December 12, 2011 Gearing up for a great week with a great companion

Primary Children in La Union Dec 2011

Church in La Union Dec 2011

This week has been a lot of prepping, convincing, talking, running, and just about everything else. We have the wedding date set and all the papers in place for this Wednesday!

The primaria had a get together for Christmas, and they were great. The chapel was full, and I saw a lot of the kids' dads who just came for this special occasion!  We have been working with the ward a lot and getting families that are -activos to come to church. The church is kinda disorganized here I gotta say, haha but that's alright. Christmas is right around the corner, and I'm starting to see luz de navidad! (Christmas lights) here in La Unión! Yeah, it kinda makes me miss home sometimes, but anyway, I guess it's not all that different here, considering you guys don't have snow! hahah Oh, and for Christmas, I'm hoping to know when I'll be calling or whatever I get to do. We're talking with the president. I'll be sure to bring that up with him. Tell my best friends hi for me. I miss my friends this time of year and fam, but it's all good. I hope my gand familia is doing good to! salud all of them for me please!!!!

About Elder Castillo (in english this translates to castle), he has been out 2 cambios mas de mi. He's a great person and very persistent with the people. He has a good heart and good deseas. He is puttin' on the pounds eating haha. That's one thing we lack....more exercise! yeah, I figure I'll do that my last 6 mes de la misión. He is the only member, and his family is in Peru. He's native here and is good with the people. He likes to make jokes and is thoughtful of others. He's 25 and going to be 26 in febuario. Together we have been successful. He has learned to be very patient with me especially in the primera 2 semanas. but now we are teaching good! My Spanish has evolved and even the music I can understand....well most of it, and considering that half of it is English.....haha. Y'all get the point. My Spanish has gotten better thanks to him, and my knowledge of the scriptures has gotten better thanks to him. (speaking of which, I'm reading the old testament in Spanish. It's interesting how it's translated....not as direct as English. Sometimes I wonder how much better we would understand them if we spoke Egyptian and Hebrew.....yeah I'll learn those later haha ) Anyway, he's been good! And we have 5 weeks left with each other! esperemos éxito!!

As for Christmas, we've been eyeballin' around for a tree a sacar para nuestro cuarto ( to takes for our room). One of the members has a gigantic pino that we might go cut a part off if we can't find another hahah. Don't worry, we asked! haha and our pensionista is bomb! She cooks mean meals for us! We're gonna have pavo (turkey) for navidad here, and she knows how to cook. Soo dont worry about me not eating! hahha Anyways, I'll let you know what goes down, and when I get to call in my next letter!!!!

Love you guys so much and am so grateful for my family, friends, and associates.!!!!

Love,
Elder Pinegar

**Alex now has a flickr account where he will be uploading pictures. If you want to see more pics of Elder Pinegar---Click on http://www.flickr.com/photos/elderpinegar/

December 5, 2011 Spanglish and Disfutando the work

At the bakery in La Union Dec 2011

Alright fam! so we had cambios this week, and I'm headed for tumbes......not!!! haha That place is twice as hot as Arizona! haha Yeah, so they called and it looks like I'll be right here in La Union for one cambio mas with the same compañero!!! Things are lookin' up!! We got the papers for the marriage that we are working on and have it planned for Viernes!! Looks like were going to have 2 new baptismos this week!!!! Hermina wants to be baptized in a river like Christ, so looks like were going to do it like our amoroso poderoso señor!! That's the highlight of this week!!! Sadly, no baptisms this past week, but thats alright, we've been working with the father of another pastor evagelico church. I had a date programmed for him but he had culta (church) and didn't assist the sacremental meeting. We're going to try again this weeek!! Ohhh and one more person were going to work with is Jasmin, her mom and brother's son baptisado, pero ella no quiere hacerlo. were working on that and trying to gain the confianza of her and introduce her to amigas of the church. She has already had all the discussions and is a project of about 4 or 5 meses of work. We're hoping to baptize her this week too. Her mom is wonderful!! She makes antecucho (shishkabobs) and every time we pass by, she always wants us to sit down and talk....obviously we do, seeing that she is a recent convert and somewhat new to the church.

