Iraq not Peru?? Call of Duty??

Hey mom!! meh it’s really okay! It’s not that bad, but I swear they accidentally sent me to Iraq! I feel like i'm in call of duty, it is legit exactly how Iraq looks in pictures! The missionaries here before us were really bad.. Apparently so I doubt they really did anything productive at all!! Hahaha yes my pension! That is where I eat all of my meals! Its nuts, the first day I was seriously thinking, wow I am going to die here! I found out this week that Peru is the second to last country in south America when it comes to the how good the economy is and what not, very poor everywhere except for La Molina, which is like not even that nice.. haha. People here don’t really work for better things; they just seem to be fine with what they have, which I honestly don’t understand! I can’t imagine living here for all my life. This week the members really have started to bond with us though and it’s nice because we have a lot of help from them. Oh man some of the other apartments are so freaking nice but our area is super poor! Pretty much all of Peru is! Our pension gives us plenty to eat! My companion says she is one of the best he has had because he isn’t hungry all the time, she feeds us a ton and is always worrying about us if were like 5 minutes late so don’t worry about that! I am definitely losing weight but it’s because I sweat all day, and then we eat pretty healthy every meal so imp losing all my fat! haha! Oh and here were not allowed to eat anywhere besides the pension if the food isn’t in a package, but the members and random people give us stuff all the time which is awesome, oh and we can have fruit and what not!  

So we have a lot of freaking investigators but not so many are progressing! We have a little girl who is probably going to be baptized in 2 weeks if her mom will continue to let her to go to church with us and another lady who is going to be getting married in 2 weeks and hopefully after we will baptize her.! We have tons of lessons everyday! We have a lot of investigators who need to get married though which is our main problem here, there are a ton of members who live with their spouses but don't have the money to get married! also a lot of investigators who just have a ton of questions and its hard to get them to commit. But we will definitely have at least one in the next 2 weeks! Gosh the first transfer is already almost over!! To start the new area we had to just start from scratch, meet all the members and find people! It was hard but we already have a ton of people to teach! 

I think that the bishops brother was probably in La Molina cause where I am the stuff is not so nice! But tell him thank you so much for his prayers! Ah sounds like fun stuff at home! 

Tell grandpa happy birthday this week! I will send some pictures! I will respond to your other email too! Oh this week we did some service at a members house who is rich for here! It’s the closest thing to an American home but we found out why, he runs cock fights in his backyard and has like 50 roosters!! It’s freaking nuts, they are good looking chickens though, and it’s crazy! we got to look through all of it! It isn’t illegal here!!

A few more stories, so here is just like Dylan in Africa, the women breast feed anywhere they feel like and it is REALLY awkward sometimes, especially when it’s like in church! fetch, our church is like this little house too...different world! Oh here it’s normal to kiss on the cheek when you say hello but this one freaking lady tries to kiss me every time and were always like ahhh stop! Freaking peruanos. oh and we taught this old lady named eddy who is from the jungle, all the old people are nuts, and we asked if she prays and she’s like yeah I wake up at 430 every morning and pray until 6 before I shower, hahahahah what the crap!! And then she said the closing prayer for like 10 minutes, I seriously was trying to think of a way to sneak out of her house if she kept going! hahah so funny!

But I love you so much mom! Thanks so much for your emails and love! I will talk to you soon with more craziness!!

My friends that we find daily!

Inca Cola!  He was looking forward to trying this soda!  

Nice apartment??

Cheese!

"Hello" from Elder Maestas! (via Skype) :)

I should have posted this video sooner, but here is a little "Hello!" from Elder Maestas' Skype call 

Enjoy!
 (This post is brought to you by Mercedes, the most awesome little sister ever) :)

 Love this picture so much!

 Family Picture!

Elder Maestas and Elder Diaz!

Miss this kid, but am so grateful for the willingness he has to serve the sweet people of Peru.  He is a great example to me, and I couldn't ask for a better big brother! 

Week 2 in Peru!

