"I am now in Cajamarca, Peru! Woo! A.K.A. the place that everyone wants to go in the mission. I am no longer in a hot desert. I'm in the mountains, and it's chilly. It is about 20 gajillion times prettier than any of my other areas."

Hey guys!

Well, this is weird. I just talked to you guys last night. Even though I couldn't see your faces! I am sorry that I have never once found fast internet in Peru. It is not my fault. Some people tell me it exists, but I'm not so sure.

Anyway, for the rest of the world who I didn't talk to, I am now in Cajamarca, Peru! Woo! A.K.A. the place that everyone wants to go in the mission. I am no longer in a hot desert. I'm in the mountains, and it's chilly. It is about 20 gajillion times prettier than any of my other areas. There are actually plants here! It's actually green!! Not gonna lie, it’s making me think of home a lot more than I wish I would. But, it’s rad. Cajamarca reminds me of Park City, UT. Except, like a not as nice, Peruvian version of Park City. Hehehe. And it’s missing ski slopes. But, this area is awesome! Compared to my other areas at least. It’s a heck of a lot more Statesy than Chiclayo is. Some examples.... My first full day here, I wake up, and go eat breakfast. Peruvian breakfast is like the lamest excuse for a meal I've ever seen. I have never enjoyed breakfasts here. Well, I go to eat breakfast, and my pensionista gives me a bowl of Froot Loops. FROOT LOOPS. I can't even remember the last time I had American cereal!! Soo good. There's an actual mall here too. Like, a real shopping mall. I went there today. And I bought A CAN OF ROOT BEER!!!! OH MY GOSH ROOT BEER I CAN'T EVEN BELIEVE IT I HAVEN'T TASTED ROOT BEER IN TWENTY MONTHS!!!!! So, that was a happy moment.

You know what's not United Statesy? The amount of porn there is all over the place. And not just here in Cajamarca, but in Peru in general. Usually it’s not flat-out pornography (but sometimes it is) but on basically every sign of every business there's an almost naked girl. Some random store? Girl in a bikini on the sign. A construction company? Girl in a bikini wearing a construction hat. Place to eat? Girl in her underwear eating chicken. Haha. Okay. On every newspaper the entire back page is just one huge photo of an almost-naked girl or a girl taking off her clothes or a girl sticking her butt in your face. In tons of stores (and in tons of people’s houses) there are just these huge posters of girls in bikinis, girls in their underwear, girls in mega-short skirts (and no shirt) or flat out porn posters. The absolute worst I ever saw, and the one that made me maddest, was in Pacasmayo when Elder Choc and I went to this one store to buy a map of the city, and the walls are just covered in posters of naked ladies, and then right in the middle is a giant painting of Jesus Christ. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! When we have to travel by bus, they always put a movie on. Sometimes it’s an okay movie (okay, the best time was when I was going to Pacasmayo from Chiclayo and they put on Gladiator), but, usually, the movies are full of nude and sex scenes and it’s bad because there are little kids on the bus! Not to mention missionaries!! Yeah Peru, I won't miss your porn.

Okay, sorry if that's not the kind of stuff you wanted to hear. But it's been something that's bothered me ever since November 2011.

Anyways... Let's see if I can talk about something a little... more appropriate...

Well, it is cold here. And not just "not hot", but it is legitimately cold. At least in the mornings and at night. During the day I still go around in short sleeves. But, it’s a nice change. I haven't felt cold since... like February 2011!!! So, I do enjoy it. Except, I need to buy new socks. My ventilation socks seemed like a good idea, but, they're just making things worse here. Haha. And they really sucked in Picsi because it made it so much easier for the zancudos to bite my ankles!!!

I am now in the Aeropuerto Ward. I AM IN A WARD AGAIN!  I'm finally in a BIG, strong ward!!! I am so excited! I am serving in the Aeropuerto 2 area. There are three areas in my ward. The ZLs are in the first, we're in the second, and two sisters are in the third. Going to church was like going to heaven after living in hell for the past four months. You have no idea how nice it was to go to church in an actual church building, show up, sit down on the bench, and just listen. I wasn't in charge of anything! Not in charge of leading the meeting, or picking the hymns, or assigning the talks, or taking care of problems in the primary, or teaching the Sunday School lesson. I was just a normal church attendee, and it was the most awesomest thing ever. Another fun thing about my ward: one of my teachers from the Lima MTC recently moved to Cajamarca and is now living in my ward. Hermano Casanova. He's so awesome! And yesterday he was set apart as our elder's quorum prez. Too rad.

My comp's name is Elder Trochez, and he's from Honduras. He's way cool! One thing I love about him is that he actually wants to work which really helps me out a ton because when I have a lazy companion it starts making me want to be lazy too. Not no more! He's 24, and he's been out here for nine months. I was in the office when he got here! I still remember that!  I found out pretty quickly that he's cool because the first day he told me that he liked ska music and then I later found out that he likes a ton of the same music that I like. He even listens to Zelda music. Zelda music. Yes, that is awesome. My favorite thing about Elder Trochez is the way we teach together. We teach super well together! We have had some of the best lessons of my entire mission together. Something about our teaching style just clicks so nicely and really invites the Spirit into our visits. That is awesome. We don't have a lot of investigators here, but we're gonna try to help the few that we do have, and go look for some more! I'm super stoked because there are actually active members here!! I can't even believe it!! Haha. So, that's also gonna be a huge help for us.

