Peanut butter👍

 We spent some time in Chachapoyas and Bagua this week. Chachapoyas is way up in the mountains. It is so dang pretty. I could live there. It is so beautiful. Even though it is mountains, it is technically a part of the Amazon rainforest region of Peru. It rains all the time so it is super green. There were wild horses so that was cool too👍 I also got some more cool nativities🌞

Bagua is cool too. An offshoot of the Amazon river runs through the city so theres a bunch of fishermen that live there. Made me miss the stream🎣 I looked for pink dolphins but didnt see any (aparently they have those in the amazon (I call cap)) 

About a week back on an exchange in my area I found myself in a typical situation. Middle of the street when an urgent necesity for a bathroom hits. This usually results in a frantic search for someone willing to let us wash their dishes in exchange for using their bathroom or a farmacy that will let us pay to use their bathroom. In this frantic search I entered a little farmacy and payed the classic price of .50 centimos to use the bathroom. While I suffered, my companion that I was on an exchange with did good missionary things and taught the guy that owned the store. That guy is getting baptized this week. The guy works in our area, but lives up the street in another area (the area of the companion I was with at a time) so I havent had a ton of oportunity to teach him. We taught him a few times, sent the reference, and the elderes harvested. Super cool little miracle that came from some bad fish.

We are baptizing a mom and a daughter this week that are Chinese. Shoutout park the shark connor dawg oneal and mr clay. Pretty funny 😁 

Found some snyders pretzels and peter pan peanut butter this week. Life is good.

I'm alive. Transfers are this week. We will see who the Lord sends me 🙂

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Chacha

 This week was fine. We went to Chiclayo for some leadership counsel thing and learned that our mission has very low sucess compared to most missions down here. I won't lie it kinda got me hyped and motivated. 

We had two exchanges this week. After the first one, every single sol of leadership fund disapeared out of my desk when I came back. Not just like 5 or 10 soles, but like 500. On his google photos he had been posting pictures of them eating at super nice restaurants and buying new suits all day. Lets keep in mind this is 3 days after he told me he didn't want to buy a sponge for the apartment because he was out of money... this rascal. I asked him about it and he yelled at me, told me Im a rich american, and made up every excuse in the book. I showed him the pictures of them eating with the leadership wallet on the table. He tucked his tail between his legs and gave me the money back. 

We started week long exchange with the AP's. My comp stayed in chiclayo and I came back to chiclayo. Peace out pal 🫡 I havent been yelled at for telling him I love him and want to help him or told Im the worst missionary of all time for 3 days now. Feeling pretty good about that 🤗

I am currently in a little town called Chachapoyas. This place is legit. Give it a search on the google, it is a cool place. Super pretty.

Shoutout mpohl and mrs clay for going to sweethearts together. I think thats pretty rad

I am very grateful for this time of my mission. I won't lie, this has been the hardest 4 weeks of my entire life. By far... I have never felt so sad, heartbroken, hopeless, and lost. I have never had my opinions and feelings so invalidated. I have never been made to feel so worthless and horrible. However I have also never prayed so hard and tried so hard to be like Jesus Christ. I have never tried so hard to love and communicate. To be the best man and disciple of Christ that I can manage to be. It is imposible to explain how hard this past month has been, so I wont try to. But I am so grateful for it. In fact I treasure it. It has changed who I am as a person, and who I will be forever. I don't see it as a stretch to say that I will forever view this time as a pivotal moment in my life. Somehow I can look at someone who makes me feel like dirt and say that I love them. Truly love them, and just want them to be happy. I can almost promise that 7 months ago Carden would have absolutely shmobbed this guy (or at least peed on his bed or something (my brothers may or may not have been the victims of this in the past)). If what I have learned and how I have changed over just the past 4 weeks is all I took away from 2 years down here, my mission would be worth it. I have seen so much growth and change in myself. I have never trusted so much in my Heavenly Fathers plan for me. 

Ether 12:27

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their WEAKNESS. I give unto men weakness that they may be HUMBLE; and my grace is sufficient for ALL MEN that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have FAITH in me, then will I make weak things become STRONG unto them.

Chota 👍

 Yo whats up guys it's elder cpohl 

I absolutely loved my 4 days up in Chota. That place is so pretty. It felt like a vacation, very much needed. It is freezing up there (like 65 degrees) that is freezing when all youve felt for 5 months is 90. I didnt pack a jacket because being cold has been the furthest thing off my radar. I got up there and was freezing so we went sweater shoping. The only ones I could find were peruvian ones made out of Llama fur, I copped and that thing is freaking drippy 😎pics attached

We went on a hike up there on pday to a crazy lookout. There were also incan ruins that were pretty boss. I also bought a dope peruvian nativity. Pics attached 

Chota is high mountains, it was the most utah Ive felt in a long time. They eat trout for lunch basically every day and it reminded me of some good old times 😪 there was even hot water. I forgot there are nice things in this world. My head is about 2 feet above the showerheads here, but I usually just deal with it. Its hard to embrace a cold shower. But this time with hot water I put a chair in there and embraced it. Wow. 

You guys are aware of the food situation. Well this week we got some protien!!!!! I walked in and it smelled like meat 🤭 I was so excited. She put it on my plate and it was the wonkiest peace of meat Ive ever seen. Turns out it was cow butthole! 🤤🤤 (pictures attached) Lesson learned, you get what you ask for I guess. 

Had my first South American evil spirit ordeal this week. I was pretty dang scared I wont lie. That garbage is very real. Weirdly enough my testimony has been strengthened by it. There is opposition in all things and seeing how the spirit of Christ can absolutely suffocate the devil is pretty dang cool. 

Turns out that my companion and his old comp didnt pay the rent for the 3 months before I got here. No comment. Anyways, we're getting kicked out of our house. Im learning patience through a fetching fire house from this individual. This is obviously quite the ideal situation to walk into in a new area. So basically we went house hunting. The money still hasnt been found. I have no idea what this knucklehead did with it... It has taken a lot of patience to not hit a deep exhale, head shake and "no comment" 🤣 shoutout my dad (this is his go to)

Love you guys. I am in fact alive. Christ is too. 

Pics (theres some dope ones this week give them a look). Featuring some cool views, incan ruins, cow anus, outside of a bull fighting arena, nativity, and some zone conference pics