BEST WEEK EVER

"We did our studies in bed with some hot ecco- mormon coffee- its too cold here not too. and we have concrete floors so this is what happens"

Hi everyone! Oh my goodness best week ever!!!!

  

Well to be honest I was expecting this letter to say it was the worst week ever... because.... I found out that my companion had to go back to Lima and that Hermana Purse and I would be working together alone... we are both learning Spanish and in training still!!! We both just put a smile on our face and decided that this week was going to be our test and that we wanted to ace it! Well on Tuesday I got sick around 4 and I tried to keep pushing, but it got to the point that I felt I was going to pass out and throw up so we hurried and got a taxi and I got back to the house just in time. The peruvian food isnt always nice to us... So that was the beginning of the week.. then came Wednesday! Our first appointment was with a woman in my wad that we later found out has a bit of a mental challenge. Hermana Purse and I sat there as she went off about the most random things and didnt even understand most of it, afterwards we just laughed and decided to say a prayer that the day would go better. Well it did! We had a lot of citas and the all went SO well! One of them was with Kempis y Sandra. We decided to teach the resteration- forgot how to spell it in english- and we went into detail about the priesthood. It was amazing. Kempis talked about how he knows he needs to be better and wants to be able to bless his wife with the priesthood. Well then Sandra said that its hard to be a member at times and that our visit was what they needed and she felt so much better. I almost cried I was so happy! It was the best! The whole week everything just seemed to work out for Hermana Purse and I. It really made me realize that God is so aware of us. He knows us, and HE LOVES US! He has blessed me so so so much this week. 

   I also got a blessing this week from my District Leader because I felt prompted to do so. I alsways feel nervous for asking for one because I feel like I have had a lot- 2- since I have been a missionary. But when you feel promted... ACT! It was amazing. I had my testimony of the priesthood strengthened this week. My blessing addressed every single thig that had me worried. God really talked to me and just told me to keep going, and He will take care of the rest. To be honest, sometimes it is so hard to keep pushing, especially when we get rejected so hard by so many people, but somehow the Lord puts something in my path every time that makes me want to keep going. Missionary work is amazing.

   Yesterday we just contacted like crazy and we really strongly felt that the Lord guided us to these people when they needed us the most. One lady even had a black eye and was so scared whe we approached her, never ssaid a word and when we asked her her name she started shaking with fear. We just bore our testimonies about the Plan of Salvation and told her that God led us to her for a reason. We even had four investigators at church yesterday!!! Moises said he was coming, but never showed up. It was sad, but we arent giving up on him. We also had to drop Elbia. She read the Book of Mormon and knows its true, but said she doesnt want to change. Its sad, but we just keep on going!!

  I have felt SO much love from my Heavenly Father this week. I love sharing the truth to my brothers and sisters here in Peru every day. It is the best feeling in the world, even if they dont accept another appointment, you know that you planted a seed, you have done all you can, and the Lords approval is all that matters. I love being a missionary!! I have never felt so happy!

  I love all of you!!! Thank you for everything!!

    Love forever and ever, Hermana Hunter

Poco en poco

hola familia!! Oh my another week has flown by! Slowly the time has started picking up a little and I dont know how I feel about it!! Having 15 vmonths left makes me feel like I need to hurry up, learn Spanish, and rescue as many people as I can!!

   Speaking of rescuing, we found Moises in a bad state last Monday, but we have had contact with him every day since then and have had some very serious lessons about the word of wisdom, law of chastity, eternal families, following the prophet and repentence. Its amazing how slowly throughout the week we have seen him change. You can literally see it on his face! It is the happiest thing!! He didnt come to church, so the baptism is pushed back yet again, but little by little, poco en poco!!!

     Something really cool happened this week- on tuesday we were looking for old investigators we felt like we could start teaching again and when we were leaving one house an older man with a young special needs girl walked up to us and the man asked "Hermanas why havent you come to visit me in my house?" My comp and I looked at each other and I told the man, well we for sure can! Then we asked if hes baptized and he said no but I can be! It was crazy!! He then told us that the special girl with him was his girlfriend and asked us for bread. So things got a little weird, but I was just so excited that someone came up to us and asked us to visit them! We gave them both pictures of Christ and made an appointment. They were so excited to have the picture and it was the cutest thing! We walked away and my comp kept saying how weird that was but I was so so excited! Well Thursday came when we were supposed to go visit them and all I could think about was the Saratov Approach and how the same thing happened to them before something bad happened to them, I kinda just told myself I was thinking too much about it and then in my personal prayer, I had the strongest feeling that it was not a good idea to visit them. So my comp and I talked and asked our pension if he would go with us so that we could have a man with us. Well then we realized that we both wrote down different addresses for them and all of a sudden the time started flying and it was almost time to visit Moises. I then realized that it was God literally making it so we could not go visit them. I am so thankful for the gift of the Holy Ghost and how not only is it a comforter and helps us recognize the truth, but he also protects us and warns us of danger. It is such an amazing gift and blessing to have in our lives! But we need to live worthily to have this sacred gift! Which leads to the next thing, the drunk man I talked about last time... well we taught him last night!! It was amazing. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and at the end his wife told us "You got it spot on" the spirit guided us in that lesson and Leonidis was touched. He told us that he knows he is lost and wants to be forgiven and come back to church. It was the neatest thing! 