Our area also includes a tiny "pueblo" called Otuzco. Went there once already. Kinda neat. When we went I just got this really cool feeling that I'm this missionary serving out in the middle of nowhere in this beautiful part of Peru. It was pretty rad. Didn't take pics, but it’s on my to-do list.

We've done three service projects this week. I haven't done service in so long! We went with our district to go clean out this unreasonably dirty upstairs room of someone's house that was full of gigantic spiders and lots of other icky things. Found some interesting things hidden in there. The grossest (apart from the spiders...) was a pig's foot. We actually found a pig's foot underneath all the junk we were clearing out. One funny thing was that Elder Martin lifted up this tarp and this cat jumped out and scared the crap out of us!!! The cat darted out of the room at light speed, and took a suicide jump off the roof of the building, while screaming. Hahahaha. It was so funny to watch! PS, it wasn't really suicide, because it didn't die. Calm down. After that we headed to another member's house to go scrape paint off the walls of one of their rooms. I don't know why, but that's the third time I've had to do this in Peru. Scraping paint of off a wall. But this time the paint was super hard to scrape off! My entire district came, and we barely made a dent. The third service project was really just a continuation of the second, because Elder Trochez and I went back to scrape more paint off the wall. Still barely made progress.

Oh yeah, I'm still district leader. I've been busy too! There are four companionships in my district. Three of them are in my same ward, which is cool. But I've had to do so much phone calling this week it’s been ridiculous. I don't have time to do anything at night! Reporting, checking up on the missionaries, checking up on the sisters who are opening a brand new area and one of them is just starting her mission, talking with the sister missionary whose wallet was stolen in Chiclayo in the church during our transfer meeting that had her ID inside, her temple recommend, a debit card, and 200 dollars in cash inside. Ohh boy. Yeah, it hasn't shown up. And, lotsa other stuff. But, it’s good. Although, not gonna lie, I would love to not be district leader anymore. I just wanna be normal!

Well... I think I gotta get going, Life is good out here in Cajamarca! Pretty sure this will be my last area before I go home. Good place to finish! Gonna work hard and do my very best. I don't have that much longer to do this!!

I had lots of fun talking to you guys yesterday! Even if I talk weird and I don't remember how to say things and I get confused when you try and make me speak two languages. Next time I talk to you it will be IN PERSON! How nuts is that?!?! Okay well I gotta write Prez and ask him when I'm going home. Talk to you next week! I have no idea when the next time I'll get mail is. It will definitely be a longer delay here in Cajamarca.

Alright, see ya! Talk to you next week!

-Elder Hemsley

Victor sent a bunch of pictures this week. Here are some of our favorites (you can see all the rest by clicking on the slideshow at the top of this blog):

"Look at this place!!"

"Cajamarca."

"Scraping paint with my comp!"

 "Traveling in Peru sucks."

 "Comp and I."

"I'm in Peru."

 "ROOT BEER!!!!"

"I'm getting transferred! TODAY!"

Whoa!

Interesting weekend we had. Saturday night we got a surprise phone call from the ZLs. I'm getting transferred! TODAY. I'm mega rushed and trying to pack and get everything ready because in a few hours I gotta be outta here! So, we'll see if I can organize my thoughts well enough to write a decent e-mail.

Well, this week we had a meeting with the bishopric to talk about everything that’s going on here in Picsi. The meeting was really helpful. Now the bishopric knows how things are and what things they can do to help. One change: The regular Sunday school class is now being changed to Gospel Principles, for everyone. So the members can learn the basics and gain a better understanding and a testimony. I like it. Also, they're gonna try to get the young women we have here involved with the young women’s program in the Lopez Albujar ward. There is no YW organization here, or any other organization. Also like it. They might assign members from Chiclayo to speak occasionally in sacrament meetings in Picsi. Another good idea. And the bishopric is now going to meet with us regularly to see how we can help this struggling group. Sounds good to me! Good ideas. Also, when we went to the meeting we got there first and accidentally set the alarm off in the church which was a super loud siren that went off for like 15 minutes before we were finally able to borrow someone's cell phone and call our ZLs to ask them how to shut the alarm off. Haha. Oops. After that a drunk guy got mad at us for making so much noise.

This week I also finished reading the New Testament! Yesterday actually. Pretty sw33t I think. Understood a ton more this time. I suppose that's why its good to read the scriptures often...

Uhh... what else... Oh yeah! Didja know that now in the mish there are Sister leaders? Basically they get to do some of the stuff that district leaders do, like go on splits with the other missionaries and see how they're doin' and stuff, but with the sister missionaries. Pretty neat.

Last night the members threw together a makeshift goodbye party type deal real quick for me. Most of the members and even some investigators came to say goodbye to me. It was really sad! I hate goodbyes! What was especially sad for me was that Alfredo and Carolina were there (The family that the members are coming together to help have a better life and get a real house.). Alfredo thanked me so much and so sincerely for everything we've done for him. He said, "because of you, we're here" and that he and his family would stay strong and faithful. That hit me pretty hard. Carolina was crying, a lot. I didn't realize just how much of an affect we were having on these people. As much as the people in Picsi drove me crazy, I'm gonna miss them!

