Quick update

Hello all, my life is so wonderful. 

Quick update: bullet points. 

J wants to be baptized so bad, so bad that T&J might live in different houses now until they are married. They both want it so bad. What got them was the temple. They want to go. Now they have a pic of the temple i their house. Aren't they so cute? They are unreal. I LOVE THEM.

Had a date set for N for July 30th, but that fell through ,  because she won't have 3 times in the chapel before then. I was really bummed, but you know what? I want to baptize converts, not less-actives. We have about 870 people in our branch, and about 55 that attend regularly. My converts will be REAL converts as much as I can help it. 

Still teaching A piano, all the other girls have slowly stopped to take lessons, but this little girl is a determined one. I feel so happy to teach her. She's like another little sister I never had. 

I taught the gospel principles class this week! What in the world, THAT is the gift of toungues! I taught about el dia de reposo, and it was really good. I felt a lot of responsibility, because that's a real problem here. That and tithing. Anyways, I think it went well.Anyways. out of time, but love you all LOADS! 

The gospel is true. I wouldn't be able to do this if it wasn't! So grateful for all the prayers, and support. 

Ahhh A, how cute is she! We finally got Estrellita DOWN. This was the celebratory pic I took of her. How proud does she look? I love her with every ounce of my heart.

Go-karts P day

Hermanas go-kart on P day

J L(a menos-activo we teach) climbed this Coconut tree and gave us a Coconut.

Oatmeal facials 

P day Go-Karts

UN CAMBIO MAS, WOOHOO!

I'm stayin' in Quilla, HALLELUJAH. We had cambios today, and I was so relieved when I saw the news that I am staying in my new second fave city in the world. (Valleyford is first, duh) I feel so blessed that Heavenly Father is giving me a little time to finish the things I've started. I am praying to see the baptism of T & J, or at least, their wedding. Working super hard with those angels. This week, we taught them about the law of chastity. I've learned to teach the law of chastity super clear, without shame, and THAT'S when people understand. Anyways, it was funny. At first, I was thinking, how can I phrase this in a less blunt way, but hey, sometime's we have to be blunt. Aveces la verdad duele. 

They are still so wonderful, and I love to see their tangible progress. Reading the Book of Mormon. Praying as a family. Coming to church every single sunday. They are THE BEST. 

This week, my comp counted my mosquito bites, and on JUST my legs, I have 67. No, I'm not lying. It is the saddest thing ever, and it is the trial of MY LIFE to not itch them. My legs are super feo. But, hey no worries, this isn't even mosquito season, so I'm in for a good fight with the bugs, and guess what? I am not going down. 

We teach an English class every Saturday, and I realized just how much the people really can't understand English. I saw me 12 weeks ago. I would ask them, "Hey, what does ____ mean" in English, and they'd smile at me and nod their head and say, "Si". This is ME my first week in Quilla, I'd just take a guess, and usually I could get away with the "smile and Si", haha. It is so fun to teach the class, I feel very inadequate to do it, but hey! I'm always doing thi9ngs I feel inadequate to do here, so that's helpin me grow. 

Oh you know what was the best? One night this week, me and my comp were sitting and talking after planning, and I was trying to figure out how to work my new voice recorder, THAT I LOVE, and I pressed a button, and on came Jackson's voice!!! What in the world, I. freaked. out. and was SO happy to hear my little brother's voice. And then, Elles! And then, Cole! Oh my goodness, that was the best surprise in the world. II love you all so much. 

The church is true. If you have doubts, get down on your knees, and pray. He will let you know, and he LOVES YOU!

Chao sweetest familia!

Hermana Clark with her cotton fruit

At The Falls

La Pension and Her grandson 

Love you to the Moon and back!;)

I have little time!

 Hello hello, here I am. I am sorry that I didn't get to send you the weekly letter yesterday, but we were given a little bit of time today to give the "weekly update" to the fam. 

Yesterday was good. We spent it in cusco, and I got to see Hna Dennison. That was awesome. My stomach has gotten pretty accustomed to the drive now, and this time I didn't throw up. Wahoo!

