Week 9: Another Week in Good 'Ol Lima!

Familia y Amigos!

I hope all is going well with all y'all! This past week has been great, we found a new family to teach and I really hope their genuinely interested. I think they are. I found them on a split with Elder Ruiz, we go on a lot of splits in my zone, especially new missionaries to see different teaching styles. And we knocked on the door and one of the daughters answered and we started talking and all was going well but then the Dad showed up and he looked really grumpy so we were kinda worried he wouldn't appreciate our message, turns out we had nothing to worry about! We taught them the first lesson and have another appt. set up this upcoming week. The dads name is Felix and there's 5 in the family, I'm pretty excited. Melany and Manuel are getting baptized this Saturday, really excited for them! But the bad news is that we decided Teodora just isn't ready for baptism, so were moving the whole families baptisms back a while. I'm not sure when, but I hope Teodora starts progressing because her 2 children are ready but its more important to baptize a family than just part of a family. 

Also, I went on a split with one of our zone leaders, on Friday and Saturday. I'll leave out his name because I know he would be embarrassed if I said this because hes humble. I learned a lot just from his example. I went to his area and I was amazed when he knew literally everyones name that we passed, pretty impressive for Lima because there's millions of people here. He also talked to everyone and invited everyone to church on Sunday that he talked to. He taught me an important lesson that it's important to invite all to church and baptism because its our purpose as missionaries "invitar a todas las personas a venir a Cristo...".If we never talk to anyone then we never give them the chance to exercise their agency to either accept o reject the message God has given all people in hopes that they will use their agency to accept it. I also learned more about what it means to lead by example, he was kind and interested in everyone we came in contact with, and hes had a lot of success because of that. It reminded me of the scripture that says "If all men would ever be like unto Moroni 

Well, lets see what crazy things happened this past week.... oh yesterday some dog tried to attack me, it's always the little dogs that are super crazy. We just walked by it and it jumped and my leg and bit it! It was about the last thing I expected haha. Oh so yeah, the split with my ZL was really good but one of the best parts was I got to take a hot shower! It was easily one of the best things of the week haha, seriously though. I'm used to the cold now though and its not to bad. I also found out that Elder Pauro is quite the Katy Perry fan, so its been nice hearing him sing some songs, its pretty funny hearing Latinos sing American music haha. Speaking of music... I heard Taylor Swifts new song sometime last week, blank space or something like that, good stuff haha. 

Oh yeah, it's great hearing the DXC boys finished second at NXR. 72-75 against AF?! That's awesome. They'll get em the first week of December for sure. I hope the girls get that wild card pick, they definitely deserve to go! Oh yeah, speaking of running... I did get to run once this past week! Actually it was a race/bet against Elder Pauro. He wanted my Davis track and field 100 years shirt for some reason and he kept asking for it and he finally said he would race me for it, and I just couldn't turn that down. So after a good game of soccer we raced against this little soccer complex type thing and I'll just say I got to keep my shirt. Victory is sweet. He also saw a picture of me and the team at NXN last year and asked me to ask you, Mom, to send me my NXN jacket, he's really determined to win all of my pday clothes from me haha.

Well, this week was great and I wish you all a great Thanksgiving!

Love, Elder Potter

And... Feliz Cumpleanos Papa!

Here are some pictures for you re enjoyment, were going to central Lima later today so next week I'll have some cool pictures. 

The apartment

Eatin' pizza and drinkin' Inca Kola - Kimball's new favorite drink

Lima at night

Always a goober

Elder Pauro

Inca Kola - he said it tastes like Bubble Gummy Goodness

Week 8: Chicken Feet Soup? Por que no?!

Familia y Amigos, 

Yeah, this week was also crazy but really good! Elder Pauro and I have 5 baptisms lined up for the 29 of this month which I'm really excited about. They are...

1. Melany. She is 14 and is good friends with Hermana Giovana, their neighbors. She is easily progressing the most and has attended church twice now, always a good sign. Shes turned into a golden investigator, I think her family would be too, she has a big family and theyre all very nice people. 

 

2. Manuel Santo. He is 12 years old and is in a part member family. His mom and dad are going through a rough time right now and so me and Elder Pauro are really trying to strenthen and save that family. I shared the "7 Vital Signs" in our last lesson with them which I thought I would never use. Turned out to be a great lesson and the Spirit was there. His mom isn't a member, an investigator and his Dad is, but very inactive and really needs help changing a few things with his family life, but I see a lot of hope in that family. 

