Saturday, December 28, 2013

12/23/13

Feliz Navidad!!!

On saturday, we had another interesting experience with a spider. We have been having issues with those the past few weeks. On saturday we had another one in our apartment. I didnt see it (thank GOODNESS) but the other three sisters saw it. And the two who arent terribly afraid of spiders both screamed and ran too. The other was in a basic panic. And so I was trying to call our zone leaders who are the closest to come, and I called them four times and they didnt answer. I called my district leader two times, nothing. The zone leaders again, and it cut short. The district leaders, and FINALLY they answered. I was in a little bit of a panic, and told him to come as fast as he can, because there was a spider and we couldnt kill it (apparently this spider had big, thick, hairy legs, and was pretty fast). One of the sisters was sobbing and screaming in the background for him to come. We also tried to get ahold of the bishop who lives below us, but no one was there. I RAN past where the spider was to be with my companion (and OUT of the apartment). My loving district leader came RUNNING around the corner, and apparently he missed the part about there being a spider....whoops. So him and his companion were looking for the spider for thirty minutes (because it disappeared, the thing WORSE than finding the spider). And right before the zone leaders came, they found it and killed it. So the zone leaders sent the district leaders home (because its about 11 at night by this time). And my zone leader Elder Gandara (from mexico, served in the jungle for 17 months I think) plasted himself on the floor under the bed searching to find anything more, because the other companion of ours was saying the spider was bigger than the one we killed. So I was kind of making fun of him, because while searching, I could just picture him saying "little spider, where are you???" but in spanish "arañita, donde estaaas?..., because it is more funny. I was relatively calm, but shaken up. Because I know how big the last spider was that the sisters killed, and that they didnt want to kill this one. They found a hole in the wall, and covered it up so nothing could get in from there too. So we didnt go to sleep until 12 at night.

For christmas, what they do down here, is they celebrate at 12 at night on the 24th of December. And apparently there are lots of FIREWORKS. Lots of paneton (its a  bread thing with gummy fruit in it, I dont like it very much) and they have a big dinner, turkey, chancho (pig), and I dont know what else. So I THINK we are going to our pensionistas house for the 24th. Also, tomorrow we are going to the offices to have a "party" with the mission. 9am-4pm. None of us plan on having too many lessons the next two days, because everyones going to be gone, or not want to receive us (that sentence sounds a little off, sorry). I am a little sad that this is my first and last christmas down here. I will be going home so close to it, but at the same time im excited to spend christmas with you guys next year. Bitter-sweet, but I dont need to worry about it. I only have about 8 transfers left. Its so weird. 4 transfers is six months. two is three, months dont exist. I will definitly be enjoying everything down here. I think it will be the hottest christmas that I will EVER have in my life. Hahahahaha. ;D

Victor is working a lot (the most work he has had in awhile, and also he got it AFTER he was baptized.) Weve been talking to his wife some, but not much the past week. She is out of town for awhile, so that was lessons less than normal. Its been pretty slow the past week, and probably this week as well with christmas. And probably for new years too. That should be interesting, I here that there are MUCH MORE FIREWORKS that for christmas. Latinos like to party. And party means till 3-4 in the morning. We dont have parties in utah....lol.

Thank you family for the christmas tree and ornaments! We have it up on our wall in our apartment, the little decoration that we have for christmas. Thank you so much for all of your sweet notes!!

Have a great week, and I will see you on Wednesday!!!

Love Always and Forever,
Hermana Heather

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

12/16/13

Training is going. Its not that bad. I like it to be honest. I still have practically no idea what im doing, but thats the fun of it all, no? My companion is awesome, and has lots of excitement, which i am feeding off of, especially when our appointments fall through. Which has been a lot lately. Especially with christmas near, i am hoping that is why....

We are all pensioning with the same pensionista. There are 4 companionships. The two from our ward, and then two from another ward  and the elders in the same ward, because their pensionista was crazy. Wanting the north american elder to eat raw egg, of which he is deathly allergic. So yeah....very interesting.

I am pretty sure the wheezing stopped, I used my inhaler for awhile, im not sure if it helped, but yeah. I still have more to use, im glad I have it. It helps when we are hiking up in the mountains. This week we helped clean the top floor of the house of our pensionista, of all of the stuff that she uses for work (she makes clothes, so there were scraps that they sell too) and we got that cleaned. Then on friday we went to jicamarca again, and helped make stairs for the lady to climb. I found out what they do for a bathroom. They dig a whole, and put a toilet on it. And when it is full, they move it. I thought that was so gross.....

Yesterday for lunch, we went rock climbing. Hahaha. It was the only way to get there. I was very grateful that we had our elders with us, because we wouldnt have made it up alive, our shoes are not built for this kind of thing. Very slippery sometimes, and the loose ground doesnt help much either. But it was lots of fun. :)

Yeah, those types of spiders live in the jungle. And there are spiders bigger than that. I have heard lots of stories.  ick. And I do not think i am going to stay calm enough to put anything next to a spider to take a picture. Hahahahaha. But if I do, I will give you a warning. ;)

Thank you for all of your support, it is well received here! i cant believe I have been here for six months! Oh, today, in one year, is the end of a transfer....just thought youd like to know. Hehehe. Yeah, i am a little trunkie....I might be on my way home in one year from now. ;P

Not much happened this week, found a few more spiders, but im getting better at staying calm and just killing them (with raid). Or my companion kills them (better). And for that i am grateful.

I love you all so much! i will email you guys next monday, and we will figure out when we will be calling you. and then talk to you the following wednesday. Love you all so very much! Stay safe! (and warm!)

Love Always,
Hermana Heather

AND

This was sent to Hermana Heather's dad:

My companion is good. A little homesick, and she had a little breakdown last week, but I told her she was doing great, and is still learning. It was her birthday saturday as well, but she said she had a good day. The people who found out about her birthday gave us lots of food. Sweets. Uhg. I felt so sick after that, hahahaha.

Now that im senior companion (wow, i sound OLD!!!) we still do things with the zone. We play soccer!!!!! It is so much fun to play with the elders. Especially one, who was playing professionally in guatamala as goalie. He doesnt play goalie here, because NO ONE scores on him. He just punches them lightly out of the way. He does flips to kick the ball into the goal, and he has so many tricks and things that he does. I think that guatemalans are the BEST soccer players in south america. Because he is not the only guatemalan that we had, we had 4 in the last transfer. And ALL of them were so good. Did you ever play soccer with latinos?? how was it???  I like to play soccer with the elders. Im getting a little better too! Its fun, and they are always yelling/encouraging me to kick it in the goal, and then making fun of the elder who is goalie, that I scored on him. Last week we(hermanas) didnt play, because my comp needed to buy some things, so we couldnt go. Elder C* (the goalie from guatemala) was DEVASTATED that I wasnt going to play. Im a little valuable beause the elders cant really do much to me when playing, lol. So I can get away with a little more, and not worry to much about getting run over.

12/9/13

Hola

This week has definitely been interesting. I got my new companion on Tuesday. Her name is Hna I*, and is from Quito, Ecuador (not one of the suburbs, but Quito itself). She is 19, and turning 20 this saturday the 14 (along with TONS of other people I know. Alex, and Elder in our zone, Hna I*, the sister of an elder etc, lol).

My health is interesting. I started wheezing about two days ago, with my breathing. I now understand what wheezing is. Im using my inhaler some, but im really not sure if it really is helping or not. One thing I trust Hna P* with is my health, but only if I ask her. It really could be because of how humid it is in our apartment, but we are going to keep an eye on it the next few days. My ankles started swelling pretty good again, but im not too worried about it. Im pretty sure its because it is so hot here, and we are walking around a lot. I had a cold last week, but after putting oregano on my feet for two nights, it went away faster than normal. So im good there!

