Adios Huancayo

Hey everyone, how was Christmas?!!

I guess I'll start with my Christmas since Monday was Christmas Eve. Monday night we went and spent the night at the Zone Leaders house. There were about 8 elders there and it was so much fun. A cool tradition here is that at midnight on Christmas Eve literally everyone lights off fireworks and firecrackers. And they're not the wimpy fireworks that are sold in the U.S. but are the giant cool ones. So at midnight we went outside and it felt like I was in Nam. We were totally surrounded by giant fireworks and it was so cool. And this one funny guy next to us was just lighting firecrackers from his apartment and throwing them out the window. After that, one Elder taught us how to play poker. It turns out to be pretty fun and I even won! Now it's a shame that we are missionaries and only played with chips made of paper... Haha that's just a joke.

So after getting a couple hours of sleep, my companion and I and 2 other elders spent Christmas with my pension and their family. It was super fun and for lunch we gathered around and had a nice turkey dinner. It felt just like Christmas. Also Christmas Eve it hailed a little and then the 26th of December it hailed so much that it looked like snow. Do I get to say I got a white Christmas?? Haha

Then the next few days were rough since the summer break for school just started so a lot of our families were out of town. My companion was also a little sick, so one day I took out the book Our Heritage and read it. You all should read it as it gives you a good knowledge of the history of our church, and tells it in a fun way. It's crazy to read about all the different trials and miracles that have taken place.

Saturday picked up and was super crazy. At lunch time we found out that I was getting transferred to Huánuco, which is the farthest away. I took a bus Sunday night and arrived Monday morning here. Anyway, it was super sad to leave my area as I had grown so close to so many of the people here. And my pension and her family became my family. But I guess the world moves on. I just hope I will get to see them again. Also on Saturday we had another baptism!! So that was a good way to end the era of Mantaro in Huancayo.

Then Sunday I gave my first talk in sacrament meeting. I felt pretty good because before my mission my mom wrote a good part of all my talks (thanks mom ;) ) and for this talk I just went up with my scriptures and a sticky note. Later we just went around and said goodbye to everyone which was sad. So yeah, now I'm in Huanuco in an area that is close to the jungle but isn't the jungle. So it's hot here. I went from sleeping in a sleeping bag to sleeping with no blankets. My new comp is Elder Price from St George. I'm super excited to be with a gringo companion and I think this transfer is going to be really fun! Also he is district leader, so now that's 7 for 7. This is about it from me. I hope you all have a great week!!

Oh p.s. I saw in a newspaper the other day that Donald Trump is creating a space army?!? Can anyone confirm to me if that's a real thing or not?

Pics: Baptism, Goodbye Huancayo, and got some more dope lightning pics, but don't worry I took them inside this time ;)