Family!
Well
this week was extremely hard but I feel like I fulfilled the scripture in
DC58:4---where it says....After much trial...come the blessings!
So....I met my companions after a while of
wondering around not knowing where to go haha. I am in a trio with Hermana Huish
who is always laughing and bubbly----she is from Washington. My other companion
is Hemana Bowers, she also went to BYU (small world) and she is from Cali! They
are both super fun! My district is awesome---there are 4 Elders and 9
Hermanas which is pretty funny! 4 of the other Hermanas are going to
Arequipa with me and the rest are going to Lima North. We are all Americans...I
thought at first we were paired with the Latinas. However, we have 2 Latinas
living in our room. One of them is from Chile and her name is Hermana
Madera---she is tiny and super sweet. The other one is from Columbia and her
name is Her. Ruerta...and she is literally Anna Wright in a Latina body----but I
love her so much! She makes me laugh 24/7. They are constantly singing and
dancing in our rooms and always want us to have "Englisssss class"---because
the mission president told them they need to learn English because it is the
language of the gospel---which is pretty cool. And then they give us Spanish
lessons in return---I learn more from talking to them than I do in my classes
haha. Whenever I talk with them they keep telling me that I sound like a
Mexican (haha thanks huggy!)...mostly because they say I have a good accent and
pronunciation! I really don’t know how to say anything so at least I have that
going for me!
We have class all day and the teachers are really
sweet...assuring us that it is ok if we mess up haha. We plan lessons for
investigators...their names are Mario and Yolanda. It is a great
experience figuring out how to understand how to teach. We have physical
activity at 2 everyday...which is like the hottest time of the day but it is
pretty fun! We just play futball with the Latinas the whole time...love it!
The food is good here but I am just trying to get used to all the meat
and rice I am consuming---but they feed us well here---it is forcing me to eat
breakfast now.
On Saturday we actually went out to proselyte.
Wow, that was a huge eye opener. I was paired up with Her. Chavez from
Mexico...she is so sweet. Her parents are mission presidents in Mexico.
We got dropped off in Lima north and paired up with another Hermana
Goodpasture who has been out for 8 months---she was from Florida and super laid
back and fun. Walking around seeing the life these people live was unreal. Stray
dogs, kids without shoes, and such poor living conditions...
I will tell you an experience I had....
We
were walking around and we saw a lady outside her door. She said she didn’t
have time but my companion asked for one minute of her time so she accepted. We
proceeded to pull out a hymn book and the 3 of us started to sing. And although
there was chaos around us....the spirit gave her peace and I could see it. My
companion turned to me and asked me to bare my testimony. ahhh I was completely
surprised. But I was given the gift of tongues in that moment....but not
through words. I was just given a calm mind and heart to be able to express
what I had studied before----because the gift of tongues is not a free gift. We
gave her a pamphlet and she accepted an invitation to go to church. It was such
an amazing experience. She was such a humble and sweet lady.
Today we went to the temple...and I cannot tell
you how much I needed that. It helped remind me of what my purpose is here. It
is not baptism we are getting these people to...it is the temple. Ahhh the
temple just gave me so much peace today....never take it for granted! After
that we went shopping out on the street which was pretty fun!
This week was one of the most trying week I have
ever experienced. But I could feel your fasting and prayer were working on me.
With the strength of the Lord I was able to let go of myself and just go to
work. I only have 18 months out here and an eternity to look back on it! I couldn’t
get through this without your love and prayers. YOU, my family, are my
strength. I miss you all so much! I love you!
Jess
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