Week 26 Letter

Monday, Dec 12, 2016

Hola Famlee! I hope you are enjoying your cold winter while I am sweating buckets. haha. This week...was just one of those weeks that all missionaries have, and it just took me 6 months to get there....A stupid but very wise quote from a friend "it sucks to suck" has been ringing in my head, and haunting me during all hours of the long and sleepless nights. Literally no sleep this week. Who am I kidding? I never sleep. Looking back, I don’t even know why it was so bad, just lots of little things every day that adds up, ya know? comps are hard, ward members are hard, lack of lessons is hard, slamming doors is hard, men yelling horrible things at me every day for the past 6 months is hard, progressing investigators breaking apart is hard, my health going out the window is hard, lots of new changes to the mission is hard, missions are hard. And I knew it would be. And I would rather be here than working and going to school life before, but this week just everything added up and I felt like such a failure of a missionary. it sucks to suck! And then Sunday night when you’re showing your cook/RS pres/mom how to dance like an American it just feels all better for a second. And then you pray more intently than ever before when your comp is sound asleep, and then you read the conference ensign in English at 4am and remember that it's a new week, you just feel better. Neal A. Maxwell said "Certain forms of suffering endured well, can actually be ennobling...Part of enduing well consists of being meek enough, amid our suffering to learn from our relevant experiences. Rather than simply passing though these things, they mis pass through us...in ways which sanctify us." Wow. Deep. Ali Lee, get over yourself and be meek and humble and endure your suffering. Really. Honestly, I am not even suffering and this week wasn't even that hard and I had so much to be grateful for. Soooooo all of this is to tell you that we can have a hard week and still be a successful missionary and still be happy and learn more from it more than any other week. I have seriously learned so much this week. And Revelations 7:17 says that God shall wipe away all the tears from our eyes...so while I have developed the literal inability to cry, I think that it is the thought that counts. We will have nothing to worry about when we are righteous and ready to enter in the kingdom of our loving Heavenly Father. So ya. Life is good. So good. 

This week a circus has been going on....check out the picture...real heck of a circus. haha. Also, I ate Ceviche which is breaking the number one rule of the mission...but my cook made it and said it was okay and the fish was cooked....(Ceviche is a famous Peruvian specialty in Trujillo; a dish with fish only cooked from lemon juice) it was SUPER good....but the fish was not cooked so that was great....i repented...and lost a little confidence in my cook. haha. I also drank Coca Cola for my first time ever in my life....nasty. I also repented of that. And of the inca kola soda I drank. But sometimes...all the time you should not drink the water here so when investigators give you water or coca cola, you take the pop. haha 

So my life is good. I Hope you all have the greatest week ever and enjoy your holiday season. I love you all. 

THINK OF ME when you listen to Christmas music and play in the cold...it seriously feels like I am still in July and Christmas is months away. hahahaha

Pics: a Christmas tree we set up for an investigator, the circus and our Christmas cactus...

Love, Hermana Lee

Week 25 Letter

Monday, Dec 5, 2016

BOOM! Kicked Novembre in the head. Happy diciembre! I can’t believe that Cameron is home. That is so crazy and doesn't feel real. Maybe because I am not there, but still. It is also weird to see pics of snow in Rexburg and really any kind of weather that is not super hot and sweaty and sunshiney. It has warmed up a lot here, and it will be hotter in January and February. It really doesn’t feel like Christmas time. It feels like it is still July. oh! This week I hit my 6 month mark on the mission. So weird. It feels like 2 weeks. 

The Christmas devotional was so great! I hope you l could watch it. Funny story, so we were in our building watching it right, and the voice overs are obviously in Spanish. I don’t know what I was expecting, but there isn’t a voice over for the choir...yeah Ali, duh, but it just caught me off guard. haha. But I am really excited for this Christmas season. With the 'light the world' we have been able to teach new investigators. It is awesome. And this week, we are having an open house in our chapel for the public. So we have to invite everyone on our area the day before...because people won’t come if you invite them a week or even 3 days ahead...time doesn’t exist here and it is pretty hard sometimes. But I am excited for this event. We are in charge of it but the ward has helped a lot.

