Week #6/7 - Out of the CCM- in Santa Patricia!

our p day is on mondays now so i couldnt write last week. This week has been really hard because of the language barrier but my companion is awesome and helps me a lot. The people are amazing and the food is a lot better than the ccm food. I got everything in the package, I loved it so much. Thanks a lot! I loved conference it was so awesome. I think the hardest part this week was leaving all of the friends from the ccm even though 3 of us are in the lima east mission. we take busses everywhere and they are very cramped. i dont know how to work this computer so i dont think i will be able to send pictures this week.  My new companion is elder ortiz from argentina, he has been in peru for about a year. My new ward is awesome and all the people are very welcoming. I am in santa patricia. We dont get to use our own personal money in this mission so i took all my cards and money out of my wallet. They give us about 30 dollars a week for everything. The kids here are really funny, Oh and i just remembered that i gave my first priesthood blessing this week to a member that was sick. I had to say it in english of course, but after she stood up and said that she immediately felt better. it was awesome.. I love and miss you all

Love Elder Monson

Week #5- nothing exciting happened this week!

Nothing exciting happened this week so nothing to blog about. we have temperatures in the 80s everyday and its extremely humid, its crazy that it will be here winter soon.. Everyday we wake up, shower, eat breakfast, classes, lunch, study, physical activity, classes, dinner, classes, planning, bed. That's all for this week. Pretty boring.. Everyone make sure to write me! trmonson@myldsmail.net

-Elder Monson 

Week #4- secrets of the CCM!

This week was really boring. We didn't do anything exciting. We went proseylting and I got to bear my testimony in Spanish but not much else. Elder Rivera won the sacred tie of the CCM and we learned 2 secrets of the CCM after acquiring the tie and i am so excited to try them out. Its crazy that we are now the advanced group and will be the next ones to leave, the time is flying by really fast, and it I am no where even close to having the language down. I love the CCM, but I can't wait to leave and start doing real work. We teach mock investigators for practice and it is really fun and sometimes difficult. Sorry I am not writing more but this week was really boring.
- Elder Monson

Week #3- This week was crazy!

This week was crazy! We had an elder go home, because of problems at home, everyone has been getting really sick, and a lot of other things. They fumigated all of the rooms and they thought we would be fine to sleep in the building right after they did it, but after they did it everyone was coughing and it was hard to breathe, so everyone had to evacuate the building for about 40 minutes before we could go back in to go to sleep. Me and Elder Nielsen had an amazing experience this week though, we were randomly asked by one of the supervisors here to give a lesson to a less active member, and we were given about 10 minutes to prepare, I was extremely nervous, but we gave the lesson and the spirit was so strong I could understand most of what was being said and I was able to explain to her why I was on my mission and bear my testimony to her in Spanish. She said she would start going back to church and that she could really feel the spirit. We might be able to talk to her again sometime so I am really excited to hear from her. Everyone is getting really sick so they have told us that we are not allowed to shake hands anymore, and they have been testing the food and the water, but I still haven't gotten sick yet. We told the new group of elders that I am related to the prophet and they still believe it, It is really funny. We teach about 2 lessons a day to mock investigators and they are going really well, because my companion is extremely good at Spanish and they might move him to the latino group in a week or 2, so I might be put in a threesome companionship. It sucks, but it will be better for him, even if he doesn't want to. I am still terrible at spanish, I am the so bad even a couple of the new missionaries are better than me, it is very frustrating, but everyone says to just have patience and work hard. We play soccer pretty much everyday and it is really fun playing with all of the latinos.
- Elder Monson

A Few Pictures

MTC Grounds

Elder Monson at the Lima, Peru Temple

Elder M. & Elder Neilsen at the Temple 

Yay for missionary tags!!!

Elder Monson holding Elder Padilla
 

Week #2- so attached to people I could barely even talk to!

This week was awesome but kind of sad. The advanced group and all of the latinos left today. I never thought I could grow so attached to people I could barely even talk to. I bought two soccer jerseys today because I don't have any clean p day clothes. The language is so hard. It is extremely frustrating, i feel like I am the worst at spanish in the CCM, I spend all of my personal study time trying to learn Spanish, but I still am terrible. But i am doing my best to remain optomistic. It's my companions birthday today so we tried singing him happy birthday to him at lunch and the CCM President told us we couldn't! The rules here are like a jail! My teachers are so caring, one took me out of class to talk to me about learning the language and to not be frustrated. I have never washed my hands or used more hand sanitizer in my life. It is so hot here we take like 3 showers a day. We have the same food every day and its starting to be gross. I can't believe that it has already been 2 weeks its crazy! We are always busy and doing something the time goes by really fast! I ran out of chocolate cinnamon bears this week! I was so sad. I have never heard someone named meggie but its not terrible lol. A peruvian name would be something like Maria, so I dont think they would like that. I think I can get pictures, i have seen others get them. The only things I would really want in a package would be American food! I miss it so much. And maybe some basketball shorts and church socks, and a little fan, it is soooo hot here. I love you all!

Oh and I forgot to tell you we went proselyting on saturday in the lima north mission, where all of the poorer people live, there was stray dogs everywhere and only 1 in 3 houses had roofs. We taught one lesson in a ladys house, she was extremely nice, we taught here about the gospel of christ. I couldnt talk much but i bore my testimony in what was probably really bad spanish, and when we were done she told me that she was extremely glad i bore my testimony and she was proud that i was sacrificing 2 years of my life to be here in peru, she also told me that the spirit will help me with my spanish and to just work hard. All of the people here are so nice and will talk to you. We have 1 hour of physical activity every day so ya haha, I try to reuse my clothes if they dont stink, we have to wear our suits to the temple and when we get back to the ccm even our suits are wet with sweat and it is really nasty. The latinos pulled me into soccer, its crazy how popular it is here.

Week #1- I love the CCM!

I love the CCM!!! It is so awesome. Today we went through the temple for the first time, it was extremely small, but I've never felt the spirit more. It is extremely hot and humid here our room is set at 75 degrees and it feels amazing when we get back to the room. My companion is Elder Nielsen and he went to Weber High. He is really cool and helps me a lot with the spanish. I am having an extremely hard time with the spanish, i am the worst in our class, but everyone says i am getting a lot better and i know that i have definitely improved since I first got here. I took off my glasses the 2nd day we got here and have just been wearing my contacts, i know that there is a chance for infection but i really hate glasses. A few girls have told me i have really pretty eyes so i'm pretty much a stud here. A lot of the latinos here keep telling me that i am grande and some think i take steroids haha. We have 2 latinos in our room with 3 other "gringos" in our room. We eat amazing food, but its the same things everyday so i'm getting sick of it already. its always rice, some kind of meat, and some soup. I had to buy a few more hangers and will probably get some more p day clothes next p day. I hope everything is great at home. I love you all and i will email you next week.