#4 Avocado

My kingdom and stash of Peruvian candy to the first person to email me and identify the reference in my subject line. Tick tock.

So I am officially an advancado, or avocado as the Norte Americanos like to call it. And this means that I have only 2 weeks left here at my beloved CCM. It´s been weird seeing all the others leave and now I´m one of the old geezers here. But its also fun! I love it when new people come into the CCM. They all look like freshmen in high school and I just want them to be my little sisters.

So yeah 2 weeks unto I´m officially out and about roaming the calles of Cusco! And I could not be more excited! Last Saturday we had the opportunity to go out proselyting for 4ish hours with Missionaries serving in the Lima south mission. I got to help teach (AKA bear my testimony because I couldn´t understand what was going on so I hoped for the best) a couple lessons and then do street contacting. It was basically exactly what I expected. Which is a good thing. The people of Peru are so ready to learn the gospel, I can just tell. So I´m excited to start making that happen. My Spanish is... Mas o menos (refer to last letter). Some days its really good, some days its really not. Yesterday I read a sentence to Elder Wilde for a class activity and I read it so fast with such an amazing accent (my teachers words not mine) that he couldn´t understand me so that was fun. But I´m still trying. My main problem is that I have the hearing of a 97 year old man and people in Peru talk really quietly and don´t move their lips and are really short so I have to press my ear against their faces to make sense of their words. It´s a little awkward but you do what you gotta do right?

 I´m trying to think of some really profound thing to share, but I don´t really have it. This week was kinda just the same as all the others. I´ll just say that I´m really happy I´m on a mission and I´m really grateful for the gospel. I know its true as I see myself and all the other missionaries around me grow. I have grown so much in these past 4 weeks I don't see how I could possibly grow more. But I know that god´s gotta plan for me and for the people of Cusco. And I´m going ot do whatever I can to make sure that plan happens. The Church is true.

Oh I remember what I wanted to say that's all profound (ha not really). Well this week is Fathers Day right? And I was just thinking this morning that it's the first Fathers Day I haven't been with my dad. Which is kinda sad. But it´s ok because I´m always with my Heavenly Father.  My favorite things to teach are the first and last principles of the first lesson. They are God is our loving Heavenly Father and how to pray. I love to explain that when we pray, we are literally talking to our father and he wants us to talk to him like he's our father. I always tell my "investigators" (they´re just my teachers pretending) to pray like they talk to their dads. And then I realized that that isn´t really how I pray. So I tried it out and now I just have the best time every praying! Because I actually have a conversation with my father now. It´s amazing and it´s like I have my dad with me here right now.
I love that Mormon message about fathers. You should all watch it. But then at the end it says some quote l ine"Of all the names for deity, he has asked us to refer to him as 'Father'" And it just makes me so happy. God is our loving heavenly father. I know he loves me. And I love him.

Well how was that for a spiritual thought?

That's all I got this week folks. I'll send some pictures and such. Hope everyone is doing grood. I mean great. Great and good. Love you all!

Both Advancado Districts sprinkled with a couple intermedios. Loooove these girls!

This is a Quechuan Book of Mormon! The speak Quechuan in Cusco and I am determinded to learn it. 

and these are the words inside... Little intimidating, but totally gonna do it.

 And this is a sketch bus ride. I realize you can´t even see how many people are packed in there, but we´re packed to the brim. (Is that an expression...?)