Jean Carlos got baptized! He has 14 years and is super great. Another youth baptized him which was way cool. Jean Carlos moved here from Lima. His mom Jacky who is a recent convert lives here with her other 2 daughters and the grandma. Jacky works out of town and is only here for a couple of days once a month. so it was awesome that she could come to the baptism. But it has been so great to work with this family. The first time I taught Jean Carlos in their home, I felt like I had been there before, which obviously I haven’t. And it has become one of my favorite homes/families to visit. The spirit is so tender and special. This family has real problems and hardships, but they push through with such incredible faith. I love it. We are also teaching Cielo, the sister of Jean Carlos. 

okay, so i am the first American to serve in my area for a super long time, and the first sister missionary/American sister to ever serve in my area since forever. So I am the first real American that a lot of kids have seen. While my name tag says "Hermana Lee", I am more commonly known as princess, Queen Elsa, Barbie or nothing but a gasp. It is hilarious. We will knock at a door and little kids will come right up close to me and just look up and stare at my face, hair or eyes. It’s pretty funny. Or some of the older kids who "study" English in school will yell "hello" life’s rough as white kid. haha. 

I hope that you all have a great week, and enjoy this Christmas season. I love you all!

Think of me every time you put pitted black olives on your fingers before you eat them... yeah, okay, listen, you know how the can says in really big letters "PITTED olives?" yeah, this literally means that they are pitted and HAD a pit INSIDE. Who knew? Not me. You know how many times i was sent to the store to buy olives?  a lot. I guess that I just thought that god created olives for our fingers...here the olives are purple and have a ton of vinegar and are pretty nasty (but I eat them like I love them...) the first time I ate one, I was so confused when I spit out the pit. and then I had a flash back to all the times I bought olives, and I pictured in my head all the brands of olives and the designs and marks on the can and I remembered "pitted" being really big. haha. My life. 

Week 24 Letter

Monday, Nov 28, 2016

So this was good, but I don’t remember too much of it. We had a great mission conference with Elder Godoy of the 70. He is awesome! He talked a lot about our purpose as missionaries. A l lot about how here in this part of the world our focus is not less actives or even a lot of recent converts, but more of just investigators that are progressing....wow! Super different than what the missionaries were taught before with their old president, so there are a lot of changes to well, everything in our mission, and I am totally on board with it. But Elder Godoy is super powerful. He also talked a lot about how the mission is not a time to find your spouse and for basically the elders to stop talking with young women in the ward and be super careful with us sister missionaries...so that was awesome. Basically just common sense. haha. But a really powerful conference. And then, after, the assistants to the president told me that Elder Godoy was going to have an interview with me, so that was great....but really. We talked for literally 5 minutes and it was awesome. He asked a little about my family, the best thing of my mission, the hardest thing of my mission and then some counsel. I love how direct he is. We also have interviews with our president every transfer, and our interview was the same. 5  minutes. So great. jaja. 

This week we taught tons of lessons with new investigators, so that’s way awesome. But no one here is married. We talked to a couple that has been together for 48 years but faults marriage....what???????? Crazy. But hopefully we will have a wedding this next month! Followed by a bautismo. 

I hope y'all had a great thanksgiving. I hope y'all ate so much that you couldn't walk after...because that I how I feel every single day after lunch. My pensionita loves me and hates me...jaja. 

As a missionary you really just learn to go with it. Like when the teacher for society relief or young womens doesn’t come to church you just teach. Or when you’re sitting in the room of the sacrament and the bishop announces that you are going to give a 15 minute talk with a devil smile. You just get up and do it. haha. That happens a lot here, and I am pretty sure my ward i tired of hearing from me, but they all are so loving and great. We are really blessed in our ward.  

So ya, Have the best week ever. Enjoy Cameron mucho. I LOVE YOU ALL! 

THINK OF ME WHEN YOU use a doorknob....here they don’t have doorknobs to the house. So you ALWAYS need a key to get in or leave. for all doors, even bedroom doors. I forgot that doorknobs are a thing. haha. 

PICS: THANKS for the Thanksgiving card! 

