Staying in Pisco

Hey Mom and Dad,
Guess what? I'm still in Pisco. President Manning said I get to be a trainer, which means I'll be having a newbie for a companion, and I'll basically be showing him the ropes on how to do missionary work. This means I'll be in Pisco until around July or August... I'll complete 1 year here in Pisco! He arrives Wednesday, and my companion Elder Souza got another exchange, and he was sad to return to Lima and leave me, and Jaime and his family. He actually broke into tears, and that was something that surprised me. In the mean time I'll be staying with another Elder from my same district until Wednesday comes by.
I did get the package and the cupcakes are already finished. Also a cool Halo 3 t-shirt that Anthony sent. It's way cool. About the cupcakes... my companion and Jaime's family gobbled them up pretty quickly; and how awesome it is to finally have music to listen to, even if it is Christmas music (with The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?) and Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
Well, you asked me for what to include in the next package here is the list : some more "gold toe" dress socks, flour tortillas, and the CDs I requested earlier. (Echoes of War and Diablo 2 and classical music)


Yes, the food is good here in Peru, but when you don't have any variety like in the States, it kind of gets old. But that's alright, the food is good. You should try Causa. That stuff is good. You don't know how much I miss the Quik Wok, Mom's and Abuelita Chole's Mexican food, and Rocky's, and italian food. Now I realize it really was a blessing to be able to choose wherever you want to go eat, because where I'm at, it's practically the same everywhere. Pollo, papas, arroz, ceviche, bistek, sopa, tallarin, etc.

There is one supposedly mexican restaurant nearby where I live, but it's not even close. It's still good though. Our 3 baptisms that we had programmed this weekend fell through. There's no hope lost, though. The 3 teenage boys still want to be baptized and their parents approve, it's just they want to postpone the date so their family can be together for their baptism.


Well my time is running out, and I have to be closing this letter and I'm sorry I haven't sent letters to my grandparents sooner. I've been busy, and have had literally no time. I should have time these next two days, and I'll definitely get to it. Tell everyone, especially my family, that I said hello and to keeping praying for me. I'm glad your school is growing and that things are prospering. I'll talk to you two next week, and I love you both mucho.


Elder Emiliano León

Food & Baptism

Hey Mom and Dad,

Great to hear that you two actually tried some sushi to eat, and now you know why I love it so much. Speaking of food, I do have a list of favorite foods. Number one would have to be "tallarín rojo con pollo y papa huancaína." It's basically spaghetti with chicken in this red spicy sauce with potatoes covered in this yellow sauce of goodness. They have the same thing but with green sauce, but I prefer the red tallarín. Next would have to be "pollo a la brasa" which is basically chicken cooked over fire in rotary served with french fries. It's good stuff, but the ketchup here has more of a sweet taste than in the states. People eat so much chicken here it's not even funny. My companion tells me that in Iquitos where the jungle is at they eat the crazy stuff like turtles, paranas, monkies (the smaller monkies), fruits I never even knew existed, and a bunch of fish.

The only out of the ordinary stuff I've eaten is ceviche, which is basically raw fish cooked with lemon and spices. There are many different types of ceviche because you can eat ceviche de pescado, mariscos, pulpo, etc. I've eaten the muscles, the fish, and even octopus which is actually very chewey. It was kind of unsettling at first because when I forked a piece of octopus, you could see the tentacle suction cups. I've also eaten crab and crab soup. That stuff is delicious, but I needed help breaking open their shell, but one of the members of the church told me "just use your teeth, like this," and then he broke open their claws with his molars. Crazy.

Well our baptism was a success, and I got to perform it. Her name is Lady Martinez who is 15 years old. She wanted to throw herself in the water really quickly so I just let her drop. Water splashed, but it was success. My companion and I accidentally flooded the stake center because we left the water switch on, and we thought that it would automatically turn off because in Lima that's what happens, but we were wrong. So for 4 hours my companion and I desperately swept the water out of the doors and mopped the floors with our bare feet. Luckily nobody could tell that the stake center was flooded just hours before the baptism was held, but the only bad thing is that the stake president's office was flooded with water. If I had the keys we would have cleaned his office, but we didn't. We didn't say a thing, so I think we're fine because he wasn't mad at all, just a bit puzzled.

Well my time is up so I need to wrap up this email. That's really cool that Romney signed a book for Dad in La Jolla. It's always in La Jolla. I'll be sure to write that letter to Abuelita, but please send me Abuelito Hector's address too because I don't have it. Take care you two, and I will talk to you later. Love you both, and goodbye.

