"Have a fun week having a fun week without me. Next week I'll write you again, but the next week, I'll be too busy FLYING HOME to write. So, sorry about that."

Yo fam!

Okay, this is weird. One more e-mail left to go after this. I feel a little bit rushed today, because it’s my last p-day without a zone activity planned, so it's my last chance to get a lot of things done!! So I'm gonna break out the journal to save myself the trouble and time of actually having to think of things to tell you. Let's start...

This week we were trying to focus on activating a kid named Kevin who just turned 18 but hasn't been to church in a real long time. On Tuesday we invited him to a YSA activity FHE type thing. Went pretty well, and we played some frisbee afterwards with him and some of the other people there. It was the first time he had been to church in forever! So, that was cool. His sister, who's also inactive, came with us too. The next night the YSA planned a surprise birthday party for him here at the Chavez' house (where we live). We took him over here and told him there was going to be some sort of activity. It was funny because he almost didn't come!! He was super tired and was trying to think of excuses to stay home. Haha. But, he ended up coming, and it looks like he had a good time. My companion and I couldn't stay because it was late, so, we walked up the stairs, and went to bed. Hope it was a good experience for him though. He didn't come to church this Sunday because he's in Chiclayo. But, his mom and his sister came! Success!!

Herber told us that he had a great time at the YSA convention in Chiclayo. He loved it! A Seventy came and spoke and Herber said he loved his talk so much that he wished he could have stayed and kept speaking. He is also dead-set on serving his mission. He even asked us if there's any possible way for him to go on his mission sooner. So awesome. Sunday was really rad, because we get to church, and there aren't enough deacons to pass the sacrament (actually, that always happens, because there are only three deacons in total! None of them were there.) so one of the members asked Herber if he could help pass the sacrament. He pulled him aside, explained to him how to do it, and then went up to the front with him to pass the sacrament with him. So awesome! So, Herber passed the sacrament for the first time ever on Sunday. And he did it perfectly! Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting at church, and I was sitting there listening to the testimonies. I like this ward, because it's the only area I've been in in my entire mission where there are no awkward silences in testimony meetings. It’s just testimony after testimony after testimony with no breaks until the meeting ends. Pretty rad. My companion and I were sitting with Herber and with Jusseff. I wasn't planning on sharing my testimony, until Jusseff made a comment about how it's my last fast and testimony meeting in my mission. So, I got up and shared my testimony after all (after church, at lunch, Hermano Franciso (my pensionista's husband) joked that it wasn't a good last testimony of my mission because I didn't cry. Hehe). When I finished, Herber came up and shared his testimony too!! He was nervous, but it was so awesome to see that before I go home!! Later, in priesthood meeting, one of the members of our elders quorum announced that Herber is looking for a job and asked the whole elders quorum to try to help him find a job so that he can pay for his mission. Man, that is so cool. Pretty cool church day.

Random funny experiences of the week: We were walking down this one dirt road, in between a bunch of tall multiple-story houses, knocking doors, when suddenly this lady yells to us from her house "the dog is going to eat you guys!! Hurry! Get out of here!!" I saw no dog. Also, we knocked this one door, and this old man came to answer. I said "good afternoon", and he said the same, then turned around, walked slowly back inside his house, and shut the door. That bugged me, so I rang his doorbell again. Haha. He didn't answer again.

This week we went back to finish painting that shack. More service. Pretty fun times. The member bought us Inca Kola afterward. Win.

