Ready. Set.

Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.  The real work begins…

I’m in desperate need to write a blog.  It’s been awhile, so I’m going to summarize a little of what has happened, and what’s happening, and what’s going to happen.
What’s happened? So all of December was basically a waiting month.  We finished school like the 3rd of December and ended up signing a contract a few days later to move into our house in Puno the 4th of January.  December went by fast.  I climbed Chachani, had a great Christmas, and slept through the New Year.
Now what’s happening?  So we got here in Puno the 5th of January only to find a house that wasn’t near ready for us.  As I sit here now it’s not even ready.  No big deal though, we’re missionaries, we can endure being crammed on one floor.
The pastor here in Puno wanted us to get settled down, no?  We’ve only ever visited this city, we’ve never stayed like permanently.  At first, I was like, “Eh, let’s get our districts right now and get started and go out and do big things and build churches brick by brick and memorize the names of everyone in our district and eat 2 sol lunches and be incredibles.”  But no, it was a great idea, I need to get used to the city as much as possible. 
Last week while we didn’t have our districts yet, we went to all the districts that are close and we prayed over each one and gave them to God.  As for me, I have given 2011 to prayer.  I realize we can’t do anything we want to here, it’s not what we want.  And the only way we get what God wants is through prayer.  It’s not that I never knew that before, it’s just that I never lived that before.  It was so great to go through the districts.  The first one we went to was Jayllihuaya (hi-lee-why-ya) and it was absolutely gorgeous.  We moved on to Salcedo by combi.  While in the combi I couldn’t help but cry.  Whuuuuaaat???  Yeah you know me, I never do that.  Well, I couldn’t help but feel the overwhelming sense of the spirit of God.  I can’t explain it either.  From there we went to some more districts inside the city, and prayed some more.

Friday morning came, and we knew that we’d get our districts that morning.  It was easily more exciting than Christmas morning.  I woke up that night at like 3 and couldn’t sleep because of the excitement to start what I’ve waited for.  So here’s what I got: Jayllihuaya, Salcedo, and Rinconada de Salcedo.  I encourage you to follow those links and watch the videos (although Rinconada doesn’t have a link because it’s basically an extension of Salcedo.)  Below you see the city of Puno, and then just outside to the south is basically my districts.

They’re great, I can’t really say that they’re much more than farm towns surrounded by beautiful rocky terrain.  Salcedo is a little more advanced, more cityish.  I haven’t been to Rinconada de Salcedo but the pastor said it’s just like Jayllihuaya.  Pictures will be up more and more.  Below is Jayllihuaya.

So, the question now is: what’s going be happening?  The goal is that in each district the end result is a start of a church after a year and a half here, started by my partner Geremías and I.  How we do that is completely up to us, which is the best part.  My partner and I can work how God wants us to work, with no demands on how we get there, just that we get there.  Prayer is key here, and in every decision we make, it will be backed by prayer.  I will be appreciate every one that you guys can provide.

The time is here that I’ve been waiting for, I’m super excited but nervous at the same time.  I believe these 3 locations have been given to us as a direct answer to prayer.  They fit us perfectly.  In the next year I hope for positive blog posts, winning souls for Christ.
It all starts here.