Week 47

HUUUUUGE CONGRATS ON AJ GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AHH how awesome that our family´s on fire with missionary work! what an amazing blessing in his life. he looks so happy and how fun to have hunter home:) 

 

How is tomorrow April fools? that's a joke right there in itself. crazy. so I´ve seriously had the weirdest dreams lately! just about every night. one of them, we were all teaching alexandra gaiduk the gospel (which I don´t know how would be possible, we all interrupt each other normally) and I was talking to her in Spanish. so random. the weirdest part is waking up and realizing that I´m in a third-world country preaching the gospel. then we go running at the parque and I tell my companion all about it in Spanish, using imperfect and preterite tenses! 

 

Something cool that we´ve been doing as a district, we each have a list of names in our room of people that we´re teaching (investigators and less-actives). all 6 of us are each praying them specifically, many times each day, and we´re seeing miracles.

Also, as a zone we´re studying a different Christ-like attribute from preach my gospel each week. the first week it was patience, which I certainly applied when we were at the clinic for 3 days in a row. haha and this week was diligence. its awesome to focus on it thru the week during personal and companionship study and during our zone mtngs, share what we´ve learned and how to apply it. 

My Spanish scriptures are so trashed. after 10 months of using them everyday, the block of pages separated from the bind and pappa roger glued it back together. then yesterday, my water bottle wasn´t screwed on right and they got soaked! so now the pages are all crinkly. oh well, I´ll just wait for the resurrection. 

 

But speaking of scriptures, I´ve been finding such treasures each morning. like how Jesus worked so long and hard to teach the Jews, but they rejected him and only a few decided to follow him. they had JESUS as their teacher and were still rebellious, I figure I´ll suffer a little too. 

There´s a 90 year old in the ward who was in the hospital for 20 days and we visited her this week, she was resting in bed, while her granddaughter was massaging her sore hip and we sang a hymn and prayed for her. she turns 91 a few days after I turn 22. 

The women´s general mtng was so awesome!! we brought a new investigator named Gabriella. I especially liked the song medley and the cool video of people singing I am a child of god in so many different languages all throughout the world. I think I spotted miss. han-han hannah jane hintze in the audience at the conference center, but it could´ve been my eyes playing a trick on me. 

 

 

Sandra turned 8! (the daughter of our pensionista, the family that we live with). we made a cute little card for her and all ate torta helada with her family. I absolutely LOVE that we´re so tight with the Cubas family. that's probably one of the best parts of my area. coming home from a looong day of work to my peruvian family. ghiada gives me lots of cheek kisses and mamma Blanca has a GIFT of cooking!!! She made us Oreo milkshakes the other morning for breakfast, haha

 

Love ya all tons and hope you have a fun day! we´re headed to salaverry to take out $$ for the month, watch a movie, eat lunch together as a zone, hike this cool mountain thing near the beach, and play volley. paz Y amor"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

we put together a surprise breakfast to celebrate hna. martinez´s 1 ano in la mision! crazy how I´ll have a year in may!!!

Week 46

We just checked out a taxidermy museum in Centro, pretty cool! of course there were some dead llamas, being in Peru and everything:) after emailing, we´re gonna get some ice cream at MacDonald´s, the hnas. are coming over to have lunch with our pensoniesta, headed to this awesome botanical park to chill, then making CHOCOLATE CHIP cookies (can you tell how excited I am?!?) together. its gonna be a good day:)

Luis. had a wonderful fhe with him and la familia cubas last week. he brought us some delicious and famous cheese and rosquitas from his trip to cajamarca. super tasty!! 

Cesar. doing a bit better, but not really.said he was coming with us to church, but when we came to pick him up, his bro said that he went with abuelita to hers:( classic. 

Jose Oswaldo, dad of one of the temple architects. doing good, we left him with the Book of Mormon to read the intro and unfortunately couldn´t make it to church cause he came back from a trip and was super tired:( 

We´re continuing to work with Michel, Julito, Karla, mamma transito, and estefanie. 

Gloria came to church yesterday and gave the closing prayer in RS!

Lili and carmen are doing really well!!!

