The weekly report (cause I couldn't think of a good name this week)

So this week as I said last week elder Bentson was going to Cusco and he was going to look for my package for me. Well, he got back on Wednesday and still no package. Which really just made me sad... But mom before you call Vanessa and get really mad at her, continue reading. haha so we had a multi-zone conference on Thursday, with presidente and the assistants and some zones. So on Thursday elder Bengtzon, the assistant, told me that my package is in the office. So eventually it will be sent here, I just have to wait longer, but now we know where it is, so don't worry!

Anyways a kinda weird, funny story, so the bishop gave us this reference of a menos activo who lives by him, we went and visited her one day and only her husband, I think they are married, was there. He isn't a member, he looked to be a little older kinda what I expected. So when we went a day or two after, with a member, of course, she answered the door and wow not what i expected.... she was super super super young!!! haha with a kid. And she is from lima so she is really different from the rest of the people here. Elder bentson saw her and said it perfectly, she's like a blonde Peruvian, now obviously she isn't blonde but acts like blonde girls from the states, or just girls from the states in general I don't remember what they're all like. But the funny part is she is 22... and her husband is 49!!!! It was awful to hear.... I wanted to cry, her husband has been in the police for 27 years... so ya that's just awkward.

Well then we had our zone conference which was really good, I left feeling uplifted, and that I just love our mission president, he is so funny and so awesome!! and Hermana Harbertson is awesome too!! oh and ya I learned that we can't do the chat, so just make sure you ask all your questions in the weekly email you send me and I'll respond and we will talk the next week.

Then Friday was just a normal day and Saturday came, the baptismal interview for litter. Holy cow was I nervous, it was like I was getting interviewed, we had a lesson right before just to see how he felt and we had to teach one last thing, after the lesson i just felt really good. And he did pass and so he's getting baptized this Saturday, in Lake Titticaca!!! I am so pumped!!!! I have never felt so much joy than after this time! t was awesome! the picture i am sending is where he will be baptized!!

We also are working with a menos activo maybe I have told you, his name paul, and he is awesome! He is preparing for his mission and every day he tells us something i wanna cry cause I just feel so good! He's been reading preach my gospel and the scriptures, which is way better than I was! haha but ya that was awesome!

This week I am just really grateful to the lord and my parents for raising me in the gospel. I love the gospel it brings more joy to people's lives than anything else. I don't know why I was blessed so much to be born in the gospel and to be born into the best family ever but I'm doing my best to try and share my blessings with the amazing people of
Peru! I love all you so much and miss you so much!!!! Hope you all have a terrific week!

Elder Ludlow

Where are you package? Why can't i find you.. :(

Well, this week was a huge learning experience for me. And it was awesome!! On Tuesday, we did work divisions within our district, I was with an Elder named Elder Barber, he's from Texas has a little less than a year, but his Spanish is still maso menos. So we were still in my sector, so I was leading all the lessons, and all the walking around. I was a little bit scared at the start but once we started it was awesome!!! Then Elder Samaniego had to travel to Lima this week to do paperwork so he can go home..... :o So I was with the zone leaders, Elder Bentson and Elder Talavera, and that was awesome as well! Because we were working with two sectors we had like full appointments, and we worked so hard! It was great!!! And always when I am with Elder Bentson we just talk about great things, I have learned a lot from him as well. Also in Elder Samenigo's absence I got to be District Leader for like two days. So.... you could say I got a taste of power, and I liked it..... A LOT!!! haha no it was cool just to kinda get me prepared for when I get a new companion, which was perfect for me this week. Then came Friday.....

So my package was supposed to come Wednesday, when we dropped Elder Samaniego off, well it wasn't there, so I asked Elder Samaniego to bring my package back with him... well I think he got a little confused, but he brought back lots of packages for our zone on Friday... but mine still wasn't there. So that kinda bummed me out, although I did receive some letters which was good. But then he came back and I dont know what happened I think he just wanted to annoy me for the rest of the night. He was getting on mine, and Elder Bentson's nerve. We had our activity this Friday, that was already stressful enough cause like nobody showed up, but Elder S just kept gettin gmore and more on our nerves... So you could say friday wasnt a great day for me. Saturday was better, and Saturday we went and contacted families right on the coast of Lake Titticaca. That was awesome! We contacted 14 families and holy cow it was wicked!!! Things have since gotten better and everything is going well.. Hes only got three weeks left of his mission which is crazy!! But hey I've only got 20 more fast sundays :) Time flies and its crazy! I love it here.