Well mama, only 97 weeks to go! hahah it actually sounds short when i say that so I'm good with it. Sooo my guts are probably just going to be like this for the whole mission! and that's alright, its not too bad, it's definitely from the stuff i eat all day, its pretty crazy! Every meal consists of some form of rice, chicken and potatoes, not much variety, very bland! I miss your cooking! Seriously though this week is 2 months out! how crazy is that! The mtc felt slow but these 2 weeks here have flown by! I'm glad you were able to talk to Eutimio! Tell him hello for me!! I'll tell you a few things from this week. So all the dogs here are not very chill, and they always give us crap, but the other day I was thinking about how President Jess said Nick would be with me and there is this one dog that always follows us around and is like the only good dog! It's really weird! We walk past and he just walks with us and barks at other dogs! Weird huh! That is so cool that you had the special needs mutual! I wish I could have done that! seriously such an awesome thing! hahaha it sounds like a blast!  You guys seriously are the best, you are the best family and the best people I know. Gosh  I love hearing about what's going on at home! Its only for a minute but its so nice! I can't really think of anything for you to send me! I have pretty much all i need! Maybe some slim jims cause they don't have that stuff here! something spicy! I freaking miss the food so much at home! I crave it every single day, it's hard eating freaking bland stuff! haha!  Everything is going well and i think that we will get to go to the temple every transfer at least once! pretty cool! just a few more things I'm doing! I'm going to be teaching an English class to people in the church! it will be pretty fun!! we tried to clean the room but seriously its impossible to keep clean, our window in the back is like broken and dust just flies in so I'm getting used to being dirty! oh and the cockroaches! we made it so that they can't get into our room cause we stuffed the holes but we can see all their little antennas sticking out of the wall...pretty sketch. I'm sure i will get over my fear of bugs here, theres crap everywhere!! Money in my mind is getting messed up, I bought a ice cream the other day I thought was a rip off but guess how much it was.. like 75 cents.. haha oh boy! We finally figured out how to get warm water and we will be doing that this week! I just can't believe how people live here, you have no idea, and they don't even know its bad!! We are so busy, I wouldn't even have time to write letters if i knew where to send them!! just so nuts, everyday is a blur which is good! I love you so much and miss you a ton! I can't wait to hear from you next week! Tell everyone I love them! I love you all so much, just know I'm okay! Love you my family! 

xav

Golfing in Peru!

At least the golf course looks nice!

"Home Sweet Home"

(He's taller than the door!)

Xavi's Pensionista - She prepares his meals at her place!!  Look at that place!

Wow, are we spoiled!

Xavi and Elder Dias have found 17 people that are interested in the church!  They just need to get married.  Everyone in Peru are living as couples and have children but many of them are not married! He said that Sunday they had 6 investigators come to church! Now that is exciting!

He really likes the cool Volkswagens!

1st Week in Peru :)

So the start of week 2 is diarrhea central!! hahahah i hope i don't really get sick though! It was so awesome to be able to talk to you on skype yesterday! It was really hard for me too but afterwards it made me feel alot better because i know that i can do it because i have so much support at home! Yes i do have a regular shower but we don't need a kitchen because we always eat at the pensions house! i'll send you a picture of that! We have a store next to our house and they pretty much have everything you need so don't worry about any of that! Its not the quality of stuff at home but at least we have it!! my address, i have no idea! oh and i can't figure out how to do a question mark  on this so yeah! I have no idea about the email thing, I'm hoping that it will change soon cause it sucks that everyone has to email through you or dad! actually I'm hearing that it might have just changed, i have no idea cause i can't read the long email from the president!!  I'm starting to adjust already, its really not that bad, its just a huge shock at first!! I will probably be here for 3 months, which is my whole time of training, but it could possibly just be the one transfer of 6 weeks!! Opening a new mission is hard because you have to find all new people, we already have baptismal dates as goals for our 5 investigators but its just hard learning to know the members, and all that! My companion really is cool! he is a great trainer and is easy to get along with! the dogs, eh we can just hit them with our books or rocks, or kick them, they aren't that bad except that try to come rub on you and stuff which they are just so dirty. I feel like my English is getting bad because i have to talk really simply with my companion in English so he can understand. in the room we only speak English so that i can teach him how to speak better!  i was wondering about the school! i hope its all good! I'm glad you love it, it sounds fun, i may be teaching English to little kids in church soon! that will be fun! 93 degrees holy crap!! its always just kinda warm here! it doesn't really change that much! Tell dad i love him too! oh the dear elders will probably take like a week so keep emailing so i can respond easier! I hope you don't worry about me too much! comfort Mercedes and dad and let them know i am fine!! I love you so much mom. 

