FRENCH FRIES

This week we had some awesome lessons!!! This week we rescued Hermana Concepcion (we have been trying to rescue her for like three months)... so that happened. Then our pensions daughter was baptized! We had lots of lessons with people who I know will get baptized. They just have such amazing spirits and their desire to learn more is so great! I love it so much. We taught one of the families that we've been teaching for a while. We talked about the miracles in their lives and how they can see the Lord´s hand in their lives. We invited them to be baptized and she told us that she really wants to get baptized but she wants to wait until her nephew missionary comes home.. in over a year. Well, we´ll keep working with them. They are so sweet. We also taught a woman that is from the same family. She is so great and has so many desires to be the person that the Lord wants her to be. I can't wait for these people to really understand what the Gospel is. The Gospel really is a blessing. I love that it means good news. I'm not sure if that's what it means in spanish too.. I'm sure it does. But the gospel really is good news. The more and more that we learn and grow in the gospel, we start to see that happiness grows within us. We start to recognize our purpose and who we are. We feel the love of God more profoundly in our lives and we only desire to do good. I love that about the Gospel. Heavenly Father really does love us and only wants the best for us. The more and more we recognize that, the easier life will get. Our trials don't seem as dificult because we know that we have them for a reason and it is all part of our plan that he has created. I love that so much. I hope this week you can all ponder on the many blessings that God has given you. I love you all to death!

 

-Hermana Wattles

Funny Moment:

This week we decided to go to a chicken place for dinner. We go there a lot but we only ask for fries because the chicken isn't that great... but this time we thought we'd get chicken. We sat down and without even asking us, they brought us a plate of fries.... they know us too well.. even though that's not what we wanted! My favorite thing here is probably french fries.. they eat lots of papa. potatoes.

les quiero bastante y ojala que tangan una buena semana! mañana me voy a cusco!

pictures:

selfie in an investigators house

shiomaras baptism! 

 

I think I've been here for a year

Man what a good week. To start off, today we had a meeting as a zone and we received so much good news. FIRST, we got cell phones. Miracles do happen, haha. Holland is coming and is going to speak to the whole mission in February... LEGENDARY and I just have the best mission ever. This week we had lots of lessons and lots of the spirit felt. Buttt I can not remember any... On Monday I got to see a convert from Puno. I love her so much and I almost cried when I saw her!! I also got to hit one year in the mission..... I'm not sure how I feel about that..

 

I think my favorite thing that happened this week was yesterday. We went by an investigators house and she told us she didn't have time but that she had been reading the Book of Mormon constantly and she thought it was so beautiful. AND OH BOY is it hard to get people to read the Book of Mormon here. It make me so happy!

 

As we were walking away from their house, two giant dogs just started jumping on me. My companion goes, "Have you ever seen a dog jump off a dock into a river?... Yeah, it looked like they were doing that to you..." So there's that.

 

Also, we had a lesson with an investigator and it so happened that 4 kids under the age of 8 were there too... We talked about prayer and somehow got onto the topic of dying and the little boy of about 4 years of ages goes, "Guys, only Catholics die" oh my gosh it was so funny. As we left the house, the mom took us to the chapel in her car and we passed a bunch of workers making tar so I asked her how to say tar in Spanish. She tells me the word and goes, "next time you see a bunch of black people you have to say, "look at all that tar'" oh my goodness.. I was so shocked that she said that but people don't have filters here.. at all ahahhahahahhha. Good times.

 

I love this mission so much. It is filled with good times, bad times, funny times, weird times and I am always always learning. I wouldn't give these experiences up for the world.

I love you all to death!

-Hermana Wattles

Pictures

1. My year mark picture eating my favorite food... a plate of french fries with lots of ketchup and mayonaise :) they always give us weird looks when that is the only thing we want to order, haha.

2. My favorite Nelly! I saw her in Puno last week and I about cried!

Good week.

This week was a good one. My companion and I are really learning to work better and teach better together. It makes me so happy and proud. I feel like I sort of know how to train.. kind of... cuz it's hard. ahahha

 

This week we had lots of lessons and that made me REALLY happy. We made this board to keep that progress and track the amount of times that we visit the key people that we have (there´s a lot) and MAN we have lots of checks this week....yeeee. I'm getting really bad at emailing and I apologize. I get on on mondays and I completely forget what happened that week. I think really hard... it hurts my brain. More than anything, we had a really great lesson yesterday with the same family that we had last week, hee. We hadn't planned on visiting them and we didn't even have an appointment but we decided to go anyways. We walk in and start talking. We decided to teach lesson one but as we started the lesson I felt so strongly impressed to teach the Book of Mormon. We watched a video about a Bishop explaining the Book of Mormon and after we talked about how important it was. At the end, we invited them to be baptized when they come to know that it is all true and they told us that they really wanted to but their Sunday job doesn't permit them to do it. Before we could start talking again, the mom looks at us and goes, ´If this is really the right thing for us, I know that the Lord will prepare a way. I don't know how but I know he will´. WOW the faith of that woman blew me away. Then she starts talking about how her son is so happy that we are teaching her and she wants to make him proud, so we told her to write her son and tell him that we invited her to be baptized and see what he says. We were all crying and the spirit was felt so strong. I know that they felt it.

