Week #27 We are not alone

Hola family and Friends!

This week I noticed a theme among my investigators that was a bit discouraging. Everyone seemed to be struggling with the same problem, loneliness. It doesnt matter who you are or what your circumstances we all feel loneliness at some point in our lives. Hermana V felt lonely because her kids don't call her to just talk. Hermana K,  doesnt feel accepted in church  so she feels lonley. Hermano J just came out of a coma. He can't move and can't talk, obviously he feels lonely. I had the opportunity to share my testimony about feeling alone with each of these individuals this week and I want to share it on my blog as well.

Lonliness is the opposite of how our heavenly father want us to feel. He has given us friends, family husbands, wives, and  children so that we can feel accepted and loved. His whole plan of Salvation is for each of us come to the Earth and find JOY, true joy through the relationships we form with others. Although we can't see him,God is not far away from us. Acts 17.27 8 explains that God wants us to seek him. If we seek, he is always there to hear our prayers and to help  us find joy. If anyone feels like God is far away and not willing to help them they are being tricked by the Devil. God is here, and he is listening, we are never alone. In Alma chapter 33 of the Book of Mormon, verses 1 to 11 Alma reminds the people of the words of the prophet Zenos. He explains that God is a merciful God and will hear us. ¨Yea, thou art merciful unto thy children when they cry unto thee, to be heard of thee and not of men, and thou wilt hear them." We are never alone. EVER. When were are feeling pain, sorrow, lonliness, far from God, far from everyone, this is a tool of the adversary. Satan wants us to feel lonely because it gives him power over us and keeps us from looking up. I pray to you all please dont let Satan trick you, dont give him the opportunity to come into your lives. Alma 24.39 says ¨Yea, and I exhort you, my bretheren that ye be watchful unto prayer continually, that ye may not be lead away by the temptations of the devil, that he may not over power you, that ye may not become his subjects at the last dayñ for behold he rewardeth you NO GOOD THING." ¨If your feeling that God is far from you I invite you to follow the advice of Alma and pray. Pray with all your heart. Follow the example of Enos "änd my soul hungeredñ and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer."¨ 

I bear testimony that God listen and answers our prayers. We prayed with Hermana V this week that her family would have more unity, that she would not feel alone, and that her children would call her. That SAME day her daughter called for no reason, just to get caught up and talk with her mom. How amazing is the power of prayer? How amazing is God to answer our prayers? I know that he is my Heavenly Father. And just like any other father he wants the best for all of his children. We are never alone. God is close and he is listening we just have to build up the faith and courage to kneel down and ask. 

 

Love you all

See you Next Summer

Hermana Huish

Week #26 Investegator Update

My new companion is great!

It is the middle of winter in Peru and the nights are freezing cold!

My comp and I have to wear several pairs of fuzzy socks each night to stay warm, brrrrr!

Hermana Pintado taught us how to make a pineapple cake.

The finished product.

Everyone loved it!

Lots of ups and downs this week. It has been somewhat crazy adjusting to life in Begonias. We are focusing on working with less actives and recent converts. There are millions of them!!! I thought that if we are always working with menos activos and recent converts we would never have baptisms because we don't have investigators, but I was very wrong. By working with them we are able to find people who aren't members within their families. This is a plus  because they already have some background with the church and they have a built in support system. This week we have been working with M. He has been through a lot in his life. He has gone through drugs and rehab (Grandpa John, I can hear you on your soapbox already!)  and now he is finally ready to make a change. Immediately after leaving rehab he sought out the missionaries. His mom is a recent convert and has the strongest testimony. We taught him the story of the Anti Nephi Lehis, and how their repentance process included burying their swords profundamently into the earth, and then being baptized. We explained to M that he too needs to put the past behind him.  Dig a deep hole, put  away all of his past sins, try  never to commit them again and then come unto Christ. We all make mistakes. The good news of the gospel is that we have the atonement to fix things. Applying repentance daily is something we all need to do. Every day we need to be progressing forward and becoming better, trying to find a way to become more like Christ, and leaving our selfish natural man behind.

 

Another investigator that we have been working with is E. Her daughter L recently joined the church But E is a little bit more skeptical.  She also has been through many trials and has a lot of problems. Teaching her has made me realize how important the plan of salvation is. When E was young she witnessed her dads death. His killers were never found and she said that it haunts her every night that they might still be out there. She has cut her self, her husband is cheating on her, and she is going through a lot in her life. She is in a really sad place. This week we started to teach her about the pre-mortal life and how we chose to come to earth to receive a body and be tried. As we explained this to her she said she would have rather just stayed as a spirit and never came to earth. It makes me so sad that any one could think this way. I hope that once she understands the whole plan of salvation that she will have a little bit more hope, faith, and strength to keep going. A lot of people ask why Mormons are so happy and I honestly believe its because we understand the plan of salvation.  We know our purpose hear on Earth and what is going to happen when we die. The plan of salvation gives us hope, strength and faith. I'm so thankful for it in my life and I am thankful to be on a mission to share this plan with others.

