Man I love it ALL......

Wooow.... time is flying....can you all believe its already March?! I can't...

Well, this week was great. Super fast. Full of ups and downs like always. Man i love the mission:) We had the baptism of Karina on Friday...it was POURING but it was a beautiful day for her...she was very emotional. When she got out of the water and bore her testimony she started to tear up and said "when I entered the water, I remembered all the bad things I have done in my life. When i came out of the water I felt the love of my Heavenly Father and knew I had been forgiven." It was really special....

It's still been raining...last monday we went to the center to buy some things and go to lunch and ended up getting DRENCHED..it was wonderful...when it rains here the sewers overflow and its all just a mess:) haha loooveee it! It also makes our showers that much colder because theres no sun and its just the best....everytime i get into the shower I just think of it like a dare to jump into a freezing cold pool or something. It makes it more exciting. They told me that cold showers make you grow...i dont feel taller...just wider haha...

I've just been trying to enjoy every minute of the mission and make the best of every moment! I have enjoyed teasing my companion (shes a germ freak to the max and terrified of spiders hehe) we have become really great friends! We stay up late talking about stupid things and laughing. I'm just enjoying spending time with the people that I LOVE here....man i love it all! 

There is NOTHING like this time in the mission....

i love you all! have a great week! 

HH

I thought El Misti looked pretty... 

Doing laundry.

Karina's baptism.

Weathering the storm....

Well....my email is being the slowest thing in the world so thats a bummer. I LOVE INTERNET IN PERU...

This week was great! We finished with the baptism of Luis. It was great. I have watched him change so much in such a short amount of time and gain a testimony of this amazing Gospel. He was so excited for his baptism...:)

This week we decided to venture out to a part of our area (villa jardin) that is about 30 minutes walking through fields...its probably the most beautiful part of our area but lots of dogs...we dont ever go out there. we dont have any investigators out there so we decided to just start knocking doors. we had to start somewhere. We prayed for days to have people prepared out there. We were walking around and saw this lady gardening in her front yard and decided to talk to her. We began to talk and at first she was not interested at all and was bugged we were even trying to talk to her but once we warmed up to her (lots of questions) she opened up to us and we were able to share a message with her and invite her to church...Its amazing that God puts people in your paths and prepares hearts for us to touch! 

I had a great study that I wanted to share with you all. I was reading in Ether about the story of the brother of Jared and how he had to build boats to get to the promise land..yeah you all know this story BUT something new stuck out to me this time. I love what is says in verse 24 and 25 of chapter 2. 

 24 For behold, ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea; for the winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth.

 25 And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?

Their trip in the ocean wasnt a pleasnt one..they crossed through stroms and wind and waves..BUT they couldnt have made it without them. A boat can't cross an ocean when its calm, well it couldnt back then because they didnt have motors haha. All the storms were necessary for their trip. In life God throws stroms and wind and waves at us..not all of life is smooth sailing but they are necessary for us to grow and learn. Without them we would go no where in this life! It also all depends on how we react to our circumstances...you look at the story of Laman and Lemuel...nephi went through the exact same things that laman and lemuel went through...he encountered the same difficulties and saw the same miracles. But in the end who came out the strongest? Nephi...Nephi reacted differently to his circumstances. He learned from them and grew from them. He put his trust in his Heavenly Father. 

Deuteronomy 31:6

6 Be strong and courageous.r Do not be afraid or terrifieds because of them, for the Lordyour God goes with you;t he will never leave youu nor forsakev you.”

I started reading the new Testament a couple of weeks ago. its been awesome! I have learned so much about my savior. But I also have realized, its stupid (for lack of a better word) to suffer in this life. He already suffered it all. The trails that come are way are for us to learn from, not suffer through. 

Anyways, now that this email is an hour long....Im excited for another great week. Time is flying! This week Karina is getting baptized. im excited to share the experiences with you all. 

have a great week!

HH 

Luis's baptism

Patience......

Well, this week was good. I have some cool experiences to share! The weather has been cooling off a little here so I have been enjoying that! 