We got a call from one of the office elders, who serves in our ward that a member was wanting to meet with us to introduce a family. REFERENCES FROM MEMBER=GOLDEN. he doesn´t live in trujillo, but was here for work. so we met up with him and had a great lesson with a family of 5. couldn´t make it to church yesterday cause her son had to go to the hospital, sick with ashma. but we have an appt tomorrow!! pappa roger´s gonna come with us.

We had a wonderful ward activity this week, noche de concierto. all of the missionaries from my zone sang together and LOADS of people sang and played instruments. it was a huge hit!! we did lots of work to get ready for it and it was all worth it!! 

We were invited to help out the mission prep class in los institutos in Centro and it was awesome!! I was surprised how many youth were there, the spirit was so strong! my companion and I were in a group of about 10 students and we taught how to teach a lesson, verify commitments, etc. then we split them up into groups to practice teaching. it was such an incredible experience!!! then afterwards, elder haake and my companion shared their testimonies. we all sang called to serve and it was beyond words, incredible. I saw a few JAS (YSA) from el bosque and it was so exciting to see some of my favorite hermanitas that always went out to teach and work with us. 

just whippin´up a little fried goodness from CHile at obispo´s!

Had an awesome alzar la voz with a bunch of leaders in the ward, knocking on doors in the ward boundaries and inviting families to come to church. 

Love you all tons and promise to write more next week!!!!

Week 45

I just tried a super tasty banana pastry thing from the panadería across from this internet place that we´re currently at. almost chose manzana, but I thought I´d switch things up.

 

So I know everyone´s nearly dyinggg to hear all about my new companion that I´m training! She´s a cute tiny 19 year-old from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I was really anxious to meet ¨mi hija¨ back on tuesday and finally met on Tuesday at the mission home. we had a really good training meeting with the new AP´s and President and Hna. Marler, lunch, then headed back to our areas. My peruvian familia (the Cubas´) welcomed her with so much love and we all are enjoying Hna. Sosa!! I took her to meet the Bishop, 1st counselor, and another family in the ward on her first night to get settled in. 

Her first few days have been super busy, the RS prez gave us a list to work with of members that don´t have visiting teachers assigned to them, so our job´s to visit the names and addresses and report back to her. Lots of them have moved and live outside of the ward boundaries, so obviously 

they don´t need visiting teachers. through the process, we contacted lots and found some new investigators! wooot wooot! 

We started teaching a widow named Jose, whose son is one of the architects for the Trujillo temple! How cool is that, right? He´s a nice old man who unfortunately couldn´t make it to church yesterday cause he´s viajando...oops I mean vacationing. 

Julito, remember little Julito? He´s back from his vacation with his mom!! that awkward moment when during the lesson, his mom brought us cake and a little snow globe from his baptism last week.....hahaha classic. so yeah-thats where we´re at. she´s cool with us coming over to teach him and come to church with us, but idk about permiso para ser bautisado. 

Cesar. still talking about stomach pains and his family´s really worried about him. idk what to do. his neighbor was over, selling cosmetics to his mom and recommended seeing a therapist, which could help a ton with what he´s told us about. the neighbor, Lily, was super friendly and mentioned that Elders used to visit her and that she´s been to church before to visit. 

so yesterday, we visited Lily and her mom carmen and it went super well! a really kind family with desires to learn more about our Savior Jesus Christ. 

had a really cool experience this week, a recently returned missionary who served in colombia randomly called and asked if he could accompany us. a member calling US to ask if he could teach with us?!? that literally NEVER happens & when we met up with him, he was telling us that while he was preparing for the talk that he was asked to give at church yesterday, he felt the impression to ¨llamar hermana boody Y preguntarle para acompanarnos¨. entonces, it was awesome. we needed him! we visited marlene and hart cause the last time we visited, she nearly passed out (delicate health). so I talked about a priesthood blessing, but hart doesn´t knwo how to give one since they´re inactive, so hno. Ricardo was able to give her a blessing of strength and she was in tears of gratitude afterwards. it was so powerful! 

and we visited the familia correa that I´ve been visiting for ages, but they still don´t come to church. having a member with us to visit the less-actives certainly helps a ton, build a friendship with whom they can ask for help. yesterday, for example, pappa roger cubas came to accompany us last night to visit Luis Galvez. He hasn´t been able to make it to church the last couple of weeks and it helped so much having a member there with us! he invited hno. Luis to join their family´s fhe tonight and we talked about institute classes in centro that he can go to and talk with other members about the scriptures and basic gospel principles. 

