Health and Get Well Bears

querido familia, y mis amigos en el mundo,

 

its been an interesting week. lots of sickness. monday, p day, tuesday, hna flores felt bad so we stayed in most of the day. wendesday, normal, until the end of the day when hna Downs started feeling sick so we went home early. then Thursday, was rough. Hna Downs was still sick, so she stayed home with our pensionista and hna flores and i went out. Then Friday, Intercambios, we had hna Piava with us, and SHE got sick too!  so we stayed in most of the day and went out in the late afternoon and the night until we traded back. poor girls. then saturday and sunday was normal. Kind of. we had some drama with our pensionista. she told hna downs that her sickness was all in her head and that she needed to eat so that she would be healthy enough to eat. she said hna gonzales always eats her food and she is never sick. im sure her intentions are different than what we heard and observed, but it hurt hna donws´ feelings. she went to the bathroom and cried. hna piava and i tried to make her feel better. i felt bad for not sticking up for hna downs. i tried to stick a line in here or there or to change the subject, but it didnt do much. but still i felt like i had to do something, and the words of the white handbook came to my mind, if correction is needed, do it in private and with a lot of love. sdo thats what i did. that night, after planning and such, i said a prayer and asked for humility, and charity, and clerity of mind to go plead the case of poor hna downs. and i talked with mama tina. i asked her to be sensitive to hna downs. because hna downs wants so bad to have good health. she wants it so bad,  that she is kind of sensitive about her health that holds her back. and if mama tina could be sensitive to her feelings about it, and honor her diet. and to not be too offended when hna downs cannot eat all the food that is placed before her. and to come up with a solution, we offered to make a list of things she can have on hand that hna downs CAN eat. other options, so that if she cant eat what she has prepared, she has other options, because yes, like mama tina said, it is very important that she eats. entonces, we had a good talk. lots of love, i could not change her mind about some things, but i think she will be more sensitive. she is kind of a stubborn woman. but we love her. its kind of awkward right now, but its ok. the elders suggested looking for another pensionista. which for me, causes me a lot of stress. last transfer with hna boody she was having a hard time with mama tina too and was looking for another pensionista. but i fought it because i felt like the reasons to change were more selfish. just because she didnt like all the rice. no health problems or hurtful words or anything. so after praying together in a companionship with hna huaman, we felt like it wasnt right. but now that we are looking agian,  it is humbling and kind of embarrassing for me that we are moving. looking. again. i am worried that when hna boody finds out, she will resent me. so its been an interesting week. miricales none the less. we have a hard investigator whos family are all members, except him. and he has a hard heart. his wife fasts and prays that he will be baptised so that they can be sealed in the temple. she has been a member for about 10 years and he has resented the church a lot. but FINALLY, he is meeting and accepting missionaries in his home. THIS is a miracle. but he has been meeting with missionaries for about 5 years. i got the prompting to say something bold. which is not like me. i said  Modesto, if you really love your family, you will pay attention to the tears running down your wifes face and follow the same path as them. they have the potential to recieve many more blessings, but you are holding them back from recieving them. if you really love them, you will listen to what we are saying.

 

he said the closing prayer and said thank you for sending missionaries to touch my heart.[YESSS]  he went to the marriage class offered in our ward this week, AND he came to church this sunday. it was a miracle.i watched his wife weep tears of joy in sacrament meeting. 

 

i wont lie, i got kind of mad at him. i thought, if your the tears of your wife and daughter dont touch your heart, WHAT WILL! sorry..... keep the spirit sister gonzales. keep the spirit. 

 

so durring the time the hermanas were sick, what did we do? we got resourceful! peruvian style! i felt so bad, i just wanted to make things all better! i felt so helpless. so here is what we did. we found the bag of old sister missionary clothes from sisters past, and some old nylons and made, a homemade teddy bear. THATS RIGHT! a full on DOLL! a get well bear. who{s awesome. yes we are. ill send a pic in the next email. it was so good, we made two more! one ofr each of us. yay. 

also, we got to go the CHAN CHAN last pday. the oldest ruines in all of peru! it was pretty neat. and fun! check out the sweet pix. 

 

we are still working hard. hagning in there. my poor companions are troopers. and it makes me grateful for my health. 

con amor

loveing the work. 

the church is still truer than ever. 

