To Bolivia & Beyond! : ! I left my mom and went to America !

intercambios in america. a little offended none of you came and said hi to me...

not so importants
ive discovered my dust line is not a dust line after all, its a tan line.
i have also discovered that the white specks on our floor are NOT paint, theyre some type of mold
cada dia i have braids in my hair, an average of 3. needless to say im gettin creativa.
theres one place in the city central to send letters and i have to pay for each letter.
i shall be a professional j walker at the end of my mission. we frog hop the highway (one of two roads i metnioned last week) weekly. its not even scary anymore. :) (wed use the crosswalk if there was one mom, dont worry. )
ive decided spanish has a MILLION meanings to one word and english has a MILLION words to one meaning
bolivians definitely know how to party. every night. EVERY. night.
peru independence day is tomorrow, bolivian independence day is 6 de agosto. yall better celebrate, ill be playing futbol and eating free food with our investigadores.
tiendas. little shops right in the middle of the houses as you walk. theres a gate in front of them, the tendor says digame (tell me), you ask if she has what you want, she looks you up and down and names a price, you get the item.
bolivia doesnt have set prices. gringa = higher prices. too bad im NOT RICH.
the fruit is way sweeter here. i have decided bananas are my favoirite but only bc i cant find granadillas
soccer goals are uder ever basketbol hoop. YES.
and night people bbq on the street and ppl join in. aawesomeeee.
drink juice from bags. rip off the corner wit your mouth and suck away.
its a tradition to wear black every day for a YEAR after someone dies. bolivians have LOVE, let me tell ya.
no room in a taxi? no problem. theyll get in anyways haha
handwash clothes. always. workout. definitely.
MUSIC! our neighbor blasts it. its ok though i can still focus bc i dont understand it. when a random backstreet boys song came on (kylie) the other day it caught me off guard. sometimes the radio will play an english song,makes me wonder.
whistles. always. i tell my somp theyre for her, after all shes BEAUTIFUL.
doors have little flaps in them. makes it harder to shove your foot int he door and keep teaching
fireworks are way easy to see from our house bc were way high in the air. its awesome.
i dont believe in flirt to convert but i defintiely believe in sports to convert. use your talents right?
its a good thing we cant hold babies bc id be too tempted to run away with one, i swear babies and little kids are cuter here. maybe one day ill marry a bolivian.
black or brown shoes? no matter. theyre the same color with the dust :)
parent of a mish brough 50 pounds of chocolate chip cookies here. we are FEASTING next week when we go to the TEMPLE, chocolate chiop COOKIES, my mouth is already watering
we live by a cemetary mas o menos, and theres always lots of awesome flowers for sale
saw a dog with 3 legs the other ady hobbling, it broke my heart

