"Oh boy oh boy oh boy, on Saturday night we went to go visit a member family, and while we were there, the zone leaders showed up with cans of root beer, and we had root beer floats with the family!! ROOT BEER FLOATS are you serious I haven't had those in like two years or more!!"

Dang it, I am seriously weirded out right now because things keep happening that make me remember how soon I'm going home.

On Saturday three elders in my zone went to Chiclayo, because their missions are over. They're done! And it was just really weird thinking that in only three weeks I'll be doing the exact same thing!! And then today two other missionaries from my district got transferred and we saw them off at the bus station too. Just another reminder of how soon I'll be getting on that bus. And all the missionaries bug me about how soon I'm leaving too. Dang it guys!! I seriously thought I was gonna have to try really hard to pretend I didn't want to go home at this point, but really, I don't want to! It’s really a mix of being incredibly happy and excited to see you guys again, and being super sad that this is almost over...

And gosh dangit, right now I'm drinking that Inca Kola "The Golden Kola" Americanized version of Inca Kola and it's not as good as regular Inca Kola!!

This week was a pretty good one though. On Tuesday I had to give my district class. One of my least favorite parts of being a district leader. But, it's cool too. Taught a class about the Priesthood. It’s something that I realized a bunch of the people we're visiting do not understand well, and so the class was all about how we can help people really understand what the priesthood is, how someone can receive it, how the priesthood is used, and why it is important. I really had no desire to teach that day, but, it turned out a whole lot better than I expected, with my district participating and everything. I really liked it. One of the missionaries even came up to me after the class and said "thank you for the class Elder Hemsley." I don't think anyone has ever thanked me for a class I've taught before, so it must have been alright after all. Kinda fun. The Priesthood is really such an important topic, and it's something I am so thankful for. My testimony of the priesthood has grown so much since I've been out here, and I've realized more thank ever how huge of a blessing the priesthood is, and has been, in my life.

Ah! Another thing I liked about Tuesday was that I got a big ol' batch of Dear Elders! Possibly my last, or second to last batch, I assume. But it’s the batch where Mom sent me all those letters from Zanna, and from all the other people in Eugene 3rd Ward who are starting their missions. I loved reading those!! Reading all those letters from all these missionaries I know from back home was so inspiring!! As I was reading I remember thinking to myself wow, the mission seriously is the coolest thing ever. I'm so excited for all of them!! And I can't wait to read all their mission blogs when I get home! I wish all of my friends could have the experience of serving a mission. The mission is the biggest blessing ever...

On Wednesday we got to do some sw33t service! Well, pretty regular service, but still, I like service. Helped one of the members from our ward paint this kiosk he owns in one of the parks here, that he plans to start selling food at. We didn't finish, but we worked for a good three hours. Gonna go back to finish the job this week probably. Fun times.

That afternoon Elder Maldonado and I went with the sister missionaries to visit one of their investigators who was going to be baptized. Since I'm district leader I'm now trying to visit all the investigators with baptismal dates in my district before interviewing them. It makes the interview easier, and more comfortable for the investigator (and for me...). The investigator's name is José (A.K.A. one of the most common names of all time in Peru. If not the absolute most common.) who was getting married to his girlfriend on Friday so that he could get baptized the day after. He was way awesome. While we were there he asked us if we could give his mother-in-law a blessing, because on Monday (err, today...) she was going to be operated on. So, I gave her a blessing. And then after that Elder Maldonado gave José a blessing so that he could stay strong in his efforts to keep the Word of Wisdom (which honestly, he isn't having any problems with). Kinda neat visit. The next day was his interview, and it went really well. No problems. Had a huge desire to be baptized. I feel lucky that so far every single person I've interviewed has passed. One elder told me that the first three people he interviewed for baptism all failed! That would be so uncomfortable for me. But, it's all good. At the end of the interview I was about to ask José who he wanted to baptize him, but, he beat me to it and asked "would you baptize me?" Uh, yeah! So, I was pretty stoked about that. On Friday he got married in the chapel. We went for the beginning, but left before the dancing and partying started. We saw the actual marriage part though. Dude, marriages are boring here. Not that I have anything to compare it to, because I haven't exactly attended many (or any...) weddings in the States, but, it was boring. Made me happy that in the States we can actually get married inside the temple, instead of having to first get married legally outside, and then get married a second time in the temple, which is what you have to do in Peru (not that José would have been able to get married in the temple anyways, he wasn't even baptized...). Saturday was his baptism. In the morning we filled the baptismal font and while it was filling I taught myself how to play some Box Car Racer on the piano. Hehe. Too fun. The baptism itself went well. Except hardly anyone showed up! It was nice though. But the water was freezing. Holy crap. Even for me, who always makes fun of Peruvians for thinking the water is too cold, it was cold. José was shivering as I said the prayer, and then I baptized him and we got the heck out of that water!!! Haha. José is really rad though. I'm super stoked for him. After the wedding he and his wife Rubí gave a little cake from their wedding to the six of us missionaries. Yum-o! We took some dumb pics and then ate the heck out of it!!

This weekend Herber went with a bunch of the YSA to Chiclayo for a multi-stake YSA convention that was all weekend long. They should be getting back late tonight. But I'm way excited that he got to go to that!! I'm sure it has been a great faith building experience for him, and a ton of fun. Before he left he came by to borrow one of my ties. Herber is so involved in the Church, I love it so much. And he has great support and great friends who are YSA. Really cool. He's bummed that I'm going home soon... Aww man...

Oh boy oh boy oh boy, on Saturday night we went to go visit a member family, and while we were there, the zone leaders showed up with cans of root beer, and we had root beer floats with the family!! ROOT BEER FLOATS are you serious I haven't had those in like two years or more!!

Yesterday was Peruvian Independence Day. So, everyone was drinking in the streets. Freaking drunk people annoy me so much. One guy grabbed me by the arm and was like "Jehova! Jehova!" And I totally thought he was going to kiss me. Yeah. Cool. Get sober. We sang the national hymn of Peru in sacrament meeting. I didn't know how it went...

