Hey

 Hey all. This week was a little better I suppose (not really). I am not really rocking with the new area. Never been a huge big city guy. I just haven't had nearly the same passion for the work I had in Motupe, I'm sure I'm just getting used to the new changes and responsibilities. 

Part of the change is that I went from eating high quality Peruvian food every day in Motupe to eating rice with bread for lunch and rice with a banana for dinner (can't be nutritional) every day. Mission presidents wife told me to talk to the pensionista. They recieve a ridiculous amount of tithing money to be pensionistas and sign a contract that each meal is supposed to be 10 american dollars worth of food. I dont think I could spend 10 US dollars to make a meal here if I tried 🤣 thats litterally so much money here. I talked to the pensionista and she told me im an ungratefull american. I truly am grateful for her service but just haven't eaten protien or vegetables for 2 weeks now and kinda feek like death. She's pocketing a lot of tithing money and I don't really like that...

On the bright side I do get to do exchanges and see a lot of beautiful Peru. I'm currently in a place called Chota. Very cool little town way up in the mountains. We're at about 8,000 feet of elevation up here 😳 theres peruvian cowboys everywhere. It feels like a Peru/Texas/Paved roads/Randy/Pimpmo colab. Pretty boss. 

Zone conference went well (I think. I was more worried about how to speak spanish than the content of my message). As part of it I talked a little about what I had learned from PMG study before the mish with my dad and jaker and mr clay. Everyone asked where I got those ideas from and I just said Jake Woodward and they all were like oh yeah makes sense that guys a legend (even all the peruvians said that). President took me and my comp to a very nice restaurant after and I thought I had entered the celestial kingdom. I got a burger with 3 pattys, a chicken breast, sausage, american cheese, and VEGTABLES. Very high quality experience 

I am surviving. Sometimes it feels like that's about all I'm doing, but I try to have fun every day and smile. 6/7 days of the week this happiness has come from buying a Sprite after lunch (its sugar free here and really good). Whoever says money cant buy happiness is absolutely decieved. The other day it comes from talking to my incredible family. I made fun of missionaries before my mission for just wanting to call their family all day on monday even though theres not a ton to talk about. But I very much understand now. It can be lonely out here. 

Shoutout all my dads friends. Absolute studs, always making me feel like another son. And all you guys who get me right with an email each week. Only missionaries and old geezers truly apreciate an email. I am sure all my fellow elders can testify of how much a simple email means.

Something I realized this week is there is a huge difference between sharing information/lessons, and offering salvation. Having this in mind makes the long, hot days go a little bit better. I think sometimes as missionaries we take for granted the message that we carry. Realizing that it is not just another lesson, but a persons salvation has really helped me to be more focused.

Ight piece out ❤️ have a marvelous week 

Hey 😊

 Yo whats good guys. Elder Pohlman here 

I won't lie, this week was really tough. The work is really hard here. Jaen itself is a busy city and I just dont like it here yet at all. I've been really sick all week, and I am still just not used to the new area and companion. Mission isn't supposed to be easy I guess. 

I ate something this week that knocked me out. I slept in the bathroom for 4 days straight after that one 😂🤢 still am not feeling better at all 🤕 Hopefully I will soon. Ive lost 8 pounds in the new area 😩 

It's hard to find ways to love the work when you feel like garbage, don't sleep, and are still not used to the new area at all. But I have been studying about embracing change. I have realized that the best way to get through tougher times like this is to love and embrace change. Its obviously way easier said than done, but I have come to the realization that I need to be full of love. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, reach out in love. 

We saw many miracles. No matter how tough the road, the hand of God has always been very apparent in my journey. 

Have a good week 🤗

Elder Pohlman 

Transfers🤯😨😱

Wow. Absolutely unreal week. Transfers happened and were crazy but I will start with what happened before transfers. 

Elder Nichols and I absolutely tore it up this transfer. It made no sense to have been split up, but the Lord had different plans 😓 I was absolutely devastated when I heard I was leaving Motupe. But I know the reason I was so sad was because I went all out there. 

