Week 15

I loved Ethan's letter this week. It was good to see he hasn't lost his creative way of thinking. I love how he found a way to heat up some water. I also love that he is always thinking of little kids. He has always had such a way with them. I think it's one of his many talents that he may not realize. I feel like it will be a blessing to him on his mission. He still sounds a bit homesick, but we know he can do hard things and we know there is an army of people praying for him.


"Hi how is it going at home. This week was pretty similar to the other weeks. It was pretty rough but I will just talk about the things that happened. We still have a lot of walking, and it is kind of disappointing when we walk for a long time and then the people are not there, and we have to walk all the way back to other lessons. I wish That we could have bikes or cars or something like other missions. I also wish that we could cook our own food. I am so tired of eating rice with chicken everyday. I did cook some water the other day for those hot chocolate packets that you sent. I flipped our iron upside down and used a soda can with water. 

We did go out to that field again to visit him and I got bit by some mosquitoes. We had a service with one of our investigators Juan. We went out to his field and helped him to pick a bunch of beans. I will send a picture of`that. It was pretty fun. Other than that not much is new.

 I also wondered if you could find a bag of marbles to hand out to the kids. they all play in the streets and all have those simple clear ones with the swirl and I try to keep some that I find while walking to give to them and they love it. 

You should look at pictures of chota and chachapoyas too I here it is really awesome there. also there id a little artisan lady here I want to send some things home how do i do that? Also do you want little wallet things or some jewelry 

 We played soccer again today for pday and i found a jar of peanut butter in one of the bigger stores in chiclayo. My spanish I think is getting better and there are certain times i think i kind of think in Spanish. Hopefully I will be fluent soon. A funny word in spanish that dad might laugh at is maybe. The word is quizas and when you say it, it is pronounced the same as kiss a··. hopefully everything is good at home. I miss it quite a bit ,but I am trying to be happy. It it just really hard some days.

I love you guys, con amor, Elder Lamb"

Bean picking for service. I wonder what kind? Ethan didn't say.

Ethan's way of heating water, so he could make hot chocolate. He's always been brilliant at coming up with ideas!

Week 14 - Happy New Year!

Apparently New Years Eve is a big deal in Peru. It sounds like they have fireworks, feasts, burning of giant dolls (yes, you read that right) and partying all night. So, New Years day, everything is closed, including the Internet Cafes where Ethan emails us. Thankfully we heard through the facebook gossip grapevine that the missionaries would be writing Tuesday, instead of Monday. Then we did get an email from the mission office at 11:00 that night. So...we had to wait an extra day to hear from him. Since everything was closed New Years day, they had a super pday with most of his mission. It sounds like a lot fun. They played lots of sports and games.

Here is Ethan's letter for the week:
" Hi. How's it going? It's pretty crazy that its already been a week. I don't have a whole lot of new things to talk about. It was a little harder, with it being Christmas and all. I've felt pretty sick for a week. My stomach started hurting and has been hurting for over a week. I actually think I've lost some weight because I look skinny. But that's a good thing, right? :)

We walked out to some houses by the fields and contacted them. It was pretty cool to see the trees and green, even though there are more mosquitoes out there. We found one family out there and they let us teach them. It is a lot of walking every day.

New Years eve was pretty crazy. We had to be in our rooms by 7:00 since everyone was pretty much drinking and partying. The power went out around 11:00 and I couldn't sleep very well as usual, so we went to look out the window. All around us people were launching fireworks, there were fires in the street where people were burning giant dolls made of hay called monecos. I felt like Harry Potter, all alone, watching my clock until it said 12:00.

Monday we had a multi-zone meeting and a super pday with almost all of the mission. It was pretty fun, but I got super sunburnt! Other than that, not much more has happened. After Christmas when we all talked with our families, the whole district cried together, except for my companion and the district leader. It was pretty tough to be away at Christmas.

Hopefully all is well for you guys and everyone is doing good back home. Spanish is still pretty hard, but it is getting better. This week I have had to use the cell phone to call people or other missionaries and that is pretty hard. If you think it's hard to understand in person, try using a little white $.99 cell phone that is beat up and broken. I am trying to practice as much as I can, so hopefully I will be good at it soon. I hope you had a good Christmas and New Years! I love you.

