"...and they were in number about [20 souls]; yea and they were baptized in the waters of [Lima Peru]

 Muy buenos dias mi amado familia! ¡Como estan? Espero que estan

felices y que estan animados para conferencia general este fin de
semana! woo!

This week was super good. On Saturday we had our tarde blanco and it
went really well! Satan always tries to put a stop to good things, but
in the end everything worked out well and they are 20 new members of
the church in our little part of Peru :) Two of our investigators were
baptized, M. and Y.. They are so special the both of them. I
don´t remember all I´ve told you...but I am pretty sure I have told
you about them. Y.´s mom is also super special; she told us this
week that she wants to be baptized as well. We are starting the
process of her papers so she can get married, and baptized in the
month of April. Her dad we found out was baptized when he was really
young alongside his family but he went inactive at a young age as well
and so we are working with him as well so that he can reactivate and
receive the priesthood and that the three of them can attend church as
a family.
Also, Remember the new family with ten kids that we found last week?
Well, we had our first real lesson with them this week and it went
really well! As the dad was talking to us he was talking about how he
just feels like there is something missing in his life, and that he
has felt confused with all of the other churches because they all
interpret the bible differently, and how he is just searching for the
truth. He also said, that this is something that they want to do as a
family and that he feels like his time has finally come, and that he
will be able to find what he is looking for. We were able to testify
of that to him, that this is the church of Jesus Christ, and is the
only true church and that the families are integral in Heavenly
Fathers plan for us, and the spirit was so strong! My companion and I
were having a hard time containing our excitement while he was
talking, and I had to contain myself because I just wanted to jump up
and shout, ´´what you are looking for is right here!´´ and just teach
it all in that moment, but. Line upon line. It´ll come :) They were
excited to come to church yesterday, but ended up not being able to
because they had to move out of their house that day, but they are in
their new house now (which luckily is still in our area) and we are
excited to see how things go with them :)

On Saturday night we were able to go to the women’s conference and it
was so good! We brought M. with us, and I can´t remember who was
talking, but she was talking about the covenant of baptism and was
talking directly to recent converts. We got there late because we had
to go all the way to the stake center and the traffic at nights is
horrendous here (also we left as soon as we could after the baptism
ended) and we walked in during this talk. We sat down right during
that talk, and it was like she was talking directly to M.! It was
super cool. (It was right after singing teach me to walk in the light,
when she had the young girls stand up) M. really enjoyed it,
and....I did too :) I didn´t know that they were changing it to be an
all women’s conference though! Why did they make the change? Are they
not doing the young women’s and relief society meetings separate
anymore?

Anyways,

I have so much I want to tell you, but, I want to send pictures more
and our zone leaders are cutting our internet time today so I will end
it here.

Solo quiero decirles que, este es la Iglesia verdadera! Sin dudas. Es
aqui donde encontramos paz y felicidad. Les quiero mucho y estoy muy
animada para escuchar a un profeta viviente este semana!

Hermana Shelton

Nine months down, nine to go!

Rachel and two of her MTC companions got to attend the
 Temple together to celebrate their half way point.

The results of "tarde blanco".  
20 new members with their missionaries

There were so many cameras, no one knew where to look.

Little Miracles

Hello Everybody! Another week has come and gone, and it’s been a good
one! I know I just have sooooo much to tell you so we`ll see how much
I can get in. I think I am going to copy and paste my email to
president again to make this easier  :)

Most exciting news! I went to the temple on Wednesday! I was finally
able to see the new movie and it was INCREDIBLE. I literally could not
stop thinking about it for dayyyys. Hermana Goulding said it best as
we left the temple. She said, ``Every time I leave the temple I just
feel like my batteries have been recharged`` (salgo con full pilas!)
and it’s true. I can`t wait to be able to go to the temple whenever I
want again. That is a luxury I will definitely take advantage of :)

