Welcome Back to the Original (May 17, 2021)

 Well we made it to Peru everyone. 

For those of you that have been following along with me in this multi continental excursion I call a mission, you'll remember that last time I was in Peru I started to forget how to write English. 

Well I'm very excited to let you all know that it may or may not be happening again, but anyway....


What a JOY it is to finally be in a Spanish speaking country. I am the only english speaker for miles and EVERYTHING is in spanish. This has been a dream of mine ever since last year in October when I had my spanish breakthrough.


It's also interesting to be the first white person to walk these streets in more than a year. I would draw less attention if I wore a Daft Punk helmet than my real head. 

My companion is named Elder Caballero, from Lima. He speaks very rapid spanish, and is learning english just as almost everyone else here is trying to.

He asked me to teach him a way to greet people that is common in the states. I told him that the best way to greet someone in the states is to say, Whats crack-a-lackin dude.

I do hope he one day visits the states.


I've actually been in two different areas in the past twoish weeks, I arrived in Villa Maria del Triunfo with Elders Andrade and Paredes, and I thought that was where I was going to stay for a while, but then after an interview with President and a Preparation day, I get a call from one of the AP's telling me that I would be moving areas and serving as a zone leader here in Pachacamac.

A quicker assignment than I expected. 


I got here on the 30th of April and one of the first things I realized was that almost everything down here was still physical. What I mean by that is, before cellphones were a big thing for missionaries, we used paper schedules, area books, calendars, goals, and all the manuals physically. 

To explain a bit better, in New York, everything was digital. We did everything with the phones. So what a surprise to see that not really anything had changed since the last time I left Peru and when I got back.

And here we can see the absolute magnitude of the Lord's plan. 

I got here with 2 other gringos (Elders from the United States) and now our numbers are a whopping 7 gringos in the entire mission. But every single one of us came from missions that were 100 percent digital. 

We were all called to be in leadership positions after about 2 days here. 

 

Over the past two weeks or so, the mission has completely flipped and started in a new direction. We went from maybe 4 or 5 percent online, to now everyone plans online, the records of members, recent converts, investigators, and formers is in the transitioning process of becoming digital. What an exciting time to be part of the Lord's work!  That's just after two weeks here! 

 

When I got the reassignment to serve in New York, I thought that was where I was to end my mission. Little did I know that ´´All things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.'' as says the Book of Mormon.

I am so very excited for these last few months here and I'm almost a bit sad that I won't have more time to witness the change that has begun in this mission. 


Also, we hiked to the Tree of Dust today, something that has been a goal ever since I saw the massive hills we live by. I shall include a few pictures for you all. I must warn you though, one word to describe Lima in winter: gray.


Have a wonderful next 10 minutes everyone! Not that anything bad is going to happen, but I like to set manageable goals.


El nuevo im'peru'ving misionero,

Elder Baird







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