Christmas Coming

I can't believe that nearly 6 months have passed by since I started the mission. Over here in Pisco it has been difficult finding people to teach, contrary to what other missionaries have said being easy. I'm assuming the Lord wants me to learn something, but I haven't discovered what it is yet. Aside from that, I'm enjoying the mission, despite the very few occasions when he have found and taught the gospel to someone. The funny thing is that my desire to share the message of the restoration has increased, and I regret the fact that I didn't talk about it with my friends back home, because now I have this urge to tell them and my family. It's great to hear that you're a temple worker, dad. I never would have imagined my own father would be one, but that's really cool.

About Christmas... Here's how it goes. I asked the other Elders and they told me all we do is just buy an international telephone card, and then we just follow the directions on the card to call home. The time limit I hear is 45 minutes for us missionaries, but my companion has called his parents for 3 hours last Christmas. If you you're going to buy unlimited minutes for December (assuming it includes international) I could just have you call me back in Peru so we can talk for an hour or so. The only thing is, we have an exchange the 21st of December, and I don't know if I'll be staying in Pisco or going somewhere else. If you prefer to call my pension where we'll be staying, or have me call you, let me know.

I sent a CD with photos of Mala to your PO Box, and it should arrive around the 20th of December. You can say that'll be my Christmas gift to you two so you can see more of my adventures. Thanks for filling me in on what has happened. I look forward to calling you on Christmas, and your prayers for me are appreciated by leaps and bounds. There are tons of ruins and destruction over here, not to mention dust in the wind every day. I love you all, and tell everyone in the ward that I miss them.

Elder Emiliano Leon

Pisco Zone

I have good news for you. I received the ATM card today from FedEx. I'm amazed at how fast it arrived... exactly one week from the day you sent it. Thanks for the help with the card, because now I can breathe easy when we fall short on money. I can't believe that nearly a month has already passed and we're going into December. The funny thing is, the tortillas are still edible, but I don't know for how much longer. I still have one box of cereal, the peanut butter and the jelly. The cookies made it but in crumbles. It didn't matter anyway because they were all gone in 3 days.

I owe my companion Elder Dominguez about 50 Nuevo Soles, and I plan on paying that debt today since I got my card. We had a baptism yesterday at the last minute before the Sacrament Meeting. His name is Jaime Chacaliaza, a man around 40 years of age, and on Thursday he said he wasn't too enthusiastic about being baptized because he was supposedly going to Lima. However, on Saturday night he suddenly changed his mind; so my companion and I had to do the interview Saturday night, and perform the baptism on Sunday morning 30 minutes before church started all in a breeze. Generally the baptisms are done on Saturdays, and the confirmation on Sundays, but we had a crazy change of plans, and I got to baptize Jaime... 3 times. He had difficulty submerging himself under the water (or maybe I'm not strong enough) but we managed. I felt a bit embarrassed since it was my first time baptizing someone. I guess practice makes perfect assuming the person you're baptizing isn't heavier than you by a lot.

Our zone has about 18 baptisms for this month, which surprised me. I'm still getting used to the heat in Pisco since I haven't walked this much in my life. Here in Peru the people eat these cakes with candies inside during Christmas. They're called paneton, and all of the Elders in my zone love them. I've tasted one, but I didn't like it that much. That's all I got for these few weeks in Pisco. Now that I have money I'll be able to send the CD with more photos. Tell my family that I miss them, and our friends in Oceanside 3rd Ward that I miss them too and that the emails from the bishopric were greatly appreciated. Can't wait to talk to y'all in Christmas. Love you all, and take care.