This week is going to be awesome! We have our tarde blanco
(white...afternoon.) on Saturday and there are 24 people that will be
baptized. Two of them are ours :) (and here is where I will paste the
letter to president) ``We are both really excited for our tarde blanco
this week with our zone. We will be having two investigators that will
be baptized, M. and Y.. None of M. family are members, but
they also want to learn more and are really excited for her baptism
(they will all be coming) and her older brother is counting down the
days for her. We have high hopes for them. And it is the same with
Y.! Her mom and dad aren`t members, but her aunt is and that is how
she was introduced to the church. She has been attending with her aunt
for the past month or so and when her mom asked her if she wanted to
baptized in the catholic church or in the Mormon church she responded,
I want to be like my tia M.! And so she has been taking the
lessons from us and is also counting down the days until her baptism.
She has invited allllll of her family. (We gave her ten invitations
and she asked for more) and we have also been teaching her mom
alongside of her and her mom told us in the last lesson that she would
like to be baptized as well! But she needs to get married first and so
it will take a little more time, but they both came to conference this
last weekend and we are excited as well to see how things go with
them``

Y. is the sweetest little girl. She is almost 11 and she asks
harder questions than some adults I`ve taught! She was raised catholic
and it is a tradition that when you are baptized in the catholic
church you receive a god mother and god father. Well, after one of our
lessons she turned to me and asked if I would be her ``madrina`` (god
mother) and we had to explain that we don`t have those but it was
still really sweet :) These two girls that will be baptized this week
are SO special. I feel like so many people will be blessed by their
example and we are so excited to be working with their families. They
have both told us as well that they want to be missionaries just like
us. They are going to be great missionaries someday :)

Ok. Another ``little miracle`` this week, Our last contacts of the week
was an awesome experience. As we were walking down the street we both
felt prompted to talk to a family. So we went up, said hi and we all
started talking immediately like old friends. I am pretty sure we sat
there and talked to them for about 40 minutes (we were able to teach a
small lesson right then and there) and we found out that two years ago
they had been taking the lessons from two sister missionaries, one
from the states and one from Bolivia! They said we looked exactly like
them. We asked them why they`d stopped taking the lessons (because
they had even ended up going to church several times as well) and they
said they went on vacation and lost contacts with the missionaries.
But the wife’s mom recently passed away and she has been feeling really
alone, so we were able to talk about the plan of salvation and they
all said they want to come back to church. They said we can come over
whenever we want, and they will be waiting for us, and the best part?
They are married....with 10 kids! Needless to say, we are excited to
get to know and work with this family more :)

Also, remember how I told you about E., our last baptism? Two
weeks ago her family wanted nothing to do with the church and her mom
forbade her daughter from going to her baptism. But her mom told her
this last week that she has noticed such a difference in her daughter
and that there is a different ``light`` in the house. Where two weeks
ago she wouldn`t allow the book of Mormon in her house, the other day
Elizabeth caught her reading from it! It is like a night and day
difference. Remember how I said I was so excited for E. because I
knew the Lord would bless her for her decision? Well...We are seeing
those blessings coming and it is incredible!

Ok. I guess we have to go. So that is all for this week. I need to
send pictures but that will have to wait as well. I love you all and
thank you for all your letters!

Love,

Hermana Shelton

Senior companion, mama, Designated cockroach killer

Hola! Happy St. Patrick’s Day as well! I am most definitely wearing
green, and so is my companion :) (even though she`s never heard of St.
Patrick’s day before) Yes, I did get your hump day letter, thank you! I
will be celebrating my ``hump day`` in the best way possible, Me, and
a couple of the hermanas from my group are going to the temple! Yay! I
am super excited because I still haven`t seen the new movie, and all
the missionaries just keep talking about how awesome it is. So on
Wednesday, I`ll be in the temple :)

So being the senior companion brings lots of responsibilities. One of
them is being in charge of killing all the little bugs and creatures
that find their way into our apartment. We had an ``experience`` this
past week, that I think is funny, (my companion doesn`t think it’s that
funny) but I thought you`d enjoy it :) One thing you have to
understand as well is that my companion is deathly afraid of insects.
All types of them, doesn`t matter how big or small. Ok.
Last Tuesday night we were laying in our beds when all of a sudden my
companion started screaming and literally flew from her bed to the
other side of the room. I was like, hey! What happened?! Whats wrong?
And she couldn`t even tell me, she was so freaked out. So I went over
to her bed and there was a HUGE cockroach crawling across her pillow.
And I am not even joking, this thing was HUGE. Probably almost the
size of my fist. And then this thing literally took flight and FLEW
over to my bed. (I didn`t know cockroaches could fly....) Luckily
cockroaches don`t bother me, so I was just trying to figure out how to
get rid of it, but my poor companion was almost having a melt down.
(as you can see from the picture...) anyway, I brushed it off my bed
and smashed it with one of my shoes and got rid of it, and was finally
able to coax my companion off of her chair when she saw ANOTHER
cockroach crawling across the wall. Ha, there was no way this girl was
sleepin that night! This one was a little harder to kill, but I was
able to get rid of it and our apartment was finally cockroach free,
but my companion wasn`t able to sleep at all that night, poor girl.
Last night I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom
and as I was washing my hands another cockroach crawled up from behind
the soap. Ha. I got rid of it as quietly as I could, and as I was
brushing it out the door my companion woke up and asked me what I was
doing. I was like, oh, um...nothing! Don`t worry about it! haha.
Its good the bugs don`t bother me, cause I can get rid of them, but I
just hope another mouse doesn`t show up cause then there is no way
either one of us will be able to get rid of that thing, and we`ll have
to call the district leader again, for help :) hahaha did I tell you
that story? That’s another good one for another day.

