Merry Christmas 😊🌲

 Yo what's up guys merry Christmas it's elder cpohl here @perú sweating on christmas. This week has been top 5 weeks of my entire life. Heres why

We started the week last monday by going to some Incan pyramid things that were pretty savage👌 the incans were so boss. 

Christmas time is a vibe here I aint finna cap🗣everyone saves up and buys lights and plays music and stuff. I have always liked Christmas, but this year I loved it (other than not sleeping the last 10 days because of fireworks) theres just something about being an 18 year old in charge of your own life in a little town in the middle of knowhere of perú during christmas that is so fun.

Then on the 23rd we had the privilege to baptize an absolute champ named Darwin. He's 18, and his mother in law is a member. He's so funny. He's kinda a big boy and he thought he just needed to do a back flop then let me hoist him back up. My shoulder still hurts. He then told me that was his first shower in a month 

Christmas eve was even better. We baptized hermano Deyvi. Hes so dope. He was a jehovas whitness that we contacted as a joke. He has grown a ton. Read the whole BOM and D&C and is very converted. Hes 22 and is planning to serve a mission. He didnt want to leave the font hahah he asked if he could stay in there because of how good he felt. It was really cool to be changing into white on christmas eve and hearing the branch sing christmas hymns while they waited. Definately will never forget that. 

Love you guys, enjoy this wonderful holiday

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

White Christmas 🤭❄️🌲🌨

 This week was so boss 🖖 the amount of miracles around Christmas time is crazy. This baptism was super special. The day I got here Elder Ostergaard made me contact Hermana Maritza. Somehow they got past my horrible Spanish and into the waters of baptism. Being able to watch their family grow, change, and now make covenants with the Lord and enter the waters of baptism over the last 3 months has been an absolute privilege. 

For some reason our neighbors have loved the fireworks this week. They ask us for money every day for food, but seem to have no problem buying enough fireworks to launch until 5 am every night🙃 this kind of junk is the stuff that makes just simply living in perú extremely difficult at times. Just living here day to day is the hardest thing I have ever done by a mile. I love this place and people though. 

There was a group of drunk guys in the street that ran up and introduced themselves to us. One of them was God, the other was Jesus, and the other was Joseph Smith. What legends 🤣🤣

I love Christmas as a missionary. What a great time of year to devote myself to telling people about what Christ did for them and how they can implement it into their lives. Christmas here is different (mostly just hot) but what a cool oportunity I have to spend Christmas in such a cool and foreign place👍

 

I hope we everyone has an incredible week this week, spends time with those they love, thinks about Jesus a few times, and eats some great food. Love you guys ❤️💚

Alma 7: 10 And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God. 

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

1. Baptism

2. Borrachos

3. Christmas tree 😍

4. La selva 

5. Futbolistas 

6. Sunset 

Bananas

 One of the most impressive miracles from this week was the banana market. 5 soles (1 US dollar) would secure you over 25 bananas. This type of bargain is impressive enough to drive even the most frugal individual such as the OG grandpa Steve Pohlman into a banana frendzy. I couldnt help but think of the heaping mound of bananas he would have if he had whitnessed such a bargain. 

We went to a huge supermarket in Chiclayo between meetings with the area 70. After a while of scowering for worthwhile purchases we found peanut butter, snickers, and oreos. This is the most in touch with the United States I have been in 3 months. Walked out of that place feeling like I was back in the states just to see a woman breast feeding on the curb 💯🤣

Sometimes the mission feels lonely, but Juan from Spanishdictionary.com checks up on me every day. Really preciate that guy 💯🙏

I have learned a lot about humility and happiness on my mission. I can't even begin to describe the poverty I have seen here. I don't know why Perú is so bad (especially where I am at) but it is. Ecuador was a paradise looking back on it 🤣🤣 I have whitnessed kids counting out their grains of rice for dinner. Moms selling their clothes and going without power for weeks so they can buy their kid a birthday cake. All this and yet they are the happiest people I have met. We can learn a lot from them. 

What a beautiful time of year. I love christmas. We all know that Christ is the true meaning of christmas. We have all said it since we were 5 years old. This year I challenge us to act like it. We can all say that Christ is the true meaning of christmas, but I invite us to act like he is. I know Christ lives and loves us. His birth changed everything and the world will never be the same. 

Love you all, give my mom a hug for me 

Elder Pohlman 

Pics 😁

Transfers🤭

 Yo whats good guys💕💋 pretty great week here 😊 transfers were this week and I got very lucky. Somehow I got an absolute stud gringo as my comp. Elder Nichols is from Farmington and he is an absolute champ. It is super rare to have a gringo comp in this mission because there just aren't many, so to have 2 in a row is crazy. 2 lit ones in a row is an absolute miracle. I think president just knows and has seen that having two gringos in Motupe has been huge for getting it back off the ground. He speaks grammatically perfect Spanish so I have already learned a ton from him. He also pushes me with the Spanish so that is good. He reminds me a lot of Mr clay (other than Mr clay has 28 girlfriends elder nichols doesn't)

Nothing crazy happened this week because we spent half the week in Chiclayo. Elder Beccera from the 70 came. He was dope. 

