What Pineapple?

So Julio Cesar didn´t come to sacrament meeting this Sunday. That means he has lost his baptismal date...again. My companion told me he has had 4 others. Unless he has a really good reason for mot being there, we are going to have to drop him. He´s so great and he loves the messages and keeps all of the commitments but just can´t get himself to church. He´s what is referred to as an eternal investigator. Que piña. Speaking of, que piña is a weird slang here. Directly translated is means "what pineapple" the meaning that is transmitted however is, "Well that stinks". Haha crazy Arequipeños!

Percy`s wedding is set for Saturday and his baptism on Sunday. I worry about him though. He still doesn´t really have any testimony of Joseph Smith or the BOM. This is a problem. I asked him why he wanted to get baptized so badly if he didn´t believe those things. He said that his family is in our church and he wants to be with his family. While this is good, it is not enough. We have an appointment with him tonight to review a few things. I guess we`ll see. I´m praying for some serious inspiration.

Not sure what happened there but, to finish my email:

We met a new family, believe it or not, through my silly English class! Haha Two young boys and their mom. She is the sister of the 1st counselor of our ward. Thus, she has a pretty good base already, I really think they will progress!

So this time next week I may or may not be in another area. My companion has 3 or 4 transfers here so chances are pretty good that if one of us is to go, it will be her. I guess we´ll see!

Oh, it was brought to my attention last week that after I told ya´ll you could send me emails, I failed to share my address, oops. anna.elmer atmyldsmail.net. Haha I can´t get the "at" key to work on this kayboard...

Well, I sure love ya!

Con amor!

Hermana Anna Elmer

The Story of Julius Caesar and Other Great Tales

Well hello all! Guess what, we set the date to have Julius Caesar baptized (I know,I know, et tu Brute?). Anyway he is this great investigator and he has been getting the lessons from the sister missionaries for about 6 months now. The problem, he had to work on Sundays. However, he has a new job now and can come to church! He is so excited and he told us that he feels right. Oh yeah, his name is really Julio Cesar.

Oh hey, I´ve been a missionary for 3 months today! Cool huh?

To answer your question mom, no I didn´t feel any earthquakes lately. Oh yeah, I got a bunch of letters the other day so thank you to all of you amazing people who sent them! I have written most of you back but our zone leaders canceled our plans to go to el centro today so they will have to wait another week to be sent. Sorry.

Mom, you asked what I eat. Well the diet hasn´t changed much from the CCM. Still insane amounts of rice, chicken, and potatoes of every kind. It´s a good time.

We´re still waiting for Percy to get married, the date is coming up soon! Also, I can´t remember if I ever told you about Johnathan. He´s a new investigator but he´s talked to missionaries before. He´s really funny and always makes strange faces at me. I don´t know if it´s because he can´t understand my Spanish or because I´m a white girl. It´s really kind of a problem here. I´ve never been whistled at so many times in my life (and that includes living in Mexico!) The other day a man was trying to take my picture on his cell phone. It was really creepy and my companion and I ran away. She told me, "it will be like this for your whole mission" Gee, thanks.

Anyway, the work continues to roll forth and I feel so blessed everyday to get to be a small part of the miracle.

I sure love ya´ll

Con cariño

Hermana Anna Elmer

Oh yeah, I´m going to start teaching an English class this week to try to get investigators to the church. Wish me luck, I don´t have any idea where to start...

Questions

Well just another week on the lord´s errand. I love it so much! I wrote down some things that I wanted to be sure to put in this email to ya´ll and then I went and left this list in my room! Yikes. Anyway, I will try to remember what I can. Oh hey, if Percy gets married on Saturday the 5th he wants to get baptized that night! So, no matter how transfers go, I will still be able to go to his baptism! Yippee! I want to tell you a little bit about my area Zamacola. Zamacola is the part in the middle. There is also Rio Seco and Belaunde. If we are in Rio Seco and have an appointment in Belaunde, it takes about a 45 minute walk through Zamacola, up hill. However if we are in Belaunde and need to get to an appointment in Rio Seco, it´s a bout a 15 minute walk straight down hill. It´s still pretty toasty during the day for being almost winter but it´s all good. At night everyone asks me if I need a coat because they all think it´s cold. When I tell them no thank you, I´m actually a little warm they look at me like I´m from another planet (as if they don´t all look at me like that anyway...) Other questions that I get asked at least once a day : Are you German? Is your hair natural?(as if I make it look this way on purpose!) How many meters do you have (aka, How tall are you?) And finally Oh you´re from the United States, do you know Michael Jackson? That one is my favorite. Haha PS Peru, MJ died.

