Family!

How are you all doin? Happy 4th of July the other day. No worries, my comp insisted on wearing red, white, and blue so I did celebrate haha. And a shout out to Mills, Nichole and David Bennett this last week. I hope your birthday´s were all that you hoped for. I hope you know how much I love you all!

This week has gone well. It was a little overwhelming at first because I don’t know the streets, the houses and I have the responsibility to teach my comp also. However, I am positive that Heavenly Father knows our weaknesses and is helping us fulfill this calling despite them. But one of the strengths that He has given us is being 2 gringos in the same area, calling attention everywhere we walk. I love my new companion. She is always super positive despite the disappointments that we pass each day. She is truly a strength to me. I really don’t feel too much like a senior comp because I am trying to stress the fact that we have to work 50-50. I don’t have more power than she does! But, we are working well together and have set many goals to make our companionship stronger!

This week I was just trying to get to know all of our investigators, members and less-actives. A lot of information to take in all at once but I know with time I will be able to accomplish what my Heavenly Father wants me to! We have one really amazing investigator; she is 15 and is so so intelligent! We can truly see her becoming converted. This week without us even telling her, she signed herself up for seminary and wants to come to all the activities of the YW. We are hoping to baptize her this month.

We had several cool experiences this week. One day this week, we set out to look for a contact that we had made the day before. And oh yeah, we don’t know the streets and half of the streets don’t have names or numbers on them haha. We asked everyone in our path the direction,"Mas arriba. Mas abajo" haha. Wait what? We kept finding ourselves in the same place. We wanted to give up after 45 minutes of looking for this house, however, just as we were about to give up a man came up to us and offered us a helping hand, finally finding the house. We went in to the house of this mom and her 3 children. We began to ask her questions about her beliefs and all of the sudden she stops us and says, “Well I have been baptized in this church and it has been 20 years since I have assisted. And during this time I have been missing something spiritually in my life.” Wow. In this situation I learned 2 things: 1-that Heavenly Father never forgets about His children that are lost, and always finds a way to bring them back to His fold. EACH soul is precious in His sight. 2-Although we have weaknesses (like finding directions in this area), if Heavenly Father has called you he will qualify you. We all need to look past our weaknesses having confidence that through the atonement of Jesus Christ we can make these weaknesses our biggest strength.

We also taught a new family the other day. They have 4 kids who were completely excited to learn about the gospel. This house they have is probably the most humble home I have seen in my time here, which is hard to top. But despite this the light of Christ shines through their faces and I can truly see a future with this family. We will see how it goes this next week!

Well, although this area is only like 10 minutes away from my last area it is a completely different world. Each area has their strengths and weaknesses. Economically this area is A LOT more humble which makes them be a little more humble as well! Our bishop and mission leader are dreams come true. Their support is unbelievable and I can’t wait to work with them throughout this transfer.

Well, this week has gone well. Through this process of training I am truly learning how to be humble and have complete trust in the Lord because without him, I am nothing. But in his strength we can do ALL things. Always remember that (Alma 26:12). I love and miss you all so much! Know that I am praying for your happiness and safety each night. Keep smilin!

Love, Jess

My old ward who threw a goodbye party for us. These are the young people and and a lot of the less-active people that we reactivated.

One of the less-active girls in our ward


Me, Hna. Rivera and Hna. Gymon

Me and Hna. Gymon

Family!

How are you guys? I hope everything is going well! Well, these past few days have been pretty crazy with all the changes that are going on. On Saturday our zone leaders called with our changes. I knew that my comp was going to leave because she has 7 months in this area. Insane, I know. And the other gringo missionaries told me that I will probably get a companion who has more time than I have in the mission because that is what happened to them at this time in their mission. But, nope. Haha I am now going back to my old area in Buenos Aires to train a North American newbie. Wow. Never saw that coming. I can already tell that this transfer is going to be the fire of humility. I still feel like I am new at this and I have SO many weaknesses. But, this is an opportunity to rely COMPLETELY on the Lord.