Add manta ray to the weird things I've eaten this week. Don't necesarily care for it. My pensionista being the richest lady in the whole town means I don't eat too much crazy stuff, but when we do it is kinda fun.

One thing I realized is that the goodbyes on the mission are harder than the ones before I left. Saying bye to comps, areas, other missionaries, etc will be very hard. Watching Elder Ostergaard say bye to these people was brutal. It is just so hard because you come to absolutely adore these people, then one day you get transfered and probably will never see them again. But change is good for the mission.

I don't think I have talked about my language abilities at all. Rest assured that I have aquired more words than my go to mtc words (paz, felicidad, gozo). On a more serious note the language hasn't gotten me down until recently. Lately I have been beat down on it though. I always heard before my mission "oh yeah at 3 months I was good" or "yeah one day there was a switch that flipped". Well I would say I still don't feel "good". And wherever this switch is, I would really appreciate to "flip it" soon. Don't get me wrong, I think I have have gotten "good" enough that if my companion was someone who didn't know a lick of Spanish I would get us through just fine. When it comes to every day missionary work I feel relatively confident. But when the conversation turns to something outside of Gospel, scheduling appointments, free bananas, or the legacy of PIMPMO sometimes I get a little lost talking wise (I understand everything, just can't say exactly what I want to sometimes). I am sure I know more than I think, but I just feel theres still tons to learn. I'm sure I will never be satisfied. Maybe it is just a glass half empty mentality that I have about it.

Life is good, I am happy (please email me and elder monson kershaw we would appreciate it)

Love you all

Pics

1. Me studying demonstrative pronouns (idek what that means in english let alone how they work in spanish)🤣💯

2. Elder ponce with a lizard 

3. Bunch of pics before elder ostergaard left

4. My comps pday fit (yeah he valid) 

El niño 👦💧

 Good week. Transfers are this week so it's the last week with Elder Ostergaard. Big bummer. But we've done a ton of good. Having a native comp (assuming I do) will be good for my spanish. 

We went on exchanges with the ZL's. Good time. Elder Montoya and I were in Lambayeque and it's a ton different there. Everyone is white and rich. Really weird. One of the familys we taught had the biggest freaking dog I have ever seen. I kid you not he was the size of a deer. He stood up on two feet and his head was above mine. I have never been more scared. They don't feed him they just let him out and he eats cats. Luckily he was nice but I had all dogs even the nice ones (accept daisy). 

It rained here. The start of El Niño. I really enjoyed the cooler weather and lack of dust for about 1 hour until the roads that were previously dirt turned into 6 inches of mud. Luckily we have some boots, but still kinda annoying. 

Thanksgiving is an incredibly underated holiday. I remember thinking last year how different it would look this year. Turns out it's just the same accept instead of mashed potatoes it's rice. Instead of stuffing it's beans. Instead of turkey it's chicken heart. And instead of pumpkin pie some more rice. 

The work here had been slow for a couple weeks. I was pretty down I won't lie. Elder ostergaard and I prayed a lot and really trusted in the Lord this week. We felt like we were working hard, but It just felt like a normal week. During our weekly review yesterday we realized we had taught over 55 lessons and had 14 new people at church. One thing I have learned as a missionary is that when we feel down and out, if we trust in the Lord He will always bless us. 

Super cool moment the other day. There was a big youth activity with our branch and 2 others. The first person I baptized here (hermana flor) stood up to bear her testimony. She was crying (it isn't common to cry during testimony here) and saying how much her testimony had grown and how she has come to know the church is true. You have no idea how happy this made me. The sad reality is that a lot of people get baptized because the elders are cool white guys from the U.S not because they have a testimony of their own. To see that she had truly been converted and gained a testimony of her own made me so happy. We baptized her and her sister 8 weeks ago, and they haven't missed one single sacrament meeting or activity since. They are truly converted. Baptisms are super cool, but the church doesn't need baptisms, we need converts. 

"What is bold today will not be bold tomorow." -Ricardi letter

Love you guys

Didn't take many pics this week sorry 

1. Big dog 

2. Elder ponces fit

3. Me and elder ponce doing service (be thankful for what you have)

4. The river (there's got to be some fish in there)

Cock fights 😅

 There was a lot that happened this week but most of it doesn't apply to the legacy of Lebron James or Dez Bryant so I won't include it all.

