Wards Pisco Playa & Pisco Pueblo

Hey Mom and Dad,

Yes I finally got my package. Had to pay 22 Nuevo Soles, but it worked out. Apparently if the package weighs to much or contains items of value, some other company detains it or checks it, and then slaps on a price. That's what the office told me, anyway. I haven't opened it yet, but it's right here next to me.

Well I'm glad to hear that the family is doing fine. Oil spill in the gulf ? Didn't hear anything about that. Obama having concerts during a crisis ? That's incredible. I did read something about contamination and Obama and water in the newspaper in Pisco, but it was only a glance. I figured that's what it was.

Anyway, I've been really busy in Pisco. I don't know if I told you two, but my companion and I are in charge of two wards. Pisco Playa and Pisco Pueblo. Our area is huge. The size is like the beachfront in Oceanside to Sprinter station on El Camino Real. The bad thing is Pisco Pueblo está mejorando, mientras Pisco Playa está bajando en progresso. Members in Playa are inactive, and my companion and I are going to have to start the reactivation process soon, but I believe it's for the better.

I'm probably going to buy a small radio and USB, so don't be surprised if there's a sudden drop in the card. Thanks for sending me the package, though. Getting a package is like receiving pie, it's so good. I can't believe that I will be completing 1 year in Pisco in 4 days. Time flies by, and well my time is running out so I better cut this letter short. I really enjoy the missionary work. At some times it's frustrating and stressful, but it's all worth it when you bring people to Christ. President Manning said there's a light in their eyes, and I think I'm starting to understand what he meant. Well I better get going. Thanks for the package, and tell everyone in Oceanside 3rd ward I said hello. Love you both.

Elder Emiliano Leon

Pisco and Baptisms

All is well over here in Pisco. That's great that you all got to see each other in San Antonio. I'm jealous because I didn't get to eat Rudy's nor Taco Tote. I got nothing close to Mexican food here in Pisco, and I miss it so much. The closest thing I have to authentic Mexican food are the corn tortillas I have in the fridge, and the can of beans. A Pizza run sounds excellent. We should have one when I return home, and go visit Santa Fe.
 
Tell Omar I said congratulations on finishing medical school, and that he's finally a doctor of medicine. He achieved a feat of strength ! Also tell Jaime Jr, tio Jaime,and tia Laura and Hugo that I said hello. If I get sick over here in Peru, I think I might pass a call to his office. I haven't gotten seriously ill lately. The worst I've had was a fever and sinus infection, but tha has passed already.
 
Well the weather in Pisco is starting to cool down with cloudy skies. Yesterday the Paracas winds picked up pretty strongly and blew dust all over the place. Oh, and there was a 6.3 earthquake in Ayacucho, and my companion and I felt the small aftershock yesterday. Strongest earthquake I've experienced so far, because I could feel the ground shifting side to side. It was similar to when standing up inside of a bus, and the driver accelerates and then puts the brakes. Anyway I'm alive and well, and the mission is going well. We have 3 baptisms planned this Saturday, and I'm praying ferverently that it will all go well.  

My companion and I had two baptisms this weekend, and I can't believe it's already June. Time flies by insanely fast. I see you guys uploaded my photos from Pisco, but the weird thing is I have a lot more than the ones put on the missionsite. Did the CD arrive messed up, or did you only select a few good ones? I'm happy to hear that Omar graduated and that the family got together to see him. I can't believe he grew out a beard. Does he think he can copy my style? I guess beards are in... and that's because I started that trend. And Jaime Jr lost a bunch of weight! Last time I saw him he was about Hugo's size. So much time has passed by, it's hard to believe that my cousins are all grown up and starting the long bumpy road called life. Pretty soon I'll be on that same road too when I get back.
 
I don't know if my package has arrived yet, but I'll call the mission office and check. Oh, by the way, did you happen to get Cousin Tony's email? Or Alicia's email? I've been wanting to get a hold of them, but Tony's email got deleted somehow, and Alicia I don't remember. Tell Tony I said hello that I hope he gets better.  
The mission is going smoothly, and requires a heap of work. The baptisms we had were two boys at age 16, Paolo, and the other at 13, Yair. Their mother is an inactive member since... long ago. Their father isn't a member, but he's a Danish Argentinian who speaks English and is working for gas pipes in Mexico. The brothers love to argue and make trouble, but they're good kids. I'll send a photo when I get the chance. We almost had a pack of crazy dogs attack us until I pegged one with a rock, and the neighbor yelled at me for being an animal abuser. It wasn't even her dog. That's the thing about Pisco is that there are dogs everywhere. Stray dogs and domestic.
 
Well my time is about up, and I have to close this session. Thanks for keeping in touch and uploading the photos with Omar and Tio Jaime and Charlie. It was cool seeing a glimpse of what has happened back home. Take care and stay safe. I love you both and I'll talk to you next week like always.
 
Elder Emiliano Leon




Paracas National Reserve

Hello Mom and Dad,

Sorry for the late reply, but I'm feeling a lot better now, and my cold went away. Nowadays in Pisco there are these strong gusty winds called Paracas that come in and reap the city with dust. Well, I'm used to it now thank goodness. Today our zone went to the National Reserve of Paracas, but because I've been here the longest, it was my fourth time visiting the place. The cool thing about today is that we passed by new locations, including the Candelabro, which is that giant carving of the "Tree of Life" that you guys mentioned to me. Apparently most people go to see it from a boat, which is something we can't do. However, one of the church members takes people to Paracas in his van as his job, and he used to take the missionaries to Paracas and knew a secret passageway into the peninsula. Cool thing about being an Elder is that you somehow get these insane connections with people because they love you. Anyway he told me that he used to go into Paracas all the time when he was a kid, so he knew about the pathway that hardly anyone goes through. It was pretty sweet.

Life is going smoothly here in Pisco, as usual. By the way the mission pays and is supposed to supply us with a new showerhead that heats water. If I don't get a new one I'll go and buy one. Winter is approaching, and cold showers on the roof with no doors, with only one curtain, and at 6:30 in the morning is not the most convenient of things to do. My companion Elder Tani is doing well, and I'm still training him and showing him the ropes. He has improved, and continues to do so. Jaime and his family were happy too to talk to you two on Mother's Day, and they say hello to you guys too. Anyway, thank you Mom and Dad for sending me another package. Well it's getting late and I need to close this email soon. Love you both and take care as always. I'll write those letters for my grandparents, and until next week, I'll see you later.

Elder Emiliano Leon

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