First P-Day

Elder Nathan Heaps has asked me, his father, to post blog entries in his behalf during his two years as a full time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. My intent is to post his own words, with minor edits for spelling and punctuation. This is a dangerous prospect because I can't vouch for my own communication abilities! I may also occasionally take additional liberties to share my own thoughts and commentary.

Nate-the-great is my oldest son. He is the second of my children to serve a mission, following his older sister Grace into the mission field. Grace is currently serving in the Chile, Antofagasta mission. By the time Nathan returns, it will have been 3 years and 3 months since this brother and sister have seen each other.

Today is Nathan's first P-day, and his first blog entry in his two year journey, and these are his words...

Lima Peru is capitol of super sized KFC´s that are three stories high on every block, and CRAZY drivers. Its loud and its perfect. We landed in Peru on Tuesday, October 6th at 11:40 PM, not getting to the CCM until 3:00am the next morining. The first 2 days dragged on for an eternity, but once we got into our schedule, it has been a breeze.

I already feel like I've been here for months!! We were the first newbies to get a baptism date for our fake investigator Luis. It was a miracle that it happened, because I dont know nearly as much spanish as the other elders in my district. Its comin' but its comin' slow.

My comp. is Elder Van Skyhalk. Yup that's his last name! He is really funny. The first day I met him every person in our district said his face resembles somebody. As the week has gone by, all of the 500 latinos know Elder Van Skyhalk as Spiderman. He really looks just like Peter Parker. When the Latinos see him they jump off of things and pretend to shoot web. haha. Every person in my room/district are like long crazy brothers.

I forgot my camera cord (for my limited time on the computer), and either way, we are not alowed to take pictures inside the MTC walls. its Loco! I have some pictures in front of the Lima Peru Temple. It was really cool/weird to go through a Spanish session. That is when it hit me how much I miss my family. I prayed for all of you guys.

The CCM is amazing! The spirit here is so strong. Its like a little piece of paradise in the crazy city. If you want to learn spanish the CCM is the place to be. The Miastros (teachers) only speak Spanish, and 50 percent of the missionaries are latino. They call the American missionaries Gringos.

I have already picked up on so much, but I am still really struggling with the language. It's so hard when everyone is speaking Español and I can't. I know a ton more than I ever have, but I just want to say what's in my heart when giving lessons and I can´t.

I really need lots of prayers. scratch that. tons of them. I decided yesterday that I was going to stop worring about it. Worrying does not help. I dont care if I am caught up to everyone, I just want to speak what's in my heart. Regardless of my lack of Spanish, My comp and I are really working well together.

I know that if I am studying hard and putting in my best, I can receive understanding and my tongue will be loosed. Satan does not want us to open our mouths. Just like he tried to keep Joseph Smith´s mouth closed when Joseph prayed, he is doing the same thing to the missionaries. We are encouraged to hang out and talk to the Latinos. It is so hard for me and I feel like I have a lack of words. Elder Skyhalk is brillant with his Español and so its hard for me to speak, because he is just brillant haha.

I think at dinner tonight I am going to have the Latinos help me with my flash cards. They are encouraged to learn English and we are encouraged to learn Spanish, so we can teach each other each other´s languages. It really isn't that bad. I absolutly love it here.

I have been so exhausted this week. Today while my comp was playing basketball I fell asleep on the cement... in the shade! Haha dont worry - it was nice and I enjoyed every minute of it. Everyone is so funny and they are all like family.

There is this really good drink called Inca Cola. It's like bubble gum flaverd soda. It sounds disgusting but I really like it.

Well thanks everyone for all your love and support.

Love

Elder Heaps