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!

Week 4 - A Tour of Lima

One month down! It has gone fast (at least for us). It looks like Ethan was able to go on a tour of Lima this past week. He sent us back some pictures. He's been busy learning Spanish and is really ready to get to Chiclayo.

"Hi I hope that everything is going alright back at home. These weeks are pretty similar so I don't have a whole lot of new things to write about. Spanish is alright it is coming along pretty good. I was able to do a one of our practice lessons last week with no notes. I am ready to get out into the field in chiclayo and I hope that time will pass quicker, because two years seems so long to be away. The new missionaries are pretty nice, and they all still have a lot of learning to do. One of the new missionaries was from our stake, Elder Brightman. He went to mission prep and I sort of remember him. On Saturday we get to go out in Lima and do proselyting for a couple of hours, so I have a lot of Spanish to practice over the next couple of days.

   

 The other day I saw a star for the first time, which was pretty crazy. I hope that Chiclayo is not so polluted. There was also a little earthquake tremor that I thought was pretty cool, even though it was only about 30 seconds. Today the temple is still closed for cleaning so we went on a tour of Lima which was pretty cool, and I got a lot of pictures. The rest of today is pretty empty which will be nice to have a break. Hopefully everyone is doing alright at home. Thanks for all of the emails, it is fun to get them.

Lots of the people here are pretty short and small. The workers are all like 4 foot 6. It's crazy.

I forgot I have never said anything about our district. there is me and my companion, Elder Miller.   Elder Rose from St. George and Elder Stevens from pleasant grove. Elder Norman and Elder Roney are both from Ventura area which was pretty cool. Elder Price from St George with Elder Navarro from the Philipines. And Elder Jardine from New York and Elder Harbertson from Arizona."

Ethan by the ocean in Lima.

Ethan's district at the CCM.

Ethan touring the city of Lima.

Houses on a hill I suppose.

More of the city.

Week 3- Halfway there...

Ethan's been at the MTC (or CCM in Spanish!) for three weeks now. That's halfway! He's got three weeks left to go before he heads out to Chiclayo. We got a treat this week, we got to hear from him one day early! There is a new group of missionaries coming to the MTC tomorrow, so they switched his pday to Tuesday this week. Yay! I'm glad I was home so that I could send the letter I had started. We even got to email back and forth for about 10 minutes. He sounds much happier and less homesick this week. It was so good to hear from him. Man, I miss this kid!

"Hey hows it going at home? It is alright here, there are still a lot of times I really miss home and all of you but it is getting better. This week was the last week for the older group, and we get new people tomorrow. It is pretty weird since it is only our group left. all of the older group and the latinos left last night. I cant believe that the CCM is already halfway done, and I am glad because it is pretty hard in here. We have a lot of classes and a full schedule from when we wake up at 6:30 till lights out at 10:30. Today the temple is still closed and I don't think that we will be able to go again, I hope that we can go when I'm in Chiclayo. Instead we went to a chapel a little ways away and we got to clean all of the dust out of it. A lot of the parts of Lima make downtown Phoenix look nice. 

The food is alright but I think that I am still getting used to it. My new favorite this week was called papa rellena, it was a potatoe stuffed with meat and spices and then fried. Also I thought it was funny that we eat those pic nic stick things all the time. They put them in sandwiches and as a side, Dad will probably think it is funny that people actually eat them. 

We got to have a devotional this week with the First counselor in the General Relief society presidency and I think it was also the President of the young womens as well. It was pretty good. One of the other Elders that left yesterday told me that his sister went to Chiclayo so he was telling me about it and I'm pretty excited to get out there and get going. Spanish is going alright but it is pretty hard. The people here speak so fast and they told me that in Chiclayo they speak twice as fast, so I'm going to need to do a lot of praying.

