My Last Week of Training (November 11, 2013)

So after what feels like a lifetime, I have finally come down to my final week of 12 weeks of training. The good news is that after 12 weeks, my Spanish has gone from being able to say my name and that I know God lives to giving talks in church, teaching hour long lessons, and finally being able to understand jokes from other missionaries. I also have learned a lot about being a missionary and what it means to stand as a witness of Christ in all times and in all places. Lots of learning, and now just a little less than 2 years more of learning to go! 

Also, I apologize again for no pictures. I purchased an adapter to bring over my photos, and the adapter is called "Daax" and so clearly I believed it could do the job with such a wonderful name...but I was proven wrong. Anyways, the next week for sure I will have lots of photos to share!

So, next week we are all going to Chiclayo, to see Elder Nelson give a talk to three different missions...and we are all leaving the day after transfers. So, I will get to meet my new companion for one day, do some work, and then take a 3 day break to go see Elder Nelson. Lots of time to get to know my new companion!!

Today we had P-Day at a little resort called "Lúkuma" which literally is a resort in the middle of nowhere. It is quite funny: you drive 30 minutes through sand, walk up a hill, and there is this little patch of grass with soccer fields, pools, and a restaurant. Very much… "out of nowhere". Anyways, it was just a fun and different way to spend the day, and I got to meet some "Snakes" (as we call women here who seek out men) who bought me and some other elders some sodas. One of them asked my name and when I said "Elder Rich" she looked at me like I had 2 heads. It was pretty funny indeed. Anyways, that pretty much is the extent of the adventures there, and perhaps the pictures next week will better illustrate this picture, but it was nice to have time with all of the missionaries in Tumbes. 

On a philosophical note, I had a lot of experiences not only this week, but in all of my time here to see that in truth the world is different, but people are the same. Divorce, children leaving home, and people struggling to balance careers and families is universal. We are all people, and while we have different cultures and beliefs, we have more or less the same problems and challenges. We also all have the same Father in Heaven, and that is why the Gospel is for the whole world. One God, one path to happiness, and one Savior, namely Jesus Christ. Certainly just one more reason to be grateful that I can serve God and his children here in Perú. 

Anyways, more to come next week! Hope all is well for everyone and know that my prayers are always with you all!!

Mucho amor,
Elder Dax Rich

What a Wonderful Week (November 4, 2013)

First off, BAPTISM!!!! Yes, the third baptism I have been involved in during my mission here in Perú, but more exciting, my first baptism where I baptized the person! So, the young guy who I got to baptize was a boy named, "Manuel." I haven’t written much about him due to time restraints in the past, but he is the one who we had the lesson with the many kids from off the street with (and in fact this week we had the biggest lesson yet as 8 niños joined in on one of our lessons). He is the youngest member of a family who are all members of the Church, but are not attending services currently. However, even though he is the youngest he has the biggest testimony. From Day 1, he bore his testimony of the Book of Mormon and the divinity of it, and he shook both my companion and me to our cores. He is a lot like Nephi (the first writer in the Book of Mormon) in that even though he is the youngest in the family, he has a testimony big enough to fill the whole house! He is a fantastic young man, and after his baptismal interview, he said that he wanted Elder Rich to baptize him. So, I had the wonderful privelege of baptizing Hermano Manuel and helping him begin a life as a disciple of Jesus Christ. What an amazing experience! I wish I could share the experience with everyone back home, but words really can´t describe it as well as I would like. Anyways, it was a wonderful experience, and Manuel is now officially a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

On a different note, here in Perú Halloween is not as big as it is in the States...or even really that similar. The more important celebration is el día de los muertos on the first and second of November, so the 31st of October is just another night in essence. Thus, the Church here in Tumbes decided to hold a Missionary Night in the stake center of Tumbes for people to learn more about the church. So, naturally we went to help teach people, and as we walked in, the zone leaders pulled me into the bathroom, threw some colorful scarves and robes around me, and told me I would be acting in the show there. So, long story short, I played the part of an angry citizen during the preaching of Korihor (full story: Alma chapter 30 in the Book of Mormon), and I got to exclaim with all of my acting power and wisdom the truly moving line: "Usted esta enseñado falsas doctrinas!" (“You are teaching false doctrines!”) You had to have seen it...people were moved to tears. Maybe they were tears of laughter, I can’t tell, but either way it was quite fun. If I get pictures of this, I will send them home, but I am sure the picture in your mind is pretty close to what it was.

Anyways, sorry for a not super long letter this week. Much to do and little time to do it! Thanks to everyone and I hope everyone is enjoying their new month of November! Love to all and know that my prayers are with everyone back home.

