June 10, 2015
so im not quite sure how im supposed to fit this week into one email and in my time limit (not to mention the slow internet, hah). there have been SO MANY MIRACLES AND BLESSINGS, and only in one week! i literally cant wrap my mind around the idea of how many more blessings im going to recieve in the next 18 months.
my MP preofessor Rudy Puzey (someone tell him hi for me, hes the sweetest man ever! emma, your job!) said that the first email of every missionary is the discovery channel letter... all they talk about is the food and the things they see, etc. yeah thats all great, and ill include a little for you (mom) but honestly this week has been so full of miracles! its so great!
i apologize in advance for all of the spelling and grammar errors. its supér hard thinking and typing in english.
not'so important things:
.they keyboard here is not how it is in the US so im constantly backspacing.
.when people say you have rice with every meal in america de sul they arent joking, its super good though!
.i love the plants here! the leaves have pretty designs on them. they make the US ones look boring.
.if you want to send me something, (besides an email) send it to bolivia and have it wait for me there. i wont get anything here.
.theres lots of hmas here that know hma gauger in santa cruz bolivia! they googled blogs for santa cruz and found hers haha. im telling them all to find her when they get there!
important things:
.I CAN PRAY IN SPANISH
.I CAN BEAR MY TESTIMONY IN SPANISH
.I CAN THINK IN SPANISH
tues 6.2.
blessings:
.i made it onto all of my flights on time
.the clouds were SO PRETTY
.i met another hma in atlanta, my second stop. i was washing an apple (iot cost 6 dollars, yay for airport prices) and someone asked if i was a missionary. i turned and sayd ies (it feels SO GOOD to say that) and she said she was one too. her name is hma cicotte (sea cott) and shes from washington. SHES MY COMPANION!! so great. she reminded me a ton of hailey williams in the beginning. shes reminding me more and more of jenna summers. shes great!
.the flight attendant did a magic show for the kids. he had a real bunny. it was awesome.
.the two, thre hour delay before we got on the plane for lima helped me not be nauseas anymore. it was very mich needed.
funny momentsÑ:
my hair was french braided. it set off the security detector bc it was too thick. the security guard literally serarched and patted down my hair-braid. yya.
6.3
blessings
.im so grateful for the spirits ability to take over lessons if we have faith. im literally a spokesperson for God and i was shown that
.i was able to memorize the missionary purpose within a couple of minutes. the CCM (peru MTC) is such an inspiried place of learning. the spirit is so strong and is so helpfulñ in learning
the futbol field is HUGE!!
.hma cicotte and i went into a lesson not knowing what we were going to say but we just listened to wjhat the man was saying and we were able to discover his need and help him with his problem. it was amazing and the spirit was super strong. he had lost his child and needed gods love. we taught him god loves all of his children and that he will be able to see his daughter again.
.my luggage came! theres lots of stuff missing but my moleskin was still there, yay! i was able to put some on my blisters.
funny momentsÑ
i tried communicating with a latina. i asked como se dice *my thought*, and the gringa just looked at me and told me i needed to not think such complicated thoughts. hah.
6.4
blessings
.its already difficult to read in english. my brain is already shifting to espanol!
.i was able to understand my first all spanish lecture w hma luna!. shes my maestra, teacher, and shes the BEST. so sweet, so pretty, so patient, so wondefrful!!
.i prayed for my feet to stop hurting so i could focus on the lesson. the second after we ended class my feet started pulsing again. such a blessing! i know god hears all our prayers even when they seem like small things. always pray. include him in your life!
. a lot of the gringos here make comments about how small the houses are, or talk negatively about the food, or how well be living like kings and queens... es no bueno. south americaa is definitely diff than north america but were all people and we all deserve to be loved and respected. im grateful for th eknowledge and love i have for ALL PEOPLE, regardless of their life situations or background.
.i sat w the latinas again at lunch and they understood me perfectly! :) i love them. theyre the best!
.we had chicken pot pie for dinner! one of my favorites.
funny moments:
.i said i was very pregnant at lunch to my latina friends. embarasada in espanol means pregnant.. i meant to say embarassed.. it was silly bc i had learned the word earlier, i think i just said it bc it was in my mind, but oh man i laughed so hard i cried! so great.
