Day 339

DEAR FAMILY,

Wow....i feel bad i didn't write yesterday.  but here in the office is a new kind of experience and we sometimes don't have time to write on Mon because that is p-day and all the missionaries that are here in Cuzco come to get reimbursements and we get super busy.  i tried to write during a little free time that i had but i just had time to get the fotos in the email.  it feels wierd being in the office everyday, having cell phone, working with a lot of money, and being in a 3 companionship (this is just till the transfers come when one elder finishes the mission), seeing president almost everyday, but im sure ill get used to it haha

Fotos

-we had the opportunity to go visit a place called moray which was pretty cool so here are a bunch of fotos from there with everybody in the office

-we had a FHE night with a member family and we made tacos they were awesome!

-a couple pix of the office from the outside and we chilling with elder buckner

-my plate of ceviche which is plate of raw fish and has a lot of lemon and other stuff but it was super good.  normally we cant eat ceviche in the mission but president says that we go with him then its fine haha

-some pix from the 4th of july when we went as the office to eat and celebrate in an american restaurant

Day 331

Querido Famlilia,

well for real this is going to be a wierd letter.  i guess ill just start with the surprising part.

     president called me last week on wed.  and asked how things were going here in talavera and how is my companion.  and when i thought he was gonna say thanks and keep up the good work or something,  he says
     "elder wilkinson the lord has an assignment for you.  and that assignment is to serve in the office in cusco as the personal finance secretary for the mission. do you accept this assignment?"
      startled i didnt say anything for a few sec and he asked
      "are you surprised or are you content?"
     i then said "i think the two, but yes i accept president"
he then told me i had to be in cusco today in the morning but due to the circumstances i am going to travel tonight and will arrive in cusco tomorrow morning.

alright so with that in mind you kind of know the stuation and now i can tell you about the fotos of the running of bulls haha when the branch president heard i was leaving he was super sad.  they told him that when the new missionary got there he would have some computer knowledge to help with the finances and records because he doent know a lot about that kind of stuff. as well this last week he told me his printer wasnt working and so i took a look at it during dinner and in like an hour i had it runnng for him. there is a picture that has a big huge stain on floor that is when i was working on the printer and ink went everywhere haha i really cant wait to come back n the future and see that stain still there on the floor and i can remmber thats when i fixed the branch presidents printer hahaha he said what am i going to do when my computer knowledge leaves to cusco? i told him i dont know but it looks like the mission has need for the computer knowledge as well haha

anyways so he knew i was going to leave and wanted to invites to do something with his family before i left and just in time the happened to be a running of bulls so i called up president to ask if we coulkd go and he gave us the ok before i leave talavera so that is where the fotos come from i am sending

Fotos

the other fotos are

-no bake cookies we made with an investigator family and the little kid steve
-some soccer fotos
-a face of jesus that an investigator carved out of a tree trunk
-a foto of the plaza from our room window
-a toilet that you just stand to pee or squat to do number 2 hahaha frist time  had seen one
-and then a dude climbing a ladder to trim the tree with a machete that  thought was pretty cool haha
- and turkey that wanted to attack us ahaha 

Day 324

Fotos

hey everybody!  i finally got the pix you have probably been waiting for.  my comp has some more pix but ill have to wait till next week to send them.  but the fotos that are there mainly fotos of my last day in uros with the members.  i really do miss those guys.  then those pix of food are from a restraunt in cusco where we ate for transfer day called fuego (fire) the owner is from the states but his wife is from cusco.  i had to get a picture of that really awesome burger to show you all haha then there is a picture of elder green and i. the elder from my district in the mtc that played basketball for utah state.  that was the frist time i had seen him since the mtc and what treat it was to see him at the transfer meeting.  there are some pretty turf soccer fields they have here in talavera i think there are like 3.  the are basicly a futsal field but made of turf and the have a net that covers the  whole field so the ball doesnt go flying to the moon. today for p-day i think we re going to head toe a field and play for an hour or two as a zone and ill have to grab some pix for next week.

The Work

 i am coming up on making a year and i still cant believe that i am actually white gringo from the states i really just feel like a peruvian haha the only thing that remionds me i am white is the way some people stare when we walk down the street haha  no but really i love peru and all of the people i have come to meet and who i will come to meet.  it really is such awesome news to hear about everybody that is heading out to join our army in the work and those that are allready serving.  i just KNOW that what we are doing is not our work but the work of him who created us.  and we wouldnt be able to do it without his help.  i loved reading that summary of dallins talk and i know that is completley true.  some people ask themselves if god exist and he created good then he had to create bad as well and everything bad that happens to us is gods fault.  but really it doesnt work that way.   in science cold doesnt exist cold is just the absence of heat.  the bad and evil in  the world today doesnt come from god but it comes from the absence of god in our lives.  we need to share that heat (good) we have with others but not just temporarilly but give them their own spark to share with others. sorry but time to go, im looking forward to hearing from everybody next week!!

Day 289

Family,
hey everyone i am doing good here and i cant belaive that my birthday is coming up!  and i am alomst at the 10 months mark.  its crazy that i feel like i have only been out here for a little while.  i dont have a lot of time becaus e we have a service opportunity today and we gotta get going but i love you all and keep the faithe and dont forget to keep the missionaries in your prayers.
Elder Wilkinson

Day 282

Family
Hey everybody! I hope you all had a good mothers day because mine was awesome! having the opportunity to talk with the family was really cool especially through skype! i dont have a ton to say because i told them all about what is happening here.  so i will just explain the photos that im sending.  a couple of them i am holding a big wood plank which is actually like a island cutting knife haha you have to lift it and slice it back down to cut down through the island.  we were cutting the island in half so that they could put more root (the part that actually floats) in the middle and then mor reeds on top to expand the island.  is was quite the experience haha i have a cool video of when we actually seperated the island but i cant send it through email so i guess you will have to wait haha there is also a picture of the moon which doent look to amazing in the picture but when i was looking at the moon that night it was thew biggest moon i had ever seen in my life! it was huge! i heard that they said something about it in the news because it was one of the biggest moons we have had. there is also two othe pictures of the islands and the city at night when we were there i thought the pictures turned out pretty cool. the last picture is me standing on a mini island that sometime the people use to put their pigs or the guinea pigs i thought was kinda cool. alright well i am doing good and if any of you guys gets bored i am always here mon. to write and letter back so just send me a little somethin and let me know your alive doing good haha
Elder Wilkinson