We have an investigator named Karina...we have been teaching her for awhile and next week is her baptismal date. On Tuesday we had a lesson with her and she broke down crying saying that she just didn't want to go on...she didn't want to listen to us anymore and didn't feel good in the church. We were super sad so we just shared our testimonies with her and said a pray on our knees before leaving...i was in a terrible mood for the rest of the day and was so sad. We continued praying for her every chance that we got. On Friday in the afternoon we ran into her on the street and she ran up to us saying that she had been wanting to talk to us. She said she had been really praying and one night had a very overwhelming feeling come over her that she needed to be baptized and take this next step...I couldn't believe it. I just started hugging her haha. It was a miracle!

 The night she told us she didnt want to be baptized I was so upset...I have had soo many experiences where Heavenly Father has answered my prayers but i was feeling so discouraged because this had happened to me so many times in my mission. I went into our bathroom and said a prayer asking Him why He would do this when we were working so hard..I was sort of upset with Him..everytime I have prayed for something, with true intent with all my heart He has answered me...He never fails me. Its sometimes so hard to be patient and accepting of Gods will and timing..this whole week I have been so impatient. With my companion especially. Every little thing she was doing was driving me crazy. I knew we couldn't have the spirit in our companship if I had feelings like that towards her, so I have been praying so hard to have patience and love...its not always easy but I guess thats why we are so imperfect, and have this time to become a little better every single day. I have such a powerful testimony of prayer. I know He listens.

We have another baptism this week, Luis. He is SO excited for his baptism. Its been so fun and amazing to see him progress so fast! He has progressed incredibly fast and gained such a strong testimony..im so excited for him:) 

Hope you guys have a great week! love you all! 

HH 

Cute little peruvian dog... 

A little of our pretty area.

LOVE.....

Well this week is changes...we don't have changes of course. I'm convinced I'm finishing in this area! But it was a good week...we really have some great investigators who are progressing great! Luis is getting baptized next week and the week after Karina! Should be great:) 

Yesterday in sacrament meeting it was fast and testimony...I felt the spirit so strong as people bore their testimonies about family and love and the gospel. I was meditating a little bit in sacrament meeting yesterday about the word love....since its february and everything. I was thinking a lot about our Saviors love for us...and the love that I have for the people here...something so beautiful about the mission is the fact that you have the opportunity to love the unknown..to love people who are so so different from you. To worry about their happiness and their salvation. I think the purpose of the mission is to truly love the people you are serving. I remember at the beginning of my misison my dad wrote me a letter that said "where ever you go, go with your whole heart." That has stuck with me throughout my mission. I love my Savior, my Heavenly Father, and my brothers and sisters here in Peru. I love this gospel and the happiness that it brings me.

Thanks for all of your love and support.

xoxoxoxo

HH 

Yummy fruit....can't remember what it's called.
 

Packages.....the besttt!!!

Sunshine, Sunshine is fine.....

We are still waiting for the rains to come....they are really late this year and its just been a lot of sun! I'm sure you guys would like a little of that haha. 

This week was good! (as always) I'm just not sure how else to start my letters...

We had an awesome lesson with Luis on Saturday...he has prayed and knows the book of mormon is true...he has a baptism date for the 20th. Hes awesome..he said he loves the way he feels in the church.

Last night right before we had to go back to our room, we met this girl named Paloma in a park, so we sat down and started sharing our message with her...she lives alone here..her parents left her when she was young and has struggled a little. She has stayed close to God by reading the bible every day and just shared a lot of personal experiences with us. It was amazing. We introdcued the book of mormon to her which she accepted and is excited to read. She told us at the end of the lesson that she felt like she was living in a dream because she felt something so special with us. It was awesome...God puts amazing people in our paths every single day.

I cant believe we are already in February...time flies! 

Last pday we finally had christmas with our pens family. It was so much fun to see how excited they were to open their gifts...they just thanked and thanked us...it was so fun! 

I'm ready for another week, thanks for all your love and support! 

HH 

When we first met.

Christmas with my pens family FINALLY. It was so much fun to see how excited they were. They LOVED it!!

Arequipa....pretty neat.

Just holding a chicken...

This sunset pic is dedicated to my dad. Sometimes you just have to take the time to appreciate the little things.

Spent the day with Menlove....we are the new assistants..haha JK!!

Exploring our area...LOTS of fields.

Niemela and I are Tiko drivers.