He will answer your prayers

Oh man....Where do I even start with this week?

Well...we made it! We are in Chivay! This place is absolutely incredible. I´ll be back to visit....no doubt. I love it so much. I sent as many pictures as I could. The weather is cold....we wear 4 shirts, scarves, 2 pairs of pants, and have 4 alpaca blankets at night...with our heater...and we´re still cold. Haha. Imagine driving up to the cabin in the winter, and going to sleep without turning on the heater...that´s about where we are. Haha.

Our branch is POPPIN....we had a whole 6 members there yesterday. My companion and I gave talks, and taught relief society....and I´m primary president. Hahaha. It is seriously the coolest though. The people who come are so fiel, and just so happy to be members of the church. I attached a picture of our relief society yesterday which we combined with primary and young womens.

The work here doesn't move as quick as it does in Arequipa, but I truly and honestly feel that the Lord has prepared this little town for the gospel. Who are we to say that the Lord hasn´t prepared 10 people to enter the waters of baptism in April? Who are we to say that our branch can´t progress? This is the Lord´s work, and we are only instruments in His hands.

President and Sister Zobrist are the greatest Peruvian parents. Last week they drove up from Arequipa and brought up Top Ramen, a heater for our room, hot chocolate, oatmeal, cereal, almonds, and more blankets. Then they took us out to eat for dinner.  Don´t worry...I´m being taken care of!

I am loving my new area, and Hermana Weller who by the way is my exact twin. Wish I could send all the hilarious movies we made doing Zumba at 8:45pm in the plaza...by ourselves. We just laugh all day long, and enjoy every moment together.

The people here are incredible. I couldn't love them more.  I am so happy, and love this work SO much. I know that if I humble myself before God, that He will bless me. I had multiple experiences this week with prayer and receiving answers. Every time I knelt down and asked the Lord to help, I received my answer strong and clear, "I am willing...just let me. I have plenty for you to do, will you do it?" The Lord answers our prayer, He loves us. I can´t say it enough. "Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you."

Tansfers and General Conference in Spanish

HAHAHA...Okay, this week I have some crazy/hilarious/awesome news.
I don´t know where to start...I´m gonna explain a little bit.

There is an area in our mission called Chivay. This area doesn't have sisters, it never has. The reason that they have never had sisters there is because it's really dangerous, far from Arequipa, really cold, and REALLY poor. There are two companionship of elders up there right now, and it is TOUGH. They don´t have a pension, and it´s like straight up camping from what I have heard. Well...President called me yesterday to tell me that he is sending me up to Chivay with Sister Weller (from Utah) to open up an area. HAHAHA. I wish I could explain better all of this, but it is just still so hilarious to me. He called me yesterday to see how I felt, and give me the low down on what is needed up there. They have a REALLY small branch, and they meet in a house. It´s starting to go into winter where they see snow, and it gets SUPER cold. So...I head out today with Sister Weller, and President basically told me that I´ll be finishing my mission out in Chivay. We are working with the poorest people in the mission, and I am SO stinking dang excited. Obviously I´m nervous...but when President Zobrist called me he told me the experience he had up in Chivay last week thinking about sending sisters out there, and he said it was a cool spiritual experience because when he interviewed with the four elders out in Chivay they all felt that Sister Weller and I were the missionaries that needed to be up there. It is going to be a CRAZY adventure. I´m sure next week I will have some more pictures and stuff so you guys can get a little feel of what is going to be happening with your daughter. Haha.

Leaving Paucarpata is gonna be sad. I love my companion, and we worked so dang hard this transfer. In the month of April we are going to be having 9 baptisms, and I will miss them all, but I feel so certain that this is what I need to do. Conference this last weekend was absolutely incredible! I was SO inspired. What a blessing that we have to listen to the voice of our prophet and apostles every 6 months, with words directly from our father in heaven. I had a pretty cool experience watching conference too. On Saturday morning before we left to go to the church I prayed that God would bless with the gift of interpretation of tongues just in case I didn't have the opportunity to watch conference in English. Well, I did have the opportunity to watch it in English, but when I got into the room I didn't feel the same spirit that I was hoping for. A thought came into my mind that I needed to do my part if I wanted to receive answers to my prayers. If I prayed and asked God to bless me with this specific gift of the spirit to understand, and feel the truth of the talks in Spanish, why was I watching it in English? I went back into the chapel where my companion was, and ended watching all four sessions in Spanish, and LOVED IT! I learned SO much, and felt so strongly this answer to my prayer.