 

3,4,5. Teodora, Iana, and Derek. Family of 3. Honestly, I'm kinda worried about this family getting baptized because I don't know if Teodara, the mom, is totally in it. We haven't been able to get her to follow through with a visit since I've been here. But her 12 year old daughter Iana came to church yesterday, she's progressing little by little, shes very shy. 

Anyways, the work here is great. Yesterday we found a new family to teach and they're really interested in the gospel and want to know the truth. The dad, Osmar, is 25 and is a member. His wife, don't know how to spell her name, is 27 and isn't a member. They have a baby. Right before we started the lesson, the wife's 19 year old brother came in along with their mom (Heiner and Idaura). This family is looking pretty good right now and I think they're really going to progress. 

Ok, now with the crazier stuff. So a few days ago for lunch we went to our pensionistas house for lunch (normally it's just breakfast) and she gave us this soup that looked really good, and it was, but I couldn't help but notice that it seemed as though there was a foot in there still attached to the leg...hmmm... I thought to myself, is this a joke, for decoration, or am I supposed to eat that? Well, I think it was for all of the above haha. I ended up eating all of the soup then giving the foot to Obispo (Bishop) Balboa, they love chicken feet. Oh, another thing. I went on a split with Elder Segura and for lunch it was the usual, chicken, rice, potatoes, meat. But the meet kinda looked like it had an eyeball in it. Don't get me wrong, the meet was super super good, but it was interesting haha. The food here is really good and there is more than one way to eat rice I've found than just Hawaiian haystacks haha. 

que mas... I'm charging my camera right now so I'll be able to send some pictures next week of all this stuff. 

Well, Nick, I hope you don't catch ebola from Porky, that would be bad. Also, I haven't ran once since I've been here, plus there's just not any time. Besides, I would get chased by all the dogs haha, no kidding. The dogs here are really gross haha, I've got some good stories. The love to fight and so most of the dogs only have 3 legs that are capable of functioning, kinda sad but it makes you feel safe when you see a dog with only 3 legs because it means they can't run as fast as you haha. (We really dont get chased, but it's a funny thought). 

Kate, I hope you had a great bday, sounds like you did! I hope everything is going good with you still and are still being you! 

Sophia, I hope you have a great birthday today and all of youre wildest dreams come true (you did vote for pedro, right). Anyways, have a good one!

Hope, I loved seeing your pictures of you on halloween, did you get to scare Aubrey, I forgot to ask you! Love ya sis. 

Mom y Dad. I love getting your letters and learning how simple the gospel really is through them. So, some more about my area because that stuff is important. The name of my area is Caraballyo and my Branch is Habana 2. The branch is awesome and the active members are just the best, that's the only way to describe them. So many people here really don't have much but none of that matters in the gospel because God is no respector of persons, he doesn't care if you have a tv, if you have carpet, a solid roof. None of that matters, what matters is that you're happy and living the gospel and that's how the members are, they're happy despite their many challenges, and they don't have a lot, and they are the  living the gospel to the best of their abilities. Obispo Balboa actually got released last week so we have a new Obispo now, hes really young. Obispo Balboa is the best, he has 4 kids and is just a spiritualy, hard working man that knows whats important in this life and has much faith, as does his family, he's probably 45 or so. There's probably about 70 people that come on average which is tough because the chapel is really small. That's another thing, the sacrament meetings aren't to organized, por ejemple...last week the chorister decided she wanted the 6 elders and anyone else to sing llamado a servir, it was quite the fun haha. Then yesterday, the bishop decided the new elders in the area should talk about themselves, so that was interesting too. Its alot of fun haha. 

 

So my companion is from Arequipa Peru and it's kinda a weird place because they declared their independence but haven't done anything about it besides make their own flag...so yeah, not really independent but they say their a "different" country. It has been good, he has really helped me learn the language a lot faster. 

 

So we do have a pensionista, but only for breakfast, the members feed us lunch. Hermana Lestina is our pensionista. She talks really really fast and can't really understand her, but she's really nice so it's all good. Her whole family is less active so were also helping them out. 

 

On p-days we email at 10:30 with our zone then go out to eat and play games or just chill, p-days are the best, let me tell ya haha. 

Well, that's about it! Hasta lluego!

Elder Potter

Week 7: Peru!

Familia y Amigos,

Not gonna lie, this week has been so crazy! It's kinda made me not like the CCM too much because the CCM makes you feel like you're a master at the language and then you go into the field and can't understand anything! It's frustrating at times but its all good. It's really not that bad. You just have to tune your ears to be able to catch what people are saying. Apparently it just takes time. All the other gringos say it takes about 3 months or so to understand everything and around 5 months your able to speak fluently. 

