cuy cuy cuy cuy!!

buenas dias todos!!!

as you can tell by the caption, we had cuy (guineau pig) this past week. it was weird. it tasted like chicken but it kinda freaked me out that i was eating the leg of a cuy. they have six toes. you can see in the picture. six.

the most interersting food story happened this morning. so we went to our pensionista as usual where we all ate four pieces of bread, ham, and some juice. then, we went to a less active lady´s "restaurant" in a market. we started off with siete semillas. its a drink made of juiced up seven types of seeds, and a sweet potato sandwich. i was full. she then saw we´d finished so clearly that meant we want more food. she filled our glasses with another drink called kinwa, which is another seed type drink. not bad. then comes the soup. she brought us all huge bowls of what i officially named sopa de dientes y testiculos. teeth and... dog-version-of-rockymontain-oyster soup.. it was interesting. i was already full and nauscious (that was spelled way wrong). the soup actually was some type of broth, weird looking corn that sersiouly looked like teeth, and chunks of mystery meat. with the dogs walking around, we could only guess. i´ll go with elder croziers guess of "foot of some kind of animal". it was awful haha i was just gaggging and slurping. we walked out with sore stomachs and hopped on to a very bumpy bus ride. I LOVE PERU haha

last week for p day we went to the zoo in Lima. i saw a bear- ahhh yeah. it was like dead there. there was like fiftry other people in the whole zoo and the animals were all depressed. oh and i got to see an actual peruvian llama. only took going to the zoo to see emperor cusco. what a day.

on saturday we got to watch the recording of the 100th stake celebration that happened a few weeks ago when elder christopherson came to set up the new stake. his spanish is awesome! it was really cool.

last week one of my good friends went home, so we adopted his companion Elder China, one of the elders from my group that came to the mission back in may. he is half bolivian and half japanese, and his last name is China. what a combo haha but luckily its only till changes on august 13 because we have to work our area as well as his now and his area literally is on the other side of a mountain.

so as for an overall update, my spanish has been picking up alot lately. its super hard to learn because my companion speaks english and i can barely understand his spanish. but im gettin there! no se preocupe. and, ive noticed im beginning to lose weight. its either from walking all day every day and only eating natural home made food (75% of which is rice, which literally is like filling my stomach with packing peanuts, just to be full for a few minutes), or its because i got a tape worm. if so, im taking elder mcallisters advice and naming it. any suggestions. haha nah mom dont worry, im healthy! the only problem is im not growing. and if i am, i dont notice because im literally taller than everyone here, except for a few white missionaries.

So my message for the week: Love and help others. as i mentioned, one of my good friends had to head home this past week. he was excited and felt really good and we were excited for him because as missionaries and teachers of the atonement and repentance, we understand what repentance really means. we were super bummed as we talked about peoples attitudes about situations like this. "oh man,, did you hear he came home??" "did you hear what he did?? all i can even think to say to people with that attitude (without swearing) is are you kidding me?? rejoice for him! be happy for him! our friend said in his own words, "i am happy. what im doing now is literally making everything christ did for me worth it. before, it wasnt worth it." WOAH. THAT HIT ME HARD. the atonement is such a beautiful thing, and all too often, people, especially as members of the church, have a terrible attitude about it. when people are using the greatest gift anyone has ever given, be happy! because it makes christs death worth it. repentance is all too often associated with what comes before it. the sin. to this i repeat the words of the Savior, "he that is without sin, let us cast the first stone." i pray that everyone, myself included, can come together as members of the church and as children of God, in loving and helping one another, and LOVING one another. thats a huge thing im learning here. love. there are things people here do that drive me INSANE. but slowly im learning to just understand people, love them for who they are, and thats it. love em. sorry if that message didnt have meaning or even make sense but its what ive been feeling. haha i love you all and thanks for the love you´ve shown me throughout my life. i wouldnt be here without it. until next time!

Elder Brown

                                                                "Da Bears"

                                                       

                                   

                                           This is Cuy. A Guinea pig. This is their Delicacy in Lima.

 

                                                                    They have 6 toes....