I had a couple more things to ask for in the package to. Sorry if it cost so much to send stuff here.

-that missionary guide book that you bought me

-some paracord( like one roll is good)

-a square of carpet that can be pretty small, just something to remember. a couple inches by a couple inches

a talk the atonement and missionary work

-and my companion keeps asking for monopoly in cards. he said that an elder from USA gave his old companion it and that it was fun and that he wants it again but it is not here

-Thank you all for the emails. I don't have enough time to respond to everyone, but I really appreciate it.

-Dad, can you send more mission stories or experiences? I love those.

-Also, if any of the young women feel like writing me, you can give them my email :) Ha ha!

Also, happy anniversary. I forgot last week. Love you guys. "

Green trees and mosquitoes!

Walking, walking and more walking.

On the road again...

Ethan forgot his sunscreen!! Poor fellow.

Week 13 - Feliz Navidad!

 The week we were waiting for finally came! We were so excited to see Ethan! We had no idea when he would be able to Skype home, so we patiently (or not so patiently) waited around until about 2:00, when we finally got an email from him. The internet connection was not very good. He told us we all looked a little like minecraft people from his end. There was about a 5 second delay too. We got the hang of it after a while. What we could see of him was fabulous! He looked good and sounded good. A little homesick on Christmas, but other than that, he sounded great. Very positive. It was hard to say goodbye, I think we all ended up in tears. It was such a blessing to hear his voice and see his smiling face again. Man, we miss that kid!! Here were some highlights of our Skype.

- Ethan was sick all Christmas eve from eating raw fish the day before. He said he ate it really fast
         because he wasn't quite sure what it was.
-They had a mission Christmas eve dinner (I snagged some facebook pictures from his mission pres.)
-He gets along well with his companion, even though they can't communicate perfectly yet.
-He finally has hot water, although if you touch it the first 10 seconds you get shocked. I'm not sure
     their water heater is a real water heater or if it's even hooked up right. Ha ha!
-They met someone and started teaching them, but they don't believe in God, just in the sun, air and          water and plants. (That might prove a difficult teaching person)
-He has had a constant stomach ache for 3 months and just figure it may go on for 2 years.
-Wild dogs and cats can be scary!
-His ward is small (only about 50 people) but he says the ones who come and are active are really
      good people.
-It's hot during the day and cold at night. They've been eating their dinner on the roof lately.
-There is no "normal" breakfast. Normally some kind of bread with jam. No cereal!
-He misses "normal" food. He said he'd give anything for a big plate of macaroni and cheese or even
          Ramen noodles!
-His apartment is pretty nice compared to lots of places. With rent, water, electricity, it costs about
         $100 American dollars a month.
-Not many cars, lots of motorbikes and 3 wheeled taxis.
-His Spanish is getting better. He promised to speak it for us next time we skype on Mother's day!

Here is Ethan at the Mission Christmas Eve get together. 

Christmas Eve dinner.

Here is Ethan's Skype call. He was fuzzy, but we loved it!!

Elder Smith's mom sent me this. After we hung up, he pulled Ethan over to his call to say "hi" to his parents. Elder Smith has been such a blessing to Ethan. They are in the same district and are the only two English speakers. They get along really well and it's been so nice for them to get together on pdays. He just so happens to be from Arizona too!

I got a Facebook picture from Ethan's pensonista. This was their Christmas dinner. I am so grateful to her for taking such good care of him! She cooks them 3 meals a day, for 6 days a week. 

Week 12

One week until Christmas! It sounds like Ethan's staying busy and continues to improve on his Spanish. He was able to enjoy spending a day with Elder Smith, his favorite gringo!

