November 24, 2014 ~ Week 21

Searching for the golden investigators at the beach.

November 24, 2014 ~ Week 21

¡Las aventuras de Elder McCook y Elder Atencio este semana!

Allow me to start this email with a focus on what happened yesterday (Sunday the 23^rd).  It all started at 7am, I was the first person to shower.  I haven’t talked much about our bathroom, but it is very, very small, only big enough to have a sink, toilet and shower.

To have hot water in the shower I would have to turn on the light, turn on another switch that heats the water in the shower head, then turn on the shower by turning the knob to release the cold water, then adjust the knob to have hot water with little to no pressure.

As I was showering I heard an explosion right above my head, my first thought was that it was an electrical problem and I was about to be toasted to death. As I took one big leap to the closed door I looked back at the shower head and it was on fire!  I wanted hot water, but certainly not the fire.

As of right now we have cold water... very cold water to shower.  I asked my comp if this has ever happened to him before in his 20 months in the mission field.  He said that it has never happened and I have bad luck, then he called me Kolipoki (if you don’t get that joke read my blog letter from the week before).

After a great 3 hours of church and seeing some of our investigators and less actives at church.  We returned back to our pentionista’s home for lunch.  She was out of town in Arequipa, luckily there were hamburger patties in the freezer so we ate that with rice of course, but before eating that bomb lunch, my companion was in the kitchen cooking when I noticed a chicken hiding in the bushes.  I simply did what anyone else would do in Peru, I threw a rock at this chicken and it ran away, and revealed to me 6 eggs!  Elder Atencio told me to bring 5 and leave 1.  I did as he told me and I noticed one of the eggs was already cracked and broken, and had a ugly smell to it.  He told me I could go and smash this stinky egg on the floor, but a little ways away to avoid the stench that would arrive soon after.  So as I gave him the 4 eggs and took the cracked egg to go smash it on the ground.  I’m not sure what I was thinking before; I was expecting to see egg yolk or whatever.  But as I smashed it on the ground, there was just red.  Red blood and a little chicken, I felt terrible.  But it was already dead so what could I do?

I asked my companion what he is going to do with the other eggs.  He said put them in the fridge, but then I told him about the little chickens inside the eggs, so we went back to the nest only to discover the mother hen in her home.  It took a while to get her out, but we put the 4 eggs back and now everything is okay.

This is just two events that happened this week, and its days like that when you just got to say "Elder McCook, you are in Peru now"

¡Chao!

Elder McCook

Words of the week: mi ducha exploto - my shower exploded 

November 17, 2014 Picture ~ service project at the Romero home

Service project at the house of la familia Romero!

November 17, 2014 ~ Week 20

I love being a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!

Service project at the house of la familia Romero!

So me and Elder Atencio have been working with the familia Romero and this past Saturday we had a service project at their house!  The whole la familia Camana(The Camana Zone) was present and we did 3 hardcore hours of shoveling dirt!  It was hot and the mosquitoes were on the attack but it was so worth it to see them at church the next day!  It was nice to sit with Piter Romero during the classes and help answer his questions.  He also told me a little more about his hand which was nearly cut off. 

He told me that the back of his palm was touching his forearm and it was just dangling by the skin.  Now about 3 weeks after that incident it is a miracle that he has feelings in his fingers and he can barely move them, absolutely incredible!!  He told me that he will go back to Arequipa in 3 weeks for more surgery, at least that’s what the doctor told him.

If you have not seen the movie "The Other Side of Heaven", I recommend it.  We watched it at our branch president’s house after eating guinea pig.  It is about this missionary who goes on a mission to the Togan islands (I think) or somewhere like that.  During his mission his feet are chewed up by rats, no one can pronounce his last name so they call him Kolipoki, and he has a difficult time speaking the language.

It led me to think, and my Chileano companion agreed, that I am the Kolipoki of the mission Arequipa, Peru.

1)       No one can pronounce my name correctly, so I have recently adopted the nickname of Elder Ma Cool people know me as this name and I love being called Elder Ma Cool. Others call me McDonalds, but I like Ma Cool better.

      2)      In this movie Kolipoki was sleeping during the night and as he woke up his feet were bloody, as his companion told him the rats did it, Kolipoki’s excuse was that during the night it was hot and that is why he did not use a blanket.  I have also used the same excuse and a result when I woke up I had mosquito bites, I counted 57 today!

      3)      Of course the language… Spanish is not easy and it is not hard, but the way to know the language is to follow the inspired study programs that have been given to us.

I love the mission, and I love the church, and I love life!

Chao

Elder McCook

Words of the week: ¿ Elder Ma Cool - (Elder McCook) ?

November 10, 2014 ~ Week 19

This week in the Mission Arequipa, Peru!  

Elder Atencio and I were able to see la familia Romero!  We have been calling on them once a week, wishing them health, because  Piter Romero has been in the Arequipa hospital. 

On Tuesday morning, as Elder Atencio and I were walking to our pentionista’s house we were able to cross paths with Francisca Romero, wow what a miracle, we had no idea that they were back in town, we were quickly able to talk to her and she agreed that we could visit her and her family later that same day.

So later that day we knocked on the door of the Romero house, Piter answered the door and I was sad to see his entire left arm in a cast.  As we sat and talked he told us that he was in an accident at his construction job and that his left hand was barely hanging on.  Wow that sent goose bumps down my spine.  That was hard to hear, however he wanted us to teach him, we taught about the plan of happiness.  Piter was very excited when we mentioned temples and the sacred ordinances that happen inside, that he can be married for eternity to his wife.  He wanted that, but first we told him that he needs to be married to the law of the land first.

He said that was his goal.  His 3 goals that he wants to accomplish with his family:

1) to be married

2) to be baptized

3) to be married in the temple for eternity.

It was incredible for him to tell us that he wants to be married in December. The Romero family are in my prayers, and that one day they can accomplish all 3 of their goals.

I love this Church and that God has provided a way that we can live with our loved ones forever and ever.

Chao

Elder McCook

Word of the week - Tres Metas (Three Goals)

November 3, 2014 ~Pictures Week 18

Conquering the streets of Camana, one selfie at a time

Rafael Flores and I are gonna conquer Camana!

Yo its that one bird from Aladdin, except he was a little to camera shy to talk!

October 27, 2014 ~ Week 17

This week was really great! 

Days seem to go by very fast and the nights are long, simply because at night the weather is very hot because its summer here in Peru.  As I mentioned before mosquitoes are on the attack and since it is hot in the night the door is left open to help vent the room, but it also allows an entrance for mosquitoes and this morning I counted 27 bites! 

Not a day goes by where I don’t love speaking Spanish, the language is so awesome and it is sweet to hear the natives and to just get by with speaking Spanish!

Transfers are next week so I am unsure if I will remain in Camana or be transferred to another city in mission Peru, Arequipa!  I love Camana so much and it is a tender mercy from the Lord that the feeling of Camana is so much like Tucson.  I’m grateful for the work I could do here as well!

I also had the opportunity this past week to baptize one of the people that Elder Atencio and I were teaching!  9 year old Jesus Condorimay!  He has wanted to be baptized for some time now, and his parents finally gave him permission!  It was great to see a change in their heart!  I love my mission and I love speaking Spanish!

Adios till next week!

Elder McCook

Words of the Week: Cambiar de corazón (Change of Heart)