 

I feel so blessed to teach people and help them really see how the Gospel can bless their lives. I know that it can. I love the Gospel. I love the Lord and I know that this church is true.

 

-Hermana Wattles

 

Funny moments

 

-This week we went to our mission leaders house and the elders had a key so we just walked in. While we waited for him, we watched Momon messages on Elder Vances usb but as he was looking for them, we saw a bunch of Justin Bieber christmas albums (we can have christmas music wee) and his companion from Lima, Elder Bustamante (and also from my group) goes, "AHHHH justin bieber" and threw his arms into the air. It was so so funny!

 

more happened but I forget. I think it's a problem. I can't remember anything.

Okay, so I can not even remember what has happened this week so I will try my best. Last Monday, we went to the Catacumbas again (the place with the bones)... my third time. The tour guy/kid, knows me very well ahaha. This week was New Years, obviously... and we ate rotisserie chicken and paneton with chocolate. YUMMM. at 12am (just like Christmas) we woke up to the annoying fireworks. I love fireworks but let me tell you... it was like world war III. In J...., EVERYONE sets off fireworks from their roofs and it becomes this competition to see who can have more, who can have the biggest, and who can go for the longest time. It´s a lot.

 

So lately, we haven't had a ton of amazing lessons with people who are progressing and it's kind of hard BUT yesterday, we had a lesson with three new investigators. They were a reference from other missionaries and so we went. We sat down and talked for a while and find out that their family member is serving a mission in Guatemala and none of them are members. The aunt had pregnancy complications and was really worried. Their missionary told them to ask for a blessing from someone in the church and so they did. The baby was born at six months. Then the missionary told them to fast and pray. they told us, "we had no idea how to fast or pray but we did as he told us and the baby continues to live. We know that it is a miracle from God and that we need to continue in the path." WOAH I was blown away. The faith that these people had and the miracle that they saw is amazing. Their baby was born weighing one kilo and dropped to half a kilo but she keeps living. They want to be members and they want to make their son happy and proud. I feel so blessed to have met them. Little Miracles :)

 

Semi funny.. idk

This week we met some girl in the store of one of our investigators and so we started talking to her. She went on and on about her life and how you just gotta live life and then continued to tell us that it sucked that we had never gone to the Jungle in Peru and that she was going to take us because we live a sad life and then the investigator came over very impatiently and goes, "yeah let's pray" (and we usually explain how to pray to people we just meet) so, I started to explain but before I could get the second word out, she had taken the initiative and began to pray. We looked around confused and bowed our heads so dang quickly, haha. I guess it's good she gets the concept of prayer.

 

okay love you,

talk to you all next week,

<3 Hermana Wattles

i found the colors :)😋

 

1.Hermana Stickle and I 

2.Some kids were making scary voices while we were underground with the bones. My companion flipped a switch and thought the bones were talking... that don't scare me

so funny.

 

ok, one more, New Years Eve, a sign that says Nevaditas, I have to represent my state.

 

Merry Christmas

Well have a merry late one. I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas just like I did! I loved talking to my family. I have really come to understand, here in my mission, how important our families are. I LOVE THEM. 

 

This week we were able to teach a new investigator who seemed super interested. I think I mentioned him in the last email. When I asked if there was any other person that we could go visit to share the Gospel he goes, "me"! Well... this Sunday, HE CAME TO CHURCH. I think when people come to church, it brings the missionaries the most joy. He came, he listened, he dressed up, he took notes. WOW. I was super amazed. Then, we find out that he moved and now does not live in our area... so we can't teach him anymore. sad face. That's okay though because I know that everything happens for a reason and that if we weren't meant to teach him, other missionaries were. I'm super excited for him to know the Gospel and let it change his life.

 

We had another really great lesson. side note: When people keep with their commitments, (read a pamphlet, the Book of Mormon, pray, come to church) it makes me happy.. really happy. So we had a lesson with a woman and it was just so smooth. The spirit was present and I think we all knew. She listened to us and accepted what we had to say. She told us that she had no problem with reading and praying and the desire that she had to learn blew me away.I feel so blessed to be here. To teach. To learn and grow. I love the Lord.

 

Also, this week we had a particularly frustrating lesson... well it was kind of funny. 

We went to teach a less active family about the ten commandments. As we are explaining no adultery, the wife acts like she doesn't understand and the husband goes on a rant about his million wives and how his wife now is not the first. He went on and on and was laughing too! man. Then he talked about one time how he left his wife and who knows what happened after that... I got lost. Then the daughter goes, "yeah... his granddaughter is older than me.." it was weird. BUT that all happened before they were members! SO LOOK, the Gospel does bless people and families!

 

haha love yall!

 

cuidense,

Hermana Wattles