A Glimpse at Manchay, Peru

Manchay . . . . This is HARD !!!!

oh wow what a week!

First off I'm just gonna say this is HARD! I figured it would be somewhat hard but I didn't really realize until I got into the field how hard this was going to be. Just like Brother Miller said, poorest living conditions and huge language barrier. You can't even imagine the living conditions.Well I'm serving right now in the beautiful town of Manchay! jk its not beautiful at all. probably the poorest, ugliest place I could ever imagine. The best description I could give of Manchay is Iraq with mountains. It's definitely the roughest place to start but I figured any place after this will be amazing so I just have to work through it. My first couple days were really rough and I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep doing this but it's gotten better. My comp is amazing. His name is Elder Diaz. hes from Chile and he's been out 9 months. He's been helping me alot . It's really rough here without anyone to speak English with.
OK, my time is short so I'll give you a brief recap of the week.
We left the CCM and went to the mission office for some training on Tuesday. After a couple hours of that we went to President Leyvas house for a lunch. The best food I have had on my mission. There we got to talk to them for a while. After that we had our interviews and then we found out where we were going. Pretty much everyone but me and Elder Capps got sent to bomb places. Elder Rider is in cerro de pasco, Elder Norris is in Setipo which is by la merced, and Elder Sheridan is in huancayo. they are all so lucky, haha but they'll get their turn.

So that night I went out and we had an "appointment". and everyday since then we've worked from 6:30 am to 10 at night. This week the other companionship in our district had a baptism, and we have one Friday! oh and Sunday I got to give a talk in church! It was quite nerve wracking, but I did it. it was around 10 minutes and I was sweating up a storm after. My pensionista is nice, shes a little crazy and the foods hard to get used to.

I am running out of time I have lots more to tell you . I'm gonna try to send some pics real quick. love ya guys so much!

pray for me please haha.


con amor,
elder paolacci

Okay so I have done a bit of quick research on Manchay - It is true - he did start out in the hardest area physically . . .

Another missionary described it " The people of Manchay are very poor; they have no running water and most don't have electricity. They live in "houses" with plywood type walls, dirt floors, and tin roofs. Scores of dogs roam freely through the streets of dirt, and many children do the same. The air is thick with dust and foul smells"

Dylan ran out of time and couldnt send any pictures, but I found this picture of another missionary couple that served in Manchay. 

I also found this video of some service missionaries teaching about hygiene to people of Manchay (there are the dogs - so glad we sent a Dog Dazzer)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6USEQz_ulNY&feature=related

Last Day at the CCM

Elder Riders parents traveled to Argentina to pick up his older sister, Hermana Rider, who was just finishing her mission. They were able to travel to the Peru CCM so that Hermana Rider could say "Hello - Goodbye" to Elder Rider before he heads into the field. We were so fortunate that Sister Rider sent these photos from her phone yesterday while she was there.

Here was her note

I was able to visit the CCM today - the day before these Elders begin their work in earnest. You should be proud of them. They are excited and ready to go and teach people the gospel. What a great experience to be amongst them!

Elder Paolacci & Elder Rider

 I am positive that the Lord sends these young Elders to serve in the right place at the right time.I know now without a shadow of doubt that Dylan was to go Peru. He is exactly where the Lord needs him to be. I am certain that was decided long before. Dylan has developed friendships that will truly last a lifetime.I am often reminded of Saturdays Warrior when I see the relationships that have been developed here and I wonder, if these young men have been together before. Dylan may be acting silly in the above picture. But I know that emotions are tender and they are very anxious to get out into the field. But they truly are sad that they will not be together.

We were able to send a small package with the Rider's to give to Dylan. It has another memory card, a bottle of calcium, probiotics and Advantage Liquid Concentrate (we had heard from other missionary moms this will help and keep them healthy and not get stomach issues - so we were willing to try)

This morning at 6 am they traveled to the mission office with President and Sister Leyva. They will spend the day there and today be given the mission assignments and either this evening or tomorrow morning they will travel to their new area and meet their new companions. No more English from here on out except when he emails home.

