Okay so this week was so long for some reason, well and short.. I´m actually not really sure how to explain it. This week we got the opportunity to hear from Elder Uceda of the 70 (He´s our area president) He is super cool and I learned SO much! I think he sucked all of the spiritual energy out of me. It was all super fun. We had to travel to Puno and I got to see the Quispe family!!! <3 I think I will cry everytime I see them. I love them sooo much! After two days in Puno, we came back to Jxx and returned to normal missionary work. woohooo! We worked super hard and I think we'll have some pretty amazing news next change. We continue to visit with Yuly! SHE IS THE BEST! I love her so much! She had her interview this Saturday and I could not be any happier. She is so amazing and has such a strong testimony already. She is willing to change her life for the Gospel. That's when you know you have a golden convert. During her interview, one of the members asked us if we could teach one of his friends while Yuly was in the interview and of course we said yes! The girl came and we began to teach her our purpose as missionaries. Suddenly, a rush of water came spouting into the baptismal font. After a couple minutes it stopped. Super weird but we continued to teach. About 5-10 minutes later water started spouting out AGAIN! One of the Elders and us went to see if we could stop it. We found a key that stopped it and continued the lesson. A couple minutes later water started to fill the font again. We had no idea what to do because it was off! Anyway, we ended up calling the secretary of our ward to come and drain the font. All of us were joking that someone on the other side was trying to tell this girl to be baptized, hahaha. It was hilarious and I think it's true ahaha. What else could it have been. The water was off! I think she's getting baptized. She has SO many questions and the Gospel can answer everyone of them. In reality, the Gospel can answer every question, just if you let it.

 

Oh yeah and these lovely photos haha, this morning, we went to the catacumbas in Lampa. It's inside of a Catholic church and you can go under ground and everything. The picture of me is outside of a tumb thing with a bunch of bones inside. It was super amazing. They also have a replica of the statue of Mary carrying Jesus by Michael Angelou. Super beautiful and I want to go back! This country is beautiful and amazing but the thing that makes this experience amazing is this Gospel. The Gospel is beautiful.

 

Les Amo un muchisimooo!

-Hermana Wattles

 

 

Photo of bones

 

A Changed Heart

Hello Friends and Family, hehe

This week was a good one and more than anything I am learning some beautiful Lessons.

First, I'll update ya'll on these beautiful people here that are progressing, First and foremost, Yuly!!! Yuly is 17 years old and she is so amazing. We've been teaching her since I first arrived in Juliaca. She always has a million and one questions and some things are hard for her to understand, but every time we teach her, something is growing within her heart, I just know it. She has a testimony stronger than mine ever was and her desire to be baptized is so great. Everytime we meet with her, she is really searching to understand the gospel and do what is right. The last lesson, we told her that to show respect to our Savior, she should wear a dress to church and arrive on time (sometimes people wear jeans and come in after the sacrament). And ya know what? She was there before us, wearing a dress! I was ecstatic. She is so amazing and obedient. Y Yuly si esta leindo eso... jeje le amo MUCHO! Everyday, she is teaching me something so important, that it doesn't matter the circumstances, the Lord comes FIRST and we should be willing to do what ever and when ever for him.

After her, we have some families who are pretty amazing and there isn't a lot of progression YET.. but I know it will come!! This picture is of me wearing this protector helmet of one of our investigators. We knocked for like 10 minutes and they never came out so we started looking at their stuff, hahha.  But, I know that these families have something special and the Gospel WILL change their lives!

Something else I have been learning here is that I came on the mission to serve. I told myself that I would completely forget myself so that I could fully serve the Lord. Whenever people said that they were the ones that changed, I never understood and I thought that they needed to focus more on the people because we're not here to change ourselves. But, I have learned a valuable lesson. It is impossible to serve with all of your heart and not come out changed yourself. IMPOSSIBLE. It is amazing how the Lord works. I love him. Service is something very powerful and when we are in the service of our fellow being, we are also in the service of our God and we can not give him more than He can give us. It just doesn't work that way. Service is something very special. Give your hearts to the Lord and he will give you more. I have alot of trust in this and I promise it is true!

I love you all so much!
Thanks to the people who write me, it really warms my heart! ahha

Con Amor,
Hermana Wattles

 

Juliaca

Six Months

Today marks six months in the mission and it only feels like one... or less. I´m not really sure. My sense of time is very.. very wacked. Anywhooo.. this week was amazing and so fulfilling. Everyday I am growing, stretching, learning and improving. Only through my Savior though. We have found SO many people these past two weeks and I am growing to LOVE this new area. It is beyond sad that I had to leave the other because I have a love for them that can never be replaced but my love for Juliaca is ever growing.

 

This week we had some amazing lessons with some amazing people. I felt the spirit so strong in all of them and I could feel the Holy Ghost guiding each one of these lessons. We are preparing one girl for baptism on the first of August and she is SO READY. She always comes with questions and everything. People like her are amazing. The people who truly want to learn and who truly have a desire to know. That´s her!!! We also taught an imense number of new people who just amaze me. Many people here know so much and there is so much that I can learn from them. Imagine how much amazing it will be when they can say, "I know the church is true and that Jesus Christ died so that I can live again with an eternal family." wooooo it just gives me the chills to think about it! I wish you could all meet the people here. So Amazing. So Wonderful. So Beautiful. I am learning so much from them and really I think that I am learning more than I am teaching...which really seems like a twisted thing.

 

I want to express my love for each and everyone of you. I know that I do in every one of these but you know what? We can never have too much love. Charity IS the pure love of Christ.. isn´t it? That´s one thing that we can all improve on no? I say I'm not going to stop loving until I can learn to love like Christ and God love.  And so I would just like to express my love for you all. You are all so amazing and I know you are all sons and daughters of a loving Heavenly Father. I KNOW HE LOVES YOU, so much! We all have worth in his eyes and knowing this should give us a little more peace. I am so thankful for each and every one of you. I have NO idea what I would do without you all. You are so amazing.

