My first month and a half has come to end here in Peru. But i will continue to
serve here in Viña con Elder Estrada, so i am super happy right now. Also, we
have been blessed this week with a baptims!
We have been teaching Maria Reyes for almost a month now, and she has always
been very interested in the gospel, but her husband really isn´t. He says that
he wants to change but hasnt done anything to change. We had given them the
invitation to be baptized on saturday, but Maria said that she wanted to be
baptized with her husband so we thought that the new date would be on the 20th.
Well, this week we met with her and she had been focused on saturday this whole
time! So we rushed to teach her all the principles so she could be baptized. We
were able to teach everything and get her to the stake center on saturday for
her baptism. I had the glorious opportunity to baptize her. After i baptized
her she gave me a big hug and couldnt stop saying hermano. It was such a
beautiful moment for all of us.
She was then confirmed on sunday, and had the biggest grin on her face the whole
day.
We have had some fun here with all the work. Last week we went to a giant park
that had bumper carts and these cool houses. We spent part of the day taking
eachother out on the carts and then enjoyed lunch. Which was my first hamburger
in a long while. It had an egg, and french fries on it, but i didn´t care, i
was super hungry. And it was GOOD!
Also, i am becoming more friendly and accepted by the members in the ward. They
are actually trying to learn my name and its hilarious. Most people call me
elder Wafer. Eh.....i guess its close enough haha. I told them that is
lavarquemar in spanish, so i think that they are taking that one instead of
wafer! Also, i had the opportunity to be thrown out of my first house on
wednesday. Elder Palomino and I were teaching some ladies in there house. They
allowed us in and we began the lesson. We got all the way up to prophets in the
first lesson, when a man walked through the front door. He looked at us and said ¨Who invited you in here!?!?! GET OUT!¨ So
we grabbed our stuff and headed for the door. He continued to yell certain
things at us. My favorite was when he said that i was trying to steal his niece
and take her to america. That was funny, and i started to laugh a little bit.
But we just laughed all the way down the street from it.
Things have been great, and we only see a bright dawn ahead of us. Thank you all
for your letters and love. Kara i got your package and thank you for the letter
and cookies. They are GOOD!