My Spanish has gotten a ton better. I'm ready to talk to people, shout and people and play!! The work is starting to become fun.......sometimes haha. Yeah-it's starting to get hot too!! So last night, me and my companion both prayed in English. He opened and I closed. It is weird to talk in English, indescribable the feeling. I was smiling the whole time I was praying as my mind was struggling to remember the words. haha I love it! We definitely talk way more different. When I get a chance to talk to an American its different! Ha ha, the words you use and how you express yourself! 

I can't send my memory card home for the whole two years......the president said that anything with metal most likley will not make it through the mail. I can't risk it, but I'm going to try to make some cds and send those, or I'll think of something. There's a website that they said we can use, called kodak, ya know the photos....I can upload those into a cloud server and then you guys should be able to view them. As of now, I have like 170 new photos!!!!! haha Yeah, ask Shark or Jeff about that. They are smart.  You guys have to set it up for me though.. thats the deal on that!!!! so if you wanna see pics do something!! Christmas is coming quick!! Wow! I love it!  For packages i might buys some little things and send them home if I can find some time! I'll work on that in the next couple months!!! yeah I got the package of thanksgiving. Thanks so much! We put the gallo (turkey) on the wall!! Yeah I know- bonito!! Anyway, thanks padres for all you do!!!  Thanks Dad for writing the letter to my comp!! We've grown close and are having exitó in our labours, disfrutando (enjoying) the work!!! love you guys!!!  love you all so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Pinegar

November 28, 2011 3 months and All Dressed in White

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Sup fam?!
Anyway, this week was good. We had 1 baptism! It was an 11-year old girl that turns 12 the 3 Deciembre. She is a great soul We have our own little handshake too... haha. Anyway, she lives with her tia and tio. Their names are Walter and Armiña. They are our next goal, they both assist the church, but aren´t married. Today we went to their house to get them to go to pura cental and get the papers that they need! They only need three papers, but it's strenuous with them. They like to put things off! haha ......kinda like Dad and the garage! Anyway, I saw how happy they were when I was baptising Roxana. They really want to do what's right!

Ohhh, anyway, we basically fasted for 3 days! haha Our pensionista went out of town to get vestirse in the temple, and we had to cook for ourselves- talk about a challenge! haha I don't know what would happen if we had to do our laundry hahah ;) Anyway, everything is going good her in Piura La Union. estamos traquilo nada mas haha.  One night we had crackers and juice. That, of course, I prepared! Yeah, I know, skilled! We have changes coming up next Monday.  I hope I get to stay with my comp! He's great!  I've learned a lot from him!

Ohhh yeah and last week we went to Catacaos and had an activity con the zone. It was fun. We had some sort of firepit dealio where we slow roasted  meat, bananas and others stuff. Catacaos is more of the tourist town. I gotta say it's definitely nicer than the Union,  but the people are the same nonetheless! Anyway, I love you guys, especially Spencer,  Bek, and Nick. Tell Spencer that I'm working on a letter to send him, but it's tough, 'cause I can only send 4 a month! haha and I don't have a ton of time!!!! Sometimes we are literally running! haha its good exercise though huh?!  Yeah,  I kinda need it to stay in shape!!! Ohh yeah and another thing, I basically had to do everything in church this week, from primary, to blessing the sacrament, to talking in front of everyone! It was crazy!!! 'cause half the ward was gone to the temple which is 12 hours in a car away from here. That was an adventure to say the least.!!! but I'm learning slowly!!!!!  Yes,  I'm writing letters for Christmas.  Can't wait to talk to you guys!!!!! That will definitely be the highlight of the month!!!!  Tell everyone hi for me and MERRY CHRISTMAS......in 3 or 4 weeks hahah.  Yeah they do celebrate Christmas here.  As for the Spanish, yeah it's starting to come. People are starting to sound more normal when they speak and occasionally I can understand the musica when a motto passes by! ahah love you soooooooooo much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

November 21, 2011 - PICTURES

(New Pics can be found on the blog)
What's up fam?! Well this week we didn't have a whole bunch of things happen, but first off I found out that all my pics on my camera got erased somehow haha...3months down the drain! Oh well, that's life! I had 160 pics+!! haha Yeah, I was pretty bitter for a couple hours, but now I'm over it! Anyway, I got the dear elders on Nov 15.  I think they were written on the 1st or so. Ohhh and Dad, my companion wants you to write him a letter in Spanish. I keep saying how good your Spanish is compared to other people, and he doesn't believe me.  I can't wait till Christmas and he gets to talk to you! haha