  We worked a lot with less actives again this week. One of them, Hermana Faltima is the cutest. She said that she was praying to be a light to her family and one day the elders showed up at her door and she knew it was an answer to prayers and she was baptized. Well she kinda fell away when she had a baby with a man she wasnt married to and then her baby died at 4 months old. She then had another baby and she is 6 months old. The father left her and now she lives with her mom. We visited her for a long time and just listened to her story and how she feels like she can have a second chance in life by coming back to church. We talked about the plan of salvation and how if she makes a change in her life and does the right thing, she can be sealed to her family and live with her babies forever! She started tearing up and told us that she wants to make a goal to go to the temple with her mom and baby. Oh my I felt my heart starting to swell! I was so so so happy!!! 

   Also, the family valecia that we have been trying to get to set a civil wedding date so they can be baptized finally set a date!! Well, first week of August, but still! It is a big step!!! We straight up asked them, "When do you want to be an eternal family?" That really set a spark in them!!!

   This week I am so grateful that my parents were married and sealed in the temple and set that example for me and made it possible for me to be with them forever. I want so badly to have the same for my future family. Temples are so special. The people here have to sacrifice so much to go to the temple. The closest one is in Bolivia. I am so blessed to have had a temple so close at home and to spend so much time there as an ordinance worker before I left. I have been thinking about the covenants and blessings that we recieve in the temples and it has given me so much strength. I want so badly for the people we are working with to have the amazing experience of going to the temple and becoming a forever family. 

  As for Spanish... I have had 6 members tell me that they can tell it has gotten a lot better! Two of our less actives this week said that they thought I had been out for a year because of my Spanish!! I am so grateful for these tender mercies and to see every day the Hand that the Lord has in my life. I see little miracles every day and they make the struggles so worth it!

  I love all of you so much! Thank you for your continual love, support, and prayers

love forever and always,

        Hermana Hunter

I am so so blessed

hi family!!!!

  Ok so yo are probably wondering how Moises is doing and when he is getting baptized. Well he has had some problems lately with the word of wisdom and we are really trying to help him out. We had an amazing lesson with him last night. It is hard for me to understand him but last night I had to fight back tears because I had the spirit hit me so hard out of nowhere that the church is true. So I shared my testimony with him of what I was feeling in that moment and told him that I want so badly for him to recieve the blessings that we recieve from this church. It really is incredible to think how blessed I am to have this knowledge that this church is true and that by simply knowing this, I feel so much hope and joy in my life. We have another lesson with him tonight so I will have to keep you updated.

  Well something sad about Gina, we found out yesterday her tumor ruptured and she might be going to Arequipa to recieve chemotherapy. I talked to her on the phone yesterday and just cried with her as I told her to remember her blessing and to always pray and read the BOM we gave her and told her we love her. I am so sad because I love Gina with all my heart and I want so badly to continue teaching her.

  This week with Rupertina we taught her about family history. I cried when rupertina cried as she told us she cant remember anything about her parents, only their names. Her husband remembers stuff about her parents but rupertina is so sick that it seems that everything in life just hrts her, but guess what, she doesnt feel pain when we teach her the gospel. The gospel is THAT POWERFUL!!!

  Ok so the craziest thing that happened this week... we have been really been trying to work with the menos activos and recent converts this last week and we went to visit a man named Leonidis. His whole family are members and they are just the best. they live in so much poverty but they are such fun happy loving people. So we walked in on Friday night and it was just his wife home cooking dinner. We started talking to her and I asked her how she met her husband. Turns out she met him when she was 17 at a park. She lived with her auntafter her mom died at 1 years old. anyways, she met him at a park and rumors started and her uncle told her he did not like the rumors so she had to marry him. She tried running away but couldnt and married him. They have never fallen i love but they have 7 kids and they are still together. It amazes me. Well as she was telling us this story- her daughter Karen walked in and looked terrified. Then she looked even worse after she realized we were there. She said that "papa is home and he is drunk. we have to hide the sisters." I got a huge sinking stomach feeling and offered a quick prayer. We were then taken up this ladder and into a room with a bunch of beds and were hidden on the back corner bed i the dark. They kept telling us "dont be scared dont be scared" which only made it worse! Well we were hiding and Karen is pregnant due any day so she distracted us with baby clothes and ultrasound pictures. Then Leonidis started yelling and we heard banging noises and then Karen would start talking louder and pull out more pictures. We had to hide for a little over an hour and I heard some horrible things being yelled. All I could think that night is how blessed I am to have a mom and dad that love each other so much and to have such an amazing family, I dont have to worry if my dad is going to come home drun one night and yell at my mom. I live in a home where the spirit can be. A home full of love. I thought that night how badly I want my future kids to live in a home where  they feel safe and loved. I also feel so blessed this week for the commandments. So many people think that being mormon is hard because of the "rules" when in reality it makes life so so much better. 

