This week has been great. We didn't have any baptisms this Saturday but we've set up several more for the month of December! Also we have a golden family that's just waiting to get married. So basically we're waiting for a matrimonio and the dad, Alberto, needs his papers, so we've been communicating with other missionaries to get his papers from Iquitos. The missionary work is so amazing. Really there´s nothing that makes you happier than living the Gospel, being obedient, and serving the Lord.Pucallpa rocks. I'm glad Curtis thinks it's cool there are monkeys here. Because it IS cool. We have a big river in part of our area and there are a bunch of little boats and canoes all over the place. Also I learned that in February and march everything floods and that´s why all the houses are raised up. A ton of our area will be under water so we have to use bridges, and the people use canoes.
The people here are so tight. Everyone's always like GRINGO!!! So it´s a good conversation starter to begin sharing the gospel. Yeah I did English lessons on Saturday. It was great, cause we had two investigators there, and I hear we might have more this Saturday. It´s perfect because they come with members and then we can set up times to meet with them.
I don´t know how much I told you about Gustavo, but he´s a gringo that lives right above us. He teaches English lessons here in Pucallpa. We've only met with him once because of his tight schedule but after the first lesson he was really set. He wants to prepare for baptism, and he knows he needs to change a lot of things in his life. He told us all about his past life, and decisions that have led him to where he is now. Really though, I know when he accepts the gospel in his life his life will only get better.
Here's some info I found on wikipedia about Pucallpa. It provides a technical snapshot on where Elder Layton is serving.
Pucallpa (Quechua: puka hallpa, "red earth") is a city in eastern Peru located on the banks of the Ucayali River, a major tributary of the Amazon River. It is the capital of the Ucayali region, the Coronel Portillo Province and the Calleria District.
Pucallpa was founded in the 1840s by Franciscan missionaries who settled several families of the Shipibo-Conibo ethnic group. For several decades it remained a small settlement as it was isolated from the rest of the country by the Amazon Rainforest and the Andes mountain range. From the 1880s through the 1920s a railway project to connect Pucallpa with the rest of the country via the Ferrocarril Central Andino was started and dropped several time until it was finally abandoned. Pucallpa's isolation finally ended in 1945 with the completion of a highway to Lima through Tingo Maria. The highway allowed the commercialization of regional products to the rest of the country, thus improving the economic outlook of the region and its capital, Pucallpa. However, the heavy rainfalls of the Amazon Rainforest remain a problem as they erode the highway and can even cut it by causing flash floods.
Pucallpa is served by air through the Captain Rolden International Airport and by river through its port Pucallpillo near the center of the city. During the high water season, the floating ports of La Hoyada and Puerto Italia are used for riverine communications. Pucallpa is connected by road to Lima via the cities Huánuco and Cerro de Pasco.