I love you all,
Elder Washburn

This week i have decided to use my time to tell about the lifestyle of peru and
all the great and weird parts about it. Over the week i have created a list of
all the things that i saw that are very different than america. Here is the
list¨
-you shake everyones hand at church, everytime you see them and everytime that
you walk into a room. so you shake a couple hundred hands on sunday haha
-the buses are nuts, and they literally pack people into every crevas onto those
things. Its kinda uncomfortable!
-There is zero tolerance for belching and flatchulating. Highly scorned here so
my talent for belching is wasted
-all the latinos have a very dry sense of humor that i dont know yet. When all
the latinos laugh at a joke none of the whiteys do. Thats the funny part
-In every house we enter, only the best seat is offered to us, and its an insult
to turn it down
-People in moto pushed carts are always selling stuff and blowing annoying horns
to get peoples attention. Mostly the ice cream people have the horns
-ALL the kids want me to speak english and i simply refuse. ITS ALL SPANISH FOR
2 YEARS!!
-Not a single latin here can pronounce my name. It is literally impossible for
the mouths to make the correct sound of sh and burn. Its hilarious
-Dogs are everywhere and so is there poo. Gross......
-Babies are fed by their moms openly, and without a blanket to cover anything.
We just focus on their faces and look other ways
-Cars are the devil here. Most of them play the game of trying to get really
close to you and not hit you. I have had the hair on my arm brushed a couple
times. SUPER SKETCHY
-Their are tons of testigos here, so we have done battle a couple times. We
usually talk for 2 mins and then just leave, because they never listen. oh well
-No one uses their stove or knives. Their stoves are storage places for pots
and pans, and they think im weird for using a knife when i eat. They are the
barbarians haha.
-The churches have a different court than basketball. Yes its a soccer court.
-They also love volleyball. Its all about soccer and volleyball here.
Ok those are their weird customs that i enjoy thoroughly! Now here is my list
of awesome food!
-We have canned tuna and onions sometimes for breakfast. They put it in bread
and call it good.
-Milo is the best drink down here. Its a chocolate drink thats hot and oh so
good
-Breakfast is usually bread and an oatmeal drink of some sort
-RICE
-BREAD
-The bread is super cheap here. We can get 7 pieces of bread for 1 sole. And we
have a bakery really close to our apartment
-Fried chicken and Fish are SO GOOD. Its the good pan fried and not the deep
fat fryer
-Chichamorada is a delectable drink that doesnt exist in the states
unfortunatley
-Panono is a type of cake bread that looks like a swiss cake roll but is a lot
bigger. Its vanilla cake bread, with manjar filling. MMMMMMMMM
-Chifa is a super cheap knock off asian chain that is everywhere. Its not that
great so thank good ness for a good pensionista!
-We do have one dish that is beef, red peppers, onions, and french fries.
-I have found a new egg dish that is amazing. Its eggs, tortilla, tomatoes, and
spinich. All of its done in the pan in a frying manner. Whatever it is its good
-Manjar is a caramel, milk concaction that just blows my mind, especially when
its in bread. OH MY!
-My pensionista is so nice and gets me cereal everynow and then. And you know
how much i love cereal!
-our pensionista makes fresh fruit juices for us everynow and then. They beat
crystal light, sorry dad.
-Soda is called gaseosa here, and the best is inca kola. Only exists in peru!
-Finally the candy. Here is my list of amazing candy here. Casino mente (they
are girl scout cookies), choko soda (soda crackers covered in chocolate),
sublimes, nik wafers, marcianos (fruit popsicles that are home made, and im
going to learn how to make them!), and morocha ice cream sandwhiches which are
like toll house but a lot better.
Well that is some of the crazy great things about peru. We didnt have our
baptism, but we are going to continue to work with her. We also have a couple
prospective investigators!!!!!
I am loving the work here, and the spanish is slowly but surely coming. Thank
you for all of your prayers, i truly do feel of your love and support everyday.
Your prayers are what keep this great work moving forward!!!

Love
Elder Washburn

Dearest Family and Friends!
This last week has been a little different than our previous ones. First and
foremost no baptisms haha, but we do have one planned for this weekend! And she
has only one condition on her baptism, and it is that it will be in a river! So
my companion and i are making the 2 hour trip to the nearest river to baptize
her, pictures will be coming next week for you! We have been working with her
for a while and we are relieved and super excited to see her join the true
church.
As for our lessons, they are improving rapidly, because i dont mess them up as
much anymore haha. My spanish has grown exponentially and every one is
surprised that it has, and i also simply reply with, With God nothing is
Impossible. Which was so benevolently quoted by our Lord and Savior. And it is
true, through much fasting and prayer my spanish has been growing so fast. Im
gaining more and more confidence with it, but still far from being fully
confident with it like english. We have been blessed with some new investigators this week, especially the Reyes family. Its a family of
four that have been searching for the true church, and they found it! The wife
really wants to be baptized and so does the husband. They have only a little
problem, and once that is sorted out, then were set for salvation! We hope to
baptize them on the 7th.
Today we had the opportunity to go to the temple. Our session was in spanish,
of course, and i understood the whole thing!!! For the first time on my mission,
i just listened and didnt have to think about the words. So that just pumped me
up for the day. ANOTHER BLESSING! And to continue on with the blessing of the
gift of tongues, we were riding on the bus and the man sitting next to me asked
me why all our names were Elder. So i explained that to him, and then proceeded
with the first discussion. And i gave the whole thing without a hitch, as well
as answering his questions. He lives in a province but seemed super interested.
Hopefully the elders will find him with the information that i gave them.
The blessings have been pouring down ever since our fast last week. The Lord
truly listens and answers our prayers. We only have to be alert to the blessings
and be patient for them.
I am loving this work more and more everyday, and especially the people. This
two years will be amazing, and already 3 months has passed me by!!! So i am
dedicated to make the most out of these next 21 months.


Faithfully
Elder Washburn