As for La Union, were doing good here! We have one baptism scheduled for Saturday. We had to drive to another city to get permission. On our way back, we were in a moto, its like a three wheeler, the thing just snapped in half haha. Luckily, we weren't going too fast 'cause we STOPPED haha. Yeah-- we're all good chillin like we should! Ohhh and another thing, I'm still trying to get used to mothers breast feeding haha. I guess it's normal here. We were giving a lesson and next thing you know baby was hungry and the mom just started feeding her baby in front of us like it was nothing haha. They do it in church, walking and just wherever.  O guess it's chill haha...

yeah so the photos.....as of now I have 33. I'll send them home at the end of December k? I'm sorry to hear about Jacquie Hill. I couldn't help but to tear up. It's amazing how short life can be. Be grateful. That's all I can say, be grateful! Tell Ryley and her family I'm sorry for that. I hope they do alright. I'll pray for them. That's about all I can do here in Peru. If you see my buddies, tell those fools to write me!!! Oh and for christmas, I want spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, and others. We don't have a lot of spices here in Peru)  pictures and insoles for my shoes, 2 pairs is sufficient. Love you guys tons.  Keep me up to date on everything!!! Can't wait to hear from you again! Tell the fam to write me some hand written letters!!! or dear elders those count to!!!!!!


Love Elder Pinegar

November 14, 2011 First Baptism

Dear Familia,
I hope all is good at home, and while it's starting to get cold there, we're just heading into summer here.  It's going to get really hot haha. No me gusta! Anyway,  this week was good. We finally had a baptism. I got to do my first baptism of the mission. The hermanos name is David.  He is 9 years old and his family is inactive, although they are members. It was awesome. The water was cold but refreshing. Poor little David was shivering the whole time. I had the opportunity to give two blessings too. Those are difficult, I gotta say. haha Right now we're working with a family whose father is a pastor of another church. Yesterday, we discussed diezmo (tithing) and why we don't pay pastors. He had a lot of questions and was really interested. Also we had the opportunity to explain why the people call us Mormons.  We introduced the Book of Mormon. We pray for him and his well being. The ward had the missionaries sing with voice to the congregation yesterday haah. I was belting out words in Spanish haha. I hope I didn't hurt their hearing!  We've been eating all sorts of things here. Yesterday,  I had to eat duck heart, with the tubles and all.  I felt the uneaten portion slide down my throat.....not bad if you ask me. haha The only thing I don't like is the liver....gross. I almost throw up everytime haha but its all good. We have a bomb cook here! and no father, I haven't seen someone to shine my shoes.....yet ahha but with time! Luckily, I haven't gotten sick yet..working on stayin' healthy! We walk probably like 6-8 miles a day and every night I'm absolutely exhausted! but I guess that's a good thing! the Spanish is slowly coming. I'm learning something new every day! We have been visiting a lot of -activos, people that don't go to church anymore. We are trying to gain the confidence of the people! The kids always climb all over me breaking ¨my bubble". Last week, there were like 4 little girls about 7 years old that chased me around for like 10 minutes, It's interesting here. Way different than the estados unidos. (United States) It almost feels like a dream! Sometimes that's good and sometimes bad!  I'm starting to slowly get used to that as well... I love you all and am getting used to the missionarry work, it's hard! I'm glad you guys are all doing well!
Sincerely your son,
Elder Pinegar!
*Jared remembers shoe shine boys all over when he was in Peru
**Alex has been trying to send pictures to us the past few weeks--but looks like we won't get them until January since he can't send any over the internet--it's too slow.

November 7, 2011 - La Unión

Hi Family,
Sorry the first part of my message didn't send last week, i tried to send to many pics or something, but anyway i hope you got it again! It's good to hear from all you guys! Anyway, I'm doing better this week, the Spanish is still hard, and it is definitely work. We walk around 6 miles a day give or take. Every day goes somewhat fast haha. The mission is pretty routine, but the people aren't, That's the difference! It's good to be able to feel that little joy when you see the light turn on in their head, and it hurts when they don't want to talk. We had a baptism planned for yesterday, but it fell through. Turns out that the dad doesn't want his child be baptized, el dijo Soy catolico! He's a fisherman and is never home because he works. We had talked with the mom before and explained why he needed to be baptized and she agreed. We're hoping to baptize her to with time, as for the dad, I don't know but we pray for that family every day! We are scheduled to have two baptisms Saturday. Both children, David Cesar Pingo and Juan Percy. Everyone here has names that are like 5-6 words long, its hard!!

