What bugs you?

Hey guys! I am in Pampas this week for Pday and I am having a bit of a hard time with the internet. We email at this café type place. I am waiting for my voice clip to load and it is taking forever.  I took a picture of your questions and will try to answer all of them. Everything is going good.  My pensionista found mom on Facebook. She is going to email you during the week I think. My pensionista’s name is Hermana Luisa. She fixes 3 meals for us—lots of carbs. I am eating a lot! I am always hungry haha. Good thing there are little stores all over the place!!! We are eating so much bread though and I am getting bigger. I try and do stuff every morning. I am starting to look like a man. Yes.... that includes having to shave everyday haha. I really miss milk. I like my apartment. It’s nice.

Our church is literally an old cement house. I gave a message on prayer yesterday and it went well. You literally have no idea how embarrassing it is to bring investigators to our church especially when there are huge catholic churches in the plaza here. It is hard to baptize down here because so many people live together and aren’t married. We have run into that problem a lot! Looks like the 1st counselor is probably going to get a divorce. It is really sad and it’s hard to help him. Yesterday I was teaching this family and a girl asked me a question, she asked if it was normal for people not to want children? I asked her if she had her patriarchal blessing and she had no idea what that was. They are an inactive family and I think that the desire of her wanting this blessing is going to reactivate them.

It rained so hard yesterday and since we are in the mountains, the thunder was soooo loud! It was kind of scary haha. The dogs are still really annoying and scary. I took on this monster dog the other day. It was freaking huge. The bugs aren’t too bad here yet, but the fleas are the worst! We go into people’s houses and teach and then walk out with fleas.

Are you guys instagraming some of my photos? I have to keep my insta game strong haha! Well, I love you guys so much and I will try to answer all your questions next week!!

Glacier at Huaytapallana

Hey guys! Well, sorry I am writing so late. We went to a mountain called Huaytapallana. It was so intense. I am in Huancayo again this week for Pday so I will be sending pictures if I can! I am in Huancayo because we went on a hike as a zone. The hike was a glacier. It was amazing, but hard. The hike was easily the hardest one I have been on. It was so crazy but beautiful!

I am feeling much better so don’t worry! I haven’t received any packages yet but I am thankful you guys are trying. It sounds like everything is going well. I have been attacked by so many dogs. They are so mean. I have drilled some with rocks. It’s totally acceptable down here and I love it—haha.

Pampas has dirt roads and cobblestone. We go into villages to teach and it is crazy poor. Like I don’t know how people live in it. Whenever we pray, everyone does these weird chant things and we have to tell them to stop. I also have been asked to bless a house for evil spirits, but luckily I didn’t have to do that. We are working with this girl, Sheyla, hoping she will be baptized this Saturday the 25th. Pray for her. She knows everything she needs to for baptism but she is hesitant. She is 14 and wants to be baptized but doesn’t know what to do. I think she is scared.

Pampas is really hard because there are a lot of members but none are active. It kind of sucks but there are some good people. There is a rule we can’t teach young women alone because of certain circumstances. I seriously have been put in so many weird situations. I am basically a counselor down here. I had a lady ask me what she should do. She has a tumor that is getting worse and she wants to have a baby. The doctors tell her she needs to have the baby now, but she isn’t pregnant and doesn’t even have a boyfriend...They call me “Doctor Will”. I have also given soooo many blessing for the sick. It is really hard for me to do them in Spanish so I need to study more. The Priesthood is crazy powerful!  Another challenge this week—I guess the first counselor of the branch presidency is having marriage problems and his wife wants a divorce. She is not a member. He is the only one in his family that is a member and it is hard for him. She hates him and is really mean. The church is so different here. I blessed the sacrament with a dog sitting right next to the sacrament table. I teach the Old Testament class and I also shared my testimony (in Spanish—claro!) because it was fast Sunday.

Thanks for everything you have done. I miss you! I love you guys and hope everything continues to go well. Thanks for your prayers. I have definitely felt them!!

Elder Durante

Because I Have Been Given Much...

Hey guys. Well the computers here suck even more than at the CCM, so sorry. I am in like a little cafe right now in Huancayo. I am in Huancayo because we came here to watch General Conference; none of the missionaries had seen it yet. Conference was good. I liked how they talked about serving the poor. That is where I live, among the poor. We went to the zone leader’s baptism yesterday and we are staying with them while we’re here.