Our other Investigator is R. She was a reference from the previous sister missionaries. She has been attending church for 3 weeks and she really likes what we have to offer. She is a single mother of four active, crazy children. She works at a little fruit stand and tries her best to keep her kids calm and respectful. I think she loves the church because it is so focused on family. Hermana Pintado and I have  had two noche de hogars with her family because she really wants her kids to have religion and develop a spiritual respect. One way to calm her kids down is singing hymns! R loves to read the scriptures and said that she reads an hour every day. We invited her to be baptized but she needs a little more time to prepare.  I can see her as a great member and I Know that the gospel will bless her  family in a million different ways.

I really love  my new ward. The members are so fantastic. The other day we had an activity with the relief society. Hermana Pintado knows how to make keke de pina., basically a Pineapple cake. So we motivated the Sisters to do their visits by making keke de pina and then going out to do their visits with them. I am really thankful to be in Peru because I am learning so many new things!! I am learning a new language, a new culture, I know how to flag down a taxi and navigate the bus everywhere. My companion has taught me how to dance a little bit and its awesome! I love the opportunity I have to develop all these cool new skills. My mission is literally the BEST,  I LOVE it. And even though there are ups and downs I try to always look at the bright side and find the good in things. 

Love you all!

See you next summer!

Hermana Huish

week #25 TRANSFERS

I was transferred from Magnolias to Begonias this week!

My new area is huge.

Last day with Cadenas

Working hard

 

Goodbyes to all my friends in Magnolias

Goodbye to my Penchinista Edith, I love her!!

 

More families I love

 

HELLO Family!

So BOOM no one expected but I got transferred! It definitely came as a surprise. We were all preparing for Hermana Cadenas to leave because she has more time in the area but I guess God needs me somewhere else. I was really sad to be leaving Magnolias because I felt like we were just starting to make progress in that area. We had a lot of good investigators who I really loved. But that is the life of a missionary, as soon as your comfortable, things change. So Monday I packed my bags and made the rounds to say good bye to all the investigators and members. Tuesday morning we woke up early to get to the district offices. I was so nervous. New companion, new area, new everything! 

 

Companion:

My companion is Hermana Pintado! She is from Puyra Peru. So far she has been super awesome! She is a really hard worker and a great teacher. She is loving, caring and fun! In all honesty I am thrilled to be with her because she wants to work hard. Hermana Pintado is focused and she loves the mission. I think I’m going to be so happy with her because we can work even more! 

 

Area: 

MY new area is Begonias. IT IS HUGE!!!! It is about 4 times bigger than my last area. We have to take motos and buses between citas because it is too far to walk. Despite the buses, there is still  a lot,  a lot of walking. A LOT! By the end of the day I am literally dead, but for some reason it feels good to be nearly dead when we get back to our room, it shows that we given  our all throughout the day. The members here are fabulous! They are soo welcoming, and understanding.  They come with us for lessons, and  give us tons of referrals. I am pretty sure that we get at least one reference every day from the members in the ward! It is wonderful to have their support.

 

The only problem with this area is that when we got here there wasn’t much going on. Hermana Pintado was also new to the area. Her companion had an emergency transfer to Colombia so when we both arrived in Begonias we had no one to teach. Fortunately, we have found so many people in a short amount of time and our days are filled already!  I can really feel the spirit here in Begonias. The other day I think we had three people crying, the spirit is strong here. I can tell that with a little bit of time maybe a month we will start to have success with baptisms!

 

Penchinista:

My new penchinista is awesome! First off, she makes us really healthy breakfasts every day with smoothies, fruit, yogurt, eggs and vegetables. I love love, love her cooking! But she is less active so we are also teaching her. She has three sons. One is 17 and the other two are 7 and 10. Yesterday we had a lesson with her boys. They read their scriptures every night, and have questions for us about them. These little boys are better than a lot of our adult investigators. They are so sweet. In their prayers they always bless the missionaries, “the hermanas”, that we can be safe and that nothing bad will happen to us. The youngest one is already asking questions about serving a  mission!  He is only 7and hasn’t even been baptized  but wants to prepare for a mission.  It was so cute he said he was a little nervous about serving a mission because he doesn’t want to leave his family for that long. (I can relate!)

 

Other Fun Fact! 

The first baptism that I had in the Mission was Paulo form Comas Retablo. I found out that he is doing great! He is a strong member of the church and is the ward mission leader! How sweet! It was only a couple months ago that I was teaching him and now he goes on lessons with the missionaries almost every week! WAHOO! Go Paulo! 

 

Love yall!

See you next summer!

Hermana Huish