Lunes, 1 de Septiembre del 2014
After our studies, we headed over to Aaron's house to do painting, but when we got there, they were packing up to go visit grandparents, so we didn't paint, but we talked to him and Daniella for awhile. We left them with a prayer, which Aaron offered. It was beautiful and when he forgot how to end the prayer, Daniella reminded him. It was very precious to see the love and support between them.
Then we went to internet and I found some fun church songs from lds.org and the EFY website. Some in Spanish and some in English. Then we went to lunch at our buddy, Leonardo's restaurant. When he saw us, he said, "Amigas, que tal?" (Friends, what's up?) in a gangster voice. It was funny! We set up a cita with his mom to come to their house to teach them!!!
We went home and cleaned our cuarto and organized ourselves. On our way to buy necessities, we ran into our friend and investigador Miguel. He was so set on treating us to lunch, so we told him that we had already eaten, but next Lunes. After we chatted with him for a bit, we headed back to Aaron's house to paint, but when we got there, we ended up building a shelving unit instead. The shelves were going to be used to hold boxes with bird's and nests in them. It was really fun!
Then we went out teaching. We taught a man named Victor. He is so amazing. His beliefs match the beliefs of the church, so we can't wait to continue to teach him and his family.
After that, we found a beautiful family to teach. Jorge, his wife Zenaida, and their two daughters Rosaura (11) and Alexandra (10). They don't know a lot of stories from the Bible, but they started reading the Bible as a familia, so they will learn and grow together. The spirit and love in their home was special.
After we got done teaching and we were saying our goodbye, Hna Kingsford (since she is really tall) picked up the children in a hug and they loved it. I made a joke and I held out my arms toward Hna Kingsford and said, "Me, too!", and she came over and picked me up. The girls thought it was the funniest thing ever! They were still laughing about it as we were walking out the door! I am very happy we found this family and that we will be able to help them learn the word of God.
We went to dinner [carrots, broccoli, yuka with cheese, and anis (tea)] and then we went home to plan our intense lessons for tomorrow and got ready for bed. Today was a good day full of laughs and fun!
P.S. Aaron is so awesome. While we were upstairs building, we found a bookshelf of books and one of the books was the Bible. When Aaron saw the Bible, he said, "I should put that downstairs to read." Hna Kingsford and I looked at each other and smiled in joy that he is realizing the beauty of our visits and the word of God!!
Martes, 2 de Septiembre del 2014
Well we had a district meeting and our districto lider, Elder Salas gave a great lesson about working with members to teach, and to excite them to do missionary work themselves. When we got done, we went to catch a taxi and we all stuffed inside one small car! 6 adults! It was ridiculous!! haha Then we went to lunch. It was ricisimo- it's like a rice with chicken salad mix, and we had also had chicken noodle soup with potatoes in it. After lunch, we tried to go to our citas, but EVERY SINGLE ONE fell through, because everyone had to work. So we stopped by to teach Aaron y Daniella, and Aaron was giving someone a tattoo! What?! haha
One good thing about our unsuccess was that we found an ice cream stand that serves ice cream on cones for a sol!!!! Awesome. At 7 pm we went with Diego to a ward activity (noche misional) at the house of our ward mision lider, Daniel. It was really good. We watched a video called, "By Small and Simple Things" (watch it!) It is really good. It talks about mission work for members.
After the lesson, Daniel was talking to us and he asked us if we "remember the story of Nefi and Laban?" We said, "yes" and then he asked, "What did the spirit tell Nefi to do to Laban?" I said, "To kill him" and Daniel said, "Exactly, that is what I think when I hear children scream!" We busted up laughing. Just 5 minutes later, a child came screaming up to him!! hahahaha
We left the activity with Pres. Arroyo (Pres. of the Rama), we stuffed 8 people into a 5 person Camry. Anyways, it was a fun car ride. After we got back, we ate dinner and laughed with Lucy. She thinks I am hilarious and is always saying that I'm going to kill her by making her laugh too much. haha She is the best pensionista! Her food is so good and filling!!
