Dalton - Toto, I don't think we're in Lima anymore

February 3, 2014

Toto, I don't think we're in Lima anymore

Well, I was wrong.  I am not exactly in Pachacutec.  I'm in Barranca!  It's like Pachacutec, but the opposite:  It's green!  Well, ok, my area is Paramonga, and it's a town of about 20,000 people just north of Barranca.  (You can all check if my guess on the population is wrong.)  My companion is Elder Peña, and he's from  (drumroll please) Davi's mission!  His town is called Ignacio Escudro Sullana.  Yes, THE Ignacio Escudro Sullana! Anyway, he's 18 and he's been out for 5 months.  He's a good boy.

I am excited out of my mind to be here, too.  Paramonga is a branch—one of six branches in the Barranca district.  President wants Barranca to be a stake very soon.  So help me, if we don’t get the job done here, I will have to move here after my mission just to be a tithe-paying priesthood holder.  Honestly, I am so excited to be here.  

We have a very confusing ward directory, which probably means that the missionaries who were here before lacked the patience to sift through it all to find some lost folks.  We are also handing out a copy of the Family Proclamation to every family that we see.  I may have already told you all about this, but it's amazing how different the response is when the dad, mom, and child are all together.  We just have to say that we want to share some things on how to have a happy family, or eternal family, or whatever, and a lot of them just don’t have the heart to say "No, I am so busy every day of the week that I can’t listen to you."  It's exciting.  Tonight, we'll be teaching a MARRIED couple that likes the church and just desperately needs to watch the Restoration and be baptized on the 15th.  Even if they don’t know it.

I’m so glad to be here.  Thank you all for your prayers.

Elder Johnson