Friday, December 11, 2015

Las Brisas - Week 17

December 7, 2015

Well this week I really dont remember alot that happened but it was pretty crazy. I think this week was so hard and unpredictable and frustrating bu tit just made me love the mission even more and we have gotten really good about finding blessings and little miracles in every crazy hard thing that happens. 

My testimony has also really grown in the simple beautiful truths of the Gospel. Our investigator Hans has about every question that you could ever think of and honestly some of them just arent that important to know. But every question can always tie back into the plain simple truths of the Gospel. Yeah its extremely frustrating sometimes but ive learned that were not here to answer every nitty gritty question but were here to testify of what we know to be true, and through that we can help others feel este seguridad también. 

Also we contacted a girl and her aunt in the  street this week and they are just made of some beautiful souls. Oh my word that are the sweetest and I just have so much love fro them! We have visited them a few times during the week and they are just full of desire to learn more! We mostly saw Antonella (shes 22) cause her aunt was out of town for an emergency thingy. They are a hard time understanding what they read in the Book of Mormon but they can feel the spirit and they want to learn more and sometimes thats all you have to have and the rest will come. Poco a poco 

Also  I T S   F I N A L L Y   D I C I E M B R E ! ! !
Palabra mio... I love christmas. I love this time of year so much. If someone mentions anything that is possibly christmas related I just get all giddy inside and sometimes i get a little giddy outside too! But its just so beautiful! We had an actividad for the missionaries in Historia Familiar (there are 8 of us. 4 comps) and we set up a projector outside of IRU and put on the church christmas videos and sang christmas carols and contacted people and invited them to watch the videos and I just love christmas so much! 

Also the christmas devotional was off the chain! Its just all so great, all the everything!
Ok so I love you all so much and I hope you all just take some time to really think about the ¨reason for the season¨ chirstmas is awesome and fun, but its also a time to reflect on the maravilloso birth of our Savior and the gift of eternal life, eternal joy and happiness that we can have, not only for this month or this year or this life, but forever, gracias a El. 

Also we get to eat chancho for christmas. Thats normally a forbidden food here, but not for christmas! 

Also go to navidad.mormon.org right now and watch the vídeo navideño, it will change your life! #HaNacidoUnSalvador 

With love from Lima
The time has come.....
This is my cuy (guinea pig) - Freddy.
I am going to eat him this coming Saturday 
Hermana Scarlett


Quail eggs are really a big thing here. also they are delicious and are cheap as dirt.


A birthday tradition - showered heavily with FLOUR

Las Brisas - Week 16

November 30, 2015

H A P P Y   L A T E   T H A N K S G I V I N G ! ! !  

I made Hole-in-Ones for Turkey Day!
Here thanksgiving doesnt really exist but they do have apple pie (but its really kinda like applesauce in a pie crust) so we got a slice of apple pie to celebrate... but then I dropped mine on the floor, but it was just a false alarm cause it landed on a plastic part so thanksgiving wasnt ruined!  

But this week was super great!
We found two familias that really want to listen and learn more about the gospel. We contacted a joven in the street one day and then went to find her in her house a few days later and her dad opened the door and let us in and had both his kids come and sit to listen and we explained why we were there and our purpose and how the gospel blesses families and the dad got teary eyed and told us that this is something he wants for his kids. We invited them to church but they were confused sunday morning and thought that we were going to pick them up at 7:45 but church starts at 9 so we went by at 8:45 and nobody was hoome! But were gonna see them again later this week. 

The other family we found is Familia GOnzales and they are young parents and they have two adddoooraabblllee little girls and they just want their kids to have some kind of belief or relationship with God cause they arent really religious at all. But they ar just super great!

ANd also Hans, I dont know where he came from but He is just golden. He has about 245892649857 questions but thats good cause it shows that he is really learning and that he wants to know these things. Hahah also we invited him to IRU to do historia fmailiar but he was there looking for the room where we were and a profesor like told him that class was starting and so he just went into the class and he was like I dont know what happened but I was stuck in that class for like 2 hours! Hahah but he told us he learned alot so no hay problema!