So this past week, with all of our stuff moved in, and everyone, it was interesting. I dont remember which day this happened, but it was last week. I opened my dresser and a bug fell off of the door. I was like, ok, wheres the raid, and a flashlight. So I was looking for this but under the dresser and bed, and I saw something out of the corner of my eye on the ceiling. I looked up, and it was a BIG SPIDER. I screamed the loudest I have ever screamed, and ran OUT of there. My companion was praying and was just finishing when I did that. I was shaking so bad, I was so scared. Hna I* had no idea what happened, and when I finally communicated with her what happened, she looked and was like, "oh look, a big spider." she doesnt like them, but shes not as scared as I am. The other companion of Hna P* went and looked. They ended up spraying it with lots of raid (but it wasnt dying) and then I think they smashed it with a hammer or something. But they verified that it was dead. I was shaking so bad, and Hna P* was scared too, but she didnt see it. The companion of Hna P* (hna w*) said that apparently she doesnt have as much fear of spiders as she thought. I have more than I thought. Lol....... its not the first time we have found big spiders in our apartment. But this week we sealed off all of the spaces in the windows, and cleaned cleaned cleaned the apartment. I feel so much more safe now, more calm.

The elders think it is kind of funny. Our zone leader, Elder G*, served in the jungle, and doesnt have much of a problem with them. He said "have you ever seen a shirt walk?.......yeah, shirts dont walk, it was a spider." I thought it was very funny. But I dont think I would do very well in the jungle, no matter what I told myself. Apparently the spiders are HUGE there. Anyways, this elder said that if I (Hermana Heather) ever called him to come and kill a spider he would.

The christmas devotional was really good. I couldnt concentrate on the messages, but I loved the music. I saw Miss Nudd many times! Its nice to see a familiar face! And thats so cool that the band teacher from Lehi Jr High was in the orchestra! When Elder Rasband and Elder Nelson talked, I got so excited. My love for them grew after the other week. In the video with elder Nelson and the children, did you see the little boy wink at the girl??? everyone was laughing so hard at that!!!!

The "house" that we built was about the size of...... a square, smaller than my room. There were two of these squares, so two squares put together. There was a wall in between the two. Very small. To this day, I have NO idea how they shower, or use the bathroom or anything. They are able to get electricity up there. To cook, they have gas stoves. Like a camping stove (is what they normally are) with a gas tank. And thats most people in general. But all of the stoves are gas.

This past week, we sanded the paint off the walls of a house, so that we could put new paint on it. The paint was blue, and we were all covered in blue afterwards. We were like smurfs. Hahahahaha. We didnt really get much into the painting, but the sanding was pretty fun and entertaining. lol. So thats what we did for service this week.

Love Always,
Hermana Heather

Thursday, December 5, 2013

12/2/13

We moved.  AGAIN! Yep, you heard right. We moved. We are getting new Hermanas in our stake, and apparently we have to live with them. So first off, on friday, we went UP a mountain. It was so stressful, we built a house, basically just four wood walls. It was WAY up. I had a difficult time getting up, but I did. And then after I went straight to my house to pack to go to another area to do an interchange with another sister. So I was with two other gringas in another area. On Saturday, my companion called me saying that the elders just told her that we need to move. THAT DAY. We also had a baptism. So I didnt end up going back to our apartment until 6 at night, and then we dismantled everything and moved it all. We didnt finish getting everything into the new place until 11:30 pm. We only had two sets of elders helping us, it was so last minute. Those poor elders, they are so good. I did help of course, I wont let them take ALL of the credit, just a lot of it ;) hahaha. So right now, our apartment is a disaster, and we are getting the new Hermanas tomorrow. WOOT!.....

That was the end of the week. Ahh, you asked if we got the chance to visit with Elder Nelson (it was something I completely forgot about until right after we finished internet last week). YES! It was just our mission that he talked to. There was Elder Nelson, his wife, Elder Rasband (president of the seventy) AND the President of our Area Seventy. THREE GENERAL AUTHORITIES, WOW!!!!!!! It was so awesome. Apparently their trip to Venezuela was cancelled, so they asked our Area President which mission they should go visit, and he said Lima North. I am pretty sure that there was SO MANY that he could have chosen, and not just in Peru. We were so privileged. We learned a lot, and it was just awesome in general. Like the scriptures arent just story books, they are ANSWER BOOKS. And that we need to work hand in hand, the missionaries and the members. Thats just a little of what we learned, I have so many notes from this conference. It was awesome.

As missionaries, at least only in this zone, we have a service at least once a week. The other week we helped put a roof on a house. Granted I was down low helping load dirt into a wheelbarrow, but I helped nonetheless. We help move people into houses, or whatever they may need. Like building a rock wall in the hills/mountains. In my other area we didnt do anything, no one had things for us to do. But we do our service in this zone as a zone, which I like a lot.

We ride the moto taxis all the time here. They are basically motorcycles, covered so we can sit in the back. There are 3 wheels total. I will have to get a picture, it is kind of hard to explain. They are the fastest and normally cheapest way to get to a short distance, but fast. So those are kind of cool.

One sad note, for sure, one of our zone leaders, Elder Morales-Bac is getting transferred to be assistant to the president. I started crying. He is not an office elder, he is meant to be out in the field. He is such a good leader, and I am very sad to see him go. The president called him this morning to tell him. He is in shock too. He will most likely finish his mission in the office, he leaves in about May.

We dont know anything about transfers, but we are almost POSITIVE that Hna P* and I are going to change. Its just WHO, and where we are going to go. Woot.... :/ I dont want to leave this area. I also dont want to find all of my things in our disaster of an apartment.... because all of our stuff is EVERYWHERE. Hahaha.

I am doing well more or less. Oh, a cool thing that happened yesterday in one of our appointments. The wife of the guy we baptized a few weeks ago, first off, earlier this week she said she was going to assist church with her husband, because he is lonely at church. THEN when we visited them last night, she shut the doors to her store, to spend time with us, and listen. So there were no interruptions. WHAT!?!?! I wanted to scream with joy after that. I was so surprised, because she was most worried about her store, and didnt want to leave it for anything, let alone us. But she did! I feel she is going to be baptized, and very strong in the church. Just a little more time. We are so close, I can feel it....


*They just let us know who is going to change this transfer, Hna P* is going to open the New area, so she is one of the "new hermanas" that we are going to live with, and she is receiving an hermana of the mission, and then I am going to start training, in my area. WOOT! I am actually so excited!!!!!!!!! Hna P* is going to be the Sister leader in our area, she is not excited about that. Ok, thats it for now. Hahaha. Whoo...I feel very shaky and happy and RELIEVED right now. Im glad we dont have to take anything to the offices tomorrow.

Things are going well. The sister I am going to have is coming straight from the MTC, the other that Hna P* is going to have has been in the mission, for I dont know how long. I dont know who she is. I dont recognize the name at least.  We are in the Magnolias Stake. We have been here for almost two full transfers. We opened the area that I am in. Magnolias stake, ward Magnolias :) It is great

Oh, something interesting that happened last week, we felt an earthquake! It was kind of cool Apparently it was from a 5.8 earthquake, hours away from where we are. Its the first time I have EVER felt an earthquake. Im sure its on the internet, if you feel like looking it up ;) lol. It was last monday, around.....1508 hours (just because someone emailed me the time, lol) I think that is about 3:08pm.

Love Always
Hermana Heather

Thursday, November 28, 2013

11/25/13

Our P days are emailing, and playing soccer. Occasionally we go to the store. We are not allowed to leave our areas, just because it is a recent rule that we have. Its really dumb, because there are some cool sights to see in Lima, but we cant. So we play soccer. Every P day. It really is fun, I love playing with the elders, and I also know they arent going to try to plow me down. Hahahaha... its how I get the ball most of the time. It is so much fun.
Ah yeah, I got all of the rest of my packages last week! Even the one from the plane. It came in a box, so that was cool. I am pretty sure they just put it in a box when it got here, then taped my name and mission on the box. Thanks for everything! I have been sharing much of it with my companion. :) And I was SO excited to get the cord for the camera. YEA! Now I can send pictures without bothering anyone!!

Thank you for everything. My health is doing alright. I managed to get gastritis last week, so I am still trying to figure that out. Lol. The idea is to eat healthier, except we are not in charge of our meals, and our meals almost always include rice, and potatoes. LOTS of rice. And then when I try and ask for a little less food so that I am not in too much pain, my companion starts attacking me saying I want to drop food to lose weight, and thats bad. (well DUH, thats not my intention to lose weight) I just want to eat a LITTLE less than what they are giving me, because it hurts my stomach so much to eat all of it. I feel we eat almost the same amount as the elders (we eat with the elders, and I watch the food proportions) lol. We will have to see.