This work is my absolute favorite. I will never be able to live my mission again, and I know with all surety of my heart that THIS is where I need to be. My life is changed because of the decision that I made to serve a mission.  I feel SO much love for the people I am serving, and I feel so lucky to be here teaching the truth to those who have not yet received it. I cannot imagine my life without the gospel of Jesus Christ, I cannot imagine a life that isn't centered on Christ. My heart has forever been changed, and I am willing to give everything I have to the Lord. He lives. I will never doubt that. I have received countless confirmations to my soul that this is right. I know it with every bone in my body.  All we need to do is ask with a sincere heart, and the Lord will provide.

I love you all! Have a beautiful week!


This is a link to where Carli has been transferred to!

Chivay, Peru

If you are curious to watch General Conference click here: Watch General Conference April, 2014

And now for Pictures!

Peruvian Hospitals...

Wow...where do I start? This week was pretty nuts.

Firstly...I´m sure you all remember Sister Hubert (my biggest fan...who by the way has an awesome connection to us cause her dad is from South Africa and knows dad from the mission I think) Well...Thursday afternoon Sister Zobrist called me to tell me that Sister Hubert was passing kidney stones, and was in the hospital and couldn't communicate with the doctors cause she didn't speak Spanish yet. She asked if I could go and translate and help her out...and I ended up staying in the hospital with her all day Thursday until about 11pm talking to the doctors, and getting her appointments with the specialist that could help her out. President and Sister Zobrist were out of Arequipa doing some conferences, and finally got into town around 9:30pm, so they came and took us back to the mission home to sleep, and then we had another appointment the next day with the specialist. Poor Sister Hubert was so sick, and in so much pain that we woke up at 4:30am and layed outside the bathroom on the floor talking so she could be distracted from the pain, and the nausea that she felt. Well...our dream of being companions came true. Love her to death! She is the sweetest, bravest person I know. I hope shes reading this....RACHEL?! Anyway...I´m thinking of moving to Perú to be a nurse cause I love the hospitals here, and seeing people wheeled right in front of me with no eye and a sliced open nose while the little girl on the other side of the curtain is violently vomiting. Needless to say....I enjoyed it! Haha.

Besides my hospital adventure...this week was FULL of miracles. I thank my Heavenly Father each day for the opportunity I have to be here...I am so extremely blessed! I have never felt so strongly, as I did this week, that this is MY mission. I love this country with all my heart, and I love missionary work.

We had a baptism this week. We have been working with this kid named Cristian for about the entire month I've been back here serving in Arequipa, and he had all the desires in the world to be baptized but his madrina just didn´t want to give permission for him to be baptized. We talked to her and explained...with the most patience we could... (perdí la paciencia un poco...no voy a mentir) that she can continue to say no, but he turns 18 next month, and he will be baptized. He told us he wants to go on a mission, and he is solid. Well...long story short, he was baptized on Saturday, and was so happy after he came out of the water than he started jumping up and down and swimming around in the baptismal font...hahaha. It was hilarious! That is so pure joy right there.

Well...this week I sent like a zillion pictures. YOU´RE WELCOME! We had a BBQ yesterday and it was unreal. So goood. I also attached a picture of my companion and I with our pensionista after the woman's broadcast because we didn't have our moms there with us, so we ran up and hugged her afterward. #trucky

This week I saw lots of miracles. Ohh...I forgot to tell you, I also saw about half of the movie frozen. Hahaha. Sister Hubert and I watched it with Sister Zobrist. It was the BEST thing I have ever seen. I just wanted to stand up and dance around the mission home. It´s like sister zobrists favorite movie, so as we were hanging out at the mission home waiting to go back to the hospital she turned it on and told us to watch it with her. Love that woman! Today we have leadership training so I will be at the mission home again, and I will take a picture with President and Sister Zobrist...I promise!

Love you all. Hope you´re being good! Thanks for all the emails, letters, and love.
Ps. Shout out to Marcus who is going to rock the MCAT this month. YOU CAN DO IT!

The Plan of the Church

Wow. Time is flying by, I don´t feel like I have much to say because I feel like I just wrote you all a letter.  Things here in Paucarpata are going well. We are going through a little bit of a baptism drought, but as I´m sure you all know, mission success isn´t based on baptisms. We continue to have wonderful experiences each week, and I am continuing the grow and learn more about this beautiful gospel of Jesus Christ.