Juan Augusto Leyva, 47, Peru Lima East Mission; California Ward, Trujillo Peru Central Stake; counselor in the Peru Trujillo Mission presidency; former stake president and counselor, bishop, high councilor and missionary in the Peru Arequipa Mission. Regional manager of LDS Employment Resource Services. Born in Chepen, La Libertad, Peru, to Arturo Leyva Sanchez and Olga Petita Ponce Solano de Leyva. Married Luisa Rita Yturbe Gutierrez, five children.

A stake Young Women president, Sister Leyva is a former ward Relief Society and Primary president, counselor in a ward Relief Society presidency, Relief Society teacher and seminary teacher. Born in Trujillo, Peru, to Segundo Julio Yturbe Leon and Teresa Gutierrez Flores de Yturbe.

(http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/52008/New-mission-presidents.html)

I am positive that he will be in good hands

Here are a few different maps I have found of Peru and the different mission areas. Dylan is serving in the PERU LIMA EAST MISSION (Este)

 

My heart is full this morning.  I am truly grateful for Dylan and his dedication and his service to serve our Heavenly Father and the people of Peru. As he has expressed in so many letters home, he has never been happier. It is the hardest work he has ever done and he misses us, but he would not trade this experience for anything. How amazing it is to always feel the spirit so strong and to know that you are doing the Lords work. He has grown and learned so much in the 9 weeks he has been out.  He truly feels a love for the Spanish language and the people of Peru. I know that our Heavenly Father will continue to watch over and bless them. 

We are anxious to hear how things go - but we may not hear until his p-day next week.

Last week at the PERU CCM !!!!

Heyo Familia,

Haha im glad you guys tried to translate my testimony, it was probably terrible spanish but i tried. but when love things so much you want to share. and two things i am anxious to share is my love for my savior and my love for the spanish language. when you are here you feel the spirit so strong you love to share.

first off we did get to watch general conference. AND IN ENGLISH! Haha i love spanish but general conference wouldnt be the same as in english. It was amazing! My favorites were Anderson´s and Uchtdorf´s talks. They were sooo good.

Packard looks like hes in pretty bad shape so hopefully he´ll make it to next session. Priesthood session was definitely the best. It was cool because the mtc choir sang and i would have died to be in it because they sounded so good. Ahhh we were all so jealous. the whole time i was just thinking about dad and coleton watching it. it was way cool

And i am so proud of Kelly! holy cow! 3:41! thats so good! i wish i could have been there, but just to watch because we all know i wouldnt run it. Tell him im way happy for him and that hes the man! Oh and congratulations karleigh! I wasnt ever cool enough to get that kind of stuff

So from what i can gather its monsoon season there. I already miss rain! Apparently it hasnt rained here for 30 something years which seem really weird to me. Alot of houses dont have roofs just because they dont need them.

Haha i am ssooooooo excited to get into the field! i know the first month is going to be really hard but id rather be learning out there in the field. We leave tuesday morning around 6 am and the mission home is like 15 minutes away so we might just be hopping right into our missions. Im really nervous but im also super anxious. it may not seem like it to you guys but it feel like ive been gone for 6 months already. so i think the time will go by faster out in the field and i want to be able to savor every minute.

Oh so on sunday they had elections here as i think you discovered and lima got a new president. Haha and apparently shes gonna legalize marijuana and gay marriage so the difficulty of the mission just rose a little.

Oh so i guess i talked in my sleep in spanish two nights ago which is pretty cool! Now only if i could do it while im awake.

Well i dont have much more time so ill talk to ya guys later. thanks for chatting with me mom. next email will be from the field! Wooooooo! Love you guys!

Elder Paolacci

***Notes from our chat***

** it's our last pday together and yes we are definitely enjoying it. these guys are the best we are all super tight
**alrighty! thanks alot! im so excited for the pillow. Oh and i forgot to mention in my email that this place is a small world. So there is an elder from snowflake who was really good friends with meagan hoopes best friend lexie. His name is elder denhalter. And there is an elder from thatcher that knows brody so that was cool too.

**im gonna send the memory card i have now home with elder riders parents or in the pouch if i can. i have some videos of the ccm and stuff.

