Week 27: Inescapable Heat

Hey everyone!!

Saying hi from a very hot and humid morning here in Lima! This week has been the hottest week ever! And you can't escape it because its super humid! The shade is equally as hot as the sun! Haha, and it doesn't cool down too much in the night time so we have to sleep with the fan on full blast! And there is no such thing as A/C down here in Peru, so all odds are against me when it comes to the heat, hahah. 

Well as far as this week goes...my thoughts are pretty disorganized right now so I can't explain more, nor very well! We met a tonnnn of new people this week! Its hard to keep track of them and remember all of their names and addresses (And my area is just a maze of staircases so it makes finding addresses pretty tough!) Speaking of confusion and names, we found a passage (dirt road/walkway thing) at the top of a hill where EVERYONE in the row of houses is named Maria, there are 6 or 7 of them! Some of them are old investigators, one is a less active! We have spent a lot of time up in that neighborhood this week teaching and finding people. 

This Sunday (like the last Sunday) we were expecting a great turn out in church, anywhere from 8 to 15 investigators told us they were for sure coming!! We called them on Saturday night to remind them, and sent members to their houses on Sunday morning to walk with them to church but ALL of them fell through! It was so hard and discouraging. I felt like we did all we could! But I realized that it was just a test of faith and perseverance and I just have to continue without getting discouraged! 

Some summer festival thing started on Saturday here in Peru and continues all of February! Basically what they do is on Saturday and Sunday everybody drinks a lot and throws water balloons at people! Its crazy, hahaha. Yesterday I got hit like 3 times while proselyting!!! It got my agenda wet :( but it's honestly kinda funny. Peruvians are hilarious! 

Ximena is getting baptized on Saturday! I am super excited for her and from where she has come! It should be great! I was gonna talk more about that but I'm short on time now, haha, so sorry that this email is weird and disorganized! But I love you all and I KNOW this church is the church of Jesus Christ! And I am SOOO happy that I have the opportunity to be a member of His church and to help other people become members of His church! 

Take it easy everyone :)

-Elder Hale

Me practicing my fishing skills (trying not to get too rusty).