bendiciones

hna gaby and sisters braiding my hair. theyve never seen blonde hair before. i felt like rapunzel. it kept her little sisters quiet while we taught her.
playing volibol with hno luis and his daughter rosaurio. way fun, and helped her not be so shy. afterwards we placed a folleto and its perfect bc aparently his wife died a year ago and we were inspired (before we knew that) to give him the plan of salvation. so amazing, such a tender moment, definitely one of my greater blessings of the mission so far. so grateful for the love they already have and the hope that their family, INCLUDING his wife, can be together forever will bring.
found a cookies and cream ice cream cone with half choc half vanilla cone and hot fudge for the eqwuivalent of a dollar. YES.
we got our agua tanks!!!!! not a good feeling to live from bottle to bottle.
if we open up our windows the fresh air comes right on in bc were so high and its a natural way of ibuprofen
hna ipanaquè and i are close after only one week! it was way hard to say goodbye to her for intercambios but way great to see her aftwer! i love that we have unidad, it makes it way easier to teach. we literally walk down the street with our arms around each other laughing or arm in arm 80% of the time. love her to death.
i saw hna cicotte, elder wilstead, and elder rincon on viernes while doing migration and fingreprint goodies! way good to see familiar faces.
for intercambios, i wasnt sick! such a blessing. the day before and after i was, but the lord knew i needed the experience of intercambios and he DEFINITELY BLESSED me in it. i learned so much! hna routsong is the greatest. america is a city and usually people are receptive at all but that day they were! she says its bc of me but thats the silliest thing i ever heard, this is the LORDS work. we found 4 new investagadores and 2 menos activos and it was just great. we visited an elderly woman, betty. i read to her the libro de mormon ( i had to scream it, shes kind of hard of hearing, hna routsong took a video haha) and cut her food and we sang love one another together. it was great. shes the sweetest old lady. i hope i dont ever have to live alone. god definitely takes care of her though.
were going to play futbol on friday! were bringing our jovenes (teens) investigadores to mingle with the youth of the ward and i get to break the ice / language barriers by playing. when my comp tells ppl ive been playing since i was 4 they look at me with new eyes. hah. anything for a leccion right?
the random moments when hna ipanaquè touches my arm and looks at me. its always at the right moment when i need a little sign of love.
WE HAD 7 INVESTIGADORES COME TO CHURCH, 5 MENOS ACTIVOS, AND WE RECIEVED ONE NEW INVESTIGADOR AT CHURCH FROM A MEMBER. YESSSSSSSS. ah, the greatest feeling. my heart grew like the grinch with each member that walked in.
after church we got another new investigador, marcelo. he was definitely prepared for me. and i could understand EVERYTHING he said. another testament to me that hes prepared for me. gif tof tongues is definitely real when i need it most.
we incorporated CCE (ask an RM) more in our lessons and DIRECT results. ppl are opening up to us way more about their problems. i cant understand eerything when they explain but i try my best and i get the main idea. man the people here have hard lives. so grateful i have the chance to help them.
i can literally see in the eyes of our investigadores that they are waiting for waht i have to say, and that they believe what i say, and i can see the change in their hearts. its the greatest thing. this gospel is the message of HOPE, and LOVE, just waht these people are missing.
even though we were sick this week and went to the hospital, etc, we met our goals somehow. amazing what we can do with the lord on our side. my expectations for this next wee (how is it already my 3rd week) are way high and positive.
meeting hno javier (remnids me exactly of david T, its a little weird.). at the end of last night, i was inspireid to talk to him, i said como esta he said bien on the way to liliana and her familia. the lord rejected our other apointment so i could go back and talk to him, i asked again, he opened up. his heart was BROKEN, but after we left i could see the change in his eyes, hope for the future. this gospel can change lives. i see it everyday.

funny moment
"tenemos agua ahora". (we have water now).
they may or may not have been my tears but salty water is better than no water right?

lessons learned this week
from being sick, my desire to work hard has increased ten times. i want the strength to serve and find the people waiting for me.
PATIENCE. im so hard on myself. my compañion is very supportive.

pray for my compannion. i wont say waht she has but shes sick and its the worst thing not being able to help her. i try to find ways to serve her but she always finds ways to serve me first. she has so much love its ridiculous.

its hard to believe this week is my third week. i love it, i dont want to be anywhere else. im grateful to be in a poor area. its so humbling and rewarding and challenging and more all in one great, incredible experience. everyday i see the lords hand guiding me. its hard but i know with faith im able to accomplish all He has in store for me, and let me tell you, theres BIG THINGS ahead.

scriptures
we owe all our happiness to god alma 44:5
desire righteousness untl end of days alma 41:6ç

i love you alland have a great week! dont forget to celebrate peru & bolivia <3

--
Hermana Wilson

Cristo from my first day

mi casa! from a distance

front door of mi casa

house

these little flowers smelt SO GOOD. my comp made me do a foto op. your welcome momma

our baby bananas!!! :)

Rapunzel moment. they were literally braiding it on all sides, with their mouths hanging wide open. they have the cutest smiles ever but Bolivians dont like smiling in pictures so you have to catch them off guard. oh, the tender moments of the mission.

we found a random american suites happy hour hotel in the middle of nowhere, literally. MURRICA.

tan lines after ONE WEEK. the fun is just beginning.

saving the pot from falling into the sewer

my comp does it cuter, por supuesto :)

hermana routsong and i after intercambios. shes awesome! also way tall, 6 4 i think, maybe thats why she wanted to sit down. who knows haha. way respect for her, she does insanity. :) plus her spirit is SUPER strong.

hermana marianely. shes coming back to the church, shes so strong. i think secretly shes hermana ipanaquè favorite. ;) i was so sick in this picture, it makes me laugh looking at it haha.