Obedience

Hola Familia!

This week I learned a valuable lesson about obedience. When we are obedient we get to see miracles. I learned this week that even the little rules count. If the little rules weren’t important then they wouldn´t be rules.

One of the goals of Mission Peru Iquitos is “Voy a ser completamente obediente” I will be completely obedient. Sometimes in the mission, or in life, we forget to be obedient. I learned this week that it doesn´t matter the circumstances. Obedience is always the first priority. When we are obedient to the laws and ordinances of the gospel we have a spiritual protection. When we obey the laws of the land we have a physical protection. When we are completely obedient Satan has no power. I want to be the type of person, the type of missionary that Satan can’t get to.

Your obedience sends blessings to us. Our obedience sends blessings to you.

I was reading in the conference Liahona; Sister Stephens said that when we partake of the sacrament we not only renew and remember our baptismal covenants but also all of the other covenants. We all need to be sure that we are keeping our promise to be obedient.  I for one could definitely improve my obedience and my attitude about obedience. I hope that you all have the chance to exercise your obedience this week. It’s really cool to see the spiritual difference.  

Have a wonderful week!

Hna Burrell.

LO MAXIMO

Merry Christmas!

Hello all and Merry Christmas from Iquitos. While all y’all are shivering, I am soaking up the sun!

This week was full of tests and trials but every day we had the opportunity to see God’s hand in the work. Every time something fell through we had a really cool lesson or a contact or we got to serve somebody that needed help.

Yesterday we were going to get people for church and we were thinking that once again, nobody would come. When we got to the first house our investigator Jordan, was ready and waiting outside and he had all of his cousins with him. We took them all to church. And when we were there we saw that two more of our investigators were there and had people sitting with them.  It was so great.  For the last 3 weeks we haven’t had anybody in church and I have been looking and praying for ways to help. Looks like I just needed more faith.

Funny what a little more faith can do.

It's all about perspective...and pneumonia

HOLA FAMILIA!!

It’s almost Christmas and it is just getting hotter and hotter here. The work is speeding up too.

This week President Gomez said that we are going to change the ideas of the people here in Iquitos. The elders are to wear their suit coats to church and the sisters are to dress a little snappier. It’s really a great opportunity to represent the mission differently. The hope is that the people will take church a little more seriously and ya know…come. The entire mission is having trouble getting the people to church. We are all teaching stellar people and every companionship has people that are very prepared. Here in Iquitos the people don´t go to church because they are busy working for Christmas. The people here are very poor and want to give their kids at least one thing. It’s a little backwards sometimes because in the states people go to church more for Christmas. Sometimes I forget where I am.

BUT guess what! We get to call. Today I am going to call to set up a time for Skype. So be ready! It’s gonna be the best because I am the best. My comp says I have to work on being humble. I don´t think so.

Also Gressy is back! Woot! She was an investigator in October and November but she went to her mom´s house for a while, well she´s back. We went to teach her and find out if she still wanted to get baptized. She said that she did but that she didn´t have a testimony. We asked if she ever had a testimony and she said no. We walked out of that appointment feeling a little beaten.  Satan is working so hard here and with some people he is winning.

Hna Woodbury and Hna Kirk (took over Versalles) are having a ton of problems with this. They have one of my old investigators. This last week something happened and the investigator asked them to leave. They haven’t been able to figure out what happened and they haven’t been able to go back. It’s heartbreaking to see the potential these people have and then watch them walk away. They literally have the potential to be Gods, to create worlds and spirit children. Sometimes I wish we could see the eternal perspective. If we could show the people who they are, who they were created to be every elder would have pneumonia [Dad: no, I didn’t translate this and no, I don’t know what having pneumonia has to do with anything].

When I get home we are going to publish my journal. It’s going to be called “A walk in the Jungle: Stories of a Sister Missionary.” It’s incredible to think that we are working with souls, not with people.