So probably the coolest thing is we are teaching the less active 17 year old kid. After the first visit he told us he wants to serve a mission. He pretty much is active again, he is going to the temple with the youth in a week or two, and he is going to be starting his papers pretty soon here. HOW INCREDIBLE!! We had a fhe with him last night, with two other young men who are getting ready to serve missions and it was so cool! We just talked about the mission and man its a really awesome thing! He is so dedicated and just wants to serve and its awesome! Not to mention hes so chill and its so awesome!!

Well I guess there's the weekly report for yall! Voy a ver quien puede entender eso, sin google translate! Si se puede, quiero que ustedes escriban una correo a mi, solo porque quiero mas cartas! haha Love all of you guys and just love serving the lord as well!!

Love, 

 The package missing elder, 

  Elder Ludlow

PS. My Spanish still could be totally bad, so if you understand it, and it's bad, SORRY!!

WOW what a roller coaster of a week!!!

Well, every roller coaster has to go up and down to be fun right?? Well, last week we were at the top of that hill everything was going great!! We dropped down that hill and holy cow was that super awesome!!! But we had to climb back up this week.

After emailing last Monday we went and played dodgeball in our church! it was super duper fun! Then Tuesday was good we had an FHE with a family for this little girls birthday and we brought her a present and she was super pumped, they served us tres leches chocolate cake which is delicious, but I couldn't enjoy it, I got the worst stomach pains ever. So I barely made it through the lesson and then we speed walked home cause if a ran, yeah, you all know what would have happened. So I went to bed Tuesday feeling like garbage and was in and out of the bathroom all night. Wednesday I got up and still felt like garbage but thought it would go away so I just got up and got ready, Well it didn't go away I started feeling like I had a fever, so the Elders gave me a blessing and I had to stay home that day. WHICH I HATE!! I JUST WANTED TO SERVE! Whenever I'm sick it makes me super homesick as well, and I honestly think this Wednesday was the hardest day in my mission, I just wanted to come home... Nonetheless, I'm still here.

Well here comes the good part, we were at our pensions house and they have a little five-year old, well we were playing around with him and I took a bottle he was playing with and put it by Elder Bentson's but, the little kid went and grabbed it and Elder Bentson beef stewed him so hard!! WE were crying laughing and it was so awesome!!! One more funny story that happened this week was we were walking around and there was this group of like 8 perros, of course, i didn't have my camera, but I'm pretty sure it was 7 guys, 1 girl. When we walked by there was this black dog on the female, but the female was bigger so  he was struggling hard core to do his business and kept falling off of the female! It was hilarious, then this group past this white dog. This white dog did not mess around. It grabbed the black dog by the neck and they were fighting hard core!! It wouldn't let go of the neck and had people not thrown rocks I'm sure one of them was gonna die!!!! 

Well, I guess that really is all that happened this week... We are still progressing with the same investigators and fewer actives so that's  awesome!! Oh and today we went to a beach. It was beautiful!! and so cool!!! That's why I'm writing right now... But it was so cool! There will be some photos in dropbox mom.

The final thing that is the greatest thing ever. We bought a giant white board!! It is huge!! and its so helpful!! Holy cow it's the coolest thing ever!!! Haha well, thats about all! I love you all and I miss everyone!! But I also love it out here!!! I also had my 3 month birthday, holy cow I'm old ;) The Church is true!!! Love all of you!!!

Love, Elder Ludlow

Ooh, and I got sun burnt super bad!!! WHOOPS!

UNO CON FECHA

Well this week a lot happened but honestly, I don't remember like any of it.. haha But first things first last P-day we cooked tacos. Not very many people here know what they are so we taught our pension and oh man they were delicious!! We had them with guacamole and pico de gallo and wow was it DELICIOSO!! 