 

looooooove Hna Gonzales. xoxoxoxo

Christmas, Planners, Dolls, and Ceviche

Dearest Friends and family

had a great week. this week we saw some beautiful miracles. and prepared an awesome christmas song for the christmas program- hna downs is very very talented! and it is an honor to be her companion. also, hna flores is so patient with us as she heard the same two songs over and over again. bless her heart. we love her. she is wonderful! we auditionioned our song this morning for the presidents wife and she LOVED IT! she said we are in for sure. she also had me audition solo. she might use me for something. yay. ALSO she mentioned that the christmas program is the biggest concert on trujillo! and last year they had 7000 attend the Plaza de Almas just to hear the missionaries. AND they invited the Arc bishop of the catholic church.... WHAT!!! ask me if im nervous, CAUSE I AM! anyways. 

also this week, my faith was strengthened. there was a family in the ward that the elders ran into durring alzar la voz that said they would like a visit from the missionaries. so this week we stopped by and found a grateful mother and her 8 year old son. she asked us to bless her home. she then explained that she feels uncomfortable in her own home. especially at night, and she often feels like there is something watching her. and she lives in "temor". she also told us about her trials that she and her family is going through. she compared herself to Job. you know its bad when they compare themselves to job. so we did as she asked. we asked her to use all her faith. we shared a scripture about faith. about how faith will give you POWER to do what ever is expedient of the Lord. we asked her to use all her faith. and to pray for hna downs as she gave the prayer. i did the same. the feelings that followed are hard to explain. she prayed very clearly and slow listening to the spirit. at the same time, i was offering a prayer in my heart. i realize that as missionaries we have a power and an authority, and i asked my Heavenly Father to show me what my power and authority can do. I also said, "Father in heaven, please fill this home with your angels and with your light." and as soon as i said it, the exact same words came out of hna downs mouth. the. same. words. i knew right then there was a special spirit with us. that it was doing its job of cleaning out the bad spirits. of filling that home with a different power. she blessed h e home and it was a powerful blessing. i dont remember everything she said. but its not important cause it was of the spirit. and it was powerful and the spirit did its job. i could tell she was more at peace and so was her 8 year old son. it was amazing. God showed me what power we have. 

also, general conference was awesome! saturday morning we got a call that said we had to find an investigator or MA to bring to the session. we got this call about 30 minutes before it was time to go. and we were not prepred. so we prayed really hard and went out looking. we knocked on abu t 8 doors, and called 8 more people, i spent 5.00 on phone calls! and nobody. so we decided, we did our best and went to the chapel. we got there and we were determined to be exactly obedient and find SOMEBODY! we did some awesome contacting. great referrals, but still nobody. i finally said "ok Heavenly Father, i have done my best! let me know if i need to keep trying, or if i can go in now!" and as soon as i finished, i saw a joven walking towards us, and almost out of spite, i approached him and asked him his name and if we could have an hour of his time and show him what was so special inside that chappel. hes began to hesitate and before he could finish we just started walking in. and he followed! we got in there just intime to hear Hna Carol Stevens give a discurso about priesthood! perfect for this kid. he stayed for a few talks, longer than i thought and he left. and we got his information. awesome! God hears and answers prayers. he is aware of his missionaries. and it was an awesome experience.

 

lost my planner this week. ok now THATS the END OF THE WORLD for a missionary. just saying. especially if you are the senior comp.... ok my WHOLE LIFE is in that thing! references, phone numbers, citas for next week (that means appointments) addresses..... i feel like i failed. i have prayed over that dumb book. cant find it anywhere. i think its gods way of telling me to calm it down a bit and quit over working your comps..... oops. but its ok. all is well,. 

 just keep going forward,

ALSO gen. conf. ok i never thought i{d look forward or enjoy something so boring SO MUCH ever in my whole life! and i worked my tail off to attend! it was beautifl . saturday was my favorite. let me share some things i loved

when you magnify your calling, you bless your family. its true for missionaries and for every calling in the church. so if you want more family unity and blessings,

magnify your calling. ALSO one friend to be baptised before christmas. IM HOLDING ALL OF YOU ACCOUNTABLE! 

 

con amor 

hna Gonzales 

 

the only kine of seviche we can eat. its made of octupus legs and its SO GOOD!!!! i absolytely LOVE it!



the dolls were made by a fellow hermana from argentina. she is like a real life princess. like enchanted. thats her. she very animated and loves LOVES everyone. she is sweet. and we are reeping the bennefits of her goodness. i love my doll

 

 

 

Go Big or Go Home...But It's Too Late to Go Home

Dearest Family and friends 

this last week of this cambio has been wonderful. finished up with three more baptisms. thats 6 in total for me. ave of one every weekend. i am nervous for the next cambio.... ill tell yyou why in a minute. 

