P-Week

Hey everyone!!

Sorry I haven't written in a while. A lack of motivation to do so as well as not having a lot to tell you about are probably to blame. But the week before Christmas was super fun and tiring so I will skip the week before that which was just a lot of preparation and stress. Anyway last week we had our Christmas conferences as a mission. And for Christmas it is tradition to a "multi-zone" pday where multiple zones get together and about 60 unite for some p-day action. And since we had to prepare these p-day festivities we got to travel to the conferences. We held 3 of these different multi-zone p-days with a Christmas conference.

So two Sundays ago we took an 8 hour road trip to the other side of our mission. It was in a minivan with 3 other missionaries so it felt like a classic road trip....Lots of fun. Then we arrived at our destination with about 80 degree weather and a little humidity. The city is known as the eternal spring. The p-day was a lot of fun but FYI when your skin has been under church clothes for the past few years, it will burn easier than normal. The back of my calves got super burnt with some blisters. Then that night we all had a family home evening with President and the next day was a conference.

After that we headed off to... La Merced or the jungle. Man it felt super good to be back. Super hot, super humid, but somehow perfect. Thursday we got a day off to relax where we had a lazy morning at the hotel and then in the afternoon we went to a small little zoo and got to see lots of cool exotic birds. Now the question is how do I sneak one of them back? Then Friday and Saturday we repeated what we did in the last area and that night traveled back to Huancayo.

Home sweet home. Like any vacation (mission vacay?), sunburns, nice weather and hotels are super nice but you always return home tired and happy to be back in your own bed. Then Monday and Tuesday we started the process all over again for Huancayo and then Wednesday was Christmas. The week was super fun and it was cool to catch up with all of my mission friends but the Christmas devotional by the first presidency talked a lot about how we should simplify our Christmases to make them mean more.

After the craziness I was super thankful to settle down and have a small simple Christmas party on Christmas eve with the family that cooks for us. We each shared a tradition from our families and I read Luke 2 for my part. To think that the most important and looked forward to birth ever happened in a manger with no one around, except for the shepherds who arrived later, is really humbling. It is sad that a lot of times we think about Christ during the month of December but then as the wrapping paper is unwrapped on Christmas day we lose our attention and go back to our normal lives. The spirit of Christmas is just the Spirit of Christ. So as we try to obtain the spirit of Christ in our lives we will always be able to feel that "holiday cheer".

Photos:

1. Got to see my one of my old pensions!

2. The boiz pt.1

3. The barba (beard)

4: The boiz pt. 2