We had training by president and Hna Gomez this week. They talked about the importance of the testimony of the Godhead. We first need a testimony of where we came from and who God is before we can teach anything else. This was the first problem with Gressy; she never gained her testimony of Heavenly Father. This week we are going to focus on this principle; and I am going to commit each of you to review your testimony of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. Think about what it means to you to be a child of God, and what it means to have divine potential. Think about your Savior and how you can grow more close to him. Think about the spirit and how you are using your gift of the Holy Ghost. I promise that your testimony will grow. Best wishes!

Hna Burrell

The waters are on the rise...

HOLA TODOS! [Hello ALL]

¡Lo siento por no escribiendo bueno! ¡Un día voy a ser mejor! [Sorry for not writing well! One day I will be better!]

This week has been crazy! At changes [transfers] we got 2 more gringas [white girls] in the Ward. They were in the CCM with me so it’s a little strange but really cool to be with them.

It’s been raining this week and the waters are on the rise. It’s weird not to be able to enter into my old area when it’s so close. My comp is wonderful. She was sick for a week and a half before she told anybody. It caused a few other problems, but I have to say I commend her for sticking it out. So we went to the doctor for her on Saturday and they think she has the typhoid. It sucks pretty badly. It’s either that or parasites or a bacterial infection. They don´t know so they are running a bunch of tests. Luckily we haven´t missed too much work. Even though she feels like garbage, compy [my companion] still wants to work.

This week I saw a rat attack a chicken [no translation needed]. That was pretty exciting…and I saw a cock fight.  It was almost as exciting as the chicken rat fight! Loving the people here and I am finally getting used to the food. We ate mac and cheese from a box last night! WHAT! So good!

We are having a little trouble getting people to listen to us but I think that’s because we are focusing on finding people. This week we are going to shift our focus to menos actives [less actives] and new converts. Here, there are a lot of part member families, so if we focus on them we will find people to teach. If y’all have more ideas let me know.

FYI bought a thermometer this week. They still use mercury here. We haven´t used it yet.

Gonna have a baptism this week!  Dora is getting baptized on Saturday. Crazy stuff! 

OH This week we taught a lesson in the cemetery. If you guys get the chance, share your testimony about the plan of salvation in a cemetery. The spirit is so strong. Have a great week all of you and remember that you are missionaries!

Much love Hna. Burrell

[Just a note from dad.  Haley would love to hear from you...ALL OF YOU.  She doesn't have a lot of computer time on Mondays, so if you want to send her a quick note or a "just thinking about you" card, her address is on the right side of her blog.  It would really mean a lot to her...especially around the holidays.]

Cambios, bearded fish and aji charapita

Hola Familia y Amigos!

A lot has happened this week. We had cambios [transfers] and I am training!  Woot Woot!  My new comp is from El Salvador and she is super cute; she´s 19. She already has 6 weeks in the mission field so I am just finishing up her training. She didn´t get her Visa in time to come here right after the CCM so she started her mission in El Salvador. She is super hard to understand at times because her accent is really different. She is really patient with me; which is great.

They cut my area in half and brought in 2 more sisters. We were in the CCM together but they were in the other white people district. They don´t speak a ton of Spanish but enough to get by; just like me. At times it is really funny to think that last week I was being trained and this week I am training. The other sisters need a lot of help too because I know their area and they don´t. I love helping everybody. The only sad part is we are out of people to baptize.

This month we had 4 baptisms and a wedding and now I get to find new people! We have 5 investigators that we are teaching right now. Hopefully we will get a baptism date this week. There are a ton of prepared people in this area.

Also I went house shopping for the new sisters. We found them a house and all their stuff is in it. They have beds and everything but they are missing mattresses. Right now they are sleeping in my house. It’s fun to have slumber parties. We speak mostly in Spanish because my comp doesn’t speak any English… at all.

How was Thanksgiving? [Haley is confused] Eat lots of food? Here we had a meeting and I got banana bread. That was pretty cool!  