  

 My District and the people here are pretty good. My companion is alright but I am learning a lot of patience. He is from Nevada and is one of those people that always has to one up others stories or stuff like that, but if I can keep him focused we can get quite a bit done. It isn't perfect and I think Clay would have hit him already but its alright. Only 3 more weeks. One of the cool things that we get to do is practice lesson inside of little houses. We had a cool experience last week when something we were teaching about the plan of salvation, and The teacher and me and my companion all kind of teared up and the spirit was really strong. I'm not exactly sure what we said since it was in Spanish but I know it was the right thing to say. We also pray a lot here, which is good because I definitely need it with all that we are trying to learn and since it has been so hard being away from all of you. I'm pretty sure these first couple weeks are always rough, plus I'm already 1/32 done with my mission which seems like a lot and not a lot at the same time.

It is very dusty here in Lima. I don't think it ever rains, it is just always foggy. It's about 60 to 70 degrees all the time.

  

Hopefully everything is going good at home. You will have to congratulate Ryan for me. I hope everyone is safe as well, that would be a bummer to get hurt before wrestling. Tell Dad that his pin is pretty cool too."

A view of the city. Ethan says it's really dusty in Lima.

A nearby church building that they helped clean for service.

I'm glad he sent one of himself! I miss that face!

Another view of the city.

Ethan said it's always cloudy and foggy, but never seems to rain. 

Week 2 - A little melancholy

I felt like this week's letter seemed a little sad and a little more homesick. He still seems in good spirits and happy, but definitely missing home. We were expecting it though, how could he not? He's never been away from home other than camps, so I am sure it's a big adjustment. He still looks good and hopefully this coming week will be easier for him.

"Hi hows it going at home? It is alright here, but I'm not going to lie it kind of sucks. We are stuck in these walls here and I have been really missing you guys. There is not really a whole lot going on since we have to stay in here all day, but I wrote down some things that I thought I could share.

   We eat a lot of rice, probably every meal. My favorite food has probably been the Arroz tapado, which they make in a bowl. they put a scoop of rice and then a scoop of meat, and then another scoop of rice, and then they dump it out onto a plate like a sand castle. Also every once in a while we have soft serve ice cream from a machine, and it is very good. Also for some strange reason the corn kernels down here are huge, like the size of a quarter. I got some of the inka corn from a vending machine, which is like corn nuts, and they are huge, I will send a picture in a separate email so that the letter will send.

    On Sunday it was fast Sunday, and I felt really home sick that day, but all of the classes were pretty good. I got called out of the crowd to come up and lead music, which let me tell you is really really hard, especially since we have to sing in Spanish. Everyday goes by super fast, but it seems like I've been in the CCM for years already. Spanish is alright, but it is also pretty hard since it seems that all of the words blend together, and a lot of the people here speak super fast. It is pretty fun we have an hour of exercise time each day, and then I have been doing 200 push ups every night while I am studying in our rooms.

    I was also pretty sad because we did not get to go to the temple today since it is closed for cleaning for the next couple of weeks. I do think we get to go the last week though. I also just got that letter that you sent today, and I hope that i can take the names to the temple the next time that we get to go.

   I've been pretty anxious to get out of here too. I kind of just want to get to chiclayo, but i know that I still have a lot of stuff to learn. The older group leaves the CCM next Tuesday which means that we are already almost halfway done. Thank you for all of the emails. I am going to take pictures so that I can read them later. I am sorry that it went weird letters also all of the sudden, I am still getting used to these weird keyboards and cant figure out how to turn it back yet since we barely have any time to write back. I love you guys so much and hope these next 2 years fly by. Love Elder Lamb"

Ethan's giant corn nuts or "Inka Corn"

Ethan and Elder Navarro, a friend in his district who is from the Philippines.

Buildings at the CCM. Ethan said it's always cloudy there.

Ethan playing around at a school across the street where they were working on a service project.

Hi Ethan! Miss you!

Week 1 - First week at the CCM

Wednesday is finally here! I was waiting by the computer ALL day to hear from Ethan. His email finally came around 1:00. It was so good to hear from him and see his smiling face! He sounds amazing. Here is his letter home this week:

"Hey how is it going? It was fun reading all of the emails. I'm also sorry if words are misspelled or grammar is weird because the keyboards have are a little different and have extra letters and symbols, and learning Spanish is kind of making me forget some English.The CCM is wonderful. The food here is pretty good, it is a lot of rice and potatoes, usually with some kind of meat and sauce or gravy. I tried some Inca Kola and it is actually pretty good it tastes like bubble gum.