Sorry, I have pics but this computer won’t let me load them. My new comp is from Arizona and has a super super out-going personality. She loves to talk and have fun 24/7 haha. She is completely opposite of my last companion, Hna. Rivera. Hna. Rivera was completely chill and liked to lay low but now, haha totally opposite. But it’s perfect. Hna. Guymon has an unbelievable desire to work and always can make me smile! Hna. Rivera got transferred to Central which is like a half hour away from Zamacola. It was super hard to let her go today. I was bawling like a baby when the taxi pulled off. She taught me so many things that I honestly can’t even describe. She was an angel, and I know that she will change even more lives in her new area.

Yesterday we visited the members, less-actives and investigators, that we have been working with. Wow, it’s was an extremely emotional day for the both of us, especially Hna. Rivera because this has been her area for her entire mission. And I found as we were visiting all these people that I may not have gotten very many baptisms in this area but I created a real bond with the less-actives and the members. The single adults in our ward put together a whole program for us, giving us gifts like a big slab of meat, some yogurt, etc. haha. But honestly, this ward has turned into my family, especially the young people in this ward. They have the pure love of Christ always, and at times I feel like I was sent to this area to learn from their example. Haha I was a wreck after this little program that they had. Never thought I would get so close to them!

The miracle of this week with one of our investigators. We have been working with him for the past two weeks and has a MAJOR problem with drinking and this is practically the cause of all the faults in his life. We have been teaching about the cleansing power of the atonement and at first we saw zero progress in him. But just this last week Mady (the Norwegian--this investigator is her brother-in-law) called us on the phone and asked, "What did you guys do? My brother in law refuses to drink and has completely done a 360. He is a new person." This is evidence to me of the true POWER of the atonement and through this atonement ANY person can overcome their past and get over their biggest weakness. We did absolutely nothing haha Christ and the power of His atonement did it all. He came to church yesterday and loved it! But, now that I am leaving the area, I have to make sure that the other sisters take hold of him really fast! Wow, isn’t Heavenly Father amazing?

Wow, sorry I can’t right tons with all the changes that are going on today. But KNOW that I love each and every one of you and I pray for you each day. What I have really learned this week and I am sure I will continue to learn this this next transfer, that the only way that we can overcome our weaknesses is to GIVE them to Christ in order to make them our STRENGTHS. The power of the atonement is not only for our sins but for our weaknesses, doubts, heartaches and disappointments. He knows how to PERFECTLY succor every one of us. Trust in his perfect knowledge of your soul. I love you all so so much! Talk to you next week! Keep smilin!

Love, Jess

Hey everyone!

How is everyone doing? I hope this week went well for everyone! This week has been good; just a lot of work to do in this huge area of ours. I swear our area takes up half of the mission alone. We are really trying to step foot in the majority of our area that we can right now in order to start up these parts that haven’t been proselyted in in years.
 
Let’s see. . . the other day we had a multi-zone conference with the president and his wife which was extremely special. The wife taught a health class and had her notes in Spanish typed out line by line. She was trying so hard to speak but by the end she just said, "Oh I give up haha," and the president translated for her. She is the cutest thing in the entire world. The president’s message was amazing. He spoke about the "eye of faith" Either 12:19, and how as a missionary, and you guys too, can pass through the veil of your limits. Meaning, looking passed what you think you are capable of and seeing with your eye of faith–what god sees you are capable of accomplishing. He is such an unbelievable man and I connect with him so well. He is so happy ALL the time and has a heart of gold and cries at just about everything. He reminds me a lot of Dad that way–always wiping away a tear in Sacrament meeting haha.
 
If you remember the family that I was talking about who has a child who is a member but they are not? Yeah, we are really trying to get them to set a date to get married, however, that dad keeps making excuses about how he has to finish his house first. The mom calls us every week for our help in helping him make the decision to get married. Ah, I know for a fact that the mom has the desire to get baptized, but first they have to make this decision. We are praying for them each day and working as hard as we can to make him realize that this is the time to follow Christ in his life. Please pray for this family!
 
