January 19, 2015

FAMILIA!!

First off mother i still can not believe youre going to India.  That is soooo crazy!  Have a good trip and be safe please! Im super excited that the Hunters are finally coming home! Ill be less stressed now :)

Okay ill explain the pictures a little haha.  So the one with the chicken, everyone just has chickens walking around their houses so when we were in the house of our relief society president I caught the little baby one and decided that i just had to take a picture with it haha.  The one with the donkey is because we were teaching this 70 year old man who walks 1 hour to and from la cruz with this donkey and he saw i had a camera and said he wanted us to take a picture so we did haha. And the last one just makes me laugh hahha.  So the box was for one of our activities.  We were going to ´cut someone in half´.  So the guy smiling is our mission leader Hno. Cesar and the other guy is the preistood leader Hno. Edwardo.  We needed 2 people in the box for it to work so we were seeing if those 2 could make it work but as you can see it definitly did not work with them so we got a child to do it :)

Well my week, honestly it was so much better than last week.  We started running in the mornings and i think thats the first thing that helped.  This week i just really tried to talk to her and not get frusturated with me.  When i started doing that she kind of confided in me.  She told me that where she lives is really super dangerous in Hondorus and that shes seen a lot of people murdered and what not.  Then she told me that when she was really little up until she was about 17 she didnt live with her parents, she lived with her grandma..  She said it was really hard because she felt like her parents didnt love her and that she had done something wrong.  She doesnt miss her family really at all she says, just her grandma.  There is definitly contention at times but its starting to get better.  Im trying to be proactive and not do things that i know makes her frusturated.  Im hoping things just keep getting better.  I can definitly feel your prayers so thank you so much.  I hope I can just make it through the next 5 weeks with her.  I really want to learn to love her and not be frusturated with her.  I will work my hardest to make that happen.  

So our investigators...  So I dont know if I told you last week but we met Elviss wife for the first time.  We had a family home evening with them this week and it went sooooo good!  We watched the cheesy video Together for Eternity or something like that in English.  At the end his wife was crying and told us that she really wants to marry him but she doesnt want to distract him from his work or anything.  We talked to them more about it and asked them to pray about the decision but I really feel like now were finally making progess.  I mean theyve been together for 18 years and havent got married!!  We hope to get a definite answer this week so we can set a baptismal date for him.

So a few weeks ago I sent you some pictures of me and this little boy.  Well his name is Pablito and he is my FAVORITE person here in Peru so far.  He has downs and he is honestly one of the most amazing people ive ever met.  When you guys sent that stuff for chistmas I gave him a coloring book and some crayons.  We go over every once in a while and color with him.  Well we gained the trust of his mom and she finally said that we could share a message with her!  We live like right next to them and before this she wouldnt even talk to us so were pretty excited about her too.  Pablito reminds me so much of Brett Berry!!  He loves to listen to music and loves to dance and loves coca cola!!  Its so great.  Tell Bretty that I miss him! :)

We got 10 new investigators this week so I cant write about them all but they all have a lot of potential!  Hna. Valle hasnt had a baptism yet so im praying really hard that one of them works out for her.  I think that has been something thats been really hard for her too.  

Okay Kaely is pregnant????  CONGRATULATIONS!!  That is really so exciting!!  Im gonna have a new niece or nephew when I get home!!  Gosh i am so excited for you guys!!  Looks like the puppy is gonna have to be put on hold though haha :)  Really congratulations!  I cant wait to meet her though pictures and Skype next christmas haha :)

And how am I feeling..... hahahah thats a really good question.  I usually feel okay but the food and juice and everything here is just... peru haha.  Umm well they prepare food here very old school.  They kill everything they eat and they prepare it all by hand until they cook it.  And its prepared in their dirty back yards.  Nothing is very sanitary here and I think that might be my problem.  They water here is honestly awful haha.  The bottles we have in our apartment are clean but it tastes awful.  And any other water is dangerous to drink so its a problem.  I think ive been dehydrated for 2 months but its all a part of the experience right? :)  The whole mission is like this right now though.  Its apparently a big problem so this week Hna. Rowley and Presidente are having meetings with our pensionistas and hopefully things will get better :)

I dont think ive gained any weight yet....  Well at least I hope not haha.  All my clothes fit me about the same and I hardly eat... I dont eat breakfast, our lunches consist of chicken, rice and vegtables (we had a talk with our penionista so we get a lot less food now) and I usually dont eat dinner either.  And we run in the mornings :)  Hna. Valle has gained about 30 pounds since she got to Peru but I guess you either gain a lot of weight or you lose weight here.  I have yet to see an overweight american here though haha.

I really love and miss you all so much!  Thank you all for your love and support and your prayers!! I can definily feel them working! Oh and I finished the Book of Mormon today!! That was pretty cool for me :)   Next ill finish it in Spanish but im sure itll talk a lot more time haha :)  I hope you all have such a good week!  I miss you all SOO MUCH!  Ill send some more pictures this week and mother you better send me some pictures of india!!!