Preparing for the baptisms. SO EXCITED!!!

sandra. my dear sweet síritual giant! this is the little girl who wouldnt eat or bathe until her parents gave her mermission. look at her genuine smile. this, my friends, is joy in the gospal. this is what the savior is talking about when he says be as a child. 

rosmari. she is amazing! she invited her whole family, none of which are members. and her eldest daughter, started crying when she saw her mom get baptised. you bet we are teaching her next! rosmari, about two weeks ago, came and pulled us out of gospal doctorine and said [ive been here two times, adn i would like to be baptised. what do i need to do?] SHE found US! idk if thats embarrassing, or a miracle! or both! she was very emotional for her baptism and she was extremely prepared. it was beautiful. 

our third

Luis Fransisco. his mom is the one who gave us a lot of opposition. he is the one with the wierdest family situation. his mom, isnt really his mom, she found him roaming the streets when he was a baby and took him in. his "mom" cant get baptised cause she is living in sin. she is living with a man who is married to another woman and they are too poor to pay for a divorce and another marriage. but she comes every week adn she has a very strong testimony. they own abut 100 chickens (hailey{s dream) and so after the baptism they served shredded chicken and hard boiled eggs. now this means A LOT for this family. i wanted to cry! and you bet i ate every bite! 

Luis Francisco, such a stud

with cambios<.

last night at about ten we got "THE CALL".... I ate waiting for that dumb phone to wring...

well heres the verdict.

my trainer, has been called to open a new are for sisters, train, and be the sister training leader! its cause she is amazing! also, hna boody got assigned to another area as wel.....

which means i will be staying. and i will have TWO new companions. another trio..... im getting the feeling i will be in a trio my whole mission. idk why. but oh well,

i have a lot of mixed emotions about this. but i dont want to lay all my weaknesses out before you so ill keep it short.

ive never felt so inadiquate, scared, or unprepared in my life. 

thats all im saying. the leaders said i will be the senior companion. you bet i shead a few tears last night. i dont know the whole area, im far from fluent in spanish, and I HAVENT EVEN FINISHED BEING TRAINED! which is sad cause ive been out almost 5 months 

but i still dont think one transfer in peru is enough to prepare an american.....

thats all. thats the latest and greates.t 

con amor

hna gonzales

ps PRAY FOR ME! ahhhhhhhh!!!!

check out our sweet zone jerseys! its cause we are A TEAM! VA EQUIPO!

Tapping Into My Inner Peruvian

dearest family and friends.

this week, we had the training meeting for all 150 new missionaries! and guess who was asked to do the musical number! thats right, THIS GIRL! (see mission blog for pix) 

it was a cool experience. President brought his very own guitar for me to use. yay! except, he didnt bring his capo.... and the song i prepared.... which happens to ONLY be in the spanish hymn book, and happens to be about missionary work.... requires a capo. so.... after some thinking, and sould searching, i tapped into my inner peruvian and got resourceful. i MADE a capo out of two pens and two rubberbands. you can see it clearly in the picturebelow. sweet huh?? 

it as sweet. then we all had PIZZA! like REAL papa johns pizza! it was like a slice of home. what a blessing

 

 

this week, we invited another friend to be baptised, and it too was quite the experiennc. let me tell you about sandra. she is 11 years old, has been to church every sunday for a month with her little neighbor friend, but her parents would not give permission to be baptised. so we could not teach her :( but after lots of prayer and fasting, one last sudnay she told us some good news,. a MIRACLE really. she got permission! turns out, after talking with her mom, little sandra refused to eat, bathe, go to school until her mom said she could be baptised. now THATS WAHT IM TAKING ABOUT!!!!! way to go! now we are teaching her, AND her mom! sandra will be baptised this saturday°! WOO HOOO! 

also, in this little girls 'home' (i put it in quotes, cause its not quite a home.... its a shack. made of tin, and a tarp and wood. it breaks my heart. there is just enough room for a bed and a table for the kitchen.) 

the first night we went to teach her, we arrive at her 'home' and the first thing i see is a giant picture of porn. and i thought,.... um ok... how the heck are we supposed to bring the spirit with THIS in our face? so i said a little prayer, and before we started the lesson we were ripping that terrible thing to shreds! PHEW! releiff. adn the that is when we committed her to baptism! MIRACLES! also, durring the lesson, i counted 7 guinie pigs running around. she LIVES with her food. that is strange. 7! not in a cage, but EATING their left over food.... so strange. so sad. but i admire this 11 year old spiritual giant.

also this week. hna human got sick! she was sick for about 3 days bless her heart. we did our best to take care of her. but on day 3, we had some appointments we could not miss.... so ..... you know what that means. one of us had to go on splits with a ward member and, well, do what we were called to do. adn that person.... was me. i was SO SCARED! me? by myself? i havent even finished my training yet! i cant fill time speaking spanish by myself! no way no way no way! well..... after giving myself a pep talk and saying some pretty sincere prayers, i acted in faith and went out. me and the member. we had 2 lessons, conteacted , and made new appointments. adn i understood every lick of spanish anyone talked to me. it too was a MIRACLE! its funny, cause as soon as i got back, my spanish was so-so again,. it was like a veil had been lifted for those 3 hours and i was able to fulfill my calling. it was a neat experience. 

also, next week i will have a total of 6 baptisms in my time here in peru. amazing! ill report on those next week. love you alll! im excited to read your emails! printing them off today. xoxoxoccon amor

hna Gonzales 

 

 

 

 

let me explain my sexy sox and sandles pix. 

those are called 'yankees' and they are made of tire! and they last for YEARS! adn yes, i have my very own pair. more and more peruvian every day. yayay! 

all the real (poor) peruvians have them. and now,,,, so do i.