Sincerely,
Elder Dax Rich

October at its End (October 28, 2013)

As the leaves start to fall and as the children begin to put on their sweaters back home, dreaming of the candy they will get on Halloween, I am getting a #2 haircut (yes, that short), and preparing for the heat wave of November. Different worlds indeed! But, that is why it is all exciting in the end!

So this week was the continuation of the month long celebration of Jesus Christ for Catholics here in Peru. Or, more specifically, the celebration of El Señor de los Milagros. This week there was a parade every night throughout all of the town where at least 500 Catholics crowded the streets and made walking literally impossible. It was quite interesting, yet a little unwanted as we were late to everything because of it. But, it is nice that people want to praise Christ. It was also fun because during the parade, a group of guys who we played futbol with in the past saw us and started yelling out (and then chanting) "Rich!!!" I laughed and had quite a good time this week. 

Speaking of the people, we also met a man who (besides being insanely drunk) said he was from Utah and that he was Mormon. But, he said all of this in perfect English. I was very much impressed, and had the situation not been as extremely dangerous as it was (because literally...this guy was just wasted), I would have liked to stayed and chatted about Utah with him and his life as a Mormon. Perhaps another day.

This week we also decided to be adventurous, and so we went to a restaurant called "Happy Chicken" to purchase and devour "pollo a la brasa." (It is basically grilled chicken breast with great spices) It was quite pricey, but it was also super delicious and I got to try 3 new Peruvian sauces made specifically for french fries and chicken: a ranch sauce, a spicy cream sauce, and some weird red sauce that was just...different. I can´t explain it much better, I apologize. 

In terms of our work this week, we also had some interesting lessons. First off, we had a lesson right outside of our door. Since we are teaching a young man who lives in our building, we went onto the roof (where our room/house is), pulled out three chairs from our house and had a lesson right there.  It was quite unique but also quite rewarding as this young man has such a great love for God and everyone in the world. He prayed for at least 5 minutes for everyone suffering in the world and everyone who did not know God so that they could be blessed with the knowledge that they have a father in the heavens who loves them and wants them to have the knowledge that he exists. It was moving and powerful, and he really is an amazing man. We have a baptism date set for him for 2 weeks from now, so we will see if things work out for him! We also are teaching a young boy of 9 years and so for a lesson this week we invited some members (2 9 year olds) to help out. Well, they came and brought 2 more 9 year olds from off the street. Literally just 2 random kids (named Jesús and Cristian ((Jesus Christ, go figure!)). Anyways, the lesson became a lesson for 5 9 year olds and we then committed all of them to sharing the lesson with their families, and so besides playing babysitter, we also indirectly taught 5 different families. Success indeed! 

Well, that has been about it for this week (and for time!). Hope all is going well with everyone back home! You are all in my prayers and I hope you are feeling blessings in your lives in some form or another! God truly does want us to be happy and he really does bless us everyday, we just need to look for those blessings and gives thanks...and then we get more! It is crazy how that works, but it is true too. We have a loving Heavenly Father (un amoroso Padre Celestial).

As a last note, a special shout out to Brynly: Feliz Cumpleaños, mi hermanita!!!! 

Mucho amor y muchos oraciones,

Elder Dax Rich

Octubre/ October Fun (10/21/2013)

The month keeps moving on and so does the work here. We have been working hard with not active members of the church here and we have had some success as well as fun stories to share. First off, we were very blessed to have a man who hasn´t gone to church in 9 years return this week after many weeks of working with him and inviting him to come back. It was truly amazing and the meeting was just so much more powerful to have this man back in attendance. 

But, as I indicated in the beginning, we have also had some interesting experiences during our work this week. We have been trying to find people to teach so we did a lot of door-to-door preaching this week and we had some great experiences of how people try to Dodge "The Missionaries." One lady saw us from her window and when she saw us walking towards her house she ducked down and lifted up her daughter to the window to talk with us and tell us that her mother was not home. We couldn´t help but laugh as we said "Gracias" and walked away. We always knocked on a window and a man stood up and asked who it was, and when we introduced ourselves as the missionaries, he shot back into his seat, turned on his TV, cranked up the volume, and pretended that he never Heard us. We just laughed again and walked away. The other story worth sharing was one where we met a man who asked us who our best friend in the world was. To this I said "Bueno...Jesucristo." But the man just wouldn´t take that for an answer and so he said again his question, to which my companion and I looked at each other and said "Jesucristo." Well the man had the answer to our question and he said (In Español) "No, Mary is my best friend." (Mary the mother of Jesús Christ). So, to say the least, it was an interesting week for meeting new people.

