Poop. . .

Well all I gotta say is that this week was pretty crappy. Here's a quick rundown. . .

Monday, we were going to go play soccer, but my comp was having all sorts of problems so instead I stayed in the room all day just trying to calm him down.

Tuesday was my comps birthday, but he told everyone that he doesn't like to celebrate it and that he doesn't like to be the center of attention, also the power went out in our house, so i wrote my journal in candle light, that was the highlight of my week. Tuesday my comp was just really mad all day and ya it wasn't a great day although we did have a couple of appts.

Wednesday so this week that is happening we have a multi zone conference, well on wednesday we had to plan that conference, that took hours so we didn't have much time to go visit people.

Thursday, the area president, elder uceda, came and we had a devotional with him since 1 to 9 at night, my comp was still having problems, luckily he finally talked with president a little. The devotional was from 1 to 7 for just missionaries then 7 to 9 with others, i did get to see a lot of my friends so that was cool.

friday my comp went to the doctors office, then we were supposed to plan well he went and just hopped in his bed and sat there, i tried to get him to come but then slept so we were in there the entire afternoon cause he was just sleeping, I wasn't happy with him.

Saturday we had a ward activity, and we were getting pretty much everything ready the entire day for the activity, people showed up like an hour late as usual and well then after my comp had to go to therapy. The good thing though is Gustavo, our inv, had his baptismal interview. Elder Day, our zl, did the interview and after told me that he was one of the most prepared inv he has ever interviewed #baptisms4dayz

Sunday was normal and well our ward mission leader did a little surprise party for my comps bday so that was good.

My comp is getting kinda crazy but thank goodness he is going to therapy. Well there's my week for ya. Hope yours was better than mine!! Love you all!! Heres some pics

Oh and my scrip of the week is Jer. 48:40. Think of a movie as you read it! :)

It's a boy . . .

Well now that I'm about 9 months along it's really really really starting to show, as you can see in the picture!!! Haha well this week was ok. I was kinda sick like all week with just a bunch of different stuff, but I survived!

Ya so an update on our investigator with a date. He is just the man!! He is so awesome!! He just has super great questions, and really wants to know! He already feels at home at church, he goes around and greets people, is always talking with everyone, even came with us to an appointment, and well even asked about the mission!!! The change in this guy is completely incredible!! The best part was last night we had a family night in the house of a member, and invited him. So he came with us and one of the members is just this sweet old lady. After talking for a while, the grandma asks our investigator, "So Elder how much time do you have in Cusco?" hahaha we were dying!!! He was just like, "I'm not an Elder, yet!" haha it was awesome and we just laughed but the whole night she just called him Elder. And then after he was asking us what things he would need to do, if he were to go on a mission. He is so awesome and we are gonna stay close with him so he can't change his mind!

Well other than that just another normal week, I did divisions with the Zone Leaders this week, which was pretty nice, cause we were able to talk a lot about things and he helped me want to become even better. So I hope to be able to do the things I can to become a better missionary.

So yesterday a couple of kinda funny stories, so the first we go to this members house who just reactivated in the church, and now her grandma told us she doesn't wanna go anymore, so we went to go visit her, and her grandma answers and said she's not there, my comp asked if she had anything to drink, she says yes runs inside for a second, and then comes out, and says wait for me inside i'm gonna go buy you guys something. We tried to tell her no cause it was the sabbath but she was determined to do it! So she went bought us some Inka Kola, We pounded down the Inka Kola super fast. Then we went to this members house who invited us over. We end and they invited us to the table. We ate some popcorn and then had some Coke. Well the guy would not stop giving me more, I tried to tell him I was good and he just kept giving and giving and giving, I probably drank a Liter and a half of coke in about 15 minutes.... Whoops!! haha I told him i was fine but he just insisted!! So ya i had to go!

I also saw ELder Card again this week! We had to go to the office to help them with something, and we was there doing some paperwork!! I just miss him so much! He is such a great guy!!

Well that's really all that happened this week. Thanks everyone for all your support hope you all have a great 24th of July, eat some good food for me and send me some pics!! I miss you all so much!! Love you!! 

Linin' up for the baptismal font!

Ok well not literally but the new investigator we got from last week is so awesome!!! Gustavo is totally progressing and loving the church!! Everything is literally going perfectly and it's kinda crazy how perfect everything is going!! All the members are helping in being his friends and making him feel welcome so it is really so awesome!!! He said he knows this is the true church and shared some things with us that is just so great!! I'm so happy!!

Really the work is going pretty well, I love this area cause it's a good working area!! A lot of the members are helping us and wow it's just so great, apart from that it was still kinda a rough week, my comp and I got along a little better but not perfectly, but I'm definitely learning a lot from this and I know it will help me in the long run!