Also, this place is crazier than Mexico City! In some ways. I'm in one of the poorest parts of Lima right now, but the members here are incredible. Everyone is so so nice and giving and they don't have very much. There's one family in particular that's just awesome, I cant even remember their names but their all very humble and nice and patient with new gringo missionaries, it's just the Mom, and then 3 kids. But we've been teaching one of the daughters friends, Melany, who is 15 years old and we just committed her to baptism. We taught her about Jose Smith and I really felt the Spirit when I testified that Joseph truly did see God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. It was a great moment. 

When people say that Peruvians only eat chicken, rice, and potatoes their not foolin' around because they only eat chicken rice and potatoes, but its actually really good! The rice is really good here, don't know why but it is. We have one big meal a day, Lunch, and it is BIG. I think it was my second day here that I was pretty sure I was gonna throw up all over the place, but I didn't so that was good. I did eat cow stomach without knowing it though, wasn't bad to be honest, it kinda was after I found out what it was that I was sick haha. 

The people here love American food too, I gave this little boy a part of a pop tart and he was freaking out! Not really, but he loved it! He was asking me for more the entire visit. But I don't blame him, pop tarts are the best. 

My companion is Elder Pauro and is from Peru. He's a good companion and has been in this area for 3 months now. I've learned a lot of Spanish from him which has been a huge help to me this past week. He laughs at just about anything too, all Peruvians do, their just happy people in general. Anyways, its been great! 

One of the biggest shocks here were the dogs haha. Their not really mean, their just EVERYWHERE! They just mind their own business for the most part, just snooping around in the trash. If they are mean you can usually just act like you're going to pick up a rock and they'll run off. 

Que mas... that's about all, lots has happened but its too much to write. I wish I had pictures to send right now but I don't, but next week!

Chow

Elder Potter

Oh, one last thing, I guess another big shock was that in our apartment we don't have any hot water! Nada! But that's okay cause it wakes me right up in the morning!

Familia,

Thought I'd send you guys more of a personal email besides the general one. 

This has been the craziest week of my life but its also been awesome. Sounds like it was kinda the same back home too. I'm sad Hal died, he was a great guy and I can't wait to see him again. And then I forgot about Nate and Ashley's wedding haha. I wish I could have been there, sounded like it was a great experience. It's really cool that Grandpa Page got to seal them, how awesome. 

So I guess we get to go to the temple aqui about 2 times a year, or is it once a year, I don't really know. Oh, and a little bit more about my area... So I'm in the hills, or fovellas, and the people of the hills are a lot crazier and drunker from what I've seen in the city part. We ran into this one guy who was trying to talk to us and he was so hammered! Haha, it was kinda funny. The dogs really aren't bad here, their just kinda there.

Oh yeah! You're not gonna believe me, but Ive started drinking soda again... but only Inca Kola. People are always looking for the "holy grail", but all they need to do is go to a corner market in Peru and buy an Inca kola... yum. its yellow and it tastes like bubble gummy goodness. That's another thing, everything here is super super cheap! Inca Kola isn't even one sol, so not even 30 US cents. Crazy awesome.

The transportation here is super crazy! They drive these 3 wheeled taxis called motos and it only costs one sol to go in them. Then there's these vans that only cost .50 soles and their even crazier! Its just a normal van but they pack those suckers! and they drive like maniacs! Its pretty fun but its just normal now haha.

I have had diarrhea this past week, starting last Saturday at the CCM. A few days ago I'm pretty sure I had nothing in my system, it was bad. I'm fine now, I think. Every gringo gets it though. My best friend here has been A.D., its short for Anti Diarrhea haha.

The food here is really good. The chicken rice and potatoes are really good. But the hamburgers here are really good for some reason, maybe its because I haven't had a 5 guys burger in a while. I dont know. But the bread is toasted and the mayonnaise here is different, I think its better actually. Then they put thick cut fries ON the burger. Only down side is that the patties are super thin for some reason which is weird but their awesome burgers. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be fat when I get home, go ahead and laugh but its true haha.

Elder Potter

Week 6: Adios CCM....Hello Peru

My husband and I are Senior Missionaries at the Mexico MTC.  We have enjoyed getting to know and love your wonderful missionaries!  We will miss them!

                                                Robert and Sue Jones

Kimball's MTC District

Trained and ready!

 

Dear Potter Family,

 

We are thrilled to welcome Elder Potter to the Peru Lima North Mission and look forward to serving with him. His preparation day will be Monday and he will e-mail you then.

 

Sincerely,

Hermana Erickson

Kimball and President and Sister Erickson

At the mission home