                        "Hi. I'm trying something a little different this week. I'm writing this letter earlier and will send you a picture. That way I can remember things that happened and I might have a little more time to email on Monday. It has not been the best week. I am getting a cold. I feel like I have a fever, sore throat and runny nose. So, I haven't been feeling good. I don't like having a hot December either. I feel sunburnt all of the time. It's kind of funny, my pensionista gave me some sunscreen because she is really worried about my sensitive gringo skin! Other than that, I'm feeling ok, my stomach is still getting used to the food, but it's getting better. 
     On Tuesday I had a companion exchange and I got to go with Elder Smith, which was actually really fun. We did pretty good with Spanish and I even think that I got to teach more than with my normal companion. He speaks so fast and I don't usually get a chance to help teach. When I was with Elder Smith, we taught a few lessons, contacted some members, gave us some food and then we bought some hamburgers from a little stand. Also hamburgers are really weird here. They always are the bun and papas fritos (as a patty) and the extras you can get are pollo, lettuce an egg or beef patty. 
     On Thursday and Friday we had a zone activity. We went in the center of the town that I am in, Ferrenafe on Thursday. We set up a table with a Book of Mormon and Liahonas and we sang Christmas carols, contacted and handed out candies to the kids. We did the same thing Friday night, but in another part of Chiclayo. It was pretty fun and we even made it feel like Christmas. We decorated with lights and Christmas things. 
          On Saturday we had the baptism of Luis. He is pretty awesome and it was good to see him baptized, even though the day was crazy. We cleaned the copilla in the morning, then someone told us they were using the whole building all day for a stake primary activity. So we had to go to the other really small copilla and clean it out for the baptism. It was really dirty and had a layer of dirt on the floor. When it came time for the baptism, no one was there. They told us to go back to the main building, because the primary was done. So, we went back and there were people everywhere an food was cooking in the room for the baptism. We ended up starting an hour late, but I have realized that nothing ever happens on time here!
             Spanish is pretty hard. Some days I feel pretty good and I can understand people and I can repsond. Other days I feel so lost. Some people mumble too which makes understanding them 1000 times harder. I hope I can figure it out soon.
              The other night we ate dinner on our roof. I got to look at the stars. Some are super bright and twinkly. Can you send me star chart, so I can figure out what they are? I can still see Orion, so we aren't too far south for all of the constellations I know. But that is the only one I can recognize.
              We had transfers, but I am still here. Only one person in our district left, so it's pretty much the same. For pday I got a hat in the morning, so I don't keep burning. I guess we are allowed to wear them during proselyting since the sun is so strong here. Then we went to pick mangos with this guy. We walked really far, but never found any that were good.
           Elder Smith said said that you should go to the temple with his mom sometime. He told me that she goes every week and then once a month with Elder Edwards mom too. Also I was wondering if in the next package you could sent another pair of those nike pants, and a calculator watch, I usually only wear my nice one on Sundays because it will get beat up or stolen, also some ctr or hlj rings would be cool, and one more thing if you can find it, my friend in the ccm from the Philippines had a really fine pen like .4 or .3 and it was called pilot G tech. that would be really nice for fitting all of the things that we need to do into our little agendas.
               I don't have a lot of pictures of my apartment but i will send some next week. The desserts here are either cake with no frosting, or sometimes frosting, or arroz con leche, masamora, or whatever candies i get from the store. They don't really have normal food and they do have restaurants but it is the same food as in the houses, but i think there are different ones but they are in chiclayo. And there are not really a lot of wild animals, lots of parrots though that is cool. and stray dogs and cats everywhere, in our area there is probably a couple hundred stray dogs, and some are so ugly . look up a picture of a peruvian hairless dog. those are disgusting. 
          I don't know when I am skyping for Christmas. I'm out of time. I love you all and miss you.
Elder Lamb"

Feliz Navidad from Peru! Elder Lamb and Elder Smith

Week 11

Another week gone by. It sounds like Ethan is doing well. He's slowly getting used to Spanish. Only two more weeks until we get to talk to him!!

"Hi How is it going at home? It is pretty much the same here and it is so hard. Spanish is still pretty hard, but I think that it is getting a little better, and now when people talk I can understand most of what they say and it doesn`t sound like one long sentence, but speaking is still pretty hard, the grammar is pretty hard when compared to English. 