Gabriella is doing well. She is participating in the activities with the young women each week and loves it! However, right now we really need to work with the mom in order to have her realize what a blessing this is in her daughter’s life. Her mom is a little cold towards us right now but little by little we are trying to gain her confidence.
 
Soila, who is the MA who we met knocking doors, turns out one day after our visit her son died. And now as their family is trying to find comfort and peace, they have seeked us out in order to give them this comfort. We had such a special lesson with them the other day. The husband and the daughter were there, who are not members, and we were prompted to talk about the plan of salvation and family history. It was unreal to them to know that the ones that they love are waiting for them to do their ordinances. I could truly see the spirit of Elijah working through them and I believe through family history we can bring this family into this gospel.
 
We have been working with this young less-active family for the past month. They have four ANGEL children who are the sweetest little spirits and always so polite. This family lives in probably the most humble conditions compared to just about everyone else we teach. We have been working on the goal of getting them to the temple which is a little bit of a struggle for them because of their living conditions. However, a couple weeks back we challenged them to change their job in order to come on Sundays. And through their amazing faith, they did! This last visit they told us that they can’t truly see the benefits of this change yet but have faith that they will begin to see miracles soon–a miracle to allow them to make the trip to the temple. There is no doubt that Heavenly Father will bless them for the sacrifice they have made. We are going to continue to work with them in order to see them off to the next trip to the temple!
 
Well, this next week is transfers and I am positive that my companion is going to leave, so we will see what happens! Next week though, we will be in a triple companionship because all the people from Central America are being sent to other missions because Peru will not accept their visas. So sad! The girl from Honduras is leaving this Wednesday to Columbia, her new mission.
 
Well, this week has been great! I am so glad to hear that all of you are doing so well! Know that I love each and every one of you so much and without your prayers and support, I know I wouldn’t be here today! Keep smilin! Talk to you next week!
 
Love, Jess

Hey Fam!

Sorry, this week I can’t be too detailed or too long because today we are only allowed to have 45 minutes. We are being "punished" because there is a rule that if someone in your zone reports a baptism and doesn't email the form to the assistants by 8:30 on Sunday night, the whole district doesn't get to have p-day. And well, that’s what happened to us. Ah man, my comp and I were so mad at first but hey, to look on the bright side it’s a great opportunity to learn how to forgive haha. Let’s see, I will just write out a few bullet points for this week.

If you remember me talking about the dad who came to church with his son, who we made an appointment with, well we went to his house, at first, to help the boy (the only member in his family) to learn about the priesthood because he had an interview for receiving this priesthood coming up. As we began to help the boy with his goals, his mom and dad were right by his side, acting even more excited and motivated to accomplish these goals. I thought to myself, ‘Wow, why don’t they get baptized already?’ As we began to talk to them we found out that they hadn’t gotten married now for 30 years! Wow, that’s why. We started to ask them why and several excuses followed. However, we tried to be direct and asked him to pray to see if this was the time for him to get married because this is a commandment of the Lord. Several days later we were walking the streets and spotted the mom and she said "My husband has completely changed his mind and all we are missing is a date." Wow, all I could think of in this moment was, isn’t God amazing? There are little miracles every day. We are meeting with them tonight to hopefully set a date. Please pray for them.

The other day we got permission to do divisions with the one other set of sisters in my zone; one gringa from Arizona and another hermana from Honduras. Hna. Amador from Honduras came to my area. It was really cool experience working with her. I learned so many things from her example. She is completely different from my comp but this made me realize that each sister has distinct gifts and it is my opportunity to learn and develop the strengths they have.

This week has been a little difficult with investigators. We set up appointments but they were not there, assigned people to pick them up on Sunday but somehow things go wrong. Satan is really trying in every way possible to get in our way right now with investigators. I know we can get past this but we need your prayers!

One last "funny" of the day; the other day we went to teach an investigator and afterwards, the mom brought in "anticusho" which is like a cabob of different meats. I started eating, it was super good so I naturally asked what kind of meat it was and she happily said "corazon." Ohhhhhhh wow, I don’t think I was ready for that answer haha. I have learned from this moment on, never to ask what it is, just eat it.

