Transfers

My companion and I are staying together!!! We're super excited because we worked so hard last transfer and we're hoping to reap the rewards this transfer. We've been really trying to be the best missionaries that we can be.... and sometimes that can be hard because you have to pass through challenges in order to learn anything but we're doing our best and we're super ready to take on the transfer.

We did have a super cool adventure this week when we had to buy curtains for a companionship of sisters with a giant window in their room. Neither of us had ever gone curtain shopping before... let alone in Peru. Everyone here has their own little store and it's as if each block has their own theme. So we went to the curtain block and searched in 10 different curtain stores and finally we found one that would make us curtains for a reasonable price. It must have been fate because when we went to pick up the curtains we contacted the family and right away they gave us their information. 

Now that I'm telling the story it's not that interesting but it was to us.

Besides work the highlight of the week has been our district leader who got stuck in Lima. Our distric leader had to travel to Lima last Tuesday to have some sort of operation on his finger his companion went with him. So far we have two elders in Lima. No big deal, they'll return after the operation so like Thursday or Friday. Wednesday night the two elders got a call that two elders who had to do visa papers in Lima would be staying with them. Wednesday night at about 10:30 there was a knock at the door and one elder covered in mud arrived. There had been a mudslide and the bus got stuck and he walked two miles in the mud to get to Lima. Thursday the elders got a second call from president saying that the other elder had been stuck on a bus for a day and a half in the same mudslide and president was going to send to more elders to pick him up and bring him back to the mission and he would do his papers later..... well, there were about four more mudslides and all three elders ended up walking through the first mudslide to lima. So Friday when our district leader called us there were six elders stuck in Lima. They should be back today.

So, anyway, that's been the highlight of the week.

I just want to let you all know that prayer works. Someone is definitely listening and He will respond. I've come to know that even more this week.

I love you all!!!! Enjoy your extra day of the year!

Love, Hermana White

chickens and octipus and such

It's amazing the different things that you can learn in the mission. This week, for example, I learned how to kill chickens. I could describe it in detail if you want because my pension's husband and his mom killed the chickens in the kitchen right in front of us.... but I won't.

Also, the elders called us fat because their pension invited us to a seafood soup (with octipus and squid and crab and shrimp... it was delicious by the way) and the then we had to eat at our pension because she had already cooked something. 

We've been working incredibly hard and there are so many people preparing for baptisms in this area. My companion and I are hoping to stay together so that we can be here for them. We love this area and these people so much. Yesterday we helped our pensionista in a primary Faith in God program welcoming for all the parents and their kids and it just felt like my ward. It's amazing how much you can love these people.

Also, sometimes I get really excited about personal study. The other day I started freaking out about justice and mercy. It's amazing. Our Heavenly Father loves us so much. Justice is what gives us consuquences when we make decisions (good or bad). Mercy is what gives us the opportunity to repent. Our Heavenly Father loves us so much that we have justice when we do good (He's bound to give us blessings) and mercy when we do something wrong. I'm probably not explaining this super clearly because I'm translating from spanish to english.... but study it, it's beautiful.

We find out transfers tomorrow night so I'll let you know what happens next week!

My prayers are always being sent up north to you all. I love you so much!

Love, Hermana White

Valentines day, Huanuco and such

This week was insane!

Monday, for pday, my companion and I were in charge of planning something with our zone. Our pension has a lot of land just outside of Huancayo so we all went there. We basically had the time of our lives playing volleyball, rolling down hills and making towers (one for the sisters and one for the elders obviously). It was so nice to take a break and leave the city for a while. The best part is that it didn't start raining until after we left 😃

Wednesday I hit a year in the mission. A year in Peru! The time has flown by so fast. We had some sisters stay the night with us which was fun. We received a reference from a return missionary a couple weeks back and we are visiting his friend Rocio. We challenged her to be baptised and she accepted. She's come to church for 4 weeks now and the ward is definitely helping her with the friendshipping part. (the most important part). Also, we had another water adventures. Sometimes when it rains we don't have water in our room. We had to shower somehow so we called up some other sisters and showered there at night. Well, their water heater wasn't working. I have never had a colder shower in my life. The best part is that we had water when we got home....

Thursday Elder Godoy of the seventy came and we had a multizone conference. He talked a lot about not falling into the trap of working with friends instead of working with people that are actually going to progress. He really emphasized our purpose here as missionaries. My favorite part was when he talked about the blessings that we receive as missionaries. Sometimes we can't see these blessings here but we can see them at home. I've definitely seen them at home.

