Thanksgiving Recap

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and ate really well.

For our Thanksgiving, the assistants were out to the jungle with President, so we secretaries invited ourselves to a great lunch at a restaurant that was really good. It was great!

Love to Eat !

I’m staying steady at 90 kilos - that’s about 198 pounds I think…. I’m pretty chunky, but it doesn’t look like it. The members feed us a ton and we eat it all. Oh well, I have some exercising to do when I get home.

Food Food, Wonderful Food

One day last week, we had a great lunch that I loved!!! We had beans with turkey and rice, it was GOOD. For a few minutes I was looking at my food and thinking, “Man, I hope there is this kind of food when I get home”. I love the food down here. I guess that’s why I’m getting fat.

I think I might spend a lot of money on that Peruvian restaurant when I get home. I was thinking back when mom and I went to that place, and nothing looked good on the menu. I had never eaten food like that before, and I couldn’t read Spanish to see exactly what it was. Imagine when I get home, being able to talk to the owners about Peru, and just chillin’ and gabbin’ and eating ALL sorts of food and INCA COLA. It’s going to be sweet!

Details

Why was the temple so busy yesterday? "Today we went to the temple, we were going to go in and do a session, BUT we kinda forgot it’s a holiday and there was more than 200 people there, so needless to say we didn’t go."

A member invited the missionaries to lunch, and took them to a Columbian Restaurant. Here's what Elder Rich had to say about that "It is soooo good. All the food in South America is good. I swear that’s all I'll eat when I get home. I will be fat fat fat."

The Earthquake - "We got back here (to the offices) around 3:30pm and guess what happened? An earthquake!!! Not a very big one, but big enough to set off all the car alarms on the street, and to make all the dogs bark in the whole town, and to make everyone leave their houses. It was all good… not a very big one… only like 15 seconds long."

Some Good Advice, "Always wear a smile and make the day of someone else. Open your mouth and help someone different everyday."

So THAT'S what did it..........

Oh ya, haha.. I’m fine now. My health is a million times better than last Saturday. It was fruit that made me sick. Dang strawberries, haha. We all ate them, and we all felt a little sick, but I got the worst of it. I’m all better now.


And no, I didn’t burn a shirt (for his one year anniversary), because I couldn’t leave my bed, haha, Elder Herdt did though. I thought I would just save one, because I might need it later down the road, you never know.

More Pics !!

We received a disk in the mail yesterday, and hope to post a bunch of pics soon. For now.......... Here is a tasty dish ! Landon never complains about the food, he's always glad to eat at a member's home. They take such good care of the missionaries. I think he will miss the jungle, and especially the people. We look forward to hearing about his new adventures in the offices.

More interesting food

"This week I ate two things I have never eaten in my life. I ate clams and octopus. I ate two different kinds of clams and the octopus wasn’t too bad, haha.. it was good. This week has been filled with seafood."

Note from mom: You would think that Landon might have had clam chowder growing up, but he never did. Anyway, I don't think these clams would be your typical American clam chowder :)

Español/spanish:
Más comidas interesantes:
“En esta semana comí dos cosas que nunca pensé comer en mi vida. Comí calamar y pulpo. Comí dos tipos diferentes de almejas pero el pulpo no estuvo nada mal jajaja… estaba bueno. Esta semana ha estado llena de comida marina”
Nota para mamá: Pensarías que Landon habría crecido con chupe de almejas, pero él no lo hizo, de todos modos, no creo que estas almejas serían para hacer el típico chupe americano.

Portugués/Portuguese:
Mais comidas interessantes:
“Nesta semana comi duas coisas que nunca pensei comer em minha vida. Comi lula e polvo. Comi dois tipos diferentes de ameijoas, mas o polvo não esteve nada mal jajaja...estava bom. Esta semana tem estado enche de comida marina”
Nota para mamai: Pensaria você que Landon tem crescido com sopa de ameijoas, porém ele não o fiz, de todos os modos, não creio que estas ameijoas seriam para fazer uma sopa americana.

Lunch with Members

"We have started eating lunch in the homes of the members.. It's been interesting so far. To start off, the first meal of the month..... cow stomach, haha. Well, I starting eating it, and I knew it wasn't meat, and I thought it was cow stomach, but I didn't say anything, because if I let it get to my mind, I might throw up... But I was surprised.. You couldn't really taste the difference, there was vegetables and rice and cow stomach and it all tasted the same, and it was good.