This week, we had fast sunday, and oh my goodness, it was such a cool experience because the  night or two before, we were over at T and J's house, and they invited us over for dinner on Saturday night, but then we explained to them that we would be fasting, so we wouldn't be able to eat. They were like, "woah, what's fasting?" and we explained to them how we don't eat for two meals (here on the mish we do dinner on saturday and then breakfast on sunday) and how we start with a prayer and a purpose, and we are blessed with an increased amount of understanding, and we can feel the spirit  more present in our lives. They were totally on board, and immediately T said, "Can we fast with you?" what, CLARO PUES you can fast with us, are you joking? I'll be honest, fasting has never been my favorite thing, but I just did it reluctantly because I knew I was supposed to. Anyways, as we fasted, that sunday in the chapel, I felt the spirit so strong, stronger than I ever have felt it in the capilla. Usually Sunday's can be kind of stressful, and they really work my mind, trying to really learn from all the speakers and the lessons while they are in Spanish. But this week, I felt so much peace, and I even got up to bear my testimony. The spirit was the best, and then we had gospel principles with T and J, and we talked about spiritual gifts. Which brings me to a question that I would love to receive an answer from: what do you think YOUR gifts are? (thanks Dads for always responding to my questions, you the bomb) One gift I have really experienced here is the gift of tongues, and as we talked about the gift tongues, or after we read the paragraph  about it in the book in gospel principles, tony told the elders, "When I read this, I think of hermanita clark". He talked about how what a miracle it is that I ca converse with him the way I do, just like any of his other friends, after only  4 months in Peru. And holy moly, that is so true. I know that it is our Heavenly Father working through me. I love spanish, and it is really really coming, I am by no means perfect, but I just look back and think, just like T, what a miracle. 

I help people with English all the time. All of the kids have an English class in HS, just like we have spanish, so I help them with their HW all the time. It's so darned interesting and they literally can't understand me when I talk in English and I just can't believe it, because it's a language so familiar to me. (mom, can you spell check this letter and all my letters? My spelling has gotten really bad). The most fun is to translate songs that are in english for them. I LOVE to do that. 

One last experience I want to share. This week, we went to go visit M. I've talked about her before, super timid and has basically suffered all her life, it's been a hard one for her. Well, for the first time, she invited us into her house to teach her, because usually we just teach her on the curb  where she sells her bags of matte/juice. We went into her house, and started talking. She cried to us again about how she feels SO alone, and so afraid, and it just broke my heart. As we were teaching, her husband got home from work, and he just gave her a head nod as she came in. I am positive that M doesn't have a friend to go to lunch with, or a family member who loves her to call on the phone, and then I knew that she didn't have a husband who came home from lunch and kissed her and asked her how her day was. My heart just broke so many times for her. But, her husband minded his business, and we continued talking. 

Then, her brother got home from work. He came in, and saw us teaching, and I just didn't get the best vibe from him. As we were teaching, we called her over, and told her in a loud whisper, pretty aggressively, "They are lying. Why are you listening to them? It is a lie, God doesn't love you", and that shocked me, but she just shrugged it off, and came back. 

As I started to read her Alma 7:11-12, "And He shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions...of every kind...", her brother came up to me, as I was sitting with M on the concrete ground, and told me, "I want you to leave my house right now. You all lie. Your religion is a lie". We got up with out hesitation, and he shouted some choice words as we left, and my heart just ached for M, as we walked back out into the streets. I wanted to cry, and had no words, but my heart brought me to those solo words that I shared with M from the verse. I have felt more than ever, the atonement of Jesus Christ. Elder Holland said that in the mission, you may have to bear just a little bit of that cross that the Savior carried up to Calvary. I have felt that. And I have felt more than ever a gratitude for Jesus Christ, who experienced all the hard experiences we have day to day, all the heart ache, and all the disappointment, and he did it because he loves us. When my heart aches for the situations I just can't control, I can't even imagine the heart ache our Savior must feel for us.  He loves us. 

Thank you for all the letters and the prayers! Which reminds me, I got my package. Oh, you all are the best, everything was so practical, I LOVED IT. Thank you. Which reminds me, hey did you get MY package? What did you think of the chifles? (plantain chips) Did the flower make it fine?