.the entire experience of playing vollibol with the gringas at exercise hour. oh man. i was going to single out just one moment but i cant. ppl getting hit in the head, running away from the ball , etc.... so great.
.we went to exchange money in the city. hma cicotte went up to a woman and asked where she was from in her super white spanish accent. the lady smiled and said in perfect english "im from florida". hahahahah. best two years moment.
6.5
blessings
.FIRST PRAYER IN SPANISH. i am doing a goal of speaking only spanish for 3 days. its hard. today was my second day. it was tempting at one point tonight to speak in english but i didnt, i passed my test, and then when i went to pray i did it in spanish!! it was a simple prayer and im sure i had grammar mistakes but i did it! it was so powerful and so wonderful and i think ill be happy forever now. that was one of my major goals.
im grateful for my testimony. i cant imagine how this would be possible if i didnt have one. but i do. i know this is the true church and i feel the spirit so strongly every day. its wonderful!
.we watched elder l tom perrys funeral. the song playing as they walked out his casket was i know my redeemer lives. it hit me so hard and so strongly that the plan of salvation is true, and that the saviors atonement was and is real. such power song and moment!!
.HMA CICOTTES FACIAL EXPRESSIONS. if you think i have a lot of expresssions (julia, lillie) you need to meet my companera haha its great.
.i was able to play el futbol w hma kingston, another hma in my district on splits. hma cicotte doesnt like soccer. even though it was super humid and one sweaty hour, it was great!
.hmo cesar, our night.afternoon maestro (teacher) sang us a song at the end of the day in english... teach me to walk in the light of his love. it was so powerful. and there is something so humbling and wonderful and strong about when a latino sings in english, or tries... it brought tears to my eyes. he has such a powerful testimony and it definitely shown through his words.
funny moments>
boca to boca! -hma miles (SHE REMINDS ME OF TRACI , MY COUSIN, I LOVE HER.) she mean to say face to face but said mouth to mouth.. to our maestro..
.i showed a pic of a group of my friends to my hmas in my district and they asked if i had any white friends. hah. soy de california!! no utah. ,)
6.6 sabado
blessings
i bonded a lot w hma miles, the one that reminds me of and looks like traci. shes wonderful. we had splits
.hma cicotte braided my hair. such a gem.
.ive decided that hma cesar reminds me exactly of my brother in law, david. his facial expressions and laugh and pretty much everything are the same. apparently theres lots of ochoas in peru though, so.... yeah. he doesnt know david.
.i feel so close to my padre celestial. ESPECIALLY when i pray. the spirit is so much stronger in spanish. maybe its just heavely father blessing me bc im tryuing to do it in spanish, but i think its more than that. idk, but its so powerful. ;3
"i know youre all proud to wear your last name on your name tag.. now you get to wear His (jesucristo)." so powerful, from an elder in my district.
I BORE MY TESIMONY IN SPANISH. today was my last of the three days speaking nothing but spanish. we had 5 minutes to plan and my companion couldnt understand me-was stressed but i didnt give in and speak english. at the end of our lesson i bore my tesimony, in spanish! SUCH A STRONG SPIRIT. another one of my big goals of the mish, and i did it!! i know its only bc of my endurance through the trials i faced. i wanted to accept the challenge from my sister y maestros, but i also just wanted to do whatevers necessary to learn and be able to help the people waiting for me in bolivia. i know theres people waiting specifically for ME and there isnt really a point if i cant speak to them once i get there. i want to be ready.
funny
"if you dont make sense in english elder hilderbrandt (reminds me of aaron weaver, so great) , how are they supposef to understand you in spanish??"
6.7 domingo
.the sacrament prayer in spanish is so much better than in english. i might leave the YSA ward and attend a spanish ward for the rest of my life when i get back. bro dahle was right. theres so much more tenderness and feeling and power when theyre in spanish. i almost cried.
.it was fast and testimony meeting. the testimonies were all so powerful and strengthened mine/my desire to be here. the elders y hmas here are all so great!
.we watched the joseph smith movie. such a powerful msg! go watch it. aside from the story of the restoration, it was tender watching the emotions jose smith had. he cherished his wife. he lovedf the people. he wasnt just a prophet, he was a real person and a great person at that.