Sorry this was a little short due to our "punishment" but it’s all good. This week has been full of disappointments and miracles. Thank you so much for your love and prayers. I couldn't do this without the strength of my family. I love you all so so much. Talk to you next week! Keep smilin!

Love, Jess

Fam!

How are you all? Everyone seems to be doing great witch gives me a lot of comfort. Well, let’s see...this week has been crazy, like every week here in the mission! This week we have made a lot of progress with our investigators especially. But, our numbers were a little low this week as well and I was feeling really disappointed on Saturday. One of the reasons is because we are opening another area this week. They are adding this area to the two areas we have already which is a little bit of a struggle. But it’s all good! However, I know that Heavenly Father is aware of us because Sunday was a miracle day for us!

On Sunday, three of our investigators who are all 14 years old came to sacrament meeting. When they originally said they didn’t have time. Gabriella is one of these three and she is truly bonding with the girls in the ward and she is also coming to every activity! The other two girls brought a friend who is interested in the church also. 

Wow, it literally felt like investigators were falling in our laps yesterday. After sacrament meeting we met another man who is the father of a boy who is a member, but the father is not. He wanted to make an appointment with him in order to learn more about the church his son was participating in! 

After this, one of our less-actives brought her boyfriend who is interested to learn more about this church. The father of this less-active is crazy, down the line kind of a guy. And to our surprise, he set up some chairs in one of the class rooms to have a lesson right then and there! haha He started our the lesson saying "When you are baptized....." Wow, haha a little too fast there bud, But other than that the lesson went well and we set up another!

This day was truly miracle after miracle. I couldn’t stop thinking about Alma 26, where it says "When their hearts were depressed and about to turn back, Heavenly Father came to comfort them". "Bare with patience your afflictions and I will give you success". Never forget this. At times in our lives it feels like there is no hope left, however, as we look forward with an eye of faith and wait with patience, “He will always comfort you and bring you success!”

One really cool story of the week, in our new area, Campo Verde, we were having no luck; knocking on doors, talking to everyone, nothing seemed to work. Since we could not find anyone, we decided to look for the reference of a less-active that lived there. We came to a house, Q 18, and my companion said, yep this is the one.  We knocked and a lady answered saying the person we were looking for did not live there. However, right as we were about to leave we asked if we could share this message with her. She then said "Do you know how to pray?" which I thought was kind of a weird question but we enthusiastically said YES! As we walked into her house her 25 year old son was sitting on a gurney with his skull half gone as a result of a car accident a few years back. It was as if he was a child. In this moment she asked my companion to offer a prayer of comfort for her son. And after this prayer we offered a message of peace. However, during this message I decided to share a scripture from the BOM. And before I shared it, I began to explain what the book was and right in the middle of my explanation she said "Yeah, I have read it before." What? Turns out she has been baptized but went inactive for 40 years! As we left the house my companion turned to me and said, the number of the less-active we were looking for actually lives in Q 28. Heavenly Father led our footsteps there because he knew one of his children needed to be found again!

I taught my first English class this week! It was actually super fun. All of the parents are fanatic about bringing their kids to learn. The adults and the kids are learning on the same level. I love it!

Well, anyway that was my week! Just remember that Heavenly Father is aware of every detail of your lives. And when times seem impossible, he will always come to comfort you! I love you all so much! Keep smilin!

Love, Jess

go-carting craziness!

Fam!

How are you all doing? It is so fun to hear about all that you are up to and accomplishing in your lives.  Everything seems to be going so great at home! Well this week has had its ups and downs but I always try to look for the miracles that have happened instead of the disappointments.  So let’s see . . .

This week we went to visit one of our less-actives. He is a man who was in the Bishopric in the past, has children married in the temple, was an extremely strong member of the church. However, for about 10 years now he has left the church, absolutely hating all the members and everything about the church. At our first visit he told us that he didn’t have faith and that we could never convince him to walk into the church again. But, through a lot of consistency, prayer, fasting and with the helping hand of the Lord we were able to bring him to church these last few weeks. And this last visit he told us that he doesn’t know how to write but he wants us to help him write his history of "coming back into the light," as he put it, and kind of his process of falling away and coming back. I told him our goal is to put this is the Ensign, so we are going to try to do that haha. What a miracle. Thanks to the guiding hand of the Lord and the power of the atonement he was able to change completely! Our next step with him is to get him and his wife to the temple!