We have also had arroz choufa (fried rice), a soup called inchicapi, gabo tuvimos, papa la hauncayina,lomo saltados, and bistek wtih pure y arroz. It's been good.... It's helping the members alot... "

From Elder Woolf's email: "It’s a great blessing for us and the members. They can receive the blessings of service and sacrifice. And we can get to know them better so that we can work as a team."

Happy 20th Birthday Landon !

Landon had a special birthday dinner fixed especially for him by his friend Josê Gabriel Arévalo (Gabo). He had his favorite Papa ala Huancaina, and also, Lomo saltado, which is a dish of marinated steak, vegetables and fried potatoes, usually served over white rice. It is one of the most popular recipes in Peru.

Gabo also got Landon a beautiful Cake.

I am so glad that Landon had a wonderful birthday, with good friends.

Click here to view a video of Landon cutting his cake. Gabo is standing (to Landon's left) and Marco, another friend sits down at the table opposite Landon, and Elder Flores (Landon's companion) is taking the video, and also mugs for the camera.
To view all the birthday pictures, click here.

Interesting food......

I had an INSTANT MESSAGE session today with Gabo, and he said that the missionaries in Tarapoto are starting to eat their lunches in member's homes. This is new, and just started a few days ago.

He said the Landon was enjoying it, and today had a real treat ! It's called "cau- cau". He said that Landon had previously said that he would NEVER eat THAT Peruvian food, but I guess he had to literally EAT his words today.

Want to see a picture??

Take a guess - what do you think it is? I guessed that the chunks were potatoes, and I was right........but what is the MEAT?................looks kind of "fatty" with a skin or lining of some sort....... It is Cow STOMACH !!

Gabo assures me that it is yummy, and he said the Landon actually enjoyed it very much.
I'm going to be able to feed that boy ANYTHING when he gets home :)

Yo tengo un buchisapa (Boo-chee-sawpa)

Last week, Landon's heading on his email said this (see above). He bet that we could NOT translate what it said, and he was right. I put it through a couple of different translators, and no luck. It is actually some jungle "slang", a modified version of Quechua (Ket-chu-wa).

Landon Walker, a former Peru Lima North missionary came in my office a few days ago, and I asked him if HE knew what it said. He translated it immediately - "I have a POT BELLY". I told OUR Landon in this last email, that we knew what it meant, and this is what he had to say:

"I'm getting pretty chubby here in the mission, but it's just the jungle. The food here is heavy, like fried bananas, haha, yes they are good by the way... and just fried everything. But I will lose my gut before I come home, don't worry Kacey hahahahaha."

HOT !! ~ CEVICHE ~ HOT !!

I ate Ceviche for the first time this week. Don't worry, it wasn’t raw. Hermana Teresa put AJI in it… AJI is like peppers or something like that. Man, it was the hottest thing I have ever tasted. I couldn't even swallow the juice because it was burning everything, just by touching it. I could only eat 2 bites because I was sweating, haha, and crying also. It was funny. I guess my face was really really really red, haha.. But it was a good experience…

Fun Information

I was talking with Gabo, in Tarapoto (Instant Messaging). He said that Elder Flores arrived Wednesday night on the plane from Lima. Elder Flores is from Tacna, Peru, which is just about as far south as you can go in Peru, before crossing the border into Chili.

Today, the missionaries had a barbeque for lunch. Gabo said that Mamita Teresa garnished a chicken, and that Landon cooked it over an open fire. That, I would have liked to see :)

"I’m falling in love......with food :)"

Arroz Choufa. "Oh my heck, it’s so good. I love it."



(After watching the first few minutes of the clip above, those of you who know Landon, and how much he loves Panda Express, won't be surprised that he LOVES Arroz Choufa.)

"All the days I eat a lot, I’m not joking. Down here they go by levels, or I don’t know how to call them (“courses”), first a salad, then a fruit or something, then the main dish, and then so on. I’ve noticed I eat tons more, triple what I ate at home, but yet I’m losing weight! I have energy and feel good, so it’s good."

Which Food Do You Like Best?

It's called
Papa ala Huancaina.

It's potatoes with a cheese sauce on it and it's soooooooooooo good.

My pension fixes it, and I really like it.

Over the lips, and past the gums.....

One of our investigators made us this drink, and really, I’m not going to lie. Ya know when you throw up in your mouth and taste it? That’s what it tasted like. I had to choke it down, and then she asked if we wanted more, and I didn’t answer... but my comp was like, oh ya sure....it was good (are you kidding me !!), so I had TWO glasses of it. Oh well, I have eaten worse, just to let you know. Let’s just say I’ll eat (drink) anything when I get home.