June 25, 2012 - Week 30 something!

Mom and Dad,

Hey wow guys it sounds like you are keeping pretty busy! Mom thanks for that quote from the Prophet! I love that quote.  Its in Preach my Gospel and its one of my favorites and really comforting.  And what a cool story from Brock. What a stud.  I can´t believe he is about to come home in August. I can remember when he left.  And Dad it sounds like you are tearing it up in Arkanasas with Michael.  I wish I could go back there so bad and see everything.  Arkansas sounds like quite the place.  Maybe when I get home I can go check it out.  Oh and did you activate my debit card by chance???

This last week has been pretty good.  I didhave the oppertunity to eat some crazy food this week.  First the awesome lady named Teresa cooked up this cow stomach stuff which didn´t look too good.  Its like white with weird looking texture like the sucion cup on an octopus and on man the smell was horrible.  she is like you probably won´t like it and you don´t have to eat it if you don´t want to.  So anyways I took one bite and my gosh it was one of the grossest things I have eaten.  I was so strong and I couldn´t do it.  She was really nice about it and laughed luckily.  She has other food prepared so it was all good.  Then the next day we go to lunch and the lady cooks up cow heart!  I was like wow I have the craziest luck this week...  So I decided to try and to be honest it was actually pretty good!!  I didn´t mind it and actually ate more of it.  Its kind of weird and if you think about it too much its kind hard to eat. But not too bad.  But yeah that was interesting. 

Things are going pretty good here in Fabian Onsari.  Its pretty cool because there are a lot of paraguayans here and my companion can speak in Guareny perfectly and so a lot of the time he talks in Guareny with them.  Some of them don´t know spanish very well so he talks to them in Guareny.  I just listen but I don´t understand what hes saying.  Some words are simillar to spanish but the majority no.  Its kind of fun to listen to though.  Also here there are people from Africa that sell like watches and stuff and one day we were talking to the guy and he told us that he speaks french in Africa where he lives.  It was kind of interesting.  He was a nice guy but he didn´t know a ton of spanish.  Its an interesting place.

This last Saturday we were in our church and all of a sudden I heard like a ton of gun shots and I was like what in the world is going on!? I thought maybe there was a gun fight or something.  There was so many gun shots.  Turns out a soccer team had won and everyone was just celebrating. haha Gotta love it.

Today for P day I went out to lunch at this pizza place with some other elders.  I was with an elder who actually sat next to me on the plane on the ride over here to Argentina.  It was cool to talk about everything that has happened since we have been here.  Can you believe I have been in Argentina already for 6 months???  Wow time flies when you are having fun I guess. haha 

Anyways everything is going here I guess!!  Well I love you guys a ton!! I hope everything is going well I wish you all the best!!!   Hasta luego!! :D

con amor x 64 zillion

Elder Peck

June 19, 2012 - Thanks for everything!!!

Mom and Dad!

 

Hey you guys are the best!!! I opened up the packages I got from you guys and grandma and grandpa.  I love everything you got me! The ties, peanut butter, cups, gummy snacks, pictures of Christ, and the pencil refils!! Everything I needed!  And can you thank grandma and grandpa peck for the tie and blankets?? I love the blow up tie they gave me and I am totally wearing that next district meeting. haha  Also I have been thinking about taking my raft out to the lake all week! I can´t wait to use it.

 

Well I had quite the birthday experience here this week.  I´ll start with the begining, in the morning after opening my packages we studied and went out and worked in the morning and then for lunch we ate at a members house but I didn´t tell them it was my birthday. I didn´t really want to tell them.  But anyways after we went to the church and prepared everything for a BAPTISM!!!!!  We filled up the font and everything.  Then we went back to our pension to change..  Anyways on my birthday I had the opertunity to baptize this 19 year old kid named Cristian Contana.  It was seriously so awesome!!  He is such a stud and was really hesitant to get baptized at first but we baptized his sisters and his parents are members.  But anyways it was kind of like baptizing one of my friends.  I was super excited.

