It's official! I'm in the mission field. Leaving the CCM was really hard... Other missionaries have compared this to Adam and Eve being cast out of the Garden of Eden, which I would deem an accurate analogy. But we are so blessed because all of the Hermanas in our District are serving in Lima North. We get to see each other at training in the mission home, and we are planning a PDay with all of the Hermanas! It should be fun.
My mission president is President Erickson from Las Vegas, Nevada. I feel dumb, because I forgot to copy the address to the mission home. I'll definitely bring it with me next week. Our president is just about as new as we are. Him and his wife have been in Lima for about 5 weeks now.
I'm officially in a trio! My companions are Hermana Shelton (from my District in the CCM. She is from Lyndon, UT.), and Hermana Mamani from Araquipa. I'm so grateful to have someone I can communicate with in English. Hermana Mamani has been so patient with both of us learning Spanish. It's been an adventure for sure. We are serving in Independencia, in the Violetas ward.
Our house... It's a humble abode. It's actually pretty big, but a lot of the bedrooms are locked because we aren't supposed to be alone in any rooms. We have our study area downstairs, and our dressing room, bedroom, and bathroom upstairs. The bathrooms here are a little sketch... There isn't enough pressure to flush toilet paper, so you have to put it in a bag or basket. They advertise scented toilet papers to make this less, well, gross. But it's still super gross. You have to turn on the water heater before you take a shower, and if you get too close to the shower head you can feel the electricity. I get a quad workout everytime I shower. Quite the adventure, living in Peru.
Food: We have a pensionista (sp), Hermana Berta, for breakfast and dinner, and we eat lunch with members of the ward. We eat a lot of bread, quinoa con leche, rice, rice, rice, chicken, veggies, etc. They have a drink called chicha morada that is made from purple corn, and we have that at almost every meal. We have Ecco (the herbal tea equivalent of coffee) and herbal tea all the time. I've found that I really enjoy fried bananas, chaufa (kind of like fried rice), and alfajores (super delicious cookies filled with caramel and covered in powdered sugar). There are tons of bakeries and street vendors here. I've been lucky thusfar as far as digesting the food... knock on wood.
The families in our ward are so gracious. I love them so much. They are always so excited to have us over for lunch, and they feed us so stinking much. I'm pretty certain that I'm putting on weight. I'm especially grateful for the Diestra family. Their son Anthony just got home from his mission in Chile three weeks ago, so he has been super helpful with visiting inactive members and going to teach lessons with us. They have been soooo willing to help us, and invited us over after a rough day for peanut butter sandwiches. Keep taking care of the missionaries, because the members here are definitely taking care of us.
As far as emailing is concerned, I'm always so excited to hear from all of you! It's hard to reply because we only have an hour to write the mission president and everyone else, so letters are easier for me to send a heartfelt reply to. I'll get the address next week.
After a rough morning, Hermano Anthony shared a really awesome video with me from Elder Holland. He expressed the similarities between the Atonement of our Savior and the work of missionaries. I think it can be applied to a lot of aspects of life. We are not the first ones to ask if there is no other way... The Lord has been lower and experienced more than we can ever comprehend. We shouldn't seek sorrow and trials, but when we have them, we need to have confidence that we can stand tall. We are standing shoulder to shoulder with our Savior.
I love you all! Much love from Peru.
My mission president is President Erickson from Las Vegas, Nevada. I feel dumb, because I forgot to copy the address to the mission home. I'll definitely bring it with me next week. Our president is just about as new as we are. Him and his wife have been in Lima for about 5 weeks now.
I'm officially in a trio! My companions are Hermana Shelton (from my District in the CCM. She is from Lyndon, UT.), and Hermana Mamani from Araquipa. I'm so grateful to have someone I can communicate with in English. Hermana Mamani has been so patient with both of us learning Spanish. It's been an adventure for sure. We are serving in Independencia, in the Violetas ward.
Our house... It's a humble abode. It's actually pretty big, but a lot of the bedrooms are locked because we aren't supposed to be alone in any rooms. We have our study area downstairs, and our dressing room, bedroom, and bathroom upstairs. The bathrooms here are a little sketch... There isn't enough pressure to flush toilet paper, so you have to put it in a bag or basket. They advertise scented toilet papers to make this less, well, gross. But it's still super gross. You have to turn on the water heater before you take a shower, and if you get too close to the shower head you can feel the electricity. I get a quad workout everytime I shower. Quite the adventure, living in Peru.
Food: We have a pensionista (sp), Hermana Berta, for breakfast and dinner, and we eat lunch with members of the ward. We eat a lot of bread, quinoa con leche, rice, rice, rice, chicken, veggies, etc. They have a drink called chicha morada that is made from purple corn, and we have that at almost every meal. We have Ecco (the herbal tea equivalent of coffee) and herbal tea all the time. I've found that I really enjoy fried bananas, chaufa (kind of like fried rice), and alfajores (super delicious cookies filled with caramel and covered in powdered sugar). There are tons of bakeries and street vendors here. I've been lucky thusfar as far as digesting the food... knock on wood.
The families in our ward are so gracious. I love them so much. They are always so excited to have us over for lunch, and they feed us so stinking much. I'm pretty certain that I'm putting on weight. I'm especially grateful for the Diestra family. Their son Anthony just got home from his mission in Chile three weeks ago, so he has been super helpful with visiting inactive members and going to teach lessons with us. They have been soooo willing to help us, and invited us over after a rough day for peanut butter sandwiches. Keep taking care of the missionaries, because the members here are definitely taking care of us.
As far as emailing is concerned, I'm always so excited to hear from all of you! It's hard to reply because we only have an hour to write the mission president and everyone else, so letters are easier for me to send a heartfelt reply to. I'll get the address next week.
After a rough morning, Hermano Anthony shared a really awesome video with me from Elder Holland. He expressed the similarities between the Atonement of our Savior and the work of missionaries. I think it can be applied to a lot of aspects of life. We are not the first ones to ask if there is no other way... The Lord has been lower and experienced more than we can ever comprehend. We shouldn't seek sorrow and trials, but when we have them, we need to have confidence that we can stand tall. We are standing shoulder to shoulder with our Savior.
I love you all! Much love from Peru.