Elder Kershaw (terrorizing the streets of Chile) said something of great wisdom last week. He said "In a couple years we will miss being poor and hot in the hood. So we should try and enjoy it before its too late. Yippe!!!" What a man. And what a true statement. I found myself awake at 2 am this past thursday. 85 degrees in the apartment. Had pulled a cockroach off my face for the third time that night. I sat up, kinda in the dumps. On the verge of tears I started laughing. I kinda realized that nights like that, or coming home from a long day covered in dust head to toe and not having water to shower are the things that absolutely suck in the moment, but that I will laugh about in 20, 30, 50 years from now. I find great joy in the mission. I am very happy here. I'll be the first to admit that it is though. However, it is in reality a very simple life. I will greatly miss the simplicity of waking up every day and teaching incredible people the gospel. 

It's always fun to have lunch with the whole district. You pick your seat at the table, and out come 6 bowls of soup. You can be the lucky one and get the chicken breast in your soup. Or you can get blessed with some testicals, heart, or intenstines. The only one I have a really hard time eating is the feet. I'm personally not a fan of fighting against some toenails to pull off a little piece of meat (skin).

It's always sad when we eat gallo (rooster) for dinner for a few reasons. One, rooster is way worse than chicken. Two, that usually means one of the pensionistas brothers cocks lost their fight that day 😞🐓🕊 Rip lil homie. Sometimes if a few loose we get a lot of food. Lol.

We have a family of 5 that is progressing well. A mom and 4 kids. 2 of them could have the priesthood so that would be huge for the branch. The kids are all there, but the mom says she wants God to "touch her heart." We've been really trying to get her to recognize the spirit and realize that she probably won't see an angel, but that God will touch her heart little by little. They're a great little family, and I really hope they work out. 

Dope verses👍👍

27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success. 

29 And we have entered into their houses and taught them, and we have taught them in their streets; yea, and we have taught them upon their hills; and we have also entered into their temples and their synagogues and taught them; and we have been cast out, and mocked, and spit upon, and smote upon our cheeks; and we have been stoned

30 And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our joy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some. 

31 Now behold, we can look forth and see the fruits of our labors; and are they few? I say unto you, Nay, they are many

Love you guys, have a splendid week and spectacular thanksgiving 

Fotos 

1. Lizard in the scriptures 😨

2. Elder Ponce and I looking at a meme (he's standing zesty (drippy poncho)) 

3. Some crazy old lady that gives me free bananas

4. Me+Elder Ostergaard+flowers 🤩😙💅

5. Sunset+me+peru flag 😍😍

Elder schwendiwoman thanks for the shoutout last week. I would like to shout out Elder Dak Prescot Peery and Elder Jamesmat (p.s dibs bion)

😁🐍🐈

 It was a good week. Any week with a baptism is. It is awesome to see kids make this covenant. We are told to focus on youth and inactive familes, which makes sense. All 4 baptisms we've had were kids of inactive families who we helped reactivate. All 3 families are very active now. This is obviously incredible. I really want to see some adults and families open their hearts to our message though. They will come. 

Sometimes the main water line for our street (a pvc pipe) breaks so we don't have water. They usually fix it (tape it) pretty quick though lol. This country never ceases to amaze me. 

We had an extreme rarity this week. We went a whole 24 hours without being fed rice or drinking maracuya. It makes me extremely sad to think that some of you have never had Maracuya. This is one thing that will never be the same after the mission. 

We watched a group of dogs curb stomp a cat in the middle of the road. I don't know why but it was sad (I laughed). Photos attached

The main story would go crazy in Perú. There's always something crazy happening.

They paved the 5 mile stretch of the freeway that was dirt road. We so up! 😹Perú out the mud.

I love how relatable the Book of Mormon is to these people. There is such a rich Incan/Native culture here like in the Book of Mormon. Ancient Incan writings even talked about "a god" visiting them and the dates line up almost exactly with when Christ visited the Nephites. This is obviously not church doctrine, so we just tell people that Christ did in fact visit the Americas after his resurrection, and explain what we know as doctrine. But anyone who reads the book will almost always ask us about this conection. We kinda just give them a solid maybe. True or not, this connection works well for the people so we don't argue it. They almost have me convinced haha. 

On the note of BOM tie ins to peruvian culture, I will finish with a scripture because I need to be better about making my emails somewhat spiritual. I love this scripture because rather the Peruvian people really are descendants of the Nephites, Lamanites, or neither, this verse is a fire missionary verse. 

"And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth among the Lamanites, they bretheren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls."

Love you guys

Pictures

1. Scary surprise under the door! I hate snakes.

2. AC in Perú (it was 86 in our apartment this night 😖)

3. Busy on the flip phone 🤣🤣

4. RIP lil homie 💔 🕊 

5. Happy birthday Jesus

6. Funny pic a member took at the baptism 😹