Wednesday April 27, 2011

well i´m here safe and sound but i am scared for my life :) not really i am in the most ghetto part of Lima and driving in from the airport we were talking to president dorius about some of the appartments here (most run down and falling apart places i have ever seen) and he said that these were some of the better ones.

i just barely met my companion . . . . and the best part is he is native :) not to peru but to costa rica. his name is Elder Guerrero. and we have become fast friends. he speaks a little english and i speak a little spanish so needless to say these next few week are going to be interesting but i am so excited for them. i am serving in a place called Lampa De Oro (lamp of gold) it is inside the city of lima and it is really crowded.

just for your comfort and reassurance, in the first 12 hours here i have almost been hit by a car, been in a car accident, and had a piece of luggage stolen. but other than that a pretty slow first day :) i am definatly not in the states anymore. elder Petersen and i are actually getting split up for the first time since beginning our mission. we were in the same district in arizona but now he is about a hour away from me in a different area. crazy he is with a companion from colombia. and he speaks no english. so all i have to say is good luck elder petersen.

well i have to go get interviewed and then it is off to my new home (about 8 minutes away) to work. i love you all.

Siempre con dios

Elder Landon R. Welch

p.s. my p-day is monday. this is the address for the lima mission home.

carlos salaverry #3664- los olivos

casilla de correo 39-054

Lima 39

Perú

(send EVERYTHING there otherwise it will never reach me) and a little tip the APs gave us is if you put a picture of the virgin mary on a package the mail people will not go through it. i love you

Monday April 25, 2011

:) :) :) :) well the first week deffinatly was a fast and a furious one. and wouldn't you know it Elder Bradshaw (he is my companion) got a phone call on thursday and guess what . . . . i got my visa!!!
i am working in Yuma Arizona (supposidly it is the hottest place in the the US and i believe it) and i'm currently serving in a town called somerton (reminds me alot of oakley a lot of fields and people scattered everywhere) it is 95 % spanish so i'm definatly getting in my practice. and the best news of all is i have only been in Arizona for 6 days but i had a baptism yesterday (her name is jayleene) so i guess she is the reason i am here.
i am driving to Tempe to day around 12 and i'm going to spend one night there, but come tomorrow i will be flying out around 7 to Peru !!! i am so excited and yet so nervous too. so you might want to hold off sending anything to me for a while.

...

ok part 2.... i'm using a computer at the library here in Yuma and i am only allowed 15 minutes each session so sorry about two emails this week.
i actually meant to ask you last week what grams address was but i totally spaced it but i defiantly do want to write her. as of right now i'm doing good for gym shoes and i'm not sure of my suit size but i'll write it down for next week.
i was tracting one day and we went up to two gentlemen sitting in a garage (they do that alot i'm not really sure why. they just set up lawn chairs and sit in their garage really weird) and we noticed that they were "tocando" (drinking) a lot. but we figured why not talk to them who knows maybe they would be iterested. so we go up and we begin talking we introduce ourselves as missionaries and the first thing they say is "quere un beer?" (do you want a beer) we quickly say no and we go on with talking. they then asked us why we weren't with our family (it was on Sunday AKA Easter) and we expalined how our families lived in Utah and Florida. they then explained how Easter was ment to spend it with your family. and who would have thought that two incredibly drunk men would actally know what they were talking about. i missed being with my family on easter. all the kids dying eggs (that would later be turned in to deviled eggs) i remembered all the tiny details of our past easters together but i'm so glad that i am here. telling about easter talking to people about the resurecction it is crazy how close the spirit is when talking about that.
well i'm not sure when you will here from me next (tomorrow morning when i get to call home again Woot Woot). but just know i love you and i'm working as hard and as fast as i can.
i love you all
Elder Landon R. Welch

p.s. i promise that i could spell before i started learning spanish but case in point i can't any more :) :) :)

Thursday April 21, 2011

no email this week, but Landon is going to Tempe, AZ until he gets his Visa

Hola familia!!!

i got a temporary reassignment ...... but I'm not telling you where yet. :) i have a phone pass and i plan on calling you tomorrow night around 6 ish so watch your phone dad.

