Excerpts from November 29 Letter

Hey everyone!!
A lot has happened in the last week, its been one crazy week!  Leaving the MTC was weird cause I basically said bye to all these people that i had become really good friends with.  But i was stoked to get out into the area.  Anyway we arrived at the mission office, where we meet the mission president and his wife.  They are awesome!  President Leyva is a funny guy.  After we got a bunch of instruction we went to the mission home, and man is it nice!  ha there was even a christmas tree up and everything!  While we were there we got to known the president and his wife and the assistants to the president.  We also got to eat Which was the best meal easily i have had since i have been in peru! Lasagna with garlic bread, brownie and ice cream.. Oh I thought I was in heaven.. Afterwords president Leyva assigned us our areas and took us to meet our new companions, then we were off.

My companion's name was Elder Ascue, he is from peru and I got assigned to the area Carapongo.  It's on the outer part of Lime, and it reminded me of Africa, because there were all sorts of green fields and dirt roads and old run down houses.  Crazy buses and taxis which I have been ridding quite a bit. Anyway it was a huge change.  Ha there is no carpet in our apartment.  The bathroom is tiny, the showers were cold. Everything was dirty or was about to get dirty cause everything is dirty out here.  Ha you walk around the streets for an hour and my shoes are all dusty and dirty.. Its cool with me though.  But here comes the crazy part..

The crazy part is that i have been in the mission field 6 days and i have already changed companions.  A couple days into the field i guess some big problem arose with my companion.  I dont know the problem very well because i coulndt understand everything in spanish but i guess it had something to do with writing a letter to some girl that was an investigator.  Anyway it was a pretty big problem.  So after three days in the president told us we have to stay in our apartment for the whole day.. I thought i was going to die.  It was hard enough trying to adjust.  But then i got really bored just trying to study all day and whatnot.. But at the end of the day, we found out that he had to move areas, which meant i had to too, because i didnt´know Carapongo well.  So i packed my stuff, haha again! and left at 6:30 in the morning for Chosica.  That is where i am now with my new companion Elder Alvarez.  He is from Boliva and has been in the mission for 6 months.  He seems like a pretty nice guy and is pretty funny. My first sunday in the field was pretty good.  I got to meet all the members.. We are the missionarys for two wards.  One of the wards is pretty big, the other is small, but the members are awesome.. All very nice! ha it was tough to go to 2 sacraments though.  The kids of the ward though put on the kids singing program though in one of them. So it was all good.

Our area is pretty big, with lots of mountains and hills and its also about an hour away from like the main city in Lima,  La molina.  But anyway its nice here. Anyway i should be here for 3 month for sure and i dont know after that..

As far as everything else.  Its pretty good.  Its a struggle for sure.. Ha i cant really express myself fully to people and i have trouble understanding a lot.  Which is difficult cause once someone starts going off i get side tracted.  ha not good.  But the good part is all the members were pretty impressed with my spanish, they
couldn´t believe i just got out of the mtc and i could speak and understand as well as i could.  i thought i was horrible, but that definitely helps to hear that.  Anyway its a challenge but it will come over time.. Its also a huge change living out here.  There are a lot of little things you come to miss and you are a lot more thankful for. Like carpet, fresh water, clean places, nice homes and whatnot. But overall its pretty good. I will adjust.  I just gotta work hard and stay focused.  My pinchonista, or however you spell it cooks pretty good food!  I can't complain.  Definitely bettter than the mtc. I still have a ton to learn in the lessons and scriptures and language and what not but im gonig to work hard and I have a comp that will help.  I hear the first little while is a little tough but after you catch on to things everything starts to fly.. So I'm excited!! Anyway, the weather here is good.  Warm and a little humid!  Anyway my time is almost up. I miss you guys and love you very much.

Elder Riggs