"I'M GOING BACK TO THE JUNGLE!!! WAHOO!!!

February 6, 2010 - Hey Awesome Family,
So...I had a pretty eventful and interesting week. Tuesday was one of the weirdest days of food. I have been totally fine eating all of the food I have been given here in Lima, but Tuesday was a little interesting. We went to the house where dinner was and it was the first time I had eaten dinner in that house. It was a cool house, not pretty, but cool. It has all sorts of levels to the house, with trees, flowers, and bushes everywhere. It is an interesting house. I was expecting good food, and I’ll tell you it wasn’t horrible, but I prefer eating other things. We got served soup, but it wasn’t just any soup. It was a white creamy soup with a piece of meat in it. (Remember that meat down here is always served with the bone.) I was expecting it to be a soup that I have always eaten down here with chicken in it. But when it came time to eat, I quickly realized that it wasn’t the usual ordinary soup. The soup had a different taste, and the meat wasn’t chicken. It was PIG FOOT. That’s right. I had to drink the soup and eat a disgusting pig foot. It was terrible. Just so you know, pig foot doesn’t have any meat. I think it was just all fat and cartilage. I made it through. Then came the meal, which was a plate of rice with vegetables (broccoli, carrots, etc.) and chicken on top of it. However, when I started to eat through the rice and vegetables, guess what I discovered? A hidden chicken foot. That’s right. Pig foot and chicken foot in the same meal. That has to be impossible. But I survived the meal. I ate the two feet, and I am even more prepared now for Fear Factor. :) It was great to see Leslie’s dad on Tuesday night after having to eat that meal. We took some pictures here in the Offices so that I have evidence that my neighbor was here in Peru at the same time I was. Thank you so much for the sweets from Davey’s Homecoming. Nothing says love like homemade desserts. Thanks as well for the goodies and the no-bake cookies and the Orange Sticks which I will be giving to President and his sweet wife, and the i-Pod for Elder Chocooj. Please let Ryan, Rachel and Alex know how awesome they are! Thank them so much from me! I can't believe how nice it is! He is going to be so, so excited! It will be perfect for him! I am going to wrap it up with wrapping paper, and give it to him before the end of this change. He is here in Lima; he is actually in the same Zone I am—Independencia, so he’s pretty close. He finishes on April 7th and will be going back to Guatemala. I love him to death and am going to miss him a ton. He was such a good trainer and took such good care of me my first change. Can you believe it? He was my companion one year ago. It’s amazing how time passes. I sent a package home with Leslie’s dad. I sent home my i-Pod so that Chase can fix it. I also sent a backpack from Elder Steed. He wanted to get some stuff to the USA so that he doesn’t have to take it home at the end of his Mission. Just keep it safe and we’ll get it to him or his family when we can. He’s from Vacaville, California, but we’ll be hanging out after the Mission to go to Disneyland and stuff, and when Elder Santiago comes up for the Christmas Devotional, so just take care of Elder Steed’s backpack. Thanks. We had a BAPTISM today! We just got back from it. Her name is Harumy Caján Llanos. Her family has been less-active for a long time, but tonight, each and every member of the family was there for her baptism. It was a great sight to see. She is such a nice girl. She is 10-years-old and is so smart. She has been wanting to get baptized forever and has been praying for her parents to get back into the Church. This is their chance. We are so excited to be helping them reactivate and attend Church. It has been a long process for them, and it brings me and my companion tons of joy being able to help them. The Caján Family deserves it. :) So, you’ll never believe the exciting, shocking, surprising, and nerve-causing news that I found out this week. I’M GOING BACK TO THE JUNGLE!!! WAHOO!!! So I talked with President this week and we decided that it’s time for me to leave the Offices. He thinks that I have progressed a ton here in the Offices, but thinks that I will be able to progress even more in the Field. So we decided on me leaving to go to the Jungle for sure. We decided where in the Jungle as well, but that isn’t for sure until the Changes are made, which will be this next week. So I’ll let you know for sure what part of the Jungle I am going to in next week’s e-mail. I am really nervous to leave behind the Offices, but I knew it would come and now it has. I will be leaving on February 24th. After having found out this news, last night I was thrown a Surprise Early Going Away Party by the Canchez Family. I wasn’t expecting anything and when I walked in to eat what I thought was dinner, there were balloons on the walls, a poster that said “Te Queremos Elder Quinn”, a huge chocolate cake, and my companion cooked up a traditional Guatemalan dinner. It was such a good night. I almost cried because of the kind words that were said. I have made a ton of friends in this area and it is going to be really hard to leave them behind. But change is good and it always comes around. I am so excited that I will be going to the Jungle where life really is like a dream! I am going to love it! I just know it!:) Dallis, the classes you registered for sound great. You’re going to love High School. Too bad, you don’t get to share it with Chase like I did. I would go back in a heartbeat to be at the same school with my stud-muffin brother, always taking over the stage, and by now he’s taken over the school. I love you Chase and hope you had a wonderful 18th Birthday. Mom and Dad, the home sounds like it’s coming along fine. I cannot wait to be living in it. It will be so nice. I love you guys so much. I never forget that I have the Best Family on Earth. I really do. I love you Family. Sorry this e-mail is a little scattered and not really well-written. I love you so much. Take care until next week. I'll let you in on the exciting news of where I am going next week. At least we know it’s the Jungle. :) I love you. Love You Forever, Coco