Anyway, I did get a big ol' pile of mail this week. That made me happy! Wondering how Bryn's prom went. Still think it's nuts that prom was in April this year.

Oh! Sunday is Mother's Day!! I get to talk to you guys sooon!! Except, because I'm getting transferred, I can't make plans to talk to you yet, because I don't even know where I'm going to be! But, somehow it'll all work out. I hope you have most of Sunday free, because I dunno when I'll be able to call! Possibly I will be able to call on Saturday for just a couple minutes just to set a time and tell you if I'll be able to call with Skype or not (depending on where I go, the internet might not be able to handle skype!! But we're kinda lucky, because if I stayed in Picsi the internet for sure would have been too slow...)

So, I'm excited to talk to you soon! I gotta go get ready to move out of Picsi! I hate packing! My bags are SO full it’s stupid! And they weigh like 800 jillion pounds! I hope you're cool with paying extra for my overweight luggage when I come home. Haha. Sorry! But I'll throw some stuff out before I come home!

Alright, see ya! Miss ya! And I also miss Star Wars!

-Elder Hems

"Ugh, I'm kinda frustrated right now..."

Hello!

Ugh, I'm kinda frustrated right now because this computer has shut down on me twice now and twice I've lost everything I had typed to tell you guys. I really don't have a lot of time left so this is probably gonna be a really short e-mail. I'm sorry!!

Today we had a delicious p-day activity... McDonald's! Woo!! Man, that was tasty. First time in a long time that I've actually been excited to eat my meal. But, it probably wasn't the best idea in the world considering yesterday I was really sick and today I'm still recovering. But, McD's trips are so rare that I can't pass up the opportunity!! And McFlurrys are by far the best ice cream that I've ever had in Peru. I mean, they're good in the States too, but there are better options at home. But here, it's the best there is. SOOO GOOD.

Anyway, yeah, I got sick, again. Yesterday I felt absolutely awful. Today I feel mostly better. But still, I don't know why I'm suddenly getting sick so often. It worries me.

Well, let's see what things happened this week. Really quick!!

Hmm. Well, all of our investigators and everyone in Picsi has been being taught bad things about the Mormons in their churches. Seriously everyone we teach tells us that their pastor has taught them bad things about us! This week we went to visit Felix again. The first time we visited him he told us that he learned a lot of stuff about us at his church years ago. Like, that we worship Joseph Smith, and that we have our own Bible, and we don't believe in the Bible. Psh. This week we went to visit him and another preacher was there visiting with him in his home. But... we taught anyway. The other preacher didn't say anything, he just glared. After we left I assume he taught more bad stuff about us because the next time we visited Felix he had a lot more doubts and wasn't quite as receptive as normal. Ugh. And we went to visit Anita again this week, and she told us that she went to some other church with her parents and the pastor said in his talk that The Book of Mormon is evil and that anyone who has  copy in their house has to get rid of it, and that you shouldn't let the Mormons into your house or talk to them because they're liars and their church is false. Seriously, every church talks so much nonsense about us here!! I think they all feel threatened by us or something. I don't know why, because in Picsi, the Mormon Church is basically one of the smallest churches here. It's only been in Picsi for one year! It’s kinda sad though.

Gah I have like no time to write! And this computer is causing a ton of problems.

Uh, what else...

Well, I interviewed two people for baptism in Chiclayo this week! A man named Wilmer and his eight year old daughter Angie. Both way awesome! Got baptized on Saturday. Wanted to be there, but had to do stuff in Picsi!

Honestly, it hasn't been the most exicting of weeks, so, you're not missing much with my short and rushed e-mail. You know what I realized this week? I was thinking the other day, wow, I haven't used that iPod Mom sent me in a really long time... So, I went to look for it, and I couldn't find it anywhere. I emptied all my bags, every drawer, and looked everywhere, and I don't have it. It's gone. And I'm pretty sure it never even made it with me to Picsi, considering I've never used it or even seen it since I got here. I think it got lost in Chiclayo. But, sadly, I think it got stolen. And, even sadder, I think it got stolen by a missionary, because I never once took that thing out of my room. I couldn't have lost it anywhere else. But yeah, I don't have that iPod anymore. Kinda bummed.

Also the other day I was talking with Elder Charlesworth and we realized that a few years back we went to the same Warped Tour in Salt Lake and we were in all the same crowds and everything. Ha, random.

Had a real fun church activity in Chiclayo too with the members there! Went on a scavenger hunt in the church and all the hints were scriptures. Can't explain much more because there's no time, but, it was one of the better activities I've been to since I've been in Peru! So, that was one of the highlights of the week. Pretty fun.

Sigh, no time left. Not much to tell anyway. Anyway, I gotta go! Sorry about this e-mail. Next week we're gonna try a different internet cafe because every week this one gives us a hard time. The computers always freeze and randomly shut down and go real slow ´n stuff. I didn't get mail this week either so I don't know what's goin' on back in the States, but I should be getting some in the next few days! I miss you guys! Thanks for bein' cool!

