New Area

Well I am still here in Carrapongo in Lima and my area is San Antonio. This Wednesday is changes and I don't know what is going to happen but I guess I will tell you guys about that next week. How is Georgia hope everything is good. Really you guys should count your blessings. I wish I would have. We have it really good, the house is HUGE compared to what I live in now. The fact that we can walk around in the house without shoes and also to shower without them is really a luxury. Just to let you know Mom I am really missing your cooking. They say that Peru has the best cooking but really these women don't have anything on you. I am just really seeing how many blessings we have at our house. I am thankful that one day I get to know those blessings again. I have been really thinking about myself and if I am progressing as a missionary. I am setting more goals to become the best I can be. The people here are tough but I am working hard. I love you both dearly. Have a great week

Love Elder Fortenberry

New Photo of Elder Fortenberry's district

This photo was e-mailed to me by Hermana Groberg from the Lima Peru MTC. These are the other missionaries in Elder Fortenberry's district there at the MTC. I'm pretty sure that the elder kneeling directly in front of him is his companion. He looks so good. He has that missionary look in his eyes.

I can't believe it!! The Zimmermans were at the Peru MTC and they snapped some candid shots of the Dining Room and right there in the front is Elder Fortenberry and his companion sitting across the table from him. How lucky!! But isn't that just like my boy for the one picture to be of him eating! I am so happy. He looks great.

Peruvian food and futbol

Hey Mom & Dad,

Ok I'll do my best to answer all those questions. It will be hard but Ill tell you what Peru is like. Cause it is way different. In Peru it is crazy they eat rice two meals out of the day every day. Lunch is the big meal instead of supper. And dont get me started on breakfast. They put yogurt in their cereal instead of milk and have bread with EVERY meal they hate cold drinks so water, milk and juice are always lukewarm to hot. Now with that said they have some of the best meat I have ever put in my mouth. They are supposed to have the best cuisine in the whole world and I agree. Here in the MTC every thing is very wealthy to Peru´s standards. The people that cook hear are real chefs not just college students. However, the food is really weird. I have never drank so much water but don´t worry it is safe for Americans. They houses and buildings in Peru all have large walls and guards. Purevians are big on feeling safe and there are parts of lima that I could see why they feel that way. My companion speaks only Spanish which has been the biggest blessing here. I have learned three times as much Spanish as I would have in the Provo MTC. I can actually teach whole lessons and speak with my companion during companion study. He looks like the stereotypical Mexican but is from Bolivia. The South Americans are strong and motivating and just such cool people. I think when I get done with my mission I want to work for the church down here and teach these people. However, that´s a long time off. Anyway, I love you and hope everything is ok. Oh, one thing. It is actually extremely hard to get pictures to you. I am so sorry but that what you get when you're in Peru. But I am getting in such good shape. Actually the weight is coming down and I play futbol with the Latinos every day. They say I am a good but I think there just scared I´ll kill them or something. LOL Oh, by the way I am the biggest guy here ever. They think North Americans are industrectable or something. HaHa! But it is great! I love you much. Sorry if I forgot a question or two but i did my best.
LOVE YOU
Elder Fortenberry

First Letter from Peru MTC..

Well, I got my first email from Peru from Elder Fortenberry today. But yesterday was totally awesome because I was able to speak to him on the phone. He called from the Salt Lake Airport and then they had a three hour layover in Atlanta...(so close to home)..and he called again and we talked for a few minutes. He sounded so excited! At one point he said, "Mom, I'm actually going to Peru!" He was so cute and he has such a fire in his belly for the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was really hard to hang up the phone with him. I had wanted to go to Atlanta to see him during his layover but he didn't want me to. He said it would be like he was coming home and he is on his mission (state of mind) and he wants to stay that way. He is such a great missionary. And so the big adventure begins!


Hey Mom,

It's me from Peru. We arrived in at 11 o clock at night and it took forever to get our baggage from the airport. Oh, we ran into many groups from another church in the airport and on the plane. It was a big jumbo plane. When we were on the plane this preacher was bashing another Elder that was in the back of the plane and when I came back to use the bathroom the Elder asked for help with a question. He wanted to know why the Book of Mormon says that Jesus was born in Jerusalem and the bible says Bethlehem, I told him that it was because they are so close together and that the Book of Mormon was meant for the people in the Americas and the Bible is written by prophets in the middle east. And so it was only becuase the people in the Americas would know better where Jerusalem is instead of Bethlehem . Any way he then said we believe in a different Jesus than he does because Jesus did not visit the Americas. Then I said well if you don´t believe in a Jesus that loves people all the same so that he would visit them in America as well as in the Middle East then you are right, because our Jesus our Lord and Savior loves everyone the same and wants everyone to have the blessings of the gospel. Then I bore my testimony and told him if he wanted to truly learn that I would love to teach him but I would not sit and argue with him because I know that what I speak of is true. ( It was probably the coolest time ever.) Then we arrived in Lima and it is so different. It is so big but much more modern than one might think. They have no shame with advertising stuff like toilets. It is run down one second and the next it is like a casino and then there will be a statue of Jesus and Mary or an arch angel with wings with all kinds of flags around it. The Peru MTC is like a citadel with a wall and it has guards all around. I had to change companions from Elder Webb to Elder Chambi. As you can imagine he cannot speak a word of English which is ok because we are comunicating better and better. I think it is cool about that but the whole wall thing kinda bothers me I feel sort of confined, but it is ok. I love you I am safe. Write when you can.

