Martes, Mayo 13, 2014
We
went to the temple this morning and I had such a wonderful experience while I
was sitting in the Celestial Room. I had
a feeling to just go and sit in the sealing room. I didn't know why, but when I was about to go
in, I saw one of the hermanas in my district, Hna Blackburn. And at the altar, I saw her brother with a
beautiful lady and her family was watching them be sealed. It lasted a brief second. The amazing thing is that her brother died
about 5 years ago. I went over and told
her what I saw and it was such a beautiful experience. I am so grateful I was able to witness it. We then went to grajes and metros. While at metros, I had to find some coconut
cookies and there were some workers putting cookies away and they looked at me
and said, “United States?” and I said, “Yes.” and then one of them started
guessing where I was from, and they kept saying I was from Texas or New York. When I told them I was from Utah, they were
like, “It's hot there huh?” and I said, “No, it is mucho frio.” haha They
started laughing. Then they asked if me
and Hna McGinnis were Christians and we said, “Yes.” He asked
if we read the Bible and we said, “Yes, and that we also read the Book
of Mormon.” And then we told him we were
missionaries De la Iglesia de Jesuscristo de los Santos de los Ultimos
Dias. And he got excited that we were
Mormons. He asked where the church was,
but we didn't have an address, so we gave him a pamphlet and got his
information from him and then gave his friend one and left. Today has been so spiritually uplifting, and
I am so grateful I was able to have such an amazing experience.
After
shopping, Hna Olivas gave all the girls in my district and her district rings
that say Peru around it. It is bent wire
inside to spell out Peru. It is so cool.
:)
Tonight,
we had a MTC Broadcast and Elder L. Tom Perry spoke. One thing he spoke about tonight was on the
Doctrine and Covenants. He said no book
on earth is as important as the D and C.
It stands above all of the books.
It contains the word of God for the modern days. It is our book. So we need to understand it. After he said that, I was wishing for a more
modern book and realized that General Conference is our modern book. It is words of God given to us by prophets to
help guide us just like the scriptures.
Take all the literature in the church seriously because all of it the
palabras de Dios (words of God). I love
this gospel. I love the scriptures. I love modern revelation!
Scriptures
of great help to me: Jeremiah 1:
5-9
Exodus
4: 12 (gift of tongues)
DC
100: 5-6
DC
20:8-12 (Joseph Smith- I love Jose Smith)
DC
50: 22 (teaching with the spirit)
Ask,
Seek and Knock Spiritually! Get to know
the gospel!
Miercoles, Mayo 14, 2014
During
personal study, I wrote thank you notes to all 4 of my teachers and the cooks
(I call them angeles de comida) and also to all the maintenance people (my
amigos). I love writing notes to people
for helping me with all they do for me!
Every
once in a while we have a class dedicated to reading the Book of Mormon, and
today we were lucky and had it and we decided to read together out loud. We read 2 Nephi 4. It is such a powerful chapter. Nefi talks about his struggles and his
temptations. He also talks of his
prayers to God for help. And I decided
that I need to pray like Nefi. I need to
pray with exclamation points because it seems more powerful. So I challenge you to read 2 Nephi 4 and in
your scriptures write this question by that chapter, “Do I pray with
exclamation points?” And by verse 33, write the hymn title, “I Need Thee Every
Hour!” :)
We
taught “Juan Garcia” today and it went well.
We invited him to be baptized and he accepted. And we did a great job...at least that is
what the teacher said when we ended. After that, we had dinner. Tonight they made us these chips that were basically
refried fried tortilla chips. They were
so good. I have loved all the food
here...Then again, here they feed you normal things at the CCM. The only odd thing here is they don't serve
fruit EVER for breakfast (its against their culture) and also they make pizzas
on pieces of chicken. Haha They are trying to make us Norte Americanos
feel at home, but really we just get confused. :)
Tonight
we taught the Latinos. Our lesson went
really well. I always feel good after
teaching them because they are so nice about the whole learning Spanish thing. Haha I am so grateful for this
gospel and all my blessings from it. I
am also so grateful for my companera.
She is such a strong person with a testimony that could hold a
city! I don't know what I would have
done if we had not been comps here at the CCM.
She has helped me grow so much! I
owe her so much!
Jueves, Mayo 15, 2014
So
I decided since today I was so hungry all day long, that I want to talk about
the yummy food I get to eat everyday. So
this morning I ate 2 pieces of toast, a crepe, a scoop of yogurt with frosted
flakes in it (it is really yummy. Try it
once!) and fresh orange juice. I was never a breakfast eater at home, but
here I love desayuno (breakfast).
This
morning Hna McGinnis and I were suppose to teach Pilar but her class has P-Day
today, so she wasn't at the CCM, so we taught “Javier” and our lesson went
pretty well. Javier was easy to
understand, either that or I am getting better at understanding. After teaching, we watched a video on LDS.org
called “Gospel in Peru” and Elder Cook is in it and while he is talking to the
congregations, the man next to him translating, is the counselor to Pres.