See ya!

"Hmm, well, what happened this week... Well, I got sick! ... When my diet switches from chicken and rice to Cheez-its, Goldfish, and Big Carls, I think I will finally be healthy again."

English time! Woo! I like writing to you guys en inglés.

Just got back from a p-day activity in Chiclayo with the zone. This week's activity: talent show. My first thought: what the heck kind of talents can we even share as missionaries?! I dunno. There are no electric guitars here, so that pretty much cancels out every talent I know of. Haha. Anyway I really had no idea what I was gonna do, but this morning I remembered that there's a piano in the church there, so I busted out two ol' classics from Yellowcard and Super Mario 64. Uh, seriously. And I messed up quite a bit on both because I haven't exactly been able to play much piano on my mish. But, it was kinda fun. I miss playing piano a lot. We also did a silly skit as a district. Talent show was pretty funny overall. A million times more fun with the missionaries than with the members. I've been to like six "talent show" activities here in Peru, and every single one of them is just a bunch of people getting up and signing hymns poorly. Not too fun. Today was fun though. Like, a real talent show. Kewl.

Anyway, last week I got a haircut. I dunno if I told you that. But, I don't like it. Really getting stoked to get my haircut by dad again in a few months. Although when I'm in Rexburg I don't know what I'm gonna do... Cut it myself. Or, just do what I did last time and let my hair grow out as long as I possibly can without breaking the rules, but still getting in trouble every single time I walk into the testing center. Yeah, I'll stick with that one I think. Anyway, I'm looking forward to the day that I get a haircut that I actually like again.

Hmm, well, what happened this week... Well, I got sick! Woohoo! Felt real bad on Saturday. Didn't get much done. Went out for a bit, but had to come back and rest. Lotsa trips to the bathroom. Not the funnest. Sunday I felt a little better. Today I feel almost normal. Although, I never really feel normal in Peru. When my diet switches from chicken and rice to Cheez-its, Goldfish, and Big Carls, I think I will finally be healthy again.

I taught my district class this week on how we can use the Book of Mormon more effectively as we teach. Lots of the missionaries, myself included, have fallen into the habit of teaching almost completely with the Bible. b'cause, y'know, people believe in the Bible, right? But, that's not really what our message is all about. Our unique message. We're not like all the other preachers out there who go door to door with a Bible in hand. The keystone of our religion, and, therefore, the keystone of our whole message, is The Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith said that a man can get closer to God by reading and applying the teachings found in The Book of Mormon than by any other book. So, a personal goal of mine is to start using The Book of Mormon a lot more and a lot better as I teach. No matter how good it feels to show these people that I know my way around the Bible and can contradict the things that they tell me using verses in their own Bibles. P.S.: I shouldn't feel good about that.

We had kind of a neat visit this week too. One member was rushed to the hospital last week and got an emergency operation. He's the only person in his family who's a member, and his family is big. We stopped by his home this week and visited with two of his kids (they're older. like 20 and 27...). We had a really spiritual lesson where we talked about how Jesus Christ suffered not only for our sins, but also for our temptations, pains, sicknesses, and every other trial we pass through, so that He would know how to help us in any and every situation. We ended with a kneeling prayer (something that we do way less often than we should... almost never.) and there was just a real strong spirit in the room. It was a cool experience for me.

Had another fun lesson with a member named Teresa. Basically her entire family are all Adventists and she was asking us tips on how she can share what she believes with her family. Good question! At one point she specifically asked us about the scripture in John 10:16 where Christ says "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." and she wanted to know how to explain that one to her family, because they think Christ is talking about the Gentiles or something. Well, something cool happened as I opened my mouth to start explainin'. I wrote in my jern:

04/17/13

...So, I open my mouth and start explaining it in a way I never have before, and never even thought of. I went on to explain how when Jesus came He preached exclusively to the Jews. His Apostles first started preaching the gospel to the Gentiles after Christ's death and resurrection. Christ never preached His gospel to the Gentiles during His lifetime. Christ specifically said that His "other sheep" would hear His voice, which the Gentiles never did. They heard the gospel through His Apostles. So, the scripture can't be referring to the Gentiles. I had never explained it like that to anyone before, but as I was saying it, it just made so much sense! It surprised me how smoothly and so easily the explanation rolled off my tongue, considering it was not pre-meditated in any way. So, then I opened to 3 Nephi 15:21, where Christ tells the Nephites that they are the other sheep He was talking about, to help get the point across more clearly. But, what I wasn't expecting was what the following three verses said: basically the exact same thing that I had just explained! I seriously had no idea that was there!! I thought it was something I had just worked out in my head. I didn't know I was basically quoting scripture! The lesson just went so smooth and worked out so well, and it wasn't planned at all. Everything just conveniently fell right into place somehow. Including opening right up to a scripture that I didn't even know existed that perfectly supported everything I had just said a moment earlier. As we started reading the scripture and I realized that I had just said exactly what we were reading, I was shocked. Just one of those awesome "God working by the Spirit to make me a tool in His hands to do His work" moments. Too cool! That was one of my favorite experiences that I've had in a while. I hope God will keep using me like that to help His children here in Picsi...