Also this week we got caught in 2 freak rain storms. We were soaked to the bone in less than 2 minutes. Luckily we were headed home both times so we got to change really fast.

This week I ate a fish. I don’t remember what it was called but it lives in the Amazon River and it has a beard. It was almost like a catfish. It had its head still on and all of its fins. My comp couldn’t eat it but I thought it was delish. 

Peruvian Chili

I also ate aji charapita. It’s a tiny pepper. I normally crush it up into whatever I am eating and it’s just fine. This time I ate the pepper. I just about died. My face was red and I was crying and my throat was on fire. I took a drink of chichi-which is a drink made of corn-and that just made it worse. Then I ate a ¼ cup of sugar. That killed the flames but there was a lingering burn all day. I am sooo going to bring these little guys home. They have a good flavor when you crush them in your food. They should put a warning on those babies.  After I ate it I felt like a deserved a “Here’s your sign” award.  Also ate tacacho this week. It’s a ball of grilled banana and bacon. It’s really good. They are pretty big and my comp ate 4. I thought she was going to die. She could hardly walk after because she was so full. I thought it was very funny…she did not.

Lots of love!

Drama in the Amazon

(Note from dad:  I try not to edit Haley’s posts too much, but you can tell her Spanish is getting better…because her English is getting worse.)

The mission is great. We are having so much success right now. Crazy story!

Stock photo of a motokar

We have an investigator named Gressy. She had a date for yesterday to get baptized and she was going to get married on Saturday. Friday night we had a Joseph Smith night and watched the hour long movie (really cool in Spanish).  While we were in the church, her fiancé’s little brother came in to play soccer. He left the motokar outside the church. Ten minutes playing and the motokar got stolen. It was a huge source of income for the family and they don´t have much.

Saturday, we went to make sure that they were still going to have a wedding and to make sure Henry (the little brother) was OK. We got there and everybody was getting ready for the wedding and making jokes about the stolen motokar. We were helping with the cake when the robbers showed up asking for ransom.

We left.

The family didn´t have the money for the ransom so they don´t have transportation or 1/2 their income. When they got to the church for the wedding they were so happy and excited. The only problem was, we didn´t have a judge. We called and called and called but nobody answered. Finally, we get a hold of Hna Inez, the lady who helps with weddings.  It turns out that the mother of the judge died 20 minutes before the wedding and he wasn´t going to come. They were sending another judge. Two hours after the wedding was supposed to start a judge came. He was a little tipsy.

After all of that, they were finally married and we got super cute pictures. 

Sunday morning and we have 2 baptisms scheduled; one for Gressy and the other for our golden Graciela. Graciela showed up 40 minutes late and the ward mission leader didn´t have white pants. We ran all over town looking for Elders with white pants. Finally found them and then go back to the church. Sacrament is starting in 20 minutes and we are still waiting to start the baptism. We get everybody ready and realize that Gressy isn´t there. SHE DIDN’T SHOW UP! We are all sorts of upset and after church we go to find Gressy. Turns out that she had a C section when her baby was born but they didn´t do a great job of making sure everything was in the right order and she wore heels at her wedding; the poor girl couldn´t even stand. Her date got moved to this Saturday.  

Crazy right? Wow! This week coming up is going to be nuts too. Pray for us.

Getting harder to translate

Helping fix a house that was damaged in a storm.

The rainy season started early this year so it rains every day. Usually not for very long; but it rained for 6 hours yesterday. It’s really nice when it’s cloudy because it’s not so hot; when the sun is out it is murder. So grateful we have a fan.  It’s gonna be a beast for our lessons in the river.

Cool thing! I taught a lesson on the river the other day. In a floating house!

I have a lot of mosquito bites which is not cool. I decided I’m going to play connect the dots with itch cream. I got vitamins from Hna Gomez so I´m getting all the nutrients I need. I have a cold but it’s not bad. Hna Orellana tells me I have a cold because I sleep with the fan on. I told her it’s because I can’t sleep in the buff. I had to explain with sleeping in the buff was. Awkward...