 

Anyways after the awesome baptism we changed and everything to do some service because we had ward conference sunday and anyways I guess the tradition here is when its your birthday they throw eggs at you and throw flour all over ya and I wasn´t an exception...I knew it was coming but still I got eggs smashed on my head and flour thrown on me hahahaha.  I will try to send some pictures. It was pretty funny.  I definitely won´t forget my birthday here. haha 

 

Then after cleaning the church up really good I went over to Cristian´s house because his mom wanted to have a cake and stuff for my birthday and for Cristina too.  So we went over there and she made pizza and empinadas and they gave me a cake and everything!!!  It was really cool and they gave me a trick candle I couldn´t blow out.  It was pretty cool.  I felt really good and loved.  Its a pretty awesome ward.  Oh yeah my branch is now a ward!  So yeah thats pretty cool.  I have never eaten so much food in my life this weekend by the way.

 

Then on sunday (yesterday) Teresa, the lady I baptized, made me a cake as well and they all signed a card for me.  So that was pretty cool again.  It was definitely not the birthday I am used to but I had a good time.  It was weird not having Lacy there with me to celebrate it!  I felt like its not only my birthday! haha  I did miss the usual pancakes in the morning and beeing sung to in swedish but its alright I guess for now. haha  I thought about you guys a lot on my birthday as well.

 

Anyways thats a brief overview of what happened for my birthday.  Well yeah things are going good and I am getting alone well with my companion so thats always a good thing!  He´s from Paraguay, 26 years old, recent convert, 20 months in the mission and likes to clean our pension really good. 

 

Well I hope everything is going well! Well I better go and thanks again for everything for my birthday.  Take care and I love and miss you guys!!! :D

con amor x 26 zillion,

Elder Peck

May 14, 2012 - Best family ever!

Mom and Dad,

That was so good talking to you guys yesterday!  I wish I could have talked a lot longer and told you about everything!  It was so bittersweet but it was good to see all of your faces.  I am glad that Jenny was able to come as well! She looks like she is doing well and I hope her surgery all goes well.  And Dad I wanted to tell you happy birthday yesterday but I got caught up in the moment! I know you birthday isn´t for another couple weeks but still.  And mom I hope you had an awesome mothers day yesterday as well.

Last night after I said good bye I felt really sick and I went back to our apartment and drank some hot chocolate just to throw it up.  So I decided I would just go to bed.   Then i woke up this morning and wrote in my journal and decided my body needed some rest so I went back to bed and it seemed to help a lot.  I told you I was going to write you in the morning but we had a change of plans.  Today we had a zone activity and we had like a barbeque thing which was pretty fun.  i felt a little better so I played a little football which was pretty dang fun because all they play here is soccer.  If you don´t play soccer here you´re weird.  haha It was pretty fun talking to all the kids in our zone.    But yeah i am still alive and I already told you everything about my week yesterday about the high speed chase and shots fired and everything. 

It was soo good to talk to you guys yesterday and see your faces.  I feel like I was a cry baby but it was awesome to actually see you guys and talk to you all.  Even though its hard being away from you guys I know this is where I am suppossed to be and I am having some amazing experiences here.  I love it here and maybe someday we can all come back here and visit parts of Argentina.  Man I am so blessed to have the best family in the whole wide world!  When I get back we will all have to do something together with Mike and Jennys family as well! Sorry this letter is short, I already told ya everything! haha  Well I love and miss you so much and I hope you guys have an awesome week!!  Talk to ya next monday! 

con amor X 49 zillion!
Elder Peck

May 28, 2012 - Happy Birthday Dad!!!!!!!!! 53!!!

Dad!!!

 

Happy birthday Dad!!!!!!!  I wish so bad that I could be there!!!!!  I was going to try and send a picture but these stupid computers aren´t working.  I´ll see if I can some other time.  But Dad I wish I could be there for your birthday tomorrow May 29!!   Its going to be sad not being there but I will be there in spirit.  I hope you guys are going to do something fun.  I want to get you something so bad from here!  Maybe when I get back I will be able to give it to you.