KFC Wrap with hardly anything in it!
Hahah also I learned a bunch or alcohol words this week... What happened was i accidentally ate some kind of alcohol chocolate. I thought is was just like a bonbon with a cherry in the middle but it really had another surprise inside... SO I learned some new alcohol words this week in spanish and I know know that those chocolates werent normal bonbons... But we had a good laugh and I washed my mouth out with some alfajores.
 
Haha also we were contacting one night and we contacted this guy and we thought for sure he was drunk at first cause all his words were like slurred. But then he was like forgive my spanish Im still learning. Ive never had anyone say that to me before! ALso we told him that we were Peruanas and he believed us! Score! But he was from Brasil (portugese really is like drunk spanish!) And we told him that we were still learning spanish too! Ha! But he believed that we were from Peru! 

ALso I cut hermana Deppes hair! Im practically a professional. I just did all the things that JUlie did to my hair, just the things that looks like I know what I am doing . Fake it till ya make it.. 

Yeah so lots of little miracles, lots of laughs, lots of blessings! Man I love the mission! 
Love you all so much and you are in my prayers!

With

My Compy trusted me with scissors and her hair!
love from Lima
Hermana Scarlett

Las Brisas - Week 15

November 23, 2015

What do you call a cow with a twitch?  BEEF JERKY! 
a member some how had laffy taffys and shared them wit hme! The jokes are still funny as ever 

Well this week was something else, but great as always!

We have had quite a few meetings this week and last week in the IRU building.I cant really remember what exactly IRU stands for, Instituto de Religion and then some other word that I dont remember. But its really cool cause its like the first of its kind ever in the world! Its basically a huuuuge building that has like seminary classes and mission prep classes and courses about the bible and all kinds of Gospel classes, and of course we have the family history center! But some area leaders and some people came from Salt Lake to see how it is going what we need. Were like the guinea pigs for these centers! They are planning on putting one in Argentina and Brasil I think so they are watching us to see  how it is going. But its great and we have alll kinds of fun activities planned for IRU!
Hermana Deppe watching over me in my sick bed :(

Also this week I was sick :( 
Im not 100% sure what I had but I was basically in bed for like 2 days. But I learned something form this experience, Latinas are crazy! Im not even kidding. If you get sick they will try to get you to do all kinds of weird voodoo crap! 
Well maybe not voodoo, but I was told that I needed to cut an onion in half and sleep with it... in my bed... no thanks.
Also i was told i had to boil a potato cut it in half and put it on my forehead with cucumbers over my eyes... no thats weird... 
Also Hermana Cadima wanted to get a bowl of egg yolks and do like egg yolk acupuncture in my armpits... hard passs
And then there are the pills. They will literally just give you all kinds of pills not knowing what exactly they are or what they do... I just smile and thank them and then toss the pills out. I dont wannna die. 

Las Hermanas, Party Decorators extraordinaire!!!
This week our pensionistas little babe Jeremy turned 1 year old. Also latinas are a little crazy with birthday parties... Her sister flew from spain to go to the party and we helped her get everything together. i have never seen so much candy in my whole entire life. Its ridiculous! But Jeremy is cute... well actually now he scares me cause He like just got his teeth and now he bites everything and he likes to hide under the table while we eat and sometimes he just bites my leg! And it hurts! And my instinct it to just kick him, but Im a missionary and hes a baby so no pasa nada... 

Our investigator Hans is the booomb! He just shows up to church and always reads everything and wow, hes just awesome! haha wednesday he called us but I was in my bed dying so Hermana Deppe talked to him and then she came into the room and was like yeah tomorrow night we are going to go over to Hans house to sing... what'? Neither of us understood what exactly he was asking but heermana deppe was just like yeah sure! So Thursday rolls around and I was feeling better so we went over and he was like surprise here is every single person in my family! So we met all his aunts and uncles and cousins and  parents and grandparents and everyone in between! But they loved us so much! So we sang (Happy Birthday.. ahah) and then we had to leave and they were like comeback sooonnn! Hahah you bet your bottom dollar we will! THey are the best!