After dinner (egg and rice tortilla with beets on the side and hot chocolate with cinnamon), we went home to plan. After planning, I listened to one of the Spanish songs that I got from internet today. It was beautiful! It's called "Salvador" ("Savior") by Jenny Phillips. She is awesome! I love all her songs! It has the most beautiful lyrics ever!! Especially in Spanish. It made me so spiritually uplifted. I'm going to learn it and sing it in lessons! Because it has a special message.
Miercoles, 3 de Septiembre del 2014
This morning was full of success! We went to the beach at 6:30 am to do exercises and while I was doing my stretches, a marine named Miguel came up and was giving me pointers on how to receive a better stretch. He then proceeded to ask me if I was from Austrailia. I told him that I was from the U.S. and that I am a missionary. He had a couple questions about the Word of Wisdom. As I was answering him, he told me that he wanted to learn more and understand more about the church. Since I didn't have any of my lesson things with me, I told him that we would come back later that day and give him a pamphlet and also to take down all his information. I used up all my exercise time teaching Miguel. It was awesome, though.
After all our studies, we went back to Miguel to give him the pamphlet that I promised him and when we showed up, he ran up to us and sadly told us that he was getting sent to Lima, Peru for a week, but when he gets back, he wants to hear more!!
Then we went and taught Elba. It was successful, and she accepted baptism! Hopefully she will stick with it!
We then headed to a house that I had found last week when I was with Hna Martinez. Their names are Agusto (33) and Cynthia (26). Cynthia is paralyzed on one side of her body, but she is always smiling and has a great attitude. We asked them if they had any questions about the Restoracion pamphlet we had left with them, but they only had questions about the Book of Mormon. So we went over all the points of the Book of Mormon and focused on the history and the story of the Book of Mormon. They were so excited about it all and really have the desire to read the Book of Mormon. They are so prepared! It makes me super happy!!
All day after that, we had wacky contacts. One woman wouldn't tell us her name because she thought we were going to steal her identity. Then this older man basically snatched Hna Kingsford into his house, and I literally had to chase her down. haha This man proceeded to say,"I am Catholic. I worship the Saints." Then we asked if he wanted to live all of the commandments, including not worhipping anyone or anything but God. And he just smiled and sent us on our way. Then we met a man named Melqui David. He is named after the Melquisidec Priesthood. He lives with the mother of his 4 month old baby. He believes that there isn't a church on the earth that is of God, because the churches he has looked into, don't follow the doctrines of the Bible or Christ. We set up a cita with him and we ARE going to prove that our church is of God and that it does follow ALL the doctrines of Christ.
We had ward council and then went and taught Youliedy and Joaquin English at their houses. Then we had dinner (broccoli y french fries). We went home and planned and talked on the phone forever with lots of people figuring out our citas and our goals for the month. It was such an awesome day!! I have a lot of hope for all the beautiful people we taught today.
Jueves, 4 de Septiembre del 2014
This morning we had a lesson with Lucido, in Fonavi. It was awesome. The spirit was so strong and the room was filled with a lot of love radiating out of everyone. Daniel was with us, too, and he shared something so beautiful with Lucido. He said, "These hermanas left there families in a country really far away from here, to help people like you, Lucido, come unto Christ and live a life like Him." After that, Lucido looked at Hna Kingsford and me with so much love and desire to receive this gift we are bringing him. It was amazing! I shared a few thoughts about our love and desire to help him and that every day we pray to God about him. He loved that. After the lesson, He said, "I can't wait until Saturday to learn more!" :)
We went back to our cuarto in Pimentel to study language and have lunch. (lentils, rice, chicken baked in oregano) After lunch, we found Omar (Aaron's brother) on the street with David (Aaron's little boy). They were going to the mercado to buy fruit, so we went with them to talk. When we returned to his house, we taught a beautiful lesson. We sang "Mejor de lo que Crees", a song by Jenny Phillips. When we ended the song, he had tears in his eyes, and he said, "I needed that. Thank you." He is like a little brother to us, so we were so happy to help him. :) We then asked him when we could come back, and he usually picks a return date that is really far away, but he asked if we would return this Saturday!! Yay!!