Elder Emiliano Leon

Fall Coming to Pisco

Hello Mom and Dad,

So Jeff Bridges won an Oscar? That makes me laugh since he was the villain on Iron Man. That's too bad that Steve Burke moved, but it makes sense since Blizzard is located in Irvine. Much easier to travel to work. Did you happen to get his email address? I'd like to get a hold of him. I heard Blizzard was going to start internships with the Art Institute of San Diego, you should look up on that. I'm still here in Pisco, which means I started my forth exchange in the same place. I have the same companion from Iquitos, who is Elder Souza. We get along just fine, and nothing major has happened between the two of us. Things are finally starting to pick up as far as missionary work. We found 5 people who are almost golden. Thanks to the members of our ward, they're helping us out establish friendships. I now realize how important it is when a member accompanies the missionaries, and it makes me feel like "Aw man, I wish I would have accompanied them more."

Now church email is powered by Google, which means it's faster and I get more space to receive emails. So Elder Perry is coming to Vista? I'm pretty sure that the Bobier building is going to be flooded, including the missionaries. I've only been in the presence of one apostle, which D. Todd Christofferson. I didn't even get to shake his hand, but that's alright. My new camera is pretty cool, and my companion is taking photos like crazy. That reminds me, I haven't sent you photos since the beginning of November. I'll see if I can put together another CD with photos to send to you two.

It makes me happy to hear that everything is going well for you two and the family back home. If you can, include some interesting snippets from the newspaper in the package. Tell me, have you two noticed any blessings that have come since I left for the mission? And how's the Quikwok? I miss the chinese food and Roberto's. Elder Martinez is from California, and he has an In N Out t-shirt, and it makes me yearn for a double double every time I see that shirt.

Well my time is about up, and I'll talk to you two next week. Thank you so much for sending the package, and don't forget corn tortillas! The other missionaries, especially the latinos, love the stickers you put on the boxes. The favorite is the virgencita al costado de Moroni. Be sure to tell the family I love them and that I miss them too. I can't believe I'll have about 9 months completed. Wow. Anyway, love you both and take care.

Elder Emiliano Leon

Survived the Earthquake

Hello Mom and Dad,

No need to worry about the earthquake in Chile, I didn't feel any tremors and everything is going just fine. No I didn't get the sheet music from the hymnbook of Kolob. Thanks for the packages though, I really enjoyed them. I ended up sharing the cupcakes with the entire zone of Pisco, and already ate all of the poptarts. Just be sure to only send one package at a time. Any requests? Corn tortillas, and more cupcakes. That's all.

So L.T. left the chargers? Well, now I'm really worried because what are we gonna do now without L.T.? Oh well, we'll find someone else to help better the team. That's crazy that Brian and Trent already have 6 months left, and I barely have 8 months. Time flies by quickly. I heard the Oscars are going to be this Sunday, and I also heard that a Peruvian movie made it to the nominees. I forgot the name but it talks about the terrorism that was in Ayacucho.Fun fact, Ayacucho is in my mission. Next week please tell me which movies won which awards. I'm eager to know because Up was also nominated.

Well I checked my debit card to see how much money is in my account, but it tells me I only have about 900 dollars. I remember you telling me that I should have about 1400, but my machine tells me I don't. How odd. Anyway, I have about 2,500 nuevo soles with the money that's in my card right now. I just wanted to let you know that I'm planning on buying a new camera since the one I have isn't working that good anymore. The cameras cost about 600 soles, which is about 250 dollars. I'm letting you know in advance so that you both won't get worried when I pull out that big chunk of money.

Well other than that I'm doing just fine. Just need the sheet music, corn tortillas, music CDs, and more cupcakes in the package. If you can't send it all in one package, then separate them BUT send both at different times. Thanks for always keeping me updated on what's going on back home, and giving me support. It really comes in handy. Well my time is almost up and I must close this message.

Emiliano

Hot in Pisco

Hey Mom and Dad,

Glad to hear from you all, and I'm just letting you know that my new companion is Elder Souza, who is from Iquitos, Peru. That's in the jungle, and it's funny that he likes Guns n Roses and that his favorite song is Welcome to the Jungle. He doesn't speak English, but it's funny to hear him immitate what they sing in English, and he likes it a lot.

