exactly midnight, so they celebrate Christmas Eve very much like New Year's, and they don't read Luke 2 or anything. I did like the fireworks, but at the same time, our pension didn't let us leave until 2 in the morning, which I am 100% against. But Latino's don't have any traditions for Christmas Day, so they let me do what I wanted, which was wake up at 5:30 (I kind of did that on purpose because I was mad at them for making me stay up late) and open presents! I gave them all lots of stuff, they gave me a giant bird stuffed animal, and I opened the SUPER AWESOME package from my family! So good times!

-Christmas day! Elder Vargas didn't want to leave to work because 'his foot hurt' and he was really tired, so I went out with Elder Estigarribia and Elder Cedeno. It was great! We didn't have any appointments, but we taught a lesson every hour of the day! And, in our little pueblo we have about 850 inactive members, and on Christmas they all greeted us with "Merry Christmas Elders!" Every time someone called us Elders we would stop them, because how would they know that? And they were all inactives! Little miracles there!

-The death blessing lady! We visited her again, and she was in bed, unable to talk, with weird tubes stuck in her arms. Her extended family was all there to 'see her off'. We gave her another death blessing and taught everyone the Plan of Salvation again. It went well! And I'm pretty sure she's passed on by now.

-We went to Ilave on Tuesday, and we found out there was no way to get back to Yunguyo until Wednesday, so we had a sleepover with the Zone Leaders and barely made it back in time to talk to our families.

Anyways, fun times! Things are pretty normal here! I see little miracles every day! Happy New Year!
Sincerely,
Elder Steele

Chapter 12, Versiculo 22, Pre-Christmas Edition 12.22.14

Area: Yunguyo  Comp.: Elder Vargas

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

-Spiritual Thought! John 3:16-"For God so loved the world that he gave his Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life" (or something like that). Don't forget in this epoca Navideña why we celebrate Christmas! Also christmas.mormon.org the video on the front page is just fantastic.

-I gave a talk! I based it off of that video! It went pretty well. My third talk in 5 months, two of which were in Spanish. Also it turns out I'm a member of the Branch Presidency here. I had no idea!

-We have this one family we teach, the Familia Peraltes. So the parents are inactive members and the kids are not members, so we've been teaching the whole family together with the intent to reactivate the parents so that the dad can baptize his kids. We taught them for the first time this week without the dad there, and the mom told us that she had secretly had her kids baptized at 8 in Puno, and the dad doesn't know. I thought that was pretty interesting.

-Beach Day! Last P Day we went to the beach! We obviously can't go swimming, so we basically just stood there and took pictures, but it still made me really happy.

Anyways, things are good here! Elder Vargas thinks his leg is getting worse, and is still on bed rest, but I go out with the other Elders and study like crazy. Have a fantasticly Merry Christmas! Talk to you guys soon!

Sincerely,
Elder Steele

On the street.

Jackson and Elder Vargas on the beach of Lake Titicaca.

Month 12 Day 15 -- Nothing Really Happened This Week Edition 12.15.14

Area: Yunguyo   Comp.: Elder Vargas


Everybody!

Nothing really happened this week. We spent half the week in Puno and the other half in bed, so I'm sorry in advance that this email will be terrible.

-We went to Puno a lot! Mostly for doctors. We also had a Christmas Program with Presidente, which was really good! We sang songs, and exchanged gifts, and ate pizza!

-I taught about 3 lessons this week, one to a very old couple with a member granddaughter. We started off by offering service, and the granddaughter asked for a blessing for her grandmother. The blessing included things like "You've lived a life the Lord is proud of" and "We bless you with the ability to rest from your labors". We then sat down and taught the Plan of Salvation. I'm not sure if she's died yet, but I'd bet money on it being in the next couple weeks.

That's really everything. I've almost finished the Book of Mormon in Spanish for the first time, I've spent a ridiculous amount of money (Sorry Mom!), and I'm just waiting to be able to work again! Have a good week!

Sincerely,
Elder Steele


Note about the pictures: Jackson doesn't send any explanation with his pictures so that leaves me to guess on locations and names of people based on name tags and past letters. Hopefully this will get better with time.

First Christmas in Peru.

Jackson with Elder Day. Christmas dinner/devotional with the mission president. (Puno)

Jackson, Elder Williams, Elder Hanson, Elder Yorgeson and Elder Day. All these guys came out
together and are all serving in the Puno zone. Christmas dinner/devotional 2014 (Puno)

Season 12 Episode 8--Status Report Edition 12.8.14

Area: Yunguyo (Juli)     Comp.: Elder Vargas

Dear Everyone,

So this is my 'Status Report Edition', seeing as I'm in a new place with a new companion, but I actually am not in my sector right now and I'd really like to start with the story of 'why'.