Oh, more on culture: If you want to visit Perú and be on the in crowd, you need to love Ben 10. I swear, Ben 10 is everywhere and on everything, even on things you wouldn´t expect like store Windows, bikes, and graduation diplomas. Ben 10 is the hero of Perú. Also, the big shows here are "Este es Guerra" and "Combate." Literally everyone watches one or the other, or both. It is quite funny. Also, everyone here is a lot younger than  you would think. I have been asked to guess ages of people here and have been wrong everytime. Girls that you think are 17 are really 13, girls that look 24 are actually 19, and even the 8 year olds look like they are 12. I have felt quite Young many times here hahaha. Also, the two coolest animals that I see here are iguanas and (less common) monkeys. We were walking a week ago and passed a monkey running on the rooftops and we were both very excited (My companion and I). Apparently the university here in Pampa Grande is home to 4 wild monkeys as I learned this week so there´s that! Also, fun fact: Peruvians speak castellano, a dialect of Español, which really is the most pure form of Spanish since it doesn´t have the lisp or weird changes, and apparently Perú speaks castellano the best, so I am quite excited to say soon that I am fluent in the Spanish dialect of castellano! Good times.

In other news, this week I am going to get a cooking lesson in order to learn to cook the most rica comida in Tumbes: ceviche. Basically it is raw fish with seasonings, and I am actually not suppossed to eat it (rule of the misión) but I am going to learn to prepare it so that I can make the dish when I get home. I am very excited for this! Also, this past Sunday I gave a 15 minute talk in Sacrament Meeting again, and then right after gave a 45 minute lesson all on my own so basically I rocked the world of Spanish this past Sunday. I felt quite accomplished.

Anyways, that is about it for this week. I hope all is going well for everyone! I am quite jealous of the cool weather back home, and if anyone wants some more sun, just let me know and I´ll send you some (trust me, I have PLENTY to share). Thanks, everyone, for Reading and keeping up with the marvellous adventures of Elder Rich in Perú!

Sincerely,
Elder Dax Rich

Day In The Life (October 14, 2013)

So today I wanted to share some everyday facts about life here for me, because it is a rather different experience living and serving in Tumbes, Perú.  But first off, I wanted to share an interesting little event that apparently happens every three to four months called "Simulacro." In this event, hospitals bring out their patients into the street to wait for ambulances to transport them to other places (the normal routine) but the people in the town are asked to help. So, there is a marked circle literally in the middle of the road for the people to stand as a protection for these patients from muggers/robbers/drunks/etc. I got the wonderful opportunity to stand in one of these circles and give a public service of protecting a hospital patient. It was interesting indeed (uneventful, but interesting).

Okay, now for the common stuff. My day begins at 6:30 like every other missionary and I get up, pray with my companion, and then exercise. I then eat a very structured breakfast of cereal (generally corn flakes) with a fruity flavored yogurt instead of milk. I also enjoy a delicious side of bread with strawberry marmalade and sometimes even a banana. I then study personally for an hour, then with my companion for 2 hours, and then we go out to teach generally one lesson before lunch. We then go to lunch at a sister`s house in the ward (the same sister everyday except for Saturday and Sunday). Afterwards, is an hour of Spanish study and then teaching from 3 p.m. until generally 9 p.m. We then go back, plan, eat a very small dinner (I usually eat an orange, ramen, or if we actually have enough time soup with a little pasta) and go to bed.

Throughout the day, we walk 50% on dirt and 50% on pavement, so it is hard to stay clean/smell good, but we do the best we can. We also walk everywhere, unless we need to go into the city or go to the church quickly because we are super late in which cases we take a motorcar. I love these because the people like to rip me off, because they think Gringos are slow in the head, so they try to charge me double the cost and I just shake my head, start walking away, and they quickly cut the price down to be more realistic. It is always an adventure with them. It is hard though to know where to go because there are no street signs, and generally houses do not have numbers (because a lot of houses are made of wood, mud, or not very ordinary materials). All houses are generally one story and if there is a second story, it is generally another house. Houses also are generally one room with a curtain divinding it up, so the bathroom is techincally in the same room as the bedrooms, the kitchen, and the living room. It is quite lovely to hear people using the bathroom when you go into a house.

Sacrament Meeting every Sunday is interesting too. It is in the building adjacent to the actual church house, because the church house is so small, so we walk between buildings for the meetings. The sacrament meeting room is also unique because it is full of large pillars, so literally only one full row has the ability to see the speaker. You just have to know where to sit to get the chance to see the speaker.

