Week 55

Hey remember this surprise package that I mailed home? please take a picture of everyone with theirs, before clark heads off to the MTC!!!!

 

I was going through one of my old memory cards and came across this picture of when I met some of hunter`s CA buds conference wk-end. 

 

Didn`t have time to send this last week, but HUGE shout-out to Gizmo, Elisa, and baby Sofia for the awesome package! these Recee`s PB cups have already come in handy many times:) LOOOVE YOU!!!

 

 

Also last week, Sandrita got baptized!! 

 

 

This belongs in last week`s email too..during my intercambio with hna. bedoya. they eat at a resturaunt instead of a house pensoniesta and this leche de tigre was amazinggggg!!! so PICANTE, but absolutely wonderful!! 

 

 

Some things that happened last week that I forgot slash didn`t have time to write you all about:

-had a great intercambio with hna. bedoya in her area! and my companion did an awesome job of leading our area with hna. azamora. I`m so proud of my ¨daughter,¨she`s an excellent missionary!!

-thank you sooo very much Gizmo, Elisa, and baby Sofia for the super nice package!! wow, those honey bunches of oats are simply amazing. and these peruvians are loving the PB cups!! thank youuuuuu!!!

-we had a little ¨tumble¨. not even close to an earthquake, but a little shake. it was way cool, we were teaching sonia the plan of salvation when it happened. 

-my little sister Sandrita got baptized!! it was so special to be there with the family and celebrate such a special moment:) 

Now onto things that have happened a little more recently! pues...we had interviews with prez. and hna. marler last pday. before, I for sure thought that I`d be FINALLY headed out of Monserrate (transfers are on June 3rd) and I`ve been here since Sept. 26th. But after interviews...I`m not so sure. our ward`s a little ununited and dysfunctional. so we`ll see what happens this Sunday night when we get cambio calls!! it would be super sad to leave an area that I`ve come to love to much, but I`m also DYINGGG for a change. and hna. sosa`s completely ready to lead the area, we`re in her last week of training!!! 

Didn`t know until then that I`m the English tutor (well and elder haacke) for our district...oops. hna.marler was telling me that the Prophet wants 100% of the missionaries to be studying English, today`s missionaries are tomorrow`s church leaders! so I`ve been trying to do my best! my companion and I have been diligently working in her workbook. 

ps- Thanks mom for the letter you sent them! didn`t know you did, how nice:)

So we`ve been individually visiting ward members to strengthen our ward councils and to have more unity among the ward. yesterday we had a great ward council!!

ahhh only 1 min left and yet so much more to say......most of all good luck Clark at the MTC!!! enjoy all the very few moments of missionary work!! love you and already miss you tons!!!!!

Week 54

First off, HUGE birthday shout-outs to Clark`s 19th and Miss. Hannah Jane Hintze for her 24th!! hope you have an awesome day!!! I can`t believe Clark`s farewell was on Sunday, how exciting to be getting ready to head off for the MTC, then TOKYO!! I`m so happy and excited for you little bruddah. The mission has absolutely blessed and changed my life and I can`t wait for you to be an instrument in the Lord`s hands too. This week was just FULL of miracles that made me realize how very grateful I am for my Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ. Sometimes, when we`re teaching and testifying-it just HITS me! He`s the only pathway to find true happiness and peace in this life. Being His messenger has brought me absolute joy and seeing others come unto Him is the most rewarding work that I`ll ever have the privilege of being apart of. 

A HUGE miracle, we were teaching Lidia with our 81 year-old ward missionary leader and her husband came home from work. we invited him to join us and were pleasantly surprised when he did and was really receptive. Sunday`s his only day off, so we planned to teach him at 9am with his wife at church and from there go to sacrament mtng. the lesson went really well, the spirit was testifying strong and he started to cry as he offered the closing prayer. he felt the holy ghost manifesting to him that what we had taught was true. it was amazing.

Been tracking down references and have been finding a handful of ready and prepared investigators! its been such a blessing. our zone came to our area Friday morning to help us find new people to teach and it was a huge success!!! I was frantically planning our where each companionship would go and mapping out their area and thankfully all the stress paid off. we had members for 5 of the companionship and are now reaping the fruits of what they sewed. 

Another huge miracle, hno. correa finally came to sacrament meeting yesterday!! I`ve been visiting this family since NOVEMBER of last year and nothing. we taught about the sabbath day and the importance of the sacrament with our baptismal covenants-but nothing. I didn`t give up on them and he was at church yesterday!! I was so surprised and happy to see him walking in-sunglasses and all. haha taught me to be ever so diligent and not give up on people, be patient when results aren`t immediate. 

We had 4 investigators and 6 less-actives that we`ve been teaching at church yesterday, it was so awesome!! got a baptismal date of a reference that we contacted for the 7th of June, her boyfriend is a member that's preparing to serve a mission. 

There`s a ton more that I`m gonna have to tell ya about next week cause time`s up plus my memory on my card is full and I cant upload any more pics. loooove you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Week 53

Hey it was great to skype with everyone yesterday! I still cannot believe how grown up Mckay looks!! puberty has hit. Glad to know that everyone`s going well:) How fun it must be to have clark and hunter back home for a little while. 