Keegan and Xavi at the MTC on May 2, 2013

Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

Yeah, we had the chance to skype with Xavi on Mother's Day!  We had a great time catching up!  We only had 40 minutes and wow did that go fast.  Xav and his companion had to find a family that had internet to be able to skype and I am so happy that they did.  They made them dinner which he said was rice and some potato thing....  His companion is Elder Dias and he is from Chile.  He is a great companion and has been really good to Xav.  It is quite ironic that Xavi goes all the way to Peru to learn Spanish and he has been told all along that they will only be able to speak Spanish once he gets there and all the Spanish speaking Elders want him to teach them English!  They want to learn slang!  So Xavi taught them to say "That's so sick!" and he said it is so funny to hear them with their Spanish accents saying things are sick!!  He has had quite the cultural shock!  I asked him if he thought he was spoiled and he choked up and said, "You have no idea Mom!"  This is going to be quite the humbling experience for him.  He said that his apartment is very small and that the door is small and he has to crouch down to go in.    He said they have cockroaches and if you know Xavi that will not go over very well!  He said he has a concrete floor which is good because we thought he may be on dirt!  Such luxury!  His first P day he and his companion were going to scrub the whole apartment down because it was disgusting!  He had not even unpacked because he didn't feel comfortable.  His P day will now be on Monday's so I will post then.  He has a pensionista that will cook all meals for him and a lady that they hired to do wash!  He and his companion will be playing football (soccer) while the ladies work!  Hmmm.. I thought he was going to learn a few things! Oh well!  

He mentioned that a lot of the people there in Peru do not have roofs on their homes.  Apparently, if you are under construction you do not pay taxes on a completed home.  So, they never finish their homes.  Maybe we could do that here??

He said that where he is it is really dry and it never rains.  It is really dusty and they get really dirty.  He also said, that they have wild dogs that are really scary.  He said they like to rub up against you and get you dirty!  (I pray he doesn't get bit!)

Xavi and his companion will get about $30.00 a month to spend, which he says is plenty!  Wow!  He said that his mode of transportation is a guy giving them a ride on something that sounds like two seater rickshaw.  They charge about .75 cents to ride from their apartment all the way up to the mountain where they tract!   

Well needless to say, we all had a wonderful Mother's Day!  I could not be more proud or humbled at his willingness to serve the Lord.

Happy Day!

Peru! Goodbyes! Birthday Party!

So i saw Keegan when he first walked into the MTC! it was just for like 10 seconds cause you have a lot of crap to do when you first get here but he looked good! I really hope i can see him before i leave!! The Peru T shirt is from the book store here, you just go in there and tell them what mission and they order it for you! Its pretty sweet, it was only like 7 dollars! I cannot believe that my visa is here, everyone else besides hermanas Gale and Gifford are getting reassigned, ill be with those hermanas on the plane which will be pretty sweet. My flight leaves to Georgia at 831 am so the call will probably be a little be before them or when I'm in Atlanta around noon! so be expecting that, hopefully we'll be able to talk for a good amount of time! That picture that you took of Mercedes is so funny! we kinda do that to each other here which is pretty funny!  

Let everyone know that I love them!  I love hearing about whats going on in the outside world! I can't believe that about the canal over by Tate's! was Tate's flooded? i hope everyone is okay, that sounds so bad! Reinharts birthday went great and everyone said to tell you thank you for the present because we just kinda gave it from all of us!! My mission blessing is awesome! I probably cant print it so hopefully you can send it today with the hair stuff! I love you mom! Thank you so much for all of your support! Gosh its crazy that I'm actually going to Peru now!

Dad, I hope you re not worrying to much about me and just always remember that I'm fine!! Don't stress! River Heights is that a new job? Do we do any work out in delta? Tolman is from there and I'm just wondering! How is the new deal all working out? i hope everything is going well with Paul and all that! I'm glad the you re taking care of grandpa! You are seriously awesome for that!! That is so funny about Nicholas Mitchell! i can just picture that and that is so funny!! I'm so glad i don't have to do flags though. whatever i say to any of you is really to all of you! You can just pick what you put on the blog! I love you dad! Don't worry about me! I pray for you all the be comforted every day so be comforted! :) 

Oh so i was going to tell you guys, There is a sister in our home mission that just left yesterday from my zone. Shes Spanish speaking but her name is hermana zufelt! You probably wouldn't be able to see her but it would be pretty cool cause i know her! So the other night after the Tuesday devotional we were having our district meeting with the presidency and afterwards the wife of one of the counselors comes up to me and says " Elder Maestas I've been thinking about you" and i was seriously just like oh great what did i do now, cause it was really weird. But she said " last time we were here i just really saw how well you were listening to me when i was sharing my thoughts, you seemed so interested and were so supportive of me. I just realized that you were going to be an amazing missionary if you continue to show that kind of love every time you hear your investigators and people talk" gosh it was really so uplifting to me! And that was after i had gotten my travel papers! Just an awesome day!