The guinea pig was a little disturbing, but not as bad as I thought, but the elder really needed/wanted a picture with it. Lol They taste kind of like a sweet, soft chicken. Its really interesting. Im not sure If I like the taste of guinea pig....  The guinea pig that I ate was just 1/4 of it, so like, the back leg, or something like that. There wasnt a lot of meat on it to be honest. The sister that we ate with raises her guinea pigs and she does the killing and preparing, all of it. Guinea pigs are NOT pets down here. They are food, expensive food. Its interesting. I just think they are so cute...hahaha The pregnant guinea pigs look like they have a ball in the middle of their stomach. It is precious. lol
I am pretty happy, and the elders are always making me smile. :)

I love you all, so very much! And I will be sending a few pictures in just a little bit.
Love, Hermana Heather

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

11/11/13

So this week has been interesting, to say the least. I will have to take a picture of our poor bathroom... lol. And the animals on top of the roofs. We do not have a stove, and dont have a fridge either, but we are getting one today, or sometime this week, so that will be nice. Hahaha. Im sure it will just be a small fridge, but we are excited to have it. :)

We did find out what was going on with Hermana P*. APPENDICTIS! WOOT!!! She threw up a little bit of blood on Tuesday, and Wednesday we went to the emergency room. After about 8 hours, they told us she has appendicitis, and the appendix needed to come out, sí o sí. Apparently it took them awhile to find it, because the intestines moved themselves to cover the appendix because it was opening a little bit, so the intestines covered it up to stop anything from coming out. The doctor said her intestines are "intellegent" hahahaha. So she had the surgery wednesday, was in the hospital all thursday, and we went home on friday. The elders took me to other sisters house for me to sleep on thursday night. It was great to see other sisters. I also had elders for companions for awhile, it was weird at first, but I adjusted. Basically it was so we could go to our apartment and grab different things like clothes, and toothbrushes. Just me and elders and our driver. So weird...but I kept remembering papa and how one of his companions for the plane ride was a sister.

We didnt end up having our baptisms this past week, and I dont know when they will happen. We need to visit them, but we havent been able to do that, and when I have gone, they havent been there. I have been going out with other sisters in our stake on splits, and then someone will stay with my companion. It has helped me teach better. I have had to take control and start the lessons, teach the lessons, ask questions. There is one sister I like going out with more that others. She is almost done with her mission papers, and she teaches REALLY WELL. My spanish is improving, though I get irritated when older people refuse to understand me.

Basically my ankles are doing ok. They like to swell when I walk a little, and then they dont when I run and play soccer. They are weird. Hna P* thinks its because they are heating up, and allowing more blood flow when I run. It makes sense... She is a nurse. I dont know if I ever told you all. But yeah. Four or five years I think. I believe she will go back to study more. She likes to work and study.

Thats basically been our week. Oh, and Im sick again (a cold. AGAIN) I get something every month, and basically every month something happens to us. Im pretty sure we are good for this month with Hna P*s Appendicitis. Oh yeah, the doctors said it was going on for awhile. We think thats what was making her sick two weeks ago. So yeah, appendicitis for 15 days more or less. Hahaha

Whew, I think that is all for this week, I will send more if I remember more. I am so tired, it has been such a long week for us.

Love you all!!

Love Always,
Hermana Heather

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

11/4/13

I havent gotten the pictures yet, but its possible it will be a little more time. Im not too worried about it, Im sure it will be here soon :) As for the packages, Im not too worried about those either. And I promise I wont get distracted by them ;) hahaha. I know it takes time. Its nice to know something is coming though. Hahaha.

I bet the family (Hendersons) loved to see the snow. Hahaha. They dont normally see that. They will probably get a little more snow where they are, just cause its a little closer to the mountains. How fun. Hahaha. Its definitely heating up here, and it hasnt even gotten "HOT" yet. I hear it is downright MISERABLE in the summer here. Im a little worried, and hope we will survive.... lol. I have hope that I will be darker than my brothers when I come home next year. I am so much darker than I was before. I have a line where I put my watch. Its to help me grade where my tan is from when I left and now. Its shocking, really. Lol

Hna P always feels nauseous. It worries me a little, because then she will get sick, and then we go out. She doesnt want to tell anyone, and wont let ME tell anyone either. Its been getting a little worse with time. She has been out for about a year, including the MTC. I think we had transfers two weeks ago, or last week. I dont remember exactly. Two weeks ago I believe.

So yesterday, we visited a less active, and she asked us a good question. "How do you love the gospel?" Good question. How do you love your friends, your spouse? You get to know them. Its the same with the gospel. Read the scriptures, pray, go to church. Lean more about it, and you will fall in love with the gospel. I know this to be true. The more we study the gospel, and get to know it, the more we love it.

Ok, so there is an Elder in our zone who played professional soccer in guatemala, as goalie. Holy cow he is good! at everything! We played soccer last week, and it is so much fun to play with him. He is so funny!

Well, I hope everyone is staying warm and healthy. I love you all!

Love always,
Hermana Heather

Friday, November 1, 2013

10/28/13

Things are going well. We had an interesting past few days. Hna P got sick on Thursday, and it was really weird. After we ate lunch, her stomach was hurting, so she lied down for awhile. Then when I checked on her, she couldnt move. She could talk just below a whisper, and couldnt move her body at all. So I called the elders, whether she wanted me to or not I didnt give her the choice, and they gave her a blessing and we gave her pills. She sat up a few hours later, and then went back to sleep for the night. The same thing happened the next day. But we were at a conference. She was sitting there, getting weaker and weaker, and then she couldnt move. She couldnt even support her own head. We went to the hospital, but all of the tests came out normal, and she eventually regained usage of her body. It is kind of really scary. But shes been good since, basically. She said that when she goes back home, she will most likely look into it a little more, because its not normal. And it had happened about two years ago when she was studying in the university. But I am glad she is doing better. :)

This week I have readily enjoyed talking in spanish. I understand a lot, but I will get uninterested in the conversation because I dont understand the concept, and I get distracted by my english thoughts. Hahaha. Thats a little bit of a down side, but I understand! And I respond pretty well. Ok, last pday, I was helping cook lunch with our pensionista, and we were cooking spaghetti sauce. I was cooking the red stuff, cause thats what she put in the pan, and I was adding spices, and making sure it was good. Then she put in a big hunk of uncooked hamburger in the middle of the sauce. I froze. I told her, youre supposed to cook the hamburger BEFORE the sauce. She said whoops. (they dont make spaghetti much here, lol) I made sure it got cooked. I thought it was super funny though. Hna P doesnt like to cook/doesnt know how either. Our pensionista LOVES us. She tells us (hna p) just about everything. She is around 30/35 in age I think. So practically our age, lol.

There are a lot of drunks here. Especially this month, because it is the month of drinking, or some type of this holiday for catholics. I was like, seriously?? Latinos love to party, love to drink. Its definitely a different culture down here.

Its starting to warm up. And people say it hasnt even hit the hot part. We are gonig to die. I am grateful though that we dont have to hike the mountain at all. I feel a little bad for the elders. But its better that they do that for multiple reasons. For one, it is extremely difficult to hike in a skirt. Staying modest with that is so hard. Keep the skirt down, and hike up. Yeah, fun stuff. Lol.

I love you all so much, and thank you for your support. Love you!

Love Always,
Hermana Heather

      “We are not here to play, to dream, to drift.  We have hard work to do and heavy loads to lift.  Shun not the struggle - face it.  This is God’s gift.” -- President David O. McKay

      “And whoso receiveth you, there will I be also, for I will go before your face.  I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.” -- D&C 84:88

Monday, October 21, 2013

10/21/13

Hermana Heather's Zone
I really am enjoying things more here. I am beat tired though. The other day, a pary behind our house started at freaking 4:30 in the morning! We dont know when it ended, but we didnt return till th night time. I was so irritated. Hna P said she was singing to the music, and enjoyed it a little bit. I just wanted to sleep, but I never went back to sleep. Blah. Hahaha. And Im just tired today, but still kicking! hahaha. Hna P was sick yesterday too. Ate too much food at lunch (at least 7 potatoes) and abunch of other food. We had pancha manca (tan rico!). So we werent able to teach in the night. We were at our pensionistas house for the night, and so I washed her dishes for something productive to do. Her husband was able to find another priesthood holder to give my companion a blessing. We werent able to get ahold of our zone leaders at all. I was a little irritated at them, but, what can you do. Lol.