Also, yesterday it hit me really hard how few days I really have left of my mission. So, I sunk down to the literal definition of trunky and actually started organizing my suitcase, seeing which things I could throw out or give away to save as much space as possible. Still have a long way to go with that. Today for p-day I went out and tried to buy some more souvenirs. I bought a few little things, but still, with the amount of money you guys have sent me to by stuff with, I should be buying tons more!! This morning we went to the bus station to see off the two missionaries who are getting transferred. Both from my district. Elder Greene, and Hermana Córdova. I'm bummed because Elder Greene is one of my best friends in the mish and he makes me laugh so much. I've been his district leader in two different zones. And Hermana Córdova is super cool too, but she's only temporarily serving here because her actual mission is in Argentina. She's the first 19 year old sister missionary I've met here. Anyway, I'm anxious to know who's gonna replace them and make up my last district in my mission. After that we went to Otuzco with the Chavez family (my pensionista's family) and Jusseff and Miguel and Lorena (two other members from our ward) and just hung out in this super pretty place, played frisbee, had a picnic, and relaxed. It was super awesome. Fun p-day!

Alright, I got yer e-mails. Sounds like you had a fun week (whoa, it's weird not hearing about things you did three weeks after you did them...). High Adventure, and a YW rafting trip. Sounds like two things I would so not have enjoyed, but, I'm glad you guys can enjoy them at least!! And Bryn got her wisdom teeth out. Hehe. That was no fun. Speaking of teeth, I'm really hoping my teeth are still healthy after this two year long Peruvian adventure. I'm worried.

Anyway, I gotta get going. FHE's 'n stuff. Y'know, Monday night. I can't wait to see you guys so soon! And I can't wait to eat Carl's Jr. with you guys! Woohoo!! No more rice!!!

See ya!

Elder Hemz

Victor sent a bunch of new pictures.  Here are just a few.  If you'd like to see the rest, just click the slideshow at the top of this blog.

"I hate traveling in this country."

"José's baptism."

"There's some good lookin' missionaries."

"We don't even have any idea who she was. But that's one of the nicest things someone's done for me on my mission..."

Hola guys

Well, I've been spending the past 15 minutes trying to send you guys some photos, but, my camera is not doing so well (it hasn't been working right for months now) and I'm not able to open the photos on the computer. That sounds bad, but later I'm gonna get an SD card adapter and plug the memory card in straight to the computer and take 'em off from there instead. I dunno if that makes sense to you guys, but it makes sense to me, and it works. But I can't do it right now. So, unless I get that adapter soon, I probably won't be able to send pics this time. Oh well.

It’s been a tough week! Pros: We visited a ton of members this week. We're gaining their confidence and their friendship. Kewl. Cons: None of the members are giving us referrals! And all our regular appointments with investigators are falling through (like always)!! So, we're not seeing too many people progressing right now. Kinda bummed, because this isn't exactly how I want to end my mission. But, I s'pose as long as I'm working hard, that's all that matters.

It’s kinda weird getting e-mails now. Because now I have to split my internet time between reading and writing instead of only writing. But, this hasn't really been the most productive or eventful week, so I might not have that much to write about anyway! Let's see what kinds of things I can pull out of my memory (actually, my journal) today...

First, one of the highlights of the week: After I wrote you guys last week, we went to have an FHE with one of the families in our ward. The Marin Lopez family. Why was it a highlight? Because the lady (Laura) made us tacos. TACOS!! They were soo super delicious too. Look, a bunch of missionaries who have a lot of time out here have told me "when I first got to Peru, I hated the food, but now I've actually grown to like it a lot." Some people say that. But, not me. I do not like Peruvian food and I jump for joy and give everlasting thanks to my Heavenly Father every time I get to eat food that is not from this country. I would kill someone for a nice burger. Well... probably not, but still. I mean, it's a possibility. So, that was one awesome part of the week. Two other food-related highlights of the week were the two times I ate pizza. Celia, my pensionista made us pizza one day, and it was delish. And today, for p-day, we ate Pizza Hut. YES YES YES AMERICAN FOOD YES!!! Pretty soon I'll be eating Costco muffins 'n stuff. (Seriously, I always torture myself thinking about food. I've never been able to get over that habit my entire mission...)

Oh yeah, something that bothers me a whole lot (I sure am a complainer today) are all the churches that teach bad things about us "Mormons" in their regular church meetings... It drives me nuts! I can't remember one single time that I've ever heard anything bad about any other church in any church meeting I've ever been to in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I can't remember reading one single article talking bad about other churches in any issue of the Ensign or Liahona magazines. But, these other churches are all about that. Because we worship Joseph Smith, don't believe in God, don't believe in the Bible, have seven wives, and are racists. "I learned that about you guys in my church." That's a common phrase we hear. Oh yeah, did I ever tell you about the time we passed by a preacher of a different faith who was teaching someone at their door, and the only thing they were talking about was all the reasons why the Mormon church is false? Psh. The only thing I remember hearing in General Conference about another church was when Elder Oaks complemented the Catholic church a few conferences back. 'Member this?: "Many Christians have voluntarily given sacrifices motivated by faith in Christ and the desire to serve Him. Some have chosen to devote their entire adult lives to the service of the Master. This noble group includes those in the religious orders of the Catholic Church and those who have given lifelong service as Christian missionaries in various Protestant faiths. Their examples are challenging and inspiring..." I liked that, because it is the exact opposite of what I always hear in the streets and in people's houses. Compliments.

We went to visit Herber this week. Had a pretty rad visit, like always. This one was rad not because of what we taught, but because of what he told us! He told us that what is goal is, and what he most wants right now, is that one day he can be at home on a Monday night with his whole family, having a Family Home Evening where his whole family participates. He wants his family to join the Church. He told us that he remembers us teaching him that those who participate in the necessary ordinances and endure to the end will end up in one place after this life, and those who don't will end up in another. He said that he's thought about that a lot ever since we taught that to him, and that he hates to think that he could end up in one place, and the rest of this family in another. He wants his family to receive all the same blessings as him. He told us that he's felt so good since joining the Church and that the people there treat him like family and he loves it. And he told us that he has an aunt who might be interested in learning about the church too. Getting to know Herber and seeing such an amazing change in his life and watching his testimony grow has just been one of the most amazing experiences for me. It has strengthened my own faith and testimony so much. Herber is a huge example to me.

On Sunday, Herber finally got the priesthood. Because of miscommunications and confusion, it just kept not happening every Sunday. This Sunday in Priesthood meeting, but old MTC teacher, Hermano Casanova, put his hands on Herber's head and ordained him a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood. Pretty awesome. Finally!! In the ol' journal I wrote "Herber is like my most awesomest convert." Bad grammar is just a part of who I am. Leave me alone. I do it on purpose because it makes me laugh more. Oh yeah, and Herber went with us to teach two lessons this week. Future missionary fo' sho'.