We did not have a baptism this week but we have on this Saturday with a guy that is pretty cool. Other than that everyday is pretty much the same going around walking so much and trying to find people to teach. I ate cabrita the other day which is "little goat" and it actually was pretty good. It tastes pretty much the same as beef but just a little bit softer. I finally figured out the name of my favorite food here if you want to make it, it is called lomo saltado. My stomach is still getting used to the food here and it is pretty horrible to have a hot December. 

I do have one funny story though. We were giving a blessing to a lady whos mother recently passed away and she was crying a lot. I was on her right side and had my eyes closed trying to feel the spirit and understand the words when she lifted her hand up really fast to wipe her face and hit me right in the "you know where". I did not expect that at all, but it was pretty funny to laugh at it afterwords. 

We got a new investigator that was a reference and lives right across the street of the church. We only called her to set up a time to meet with them on Saturday night and she just showed up with us to the baptism that the other elders were having. Then she showed up to church on Sunday morning and we finally got to meet with her last night, and we invited her to be baptized on the 30th of December and she said yes. It also makes me feel better when kids are excited to see us. That lady has 4 kids who are 7, 5, 2, and 1. Yesterday when we showed up they waved at us from their roof and were so happy we came. And as we left the waved again for 5 minutes.

Also I was wondering if you could send me my speaker and if you can that little pink ipod loaded with songs and conference talks. if you can i dont want to be a bother. The rules for music are pretty relaxed and you can send disney or movie soundtracks or piano covers, or david archuleta, or other things. Elder smith has a ton of songs and I asked him about the rules and he said that it is any song that helps you feel good.

If you find a tiny English hymnbook, that would be awesome too. I haven't seen one since I left. also thanks for all of the chocolate and peanut brittle it was so good and all gone now. I will try to send some pictures now.

Can you create me a skype account, and let me know the login information? The AP said that's the best way to do it. 

 Other than that it is so hard. There are times that I feel alright and other days that I just want to go home. It is pretty nice to have Elder Smith to talk with on Pdays though, and tomorrow we have a companion exchange with him and we get to be two gringos wondering around Peru, so wish us luck. 
I love you all so much, 

Love, Elder Lamb"

Ethan and the fields of Chiclayo

I'm pretty sure he's giving us the "look" like "I know I'm going to freak you out by standing on this ledge, but I'm going to do it anyway". Ha ha!

All of the Arizona elders at zone conference. 

Week 10 - Busy Week

It was so good to hear from Ethan this week. His spirits seem higher and he kept really busy! He had a zone conference and it was so exciting to see his Mission President post pictures on Facebook. It was a long day for me Friday and as I was flipping through the facebook pages at the end of the day, I was greeted with Ethan's smiling face! It made my day! It sounds like he has a family to teach and has a baptism coming up. I am so grateful for his service and his sacrifice. Love you Ethan!

"I saw the email from Dad that said week 10, and it is crazy that I have been gone so long. This week was alright, Spanish is still pretty hard, and the people here in Chiclayo speak so fast. Also I have realized why President Rolfe blessed me to have love for the people, because it is pretty hard to love some of these latinos, you could probably ask those people that served here too, but they walk really slow and always throw trash on the ground and are not super clean, and always say the exact same phrases I've noticed, But it is nice on p days with Elder Smith, he always has a bunch of cool scriptures to share with me and we always joke and laugh about how much it sucks here but also how much we will be blessed. 

The food also is a bit hard to get used to. I have had diarrhea everyday that I've been here if that can explain it. It is also weird being close to the equator I have noticed. The moon looks quite a bit bigger which is pretty cool. The sun is really hot though, and I am getting super tan:) But it gets cold at night because of the humidity and the wind. It is a little weird to have a hot Christmas, But the freezing cold shower everyday I guess makes up for it. 

I got my Christmas package. I loved the ornaments on the tree so much. yep i only cried for like an hour when I read them all, it was really cool to get them all. i had a couple of things to ask if you could send them before I have to leave  in a little. Do you think that you could send me the instucciònnes on how to tie a diamond knot. it is the one i did with the paracord and i cannot remember. Also some of these 5 minute workout things that I can do in the morning.