A generation pic with my "mom" (trainer and my trainee  (is that a word?) Everyone calls it that the trainer is the mom and the trinee is the son or daughter. I don’t really like that, but I like this picture. haha 

And then my signature picture....but with a mango. :) 

Week 23 Letter

Monday, Nov 21, 2016

So this week waas probably the longest week of the mission...I started training a new missionary, we had tons of meetings and looking back it actually wasn´t that long...haha. It was super sad to say goodbye to Hermana Soto, but she will be awesome in her new area and I have a new comp! Hermana PACHECO. She has 20 years, is a convert recent of 2 years and is from Lima. She is super great. she is still super new to the gospel so I have to teach a lot, but by the end of these next 11 weeks, she is going to be a scripture mastorian, super obedient and a super hard worker who will be able to walk fast. ;) I have really come to appreciate the phrase "We love Heavenly Father and Jesu Christ because They first loved us." (Elder Hales). It can be hard to love someone you don't know. But I have to love her first so that she will love the mission, the people, the work and the gospel. We had an awesome training with our President, who brought a lot of fear and then a lot of comfort. So that's great. I’ve been in the mission for 5 months, the mission field for 4 (más o menos) and I have to train and be the leader and be super happy 24/7. I had to do that before, but now it all of a sudden feels harder. haha. But that is okay. It’s gonna be a great next couple of months. 

Anderson was baptized! He is 10 year old and so great. He is super serious in gospel things. and his answers are always so deep. His family is less active. We rescued hi grandma, and he started coming to church with her after a lot of teaching and even pleading....and then, he has a friend in primary and it is sooooooooo awesome. Anderson started to bloooooooom. We are now teaching his family too. They aare super great, and are an x missionary/sealed in the temple but have to work on Sundays. But miracles happen. Anderon, who really has zero words (it’s like pulling teeth to get him to talk...but when he does its great) shared his testimony after his baptism. So great. His parents also shared their testimony. And a pineapple cake after was the perfect ending. ;) 

Thanks to Anderson, we are now teaching his cousin who is 8, Kevyn. He is a timid shy boy who "felt so good and like in the house of God" at the baptism of Anderson. So he is preparing for baptism. As well as 2 young kids and Danis a 21 year old girl who is pretty golden. The sad thing is she studies all day every day from 7am-10pm so we can only teach her after church Sundays...but in December she is going to Lima for 3 months...but like I said before, miracles happen. I love finding new people to teach. It’s great. Takes a lot of work, but it is rewarding. haha. 

Also, this week (I PROMIE I AM NOT TRUNKY) i had just said goodbye to Hermana Soto and was in the taxi/bus played "summer of '69" "Take on me" and of all randomness "Sound of Silence." yup. I think that was a little tender mercy. hahaha 

Funny story...sometimes while I wait for my comp to get ready I read the dictionary. Today I read a Spanish word "jaboncillo." jabon ids soap. so Jaboncillo is "cake of toilet soap." awesome. I will be for sure using that word....hahahaha. 

THINK OF ME every time you drink juice that is not peach juice.....thats all they have here! Peach juice....like from canned peaches. Yup. Peach juice. or inca kola; a bubble gum flavored pop that is more common than water here.  

Love you,

Sis Hermana Lee

Week 22 Letter

Monday, November 14, 2016

Tranfers: I have only had one area...Esperanza for about 4 1/2  months now...and...I’M STAYING!!!! And training a brand new missionary from Lima for the next 12 weeks! I will meet her tomorrow. I’m excited. I have to learn Spanish....hahahaha I will miss Hermana Soto a lot, we have become really good friends. But she isn't going too far. 

Ok, so this week, Wednesday, we were walking down the street, and from a distance, I saw a newspaper hanging with a pic of Hilary Clinton smiling and waving...I didn’t see the words but I threw up in my mouth and had this horrible pain in my chest and I almost passed out (my lack of water may have helped out with that...) But all day I felt so horrible...until our ward council when my bishop said that Donald Trump won and I then I felt a little better. haha. Yeah, let’s just say I "love" listening to Latinos talk about American Politics....hahaha. Ya anyways, 

We went to Chan Chan with our pensionista/cook and our ward mission leader and his family. So fun. Chan Chan are ancient ruins from the Incas. Super cool. A great pday. 

Santos Pareda Llanos got baptized!!!!!!! It was such a great service! He also received the priesthood. He is so great and beams with the light of Christ. I am so happy for him. He shared the sweetest testimony after. He will make a great leader in the church. I will send pictures in another email. We also have another baptism planned for this week. Anderson Castillo. He is 10 years old. His parents are less active, and we started teaching him and his older sister; they now come to church with their grandma. They are so fun to teach, and the primary kids have done a great job of helping them out. :) 

 Also, this week, I wrote 2 songs because it’s been a while....obviously mission appropriate and in Spanish. Side note, rhyming words in Spanish is harder than in English. haha. But that was fun. Felt a little more like me. All good stuff. 