Gonzolez, so I get to see him often here at the CCM. It was cool to see him. :)
At
lunch we had rice, beans, pork, guacamole y those fried tortilla chips. It was so good! And for dessert I had a donut
that is cut in 2 and has cream cheese frosting inside! It is so good! I am going to get fat! Haha
Good thing my skirts are stretchy! :)
Today
tall Hna Kennedy showed me a video she found on YouTube of the
Atonement/Missionary Work. It is called
“La Explacion”. Elder Holland and Pres.
Eyering speak in it. It is amazing. If you can find it, watch it.
Next, we did physical activity, and it was our last one here at the CCM. I'm a little bummed about it, but I am more
excited to get ready to leave on Tuesday!!!!
We
did practice teaching tonight and I was assigned an investigator, and I always
enjoy being the investigator because when I put myself in the shoes of someone
who doesn't have the gospel, I learn how I need to teach them. Hopefully what I learn here at the CCM sticks
with me and I can use it in the field.
My espanol is getting better everyday!
But I'm still not at the place I want to be at...:( esta bien. It will come.
We talked a bit about the Plan of Salvation and a thought came to my
mind to share with an investigator that God sent us to this earth in families
so we can learn and grow together.
Family is the most important thing in our lives, so would God put us
here in families just to break them apart after death? No! Of
course not. That is why we are sealed
for time and all eternity. I love this
gospel and the beautiful blessings we are promised if we strive to be like
Christ. I know God wants all to return
to him and he can't wait for the day to take each of us in his arms and say “I
love you!” And I am here serving in Peru
so that I can help them get to the kingdom of God and receive that welcome with
me by their side! Until that day, pray
to Heavenly Father and He will show you his love while you are here on
earth. I love y'all! :)
Viernes, Mayo 16, 2014
Today
was kinda a long day....we had an all day meeting so we could learn about
things for the field. Oh...did I mention
that it is espanol? I surprisingly
understood most of it...or I think I did.
Haha The meeting literally went
from 8am-12:45 pm, then we had lunch and pictures from 2pm-8pm. Long day.
Oh and I guess they fed us around 6-6:30pm...haha. When we were sent to bed at 8pm, we all got
in the shower and as soon as we all got out and got into our pjs, we get called
down to the teacher's office. We all just
threw on skirts and had our shower shoes on.
It was quite a sight. And the
best one was Hna Waite. She has a night
gown with a big cow on it that says, “pasture bedtime”, and she just put a belt
on with it and ran downstairs. Funniest
thing! Another funny story that happened
during dinner. I was with all the
hermanas in my district and 2 Latinas and we were talking and they started
complimenting my eyes, saying so many sweet things in Spanish and English. And then somehow, they got talking about my
blanco skin and how they think it is beautiful.
And that is when I told them that I loved their skin! And Hna Waite was listening in and says, “Mi
gusta su carne!” which means “I like
your flesh!” haha The Latinas thought it was the funniest
thing.
Well, back on point, we went downstairs and they gave us letters and they ended up
being from our mission president. The
hermanas in my district going to Chiclayo all took turns reading it. I am so glad to be with these ladies because
they are my sisters, and now we all get to go to serve the beautiful people in
Chiclayo.
In
the letter, they told us to study these scriptures: DandC 84:106 and Matthew 28:19-20. They are really good about the missionary
purpose. If you are in need of something
to study, read with real intent Alma 7.
It is about Christ and His
Atonement/His Coming. I love the
scriptures!
Sabado, Mayo 17, 2014
This
morning as a district, we watched a talk from Elder Holland. He spoke at an MTC Broadcast about converting
yourself and loving Christ with all your soul.
Here are a couple things I enjoyed.
There is so much more that I love from it, but I got so caught up in the
wonders in his talk, that I only took a couple notes...
1. At the ages of 18-20 yrs, you are the hope of
Isreal
2. Jesus asks, “Do you love me more than what you
were doing with your life?”
3. Peter responds, “I do love thee, more than
these.”
4. Jesus replies, “Then feed my sheep. When I asked thee to serve, it was
forever. We are in this until the
end. You can't go back to your old life,
you must always feed my sheep.”
After
that, we watched that Atonement video I told you about, and it is in all
English, so try and find that one. I
cried a bit watching it today....
Later,
we had companion planning with our Latina companions for proselyting. My compenera fue Hna Toscana. She is from Ecuador and her mission is Lima
Norte. Today's area was 2 hours
away. It was a different part, because
everything/everyone were more rude. We
got paired up with a teacher from the CCM, Hna Riverta and a member. I don't know his name, but he was really
intense. We were given a list of names
of less actives (menos activos) to talk them into attending church in the
morning. Every single person on our list
had moved away....awkward...and since we had from 2-6pm to teach, we started
contacting. Well, we were knocking on doors
and a lot of people wanted to hear our message because they wanted to hear the
Norte Americanos speak. We had 12 people
want to hear more about the gospel on another day. It was great!
