The New Year

Week Forty-eight!

Well a lot of things have been on my mind these last days.  I don’t really know what to think.  As the end of the year is coming I have been thinking about how long it has really been.  How much I have loved this year, it is one of the most beautiful that I have seen, not just because I am in a beautiful place but because of all the things that have happened.

I feel like my 2014 has been the type of year I have been waiting for, the type of year everyone hopes to have.  I was thinking about the New Year’s resolutions that people make.  And in my personal view one of the most common is, “Enjoy Life to the Fullest.”

This year I have really gotten to do that, but not only enjoy my life to the fullest, but also develop the attributes so that I can enjoy all of the rest of the years.  Maybe it won’t be as golden as this year, because maybe returning to Peru one day is only a dream right now.  Seeing all of these people that have changed my life for the better will only happen through Skype, but that is part of enjoying life.

So maybe our goal should be a little more specific this year, because yeah we assume that it all begins with us, but we need the little goals to show that, so here are my tips on how to enjoy life to the fullest…

1. Talk to people.  People won’t judge you if you just talk to them like a human being, and more than likely you can change their whole day around. Just ask them how they are, or make a joke about something happening, like with the weather. It can seriously change around a whole day.

2. Everything has a bright side. Even when everything seems really hard, we can always look to the words of Joseph Smith when he says " En cuanto a los peligros por los que se me requiere pasar, me parecen cosa pequeña, ya que la envidia y la ira del hombre han sido mi suerte común en todos los días de mi vida; y la razón me es un misterio, a no ser que desde antes de fundarse el mundo yo fuera ordenado para algún fin bueno o malo, como queráis llamarlo. Juzgad por vosotros mismos. Dios conoce todas estas cosas, si son buenas o malas. No obstante, suelo nadar en aguas profundas. Todo esto ha llegado a ser lo más natural para mí y, como Pablo, siento deseos de gloriarme en la tribulación, porque hasta hoy el Dios de mis padres me ha librado de todo ello, y de aquí en adelante me librará; pues he aquí, triunfaré de todos mis enemigos, porque el Señor Dios lo ha dicho." (Doctrine & Covenants 127:2)  (And as for the perils which I am called to pass through, they seem but a small thing to me, as the envy and wrath of man have been my common lot all the days of my life; and for what cause it seems mysterious, unless I was ordained from before the foundation of the world for some good end, or bad, as you may choose to call it. Judge ye for yourselves. God knoweth all these things, whether it be good or bad. But nevertheless, deep water is what I am wont to swim in. It all has become a second nature to me; and I feel, like Paul, to glory in tribulation; for to this day has the God of my fathers delivered me out of them all, and will deliver me from henceforth; for behold, and lo, I shall triumph over all my enemies, for the Lord God hath spoken it.)

3. Everything can be memorable- Make it so. I can remember a member who is an old man and was angry for like 3 seconds, and said he was never going to church again.  We were upset and a little frustrated because he was so stubborn, but we knew that he was going to forget it and be in church that next Sunday. And we knew because on the radio to his store Big Time Rush was playing. And we just smiled and knew it was a little comfort from God that everything would be okay.

So maybe you can apply these things this year. To find a more enjoyable life, and if you ever feel like it is too much, you can always turn to the Gospel, dedicate yourself to Prayer and Scripture Study to find the joy that God gives us.

Les Quiero Mucho

Prospero Año,

Hermana Peters

Èl Es La Dàdiva - The Power of the Message - #ComparteLaDàdiva

Week Forty-seven!

This week our mind has been deep in Christmas, not in a bad way, but with the opportunity to watch the video "Èl es La Dàdiva" with everyone, our focus has really been in Him.

But not just his birth, the gift that he was for us. I love the scripture that was chosen for this video it was so perfect and teaches us so many things from just one verse, "Porque de tal manera amó Dios al mundo que ha dado a su Hijo Unigénito, para que todo aquel que en él cree no se pierda, mas tenga vida terna." For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have life everlasting.)  I love it because it really explains that Jesus Christ was a gift, because God is our loving Heavenly Father and desires that we can have the salvation.