Oh yeah! On Thursday I finished the Book of Mormon again. That was fast! Fourth time I've read it cover-to-cover on my mission. Pretty cool. After that I didn't know what to read, so I started something I've never done before: reading Doctrine and Covenants. I'm reading fast too. I've read over 100 pages already. It's pretty neat too. Though, I prefer the BoM because it's a continuous story from page 1 to page 531. Actually, that's a lie, because of Ether.

Oh check out this highlight of a different day:

07/17/13

One highlight of today: Somebody actually told us that he doesn't want to listen to us! We contacted this guy in the street, talked for a bit, and when we asked if we could visit him sometime, he said no. Why is that a highlight? Because usually people just lie or make up the dumbest excuses for why we can't visit them! This guy was honest. "I don't like talking to preachers."

Hehe. Count your blessings, I guess. (Actually, counting my blessings has been something that has helped me a ton on my mission.)

We're still visiting Edgar, and he's still one of my coolest investigators. He's having such a hard time. He has so many problems and trials in his life and he just wants everything to calm down. He told us "Right now my main goal is to get married to Milagros [his girlfriend who he lives with and has a kid with], and get baptized. I've been listening to you guys and learning long enough that I now know for sure that this is the true church." I like when people say stuff like that. I feel bad for him because he's the nicest, coolest guy, but life's throwing all it's worst at him. After the lesson with Edgar, we said goodbye and started heading out of the restaurant (he lives in a restaurant owned by his parents-in-law). After a minute, Edgar comes up to us (we were already outside) and said "Elders, want some chicken? Come on in and eat." Uhh... okay! Can't turn that down because the chicken there is so good! So, we go back in and Edgar brings us each a plate of chicken and fries. As we're eating, this other lady who was eating in the restaurant comes up to us and said "do you guys like it? Don't worry, I already paid for it. Have a good night!" And then she left. Wait, what?! So we ask Edgar what the heck just happened and who that lady is. He said that as we were leaving, that lady asked him "were they talking to you about God?" "Yeah", he replied. To which she said "Get them a couple plates of chicken. I'll pay for it." Haha, wow! We don't even have any idea who she was. But that's one of the nicest things someone's done for me on my mission. I dunno who that lady was, but I wish I could thank her. That was really nice. And so delicious!!

One funny thing that happened this week is that one night my companion was so tired that he got in bed and fell asleep with all his proselyting clothes still on. White shirt, tie, and even his shoes! He slept like that all night. When he woke up, he was already dressed. His shoes were even still on. Hahaha. So weird.

Had two stressful baptisms in the district this week, but, it's a long story and I don't feel like telling you about it. So, why am I even mentioning it?... I don't know.

Today for p-day we did something cool. We played basketball. BASKETBALL!!! Not soccer!! YES!! I don't even like basketball that much, or any sport, but I am so sick of soccer that playing anything else is a special treat. Then we watched 17 Miracles and ate pizza. Yum yum yum.

Oh yeah, and our shower got fixed finally. The water is actually hot now. Hot water showers!! I have missed those SO MUCH!!! What a blessing.

Jealous that you guys had fun in Park City. You aren't supposed to have fun without me. Stop. PS why are you going on all these vacations weeks before I get home?! That is so not even fair!! Got the pictures too. Pretty cool. All my little cousins aren't little anymore...

Dude Sam you just made me so jealous talking about Star Wars books and stuff. I wanted to read that Darth Plagueis book so bad!! Oooh boy I miss being a nerd. Still got a whole bookshelf of Star Wars books waiting to be read at home.

Alright, I gotta go now. I only have three p-days left. What the heck. I should probably go buy some souvenirs. I really need to get on that. I'll talk to you (literally) soon! I miss you guys!

-Elder Hemsley

"Cajamarca is cold, and when heated houses don't exist, that makes showering a pretty unpleasant experience..."

Hello home!

Well, I just logged on to my e-mail to see 22 new messages in my inbox, all error messages telling me that the photos I sent you last week didn't make it through. Dang it, the internet has some serious problems here.

Well, I'm doin' pretty good these days. I can't believe how close I am to being home. But, the weird thing is, I'm a lot less excited about going home now than I used to be. The closer it gets, the sadder I am that this is all about to end. It's so unreal. But don't get me wrong, I'm ridiculously excited to see you guys again! I'm just a little bummed that my only chance to be a representative of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is almost over. This has been the hardest, and most stressful, most frustrating thing I've ever done in my entire life. And the best thing I've ever done. I wish that somehow I could go back and see you guys and still be a missionary at the same time...

Well, I'll tell you some stuff I guess...

We've been focusing a lot more on visiting members ever since that transmission from Salt Lake the other week. I can already see and feel a huge difference in the ward and the members here. We're gaining their trust and their friendship a lot more. They're getting more excited about participating in missionary work. It's pretty awesome. I feel like ever since that transmission the way we work has totally changed. The way I'm working now is so different than the way I've been working for the past two years. I like it. I'm excited to see how this new member-focused work style is going to help this work go forward for years to come.

Fun part of the week: Elder Meza came to visit! Brother Meza, actually. He finished his mish in December. His last area was this one, and so he came the other day to visit with another elder who recently finished too, Elder Cabrera. Way fun to see them again! Elder Meza is one of the most awesomest missionaries I've ever met. Super cool guy. Super fun to see him again. He told me that my Spanish has gotten way better. I can't tell. All I know is that my English has gotten worse. He's now teaching English at a Catholic school in Lima. It's not that weird, this is a Catholic country...

We visited a less active family this week. The Zapana Cordova family. The mom, Judith, went to live and work in Salt Lake City for three years, and met the missionaries and got baptized there. Seriously, why are there even missionaries in Salt Lake City if everyone is already Mormon? Hehe, just kidding. Anyway we talked to her and her daughter about the importance of reading the scriptures. She told us that when she was in Utah she read the entire Book of Mormon and she loved it. She felt so blessed when she was reading frequently and active in the Church in Utah. Her whole life had changed. Now that she's back in Peru she's sort of fallen away from all of that, and she misses it. She misses Salt Lake too. She loved how calm and clean it us compared to Peru. She wants to go back. And she wants to start reading her scriptures again to let that light that she used to have back into her life. Pretty cool. Hopefully we can help this family. But, her husband and oldest daughter are not members. She's now working in a karaoke-bar owned by her husband, and her busiest days are Friday and Saturday nights, all night. So, going to Church is hard. We'll see what we can do.