They day has finally come....and gone...and so has he.

Well, after much anticipation, Elder Fortenberry has entered the Missionary Training Center. We had a going away party for him at the Cornelia Ward Building on June 11th. We grilled out hot dogs and hamburgers and everyone brought a side dish or a desert. It was a blast! We had about 100 people there! All of the ward members have been so awesome to Jesse. They are so supportive and sweet to him. We have the best Ward in the World!!! We also had a volleyball net up and we had a good assortment of ages playing. It was a really good time.
On June 15th Jesse was set apart by our Stake President, President Bradley, and given the power and authority to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ as a full time missionary. He also blessed him that he wouldn't have any problem with the language. It was an inspiring experience. When we got home from that we had to get everything packed. It was so crazy. I was up all night trying to get everything done. Hint: If you are going on a mission, don't wait til the last minute to pack, start early. We had everything in a box that he was taking but figuring out how to make everything for two years fit in three suitcases is quite a challenge. But, we did it and left our home in north Georgia at 5:00 am in order to drive the 2 hours to the Atlanta airport and catch our flight. We arrived in Salt Lake City in the afternoon. We picked up a few last minute things out there and had a nice dinner then we went to the hotel and crashed. We were beat!
The next day was the BIG day. We drove down to Provo and found the MTC. The process of dropping him off was nutso. The best way to say it is that is was controlled chaos. The people at the MTC knew exactly what they were doing so they were controlled but for those of us dropping off it was chaotic. They have had some cases of Swine Flu there so they have stopped allowing family in at all. As we pulled through the gate an elderly gentleman asked if I was dropping off a missionary. He also wanted to know if Jesse had any flu symptoms in the past week. Of course the answer was no, and he placed a yellow peice of paper under our wiper blade and sent us on. When we pulled up we found several parallel parking spaces numbered 1-12 and a young missionary assigned us a spot. I barely got the car in park and Jesse barely got his window down when another Elder stuck out his hand and introduced himself as Jesse's companion and welcomed him to the MTC. I went around and opened the trunk and two missionaries grabbed his luggage and older gentleman asked me Jesse's name and wrote down his new address on a peice of paper. Then Jesse gave me a hug, I kissed him and told him I loved him and then I got in the car and drove away....alone. It all happened in a matter of a couple minutes so there wasn't time to cry or be upset, which I guess is for the best.
I got my first letter from Elder Fortenberry a couple of days ago and he is doing great! He loves the MTC and can already bear his testimony in Spanish. The Lord has blessed him with the gift of tongues. He will have two more weeks at the MTC before he goes to the MTC in Lima for six weeks. But he is doing awesome and I could not be more pleased. If anyone would like to write him you can message me and I will be happy to give you his address.

What is the Lima Peru East Mission like?

I borrowed the following from Elder and Sister Zimmermans blog. He said it so well and I know very little about Peru.



Yungas region has an altitude of 1600 to 5000 feet above sea level. It includes the forest along the eastern slopes of the Andes mountains, with an extremely diverse climate, flora, and fauna. We travel through this region during our trips from Lima to Tarma:Quechua region, altitude 7500 to 11,500 feet, includes big valleys divided by rivers. The second largest city in our mission, Huancayo, is in this region. We live in Tarma, which is also part of this region:Suni region, 11,500 to 13,500 feet, is dry and cold. Cities in our mission in this region and that we have visited, include La Oroya (where we go every Saturday), Huancavelica, San Pedro de Cajas, and others. This picture shows the Suni region between Tarma and La Oroya:Puna region, 10,500 feet to 14,800 feet, includes the altiplanos or pampas (vast high plains), where puna grass grows. The two cities in our mission in the Puna region are Cerro de Pasco and Junín (where we go every Saturday). This picture shows the Puna region just outside Junín:Junca region includes the jagged, snow-covered mountains above 13,500 feet. This picture was taken near Ticlio, the mountain pass (at 15,800 feet) that we travel through going from Lima to Tarma:Rupa region, 1,600 to 2,300 feet, is the high jungle areas on the eastern side of the Andes Mountains. The city of La Merced in our mission (and where we attended a Multi-zone Conference) is included in the Rupa region:Omagua region is the low (below 1300 feet) jungle. We haven't been there yet, so we don't have pictures, but the town of Satipo in our mission is located in the Omagua region.We have an extremely geographically diverse mission, with probably the biggest elevation changes of any mission in the world.
Posted by Scott at 1:27 PM 3 comments
Labels: Misión Perú Lima Este, natural regions of Peru, Peru geography
Tuesday, April 14, 2009