So...yesterday we left our house running around to recover all our investigators to come to church, and when we got to church we had missed the sacrament. I almost cried. I have truly come to love and appreciate more than ever before the sacrament in my life. Think about it like this. Imagine that you have a white shirt, and you have to wear that shirt everyday...Monday through Saturday. When Sunday rolls around, that shirt is about ready to be washed, but if you don´t wash it on Sunday, how is it going to look on Monday? Or a better question, how is it going to look when you wash it the next Sunday? God has given us the opportunity to wash ourselves clean each Sunday...don't miss your chance.

I have been studying a lot about the restoration this week, and I feel SO lucky for the knowledge that I have about this gospel. We are the church of Jesus Christ. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There is a talk that I would love for you all to read or watch this week if you get a chance by Elder Tad R. Callister called "The plan of the church"...I actually am not completely sure whats it´s called in English, but I am going to attach the talk so you can read it. It´s amazing. It talks about the organization of the church and how it is the same organization that Christ established. He cross references with some scriptures from the Bible to explain how the church was organized when Christ was on the earth. It really is amazing.

The Plan of the Church

I´m sorry I didn't write that much. I had a lot written before, but it all got erased. Boo!

Hope you are all happy, healthy and doing well. Love you all!

1 YEAR

This week was tough, I am learning a lot of patience...with myself.  The Lord is testing me, and teaching me that I need to learn even more. I am focusing on the atonement this week in my studies. I have come to realize that I will never fully understand the atonement of Jesus Christ, and His sacrifice for us, but we, as children of God, have the ability to understand it to the extent that is necessary.

I got my third parasite this week! I´m on fire! This time I don´t know how I got it since I´m only eating with my pension, and I never eat in the street, but, luckily for me...we live in a Pharmacy. Literally...we have two doors in our room...one to outside, and one to the Pharmacy, so the lovely doctor ladies helped me, I rested for a few hours, and we were back to work the next afternoon.

This week I learned a lot about promises, and sacrifice.  And I am grateful for each and every sacrifice I have had to make in my life, because from great sacrifices come great rewards.  Remember when you feel alone, when you doubt the abilities that you have, or the love that your Father in Heaven has for you...that He will always be a God of promises. That when you put YOUR part is when you will see the results. I have learned that asking, and asking, and asking won´t get me very far if I don´t promise to make sacrifices as well. I like to think in examples, and I have been thinking a lot this week about how this could be put into a childish example for my little brain to comprehend. Still working on it.

We are teaching a woman named Maria right now with her two kids. Shes a single mother who found the church online, and requested for missionaries to visit her, and here we are. The first day that we went to visit her we were making a return appointment, and she was begging us to return the next day. I know that God prepares people, and I feel like she truly is prepared. She is SO not how I expected her to be when we called her to set up an appointment, but she is awesome. She gave me a leather jacket last week. Haha. She´s kind of a partier...so we are working on calming that down this week as we teach the commandments. Haha. Just want to throw in a little info about Maria so if I take pictures with her, or when she gets baptized that you will have a little background info about how we met her and stuff.

We are having a sister in our zone from Mexico make Tacos for us today....and it will be my first taco in 1 year. I CAN´T WAIT.

Love you all.

Priesthood blessings and prayer.

Okay...

So...I absolutely LOVE my companion. She is probably one of my favorites of my whole mission. We just joke around with each other all day long, and laugh, and tease each other. She´s hysterical. Last night we were laying in bed half asleep and she says..."Hna Stone...I need to tell you something, but....promise you wont get mad, or be offended?" I sat up and was like..."No...what happened? What did I do?" And she just starts dying laughing and says..."I just wanted to tell you I love you!" HAHAHHAA. We laid there laughing at each other for like 3 minutes.

Wait...now that I read that story it really isn't that funny. Oh man...I´m going to be so weird when I get home. Well...anyway, I love my companion. And also last night...the most fun thing happened! So...one of the sisters in our sister training group had to go to the airport for her Visa in Lima, so we took her to the airport and stayed with her companion last night, but when we got there a super cute sister that got here last week comes up to me and says..."Okay...I totally know you! You don´t know me, but I know you. Your moms friend, Rachel Johnson, is in my ward, and she gave me your blog and I was reading all your emails before I left for my mission. You are so funny! I hope we can be companions!" I just sat there hugging her and laughing and crying of happiness. I was so embarrassed that people actually read these emails, but I felt so good knowing that SOMEONE thinks I´m funny...and she wants to be my companion!! YES!