Something a little not-so-normal is that I taught one lesson this week sitting in the street. Haha. It’s a recently paved street and cars still aren't driving on it. We got a referral to go visit this 18 year old kid named Luis who's a member, and his two friends he lives with named Manuel and Reynaldo, who are 16 and 14. They don't have seats in their house, so we just sat down in the middle of the street and talked to them. Kinda different. Luis is a less active member. He used to live in an orphanage and the director of the orphanage was a member of the Church. The missionaries came and visited and a lot of the kids there got baptized. But then they got a new director who's Catholic who no longer let them go to Church or let the missionaries come visit (we're still not allowed in there), so he and the rest of the member kids stopped going to Church. When the kids turn 18, they leave the orphanage, and Luis showed up at Church on Sunday with Reynaldo. Pretty cool kids. The next day we went back to visit again and Manuel and Reynaldo accepted the invitation to be baptized. But, we can't set a date because they need permission first. They came to a Church activity with us after that. But, for some reason they didn't come back to Church on Sunday. Eh. We've only visited them twice. We'll help them out s'more.

I interviewed another kid this week for baptism. The interview lasted forever because the kid loved to talk! But he was awesome. Nine years old. No problems. Got baptized on Saturday. He, like basically every kid here (basically every person actually) was freaked out about the water, but he got baptized real quick without problems. I don't think he held his breath though because he came up gasping for breath. Hehe. Swimming lessons basically don't exist here, which probably explains everyone's fear of water. But, I still don't understand everyone's fear of cold drinks!! And I never will.

One thing that makes me mad is that people here keep trying to make my companion feel bad about his long hair. Especially people who think they know something about the scriptures. "What does the Bible say about men with long hair?" They yell at us North Americans in the street, and they stare and make rude comments about my companion. And when the smart alecs who try to use the Bible to tell my comp he shouldn't have long hair start talking, I just want to pull out a picture of Christ and be like "do you know who this is?" And they'll obviously be like "that's Jesus Christ." To which I'd respond "Yeah, it's Christ. Go tell Christ his long hair is a sin too." And some Christians here have the strangest beliefs ever. Dancing is a sin, non-gospel music is a sin, girls wearing pants instead of skirts or a dress is a sin, going to parties is a sin, having long hair is a sin, etc... But being mean to anyone who is different is not a sin. It seriously drives me insane.

Cajamarca is cold, and when heated houses don't exist, that makes showering a pretty unpleasant experience. We have a water heater, but it doesn't heat up the water very much. I still shiver every time I shower. I don't shower every day, because I can't handle it. Yesterday morning I took a shower. The electric water heater doesn't heat up the water very much. And if you put your hand up by the nozzle where the water comes out, the water shocks you because it's charged with electricity. Scary! Well, yesterday it was even worse, because while I was showering the water heater exploded!! I heard a pop and saw a flash of light and then I looked up and the water heater was busted and smoking. Kinda freaky. I got out of the shower pretty quickly after that. And now we don't have warm water to shower with. I'm going to have to borrow the other shower downstairs that isn't ours because if I don't I will never shower because it's freezing!

Last night we went to Hermano Casanova's house. He was my teacher in the Lima MTC. We went with the ZLs for dinner. We ate pizza and talked with his family. He's way cool, and really funny. So cool that I get to finish my mission in his ward! Had fun visiting them. They invited us back over on Wednesday for dessert. Yum!

Got yer mail, from like a month ago. And got yer first batch of e-mails! 22 months in, and I just got the first batch of e-mails from you guys. Haha. Cool. I'm so jealous that you're in Park City! Not fair!! But, no Tyler, no Mitchell, and no me?! Seems pretty lame to me. Hehe. And Jacque went to EFY?! Seriously I miss EFY so much, it was like the funnest thing I ever did. That's why I went back even after I graduated high school. Hehe, I had so much fun that year with James. We are silly. 

Alright, I gotta get going. Have some FHE's to go to tonight. I will see you so soon! I can't believe it!!

Elder Hemsley

"Today for p-day we went to this pretty sickawesome place called Cumbe Mayo which is like an hour or so from Cajamarca. It’s just this really pretty place that made me feel like I was in The Lord of the Rings or something... or in Zelda. DUDE, ZELDA!!!!"

Hola guyz

Hmm, I'm trying to think of what to tell you guys this week. It hasn't been a bad week, but it hasn't been too eventful either. I guess I'll pull out the ol' journal for some ideas...

Ooh, well, for one, last week after I e-mailed you guys my comp and I went out and hit the streets of Cajamarca with our bud Jusseff. We went to this sweet cathedral in the Plaza de Armas. Pretty rad. There's two cathedrals there, but one was closed. The one we went into was the less cool one, but it was still way pretty. Dude, I don't even care how not-Catholic I am, I seriously love Catholic cathedrals. They're way sick. That was fun, we were in there for like ten minutes. Way pretty. Then, we went to this place called Santa Apolonia which is on this hill were we get this great view of the entire city. And there are a whole places of tiny shops 'n stuff that sell all kinds of souvenirs. So, for the first time in my 21 months of being a missionary, I finally started buying some souvenirs! Didn't get too much stuff, gotta go back and buy a lot more to lug back to the US of A. I only have a few p-days left! But, that was my p-day last week. That night we had an FHE with a family, but they weren't there. So, we came back here with the Chavez family (our pensionista's fam) and had an FHE with them instead, and with Herber. Was pretty nice.

We've been focusing a lot more on visiting members lately. We've been visiting them a bunch. We had like three or four FHEs this week with members with investigators present. It’s a pretty good strat, because lots of times we go out with members to go teach lessons, but all the appointments fall through and we don't actually end up teaching anybody. But, having the lessons, or the FHEs in the members homes, and bringing investigators with us, works a whole heck of a lot better. Since we're six missionaries in our ward, and we're all focusing on visiting the members more, I think it will be a really effective way to get the members excited about missionary work and gaining their friendship and trust. I like it. It might not bring immediate results, but in the long run it will be something that will continually help this ward from here on out. So, we're planting seeds. Another important part of missionary work.

