CHOOSE HAPPY!

This was a fantastic week! Started with a conference with President and Sister Harbertson. Always good. My favorite part was a Q&A session with Sister Harbertson. She talked a little bit about something that I want to be the theme for pretty much the rest of my life. Choose faith. Choose obedience. Choose charity. Choose faith. Choose HAPPY. With all that, we`re set. Through the good and the hard. I love the scripture in D&C 123:16-17. 

 16 You know, brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm, by being kept workways with the wind and the waves.

 17 Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.

Even just the smallest thing can make a huge difference. Do all that we can CHEERFULLY, then be still and trust in God to help us with the rest. Especially in the mission field, when we recognize this, we can not only endure to the end, but have joy while doing it. That`s my goal.

In other news, JORGE AND GLORIA HAVE A BAPTISM DATE. January 31, we are having a family baptism! Hna Hill and I are pretty stoked! They`re so great. They came to church and even the kids asked if they could come back every week. The 11 year old wanted his own copy of the Book of Mormon instead of just sharing with his mom. They`re just so happy. And that makes me happy. That`s the whole reason we`re here.

That was the highlight :) Other random news, we had a lesson with a less actieve the other day and he had 3 of his friends there so we taught them too. We asked if we could come back and teach them again sometime too. They agreed and we set up an appointment. Afterwards they told us that it was actually a class that they have that they want us to come to with 12 other people... that`s on Wednesday. We`ll see how it goes. I`ll keep you updated. 

What else? Not much. I`ll be honest, one of us was sick this week (won`t say who so that moms don`t worry), so we were in the house for four days... but all that considered, it was a pretty fantasic week! 

The pictures you`re getting are all from pday, sorry... one from last week and the others all from today. We kind of had a super pday. We got to Moray (the only place we actually planned to go to) and they told us that we had to pay for the ticket that included all of these places. We had to pay, and we weren`t going to waste it, so we had a great, long, Incan ruin filled Monday. No complaints :) minus maybe the sunburn. Esta bien!

Love you all! Have a super duper week!

Chao!

last P-day 

last P-day

Hna Condie & Hna Hill at Moray

Moray

Salineras

tasting Salineras

don't remember the name of this place . . . but it starts with a "ch"

"ch"

Ollantaytambo

Ollantaytambo

¡Feliz Navidad!

I agree, the email after the Skype is a little weird. But it was so fun to see everyone! I realized after we hung up that I didn´t really say any of the things I wanted. Too excited to remember. But that´s alright. We´ll get another go in May :) Love you all!

This was an awesome week! Started with the sister leaders coming! I got to work with Hna Nelson for the day. It was the BEST! Always fun to be with old companions. I got to remember all the little things that I learned with her that I´ve kind of let slide over the last three months. She´s incredible! And she helps me to be more motivated and work harder.

Kind of thinking about it now, this week was actually kind of slow. But still good. It was a lot harder to teach people than I expected it would be with Christmas and everything. Everybody had family over and was doing all the normal Christmas stuff. That meant lots of walking and contacting for us a lot of the time. But there was something really cool about working this week. I think the best gift that we could ever give for Christmas is helping others to learn about Christ. His birth, life, Atonement. Everything. Everything was for us, and the least we can do is accept it and apply it in our own lives, then go and help other people to have the same joy and blessings in their life. It was definitely a Christmas unlike any other, but one that I will probably never forget.

On the topic of people we´re working with, we challenged Jorge and Gloria to get baptized this week! She accepted it quickly and very happily. He is the type that wants to do a lot more investigating fisrt. Still good tho, that´s what we want. I know with prayer and faith and reading and coming to church and all that "investigating", he´ll get his answer. Both were happy and excited. Makes for some happy missionaries!

Sounds like you all had a super vacation! Say hello to everybody for me.

Las amo con todo mi corazón! 

Just a little selfie with a dandelion :)

Hna Nelson came to visit!!

Christmas jammies!

Merry Christmas from Hna Hill and me!

Merry Christmas from our apartment!

Tut Tut, Looks Like Rain

The rainy season in Cusco is definitely starting! It rained pretty much every day this week. And when it rains, it RAINS. We had some fun running through street rivers. Kinda fun I guess :)

On that note, I have a fun little story about that family that I told you about last week. We had a ward Christmas party on Friday, so we invited them to come. They were SO excited! We got there about ten minutes late to pick them up because we had to run home to switch into rain boots and grab some jackets. Regardless of the pouring rain, the two little kids were outside waiting for us (and we got a nice mouthful from the five year old about why we were late... she´s the one in the umbrella picture with Hna Hill). It´s SO HARD to get people to come to things when it´s raining or cold.  But they were excited and ready to go. It was a super fun night with them! I stand by what I said last week. I love them so much already!!! 