And with that I have not just been thinking about his birth this year, but about his everlasting atonement, because that is really the gift that was given to us. That Jesus came to this earth so that he could bleed from every pore, suffering every pain and affliction that we can have in this life so that we could sin and feel pain and live, and not just live in this life, but have the opportunity of an eternal life as explained by Alma in the 7th chapter of the Book of Alma, "Y he aquí, nacerá de María, en Jerusalén, que es la tierra de nuestros antepasados, y siendo ella virgen, un vaso precioso y escogido, a quien se hará sombra y concebirá por el poder del Espíritu Santo, dará a luz un hijo, sí, aun el Hijo de Dios.  Y él saldrá, sufriendo dolores, aflicciones y tentaciones de todas clases; y esto para que se cumpla la palabra que dice: Tomará sobre sí los dolores y las enfermedades de su pueblo.  Y tomará sobre sí la muerte, para soltar las ligaduras de la muerte que sujetan a su pueblo; y sus enfermedades tomará él sobre sí, para que sus entrañas sean llenas de misericordia, según la carne, a fin de que según la carne sepa cómo socorrer a los de su pueblo, de acuerdo con las enfermedades de ellos."  (And behold , he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which  is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit, will give birth to a son, yea, even the Son of God. And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people, and this that the word he says is met.  And he will take upon him death, which he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and disease will take upon him, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, so that the flesh knows how to succor his people according to their infirmities.)  I love this scripture because it says He did all of that so that he could know how to comfort us in these times of difficultly and for us, all for YOU.  And how blessed are we when we accept this gift.   No one in this life will ever suffer everything that Jesus Christ did, and we can be eternally grateful for that gift.

Once Jeffery R. Holland said that the Atonement is central to our beliefs, whatever other belief we have is just a branch of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and that means that our minds and our hearts should always be focused in the grand sacrifice that he gave us. So that we can fully accept the gift this year.

The scene that I have attached to the video is my favorite, I almost cry every time it passes because it is just so beautiful.  And I love it because it is more than just what you can do with this gift this Christmas.  But it is a challenge, to accept Jesus Christ and his Atonement in your life forever. To know Him, to know the happiness that comes from knowing Him.

And this Christmas I can testify with all of my heart that I know that He lives, He lived a perfect life, He died on the cross for us, and three days later He was rose up to live again, to give us all a resurrection.  And that if we accept Him in our lives this Christmas season we can know an eternal happiness, His eternal Happiness. And this Christmas, yeah I will miss my family, but to be here in Perù testifying of this gift this Christmas is the greatest gift I could ask for.  I Love God our Eternal Father.  I Love His Son Jesus Christ and am grateful for his sacrifice for us, that all started with a virgin, giving birth in a small manger.

I Love you all,

Happy Christmas,

Love Hermana Peters

A Slow Week in Huánuco

Week Forty-six!

Well this week I had a little cold so it was a little bit slower.  We are getting ready for Christmas here in Huánuco, it’s starting to feel a bit more like Christmas with the rain coming.  This week was interesting because they had a reelection so we didn't have church last Sunday, which made this Sunday fast and testimony.

And I was thinking a lot about testimonies this week because we are working with some members who are still trying to find theirs.  Listening in this testimony meeting we think it begins with what is a testimony because a lot of times we feel the need to tell a story of a blessing we saw or thank the world for all of the good things they have but in the mission I have come to see that a few simple "I know’s” are good enough and that you don’t need big discussion’s because the spirit will fill them in on the rest and that sometimes the simplest testimonies are the most powerful and that is all we need.