Well I cant really remember alll the othe 23896964 things that happenes this week, but I am starting to get a foot tan! Also a reallly stinky guy just sat down next to me.... Maybe you wanted to know that maybe not... now you do.. 

ANyways I love all of your faces and stuff and i am still here in lima tearin it up! I love the mission and I love a}this gospel! Its true its true its true! Thanks for all the support and prayers! 

With Love from Lima 
Hermana Scarlett



Our ward activity -
Everyone went to Jeremy's birthday party......

Las Brisas - Week 14

November 16, 2015

Well this week was just full of ups and downs, but it was great as always. 

One of our investigators that was just sooo ready for baptism (Johnny) told us that he didnt want to be baptized now- "mas adelante mas adelante " is what he kept telling us. ALso he didn't want us to visit him anymore, he said he'd tell us when we could come back... That was hard. But everyone has their agency, its a blessing but its also a frustration sometimes! But we have done all that we could and he has a testimony so now all that we can do is leave it up to him and God. Its hard for all of us but we can all learn from it. 

But where there are hard times and disappointments there are always miracles and blessings. This week we have been working with on of our new investigators and he is GOLDEN! His name is Hans (like from Frozen) and he is just the coolest guy ever. He reads whatever we give him, he just goes to church and all the activities and we dont even have to remind him- haha he actually reminds us of our lessons and appointments that we have with him! Hes just a star- were also secretly trying to marry him off with one of the girls in our ward! Hahah but first he needs to be baptized and he accepted su fecha bautismal! I hear wedding bells ringing in the distance!

Our prize for making so many contacts this week!
This week we contacted 98 people and I just love contacting people! Sometimes its awkward cause they try and kiss us and we end up playing dodge face and just showing our hands at them for them to shake. We also had one contact and it was this older lady that is always in the park and we talked with her for a bit and we shared our purpose as missionaries and then we invited he to be baptized! But she was funny cause she was this little thing and she was looking up at us with her neck bent at a 90´ angle and when we were talking about baptism she just started furiously shaking her head! "Si baptismo! SI Baptismo!" and so we invited her to be baptized in the mismo manera de Jesucristo and she was like yes yes! I am going to baptized in the river! I am going to go to Jerusalem and be baptized in the River Jordan by John the Baptist! Haha she was pretty excited about it and was running around saying she was going to go to Jerusalem to be baptized! I think she may have been a little crazy but she was sweet and we had a good laugh! Contacting is the best. 

This week we also had a talent show, which was more stressful than I could ever express. I know my mom always said that I was a really bad procrastinator, but I got nothing on Peruvians. It went a little something like this... SUrprise today is the day on the talent show and you need to be in a skit with your barrio, and your zone and have a special musical number prepared!.... Santa vaca. But somehow a miracle happened and it all went smoothly and it was funny and great. But there was about an hour or two in there where I seriously contemplated chugging some nasty peruvian water so I could just be sick in bed and not have to worry about the show! But it turned out super good! 

Me and my compy on Cerro san Cristobal
TOday for Pday we went to Cerro San Cristobal which is this giant hill where you can see like all of lima from. We took a buss up there and it was double decker so we sat up top! It was super cool but it is also kinda sad. In the Cerros is where the super poor and humble people live, also its kinda dangerous. But Lima is beautiful- and foggy. and Peruvians are the best. And it was fun! Haha also we met in the Centro de Lima with the district and there were so many asian people with selfie sticks. I just walked around and took pictures of them when everyone else was talking pictures of all the cool buildings and stuff! Great time!  ALso I forgot like 60% of what else happened this week so sorry about that. But rest assured, I am working my fanny off every day and I love it! 

This work is great and this Gospel is perfect! 

With Love from Lima 
-Hermana Scarlett 

On Double Decker Tour Bus
Our Zone on top of  Cerro san Cristobal

Foggy view from the top

So many Asians with self-sticks!!!

