Keep the branch of Chivay in your prayers.

Family!!

First off, Happy birthday to little Colton this week. I can`t believe he`ll be a teenager on Wednesday. He`ll be the favorite teenager cause he`s so obedient. Miss that little guy.

Well...This week Hermana Weller and I got sick, so two of the days this week we were quarantined to our rooms.  Funny how just a couple days inside can make you SO excited to go outside and work. Maybe it was just what we needed.

On Tuesday it was Elder Mayletts birthday so for his birthday...(of course) we planned a surprise party that turned out to be a HUGE hit and was bigger than any ward activity we have had yet. There were 3 members (nailed it) and 13 investigators. It was awesome! Birthdays are a pretty big deal here in Peru, so even though we planned it like 2 hours before it started and ran around town inviting everyone we knew, every single person showed up. It was so great!

This week we received a LOT of blessings and some pretty incredible miracles.  Remember Brenda? Shes 14, and one of the investigators that we have been working with here for the last month or so.  Well, this week we taught her the restoration, and gave her a Book of Mormon. We invited her to read it, and told her to pray to know if it was true, and that we would be back the next day to check up on her. We brought her to church yesterday, and then last night went over to see how her reading and prayers went. She told us, "I want to get baptized this week. I know that the Book of Mormon is true, and that is needed for us to understand Bible completely.  I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that he translated the Book of Mormon. This is the church of Jesus Christ. Baptism is just the beginning for me. I am so ready to change." AH! Hermana Weller and I were literally almost in tears. We have been praying so hard for that girl, and the Lord has just blessed us so much.  I know that the Lord is teaching her through the Holy Ghost, and that we are only instruments in His hands to bring her children to the knowledge of the truth.

We had transfers yesterday, and we are both staying here, which means i`ll probably be finishing up my mission here. I`m so excited. I absolutely thrilled to be here in Chivay doing this work with a people who are SO prepared to hear the gospel. I love my mission. It means everything in the world to me. This week as I was laying on my deathbed (just kidding mom I`m totttttallllllly fine.) I realized how little time I have left, and how important it is that I gave every ounce of myself these last 12 weeks of my mission.

Love you all! Have a wonderful week. Keep our branch of Chivay in your prayers.

Lets get to work...

Family!

It was so fun to see you all yesterday on Skype! Weird to think that it was the last time to talk to you all until I get home. Glad I got to see ya on your day mommy!

This week was another great one. We were in Arequipa Tuesday and Wednesday which is always fun.  It´s another world down here. They drive cars here instead of llamas.  While we were here we had a zone conference.  We talked a lot about goals and how we could work a little harder to reach them if they are truly something that God wants. Like I was telling you yesterday, Hermana Weller and I really wanted to be guided by the spirit as we set a baptism goal for May.  We prayed for about a week asking the Lord how many people He had prepared for us to be baptized this month in our new area. After a few days I told Hermana Weller that I received an answer. I told her 7.  She looked at me and said..."That's what I got too"  So right then we knelt down and prayed and asked the Lord for a confirmation to our souls that He really did want us to baptize 7 people in our area. The answer was clear for both of us. We stood up and said..."Let´s get to work".  As of right now we don´t have 7 people that are ready to be baptized...but we know that God is a God of miracles, and He will help us if we do our part.

When we got back to Chivay on Wednesday we jumped right back into working.  There is SO much to be done in our area.  The people we are teaching are starting to progress and it´s definitely nice to start seeing some results after this first transfer of getting things up and running in our new area. 

Hermana Weller and I planned a surprise "Happy 1 year" party for an Elder that is serving in Chivay with us, and it was a HUGE hit.  We got cake, balloons, coloring pages, poster board, you name it...we had it. As he walked in and we turned on the lights I screamed "SURPRISE!" so loud that I scared the entire family that let us use their house for the party...it´s been a while since I´ve been to one of those...I guess I forgot how they work.

This last week we were asked to start reading the Book of Mormon as a companionship every day for 15 minutes. Never have I felt so strongly the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon in my entire life. I do not doubt that the Book of Mormon is the work of God. Each time we read we are filled with a spirit of confirmation telling us once again that the things we are reading are coming straight for our Father in Heaven. 

On Saturday the Elders had a baptism, and it was so beautiful.  We got to walk down to the river and watch it done as Christ was baptized. What a blessing. After hiking and climbing over rocks in a skirt for about 20 minutes...we made it! We sat down, prayed, sang a hymn, and watched a sweet young girl become a member of the true church of Jesus Christ. I love this work!

