Exact Obedience

You are so wonderful!!!!

I live with Elder Velasquez, as well as another american missionary and his Peruano companion.

Traffic is crazy, like nobody obeys the rules, so there are always people in the street, so that's fun. The living conditions are very different, usually only one or two rooms in a house, and if you live in a building in the city, you share the building with 3 or 4 families. Teaching is going well, but although my Spanish is getting better, people here talk so fast, and there are a million different accents, so it's difficult to understand a lot of people. It doesn't help when we teach right next to a street with a lot of really loud motorcycles, or the family has like 18 dogs. It can get pretty loud! I feel much better now though, both physically and about Spanish.

The dogs bother me when I knock on their doors, but other than that, not really. I think it's interesting to think that if I have faith that I am a representative of Jesus Christ, who created all the creatures, things of nature won't harm me if it's not God's will, and if they do, there must be a higher purpose. I am learning a lot about faith, and right now I need to teach the people here. If there is somebody I need to teach in a hospital, then I might be bitten or attacked or something, but it's all in the hands of the Lord! It makes my life easier than worrying about it!

I'll take a picture this week of the fruit market!

This week I've been working on exact obedience, and it's harder than you would expect. It involves keeping track of your time, and getting up on time as well! It's also difficult because I think the culture here is not very punctual. But we need to accomplish this work with faith, and faith is a principle of action. We cannot acquire faith without obedience, and exact obedience should in theory bring perfect faith. Faith is really the operative principle of the universe, and since I read Jesus the Christ, I know that faith is what I need in order to be an effective representative of him. I am trying to do what he and his apostles did, because that is my calling. It's crazy to think that I am called to represent Jesus Christ, as if He were here, but that's it! I have a lot to work on!

In my personal study last week, I found a great parable in the Book of Mormon. In 1st Nephi, when they are building the boat, a lot of the language used is similar to the language used to describe missionary work. In particular, an interesting part is where it says that Laman and Lemuel were desirous not to labor. They were guilty of not wanting to work, and look how they ended up! The comparison is striking.

This week my pensionista gave me some ginger root, and I made a herbal ginger drink with some honey, and the pictures are attached. I am also trying to figure out what I can do with a microwave, since the pan we use with our hot plate is not fun at all to use, so this morning I tried french toast. I'll keep working on it, and show you guys when it's perfected.

I love you all!

P.S You have to bring your own toilet paper everywhere, so they put portable rolls in the middle of the normal rolls of toilet paper! super ingenious!