December 23, 2013

Hola Amigos,

This week we had our Christmas conference in Tarma with President Henderson and it was aweome. I got to talk to him for quite a bit, and he told me that he is very impressed with my Spanish and when he came to Marcavalle he thought I was a Latino at first which was a good compliment! He has a great sense of humor and I love talking to him. They gave us these awesome shoulder bags as our Christmas gift that say Mision Peru Huancayo on the side. 

Nobody in my district changed for the transfers and I'm glad that it didn't. We got a new group of about 25 missionaries and I met a few of them. They all thought I had a lot more time in the mission field than I really did. One of them knows everybody that lived on my street in Utah and played Lacross with Cameron Tribe, one of my friends.  Small world! 

Our baptism that was scheduled for this past Friday got postponed because there was a death in her family, but we have 4 more scheduled for Enero (January) so hopefully they will all work out great! 

Tallapuqio, a small town in my area

My companion and I got in our first little fight this week because he always wants me to buy everything like hand soap and toilet paper. I tell him we should go half and half but he was being stubborn and it annoyed me. It was a stupid thing to get mad about. Later that morning I was reading in D&C 98: 39-43. I can't remember perfectly the wording but it talked about forgiving the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and on to the 70th time and it helped me realized I need to be more patient and strive to obtain more Christlike atributes and have more love for everybody. 

Elder Zapata freaked me out bad this week because he started sleep talking and was saying "no puedo hablar" (I can't speak) and kept calling my name. When he finally woke up he told me he was having a bad dream that some demon child was in our room or something like that, hahaha. 

My new pet!

Bueno amigos,
Feliz Navidad y prospero año para todos!

Love, Elder Pincock

Dec 9th & 16 Update:

Dec. 9th, 2013

Week 5 in Marcavalle

Hey everybody! 

Right now I'm in Tarma for another zone conference. We had two baptisms this week for Jennifer and Whinny who are sisters.  I baptized and confirmed Jennifer and Elder Zapata baptized and confirmed Whinny.  It was a great experience, and it has strengthened my faith so much seeing  God answer their prayers and seeing their faith grow everyday. 

It's been a wet and cold week in Marcavalle and I'm freezing half the time, because nobody has a heater! But it's all good and we're having a great time. 

This is the last week before transfers, but most likely I'll stay in Marcavalle until the end of January or the beginning of March. I won't know until the 17th and also I don't know if I'll be getting a new companion or not.

Dec. 16th,  2013

Week 6 in Marcavalle

This past week it has continued to rain every day and has been freezing cold especially in the mornings in our house. I have a few funny stories from this past week... First off Elder Zapata was really sick this week and woke me up at 4:30 one morning because he couldn't open the medicine bottle and he had really bad diarrhea. He also asked a lady "will you marry me" but she had no idea what it meant so that was pretty funny.

We find out tonight about the new transfers and if we'll be leaving or staying and all that stuff. I bought a photo album that holds 400 photos so maybe in the next letter or package more pictures would be cool of all my family and friends.  

We're teaching a really old Italian guy on our street and he's crazy... he has a glass eye and his house is filthy but he's fun to talk to. The mission president is coming to our area this Thursday to do a couple of interviews with our investigators so that should be good to see him. 

We gave a lot of blessings this week. One was a little boy that fell down a huge flight of stairs and couldn't stop crying afterwards and was really scared. After we gave him a blessing he was calm, smiling, and perfectly able to walk. They took him to the hospital for a check up and they said nothing at all was wrong with him, which was a huge blessing! 

Love, Elder Pincock.

More Pictures...

My Pensionista: Rosa Quintana

Finding new investigators!

Dec 2nd update- An interesting Week in Marcavalle

December 2nd, 2013

Hello Everyone,  

This has been an interesting week... The craziest thing that happened was that we found a SCORPION in our house! 

 Our house!

I bought an awesome new camera and I'm glad because the pictures are so much better. We also, saw two "borrachos" (drunks) fighting last night which was pretty awesome.  Also, in the market, I saw my first live killing of a "cuy" (guinea pig) and it was crazy. The lady slit it's throat with a knife and let it bleed out in the street and then sold it right after, haha. 