On the last day of the transfer we figured we'd go out with a bang. We went to the coolest place I've ever been. A tiny little town way up in the mountains called Penachi. It was so pretty. We were the first missionaries to ever enter that town. We taught a lesson at 10,000 ft. Super crazy. The drive there was so gorgeous (and sketchy driving on the edge of cliffs in the rain but don't tell my mom that) The people there had never seen a white person or heard of our church, so that was wild. Who knows if anything will ever come from it, but the fact that there are Books of Mormon sitting way up there right now is pretty cool 🤗

Then we had transfers. It still doesn't feel real so I don't have any way to describe it haha. I am now a Zone Leader in the zone "Jaen" 🤯 There are 4 zones in the mission, but Jaen makes up about 90 percent of the area of the mission. Basically it covers all of the back side of the mountains and all of the jungle. It is so dang cool. The actual city of Jaen where I am is pretty cool itself, but the little areas way out in the jungle and way up in the mountains are crazy cool, and I am pumped to visit.

This email obviously isn't anything crazy because everything still hasn't set in. I have been super stressed, worried, mind-blown, etc. I have the least time in the mission of any of the missionaries in the entire zone haha. I have never been a district leader, trainer, heck I was a junior companion 4 days ago. And now all of the sudden I am learning how to run a whole zone. I am so stressed haha. I have been in the mission for 5 months. I don't feel confident with the language. I am 9 hours away from chiclayo in the middle of nowhere. I have really just had to trust in the Lord and trust that "who the Lord calls he qualifies."

I should be more optimistic. Jaen is beautiful. This is the zone that everyone wants to serve in, and I will get to see all of it. So that is dope. My comps name is Elder Matias. He's from Lima, and this is his last transfer in the mission, so he knows what he's doing and how to help me learn. He is a stud. There is no doubt that this will be the transfer in the mission that I grow a ton. 

I love you guys! Shoot me and email 🙏

Some pictures (this part of Perú is actually beautiful)

Dos mas🌊

 This week was pretty boss. We had 2 more baptisms, saw a huge python, ate a ton of free mangos. Super epic week.

Hermanos Rodrigo and Heiner got baptized. Two awesome baptisms. 

I've been on bananas for a while but mangos are going absolutely crazy right now. I can't even describe these things they are so good. Taste like straight candy. My favorite members have a big tree so we pass by a couple times a week and they give us a big bucket. 

They finished the new chapel here and it is super nice. They have air conditioning in the bishops office. I walked in and it was absolutley freezing in there. After about 5 minutes I wanted to see how cold it actually was, turns out it was 78 degrees. I would've guessed it was 50. I didn't realize how deprived of cold air I was lol. 

We went on a hike and it was super cool. Perú is a very very cool place. There was a huge anaconda or python eating a beaver/platapus looking something. He was probably like 10 feet long. I hate snakes so bad. 

What a cool oportunity to study the Book of Mormon this year. That book has changed the world. I have seen first hand over and over that it is the true tool to conversion. 

Love you guys, and so does Jesus Christ ❤️

The fireworks havent stopped since christmas💥🤣

 Another legendary week here in Perú🤘we had a new years eve baptism. We recieved hermana fidela as a reference from the elders in Madrid. Shoutout those guys. It was a super cool baptism. Any baptism is.

For new years everyone makes huge life size dolls out of old clothes and stuff and fills them with fireworks and burns them at midnight. It was kinda scary walking around and having huge scare crow looking things all over the streets all week haha. We went on the roof last night and the whole city was going crazy all night. So many fireworks it was unbelievable. 

Some days the mission is very hard, but other days it is magical. Some days I don't sleep because of bugs and a mattress made out of straw, its hot and we walk around and get rejected all day. Other days it just feels so cool to be so far from home wandering through the mountains or Jungle of Perú telling people about Jesus. 

Side note. My comp and I could really use some spanish tutoring on a few things that we cannot find answers to in any books. It obviously doesn't help that we don't have youtube or access to the real world haha. My comp has been out 16 months and speaks basically flawless spanish but not even he has a real answer. If there's any spanish RMs reading this, please lmk and you can tutor us 😁