 I'm in the union (La Unión) if you didn't get my other letter. The streets are dirt, and the people are genuine, not everyone want to talk to us, They think we worship Joseph smith haha. It's all chill. Oh, I have a pension and someone to do my laundry. Every day we have 3 well cooked meals! haha I hope I don't get fat!! nahhh no es possible. Today is my P-day, and I believe always will be. Please don't sent me anything big or expensive in packages, and please include the same for my companion of whatever you send.

My companion is Elder Castillo. He's the solo member in his family. He has been a member for a 1.5 years and is strong. He has been through a lot and has 25 years. I'm a half hour off the coast, but that's not important, because for at least 3 months I wont see it! haha. Uhhhh what more, the food here is always accompanied with rice and the juice is incredible, always fresh! Hrma. Mercedes mi pensionista is an awesome cook and she makes bomb food! The capill (church) here is the nicest thing in town, and the ward is about 100 members ....ok 50 active haha. I had a chance to bear my testimony for the first time in years yesterday, it felt good, and it was in Spanish! Sometimes my English is really bad and so is my Spanish haha. I gotta pray in English at a house because they wanted me to. It was hard!!! I was having trouble remembering words! Yes, I'm the tallest here by far, about 2 feet! haha and the little kids always wanna talk haha. Good thing I can understand them!! I'm glad Bek is doin good! Good grades bek!! Spence and Nick you gotta do better ;) haha jk .....but serious,  I'm working my hardest here. You two both better be workin your rears off!

Much Love.

Your son, Elder Pinegar!!

October 31, 2011 --First week in Piura

Dear Familia,
It's pretty different here, very poor and humbling. A lot of the people--3/4 of them have dirt huts, There wasnt any earthquake.* It's tough not being able to talk to anybody, including my companion. haha  and I thought I knew the language! It's crazy! So we have a baptism date for David who is 9 years. His parents are members, but not active, and he was never baptized. The church is the nicest building I have seen here, fully functional with fans and all. I had the opportunity to meet all the members last Sunday. They are awesome, and Hrma. Mercedes is a member as well! I wanna give you a rundown of an average day here:

Alright first thing, it gets light here by about 6:15 and I'm guessing that it will stay like that year round considering we're on th equator almost. We wake up at 6:30 am, roll out of bed and pray then exercise for half an hour. Then I take a cold shower, if we have water. After that, it's down to desayuno (breakfast) at 7:30.  Hrma. Mercedes always has some good, although sometimes odd grub ready! Then we go study el evanhelio (gospel) for 2 hours, one hour personal and one hour companionship. Then it's off to work at 10. If we don't have appointments, we tract in the HOT sun. It's similar to Lake Powell minus all the water, but it has tons of sand. Everything is always dusty. We do that till 1:30, when we typically have lunch, which is the biggest meal of the day here. That lasts for one hour, then we go up to the room and I study spanish and my comp studies English for one hour. Then it's back to work, either tracting or teaching, preferably teaching ahah.  Then we have dinner at around 8pm. They do it late here haha, Dinner is an hour, and then we go and prepare for the next day and go to bed at 10:30 exhausted! Very exhausted. haha every day.

We have a goal of five baptismal dates this week, I hope we can make that happen with my broken Spanish and all ahha. The people, they have nothing, literally nothing and are so happy! i dont know how! It's good to see that light in people's eyes when they finally realize something new, like the gospel for example!

Anyways,  I love you all so much. It's definitely different, hard, and sometimes I wanna just give up, but I know that it's all for a purpose -- to bring people to Christ, and I'm giving it all I got! haha  I'll try to send more pics next week, the internet is slowwwwwwww here, but what can ya do? Ya gotta love it! Take care. Write me. It takes about a month for a letter to get here.

Much love!!!!!!! hope you are all doing well, and also I'm able to get dear elders here to!

Love,
Elder Pinegar
*We asked Alex if he felt the 6.9 earthquake in central Peru near Lima this week--apparently not--since he is so far north. Also--sounds like he could use a few letters--please take a minute and send a Dear Elder (see sending letters on blog)--it's easy and free!