I miss american food more than anything, B Dubbs and Taco Villa. The "arroz con pollo" sucks compared to Titi's. I also miss meat without bones. I got sick and  lost about 5 pounds this week, but I'm fine now.  Exercising every morning for 30 minutes has helped too. 

Streets of Marcavalle

Here are some dogs just lying around in Marcavalle

On a Spiritual note...

This Sunday I had a good experience. We brought an old lady to church with us and she lives about a mile away from the church. I pushed her in her wheelchair to church and on the way back home. It was her first time to ever go to the church, and she cried a lot. After about the first 20 minutes, the crying wasn't so cute anymore... But she was really grateful and It was a great experience! 

My Lesson in District Meeting about the Armor of God.

We have two baptisms this upcoming Friday. Jennifer and Whinny are sisters and are 20 and 19. It's been a lot of fun teaching them, and watching their testimonies and faith grow stronger every day.  

Here are some pictures I took on the way to the Zone Conference in Tarma and La Merced.

La Merced

La Merced

Tarma

The disappearing Man Sculpture on the way out of Tarma.

Elder Pincock

Week 4 in Marcavalle! Zone Conference

November 25th, 2013 

Hello Everyone,

Well today is exactly two months since I left Lubbock and it has gone by so fast! We had a lot of traveling for Zone Conference Meetings. 

This past week to Tarma for Monday and Tuesday, then La Merced for Thursday and Friday.  La Merced is gorgeous, but it is more hot and humid than Miami. It was so humid the inside of my watch fogged up, and still has water inside of it but I can at least read the time and I couldn't do that for 2 days.It was a big climate change, from the mornings in Marcavalle which are super cold.  

I have a couple funny stories to share! During a lesson I meant to say pedazos (pieces) and I accidentally said (pend*!%^) which is a really bad word... and the girl we were teaching was only 12! So that was pretty embarrassing but luckily everybody laughed. 

Also, I've been teaching Elder Zapata English and he already knows Spanish Portuguese and Ketchwa(some ancient language they only speak in the mountains of Peru). So during the lesson with Maryuri who just turned 21 and is getting baptized the 20th of December, Elder Zapata accidentally said, ''I want touch you'' and she doesn't know English so I just lost it and started doing my hyenna laugh in the middle of the lesson which was horrible... Then during church he told a lady ''I want your daughter'' and I just lost it again because I forget that nobody knows English except us! 

 I completely forgot about Thanksgiving. I'm bummed I missed Black Friday that was always so much fun. It looks like we'll be having 4 baptisms in December which is awesome!  

Tarma Zone

Love, Elder Pincock

Mailing Instructions

Hello Everyone,

This is Elder Pincock's mom. Some of you have asked me for  information on sending letters and packages to Caleb.  Here is what I've been instructed.

The fastest way to communicate with Elder Pincock is through email.  However, his time is very limited at the computer so he might not be able to respond to you right away.

LETTERS:
You can still send him pouch mail through the Church Mail Services. This takes a while for him to receive it since it first goes to the mission home and then gets delivered to him at a later time.
However, he has reported receiving all the pouch letters that have been sent.
Now, I'm just trying to get him to send some back!... but, ..I guess I got to cut him some slack since he's pretty busy.

Elder Caleb Benjamin Pincock

Peru Huancayo Mission

PO Box 30150

Salt Lake City, UT  84130-0150

(Only postcards and letters that are single sheet, folded into three-pane, and taped at the top only (no envelopes) may be sent through the pouch mail system.

Another pouch mail route is through Dearelder.com (select:  write a letter, then select:  Peru, Huancayo   Mission).  They print it out for you and send it for free.

