Crazy, Curly, Blonde Hair

15 July 2013

So I am currently serving in the the city of Olivar, which is basically a section of western Lima near the airport. I have been learning a lot here. While Olivar is generally more receptive than New York, my companions told me that the past 2 weeks have been crazy hard for some reason. We have been walking a lot door-to-door trying to find investigators to teach. I'm a little tired from the walking, but not too bad -- nothing that would tire me as much as a half marathon -- this is easy in comparison to that! We've been praying for help to find new investigators, and yesterday we could see the Lord answering our prayers. We found 3 new investigators all at once, talked to 4 or 5 potential new investigators, and received lots of referrals from the ward members while at church. According to my hermanas, this is more normal for Peru. Our schedules are filling up and things are starting to get better. We are also going to start teaching English lessons on Wednesdays and a lot of people are excited for that, so hopefully we can get the word out and lots of people will come.

Sanding the old paint off in the apartment

I had a really great experience last Tuesday. We split our area here in Olivar with two other hermanas, Muñoz and Agle, and they also share our apartment with us. Hermanas Muñoz and Agle have an investigator that was trying to paint her house. We all went over and started helping her sand the old paint off her walls and move furniture our of her house. It was kinda hard to move the furniture, but overall not too bad. She was so grateful for our help. She offered to pay us or feed us but we told her that this was a service and we wouldn't accept any money. She went and bought some Inca Kola for us (which I am starting to really like by the way), and we were able to finish. She was so touched that she began to cry and we all made sure to give her a hug before we left. From this experience, I learned that even though I can't speak Spanish very well, (she tried to talk to me a few times but I didn't really know what she was saying) I can give service to show my love for the people of Peru. Rather than just telling people we are repesentatives of Christ, we can show them by our actions who we are. A few of us went back on Saturday and helped her paint. It was super fun! Hermanas Muñoz and Agle say that they are going to baptize her for sure!

Helping to lend a hand with a little help from the cat.

The bishop has asked me to speak next Sunday, and I am super nervous! He wants me to talk about the importance of Sacrament Meeting. Hopeuflly I can speak well enough for them to understand. I want to start writing it today so that I can practice during the week with my pronounciation and stuff. Any prayers sent my way to help would be greatly appreciated.

I haven't had any fish yet, but our pensionista, Hermana Juanita, is the best freaking cook! She is actually going to try to make us lasagna tomorrow, so that will be fun! July 28th and 29th are the Independence Days for Peru, so maybe I will get to try some traditional foods during the celebration.

Last P-Day, we went and played soccer at a park. I didn't really want to play, so I took my sketchbook and was sketching. The school across the street got out and all the kids came over to see what we were doing. I'm the only one who has crazy, curly, blonde hair (thank you humidity!),  and all of the kids swarmed me. It was so funny! They touched my hair and asked me lots of questions. I told them I needed their help to learn Spanish, and they happily tried to help me understand. They were super sweet!

My companions gave me some really great advice to not be homesick here. They said to look at everyone like they are your family. We learn to love them more and can feel like we can get to know each other better. My companions have been great! They are incredibly funny! Well, loving it here in Peru and having lots of adventures! Les amo!!!!!

Returning to our apartment after we finished painting,
we were a mess.