Names are different here. The names themselves and the order of the names. In the United States, we would never think about naming a child Jesus, but it’s a very common name here. Yesterday we had an appointment with a 16-year-old boy named Jesus and his 18-year-old sister named Sol. In other words, we met with the Son and the Sun. Sometimes the names are hard to remember because they are so different from what we hear. For example, when looking at our missionary roster, Kiomy, Piero, Sahi, Leoncio, and Yadhira are 5 first names in a row. (all happen to be Hermanas). It’s hard to remember names in the best of circumstances it’s extra hard when it’s a name you have never heard. When someone tells us their name they usually have to say it several times before we hear  it right. It’s usually a little easier when we have them spell their names.

Now let’s talk about the order of names. We are still trying to figure this out. Everyone seems to have two given names like we have a first name and a middle name. It is the apellido (surname) or apellidos that causes the problem. It is normal for Latin Americans to have two surnames. Usually, they take one from their father and one from their mother. (usually) However, when a couple gets married often the wife does not change either of her last names to the husband's last name unless they are members of the church and then they may or may not change their name. The long story here is that names matter but apparently the rules don’t.

Speaking of names, I had some problems with mine. I have been studying to take the driving test so I can get a driver's license. To get a license, I needed to take a medical exam, which I passed. The medical clinic entered my name into the federal driver's license system. After studying for several hours to take the exam and then riding on a bus and walking for over an hour I tried to sign in to take the test. I couldn’t. Apparently, the people here have problems with foreign-looking names also. The medical clinic entered my first name as Hans (my middle name) and my surnames as Cory Borup. All the names were correct but the order wasn’t. The correct names match my Peru ID but not the order. To make a long story short I have to wait 15 days to take the test because after traveling back to the medical clinic (1.5 hours) that is how long it will take to correct my name order in the system.

This past week we had 2 major Mission activities. Firs,t Hermana P-day and then 3 zone conferences. Hermana's P-day seemed to be a bigger deal than the Zone conferences. The P-Day (preparation day) consisted of games, crafts, and Coasta-Vida salads for 54. All of which took a tremendous effort! Hermana Borup was the lead on making the beans and lime-rice. My big takeaway was that catered food is way easier and probably less expensive. The effort however was appreciated. My other takeaway was that the effort of putting up the 9 square volleyball game was not worth the amount of enjoyment I observed from those playing it. All in all, the Hermanas had a great time mostly because they loved getting together and sharing their love for each other and the work.

Zone Conferences were great as usual. We love to hear the Mission Leaders teach the principles of the gospel and how they can be applied to missionary work. We also love to see the missionary leaders teach each other how to be better disciples of Christ. Zone Conferences are a special time in a mission. I still remember things I learned in Zone Conferences when I was a young missionary in New Zealand. (Did I mention they don’t speak Spanish in New Zealand?)

This week we had a night when we didn’t have any appointments and people were not answering our texts. We decided to go do some cold calls. We have some transportation now which makes this a little more feasible. After passing by several homes and finding no one home we headed home. On our way home, we noticed some missionaries and stopped to talk with them. They told us that they saw one of the families we were looking for in the park just across the street. We parked the moto and walked over to find them. As we were walking we said buenas noches to a woman sitting on a park bench. When she called us Hermana and Elder we realized she is probably a member. She seemed down on life as we talked she told us about some family problems and asked us how we stayed together. My first response was humor, Of course, Hermana Borup had the better response about doing our best to live the Gospel of Christ and being patient and kind to each other. We left by asking if we could come visit her. She seemed to be a little lighter when we walked away. We feel like we were supposed to run into her. We did find the family we were looking for and made an appointment to have a family home evening the following week. We conclude that the Lord loves effort. On a night when we didn’t have appointments, it would have been easy to stay home but we didn’t and were blessed with 2 great experiences. 

We love the work. We know we are where we need to be. 

Your friends,

Hermana Y Elder Borup

The morning of  the Hermana Pday we ran out of gas. $25 and 15 minutes later we had 2 tanks full

Playing a game at Hermana Pday

The food was a  hit!

So was the ice cream

This a senior couple in our mission. They are from Turjillo

The Dollar City store is full of Christmas decorations 

This what $5 of ceviche looks like. It tastes like a million!

Hermana Borup's new missionary pants