We also got rejected this week...and for the first time in my mission we were literally told "Nobody is home!" Haha. I always thought that was just a joke.  We thanked her for answering us, and left.  Classic.

The church is true. I know it!

Love you all!

God Led Us to Chosen People..

Family!!

Okay...this week was the best that we have had up here in Chivay. It was awesome. God truly came through, and helped us out more than maybe we even deserved. We put all we could into the work, and received countless blessings for our efforts.

We found a family who is SO ready to hear the gospel.  They have two kids, and their daughter is incredible! She and her brother came with us to church on Sunday...(And thanks to my AWESOME Primary class I`m pretty sure he`ll be coming back.) Ha. We`re also still working with the family with the daughter who are members and working with them to get married. (I attached a picture of their family and their cute little twin girls.) God has led us to some chosen people this last week, and I am so happy to be teaching those who need to gospel so much right now.  I don`t doubt for even a moment that the things we teach are true. I love being a missionary!

Yesterday, at church when we sang the opening hymn. We had 4 of the 6 missionaries and one investigator in the congregation. It was definitely like nothing I had ever experienced before. By the end of the 3 hours we had 29 people there...which is the most they have had up here in the last 3 months. Just a little idea of how the church works here.

The work here is hastening. And we as missionaries are growing. My mission is not easy, I can promise you that...but it is worth it. I have been told by many that the last few months of your mission are the best, and most important. I am excited to work as hard as I can until the very end. I know that the Lord will bless me, my companion and our area as we give all of our heart, might, mind and strength to this amazing work.

I love you all! Can`t wait to see you on SUNDAY! Have a lovely week :)

 

A little companionship haircut time.

 

Family night with our cute investigators Asunta, and Santos

 

Got some cool headbands with bows in them. 2 soles…you can’t resist.

 

Carli after a 14 month backpacking trip through Perù. We laughed pretty hard at this one.

 

After the buffet…the chocolate cake was so good I couldnt resist! SO FULL!

 

found some nice alpaca if anyone is hungry. Welcome to the grocery store…Peru style.

  Fast Sunday…we couldn’t help but go to the tourist buffet. WORTH IT!  

The doctrine is perfect.

Wow. What a week. I could probably start every letter that way. So much happens here.

Well...firstly. We started an English class this week. My entire mission I have taught English classes. In my first area we had about 5 people, and that's pretty much how it goes. Thursday afternoon we had 60 kids between the ages of 8 and 12. It was hilarious! We taught them "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and then for the rest of the week had little kids running up to us in the street yelling "Teachers! Teachers!" We also had 50 kids show up to our movie night. We are on fire with activities this week.

We did an awesome activity on Saturday in the plaza where we brought a bunch of the "My family" books, a camera, and a portable camera printer and took pictures and printed them out and explained to everyone how they could get started on their family history work. It ended up being a really cool activity that helped us as missionaries understand a little more about family history work as well. I have received multiple promptings on my mission that I need to start doing family history when I get home...and I am so excited!

As the weeks have gone by, I have realized more and more WHY I am here in Chivay. As a missionary in Arequipa I had gotten myself into a kind of routine. I woke up everyday, ate breakfast, studied, and headed out with my companion to teach. My Father is Heaven knows me perfectly. He knew that maybe I wasn't being pushed enough.  My life after the mission will not be easy, I know that for sure.  I am only being prepared for what is to come. The diligence that I have learned this week will shape me into the daughter of God that I need to become.

The gospel is perfect. The doctrine that we teach is perfect. This church is the church of Jesus Christ. We visited yesterday with a sister and her husband who have 3 daughters. All three have been baptized, but her and her husband couldn't because they weren't married. They pretty much had based their testimonies on the missionaries that first taught them, so when they left the couple stopped coming to church, and would just send their daughters. Yesterday we sat and talked with them and explained to them the truthfulness of the doctrine and the message we share. Missionaries come and go....a lot changes in the church, but the perfect doctrine of Jesus Christ is what makes this church true. I know that without a doubt in my mind.

Love you all!

 

Oh…surprise! Bought myself a new camera this week…

  A lady in our ward raises hamsters…to eat. YUM!

 

children in our English class love us…bouquets of flowers for the teachers!

  English class….60 students!

  Just a little chocolate. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

  Branch Primary President

  "My family” activity…Family History

 

Just a little morning yoga.. comin at ya!