Haven't gotten my 2 packages yet, but that's normal. The office is usually 2 weeks to a month late with packages. So the Saints won the Super Bowl and I missed out on The Who playing at half time? Well there's always next time. Metallica passed by here in Lima for a concert and it was all over the news. There are floods going on in Cusco from the rain in the mountains, and more floods in Lima. It hasn't rained at all here in Pisco. It just gets hotter and hotter. Since it's February over here, people celebrate Carnaval on Sundays where they toss water at people. We haven't gotten hit yet, but I'm sure Jaime (the man of the house) is waiting for an opportunity to drench us.

Well everything is going fine here in Pisco, and my companion loves to WALK. Not just walk, but walk very fast, and work hard. It's a complete change from my previous companion who was a bit laid back. By the way, I'm glad you started volunteering, Mom. How's the relief society in Oceanside? Have you talked to Sharon Garcia lately? I remember you telling me that you used to talk to her a lot when she was the Primary teacher. Anyway I hope you two are doing well, and that SDNH progresses. I miss eating at Roberto's and In n Out. They have Papa John's, Dominos, and all the big food chains in Lima, but not in Pisco.

Have you hear any news about the missionaries and Abuelito Hector? I'll have to thank Elder Zant for being able to get into his home. Well my time is closing, so I will talk to you later on. Take care and I love you both.

Elder Emiliano León

Hot in Pisco

Hey Mom and Dad,

Glad to hear from you all, and I'm just letting you know that my new companion is Elder Souza, who is from Iquitos, Peru. That's in the jungle, and it's funny that he likes Guns n Roses and that his favorite song is Welcome to the Jungle. He doesn't speak English, but it's funny to hear him immitate what they sing in English, and he likes it a lot.

Haven't gotten my 2 packages yet, but that's normal. The office is usually 2 weeks to a month late with packages. So the Saints won the Super Bowl and I missed out on The Who playing at half time? Well there's always next time. Metallica passed by here in Lima for a concert and it was all over the news. There are floods going on in Cusco from the rain in the mountains, and more floods in Lima. It hasn't rained at all here in Pisco. It just gets hotter and hotter. Since it's February over here, people celebrate Carnaval on Sundays where they toss water at people. We haven't gotten hit yet, but I'm sure Jaime (the man of the house) is waiting for an opportunity to drench us.

Well everything is going fine here in Pisco, and my companion loves to WALK. Not just walk, but walk very fast, and work hard. It's a complete change from my previous companion who was a bit laid back. By the way, I'm glad you started volunteering, Mom. How's the relief society in Oceanside? Have you talked to Sharon Garcia lately? I remember you telling me that you used to talk to her a lot when she was the Primary teacher. Anyway I hope you two are doing well, and that SDNH progresses. I miss eating at Roberto's and In n Out. They have Papa John's, Dominos, and all the big food chains in Lima, but not in Pisco.

Have you hear any news about the missionaries and Abuelito Hector? I'll have to thank Elder Zant for being able to get into his home. Well my time is closing, so I will talk to you later on. Take care and I love you both.

Elder Emiliano León

Happy New Year 2010 in Pisco, Peru

Well it's good to hear from you two, as always. I got the package and all of the Spam is gone, and we ate 1 pack of flour tortillas. We still haven't bought any milk to eat cereal, but we can buy some today. Still have beef jerky and the beans, but I don't know how long they'll last.

New Years was pretty cool. Elder Dominguez and I sewed up a life sized doll with clothes. Here in Peru the people make dolls to burn them at midnight, so logically we did the same. I printed a photo of Jaime, our pensionista's husband, and taped it onto the head of the doll. His family got a good laugh watching his twin dummy burn in flames. We also bought fireworks and lit them up at midnight, and everyone else in Pisco did the same, so all you could hear was a barrage of explosions and see smoke rising into the night sky from the burning dummies. I got a small burn on my arm thanks to my companion, but it has healed.

As for the next package, I don't need the Preach My Gospel stickers. I have the book and it alread has space to write notes. The Book of Mormon, D&C, and Pearl of Great Price is good. But do they have the stickers for the Bible? Try to find those, but if you can't, it's fine. Did you happen to get the chicharrones? I don't remember what, but you told me something about them on Christmas.

The Nelsons are moving out of the ward too? Aw man, I'm going to miss his antics. I enjoyed home teaching him. What about Steve Burke? Is he still around? I heard that he was thinking about moving to Irvine because that's where Blizzard is located. That campus is huge, by the way, you should check out their website, last I heard they were gonna do internships and that it would be easier for him to go to work. What about McPhereson? I don't remember how to spell his name, but is he still around working for Sony Computer Entertainment? Well it's good to hear everyone is doing fine in the ward. I'm out of time, so I'll talk to you all next week. Love you all and take care.

Elder Emiliano Leon