Week 5 - Lima Sur, here I come!

Hola Everyone!

 

How are you all doing? I am doing fantastic! Being a missionary is so great!!! And I only have 5 more days in the CCM until I'm out in the real mission field! That's so crazy. I feel like I just got here. That means that the next time I email (whenever that is!) will be from some random place in Peru. I'm sure it will be awesome! 

 

Yesterday, me and the other hermanas in my district who are going to Lima Sur were talking to one of our teachers about the mission. He served in Lima Sur too and he just returned in December! His name is Hermano Vázquez and he is hilarious! He told us that throughout our missions, we will always have a pensionista. He said they're like sweet little grandmas who cook all your food for you and wash your clothes. So that will be pretty great! He also said the hermanas usually get really nice apartments. He said that most missionaries only go to 4 or 5 areas throughout their mission. But we also got a new mission president this month, so we'll see if things change a little bit. It was so great to talk to him though! It definitely calmed some of my fears about going into the field.

 

My teachers are both so hilarious. There's a picture attached of me and Hermano Vásquez and Hermana Oliveros. She was kind of a temporary teacher to help Hno. Vásquez at first because we are his first North American group. We took that picture this morning at the temple and Hermano Flores was supposed to be there too but he didn't come :( We all think Hermano Vásquez is just like Timon off of the Lion King. The other day he had the funnies conversation with him. He asked us ''¿Qué es 'cookie crack'?'' and we were like ''Candy Crush?'' and he said ''Noooo... Cookie smart?'' and then we realized he was trying to say ''Smart Cookie''. It was so funny! They are just so fun to talk to, and the language barrier makes it even more hilarious.

 

So our investigators are doing really good! Also, just to clarify, our investigators are just our teachers (Hno. Flores and Vásquez) wearing t-shirts or something. Haha it's so funny. But we had our investigator named Persy and he moved to Chile last week. He was doing really great though. So now we have Ricardo to teach. We only have like two more lessons with him and I think he has a lot to learn, so we'll see how that goes! Italo is doing so great! We had a really great lesson with him this week and got him to commit to baptism. So now he's preparing for his baptism on August 1st! Maybe I'll be attending a baptism of a real investigator that day in the field!

 

Well, that's all I have to say for now. I'm not sure when exactly I'll be able to email again, but I'm sure I'll have a lot to say! Also, I would love to get letters once I'm out of the CCM! And hopefully I'll finally be able to send letters by then too! I hope you all have a fantastic week. Stay safe and always stay positive! I love you all!!!

 

Love, Hermana Winward :)

Pictures!!!

Week 4 - I'm an Avocado!

¡Hola Familia! How are you doing? There's always something wrong with these keyboards, so today the problems is that the enter button won't work, so I'm sorry! Haha. So I am officially an ''Advancado'' or as we like to call them ''Avocado''! That means we only have two more weeks in the CCM! It's so crazy!!! I have been having such a great time here, but I am really excited to finally go out there and get to work! On Saturday, we all got to go out and proselite for a few hours and guess what mission we went to?! Lima South!!! It was so cool to be able to be in my own mission for a little while. We were in the San Juan area and it was pretty similar to where we are now around the temple and everything. I was with Hna. Russell and a latina missionary named Hna. Bisama. She knew a little bit of English, so that was really good. We were with an older lady who was a member from that area. We basically walked around, looking for addresses and knocking on doors. We finally were able to teach a lesson right before we had to leave. It was this older lady and her granddaughter. They had a really small apartment-type house that we all sat in. They asked me to say the opening prayer, so that was scary! Haha it was a really short and simple prayer. Then the latina missionary and member taught her something but me and Hna. Russell couldn't really understand what was going on. When we left, Hna. Bisama said that she couldn't even understand the lady that well and she might have been speaking one of the random languages here, like Cechuwa. But it was really cool because the granddaughter said how she liked the song ''I am a Child of God'' from primary, so we all sang it. Then the granddaughter said the closing prayer, and I just thought it was so cool how similar our prayers were. I have really had to ''become as a little child'' because of the language barrier and everything. Everything we say is really simple because we don't know how to say much. It's really neat. Earlier this week, me and Hna. Joyner were talking with one of our teachers Hna. Vásquez, and he was so surprised by how much we had improved and everything. He asked us what we had been doing to get better at the language. Honestly, I was thinking that I wasn't improving as much at that point and was trying to figure out how I could do better. So we just told him it was the gift of tongues! That gift is so real, it's amazing. I hope I can continue to improve more and more every day. So another thing we did this week was watch Boyd K. Packer's funeral. It was really special to be able to watch that and hear all the things said about him. Other than that, the week has been pretty normal. We said goodbye to all the Advancados who left on Monday or Tuesday. Soon that will be us!!! Next week will be my last P-day here in the CCM! It is so crazy how fast this time is going by. I hope you are all having fun and staying safe! Thank you so much for you love and support!!! I love you all!        Love, Hermana Winward :)