Another Asian with a selfie stick :)

Policeman with big guns - hahaha!


Getting ready to go up Cerro San Cristobal

Houses on the side of the Mountain





Las Brisas - Week 13

November 9, 2015

Welllll this week I had my first cambio! Well this is actually my third cambio but it was my first cambio with cambios. Hermana Linares left me and is not an hermana capacitadora in another zone and I have a new companion! Her name is Hermana Deppe and she is from Atlanta Georgia! Shes not from Utah!..... not that there is anything wrong with people from Utah.... there's just a lot of them... Hahah anyways shes great, super sweet, super funny, and we are already just two peas in a pod! 

Me and my new companion - Hermana Deppe from Georgia!
I was super nervous about the cambios because I was going to have to show the ropes to someone else while learning the ropes at the same time! But cambios are a blessing. Its hard to change companions and sometimes sectors but its just another way that we have to learn and grow in the mission. Something that I learned was that I know a lot more than I thought I did! I can speak better spanish than I thought I could, I can navigate the streets better than I thought I could, and I can rely on the Lord better than I thought I could. 

So this week was super chevre. Nothing super special or crazy happened, but it was great. I may have said this before but we have a meta from President to contact at least 15 personas cada día. Before that was super crazy and I had no idea how in the world we were going to lograr este meta! But I loooove contacting! Before I was always nervous because the people might say "no" so it was hard to feel motivated a hacerlo. But really one of three things happens with every contact. 
1. "No thanks" and keep walking. 
2. They are crazy and do something super strange or weird (sometimes a bit rude) 
3. They want to learn more! 

There are so many tiny milagros y bendiciones that we are seeing from this meta. We are finding more and more people to teach (our mission is the smallest in the world- if the roads werent so crazy it would take about 20 minutes to drive from one end to the other- buuut there are about 11 million people living here) we are so much more excited and animated, my confidence is growing so much, and President pormised us that when we are working in this meta our investigators would progress mas rapido! SO. MANY. BLESSINGS. FROM. OBEDIENCE. 

Also we are planning the baptism for our investigador, Johnny, this saturday! Johnny es lo maximo! We passed by his house one day to sacar una cita, and he opened the door and he had all of the folletos in his hands! He said said he was just about to eat lunch and read them all again! Hes the best, lots of prayers for him and that all goes well for saturday!

Also there is a stake activity this saturday and im freaking out a bit. We (like half of my zone) are doing some skit and for some reason I have like one of the main speaking parts! Why? I dont really know cause I know like the least spanish out of almost everyone in the zone! I think its cause they think I am funny or something. Im not really sure why. But yeah now I have to learn lines and how to improvise in spanish, wish me luck.. or maybe you should just pray for me.

Eating Yummy burgers!!!!
So as usual, there was like 293057 other things that happened but I dont remember them right now. Oh wait! I remembered something... this sunday I had to conduct the music during the first hour.. I dodnt like that. I dont know how to conduct music! Haha also it was a surprise. We were just sitting in the pew and i wasnt paying attention and then my comp elbowed me and said they they said my name and that I had to conduct the music, and I guess i was just a bit slow to realize what she was saying and to get up there to conduct so our piano guy just started to play and I like ran up to the front and just started waving my arm around! I literally was just spelling my name with mmy hand.... Haha but then during the talk I was studying in the back of the himnario how to conduct. So by the last song I was practically a pro. 

Yeah so thats it. love you all, miss ya a bit,, but not too much cause the mission is the best and im working my bum off! Have the best week ever and dont forget to say your prayers, read your scriptures and go to church to receive allll the blessings that Heavenly Father has in store for each and every one of us!

les quiero muchisimo! 
With love from Lima💕
Hermana Scarlett




Las Brisas - Week 12

November 2, 2015

Bienvenidos a la carta de Hermana Scarlett 

Hello all, this week was interesting and great as always. 
It rained!!!!
Actually it was a fine mist but for Lima, it was a real monsoon.
And no, I'm not standingon anything, I'm just a giant here!
I discovered (and and tasted) Parts of a chicken that I never knew existed before. By the end of the mission im gonna have the anatomy of the chicken down pat. I had chicken heart in my soup one day, and some other rubbery part of a chicken another day... im not quite sure what part it was but it was pretty interesting in taste and in how it looked. 