So, I thought that was pretty neat.

Hmm, what else. Oh yeah! Funny thing. Well, not really that funny. It's really bad actually. But... still kinda funny. Can't help it. We were talking with this lady who is a member who got married a long time ago but is now a single mother because her husband left her. Her husband is a member too, and he didn't ever divorce her, because here people don't like to get divorced because they don't want to spend the money. Well, her husband met another woman and pulled some strings and worked his way around the law and got married to her. Thus committing both adultery, and polygamy at the same time (Ha! A Mormon practicing polygamy! Ironic...). His second wife is also a member of the church, and somehow she was okay with that. And the worst part: He went to the temple (lied in his worthiness interview, obviously) and got sealed to his illegal second wife!! Oooh man. That's bad. He's gonna go somewhere ugly. Weird situation.

Yikes, more things happened but I gotta get going. Yes Dad, I liked the part where the guy in conference yelled "AMEN!" too. Almost as funny as that guy a couple years ago who stuck his face right in the camera after conference had ended. I watched that over and over again on Youtube. So dumb! So funny.

Yeah, k, gotta leave. I miss you all! Until next week.

Hems

"Well, one day we were doing some good ol' tracting. Look, I'll be honest, I do not like to tract. It's boring, it's hot, and it is not an effective way of finding people. However, sometimes you get lucky and actually meet a person who is interested."

Whoa, you know what I noticed recently? In the Book of Mormon in English in the introduction it says that the Book of Mormon and the Bible contain the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But in the Spanish introduction it only says that the Book of Mormon contains the fullness, and doesn't mention the Bible. What, is the Spanish Bible false or something? Lolol. Nothin' beats the ol' King James version. The lame Reina Valera version is all we got down here. King James ftw! But, I don't know if you knew, but a few years back they actually released an LDS edition of the Bible in español, like the LDS edition of the King James version we have in English, with footnotes and cross references and stuff. It’s the only language other than English that has an LDS edition. Pretty cool. But, apparently still not the fullness of the gospel. Hahaha. Whoa, didn't they recently announce a new version of the LDS standard works in English? I want it!!!

Anyway, this week was alright. Nothing too noteworthy to share. Lots of appointments, few people progressing. More like none, actually. But... we're doing what we can.

Sunday was interesting. Let me share with you how my Sunday was. You might as well just call me Bishop Hemsley from here on out, because I'm seriously in charge of everything now! Journal:

04/14/13

Church was interesting today. First of all, our neighbors who live directly above the room we meet in for sacrament meeting were having a party and blasting music. Obnoxious. At 2:00, when sacrament meeting is supposed to start, there was only one member here: Harly. Little by little the members started trickling in. But there was one problem; the bishopric was not here! We waited and waited, but they didn't come. 2:45, still not here. I remembered that an elder can conduct a sacrament meeting if there is no high priest present, so I decide that we can't wait any longer, go into bishop-mode, and start sacrament meeting. I gotta say, it felt weird literally being the guy in charge of church today. Not to mention the bishopric makes us assign the talks here and pick the hymns. So, today I prepared the sacrament, set up the seats, picked the hymns, assigned opening and closing prayers, lead and presided the sacrament meeting, with the speakers having been assigned by me ahead of time, myself being one of them. A.K.A. I did everything today. No wonder why I'm so stressed here in Picsi. Partway through the meeting the second counselor showed up. At like 3:15. So, luckily, we didn't have to teach Sunday School too. What I did have to deal with however were some extremely disobedient kids in the primary. The kids here are out of control. So, that was annoying. Anyway, kind of crazy Sunday. Elder Hemsley is in charge of everything!

Yup, that happened.

Not much else cool happened this week. On Wednesday I taught my district meeting class on obedience. I was being pretty bold about it too. Haha. I used the scripture in Matthew 7:21-24, that we use all the time in lessons to explain the importance of having priesthood authority to act in Christ's name. But, I put a different spin on it this time. It's the scripture that goes like this: 

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

I basically said that the disobedient missionaries are going to be the people in that situation one day. They're be there in front of Christ, and they'll be saying "Lord, Lord, I went on a mission! I baptized people! I healed the sick, and preached the gospel in your name!" And to them Christ will say "I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Haha, it was kind of a brutal lesson. But if there is one thing that really makes me angry, it's watching missionaries deliberately break rules and make a mockery of God in the process. My district doesn't have that kind of problem, but I was just making sure that they understood how serious the consequences can be. Interesting district class... Haha.

