Week 49

This week was pretty good, It has been busy as always.  On Wednesday I went to my first leadership council meeting with President Boswell. It was a pretty cool meeting. It was kind of weird to just talk about some of the problems in the mission and how to solve them and of ideas that we have for the mission. President gave his last testimony to us in the meeting and that was super powerful. I talked to him afterward to say goodbye and all he told me is that he would be looking for me after the mission and that I should try to be a sponge right now with my companion to be able to learn all that I can from him. 

On Friday we had district meeting and we were going to take out money afterward but the electricity on the whole block went out when we were in the process.  The ATM ate one of the sister's cards so that was pretty funny. We had to get all of that figured out and we took money out on Saturday. It is pretty weird to have to deal with all of the money and receipts and whatnot. My comp just left me to do it all alone because that's just how you learn. I felt a little scared being responsible for the money because if anything gets lost... As Zone Leaders we deal with a lot of administrative things and I haven't had to deal with any of that up to this point.  

We went to the multi-zone conference in the Peruvian Missionary Training Center on Saturday to welcome President Amato to the mission. It was super cool! He and his family walked in and were so excited to be there. We listened to them talk and introduce themselves. They have been living in Orlando, FL the last 5 years but they all speak Portuguese as their first language. He and his wife speak better Spanish than I expected but I suppose the languages are pretty similar. They all speak English as well. He seems like a really great guy and super excited to be here. I noticed that he was staring into all the missionaries eyes when he shook their hands. I will send you the pic with his family when 

I get it. But anyway he shook my hand and gave me a hug and asked me if he could trust me. I said absolutely and so he asked me what area I was in and how much time in the mission I had. Hahah I suppose that's the first thing I would do as a mission president as well, look for missionaries that I could trust in. 

Anyways, Fast Sunday went as it usually does. We went to Pizza Hut and Tottus(the grocery store) and got haircuts today. I talked to this drunk dude that was a translator for some over the phone company that talked like he was from the ghetto, that was super funny and interesting and then in the grocery store we met a woman from Tucson, AZ who was visiting her daughter here. She was actually LDS! My companion told me that they were signs that he needed to learn English. I think he has made up his mind to go to BYU. 

But that is all. Thanks a ton for the emails and for always keeping me in your prayers. Oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MERICA TOMORROW! In remembrance of the independence of the greatest country on earth. The country that reaches from sea to shining sea, where the buffalo roam, and the eagles screech and fly free. Where you can here the sound of freedom ringing even in the deepest caves and where the colors Red, White, and Blue will forever be engraved on the hearts of American Citizens. The country that started from the bottom, that overcame slavery, that took a sucker punch to the gonads, then we dropped the world's first nuclear bomb to show everyone whats up and what our standard is. The country that brings Uncle Sam to a bomb fight. Long live the US of A. #Merica

(Do NOT edit that last part) 

--

Much Love,

Elder Mortenson