November 3 2008, Elder Milner

Ica.‏

Hello everybody! It is so great to hear from you all. I am sorry i didnt get the chance to write last week, but we were not allowed to write in the Mtc last week, and they said we would be able to write once we arrived in our missions, but that didn´t exactly happen.
In case you didn´t get it from the title, I am in the city of Ica. It is a city about five hours south of Lima, and we had to take a bus to get there Wednesday night. My new companion is Elder Velasquez from Ecuador, and he is a great, diligent, obedient trainer. I am blessed to have him as my companion.
It is a whole different experience than what I could have ever imagined, as I am sure all of those who are returned missionaries can agree with. We have been working really hard, and trying to be exactly obedient, and the Lord has been blessing us. It is a little tough here, because we talk to a lot of people, and they set up appointments, but then they are not usually home for them. I think it has something to do with the culture, but it is all good.
I can`t help but laugh at some of the differences here in my living situations than in Canada, the U.S. or even the Peru MTC. We don`t have a refrigerator or stove or anything, but that is okay because we have a pensionista who cooks for us. Sorry mom, I guess I am going to have to learn to do all that stuff after.
The language is coming along alright, and I definitely understand a lot more now than i did. It was funny, the other day we were at the house of a lady named Olga who is preparing for baptism, and we talked for about three minutes before she responded. She then embarked on about a ten or fifteen minute long tangent, and I had absolutely no idea what was going on. I later learned that my companion had dozed off for a couple of seconds during the lesson. Probably not the best things to do, but it was funny.
We do get to email out every Monday here, at about this time or a little earlier. And yes, the dearelder letters have been working out great. I heard that the best way to send out mail is through the Mission Office directly, so the pouch apparently is not great for time.
And packages are actually just fine to send. Yeah! So I hope that is incentive... If i happen to find a package loaded with starburst and letters, I won´t mind so much. :) And thank you mom for sending a package for Christmas for me.
Thank you all so much for your letters. They mean so much to me.
Well, I don`t have a whole lot of time, as it is still 30 minutes. I am so grateful for this opportunity I have to be here, and to preach of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is our Savior and He loves us and knows us. Our Father in Heaven loves us and answers our prayers. We just need to have faith. I love you all, and I will talk to you next week.

Elder Milner