365

Great week. We had a baptism. I'll send pics next week. I spoke in sacrament yesterday. Yesterday and today are peruvian independance days. It is such a huge deal here. The people are so proud of their heritage. To start my talk I gave perú an absolutely enormous shoutout and said how I consider myself part peruvian because a part of my heart is here and forever will be, and thanked the people for letting me share this day with them. People litteraly started clapping. After the talk the hymn was the nacional anthem of perú (I'm pretty sure thats not allowed, but it was hype). 

I've been a missionary for a year! Crazy. It feels like yesterday. People said it would fly. Holy cow is it true, and Im sure this next year will go even faster

This past year has been so crazy. I have learned so much. I've been kept up through the night for weeks on end by diebities machines in the mtc, but also felt of the tangible spirit that dwells there. I have learned to live on my own for the first time in my life in a country super different than my own. I have been dumped into small towns in the andes mountains speaking 0 spanish, sicker than a dog, feeling so alone and desolated. I've spent my first Christmas, new years, and birthday away from home in a small little town in the middle of knowhere with nobody within an hour that speaks my language. Yet those will probably be my all time favorite christmas, new years, and birthdays. I've lived in the middle of the rainforest. I've stood on the muddy banks of offshoots of the amazon river, and chocked on the dust of big cities. I have met the poorest, and the happiest people ever. And realized that those two things usually corespond. Some days I've eaten cow anus and others the most delicious food ever. I have made lifelong friends. Some of them being companions that grew up in my town, and some in towns in the middle of nowhere Perú. I have got my butt absolutely kicked sometimes! Anyone who has read my emails has seen how down I have been at times. But I have learned and grown from every experience. I have been blessed to find a home away from home. But most importantly, I have come to know my Savior on a more personal, real level. I have come to have a true, simple testimony of prophets and the restoration. I have learned to feel and follow promptings of the spirit. I have seen the power of the preisthood. I have strenthened my testimony of the power of baptism and the importance of keeping commandments. 

It has been the best year of my life and I can't wait to do it again for 12 more months. 

Here are some pictures of some of my favorite memories over the past year. If I could send 100 I would.