Speaking Spanglish

Hello family! Buenas días a todos!

¿Qué tal? It sounds from the letters that all is going pretty well!! Thank you all for the great letters, as always! Such a highlight to the week and the best part of my P Day!

Today as a zone we went to a museum that I sent pictures of a little bit... I am currently forgetting the name... haha sorry! (museo de sitio narihuala) But it was about an Incan tribe that used to live there and we got to walk around the ruins and there is also an older Catholic church there, but it really wasn't too much... But it's always fun to get together with the zone, and the laughs and sight seeing together makes it worth it, eh? :)

On the way back from Piura today, (we also went shopping in Piura today, there is only the market with a couple little stores in Sechura so if we really want to stock up, we go to Tottus, que es un poco como un Walmart, in Piura) and when we were taking a taxi to the bus station, I hop into the taxi passenger side, and I look over to the taxi driver. And he turns over and says "It's probably strange to hear your own native language here, isn't it?" in PERFECT ENGLISH!!! My mind was like going Spanish mode, "...what did he say?..." then it hit me, and I couldn't hide it, my jaw dropped and I was like "woah!!" haha! It was just so out of the azul! Most all of his family lives in LA, and he lived there too for about 10 or 15 years starting when he was 17. But before that his family is from Trujillo, Peru. And then he said "All of my family is Mormon, except for me. haha I'm the bad one." he also said "My grandparents were the first Mormons in Trujillo too!" and I am sitting here thinking, "Who in the world is this man... Am I on candid camera?!" So we talked in Spanglish together, some ingles, and also español. haha! But that was a great conversation! He also likes to deer hunt, so he is one all around stellar man! haha But he is Catholic by birth, like his Mom, but he has studied into the Mormon religion, and he told me he just doesn't want to change. But our conversation was GREAT, a wonderful time getting to know one another, and hey hopefully I was able to put a new interest into his mind... We'll see! His name is Juan. His ancestry is actually Italian, so we talked about Uncle Jason with his mission a little too! :)

Also one thing with this conversation, I discovered I am already getting to a point where words are easier to speak in Spanish! When I explained we spoke in Spanglish, that's because of me! I kept going back to Spanish!! hahaha! He said just keep practicing and español will come. :)

New investigators are coming into the works! We are using the "future investigators" seccion in the area book, and that has brought some doors to open, I believe! Also, something cool happened!...

One day Elder Inocente and I were walking down the street and Hermana Mara was driving by on her moped and she stopped to talk with us a bit. While Elder Inocente and her were talking, I looked over to the house we were by, and there were these two little niños running around, giggling when I would look over, and they would also run to hide, and it was a fun moment. I thought to myself, I would like to knock on that door and talk to those people. Then we left because we had an appointment. Then, a couple days later, on Saturday, Elder Inocente had a visita de trabajo (exchanges) with Elder Arce in the other area of the district, so I was with Hermano Camacho (a mini-missionaro through the Castilla stake, he is only here for 6 weeks, he actually has less time then ME!) and we were searching out new investigators. We were on our way to lunch as the finish, and we walked past that house. I stopped, pondered, and I was like, "Yep. Hermano Camacho, vamos a tocar esta puerta!" Since this point Hermano Camacho was kinda calling the shots, and he was hesitant, but I went over and knocked on the door. A woman answered the door, and wouldn't you know it, she has 2 friends in the church! We taught a little about the restoracion and got to know her a little, and we have an appointment to return on Saturday!! She has a big family, the niños were actually her siblings, and I think we can really have success with her! 

The weather down here has been feeling great! Usually 80s during the day but it can reach 60s or low 70s in the night, and everyone says it has been really cold this year! But I think it feels great. If you want a sauna, you go to Piura. talk about blue blazes.

I am still feeling well! There has been a bit of a cough and sniffles going around with the cold weather, but it hasn't hit us terribly hard! Nothing a cough drop can't fix, and those we have! Everyone here drinks purified water, not from tap, so I have had no problem with the water, and that has been a real blessing! And the food, I have actually found a liking for the oatmeal here.... have I talked about that? The first time I ate it, I compared it to sand paper and wood glue? Now I wake up in the morning and think, man, I would LOVE some avena right now!! I think I've gone crazy. haha but we have also gotten very good at omlettes, huevos rancheros, spaghetti, but nothing too too fancy. yet. ;) haha!

Actually, the Sechura branch has found my blog, believe it or not!! So I have something to say to them!:

¡Buenas días mis amigos y hermanos del Rama Sechura! Se quiero ustedes, y gracias por us amistad a mí. Vamos a compartir el Evangelio juntos a todo a Sechura. Que dulce es este Evangelio de Jesucristo, y estas personas de Sechura necesitan nuestra ayuda para encontrar esta verdad. ¡A trabajar!

And now for all you Americans and others who are reading this! The same applies to you! You members of the ward or branch or stake are to work together with the missionaries! How sweet is this gospel, we must share it with those around us and help in whatever way we can to assist in finding and preserving members of this church. In the next chance you have, I want you to go to your Bishop, Young Men's President, Relief Society President, Stake President, Missionaries of the area, etc. and say "What can I do to help you, Bishop (or whoever it is)." And if you have one of these positions, I want you to say to yourself "Self, what do I need to do today to help this church?" Nothing will taste more sweet or feel more satisfying than consecrating a little of your time or one of your talents to this church and to the building and strengthening of the Lord's kingdom. Consecration is such a powerful word, and it may sound kinda rigorous, it sure does to me! But start with consecrating the 10 seconds to ask the question about what you can do to help. Oh how sweet is this work, ¡A trabajar!

I love you all, I love this gospel, I love the people of Sechura, I love my Heavenly Father and He loves me! Keep up all your good work! I will keep you all in my prayers, and I hope all is well!

Logan, I wish you the VERY best in the musical, break a leg, all right? ;) And to all the rest of you, Thank you all for the letters!! I wish I had the time to talk to you all personally!! Keep up all the greatness!

Con Amor y felicidad!

Elder Russell

 A cart pulled by a burro -- a fairly common sight in the streets here.

 Elder Inocente and me at the Museo de Sitio Narihuala