Halfway through the CCM!

Hey everyone!

 

So this week hasnt really been that exciting. Also, the apostrophes arent working on this keyboard so Im sorry about that! Anyway, we are still working hard and trying to learn as much as we possibly can!

 

The Fourth of July was the best!!! The cooks in the cafeteria decorated it in American flags and other red, white, and blue decorations. It was so fun! Then for lunch we ate hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, french fries, onion rings, watermelon, lemonade, apple pie, and ice cream! It was a huge meal but it was so good! It was also our last meal before fasting, so that was good. It was so nice of them to do that for all of us! Other than lunch, the day was just like any other.

 

Spanish is coming a lot slower than it was at first. I feel like this week I kind of hit a wall. For some reason, its really hard for me to remeber certain words. People will tell me over and over again what a word is and I still dont remember it when I actually need to use it! But I will learn it all eventually. Slowly but surely! I think I have gotten better at understanding people when they talk to me, but I usually need them to repeat what they say at least twice really slowly! One of my teachers talks so fast! I never understand him when he talks super fast. But I can understand people for the most part and sometimes I can respond. Thats usually the hardest part. I know what theyre saying but I just dont know how to answer or what to say back! It will come though. I cant wait to be able to talk more fluently.

 

We have two investigators right now. Theyre names are Italo and Persy. We have invited Italo several times to be baptized but every time he says he needs more time or wants to learn more about the church. I feel like we have already taught him every lesson so its kind of hard! But he always does what we ask him to do as far as reading, praying, and going to church. He didnt even have problems with committing to live the word of wisdom, so that was good! Now we just need to get him to commit to baptism! Our other investigator is named Persy and hes an alcoholic. So we are trying to teach him about the word of wisdom and repentance. He doesnt live with his wife and daughter right now, but hes trying to get to the point where he can. I think hes been doing pretty good though. He wants to change and hes willing to do what he needs to make that change!

 

On Saturday, all of us who have been here for three weeks will go proselyting! Im really excited but also really nervous. Most of the other missionaries usually go to my mission to proselyte, which is Lima South! But they probably will have those of us going to Lima South to go to a different mission for that. From the group that went out two weeks ago, they said that Lima South was really poor, there were dogs everywhere, and these hills were just covered with little houses. One hermana said they walked up all these stairs to get to the top of a hill. Hearing all that made me really excited to go out to my mission! I know it will be hard sometimes, but I am just so ready to get to work!!!

 

Thats all I have to say this week! I hope you all have a wonderful week and find ways to serve others every day! Im trying to work on that too--no matter how small it is, you can always help someone in need! I love you all!!! Have a great week!

 

Love, Hermana Winward

Week 2 - Hola from PERU!!!

Hola Everyone!