My comp speaks pretty good English. She has been watching Friends since she was 5. It’s not translated, but they have Spanish subtitles. Eventually, she got to the point where she didn’t have to read the subtitles any more. Chevre no? [I can’t find a translation for that?!?] Right now we speak a little more English because we are prepping her for her English test. All the Latin missionaries get to take a test to get into BYU. I think that she will pass. I asked her why she never spoke in English before now and she told me that she didn’t want to ruin my Spanish and sometimes I talk too fast.

About my visa…I have no idea my status. I don’t have a visa but I haven’t had to go back to Lima yet. All the older missionaries have a Peruvian ID that they have to carry with them. I don’t have that yet.

My new comp will get here on the 20th. I don’t know who she will be but she will finish my training. As soon as my training is finished I will train somebody else. This transfer on the 20th there will be 6 new Latinas and 2 new Americans. This will continue until we get a temple in Iquitos. The church owns some land here and depending on whether or not we can get priesthood and tithing we will get a temple or a church building. No se.

I ate alligator!!  SO good.

Guess what! Mariela accepted a date! She is getting baptized on the 16th. This week we have 2 baptisms. One of the women has been going to church for 4 years but has never taken the discussions. She is from Lima but her daughter is having a baby so she is staying here to help out. We were eating dinner at her sister’s house and we felt impressed to talk to her. She told us she wanted to be baptized. She has 2 lessons but she is so ready for baptism.

Our other investigator we have been teaching the whole time I’ve been here. She and her boyfriend are getting married this week and then she is getting baptized. 

Whoop, Whoop! First baptisms!!

This week we had two baptisms and one wedding! Great week! Satan works just as hard as we do so it is important to always be on top of what’s going on. We had one investigator ask us to move her baptism date the night before. She had been really prepared by the Lord and has a beautiful testimony.  Yesinia is the only member in her family and they don´t like the church at all. Nobody wanted her to get baptized other than her and her boyfriend. They got married on Saturday. We were at her wedding when she asked us to move her date; really sad moment. My companion and I left the wedding with heavy hearts. Fortunately we had another baptism to go to.

Ingrid is our 15 year old friend. She got baptized Saturday. She was going to get baptized with her older sister Yomira, but Yomira had a few things to work out. Two days before Ingrid got baptized she told us that she wanted to wait. After a lot of prodding we found out that she was moving to her dad´s house next month. The nearest church is three days away by boat. There is no way that she would be able to attend regularly. She talked to her parents and they agreed to let her stay here where she can go to church every week. After that we just had to find her a baptism dress. White is a little hard to come by. Ingrid has such a beautiful testimony and knows that her Father loves her. We left the baptism feeling great for Ingrid but feeling really down for Yesinia.

That night we prayed for her to feel the spirit and know that the church was true. Twenty minutes later we got a text from Yesinia saying that she had prayed, that she knew she should get baptized, and that she wanted to get baptized Sunday morning. What a miracle! It’s a great feeling to know that Heavenly Father can make things like this happen. These small moments when things work out are testimony builders. When we get dropped by investigators, or they don´t come to their interviews or church, and when people refuse to listen I remember these moments and it’s all worth it. The good and the bad together make the mission.

There s a quote by Elder Holland that says, “Maybe missions aren´t easy because salvation wasn´t cheap. Maybe we have to feel a tiny portion of what the Savior felt.”  At times it is really hard. It’s hot and the people don’t listen, I don´t speak the language well and I’m tired; but it’s worth it. This week two people entered the Fold and I got to be a part of it. I feel so privileged to be here. He never said that it would be easy, but He said it would be worth it.

--Haley didn't add this to the blog, but I (Bill) know many of you wonder about the living conditions...so here is a little blurb that she wrote to me.

