"PUCALLPA is where I'm headed!"

February 20, 2010 - Hey Precious Family,
I love you so much. So, just kidding about Yurimaguas. I am still heading to the jungle, but I am heading off to a different part. It is a lot hotter and redder. I am heading off to where Landon went…PUCALLPA!!! President needed to change some things around and thought it would be much better for me to be a District Leader in Pucallpa. I am way excited. Now, I will be with more Missionaries, and I am going to have so much fun. Landon’s mom said that she absolutely loved Pucallpa when she came down here, so I am way excited to be able to go there. I will be flying out on Wednesday morning, so say a little prayer for me so that I get there safely, and keep praying for me to be a good District Leader. It is a big responsibility and I really don’t feel ready to do it, but I know that Heavenly Father will be helping me learn and grow along the way. :) Mom, don’t worry. The amount of mosquitoes there will be are totally normal. I will be totally fine. Yes, I will have repellent, and I will put it on in the morning, in the afternoon, and at night. Yes, I will have a mosquito net. They are way cool and fun to sleep with. I’m heading off on another jungle adventure and I am sthuper-duper exthited. :) It is going to be so much fun to be back in the jungle, and I hope I get to stay there for a long time… Mom, packets will get to me at the beginning of every change or in the Interviews. That is only once a change, but I will be fine so don’t worry about spoiling me too much. I will still get to see President and his wife in the Interviews. His wife always goes with him to the jungle. She is such a special person. It is going to be so hard to leave them, but the time has come. I will never forget the blessing that Heavenly Father gave me of being able to get closer to them and get to know them. They will be my eternal friends and family. They are two very special, warm-hearted people.
Since I’m leaving the Offices, my next P-Day will be on Monday, March 1st. So don’t plan on seeing a special wake-up message next week, or any message at all on Saturday next week. P-Days are now going to be Mondays. (I can't send wake-up calls and I can't send photos either.) I am going back to the Field, and it is going to be awesome. I just want to work, be obedient, and baptize a ton of people, and I know that it is possible with faith and with your prayers in my behalf. Today was my last P-Day in Lima for a while and we went to the Temple. Who knows when I will get back to the Temple because we can’t go when we are in the jungle. I felt really comfortable in the Temple today. I felt like I was in a nice cozy home, and I felt very loved there. I love the Temple.
So you want to know the big news happening in Peru huh? Well, when President Pérez goes home, the next day, the Mission is going to be divided! They are forming two new Missions in Peru. The Peru Lima North Mission is being divided into two, with the new Mission being the Peru Lima West Mission. (They are also forming the Peru Cuzco Mission, which is where Machu Picchu is.) There will be nine Missions in Peru, whereas of right now, there are seven. It is because the Church is growing so much down here. President said that the Church is going to start sending more Missionaries to the parts that are having more success. They are going to put together Missions like those in Europe and other hard parts of the world. That means we will have more Missionaries here and will not have to assign more than one ward to a companionship. The Church is going to start growing faster and faster. President is really happy for this news. Depending on where we are when we get Changes the 30th of June, we will then be part of the Peru Lima North, or the Peru Lima West Mission. I hope that I still get to be part of the North because the jungle is being kept by the North Mission. But wherever I end up will be where the Lord wants me to be. It is such an exciting event that will come to pass. :)
On Tuesday night, we went to the Caján-Llanos Family’s house for dinner and we had an anticuchada. Do you remember what anticucho is? It is the famous dish of the shish-kebobbed cow heart… We had a Barbecue of cow heart. I absolutely love it. I know that might be a little strange, but it really does taste good. I ate 15 hearts!!! That tells you how much I like it… We had cake for dessert to finish the meal up. It was a lot of fun. :)
Chase, that is so awesome that you made it into BYU!!! We will be going to school together. I am so excited! I hope you make it into MDT because then we could be in the same classes. :) How was Whitley’s Young Ambassadors show? I bet it was amazing because BYU doesn’t ever do anything less. Good for you Bud… Have tons of fun for Prom. It’s the last big dance in High School that you will have. Go all out. You won’t regret it in the end. “It’s gonna be a night, to remember.” Congratulations Bud.
Dallis, I don’t really know what requirements your history project has, but one of the bad things about Peru is that there is a lot of child corruption. Pornography is a big problem down here because it is all over the streets and you can freely see it. The children are not taught good principles in their homes because a lot of the parents are always out of the house trying to make money to provide for their families. They are also not shown good examples by the adults, with some adult men peeing in the streets or on walls wherever they want without any embarrassment, or the drunk men and women freely drinking on every corner and arriving home intoxicated. A lot of kids also finish Elementary and High School at the age of 15, which is way too soon for a kid to start College and get a job. They just don’t get a good foundation in their childhood. I hope this helps. I’m sure you can look up more information on child corruption. I love you Bud. Good luck on your project.
Mom and Dad, the house looks amazing. I am so excited. Keep working hard and we’ll be in it before no time. Dad, you are doing a great job with the home. Mom, good luck in school. I am so glad that you are enjoying it. Dad is really proud of you and so am I. I am so proud of you. Keep studying hard. It will be so worth it in the end. I love that you love school. It brings me so much comfort to know that you are doing okay. I love you so much. Take care.
Family, I love you so much. I will be writing from the jungle in my next e-mail. I really am so excited. Don’t forget me in your prayers and know that I love you with all my heart. I love you forever family. Take care until March 1st. I love you. I love you. I love you.
Love, Coco