AND they were only 4.5 soles! waht a steel. what a steel. 

and ive never liked the sox and sandles look.... actually i loathed it. just goes to show missions change ya. 

La Playa

#Peru

Dearest family and friends
this week:

i climbed a latter into a home to teach a fhe. 

i learned to wash clothes by hand on a board in a bucket,

last monday we went to teh beach called Huanchacca. it is beautiful! google it! also y ou can see some sweet pix of the acivities we did on the blog. i got a good close up or two. 

kurtandkathymarler.blogspot.com

this weekend was kind of crazy. we had the baptism of jose luis. he is 13, his dad is abusive and adicted to alcohol, his mom isnt much of a mom at all,. and he really needs the gospal. we have been teaching him since i got here, adn it was amazing to see him finaly baptised! he is extremely timid and shy, and it is hard to teach him cause he doesnt talk hardly at all. well, yesterday, was the craziest day of all. the baptism went beatiful, but yesterday was his confirmation! also, we were asked to spèak in church! 

 

 

 

so before church, we go to pick up jose luis like we do every sunday. we get there, and he is not there.... thats a first. and his parents have no idea where he is either. so we call  him several times, we call h is grandma, we check at his on ly friends house, no where. y worst fear was about to come to pass as we show up empty handed to church. . .  and he wasnt going to recieve the holy ghost. 

durring the sacrament, during the water, we get a call from his mom! obviously we cant answer. so as soon as it ends, we rush into the hall to call her back. at that moment, bishop announced that hermana huaman was goin g to give her talk! but she is the only one who can communicate effectively with sandra the maom.... so torn and confused, adn panicing, i left my comps n the hall, hoping for the best, grabbed m y backpack off our bench on my way up to the pulpit to give a talk....

the talk went well. i said everything i wanted to say, i talked about members working with the missionaries. i had them all stand as i recited the missionary purpose. wich is actually their purpose as members too. i related the gospal to futboll, soccer, cause every latino loves soccer, adn i bore my testimony. got a little emotional...i was already a little emotional to begin with.... and i had their attention up until the amen. it was a miracle. 

then hna human gave her tlk. still no jose luis. 

i was praying. i said heavenly father, if i could have one miracle durring my mission, it would be today.that somehow, this kid will be able to find the church on his own, or someone will bring him, or somethnig! if i can have one miracle, can ih ave it today? 

hna huaman finished her talk. then the counsilor stood up and and announced the confirmation of jose luis. i was shaking myhead NO NO HES NOT HERE! 

the out of no where.... there goes jose luis walking up to the front to be confirmed!!!! WHAT THE!!!!!! like where did he ome from! i looked at every face and did not see him there!!! 

it was truly a miracle. miracles still do happen! ad God still answers prayers. and i think i spent my one miracle for my mission.... 

but it was a good day. 

that puk, he scared me to death!!! 

also, i had amoment. 

this is what i call hashtag peru: 

#peru:  sitting in sacrament with a stinkylittle girl who is too poor to bathe, baby wearing a white polo and jeans, the piano doesnt match the singing, the soccer announcer next door to the church is louder than the priest saying the sacrament prayer, half of the members are inactive, adn half of the people who attend still need to be baptised!!! and there was a dog in relief society again.

peru ina nut shell. 

everythig is foreign to me. 

but all is well. 

i love peru.

con amor

love hna Gonzales 

Powered By Rice

so one day our pensionista was out of town, so we had a sub pen make us lunch. she brought us this leaf wrapped substance, and i thought what the heck is this? and what could be in side! every meal is either an adventure, or rice..... dont know what its called, but I call it [sack lunch.... péruvian style.and guess what was inside? rice! should have known. it was an adventure AND rice all in one. i love peru. 

frog eggs? or my new favorite fruit? it happens to be my new favorite fruit. granadera. you slirp it up right out of the peel. looks sketch i know.... but it id DANG GOOD! i love peru! 

 

Sweet Peruvian wall. I love it here. It's like art mixed with third world country. Cool!

99 year old self-claimed grandma. I am determined to figure out what it is that makes Peruvians live forever.