The conference was good and we have another before Christmas, I did see Elder Edwards and we got a picture with all of the elders from Arizona. We are doing Ilumina el Mundo here too. I have only a minute left, Tell Bishop`and Clay and Ryan thanks for the emails I love you all so much and also reading the emails from Dad and all of you.

We had a baptism with two kids that we taught and it was pretty cool. Our next one is the 16th with a guy that's really awesome and that is excited to be baptized. We also started teaching a family that we found and i hope that they will start to come to church and want to get baptized. The first time we taught them the guy had no shirt and was kind of paying attention, but yesterday we taught them and they were asking questions and reading and he even said a prayer at the end. I am sorry if I can not respond to everyone, These computers are so slow, and one hour is not very much time to write everyone and try and write a letter in Spanish with a dictionary and my grammar card to the president. If you can order some food from peru from amazon you should try the inc kola and sublimes, they are really good. I am trying so hard to be happy through this time that is so hard and hopefully it will get better soon. It is so awesome that Ryan is leaving soon and Chance is starting his papers. Hopefully Austin and tanner too.

 I love you guys, Hasta luego, Ethan.

Ethan in Chiclayo. Look at those dusty shoes!!

Elder Lamb and Elder Fernandez.

Ethan's Christmas tree from home and all the ornaments from friends and family. He LOVED it!

Zone Conference. Where's Waldo??...um, I mean Ethan?

Ethan and the group that came out of the CCM with him.

His very cool homemade money holder pouch.

First Baptism.

Week 9

2 months he's been out. It seems fast, but slow all at the same time. Missing home because of the holidays, but he seems to be enjoying his area. He's adjusting, even if it's slowly! The usb port on the computer he was on didn't work, so no pictures again! Thankfully Elder Smith's mom sent me one :)

"This week has been a little  rough. Especially since it is the holidays and I want so badly to be home celebrating with all of you. We have a baptism this Saturday with one of the kids that they were teaching before I got here. We also still have teaching appointments everyday, even though a lot of times the people are not there in their homes and or they are busy. It is a lot of walking all day long and I wish that we had bicycles. My shoes get so dusty and dirty and I cant even imagine what they will look like in a year or two years. I do kind of like walking out to the far houses because we can take the shortcut and we get to walk by all of the fields and plants and trees which always makes me feel a little better. 

Today for pday we didn't do a whole lot. We went to the other apartment with our district, and then I just talked with elder smith, and we went and kind of explored around the city a little bit. He showed me a little artisan shop where a lady makes badges and little cool things. I got a cool little money pouch for my belt with a button that says usa, and also a leather bookmark with some peruvian design. Other than that everyday is pretty much the same.

Spanish is hard. the ward is pretty small, and no one can play the piano, and the people can not really sing at all. The people seem nice even though I cant really understand everything they say. 

  It is so awesome to see the pictures from wrestling, and I miss it so much. That is so awesome that Andrew won his first match just like me. I didn't win any others on varsity though, so hopefully he will. Also it is exciting to see that Austin is almost done with his papers. I remember thinking that it would be bummer if I went to the states but now that i'm here, I realize that it would be so nice. I am excited also to see how Eli does in wrestling, he will have to try a little tournament this year. It sounds like Emma is doing pretty good with volleyball too. I love to see all of the pictures and to get all of the emails every week since i miss you all so much. Love you guys, Ethan."

Ethan's district

Week 8 - Soccer and No pictures

Ethan forgot his usb cord this week, so we were kind of bummed not to get any pictures. I did borrow one of his zone from the mission facebook page. It was good to see his smiling face! He's still struggling with being homesick, adjusting to a strange place and learning the language. Keep him in your prayers. He needs it! 

"Hi how is it going at home? It is alright here.. I am really sorry that I can only send one email, there is barely any time and the computers here are so slow and the keyboard doesn't really work. It is pretty similar here so I'm not sure how much to write about. We have quite a few visits everyday but a lot of the times people just are not in their homes. The people here work all day everyday and don't really so a whole lot more. It is pretty dusty here and most of the roads are dirt, even in the middle of the town. There are also millions of moto taxis which is the front half a motorcycle and the back half is a carriage looking thing. 