Same with two other families that we are working with.  We are working as hard as we can to get them to the temple this October. This is one of my favorite things as a missionary, to work with these less active families and teach them about the eternal importance of the temple and sacred covenants we make there. There is no greater joy than to see these families changing slowly.  Through the power of this gospel, I am able to see the unity and love once again in these family's homes.  And as they have this goal of the temple in sight it is unreal to see the enabling power of the atonement of Christ work to get them to the house of the Lord to be sealed for time and all of eternity. 

We are making a lot of progress with Gaberiella, the 14 year old. She told us this last lesson that she feels like this is the path for her. She has believed all her life that God exhausts but now feels like she needs to DO something with this faith that she has. She is amazing. 

We met another lady who is a mom of 4 kids. We set an appointment with her and as we walked toward her house, she was sitting on her doorstep with her Bible and notebook in hand, ready to learn and ask questions. haha We were completely surprised, this rarely happens here in Peru! We began to talk to her and she started to tell us that she feels that the Catholic Church is completely wrong and every day she feels like she is missing something and needs to find the true path to invite Christ in her life. She is truly looking for the truth and I honestly think that she is one of the choice children of God that Heavenly Father put in our path.

One funny thing of the week; as I was walking in the street with my companion and I make the comment that "I just want to see a white person" haha I have no idea why. However, as we turned the corner I was shocked to see a lady with bright blue eyes and blonde hair. We began to talk to her and she is actually from Norway but has lived in Peru with her husband for 5 years. She speaks perfect Spanish but still has a really thick Norwegian accent. It was super weird to talk to someone with blue eyes. It kind of through me off. But we did set an appointment with her and are going to meet with her this next week. What a coincidence huh? haha

Well, that was my week! There are miracles each day; you just have to LOOK for them. I am so grateful to be a part of this work and I am unbelievable grateful each day that I have a family who I can live with for eternity.  And now, I can help the people here have this hope of an eternal family also! I love you and miss you all more than I could ever say! Keep smilin’.

Love, Jess

It was my comp's b-day on Tuesday

Tried to make it a surprise for her but the Peruvians here are not very discreet haha

lovely nap position

Fam!

How are all of you!? Well, this week has been a good one, especially with getting new investigators that I feel have a really bright potential. I am beginning to see how meticulously Heavenly Father works in order to guide us to those people who are just waiting to accept this gospel and to come unto Christ.

Noelia; the girl who I told you about last week, we had another lesson with her. As we started to talk she just didn’t want to listen.  Her eyes were all over the place and we just felt like our words were passing right through her ears. However, through the power of the spirit, our conversation slowly switched gears to the topic of the atonement and repentance. Didn’t know why at first, but as my companion and I began to say words like "clean", "lift your burdens", "forget your past", her eyes immediately focused.  Like Holland says, "through her EYES we were able to find her need".  She began to tell us how she wants to be a new person and by the end we committed her to a baptismal date for the 21 of June. Please pray for her!

Gaberiella; we met her mom on the street and for some reason she wanted us to visit her daughter because she needs guidance in her life. Well, from this comment we were expecting this girl to be a little rebellious and will not want to listen. But, as this 14 year old girl began to talk about God I felt I was talking to a 30 year old, spiritually. We began to talk about Joseph Smith and she was captivated by the idea that he was 14 years old as well and she wanted to learn more. She has such an amazing potential. Seeing little miracles like this each day makes me realize how much God knows me and the people we teach. 

Jaime; one day as we were walking along the street, feeling discouraged.  All of the sudden I caught the eye of a woman with her baby in hand walking on the other side of the street. As I made my way over to the other side of the street, I didn’t even say one thing, and this women says "Come to my house and share your message with me. I am free right now". Haha wow, this has NEVER happened to me before. It goes to show how a little smile and eye contact can affect a person. She is completely receptive and we gave her a BOM to read. She is beginning to share everything she is learning with her husband and is progressing!

