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