The apartment is great. It's one room but the bathroom has a door. We have a flushing toilet but we can't put paper in it, gross. Our shower doesn't have hot water and there isn't much water pressure so it's like taking a shower from a garden hose. We have an electric burner for cooking and we have a guy that brings us filtered water every week. We are supposed to have mosquito nets but we don't right now; we don't have enough posts to hang it from. The mission home is working on that. We have beds. The mattress is the same type that we had at SVU [college] so it's pretty good; they are plastic to fight off bed bugs. We have a dorm fridge; we call it refi. I haven't seen snakes because we aren't allowed in the jungle parts of the city.  The tribe that lives just outside the city aren't super nice. When I get transfered to a more jungley area we will. Pucallpa and Tarapoto are where the tribes are nicer.

Chicken Feet...Hot Potatoes...KiriKiri (sorry, no pictures)

Hola Familia y Amigos!

This week was a most def better than last week. I am kinda used to the food…still don´t like tomatoes. This week I had CHICKEN FEET for lunch, I thought it would be really gross but it’s only KINDA gross.
They don´t have very much flavor, it’s like eating crunchy rubber bands. Yesterday we ate at a member´s home. They made chicken fried rice like we do at home; it was heaven. For dessert we had this creamy Jello stuff made with yogurt and milk. SO GOOD, I am going to have to figure out how to make that.

This week I gave my first talk in our ward. We had a few investigator families there so I was super nervous. I got through it OK, and I didn´t even swear on accident. We had 3 family home evenings so I need help. If you’re reading this and you have a game to play please email me (haley.burrell@myldsmail.net)...hot potato isn´t super fun anymore.  We need games that a family with small children can play and that can be prepared on the spot please.

My companion and I are both trying to be really patient with each other. I realized that she isn´t a morning person and she realized that I don´t know she´s talking to me unless she says my name. It was pretty funny, Tuesday night she was on the phone with our district leaders. They were speaking Spanish and I was reading up on the lessons for the next day. At some point she starts laughing at me. She said that she had been talking to me for almost 5 minutes.

This week for service we helped a family tear up their house. They live in Versalles (the river overflow) and their house was on stilts. They knew that the house was unsound so they moved into their neighbor’s
house and started making plans to build a new house. Well one night it was storming and the house fell down. Nothing was damaged because it had all been moved earlier. We helped them clear up what was left of the house. Unfortunately they still don´t have a new house because we only get one day of service a week. I think we are going back there to make sure they actually have a roof before the rainy season comes.

This week it was super hot. Like 85 with 150% humidity; and the mosquitoes love it. I had to stop counting the bites. Sometimes a cold shower is just the right medicine for the heat and the itchiness. Speaking of itchy, one of the elders in my group has chicken pox. It’s pretty bad; he has them in his throat…triste [sad].

Also this week I cut eggs and strait milk from my diet. It’s hard because members use eggs and milk all the time. My stomach just can´t handle it so I don´t use it in breakfast or dinner. For lunch I just
have to pray a lot.

Numbers this week were not as good as the spiritual experiences this week. For the month of October we only have one scheduled baptism. We are really happy for her. She is getting married to her boyfriend on
the 26th and then baptized later that night. Our other investigators who had dates for this month dropped them. Delkar and Karine were having issues as a couple and she ended up not wanting to take the lessons. Delkar is still doing well but we can´t set a for sure date until we talk to him and Karine about getting married or living separately. Our investigator, Rosario wants to get married to her boyfriend and get baptized. She´s 17 and we can´t get the permission needed for baptism or for marriage. Her date is in March because that is when she turns 18.

My companion Hna Orellana decided not to extend her mission and is leaving her on November 20th. Chances are I will stay in this area and get a new companion. My training won´t be finished so I will probably get a Latin companion.

Learned a new jungle word this week! KiriKiri- it means B.O. I have had many opportunities to say it; usually it’s to the zone leaders. They are white guys from Utah. They speak really good Spanish and they will talk to me in English occasionally. I don't get to speak much English so it’s a real treat to be able to joke. I haven’t quite figured out how to do that in Spanish yet.