I love you all tons.  Be safe and have an amazing week!  

Love, Hermana Lauren Jane Mitchell

Hermano Cesar & Edwardo

Pablito

January 12, 2014

Hola madre!!!! How are you all??  Gosh I miss you all like crazy.  Mother I still can not believe that you are going to India in a couple days hahaha.  Good luck :)  Thats super exciting that Aub and the kids are coming home though.  Thats probably such a relief for you :)  And hey im the next one to come home so its just one step closer right?

Well this week was pretty normal.  We got a new investigator this week that im pretty excited about though.  His name is Thomas and hes 17 years old.  Before this weve talked to him and have been around him a lot because he works in the place where we use the internet but weve never really talked to him about the gospel.  This last week we ran into him in the street and we were just joking around with him and talking and we started talking about the gospel and stuff and he said we could come to his house and visit him.  So we did and all went pretty well and we invited him to our activity that we had the next night and he actually came!!  I think he felt pretty uncomfortable the whole time because in our little ward we dont have any youth, only little kids and adults but hey he was there!  We talked to him after and invited him to church.  Yesterday he came, well sorta haha,  he came to tell us he was sick and couldnt stay but hed be there next week so i think were still making progress.  We have another lesson with him tomorrow.  Hes kinda crazy though, during our first meeting with him he was telling us about his dreams and how demons always appear and stuff.  But actually thats not a rare thing here in Peru.  Everyone has crazy revelations during their dreams and stuff.  Peru is defintily nothing like home haha.  

We also had a really good lesson with Elvis this week.  He wants to be baptized but hes not married so thats why he cant but we had a chance to talk to his girlfriend/companion and now I think were going to start making major progress.  She said that she would like to get married but Elvis is too preoccupied with his work and cares more about his work than his family.  So now we have her on board with the whole marraige thing and now its just a matter of time :)  We have another lesson with just him and her this week too.  I hope it goes well :)

We are having some set backs with Lizeth, our investigator with a baptizmal date...  Everything was going good and she was progressing so much but for some reason she stopped reading the book of mormon and now she has some questions about principals that we though were clear with her and we dont know what to do.  We send her messages everynight to read and we try to encourage her but nothing seems to be working.  We hope its just these last few weeks that shes had family in town.  We will just have to see how our lesson with her goes this week.  I hope we can get her excited about her baptism again. 

Sorry i wasnt too detailed about my training haha.  It was a crazy day thats for sure!  But my training was really good. We just had a conference in a church and he talked about the daily life of a missionary and how to plan and study effectively. I learned a lot and it was so good.  I didnt really have time to talk to President Rowley personally but thats alright.  We have interviews at the end of this month so ill have plenty of time to talk to him then.  Also the food here hates me.  I am literally always sick from it!  I dont know whats up haha.  In the begginning it was all fine and what not but the last few weeks have been rough.  Im kinda afraid to eat haha but i hope that will get better too.  Welcome to Peru right?

Well these past few weeks ive been having a few problems with my companion and honestly I dont know whats wrong...  Its super frusturating for me.  In the mornings she wont say a word to me, she never wakes up on time and i ALWAYS have to pretty much pull her out of bed, and to be honest companionship study is my least favorite part of the day.  Shes just kinda mean sometimes...  But im trying to love her and serve her.  I know its probably really hard for her to train someone who doesnt speak the language very well.  Sometimes she is really great but I just dont know what to do.  I really am trying my hardest.  I try and work hard and teach as much as i can and all that but its just never enough for her. I dont know what to do.  If anyone has some advice for me thatd be great...  

Well it sounds like everyone is doing great at home.  Im glad youre all safe and im super glad that Aubs is coming home soon.  Mother the next trip you take out of the country better be to come pick me up :)  Ive already been planning it all out in my head haha.  I know its kinda early but why not right?  I hope you all have such an amazing week.  I love you all so much and think about you everyday.  I miss you tons!!!  And yes mother if you could send a package to Ty that would be so amazing :)  And yes I hear from him everyweek :)  

I love you all tons!  Dont forget about me please.  Love you and miss you!  Ill talk to you next week!
Love, Hermana  Lauren Jane Mitchell

January 4, 2014

Hey!!! It sounds like everyone had such a good week!  All the pictures are so cute too! I wish I couldve been there for the blessing but it looks like youre all doing so good and that makes me super happy! :)