We got in on the "El es el Dádiva¨ act that is a worldwide message and it is something beautiful that we have.  We have the opportunity to share this video with everyone we talk to and I was a little surprised because I thought it was like the other new bible videos that we have from the church but it isn't and I was a little taken aback at first.  Like why would we use this in a lesson?  But it gets the message across perfectly and every time we share the message the spirit is so strong.  We can testify to every person who is worried about this holiday season, or who is lost in the gifts and activities, that yeah this stuff is great but we have a better gift and that is why we are here, why we celebrate Christmas, to find the gift, to accept the gift and to share the gift.

Happy Almost Christmas,

Love 

Hermana Peters

The Cargo of Bishop

Week Forty-five!

I’m so happy here in Huanuco!  Now I’m here and I’m pretty sure I have a new role model and it’s our Bishop and I’m really surprised to say that because usually I`m acting bishop of the ward because here they don’t really understand their roles.  But our Bishop now does. Right now the ward is struggling and everyone is blaming our Bishop when really it is the fault of all of the Bishops before him.  All this week we focused on the members, and all had their problems, why isn’t this happening? the Bishop doesn’t help with this? look at these people why is the ward not helping? 

 

The answer to all of them (in the eyes of the people) was Bishop, so last night we went and talked to the Bishop and told him all of the preoccupations of all of the ward and he explained all of the things that we already know, that the councilors should help with interviews, that the presidents should be visiting people, that he’s not letting children go out on missions because they are not worthy.  He doesn’t give out money helps because the people haven’t paid tithing when they were working.

 

And he explained to us that we are having all of these complaints because all of the Bishops before just did everything themselves and he can’t because he works two jobs, studies and has his family and when he gives an assignment the people don’t do it.  He is really stressed out so we are looking for ways to help him with all of his tasks but he is an awesome guy and I really look up to him, and he started Hna Peter Parker, so yeah he’s pretty cool.

That’s all for this week,
Love
Hna Peters

Tarapacá - HUÁNUCO!

Week Forty-three!

Well this week was a little bit crazy, you didn't hear about cambios last week because they happen on Tuesday nights.  While we were in a meeting with one of our less actives the zone leaders called, and told me about how I am getting changed to Huánuco.  So we left the house, there was some crying, told the pension I was leaving and went to the house and started packing the next day we spent all day driving to Huánuco.

My new companion is Hna Defina, and she is awesome, she is one of the Latina sisters that came in 2 weeks before me, so we will be going home together in July, and it is so much fun.  Oh yeah, she is from Argentina, and we are in the ward Tarapacá with Elder Torres, from Peru, and Elder Moore. (Remember him from my time in Chilca?)

It’s hot here, and everyone says that its getting cold and they are all cold, and I’m just like dying of heat.  Here there is air to breathe, we had to run from the bishop’s house to our house the other night because we were a little late and I just wanted to keep running when we got back to the room.

It is so beautiful here and I am so happy to be here.  This week I want to talk about Prayer.

In the December Liahona, I don’t remember who said that when we need our faith in god to grow the first step we should take is pray and that when we give the 2 minutes to god to pray he will give us the time to get the blessings we need.In Moroni he explains that we should "Pedid al padre con toda la energia de nuestra corazón" and with "un corazón sincero, y con verdadera intention" [Ask the Father with all the energy of our heart "and with" a sincere heart, with real intent] and that when we ask with those things, you can receive an answer to your questions.  

One of my favorite examples in the mission is an investigator from Chilca named Paul.  Our first visit we talked about the restoration of the church and asked him to pray about Joseph Smith.  The next time we returned we asked if he had prayed about it, and his response was "not how I should have".  We were a little taken back because people usually don’t say that or don’t know that.  So we talked with him about how we should pray with the true intent and be sincere, and we left him with the challenge to pray again.  Since that point he had more faith than I had seen in some people that we taught.