This last Saturday we had a baptism of yet another little 9 year old whose parents and practically whole family are less-actives. It was amazing to see this process of his. At first this boy had no interest in this message but little by little I was able to see the change in him.  All the way to the point of him asking when he could be baptized. He has such a strong desire and he has changed so much. To see the little smile on his face when he walked in the baptismal font was priceless. At the end of the service we asked his parents to bare their testimonies and they were both just bawling. I could feel the spirit working on them, allowing them to remember the joy of the gospel. 

This last Sunday was the Sunday of less-actives.  We were able to get five families that we have been working with to attend this last Sunday. It was such an amazing site to see, to see people enter into the ward after many many years. Causing them to remember the spirit and happiness they once felt many years ago. 

I am going to end with the lovely prayer one of our less actives offered in one of our activities.....Padre nuestro, que estas en los cielos santificado, se ha tu numbre venga a nosotros tu reigno, hagase tu boluntad aqui en la tierra como on lose cielos. danos hoy nuestro pan de cada dia, perdon nuestros ofensas como tambien nosotros perdonamos a los que ofenden......................what? haha This can’t be happening right now, I thought as my companion looked at me with a smile. haha Heavenly Father definitely has a sense of humor. Oh the things that happen each day here are crazy.

Well, this was my week! i hope all of you are doing well. Just remember this week to LOVE those around you. You may forget the nice comment, the little smile, or the small act of service that you did.  But for the person receiving this love, will never able to forget it. Watch the talk of Pres. Monson again if you can. I love you and miss you all more than you will ever know. Talk to you next week!

Love, Jess

p-day fun

FAM! 

Hey! How is everyone? Thank you so much for all of your pics and emails. They really keep me going each week! Let’s see, yesterday we got the call for our transfers and......haha no change. I am positive that the Lord wants us to be together for a reason. And if we work with all our hearts, minds and strength we will find why we were meant to be companions for this time!

Well, this week has been a little bit of a struggle with appointments falling through and such.  But its ok because there were lights at the end of the tunnel! You just have to look for them. There were some mini miracles that happened this week. Many of them were with inactives. 

There is an inactive single mom who has two kids who live in conditions that are extremely extremely poor. The kids maybe eat two slices of bread and one glass of milk each day. And at times I don’t think the mom eats.  But despite this, she has the desire to completely change spiritually. She has made many mistakes in her life and because of this she hasn’t entered the ward for 12 years now. She doesn’t feel worthy enough to attend. However, wow, this last Sunday as my companion and I waited at the door of the ward house, the time had passed to enter but all of the sudden as we began to walk back. We heard the voices of her two little kids behind us. It was such a spiritual experience to watch her walk into the Sacrament room, after 12 years of inactivity. This day was her day to change. The Lord gave us a miracle that day.

Another really cool experience I had was with another inactive. She is 21 years old and is the daughter of the former Bishop who is extremely strict and I feel like this is part of the reason she fell away from the church these past two years. She has been going to a university and hanging with people who are not at all keeping with the standards of the church. She has not wanted anything to do with us these past few weeks. But one day we really felt impressed to go visit this family, and sure enough she was there. We all sat down with her and the parents, and the funny thing was as we began to talk, the parents slipped out of the room haha. We began to ask her questions about God, and if she thought she had a potential. There were questions that came out of my mouth that were not my own. And it came to the point where she began to cry and told us her desire to change the direction of her life. Once again, this was another miracle that Heavenly Father gave us this week.  The light at the end of the tunnel! 

Yesterday, we headed to a house of an inactive member but when we knocked on the door a young girl answered to tell us he wasn’t there. AH dang we thought. But right then we got the feeling to go in and share with her this message. It’s hard to say this but I think she has been the most prepared person spiritually that we have taught. As we asked her questions about her faith in God and what she wants for her life the spirit has never been so strong. And during that whole time I just thought that she is one of the people just ready to accept this gospel. And at the end of the lesson she asked "When can you come back?" What a miracle. I know Heavenly Father wanted us to find her and he led us there.

