How's it going everyone? A lot has happened in these last 3 weeks. First, I got transferred to Puno...again. I started my mission in Puno and now I'm back, but my new sector is way better than my first one. Puno is cold and high altitude and people don't want to listen to you. Nobody wants to go to Puno, but to me it's not that bad. We have Lake Titicaca and there are some cool members.
The work here is pretty good for us because the members haven't liked the missionaries in the 2 wards I'm in charge of for like 6 months, so they wouldn't give them any references. When we got here, they dumped a bunch of people on us that want to get baptized that the missionaries didn't even know about haha.
I was calling people that old missionaries were teaching, and this old guy said we can come visit him, and it was a horrible visit. He talked about ancient civilizations for about 5 minutes and we kept trying to cut him off, but he wouldn't let us speak. Then we finally shared our message and invited him to be baptized, and he told us that he needs to "love the trees like they were his children" and "feel the earth more profoundly" before he can do that. Then later he told us he'd rather go to hell than get baptized because God said that the hidden tribes of Israel will be blessed, and people in Israel kill people and he doesn't think that God would bless murderers. We tried to explain that the tribes of Israel isn't actually the physical place of Israel, but he wouldn't accept that. So, I guess even when he becomes one with the earth and loves the trees, he won't get baptized anymore.
There was an old guy that was carrying 2 propane tanks, and we offered to help him and he started tweaking and...praying? Like he started having a conversation with the sky in Quechua, then he kissed our hands and bought us some fruit from a cactus and wouldn't let us help him because he's very Peruvian and Peruvians are strong.
When we first got here a member called us and said that there was a baptism planned that the other missionaries didn't know about, so we did his interview and he passed, so he got baptized. It was the weirdest baptism ever because the first time we saw the guy in person was at the baptism haha. Then we saw the member on the street, and he was dressed as a clown, so I guess he's a party clown for his job haha.
We knocked a door a few days ago and we could hear a dog on the inside growling. Then we knocked it again and the dog ran at full speed and ran into the metal door super hard, like I'm convinced it broke some bones because of how loud the crash was haha. I'm glad the owners didn't answer because the dog sounded very big and very angry and probably has rabies.
We visited a convert from a few months back and he told us he only got baptized because it's something you should do, and he's not a member of the church because he wants to keep drinking coffee and alcohol and doesn't believe that Joseph Smith is a prophet. I have no idea how he passed his interview haha. Whoever the missionaries were at that time should not have let that slide haha.
There was one day where it started raining, and when it rains in Puno the streets empty and nobody answers their door, not even the members. So we got super wet and super cold and nothing happened with the work, but me and my comp had a good attitude about it, so it was still fun.
We met another tweaker while we were talking to a lady on the street. He said, "i need help...where's god?" I told him in heaven, and he said, "if he's in heaven why can't I look up and see him?" I told him that's not how it works, we can't see heaven. Then he told me that he sees God every day and that he could see God right then standing next to my companion. We just invited him to church, and he told us that I wouldn't let him in last time he tried because he's Catholic. It was a super weird conversation haha.
I went on exchanges with elder Greifo. He's from Peru. A guy came up to us and said that he's a member but he hasn't gone to church in 20 years and he had a shot glass and a bottle of whiskey in his hands. He knew English pretty well and he was speaking Spanish to elder Greifo and English to me. Then he got confused and started speaking Spanish to me and English to elder Greifo. Then he said I was a good boy and that elder Greifo is ok. He told me I was so smart for knowing Spanish and asked elder Greifo if he knew English, and he said no. The guy told me that people in the United States are way smarter cause they can learn Spanish and Peruvians aren't smart enough to learn English. It was super awkward cause he was just hating on Elder Greifo and his whole country to me haha. Then he went on a rant about how Trump is the best, which was weird because most people hate Trump in Peru. He then took a shot of whiskey and started crying, saying that he loves people from the United States and that his life sucks.
That same day we were making a bunch of sandwiches for an activity and a couple women came in and they saw me. They said, "new elder" then one of them hugged me from behind without warning. It was super weird and I'm glad none of the members saw. But now all the Elders in my district keep asking about my "snake."
We had a family home evening and the guy said we were reading Psalms from the Bible. But then he said that whoever wrote Psalms wrote them as songs, so he told us that we had to sing the verses out loud, then he got on the piano, played a chord and asked who was going first. Needless to say, that was the worst experience of my entire mission and I don't think it will get topped any time soon haha.
Sorry this email was a little long but hopefully it wasn't too boring. Love you all.
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