Answers

Chance asked for questions last week, so here are his answers.....

Q.Chance, are you in the area where the H1N1 flu virus is? Has the Mission President suggested getting a flu shot? Grace Duffy
A.I am in the H1N1 Area, but the thing is, I already had it back in the states. So I guess I am immune?

Q.Do you sing to people? Have you gotten your hands on a guitar at all? We listen to your CD all the time :) and we have one saved for Tali when she gets home... which she will appreciate. Did I tell you about the phone Levi bought at a garage sale (a Stansbury teenagers old phone) with your songs and Tali's on it ? Very funny and kind of weird! We laughed and laughed.  Nancy Gomez
A.One of out investigators has a guitar. I play it for them sometimes. And I even sing to them when we have a little extra time. That's crazy about the phone.

My questions:

1. Did you get my package?
     No package. I think it probably got stopped at customs. That means I won't ever get it. So maybe packages are a bad idea... If you want to show me some love this week, I need like..... 15 dollars for a jar of nutella. The zone leaders are going to Trujillo this week, and I guess they sell it there. HA HA HA. Times are pretty desperate... food here sucks.... can't even try to sugar coat that... ha ha ha.

2. Tell us a good missionary story?
     If I have time

3. Do you baptize in a font or river or ocean?
     We have a makeshift font. Half of our church is outdoors. Just an awning of some sort to block the sun, when it shows. The font is beneath that. Super dirty. Funny.

4. Do you ever eat at other peoples houses? I know your not supposed to but do you have to sometimes?
       Sometimes our investigators make us stuff, and if we don't eat it, we know we may not get the chance to come back. Like last night, this lady made us some kind of concoction of purple corn and vegetable oil. We ate it with spoons...... I smiled and said thanks. Luckily, here in Casagrande people are usually too poor to offer you more.

5. Are you liking your new companion? Does he speak English?
    My new companion is cool.

6. Is it ok without having a trainer? Do you feel prepared?
    I am not afraid of anything anymore. I've learned that when I am asked to so something, it means I can do it. In fact, things have been easier without my trainer. My Spanish has improved a million fold, because I have to teach almost every lesson alone. I even gave a 15 minute talk in church this week! I say these things not to brag or be a martyr, but to show that everything in this world can be done with God's help.

7. Have you played any more soccer?
     Every P-Day. It is the ONLY thing the native Elders ever want to do. And they outnumber the Americans that want to go see ruins and junk. Ha ha ha ha. So Yes....

8. Describe your P-day?
    Soccer

9. Have you tried Inca-Cola? We have it here in the Mexican market haha.
    Inca Cola is SICK. Ha ha ha ha. I tried just a sip of it, (Because You have to try Inca Cola if your in Perú) it tastes just like bubble gum. Super Gross.

10. Have you written any songs?
      Yes..... I have been using my camera's video ability to record the little melodies that come to me..... I really miss recording music... But it will still be there when I get home. So I'm not worried.

-Elder Boekweg
   

Ask me a Question

1. Did you get your package?

    No packages yet. Just the one from over a month ago.

2. How do you like your new companion?

    New comp is from Iquitos, Perù... the jungle. He plays the Incan flutes all the time, this change is going to be really interesting... his voice is the exact same as Roberto's.... so that is weird for me...

3. Did you ever buy socks?

    No socks bought. But it's all good. I stopped caring about clean socks when I realized that most of the time none of my other clothes are either.... ha ha ha. Sometimes I go 4 days without changing pants... ha ha ha. It just doesn't matter here. It's not like anyone is going to care.... most folks here don't even shower.

4. Would it help you if I sent you some international stamps? Do you have access to a post office?

    I would love some international stamps, there is no post office here, But I hit Trujillo about once a month.

5. Are you staying healthy, gaining any weight? Your not sick right?

    Not sick. doing good.

   Now... I have kind of given up on letting everybody know what's going on here.... it's like there is always WAY too much to convey, and it's not like I can converse with people and enjoy conversations about it, so I figure I'll just talk to everyone when I get back in 2 years. Ha ha ha. Isn't that so ''like me?'' It would be impossible to tell you everything that has happened in a week in a foreign country, in one hour of typing... It will just never happen... So I had an idea.... maybe you could have people post questions to the blog. That way they could ask whatever they wanted, and I would know what you all want to hear about. Even if it's like a million questions.  So everyone should write me a question to answer next week. Maybe something that requires like a short paragraph answer, so that I can have time to get to everyone's question...... Yeah?