But during one contact, the member handed this older lady a pamphlet
about chastity and told her we had a lesson for her. We took the chastity pamphlet and gave her
one about the Restoration, and taught her about that instead. :)
At
our last stop, me and mi companera were asking this man if he believed in God
and Jesucristo. He said, “No.” But that
if they existed, they are extra-terrestrial.
After
that, we met back up at the church building and then packed up and left. I totally was asleep the entire way
home. Once we got there, we ate dinner
at 8:30 pm. I was so hungry. After we ate, we all gathered as a district
and talked about our experiences.
Today
was quite the day. I am glad tomorrow is
Domingo. I need a day to renew. I am so excited to get out in the field in a
couple days. It is going to be so
different from the CCM but it is going to be so amazing and such a growing
experience. God lives and He loves all
of His children.
Domingo, Mayo 18, 2014
Oh
my gosh. I leave in 2 days! :) One thing I forgot to write about yesterday
was the bus ride. The bus felt like
riding on the white roller coaster at Lagoon.
It was the most bumpy and jerky thing I've ever ridden in. haha I
felt like eveything was going to just jump out the windows. And during the ride, when we would be stopped
by other buses or just by the sidewalk, people would get all excited to see
Norte Americanos. I would wave and smile
and they would get so happy. I love it
here. I love that the people want to
talk to me and hear the things I say.
Haha At least that's what I tell
myself. They probably only want to talk
to me because of my skin color.
Bummer. Oh well. It's no longer “flirt to convert”, but to
“use your skin to convert.” Not as smooth
coming off the tongue, but that's what you gotta do here. Haha
So
in church today, everything was so amazing.
Elder Hill, one of the counselors in the Branch Presidency spoke about
enduring to the end. I told myself that
he will/should be in the General Authorities because he has the voice and the
knowledge of one. And I am going to
leave all my clothes here in the CCM and take Elder Hill with me as my personal
Preach My Gospel and scripture mastery card.
Entonces, he said, “We are running a race here on earth, and even if we
come in dead last, the only important thing is that we cross the finish
line! We need to touch lives. Help those, who you left your finger prints
on, to reach the finish line.” He is so
amazing! He knows PMG better than the
back of his hand. Maybe one day, I'll be
like him.
In
Relief Society, we were talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and someone
shared that when we say “I know this gospel is true”, we are saying faith in
Jesus Christ is true, repentance is true, baptism is true, the gift of the Holy
Ghost is true and enduring to the end is true.
We also talked about the Holy Ghost and baptism. I know for me, I have definitely taken
advantage of the gift of baptism and the Holy Ghost. The gift of the Holy Ghost is a privilege to
walk with a member of the Godhead. We
CAN walk with the Godhead always! How
beautiful is that image, and how beautiful of a privilege to have that gift in
my life.
We
had interviews today with the Branch Presidency and over and over again, they
told me how amazing our districts (106 and 107) are, and how strong we are as
separate districts as well as together.
I know that we were all sent here at this time because we were meant to
be the strongest group to set a standard and example for all others to
follow. I am grateful to have been with
so many that strive to be exactly obedient.
I know, because we are striving to do so and God will bless us.
After
interviews, we started to watch The Testaments, but in the middle of it we had
to stop and go to a class of how to teach English. It was so fun. We got to teach a couple Latins how to say a
scripture. It is so cute to see them
speak English. I seriously want their
accents when I go home! Haha
At
dinner tonight, I was thinking about the food I miss, and I miss sushi and the
macaroni hamburger from Rich's.
We
had a farewell tonight for all missionaries leaving on Tuesday. After that, we had a testimony meeting with
districts. I love my district with my
whole heart and I am so grateful for all the times I've had with them.
Scripture
time: Job 19: 23-26, Proverbs 3:5-7,
Helaman 10:4-5, Mosiah 28:3, D&C 15:6, Matthew 17:20, Alma 17:3, Alma
26:32, Alma 31:35-38, D&C 64:33-34, 1 Nephi 3:7.
Mi Testimonio
I
know I am here in Peru for a reason right now.
I know one reason now, and that was to have the district I had and also
the wonderful maestros. I know this
church is true and that Joseph Smith really did restore the greatest blessing
back to the earth. I know this without a
shadow of a doubt, that my brother, Jesus Christ suffered and died for me. I know through him I can find forgiveness,
peace, joy and comfort in times of struggle, especially here in Peru. I love the temple and I am grateful for the
opportunidad to attend 5 times while in Lima.
I know that families will be together forever. I know that we are blessed with the
scriptures, because our ancestors wanted us to know their testimonies and also
about Christ. The beautiful words on the
pages are journal entries from our ancestors!
I love reading about their lives and their testimonies of Christ. I love the missionary work in the scriptures because
I like to think I can do the same things that they do when they get persecuted
while preaching the truth. I love the
atonement, I love the scriptures, I love the ability to talk to God. I love that anytime, even if not “prayer”
form He listens to your thoughts and intentions of the heart. I love this gospel and I am so grateful that
I am able to share my testimony here in Peru!
Love you all!
