Sand Dunes!

1. Did you already get your travel papers?
    They are purchased, but I don't have them yet.

 2. How is the work going in your new area? We have been praying for you and your companion.
     KEEP PRAYING, IT'S WORKING. It's going great. We have several promising investigators.

 3. Do you need anything for your bday package?
      Nah. Irish Spring body wash, maybe. I've been thinking about how awesome it used to feel to use that wonderful stuff. "electrify", of course.

 4. What are you doing for pday now in this area?
     Today we are going to explore Incan ruins..... I'll take some pictures. should be cool.

 5. Do you think you will find a homemade soccer ball in this area?
      No.............. But if I do, I'll get one.

 6. Start thinking about what classes you want to take at BYU cuz I think registration will happen Friday Mar 27.
    Oh man...................... no way...... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. German 101 again for sure.......... and I don't know what else........

Thanks for the updates on the world......

Is it too late to buy 3 baby pigs? I was thinking of ways to earn money to come back to Perú for the temple dedication, and I think I could make enough with 3  or 4 pigs....... at least, for the plane tickets......... I am so desperate to go..... it is going to KILL me to have to leave right before the major event that I have been waiting for for 2 years............

Tell me about Tooele........... Send some pics.

The picture is what happens when your area is mostly sand dunes, and it's really, really hot and humid and you have to walk all day. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Funny, right?

 

 

I want to take pictures of the invasion area, but I am afraid I will get my camera stolen........ it's pretty poor there, mom............ you would have to see it to believe it.......... 

 

 

 

You can see the ocean in the background there in the distance....

 

 

I am EXTREMELY blessed here, because at the end of every single day, I get to see a sunset over the south pacific ocean. For free......... it's an incredible sight. 

 

I am in Alto Moche. I think the Book of Mormon started here. The moches are the really ancient Nephites, I believe. I'll have to explain it all when I get home. It's cool. Alto Moche is known for it's HUGE beetles that come out in the night and make a ton of noise. One night, one flew onto my neck, I screamed in fear, and threw it off me into the dirt, and a group of nearby children laughed their heads off at me. I had no idea what on earth it was!!!!!! apparently, they are not harmful, but thy sure are gross...........

 

Don't worry about me I have angels that walk in front of me, behind me, and to the sides of me. I have less to worry about than you guys in Tooele. I have seen divine protection many times.

 

I have to go now. See you later! Love you bye! Enjoy the pics.

 

-Elder Boekweg

 

 





Lots of Sand

Mom,

1. Tell us about your new companion?

    He is from El Distrito Federal, Ciudad de Mèxico, Mèxico. As Mexican as a man can be. He's cool. He likes hot food, and is 19 years old. He will be heading home in 2017........

 

 

**Thank you Sister Marler for the pictures!

 Elder Rivera and his trainer, Elder Boekweg.

Elder Boekweg started with a selected reading from Preach my Gospel.

2. Will you get another mission pres for the other Trujillo mission in July?

    ​Yes. Presidente Rios, who is currently a bishop in Chiclayo​

3. What have you found out about your new area?

     ​LOTS OF SAND. It's a beach. ​It's is also by far the poorest place I've ever had, and by far the most dangerous....... last night, we were walking home, and the power went out. Complete blacknes, except for the moon. we started to hear breaking windows and animals screaming. It got nuts. I picked up  a big rock...... y'know...... just in case. Ha ha ha.

4. What are you staying in? With the comment about the people living in tents I wondered if there were apartments for you to stay in?

​   We live above a small fruit store. Smells good...... finally. Ha ha ha ha. THAT in itself is a big blessing. But there is another part of our area that we are exploring that the people just live in houses made of four cut down tree posts, and tarps for walls stretching inbetween. Crazy, right. This is poverty that surprises me even after having been here for a long time...... a person could not have less than these people have...​

5. Are there businesses in your new area? How do you use internet?

​   Same. Little tiendas that have internet​

6. What are the responsibilities of a trainer?

​    an extra hour of studies every day........................................ and in general just showing the new guy all the ropes. It's cool. Even my comp from Mexico thinks this place is poor. ha ha ha ha ha. He's rich though, I think.​

7. You didnt mention any of your other Christmas presents, did you like them?

    ​I loved them. I have my banjo picture by my bed. I did not expect it. I was expecting you to at least wait until my birthday for. But I knew if I was persistent, I might eventually get it. Ha ha ha ha ha! It only took me a year and a half of asking.

BYU tie is my offical "pday tie" I love it

Alien slingers are sweet. Ha ha ha

Thank you!​

8. Who did you give the other presents to?

    ​Oddly, nobody I was with needed them this year. We were blessed. So Elder Gonzalez got them.

10. Still eating seafood by the ocean?

​ Yes. Ha ha ha

 

 

Things​ are pretty crazy here in Alto Moche. We have huge Incan ruins in my district. In fact, some of the Elders have to proselyte basically on top of them. Ha ha ha. People still live there. 