Well this week the crazy thing that happened was that the city went on strike!! It was pretty funny, there were just people walking around in the streets, the streets were completely empty of cars and only people, which made it a pain to get around, but it was super funny! Supposedly if you drove your car through the groups they break your windows and tip your car, so we were walking and this car was about to drive through a group and I was kinda really excited, but the "leader" we could say, told his people that it was a friend not a foe, as they were circling this car, I was a little disappointed! Also the road blocks they set up just sucked they tried to put rocks and do bon fires to stop cars, but any car could have passed through easily, the bon fires were just a small bag of garbage, nonetheless it was funny to see all that happen! And well, we decided to go on strike that day too so didn't work ;) haha no but it was funny and actually helped cause more people were in their houses!

Well really that's all that happened this week, not a super exciting week, I don't even have a photo to send home cause I didn't have my camera with me the day of the strike, what a bummer! Hopefully next week I will have some pics to send home!! But hey I love you guys and thanks for all your support!!

Love,

Elder Ludlow 

Technology!!

Well I just thought I would let you know this week was pretty awesome! On Wednesday we had a mission wide district leader training, which was awesome cause I got to see Elder Card!!! I was so happy and we just talked and it looks like after being separated things have just gone downhill for the both of us companion wise, if you guys understand!! haah but in this training the coolest thing happened we got Technology!! Yes all District Leaders now have cell phones!! So hey Brandon you may have an ipad but I've got a cell phone now I'm catching up to ya!! haha but it's pretty great and just makes things so much easier!! 

 Well this week was actually pretty good work wise! We had lots of lessons even with us losing practically a whole day for the district leader training! Plus we got an awesome new investigator! This recent convert, Gustavo, called us and told us his son wanted to talk with us, so we went to his house and had an ok lesson with his dad. Then we went back later in the week with a returned misisonary and his dad wasn't there, and he totally opened up and told us everything and it was just so great!! He came to church on Sunday and was talking to some members and said to them, ya I really liked church, now I just need to be a member! So we expect he will be baptized by the end of this month or beginning of next! But we are still just working on finding lots of news, cause if we stop looking then bad things will happen haha!  

 Well some members invited us over for pizza this week which was great!! Although american pizza is just sooo much better!! haha it was still great!! 

Well I guess we need a good funny story for the week, so we were in a lesson yesterday with a recent convert and she has two kids 4 and 6. Before the lesson started I was playing with the kids cause they told us to wait a second. So I was playing with them and they totally love me. I told the 4 year old that my name was josue, the same name as his older brother, and he totally believes me and always calls me Josue now! Its pretty great! Ok well during the lesson we watched a short video then we were talking about it after, The four year old just looks at me then starts playing with my hair, and says "Wow your hair is so beautiful!!" Then completely amazed says WOOOOOOOOW! Look at his eyebrows!!! Did you die your eyebrows, I told him no that was just there color and he calls his little brother and says look at his eyebrows!!! I was laughing so hard and just trying to focus on the lesson but it was hilarious he was so amazed at the color of my eyebrows!!  

Haha well that's I guess another week! Hope you guys had a great week and that you enjoyed your fourth of July! 1 down 1 to go ;) haha 

Love you guys so much thanks for all your support!! 

USA USA USA USA!

Zach and Elder Card, his last companion that he absolutely LOVED!

Guns N Baptisms

Hey first I just want to tell everyone that I have the greatest parents in the world!!! Mom the cookies were so awesome!! haha

So Monday We played some ball, and I was with Elder Day and we were pretty much Stockton and Malone, it was pretty great if I do say so myself, but also on Monday we had a devotional with Pres Uchtdorf, He was here in Cusco! The crappy thing is he was in the other stake center, so we only could see him through broadcasting, but it was awesome! He talked about a lot of great things! He talked about how we need to stand up for the church how we can't be shy! He also said something awesome, he said this is a land of many temples, why not have one more, and have it be a temple of our God! That got me pumped, I know one day Cusco will have a temple!

Well another week down this week, and well it went by pretty fast, I don't really remember what happened.. Haha but this Tuesday I did work visits, with the ZL, with Elder Day. He is an awesome guy and well it was a great break from a drama filled companio. On Wednesday we went to this huge fair, cause we had a stand there about family history, and just stood out there in the sun for like 5 hours and just contacted the crap out of people, it was actually pretty cool and in all the work all the missionaries did over the week with this fair, we have over 1000 references, hopefully some are in our area!

Then this Thursday we finally found some new people to work with and had a super cool lesson with a new family! So that was super great!! They seem awesome and well we had to cancel the following appointment we had with them because my comp is filled with drama. Saturday we had a baptism, well as you remember with the last baptism we had a small problem with the font, but we made sure the font was all nice and ready in the morning, the went after lunch to go and fill it up, and well the keys weren't there. We eventually got the key and the baptism went great.  