We also go to an internet cafe every Monday for emailing. It is 2 soles to email home and we are all crammed next to each other on different computers, but it`s an adventure too.

Food. First off, we can`t eat strawberries, pork, lettuce, or raw fish. So, I usually look for things flavored strawberry. It is great fun. Meals here always consist of beans, rice (white, or yellow), meat (chicken, beef, or fish), onions, potatoes (in french fry, mashed, or cube forms), and a sauce (generally a cheese or a green sauce). However, we sometimes get pasta, soup (the best is banana soup) and fried plátanos. We also can`t drink the water, so we always get a juice for lunch, and the juices are always spot on. They are super fruity, super sweet, and the only problem with them is there is never enough. Overall though, the food is really good and as different as it is, it isn`t horribly different from the food back in the States.

More or less, that`s about it for the everyday stuff. I hope that helps give a picture of life here!

I also was reading in the book of Judges in the Bible yesterday and I found a good quote from my Mom back when I was in Seminary and I thought it was pretty strong and worth sharing here, so I would like to share it. It is a quote from James E. Faust about the man named Gideon in the book of Judges and the quote is about Gideon when he was asked to do something that seemed quite impossible. The quote says: "The Lord can do remarkable miracles with a person of ordinary ability who is humble, faithful, and diligent in serving the Lord and seeks to improve himself. This is because God is the ultimate source of power." I testify that this is true. I see people here doing amazing things and totally changing their lives when they do these things and trust in the Lord. For example, one guy here was a heavy drug addict and drinker, but after he learned about this message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he humbled himself, put his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and sought to totally change himself...to which he did! He serves faithfully in the ward here and he is a real example for us.

Anyways, hope all is going well with everyone and my prayers are with you all! Thanks everyone!

- Elder Dax Rich

First Week Of October (October 7, 2013)

So, Piura was a nice little break. It is a 5 hour trip both ways so it was a lot of sleeping and reading, which I was fine with. On the way back, we even got the treat of hearing a man stand up and give us a 37 minute (yes, I timed it) lecture on the poor health of the United States and how if Perú does not want to be like them, they should buy this miracle health drink that he was selling. It was very awkward but also very funny and I couldn´t help but smile the whole time. It was also fun to hear some Bon Jovi music in Español. I tried not to listen to follow the mission rules, but I did have to at least listen enough to hear the title so I could write it down for the post-mission. 
The food of the week is chifles: fried banana chips. They are light yet crispy and salty without being greasy. They are truly wonderful little snacks and they are only half a sole so it made my day when I got my hands on them. I will try to remember to bring back bags and bags for everyone to try (because it has to be authentically made in Perú, de verdad). 
Oh, but time out for sports. This week it was an all-out-war on the Gringo in futbol (soccer). I teamed up with 2 other hermanos from the ward and we played against my companion and some kids from the street, but really it just felt like everyone was against me 1) because I´m garbage at soccer and 2) because it is pretty funny to show up a 6 foot 2 inch tall Gringo when you are only a 4 foot tall Latino. I still enjoyed it, though. Quizás I will return just as good as the natives! 
The big news for the week, though, was the baptism for Hermano Andres this past Sunday. 2 hours before General Conference we decided to hold the baptism service for Andres and we actually had a pretty good turn out of members at the service. I got to sing in English for part of it and then lead the congregation in singing the rest of the hymns in Spanish. The baptism itself was also very interesting as Andres is quite old and so he struggled to get into the font and go under the water, but he finally was able to, and he had the biggest smile on his face afterwards. He then gave such a powerful testimony that he knew God lived and loved him and that he hoped his family too could know this through his example today of following the Savior. I really look up to this man and hope his family will be blessed for his faith.
Well that is all for this week. My prayers are with you all and I hope everyone is enjoying October! Gracias, todos!