The Other thing is that many people think that they only have to pray about something once, and they will get their answer, or they have their answer and yeah, that is the end, but from that we look to Alma as an example,

Alma had one of the strongest testimonies of the truth that we can see in the Book of Mormon, and in the 5th chapter and 46th verse we can see where that testimony comes from when he says. "He aquí. he ayunado y orado muchos días para poder saber estas cosas por mí mismo"  [I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself].  So we don’t need to just stay with one insincere prayer, we need to be like Enos, and "tener hambre" to know the truth, even if we know the answer we should pray again so that our testimony can be confirmed, then our prayers will be answered.  Then we will have the faith to endure to the end.

That’s all for today

Love you

Hermana Peters

Huaytapallana

Week Forty-two!

Sorry I’m writing so late today and I probably won’t write a lot because we climbed a really big mountain and we got back late.  I’m really tired, the soreness is just starting to hit.  But it is like the big thing that the zones in Huancayo do and you basically die because there is no air and you’re climbing at a huge incline and then you eat lunch and take photos and start back down a different way at an even steeper incline.  So that was fun.  I kind of felt like Moses climbing a mountain, and trust me, there is a lot of prayer involved.

This month there is no holiday in Peru because everyone is getting ready for Christmas and it is all happy and cheery and we eat lots of paneton (which is like fruit cake but yummy) and its yummy, so I’m going to gain like 1234235346 lbs.

I’ll write more and send photos next week.

Love you.

http://www.tinkuyperu.com/Huaytapallana.html

Half Way There

Week Forty-one!

This week is the last week in the first half of training of Hna Pfister.  This cambio has gone by pretty quickly which I am grateful for, and as cambios get close we begin contemplating the things that might happen during this change and we have ranked them from the most likely to the least.

1. We both stay and I finish the training of Hna Pfister

2. I leave the area and get a new companion

3. Hna Pfister leaves me, (how rude)

I have been thinking about my time here in Mantaro and how long it actually feels, and I feel like you guys see it to from Dads comments last week.  When really if I leave this next Tuesday I will have the same amount of time here that I had in Chilca.  But it has been a lot slower here.  The people are a bit more closed than Chilca, and not just to us but to everyone.  That is why a lot of our investigators have been progressing really slowly, and we are working with a lot of less actives.

But I hit that point where I am starting to get tired.  The work is hard but rewarding and like every missionary will say after a time yeah I’m really tired but I still have steam in my engine and I will be pushing forward from this time out.

The dog I have permission to take
home at the end of my mission

The wig we found in the street

So The Goal is to Finish the Lost Thoughts

Week Forty!

(Sorry that everything that is a reference is in Spanish but you can find the translations, I don’t have them in English)

This Week I would like to finish all of the things that I meant to write last week, before Oasis cut me off.  I would like to start off with almost all of the scriptures say that we need patient.  But I found one scripture in James chapter 5 the 11th verse says: He aquí, tenemos por bienaventurados a los que sufren. Habéis oído de la paciencia de Job, y habéis visto la finalidad del Señor, porque el Señor es muy misericordioso y compasivo.  [Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.]

So I was like, apparently I need to study Job and other prophets to know exactly what patience is because in my head it was always just being happy in everything.  But I read through Job quickly and he was down, he shaved his head, he laid in a pile of dirt, He was not a happy camper the whole time.  But the things that stood out is that he did not murmur in those times, and he always went back to praise god through all of it.

Find the reasons to be grateful in these times as taught by Dieter F. Uchtdorf when he said "Permítanme proponer que consideremos la gratitud como una disposición, un modo de vida que es independiente de nuestra situación actual. En otras palabras, lo que quiero decir es que en vez de estar “agradecidos por cosas”, nos concentremos en estar “agradecidos en nuestras circunstancias”, cualesquiera que sean" [Let me suggest that we consider gratitude as a disposition, a way of life that is independent of our current situation. In other words, what I mean is that instead of being “thankful for things," we focus on being “thankful in our circumstances,"]

And in this talk President Uchtdorf also did the same thing that taught Santiago.  Showing that really we should be looking to the prophets as our example of patience.  " la decisión es nuestra; podemos decidir limitar nuestra gratitud, basándonos en las bendiciones que pensamos que nos faltan, o podemos decidir ser como Nefi,..Podemos escoger ser como Job...Podemos escoger ser como los pioneros mormones...Podemos escoger ser como el profeta José Smith Podemos escoger ser agradecidos, pase lo que pase."[The choice is ours; we can decide to limit our gratitude, based on the blessings that we think we need, or we can choose to be like Nephi …We can choose to be like Job ... We can choose to be like the Mormon pioneers ... We can choose to be like the Prophet Joseph Smith.  We can choose to be grateful, no matter what.]

