January 6, 2014
We had a little reunion with our zone at my pensionistas house. She was going crazy trying to cook for 6 elders and 9 hermanas. I was a tad bored so I stayed in the kitchen to help her =) I really do miss cooking. haha.
My companion is doing well. She is still getting use to the schedule of things. I had to tell her that she needs to pay more attention during study time because she doses off sometimes. Bless her heart. She is use to taking lots of naps during the day and not walking a whole lot. She has been lots better now. We do walk a lot. Everywhere. We have money to take taxis but most of our area is on a side of a hill... so there really aren’t taxis. We climb lots of stairs. I have gotten used to it. This week we literally walked up the mountain and taught a family in the very last house on the top of a mountain. It is times like those where I know I am in a different country.
One crazy thing that happened this week was that the ATM ate my credit card.. Luckily it was the card for the mission and not my First Tennessee card. So yeah i don’t know how i will be getting money for things, but I don’t really have to worry about it. The zone leaders will figure it out.
We have lots of investigators this week, and we keep finding new ones. The problem right now is getting them to the point where they are progressing. Being the senior companion has been harder haha. With Hermana Vergaray it was easy to teach because she always knew the needs of our investigators. Now I have to be the one to make the choices. I feel like I have prayed more here than I ever have in my life. And i love it! I had an experience this week where we were teaching a lesson with a very strong catholic. I had no idea where to start. As we sang a song and said the prayer, I said a little prayer in my heart that the lord would help me and guide me to know what to say. I started talking about prophets. He ended up being really receptive to the idea of prophets. It was a good lesson and i felt the spirit guiding me in everything that I was saying. Really all we need to do is open our mouths and testify of what we know is true, and the spirit will do the rest. Sometimes it does not matter what we say. As long as we have the spirit with us the Lord can touch their hearts. I feel like I am just beginning to understand how to follow the spirit during lessons. I hope that i will be able to teach more by the spirit every day.
Anyway I love you all tons!!!Tell everyone that i said hello and that i love them. Thanks for your prayers and support!
Te quiero mucho!
Hermana Jones
January 13, 2014
This week has had its ups and downs. Many of our investigators are not progressing. Our problem is trying to get them to come to church. We have had many different experiences this week where I have felt that I have tons to work on. We came in contact with a pastor of another faith. He completely bashed the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. Both Hermana Chire and I left with a stronger testimony of the book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. It is sad to me that people do not believe that there is continual revelation in our day. That God has stopped talking to his children. But luckily we handled the situation well. We both felt the spirit as we testified of the things that we know and felt. Hopefully one of his children will read the BOM.
One very exciting thing is that we have 1 investigator that is progressing!
Dario is 22 years old, he is from Lima. All of his family are members except for him. In the first lesson he asked us what he needed to do to be baptized. He is a golden investigator that is for sure. It has been nice teaching someone that accepts everything and has tons of questions. We are very grateful for the opportunity to teach him. He will be baptized this week! We are very excited! He also speaks English! Which is awesome. So in the lessons I teach in Spanglish. I am basically a fluent. haha
Things are coming along. We have decided to teach an English class to come in contact with new investigators and help members. I’m really nervous about it. haha I am not really sure why.
Right now in Huanuco they have the Negritos out dancing in the streets. (they wear masks with this really heavy hat and dance in the street) I have no idea how they do it. Their hats are really heavy! My companion is scared of them because of their masks. They always seem to come up to me and yell in my face. Don’t worry they yell good things like (beautiful, beautiful, I love you, and pretty girl) haha. I think they just want to practice their English.
I am in the Huanuco Zone. My area is on the side of a mountain. I am not really sure if we are in the andes or not.
My companion is from Waraz (I am not really sure if that is how you spell it) It is pretty close from here. She has two little brothers. They are super cute. We have come a lot closer this week.
Today we are going to get together with our entire zone and watch a Disney movie!! Yep it is allowed! We are stoked!
I love hearing about how everything is going at home! I miss you all tons!
