I'm now here with Hermana Torrico from Cochabamba, Bolivia. She's super cute and funny, and we get along really well. She also knows tae kwon do. Fancy, eh? It's good to know that I now have a 24-7 bodyguard by my side. He he.
I've been getting to know a lot of the members and the area more than anything this week. Our pensionista and her family are really sweet, and they take good care of us. One of the things we have been doing a lot this week is hiking the cerros. Those are the hills with the colorful houses that you see on postcards of Perú. And they're real! And they make your legs feel like jello. I honestly have no idea how people live up there. But they're awfully humble, and they all like to talk to us. So it's worth the climb.
I'm trying to think of what has even happened this week... it's all just been such a blur. I think the hardest part of transfers has to be working with people here while constantly thinking of all the people you had to leave behind in your old area. Someone special once told me that sometimes losing people leaves holes in your heart, and that's part of life. We aren't expected to fill up the holes with other things, because that won't help with anything. Rather we need to expand our hearts to make the holes seem smaller. That left a really deep impression on me. It's hard to open up your heart to new people in a new place when your heart is hurting and longing for another place. But it's a process, no? And I'm praying that it will all be for the better.
There's a lot of work to do here in Canto Rey. The ward is a little less established, and I'm thinking that it might be my work here to build up the members more than anything.
I love you all. Pray that we can be strong and climb our cerros.
Until next week!
Hermana Schroader