Okay well my week was SUPER crazy haha!  So on Monday we went to Piura and the ride there and my training was all fine and everything and I learned a lot too.  But we were trying to get back and there were no seats left on any of the busses!! Like none for the next three days!!  So we called the assistants and they had to come and find us a ride.  Well, while they were trying to find us a ride one of the other sisters there with us got robbed.  She was freaking out because in her wallet was her ID and her credit card from the mission and from her house.  So we said a prayer and she came up with this crazy idea to go and ask people which we all though was kinda stupid because when you get robbed here there is no chance of you gettting your stuff back.  Well she went and asked and a few minutes later this guy came into the bus station with her wallet!! Crazy right?? The power of prayer is pretty crazy sometimes.  So anyways the assistants finally found us a ride back but it was in a mini van and it didnt leave until about 7 at night which would get us to La Cruz at about 12:30 but we didnt have any other option so it was whatever.  So we get in the minivan and they have assigned seats and my seat was in the very  front in the middle with literally no leg room!!! So i had to share leg room with the guy sitting next to me and my seat was tiny so i was all scrunched up next to him and it was super awkward.  So the first few hours were fine but then we got to this place called Mancora which is a super touristy town and there was a party or something going on so it took us an hour to get through this little town that takes 10 minutes to walk through!!  And while we were in the middle of this town this mototaxi driver claimed that our driver hit his mototaxi so we had to wait forever for that to get figured out.  So finally we get out of Mancora and about 10 minutes out a black horse appeared out of no where in the middle of the street!  So our driver slammed on his breaks and we were literally probably an inch away from hitting it.  It was awful.  So finally we get to our apartment at like 1 in the morning.  How awful right?  

The rest of the week was pretty normal.  We taught lots of lessons this week.  Also this week we had exchanges.  So for a day I was with another sister in Tumbes and I got to teach in a new area for a day.  It was so great.  Shes been out for 13 months so it was really great to get to teach with someone whos been around for a while.  But it was only for one day so I had to go back to La Cruz after haha.  This week we taught one of our new investigators named Jose.  He lives alone and is separated from his wife and he really just doesnt know what his purpose is in life.  So we talked to him for a while and he told us he would do anything to get closer to Heavenly Father and feel his love so we asked him if he would be baptized and he said YES!!!  He said he wanted a little more time and learn a little more before he set a date but it was such a good lesson!! 

Lizeth is progessing and her new baptizmal date is on January 17.  She just needs to come to church again this week and she is set :)  He daughter doesnt like to come to church but we told her if she did I would teach her how to play the piano a little bit so now she wants to come and now i have a new job haha.  Im not even that good at the piano but whatever haha :)  

So today we went to this place called Agua Verde which is right on the boarder of ecuador with another zone.  It was so crazy!!!  It is a touristy place and there were tons of people there!  It reminded me of Canal Street in New York.  So we went there and I bought a pair of ghetto pants and it was good haha :)  Pdays are honestly the best.  Ill send you some pictures when we get back to our apartment because my camera is AWESOME.  Thanks Gramps and Gram!! :)  

Another thing about here that makes me super happy, the song Wiggle is really popular here and i hear it all the time and whenever I do I always think of Kaden and Ellie and it just makes me smile :)

Okay so transfers are next week but i have this 3 month training orentation thing so me and Hermana Valle will stay together through this transfer.  The next transfer she will probably leave and Ill probably stay.  So in total i will probably be in La Cruz for 4 or 5 months but thats okay because its probably the best area in the whole mission :)  And Cole is in Piura Central so really far away from me at the moment.  But im sure ill see him at somepoint in the next 16 months :)

My spanish really is coming along.  The Lord is blessing me so much with it.  I can understand a ton and i can usually get my point across.  I think Hermana Valle gets frusturated with me sometimes but im teaching her patience so its okay haha :)  But im doing really good.  Its still pretty hard and I get home sick sometimes but everyday is a little better.  Everyday I learn more and my testimony increases.  These people really are amazing.   They have pretty much nothing and they are still so nice and happy and never complain about anything.  This has definitly been a humbling experiece and Ive learned so much here.  Ive thing ive been the happiest ive ever been and the saddest ive ever been.  Ive never wanted to be home so bad sometimes and other times i feel like i never want to leave.  Ive learned that the power of prayer really is so amazing.  Theres been times where i honestly have felt like i couldnt do it anymore and i said a simple prayer and everytime i feel so much better.  Ive been so blessed.  I know this is where I need to be. I feel it everytime a little kid gives me a hug, everytime i feel the spirit in a lesson, evertime i kneel down to pray. and just at random times.  This is the best decision I have ever made in my life.  I only have 16 more months to make a difference so im going to try my hardest everyday.  

I did get the letters and pictures from you mother and from the ward!!! Thank so so much!! Gosh i have the greatest family :)  And tell the ward thank you so much!! I wish i could write all of them back personally but I dont have time!! Tyler is doing really good too :)  Hes freezing to death and im buring to death haha :)  

Well i love you so much family.  Time is passing by kinda slow but so fast at the same time!! Before I know it ill be back home :)  I really miss and love you all so much.  Stay safe and stay happy please :)  Send me more pictures!  :) Ill send you some later today :)

Have an amazing week! 

Love, Hermana Lauren Jane Mitchell