I'm going to jump straight to the two highlights of the week.
#1. On the way to Cajamarca with President and Sister Risso, we were driving along talking about random things, and after about two hours things got silent, so i pulled out my scriptures and started reading a bit in Alma, when he talks with his sons after their mission to the Zoramites. I had been reading like ten minutes when Sister Risso pops in a CD. I was expecting regular church music, but it was The Carpenters greatest hits!!!!! I was so pumped! I don't know if i ever told the family, or anyone except Zach White, but like 6 months before my mission i randomly fell in love with the Carpenters and listened to them all the time. Of course my love for them sprung from mom and dad listening to them all through my childhood, and i told President Risso that my parents like this music too, and he was surprised, so that started an hour long conversation about 70s music. In conclusion, President and Sister Risso have the exact same music tastes as mom and dad. Very classy. Another great fact of president Risso is that he played in a Creedence Clearwater Revival cover band, so of course we listened to some of that too. Life as assistant is so different from being a normal missionary.. I would have never imagined myself listening to music like that in the mission... But i guess it's legal if your mission president puts it on and is singing along...
#2. Also in Cajamarca..
We were going around with President Risso and the zone leaders of Cajamarca to different parts of the valley where we want to put missionaries and open up new family groups (that will eventually turn into branches) We were in one area called Moyococha when the zone leaders get a phone call from some sister missionaries in the zone saying one of them was sick and had fainted. So, we finished up there in Moyococha and made our way to Baños del Inca, where the sister missionary was sick. We get to their pension (where they eat, a little house) and go up to the second floor and the sister missionary was lying on the floor unconscious. we were expecting her to be dizzy or just feeling sick or something, so we all kind of went into shock, but knew we needed to get her to the clinic fast! They told us she had been throwing up and convulsing then went unconscious.. Everyone wanted to group lift her with a blanket under her, but that was just ridiculous, so one of the zone leaders and i picked her up and started taking her to the stairs. Now, mind you that i've been at sea level for almost two years, and Cajamarca is at 3000 meters above sea level, so i could barely breathe anyway, plus the shock, plus not ever exercising, it was rough. I was shaking like a leaf, everyone was all flustered and nervous, and when we got to the stairs we realized two people couldn't fit carrying her down, so we kind of had to pass her down the stairs (way harder than it sounds with an unconscious person on a cramped peruvian staircase) and then i carried her to the car. When we laid her down across the seat i was almost dead, but felt like we should give her a blessing. I barely managed to get the top off my oil container because i was shaking so badly, but we gave her a blessing to make it okay to the clinic. That was a tense drive.. She came to for a few seconds in the car and started to almost throw up, then her eyes opened up really wide and she fell back limp and unconscious. that was crazy. But we made it to the clinic, and a few minutes later she came to, but was in bad shape. They didn't know what the problem was with her, she was complaining of a really bad headache, but they gave her an IV and like two hours later sent her back to her house. ( i have no idea why they sent her away so soon) but apparently she was doing ok. We finished off the day working with the zone leaders,and when elder chuiz and i were finishing up our daily planning session at 10 at night our phone rings. It was the sister missionaries. she says frantically, "Elder Hatch, my companion is unconscious again" WHAT?! So we call president Risso and grab a taxi and rush back to Baños del Inca which is like 20 minutes away, and run into their room this time where the sister is there on the floor of the bathroom out cold. This time it wasn't as rough to get her out of the house because there was more room to maneuver, and we rushed her to the clinic again. This time they took the case more seriously and she stayed the night and they did a bunch of tests today, but i still don't know what the problem is.. It was NUTS!!
The rest of the week was pretty normal, we did a leadership training there, and worked with different companionships in Cajamarca and a few days in our own area.. Today we played soccer for p-day and i'm realizing how seriously out of shape i am. I'm not fat anymore, just out of shape.
This week we're going to Jaen, the other far-away zone, to do the same leadership training and President Risso is going to do interviews with all the missionaries there. We're also going to the most remote area of the mission, Chachapoyas, again. It's so awesome there. I'll try to take some good pictures of the scenery! I didn't take pictures this week in Cajamarca because we were super busy and i totally forgot i had my camera.. sorry.
Have a great week and enjoy the amazing blessings of the Restored Gospel!!
Elder Hatch
Here is the picture of Anthony's baptism! those are the sister missionaries from our ward, Sister Lazalde from Orem, and Sister Melendez from Lima. In front are our zone leaders, Elder Cerrutti, and Elder Despain (he just finished his mission!)
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