We are doing great in the work.  WE HAVE SOMEONE WITH A BAPTISMAL DATE!!!! Which is so awesome!! I am so pumped! probably the easiest one we will ever get. He asked us when we could baptize him. He comes from a family of members. His sister married into a family of members who live in our ward and so he's known the church for a while and decided ya he wants to be baptized! We're working on getting him a testimony and oh ya it's so awesome!! We are also working with a family who is great! They are super nice and super receptive! The wife is out of town for a little, but she is the one who was super into listening so we aren't to worried. But the entire family is awesome! They have an 18-year-old son who we were talking about the mission and were like, hey you wanna be a missionary and he's like why not?? haha but this 18-year-old kid is awesome!! He really listens and asks great questions! So it is super great! We are also working with this less active who wants to serve a mission as well!! He is super awesome and man things are just good!!

Other than that we have just been working on strengthening our ward. WE did an activity Friday night, where we started off with a small spiritual thought, then lots of games. At the start there were about 5 people, which is normal cause punctuality isn't a thing here, but once the games started people started coming. The first game was a relay race. We hid candy in flour and they had to blow the flour, at the other team and grab the candy, then a three-legged race to some chairs where they blew up a balloon and had to sit on the balloon and pop it, then return to the start. It was so funny!! And for the last one, we dumped so much flour so everyone was covered!! The second game was a book of Mormon quiz, with a catch to it. There was two teams, each comp of elders was assigned to a team, Whichever team answered correctly, that person got to choose one of the elders of the other team to punish. The punishment was a plate of shaving cream to the face!! Haha our team was actually boss! and we did really good, nonetheless, we still lost and they liked to pick on the greengos.... haha the last game was dodgeball, which we couldn't participate in. And it was super difficult because the floor was super slippery... but it was still awesome and turned out great!!!

Well, there's my report for the week!! We are just working hard! I do miss home a lot but teaching the gospel is incredible! After every lesson I feel so uplifted and so grateful to have this gospel in my life!! One more cool story this week, to show how if we listen to the promptings of the spirit the lord will bless us, We went to an appointment Thursday night, and they lady failed us, we didn't know what to do so we prayed. I had the feeling to go to some less actives house, who is never in her house, nonetheless, we went. On our way, we passed a family, so we contacted them, it turns our that this family had been contacted by missionaries previously, but the missionaries failed the appointment. So we got all their information and ya me and elder Samaniego just knew that we were supposed to contact them. The Church is true! The Book of Mormon is the word of God! We have a Father in Heaven who loves us!! And who blesses us with more things than we can imagine, and only asks that we follow his commandments. What a Blessing!!!! Love all of you!!

The First Letter (like ice age "the last melon")

First off I just want to thank Erika for sending me the first letter of my mission! It was great And it really pumped me up! It was great to get a letter and now I know who actually loves me ;)

Second Happy birthday Taylor!!! I am kinda glad I'm not there to see you wreck the cars!!! Also happy birthday Lizzie!!

So today i finished my first change in the mission field!! So that is a good thing to hear one more down one less to go! This week was the most successful week we have had! We have families we are teaching we've got menos activos that are progressing and it is awesome!! The best thing is seeing them at church! We are teaching a family, the mom is a less active member, and the rest of the family is catholic, we have taught them twice and the papa had a lot of questions, which is good but it appeared his heart was pretty set on catholicism, but they attended church this Sunday and his heart appears to be more open! So that is awesome!

So although this was probably the best week we have had.. Probably the worst thing happened to me this week... So we went to a less active members house on Friday to confirm an appt for saturday... He invited us into his house... As we walk upstairs he has a big nice tv, something that lots of people have... They really like to have nice tvs, anyway, we walk up and an NBA game was on :( It was Chicago and Washington and I didn't know what to do.. Probably something good that happened was that they went into a timeout right as we walked up, but nonetheless I almost shed tears because I miss it so much. Ya it was rough!! Also in this member's house his daughter came up to greet us, the custom here is to kiss the cheek to greet, so she came up to me shook my hand and then put her cheek forward to do that... Well we can't do that... especially to hermanas... so I just sat there awkwardly not knowing what to do... and then she moved in closer so I backed up a little... ya then her dad told her that we couldn't do that.. so ya there are my awkward moments for the week!!