 

We baptized a man named Leo. He told us he was minutes from killing himself when we found him on the street. He actually cried like a child to us in the middle of the road, which oddly enough, nobody here found weird. Anyway, a few weeks later, and he's a member of the church! He's super happy now and loves to go to church with his wife every week.

 

I want Peanut Butter popcorn SO badly... I was offered guinea pig HEAD yesterday. I gratefully eat rice now - which I also hate - so that I don't die. I will NEVER eat guinea pig head... Nor chicken feet. Nor cat paws. Nor any form of fish eye ugh......

 

HAPPY BIRHDAY TAYLOR! WOO WOO! I can't believe how old you already are... I remember when you first started coming to church with my family... it doesn't seem so long ago... and yet, it was over 4 years ago.... Anyway, enjoy your birthday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LONDON! 2yrs old. Wow.

 

Got to go.... think of me as you eat peanut butter popcorn while watching soccer this weekend....... Heaven knows I miss that.... ha ha ha ha ha ha. Peru is the land down under.

 

- Elder Boekweg

 

 

Staying in Casagrande

We'll start this week with the questions:

A few Questions:

1. How are you sleeping? You've never been a good sleeper and I pray everyday that you will be able to sleep.

    Sleep is kind of like a fleeting blessing... by the time I hit the bed, I am so tired that I fall asleep within seconds... we walk ALL day. And I mean ALL day. I can't believe how tired I am at the end of each day... so no problem sleeping.

2. Is it very cold there? Do you wish you took a jacket?

    Cold here is different. It's not like the brutal cold and face whipping wind of Utah, but it's just..... a constant state of never being completely warm. In Utah, you can go inside a warm house when you are cold. But the houses here don't have heating, and are made totally of cement or adobe, usually missing windows and stuff.... So you never really warm up. It's cold in your bones... I use my sweaters just about every day.

3. Did you pick your haircut? I cant get over how short it is. Who did it?

    I did NOT pick my haircut. Funny story about it. I sat down in this rusty chair, in a creepy barbershop that I'm sure had not been cleaned in 10 years or so, and this guy asks me what I want with my hair. I tell him ''Just a bit shorter'' or, ''justo un poco más corto.'' He then proceeds to buzz my head with a 1-clip... without asking or giving any warning, right down the middle of my head. At that point, the damage was done... As I stared at the naked strip of my head, I knew there was nothing I could do... so I just let it happen......

4. Did you get our package?

     No. I have only received 1 package from you since I've been here.

 

 

 I want to die over your comment about Peanut butter popcorn... I mentioned that just last night to my companion... ''quiero cancha con mantequilla de mani.'' Then he made fun of Americans and THEIR weird food....  ha ha ha. Yeah right....

I just want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich..... with all my heart.......... ha ha ha. I miss cereal too...... and milk that doesn't taste like diseases.

 

It looks like I am staying in Casagrande for 6 more weeks. My new comp is named Elder Tayo, or something like that. He is Peruvian. 

That street is in 8 de Septiembre.... the poorest part of Casagrande. I don't imagine it gets much poorer that that anywhere in the world... it's nuts. It's also my favorite place here

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COURTNEY! I can't believe how old you are..... It's weird to think that you are at the point in life where you can finally drive yourself places.... I wish I had more time to write you. I will work on a written letter, but we just lost our ''free monthly letter home'' deal, and I don't know when I'll be in Trujillo again... So I may not get to send it for a while.... But be patient. It'll come

My beloved father... I have thought about you a lot this week in particular... Thank you for teaching me to be a man. ''Buck up'' has become my motto.... Ha ha ha. I think about your little ''wisdoms'' all the time. I don't know if you realize how many of your one-liners have stuck with me. It's like...... dumb logic. I like it. My comp hates it. Ha ha ha ha. I say stuff like..... ''when in a painter's house, make sure the wall is dry before you lean on it,'' and to me, that is funny humor. But to him, it's just dumb. And maybe it is... truth is, I don't know what humor is anymore... Peruvians laugh at the weirdest stuff.... I don't know if I'll be funny when I come home... And that worries me, because it was the only chance at a wife I had.... ha ha ha. anyway, I just hope you know how much I miss you. The neighbors to our apartment always blast 80's rock music, which always reminds me of you.

   Casagrande Peru is totally going through it's 80's right now. People all dress like it, and they only listen to 80's music... I guess things hit a little late here.

 

I have to go. I love you, and will write y'all next week. Good luck in the modern world. These letters get sent through time as well as space, I think....

- Elder Boekweg

 

Lima again

I went to Lima again. Hence the late letter home.