-Elder Dax Rich

September 30, 2013

Greetings to all and a happy last day of September! I am hearing how wonderful New England is right now with the changing leaves and cool weather, and I smile and cry at the same time because here it is getting hotter and the sancudos (mosquitos) are multiplying by the millions. But that is okay, I will enjoy the Fall vicariously through everyone back home. So, first off, la semana en el pesado. My companion and I have been working a lot with helping teach members the missionary lessons so that they can feel more confident in sharing the Gospel and helping come with us to teach investigators (pretty crafty plan, eh?). Anyways, while we were teaching a family, their TV (which was on the BYU International chanel) suddenly started a program which was the General Relief Society Conference broadcasted from Salt Lake. So, we got to see the entire Relief Society Conference as well as see President Monson speak. I found I really miss hearing his voice, because a translator´s voice over President Monson´s just isn´t the same. Oh well, esta bien. The good news for this week is that I am going to Piura tomorrow and having a training session (but more accurately, a reunion) with my fellow MTC Piura elders, so the gang is getting back together! It is like getting to have Christmas in October! Also, at the end of this week is General Conference, and during that time on Sunday morning, we are baptizing an elderly man into the church. But, this elderly man is not just an old fellow. He is one of the most amazing people I have met here, so I am super excited. Perhaps a bit about him: his name is Andres and he is 83 years old. He doesn´t hear very well and needs a cane because he has severe knee problems, but he has the faith of a giant. He was one of the first people I taught when I came to Pampa Grande, and now I have the opportunity to see him be baptized. He is such an amazing example of love and faith in God. He told us that he wanted to set an example for his entire family of faith and diligence, and so he wanted to be baptized to cleanse himself of all the sins in his past and he wants to change everything he does that is not in harmony with the commandments of God. So, when we taught him about the Word of Wisdom and not drinkind coffee, he at first was surprised, but then said "if that is God´s will, I will do it" and by the next lesson he had thrown out all of the coffe and tea in his house. He trys so hard to obey every commandment we teach him and he prays with such love and faith to God. He is an amazing man, truly, and I am so excited to see him enter the waters of baptism next Sunday! Anyways, that really is about it for this week. We visited a very...interesting museum and historical site which you can see in the pictures, but really it is just a pile of sand that people lived in. Welcome to Perú! I hope all is going well for everyone back home and please know my prayers are with you all! Sincerely, Elder Dax Rich

September 23, 2013

So first off a super great scripture that has been super helpful for me personally and in lessons with other people. In the Book of Mormon, in the book of 3 Nephi, there is a stellar scripture about prayer and in Español it reads: "y cualquier cosa que pidáis al Padre en mía nombre, si es justa, creyendo que recibiréis, he aquí, os será concedida." I love the scripture so much, it just rocks! So this week I had a lot of fun with Spanish. First off, I took a Spanish comprehension test, specifically on grammer, and I got a 50%. Normally I would just hang my head in shame, but basically it means I went from 0% knowledge of Spanish 2 months ago to 50% accuracy in a fluency test. So, good day in Tumbes! I also gave my first talk in Spanish in church. The ward mission leader came up to us one day last week and said that he wanted us to give talks, and so my companion said, okay well my companion can probably talk for 5 minutes, to which the ward mission leader said nahhh he can do 10. Challenge accepted. I gave a 15 minute talk straight in Spanish. Point 1: Elder Rich. I also cool cultural experiences from the week to share with everyone in the Estados Unidos. First off is music. The music is jamming down in Perú, quite literally. People just turn up their stereos to full blast and play music for hours. We were walking and right in the middle of the street was 6 loudspeakers blasting Spanish dance music, and only 4 people were listening to it. Yet no one complained. People were just sitting out in front of their houses reading the paper, not caring at all. It was quite glorious for a music lover. We also have this obnoxious yet pretty cool catepillar train car that drives around every night playing a car alarm (literally, its horn is a car alarm) and busing around families with little kids who apparently love car alarms. But this little train doesn´t just go once around the block for the kiddies, oh no, it goes 10 times around this area from 9 until 11 everynight. It is quite interesting, obnoxious, and cool. I want one for when I go home. I also helped a lady redo her house. This was done by first moving the furniture to one part of the room, pouring mounds of dirt in the desired new area, pouring a mixture of soap and water on the dirt to help it compact, and then moving the furniture onto the new area. It was very unique, but nice and easy. We need easy home-maintence like this. With this little bit of time left I would like to share something I learned in my study of the Bible. First off, it has been interesting being in a Catholic-dominated country because the Bible is like the newspaper here: everyone just reads it casually everyday. Thus, we use the Bible pretty much every lesson and so I have been studying a lot from it. Anyways, I have found it interesting in the book of Éxodo (Exodus) that everytime people get blessings from God like crossing the parted sea to escape the Egyptians, getting manna from heaven, getting sweet water or even water from a rock, the people end up murmuring and wanting more. It is sillyness, but sadly it is the way of human nature. A good lesson for me to remember to count my blessings each day. Anyways, thanks for everyone´s thoughts and prayers. I read from Aimee´s blog that BYU didn´t fair too well against the U, and all I can say to that is obviously someone got paid off in that game. Crazyiness. Oh and another side note, I also keep wishing I had spell check here but I do not, so count your blessings! Sincerely, Elder Rich