it was a pretty fun week, i am still catching on to Spanish but i have found that it is easier to speak in Spanish now then English, and it actually has gotten to the point that if i say something in English that i could have said in Spanish i feel really guilty. so i'm basically speaking all in Spanish. and i'm not going to lie it feels really cool.

the duet was awesome but we didn't sing for a apostle which was unfortunate but we did sing for president Rasband. (president of the 70) we sang i know that my redeemer lives and it was really spiritual i loved it. but I'm not sure my nerves would be able to take another experience....

hmm lets see i had a pretty funny story this week we were reading out of the book of Mormon at the beginning of our class with HNO Ramirez on Monday and we came across the word Ramerez, and Hno Ramirez asked what it meant. so i told him that it was his name, because it was one letter off. everyone kinda laughed a little bit. but then Hno responded it means prostitute. . . . then everyone really started to laugh. so i accidentally called my teacher a prostitute this week . . . . oops :)

the Elder from Peru i have seen a little bit but we are usually going in the opposite direction so it's kinda hard to talk to him. but still fun to see him.

this Wednesday E. Petersen and i got to teach a few of the new elders how to begin teaching. . . . basically all we did was sit down with a volunteer (acting like he was a investigator) but your not going to guess who we got to talk to. Vai sikahema, it was so cool i didn't even know he was a member.. . . . just in case you don't know who vai is, he played for the Philadelphia eagles . . . . enough said. but he was also a anchor man for NBS. it was really cool i got to "teach" one of my all time hero's.

well i guess until tomorrow night, i can't wait. i love you all.

siempre sus y dios

Elder Landon R. Welch

Thursday April 7, 2011

hola familia!

these words i am typing right now are the first English words i have spoken for 4 days. i actually prefer to speak in Spanish rather than English now. it's funny how fast things can change. one week i want nothing to do with Spanish and the next i prefer to speak it. crazy!!

estoy en acuerdo, conferencia general fue maravilloso. me gusta mucho. especualmente elder bednars aserca revalacion y del don del espiritu santo. ( i agree, general conference was wonderful. i liked it alot. especially elder bednars about revalation and the gift of the holy ghost.) elder Petersen and i watched all 10 hours in Spanish and i understood most of it. but i have noticed that i tend to feel the spirit more when it is in English. HNO. Ramirez said it would be like that. "you can always feel the spirit stronger in your native language."

yesterday i got to be a host for some new missionaries coming in. and what are the odds i got to host a native Peruvian. WOOT WOOT, he was so cool and we walked and talked en espanol during his tour and he thought i was a teacher here not a missionary because of how much Spanish i spoke. it was a awesome boost and only made me want to try harder.

we sing in Spanish while we are in class but in English during devotionals and firesides. there are 8 total elders in our district and we are all in the same Spanish class. but the other 6 are going to Mexico. 3 to Mexico city NW and 3 to villaramosa. and wouldn't you know it they all have their visas!!! kinda backwards but esta bien, yo se que dios tiene un plan por nosotros. ( it's good, i know that god has a plan for us).

i sang a musical number in sacrament meeting with HNA Rasmussen (one of the sisters in my zone) and we have been asked to sing it in a devotional, you know for the entire MTC, either this Tuesday or next. i have never sang in my life but who would have thought 7 week would change that.

reading over this letter i have noticed that my grammer and spelling have gotten worse since being here, (probably because of this Spanish thing) but just bare with me. i can promise you the worst is yet to come. i want to be one of those missionaries who forget how to speak English when i get home. that is my goal :).

HMMMMMM que mas, thank you for the package. i took the candy around to my zone and did chiste o dulce (trick or treat) and it really brightened my day. before i left you asked me what i would crave most at the MTC. and if you remember i couldn't tell you. well now i can :) i crave turkey jerky (thanks Carrie for getting me addicted :) ) and those little girl scout cookies that are chocolate and have that minty taste to them.

they have yet to tell me exactly were i am to be reassigned but the rumor is Arizona. but I'm not sure yet.

hmmm another week down and not very many to go. but whether it be here in Provo, or in Peru (or Arizona) just know i love you all so much and I'm working harder than i ever have in my entire life.

Siempre sus y dios.

Elder Landon R. Welch