They are definitely our highlight right now.Them and Carol (the lady in the picture by the tree with the blue door behind us). We found her a couple of weeks ago, and she is literally one of the most incredible people I know. She has a super hard life. She´s been inactive in the church for a couple of years, but she´s so prepared to come back. Every time we go by and visit her we´re probably learning more from her than she is from us. She ALWAYS has new references for us and is always trying to do things for us. I love her so much. Just a very good, strong person.

Maybe this took me too long, but I'm starting to love Cusco. I always liked Cusco, but I´m getting to the point where thinking about leaving makes me sad. The same as it was in Puerto. I´m so happy that I have at least one more "for sure" change here while we finish Hna Hill´s training. After that, I don´t want to think about.

I´ll save the rest for Thursday!!! Doesn´t feel like Christmas at all!! It´s hot. There are very little signs of Christmas around here (like trees and presents, etc.). But I´m stoked for Thursday!

Can´t wait to see you! Love you all. 

Have a great Christmas week! FELIZ NAVIDAD!

xoxo,

Amie

Tut tut, looks like rain

My favorite little girl, Misleny

This is Carol.  She's a less active member that we recently started working with.  She is an INCREDIBLE woman!

Erick and Carol

Christmas panatone . . . ps I hate panatone . . .

Sometimes we're stuck inside all day so we have dance parties.

Good Week

Here we go again. The weeks are starting to get better and better. Hna Hill is doing SO GOOD! I´m so proud of her. She´s started taking the lead on contacting people and really talking during our lessons. She´s super hard on herself and her Spanish, but I think she's doing awesome! I´m so happy I got her as my hija. I´m convinced she´s the best one of this group that just came in. I´m so excited for the next 10 weeks (at least) with her! It´s gonna be good . . . even though she makes fun of me because I like to dance and sing around the room when she´s trying to wake up and I can´t speak English anymore... esta bien :)

The biggest news for this week, we found two new families that we´re teaching!!!! One of them is a reference from a less active member- her daughter and her family. Super cute. The husband is a little reluctant but once we become friends I have good hopes for them.

The other family is already INCREDIBLE. We contacted them in the street on Saturday and taught our first lesson with them yesterday. He kept telling us stories about investigating other churches but just feeling like SOMETHING was missing. Since we talked to them in the street he´s just felt so good and ready to listen. Their names are Jorge and Gloria. They have four kids TOGETHER, they are already married, they´re super cute and just completely ready to hear the gospel in every way. We left the lesson last night and Hna Hill and I both just wanted to cry we were so happy! Needless to say, we´re pretty stoked about them.

There are lots of hard and disappointing things about being on a mission. It´s incredible how just one person or one experience can make it the most incredible thing in the world though. After however many weeks of people and goals falling through, just one family has made Cusco the best 14 weeks that I´ve had yet. I love it so much. The gospel is true, and the Lord really is preparing people for us to teach.

Also, Emery´s birthday pictures are SO cute! I miss that little bug. Sounds like everything´s going well there at home. Give everyone a hug for me. Tell Sam hello and welcome home. Can´t believe it´s already been two years . . . More motivation to work harder now!

Love you all! Have a great week before Christmas!
xoxo,
Amie

Rosa and her family, her son, Gustavo - aka - my BFF

Being a Mom is Hard

Oh man, what a week. First and formost, I met my HIJA! Her name is Hna Hill. She´s super cute! The first week is always rough on new missionaries, but I can see a lot of potential in her. Training is a lot harder than I ever expected it to be, especially with someone who doesn´t already speak Spanish . . . but I´m hoping I can help her through her training and avoid the expiriences that I had to go through with my "mom"  so that she can feel happy and helpful. I remember feeling completely useless my first couple months, so I really want to help her avoid that. She really is great so I´m not too worried about anything at this point. I´ve probably learned more from teaching her this week than she´s learned from me. Funny how that works.

Believe it or not, this was a really slow week. We only got to work for two days because of trainings that we had to go to, the mission Christmas party, and . . . me being sick in bed. Don´t worry. I´m fine now. Our pensionista is the best and waited on me hand and foot. Soup and everything. That also means that we missed the Christmas devotional tho :( I´m hoping I can get permision to watch it later this week.

