New Area

I live in an amazing apartment that I neglected to take pictures of, but is beautiful! We are on the third story of a gated community, witch doesn't mean as much here as it does back home, but it's still a nice place to live! I do have a Pensionista again and her husband is an English teacher! They have CD's of Simon and Garfunkle, and they read Stephen R. Covey! They are very well off, with an impressive entertainment set up, and a ceiling-mounted fan that rotates to hit all of the chairs in the living room! It's awesome! They are so kind to us and are always so happy!

As to my companions, that wasn't a typo. My original companion, Elder Huaman, is about to go home, so he knows basically everything! He is 23, and was assigned to serve in the South East Mexico Mission, but his visa didn't come through, so he is serving in Lima East. He's from Lima, so he can come back and visit the people in his areas whenever he wants! He's going to go home in a taxi! He also never went to the MTC, because he was already serving when they notified him that he would be unable to enter Mexico permanently. He's super funny, and loves his work and the people here! The transfer happened on Tuesday, and on Tuesday night, we got a call that said we would be finishing the training of an Elder Martinez. So, having just finished my training, I am now training. Elder Huaman leaves on February 8, but that's in the middle of the transfer, so that means I get to finish the training of Elder Martinez all by myself! Elder Martinez is 25, and from Bolivia. He is very humble, and very good at starting conversations with people! He also loves what he is doing, and is constantly asking me for help with his English, which is awesome! In short, this transfer is awesome! 

 
I had a crazy experience here, when all of a sudden, my toe started swelling and peeling, and I had no idea why! I thought it might be fungal, so I was applying the cream I had brought, but it didn't seem to be doing anything! Elder Martinez finally saw it and told my it was because of the moisture! This area is super hot, and there are no concrete jungles, and no mountains, so we just walk a lot in the sun! So, my feet have been sweating profusely, and rubbing against my socks and shoes, and I guess that's what caused it. So I am now going to buy, today, Talco, which I'm pretty sure is talcum powder, which all of the senior missionaries use, and I never understood why, but in retrospect, it's obvious, and I should have asked! It basically dries out your feet all day! So that's going to be great!

So yeah, I'm in a city, and it's very different from San Luis, for example, we live right next to the stake center, which is beautiful and massive, it looks like the Kirtland OH Temple! We live with the Zone Leaders, so 5 missionaries in our apartment, and we take our laundry to our pensionista on Wednesday, and she returns it on Saturday, sorted by type of clothes but not by owner, so we then sort it ourselves by missionary, and yeah!

My Spanish is going great! I can understand almost everything I pay attention to! I can usually express myself without difficulty, and with rather fluid patterns! I am serving with a native Peruano, which is such a blessing, because I can pick up the speech patterns of the Peruanos, instead of Colombian or Bolivian!

The fruit that we bought is basically like a tiny watermelon, and has a ton of seeds! It was not as good as I was expecting! The pictures of the blender and the jar are my homemade peanut butter! It is so good!

I don't have any more time, so I'll tell you about the visit of Elder Cook next week!

Love you all!