Skylar's Letter: Peru Day One!!

Hola Everyone!!  HOLY SMOKES!!!!  I can´t believe everything that has happened since i got on the plane yesterday.  The flights were really good!  I talked to some people and handed out both an english book of mormon and a spanish book of mormon!  It was awesome!  But when i got here it was crazy!  I was so excited when we landed and when i got out of the airport it hit me!  It is so crazy and so awesome here. 

 

We drove through the city for a while to get to the MTC, the city wasn´t as poor as i thought, and there were lots of american fast food places!  But it still had a different look to it.  Most of the cars looked a lot different, and they were all driving like crazy and honking all the time.... Apparently there are no traffic rules here or  something.  But anyway when we got to the MTC it was awesome.  They had to open the gate for us to come in because the entire MTC is surrounded by cement walls and guards!  but don´t worry, its safe!....

 

Now comes the really good stuff:)  I got my companion, and he is a Peruvian native!  So he speaks absolutely no english.  haha so it might be a little difficult, but he is a way nice funny guy!  I have to tell him to slow down when he talks pretty often.  ha poor guy!  But all the natives here are so nice!  Its awesome!!  I am in a room with 3 americans and 3 native´s!  so its pretty crazy, but the language is going to come so fast now!!  I also got my haircut again today!  Yes i did say again:)  Everyone in the MTC here has to have a buzzed head, believe it or not.  So for the first time in my life my head is buzzed!  i look a little goofy, but i actually kind of like it!! ha mom i know you probably don´t like the sound of that but just wait till you see it! 

 

Today i tried the first real peruvian food in my life!  Wow, it was definietly a little different,  I had chicken, rice and beans, and some desert.  Suprisingly it was all way good!  Except i did get this one thing that had egg and who knows what else in it, that was pretty nasty.  oh and the drink i had was some sort of canulope juice..  It tasted crazy..  I am definitely going to have to get used to all of the food! 

 

But the MTC is soooooo awesome!!! It looks like the garden of eden, no joke!  Flowers and green grass everywhere..  Pretty much everything is in spanish... They have a huge turf soccer field, basketball courts, ping pong, fusbol, and some game that i played with the natives today.  it was way fun..  Im really starting to fit in with the natives too.  My companion invited me to sit with him at lunch, and it was me and 10 other natives that spoke no english... That was a good time!  Then we went outside and played that game.. I was jokin around with the natives! haha it was a good time:)  They are all way funny!  Their humor is good!  Me gusta!!  Today is a very chill day.  They are giving us time to relax and do whatever pretty much.. Later today i get 3 hours to play soccer!! how crazy awesome is that!! this mtc is 100 times better than the Provo mtc, and i liked the provo mtc, so you can probably imagine!  I guess we stay pretty busy though, and they basically plan our whole day for us, which is good though... There are only about 125 missionaries at this mtc too, so you get to know people a lot better and it makes for a definite good time! 

 

I am a little concerned about the food though, cause i guess for the first week or two its really suppose to mess you up! haha not again!! The temperature is awesome here! Its in the 60´s, the humidity isnt bad at all either!  The sky looks crazy, its basically completely gray, but not like it is in cache valley during the winter... Its a lot better! ha apparently peru only sees the sun like 20 days out of the year or something liek that, i don´t know if thats true but so far he has been right!  Other than that its been crazy!! I love it sooo much!  Its hard to explain how cool this really is!  And i have only been here one day!  But yeah everything here is going wonderful!! It was good to talk to you guys yesterday! Hope all is going well..  Im pretty sure my p day is on wednesday, so thats probably when i will be emailing, but im not positive!  And we don´t have the dumb timing like we did in provo, so i will probably have an hour or so to email and let you know all that is going on!  I wish you guys could see how awesome it is here!! Seriously!! I am going to go, its about time to go play some soccer!!! ha who knew it would be that cool!!! and get in with all the natives!!! or at least try:)  I miss you all and love you all!! Hope all is well and i will talk to you soon!  Adios from Peru!!                   

 

-Elder Riggs!! 

Skylar's Letter: Peru Week One!!!

Hey Everyone!! Wow do i got a lot to tell you guys.. Ha i just got back from going into the city for the first time because we had to fill out some information, but wow!! if you think driving is bad anywhere in the US, you have absolutely no idea.. I remember Nelli telling me about how bad the driving was down here but you cant explain it in words..  For the first time of my life i was actually pretty scared to ride in a car.  People do what they want, when they want.. everyone is honking all the time, and they will pull in front of you and cut you off whenever they want.  No one cares.  Its so crazy! but definitely a good experience, haha now that i am back safe. 