**where you able to get those shirts from pomeroys and some good pens to send
(my answer was yes. advice to any soon to be missionary moms - they love the CTR sport fit white shirts at Pomeroys in Mesa and he said good black pens are really hard to find there)

Tour of Lima

Last Wednesday all the missionaries got to go on a "TOUR OF PERU" and here is their day in pictures.

Trip to Lima

heyo familia!

This week at the CCM has been great! All the new elders came in on Thursday so that was pretty cool. There's alot of them. I guess theres' around a total of 150 of us now and its way crowded here. Apparently its the most theres ever been here. But its still way awesome. Ha ha I'm a little disappointed about the football scores but its alright.

Everyday my testimony is strengthened about why I'm out here. i miss you guys and all but I wouldn't cut this experience short of two years for anything. Its amazing how happy i am all the time. I know it sounds weird but having the spirit with you all day everyday is amazing.

Well my new comp is Elder Ewing. Hes been in my district since Provo so we already know each other real well. He's really tall, like 6 foot 7.  He's way easy to get along with. Elder Sheridan is still in my room, I love him. He's almost convinced me to try and go to Univ. of  Utah after the mission.

I did end up having a way spiritual experience this week. it was during our tour of downtown Lima, and at the end they dropped us off to go shopping and grab some real food. And it was coming down to the end of our time that we had to shop and we had been buying jerseys from this lady (like 5 dollars each, CRAZY) and the other elders in my group told me it was time to go. But as I was walking out of her shop I was literally stopped in my tracks by the spirit was totally prompted to go talk to her about the church. she ended up being totally into it! She asked for a Book of Mormon before I could even offer it to her. I told her that in three weeks there will be some more missionaries there that she could talk to and she was super excited. It was so awesome, just thought I would share that experience with you guys.

And I guess while we are on the topic of the tour we went on, AMAZING.
We got to stop at the beach and take pics, drove through the business district with all the huge buildings, and then we drove through downtown Lima that had a bunch of cathedrals. Sorry I didn't explain it better last week but the presidents house I was talking about was the president of Lima (the ccm president lives here). And all we did was drive really slowly by it. At the end of the tour when we got to go shopping, me and Elder Capps grabbed some pizza. It was like 50 cents a slice! everything here is super cheap.

And to answer your question if there is anything i need, I definitely do. I don't know if you would be up to it but if you could get like two more of those shirts from Pomeroys that would be amazing. because the two that I have are the only ones i ever wear because I really don't like the other ones at all. So if you could do that just send them to the mission home or whatever. Another good idea would be pens. You did send some pens with me but i would kinda like some nicer ones. I'm gonna look for some while shopping but idk if they'll have any. But those are the only two things i could think of that I need. Idk if its too late to send them with Elder Riders mom, and if it is just send them to the mission home.

Oh and one request about the letters. Try to send handwritten ones!
they are so much more exciting to read (well actually i wouldn't know cause i haven't gotten any).

I'm definitely excited for that stomach medicine stuff because lets just say eating rice twice a day every day makes things interesting.

My Spanish is doing great. It seems like its slowing down and that one of the reasons I want to get to the field because I heard it gets better way faster out there. But I just wanted to share my testimony in spanish. Theres probably a couple errors in there but the more I share it the better it will get. Well that should keep you guys busy for a little bit trying to figure it out.
Yo se que este opportunidad que tengo ahora a servir el señor es el mejor opportunidad yo he tenido en toda mi vida. Yo se que si guardo los mandamientos y ser obidiente durante mi mision, mi padre celestial va a bendicirme. Estoy tan emocionado a ir al campo y poder a hablar con la gente de peru. Yo he tenido muchas experiencias espiritual ya aqui. Estoy haciendo amigos que tenerá para toda mi vida. Yo se que este iglesia es verdadero y quiero ayudar a las personas a tener el mismo luz que tenemos en nuestras vidas. You se que nosotros como un familia, hemos sido bendicido porque tenemos el evangelio en nuestras vidas. Yo se que sin el evangelio yo no podria tener el gran vida que tengo. Yo se que Jose Smith (joseph smith in spanish, dont ask me why) fue un profeta de dios, él tradujo las planchas del oro mediante el poder de dios. Y yo se que el libro de mormon es perfecto y lo tiene la plentitud del evangelio de Jesucristo. Yo se que Thomas S. Monson es un profeta de dios, y él recibe revelacion para nuestra dia. Y mas imporatante you se que si nostros tenemos fe en Jesucristo, y Nuestro Padre Celestial, ellos van a ayudarnos en nuestras vidas (Alma 44:4 is my favorite). Y digo estas cosas en el nombre de Jesucristo, amen.