I am definitely counting my blessings. Some things about the mission. A mission is not for the light hearted. You have to be committed to not giving up. If I had not made that decision beforehand, I might have gone home by now. Because whenever I think about wanting to go home, I think about my decision. "I am not going home until the end." This has helped me a LOT. The mission tries you in every way. Something my mission president told me a few weeks ago, is that if we dont try ourselves, or put ourselves in positions to grow, God will do it.   I believe it. We need to put ourselves out there so we can grow.

About some of our investigators, we had a baptism last saturday for a 10 year old girl, Milen. She is so cute, and loved having the discussions. She lives with her aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Her parents live in the states, but I dont know where, and I dont know when either. I think that would be really hard to be honest.
We have another investigator who is scared to go to church. At least I think so. She gave us every reason under the stars why she could go to church this sunday. We need to discover why.

This week we knocked on a door to contact a reference. We taught this lady, and she graciously let us in her home. She didnt have light in her home either. While we were teaching her, she started crying. I dont know why, but I felt the spirit in that room. I am glad that we knocked on her door when we did.

Well I think that is it for this week, thank you SO SO SO SO MUCH for all of your support. Send questions my way if needed, from anyone, and I wil be more than happy to respond.

Oh, I miss hamburgers. I just want a nice hamburger....hahaha.

Love you all!!

Hermana Heather

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

10/14/13

Transfers are next week. We will have to see what happens there. Nothing is secure. I learned that on emergency transfers. So we will see. I dont want to leave this area. I love it so much.

The stake is called Magnolias, and the ward is Magnolias. It might be easier to search on lds.org. A cool tid bit about our area, is that all the streets are named a type of profession.

To walk up to our apartment, the stairs are outside, and there are railings. From the roof, we can see the other roofs. Oh, on much of the roofs, there are different types of things. People have their laundry hanging out (like on ours). On our neighbors, there are lots of roosters in crates. On one across the street there are chickens, rabbits, and I think a sheep. Often there are dogs on the roofs of houses. On one house last week, we saw (for the first time) a bunch of yearling lambs on a roof. It was a bit strange, even for here. We just kind of looked at one of the lambs as it was bahhing at us. It was funny.

As for the people in this area, yesterday, we brought an older man to church. He is a member, but hasnt attended church for over 50 years, and he went to church yesterday! We were super happy. And there was another woman who hasnt been to church in years neither, and refused every time her daughter (members) invited here. And when we went to get her, she said that she was going to go with her family. WHAT?!?! Yup, and she was at church. So awesome.

We get a lot of offers for help from the ward members. Its so awesome. But we are a little confused on how to use them. So we will have to see what we can do with them. How to organize and whatnot. Because we also have offers from members in other wards (the girls want to go out with us, because the cant with the elders).

I am so grateful for this gospel. My body is always so tired and hurting, but I feel so great. It doesnt matter. I just want to teach. My spanish isnt that good, but I try and understand, and I find ways to speak. Where theres a will, theres a way. Joshua 1:9 in the bible. "Fear not, for the lord thy god is with thee, whithersoever thou goest"

Thank you so much. And good luck in all of your ways. Stay strong, feed your spirits with the gospel every day. I love you so much, stay safe!

Love Always,
Hermana Heather

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

10/7/13

Hola de Peru!

This week has been crazy. We had to move from our apt, and had two days to find a new one and move. We found something, not near as pretty. You have to walk five floors up, cross the roof, and then there is a small area that looks like it would be a room. When you open the door, there are stairs that curve down, and go into an apartment. Its kind of cool. I thought it would be IMPOSSIBLE to get our things there. The stairs narrow significantly at the top. One of the elders said "with God, anything is possible." I told him I highly doubt that we would get the dressers up, because they are kind of big, and dont come apart. Yup, with a long rope, and some crazy elders, everything got up there, with a few bumps on the furniture, but that wasnt what any of us were worried about. So we are moved in, and have a alot to clean. We have a kitchen (ok, kitchens here consist of a sink, and a little bit of a counter connected, and you have to bring in your own stove, oven, or whatever else you want, they are really small, and not that extravagant, so we really only have the sink and counter). There are two bedrooms, and a larger study area. In one of the bedrooms we put our suitcases and cleaning supplies and whatever else we dont want in the way, and then we sleep in the other room. We have a bunk bed, and I sleep on top. Its not that bad. There are also a bunch of roosters that live next door (on the roof) so they tell us good morning everyday around 5 am. Its very welcoming. Hahaha

Yup, we watched conference this weekend. I didnt get a WHOLE lot out of it. It was really hard to focus. But I found Miss Nudd in the choir! That was a highlight. ;) I was able to take some notes. The notes are both in spanish and english, but mostly spanish. Something cool, is that Elder Richard G Scott does his own translations for conference. Its nice to listen to them in their own voice.

As for my ankles, I dont take much for them. The swelling has gone down considerably, I dont know why, and I am not asking questions. I dont have much ibuprofen, and I dont want to buy more. Plus, muscles dont really develop when taking pain meds so....Im at a little bit of a loss. Hahaha.

Our pensionita doesnt live far from us, about three blocks. We share her with the zone leaders. I like seeing them everyday and talking. Its way different from before. They both speak english, one is learning, but is really good, so I say he speaks english. I dont speak a whole lot of english to them though. Usually just when trying to figure out how to say things. Its helpful, and its calming for me.

Lessons this week were ok. My spanish is a whole lot better here than before. And Hna P even said that I am a lot more confident here, I speak more, and am more happy. I dont know why, I just am. The people here are awesome. Ok, yesterday at the church for the morning session of conference, a lady in the stake came up to us and hugged us so tightly and wouldnt let go of us, saying that she is so glad that there are Hermanas in the stake, and is so happy, and wants to take a picture with her. They ended up taking about 20 photos with one camera. Sheesh. Also, there is a family in our ward who absolutely ADORES us. We were walking to their house for lunch, and the daughters both had me, both holding my hands/arms. I feel like a little kitten being mauled by children. Hahahaha

As for the food....I am done with rice. If I never see rice ever again, that will be ok with me. We dont really eat dinner in this area, if we are at members houses though we are bound to get something. We kind of know where to go if we are hungry. Which normally we are not, because we eat a lot for lunch, and we also have food in our apartment if needed. You can do it mom, you dont need rice to survive! I wish the Peruvians knew that too.....lol.

Have a great week, thank you for all of your support!

Love Always,
Hermana Heather

Monday, September 30, 2013

9/30/13

My ankles are doing well, more or less. I hate have the brace, wrap, and cane, but its necessary. Both of my ankles swell like balloons everyday, which is annoying. I dont like having cankles!!

So the story for this week. I lied last week. Just kidding, I didnt lie. But last week around 4 in the afternoon, our district leaders called us, and said that me, and Hermana P were being emergency transferred (emergency transferred is basically just a transfer out of regular transfer times, nothing more). And that Hermana M was going to start training in the area. So Hermana P and I were transferred so that we could open a new area in Magnolias. We are the first sister missionaries that this stake has ever seen. We share about 1/8 of the ward with the zone leaders. Our zone leaders are AWESOME, and we see them multiple times a day. They live around the corner from us. I love this area too. The members WANT to help us in any way possible. I love the people here. I feel a connection, and I dont ever want to leave. As well, we have basic dominion over all of the single moms in the ZONE, which is so cool. The members give us lots of references. And as well, we basically have nothing to work with. Just ourselves and the scriptures. We dont have pamphlets, area books, nothing. Its a little frustrating because the pamphlets are what we work with on contacting.

Thank you Aunt Wendy for your support and concern!

I almost cried when I read that Grandma Shirley had to put her dog down :( but she is in a better place. Dont you all worry. Thank you for the picture of her and her dogs, its nice to get those.

