Preface by Toni: I asked Clair some specific questions and the first part of her email were replies to my questions.
The food: it's so good! Breakfast is this AMAZING runny oatmeal, hot chocolate deliciousness called avena... i think. Lunch is the big meal, at 1:30 ish. It's usually rice and then a meat but in sauces and with peas that are huge and healthy and great. I am eating chic peas and these beans that are white, like the gross ones. But I like them. Then dinner is just soup or sandwiches, really small, but perfect!
It is actually a little bit cold! I wear a cardigan every day and usually don't have to take it off. We study all morning til 12. We eat lunch at 1, and dinner at 8 so the rest of the time we are at lessons or meeting members or less actives. It gets dark around 6 and... our area is a little peligroso so we are very careful when it's dark.
The language: honestly it's good! I am only getting better at expressing my feelings and testimony. I can pronounce just fine. The gift of tongues, and the gift of interpretation of tongues, are so very real. I just follow the spirit and always seem to say the right thing. It's difficult when I get asked questions because I can understand most words but not all so then I don't know if I am saying the right thing. You know?
The talk you sent me, "Miracle of a Mission", isn't the one I was talking about. So maybe try "Fishers of Men" or "Drop your Nets" or something. It was the Provo mtc.
On Tuesday (after a lesson with our investigator who was going to be baptized this upcoming Saturday but it's moved to the 13th of September) Presidente called us and said we were going to go to CAJAMARCA to help his wife with a pensionista training meeting. Look it up, absolutely beautiful! It was a 6 hour drive, very much like the road to Hauna but through the ANDES mountains. This whole time we are with the MISSION PRESIDENT, his wife and the assistants. So usually you have interviews here and there with pres and that's all but we had a whole 3 days with him and his wife! It was amazing! I felt so useless because I don't know anything about the pensionista training, but I feel so blessed to have been able to go because they are amazing people. They told us the story of them being called to be presidents and about how they met, and the changes they are making to the mission. We have taken all the missionaries out of the small areas or branches and brought them into the cities so that we can have centers of strength. There are tons of members in Cajamarca and hardly 1/8 are active, so our focus is more on "rescuing". But we still need to be baptizing, which makes us really really busy. Presidente and the area 70 were inspired and Peru will see the benefits of this change.
About Cajamarca, it's cold. Cooooold. I hope I am there for the summer because then I wont be so hot. It's like a Banff Peru, perfect pinterest crazy beautiful place, so gorgeous! It's perfect national geographic photo spots.
So that was Wednesday til Friday. Saturday we moved because it was too dangerous for sisters in our other place, so we hardly had any time to teach this week. But we had so much growth from being with the pesident. It was amazing! He learned so much about me too. We talked about the hardest and most blessed moments of our missions so far and the 4 of us (pres and wife and sis Norton and I) really opened up. It was the coolest thing of my life and I am so grateful for president. He does so much work and he's so stressed and he's such a great example. He's so much like dad! COMPLETE OPPOSITE of what I expected him to be. Also, he is an institute slash EFY teacher and works for the church. He's crazy like dad and I loved it! Wow. So cool.
I'm keeping my good attitude and trying to do my absolute best. I love you all and I am so grateful for your examples and support and love.
Missions are awesome!
Also, some things are spelled the same but pronounced spanishly here. ex. Viks Vapor Rub is beek bapoor rube. If you can pronounce that. It's so so funny.
I LOVE PERU I LOVE MY WARD I LOVE MY COMPANION I LOVE THE MISSION
All my love,
Hermana PIlling
No comments:
Post a Comment