Oh I can see the stars, they are not as bright but I can see them. The weather is hot in the day and pretty chilly in the night and evening with the humid wind. They have millions of little stores that people just set up in the front of their houses or rooms of the buildings. Our pensionist got a Peru soccer jersey for me from chiclayo and other than that not a whole lot. I ordered a triple scripture thing  from the office and want to find someone that can make a case for that and my English ones.

It was also pretty crazy all of the people that were celebrating after peru won the soccer game. They only scored 2 goals but we heard when they did. Me and my companion got some snacks from the little stores here and ate them while we listened to the people here. My spanish is getting better but it is still super hard. The people here speak so fast and a lot of the words sound like they are mixed together into one giant word. Hopefully I will be able to speak and understand soon. Today for pday we played soccer with our zone in the morning and then went to some place for lunch which was of course, chicken and rice and potatoes as always. Our cooking lady is pretty nice and the food is alright, but i do miss regular food. Hopefully everyone is doing alright at home, I'm excited to hear about how Andrew and Eli will do in wrestling. I love reading all of the letters.. It has been so hard lately, especially since I cant really talk to anyone or the mission  president because they all speak spanish. Love you guys, Ethan."

 Ethan's zone in Chiclayo.

Week 7 - First week in the field

It was so hard waiting so long without hearing how Ethan was doing. It was great to hear from him today! It sounds like he's near the city of Chiclayo, to the north. I am so grateful to know he has a nice companion! 

"I am writing a letter now I think I can only send one because I don't have very much time. I had to write a letter to the president in Spanish and that took a while.

Hi how is it going? I am adjusting to the new things here My companion and my trainer is Elder Fernandez. He is from Cochabamba Bolivia, and he has been out for 5 almost 6 months, and I am his first person that he is training. He is actually a pretty great person. I was pretty nervous at first because I didn't know how to talk to him but he actually knows a lot of English and wants to learn more. He probably knows as much English as I Know Spanish. So when we walk and talk he will try to talk to me in English and I try to talk back in Spanish. Other than that him and the other missionaries in our district are pretty fun. There is one more elder in our district besides me that is white. Elder smith. He is from Arizona too and was just in the group of missionaries the left for the field the day that I went to the CCM. He has been having some of the same problems that I have with missing home, so it is kind of nice to talk to him when we get to see each other. Our pensionist is a family with two kids who are like 5 and 2, they are very nice and fun to be around even though I can't understand them fully yet.

Our apartment we where in was really bad. I would feel more comfortable sleeping in one of the containers, but we moved into a different one today that is really nice. The rooms are just me and my companion. The area that I am in is Tarapaca, in the little town that is just north of Chiclayo called Ferreñafe. It is pretty dirty and the people here are pretty poor. I'm still trying to figure it out because people live in these apartment rooms with dirt or concrete floors but all of them have flatscreen tvs and smartphones. Everyone here is pretty excited as well because if Perú beats New Zealnad in the next soccer game they get to go to the World Cup for the first time in 35 years.

 Spanish is coming along but it is pretty difficult. Especially since everyone speaks so fast and all of the words blend together and seem like one really long word to me. This Sunday was a stake conference that they broadcasted in our building from the stake center that is 20 minutes away but no one here has cars. They broadcasted it through skype with south american internet so it was pretty bad quality, and i could not understand the Spanish at all. The members are pretty nice and help us with a lot of things. We had a missionary night on Friday and only one of our investigators showed up, but lots of members. The people here are pretty different, they will listen to our lessons and say that they will keep letting us teach but trying to get them to do stuff is a challenge. They wont show up to church or read, or pray, except for a few that are doing well. I will try to send a few pictures but i'm not sure how it will do since the internet is slow. Thank you for all of the emails, and I'm sorry that i don't have time to reply to everyone. I miss everyone so much and love you all. 

Bye, Ethan

Ethan with his district.

Ethan with his trainer Elder Fernandez.