We didnt get to see the womens conference, and I am not sure that we will ever see it either. Im sure it was good though :)

I love you all so very much, stay safe!!

Love Always,
Hermana Heather

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

9/23/13

This week has been extremely LONG to be honest. I was sick Sunday through Tuesday, and recouped on wednesday. I did stuff on monday, but sunday night I had a fever, and then tuesday I threw up. And I had a bad cold. It was not a good few days. My companions couldnt go anywhere tuesday because i was sick, and there were no members to leave me with. I literally slept all tuesday, and the afternoon/evening of monday.

The sisters day was fun. We played "minute to win it" games, ate KFC (yum! no rice!) and chatted. Basically thats all we want to do. Lol. It was nice to talk with all of the sisters, and the sisters that were in my district in the CCM (oh, all of the sisters in my district at the CCM were lima north sisters, and then our two elders went to cochobamba bolivia).

Transfers were two weeks ago, so we have four more weeks left in this transfer. Transfers go by so quickly. it makes it easier for me to think in transfers. not as depressing. Because next transfer is christmas time! So for me it is really close. Not three months away, which is more true. lol.

My ankles are doing well. i almost think being sick was a little bit of a blessing, because my left ankle isnt swelling NEAR as  bad as it was before (that was the first sprain). I think resting it for those three days was really good for them. My right ankle tends to hurt more. I cant move it completely like it should, but the doctor did say at least 6 weeks to heal, and its only been almost 3. So patience.... :/

The flooring in peoples homes... depends. Cement, tile, laminate. No carpet. Carpet does NOT exist here. Rugs I rarely see either. I miss carpet... I miss being able to walk around in just socks, or even bare feet in the house. But here, its just so dirty. I miss clean things. I miss my cleaning supplies. I think you would die with how gross things are here. I understand now why papa loved paraguay, but would never want to live there. Hahaha.  Peru is nice for now, but I really dont want to live here permanently.

V* is doing well. She attended all three hours of church this sunday! And the young womens leader said that she is super good, and participated a lot. So that is exciting. We are still working on her mom for permission.

We have another girl, A*, who is 14 years old, and has a STRONG testimony of the gospel, and is so excited to be baptized. Last week she talked to her dad, and he said no. She came in the room with tears streaming down her face. She was so heartbroken. We told her she needs to respect her dad, and he doesnt understand what is baptism. I suggested for her to share what she is learning with us. That is what papa likes to know. What are we learning, why things are important to us.

We dont have much support from the ward here. The bishop doesnt do much. He is the head, and if he used the power, he could move the ward to bigger and greater things. But he doesnt. During meetings he plays with his phone, answers it, does other things. Doesnt pay attention or respect when other people are talking. It is frustrating. Not much is progressing in this ward. And it is disheartening for us. So many less actives, and people dont do anything. And I am not sure if home teachers exist around here either... i think they would help a lot with the less actives. We cant work to activate the less actives AND baptize more people. The numbers are so low here. It is really frustrating, and we are trying to do everything to up the numbers, but they are so low.

This morning I was thinking, if I were to go home now, the way I am right now, I might actually be very different. I dont notice it, but I think I am. I am starting to like to have CLEANLINESS. Because nothing is clean here. I understand the need to clean, but I have nothing to clean WITH. Its frustrating. I also want to cook my own food. I am tired of rice. And I still have over a year to go with the rice (rice. Everday. half of the plate). Potatoes arent that bad, I rather like them. But the rice. No. No more after this....hahahaha.

Love you to the moon and back!
Hermana Heather

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

9/16/13

I am doing all right. My ankle hurts every now an again, and the first ankle likes to start swelling, so thats fun. I have been a little sick with a cold the past few days (ok, a lot) hahaha. And I finally remembered about the cold pills I brought. So I am on those currently. My psyche is alive. I have issues trying to say what I mean, and in spanish, sometimes i freak. Sometimes I understand a lot and other times I understand NOTHING. And it is hard to respond, because I dont have the right words. in english I like to use more pretty words, a littler ¨bigger¨ but I cant in spanish. It drives me NUTS. I am not sure how I feel about being gone for 3 months already... Often i feel like I am just going to go home tomorrow, or see you all soon. its kind of weird. But it is also good. I dont think about the length of time till I see you all again, because I get depressed. But when I think about it more in transfers (6 weeks) or differently, its ok. I feel like I am coming home soon!

We have one investigator named V, and she is 13 years old. She is so cute, and loves to read, and play volleyball. She is reading the book of mormon pretty fast. Right now we are preparing her to be baptized at the end of this month, the 28th.  In one of the prayers she said last week at the end of the lesson, she prayed that she could be a missionary too. So cute! Her mom is stubborn though. She wants her daughter to wait awhile before baptism, and doesnt want her to be a missionary, or wants her to put other things first. We are pretty sure she is not understanding the difference between being BAPTIZED and being a MISSIONARY. They are two TOTALLY different things. You dont HAVE to be a missionary. its a choice, not an obligation (for the girls at least). But V's mom will just talk and talk and talk and talk. She doesnt really let us say much. She is very loving and likes having us around. But she does most of the talking. Hahaha.

Love,
Hermana Heather

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

9/9/13

Im kind of progressing in my spanish, Im starting to understand more of what people say now. Not all of the time, but some. My spanish is really broken. I know my sentance structure in english wasnt very good, and its worse in spanish. I know what I want to say in my head, but on its way out, it jumbles. I think there is a slight glitch between my brain and my mouth... blah.

Guess what?! I sprained my other ankle this week.... yup! I stepped off of a curb with my good foot (because I have been doing it so I dont continue to hurt the first bad foot) and it was a little bit bigger of a curb, and my ankle buckled and I completely fell. I met with the doctor two days later on friday, and he said it is severely sprained (grade 2 sprain?), but not broken. So thats good news! Lesson, I think I am NEVER leaving my cane. EVER. Haha. I am not sure what I am supposed to learn from this. But I still walk as fast and as carefully as I can. There´s nothing more I can do. So thats been fun. ;)
Sometimes kids like me, sometimes they dont. Initially its funny because they will look at me, and their eyes will get SO BIG, and then they hide their face, and then peak up at me. Its kind of funny.

I wouldnt say there are a LOT of wild dogs here. I think a lot of them "belong" to people. They really lay in front of the door, and they are protective of the house, so we have to be a little careful. There is one dog that we call PANCHO. He likes following us around sometimes. He´s really nice, and does his own thing. There is this one dog though, that I do NOT like. At all. He is bigger, and scary looking, and will come after us. I use my cane to keep him at a distance. Oh, once this past week, we were walking in the manzanas (the mountain area) and there were two dogs that were coming after us, and wouldnt leave us alone. It was kind of scary, because there were two of them, and we were walking downhill, with the dogs behind us. They finally left us alone, but to be honest, I was a little scared. Mostly Im not afraid of the animals here. I like to watch their body language, and I can usually tell if they are being aggressive, friendly, playful, etc. I really like it. I wonder if there is a career in animal behavior... I really love observing and analyzing what they might do next.

Basically, we have about one hour to write the mission president and do our emails. Its a little stressful. Sometimes we get a little more time if we are lucky. Our "assigned time" is 10:45-12:00. More or less. And I believe that we are an hour ahead of you all... we dont have time changes. So when the time changes for you all, I think it will end up being a two hour time difference.

We do not have the schedule cards anymore. Lol. We have upgraded to a little schedule booklet. It consists of 6 weeks (so one transfer) and we get new ones every transfer. So less of a hassle. Dont need to carry around those large cards. Hahaha. One of the members in our ward showed us his missionary "agendas." Phew, Im glad we have our booklet. One of the missionaries in our stake will have to show you sometime.

Our district is great. Right now we have I think 3-4 companionships in the district, about 8 people. More or less. And then in our zone about 8 companionships. Its great. Our district leader is leaving us today:( he is going home. To Bolivia. He is a fantastic Elder, and hes been a really good friend. Just one of those persons that I really did connect with.