Last but not least one more bad thing that happened this week is that i had a dream about Disneyland and woke up so sad that i cant go to Disneyland for two years..... haha other than this i am doing good!! I love teaching lessons cause every time i teach my testimony of that lesson just grows!!

I love all of you guys and hope to hear from y'all soon!!


Love, Elder Ludlow!

The Ball dropped on New Years and so did I!

You are probably wondering what the title of this email means well let me explain to you. New years day was insane... There was an insane thunder storm. Maybe the worst I have ever been in. We were in a house when it started and when we left it was raining so hard. The thunder was sounding as the lightning was striking! It was nuts! So we were running back to the house cause it was dangerous! As you could probably guess the streets here aren't all paved so we were running through the mud... To make the story short ya I slipped and fell.... It sucked I was covered in mud!!

So this week we have listened to so much star wars and it's probably the greatest thing!!! It makes me a little trunky but just pumps me up so hard!! Haha last p-day we went to a waterfall and there are pictures on Dropbox! 

This week was awesome!1 We had a ton of success, we taught two complete families, contacted a lot of menos activos, and oh man it was awesome!!! But also when there are good there has to be bad things.... And this is the bad thing! haha

So last night, Sunday night, we were at a menos activo house. She was cooking us a dinner and didn't have bread, but she didn't hav any, so she asked us hey will you go buy a sol of bread.... Me and my companion froze we didn't know what to do... So haha my comp was like, we cant buy stuff on Sunday. she was like what?? and he said it again.. Then she stormed off to the store saying, "This is why I am not gonna return to the church! Who told you this!" And more things like that! Haha so then ya we sat there in here house awkwardly... She came back and she was calmer, and this morning we did a service for her and everything is good!

Well this week I am so grateful for the church!! We are so blessed to have the gospel in our lives!! Every day I realize more and more what a blessing it is! I love it out here and its awesome!!

Love and miss all of you!!

Feliz Ano Nuevo

So this week definitely was awesome and super hard too! I was an emotional wreck after talking with you guys cause that was the best time ever! Hope you guys liked my videos! Those of you who didn't see ask my mom for the videos!! 

SO the big news for this week is that Elder Samaniego is a liar!!! He finishes his mission after my training!! So ya AJ was right about him, he was also the Assistant with Elder Bengtzen after im his first companion after that!! So I am his one and only son! So ya sorry I lied to you guys about that but blame elder Samaniego.

Funny story, this week we were walking down the street and we just see this lady start squating... I was like what the, then you could see her push her dress back and ya she started laying an egg.... if you aren't catching my drift, she definitely was just taking a dump in the middle of the field... Ya it was crazy! I am scarred for life1, She didn't even have toilet paper to wipe!!! :O

Another funny story this week was that when talking with Jonny on Christmas he asked if I had had Lomo Saltado, which I hadn't, but the next day for lunch we did!! Its pretty dang good!!

One more funny story for the week! Before we had ward council we were talking with this guy, his name is Carlos and he is a kick boxer, and before we had ward council he was teaching us all these kick boxing moves and how to defend ourselves in certain situations and it was legit!! I don't know how old he is but he's like 50 I think and he is so awesome!! '

Well lets just say that I am super excited for mothers day! Ha that was the greatest thing talking to you guys thanks for all your support and all your prayers, I couldn't do this without you guys! And without the lord! I said some things at the end of my call that I wasn't even planning on saying, so ya I don't know what that means you guys take it how you want! But because its the new year and i know all of you are making your goals so I have a goal for all of you. This is the goal and the scripture of the year to go with it:

Mathew 5:6 and the goal is to STUDY the scriptures every day this year! We need to be hungry and feed ourselves with the word of the Lord. I promise to you guys that if you do this, you will see the blessings of heaven in your life as I have seen here. Your testimony will strengthen or you will gain a testimony of the truthfulness of this gospel. The results of doing this are found in D and C 9:8. I will check up on everyone every week to see how you are doing! I too will accept this challenge! 

I love all of you so much! I miss you so much but don't want to be anywhere else!! Here's some pics of our Christmas day!