Ok so a ton happened this week so its possible that this email will end up being a novel.... lo siento

So this week one of our investigators passed away. It was super sad and we were pretty much in shock. We knocked on her (Elisa) door and her son answered and we asked how he was and he just said that he was not good cause his mom had passed away. She was a little sick before but she was getting better but then about 3 weeks ago she had a bad heart attack and then sunday she passed away. We went by later with a miembro to give her son a blessing of comfort and then we talked with him about where she is now. He knows and we know that she is ok, and he said how glad he was that right now she is still listening to the Gospel and that he can feel her love still. It was tender, but it was hard for all of us. But we know that she is in a much better place now. 

This week we visited Johnny more. He is super ready for baptism and had his entrevista and has a testimonio and has completely stopped drinking, but his fecha fell again cause he didnt come to church this sunday! So frustrating! ANd he is reading the Libro de Mormon and that is the hardest thing to get people to do! Soooo close with him! BUt hes great and he can do it. Its al about the faith and the work. 

Also H A P P Y H A L L O W E E N ! ! ! Here there is some other holiday (Like some kind of music festival day) and they people do nothing for halloween! Actually a school was protesting halloween, they were in the streets shouting and singing anti hallowen songs and handing out fliers and they had some old lady like singing and praying into a mic and there were massive speakers that they were just pushing down the streets. But for halloween we bought a bag of candies and went out and contacted people and gave the kids candies and the parents pass along cards! It was lots of fun and we found a few people that are intrested in hearing more! 

Sunday we had a pleasant surprise when one of our new investigators showed up to church! His name is RIcardo and he lives with his wife and 2 sons (they are like grown) but we just had one lesson with them about a week ago and they said they were really sure when we could come back and teach them again because they are busy alot (sometimes when people say this they just dont want us to come back) but we called him a few times during the week to try and get a cita, but nothing. BUt then he was in the Capillia sunday and he stayed all therr hours and really enjoyed it, and participated in all the classes. SUuuper great!
Lima Peru Temple

Haha this is a bit funny, so we got a reference from the offices for us to contact. So we went and we found the house and rang the bell and we were waiting and waiting and then guess who came to the door... None other than our- a little bit too friendly- neighborhood borracho! But it was funny cause he did not recognize or remember us from the past two times he saw us (But i mean he was pretty plastered then...) but yeah so we have a cita to go back and teach him another day. Hahah but its funny cause he already has the first two folletos from when we saw him in his state of drunkeness, he just doesnt remember. 

Oh also this week we had pday on thursday because thursday we went to the TEEMMMPLEE! I love the temple. I love the temple. I love the tempe. Its the best place on earth. It was great, but like x12348990. You should all just go to the temple. Go and feel the calm and peace, the love of our Heavenly Father and to receive the blessings that HE has in store for all of us. 

Well that all folks- not really there is like 5082395 other things that happened this week but im a bit lazy (probably cause im getting fat)- Ill save all the really good stories for later ( like for 14 months later cause YO CUMPLÍ 4 MESES! but it feels like a lot longer that that- and a lot shorter at the same time. Its weird..) 

 Anyways I Love this quote from Elder M. Russell Ballard and its something that i've thought alot about this week because it is true. THis Gospel is for everyone- for everyone who has the desire to follow in Christ's footsteps, not just for this life but for the eternities. "Because I know that Jesus Christ lives and that He loves me, I find the courage to repent and to strive to be what He would want me to be. I know this knowledge can do the same for you, if you want it to- now, and forever"

With Love From Lima 

-Hermana Scarlett

A procession in the street for a Catholic Saint