Semana 1 in Iquitos!

 Tarapoto, Peru

 Tarapoto, Peru (again!)

 The famous motokars! 

HOLA MI DULCE FAMILIA!!

Okay so this week has been CRAZY. Crazy but awesome. So tuesday I left the MTC at 2:00 Am to fly to Iquitos. I got to go with Hna Talbert and we were the only gringos so that was fun!  Not gonna lie it was so nice leaving Lima and the flight was so cool. We flew over the Andes mountain and then it all turned to green jungle for miles and miles and miles, it was like the ocean. Once we were about to land in Iquitos, we were super low and passed over the Amazon river. It was the coolest thing of my life, I was fan-girling so hard I actually cried. You think I'm kidding. I'm not.

Bueno, so we stepped out of the plane and I was immediately smothered by humidity as expected and the scenery looked like Jurassic Park. There was also this freaky abandoned plane there, it was cool. So we got to meet President and Hermana Gomez and let me tell you, they are the sweetest people on planet earth.  We ate breakfast in the mission home in Iquitos and then our areas were announced. I got sent to Tarapoto!!  And the best part is that Hna Talbert did too!  Our mission is so huge that we need to fly to every area during transfers. So that got announced and then they were like 'oh by the way you can only bring one suitcase that is 20 kilos and you have 20 minutes till your flight leaves". So I panicked and ditched over half my stuff at the mission office in Iquitos and hopped on another plane.

On the flight I met a man who was asking about the church and the flight to Tarapoto, I taught him the entire first lesson of the restoration and gave him a folleto. It was so fun and cool!  

Okay. TARAPOTO. I'm not even exaggerating when I tell you that Tarapoto, Peru is the most beautiful place I've ever been in my life. I freak out everytime I step outside. Its one of the areas that has mountains and waterfalls and its super green and tropical. They call it the paradise of the mission and that is no exaggeration. Another awesome thing is that it isn't as hot as Iquitos. The weather is basically like Wisconsin in July. Its soooooooo pretty, I can't send many photos so just google image search it. The city is so cute. It's like the size of Appleton, except everyone speaks spanish and its in the middle of the jungle and mountains.

There are no cars here, only motokars and its so fun.  There just these little motorcycle with a bench on the back and we take them everywhere we go.

My companion. My companion is Hna Alvear and she is great! She's from Ecuador and a very experienced missionary and is the Hermana equivalent of zone leader. She has trained 7 gringas and this is her very last transfer, so she will be going home in a month.  

This week we invited two of our investigators to be baptized and they have dates set in january.  I got to invite one of them and since I'm training, I've been doing a lot of contacts which is scary but fun. I honestly feel like I am in such a perfect place to do missionary work because the people are SO awesome. I have never seen anyone as friendly as these peruvian jungle people. Like I almost feel spoiled because I haven't received any negative response and almost everyone is willing to learn more about the gospel. On sunday we did branch missionary training and I taught the members the importance of teaching people, not lessons for their visiting and home teaching.  I feel so blessed that I can speak spanish, but that doesn't mean I have any idea what Im doing. Hna Alvear keeps saying that she forgets that she's training because I can speak and teach, but in reality I have NO CLUE how to be a missionary. Its quite funny. But also not funny.  I'm really working to get to know our members and investigators and just planning and teaching in general. The people in the jungle have very simple understanding so its essential that you teach as simply and clearly as possible, almost as if you're teaching children. Its cool, I just don't know how to do it.

Anyway, pray for me because I have a LOT to learn.

I have so much more to say but SO little time. Love you and miss you all!