LOVE
Hermana Jones
January 20, 2014
Things have been going good!! Dario was baptized this week!!!!!! Seriously, he is awesome. We taught him a lesson every day. He soaked up everything like a sponge. He has desires to serve a mission and to have callings in the church. Seriously the most prepared investigator I have ever had. The sad part is that right after his baptism and confirmation he moved to Lima. We are going to try to stay in contact with him to make sure that he is doing well. It was such a blessing to be able to teach him, in every lesson we felt the spirit and really felt that we were making a difference in someone’s life. We were really sad to see him go.
The rest of our investigators are progressing slowly, And some just are not progressing. But little by little we will get there. I feel like a miracle is about to happen we just need to keep working hard.
For p-day we watched cars. It was fun. After the movie we celebrated Elder Urruchuas birthday. When it is someone’s birthday here they smash their face in the cake and throw eggs at them.. So we ended up having a flour, egg,and cake fight. It was really fun.
The Negritos are only here for 2 months during the year. I guess it is about the african slaves that where here in Peru. I will have to ask more about the history of the dance. It is really cool.
My companion and I have become a lot closer. She has opened up more and more. I don’t really get tired of being with someone all day long, mainly because I don’t know anyone so it is nice to be with someone that I know. We have had more fun times together. We are put in companionships for a reason. I feel like we have many things to learn from each other. But we are doing great and are happy:) I don’t really want to change companions. I just hope I can teach her the things that she needs.
My English class went well. People love to try to speak in English. I am not really sure what I will teach this next week. Sometimes i just answer their questions. I think i might teach them how to say a prayer in English.
Our ward is doing well. We have been able to get members to go with us to lessons. We have had many special experiences with the YW here in this ward. We try to have them accompany our lessons, they need all the spiritual strength they can get.
Any way time is up. I love you all TONS! Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!
Hermana Jones
January 27, 2014
Yes the birthday parties here are fun. Normally they don’t turn into the cake fight that the elders had, but I think that only happened because they are elders =). That is fun that you guys are getting snow. It never really gets cold where I am at. Most of the time it is pretty hot. But I guess in Cerro de Pasco it is super cold. I have been lucky and am in a warm area.
This week we had a training meeting for all the trainers and their trainees. The misión President and his wife came down with the elders from the office. It was nice to learn more about my purpose as a trainer. We then had interviews with President Henderson. He is awesome. I am so glad he is my mission President. He is letting us change part of our study time to the night time because our area can get pretty dark and sketchy at times. And this little gringa does not need to be in the streets at 7 and 8 at night!
Oh mom, I do not like dogs. Haha there are SO many stray dogs. Sometimes we can’t go to houses because of the dogs that threaten to bite us! But we are dealing with it. Sometimes we will randomly see pigs and chickens walking around. It is fun.
My companion is doing well! I really feel like we were put together for a reason. =) She is awesome. We had divisions and I think that helped her see that she is doing well. It was weird leaving her for a day. Being with two other gringas was a new experience for me. But i loved it! I was able to see how much i have progressed with the language. They would teach parts of the lesson and sometimes I would translate so that the investigator could understand. It was really cool to see how far I have come.
Number wise this week wasn’t all that great. This week there were a lot of sad things. One member and his wife are getting a divorce and decided to talk to us about it during dinner on Sunday. It was super sad. And as missionaries we can’t really say much. We sang a song together and left with a prayer. We also have this less active member that is 11. He comes from a sad background, he is adopted, and his family is really poor. His father drinks and is hardly ever home. His mom works hard to love him. To make matters worse he has mental problems. This Sunday we were in the hallway waiting for him, both Hermana Chire and I had no idea how to help this kid. Then in walks a member of the church that happens to be a psychologist and helps kids like him. He offered to help him and his family for free. We were so touched by this tender mercy. It breaks my heart some times to see broken families living in poverty. But I know that in some way or another that the gospel can help and bless them. Things are looking up! I know that there are people out there waiting to hear about the church! Hard work is key!
Haha yes we walk lots. In the training meeting the President asked my companion what was one of the struggles in the mission, and she said that we walk really fast. Haha I tend to walk with a purpose. =)
Love,
Hermana Jones