On Tuesday I went out and had a work visit with the elders in the Chontapaccha ward. They're two white boys. Elder Greene and Elder Callis. I started my mission with Elder Callis, and I've been Elder Greene's district leader in two different districts now. They're both fun. I went to the Chontapaccha area with Elder Greene and Elder Callis stayed here with my comp. Perhaps not so surprisingly, almost all of our appointments fell through. It's not just my area where that happens... But, the main purpose of the visit was to visit this guy named Edilberto who had a baptismal date for that weekend. He is way awesome. He's like 60, and recently widowed. Like three or four weeks ago one of his friends invited him to church, and he came and met the missionaries. The missionaries started teaching him and he just progressed at lightning speed. He read the entire Book of Mormon in a week and then started reading and studying Gospel Principles. We went and I met him and we taught a quick lesson on tithing. Since he'd already done so much studying on his own, he basically taught us what tithing is and accepted it without any issues. On Thursday I went to interview him for his baptismal interview. Answered all the questions way in-depth and was super ready to be baptized. On Friday my comp and I went to see him get baptized. I'm glad we showed up, because he was really happy to see me there! He was golden. He gave a super awesome testimony too.

On Wednesday out of nowhere at lunch time I just got this super sore throat and couldn't even swallow my food. It was odd, because I ate breakfast totally normal. At dinner time I was mostly better too. But at lunch time my throat was just killing me. Gosh dangit Peru why do you always make me sick?!

Fourth of July was fun. NOT! But that was the day that I interviewed Edilberto, which was cool. We had our zone training meeting that day and the assistants came up from Chiclayo with President and Sister Risso. President was pretty much only there to interview. I was hoping for some sweet mind-blowing doctrinal talk, but, nuthin'. Pretty good meeting though. That day we went to go eat lunch with a member family (the fact that I'm still alive and writing this e-mail is a blessing). Actually, it’s a family who's cooking I trust, so, no worries. But I still can't get that image out of my head from the time I went to the market in Chiclayo with Elder Perea and we were walking through the vegetable section and there were freaking rats crawling around in the food!! I do not trust the food here!!! You have no idea how many times I've eaten meals in places that would be extremely illegal to sell food in back home. I just can't wait to get home and start eating fake food again. Fake food is so good!! Anyway, the fam made us one of the few Peruvian dishes that I actually like, called "aji de gallina." Pretty tasty. It's like one of only two foods I like here. That night we had one of our FHEs with a member family who lives down the street from us, the Campos family. They're rad. Way active 'n stuff. Ex-bishop. Herber came with us and so did another rad ivestigator (who can't get baptized yet), and his two year old son. It was a pretty sweet FHE, except for when the kid peed his pants, and he wasn't wearing a diaper and it got all over his dad and the couch. Hahaha. And then as we were about to leave, he went number 2. Pretty funny.

On Friday morning we had s'more meetings. District leader training. The assistants led the meeting with the ZLs. It was pretty cool. Sister Risso pitched in a little bit too. After the meeting, I got interviewed by President Risso, which is only like the fourth time I've been interviewed by him in my entire mission, which is kind of weird. He never interviewed me while I was in the office. Prob because I saw him all the time anyway. Pretty sweet interview, 'cause Prez is the best. I really miss being around President and Sister Risso all the time.

That afternoon when we went out to go do some work and be missionaries, this guy came up to us in the street and told us that his son is a member of our church. We asked him what his son's name is, and he told us "Herber Infante." Oh! Yeah, I know that guy! I just baptized him! lolz. He went on thanking us so much because he said that since we started visitng Herber, that Herber has changed so much, and has changed for the better. He was super grateful for all that we've done for his son. Hopefully we can visit his dad one of these days too! But he enjoys his alcohol. He told us that if he doesn't drink, he can't eat. Weird.

On Saturday I headed out to Otuzco for only my third time ever with my comp and our mission leader Oscar. It’s a way pretty place. A teeny little village. Still didn't take pictures. Gotta go back and do that one of these days.

We also had a classic tracting moment on Saturday. We knocked on this one door, and this nine year old boy answers the door. We ask if his parents are home, and he said yes and went in to tell them that we were at the door. A minute or two later, he came back and told us that his mom couldn't come to the door because she was changing the baby's diaper. Elder Maldonado asked if his dad was home too. The kid said "yeah, he's here, but... they're both changing the diaper..." Hahaha. Great excuse. The people here are creative.

Yesterday was Sunday. I still really enjoy going to church in an actual church building and not some rented out Peruvian house. It is great. Pretty good day. Had another FHE with some members and investigators. 'Twas nice.

Today for p-day we went to this pretty sickawesome place called Cumbe Mayo which is like an hour or so from Cajamarca. It’s just this really pretty place that made me feel like I was in The Lord of the Rings or something... or in Zelda. DUDE, ZELDA!!!! The pics I took don't really do it justice, but I'll send them anyway. It was super cold there, but really awesome. Probably one of the better p-days I've had. I liked it. And I got to take a pic with a sheep on my shoulders. Just like... wait, what I was about to say was probably blasphemy... (Okay fine, just like Jesus.) Oh, dude, and I found Mountain Dew Code Red today. CODE RED.

"Pretty neato place."

"I'm on a rock."

"Hi, I carry sheep."

And... that was my entire week. I got some letters 'n stuff too from you guys. I don't know for how much longer you should be sending me mail. I feel like I'm gonna go home before any more letters you send get to me. I wasn't going to ever publicly announce this, because I thought it would make me way too homesick, but, considering I only have like five more Mondays to check my e-mail (wait, seriously?! Only five?!!?!) I guess I'll just say it so everyone knows: As of a while ago we're now allowed to e-mail whoever the heck we want. So, if you guys wanna start e-mailing me instead of writing letters or Dear Elders, my e-mail address is victor.hemsley@myldsmail.net. So, there ya go. I still don't promise I'll respond, but, at least I'll read it. Hehe.

Anyways, thanks for the mail. Got some Porter letters, got a letter from a good ol' friend. Wow, I can't believe that Zach is at home!! We basically started our missions at the same time!! That is SO WEIRD!!! And Porter's about to go home too. That is nuts!

Dad climbed Mt. Shasta?? That's pretty awesome. Although based on the letters I got from you guys (which are from like a month ago) all my sibs were pretty much telling me "well,  this was a pretty boring week." IT’S SUMMER VACATION, STOP BEING BORED.

