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Christmas Skype call with family

Elder Salvador (trainer) 

Letter: Monday, December 31, 20012

Talking and seeing everyone for Christmas was sooo great. I`m so happy everything worked out okay. I thought there was no way I was going to be able to find a way to skype you guys. I`m so glad I did though. It made me very sad though and homesick so that kinda sucked but it`s okay. So I have some funny stories from this week about some drunks and a little Peruvian girl.

So me and my companion were walking down the streets of Peru when some little kids, like 7 years old, ran up to us. This little girl ran right up to me, pointed right at me, then says quite abruptly ánd multiple times "No existe" which means "You don`t exist." So this is spanish so I don`t know if I`m hearing her right or what she means by this. I look at my companion and he`s just as puzzled. Then a thought comes to me. Oh I must be the first white person she`s seen. She thinks I`m like fake or something. So then I`m like what "No existo?" "I don`t exist?" And she just keeps repeating no existe. So then I look a little closer and realize she`s pointing at my hair. Then it occurs to me that every single person in Peru has the EXACT same hair color. Dark dark black and I do not have this hair color. And she thinks that I have fake hair. So yeah that was an interesting experience.

Second is at this guys doorstep. So we contact this guy at his doorstep . At first he is super timid and doesn´t want to talk and then we start mentioning Jesus and boom he starts getting all emotional and then he`s like I wanna get baptized and he`s crying and it`s awesome. I`m thinking wow the spirit is so strong right now this grown tough man is crying in front of us and saying all these things he wants to change and do. So we`re like OK we have an appointment so we gotta go, but can we return another day and talk more about baptism and Christ. He`s like yeah yeah yeah and then we leave. Then i turn to my companion and I`m like holy cow what was that and he`s like oh he`s just drunk he has no idea what he`s talking about right now. So this entire time I`m thinking the spirit is talking to him and making him feel this way when in reality he`s just drunk and everything`we`re saying will be forgotten tomorrow morning.

Third so we are knocking on another door. A man opens it and he`s just like the other guy i just talked about. Super emotional and super drunk. My ability to pick out the drunk people is much better than the day before. So we talk a little about Christ and he`s crying the entire time and telling us how much Christ means to him and how great we are. Then we start to wrap up the lesson and I go to shake his hand and he grabs it and instead of shaking it he holds on to it for like a minute straight and stares at me and tells me how great I am and then after a minute or so later he finally stops talking but instead of releasing my hand he brings it up and kisses my hand like i`m royalty. Then he shakes my companions hand regular and then we say goodbye again and then he grabs my hand again. This time he looks into my eyes while holding my hand and says " Mì Señor... Señor Gringo." Which means "My Lord... Lord Whitie."  As he says this he bows his head his whole body the whole ordeal and kisses my hand again. So after this I`m like what in the world! In my head not outloud. Outloud I`m speechless and have no idea what to say. Finally we head our own way with the man`s voice in the background him yelling "Señor Gringo... Señor Gringo"

Well those are my stories. Also had 3 more baptisms this week. It hasn`t been an easy first few weeks but I`m doing better. I`ve learned a lot these last 2 weeks. I definitely have an enormous appreciation for how amazingly blessed my life has been and how great you all are. Love you all sooo much and I`m soo thankful for everything you gave me. Hope you have a great New Years. Miss you guys a lot. Love You!

Oh and btw. I am definitely going to gain like a ton of weight on my mission. I get fed sooooo much, to the point of sickness like multiple times a day every day. So yeah I might need some new clothes.... sorry.

Love Elder Russon