So we should use this opportunity that we have to choose to be grateful and use our patience to the fullest. Yes you can be stressed and sad, but don’t murmur. As President Uchtdorf continued in his talk this last April when he said "El ser agradecido en tiempos de aflicción no significa que estamos complacidos con nuestras circunstancias; lo que sí significa es que mediante los ojos de la fe podemos ver más allá de nuestras dificultades actuales...El ser agradecidos en nuestras circunstancias es un acto de fe en Dios que requiere que confiemos en Él y que tengamos esperanza en cosas que no se ven pero que son verdaderas"  [Being grateful in times of distress does not mean that we are pleased with our circumstances; What it does mean is that through the eyes of faith can see beyond our current difficulties ... Being grateful to be in our circumstances is an act of faith in God that requires us to trust in Him and have hope in things not seen but are true.]

Luzmila turned 70

  Don’t lose your faith because you are passing through a hard time. My best friend Elder Lovin said it perfectly when he said "Also the other thing. People always forget that Heavenly Father loves us, it makes me wonder when they think he’s mad at us. He sent His Son to give His life for us. He didn't send His Son to condemn us.  I fail daily, yet Jesus still came to earth so that we can become clean.

I was Hna Brigman for Halloween

I’m not perfect. I’m rude.  I’m immature.  I don’t care about others all the time and I’m not a perfect person, yet Heavenly Father still sent His Son here so we could all be able to live with him again. That doesn't sound like an Angry God to me. That sounds like a God who loves us and wants us all to be happy."

And we can see this also in the life of Job. Yes God allowed all of this to pass to him so that he could grow, and not only did he grow spiritually, He received more than double of what he had before as blessings from God.

So we know that when this time comes, if we "sufrid con paciencia vuestras aflicciones, y os daré el éxito." [Bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give success.] Because The Lord loves us with every fiber of his being. 

Don't feed strange animals

And I love you!

Hermana Peters

Answers,

Yes I’m still in Mantaro

The work is working

The District: Elder Quispe, Hna Pfister, Hna Collanque, 

ME!, Elder Condori, and Hna Gonzalez.

and Hna Pfister knows more than I did when I started, but still needs help.

3 Things I wish I knew before the mission (MTC Lima and Missionary Life)

I have like 20 minutes left so I've been thinking about the things that I researched (or didn't) before the mission and that yeah, in Peru it is quite a bit different so here is a list of the things that I wish I knew before the mission.

1. Bring Scriptures In Your Mission Language. Maybe in the Provo MTC you get your scriptures in your mission language but in Lima, not so much. You should either bring a little bit of personal money to buy them yourself from the temple here. Or bring them with you, because the nice leather scripture here tend to fall apart.

2. Bring your own money to spend. Thankfully I had some but lots of people didn’t because they heard that they get a P Day allowance in the Provo MTC. This is not true in Lima and there will be things you need and want to buy on P Days in Lima.  You can bring the money in the currency of your country and they will change it without a fee in the MTC.  But also keep a few coins because people love seeing coins from different countries.

3. Should I Study Before The Mission?  Yes, you don’t necessarily need to study the missionary Lessons in chapter 3 of preach my gospel.  Or Study hardcore like you will in the mission, but to read a few things before, like…

a) Read the Book of Mormon at least one time all the way through before the mission, and challenge yourself to read it all again in the short time in the MTC.

b) Read through Chapters 1, 2 and 5 of Preach My Gospel, those are the foundations of the work and will help a lot in the mission. 

c) Read through the Missionary Handbook at least one time before accepting your call. They are the rules and guidelines set but the 12 apostles to help you be a better missionary, and if you don’t want to follow them for 18-24 months it’s better to just not leave in the mission

That’s it and now I have to leave.