Then we headed back out to Fonavi to teach a reference (Paola) of a member (Gloria). It was a really beautiful lesson about prayer.
Then we went and taught Marco Leyton. We sang the same song that we sang to Omar. He loved it and we had a great discussion about the meaning of the song. After the lesson, his sister Clara Leyton came in and we all talked for a bit, and they told me that when they first met me, they thought I was going to be a serious person. Now they think that I am one of the funniest missionaries and that Hna Kingsford and I are the coolest missionaries in Pimentel ever! :)
On our way back to the pension, we ran into Martin and we talked forever. He asked me how I know Castiano (South American Spanish) so well for only having 5 months in Peru. People just seem to like my accent! :)
We went to dinner (Italian pasta salad with parmesan cheese) and since I have had gripe (cold/flu) all day, Lucy made me a "cure" which is hot water with a whole lemon squeezed into it with a spoonful of sugar. It was really gross. I really hope it works or drinking it will not have been worth it!
We went home and planned and got ready for bed.
Viernes, 5 de Septiembre del 2014
We had a zone meeting in Chiclayo. In the combi (bus), I sat on the hump by the driver and I conversated with him the entire ride. By the end of the ride, I had an appointment set up to visit him and his family next week!
In the meeting, we were taught a lot. Every "class" was great! Especially the one given by Elder Chavez. He spoke about the importance of teaching families. It was amazing. The only thing wrong, was that he was picking on me... he had me read everything and because I was sick with gripe, my voice sounded awful and would go in and out. He thought it was hilarious to hear!
After the meeting ended, we pulled out the cake to celebrate all the birthdays of Septiembre. Hna Kingsford's birthday is Sept. 15! I was joking around with Elder Chavez and Elder Smith, and before we left, Elder Chavez gave us his book of recuardos (letters and pictures from missionaries) so that we could add something to it. I gave him mine and told him to add something cool!
Once we got back to Pimentel, my body was dying and I had a fever, so we ate lunch and rested for a couple of hours. At 6:00 pm, we went out teaching. We taught Mr. Doubts (Ismael). We talked about the Book of Mormon. We read a scripture in Ezekial 37: 15-17, and in that scripture it talks about the Bible and the Book of Mormon, and how we need both of them. After reading that, he was no longer Mr. Doubts. We invited him to act on his knowledge by being baptized and he said that he has a few personal things that he needs to change first and then he would be baptized. :)
Then we went to Aaron and Daniella's. We taught them about the Atonement of Christ. The spirit was so strong in the room, and there was a lot of beautiful words shared by all. They are so awesome. I just want them to get married, baptized and then sealed in the temple!!
We went to dinner and talked about all the funny things that happened during our lesson with Aaron. Hna Kingsford kept calling Aaron, Omar (his brother) and Aaron was like "I'm not going to do what you ask unless you get my name right." And they also put vapor rub on my nose to "heal me", but I couldn't smell anything! Daniella is worried about me. In their prayers, they blessed me with health and they also blessed our investigators that they will learn a lot from us and feel a hope and peace in their lives. :)
After dinner, we went home and planned. Elder Chavez called and told me that someone else took my book of recuardos, so when I get it back on Tuesday, I need to give it to him the next time he comes to Pimentel, to do paper work with Hna Kingsford.
After that, we got a call from Daniel telling us that Lucido lost a cousin today, so we called Lucido. He was crying on the phone, and my heart was being torn into pieces, because I love him so much. I just kept telling him that we were here for him always, and that we love him. He told me he was excited to see us tomorrow for our cita with him. Hopefully tomorrow, we can bless him in a way that can give him peace of mind. It is so hard to lose people, and I know exactly what it's like, so I can share personal feelings of what helps me. He was so sad. It broke my heart. This is when I wish I wasn't a missionary, so I could just run to his house and just sit and cry with him. Hopefully he can feel my love and support.
Even though I was super sick today, it was a great day! I really hope all our lessons tomorrow go just as well. Pray for Lucido and his familia. They need the blessings and comfort. Love y'all!