We had a ward missionary activity this week, look for your hero. it was a church bingo, filled with names of prophets and apostles in the bible and Book of Mormon. not very many investigators came, but a handful of members. each companionship of missionaries in the ward brought prizes and it was pretty fun. we´re planning another for this Friday, noche de concierto. people are singing and playing instruments and its gonna be legit! 

hna. marnith, stake RS prez, asked if we could help with a service project at the school she works at and we invited our whole zone to help! the colegio was HUUUGE!! and its all outside. I loved it! everyone´s vacations from school are over and everyone´s back at school, so it was time for some spring cleanin´. 

Training has certainly been really humbling, but really good! I figure to be the best example that I can be is the best way to show her how to be a successful, effective, and happy missionary. The ward has been really kind and welcoming. its super weird to be hearing chamamiento, chamar, cho instead of llamamiento, llamar, and yo. oh those argentinians. haha it drives me crazy! it just sounds so weird. like we were singing a song with halleyuah and I had to use all the self-control I had to not burst out into laughter hearing hachuya. and sometimes its hard to understand what she´s saying. But yeah, gotta love it. 

She has loads of energy and desires to GET WORK DONE in the lovely monserrate 2. Its perfect cause after 6 months here, I´ve lost a little bit of my drive/motivation

That I had when I first arrived. but she´s helping me get back my strength and desire again and we´re making a great team together!

love ya lots and hope you have a boss week! send me pictures!!!

Week 44

This week was craaaaaazy!! first of all, literally cannot believe that our Clark Daniel´s headed to TOKYO, JAPAN on his mission!!! I watched the video about 3 times, cause I could hardly believe what I heard!! I am soooo excited for you and I bet mom is BEYOND thrilled that one of us is headed to where she served! mom and dad are even now, one kid serving in Spanish and one in Japanese. we won´t be seeing each other for 3 years, but it´ll be so awesome to be out serving the Lord together. CONGRATS man, I´m so happy for you:) 

Some other BIG new, I´m going to be TRAINING a brand-new missionary fresh outta the MTC this transfer!!!! I got the call from our new AP on Sunday and am full of excitement and nerves. we had a trainer mtng last night and I meet her this afternoon.there´s only 4 hermanas coming this transfer, so its a huge privilege and sacred responsibility. Hna. Semorile saw the pictures and told me she´s bolivian, but that's all I know:)

Got some blood tests and a sonogram last week, but haven´t heard that results yet...we had to get blood drawn while fasting 3 times, each half an hour apart and I almost passed out during the last one. rockin´a really cute bruise from where they drew blood the 1st time. 

Henry got baptized! it went really well and we were really grateful that there were a lot of members already there when we came!! it was the 1st baptism that we had with our new 81 year-old mission leader:) wahoo for the first and last baptism with hna. semorile.

This week was full of a lot of sad goodbyes with hna. semorile with lots of members and investigators she´s gotten close with during her short time serving here. It was crazy hectic getting everything ready and packed up to head off back to Lima. miss you already!!

Since sending her off on Sunday afternoon, I've been in a trio with the other hnas. that serve in our ward. except on Sunday night, we got a call from our zone leader asking if I could spend the night with Hna. Oldroyd in the clinic until Monday morning. Poor thing is recovering from Typhoid fever! We´re already friends and was really fun to spend time with her! we stayed up just talking until 2 in the morning. please pray that she´ll be able to feel better and get her health and strength back up!!

So yesterday for p day, I was at the clinic until about 1pm, when they were able to send over another hna. to be with hna. oldroyd to switch me out. I met back up with my district with hna. watkins and we went to this really pretty little zoo with loads of flowers and animals. a Peruvian botanical garden at its finest! then I had a training meeting at the mission home for all the new trainers. I´m with hna. estrada right now who´s from Lima and also training this transfer. she spent the night here and we´re headed back to the mission home this afternoon to have lunch with our new companions and more training meetings.