 

Man Dad I have been thinking about all the fun things we have done together and man we have had some fun.  To just name a few: Backpacking up Pine valley when I was little, sleeping in ice caves, rafting down the colorado river and flipping on the big kahuna on the snake river, sleeping at Peck Hollow with bear skat next to camp, shooting m1 Garands, eating MREs, sleeping in the Atlanta airport, going on the griffin at Busch Garden, swimming at virgina beach, swimming at pacific beach and fort bragg, backpacking for scouts with Brad,  swimming to sand hollow island, flying remote control airplanes, kayaking across sandy beach, biking all over the place including mount Everest hill and much much more!!!  Man we have had some amazing times together Dad.  I am so glad we have been able to share so many awesome experiences together.  When I get back we are going to do so much fun stuff together.  Those are just the beginning of the list of the stuff we are going to do.  I am so glad that your my Dad and my best friend!!  I am seriously so blessed to have such an awesome Dad and supportative Dad.  I´m so glad you were always there for my wrestling matches and watching me run.  Seriously that means so much to me that I can´t even describe it.  Especially now.  Thanks so much Dad and I can´t even thank you enough for all the stuff you have done for me.

 

Dad I hope you have the best birthday ever and I wish so much that I could be there to share it with you.  But just think when you turn 55 I will be able to be there with ya!  I have less than 17 months to go! Thats better than 24.  I remember as I was going through high school and middle school and even college how hard it was going to be to say good bye to you and everyone.  I remember counting down the years thinking wow I am not going to be with everyone but now I am actually doing it.  The clock is ticking down. I can´t wait to tell you all my crazy stories that are happening here in detail and hear about all the amazing things you are doing back at home.  Thanks for always keeping me updated on things and for always writing me everyweek.  I can always count on you and it makes me so happy to hear from you and everyone. 

 

I am sorry that all I can send is an email for your birthday but at least eat an extra piece a cake for me, alright?? :D  Well I better go but thanks for everything Dad I love and miss you sooo much!!!  You are my best pal thats for sure!  It is going to be soo good to see you again!!  Just don´t be in too good of shape when I get back to wrestle ya.  Take care Dad and have a happy 53rd birthday!!!

 

con much amor x 54 zillion!!!!

Elder Luke Peck

May 21, 2012 - les extraño mucho!!

Mom and Dad!

 

Hey it was so good to hear from you guys this week and in fact you guys were the only ones I recieved letters from this week so far.  Pretty crazy!  I am glad I can rely on you guys. 

 

I hope Jenny is starting to feel better that sounds pretty rough about her ankle.  I will pray for her for sure.  I wish I could have seen the eclipse too! How often does it happen??  The sky has been so gray here for days now.  Its been raining off and on.  Really kind of dreary but I don´t mind it.

 

And dad I hope your finger gets better! I remember it always locking up on you. Thats cool too that Mike had the same advice on what to do.  I hope he does good with his boards!  I have been praying a ton for him.  I am sure he will do great.

 

Well this week in Argentina has been pretty chill I guess.  We did have a baptism for a 79 year old guys named Luis.  He is such a cool guy.  He is really old and has like ulcers on his leg for like 10 years now.  Hes really skinny and old and I really feel bad for him.  It was cool to see him get baptized.  He was kind of tough to get baptized because he believed he was baptized before and didn´t need to but finally he realized he needed to be baptized.  We are pretty excited for him.  It was funny one day we went to his house this week and this lady said something to me in English and she said she knew English and was a teacher or something.  So I tried talking to her really slow so she could understand and sometimes I just talked in spanish to her so she could understand.  She was like oh English is hard for you since you have only been talking in spanish so much.  I am like yeah its hard...not.  She said she had been to salt lake and las vegas but I don´t really believe her.  She couldn´t really speak english either. haha It was pretty funny.

