July 7, 2014
Well,
first off I need to apologize
for that horrible letter I sent last week. If you can`t tell I wasn`t feeling
to good and all I could think about was how sick I felt. haha. But don`t worry!
I`m all better now and I promise not to write such a horrible letter again.
Also, I finally figured out how to say "apesar" in English. I
literally sat on the computer for five minutes trying to figure out how to say
that last week. I looked it up in the dictionary when I got home. It means
"in spite of" Ha. Hopefully I can speak normal when I get home!
So, transfers were this
week! Hna Valdivia was transfered and I received my nueva compañera, la Hna
Torrico de Cochabamba Bolivia! My second companion from Bolivia :) Mom, in what
cities did you serve in again? She`s awesome. We get along great. We`ve spent
the last few days sharing stories and laughing and having a great time. I`m
excited to be working with her! She has 6 months in her mission. She is in the
same group as Hna Valdivia, they got here at the same time.
Also, my new zone leader
went to school at Maeser so we have some friends in common! It was nice to talk
about good ol` Utah for a while. :)
Things are so good here!
I think I am literally in the best ward in the mission. Bello Horizonte is so
awesome. The members here work so hard! The ward council goes out and does
massive visits to all the people we are teaching and to less active members and
recent converts. And they are always willing to accompany us. I really love
this ward a lot. Yesterday, testimony meeting went over for a half hour because
everyone wanted to share their testimony. Mom, there is an hermana here who
said she was going to write you. La Hna Lita. She has a daughter in the mission
right now as well and loves getting pictures from the members of the ward in
Brazil where her daughter is serving and said she wants to write to you, and
the mom of Hna Torrico as well. I`m gonna give her your email address,
yeah?
We have been having a
lot of success with the less active members of the ward. A couple weeks ago we
went out with the Young Womens president to visit some of her less active young
women and by chance ran into the mom of one of the young women that we weren`t
planning on visiting. She was baptized when she was nine but has never been active.
We just started talking and asking how she was and ended up staying for over an
hour. Then she invited us back and we have been teaching her and her daughter
ever since. It is amazing how prepared she is to come back to the church. It is
true that everyone has "a moment" the missionaries visited her before
but she never was interested, never had time, etc... but because of certain
circumstances in her life she is now so prepared. It is almost like teaching an
investigator...just because she has never been active ( Her family, yes. Her
brother just got home from his mission and is our mission leader) only
that....we can`t invite her to be baptized again :) But she has come to church
the past two Sundays, with her daughter who is also a member, but has been
inactive. And yesterday they blessed her daughters little baby.
There is also a recent
convert in our ward who is so awesome! He is an older man (ìn his 60s, I think)
Who just a couple years ago forbade his wife from going to church, but now he
is baptized and super active and reads his scriptures all day. Two weeks ago in
stake conference he received the Melchezidek priesthood and yesterday had some
questions about the priesthood. And, Hna Torrico and I don`t know as much about
it as say, the elders... But I really felt the spirit guiding the lesson and we
were able to teach and respond to his questions, and I even learned something
new from the words that came out of my mouth! The spirit is the teacher, not
us. It was a cool experience.
A ver, que mas. Oh.
Funny story. Yesterday we were with my favorite family and as we were leaving
their 11 year old son accidentally touched the arm of my companion and she
looked at him and said, (in Spanish obviously) "Touch me not! For I have
not yet returned to my Father.... And from the mission." hahaha, maybe
thats only funny to me, but I almost fell on the ground I was laughing so hard.
We have a good time together :)
Good news! We now have
permission to leave the mission on P days to visit the cool parts of Lima. Like
all the historical places and the beach and stuff. Our mission literally has
nothing but dust, hills, and dogs, so this is a big deal!! The bad news is we
can only leave once every two transfers. When I heard that I was like, hey! but
I only have four transfers left! Everyone accused me of being trunky, but I`m
not trunky I promise!
Well, I better go I am
almost out of time. I loved reading all about the reunion, and what you wrote
me dad about that book and his experiences, and following the spirit. I liked
that a lot. I`ll have to read it in 5 and a half months. (But I`m not trunky!)
I wish I could have been there too. Mom, will you send me my t shirt? :) thank
you!
I promise I`m not
trunky! I absolutely love being in the mission, and would stay for two years if
I could. I love being a missionary and seeing the gospel change lives. It’s
true. I know it, I live it, I love it. It’s the small things in the life that
make the difference.
Have a wonderful week!
With love,
(The not trunky Sister
Missionary in Lima Peru!) :)
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