What else... Well, one day we were doing some good ol' tracting. Look, I'll be honest, I do not like to tract. It's boring, it's hot, and it is not an effective way of finding people. However, sometimes you get lucky and actually meet a person who is interested. Elder Villatoro and I met Silvia tracting one day, and she ended up getting baptized. So, tracting is not a complete waste of time, but, it's your last resort when you have absolutely nothing better to be doing. Well, we did get lucky this week. We met a man named Felix who let us right in to his house. He was really kind, and surprisingly, he actually knew the Bible pretty dang well, quoting passages from memory 'n stuff. It made it a lot easier for us to teach him, because he pretty much understood everything right away. He had a lot of questions specifically about our church. Questions about Joseph Smith, and the Book of Mormon, and stuff like that. He had a lot of doubts, because he has heard a lot of false stuff about our church. He told us that he used to attend another church about ten years ago, and in that church they taught bad things about the Mormons. Seriously? But that's not actually surprising. That happens a lot here. I wrote in my journal "I swear part of every church's curriculum here is talking crap about every other church." It’s rough. I feel like I'm living in Joseph Smith's era, where every church is out to attack every other church. That's how it is here. Anyway, our visit with Felix went really well. He thanked us for clearing up his doubts about Joseph Smith, and whether or not we believed in the Bible, and stuff like that. He accepted a Book of Mormon, and said he was excited to read it. Neato! We'll see how things go from here...

Oh!! One day Hermana Gotty told us that while she was in Chiclayo she saw the infamous "mormon" missionaries who wear green nametags and have green Books of Mormon. Apparenty from The Reformed (not Reorganized...) Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And they practice polygamy! Cool!! Hahaha. I've always wanted to see those guys!! Elder Peña told me he saw them in Cajamarca too. No fair!! I wanna take a picture with them!! My dream is to see them before I go home. Lololol. Apostasy.

Got yer mail. Still super jealous about your California trip. Grandma and Grandpa's house, swimming in the poo, going to the beach, eating In-N-Out, Tommy's, Duke's, Rubios, going to Balboa Island, etc... basically all my favorite things that you did without me. And I've never been to Palm Desert, but I guess that sounds cool too.

I forgot it was recently Easter! I'm surprised, because in Peru everyone and their dog and their guinea pig is super Christian (well, at least they say so.) but on Easter, absolutely nothing happens! Two Easters in Peru, and nothing. I don't get it. But they celebrate the whole week leading up to Easter by watching awful Jesus movies on TV every day. Whatever floats your boat I guess. Oh yeah, it was funny because one day we went to go visit a family who has four little kids, and as a family they were watching The Passion of the Christ, and it’s just so brutal and the little kids were crying because of how violent it was. Haha, not the best choice for a family movie night... "But it's about Jesus! Of course it’s a good idea!" Yeah, okay.

Anyway, I gotta get going! I also got a letter from Drew! My old roommate! Drew, this is just to let you know that I got it, and if I ever find time, I will try to write. But if not, don't kill me. Just don't go checking the mail every day for my letter!! Hehehe. Inside jokes.

Alright, see ya fam! Till next week!

-Elder Hemsley

"Anyway, something really really special is happening right now in Picsi. It is honestly one of the most amazing things I've ever witnessed before in my life..."

Dude, Oregon!

Wow, I've spoken so much English in these past few days it’s ridiculous. I'm getting my languages really confused because of it. On Friday we had a district leader training meeting where I got to see a ton of North American missionaries and speak some serious English with them. Saturday was General Conference, and, something amazing happened!! For the first time in my entire mission, I got to see every single session in English!!! It was sooooo good! And, it's my last Conference in the mission, so I never have to listen to the translated version ever again! YESSS!!!!!!! Anyway, I watched it with all the white kids in my zone. Way fun. Spoke a lot of English. Sunday too. Today was p-day and we took a cool trip to this place that I don't know what it's called, but basically we hiked up this mountain and hung out for a bit. It took the whole day, so the whole day I was basically speaking English. This is nuts! Also, I remember Jacqueline told me that I spoke with an accent when I spoke to you guys at Christmas, but I've never been able to hear it. And none of the other North American missionaries can hear it either, so, Jacqueline, you're crazy!! But, there is a new sister missionary in our zone, named Hermana Batman (seriously... that is so awesome.) and the other day we realized that she speaks English differently than we do, and we pretty much realized that we basically all have accents now and we've just never noticed because we're all developing them at the same time. That is so gross!! I don't want to talk to you guys when I get home (and I especially don't want to pray out loud)...

Anyways, this has been a pretty good week. The highlight was Conference for sure. I loved way too many parts to list each one. But what really stuck out to me this time was each time an apostle bore his special witness of Jesus Christ. President Packer said "He lives. I know He lives. I am His witness." President Eyring said "I am a witness of the resurrection of the Lord... I know that He lives... I so testify as a witness of the Risen Savior." Elder Robert D. Hales said "I bear my special witness that He lives." And there were some other times too. Those really stuck out to me this time. I mean... these are special witnesses of Jesus Christ!! Pretty awesome to me. I also really liked when Elder M. Russell Ballard spoke about all the stars and planets and worlds and said that scientists say that there are over 200 billion galaxies similar to the Milky Way in the universe. That basically blew my mind. And then when he mentioned that all of them were created by the priesthood it just really put into perspective for me how amazing and how sacred the priesthood power I hold is. Too cool. Oh yeah, and I also really liked what Elder Tad R. Callister said when we mentioned the saying "do not die with your music still in you." Yeah, okay, I'll take that literally. I have so much music in my brain that I have to turn into actual music when I get home! And if I die, it will be lost. Can't happen! Haha.

