Hola Familia!
Wow. I have A LOT to tell you all. First things first, thank you Clark for your email. I will tell you I have just been asked to lead a
choir for a musical recital they will have here in Quillabamba for the
end of August...I am going to lead a freaking choir and I have no idea
what I am doing. But we are preparing 3 songs and I just hope it all
sounds great in the end!!!!!!! wahhh!!!!!!! And no one can play the
piano either and so I will be practicing the songs so I can play the on the piano. WHAT? haha
Second my birthday was one of the best days EVER. I have a few
pictures but I can´t send them but maybe I will put them in an
envelope and mail them. It started out
normal...preaching..teaching..and then we went to lunch and all the
elders sang "happy birthday" to me and one of them pretended to give me
a gift but it was really the baptismal clothes for the baptism I was
to have that night. Haha it was funny. I will speak more about the
baptism later. But I went to give a couple of things to my ¨mama¨ in
the mission, Hermana Roxana. She is our old pensionista and she said she
would cook anything I wanted and that we could come to her house in
the night and eat. So of course..I asked for pizza. It was SO good.
I have been having problems with my stomach again lately I went to the
doctor and I have an infection but I am getting better and I am so
happy because now I can eat. And it was good.
Yeah, well we ate pizza with all the Elders and they sang Feliz Cumpleaños and it's a tradition after you blow the candle out that you
eat a portion of the cake--or in other words you put your face close
to the cake and someone else smashes your face into it. Yummy. I ate
so much frosting in that moment I was afraid I would throw up. Then we all ate cake and the Elders gave me presents. The other Hermanas--oh thats right with the changes there are now 4 Hermanas
here in the zone...and not just us two. It is pretty fun we all live
together. I am liking it. So the other Hermanas gave me a really cool looking bracelet and
the Elders.. (it was so funny) bought me a little figurine
doll and they told me that they bought it because it looks like what I
looked like when i was young...gringa :) It actually looks like
me too. And they bought me a picture frame so I can put a picture of
the whole zone in there. It was so sweet. They threatened to put an
egg on my head (it's a tradition) but in the end they did not. Thank
goodness.
Thank you family for all the birthday wishes although it wasn't at
home with my family...I felt your love through the letters and I
really felt the love of the members here and I feel like I have a
family here. I think it will be reallllllllllly hard to leave. But
that's a good thing. :)
I am sure you are all wondering what happened with my companion and my
new companion. Well, mi hija was sent to Puno...the poor thing that
is the coldest area in the mission!!! But I received a call from her
on my birthday and she seems to be doing quite well. My new companion
is from Argentina (Mendoza)...is from the same group as mi hija and so
I am finishing her training with her here. Her name is Hna Lepez and
she is 33 years old. I can`t say much here but she is having some
difficulties in the mission...I received a call from the assistants
and they assured me that the change had nothing to do with my capacity
to train, just they felt the change was necessary for the progress of
both of them. I have to be firm and loving with her...a new thing for
me. I think I will learn a lot. My goal this week is to teach her
how to be happy.
The baptism we had this weekend was one of the most touching
experiences for me. We have been working with a young girl 15 years
old for a while and she wants to be baptized but her dad told her no
and her mom told her yes. Her parents are separated but her dad was
really strong in telling her not to do it but she told him it didn´t
matter what he said and she made the decision from that point to
prepare for a baptism. She attends seminary every morning and has
really gained a testimony of the church. She was baptized thisSaturday.
And a miracle happened in her family. Her father came to the
baptism. Her mom, her sister, to see her in white ready to be
baptized began to cry. They said they felt something really special
and they told us they would support her and they wanted to come to
church with her. And with tears in his eyes, after the baptism, the
father looked at us and told us that he wants to learn more, that he
noticed something different in his daughter and he knows that what she
has chosen to do is good and he wants to learn more. The next day he
came to church and we challenged him to be baptized at the end of the
month..and he accepeted. Even though the parents are separated...the
mom asked the dad to sit with her in church...and I don´t know maybe
after time marriage will be possible for them too. What a blessing it
would be for the whole family. It truly was a miracle...and just for
my birthday too!!!!!!!!!!! The young girl that was baptized she has a
younger brother (10 years old) and after she left the baptismal font
he came RUNNING back to the font and asked the elder "can I be
baptized with my sister too????" It was the CUTEST thing ever. Of
course the Elder said yes...but he will be baptized with his dad.
So everything is great. Working with my new companion will be a new
challenge, but I am excited to work with her. And we have received
blessings and blessings from the Lord. The truth is I have a love that
runs deep for every single member, for everyone here in Peru.
Alma 29:1-3 pretty much sums up how I feel.
Feliz anniversario papas!!!! Happy Anniversary mom and dad :) It is
SUCH a blessing to have a mom and a dad who are sealed in the temple,
active in the church, who have taught their children to obey and
serve. What more can I ask for?
With all my love
Hermana Lindsey
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