And just to clear this up; Dangit Drew! I never said that the Big Carl was the best burger! I just mentioned it in one e-mail because I randomly thought of it as I was typing. It's alright, but I mostly just bought it because it was one of the cheapest bugers at Carl's Jr. My real favorite burger is the Double Western Bacon Cheeseburger. I'm seriously going to go to Carl's Jr. and eat one of those before I go to my house. Straight from the airport, to Carl's Jr. With my nametag still on an everything. Family, keep that in mind. That is a delicious burger. But if you try it and don't like it, don't make fun of me. Anyway, I'm headed back to Rexburg in September, so if you're ever around there again, maybe someday I'll see you again.

Alright family, and the rest of the people who read these. I'm done. That was my week. There is nothing else to say. I guess it was more eventful than I remembered. Thank you, journal. K, see you guys in five e-mails!!

...That is seriously so weird...

-Elder Hemz

Victor sent more pictures that you can see by clicking on the slideshow at the top of this blog...

"The chances of me dying before I get home are now 500% higher."

Familia!

You know what's weird? It’s July now. That's what's weird. Hope you have a fun 4th. I sure won't! Well, I'll try to make it fun, even if there are no fireworks or hot dogs or cousins or nuthin'. Maybe I'll baptize someone.

This week was pretty good. Err... not that great. We had like no lessons this week! And we had so many appointments! One day we had nine set appointments. NINE APPOINTMENTS. I've never had nine appointments in one day!! Six fell through. Great. In this zone we also keep track of how many hours we're out proselyting each week. Elder Maldonado and I had the highest amount of hours working this week, and the least amount of lessons! I don't like it.

But, let's see what else happened this week, aside from being in the street for a ridiculously huge amount of time because we could never get into anyone's house...

On Tuesday we had our regular district and zone meetings. Being the district leader, I got to give a class. This time I taught a class on working with members. Inspired by the broadcast last Sunday. I stressed that the members need to get to know us better, and that we need to show the members more love. Pretty good class. Hope it’s something that can help us out. The prophet sure seems to think so. So I think its a safe bet that yes. Although, I've also learned that in Peru things don't work like in other parts of the world. So, we'll see.

Friday was kinda fun, because on Friday I got to eat lunch with Elder McGrath and his family! Elder McGrath was the assistant when I got to the mish. He and his companion Elder Aaroni were literally the first missionaries I met in this mission, because they picked us up from the airport! Anyway, he finished his mish over a year ago, and came back to visit with his fam. He served in this area, so he came to eat lunch with my pensionista's family. Fun times.

"Elder McGrath"

Later that night, I got a really awful cold. Still suffereing from it. Not so fun. Saturday was horrible. I was dying. Sunday was pretty bad too. Today, I'm mostly better, but I sure don't like being sick.

On Saturday in the morning we got to do some service, which I like. We helped a family move apartments. We teamed up with the zone leaders and we did it really quick. That was fun. It was a family that we've been visiting and we're trying to help out in whatever way we can. I like serving.

That night (when I was super sick) we had an FHE with one member family. One of the guys there said that the last time that I visited his family with Elder Tróchez (like three weeks ago) was the first time in a very long time that the missionaries had come to visit them. He was super thankful for that. He was almost in tears. Last night we had another FHE with another family, and the guy told us that in the year that he's lived in Cajamarca, last night was the first time the missionaries have ever come to visit his family. He also thanked us a lot for that. I guess missionary visits are something that the members here really enjoy, and really need. Gotta keep visiting them!

This week we had some more great visits with Herber. We taught about the priesthood, about temples and temple work, and about what Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price is. Now, he wants to receive the priesthood, and he wants to go to the temple, and he's more excited about reading his scriptures! But the most awesomest part is that after one of the lessons Herber told us that he wants to be a missionary like us. Because he's awesome!!

That's basically all that happened this week. Not much, honestly. We wore ourselves out walking so much. We had like 25 set appointments this week, and almost all of them fell through. And almost all of our backup plans fell through. This isn't exactly how I want to finish my mission... But, we're gonna see what we can do to change this. Finding new people would be a good start.

Read a big pile of mail this week. Some of it was really old! From when I was still in Picsi! But whatever. Grandpa Hemsley sent me a cool article about the animation program at BYU which almost made me wish I would have pursued my childhood dream of making cartoons. Oh, I got the pictures you sent too! Why the heck are my sisters and brother so big?! How is Sam so tall?! I don't like it. Stop. Jacqueline finished the New Testament? That's pretty awesome! I'm trying to finish the BoM another time before I get home. I'm in Alma. Chapter 53-ish. That's cool how mom used parts of my e-mails in her stake conference talk too. Hope you're all having a fun summer!

Oh yeah, one last piece of bad news. On Sunday, the bishop announced that starting now, every Sunday the missionaries are going to start eating lunch with the members! My heart sank as I heard that. The chances of me dying before I get home are now 500% higher.

Well, I gotta get going. I wanna buy souvenirs (something I haven't done my entire mission), but my companion doesn't want to because he thinks it’s boring because the culture here is really similar to the culture where he lives. Psh. I'll see if I can convince him to let me go buy stuff one of these Mondays.

I miss you guys a lot! I hope next week I can tell you that I had a sickness-free successful week! See ya!

-Elder Hemsley

"I turn my head to look out the window, and right on the window, like two inches from my face is THE BIGGEST SPIDER I'VE EVER SEEN!! It was seriously a tarantula."

Hey guyz,

Well, new transfer, new comp. Elder Trochez left Monday morning. But, he's still close by. Still in the same zone. My new comp is... Elder Maldonado! He's from Ecuador and he just finished his training (thank goodness, I didn't want to train again). He's pretty awesome! We’re working well together! He's from a part of Ecuador called Otavalo, where the culture is that the guys have real long hair and dress differently than us. And, my companion has really long hair! Really long! AKA Bryn's hair length. Because of his culture, he is allowed to wear his hair long and dress differently than other missionaries. Instead of wearing a suit like the rest of us, he wears a white shirt and white pants, with white sandals. That's how he goes to church. Bet you never had a comp like that, everyone who's reading this who's been a missionary. Kind of awesome.

