Hermana Hannah Ingram: Week 51 The Life of a Celebrity August 1, 2016

5 fun facts:

1. A common term here is called "la hora Peruana" which means "the Peruvian hour" and refers to the MAJOR lack of punctuality. I am not exaggerating when I say that if you plan an activity or meeting at 6 it will start either at 7, 7:30, or 8... I NEVER understood this until finally Hna Sandison's dad sent her an article on Culture Dimensions! Latins run on an entirely different timetable than the US. It's called Event time. When an hour is said for a given event it is more of just a guideline, but in reality the event will start when all the people needed to be there arrive. Which can get pretty frustrating....
2. You can't go a full day without seeing, in the words of Elder Meier, a few scenes of "distasteful nudity." When you live just south of the equator clothes aren't number one on the list of priorities.
3. Latins are dreamers! If she dreamt her husband is cheating on her, it's true. If he dreamt he's getting called to the bishopric, it's true. If they dreamt the first vision before you taught it to them, they're golden. I can't believe people and their dreams here! In my last dream I was in a bathroom waiting room with Taylor Swift, we ate skittles and talked about her secret glass eye. So basically if I have the Latin dreamer-gift that means Taylor Swift is hiding something....
4. I would say about 1 in every 10 lessons we have someone telling us about the demons that are haunting them. Black shadows, invisible beings, unexplainable movement. Last night a man told us the most hilarious story about the female demons that are haunting him! Interesting....
5. Tumbes has by far the highest population of one-legged men, and we are good friends with all of them. They should start a club!

Happy Independence Day Peru!

On Tuesday there was a giant parade on the same road as the chapel. Every school kid within miles of Tumbes came to march in their school outfits and costumes for a competition to see who would get chosen for the big parade. Our stake president asked us missionaries to spend half of the day at the church letting people use bathrooms and drink water. It was a fiasco. The church immediately filled with kids! At one point I had two teenage-boys on either side of me while their friends took pictures and the little kids asked me to sign my name on little pass along cards. All the while my heart rate was well above 140 beats per minute as I thought, "Oh my gosh the celebrity life is so overrated, I'm just a missionary!" And then in my panic motioning to the elders to get the teenagers away.... On the bright side we were able to contact a million people!

Feeling like celebrities with our fans...

On Wednesday we needed to quickly prepare for the multi-zone that would be happening the very next day! Step 1: Clean the chapel!! What we thought would be a 2 hour project turned into 5.... The place was a disaster! The Biggest Reason: In Peru you cannot flush toilet paper! The sewage systems are a little bit behind. Luckily the church pays good money so that we can flush toilet paper in the bathrooms. But for a Peruvian off of the street, flushing toilet paper is completely foreign to them. So what happened when we let hundreds of kids from the street into the church to use the bathroom?? They threw their used toilet paper on the floor. Imagine that! I could just hear the horror music when I opened the door to the girls bathroom... a tear or two was shed. But have no fear! Elder Meier is here! And boy, is he fearless. Although he did work as a CNA for a while...

Elder Meier is FEARLESS!

The multi zone was awesome!! As well as a little bit stressful. Not only did Hermana Spainhower and I have to prepare a class.. but we also volunteered to give a special musical number. It was super fun to teach the missionaries! and our musical number turned out okay... We learned about the Book of Mormon and I loved every bit of it. The Book of Mormon is something that is super special to me! It is one of my firmest testimonies. I know that it is true! And every time I read it I feel my Savior's love for me. It's a powerful thing. There is nothing more frustrating than investigators who defiantly declare that The Book of Mormon was written by men and God only speaks to us through the Holy Bible. My invitation to everyone everywhere: Read it! If you allow the spirit to enter into your heart it will change your life! You will be happier. How wonderful it is to know that God continues to speak to us today through living prophets and apostles, THAT is how much He loves us.

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Ingram