The goal for this week is to have a positive attitude at all times; even when it’s hot, sticky and I know that I probably stink.

Lots of prayers for all of you!

Dogs, Cats, and great big Rats

This week was… well let’s be honest. It was a bit rough. The field is a lot different than the CCM. For one there aren´t as many rules or people watching over you so you can basically do what you want. Thankfully the CCM teaches discipline so we don´t just go crazy here.

It’s a little lonely because I can´t talk to very many people including my companion. We have prayer and companion study every day. The language is getting better. Hopefully soon I will be able to just rattle off sentences with no problem.

My very first zone is Punchana. We cover all of Mi Peru and Versalles. Versalles is the river overflow. All of the houses are on stilts and it stinks. You know all the commercials that say “Save the Amazon, dispose of you trash properly” and then it will show the dirty river? Yeah, it’s the people’s trash. Don’t worry, I don´t think your trash is going to make it all the way down here and clog up the streets. It’s pretty stinky is some places.

All the streets here are washed out. Also there are a ton of stray cats and dogs. The reproduce freely and I have gained a new respect for people who spay and neuter their pets. Most of the animals eat pretty well because of all the trash. Only the old, new, sick and pregnant dogs don´t get food. The cats don´t get much food either. They have to fight the rats. The rats here are just as big as the cats so the cats usually lose the fights. Most of the animals have mites or mange so we don´t touch them at all.

The lessons are going great. We have several families that we are teaching and that are progressing. A lot of the people here are not married because it’s so expensive. We usually plan around that when we first contact a family. 

We met a new family just Wednesday; Delkar and Karine. They have 2 little girls. They accepted a baptism date the very first lesson. It’s really cool to see the people progress here. Delkar already has a testimony of our message because he prayed in the very first lesson. He wants to get baptized and knows that marriage is a commandment. Karin also wants to get baptized but she doesn´t see the point of marriage. We shared The Family A Proclamation to the World with them. Hopefully they will agree to get married. They came to church yesterday too, fast and testimony meeting. Delkar shared in gospel principles class that he had a testimony. It was amazing. He was truly prepared by the Lord. Delkar and Karine always ask the perfect questions. I am able to explain very simply the answer and then Hna Orellana will go more in depth.

We have another family Yessina and John. They have a little boy named ChiChi. They are getting married on the 26^th, and Yessina is getting baptized that night. John was an inactive member of the church but has started coming with Yessina and ChiChi.

Another family is Dalia and Alonzo…also not married. They aren’t progressing because they never come to church. I can see that Dalia loves the church and wants to get baptized but Alonzo doesn’t really want anything to do with it.

Most of the families we teach are very, very poor. They live in raised huts in the overflow. We were asked to pray by a family that their house wouldn’t flood. These people are not rich, but they are rich in spirit. This place is amazing.

I found a lot of comfort in Jacob 5 this week. Verses 65-75 helped me the most when I was feeling discouraged.

Remember every member a missionary- I love you guys so much

She made it!

October 9, 2013.

Just got a quick note from Haley's Mission President.  She made it to the jungle (Iquitos).  She doesn't know where she is serving yet, but she said that several of the missionaries will have to take another plane ride to get deeper into the jungle.  WOW!  Her new p-day is on Mondays, so she didn't get to write much at all.  I thought I would share the photos that her Mission President sent.

Haley, President and Sister Gomez

Everyone else

Haley's got jokes

Haley's ugly rubber boots

So glad to hear about the snow, it’s getting hot here and I am leaving Tuesday for the jungle. Everybody I tell just fans their face and smiles. Glad I have light clothes. 

This is my last Pday at the CCM! Next time you guys hear from me I will be in IQUITOS! What what?!

A few things that happened this week:

Monday: Studied a lot. Not super interesting.

Tuesday: Pday, found the native shops and saw Hna. Loayza at the temple.