 

How are you all? I have a lot to say, so this might be really long and possibly boring, so bear with me! Haha :) I can´t believe I´ve been here for two weeks now. It's crazy! The CCM is pretty fun. It's way smaller than I expected it to be but it's super fun! It's nice to be able to get to know pretty much everyone. The food is pretty good, for the most part! I just barely ate some cold turkey or chicken for lunch, I'm not exactly sure what it was. But it's usually pretty good! Also, the showers are either hotter than lava or water from the north pole, there's no in between! Haha :) The new North American elders and hermanas arrived last night. There's like 40 of them!!! Two of them are staying in our room (which includes me, Hma Joyner, Hma Esser, and Hma Russell--all going to Lima South! and I'm not sure yet where the new girls are going).

 

My district is the only district with only hermanas. It's super fun! There's the four of us who are going to Lima South, two are going to Lima West, and two are going to Trujillo! They're the only ones in the CCM right now who are going there. It was so fun to be able to watch the Trujillo temple get dedicated last Sunday. I'm so lucky I was able to be here for that!

 

So my daily schedule usually going like this: wake up & get ready, eat breakfast, have personal study, then physical activity, get ready again, have class, lunch, class again, TALL (language study on the computers), class, dinner, class, daily planning, then we go to bed! It feels like we're in class all day, which is true! Haha but it's fun. Our district is great and our teachers are the best! In the morning and after lunch, we have Hermano Vazquez and sometimes Hermana Oliveros. In the evenings, we have Hermano Flores. We've already had three investigators so far! We taught Manuel for a weekish and then he "went back to Chile" but he was replaced by Persy. In the mornings, we've started teaching Italo. It's been fun to be able to plan lessons for them, but the hard part is trying to teach in Spanish! I think the language is coming though, slowly but surely. It helps to have teachers who don't speak very much english because then I have to learn!

 

One night in class with Hermano Flores, he had a candy bar and some of the hermanas wanted it. So he gave it to us and we just passed it down the row, each of us taking a bite! It was so funny. He tried to take of video of us but we ate it too fast. The other night, be brought us all our own candy and they were like these chocolate covered almonds, and they were SO good! Better than the ones at Costco! Haha ;) And in class the other day with Hermana Oliveros, she was teaching us ways to study by topic. So the example one was the Atonement, and she asked us if we knew any scriptures that went with that. Right away, I said "Alma 7:11-13!" Everyone was surprised I knew one so fast and Hermana Oliveros handed me the whiteboard marker and said something like "I'm passing my job on to you!" haha it was a great honor ;) For some reason, me and my companion are good at knowing scripture references!

 

On P-days, we have the wonderful opportunity to go to the Lima temple and do endowment sessions. It's the best thing ever! The temple is really small, not like the ones in Utah! Haha but it's such an amazing experience to be there. It's nice to get outside the gated walls of the CCM and learn what the outside world is like. We also go to stores to get groceries or souvenirs. Last week, we went to this store called Tottus and it was basically a Peruvian Walmart! Haha. It was fun.

 

Í'm having such a good time here! I'm learning and growing so much, and so grateful for the opportunity I have to be here. I have one quick spiritual experience to share with you. So on Saturday night, me and the other Hermanas going to Lima South asked our Zone Leaders for blessings, just for comfort and strength. So we went into a classroom and the four of us received blessings. Elder Riddick gave me my blessing, with his companion Elder Hart. Everything he said was exactly what I needed to hear. That was such a strong testimony to be that priesthood power is true and that my Heavenly Father loves me. Later, someone told us that Elder Riddick and Elder Hart shared the experience of giving us blessings and Elder Riddick said it was one of the most spiritual experiences hé's ever had. He said that whenever Elder Hart was giving the blessing, he would think of things that needed to be said but he couldn't say them because he wasn't the one giving the blessing. But every time he had those thoughts, Elder Hart would say the exact same thing Elder Riddick was thinking of. It was so amazing.

 

I know this church is true! I'm so grateful for all of your wonderful examples and your help in getting me on this mission! I love you all so much!!! Have an amazing week!

 

Love, Hermana Winward :)