An interesting person that we met. Last week we met a guy named Manuel. We were just walking, and he kind of yelled at us "what congregation do you belong to?" well, we took the chance, "church of jesus christ of latter day saints" "when do you guys meet?" "can we leave a pamphlet with you?" "does it have the directions?" so we talked with him for a while, he is a very interesting, loud, person. One of those who likes to be kind of funny. Hna P said that these types of people are hard to work with, because its hard for them to take things seriously. But he was definitely INTERESTING.

I love you all so very much!!

Love Always,
Hermana Heather

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

8/26/13

This week has been crazy. The beginning of last week was awful. Lets be honest. I was so trunkie (homesick, in a way) and honestly just wanted to come home. I wanted to be done. I hated it here. I had no idea why I was here, what I was doing. I cant speak the language, I cant teach, etc etc. These were some of the thoughts in my head while we would be walking to appointments and contacting. By Thursday, id had enough. I was done. I just started crying in the morning. Hna P sat me down in our room and made me tell her what was wrong. We talked for awhile, and she told me things I needed to hear. After that...I felt FREE. I FEEL FREE! And by the afternoon, I was jumping around, making jokes, etc. (I can do that, mostly because Im gringo I feel. Im already different). It feels GREAT. On friday, when we were contacting. There was a girl in our ward that came with us, and I talked to some guy. After, she told me my spanish is so good. Especially the pronunciation/accent. She said that I turn into a different person when speaking. It was a big compliment. Since then, Ive had other compliments about my spanish, that the accent/pronunciation is really good. Not short and choppy like other north americans. Its really nice.

I quite enjoy talking now, and I am starting to figure out how to understand spanish. Its not translating it in your head, its simply understanding. Like english. You dont translate english into other thoughts or pictures. You just understand. Its weird.

You all have thunderstorms?!? I LOVE those! And thats kind of funny nothing was working that day... ;)

Im glad Joe seems to be doing well. I hear from others he progressing rapidly. He can drive, and get around well. From what Ive heard at least. Lol.

Im getting to know Santa Isabel better, and the people too. Though its difficult to remember their names...They are different than north american names. And to add to it the accent? Phew.... its a challenge. Lol. I recognize the faces, so thats a good thing, right? We dont normally see the same people everyday. There are so many people here. Occasionally we will see someone from the ward, or an investigator, but not much. The food is ok. Im not too fond of rice, and I dont like the creamy stuff they have on potatoes sometimes. I dont think I will miss rice too much... The bread is really good though. And the sweets are amazing down here as well. YUMMM.

 Last friday, there was a relief society activity, and they made something called PICARONES (dont count on the spelling being correct). They are SSOOOOOO GGGOOOOOOOODDD. Its some time of dough, and then you fry it. A little similar to a doughnut, but not. And then some type of thin sauce on it, that I have no Idea how to describe the flavor (and you only need a little bit) was good.
 We have also had something called PAPAS RELLINAS. The way you make it is cook the potatoes, peel the potatoes, mash the potatoes, then you form them into the potato shape, and open it up and put a beef mixture in it and close it. Then you coat the outside with flour (or something like that) and fry it. OH MY HEAVENS!!!!!! They are absolutely fantastic! I really want to make these myself. They are so good!
 Another food that I like is a breakfast food, kind of similar to an oatmeal. Its called AVENA. I have no idea what exactly is in it, but it will often have some type of fruit flavor (apple, pineapple) I really like it.

I believe the package arrived! The zone leader told me last wednesday, but said that I couldnt have it until monday. ..... I wasnt very happy at him. He also told Hna M that she had a letter! And wouldnt get it until monday. .... So I need to track that package down. Thank you so much! (even though I have no idea whats in it right now) Im excited to read your letters too. And to have something physical. When you get the pictures of my brothers, do you think you could send some to me though snail mail? Just a request. Its difficult to take pictures with the camera and computer. It does weird things, and is hard to read/see sometimes.

Its starting to warm up some here. Though today is more rainy. I am so glad I feel so much better. Im sure it was your prayers. Keep them up! Haha, jk. but seriously... They really do help.

I love and miss you all so much! Have an excellent week!!!

Love Always,
Hermana Heather

Monday, August 19, 2013

8/19/13

I miss you all. A lot. When I read that you put my name on the prayer roll, I started crying to be honest. It has been a difficult week. Last Saturday (not this past, but the one before) I stepped wrong while walking, and a few hours later realized my ankle (left ankle) was swollen. I decided it wasnt good. I put deep blue and such on it and we all kept going. I would put my foot up when I could, but not very often. It kind of hurt, but was mostly annoying, and looked ugly (I didnt want cankles so early in life! haha). We called the mission presidents wife about wednesday, had a zone meeting thursday, and she decided it would be best to visit with the mission doctor (he is from the states, doctor Braumwell, orthopedic doctor). So I met with the Doctor on Friday, and he said that my ankle is sprained. I dont know how bad it is, but now I have an ankle brace and a cane! The cane is so I dont keep spraining it when I walk. More of a prevention. So It will be awhile before I am completely healed. It hurts some every once in awhile, but its bearable.

The language is rough, and whats worse, is that Hna P doesnt think Im trying. I dont always understand, and my reading the book of mormon in spanish is slow, because I am trying to dissect the words, then put them back together so that I understand each verse. I am not learning as quickly as my other North American companion. I really am trying, but learning has always been difficult for me... Anyways, its been a difficult week all around. Dont worry about my ankle though. I wasnt planning on telling you, but felt it was relevant, especially when you said you put my name on the prayer roll...thank you.

I really am different from the peruvians here. Everyone has black black hair, and dark skin, and brown/black eyes. I have more light brown hair, light skin, and blue blue eyes. Sometimes when we are talking to people (mostly the men) they  always look at me and tell me I have beautiful eyes. Its a little weird to me. Lol. Im not sure about the porcelain skin part, mostly because I dont understand everything the say. Hahaha
Generally I feel safe where we are. The manzanas (the mountain area) is not so safe at night. If we are there at night, it is because we are finishing an appointment there, and then we get out. I dont know exactly why, but Hna P says its "peligroso" I think the translating is "unsafe."

Ok, so I was in a lot of pain a few nights ago. My lower back was KILLING me, and some of my foot, and my head felt weird, and my latina comp wasnt happy with me. Anyways, I opened the letter from you to open when I am in pain, and I saw the picture of you me and cotton, I was like "are you kidding me?" I absolutely love that picture, and always wanted one of that one.

Love Always,
Hermana Heather

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

8/12/13

So last week we went to the catacombs. The catacombs are actually under a 400 year old Catholic Cathedral. Which is gorgeous. The construction is marvelous. It was built sometime in the 1600´s I believe. We were not allowed to take pictures inside though... There was an awesome library, and the domes on the ceiling were breathtaking. I wasnt too fond of the decor though... Lots of pictures/images/3d images of Christ suffering and dying on the cross. If I was catholic, I would definitely be depressed. The catacombs were pretty cool, and really creepy at the same time. I kind of felt like it could be in a scene of Indiana Jones or something ;) There were lots of bones that were placed in V forms, but lots, so stack the V´s on top of each other and thats how the bones were. There was also this pit that when you looked down, you saw lots of bones placed in different shapes/patters, and also skulls. And there were skulls in the stone wall going down into it. I thought it was pretty cool.

So last week, I forgot to tell this story. So about a week and a half ago, we went to a home that we call niños (that is kids in spanish, because we teach the children there) and they all came out and gave us kisses and such, and this little boy about 3 years old came out with his grandma, looked and me and covered his eyes while screaming "¡ojo´s! ¡Blanco!" He did NOT want to come near me at all. But his grandma convinced him I was ok, and he came and gave me a peck on the cheek and ran off. I later learned he said my eyes were doll eyes (blue.)  A similar thing happened just yesterday with a little girl. She was about the same age, 3 or 4, and she ran and gave Hna P a BIG hug and kiss, looked at me, and ran to her dad. When we finished talking with her parents, she hugged Hna P, hugged Hna M (she has green eyes, but not as noticeable) and REFUSED to come near me. I was kind of really disappointed... but at the same time its kind of funny. I think you should send me brown contacts. ;)

We do a lot of hiking here. If you look at the popular peru picture of colorful houses on the hill/mountain, that is what it looks like. Dead serious. A lot of the houses are just cement. There is one lady who lives in a space smaller than our garage (in Lehi). Its...wow. Jut wow.