Wednesday: Felt and lived through my very first earthquake! It was about a 3 pointer. My teacher thought it was the spirit. Also went to immigration. I signed some stuff for my visa but I don't think I have it yet. I also spent 4 hours at an Interpol meeting a last week so hopefully it will be here soon.

Down town Lima is beautiful. They have a lot of really old really great gothic style buildings. I wish I was allowed to take pictures. We spent almost 6 hours waiting for visa stuff to happen. Saw a nun with a habit. She was very nice. I helped Hna. Dickey place a restoration pamphlet. Even though we missed dinner time we didn´t get pizza (usually happens but the last group was out too late). The kitchen staff saved us dinner.

Thursday: Had a very spiritual lesson with our investigator/teacher Marcos. He has been doing really great and committed to baptism. This lesson he told us he didn´t have a testimony but he still wanted to get baptized. Super disappointing.

Friday: I don´t remember what happened this day. They all blend together.

Saturday: Difficult day. We had a tiff in our district. Eventually it got solved but nothing has been as spiritual since then. It’s really sad because we all know the difference.

Sunday: Great day! Fast Sunday so we got to hear all of the new missionaries try to bare their testimonies in Spanish. It’s amazing how far we have come.

Monday: Wanna hear a joke? Great!

¿Que es la diferencia entre una pera y la novia de un misionero?

La novia no es-pera!!

What is the difference between a pear and a missionary´s girlfriend?

The girlfriend doesn´t wait/isn´t a pear.

I swear its funny in Spanish. Even the teachers laughed.

Our district also said goodbye to our night time teacher Hno. Bejar. He has a great spirit and he just brings such insight to the table. When he walks into class he brings the spirit and he does it in a way that we can still joke and have fun. I will miss him. We also said goodbye to Hno. Hinostroza. He helped Hna Nelson and me a lot with our lessons. It was very sad but I am grateful for the chance that I had to know them.

Yesterday was really crazy. We had a girl go home (from the group that just got here) and a girl get seriously ill. She has a pre existing condition that causes her to lose feeling and muscle control in her legs. She couldn´t walk and was trying to get us to let her go to the temple today. She has such a strong desire to be here that she just wants to be perfectly obedient (great choice) and do everything a missionary should be able to do. We explained that because of the physical effort to get to and from the temple plus go shopping the trip would be too much for her today. After a long time she agreed to stay here at the CCM. Hopefully her condition will clear up enough for her to go next week. I wish everybody had her same desire to serve.

Today!: Its Pday, We´ve gone full circle! We went to the shops you know where the natives shop. I got some NATIVE hair stuff and some NATIVE jerseys. Can you tell I'm feeling native? Perú is great, and I love every minute of it! I love and miss you all!

Hermana Burrell

...very small rocks (Haley hates birds!)

Letter to new Sisters...
looks like it needs a little work

We got 4 new roommates. All of them are Latina. Not one of them speaks a lick of English. It makes for some interesting conversations. Hermana Alpaca (that's her real name!!) likes to teach us slang. The rest of the girls are super sweet but I can’t say or spell or remember their names. One likes to learn English and she will just watch us all the time. Its super weird….it’s flattering too, kinda.

It doesn't really rain here (Lima). It mists in the morning and will be super foggy all day. I like it. You guys would really like it too. 

Only bad part about the CCM is the fact that there are tons of things for birds to sit on and bathe in and poop on.  It’s also bird mating season. I have become really good at chucking jelly beans and very small rocks at mating birds. It’s hard to concentrate on the law of Chastity (next lesson for Marcos the almost baptized investigator) when the birds aren’t following the law!

Little Peruvian girl thought we were cute.
We couldn't understand a
 word she was saying!

We committed one of our investigators to be baptized this week. We forgot to teach him the Word of Wisdom before I blurted out the challenge. Our next lesson was over WOW and he told us that he didn't want to get baptized.... He then laughed and said that he was joking. I gotta say almost cried right there. He then autographed Hna. Nelson's Libro De Mormon. It turned out to be a really good lesson.