 

I had a crazy dream this week.  I dreamed that I was getting transferred so I was on a bus with a ton of missionaries for some reason and then the next thing I know I woke up in my bed at our old house.  My president said something happened to the bus or something like that.  But you guys were all there and I was home and everything.  It felt so real!!  It was soo good to see all of you.  But the funny thing was I was still a missionary so I went out tracting with jake Beynon and then I couldn´t talk in English!  I kept saying stuff in spanish.  It was so crazy. haha  It was so weird.  I was so confused when I woke up that next morning.  So it was good seeing you guys again! haha

 

Things are going well here and transfers are in 2 weeks so we will see what happens.  Its crazy how fast this transfer has gone.  Time is going by a lot faster I think.  I hit 7 months this week too! How cool! And Dad your birthday is next week!!  I can´t believe it!  You are going to be 53!  Thats awesome! I wish so bad I could be there! Are you guys going to do anything fun? Well I love you guys sooooo much and miss you guys like crazy!  I hope all is going well with you guys and I look forward to hearing from you next monday.  I have the best parents in the whole wide world!!  Love you guys!  Hasta luego!

con amor X 51 zillion!

Elder Peck

 

P.S. Thanks for sending my debit card! You guys are awesome!

May 7, 2012 - I will be talking to you in a week!!

Mom and Dad!!

I get to talk to you sunday!!! I am so excited!!  I miss you guys a ton! Thanks for all the stuff you are sending and for finding that collapsable cup! I know it sounds kind of weird but I have been thinking how nice it would be to have down here.  And I am really curious what the big box thing is?! haha You guys shouldn´t have gotten me anything! I have arlready recieved so much!

Also Dad I remember how fun that trip was to Virginia and Bush Gardens!   We are going to definitely do some more stuff when I get back!  Mom you need to come to bush gardens with us!  I have been missing Peck hollow and the mountains to be honest.  It is so flat here and I haven´t seen a mountain since I have gotten here.  I just want to run up a hill or something.

Okay for this week in Argentina...Well this Wednesday we had intercambiars (exchanges)  so I got to be with an Elder from Nevada for the day and got to spend the night in their pension and everything.  It was soooo awesome!!!  He is actually a younger Elder than me in the mission so it was kind of crazy for us 2 just to be on our own.  It felt good though and I felt okay with my spanish.  It felt so nice talking in English again.  I started losing my voice because I wasn´t used to talking that much.   Also they have a walmart in their area and I went in it!  After 6 months I finally got to go in a walmart! haha It was huge and felt kind of like the united states but definitely different!  They had peanut butter there but it was way expensive and it was like a knock of brand.  But still it was way cool to be in there for some reason.  I had a good visit there.  I love intercambiars so much! I didn´t want to go back ha.

Now for some more exciting news!  We had 2 baptisms this Saturday!!  Their names are Teresa and Glaribel.  Teresa is like 45 to 50ish and I got to baptize her!!  I was really excited to baptize her but I was scared I was going to mess up her name.  Her full name is Maria Teresa Librada Rivarola.  But everything went fine so it was good.  And so the next day right before sacrement when we confirm them she asked if I would confirm her!!  Usually its the branch president or his councilers that do it and its in front of the whole ward!  And so I had to hurry and figure out what I needed to say in spanish and then like 10 minutes they called us up and I confirmed her a member of la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos días.  Talk about nerve racking!!  It went well I think but holy cow I was so nervous to give her a blessing in front of our whole branch (100 people were there).  My legs were shaking but it went well.  It was my first real blessing in spanish. I always anoint with the oil but never the blessing.  It was quite the experience.  But yeah that has been my week!

Well  I am super excited to talk to you guys this week and I really hope everything works out!  I will talk to you one way or the other!!  Well I love and miss you guys so much and I wish you the best!!  I can´t wait to see your faces and hear your voices!  Hasta luego! :D

con amor X 47 zillion,

Elder Luke Peck