Week 6 - Arrival in Chiclayo

This was an exciting week! Ethan got to leave the CCM early Tuesday and fly to his mission area! He got time for a quick email when he got there, so we know he made it safe. But, that's about it. I realized today I don't even know what city he's been assigned! We have to wait all the way until next Monday to get a real letter. Hopefully he is having a good week and loving his first area! His mission president has a Facebook page and put on photos and a video of the missionaries arriving in Chiclayo. It was so wonderful to see his smiling face! Oh how I miss this kid!!
Here is his quick letter and the pictures I took from the facebook page :)

"Hi we only get a little bit to email today, I think that I can only send a little note. I made it to Chiclayo. I had the interview with the president. He is really nice and he speaks no English. I got to see who my companion was, he is Latino and I don't think that he speaks English either. I hope that it will be ok. Hopefully everyone at home is alright and  I will have to email you more the next time that I get a chance."

I spy Ethan sitting at the table!

The new incoming Chiclayo missionaries with the mission president and his wife.

The newly arrived missionaries. 

Week 5 - Last week at the CCM

This was Ethan's last letter from the training center. He's heading out next Tuesday for Chiclayo. We're excited for him to get out to his area and get working! He is ready for a change and ready to head out and meet his trainer. The only downside to this is that he leaves early next Tuesday and won't have a pday until the following Monday. So, it will be almost two weeks before we actually get a letter from him. Hopefully he'll get to send an "I'm here" email. His mission president also has a facebook page, so we're also keeping our fingers crossed they post pictures of the new missionaries!
Here is Ethan's letter for the week:

"Hey how is it going at home? This week is a bit better since we are all getting ready to leave. I am excited to get out of the CCM and into the field. It has still been kind of rough for me though. In the mornings I usually feel pretty depressed and stressed, but then in the evening I usually feel pretty good. Last Saturday we went out and proselyted for a couple of hours with some of the other missionaries that are in the mission here. The missionary that I went with was from Trujillo, so he didn't speak English and I don't really know enough Spanish, but he was pretty nice. It was also pretty crazy that the people here will just stop what they are doing and listen to what we have to say. We talked to quite a few people and I tried explaining things and talking about the Book of Mormon, I hope that they understood what I was saying. The area that we went to was pretty poor as well. all of the roads were dirt but it is still a city with buildings everywhere. We got to go in and teach a lesson to a family  and they only had a couple of small rooms, with no roof over the laundry room. I got to say a prayer with them and I had a little kid crawling on me and others laughing around me, but it was fun. I also got to give away a Book of Mormon to one of the guys that we talked to. Lima is still very dirty though and there is grey dust everywhere. The temple is still closed and I don't think that we will be able to go back to it before we leave. For p day we went and cleaned another church building again. 

Spanish is getting easier for me to understand but it is still pretty difficult to say things back. I realized that I don't know a lot of Spanish when it comes to just talking with people, since most of the things that we are taught or that we teach all have to do with Church. Hopefully the people in Chiclayo are patient with my Spanish, and that they don't talk too fast. There are a couple of latinos here that came from Chiclayo or some of the other areas and they are some of the nicest ones, always smiling and laughing. They also kind of have a different accent in Spanish. Other than that the days here in the CCM are pretty much the same. The food is starting to taste better, or maybe I'm just getting used to it. We still have rice everyday for lunch and dinner, and a lot of toast for breakfast. I'm still curious if the food is different or the same in Chiclayo. Inka Cola is really good though. I usually get one every couple of days from the vending machine.

I am way excited for the package. There is some crazy stuff that goes on but not too much. Some missionaries dressed up last night with sheets and hats to tried and go trick or treating. Sometimes we make forts in our rooms with extra sheets, and for physical activity we play rugby which is pretty fun. 

Some regular food would be nice, thank you for the package. I'll make a list of anything that I would need and send it next time. One of the elders has a calculator watch from walmart that is pretty funny, like Dwight from the office. It might be nice to get a couple cheap ones so I don't get my nice one stolen. I have a couple more pictures they just take forever to send.

Until next week. Love Elder Lamb"

One of the rare sunny days. Looks like Ethan's got more freckles??

I'm not sure what this is. I'm assuming the CCM?  He didn't explain this.

Missionary work is tiring!