Spiritual thought: As missionaries, we focus our teaching around the priesthood authority of God. This is our favorite video to share. 

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2012-01-001-power-of-god?lang=eng

Think of me every time you go to someone’s house and eat something other than fruitcake....

I LOVE YOU ALL! 

Hermana Lee

This is our security system - broken glass lining the top of our fence.

Week 21 Letter

Monday, November 7, 2016

So I wrote out this whole great email and then my computer shut down and my draft didn’t save which is dumb because I thought that goggle saves the draft every 5 seconds but I can’t find my original letter and I don’t have time and that kind of stinks.....but this week was really good. Lots of great lessons with Santos. He is getting baptized this weekend. He is so great. He was really unsure about getting baptized, but really likes the church. He has assisted every Sunday, reads the Book of Mormon, and prays and completes all of our commitments...but was really unsure about baptism and has pushed it off. But we had a miracle last minute lesson with him in the home of a member family. We taught the plan of salvation and the spirit was so strong and he accepted to be baptized and he is super excited. He is great. Also this week, MIRACLES: I found a bodega (a super little, little store that is on every single corner...or really every other house) that has orange juice!!!!!! So I bought some and drank it all in less than 5 minutes. Also, turron; this orange super hard pastry...but it has honey inside!!!!!! HONEY! So great. hahahaha. I love you all so much!!!!!! 

p.s. this week we have studied courage a lot to help our youth investigators and les actives. Captain Moroni is so great. Pretty sure the person that wrote Jack Reacher read the Book of Mormon and all about Moroni. Also, Joshua in the Old Testament is pretty great too. We are teaching a FHE lesson tonight about Joshua and it will be epic. 

Also, last week I taught a FHE lesson on the Sabbath day and used dad’s sugar cookie lesson. It was a hit. 

THINK OF ME every time you eat a flippin' taco. hahahaha 

Exercise doesn’t exist here.....well, the blessings of exercise cease to exist. I work out hard core for 40 minutes every morning and have still gained so much weight.......poop. But that is awesome about getting ready for Christmas. And Thanksgiving at Grandmas. I had a dream about her house the other night actually. Anyways, life I all good. Transfers are next week. I think that I will stay and my comp will leave. But hey, anything can happen. I don’t want to leave. But I know that as soon as you really love and area or companion...yeah. Adios. I don’t really have anything else to say....I LOVE YOU! 

How is dad’s movie Death house????????? 

I have also decided that you and dad need to get a jar and start saving up money for when I get home....I have TONS of food I need to make for y'all!!!!!

Week 20 Letter

Monday, October 31, 2016

Wow! Holy speedy this week. I can't believe that it is already Monday. Super crazy. Today we are going to the mission home to have Pday with the zone and President. So that should be fun. Last pday, I made banana bread!!!! bien rico. Super tasty. And then cookies too. haha. Hermana Soto and our pensionista Hermana Margarita love me. And what can I say, I like being loved. ;) But that was fun. 

Ya, this week; Super great. We had tons of lessons and found more investigators and have more on date. Lots of work. It is so great! Yesterday we had a record high in the ward of 6 investigators in the church. So that was a huge miracle. Lots of walking around to collect people, but that is quite alright. Also, yesterday was our primary program and it was so wonderful. All the kids had all their parts memorized, matching ties and matching flower crowns. So great. Children really bring a Spirit to our meeting. People always said that, and I thought they were crazy. Kids bring a special spirit, but I wouldn’t have necessarily said kids bring "the" Spirit. But yesterday, a miracle in its own happened. We taught and rescued a less active woman. She has a 7 year old granddaughter that she has been bringing to the church. Her granddaughters name is Illari. She wants her nonmember mom to come to church so bad, but she has a lot of work. She is policia. Yesterday, she got called into work and couldn’t come last minute to the program to watch Illari. So Illari was really sad. But then, during the opening hymn, at the piano, I heard Illari yell out "mommy" and sure enough her mom KAarla came!! And she super felt the spirit and it was so great. She has had a lot of hardships in her life, but she wants to continue meeting with us. So awesome. So yeah, Lee children, you are awesome. 

  

What else happened this week....HAPPPPPPPY HALLOWEEEEEEEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so sad that it doesn’t exist here but I took this pic just for you guys. ;) 

Have the BEST WEEK EVER! I love you all and am praying like crazy for y'all. 