Friday all the leaders traveled to Huanuco for a leaders conference with Elder Godoy. We got there at 5, had our meeting at 6, ate dinner and then slept in a hotel. I saw a bath tub for the first time in a year. The leaders conference was really cool because Elder Godoy didn't talk at all. He kindof guided us and had us talk amongst ourselves to resolve some problems. He then told us that that is how leaders work.

Saturday, early in the morning, we traveled back to Huancayo. On our bus there were only four gringos: me. Hna Sinks from colorado, Elder Bullock from Utah and Elder Thatcher from Heath Texas. Elder Thatcher and I started naming people we knew (turns out we've got a lot of mutual friends). We also had gone to Jubilee together and a couple stake dances (small world right). I mentioned Josh Daughtee Hna Sinks looked at me and was like: "how do you know Josh Daughtee?" Yes, it's a super small world..... and when your LDS it's even smaller.

Sunday was Valentines day and we spent all day doing paperwork (or trying to).

I love you all so much! Thank you for all you do. You do so much for me. Happy Valentines Day! Happy Birthday Hannah!

Love, Hermana White

llamas... not as cute as you think they are

Last monday our zone went to an are called Mayopampa to play sports and minute to win it games.... etc. Well, turns out that in this area there are llamas that are NOT fenced in. We were all thinking it was pretty cool until the llamas came over to our stuff wanting to get into it. I thought: "hey, good time to take a selfie with a llama".... 

llama selfie

then the llama attacked me. It jumped up on its hind legs and basically angry chest bumped me. 

Hiding from the llama

At another moment in time my companion tried to pull it by the rope it had around it's neck and it ran after her and almost trampled her. It was a journal worthy p-day.

rescued by my companion

Tuesday we had leaders council and all the zone leaders and sister leaders from the mission came to Huancayo. The assistants spoke to us about focusing on Christ because he really is the center of our message. President and Sister Henderson spoke to us about teaching by the power of the Holy Ghost. Then.... we ate pizza!

Thursday we had a zone meeting and the zone leaders asked my companion and I to teach the zone about what the assistants taught (focusing on Christ). It was a little nerve racking because the assistants are in our zone but it turned out super great. I've really learned that when you don't know what to say... just share your testimony. Talk about what you know.

Saturday we helped with the baptism of a family in our ward. Their son is eight so it's not a baptism we can count for the mission but the dad is less active and we've been working with their family so when they asked us if we would be there we said yes. It was a very beautiful baptism. What touched me the most was that right after Antoni was baptized he changed and the first thing he did was run out and hug his mom. (insert tears here).

Sunday President and Sister Henderson came to our ward. They actually live in our ward boundaries but if they were normal members they'd be considered inactive due to the fact that they travel to the different wards in the mission all the time. Sister Henderson went with us to relief society and she told us that all the leaders might have to travel to Huanuco to meet with Elder Godoy of the Seventy this Friday. Huanuco!!!! I'm so excited.

I love you all!!!!

Congratulations to the Schmelz family. They look so happy in the pictures that you send and I love telling people here about the families lives that are being blessed. Please remember that being a friend is the best way to share the gospel.

Love, Hermana White

Also, to answer Libby's question I have eaten chicken feet and guinnea pig and they are both delicious.

Emergency Transfers...

This week started out right... with mexican food. Last monday we had a pday de hermanas. In one of the wards here there's a sister from Mexico so we asked if she could teach us how to make enchiladas. She didn't teach us enchiladas but we did learn how to make tortillas (cornflour and water..... if you wanted to know) and she made something with the name of chilakiles (or something like that). Basically it was fried tortillas, peppers and cheese. It was delicious. Then all of the sisters in Huancayo got together to play sports. We're not allowed to play soccer with the elders so it was just about the only time that us sisters could get together and kick a ball.

Thursday we did divisions again with a different companionship of sisters from the ward Nuevo Horizonte. We invited them to our area and we split up for a couple hours and then got back together to do a family night with a family in our ward. It's really amazing what you can learn from every single sister.

Saturday morning literally 30 seconds after waking up we got a call from the zone leaders saying that the sisters in Nuevo Horizonte had emergency cambios and we had to go to the terminal to send Hermana Coltrin off to Pedro Puelles. This worried me a little because Pedro Puelles was my old area so they had to be having transfers as well. Turns out Hermana Petersen was coming to Huancayo! I had done divisions with the sister that was going to Pedro Puelles just two days earlier and I really felt that she was needed there.

Sunday we had stake conference. La Libertad (another of my old areas) is in our stake so I was able to say hi to so many people. I love these people here so much and it's so amazing to see them change and progress and grow.

I love you all!!!!!

Love, Hermana White