Later today i get to go to the temple, and after we get to go through the city and shop around and take pictures.  Which i am stoked for because i am pretty dang hungry most of the time..  We are planning on hittin up the McDonalds if we get the chance!  Speaking of food, the food here is pretty good.  I have learned to not waste anything.  I eat everything on my plate whether i like it or not, because thats just the culture here, and you only get to go through the line once, so it´s a little different.  But the food is actually been really good, a few things i have had to force down.  But overall really good!  We eat rice just about everymeal, and tons of chicken and meat.  They also have lots of potatoes and different kinds of sauces they put on the chicken, meat, and rice, which are extremely good!  The only problem is it doesn´t feel me up to much.  Most of the american companions feel the same way.  The other night a few of us were joking around because we had food we had to leave in Provo cause we didn´t have enough room to pack in, but now that we are here, we wish we would have let clothes and brought the food instead..  But its really not as bad as it sounds, and today when we get to shop around i am going to stock up for sure.  I feel so much healthier eating this food though, and i am not having the same gas and bathroom problems i was having in provo.. Believe it or not..  So that is definitely a plus..... 

As far as the mtc here it is still going really good.  Man, spanish is gettin really hard, but i have improved so much.  I can now comunicate with my companion pretty well, and we also get along way well!  It´s funny cause he has the worst A.D.D.. haha i thought i had ADD, but not even close compared to him.. Ha me and Elder Rickenbach ( one of my buddies that is actually from smithfield) just sat back and watched him during a fireside we had and it was hilarious.  He has to be doing something all the time, and he acts just like a little kid.. I seriously love it though!  He has helped me so much with my spanish and i am so grateful for that!  All the latino´s are way cool!  Their humor is that of a 1st grader, so it can get old, but its funny to try and here them talk in english..  My companion now knows how to say quite a few phrases.  Including Whats up, Hey your looking good! and I dont speak english! haha its way funny!  My teachers here are way cool too, they don´t know hardly any english, but suprisingly we can understand pretty much all of their spanish! But they are way awesome!! 

Gym here is awesome! soccer is the best!! Seriously, i love it! we get to play soccer everyday for about an hour..  Well except for sunday and monday, ha monday was an experience.. We went out to the soccer field for gym time and there was a gym there with a whistle.  he took us through all these exercise drills and whatnot, but he was hilarious!  He was yelling and blowing his whistle and getting way into it.. I felt just like i was in the army there for a little while!  First they buzzed my head.. Now this!!!  haha it was definitely a good time though.. Oh boy am i out of shape though.. Nothin like i was, but the good thing is the weight that i gained in Provo i have pretty much already lost here.. So i probably wont gain much if any weight on my mission here in Peru, which i am pretty stoked about.. Oh and i actually love having my hair buzzed!! its sweet!! except for the part that i am extremely worried that i am going bald!  I seriously think i will go bald!  Not that there is anything wrong with that.. But i just don´t wont to go bald!! haha..

Other than that we teach lessons everyday, all in spanish.. the first day i had absolutely no idea what was going on cause all the latinos talk so fast.. But it has gotten so much better.. I can actually understand them and respond... Some of the time that is!! But its crazy just to see how much i have learned and grown!!! I know i say that a lot but its so true!! I also Really really enjoy the hour of personal study we get during the day.. Thats like my new favorite part of the day.. I read the BOM, which i am over halfway now and i really get into now!! i love reading it and it helps me so much when i actually apply it to my life!! Not too much else is going on other than that.. In class most of the day, and thats about it.. But yeah everything is awesome!! I can{t wait to go into town here pretty soon and go through the LIma temple!! thats gonna be awesome!!

The weather here is good, its a little chilly sometimes.. but nothin too bad!! I still don't see the sun too much, but the sky does look pretty awesome!! oh and I have found a new best friend!!! The english to spanish dictionary! haha I use that thing all the time now... No joke.. But yeah its good to let you know all that is going on. Everyone have a good one and i will talk to you all soon.. I love and miss all of you!! Oh and by the way, it has pretty much already been a month.. Crazy huh!!! Well, Adios!!

-Elder Riggs

Skylar will be Skylar

Skylar just left the Provo MTC and headed to the Peru MTC where he will be for the next 6 weeks. Here are some photos he sent from Provo. There were so many good ones, I'll have to make another post. Here he is with his Spanish teacher... you'll notice he's the shortest one in all the pictures haha!

This is Elder Riggs' district. And the guy in the front sitting next to him is his first companion Elder Bean.

 Of course he had to get the typical mission picture, pointing on the map to where he's going. But leave it to Skylar to flex while doing so.

 Wait... do they get pumpkin pie in the MTC? I want some....

 I loved this photo of them all peeking outta the bathroom stalls. Whose idea was this anyway?

 Posing again!

I'm not sure what he's doing, but this is not an optical illusion. And the picture is facing the right way. See the iron on the floor. Maybe he knows how to do backflips... or maybe he landed on his head after this picture was taken. Skylar said he loved the MTC and he's been growing alot spiritually and his knowledge of Spanish has increased greatly.