I need you to pray for my comp and I to find new people to teach. We are opening a new area, and are building from the ground up. 

​DAD: I NEED WHEELS. Don't forget the truck or car or whatever. I cannot be homebound when I get back. I definitely need to drive. Your time is running out. Ha ha ha ha ha I love you though.

 

 

My "kid" (his new companion) calls me "the nazi" all the time. He says I look like one....... pretty much everyone tells me the I don't look "gringo," but German. Is it true? They say there is a difference, but I don't notice even one. Ha ha ha.

 

The lady just tapped my shoulder...... my time is up. 

I love you all! I'll send pictures next week, hopefully! (Though I make no promises)

-Elder Boekweg

BIG CHANGES!

Dear Mom,

BIG CHANGES. So..... right after the Christmas talent show President Marler made a huge announcement. The mission will be split in two. Trujillo North, and Trujillo South. Needless to say, he now neeeds to make twice as many leaders for the mission by July. So I imagined he would probably make a few of us old leaders trainers to raise up some more guys that already knew a few things about leadership by the time the new mission was opened. And......... I am one of them. Yup. I am going to be a trainer until the end. My last two changes will be spent in a place called Alto Moche, which is on the very southernmost point of Trujillo, literally on top of the beach. It may be the poorest place I've been so far. I am not sure if it's dangerous or not yet, but I'll let you know, It's what's called an invasion, which means that it's just a group of people that decided to set up camp there without anyone's permission, and they came in numbers so large that the police can't kick them out. So it's very, very, very poor. But those are my favorite places.

I am very sad to leave El Carmen. It was a great area. But I trust the Lord in all His direction, and I am willing to do whatever He wants. It's kind of funny how different my mission has been from the norm. I have lived it all in reverse! ha ha ha ha ha. President Marler called me this morning and said that he has agonized over this since I was called to the office, thinking that I should train from the very beginning, but never knowing when it would happen. So he took his last opportunity to set me up. I will be a district leader also, as I open this new area. Oh yeah, it's a new area, which means that it'll be somewhat like Santiago de Chuco was with almost nothing to start from. I am excited. I love hard things.

I have never been so................... aware of things. This is going to be the end of my mission. I will leave this new missionary to go home. That's INSANE. Only two and a half months left. It's this odd feeling of peace, anxiety, excitement, fear, and more than anything else, simply eeriness. It's going to be over so fast. I hope I can take these last two changes and be an awesome example for this new missionary. I'll probably show up on the blog with him this week. Keep an eye out.

I don't have much else to say. I am stoked about the banjo! Now I need a Dobro. Ha ha ha ha ha ha hah ah. But seriously, I am really excited about that. I put the picture up on my wall when I opened it in November. Just kidding.

Shauna Taylor wrote me by the way,  I love that lady. She's so funny. 

Dad......... is a massive bison of a man. What on earth happened to me that I turned out so small? People don't believe me when I show them pictures of dad. They all say, "do you mean your step dad?" Ha ha ha ha. Oh well.

I love you all. I guess I will talk to you again next week...... from my final outpost. See ya!

- Elder Boekweg

 

So thankful for technology and the opportunity to Skype with Chance on Christmas Eve!

Christmas Day Talent Show, Trujillo Peru

 

Christmas Call

Well mom...... I also do not want to write too much, because even though I've spent two years half a world away from you, we always seem to run out of things to talk about in our one Christmas call home a year. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. It just takes too long. I'll tell you everything when I get back. Ha ha ha. Or I'd have to spend the rest of my mission just typing. So be ready for a long probably really weird story when you see me again.

I still love the work more than life itself. I am working hard here in "El Carmen," and am working on a big plan for the stake, We want 1,000 people attending church in the stake by march. It would be the first time it's ever happened in the history of the stake!

Please come with a bunch of questions..... because I could talk about thousands of things....... and I therefore have NO clue which to choose. But this will be your last chance to ask Elder Boekweg something in person. The next time you see me, I'll just be Chance again. Weird, right?

I'll try to take some pictures of Christmas day too with your packages. Though I make no promises.......... ha ha ha ha........................ I'll do my best to remember.

y'all should see my SWEET toe right now. It's heinous. It's like my trophy for having walked for so long. Ha ha ha ha. Remember the pioneer shildren song? Ha ha ha ha ha ha hah a

I love you all. Sorry I'm not very photogenic. That blog always seems to catch me at my worst. Someday I'll do a good photoshoot. HA HA HA HA HA.

HASTA VER

- Elder Boekweg

 

 

This is from the Christmas program last weekend at Plaza De Armas Trujillo Peru. Glad to see that Chance still gets to play the guitar and sing! You can find the video of his song on my Facebook page.

 

 

 

 

Christmas Program

Not much to report this week. Just the usual run. We did the zone training this week. I used the lights you sent me to get everyone in the Christmas spirit. Thank you for those. My other gifts are under a small tree we bought.

