Wednesday, February 04, 2015:
WOW!!! I've already been in Peru for
one whole week! It's so crazy but at the same time it feels like it's been
sooooo long! These are Spanish keyboards and they are so hard to write on so
sorry for all the mistakes, i'm just trying to write fast! :)
Traveling went well and I met up
with a bunch of sisters at the gate! I dropped my stuff off and went to get
some breakfast and could barely eat because I was trying so hard to hold back
all the tears. But that was the hardest part so far. I've done so good since then. All the other Hermanas
(sisters) are so great and we've all become such good friends. I'm in a trio
with Hermana Samuels and Hermana Alder. I'll try and send pics.My p-days are Wednesdays
and I email around this time every week. :)
The Spanish is coming along slowly but surely. I can pray in Spanish, hold a decent conversation with all the Latinos, bear my testimony, and I have the missionary purpose memorized in Spanish. I am remembering a lot from what I’ve learned before but now we're starting into some new things so it will be a little slower learning. Patience :) But it's been going really well and our teacher is awesome. Not going to lie the first day was rough...mostly because everything was new, the people, the food, the country, the CCM (MTC), and everyone speaks Spanish all the time. But after that every day gets better and I am liking it more and more. My companions are so sweet and we all get along really well. We are all very different but that makes it fun :) And all the Latinos here are sooo nice! We have become really good friends with some of the Latina sisters and sit and talk to them at meals and stuff. And all the Latino elders are fun too but super flirty so you have to be careful :) Us white girls I guess ;)
My hair is so crazy here! Like seriously if it were any shorter I might have a fro haha! But I´m learning lots of undoes that will probably be all I do my whole mission. It's harder now that it's short but I'll make it work :) Everything here is so beautiful! Green and lots of plants and birds and beautiful everywhere! It hasn’t been terribly hot yet but its definitely warm.
We basically get up in the morning, eat, study, go to Spanish class all morning, eat, study, go to class, exercise, study, go to class to learn to teach, eat, class, bed :) Lots of studying but it{s good, that's what this time is for :) Our teacher is great but he speaks only in Spanish. I'm getting really good at understanding Spanish, now I just need to work on teaching it. But it helps us learn a lot faster that way. The gift of tongues is so real, it's amazing all I’ve learned so far! We had our first lesson yesterday, but it's just our teacher who dresses up and plays investigator. But he stays in character the whole time so it feels really real still. Our lesson went all right, definitely need to get used to teaching in another language cuz I can’t say everything I want. But we made it though and got some key points across that we wanted to. Haha but at the end I was trying to ask if we could volver (return) to his house but instead I accidentally asked if we could vivir (live) in his house. Hahahah awkward!!! Good thing he's not a real investigator! But it was pretty funny and we got a good laugh out of it.
Then today was p-day!! Wahoooo! Pday is the best after working so hard for a week. We got to go to the temple this morning and it was so great! It was all in Spanish but we had headphones in with English so we could understand. It is a lot smaller than ones I’ve been in but just as pretty and sacred. And the veil is the prettiest one I’ve seen ever so far. So great, I needed it so much. It reminded me of the times I got to go with you guys and with the boys to do baptisms. I love the temple and I’m so glad we are sealed forever cuz I can’t imagine not knowing I could be with you forever!!!! Then we walked outside of the temple and guess what!!! There was my mission Pres and tons of missionaries from my mission!!!! It was their temple day so we got to go and talk to him and he is sooooo nice! He recognized my companions and I cuz we are all going to Lima East and talked to us for a bit. Then I also saw Elder Kolton Pierson there!! SO crazy! I'll attach a pic if I have time! It was really fun to talk to him for a minute.
Then we went to a big store sort of
like Cosco to get some things if we needed it and also the distribution center
and i got scriptures in Spanish and a little PMG. The transportation system
here is nuts, everyone driving all over the place and lots of honking and
stopping in the roads and everything. But I love it still and it´s actually
really entertaining. :) We ride the bus wherever we need to go or walk and you
just cram in and hold on and they stop and go and drive all over and then you
just get off and pay half a sole which is probably less than 25 cents and that
will get you anywhere you want to go. Super nice as long as you don’t mind
being crammed on a bus. But really I love it and it's finally feeling like I’m actually
here in Peru. I wake up every day and really don't believe it but getting to be
out in the city today make it seem real.Everyone is so nice and all the
people talk to you and say hello on the streets. All the kids are so cute
and so nice.
I´m running out of time but there is just so much to tell ! Sorry this has been so scattered and crazy! But just know I love you all so much and I am doing so well here, don't even worry about me! I'm getting used to everything and loving it more and more every day.
We were challenged to read the whole BOM before we leave the CCM so we've been working on that and a scripture I loved this week was 2 Nephi 5:27. They did live after the manner of happiness. It wasn’t an emotion it was a way of life. I am coming to understand how to just live in happiness more and more and it really comes from being so close to the Lord and trusting him with your life. I´ve told him over and over that my life is in his hands for these next 18 months and I am on his time. I’m all here and I’m just here to serve and love his people. The more I focus on having that attitude the easier and better life is. I feel myself changing and becoming better every day. It’s hard work but it'll be so worth it.
I hope everything is well at home. I think about you every day and pray for you. I've told the Lord that he is in charge of watching over you while I’m gone so I can focus here and he's fulfilled that for me by helping me to focus and really not be homesick hardly at all. Lots of girls have struggled this week but I have been blessed to have such a strong sense that he is watching over you and I don’t need to worry. I love you and can't wait to share more experiences! Thank you for the sweet letters I found in my bag. I read them all and totally cried but I loved it. Talk to you next week! Live joyfully and let the Lord be in your heart always.
So much love,
Hermana Cox
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