Hermana Lee

p.s. THANKS FOR YOUR HALLOWEEN CARD FAMLEE! 

Also, think of me every time you eat a grape without 4 seeds, or a cutie mandarin without 3 seeds in every slice and a bunch of other food without seeds. I really took for granted Americanized fruit. I don’t care what chemicals are used. I prefer to eat my fruit without seeds. And fish without the head/entirety and I prefer not to eat intestines. But that’s a whole other story. hahaha

 So, I am a GIANT here.  haha

Week 19 Letter

Monday, October 24, 2016

What a week of miracles! Alan was baptized! It has been a long 3 months of working with him. We found him in our area book without an address and phone number, but we felt that we needed to teach him. So, we experienced many miracles of finding his phone number, him finally answering his phone, finding his house, finally having a lesson, and after lots of prayers, finally keeping commitments, and then FINALLY coming to church and then being baptized. I have really seen what true intentions are, and what it looks like to have a real desire. I have really seen the blessings of the atonement through Alan, because he was a very troubled man. Many times he lost hope, his family lost hope, and even at times...lots of times we felt discouraged. But the atonement never fails. This last week he has been beaming. And I will never forget his joy the night of his baptism dressed in white, wet and cold, and then in a newly trimmed suit. His is great. SO great. 

This week we had an awesome service project. Thank you mom and dad for teaching me how to work hard and thank you dad for making me go out and get wood with you and work with you and work when I am tired and sick. Because that morning, I woke up close to death. And then a quick and easy service project turned into me using a bajillion year old machete equal to a butter knife to chop a bunch of plants, mini trees, plywood and then a tree. Yup. A tree. 4 hours of nonstop chopping. The best solution for sickness is to work. I was so grateful because missionary work isn’t physically hard or draining. I ran a ton before the mission and so walking all day, every day is no problem. But I really missed working, working. My shoulder sure payed for it though. The last couple of days icy hot has been my best friend-  haha. 

All is so good here! I LOVE YOU! 

Hermana Lee

Think of me when you eat honey....I MISS IT SO MUCH! I will seriously crave honey. 

Think of me again (because I forgot to say something last week) when you drink lemonade...I miss that too. 

Week 18 Letter

Monday, October 17, 2016

Hola Famlee! 

This week FLEW. Like I don't even know how. Crazy. 

This week, we had a super great week with lessons!!! The more work we have, the faster time flies I feel like. Anyways, we have a baptism this weekend, but there is a lot of opposition, so keep Alan in your prayers. Last week we had interviews with our president. He is super great. My interview was literally 5 minutes. Maybe less. But it was really powerful. You don't need a lot of time to learn a lot. But he had me pray in English, and I think that was the hardest thing I have ever done in my mission....haha. Not. But yeah, he told me that half of it was Spanish and the other half really bad English, and that I have a slight accent....I’ve been here 4 months and I can't speak English...I can think it in my head, no? And read in my head in English. But saying them is super hard and different. My mouth always feels so weird when I speak in English. So I guess that is good news. 

I had intercambios this week with a Hermana from Mexico. I went to her area. That was super great. But I broke rules and drank fresh strawberry juice. Wow, big deal no? But we really can’t eat strawberries because you can’t clean them for reals. But we weren't going to tell this crying lady that we couldn't drink her juice (people genuinely get offended that we can’t eat their food). But I am still alive and not sick soooo that must mean that I can eat strawberries now right? Ya, no kidding. I should obey ALL of the rules, right? haha. 

Spanish soap operas are soooooo real! And they are all the same. A crying lady and a man in a hospital bed. Or a crying lady in her super big house with 2 crying men. Yup. Everyone watches them, and I can't help but think of psych. I know I have problems. 

Also, last pday we traveled 45 minutes to get some drink from Argentina for my comp. A store with a bunch of imported goods. AND I SAW HALLOWEEN STUFF. Miracles. ;) But then I also saw sandbackles and I might have said a little prayer of gratitude that I don’t have to make any this year. ;) 

Spiritual thought, I studied integrity this morning. Super great. But I really think that integrity is when our actions match our beliefs. We can believe in eternal life, and in God, and in happiness, but do your everyday every minute actions reflect our beliefs? Or integrity from a worldy standpoint is the same. When our actions match our beliefs. But when we change our beliefs to match our actions, its rationalization. And when we change our actions to match our beliefs, it's repentance. So really, integrity = repentance. :D 

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!