I truly do love you all to the moon and back (Oh wait no, heck of a lot more than that.) ;) you are in my thoughts and prayers always. And seriously again, thank you for the package. LOVE YOU.  

Me and my pal E

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Me and my Pal Estefano

With American Cuisine.....Happy 4th!

Hermanas with T, J and C 

 

Selfie with Hermana Celan and J

J and C birthday party!

Red Plantanos

T and C at C's Birthday Party

Had a nasty cold this week!

I'm a literal "loca" -crazy

I have just become the most spontaneous person here in Peru. I think I was pretty spontaneous before the mish too, but this week, one night I just thought, I'm gonna cut my hair, because my ends are super bad, and I had heard about Hermanas doing that before, so I got out my kid scissors that I paid 2 soles for, which is less than a dollar, and just started snipping. Well, after the first strand, I knew I made a mistake, because I cut off like 4 inches with the first strand. So then I just thought, well that's okay, I'll just do a lil layering action, different lengths all around! And that was an even bigger mistake. My companion sat in the bathroom and just watched me cut it, didn’t say a word the whole time, and at the end, you should've have seen the look on her face. My hair was a disaster, and I wanted to cry. We both decided that I should go and get my hair cut by someone who KNOWS HOW to cut hair on Pday, and I went to church on Sunday with my disaster hair, and then today I went to this place called Sofia Spa, haha. I told the lady just cut it all the same, like right here, and I showed her how short to cut it. After she cut the first strand, she was like, “like, right here? This short?” and it was SO short. I literally shrugged it off so fast, and said, “yeah, that’s perfect!”. And now, here is my hair. 

And it’s so different, I know. And my aunt Nataley is gonna kill me, but hey. If this would’ve happened 4 months ago, I probably would cried and cried, or lost my patience, but hey, I have done of the following thus far. I really like my hair, my pension told me I look, “mas niña”, hehe. And hey, it’s fun. Never in my life again am I going to cut my hair, now I know!  The mish is so awesome like that.

I also finished the Book of Mormon this week for the first time in the mission, and that was such a good feeling. The minute I finished, I started over again. I love that book so so much, and I know with all my heart that it is true. It was written a long long time ago FOR us specifically. I learn about Nephi, and how he is such a stud of a brother in his family, or about the 2000 of Helaman’s stripling warriors, who went to battle to defend their families and their freedoms and their religion, or about Abinadi, who was burned at the stake for what he believed, and I really honestly learn so much about MY life. How can I be a better member of MY family like Nephi? How can I trust in my Heavenly Father more, and leave everything behind to defend what it is right, like the 2000? How can I be more like Abinadi, one of the most chevere missionaries in the history of ever? The BOM is the BOM(b), that’s why it’s called the BOM.

When we were driving home from Cusco this week, I saw these panay women, like basically the stereotypical woman that all of you in the US would think of when you think of Peru; the really colorful fabric, and like 3 skirts, the hat, and the huge load on their back. ( just google image “Traditional Peruvian Woman”, I’m sure it’s there, haha). Anyways, I saw them in the middle of the mountains, in the middle of nowhere, with their packs of cabras (goats) or alpacas, and I was just thinking, what if I were a panay and this was all that I knew? My goats, my tiny rickity house in the LITERAL middle of nowhere, hours away from ANY other civilization? There are just so many people in the world that we aren’t even aware of, and it blows.my.mind. I am so darned grateful to be in Peri. As we were in Cusco, there were LOADS of tourists, I mean, TONS, and there’s always tons, and I just kind of smiled to myself as I saw them all hustlin’ and bustlin’, because I LIVE here, and I’ve lived here for 4 months. What in the world, it’s crazy.

I LOVE MY MISSION. I love the gospel. And it is true, as true as anything could ever be.

Thank you for all the love and the prayers. I need and feel them always, even thousands of miles away.

LOVE YOU ALL.

Wendy is the FUNNIEST I have ever met in my life. I always laugh until my cheeks AND my stomach hurt with her. She's such a tomboy, and I love her SO much! 

Makeover by J!

                                                                                         Hemana Wattles and me in 

                                                  Cusco. She finished her mission                              this week!