Our other investigator Pilar… Oh Pilar. She seemed super interested and now she doesn't. She has a lot of friends that are not members so I think one of them may have talked to her and said our church isn't true. I'm just glad our investigators are teachers and not regular citizens.

Girls will be girls

...like a badge of honor.

This week has been super great!

There was a rash of food poisoning and a girl in my district (Hermana Hawkins) got really dehydrated and passed out on the floor of the bathroom. She was fine; she just has a slight concussion. A few of the other girls carried her down the stairs from her room and I was able to witness one of the sweetest blessings. Elder Workinger gave her a consecrated blessing. He was nervous and shaking but the Spirit was present. Then our district leader gave her a blessing of comfort and health. It reminded me of the song we sing in Primary:

''The Priesthood is restored, his truth made known to man, that God has spoken to the earth, His power is here again''.

I testify that even if you are not an experienced young man, God can work miracles through you. I was able to see that in Hermana Hawkins who is doing so much better today.

I have bruises on my knees from praying so much. It’s like a badge of honor here…I´m in 3rd behind Elder Brown who has bigger bruises and Hermana Hawkins (she got dehydrated and passed out yesterday.)

I went proselyting for the very first time. We went to a small town within Lima. It’s about 40 minutes away from the CCM. We got off the bus and the sister missionaries greeted us. One was from Idaho and spoke like a Latina (which gave me so much hope). We took a member named Wendy Flores with our group of 2 companionships. Wendy is 17 and is learning English. She wants to serve a full time mission when she turns 19. It’s amazing to me that a person so young is willing to give up time with her friends to go hang out with a bunch of new missionaries that don´t speak Spanish. It was so fun though. 

We tracted up a mountain, which are actually huge piles of loose rock and dirt. There are no paved roads off the main road. All the people in our area were living in shacks…plywood and tin roof shacks. Most everybody had an outhouse. The only people that had houses where those that lived above or behind their business. We placed 5 copies of the Book of Mormon, handed out 15 pamphlets and contacted 17 people. I can't wait until I am able to do it again next week!! 

While tracting we stopped to hang out with some little kids. They were super excited to help us with our Spanish. They told me I was not good...oh well, I am better than I was last week. While we were talking to these niños a mentally handicapped woman comes running out of the shack. The children told us not to talk to her because she was ‘sick’. She came up to me and wanted a pamphlet. I gave it to her not expecting much. She ran back to her house and gave it to her mother. Her mother read the Plan of Salvation pamphlet in less than 2 minutes. She then walked out of the doorway where she was standing and just stared at us. She never said anything. As we were walking away we decided to give her a Book of Mormon. When we told her what it was she thanked us. She said that we were a blessing. We invited her to church and with tears in her eyes she gave all 5 of us a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Heavenly Father really does prepare people for our message!

''Que in el mundo"

What a week it has been! P-day is Tuesday, so I got to go to the Temple today. It is an A-frame...almost like Dallas. It is super tiny and it smells like soup. Everything inside is a cream and gold color. I have never seen anything so beautiful. 

The food is good; they make it bland for us Americans…for good reason too. So even though the food is really weak, everybody has some issues.  When we got here there was a sickness going around. People were sick for 3-4 days just throwing up and being miserable. Luckily I did not get it nor did Hna. Nelson (my companion).

Hna. Nelson and I contacted and taught our investigator! His name is Marcos Escobar. He has 2 kids and is worried about the problems in the world. Marcos is actually our maestro (teacher) Hermano Bejar. He acted just like the real investigators will. The Peruvians don't like to make eye contact and they always mumble. It was hard because we don't have a ton of vocabulary to teach with. Both Hna. Nelson and I were able to bare our testimonies and pray in Spanish, which really set the tone for the whole meeting. I am so glad that I am here and that I can teach a little bit. 

PS. My favorite phrase is ''Que in el mundo". It doesn't mean anything in Spanish but in English is means “what in the world”. It’s the thing to say here in the CCM (MTC).