Funnies of the week:  As we went to teach another less-active, he answered the door with black hair all over his hands. And guess what he was doing? Skinning, by hand, cuies . . . rats. Yep. And all of the cuies he had dehaired were sitting in a vat of water. Dead. Mmmm lovely. 

Another one was, as we were reading the BOM with a less-active mom. All of the sudden her son who is 12 years old, who could probably pass off as a nose-guard for the NFL, walked in the front room with his tiny little towel just to get a snack to eat in the shower, he told us. Haha wow. These little things just make my day. Heavenly Father definitely has a sense of humor. 

Well, that was my week! The big thing that I learned from this week was that in our lives, amidst all the disappointments, we always have to be attentive, always watching for the small tender mercies of the Lord each day. If we look, and have hope, Heavenly Father will always put a light at the end of the tunnel, even if it is hard to recognize at first. 

I love you all so so much and I miss you more than I could ever say. Thank you for your prayers, I can feel them each day. Talk to you next week! Keep smilin!

Love, Jess

My Zone

FAM!

Hey! I can hardly believe that I got to talk to you and see your beautiful faces yesterday. Everyone seems to be doing so great which gives me so much comfort! Anna, Milo just seemed like one of the family sitting there in Midway. Ah and I can’t believe how big Mills, Eleanor and Abey are! It just about broke my heart when Abey gave me a kiss over the computer.  And how Mills was repeating every Spanish word that I would say. Ahhh it was so amazing to talk to you guys and realize I actually have a living family still.

Well this week has been great but a little bit of a challenge. It all started during planning.  My companion had a really bad migraine and soon enough we were in the emergency room with her. She went into the doctor and he said that she would not be able to work for four days due to the stress of the mission. Soo she stayed in the hospital and I had to direct the area for three days. Each day I had to call people to be my companion for the day.  Both of them were 17 years old and in the ward. During this time every decision, turn of the corner and every lesson depended on me and my young companions just followed along. I felt so weak but somehow I did it. I’ve only known this area for 5 weeks but things seemed to work out ok. The last night of these three days I went back to my penchanista’s house and Hna. Rivera said the doctor checked her and absolutely everything was fine with her. Was this a coincidence? Absolutely not. Hna. Rivera and I were talking later that day and came to the conclusion that Heavenly Father gave her this health problem in order for me to grow and get a little taste of what it is going to be like if she leaves this transfer. During this transfer I have been struggling with having confidence in myself. However, through this experience I was able to realize that I have the capacities, but I just have to have the faith. Heavenly Father lets us struggle because he loves us and this is definitely what I learned through this challenge. 

Let’s see  . . . like I told you yesterday, Jose Maria wants to get baptized but is waiting for a couple weeks due to family things, traveling and such, but all that matters is that he has the conviction and the desire to enter into this covenant! I’m pretty sure he is going to be the next prophet in the future.

Our other investigators that I was talking about last time, Rene and Marisol?  Yeah, during a lesson this week we were talking about the sacrament and how "those who have made this covenant with Heavenly Father, which you haven’t yet." They both looked at each other and said, "Well there is something we haven’t told you yet.  We have been baptized..." WHUUAA??  This completely threw me off.  For two weeks now they have been acting like they are investigators. But no worries. It is not only our job as missionaries to help others come unto Christ through baptism, but help these people through the most important part of all this, enduring to the end!

We have an amazing family that we are teaching right now. It is a single mom and she has three kids. She lost her husband two years ago and now she says she is looking for the right path for her and her family. She is looking for comfort and peace during this time of unbelievable responsibility and trial. Tonight we are going to have a family home evening with this family and talk about the blessings of the temple and eternal families. I am so excited!

The topic of the temple seems to be theme of my mission right now. We are working with so many less active families and are helping them along the path to get to the temple right now. It is amazing to see the blessings that come not only when one goes to the temple but before, as these families prepare, I can see the change and the difference in their lives!