PACKAGES:
Sending packages is not that easy.  There is a very tedious customs process that can take a very long time to for Caleb to receive packages.  Most of the packages sent has to be claimed by the person at the post office.  So, the fastest and securest way to send something to Elder Pincock, as instructed by the mission home, is to send a large padded envelope instead of a box.  If you put Catholic Stickers on the envelope they put it in a separate bag and they don't mess with it.  I was told it even arrives within 2 to 3 weeks. I am planning on trying this theory out myself. I use the Priority Mail (Federal Express) padded envelopes that you get for free at the Post office.  They have a flat rate of $23.95 dollars for any amount of weight. So I stuff my envelopes to the max.  One more thing, it is important that your claim for the items in your envelope is written as under $100 including the shipping cost.  If it is over $100, they charge him a fee to collect the package. Also, they don't allow any liquids or aerosols.

They ask that you address it to President David Y. Henderson and then Elder Caleb Pincock under it.

President David Y. Henderson

Elder Caleb B. Pincock
Peru Huancayo Mission

 Jirón 
Cuzco # 278
Huancayo
Junín
Perú

Hope this helps. 

Week 3 in Marcavalle

Nov. 18th, 2013

Hey everybody!                              

Right now I'm actually in Tarma for our Zone meeting. The drive was supposed to be an hour and a half but we got here in 45 minutes. Mom you would die of a panic attack because they drive so crazy and sometimes it's literally only one lane. Yes not 1 on each side just one total. They fly around the curves and drive on whatever side of the road is more smooth.  The lines mean nothing. 

Everybody started coughing in the taxi when we drove through a dust cloud, but for me it was a nice reminder of home breathing in dirt once again. We saw a Google maps street view car drive past us in our area with cameras on top so maybe I'll be on the Google maps street view for Marcavalle! 

Here is a picture I found on the internet of the crazy Taxi cabs in Peru

We got 11 new investigators this week which is a lot! My  favorite part about teaching so many people is helping them feel the love God has for all of us and how The Atonement can help people change their lives and feel happiness.  I love sharing experiences that I've had, and also what President Shumway has taught me. 

Many people think repentance is like a punishment or something, when really it's a way for us to use the sacrifice that Christ made for all of us and feel clean once again. Life isn't about being perfect, because that's not possible. God knows when we are trying our best, and that's why he sent His son to help us reach what we couldn't without His help. 

I speak more and more Spanish everyday, and I love learning the language. 

Thank you everybody for all the emails!

Love, Elder Pincock

Week 2 in Marcavalle!

This was an amazing week! I had my first 2 baptisms this past Saturday. I got to baptize Suleisi. We taught Suleisi for the first time this past Monday, and she got baptized Saturday!

We also baptized Xiomara who is only 9 but the other missionaries had been teaching her a little bit before I transferred here to Marcavalle. 

I was having some stomach problems this past week, but I'm pretty much all the way back to normal now so don't worry! Our pensianiesta made me some weird hot drink called hierba that really helped. I looked it up in my dictionary and it means weed... so needless to say I feel great! haha Just kidding please don't freak Mom..

 It's rained almost everyday here, and it's colder than I thought it would be. There's only been one day I didn't need to wear my jacket. We've had a couple awkward moments this past week.. We talked to a lady WHILE she was breastfeeding on the side of the road. Also, there's always drunk people walking around the streets and we call them zombies and I think my count is around 7 so far. 

We went up to Alto Marcavalle and the stairs are ridiculous. They go until halfway up the mountain! We saw one zombie fall down the stairs for a little while trying to urinate so that was pretty funny. 

The most awesome thing I've been seeing in all the people here is their faith. It's amazing to hear how strong the faith some random people we talk to have, and also the people that lack in faith and when we help them strenghten their faith, it also strengthens mine. One of my favorite scriptures in The Book of Mormon that I have shared a lot is Alma 32:21 ''faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.'' My faith has definitely been strengthened within the past couple weeks, and I hope to continually strengthen my faith, and the faith of others everyday for the next two years. Also, I finished The Book of Mormon this morning and I started at the end of September. Honestly, it's the first time I can really say I read it straight from cover to cover, and I know that it is true with all of my heart. I know just as Joseph Smith said that ''any man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts''.

Love, Elder Pincock

Here are some more pictures from my brief stay at Huancayo Mission Home

This river is in Marcavalle and it's were people dump all their trash and other things too!  Notice the pipes coming out of the apartment complexes.