Week 49 Letter

Monday, May 22, 2017

Hey Famlee! How goes the life of all? Life here is crazy. Lots of things happened this week, and I just know that this week is going to FLY BY!!!!!! Because we have 2 interchanges to do and zone conference and tons of stuff. Oh my. Crazy how time flies. 

Physical Therapy is going good. As good as torture gets, but I feel a lot better. What else....being an hermana leader for the last 6 months has opened my eyes to A LOT of things...and this week was a whole other world with some things that happened. And what else....oh. These hats in this picture are super cultural. It means you are a real Cajamarquino. Or person from Cajamarca. This one is pretty new and pretty little....and costed 500 soles. That’s 150 dollares. WHAT? 150 bucks for this hat? And the CRAZY old lady said that was cheap and that her other one was bigger and costed 700 bucks but got stolen. Crazy. haha. But it was fun taking pics with her. She is a mom of one of our investigators.

The other pic is a view from my house. The sky here is soooo pretty compared to Trujillo and the desert. It reminds me of the sky at home. And what else....and then there is this cake that EVERYONE loves here. But...it’s unflavored Jell-O with dry cake....haha. I LOVE the Peruvian food....but they could use some help with their pastries. Like, the other day, I found cheesecake! WHAT? So I bought a piece because you just have to....but it was not cheesecake. I’m not even sure if it was edible. It was not even worth 90 American cents. hahahaha. 

Anyways, I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. This week we will continue to see miracles with finding new people. It’s been a really awesome couple of weeks finding new people. So that’s super good. 

THINK OF ME every time you eat cheesecake. 

Do you want to know what an hermana lider does? 

1. in the words of my president: the zone leader of the hermanas

2. The persons to go to when you are having a rough and emotional problems. 

3. Basically sometimes a babysitter. 

4. Have 24 hour exchanges to be the example leader and to train them more 

5. Train in zone conferences 

6. Be on the leadership counsel of the mission 

7. LOVE even when its realllllllllly hard...or when common sense or emotional stability doesn’t exist. 

8. be the example. 

Lots of stuff. We have a missionary in our zone with TONS of anxiety who is now training and was the comp of my comp. So there are some challenges there. It’s been a lot of time with her. But you know what? I have learned soooo much working with her. She is soooo awesome and so incredible. I really have learned so much. I think heavenly father is preparing me for something specific. I don’t know what, but I’m so grateful. You just learn how to love so much. I never thought I could be a sister training leader because I don’t like talking about feelings, and all. But it has been a really humbling 6 months. It’s great. But sometimes hard. haha. 

I don’t know. We have 3 more weeks. I really don’t know what is going to happen. My comp finishes next transfer. So either I leave now, or I have 2 more transfers here. So A LOT of time. I am planning on buying all the cool Peruvian stuff here (because it’s the only place) soon just in case I leave this transfer. I don’t know how I feel about it either. It will be sad to leave, but I kind of feel ready for it. haha.

Week 48 Letter

Monday, May 15 2017

Talking with y'all yesterday was a blast! You all look so great! I still can't believe how low Koli's voice is, and the dance moves of Levi, and oh that laugh of Jet! Gets me every time. But really, so good to talk to you guys, even if it was just for a little bit. But it was awesome. 

For mother’s day we made our pensionista crepes, and oh my I have missed them so much. Why I haven’t made them until now, I do not understand. But such is life. We ate them with Nutella, bananas, caramel, peaches, and powdered sugar. SOOOO GOOD. I miss syrup though, and whipped cream. But that’s beside the point. 

Today we went to Cumbamayo, some ancient rocks up in the mountains. Super cool. Our stake President is a tour guide, so he took us up there. It was pretty sweet. We went through some tombs so that was cool. I don’t have pics because well, the tombs were completely dark so...haha. 

Anyway, a quick letter today, but I LOVE YOU ALL! 

Think of me every time you eat syrup. 

Pics: some of my pics from returning to Esperanza. I will try to send some of today. 

This milk in a box is the closest thing to real milk. I am so tired of drinking evaporative milk. hahaha (I think that’s what it’s called...) 

Matias my best friend

Crepes with Hermana Eulogia 

Oops, here is the pic of Matias. And then Maria Lopez; a member in the ward who is like a grandma. She makes really good guinea pig and rabbit. She is crazy, but so funny. And then Ana and Kevin. Ana was a less active, and Kevin isn’t a member. They recently got married when Ana started coming back to church. We have been teaching Kevin this whole time, but he hasn’t had a whole lot of interest in getting baptized. But we had a miracle of a lesson with him this week. They are so fun.

Week 47 Letter

Monday, May 8, 2017

Hey, I don’t have a whole lot of time, but hey! How are you all? This week rained a lot and has been doing a lot of cold. But that’s okay! We were running around with our heads chopped off trying to find new people to teach, so that has been really great! We have talked to so many people! And it payed off. 