Love You

The Patience of Having 9 Months

Week Thirty-nine!

This week there is going to be a big marking point in my mission.  On Wednesday I complete 9 Months in the mission. The Half Way Mark.  It has been pretty stressful, knowing that I am now older than half the mission is really weird and knowing that it has been nine months since I have gotten in the mission is also really weird.  It really doesn’t seem that long at all, like maybe six at the most but really it feels like it has been four.  As I sat at breakfast today I was thinking a lot about the things that I have done since I have been here and how much I have improved.

It is a real blessing to be training Hna Pfister in these days because before it was really hard for me to think of how far I have actually come in the mission but she makes the same comments about me that I was making about my trainer when I got in and how much I wanted to get to this point when I first started.  I wasn’t able to see all of this myself.

But now I am at this point where I can, and now I have new goals to do even better.  This cambio is all about the patience.  As everyone knows, nobody likes to grow in their patience.   Because the way God does it is that he is like, hey, to be more patient I’m going to put a lot of things in your way to make you angry so you can look back on it in the next part of your life and say hey at least it’s not as bad as that one time.

As I was reading in Alma 26 and studying how Ammon combated his afflictions in the work of the Lord I was really struck by the end of verse 27 where it says "Sufrid con paciencia vuestras aflicciones, y os daré éxito" which basically means, hey, don’t get angry and everything will work out, but in scripture talk.  That lead me to think of the life of Joseph Smith and his trails and how in Doctrinas y Convenios 121 yeah, he was pretty beat down and sick of the suffering, but towards the end of his life in Section 127 verse 2 he explains how he felt after everything by saying "como Pablo, siento deseos de gloriarme en la tribulatión, porque hasta hoy el Dios de mis padres me ha librado de todo ello"

So yeah, like I lost my train of thought because Oasis is playing in the Internet and I love this song.  SO I guess I will just leave it at that.  When we grow in patience we are blessed.

Sorry there are no pictures this week I forgot my cord, so next week you will get all the pictures from when we went to the zoo

The Courage of Barbie in Peru

Week Thirty-eight!

First, I would like to inform my Mom that I completely understand her distaste for the nickname Barbie but I feel a lot more annoyed with it when my name isn’t even Barbara but they say it all the time just because I am white.

But today I would like to talk a bit about Courage.  This email is a little late because yesterday we had a normal work day and interviews with the President of the Mission.  This interview was because I am about to hit the halfway mark of my mission.  Talking with him I found a word that has been kind of following me my whole time here.  People have used it to describe me.  That word is Courage.  The past month or so I really hated that word, because people always pinned it on me, like "Hermana Peters You have so much courage being out here" is something that my companions, the president and his wife and other people have said since I have been here.  I was mostly annoyed because I felt like everyone could see my struggles while I was out here.  I was embarrassed and frustrated and really hated the word.  Having Hermana Salinas as my companion she helped me learn that maybe that was why I am here, to be stronger in that aspect.  The time since she has been my companion feels like it has been so long but really it was a month ago.  That is what really stands out.  Before I had my two weeks alone, I was living off of my senior companion and hiding behind that word "courage" which is kind of ironic, but it makes sense.  Then I was alone and I couldn’t just hide behind it, I had to be it, and have it, and show it.  And now I am training, and I have to know everything, and have the courage to be the example.

you always get the most snacks
when you are fasting

It really stood out especially because it was something that was said in my setting apart blessing also, that I will have the courage necessary to do this work.  So it was something I talked with President a bit about during our interview, I asked what caused him to say that word specifically, and he basically confirmed my thoughts.  Like that the word came from the fact that he could see that maybe it was harder for me to be here than others, talking to the world, learning the language, and all of the fun stuff.  But that he has really seen that now I have a different kind of courage that I can really do it without the fear.  The next nine months I am really going to progress more than this first nine for that.