A few things I am grateful for. Having access to various cleaning supplies at home. Clean bathrooms in the church (the STINK. SO BAD here. In the church!). I am thankful for insulation, and thick walls that keep out a lot of the noise at night.

We dont have any big stores in our zone. We are only allowed to leave our zone 2 a transfer. There are tiny stores that have basic stuff, but I want to go to a supermarket store. Where I can shop and look for what I want.

Yesterday there was this lady that came up to us and started talking about our church. She was crying while talking. I didnt understand the conversation, but after, I learned she is trying to quit drinking, but cant. She really really wants to. And she is trying to find a religion, but every church she goes to tells lies. We are having a family home evening at someones house tonight, and we are going to take her as well. I hope she really does come. She could be a very promising investigator.

I love you all so much! Stay safe!

Love Always,
Hermana Heather

8/5/13 - First Week in the Fieldl

Well, I am here, and in the field! We are in the Sta Isabel area, in the Sta Isabel ward. My companions are Hermana P and Hermana M. Hermana P is from Peru, and lives in the Cusco mission, but I dont remember the actual city name. She has been in the field since November of last year, and was originally in the Lima West mission, and was in the new Lima North boundaries when it split, so she is now in Lima North. Hermana M is from Highland. I know she lives less than five miles from us, no not very far. She is 19, and I believe she graduated in 2012. Hermana M came in with me, so shes new too. Its a little difficult because Hermana P doesnt speak ANY english, and mine and Hna M's spanish isnt very good, but seem to communicate very well.

Our Living conditions are actually pretty good. We live in a nice part of town. It is an upstairs apartment, and when you walk in the front door, you can see our study area with two desks, and then the bathroom is to the left. When you walk forward, you end up walking into our bedroom. It is a small room, and we have the three beds parallel to each other, with about 6 inches of room between each. I sleep in the middle, and I actually like it. At the base of the beds, against the wall, we have two dressers, and then also a wooden rack to hang our clothes on. I have to tell you about the showers. There is a specific way to use them. First you need to turn on the water, then you flip a switch for electricity to make it warm. It takes a little bit of time, but you have to adjust the water pressure just right for it to be a good temperature (meaning turn off the electricity, adjust the water, repeat). Its not that bad really. But I think it is a blessing to be able to adjust your water temperature so easily in the states.

The homes of people we visit arent that bad. They look worse on the outside than they do on the inside. Still not what I would consider ideal, but they are livable. Something interesting is that people who are richer generally live on the flat ground, where as those who are more poor live on the mountain. So thats different than in Utah. In the richer area, there is a gated courtyard area. Kind of like a front yard. There isnt much green stuff around here either. Once you go in the courtyard area, you go through another door to get into the actual house. Its not bad, I knd of like the layout, and some home look pretty nice on the outside too.

Mama Norma is our pensionista. She is very nice. She lives about 1/2 a mile away from us, so every morning we walk to go eat breakfast. Breakfast and dinner are normally small. One of my favorite things is milk and sugar. They use milk from a can (evaporated milk) and have it heated up, and then you put sugar in it. YUM! We have also had something called ECCO. Its made from nestle, and I would probably say it is like mormon coffee. It smells kind of like coffee, but it is COMPLETELY ok. And actually pretty good! Lunch is the big meal. We have had lunch at members homes, and the norm is rice and potatoes, or rice and chicken. Pretty good, but I like breakfast and dinner the most. Once for dinner last week we had strawberry yogurt, chocolate flakes, and mini dried marshmallows. It was super good, and the best part is, I didnt get sick from the yogurt! I was very happy about that. So yesterday we ate at a members home, and in the middle of the rice was a purple olive. Gross Gross Gross! I had a "bite" of one at the CCM, and they are NOT good. Often referred to as "gringo killers" haha. I dont know what they do to you, but its not good. Hna Panca LOVES them, so she ate both mine and Hna M's.

I have not seen any crawly things that would make you high-tail it out of here. And I hope I never do... ;)

The language is kind of difficult... I understand more than I can speak. Whenever I try and speak, my mind goes blank. Of things even in english. It is very discouraging because I really am trying....i have to keep reminding myself that it has been less than a week. But its still tough.

So Pdays are on Monday. We do things as  zone it seems. Today we are going to the Catacombs. I know its in Lima Central mission, but thats all I know. Im excited to go see whats out there!

Love Always,
Hermana Heather

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Week Five at the CCM

I am doing well, 20 actually feels a little older! Its a little weird. Haha

The 16 year old is a ward missionary, so it is something he does a lot. Or he is on a MINI mission or something like that. But he is really good. How am I feeling about leaving the MTC? I am in denial. ish. My companion started putting things in her suitcase today, and everyone was saying "no no no!" It was funny. But seriously. Its weird. I really like it here. It is like my spirit knows it is at home. It is doing things it was familiar with doing in the life before. I really like the feeling. :) I am hanging in just fine actually. It hasnt been very difficult to be honest. I dont feel the stress of it in other words. The spanish is somewhere in my head. Sometimes I can pull out a conversation, and use it, other times I cant understand anyone or form words. So.... its there. I know. I just have to keep going.

With my roommate, we werent able to get anything, even today we werent. They dont have ANY of the triplets with tabs at the distribution center. They are supposed to be getting some in on the 13th of AUG. I did end up getting a nice bible and some liahonas and a picture book for teaching today though. And I did hear that we get to go to the temple during transfers, or something like that. So I am hoping for that, so I can get a nice set of spanish scriptures. We will have to see on that, but for now I can use the paperback one that the CCM gave us. So that wasnt able to happen. We had good intentions, but oh well. I think she is going to get some anyways. :)

From what I understand, we are going out procelyting again. Im both excited and nervous, and I am sure I wont be as shocked this time going out. We are leaving the CCM/ARRIVING to the mission on Tuesday the 30, so we will see how that goes. I know it is about an hour or so away from where we are. One of my teachers, Hermano Meza, lives in our mission, and it takes him 1 1/2 to bus here. He also said that the area is too dangerous, and he hopes it will change soon (in getting missionaries in there). That was shocking for us all, because he is EXTREMELY clean and tidy. He also has the CUTEST wife and 3 month old daughter, and it is so hard to imagine they live in a place like that!

Love you all!

Hermana Heather

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Week Four at the CCM

Thanks for the Guniea Pig! I was wondering when I was going to gt one of those! ;) As of right now, I have heard that all you do at the immigration office is sit in a room, go to another room. Wait in a line, Sign a paper. Wait in another room. And leave. Its so dumb, because most of our district went yesterday, and then three of us have to go today, on our Pday, and we are not able to go to the temple. Also, the laundry was double booked this morning (scheduled from 6-7) and when I went in at 5:50 to put my load in (which I NEED to do my laundry) all of the machines were in use. And we arent allowed to do them outside of our slot. Two of my roommates were doing laundry, so I was able to put a few shirts in. So I will be wearing one of those later, wet or dry. Pray they are dry!

Guess what else! We have a roommate who is kind of thinking about getting scriptures, but it is hard for her to afford. She always goes quiet when the other roommates are talking about how much money they have/how much other people gave them. So I thought it would be a good idea for us all (me and the other four people in our room) to get her a triplet. Not like we all have much, but thats only about $6 from each of us. So she can have her own nice ones. This roommate lives in a small town in Montana (I think) called Colstrip. All the stories she has about that place....I never want to live there. The people are downright weird, and they have to take a 2 hour bus ride to get to school. And its called Colstrip because its a coal mining town. But it is spelled C-O-L-S-T-R-I-P. Oh dear....I am never ever ever going to live there. ;) And its sad, her family doesnt really email her either. She is SO awesome though. She is 22. I could probably give you her story, but I wont. Lol.

