Hola family and friends,
I am so happy and grateful for so many reasons. I am grateful to have water access all day long, to have a shower curtain. I'm grateful for my blanket, for my companions, for chocolate, for knee his that don’t have runs in them, for sunscreen, for access to a piano, for friends, for a sense of humor, for music in the street---don’t worry, the Peruvians here only blast MOTAB in the street and nothing of merengue, salsa, bachata, etc so it is all good.
We are getting to know both wards and are working with the members because nothing happens without their help. We are visiting them and planning Family Home Evenings. Rosa and Gilvert are going to be baptized this Friday, completing their family. They are preparing to be sealed in the temple in a year after their baptism. There are so many blessings to serve a mission and I feel so blessed and content.
Yesterday people in the ward were asking what I wanted for my birthday and I told them the honest truth. I just want references. I want people to invite their friends to church and to share their testimonies. I want people to do their visiting and home teaching. I want people to go to the temple. I want people to pray and to be nice to others. That and a salchipapa—one of the healthier foods in Peru: French fries with fake meat, hot sauce, mustard, ketchup. It’s really good. Well, we received 43 references.
We have two wards that we are serving and so Sunday was interesting. We woke up early, because we had investigators to accompany to church and church starts at 7:30 am. The leaders have their meetings beginning at 6:30 am on Sunday and seminary here STARTS at 5 am---that’s humbling for a proud early-morning seminary graduate. We ran up the hills to wake up our investigators, who couldn’t come because their baby was sick. We ran down the hill and made it in time for sacrament meeting. In the Jardines ward I noticed that no one played the piano, so I accompanied the ward. The Peruvians have their own way of singing the hymns and so I had to choose between playing how the song is written and how they sing it. I decided to accompany them how they sing it. My companions have great voices and so we are planning a musical fireside or musical number.
There’s a woman, Maria, who accompanies us on our visits. She is older and she climbs up the hills faster than we do. We always have to run to keep up with her. I give her hard candies to thank her for accompanying us. At the end of one visit, I gave her one and told her jokingly, "This is to corrode your teeth." She accepted it, popped it in her mouth, and told us that she had to leave because she had an appointment with the dentist. I thought she was joking, but she was serious. She accompanied us three more times afterwards and said the same thing. We thought, either she has really bad teeth, a crush on the dentist, or she needs to come up with a better excuse for not accompanying us. The members here are great and really supportive.
Saludos,
Hna. Christensen
