Pig Farmer

1. What do you want to eat first when you get home?
     Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich with REAL red cap milk (not from a box)

 2. Do you have hot water and laundry facilities in your new place?
     Hot water... sometimes..... when we have water. It depends on how much it rains during the day. The electric shower head sometimes works, but if you leave it on for more than a minute at a time, it trips the breaker and the whole house loses electricity. You've got to be faster than the shower...... ha ha ha.

 3. Where did you get the pig in the backpack? We saw a pic on Sis Marlers blog last week of you at a conference with a pig peeking out of your backpack. It was so funny. You really have been dubbed the pig farmer. Im glad to see you still have your sense of humor.
     Sister Marler handed it to me in front of the whole leadership council. Ha ha ha. Right as she walked in for the meeting. She thinks it's so funny that I raise pigs.... everyone laughed. Ha ha ha



 4. Do you have any promising investigators right now?
     We are Teaching Felipe, from Madrid Spain right now. God hand-picked this man out of Spain and brought him here where the missionaries could more easily find him. He is awesome. He speaks differently than Peruvians, but it is good practice.

 5. Have you had any baptisms in the mountains? What is the font like?

     Right as I got here, Elder Harris had one. I don't know if that really "counts as mine." I haven't had many baptisms in the past year.... just one. I've been in the office and moved around so many times that I haven't had enough time to work with anyone until they reach baptism. Not to mention that the mountains are notoriously hard in our mission. People here are generally really uneducated, and as a result, they have problems understanding the doctrine. But it makes you a good teacher because you have to teach simply.

 6. Is it still cold in Huamachuco?

     YES

 7. I am sending you a package tomorrow. Do you need anything in particular in it?
     Pop tarts. Strawberry flavored...Swedish Fish(huge bag).... also, if you can, I would absolutely love another stack of pictures like the ones you sent for my birthday. I love pictures. They don't end after an hour.... ha ha ha ha.

8. How is the voice recorder working out?
    Great. I have two whole albums on it...... ha ha ha ha. I got a guitar for a day, and went to town. They should last until I get home.

9. Are you studying German now?
    Jah, aber ich bin nicht ein Deustcher.

10. How are all your clothes holding up?
      Shirts are doing great. Pants also... Garments not so much. I take better care of my clothes than any other missionary I have seen, so my things are still pretty nice. Not to mention.... THEY'RE FROM MISSIONARY MALL! They are indestructible. My shoes are perpetually soaked, and therefore smell really bad, but I don't mind. My feet always plug them up. I do have some crazy athlete's foot though..... I don't know if something to help that could be included in the package........ The cream you sent me with is almost gone. And they don't sell it in Huamachuco...... Maybe also some warm socks from the states.... the socks here are all hand knit from alpaca wool and are super uncomfortable when you walk all day. The knitting pattern is thick.....


Happy Birthday Courtney!!!!!!!!!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE TURNING 13 YEARS OLD!!!!!! YOU ARE SO OLD! three more years, and you'll be dating! It seems like you were 5 just yesterday!
(Courtney is actually turning 17! We are all having a hard time believing it)

Dad and Linzi - I am on 1 Nephi chapter 14. Keep pace!

I hear it only gets colder in the mountains from now until March.... which means that I am in for the biggest baddest winter ever.... The temperature isn't as low as Utah, but it's much more wet here.... It makes things SO cold. Wind chill will kill you if you're not careful. Send me a cool wild rag. It will make me a true pig farmer. Seriously. I think that might come in handy.

Sorry I keep asking for things..... I never knew how much we inthe states take fore granted. I thought Casa Grande was enough of an eye-opener, but there is NOTHING in the Andes Mountains like what we've got 15 minutes from the house in Utah. I miss..... things. Hot showers, Nutella, Real milk, Not rice, Double stuffed oreos, being barefoot, wearing shorts, Walmart, fast internet, nice clean cars and houses, and people who speak my language. Ha ha ha. You never know what you've got, 'til it's gone.

But I love the mounatins. It is the most dramatic landscape on earth, I am sure. I cannot imagine a beautiful place. Dad would LOVE it here. Endless mountains that are HUGE and grassed over. Not many trees, though... that is my only complaint. Ther are rivers and lakes and caves and hot springs....... it's got every natural wonder your heart could ever desire. Beautiful land.

Uncle.... I love you. Every wisdom you shared with me about your own mission has been invaluably applicable in my own. I am finding that I have all the same problems and worries as you did. We really must have been best friends in the Pre-earth life. Tell me about the Xbox1?

Thank you for sending the songs. I will try to send a poem home next week. It's a super long one. I've been working on it for a month solid now. It's hand-written, and my camera doesn't work anymore, so I will figure it out somehow. 

Love you all, and have a good week!

- Elder Boekweg

 

 

 Sausacocha Lake in the Sierra