So...this week I was super sick again. HOLLA! I got some sort of throat infection...and it lasted Wednesday until today I´m feeling a ton better. I got a priesthood blessing, and prayed for the faith that my blessing would be fulfilled. I heard the other day from a missionary, and I loved it, that when we receive priesthood blessings that they come directly from our Father in Heaven, and what we SHOULD do is pray to have the faith sufficient for the blessing to be fulfilled. I´m feeling better now though...I took some crazy Peruvian pills that healed me. Ha.

This week we were teaching a lesson and I was sitting in the lesson basically dying because I was so sick. My head was pounding and I couldn't breathe and my poor companion was teaching the entire lesson cause my eyes were glazed over, and I was sitting there praying for help to just feel the spirit so I could know what to say. I prayed and prayed and prayed and the only thing that came into my mind was..."Talk...just talk. Sit up straight, and talk." I sat up straight in my chair...leaned forward and started speaking. I honestly have NO idea what I said, but I just talked and talked until I had nothing else come into my mind. My companion looks over at me with her jaw dropped, and the woman and her son had tears in their eyes.  I have a testimony so strong of the gift of tongues.  I feel so lucky to be able to serve in a place where I don´t speak the language...for experiences like this.

Have a lovely week! I´m off to hike to a sketchy waterfall....pictures to come next week.

Love you all!

Found pinkbery last week in the mall. BEST DAY EVER! Couldn't be happier!

God lives. I know it.

This week was super crazy! Let me try to explain a little bit this transfer for you all. Imagine living in Kona for 6 months, and the next day moving to San Fransico. That´s how I have felt this last week. Adjusting has been pretty tough, but I am super excited to be here in Arequipa. I´m right in the city! I´m loving the traffic, car horns, millions of taxis and buses, yelling people, fireworks. This city is such a blast! All week I was just trying to get to know my area, the ward, our investigators, the less actives, so I can get to work here with my new companion. She finishes in 2 transfers so I think I will probably end up killing her...and the next sister that comes in will probably end up killing me. Ha.

Yesterday was a wonderful fast and testimony meeting. The first Sunday of the month has become my favorite here on the mission. I have learned to love fasting. I never realized the power that fasting has, and the miracles that can come from a humble heart, and a desire to trust completely in the Savior. Faith for me has always seemed like something simple that everyone has, but I have learned that unfortunately that is not the case. Faith takes a lot more than just believing...and I pray each day to have more faith in the Lord knowing that only He can bring the miracles I have seen in my mission.

We had an interesting experience the other day teaching. We went to visit a less active sister who married a guy who isn't a member and we ended up talking to him in his door way for a minute. He looks at me and says, "Can I ask you a question?" I responded and told him yes. He said, "If you found out right now that God didn't exist...what would you do?"...........he started to repeat the question when I didn't respond thinking I couldn't understand. Ha. The moment he asked me that question I started praying with everything I had in me that the Lord could help me respond to his question, and that it would be His words, and not mine. I looked at him and said, "Well...I am going to be honest with you. I have never even imagined a world without God. I don´t have one doubt in my mind that He exists. I truly cannot tell you, because I know that He lives. I know that He always answers my prayers, and that I would NEVER be where I am today without a loving Father in Heaven." He looked at me and said..."You don´t even have a small doubt that he doesn't exist?" I smiled at him and said...."God lives. I know it, and I know that you know it." It was such a cool experience....especially knowing that I was not talking, but that the Lord was using me as an instrument in His hands. What a blessing it is to be a full time missionary!

I love you all!! Have a wonderful week :)


Last week we did a skit about the Book of Mormon for all the institute students in Tacna and I was one of the mothers of the 2000 stripling warriors...our stake president asked 3 companionships, and we were super lucky to be able to participate. Luckily for you all, the stake president had it professionally recorded, and I will be getting a copy here in the next few weeks to bring home. It will be hysterical.

This is a picture I took as we were leaving Tacna last week. Who would have thought I would love the desert so much. Haha.

This is my new companion!