In regards to what happened this week with the work, I am going to
copy and paste my email that I sent to president because the internet
is being really slow and we don`t have much time left :P
``Things in Begonias are good! My companion is progressing and
learning really fast, and it is a joy being her companion. We had a
lot of disappointments, but some really good moments these week as
well. We have been trying to focus on having the spirit in the lessons
and asking inspired questions so as to know the needs of those we are
teaching. We had a cool experience yesterday, one of our
investigators, M. de los A., really wants to be baptized. She
is really awesome, she was introduced to the church through a friend
in Pucallpa and when she got here to Lima she came looking for the
missionaries at the institute building and ever since we have teaching
her and she progressed so fast! The problem though was that her family
didn`t want to give her permission to be baptized. Well, yesterday we
had a cita with her and her family, and I don`t know what we said (we
said a prayer together before going in) but whatever we said worked
because they signed her permission and are excited to come to her
baptism and they said they would like us to come and teach them!
We are really excited for her.
Also, our bishop told us that he really enjoyed the training with
Elder Waddell and that he wants to have a special meeting with the
members of consejo and the missionaries so we can talk about how we
can even better implement the work of salvation in our ward. Yay! I
feel like things are going to get even better and we are going to be
able to work even more unitedly.
The work is progressing and I have definitely seen the hand of the
Lord this week. If all goes well, our family will be married and
baptized this Saturday.

Well, that’s about it for this week! I`ll fill you in more on our
investigators next week. On the 29th we are going to have a ``white
night`` with our zone which is a combined baptism for all of the zone
and I am really excited! Maria is going to be baptized that night.

Also, I forgot to tell you about Elder Waddell! Our meeting with him
was really awesome. He was with our mission for three days and he
spoke with all of the members of the ward council in each one of our
stakes in the mission. It’s crazy to see all that is happening now that
the lord is hastening his work!

Well, I love you all! Have a great week!

Hna Shelton

Rachel, the designated cockroach killer

Hermana Aquino

Ugh, cockroaches!

Rachel and her district after a service project

Hola!

                                                  March 10, 2014

Hola!

Hey ya´ll! So I didn´t leave myself much time to write a big email, I
was responding to a bunch of individuals so I´ll just give you the
most exciting moments of the week :)

First, E was baptized on Saturday! It was awesome. The
pictures didn´t turn out that great cause it was night time, but
you´ll get the basic idea :)

Training is going good. I love my companion :) Mom! I still can´t
believe you served in Oruro! You probably met my companion’s family.
What a crazy ´´coincidence´´ no? :) In what years did you serve?

This week Elder Waddell of the seventy is coming to spend 3 days with
our mission. He is going to talk with all of the ward councils in our
mission as well and I am super excited for it! He is going to be with
our area on Thursday.

Ok. And to end I just thought I´d let ya´ll know that I have
officially gained the ´´missionary stomach´´. On Saturday we were
served a huge plate of pasta, a salad to start with and a super
delicious desert to end. Well, Hna Crow wasn´t feeling good, and so I
offered to help her out. And ended up eating her entire plate of pasta
as well. And....it didn´t even faze me. I could´ve kept eating. How
embarrassing, no? I feel like those 15 pounds I lost back in December
are not gonna stay lost for long. Oh well. Asi es la mision :)

Love you all!! Thank you for all your support! Que tengan un muy buen semana.

