Buenas tardes familia y amigos:
I hope everyone is doing well, I heard that some were sick.
I finally was able to have everyone from before December finalize all their paperwork to be legal in Peru. Now is just the wait to go and pick up the Carnet de Extranjeria. I was even able to update all that information in the records of the church, so they know that everyone is in OK status.
I started to work on the letters that we have to send to the parents and the Stake Presidents of the missionaries that will be coming home in the next 3 months. I need to be sure that the parents have not moved to a different city/airport.
I already started to work on 3 out of the 9 missionaries that came on January 1st. Unfortunately mistakes happen, and when I was making the appointments for them, the one Elder that was coming from Talara 2.5 hours away, I made the mistake to schedule him for the following date of when he was going to be here. I tried to correct it, but it didn't work. Him and his companion had to stay in Piura 1 extra day and we finalized all his paper work on Wed instead of Tue. I have a problem with the calendars in some of the entities. Some start the week with Sunday and some start the week with Monday. Talk about confusion, when I go to pick up the date I am just looking at the order and not the date. I need to be more careful and actually read the dates. I only need 6 more missionaries to update their documents and I will be ready for the new arrivals in February.
Remember the labels I bought last week? I finally was able to put some to use, I had already organized the passports in trays and in alphabetical order. This time I added some cards with the alphabet letters so we know where each letter begins. I am so glad because we don't have to waste time looking for the passports when we need them.
On Thursday I was hoping not to go anywhere, but I was told that our Zone "Miraflores" had a 2+ hour meeting at the Miraflores church. I was about to not go, but I was told it was going to be good. I did go, and yes it was very good to hear all those young missionaries testify and share the gospel. Also be reminded why we are here serving a mission. I was even able to make a comment as being a convert. I stayed 1.5 hours because at that time they separated into districts to work on their goals. I went back to the office, and was by myself for a long while. But it was good, because while I was in the office, one of the Elders asked if I could open the door to a brother that was coming to pick up 29 boxes of Book of Mormon. So I did. Later another Elder was asking me for some information from his desk, because he was in the Bank and needed other information.
Saturday being my Pday, I decided to go to Downtown Piura, first I needed to go to the bank in Open Plaza. And the Moto Taxis are not allowed downtown. So I had to take a Taxi, but being that it was closer to Open Plaza it was not expensive at all. I talked to the taxi driver, He actually told me that if I would've said why I was going downtown from the beginning he would've advised me not to go because there is really nothing to see. There is only the Cathedral and the park. All the streets are broken and the restaurants are very expensive. He suggested to go to Catacaos, a small town 35 minutes away from the city, and I can take a Micro if I don't want to spend a lot of money. (Micros are similar to buses, maybe just a little bit smaller.) So I asked him to let me take a few pictures while he went around the Plaza and then take me back. All that for less than 4 dollars. I was back in Open Plaza, I needed to go to the supermarket, but at the same time I wanted to go on some sightseeing. In the end, I decided to go to Catacaos. I picked the wrong date to go there because they were preparing to have a procession. It is when the town takes one of their saints from the church and takes some around the town and lots of people follow. There is a lot of food for sale outside. And also band music. The traffic gets diverted so it's hard to get around. But I was able to arrive and since I didn't know where I was, I decided to call the elders that serve in that area. We were able to contact each other through WhatsApp and they asked me to do a video call so they could see where I was and they could tell me where to go. It was just a few blocks from the downtown area, where the Micro left us. I did find the streets where they sell all the souvenirs. I also end up having lunch in the same area. One of the girls that was outside trying to get clients for the restaurant approached me and when she was telling me all the menu, she realized I was from the church and she told me she had been baptized six months ago. I decided to have lunch there. I walked a few blocks admiring all the souvenirs and then I went back to Piura. Amazingly, the micro fair was 1.50 dollars round-trip. You cannot beat that.
I went back to open Plaza to do my grocery shopping and then back home. I even had time to do some laundry and cleaning.
Have a wonderful week.
Mosiah 2 41 And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.
Love you,
Hermana Malpica
Office Specialist
Peru Piura Mission
Pics 1&2 The Office and my desk
Pics 3&4 Piura Cathedral and Central Park
Pics 5&6 Catacaos Cathetral and Central Park, small town.
Pics 7,8&9 Part of the Souvenir streets in Catacaos
Pic 10 Pottery on the way to Catacaos
Pic 11 El Mirador it seems that is like a water park with a small zoo.
Pic 12 On the road back to Piura, a Fridge on a Moto Taxi, Incredible. 🤣🤣
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