My trainer is Elder Torres. He is from Tegucigalpa, Honduras. He is really nice. He speaks English pretty well and has been out for 13 months. I am the first person that he has trained. My area is Pampas and it is really small. We literally have only 30 members. In Pampas there are only 4 missionaries. The other 2 live downstairs from us. My room is super small. Our “pensionista” is awesome. She is super funny! It’s no joke, we live in a village. I have really struggled to stay positive. I can’t imagine being here for 2 years. It’s sooo poor. That’s how scary it is. We literally talk to the same people every day. It is really sad. We have a chapel that is way scary. It’s like concrete walls. I don’t think I am going to be able to send pictures in Pampas, but this week I am going to try.

I love hearing about all your adventures. There hasn’t been much that has happened. I think I might have gotten a little taller but I don’t know for sure. I still have some liquid in my lungs and a bit of a cough but it’s getting better. Anyway the ride on the bus from Lima was fine. I still have to go back to immigrations sometime because my papers haven’t been processed. I am so nervous for these two years. But I know I need to do them. I am not doing anything really hard. It’s just mental for me. Some moments I feel great but then some are sucky. Hopefully I can send you the pictures that I took. No crazy spiritual experiences yet. It is seriously so different. Pray that I find some new people to talk to please.  I miss you guys. Good luck in everything! I am going to go try and send those pictures. I Love you so much!!

Up On The Mountain Top...

I'm here and I just got out of the meeting with my president. They are seriously so awesome! I think I am going to get a Latin companion. It’s kind of hard to breathe but it’s going to be good. I am really nervous. I have no idea where I am going to go. I will find out tomorrow morning. I hope that everything is going well. I am writing this on one of their laptops. I don’t know when I am going to be able to write next or if I am going to be able to send pictures. I miss and I love you guys so much! I will talk to you as soon as I can!!! 

Elder Durante

[….and then came this email from President Henderson]

Dear Durante Family

     We want to let you know that Elder Durante arrived safe and sound here in the Perú Huancayo Mission.  We are grateful to have him here!   He and the other 15 new missionaries arrived on Tuesday afternoon, and we oriented them that evening and for much of the day on Wednesday with their new companions.  Elder Durante and his training companion then headed to their proselyting area in Pampas.

     Thanks for letting Elder Durante come to our Mission.  We look forward to two good years together with your good son.

President David Y. Henderson

Peru Huancayo Mission

One "Weak" Left

Hey guys! Well, this week has been pretty boring—until last night! You all know that I have been feeling pretty bad lately. Anyway, I have been doing these treatments that are supposed to help my lungs but nothing is working. So last night I went to the hospital with Hermana Gonzalez! The CCM president’s wife. They took some x-rays and and drew some blood. It turns out that I have Bronchitis. Yay!!!!!! Haha, it really stinks. The hospital was pretty messed up too. They gave me like an inhaler thing and a few antibiotics. The medicine I was given was amoxicillin, glycidol (some syrup for the mucus in my lungs) and that inhaler thing. I got to go to burger king though after the hospital and that was seriously amazing.  I feel like one of those kids that has serious problems. Haha. Oh well.

But yeah! I leave Tuesday morning on a bus. It’s an 8 hour ride I think. I believe there will be 10 of us going to Huancayo. That is a lot of white people—haha. Like 5 of us are from Utah too. Elder Tolbert (from the Salt Lake area) knows Anthony Peterson, who I played baseball with.

I have eaten this chicken bread thing out of some lady’s trunk haha and Inca cola tastes alright, but I haven’t tried too many things just because I don’t need too. We are not scheduled to go to immigrations again before we leave, so that means we would have to come back to get our visas.

I can’t believe this is the last time I will be writing you guys in the CCM! It’s crazy. I won’t have another pday before I leave I don’t think. I miss it by a day. I hope I get to send an email when I get there or something. I hope I am completely healthy by Tuesday. I definitely am going to need those boots as soon as possible. I have heard nothing but getting cold and dirty in Huancayo. I don’t know when I am going to be able to write next. I hope soon! My bet is, I get there on Tuesday and I can write next Monday. Spanish is going well. I miss everything about home. I still feel pretty sick but am praying for strength. I bore my testimony on fast Sunday and it was awesome! I love you guys and am so blessed to have such an amazing family!

Elder Durante