On Wednesday we spent almost the entire afternoon with the bishop's wife, Hermana Elisabeth (I don't know how to spell her name. There are a lot of different ways to spell that name here...) who took us to Otuzco to go visit a lady who has been inactive in the Church for like 15 years. We got to Otuzco, and then we seriously walked for like an hour trying to find the house. There are no addresses in Otuzco. We were in such a pretty place though. It was awesome. I took a few stupid photos but they don't do it any justice whatsoever. They don't even look that cool. But it was gorgeous. We finally found the lady's house, and visited with her and her husband and her parents-in-law and her brother-in-law and sister-in-law. The lady, Katia, is the only member of the whole family. But the family was awesome and had a lot of good questions for us and seemed very interested in the activities we have at the church. Rad fam. After that, we walked another long way back to the main road where we took a freaking combi back to the bishop's house. There were at least 9 million people crammed into that van. It was so uncomfortable! I hate traveling in this country so much!!! We got to the bishop's house and had a short visit with his family and ate a little dinner. Anyway, on Saturday we went back to Otuzco to visit that same family. We got to their house a little faster the second time. But it was less of an adventure. We taught the family about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Went pretty well. I feel like this family can progress with time...

Ah yeah, got to meet the last district of my mission this week too! Well, only two people changed. And one of the new people I already knew from before. Hermana Harmon, from Idaho, came and replaced Hermana Córdova. She's been out here for like three months or something. She doesn't think so, but she's learned a ton of Spanish since she first got here. She's in my ward now. And a brand new elder came and replaced Elder Greene. His name is Elder Mendoza, and he's Mexican, but has lived in the United States for most of (if not all of... I can't remember) his life, and is still learning Spanish. He does know more than the average new missionary though, which will help him. Looks like a pretty cool district to end with! Ah! And Hermana Córdova got transferred to Pacasmayo and is opening a second area there of sister missionaries! Too cool!! Now both Pacasmayo and Olmos have been split into two areas. The work is moving forward here in Peru! Woohoo! I miss both of those areas a lot holy heck I want to visit the people there. I don't think I will be able too before I go home... But at least I'll get to see a few people in Chiclayo probably. Possibly Picsi too.

Oooh! Speaking of Picsi, we got our monthly mission bulletin this week, and it always has photos of some of the baptisms from the past month, and there was a photo on there from Picsi, of Carolina and Alfredo's baptism!! Carolina and Alfredo got baptized!!! That is the couple who was super super poor and the church was going to help them build a house and get married so that they could get baptized. They got baptized after all! I am so happy for them!! Seriously that made me so happy seeing that. What a great family. I miss them. I honestly have no idea how many of my investigators in past areas have ended up getting baptized since I've left. Hopefully a few of them...

Anyway, those are a few random happenings of this past week. Today is p-day, and I'm gonna go out and buy s'more stuff. I just have no idea what it is that I'm going to buy. Also, I'm going to buy soda. And Pringles. Probably. Mmmm... Today's also Hermana Celia's birthday, so we're prob gonna party tonight. Woo!! Oh PS I really like the Thanksgiving in Utah idea. I was thinking about doing that exact same thing now that freaking Rick's College deleted Thanksgiving break! But yeah, good idea. But you know what is a bad idea? Going to California for the fourth time without me. WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT. PS if you haven't already done it this year, don't forget to buy me an In-N-Out shirt please. :) 

And I'm not trunky, if you can believe that. Only when I'm forced to think about my mission ending and having to plan and get ready. But, it's not distracting me from working! I try to keep my mind off going home. Just like how I tried to keep my mind off going on my mission so much that I didn't do anything to prepare myself to come out here. Hehe. I seriously don't think I ever even once looked up "Chiclayo" on the internet! I had no idea what to expect!! Have a fun week having a fun week without me. Next week I'll write you again, but the next week, I'll be too busy FLYING HOME to write. So, sorry about that. I miss you guys! Excited to see you soon! Bye!

Oh gosh I just got my Peruvian residence resignation letter that I have to sign. I never thought this day would actually come...

-Elder Hemsley

Here are some of the pictures that Victor sent this week.  If you'd like to see the rest just click on the slideshow at the top of this blog.

"Proselyting out in the middle of nowhere in Otuzco."

"Pretty places actually exist in Peru." (Otuzco)

WARNING TO ALL OREGON DUCK FANS...this next picture is extremely graphic, so you might want to skip it!

"HI GUYS CHECK OUT THESE DUCKS."