 Spanish is hard but probably not as bad as Japanese. It is a little bummer because almost everyone has had Spanish classes in school before they got here, and that German class I took doesn't really help. All of the teachers and workers and leaders speak only in Spanish, with only small amounts of English.I am doing better though, I can say a prayer and start a conversation with people. Everyone here is super nice, all of the workers and native missionaries love the gringos. There are a lot of Latinos here too, but they are all from South America or Central America, none from mexico. they are all super friendly and help us to learn Spanish, and we have taught them some English words too. last Friday we had to do a first practice lesson with an investigator in Spanish, and I had no clue what was going on. We did another on Monday and then we have one tonight the should go better.

General Conference was in English and it was great. I payed much more attention to it than i ever had before. we took lots of notes and it is great that I can go back to read them again. We also have devotionals every once in a while that are broadcasted from the provo mtc. Last night we watched one from Elder Cook. Did you know that he was companions with Elder Holland on his mission? We also got to go to the temple this morning, and it was amazing. It is very pretty and a little small. Then I went to the distribution center and got another mesh top because it is very nice to have down here.

My companion is Elder Miller, from Boulder city, Nevada. He is pretty nice and is learning Spanish the same as me. You can probably see him in the picture that we took at the Temple this morning.

 Lima,Perú is very nice. It stays about 65 all the time and is always foggy. It is very dusty and old though. We went to a government building to get paperwork done for our visas on Monday, and the inside and outside reminded me of a filibertos or carolinas. Good thing we dont have to do tile down here as well, because it is everywhere. Every room and building on the outside and inside has tile. Sorry if the email is a little rushed, we dont have too much time and there is a lot to say."

I am so happy he doing well! It made me laugh that he thinks the government building reminded him of Filibertos! Ha ha! We are definitely spoiled here with nice buildings. I miss him and am already excited for next week. 

Love his name tag!

Ethan and his companion Elder Miller.

Ahh...I love this sweet face!

He's been dying to try Inca Kola for months. Now all the rest of the kids want to try it! I'll have to see if I can find it around town somewhere. Ethan said it tastes like bubble gum!

Week 0 - Off to the CCM

The day had finally come for Ethan to head to Peru. I feel like we waited forever, then all of a sudden, it was time! We were all dreading saying goodbye. Ethan is such a good big brother. No one wanted to see him go, yet we were all excited for him to leave and begin this new phase of his life. We all got up early and headed out to the airport. Ethan was pretty nervous. So nervous, he forget his brand new watch that he got just for his mission. After promising to get it to him, we stopped at Walmart and got a cheap one, just so he could know the time. We got to the airport and checked in with no problems. I sure miss the days when you could go all the way to the gate! After hanging around with each other for about an hour, he headed through security. Many tears were shed by us all! After he had gone, we went to the top floor of the airport and waited for his plane to take off. It really felt real after seeing that plane leave. We all had such a mix of emotions that day. Happy, proud, excited, sad, nervous. It was a long day. I spent the day glued to my Delta airlines app as I spied on his plane. He finally made it to Peru around 9:30 our time. He had to switch planes once in Atlanta. 11 hours total flying. Yikes!

I had to wait until Wednesday morning to get the e-mail that he made it there safe and sound. Who would have thought such a quick, short e-mail would be so exciting! It felt better than Christmas morning!!

Here is what we got:

Hey i was just letting you know that I made it. it is awesome here. The plane ride took forever but we landed and everyone spoke spanish. Most of the teachers only speak spanish and they are all very nice. I will email you again on my p-day next wednesday.

Adios, Elder Lamb

Short and sweet ... but oh how I loved getting it! He sounds happy and good and hopefully that will help is make it until we get a real letter next Wednesday.

Our long walk from the over sized parking lot, to Terminal 3.

One last family photo.

Andrew's going to miss this guy!

And he's off through security!

Getting Ready to Leave

Getting ready for a mission is a lot of work. Not just for Ethan, but Mom too! So many things to make sure you have and then to fit them all in two suitcases! I interrupted packing to make sure I got some good pictures of Ethan before he left. I know photo shoots are not his favorite, but he was willing. I knew I'd want these once he was gone.