My Twelve Step Recovery Program

So that title's a lie, there`s really only one step.....stop it.  This week my comp and I are getting rid of our addictions.  She has stopped biting her nails and I`ve stopped popping my fingers.....for those of you who know me, you will know how hard this week has been for me.  But it`s going well, I`ve gone a whole week without popping my fingers on purpose more than once or twice, but I still have to fight the urge a lot, it`s a rough time, please pray for me ;) just kidding, we`ll see if I can make it.

 

  Other than that  it`s been a slow week, a family that we found brought us out cups of coffee at the end of the lesson.....awkward.  and we had a baptism.  Her name is Monica and she is the secretary of the Area president.....wow and a member of the area seventy came to baptize her.....no big deal, we baptize big wigs in my area.  Not really, she wasn`t even my investigator, I just got to see her be baptized, but she is a really sweet lady, she has worked for the church for a few years now, but only a few months ago decided to find out about all these things and says she felt a big change in her since she started reading the Book of Mormon.

 

So everyone have a good week and please read your Book of Mormon, if you don`t have one, find some mormon missionaries and ask for one, they always keep one handy, and...they`re free!

 

Jenna has also noticed that the sun is bleaching her hair out a bit. 

 

Airplanes in the Night Sky are like Shooting Stars.

So, the moment you`ve all been waiting for, transfers!  I am in El Olivar which.....has the airport in it...whooo!  Que trunkazo!  No just kidding, it doesn`t make me trunky, but it makes me sad that I can hear all the planes taking off, but I can`t see them :(  

  Apart from that, my companion is Hna. Marin, from Bolivia.  She is from the same group as Hna. Luengo (my greenie) and Hna. Luengo is in my district!  

  It was a long week, Hna. Marin`s last comp was finishing her mission, so they weren`t in their area almost the whole week so we basically started from 0, so a lot of walking, talking, and knocking.  

  Then today for pday we climbed up a hill overlooking the ocean and airport, which was gorgeous, that also happened to have a giant statue of a virgen....This is Peru.

  I also got to see Elder Halverson again at transfers!!!

  And we got to see the temple dedication of Trujillo!  It was really lovely, I love getting to see that.  There were three sessions and we were originally only going to be able to go to the first one, but our ZLs called the night before and said that if we found 5 new investigators, that we could go to the first and the last session.  So Sunday morning after the 9 o`clock session, we hit the pavement searching, searching, searching for new investigators, and we found them, all within 2 hours.  So we got to go to the 3rd session too!  

  But it was really hard for me to leave Gamarra (especially since they closed our area) because in my time there I have found so many people that have impacted my life, I grew to love the people there so much, I consider them family.  But I know that Heavenly Father has a plan, and even though saying goodbye is a part of the mission I hate, I`m glad I have the chance to grow and learn and meet new people. 

  Love you all!  Have a great week!

 

My make shift bed, a couch without cushions, my first night here because I was way too tired to make my bed

I ain`t ready, ready Freddy

So this was a hectic week.  Some highlights include but are not limited to: 

    a neighborhood blackout that lasted for like 5 hours.  But luckily the limit just happened to be the street where we live, so we could enjoy it, but not have to deal with it.  

   We didn`t have water all day yesterday.  

    We had to speak in church

    I`m getting transferred again

   And.....a miracle baptism.

 

  So let`s skip all the first ones and get to the miracle baptism.  I`m going to tell y`all the story of a guy named Freddy.  

  A few months ago, with Hna. Jimenez, we were trying to figure out who we could teach that could get baptized, and she told me, "Jimmy (a recent convert) has a brother that was talking with the missionaries for a while"  So we go, meet him, and invite him to get baptized.  He accepts, and Hna. Jimenez gets transferred and Hna. Luengo comes.  So we teach him for a while longer, his baptismal date falls through, we put another one, falls through again, because he won`t come to church consistently.  So we make the decision to let him go.

  A few weeks later, he shows up to church, alone, not even with his brother.  So we decide that if he comes again, then we`ll start teaching him again.  The next week, he comes again.  So we decide to teach.  We made appointment after appointment the whole week, but every one fell through.  And during this week I had had the thought to give him a card with the Articles of Faith, because he just wouldn`t make a decision.  So after a week of failed appointments, we decided to leave it alone, but we go by once more to leave the card.  And I told him "these articles are everything we believe as a church.  If you read this and agree with each one, you better have a really good reason for not wanting to get baptized"  And we left.