Oh yeah, and I got your Easter package! Thank you! We ate the candies during Conference. Luckily, we were watching it in a separate room from everyone else on a small TV, so it was easier to eat lots of candy in there than in the chapel with all the other members staring at us and judging us. Haha. And the photos were so cool this time!! Wow wow wow! I love those! So cool to see pictures of my family and my ancestors as missionaries. Also, I was wrong the other time I told you, I did the math again, and really it's more like my family has given over 40 years of full-time missionary service. Not 30. Whoa.

Anyway, something really really special is happening right now in Picsi. It is honestly one of the most amazing things I've ever witnessed before in my life. We have these investigators, Carolina and Alfredo. They are an unmarried couple who have been together for a long time and have three kids. They are probably the most dirt-poor family in all of Picsi. And their house is probably the worst house I've ever entered or even seen in my entire mission aside from the tarp house I visited my first Christmas in Pacasmayo. Their house is depressing. They basically live outside because they don't have real walls, or a front door, or a real ceiling, or floor, or furniture. When it rains, their house floods, and the ground turns into a swamp, and the whole family gets sick. It's a really sad situation. Plus, the people in Picsi think that Carolina is crazy. She is a little silly, and socially awkward, but she's not crazy at all! She's just a mother under extremely desperate circumstances trying to provide for her children. Anyway, we've been visiting them for a while. Right from the start they realized that they need to get married, and they've been making plans for it and have been excited about it ever since we've started talking to them. So, that's cool. It was so touching to me one of the first times that we visited Alfredo. He thanked us so much, not just for the message we shared with him (he wants his children to be baptized. We taught him that the whole family can be baptized!), but more than anything he told us how thankful he was that somebody had interest in him and his family. He thanked us just for caring. This family is living in probably the saddest situation I've ever seen. Well, ever since we told our pensionista, Hermana Gotty, that this couple wants to get married, she's been super active in trying to help them be able to marry. She's one of Carolina's few supporters, strongly defending the fact that she is not just some crazy lady. So, she had talked with them both a bunch of times, but last week, for the first time ever, she went to see them at their house. She had no idea how desperate and depressing their situation was until she saw their awful living conditions. Gotty told us that night that she was shocked (and she told us "I know what it's like to live in poverty. I've had to use a table for my front door before. But I've never seen poverty to that extreme before...), and that she couldn't stop thinking about it, and she told us that she won't be able to relax until that family's quality of life improves. So, Gotty talked with some of the members and then they went to Chiclayo and talked with the bishopric and relief society president about the situation. Well, thanks to that, a miracle is happening in the lives of this family, because now the church members are going to build this family a new house, and buy them furniture, and clothing, and what they need to start living a less destitute life. Gotty then went and talked to the mayor, who is Alfredo's brother (can you even imagine how the mayor could let his own brother live in such conditions?!), and she got him to agree to marry the couple for free (hasn't happened yet, but it will), and also got him to give the family a piece of property to build on, also for free. Now, the members are all trying to help and friendship this family, and support them however they can. Seriously, like I said before, this is one of the most amazing things I've ever witnessed. The members here actually seem like true latter-day saints. They actually seem like true members of The Church of Jesus Christ. Coming together to help this family who has nothing, and working this great miracle in their lives. These members frustrate me to no end sometimes, but right now I am so proud of them, and I'm so proud to be associated with them. This is really the coolest thing I've ever seen happen on my mission. It’s incredible.

Anyway, also this week, I finished The Book of Mormon! Whoa, reading it that fast really helped me to capture the entire thing as a flowing story and history a lot better than reading it slowly. Now I have it much clearer and fresher in my mind how everything in The Book of Mormon relates to each other, and a lot of things make a lot more sense to me now. Reading it speedy was a good choice. Thinking about reading the New Testament again. I really want to read the Old Testament and Doctrine and Covenants, but I feel like those won't be as helpful for me on my mission, and they can wait until I get home. Gotta open up the OT on occasion because there are a ton of people here who don't really understand the way things changed between the Old and New Testaments, but really, more important than anything are the teachings of Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry. So, that's prob what I'll read next.

Well, I'm about to go over my time this week! Gotta cut this short. Sorry, I started my internet time this week by trying to organize my memory card. I got your mail! Way jealous that you were in CA. Still waiting to hear about what you actually did there. Wondering if you went to Disneyland without me, again. Haha. Wow, Bryn's going to prom again. Didn't that just happen? A year has seriously already gone by? But seriously, why is prom so ridiculously early this year?? My prom was at the end of May! Actually I don't remember. I don't know if that's true. The year before it was at the end of May, because I remember my concert was the same day as prom, and it was May 30th. Haha.

Anyway, I miss you! I think I'll close this week with a quote from my journal. This was before a day that I had to get up earlier than normal for District Leader Training:

04/04/13

Well, I'm gonna rest up for tomorrow. There is little I dread more than having to wake up early. I'm pretty sure Hell is just like normal life, except that you have to wake up really early every morning... I don't want to go to Hell...

-Elder Hemsley

Here are some pictures that Victor sent this week:

"P-day."

"This is what I always imagined Peru would look like! One year and a half years later, I finally actually made it to Peru."