Okay so I used transloator to translate this :

I am happy to have this opportunity to serve my savior and it is the best opportunity I have had in all my life. I know that if I keep the commandments and am obedient during my mission, my Heavenly Father is going to bless me. So I am excited to go out into the field and teach and serve the people of Peru . I have had many spiritual experiences already here. I am making friends that will last for all my life. I know that this church is true and I want to help the people to have the same light that we have in our lives. I love my family and we have been blessed because we have the gospel in our lives. I know that without the gospel I would not to have the great life that I have. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that he translated the golden plates by the power of God. And I know that the Book of Mormon is perfect and it has the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God, and that he receives revelation for our day. And  most importantly that if we have faith in Jesus Christ, and Our Heavenly Father, they are going to help us in our lives (Alma 44:4 is my favorite).  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I love you guys so much, and try to have all you guys write me letters. Especially the boys and Karleigh, and Definitely PAPA! Maybe you can pass the word to my big sista's - they could drop me a line sometime.  Miss you guys all alot. well, hasta la proxima semana! (that means "until next week")

Con Amor (with love)
ELDER PAOLACCI

Exciting times in Peru !!!!

hopefully all the pictures have come through. i don't have to much longer on the computer but i will give you an overview of my week. ah this has been a crazy week tho with all the changes. we have some extra time this morning because the 3 week rotation is here. kind of like organization day at the ccm. the north americans stay for 6 weeks and the latinos stay for 3 weeks. well yesterday a huge group went out into the field and there are just about 50 or so of us north americans here waiting for the new group to come tomorrow. they are expecting about 120 missionaries. it is going to be crazy full here. but first off apparently we had an earthquake last night. it was weird, first earthquake Ive been in. it wasn't bad or anything tho.  secondly we got new comps today, i have an american named elder ewing. hes way nice and hes about 6 foot 7. I'm not in rider, capps, or norris' district anymore so that's kind of disappointing. and rider changes rooms. totally bummed. but i am still in sheridan and bells(another one of my new best friends) district.

because there is just a small group of us here today we are going on a tour to downtown lima today and we leave at noon. I'm way excited because we get to go see the presidents house (which is gonna be awesome) go to a real market and get some real food. i got the package of candy and i was way excited. candy is the best here. we need all the sugar we can get.

lastly last week we were playing a game in our class with our teacher hermomo gallo where he would write a word on the board and you have to get the word. haha simple game. BUT as he was writing one of the words it started to look like he was having a little trouble. it was kinda weird cause no one knew what was going on. all of a sudden he just seized up and dropped to the ground and started having a massive seizure. it was really scary cause it went on for about 3 minutes. after about 2 minutes we decided to give him a blessing. elder despain in my district gave it while he was having the seizure. it was really scary but as soon as he ended the blessing i mean as soon as he said amen hermono gallo came right out of the seizure. it was crazy. this was definitely the scariest/most spiritual moment of my mission. it was a huge testimony builder to witness the power of the priesthood. it is real and the blessings of the priesthood are real. it was amazing. the next day hermono gallo was back and things were fine. priesthood blessings are amazing.

well thats all i got cause i dont have too much time. i love you guys and ill talk to ya next week.

LOVE ELDER PAOLACCI

It was exciting for Dylan to send home a ton of photo's today.

This is Elder Castro, fondly referred to as "Chancho" i don't think our boys will ever forget him.They have learned many lessons in their 3 weeks with "Chancho"

We look forward to the time that Dylan takes a photo "without" a goofy face. He has never been one for serious photos. I guess I am just happy he is taking pictures and capturing these memories !!!!

Dylan has loved rooming with Elder Matt Rider for the first 6 weeks of his mission. I am sure this is one of those "life-long" friends he refers to.

I continue to be so proud of this young man and his desire to serve the people of Peru and the sacrafices he is making to serve a mission and be a tool in the Lords hands.

He is doing well !