Dear Family,
I am here in Vitarte, in the barrio Tilda. What a change this is from Huanuco. Our neighborhood is mostly middle class, there are paved streets, the lady who is going to wash for us has a washing machine(!) and we have water and electricity regularly. The trip wasn't bad, except for my comp, she threw up the whole nine hours. The trip is pretty through the high parts of the Andes, so I enjoyed it, plus there was a little bit of snow or hail on the ground, and the Latinos got all excited.

We are living with the other set of hermanas in our zone until our room is ready. I don't know if you heard, but all the North American missionaries got taken out of Bolivia because they are on the edge of civil war. They got divided up to go to the 4 Lima missions, so we have an abundance of North Americans. I'm having fun because for 5 months I didn't see another gringa, and now I'm living with 2, one from my mission, and her comp from a Bolivia mission.

We are opening an area, and we only have 1 ward. It is a big change from my three branches in Huanuco. They were struggling to have more than 40 or 50 in Sacrament meeting and there were only 2 priesthood holders to bless the sacrament and 1 to pass it. The barrio Tilda is stronger than Mount Vernon I think. They gave us lots of references Sunday, which is great. I think they are afraid if there aren't baptisms, they'll close the area again.

I really don't know much about Vitarte. I am enjoying the luxuries of living in a city though. Saturday, the pensionista made Kraft macaroni and cheese. I did hear that there is a supermarket, and I am excited to go. The problem of Lima is that it is really polluted. Usually you can't see the sun except for about two or three hours in the afternoon.

I already realized that I'm not going to get better in my health. I just keep working. And there aren't any moscos here, so they don't bother me anymore. Hopefully by the time I go home, the scars will be gone. And I got rid of my headlice. I still haven't got any mail. Maybe people should stop sending things for a while. This week it might be because I'm in a new zone. But where does all the mail go that's in my name?

I'll keep the family in my prayers. Did Ben have any sort of insurance on his truck, or did he just lose a bunch of money? And I was really happy to hear from Dad, but can you remind him gently that I can't receive email from his address? If I have time, I'll write a little email to send to him. Thanks for your love and support, and your letters and packages, even though they don't arrive.

PS--I just wanted to tell you that I just got three letters, one from you through Dear John, one from Jo, and one from Carolyn through Pouch.

Love,
Sarah