  Tuesday of this last week, we are in the mercado giving away pamphlets and he walks by, so we are talking to him and start talking about the articles of faith, and if he read them or not.  So he said that he read them, analyzed them really well because of what I said and said he agreed with all of them.  So we start talking about why he doesn`t want to get baptized, but he doesn`t really have a solid answer, but says he`ll think about it and that we go back in a few days.  So we go back the next night and are talking, and he (being who he is) keeps saying, "no next week, or next month, or next year" and all sorts of things, so we say, "no, you are ready, you just have to make the decision" So we are about to leave and he says, "no hermanas, I`m kidding, I`m gonna get baptized this Saturday, I just wanted to mess with you."  I died, I was so emotionally spent that I took out my waterbottle and splashed him.  So we run that night to try and get everything ready for his interview and the few things we still had to teach him, and Saturday, he got baptized.  

   It was really a miracle. It was one of the best moments I`ve had.  And I was dead this week, so tired.  We were running all week.  But it was worth it.

 

 

 Wow, he is really getting baptized. 

Totally worn out from the work this week. 

Why The Book of Mormon is True

So this week was a little bit slow.  Which was a bummer because the week before was awesome, but we are pressing forward.  It takes time to get into the rhythmn of things, but we just keep swimming.  

  Some good things this week, a dog peed on my companion XD not gonna lie, it was probably the highlight of my week.....she didn´t think it was that funny.  But other than that.  We had a zone conference and in that zone conference we talked a lot about the Book of Mormon and the proofs we have that it is true (besides an answer from God)  But it was great and just really is a reminder that it just makes sense.  Everything in the gospel, from Joseph Smith and the First Vision to temples to serving missions, makes sense.  There would be absolutely no reason for members of the church to do the things they do, to sacrifice time, money, school, friends, family, etc. for this church if they didn´t have a firm belief that it were true.  And the only way to obtain that belief is from God.  And all that belief and testimony begins and ends with the Book of Mormon.  It´s true.  If you have read it, you know, and can keep reading to continually strengthen the testimony that you have.  If you haven´t read it....what are you waiting for.  It´s not going to hurt anything to read it and ask God if it´s true.  He will answer you and you will know for yourself.  God loves us and will never lie, so the answer that we receive will be the truth.  To all my friends and family to whom this applies, I extend the same invitation to you that is found in the book.  "I invite you to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in your heart the message it contains and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true"  I testify that it is a true book written by prophets of God and that it is the foundation of this church. Everything we believe stands, or falls depending on this book.  If you want to know, just ask Heavenly Father.  I know he will answer all those who read and ask with faith.  I love you all!  Have a great week!  

Darn those animals!!

All ready to head out.

Mom, I was going to send this kitty to you in the mail because it was so beautiful.  I knew you would thank me!!

People waiting for the day they feel good, Happy Birthday

So sorry I didn´t write last week, I was feeling kinda lazy.  

  So this week, I played football, was sore for like a week. We had work visits.....yay! But it wasn´t this bad this time, I actually almost enjoyed it.  L. Tom Perry passed away :( and it was my birthday!  Well he actually passed away on my birthday.....not the best gift.  But we had a pretty good week, no birthday baptism :( But I did have to be in the church for the half the day for other elders´ baptisms....it was rough.  But I made biscuits and gravy and ate a lot of cake.  It was a great birthday, so many people told me happy birthday, it made me feel really special.  So now I´m offically out of my "teen years"  yay!  But yeah, other than that, not much is happening.  We are working, finding, dropping, finding more.  We just are missing the baptizing part.

  She did report that this past week, they actually completed all 10 of the maneras (the plan of action given them by President Archibald.)  They were both so excited about that!!

Birthday celebration

"my birthday gift to mee, I´m so happy" (had to buy two six packs of juice boxes to get this....sooo worth it)

 Happy 20th Birthday - Yummy looking cake - blow out the candle - eat the cake!!

 Well that is the tradition for birthdays. 

 I think this is biscuits and gravy - must have been for her birthday. 

 Waiting at the church for the Elder's baptisms - on her birthday.

 Lunch out - looks pretty good.   Below she tried straightening her hair, but too much humidity.