Christmas Skype home - dec 24 still, but now at 8 o'clock Peru time. I will be skyping home from my bishop's house. He's cool.

We are doing a guitar/harmonica number in the Christmas show. I am sure Sister Marler will post it this week. And if not, next week. It's in Spanish this time. "Cristo ha Resucitado" number 122 in the Spanish hymn book.

I enjoy hearing that everyone thinks I look older. It's about time. I have felt like I looked too young forever. Ha ha ha.

 

There have been a series of murders and robbing's in my neighborhood lately. Also, a new guy just won a political position here. I don't really know much about him. He might kick gringoes out of Ancash (where I am) just like he did in Huaráz. Stuffs getting crazy. We'll see what happens. 

 

I am fine. Not sick. Not scared. We feel angels around us always. What more could I say?

 

I got the Thanksgiving letter from the Boekwegs! Thank you!!!!!!!!!

 

Happy Birthday Brayden and Austin!!!

 

I love you all, 

Enjoy the picture of Chimbote.

 

-Elder Boekweg

 

 

Mountain Hat

Alright.................... I am not extending. Nobody else in my group will do it with me. Ha ha ha ha. And we won't make it to the dedication anyway. They say it's between may10-june10. So I will be coming home in March. On the 25th. There wouldn't really be a justifiable reason to do it. I was called with specific dates of start and finish, I guess.

We are working with 5 awesome familes right now. We are going to need many miracles. We need 4 marriages, 1 divorce, and 12 baptisms to take place in the next two months. Pray for them. It can happen.

I need you to send me the recipe for carrot cake. The lady that washes our clothes wants to make some for Christmas. Hermana Liz. She's insane. Ha ha ha ha. But cool, too.

 

The Christmas packages got here. They are under our little tree that we bought. And yes, the mountain hat is MINE. I got no credit for it on the blog. Everyone thinks it's sweet.

 

 

 

 

I don't really have much to say......... I love the work here. It's going good. I wish my zone would get into more people's houses, but they are doing alright as well. 

Hey dad. Comfortably dumb.

 

 

Out of time. I love you all. Goodbye!

- Elder Boekweg

Extending????

Questions:
1. What did you do if anything for Thanksgiving? Im pretty sure you didnt have turkey haha.
     We did a zone fast. ha ha ha. I didn't remember it was thanksgiving this year....... it was sort of a lame holiday even before it didn't exist here in Perú........

 2. Are you baptizing in Chimbote? You never mention anything about baptisms.
     We had a few last change, but nothing too recent. We are working with 5 complete families. They progress more surely, but less fast. That's why we are demorando with this.

 3. Who is the new AP since Elder Zaveleta went home?
      Elder Brown from Provo (He's half Nicaraguan)

 4. Do you need new white shirts?
     Nay

5. How is your health? Everything good?
    Well..... aside from the fact that HUGE cockroaches run up and down the walls every night, everything but my mental health is fine. I am so tired of stepping on them in the morning when I get out of bed...  there's just so many...... you really can't avoid it.

I am glad to hear the package made it. The tops are for dad. I figured he'd like them. All street children here play with those. And those are high-class ones. They cost less than one dollar a piece. Ha ha ha. 

So................ change of plans..... I might be extending again. Ha haha ha haha. President asked if me and Elder Leavitt were going to do it..... I guess that means the window is still open........ 

Sister Boody called you? I was in the exact same ward as her for like 15 months..... ha ha ha ha a ha. She knows everything about my mission, practically. Funny, right? I hope she didn't say anything bad............ ha ha ha ha ha ha

Thanks for the letter Sadie! I love receiving them. I wish I could send letters back.......

Mom. I am glad you liked the poem. Pretty deep, eh? Pink Floyd-ish, I would say. I still want a banjo....... that is the sincere desire of my heart. HA HA HA HA. SUBMIT TO THE BANJO.

Dad. Grandpa is funny. thanks for the pic. I would like to go explore the desert with you sometime. That place in FAR southwest Utah where there is absolutely nothing but dirt and wierd people wandering around in it.

How can I get back to the temple for the dedication? I think it's going to happen between may 15 and june 15. I will BARELY miss it even with an extension. We will know for sure this week, I hear. I am desperate to get back for that. Sounds like just about everyone in my group will be coming back for it. They're kind of a well-to-do lot of guys. I can only imagine how it would be. I am sure I could stay with people probably for free. Food is cheap. All I need is the ticket.......... THAT'S the expensive part...... We'll see, I suppose. I just don't think I could do it. I have no idea how much it would cost to fly here and back. And I would only have a few weeks to earn the money, really. Maybe I could come back after the dedication in like, December or even next year sometime. We'll see....

I love everyone. Until next week,

-Elder Boekweg

 

**Thank you Sister Marler for the picture!!

 

 

 

Elder Pearce, Elder Stephens , Elder Bates, Elder Gonzalez, Elder Boekweg and Elder Bramble practice,
"Have a Jolly Holly Christmas"