Also, I got my Christmas package!!! I may or may not have accidently opened the stocking . . . not my fault, there were pastacios (I think that´s how you spell it*) falling out all over the place. But the other things are still wrapped and I PROMISE I´m not going to open them until Christmas. Or at least I´ll try my hardest . . .

Love you all! Enjoy the cold in Idaho. I´m really missing it right now. 

xoxo,

Amie

P.S. 17 days until Christmas!!!

* the Christmas stocking had pistachios in it . . . helps to have spell check in English :)

My hija!!

First day contacting in the plaza.

Christmas party - We wrap presents really well . . .

IT'S A GIRL!

Merry Christmas to me!!!!! I´m getting an hija (daughter) this transfer! Aka, I´m training! Hna Camacho and Hna Sanchez are leaving (a little sad, but oh well) and I meet my newbie on Wednesday. Gringa?  Latina? I have no idea. But I´m STOKED!! I´ve wanted to train for a while now. I´m sure I´ll have lots more to tell you next week when I know who she is :)

Oh man. I´m happy.

Not just for training. This was an AWESOME week. We had our splits with the sister leaders on Tuesday. Always fun. I love working with Hna Chipunavi! I got to leave and work with her in her sector because they´re super close. I thought my ward was run down and impoverished, but I had my eyes opened again this week. We were literally walking on dirt roads, thru factories and brick mines and things like that all day. It still amazes me how happy the people with the gospel are even though they have close to nothing. It´s a lot easier to recognize here than in the states. Nobody has all the fancy things that we have back home. The ones that don´t have the gospel seem stressed and sad a lot of the time. But the people with the gospel, I don´t know, they´re just happier. Their lives are still very hard, but they have that peace that the others are lacking. Cool to see first hand.

In other news, we have a new family that we´re working with! Erick and Carol and their little boy Pablo. I should probably be used to it by now, but it still amazes me how the Lord prepares people for us to teach. No conversion is easy (for them or the missionaries), but with them, and others like them, you can just tell that they´re ready to change their lives. More about them coming soon.

Ahh, I have so many great stories from this week! Less active members finally coming back, or at least starting to after two months of visiting them. Funny stories with companions and the other hermanas in the apartment. Everything this week was just good!

Also, I got two of the packages!!!! The music and the brownie mix (ps, yall are the best). I may or may not have danced a little bit in the mission office when the elders gave them to me. Thanks :)

Say hello to everybody for me! Sounds like Thanksgiving was great and everyone´s happy. So that makes me happy :)

Love you all!

Hna Chipunavi

Service with Zoraida

I love these girls! But they're crazy!!

It was her birthday!! I didn't know, so I wasn't prepared.  The bread and noodles were my make-shift cake with candles :)

This is a family that I found and was working with for about a month.  They don't live in my sector so the other hermanas started teaching them.  They just got baptized!!

Moving Trucks and Bucket Showers

What a week. No hot water. No gas to cook food. No elders to help move a family. But one of the best weeks we´ve had in a while!

Started with our conference with Elder Evans. He talked about a lot of really cool things, but the focus was a lot about finding new people. Working with members, contacting on the street, and the real "how to" for all of hit. We put it to the test this week, and I gotta say, those general authorities know what they´re talking about. 

Usually contacting and following through goes something like this:

// Meet on the street and talk for about 2 minutes about who we are and ask if we can come by and teach them and their family sometime.

// They say yest, we get their info, make a cita and call it good.

// Call ahead and stop by the day of the cita. 90% of the time they´re not there and we can never find them again...

This week changed tho. The first process is about the same, just a little bit more directed to every single person personally. Can´t say that the success rate is up to 100%, but it´s definitely better! We are teaching 2 new families and 2 other people from contacting alone this week. And they seem pretty solid. I´m excited to see what happens with them!

All in all, it was a great week. This week taught the most lessons since I´ve been here. I LOVE working with Hna Sanchez. She´s an amazing teacher and we have a lot of fun together! I have to stop talking every now and then because I give her athsma attacks from laughing so hard... Don´t know if I´d say that´s a good thing or a bad thing. But the point is that I love every moment with her. I´m a little nervous that they´ll take one of us out next week. Fingers crossed for no :)

Really there´s nothing huge to report. Just that I´m happy and working :)

Love you all! 

xoxo,

Amie

P.S. I finished the Book of Mormon this week!!!! Lo maximo.

CCM or MTC reunion

Hna Condie & Hna Sanchez 

(*she didn't title the pictures this week so I'm guessing)

old fashioned floor waxing?

(I remember from my mission)