.watched 2 apostle devotionals. so great. m russell ballard and l tom perry (a re run of course). i literally wrote down their entire talks i think. such powerful messages! it was conference in the summer haha
.the rest of the day after testimony mtg was english, so i could understand literally everything. our brains got a little break haha.
.the birds sang this morning. they were beautiful! the window was open so we heard them perfectly. theres a lot more sounds here than the US. i couldnt see them. there is a hummingbird that comes to the bush by our window though a lot. that always makes me happy. theyre my favorite.
.i only had about 5 min. i decided i needed to study my BOM in english. we didnt get study time today really. i did, and the second verse i read was PERFECT for what i needed. such a blessing that in such a short little time padre celestial could bless me to give me what i needed to hear.
funny
"i feel so at home! the flowers.. the lace table cloth.. YES." hma cicotte (relief society)
"dont watch hmas! (jose smith kisses his wife" "uhm, 18 months without that? IM WATCHING." hma stone
.i went to the bathroom and hma cicotte and i were walking to another mtg. i asked her to check if my slip was tcuked into my waistband. it was. which means that a huge group of latino elders and my zone leaders had a perfect view of my entire back side. i was wearing my white lace skirt. yay.
"how do you say tee ah nahh hey?" "uhh... teenager??" hahaha. yay for brains trying to think in spanish and english at the same time and failing at both!
6.8 lunes
blessings
hma cesar immitated a guinea pig. funniest thing ive ever heard or seen.
hma pabon, espindolla, ascoy, y puchetta are ANGELS. they give us so much love. they came up at huggged hma cicotte and i when she had been crying earlier.. they are so wonderful.. literally my best friends here. were takin a picture later so ill attach it next week. they leave next week too though. im literally going to cry when they leave.
.i learned how to lock the bathroom stall door! only took me a week. ;) you lift up then over. i was wondering how all the scrawny hmas could do it and i cant.. i mean i know i havent worked out at crossfit with the almenderizes in a week but still.. :p
.had lots of time to study today! weve been gogogo lately and so many classes but today we had time bc most of the ppl in our district are going to peru so they had to go do visa stuff. it was just hma cicotte and i for a couple of hours so we could study. it was great!
.mi el libro de mormon. it takes me a while to translate and understand sometimes, it takes effort, but the effort is definitely worth it. the spirit is strong and i loe it!
funny
"are we just going to be tired for 18 months??"
6.9. yesterday
.my brown clunkers (shoes) are already broken ¿in. yay! no blisters for those ones!
.san bc i have been givenn much in espanol. its my favorite hymn and i love it even more in spanish!! i know i keep saying "the spirit was so strong" but it was!! go sing it! :)
.learned self defense w hma minson today. it was great. i flipped a girl. oops. ;) hma burnham said shed be scared to get in a fight with me. as you should. ;) im armed with the power of God! hah. we named the defense moves after gospel things dont worry. prayer stance, turn the scripture page, etc.
.my best friends aka the 4 latinas mentioned earlier bought mi y hma cicotte friendship rings. theyre the cutest thing ever. i dont have th epicture, but next week for sure. its a little pink heart. we each have a color. they also bought us doritos bc they thought wed like them since theyre american. theyr the sweetest hmas ever! they give us so much love and encouragment.
funny
"if we were meant to go through this life alone, wed all be on separate planets.
" e. hilderbrandt.
today
blessings
i went to the temple today!! it was wonderful!! ill try and send pictures! the spirit was so strong! its SUPER small but so wonderful! ive missed it. it was weird not having any family there. but instead of my mom waiting for me, i waited for hma cicotte and that was a nice moment for us. shes been having a rough week and she was happy to have someone waiting for her. pray for her this week. she deserves it.
last night hma cicotte got a blessing and it was one of the most powerful blessings ever. i know the atonement is real and he knows each and every one of us. dont doubt it for a second. ifyou do go ready one of my favorite scriptures d&c 50 40-42.
i love you alll! i havent cried yet. i do miss you all, but i havent gotten home sick. itll probably hit me this week bc i jinxed myself but im loving it here! loving the work, loving the poeple, loving the language, loving the challenges and blessings that come from them!!
si se puede!
send me pictures and love! te quiero!
hermana wilson
mi y hma cicotte at our missions.
four of the elders y hmo cesar y mi.
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