Last week, we went to Salaverry for pday and it was a blast! suuuper windy and a grand adventure. peruvian hamburgers are weird, but it was great to have the zone all together. I spent a lot of time with Hna. Martinez, and she`s now back from Chile! 

Our zone conference with President Marler was wonderful!! we set some great goals as a zone and things to focus on during this month to reach our goals in our individual areas. it was awesome!!! 

 

We helped out with a great ward activity that we had for mother`s day. it was a beautiful success, many people sang and Lili and Carmen were there!! we had the opportunity to show them the chapel and they loved the activity!! on Saturday, we brought 2 recent converts to the elder`s baptism and it went really well. the spirit was really strong.

 Sorry this is so short, but we talked so much yesterday, so i feel like I`m off the hook

Week 52

This week was kinda rough, but being able to talk with you all for just a few minutes was wonderful! I love that for the 1st time talking on the phone with dad since CHRISTMAS, one of the very first things that he starts telling me about is how much stuff he`s been selling on eBay lately. haha classic Eric Boody moment right there!! it was fun to talk a little in Spanish too, Argentina served ya well. 

Seeya on skype this Sunday, 4pm Peruvian time and 5pm your time:) I`m so glad that the package got there in good shape!! I thought it would be a nice little surprise and think its hilarious that grant wore a suit to school so he could rock his new Peruvian tie!! haha priceless. please take a picture of all the boys in their matching ties, this wk-end when Clark and hunt are home too. 

Yesterday, when we had permission to each call home to figure out when we`re gonna skype next week for mother`s day, Hna. Martinez (another hna. that's serving in the ward) found out that her sister`s been in a comma for the past week. can you even imagine that, calling home with loads of excitement to be talking to your family only to find out that things are really difficult on the home front. I`ve been praying for her, we`ll fast as a district/zone of missionaries, and please include her family in your prayers as well.

Also please include President and Hna. Marler in your prayers too, their little grandson Tyler passed away and Hna. Marler just recently returned to Trujillo from the states. 

Peruvians just crack me up sometimes. at my pensoniesta`s house, we ran outta detergent to wash the dishes. for seriously an entire week-they put out fabric laundry detergent with a little water. until I bugged pappa roger to buy some real dish soap. haha it was getting a little ghetto. 

flavia & cristina were both at church yesterday!! and we visited them yesterday in the afternoon too. anali just got back from her mission in colombia , who was baptized with Cristina so that's been a great influence and encouragement for her. they both have great desires to come back into activity!! wahoo:) 

we went to la encalada twice, but no one had time for us, so it wasn`t very productive to go. Lidia`s been kinda MIA, i don`t know whats going on with why she hasn`t been home for our teaching appointments. 

We contacted a reference from our zone leaders, Martin, and he`s awesome!!! we met him on Wednesday and have already taught him 3 times. super interested and ready willing and ready to change his life. he has a really cool story and incredible life. used to be an alcoholic, and knowing God through some friends of a church completely turned his life around. he showed us a picture of what he used to look life and its just incredible. he has 3 kids, all from different moms and he`s living solo in Trujillo. I love his energy and appreciation for us coming to visit him. came to church yesterday like a member: with his suit, book of Mormon, and bible, and clean shaven face. Martin`s awesome!!! 

Luis bought a new taxi and its so much better than his old one that was breaking down all the time. we visited him with Jose and said he`d be coming to church (he hasn`t been able to come in awhile), but I don`t know what happened yesterday:( I don`t really know what to do, he has great faith and a strong testimony but a little MIA on Sundays. visiting him with members to help, but still nothing. ahhh Luis, que paso?? 

Started teaching Mari Julia, a less-active and she`s wonderful! carina luz´s 56 year-old daughter. haha I couldn`t help but smile a little when we were teaching the restoration and I was asking her questions about the priesthood to verify that she really understood it and who could posess it. I asked if I could have the priesthood and she said, yeah sure. haha nooo, let`s re-teach that part. haha pobrecita. 

Pablo and Henry are doing well, we taught them during the week and finally made it church yesterday after many Sundays of not being able to cause they had to travel back and forth to Lima. 

Vanessa and Jose. things are pretty hard financially, Vanessa wants to work but obviously can`t with the twins and Jose Carlos. so lots of stress and being frustrated about what they can do. God will always bless us if we keep the commandments: temporal and spiritual blessings!! 

Today, we`re in salaverry as a zone. we´re gonna hike the mountain, eat hamburguesas, and no sè que màs, pero todo es bien divertido in la bella salaverry!! 

Lately, I`ve been incorporating more of preach my gospel in my personal study with the Book of Mormon in the morning and its opened my eyes!! so awesome!! this morning, I was studying about the role of the holy ghost in teaching and the true power it has in conversion. there are amazing scriptures about it and it reminded me of how vital it is to teach with the power of the holy ghost, that it may bear testimony to the hearts of the people we´re sharing the restored gospel with.

I know Christ lives and is the only way to find true happiness. He`s my Savior and I am so thankful and reliant on the infinite powers of the Atonement. its the only way through which we can find happiness, joy, and peace. how we can change and become more like Him.

love you all tons and can`t wait to see your beautiful faces este domingo!!!!

1 nephi 21:16