Sabado, 6 de Septiembre del 2014
This morning we had an amazing lesson with Agusto y Cynthia. We read the Book of Mormon and talked about baptism and going to church. They are really excited to come to church tomorrow!! We were with them for an hour and a half, and before we left for lunch, Agusto ran and bought gasioso (soda) and cookies for us. :)
Then we went to lunch at the house of the familia Tello and during lunch, we watched the video called, "On the Lord's Errand: Thomas S. Monson" It is so good! Watch it!! It's about the life of Thomas S. Monson. My love and respect for him has grown even more since watching it.
Then we went to Lucido's. Poor thing. We sang songs...well I mouthed the words because I didn't have much of a voice, but I shared many scriptures that have helped me in times like this. Like D and C 42:45 Weep for those that die, because if we don't want sadness, then we can't love...also Alma 40: 11-12. It's about all who die will return to the God who gave them life. And the last one in Alma 7: 11-12. He suffered for us and took upon himself all our pains.
By the end of the lesson, he told us that he felt a lot better, still sad, but a lot better. It broke my heart to see him sad. I also shared my experiences of the loss in my life, and it was a really beautiful thing to have the connection like that. To help him because I "know" how it feels.
We talked with a lot of members in Fonavi. We went and talked to the First Counselor of the President of the Rama, Carlos y his wife Marieta. Carlos is in the police department and his job is to train and break horses, and today at work, the horse he was training made a wacky move and hurt Carlos' knee. So we were talking with Carlos about his job and he told us that he had a dream to own a motorcycle. He loves my dad's bike!! haha
After we talked with them, we went and talked to another member named Gaby, because we were trying to find her husband. He wasn't home, so we shared a message with her and planned a Family Home Evening so that we could have the lesson with the Family of Carlos and Marieta and Gaby y Ivan.
We headed back to Pimentel and ran into Martin, Carlos (special ed man) and an investigator of ours who owns a hair salon. Her name is Jadira. We talked with them for a bit. Then we started heading home, when we ran into one of our really cool contacts named Ricardo. I'm really excited to start teaching him. When he saw us, he ran up yelling, "Hna Dodson! How are you?" I love it when people remember me. We talked for a bit and then we went home.
It was a long day, especially because I didn't hardly have a voice all day long. It was such a pain, because I have a lot I wanted to share.
We planned and got ready for bed.
Domingo, 7 de Septiembre del 2014
We left during Sunday School, because Daniel (he's the teacher) said, "Let's use this time to go and teach people who didn't come to church." So we took our one investigator at church, Mayra, the daughter of Lucy and Daniel and we went out teaching.
We went and taught Lis Fernandez and her sister Cindy. We watched a "I am a Mormon" video about a woman without legs and she talked about how she doesn't have limits because she tells herself that she doesn't and with the help of God, she can do everything. It was a nice lesson.
We returned to the church and we went into Relief Society. The lady teaching was shouting and pointing her finger at each woman in the room and saying, "Sisters! It's our responsibility to share the gospel! It's our duty!" :)
After church, we went to lunch in Fonavi with Gaby and one of our investigators named Dely and her son Diego (12 yrs). We talked to a couple of other people, and then I needed to rest because I had a fever. After I rested, we went and talked with Agusto y Cynthia about why they didn't come to church. Cynthia's body hurt really bad, so they didn't come. :( que triste. We talked forever with them about the gospel because Agusto has so many questions and thoughts. :)
When we finally left, we ended up crossing through a road with a huge Bingo game going on. It was super random. :)
We went to dinner, went home and planned for P-Day and called a bunch of people to set up citas and invite them to an activity at the beach tomorrow. We called Lucido, and he told us that he was sad, and that he couldn't make it to church because he was at a funeral. :(
During our last planning, Hna Kingsford stabbed her finger with the rings in the three ring binder, and she shouted, "Ow! My finger!" and then with a serious face and a monotone voice says, "Well that was extremely painful." I busted up laughing. I love our hilarious moments together. And right after that, she continued to tell me in a disappointed voice, "Now I can't play soccer with a damaged finger." I didn't understand that logic, but I'm sure there is something reasonable about it. :)
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