Well, the highlight of the week was Herbert's baptism!! And also I found out his name is actually spelled "Herber." That always happens. People have weird names in Peru. On Tuesday, right after Elder Trochez left and Elder Maldonado came, we had a great visit with Herber. At the end we asked him if he still wanted to be baptized on the 22nd. He said yes. We asked him what time he wanted to be baptized, and he told us "I would get baptized this afternoon if I could." Yes, good answer. Haha. The next day we had another great lesson with him where we talked about tithing. He accepted it right away. I wrote in my journal: I feel like when someone accepts the Law of Tithing with no complaints or questions, that's a good sign that they're really gaining a true testimony. Kind of rad. On Friday before his baptismal interview, we talked about Thomas S. Monson and our current 12 apostles. I remembered a story I heard once, where I think (I don't really remember) someone asked the President Gordon B. Hinckley what made our church different than other churches, and he responded asking "if the prophet Moses were alive today, would you follow him?", and the guy obviously responded "Yes." Duh. And Gordon B. Hinckley said "that's what makes our church different from the rest. We do have a living prophet." Maybe that wasn't actually Gordon B., but that's how I remember it. Cool story. Anyway, we gave Herber the most recent conference edition of the Liahona magazine, and he asked us "where can I get more of these?" Haha. That night was his baptismal interview. Passed. After he came out of the interview, he asked me if I could baptize him! I sure can!! My journal: I'm scared though, because he's not a little kid, and I've only baptized little kids. Haha.

His baptism was great! I wrote about it:

06/22/13

Duuuuuuuuuuuuude!!! Today Herber got baptized!! It was a good day...

The baptism was great! For some reason, I was really nervous this time. Probably because I've never baptized someone who isn't a kid before. Herber was nervous too! There were two quick little talks. Then us elders (my comp and I, Elder Martin and Elder Driggs, and Elder Trochez and Elder Law) sang a hymn. Then, baptism time! Dude, the water was way cold! Which is bad because Peruvians think cold water will kill you. But, Herber is awesome and didn't complain or nuthin´! But it was cold!! I baptized him, and when we got out Herber told me that as he was coming into the font he felt really cold, but once he was in the water, he didn't feel cold anymore. He later shared in his testimony that he felt cold getting in, but once he was in he felt warm, and when he got out he felt cold again. Pretty cool. He also said that he never knew which church was the true church of Jesus Christ until the missionaries found him and started noticing changes in his life. He said after going to church he always felt so happy. I can't do it justice, but it was one of the more powerful testimonies that I've heard from someone who just got baptized. It was awesome.

After the baptism we walked back to our room with Herber because he lives real close to us. He told us that he felt really good, and he felt really clean. He said he really liked his baptism, and that it’s something that he will always remember. As we were getting close to our room he said that his baptism was fantastic! "Fue fantástico!" He was really happy. This guy is going to receive so many blessings. He is seriously the best.

So, that made for a good week.

"Herber's baptism!"

Last Monday, after I wrote you guys, I went with Elder Tróchez and Jusseff, an RM who lives in our same building, to go see the famous Baños del Inca. They’re natural hot water pools that aren't that far from here. It was pretty awesome! The water is hot! Well, I didn't touch it, cause I was told not to. Lots of steam. There were some ancient ruins there too (not very cool ones, but... ones). It was way fun. Describing it isn't that cool, but I'm sending pics.

"Los Baños del Inca."

"That water is really hot."

"Pretty awesome."

Wanna know what happened to me this week?! On Tuesday night, we were going back to our room in mototaxi. About halfway through the drive I turn my head to look out the window, and right on the window, like two inches from my face is THE BIGGEST SPIDER I'VE EVER SEEN!! It was seriously a tarantula. That freaked me out and we had to stop the moto to get the spider out of there. It was gigantic. And fat. Sooo creepy. Freaking Peru!!

Oh, here's a fun journal entry. Let me share:

06/20/13

Dude, every appointment we have falls through! Today the entire day was filed with appointments, and only one of them didn't fall through!! So dumb. Here were the excuses for why the appointments fell through today. 1.) We went to visit Luz this morning. She had told us to come by at 10:00. We show up, and her neighbor told us that Luz is never home at 10:00 in the morning. 2.) We ring the doorbell of this house four times before this old lady finally peeks her head out and we ask her if Felicita is there. She "doesn't know" and "has to go check." Three minutes later a little girl comes back and says that Felicita isn't there. I ask when she'll be back. The girl doesn't know. I ask her when she left, the girl looked around awkwardly for a second and then said "I don't know." She was there. 3.) The guy we had an appointment with went to go see his sister. 4.) The lady is out of town. 5.) The kid "went to church." We go look for him at the church. He's not there.  6.) The guy is busy taking care of his baby.

It's ridiculous how many appointments fall through. I hate it really. Last transfer, I marked eat appointment that fell through in my planner. The other day, I went through my planner, and tallied up how many set appointments we had had in those six weeks, and how many of them fell through. 70 percent of all of our appointments fall through.

Oh oh oh!! Last night there was this way super awesomatical live broadcast from Utah that was 100% dedicated to missionary work! You guys probably knew about it too. You probably were even there, considering here in our stake, every single leader in every ward in the entire stake was invited, plus all the missionaries, plus, whoever wanted to come. A.K.A., everyone was invited. It was SO GOOD! That was possibly awesomer than general conference! And all the missionaries in the MTC were there, and since I know like 500 billion people there right now, I was trying to find them in the audience. I didn't see any of them. Did you guys see it?! The only bad part was that I had to watch it in Spanish. And, the English voices are still quiet in the background, and whenever anyone makes a joke, they don't translate it into Spanish. They just don't translate that part! They just leave it blank! So dumb! Anyway, they announced a ton of awesome stuff, like how there's now over 70,000 missionaries serving worldwide. THAT IS SO MANY. And that the church wants the missionaries to use more technology and stuff, and so soon missionaries are going to get an hour of internet time every single day to be online missionaries, using stuff like blogs and Facebook and stuff. Seriously?! These things most likely won't take effect in my mission until after I get home, but still! Exciting stuff. My brother's mission could be completely different than mine...

Well, that was pretty much my week. Ooh! Yesterday I got a whole huge pile of mail from home! But I haven't had time to read it yet. So, if you asked me any questions, sorry for not answering them. I'll do it next week. Alright, I'll talk to you guys later! Buh-bye!

-Elder Hemsley

Victor sent several more pictures. If you'd like to see them, go to the slideshow at the top of this blog...