I´m really excited to meet my new companion and welcome her to the lovely area of monserrate 2. hna. estrada and I are probably gonna get really cheesy and get the room all decorated for her arrival. and some cleaning. Papa roger and mamma Blanca are seriously the GREATEST family ever, I know they´ll just love her and will feel so loved here:) 

well that's about it. Sent off my companion to her casa and am welcoming another today! oh the circle of life. or rather the circle of the mission life. its awesome and all so exciting. just think, right after I hit my year mark, Clark will be embarking on his mission to JAPAN!!! 2 missionaries out, double the blessings-right?

I love you all tons and hope you have a beautiful week, stay tuned to the mission blog so you can see pictures of who I´ll be training!!

 

Con Mucho Amor,

Hermana Boody

Week 43

Dearest Fam-Jam,

Thank you Rex for sending me pictures! wow, McKay and Rex look HUGE. aaaand Clark will be getting his mission call on Wednesday?!? loco. sorry to hear about mom breaking her arm! yikes, I hope the boys are helping you out while you have the cast. sorry I´m not home to help, but I´ll fast for you today:) I love you mom! 

My new pensoniesta is the GREATEST! Roger and Blanca Cubas are my wonderful family here in Monserrate. I love that we all eat together, with their 3 kids and there´s just so much love. her meals are delicious and its so nice to only have to go to the end of the hall to eat. we´re getting fabricio, sandra, and giada excited about reading the Book of Mormon, esp. since sandrita´s turning 8 at the end of the month and we´re getting her ready for her baptism! we´re truly blessed:) 

 

We had a really good fhe with Luis and la familia azabache last week. It makes me sad how he talks about how he always feels lonely, but he´s getting to be friends with more members which should help. Plus I talked about institute, which would be perfect for him to attend!! He turned 57 this week and we got a few members to sign a birthday card. the electricity went out yesterday morning, so he couldn´t make it to church cause his clothes weren´t ironed yet:(

Vanessa & Jose. Doing well, we shared with them the Proclamation this week and they made it to church yesterday!! but I think its gonna take forever for them to get married cause they have soo many family members that they´d want there and need to work to save up to afford it:( 

Cesar. He´s doing a little better everyday! still always talks about a headache and that his heart hurts, although the doctors haven´t found anything wrong. he trusts us a lot and shared with us something that happened that explains a little bit about why he´s super shy and scared-ish. went with his abuelita to her church yesterday:( we also had the chance to teach him with his little brother too and they´re grandfather just passed away, so we shared the beautiful message of the plan of salvation. 

Henry. His baptism is this Saturday!! progressing more and came to church yesterday with his dad.we gotta teach him a lot this week, but I´m looking forward to it! preparing him to make eternal covenants with Heavenly Father.

this week, we´ve been visiting a leader from each of the aux. org. each night this week and its been great! yesterday, all of us missionaries in the ward and some members of ward council got to know the limits of the ward, since they recently changed. we walked in such cool parts of Trujillo for 2 hours, our ward is huge! poor elders were still fasting:( its still SO HOT here! and our fan just broke...just our luck, right? 

Our district has become super close, I love the wonderful examples that they are to me! and its been awesome to get so tight, esp. cause my companion´s peacin´ out next Tuesday. we put together an awesome going home kit with cute stuff like addressed envelopes to write us, silly string, chocolates, sandals, lip gloss, etc. TRUNKY. haha did 2 service projects together this week: cleaning a combi and cleaning clothes and the house of a family that has 4 children with downs syndrome. I love the opportunities that we´re blessed with to serve others. 

I´m so thankful for this incredible gospel. I love the Book of Mormon and the strength that I´m able to receive everyday from reading more about my Savior. I know He lives and loves us so very much. I challenge each of you who happens to read this blog entry to share your love of the savior with someone this week, brighten their day! Happy March folks, this hermana´s got some shopping to do today:)