Hna Shelton

Proud Mama and Grandma

                                                 March 3, 2014

Hola!
Well, this week has been a week of surprises! But good ones :)
I have a story for ya`ll. Last Monday after internet we had our
reunion de cambios.(transfer mtg.) Of the 8 companionships in our zone, 7 had
transfers. Basically, half our zone left, including my beloved Hna
Apaza! We kind of knew it was coming, but it was still sad. I cried,
but got over it. And then, they told me that I would be receiving a
new companion that was just finishing her 12 weeks of training, OK.
that’s cool. So I went to the transfers meeting the next day expecting
to leave with Hna Sanchez, who I`d been told would be my new
companion. Well they call my name and tell me that my companion would
be arriving at 4. What? and then they called Hna Sanchez`s name and
she went with a different companion. Once again....What? Haha, so I
went up front and awkwardly stood off to the side by myself cause...I
didn`t have a companion! Afterwards they told me that because there
was an uneven amount of sisters in the mission we would be receiving a
mini missionary and she would be with me! A mini missionary is someone
who is planning on going on a mission and so they go with a missionary
and serve as their companion for the amount of time that they are
needed, but they aren`t set apart. It’s basically like just having a
member with you on divisions but...Its full time. I was a little
freaked out, cause that basically means that I`d be the only one in
charge of my area and that’s a lot of responsibility, but if that’s what
President wanted me to do...Ok! Irè y harè si? (I will go and do)
So because my new companion wouldn`t be arriving until later I hung
out with the Hnas that were going to be training the four new Hnas
that were coming into the mission. We received 3 new north Americans,
and one new Latina. And so I went with them to lunch and got to meet
the new sisters (I already knew two of them cause I had met them when
the CCM came to our ward to proselyte and also one of them wrote me
before the mission because she found me blog :)) and then after lunch
when it was time for the transfer meeting for the new missionaries I
asked the assistants if I should go hang out in the offices and they
were like....actually Hna Shelton, president wants you to come to the
transfer meeting. Ok? So I entered the transfer meeting and they
called up the name of one of the sisters who was going to be training
and told her that...she would be receiving the mini missionary! What?
I just looked up at President super confused and he just winked at me
:P and then they called my name. ``Hna Shelton will continue working
in the canto chico zone, barrio begonias, and will be training...Hna
Aquino`` (and I repeat...what?!?) Everyone was super confused because
we all thought it was going to be different, but...Ok! So I went and
gave my new companion a hug, and we sat down, and....I`m training
again! Woo hoo! Also, something else pretty cool my first ``hija`` Hna
Espinoza, is training this transfer as well, which makes me a grandma
here in the mission. I feel so old! :) (I`m almost to my half way
mark..can you believe it?)

So, OK. That’s my story for the week. It’s been a little bit of a crazy
week but I`ve decided...I love training! Especially when I have a
companion as wonderful as Hna Aquino. Mom, guess what?! She`s from
Bolivia! She`s from Oruro which is about four hours from La Paz. She
has two older siblings that are also serving missions and she is so
great! She is really willing and excited to learn, and we get along
really well.

After the transfer meeting Hna Erickson came up and gave me a hug and
said, ``Well, looks like President changed his mind!`` Yup. Looks like
it. But after I sat down with my companion in the transfer meeting I
just had a super warm feeling come over me, and I knew that Hna Aquino
and I were supposed to be together and that President had received
revelation in that moment and that everything worked out how Heavenly
Father wanted it to as well. It was a pretty cool experience :)

Good news, remember E. that I told you about last week? She`s
getting baptized this weekend! Yay! Also, we have been teaching
J. whose ``husband`` is a member (they aren`t married) and they
just had a baby a couple months ago. Well their baby was born with a
pretty severe heart problem and they had to move here to Lima from
Cusco so he could have surgery. Well, we`ve been teaching her and this
past week all of their paperwork for their wedding finally went
through and they will be getting married next week, and then she is
going to be baptized! Double yay! Kind of a crazy coincidence as well,
her husband has almost the same heart problem that I do. And when he
was on his mission they put him on the same medicine that I`m on. Kind
of crazy, no?

The Lord definitely moves in mysterious ways. I am excited to see what
this new transfer brings :)

I hope everyone is doing well at home. Sorry I don`t have time to
respond individually, I took too much time writing :)

I love you all! Until Next week!!

Hna Shelton

Hermana Shelton and Hermana Aquino