So last Saturday, we went procyliting (spelled wrong, I know) in the city. I dont now where we went, but it was nothing like I had ever seen. I was already a little sick from the drive there (traffic is INSANE here, mom, you would not survive the driving here, lol), and when we stepped out into the neighborhood, the smell was not pleasant. The roads are mostly dirt, there are so many dogs laying/walking around, and the houses are cement boxes about three stories high with unfinished third floors One of the men in the bishopbric told me they leave the third floor unfinished, because if it is not done, then they dont have to pay property taxes. They are trying to save as much money as possible. They have these courtyard spaces with locked gates, and then after that is a front door. They wouldnt really open the gates very much, they would have a small window/door they would open to see their eyes, and would talk to us through that.

Me and my companion were with a 16 year old native peruvian. The only thing I could ever say was that we are missionaries, and then the other people would say something, and the boy would have to respond back. He was really good, and will make a great missionary someday. But I cant understand an ounce of what people say. Especially if it is as fast as they speak. We talke to this old guy with groceries (the 16 year old did) and they argued for awhile about something, and me and my companion were confused, he kept saying something about the book of mormon, then smirked at the boy, and walked off. We found out afterwards that this old man was a STRONG catholic, and thought we only needed the bible. Me and my companion had the PERFECT scripture for this man, but we couldnt share it because A) he was gone, and B) we couldnt understand anything of what was going on. So not knowing the language is pretty hard. Its not fun not knowing what people are saying. So thats been a little bit of a deterrent for me. But I know that it will take a few months, so I have to stay positive! (Not TRY, but BE).

For Sundays, we are required to prepare a five minute talk (attempted in spanish) on the subject, and after the sacrement, they will call 2 elders and 2 sisters/hermanas to give their talk. There are so many people they have to choose from. So it is a struggle to enjoy the meeting until they have announced the speakers. Its really hard to prepare the talks, especially when all you have are pamphlets and the scripture. They encourage you to use ensigns and things, but I dont have any of those.

Well, just a week and a half, and I will be in the field! Im freaking out a bit. Because I am pretty sure that our mission is going to be in even poorer than the area we were in last week. It is so different, and I had no idea people lived like how they do...its definitely a shock to me. But Ive got this.
I love you all, and have a fantastic week!

Love Always,

Hermana Heather

Friday, July 12, 2013

Week Three at the CCM

One reason that I really LOVE the peruvians is that they are all so generous. In the first latino group we came in with, if they were standing up without lunch trays, they would take them from us and put them away (for the sisters mostly). And they are always so gracious about letting the sisters go up first. The north americans do it a little more grudgingly (not all, there are a few north americans that are very gracious). And on the bus, the men will stand up to let the women sit, or older people.

So, sometimes me and my companion/roommates will try and talk to the latinos, thinking we can carry on a conversation....NOPE. I have no idea what some of them are saying. It definitely helps when one of them knows some english, then we can talk better to them. Conclusion, we are going to be in the field in three weeks, and wont be able to talk to very many people. Hahaha! Should be entertaining to say the least :P

Thank you so much for your love and support! Im still doing ok. But only 2 more p-days until im out in the field! :/
 
We went to the temple earlier this morning, and we walked to it! about a twenty minute walk, fast paced. Every pus that was passing us was full, so we just walked. For the buses its 50 centimos (im not sure what it is in dollars) but its very cheap).

I got a jacket/coat today at a store! Im excited to be warm in it! Our teachers keep it cold. And I got more inca cola, and found sour cream and onion pringles. So I splurged just a little bit.... If people are wondering about bringing cash down or cards, I would suggest cash, at least for the first little while. There is a sister here whos mom wouldnt let her bring cash, and the card she has keeps getting denied, so she hasnt been able to buy anything, and her mom said it should work. So just a suggestion!

I love you all, have a good week!
Hermana Heather

Friday, July 5, 2013

Week Two at the CCM

I LOVE the peruvians here. Me and my comp will sit with them at mealtimes at talk with them. My favorite physical activity last week was playing soccer with the latinos. A lot of the time I would stay away from the latinos, because they kick HARD. And their footwork is UNBELIEVABLE! If Ben and Chris want to learn great footwork, watch peruvians play soccer! (or any other latino im sure) and play with them ;)
I have not really gotten homesick. I think a few nights ago I did just a little. I do miss you all, and I want to know whats going on with everyone, but I dont really get homesick at all (surprisingly). I am just really comfortable here, and the days are so packed and fly by.
Something I learned this past week: The Lord has given me SO MUCH, that now it is my turn to sacrifice a LITTLE of my time for him. I hope that makes sense, it makes sense in my head. ;)
Have I mentioned the cold? Yeah, the CCM president asked if we have coats/gloves/scarves... nope. No one going to lima has anything, because the packet said to bring LIGHT clothing. AWESOME! :/
Yesterday, 3rd of July, me and my comp had an AWESOME experience in a lesson. So we went in, and our investigator/our teacher wont let us speak spanish. He will just say he doesnt speak english (the teacher does a little, not a lot). We were going through, and the investigator said his dad died, and wondered if he would see him again/that he was having a lot of pain. My companion told a story in spanish about how a really good friend of hers died nine months ago from cancer, and was a really good person, but that she knows she is in heaven and will see her friend again. And then I was struggling through my testimony of praying and giving your pain to the Lord, and my teacher/investigator just said "teach in english." We were a little taken aback, but I bore my testimony in english (went much better than in spanish) and the spirit was strong, and both me and my comp were crying. We never got to the end of the lesson, because he told us to stop, and told us that he didnt know why, but he had felt like we had to teach in english. I feel like I learned that I know the lessons in english better than I thought I did. A WHOLE lot better than I thought I did. And it is ok to sometimes bear your testimony in english, because even if the investigator doesnt understand your words, the spirit can make it so, and they will understand everything you are saying.

Today, the kitchen staff celebrated the 4th of July. They had a buffet, and a flag cake, and a HUGE American Flag behind the servers. They all had flag headbands, and red and blue balloons were decorating the entire cafeteria. It was so neat, and so kind of them! The staff really enjoyed it, and were taking pictures of themselves. I think they enjoyed celebrating a little more than we did!

Have a good week! 3 more P-days to go!

Love Always,
Hermana Heather

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Week One at the CCM

The food here is REALLY good. I have rice for almost every lunch and dinner, and then I have egg and toast for breakfast. They say you need to try and eat all the food that you get because its rude if you dont eat it, but then they say not to gain weight so that our clothes dont fit us...we arent sure what to do yet. Hahaha. Conditions are ok. The showers like to switch from really hot to really cold while you are showering, kind of annoying, but it was what happened at home, so thats ok. It is REALLY cold here. Its the start of winter. and NO WHERE in the packet did it say to bring warm clothing. I couldnt find anything at the store either. I have resorted to taking my blanket to class with me, because one of the Hermanos will turn the temperature down to 66F. In the morning, you can feel the rain (more like mist at the edge of sprinklers). I think it feels nice. The past few days have been ok temperature wise though.


There are 11 hermanas in my district (one trio) and two elders. All the hermanas are going to lima north, and the elders are going to cochubumba (something like that) bolivia. There is an elder in my district who didnt know ANY spanish coming in, and we all feel like he is almost to the rest of our levels now. Which is awesome. He works really hard. The CCM (MTC) is very small. Today we went to the temple, and went to a store called Tottus (similar to a wal mart) and took the bus home. They will basically drop you off anywhere you want. The traffic is crazy here. If you want to cross the street, you just go. And blinkers are rarely used.
Me and my companion are basically opposite. Shes loud, im not, etc. But its a good combo I think. We get along pretty well.
Yesterday me and me compañera taught a lesson, and it was aweful. It was our third lesson to this "investigator" and he spoke very little english. And we had no idea what he was saying, what to teach, and how to answer his questions. And me and my companion were not together at all. She was laughing about it, but I took it all kind of hard.

We go to bed at 1030 and wake up at 630 (cant find the colon). I am always tired by at least noon. I will rest a little during personal study after lunch, and then I am good until I go to bed. My hair doesnt curl...It doesnt do anything really. I end up putting it up in a pony tale

Love Always,
Hermana Heather

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Arrived Safely in Lima

Hola!

We arrived in Lima very late last night/early this morning.
We arrived at the CCM around 4 this morning, and slept until 9.
Our P-day is Thursdays.
The majority of us just want to sleep. But we are surviving right now.
Hope all is well!

-Hermana Heather