Well, I hope you liked my "chop" of a haircut. I don’t think my companion got the message that I just wanted a trim. But it’s all good--welcome to the mission! The unexpected! Wow, this week has been a challenge, but just know that through the power of the atonement we cannot only endure but ENDURE WELL. I love you all so much. Thank you for your examples in my life, without them I wouldn’t be here today.  Keep smiling through the tough times!

Love, Jess

Guess who I let . . . . cut my hair!

FAM! 

"How are you all?". . . (Huggy, please explain)  I think this week especially we have progressed a lot in our work here as a companionship.   But it was nothing we ever did, it was Heavenly Father pouring out his blessings in response to our fast in order to find people who are searching for the truth. On Monday we had a Noche de Hogar with a man named Raul. He has about 25 years and is so awesome. We showed him the Mormon Message of Uchtdorf with the man on the cruise ship who thought all the food and parties were not included in the ticket. It was awesome.  Watch it. Anyway, we began talking to him about the potential he has and how without the gospel he is living "under his privileges". And somehow the spirit led us to challenge him to baptism and he willingly accepted. However for 20 days he will be working in Cuzco which will be hard but we made him a schedule of things to read and pray bout each week and found a church in Cuzco for him to go to.

But, what the true miracle was that on Saturday we went to the house of Raul to have a lesson the day before he left. And as we walked in the whole family was sitting at the table and we ended up teaching the entire family. The grandparents are less-actives but the children are not members. But I honestly thought they were members, the way they spoke about god and prayer, etc. We invited them to church the next day and told them we would pick them up at 7:30 sharp haha (Arequipena time is 45 minutes later). The next day we knocked on their door and they were dressed and ready! What a miracle.  During sacrament meeting both the brother and sister, Rene and Malisol (about 25 years old), were asking us question after question and stayed for the entire three hours! Marisol was even taking notes during the classes.  They are so prepared. And heavenly father knew that!

Also, on Sunday a member brought an investigator, Carmen, who is really interested! Last night we were intending to visit Jose Maria but he wasn’t home. We tried again anyway to ring the doorbell, but oopps it was the wrong one. To our surprise this door was the house of the member who brought Carmon. And for some reason, my companion and I felt we needed to share a scripture with him. As we walked into the house, again to our surprise, Carmon and her whole family were sitting on the couch! So amazing. And she agreed for us to come and teach her and her family this Wednesday!

Wow, the little coincidences of walking into the family of Raul and ringing the wrong doorbell were things that only the hand of God could have directed. He is in every foot step, turn of a corner and knock of a door. These experiences are evidence to me that Heavenly Father KNOWS HIS CHILDREN so so personally and knows where to send his servants to find them. 

We had another lesson with Jose Maria. He knows he wants to get baptized but is a little hesitant. Yesterday we challenged him to pray to choose a date for his baptism and today we have a NDH with him and have been praying that he has found the date. Please pray for him!

This Saturday we have a baptism of a young boy, Mateo, who is 10 years old and is in kind of the same situation as the two boys we baptized a few weeks ago. The family is less-active but Mateo has all the desire to get baptized. Like family Hanco, I know this will spark in the family what they have been missing for so many years.

Funny of the week: We went to go visit our recent converts, the two little boys, to teach a lesson. They live in the 3rd piso, or floor, so we did the usual doorbell for these kind of houses . . . . throwing rocks at the window haha. We waited for a while and as I turned around to walk away something really hard hit me in the head. Oh wait, it’s a half-eaten chicken bone. I look up and there are the two Hanco boys laughing their heads off. haha They are crazy but doing so well. They are going to be such strong missionaries when they grow up.

Well, that was my week! I hope all of you had an amazing one. Just know that Heavenly Father is in every detail of your lives. I am so grateful for all of you and your amazing examples. I wouldn’t be who I am today without each of you. I love you soooo much. Talk to you Sunday!!!!! I will try as hard as I can to make this work. Pray for the Skype system ha. Love you and keep smiling!

Love, Jess

My little gym