Make a list of questions if you have any about travel and all that. I will be going directly into the field it says on my papers! Read the passage i told Mercedes to read! It will really help you with anything, not just with knowing the book of Mormon to be true but knowing anything! Please take care of yourselves and be safe. I love you all so much!

Xav

Elder Reinhart's 21st Birthday

6:30 a.m. Birthday Party!

Xavi's said "Earliest Birthday Party I've Ever Been Too"

Everyone splitting up to go to their temporary assignments!

Xavi has meet so many new friends at the MTC! He has loved his time at the MTC but they are ready to move on!

Xav and Elder Dallin Leifson

Xav and Elder Rob Miller

Shipping Off!  

Xav and Elder Braiden Thorpe

Elder Michael Bennett & Xav

"Flying High" in front of the Provo temple!

Good News!!

Yay, Xavi will be leaving for Peru on Monday, May 6, 2013.  Everything is arranged and he will go straight into the mission field. He will be flying with two of the sisters from his district.  The rest of the Elders and Sisters in the district are being temporarily reassigned.  It has been really hard on all of them.  Xavi is sad to leave all of his friends but excited to start his journey.  

April 28, 2013 - Stay tuned for some EXCITING news! :)

4/28/13
Hola Mi Familia! 

Como Estan?! Estoru muy bien aqui em el CCM (MTC) no palabras sobre nuestras visa perro, seriamos reassigned esta semana, jueves. Alright, No more Spanish! :) So I just wanted to write you a quick letter! We got a new schedule this week because it's a new semester for the teachers from BYU.  So this (hopefully) last week my P-Day is on Thursday! So don't freak when you don't get an email Wednesday! Today was Elder Reinhart's birthday, since we have no free time, we had his little surprise party at 6:30 AM! Haha it was the earliest party I've ever been to! It was night though and he really appreciated it!  I'll send a few pics but they aren't super good! Oh well though! He really liked the tie and kinda teared up cause he said he never had a surprise party before! It was really awesome so thank you so much for sending that! Oh, and I got my slippers and pants yesterday! Thank you so much! I'm sorry I've has you send me so much crap but I really do appreciate it.  So I am pretty sure that we will be reassigned by Thursday if our visas don't come, temporarily that is, or we could be here a couple extra weeks if they find out our visas are in the mail or something like that.  I really am fine with it all though, I would rather just get out into the field if I had the choice though, this place is great but we are all going to go crazy soon! Tomorrow the third set of English Missionaries leave. It blows my mind, we have been here forever!  A hermana going to Lima Central got temp assigned to New Jersey!  That would be so sick!  I probably won't know about my reassignment until Thursday night so it won't be in my e-mail but I'll probably be able to call for 5 minutes!  So expect that, but if I just have to stay here I won't be able to!  I'm so excited for Keegan to come in Wednesday! I'm going to try to find him!  Some of our zone is leaving in the morning!  It's really sad!  It's crazy how you feel like you have known the people here in the MTC for your whole life!  I'll get a picture with them tonight and send it Thursday!  We did get out checkout sheets though! Which is some info and stuff you get right before you leave and Wednesday....I mean Friday is in field orientation, where they tell you some stuff...all day I guess!  Oh and you'll never guess who I saw here.  We do street approaches on random missionaries for practice, we approached these 2 hermanas and started to share a message and about halfway through one was like Maestas? Where are you from and what's your name?  I told her and she was like I KNOW YOU! You're Shae Pettit's cousin!  It was her friend, Kimmie!  Mercedes will know who she is!  Such a crazy coincidence!  Oh, and what's even weirder, she's going to Kevin Hales' mission!  Nuts!  Thank you for all of your love and support!  I'm so lucky to have you! I love and miss you all!  Just always know I'm fine wherever I am and take care of yourselves!
Love you Mercedes!
Love you Mom!
Love you Dad!
Love you Kramer! 
-Xav
Talk to you soon! Florida here I come! I hope! :)
Oh one last thing, we've been reading the missionary library books, I'm reading Jesus the Christ and it has been blowing my mind! You should check it out! Love you all! 

So, this letter was mailed to us, and we received it May 1! But, there was a little note inside that was added in that read....

4/29/13
Just a quick note! 
MY VISA IS IN THE MAIL! 
It should be here this week, I found out right before I mailed this! Me and 2 of the sisters! So sick! Love you all!  I should be calling sometime this week for 5!