Then we were also at a members house and he pulled out a gun, and so we took some pictures, and was telling me how to pose, so ya that's what you will see in the pictures! haha love y'all!!

Well I love all you guys and thanks for all your support!! To all those back at home, have a great fourth of July!! Send me lots of pictures, and eat something barbecued for me!! 

You guys are all great, the church is true, and well if you don't believe me, ask God! :)

Father's Day!!

Well happy Fathers day to all!!! Hope you guys had a great day!! I was super jealous yesterday we were in the chapel and one of the mission couples office is there, so we were talking to them and then they just got a skype phone call and were able to talk to there family for Fathers day. I feel jipped! hahaha But I love you dad and Thanks for everything!!

Well this week was really a slow week, not very many things happened work wise, We had  marriage of an investigator that we went to and well it was a weird thing cause 66 other couples got married at the same time, really weird right?? But thats good our inv is gonna get baptized next week! Im super exxcited about that!! Well also at this wedding there was, well, I'm just gonna be up front, I think a sheman, below is attached a photo and I just want you guys to look and find it! It's so funny!! I was laughing so hard!!! haha

Ya well really just some funny random things happened this week. There's this member who has two daughters, well we do family nights there every week so we can bring inv. so they can have friends and will his daughters absolutely love me, I guess thats just what happens when such an attractive greengo comes to their country right?? haha but they are awesome and adorable so thats always fun to see them! 

Also we were driving home in a bus this week and i was looking out the window and in some places the NBA finals game was playing, oh you have now idea how badly I wanted to get off and watch them haha! But oh well, also another day on a bus the guy next to me was just passed out, and we came to a sudden stop and he just had no control and just smacked his head on the seat in front of him, oh I wanted to laugh so hard but I also felt bad but oh it was pretty darn funny!! haha Another experience, who would think it was on a bus, the buses are just very interesting here, anyways this older guy got on so I offered him my seat, 99 times out of 100 the people are very grateful and take the seat and the other one time is when the guy is drunk. Well the guy was drunk. He just got mad and just yelled at me and said "SIT DOWN" I said no take it and just was like SIT!! so I did then he came and hovered over me well then he started talking to me, he was nicer and then asked me so what are you doing in Peru, told him I was a missionary and asked me what I thought about Mary, Jesus´mom. Well I told him she's jesus mom and he said you're right, and you know, the mother comes before the son. I just didn't really say anything and luckily we were getting off.

Then well on Saturday we had the Trujillo temple celebration that we got to go to. Midway through this guy turns around and starts speaking to me in english, the guy was from New York, didn't realize until he told me but had a total New Yorker accent, he was talking to me about all this interesting stuff, well actually he was born in Peru raised in New York and came back and is living for a little here. I asked him if he was going to move back to the US and well the unexpected happened. He says I ain't touching the states until Obama is out of office. Who would think even in Peru I would run into an Anti-Obama?? haha it was funny! Then on Sunday we had the temple dedication and well we went to all three sessions so that was good and fun!! 

So ya thats about all that happened this week, ive definately had more spiritual weeks haha but I love you all and hope you have a great week!! enjoy summer :)

Love Elder Ludlow

One More Down!

Well this week was really just a normal normal week. We didn't have really the greatest week happen this week. But we have a couple investigators that are progressing, one is getting married this Saturday and a week from that she is getting baptized! So thats tight!! But ya really we've just been looking for more people and really thats about it! This week the streets were pretty empty as well, cause this whole time of the year is a huge festival for Cusco! And so the streets were empty, then yesterday we were walking down the street, and well there is the American Cup going on. It's a soccer tournament and Peru is in it. They played yesterday and it was on every TV and you could just here people yelling and it was so funny!!

Ok so just today i finally ate chuño! Its was just in a soup so I didn't really taste it but it is still just gross and I don't like it!! haha but anyways that was pretty crappy!!

So our ward mission leader is just the funniest guy, in the pictures of the baptism he is the short curly haired pretty white guy, well we were at a family night with him and we were talking about how things happen for a reason in our life, we had just seen a mormon message and ya, so one of the sister missionaries had just shared like a pretty spiritual experience that she had had, then our mission leader says this, I died laughing it was so funny!!!! "Well I had something happen to me, sometime stole my iphone 5, so I went and bought an iphone 6, so really there wasn't even a problem!" Holy cow I was crying laughing so hard!! He is the funniest guy!!!! 

Today we also went to this place called Balcon del Diablo! It was pretty cool, we were just climbing up a river and waterfalls and it was pretty sweet! This dog followed us the entire time and it was pretty awesome how it did it!!! 

Hey but I'm just gonna throw a big shout out to Sam Corbin and Seth!! You guys shoulda seen me here in this internet cafe freaking out but Im so pumped for you guys!!!!!! I love you guys!! GO BANGERZZZ!!!

Have a great week I love you all!!!