Plans for afterward?

October 28, 2013

Angamos, Chile (Ramirez)

Plans for afterward?




Last week I met an elder from Arkansas named Elder Cabrera. He is the Zone Leader in the zone in the north of Antofagasta and he is a really cool guy. We have only talked twice but we are already really good friends. Well he asked if I was going to BYU after the mission to which I replied, yes. He freaked. He has only two transfers left and he has already begun looking at classes to take and he is so pumped about it and talked my ear off about it. Talk about wanting to go back to BYU. I am so excited about going back to BYU after the mission and here in the mission it has really hit me about having to do work back in BYU. I cannot just sit back and do whatever, I got to lay it all out. So that is really the only plan I really have although I have had people invite me all over the country for that time when I get home. Plans October-December 2014: Work locally (hopefully I can just walk back into Hy-Vee but with my Spanish maybe something else, better, will open up), drop the mission weight (I went running today, played some good basketball, and did a yoga workout with one of the elders here who was a yoga fiend before the mission. I feel really good and can tell that I am thinning but am soooooo tired), catch up on movies and TV so that I am not as distracted at BYU, get the driver’s license ASAP, play the piano a lot, etc. I am pretty sure I will be sticking around for that winter but after that winter . . . no promises at how much time I will spend at home 

(I was talking with Gunnar about his plans once he gets home from the mission since school doesn’t start up again until January. I said the smart thing to do would be to work that fall and save some cash for school, but I was also trying to prepare Lisa if he decided to go out West early. Anyways it looks like he is finally catching the vision of how much time he “wasted” prior to his mission. It is amazing how much you can get done when you actually try to get things done.)

Elder Newman is the Assistant to the President (AP) right now, that is correct. The AP’s are also attending Angamos ward for church now as well so I will seem him every week. 

( I noticed in Elder Newman’s blog that he got transferred and had all the duties of an AP but he did not explicitly say he was AP. Newman is the Elder who also started in Iquique 6 months ahead of Gunnar, so Gunnar literally moved into the Iquique apartment the day Newman moved out.)


It is funny that you say Arica because I have had two elders this week tell me that they think I am going up to Arica Centro to be with Elder M (yes there is a relation) since I will have 6 months in Antofagasta after this transfer, but that is just speculation. 

(Gunnar presented one theory last week that he would return to Calama next transfer and I using the same “brilliant” logic presented an alternative wherein he goes to Arica. As he says it all comes down to speculation and we all love doing that. Elder M is from a well-known LDS family. )

Elder Ramirez, my new companion, is fairly new in the mission and he is a great guy, great missionary, loves to work hard, have fun, etc. but he lacks self-confidence. All of our comp studies have been focused in our purpose here, what it means to be a good missionary, and how you need to enjoy the mission. He has repeatedly told me that he feels way better in this sector than in his last one and is excited and ready to go. But at the same time he is having struggles a little.

(Sadly serving a mission is no guarantee from everyday problems.)



As far as a box a book and a puzzle (or two) would be great. Oh, oh, oh!!! A Rubik’s cube!! I learned how to do one two weeks ago and I am addicted. The sad thing is that Elder Hamblin took it with him so now I do not have one. My best time is 3 min 21 sec. I feel like it is pretty slow, but hey I just started. The candy is good but something interesting. Usually a lot of the stuff is kind of melted our was melted and resolidified in camino but I got a package from Carol Carolan (BTW thank her for that for me) which had a bag of Peanut butter and Pretzel m&ms (Love both of them) and they were not melted at all. I do not know if it was the packaging because she used the basically same type. I do not know.

(I was discussing getting his Christmas package together and what silly stuff he wanted; or any different foods. So a Rubik’s cube will be the center piece of the box. Interesting that given he is color blind.

And below Gunnar talks about the missionaries in that Iquique video I just posted this week.)

Hermana Morales was in my district in Las Rocas. She is a very cool girl but is also 29 . . . She is from Mexico (I mentioned she was a real cutie). Medrano and Sharp (and Perez, I think) are all finished with their missions and have gone home now. Crazy how that happens, missionaries that were so young when I got here are done already. Kennedy is in Chañaral right now and I have only met her one time. She has strong feelings towards an Elder in Arica, Elder **, and her feelings are well known throughout the mission. She was started in Angamos.

(BTW Elder in Arica not Jake!)
They both seem quite nice?? That is like saying "She has a sweet spirit" or "She is a covenant keeper" (I do not know if that has been said before, I thought maybe I made it up. As a way of making fun of my favorite general auxiliary leader Elaine S. Dalton). I can look up pictures of them from the church website, going to do it. 

(Gunnar is making fun of my verbiage here. Bothe the Hermanas seemed cute too. All the sisters are looking cute now-a-days. Either things have changed or I have become way more appreciative with age.)
Sucks about Cenneidigh. A whole year of recovery . . . wow. Well I love you all. Write me back with anything else!

(I let Gunnar know about Cenneidigh probably not going to Chile with us to pick him up as she has some bad foot problems that will require surgery and then 12 months of recovery; so no walking tour of Chile for her.)

Love you,
Elder Peters

(Gunnar and I got into a discussion of sports because I sent him two articles; one about game 4 of the World Series involving his Red Sox winning; and one of a Chilean player scoring a winning goal in league play in Europe. He really go into the football news and I made fun of him for changing, but then told him he must cheer for England with their upcoming friendly with Chile. His reply:)

Oh yeah I heard about that. Chile has got a really good team with two of Europe’s better scorers in Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez. Sanchez is from Tocopilla. His family still lives there. Eduardo Vargas is also quite good. I would say they are the second or third best team in South America behind Brazil and, maybe, Argentina. Argentina has a really good team but Messi does not play very well on the National team so they have to rely on people like Di Maria. But then again England is England. I guess we will see haha
(He has changed)