"I'm getting a new comp tomorrow. It will most likely be my last companion, so I'm excited, and nervous at the same time!"

Dude I just got a super short haircut on accident. Well, I wanted it short, but it’s shorter than I expected. At least this guarantees that I will not have to cut my hair again for the rest of my mission.

Anyway, I TOTALLY FORGOT AGAIN THAT FATHER'S DAY WAS COMING UP!! I seriously thought it was going to be next weekend! Well, that's two years in a row that I've messed up on that. Being back in the States should make it easier to remember next year. But, happy Father's Day, Dad! Even though it’s late. Still think it’s not fair that we don't get to call home for Dad Day, but whatever. I swear that was the last Father's Day that I won't talk to you.

Luckily, remembering that I forgot Father's Day, also reminded me that Mom's birthday is in a few days, and just so I don't repeat the same mistake two weeks in a row, Happy Birthday Mom!! Next year I should be home for your birthday. I'm still pretty convinced that I don't want to stick around in Rexburg during the Spring. But, we'll see.

Well, this was a pretty good week. But, tomorrow is transfer day, and my companion is getting transferred! He's pretty mad about it. He hasn't been the most fun person to be around today. He doesn't want to leave. So, I'm getting a new comp tomorrow. It will most likely be my last companion, so I'm excited, and nervous at the same time! I'll let you know what's up next week.

First off, Herbert! I told you about him the other week. The guy we invited to get baptized on the 22nd. He told us he'd think about it. We visited him on Wednesday and had another good lesson like always. We had a ward activity that night and invited him to come, and so he came with us! At the end of the activity, I was off talking to another one of our investigators who was there, and Herbert was talking to my companion. He said to Elder Trochez "remember how you told me that if I prayed I would feel ready to be baptized on the 22nd? Well, I did, and I feel ready." WHAT?! So, my companion asked "so, does that mean you feel like you received an answer from God?" He replied, "Yes. I want to be baptized on the 22nd." So, that's kind of the RADDEST THING EVER. Except, for some reason he didn't come to church yesterday. Still not sure why, but we're gonna visit him a whole bunch this week to get him ready for his baptism. If not this weekend, then probably the next. Either way, awesome. Herbert is seriously a golden investigator. He told us that since he's been praying, reading, and coming to church more frequently, he feels like there's been a big change in his life, and in his family. He said he's been praying a lot that his dad would stop drinking, and he said his dad hasn't been drinking for over a week and that his dad's relationship with his mom has been better because of it. Herbert recognizes the Spirit like few people do, and he is so ready to become a member of Christ's church. He's the best.

Thursday was a good day! Up til Thursday, the week had gone a little slow. We had a good amount of lessons that day (still struggling a bit to have lessons, but this past week was the week I've had most lessons since I've been in Cajamarca!). Plus, that morning I remembered how to play Stay Together for the Kids on the guitar, so that was fun. Hehe. Had some really good visits that day. One with a lady who's daughter told us that she's been hiding from us every time we come to her house, but we actually found her this time and had a good ol' lesson about prophets 'n stuff like that. On Thursday I had a baptismal interview with this 19 year old girl named Hanais. I don't like interviewing people, and especially not girls, so I was kind of nervous about it. But I prayed that I would be able to follow the Spirit and that it would go alright. She was a little bit sad and stressed. She had had a really hard day and a really hard week. I did my best to make her feel comfortable and make her feel good about her decision to be baptized. As I started talking to her I realized how amazingly strong this girl's faith is. I was really surprised. She gave amazing answers to all the questions, and I was bearing my testimony all over the place to help her feel good about her decision. Well, she was super ready for baptism. No problems. She's been making a huge effort to live gospel standards and to follow Christ. She's 19 but told me that for most of her life she's lived alone, without her family, and that she feels like in the Church she's finally found a family. Pretty cool person. Got baptized on Saturday.

I also had fun this week reading Mike Allred's Golden Plates comics that you sent me a while back. That was a fun change of pace from reading pure scriptures for the past two years. Every missionary I've shown those comics to think they're like the coolest thing ever. Haha. They are pretty awesome. Though it made me want to read more comics and less scriptures. Luckily, that's not an option for me, because all I have here are scriptures! Comics can distract me when I get home.

Oh dewd I compared Peruvian and United Statesian 7Ups this week, and, like Sprite, I didn't really prefer one over the other. I did notice a difference, but it wasn't big enough for me to care. But still, Coke in Peru is so much more delicious than back home. That makes me sad. Oh! PS, if you ever find Inca Kola in the States, but it says "The Golden Kola" on the can, that's not real Inca Cola. Well, it's really similar, but it's not the same. It's not what I've been drinking for the past two years. Its an Americanized version that tastes like a mix of Inca Kola and cream soda. Still good, but, not the real thing.

You know what I don't like?! Church starts at 8:00 here for no reason! Or, I dunno if that's normal back home, but here in Peru, it usually starts at 9:00, unless there are multiple wards meeting in the same building. Which there aren't here. So I dunno why it starts at 8:00. I mean, it doesn't matter that much for me, since I still have to get up at 6:30, but still, it gives us less time to get ready, and it’s early. I miss 11:00 church back home.

Oh yeah and last night the ZLs came over for dinner beause Elder Thomson is getting transferred, and Hermana Celia made us pizza again! So good!! The end.

That's pretty much my list of highlights of the week. You know what else is really awesome? This old Ensign article (or Liahona article... what's the difference even?) from a long time ago, that I read a few months back but I just remembered it. It's called "Four Peruvian Versions of the White God Legend". Pretty fun article considering I live in Peru these days and I hear stuff about these weird legends. Basically, there's a Peruvian tradition that a whole long time ago a white God descended from the heavens and appeared to the ancient people of Peru. Well, actually, basically every country in Latin American believes some variation of this legend. So, pretty much, that's exactly what happens in the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is so true! Go check it out. It's a fun read: http://www.lds.org/liahona/1984/01/four-peruvian-versions-of-the-white-god-legend?lang=eng

Alright, that's all I got this time. I'm using a computer that won't recognize my memory card so I can't send any photos right now. But maybe if I can I'll try to send you some from another computer later. More likely, I'll send some next week instead. I barely have any new photos anyway...

Okay bye I miss you a lot I like you guys I hope you're all good and stuff and that summer is fun and stuff. HOLY CRAP BRYN GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL?!??!??!?!??!?!

-Elder Hemsley