So we are teaching a woman named Claudia and she is so interested during the lessons then when we come back, it´s like we have to start all over again because she just can´t remember anything we talked about last time. Haha, it´s a work in progress.

I tried to send pictures but no luck.

Love you all!!!!!! Thank you for the pictures!

Con amor,

Hermana Anna Elmer

Married? Or Not Married? That is the REAL Question

So this week was great! Rayza got baptized on Saturday night and confirmed on Sunday (I´ll try to include some pictures). I got out of talking in church (through no effort on my part) and we had a multizona. What is a multizona you might ask. Well, I might answer that multizona = 7 hours of sitting. Bleh. But during this time of sitting I am also given counsel on how to be a more effective missionary, so I guess it all evens out.

Oh, I got a super great surprise this morning: a bright happy pink package from my wonderful ward! Yippee hooray! Seriously, that was so awesome, thank you to everyone who helped to put that together. Also, I got some dearelders! Lyndee, Ryan and Alicia, you each will be receiving a response shortly. Speaking of letters and responses and all that jazz, turns out that in my mission I can receive and respond to emails from anyone in the whole wide world!!!!...as long as they are not within the mission boundaries of the Peru Arequipa mission. Happy day huh?

Well, family, it was so wonderful to talk to all of you last night! Thank you for your love and support! I loved hearing all of your voices and hearing all about what´s new in your lives! Remember, pictures make missionaries awfully happy... :)

So there´s this investigator, Percy, and he wants to get baptized so badly! (believe me, we want him to get baptized as well) However, as is all too common the problem around here, he has to marry his wife first. I´m not sure where the distinguishing line is for the folks of Latin America but they call people their spouses when they are not actually legally married. I don´t know if it starts when they move in together or when they have their first child but somewhere in they they go from novios to esposos. Anyway, Percy needs to marry his spouse (who is already a member) and then he can get baptized. To get married around here costs an awful lot so they have to wait until there is a mass wedding ceremony on June 5th (the day before transfers). If I get transferred, I will miss his baptism by one single day. We will just have to wait in see how it all shakes out.

Well, I love you all! Chao!

Con amor,

Hermana Anna Elmer

In the Mission Field! Por Fin!

So I am here in my first area! Yippee Hoorah! It´s called Zamacola and it´s in Arequipa. We´re about 15 minutes from the mission office. My trainer is so great! Her name is Hermana Jimenez and she has a lot of patience, which I would wager is a requisite to be my companion. All is going swimmingly. She has been in this area for more than 3 months! Crazy. She seriously knows everything! I love her so much, we have fun. We are preparing a young girl named Rayza for her baptism on Saturday. She is so excited! I´m not gonna lie, so am I!

Oh, I got some dearelders! Yahoo! They were from Deva and Rebecca. Thank you so much, I can´t count how many times I´ve read them. Don´t worry, you are both getting real letters back, I just wanted you to know I got them.

This area is really great. My companion always says she´s cold. I don´t get it. I can´t see my breath, I´m not cold. Everyone always asks if I need a sweater.

Sorry this is so lame, I had all kinds of things to talk about but now they are not coming to mind. Oh yeah, in our next transfer, wherever we get transferred to will be our mission for the rest of our time. For example, if I get transferred to somewhere in the soon to be Cusco mission, that will be my mission for the rest of my time. If I remain in the boundaries of the Arequipa mission, then here I shall stay. All of heard from my companion is how awesome Puno (A city in the Cusco mission) is. She was there for 6 months and LOVED it. I really have no preference. Where ever I am is where the Lord needs me.

Well, I love you all! Thank you for you support and prayers!

Con amor,

Hermana Anna Elmer.

Oh yeah, I get to call you next Sunday Mom!!!!! Whoop whoop!