Mi familia! The enter key doesnt work on here, just as a heads up, and i dont know where the apostrophe is either, so this email will be badly punctuated. But uhhh, Im in Lima at the CCM aka the MTC. What to say? Yesterday was a long flying day, but it actually went quite well. No complaints--I think Im fairly used to long flights now. My companion Hermana Olsen gave out a Book of Mormon in Miami, so that was cool. We had a group of 14 coming here, and then another group of about 30 after us. Im very happy to have the other North Americans here. Our flight left Miami over an hour late, so we got into Lima around 11. Its super humid here. My hair is going crazy. But we got to the CCM around 1 am I believe. Im in a room of four girls--one North American who has been here for 3 weeks, and two natives--one from Guatemala, one from Ecuador. My companion is Hermana Chacon from Guatemala, going to the Arequipa mission here in Peru. She will be here for 3 weeks, and then I will get another companion. She knows some English words, but so far we havent communicated much. My district is made up of North Americans, so I have my real companion, and then my district companion. Sounds confusing, right? The Lima temple is closed for 3 weeks. Im just writing things that come into my head. Oh, addresses: Sister Martha Maxwell, Av. Melgarejo 159, Urb. Campo Verde, La Molina, Lima, Peru. Each comma represents a new line since the enter key doesnt work on here. Mom, please send me some stamps! They dont even have a store at the MTC here, and I need to send mail by pouch, so I need stamps. Could you send me a pack of stamps and a few 10cent stamps as well so that i can send international mail as well? Just send them in a letter, por favor. They´ve instructed us not to send or receive packages since the taxes are really expensive here. Im sorry Im so continually in need of things to be sent to me :( I didnt know much of what to expect here. This morning was actually kinda hard. I got feeling homesick--but actually just for the Provo MTC. I really miss the people there, and I had just gotten used to the schedule. So I ALMOST cried this morning, but Ive since plucked up and am feeling much better. We just played some soccer--the MTC here has two great soccer fields, sand volleyball, ping pong, foosball, etc. Its a super nice facility here--much more so than Provo for the most part. Its beautiful--a nice courtyard with a fountain, flowers, green grass. Its mid-summer here in Peru, so its HOT. Hotter than I had anticipated. Its about 75-80 degrees, but the humidity just makes it so much hotter. Playing soccer was super dee duper hot. Its embarrassing to play with the natives here since theyre so pro at it, but Im happy to be able to play at all. The food has been fine so far. Pancakes for breakfast, then for lunch we had some kind of soup, spaghetti, a very strange yellow potato-ish kind of dish that I dont even know how to describe. Lima is a very interesting place. I only saw it at night, but the housing is crazy. They just stack and stack box-shaped houses on top of eachother. Apparently the wealthy live in the low areas and the poor on the hills--opposite of most US cities. I think its fascinating to see the houses here. I wish I could send pictures. Perhaps on PDay (Wednesday, by the way), I will try to hook up my camera and see what I can do. As for Spanish--hmmm....it is a struggle lol. The hermanas who are natives are super nice, but they just dont speak slowly. My companion is super cute and small. I feel like a giant next to her. Shes kind, but its hard to connect with someone you cant even communicate with. It will get better as I learn more. First thing i said to her was a prayer in Spanish. I said it pretty fast, so I think she got the idea that I speak pretty good Spanish haha. Not so. But I feel blessed because I understand more than any of the hermanas I came with. Today is pretty much a free day...which is kind of nice since I want to take a nap, but it also provides time for homesickness and all that. One of the hermanas I came with is super homesick today--her first time out of the country. I feel for her...its actually nice to have someone who needs comfort because then I dont get to focus on my own needs. There are only about 150 missionaries here at the MTC. Super small. But apparently we get to go out contacting once a week in the real world. Should be interesting lol. Im excited for PDay next week because we get to go to the store! No idea how the store will be. Apparently its like Wal Mart, but who knows what that means. We had interviews with the Mission Presidency this morning. I was actually a bit disappointed because it wasnt nearly as welcoming a feeling as going into the Provo MTC. I feel I was really spoiled at the Provo MTC--I felt so at home there. But this MTC will provide a good transition for Bolivia. I cant imagine how I´ll stand the heat in Bolivia when its already killing me here haha. But I feel blessed to have this experience--transition is always interesting. There are some nice hermanas from North America that I get along with. Other than that, lets see...it was nice talking to Mom and Anna on the phone yesterday! I miss all of you! So thats that. Im doing fine here--keep praying for me, please. I really do appreciate and feel it. I need it here a bit more than in Provo haha. But I will keep you posted on the happenings of Hna Maxwell in Lima. Exciting stuff! I really do love love love being a missionary. I need to get confident enough to open my mouth to the public, but Ive loved my experience thus far. You can write me on DearElder, I believe. We receive mail daily but our mail only goes OUT on Mondays. Thanks for all your support and prayers! I pray for you every day. Love always, mi querida familia! Hermana Maxwell