Also, first off, sorry I spent lots of money this weekend! It was necessary!

So on Saturday, we were walking and right as we passed an ATM I got the feeling "I should go get 150 soles out on my card from home," so I did. Didn't really know why, just kind of expected it to burn a hole in my pocket until I needed it, but yeah. Keep that in mind.

So yesterday, we were in a lesson that was right around the corner from where we live, and during this lesson it started to rain ridiculously hard. We weren't wearing jackets, so we decided to go back to our apartment around the corner and get them. We went in there, and the other Elders that kind of live with us were in their apartment talking about plans for the day or something. So the rain started getting crazier, and by the time we'd said hi to them and put on our coats, the streets were flooded and it was too crazy to go outside. So my companion Elder Vargas said, "Let's go on the roof and watch the lightning until the rain settles down" and I said, "That's a terrible idea." But apparently there's a little room on the roof with these big windows, so we're inside but we can see everything, so that seemed safe enough. So that's the fourth floor, so we went up there and started watching, and everything's cool. Then we decide that it's calmed down enough to leave again, so we start to walk out. So you know that corrugated tin stuff that a lot of people down here use for their roof? There was a piece of that on the floor, and there was some trash on it, so it looked like someone had just set it there. So Elder Vargas stepped on it to walk over to the door, and it turns out that it was covering a hole in the floor, that had an equal hole on the floor below it. So long story short, Elder Vargas fell 2 stories onto the concrete floor. Obviously we freaked out, ran downstairs, and basically broke down the door to get to him. Somehow (I'm still kind of confused where these came from) there was a bike, a chair, and a big stone on top of him, so we pulled them off pretty quick. He seemed ok, no obvious bodily damage or mental damage, and luckily he'd fallen to the 2nd floor which is the one that we live on. So we pulled him into the room, gave him a blessing, and called the ZL's, who gave us permission to go to Puno to get medical attention but told us that they wouldn't give us 150 soles for a taxi to get there, although Elder Vargas said there was no way he could go in the bus. BUT I HAD 150 SOLES! So we took a taxi, went straight to the hospital, and have been there since noonish today. He's fine, he's got a messed up shoulder, a badly twisted ankle, and another ankle that's fractured. He'll be ok, but we're confined to our room for the next week, so I would imagine that next week's email will be just the worst. But yeah! Exciting 24 hours!

Anyways, Status Report:

-My companion's named Elder Vargas! He's Boliviano, 21, finishes in 6 months, and is absolutely fantastic! He's just the nicest guy. I'm super freaking excited to work with him.

-My Apartment! It's good! It's one room, about 15 feet by 20 feet, and it's only got room for our bunk beds, our desks, and a dresser, but I love it! And the bathroom has somewhat warm water and a toilet that not only consistently flushes, but also is attached to the floor! So I'm actually really happy. AND THERE'S A MIRROR, that's not only in the bathroom, but at head height! I'm actually ecstatic about that, that's not even sarcasm.

-Yunguyo! I'm in Zona Juli, but where I am is a pueblo named Yunguyo. Usually when people say 'pueblo' here, they mean a little community living in humble adobe homes out in the field with their farm animals, but this isn't like that at all. It's only a pueblo in population, which is small, but Yunguyo is designed like a big city. The buildings are all next to each other and tall, the streets are paved, there's no trash in the streets, and there are 2 plazas which are absolutely beautiful. It's great.

-I live with Elder Vargas and a companionship of 2 other Elders, so my use of the English language just dropped to about 0. I'm actually really happy about that.

-The pension's great! Well, I'm conflicted there. I haven't been there a week and I've eaten chuno and cow heart, but everything she gives us tastes amazing (including chuno and cow heart).

-We've spent 160 soles on pizza this week. Well, I didn't, the other elders did. That's why they didn't have any money. It's good though! We get pineapple mushroom, which is surprisingly delicious. I'm kind of addicted, but it's expensive.

-The branch has about the same attendance as our ward in Juliaca (like 50 people), but apparently the Elders are the counselors to the Branch President. We help conduct Sacrament, we count the tithing, etc. It's my turn to conduct in 2 weeks from yesterday. Also, although attendance is 50, the ward list is 40 pages long. There's like 10-15 names per page. There's a lot of work to do here.

-One last thing! Not a status report though. We have this special contact card we give out for Christmas, and I was trying to give one to a drunk guy who had walked up to us, and he didn't understand that I was giving it to him so I decided to tell him "This is a present. Merry Christmas!" But instead of 'Merry Christmas' I accidentally said "Happy Birthday!" He was so happy that it was his birthday. Freaking drunks.