Other than that I have been pretty okay. I think I had food poisoning, but that I have had it so many times that it’s just annoying more than anything.

I love you

The New Life of Training

Week Thirty-seven!

Hermana Pfister

Well, I finally have a new companion, and by new, I mean really new, I’m officially a trainer.  It officially freaks me out because I literally have no idea what I am doing and I’m supposed to show someone else how to do it, what?  But she’s pretty cool.  Her name is Hna Pfister (The P is silent), she’s from Redlands, California.  Her mom was born in Guatemala, and her dad was born in Norway.  I don’t really know what else to say about her.  She’s really great, sometimes a little stubborn, but really I just have to explain that it’s the rules of the mission and she gets over it. 

This week we finally got to see General Conference, it was really fun running in between the English room and the Spanish room when people were speaking in their native languages.  I loved President Eyring’s talk, as always, and I loved that there was a focus on prophets and I feel like a lot of the talks about prophets can help the people that we are teaching and help all of the investigators around the world.

I don’t know if I have mentioned but there has been a big focus on working with less active members and we had a really powerful lesson with some less actives this week it was the Family Torres.  We have been teaching their son Estefano ever since I have gotten here but he hasn’t really been progressing because he doesn’t go to church because his family is less active.  So we finally got an appointment with his family except his dad "Jesus Torres, Ex Bishop" was out of town.  But I felt it was really powerful because we spoke with them and usually from ward gossip we find out really fast why someone doesn’t go to church. But with them the only thing we heard was "Jesus Torres is the best bishop this ward has ever seen" and I was really frustrated because I didn’t know how to help them.  So we sat down and told them that the church needed them, and exactly what we have heard, that the ward misses them and wants them back and while they were talking it just seems like they lost their faith internally they didn’t fight with anyone they didn’t get offended they just little by little stopped going to church and forgot the blessings in their life and so now we are working with their family to try and get them activated and I told them that we aren’t going to baptize Estefano until his dad can baptize him and they seemed really okay with it.  I really want to help them more than anything.

The Other Longest Week

Week Thirty-six!

This week was also hard.  This work is something hard to do alone and these two weeks have been an experience for me to grow a lot more.  I have gained a lot of respect for the rule to never be alone.  Sometimes it is hard to be around a person for 24/7 but they become your rock and it is a great blessing to learn to deal with different people.  I have a lot more love for the leaders I have been given in the mission every single one has been put in their position for me in this time and I know that having them as my leaders is the representation of God’s love for me.

And this week I was thinking a lot about loneliness because I was reading a lot from my setting a part blessing and it says that there while be times when I feel alone.  I was thinking before like maybe when I have a companion that I don’t get along with perfectly, or my first Latina companion is when that will come.  But I have had those both and it wasn't until I was physically alone that that feeling came.  But I pushed through and the companion of Hermana Salinas is ending her mission and she has been called back to be with me for these last days just until the real cambio but I am so grateful.

Other than that not a lot happened this week. Yes it was voting, so Conference was still postponed, thank you for the spoilers.  We will be watching conference this next weekend that is coming I don’t know yet if I will have it in English or not but I’m not too worried about it.

We will know who my permanent companion is tomorrow, I’m a little nervous because everyone has told me I’m going to train, which I’m okay with I guess, I really just want a companion.

(The Scriptures that have become my favorites in these last 8 Months)

D&C 58:2-4 

D&C 39:7-9

D&C 112:10

D&C 122:7

D&C 60:13

D&C 39:13-17 (We all know it actually says Peru)

Love

Hermana Peters

P.S.

There is a lady here and she can literally knit anything into a hat she makes animal hats she made a Shrek hat.  Naturto, she is the best knitter in the world.