I am so thankful for the life that God has given me. I am reminded of this every day here in Peru. I am thankful that I have been given this experience to change me, to challenge me, and to make me feel blessed beyond belief. 

 I love you all so much!!! Thank you for all your love and prayers

     Love forever

          Hermana Hunter (Casadora)

Ups and Downs

Hi!!! Oh man what a week.

   

  Well to start off, this week we had a lot of weird food and my stomach is not loving it to much. We have had chuño, sheep head, and cow utters. Yep. COW UTTERS!!! I do not know why in the world they eat this stuff and enjoy it. I am usually adventurous, but I am telling you now, do not try it.

  

   Anyways, for three days I was in a trio with Hermana Purse who I love so much and a cute little Latina Hermana Olivaras. We had so much fun all together working in each others sectors and learning way more Spanish having a Latina with us! We had a lot of citas which was the best! And all of our lessons went so well! I was so happy that each lesson I was able to talk more and more and more. We even had a really good lesson with Moises preparing him for his baptism and talkng about the importance of keeping all of the commandments. We also taught the restoration the Gina and like 12 of her family members and it started out noisy and not everyone paying attention to everyone being absolutely silent. The spirit was so strong as we talked about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Then I handed Gina a Book of Mormon and I have never seen anyone light up like that. It was as if we were handing her a piece of gold- it basically is- but it made me so so happy. Then her two sisters committed to coming to church with Gina and her husband and son. It was amazing!!

    Then came the middle of the week... It completely turned around. A lot of our citas were falling through- some of them even just not answering the door even when we were making eye contact through the door. This week I think some festival was going on because a lot of fireworks were going off and then there were SO many parties. One night we walked through a huge crowd of drunk people. I became so sad and even sick to my stomach as I was watching my brothers and sisters making bad choices. The next day we found a lot of passed out people in the streets. Including two of our investigators. We would go to our citas to find investigators passed out drunk. It broke my heart to see this. It opened my eyes to see how truly dark and wicked the world is becoming and how many people Satan has in his grasp. My companion and I along with our District leader and his companion had a very deep talk that night about the second coming and how important our job is right now to go out and literally save lives. 

  This week was hard in other ways as well. Last night we had a meeting and an area 70 came. He was constantly cracking jokes and everyone was laughing and enjoying his message. I on the other hand could only understand a hand full of words and as the meeting went on I just became more and more frustrated that I was not understanding. This whole time I have tried to be so patient with this language and realize I just have to try my best and realize I am not going to know everything right now. But as the weeks go on, the more is expected of me and the more frustrated I become with my Spanish. We even had a lesson yesterday and the woman is so nice, but she told her friend how well my companion speaks and that I know very little. It was hard to hear and I just told them I am learning and I want to understand and I am sorry that sometimes I dont. It is hard when these people tell us about their lives, their worries, their stories and I only understand about 40% I want so badly to communicate with these people and to be able to understand the things they want to tell me. My job here is to preach the Gospel, which I know how to do in Spanish, but it is also to be a support system, a friend, a listener. And it is frustrating when I am not able to be those things. Sometimes I just smile and tell them I love them and that God loves them and I try to be a Christ like example through my actions.

   There is a good part about these trials though, this week I have felt myself become so much stronger in the Gospel. I have felt my testimony grow, and I have literally felt myself grow. When things are hard I have learned to completely rely and trust in the Lord. I know that t is Satan working on me, trying to make me feel like I cant learn Spanish. I need to know how to speak Spanish to preach this gospel, and Satan does not want that. So when I feel sad, that is when I know I am doing the right thing because when I am doing the right things, Satan wants to change that. Remember that Satan will do everything he can to keep us from fulfilling our potentials in life. We need to recognize this and make those feelings of discouragement into power and strength to keep going and overcome the power of Satan. We have the power to overcome him, so do not let him win. I have found great comfort this week saying these things out loud:

  when I wake up and before I go to bed "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"

During the day when I might feel scared or not capable or stressed "God is with me now."

I feel Gods love more than ever before in my life. He really does love us. He wants us to be able to return to Him and live in happiness for eternity. Not only do I want to live with Him for eternity, but I want all those I come in contact with and more to live with God for eternity as well. So I will keep on going, I will keep on fighting, I will keep on praying, and I will keep on preaching the true gospel. The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

  I love this gospel and I know it is true with all my heart. It really is the answer to everything.

   I love you all!! Have an amazing week and keep on fighting!! 

Todo valdra la pensa si mi posteridad permanenezca fieles a la fe. It will all be worth it if my posterity stays true to the faith.

 Love always and forever,

         Hermana Hunter