"Reunited with the old office group!"

"Our zone (Zona Latina) at Conference."

"I'm now here with my new companion, Elder Bardales! But y'know what's weird? He's only temporarily serving in Chiclayo! His real mission call is for Mexico..."

Familia!

"Elder Arévalo and me with our new companions."

Well, transfers happened. I'm now here with my new companion, Elder Bardales! He's from Chimbote, Peru, and he's just barely starting his mish! He's a cool guy. 19 years old. Member of the church for three years. But y'know what's weird? He's only temporarily serving in Chiclayo! His real mission call is for Mexico, but, until his visa comes through, he's gonna be here with us. Now, that means that basically at any given moment, his visa could come through and he'll be off to Mexico (seriously I am so jealous of all the crunchwrap supremes that he's going to be eating there. Because I know that's what everyone always eats in Mexico. Taco Bell.), and if that happens, I don't really know what will happen with me, but I guess we'll find out. Ha. So, I'm training again! But this time a brand new, new guy! Elder Villatoro had already been out here a transfer when I began training him. Speaking of Elder Villatoro, he's also training a new missionary! Wow! That's pretty rad. Elder Villatoro was struggling a bit when he was starting his mission, but it makes me way happy to see how much he's improved and how much happier he is now. And he's training a new missionary for his first time! Too cool. Since so many new missionaries came this time, a gigantic chunk of the mission is training newbs. And like 15 or so new areas just opened up! Including Olmos 2! Aww, not fair, I wanna serve in Olmos 2! Hehe.

This week I also finished my fourth journal. I'm on to my fifth mission journal! Dang, that's a lot of books I've written. I assume by the time I get home I will have started my sixth one. Kinda cool. But the best part is that when I get home I will no longer torture myself by forcing myself to write a journal entry every single night no matter how tired I am. Woo!!!

Well, some neat things happened this week I guess. We had a good visit with Anita, the Adventist lady the other day. I wrote about it:

02/26/13

Today we went to visit Lorena, but she wasn't there so we talked with Anita instead. Man, Anita is so freaking awesome!! She came to Melissa's baptism, so we talked a little about that. She said she really liked it and that she had never seen a baptism like that before. Elder Bardales asked her how she felt at the baptism, and Anita told us that she felt something strong, and she felt like she had found the truth. Whoa!! Good question, comp! She told us that the first time we visited her and Mardokeo, she saw us walk past their home, and told Mardokeo that we'd probably show up at their house one day, and then, just a few minutes later we showed up at their door! She said that after that first visit she couldn't stop thinking about the things we had taught her, and she wondered why she had never been taught those things in her church, because she felt like they were true. She has felt over and over again that this is the truth. She just needs to get married so that she can get baptized. However, she told us that Mardokeo has his doubts, and basically believes that all churches are the true church. Eh, gonna have to work with him a bit. I think it has to do with the fact that he's not too fond of the Word of Wisdom. He likes his beer. Anyway, Anita is way way rad! My comp's first lesson too! It was way good!

So, that was pretty cool. Speaking of the Word of Wisdom, it's a ridiculously huge problem here. I think I've already told you, but it's awful. Everyone complains about being so poor, but every weekend they go out and spend huge sums of money on really expensive beer, and then they complain again about how poor they are! And in their drunkenness they give their little kids beer too! It's the worst.

The church in Picsi is (and has been since forever) struggling a whole lot. The few members we have are not that active or dedicated to the church. It's rough. Plus, the other week Elder Rich was telling me about how Elder Hooker, an area authority (I think) came to Chiclayo a few weeks ago and told the stake president that in the church there are wards, and there are branches, and nothing else. Groups don't exist. So, basically, if this group doesn't become a branch soon, the church is going to be closed in Picsi and the members are going to have to go to church in Chiclayo. So, yeah, kind of a sad situation. The other week the members all got together to talk about this problem and how they have to start working together to help this church grow so that they can keep their church in Picsi. For a few days they all got more excited to work hard and visit people but then yesterday was one of the worst church attendances I've seen yet. Ehh...

I've been enjoying my new and improved faster method of reading the Book of Mormon. No marking nuthin'! I finished Alma yesterday, so, the rest will be a breeze! Pretty cool.

Apart from the awful church attendance yesterday, there was one thing that I really liked. It was fast and testimony meeting, and part way through the meeting I decided to share my testimony, and as I was speaking I just felt the Spirit so strong. Those are my favorite moments. I sat back down and remained on a spiritual high until church ended. The best feeling! Oh, and P.S., the first counselor keeps making me lead the sacrament meeting. I don't know why, because elders can only lead sacrament meetings if there is no high priest present, and he's a high priest! Lolz.

I got some mail this week. Some. Only heard from Jack and Dad this time. Dunno what happened, but I assume I'll get the rest this week.

You actually got a second dog!! That's nutso! I hope he's fun.

Jacque, I don't remember what country I had in the Eurasian conference. I just remember that was one of the worst school days I ever had. Haha.

Well, we gotta get going. We're off to Chiclayo to eat lunch with some of our zone. Hopefully I'll have some cooler things to tell you about next week! Buh-bye!

-Elder Hems