OKAY FAMLEE:

Wednesday night at 10:30 we hopped on a bus for a long ride to Trujillo for a council...counsel...counsol...consejo. Anyways, it was a rough ride, but we made it to Trujillo at 5:30am and we went straight to the apartment of the sister leaders in central, Hermana Soto...AKA my trainer. SOOOOO Fun to see her. It made me think of all of my time in Esperanza with her. It was an answer to pray to be with her that day. Then, after the consejo, the secretaries forgot to buy us bus tickets back, so we had all the afternoon in Trujillo...so MIRACLE: we went out with other sister lideres that are now in Esperanza....WHAT? My first area of 6 months! It was the BEST DAY EVER. It felt like home. The dirt, dead dogs, sick dogs, drunks, heat, teaching, it all just felt so natural. It was really hard to explain it. It just felt so right. I of course visited my converts and they are all doing well. I think that is the greatest joy of the mission, to go back and see that these people, who you watched change their lives, are still going strong, and even stronger than before. Hermano Santos and Alejandro have the higher priesthood, Santos is the ward secretary, Alejandro is in mission prep classes, Vicky and Anita are going to the temple often to do their family work, Danis is doing well and the others are assisting every week! It just made me so happy to hear about all of them! And 2 of the less-actives we helped come back are going through the temple this week! I don’t think that I have ever been as happy as I was Thursday in Esperanza. It just felt so good. And to visit the members, go out teaching with them like normal, all was such a huge blessing and miracle that I had been praying for. It was such a perfect afternoon. Ay ay ay I can’t even begin to tell y'all how happy I was. It was just so hard to say goodbye again. Heartbreaking. I of course went back and saw margarita my pensionista and she almost passed out of shock and joy. haha. I can’t send pics today, but I have a ton. Esperanza is seriously my home. So if I don’t show up in the airport in some months, just know that I am probably in Esperanza. hahaha. No, jokes. But this whole time in Esperanza made me think and reflect about a lot of things, why I came on a mission, why I’m still on the mission, what I want to do, my goals for the rest of the mission. It was really a once in a lifetime opportunity that was almost too good to be true, but an experience where I LEARNED A TON. This one day, I think I was the happiest in all of my life, but I learned more in these 6 hours than in any training, class or counsel I have ever been in, INCREDIBLE. 

So, that happened and was the highlight of my week, and probably mission. haha. But it gave me motivation to work even harder here in Cajamarca. So that’s good. We have lots planned this week! 

Also you should know that my PT is going good. I’m getting better and sleeping better these last days. I got back again tomorrow. But I have been really strict about doing my PT everyday on my own time to get better faster. I have seen so many real miracles with this. 

My pensionista is going to Lima for my birthday, so I don’t know what I will eat. hahaha. Hopefully something light. The Peruvians eat sooooo much!!!! You won’t judge me if I go on a strict diet for a while after my mission, right? I really need to clean out my body. I probably have tons of worms. hahahaha. Jokes...but not really. 

I LOVE YOU! THINK OF ME EVERYTIME YOU listen to Billy Joel. I heard Uptown Girl the other day and it was great. haha. 

OH MY GOSH I want taco chili bake sooooo bad. And pineapple cake. Well, not now, I’m kind of sick but whatever. hahaha. That’s crazy about the stake conference because we had stake conference yesterday too! Tech was screwed too, but that’s Peru for you. Our stake president is the best. He is a lot like dad. His family is great too; I have a lot of respect for his wife. They don’t live in our ward but with the zone leaders we had a FHE with them once. They are so powerful. 

Ya, there are the scriptures about the stripling warriors and their moms, but you already knew about those. So check out these scriptures I found for you with ALL OF MY LOVE: 

Proverbs 18 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

Proverbs 1520 A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish man despiseth his mother.
Ezekiel 16:44 ¶ Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, as is the mother, so is her daughter. Thanks for being awesome so that I could be. ;) hahaha. 

I just thought these were funny. Sometimes it’s funny to take scriptures out of context without apostasy. haha.  I really love you so much. Thanks for being awesome. I can’t wait to talk to you Sunday! Sooooo sorry that I am not really that great with feelings....but just know that I love you! Te amo para siempre!!!!!

I’m not trunky, but I want like, 20 kids. At least 15, I have to beat you. ;) That’s the joke here in Peru, that I will beat my mom. hahahaha. I think that they have all caught on to the fact that I am super competitive. ;) 

Week 46 Letter

Monday, May 1, 2017

My birthday is in May (wow, this month) and Hermana Chacon's in June, so we wanted to celebrate together. We celebrated ALL of our birthdays with our pensionista and her family. 

Janeth is a member who comes out with us all the time. She served a mission in Chile. She is CRAZY! haha.

This is Janeth. She is in my ward and an x missionary. She knows my new comp and I really think that Janeth will SAVE MY LIFE this transfer. hahaha. She is so crazy and I love her.

It’s still really throbby but I have more range of motion. PT is going good. Sleep is still a hit and miss. Just, I’m fine. I’m good. But I just could really use some extra prayers from you, Hermana Chacon finished her mission and went home and my new comp is a little hard. Well, a lot, there’s a bunch of back story that I don’t even want to bother with because I’m doing my part. There are always hard comps, and I have had them. But...well...I will learn a lot this transfer.

My comp is from southern Peru and then lived in Lima for 5 years before the mission. I’m sorry, but she is my 3rd comp from Peru, and I assumed you knew that.  I love Peru soooooo stinking much, but really? hahahahahaha. I’m fine really. I was just being a baby for a sec. Emily Borders martin sent me a lifesaving email. haha.