 

The first photo is 'How to cross the street in Casa Grande.' THE WHOLE TOWN LOOKS LIKE THAT RIGHT NOW. THEY'RE PUTTING IN A SEWER.

 

 

The second pic is just for laughs... I'm pretty sure I'm standing next to Bruce Fivas' Latino brother...  ha ha ha.

 

 

3rd photo is in Ascope, Perú. More mountanous than Casagrande, as you can tell.

 

Looks like my training ends this Monday... and then I am REALLY on my own. Luckily, I have had a friend up to this point... Elder Young, my zone leader actually lives in the same apartment as us. He's in his 23rd month as a missionary. He loves recording music, and is from Provo. He wants to start a band when I get home. I told him I was down for that. He'll be at BYU, go figure.

Sometimes, I think about how bad I want to eat lettuce... we aren't allowed to eat it down here. Nor Strawberries.... I miss them heinously.

I don't really have much to say this week.... except That if it's possible, I would love some strawberry poptarts and raspberry hot chocolate mix right about now..... :) They just don't understand the need for basic things like poptarts and homogenized milk down here. Milk here is sick. No wonder they prefer yogurt on their cereal.

And for everybody who wants to try a Peruvian dinner..... Try rolls, butter, fried chicken, rice, and boiled potatoes. and if you want a peruvian drink to go with it, pour rice in hot water, so that the top centimeter or so is completely rice, wait until the rice is soggy, then add brown sugar until you like it, and drink it. It's called 'Gwaker.' They love it down here. And for Peruvian desert, make rice pudding. Rice, rice, rice, rice rice...... rice...

I don't know if I'll get transferred, or if I will stay here in CG, but I hear it's probable that I have another 6 weeks here. That'll put me in September.... the end of it.... I can't believe it's already August. This is my 5th month... How wild. 

Mom - I will get home in Spring of 2015.... I want to mow the LAWN every day of the following summer. You will never know how much I miss grass... Also, Please tell Kelsey Gibby-Johnson I said congrats.

I wish I could somehow let you know how much I love you verbally. But I guess it can wait until Christmas in 5 more months.

I love you all, until next Monday,

   - Elder Boekweg

Chance's Apartment

    I sent you a ton of pics today, including my room. It's basically cement with windows... and you can tell which parts of the room belong to my comp hahaha.
   August marks the one year mark since I started school at BYU... THAT is hard to believe.... I can remember it so clearly. How weird. It's amazing how much the world can change in just a year. And I was thinking.... I am excited to talk to Roberto. Hopefully this Christmas I can take just a second to talk to him in his own language. I should have it down pat by then, I think. I dream in Spanish sometimes now. They say that is a big sign of progress. And actually, Roberto was in one of these dreams. I said to him, 'Roberto, por fin, tiene un amigo en la familia con quien puede hablar´. I´ll let google translate help you on that one. :)
     And as far as the blog, just post the pics. each one is theoretically worth 1000 words.
     Please send me Tyrel Barney's contact info. Tyler Kelsey's as well, as soon as he finds out where he'll be living.  Happy Birthday, Dad, Dallon, Joylynn and almost Courtney!
- Elder Boekweg

Chances bed is on the left

Kitchen

Soccer with the kids

Casagrande street

    

Chicken and Rice

   I love Getting written tangible mail.... I would really like 4 pages about what`s going on at home. The stockshow, or other things like that. Ha ha ha. 

   Tell Uncle that I need an update on the zombie situation. I love reading those stupid things. It takes my mind on a brief trip to a happy time just preceding this one. (Which is also happy.) 

   Will you send me pictures of great grandpa in WW2?

   It keeps getting colder here. And will you please just send Hunter`s mom a summary of stuff I`ve sent? I really don`t have time to write anyone else. Tell Sadie and Linzi and Laura and Grandparents Boekweg that I am continually sorry for my inability to write them all back. But I promise to catch up with them in 20 months, possibily in Krispy Kreme doughnut factory... because that may be the place I miss the most.

   I had a thought this morning in the electricuting shower..... I will be in my 5th month in 10 days... That means I am actually really close to my half a year mark. And this has all gone pretty fast. I am more confident every day that time will continue to fly by, and even accelerate until I am home again. I am almost done with my first area.... It`s weird.

   I also wanted to tell you that I did dream in Spanish once. It was about a month ago. It was interesting, because I still couldn`t understand what they were saying in my dream, but they were definitely speaking spanish. How odd, right? Maybe I will get to the point where My Spanish is perfect.

   I cannot send pics from this particular computer, so I apologize. You`ll have to wait another week. 