Anyways, things are great! I think this week I'm going to read all of the BoM 10 times, so stay tuned for that edition!

Sincerly,
Elder Steele

Season 12, Episode 1, Birthday-Transfer-PDay, Take 2 Edition 12.1.14

Area: Juli      Comp.: Elder Vargas

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADELINE! I can't believe it! You're finally old enough to get a license that's turned the right way and stuff! And drink, but no. I'm not really sure why else 21 is significant, but Happy Freaking Birthday!

-Transfers are today, and since my training's over Elder Ayo and I knew that we'd get split up. It made a lot more sense for him to go, but one thing about being a missionary is that we're pretty in tune with the Spirit and I knew on Thursday that I´m going. My new area is Juli, which is a pueblo with 12 missionaries in the whole city. My new companion is Elder Vargas, who I would assume is Latino. I know nothing else. But stay tuned next week for a special edition of 'Ridiculous Cities: Juli'.

-There's a stake musical concert thing here (which I will now not be participating in), and the stake assigned one song to each ward. Our ward got Silent Night, and they asked me to help because no one here plays piano and they don't know how Silent Night goes. Pray for them.

-One member told us this week that she had a reference for us, and it turns out it's this girl that has attended church every week for the past year, has read the BoM through Helamen, prays regularly, and has a testimony. She's a member that we just forgot to baptize a year ago!

-Apparently, the last time there were elections, no one won. So they're doing them again this Sunday, which means no church this Sunday.

Anyways, not a huge amount of things to talk about this week, but next week I'm sure there'll be a bunch! Stay tuned!

Sincerely,
Elder Steele

Side note from Jackson's mom: Jackson is the senior companion in his new companionship.

Act 11 Scene 24 - "Do You Hear the People Sing 'Happy Birthday'?" Edition

Area: Juliaca     Comp.: Elder Ayo

Ok, I'm sorry that this edition is so lame. But it's hard to pass up such a fitting Les Miserables reference, and only once a year is it MOM'S BIRTHDAY!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOTHER! I can't believe you're turning 30 again! Thank you for being born! Otherwise I would've had a different mom, and who wants that? Anyways, I hope your birthday's fantastic!

Preface to this letter: Potentially, of the letters you'll get from me, this is the worst one to send home for my mother's birthday. But I'm sitting down at a computer right now, happy and reasonably healthy. And nothing even happened! It's fine! Plus, the people here are SUPER superstitious, so even if they don't believe in our religion, the fact that my nametag says Jesus Christ on it makes me safer than anyone else in the city. Really though, nothing happened.

-Something happened on Tuesday and Wednesday! The Spanish word that they used to describe it means both 'strike' and 'riot', which I think is just a perfect description. It was a strike in that it was pre planned, had a clear purpose, and not even a little bit violent. It was a riot in that it was an angry mob of people travelling through the city, and that it was kind of violent. But not really! Basically what happened is that gas here is $5 a gallon, which compared with the price of living is just ridiculous, so what they decided to do was a forced boycott of roads/vehicles. To accomplish this, they smashed bottles and bricks in lines across the street to act as spike strips, and to anyone stupid enough to drive those two days they did what they could to destroy their car/combi/mototaxi. So on Tuesday I was in a combi, sitting in the front seat (which means I could see everything), and we were driving down the road normally when out of no where there was a line of people across the street holding machetes running straight at us. Within like 3 seconds our driver had made like 5 turns onto some obscure neighborhood street and made us all get out. It was super cool!

-One of the Seventy, Elder Evans, is in charge of the missionary department and came to our mission this week. There was a conference scheduled with him for us on Wednesday in Puno, but we weren't able to leave the city. So that stinks.

-Ok I admit it, I don't really understand Thanksgiving. I was under the impression it's just the 3rd Thursday of November, but apparently Thanksgiving hasn't actually happened yet. Regardless, I've already celebrated it. We ate mashed potatoes with gravy, PB&J's, chips, and beef. And later, Elder Buehner had turkey jerky that he brought from home. It was pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.

-Spiritual thought! Alma 14:12-13. Here Alma and Amulek are watching a bunch of women and children from the church burn to death, and Amulek asks Alma, "Hey, do you think we'll die?" And Alma responds, "No, we'll live. We've still got stuff to do." Essentially this is my super-lame birthday scripture for Mom, since I still have stuff to do in this life so I can't die. Happy birthday!

Anyways, I hope you guys have a wonderful Thanksgiving and that Mom has a wonderful birthday! Do fun things! Celebrate for me! I'll see you in 20 months!

Sincerely,
Elder Steele