   Tell dad to tell the young men of the ward to study chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel. I really, really do believe that it is the most important part. At least, it has been for me so far. If you have Christ-like attributes, everything else falls into place. 

   Send me Kelsey Johnson`s wedding announcement. That´s so dang weird...

   I miss dad`s barbeque food. Hamburgers on a hot summer afternoon with Deedre`s ¨Goop.¨ I miss food that is edible.... Chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken and rice.......... I am SOOOOOOOOO SICK OF IT!!!!!!!!!!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. I only laugh to keep from weeping......

   I love you all, and hope to someday become a parachutist.... just kidding.... I am grateful for all of your love, and I send my own back to you.

    - Elder Bo-bo-boek-bo-boek-wayg? (That`s how the Peruvians say it)

What a surprise- 2 emails in 1 week!!

Okay cool... So Lima is definitely better than the rest of Peru. It is about a million times as modern as Casagrande, and a million times as big as Trujillo. I feel like Ogden is to Salt Lake, as Trujillo is to Lima.... Kind of the same, but one definitely stands out against the other. We were waiting in lines all day, which would have been a pretty lame Pday, were it not for our trip to Mcdonalds afterwards. I never thought I would be thankful for the cleanliness and greasiness of a Mcdonalds... It was a tiny taste of America. I love America. 

   I had interviews with President Marler yesterday. Right after my trip to Lima. Which means I stayed the night in the apartment of the assistants, really close to the office. Their apartment is sweet, wooden floors and hot showers. It made me miss the niceties of the United States. Long live the USA. 

   Will somebody please send me more pictures of Uncle´s new kid? Everybody tells me he looks like me, but I´ve seen one pic of him! Also, Look for the blog of Elder Bramble. He and I are buds now, after our trip to Lima. We entered the field on the same day. It´s always good to know that you aren´t alone in your situation, right? He´s a cool dude. He´s got a pilot´s license and stuff. 

   It won´t be much longer now until I am done with training, and I start rolling out in the streets as a normal Junior companion. I am really excited. Not worried at all. 

   Tell Hunter´s mom that I will write her next week when I have a little bit more time. I only got a little while to write this week. Which makes it hard to let you all know what´s going on... or maybe my explanation does more damage....  

   I posted a lot of pictures this week because I can't write much. The first is my haircut in Grandpa Thorpe army pose, so you can compare our faces, which are the same.....

 

The second is the familia Saldaña. They rock.

 

 

 The third is my average day of tracting, which we actually do all day every day.

 

 My mission consists of OYM´s and nothing else. That is how we contact, and usually how we ask people to teach them in their houses tambien. A veces es interesante, porque las calles, y las entradas son casi la misma cosa. Entonces, realmente no sé si hacemos contactos de la puerta, o de la calle. Casagrande es bien diferente que Tooele. Ha ha ha ha. Just realized I typed all that in Spanish. Sorry. Use google translator, because I don´t have time to type it again. Tell Roberto that I need to know where he lived in Lima. Ask him for ¨su dirección.¨ I want to start asking the throngs of people from Lima here if they knew him. I know it´s a long shot, but I really do meet people from there every day. EVENTUALLY it´s got to happen, right?

   Got to go. I love you all. I´ll write again on Monday. And I will be going to Lima again in 2 or 3 weeks, so if my letter is a few days late again, don´t worry. 

   - Elder Boekweg

 P.S. LINZI KELSEY... You should write me the details of Alaska. I can print things off here, and I am curious as to what it was like there. Send me some pics, too if you can. I miss seeing green things.

 

1. Do you receive any money from the church for your purchases? Do you buy your own toilet paper? Food? Shampoo? How do you pay for your expenses? I am issued 80 Soles a month for that. Which is about 30 dollars.

 

2.  Are you changing seasons yet? Shouldn't you be going into spring? No change of seasons yet. They say it will continue to get a bit colder until Septiembre.

 

3. Are you getting close to transfers? How does that work? Transfers are in 3 weeks, and then my training is done. I will get a new companion, but I will stay in my area for at least another 6 weeks. 

 

4. Will you be part of the new technology change for missionaries? You know the IPADs and Facebook? No word on that yet. I sure hope they don´t give us Ipads... I don´t know how to use them. I am a bit old fashioned. Also, I can´t imagine they would issue us anything like that in this mission. especially in places like Casagrande. 

 

5. Did you hear about the dress code change? More colorful ties and colored pants? WOW all the changes. I have also heard nothing about that. You´ll have to send me the details.