 

-Hermana Wattles

 

Do us a favor eh? Help the missionaries. They really have something special to share. Missionaries work miracles, change lives, and work wonders. I testify that two missionaries can make a world of difference because they are working right there with our Heavenly Father.

 

Love you all. 

Tell your missionaries you love them. This work is hard! Very hard!

 

oh ps this is a pic of me returning to beloved Puno because we can come back once a change. 

Me and Lake Titicaca 

 

 

 

 

What a Blessing

July 6, 2015 - Okay, so this was my first week in my new area and it was SO SO SO Stressful! It is so hard to leave a place that you know so well and get shoved into a brand new place and have to learn the streets, the members, the places to buy things and everything else. SO HARD. But it's coming along. My new companion is from Mexico! I love her so much and I know we are going to do so so amazing together!!!!

 

This week was good though. There wasn't much work in this area when I came so we made a goal to find new people and that's what we have been doing! It´s amazing how much the Lord will bless you for your efforts. We have really been putting our all into the work and slowly but surely it is paying off. Everyday I am EXHAUSTED but content with all that has happened. We have found so many new people who seem so ready and are already working with people heading towards baptism. I am so thankful for all that the Lord has given me and I know that everything happens for a reason and I am so thankful for that! I love this work so much and I am so thankful to our Savior who is with us every step of the way. I am so thankful for all of my blessings and I pray that all of you can see the blessings in your lives.. because they're there.

 

I love you all!

-Hermana Wattles

Week 6 of Week 6

Okay so this time is going by way too fast! I have been in Puno for 124 days and I am leaving tomorrow. CRAZY!! At least I am leaving this amazing place with a bang.

 

This week we have had amazing success and we have met amazing people. I love it here so much and I can not express how blessed I am to be here and to meet all of these amazing people and allow them to change my life. Last week, I mentioned a man that we had invited to an activity not thinking he´d show and then come to find out.. HE DOES! He asked us questions and all that. So this week we decided to pass him to the elders in our area. We felt that he would grow so much more with them and have so much more success. It was a very hard thing to do and it seemed almost impossible, but finally we decided that if it was the right thing to do, then Heavenly Father would bless us... and he has. Heavenly Father works in such marvelous ways. After passing this man to the elders, we have found a whole family of 6 who are ready for baptism, a young girl who wants to get baptized before the first lesson, and another woman who accepted a baptism date the first visit. I never thought that we could meet such amazing people who just seem... READY... It is amazing. I love this work here and I am so blessed to have served in Puno and I can not wait to see where the rest of the mission takes me. I am learning so many things every day and loving this journey more and more. I wish I could share it with you... well I mean more than just these words. Peru is such a beloved country and Heavenly Father has a VERY special place in his heart for these people. I JUST KNOW IT. I hold a very special place in my heart for them too.

I love all of you. You are all bright lights in my life that help me to keep trudging forward. I wish I could perfectly express my love for each one of you because you are all so special to me.

Always remember who you are and remember your worth. Not your worth to the world but your worth to a loving Heavenly Father, a King. I love you all and I pray that you can all share your light with the people around you because when we share our light, the world can be a happier place!

I love you all from the bottom of my heart.

Les Amo y Cuidense

Con Mucho Amor

Hermana Wattles

P.S. This is a picture a sheep thinking about ramming me, and then a couple minutes later... he decided to ram me... like 7 times. It was super scary cuz they have horns and they hit really hard haha.

 

 

Milagros

Hi people.

How are y'all?

 

This week has been amazing! I have seen so many miracles happen and I have had so many prayers answered this week. I'm not sure if I mentioned my two weeks in Cusco this week but, yeah I have been in Cusco for two weeks out of this six week change. We have found that we are losing investigators and it is becoming harder to help people progress. Last week, as a companionship, we decided that we were going to work super hard these last two weeks. This whole week I have been praying that we could find the people who are ready to hear the gospel and that when we find them that they will be open and willing to listen. Let me first say that it is so hard to find new people. Usually, we contact the coolest people and we think that they will come to church and let us in later on... but usually not. mehh. BUT... this week we have run into the COOLEST people. One day we were heading to an appointment and we were frantically trying to find a woman to bring with us because it was an appointment with a man. We could not find anyone and we were becoming discouraged when all of the sudden we ran into two girls on the street and started talking to them. I decided to ask them if they had time and surprisingly they said yes!!! So we brought them to the house and the man wasn't home so we ended up just teaching them! It was amazing because I feel like all of that happened for a reason so that we could teach those two girls.

 

The next experience was actually just Saturday. One of our appointments fell so we decided to work through the ward list to find less actives and see if we could teach them. We came across one house and knocked on the door. After a minute or so, a man poked his head out from above the roof. We looked up and then said HOLA!! But then he disappeared. what. a minute or so later, someone comes and opens the door. We ask if the member is home and he tells us, no. We decided we might as well share a contact card with him and invite him to the activity that was going to happen that night. He said he´d come and then started asking us questions about our purpose as missionaries and what we had to offer him. We told him a little and then asked him to come the activity. (Usually when we invite people to activities, no one comes..)

 

Later that night, the activity ended and we started talking to people. Then, the man came up to us with his pass along card and told us that he really liked the activity. He then asked us what we teach and how it can help him. He asked us what he had to do in return to receive our help and then he asked us how much it costs to be a member of the church. We were so happy to help him with his questions and help him to understand some basic principles of the church. Then he continued to remind us of all of the upcoming activities in the church and when our next appointment with him was. It was so amazing to find someone who I feel is so ready. I am so excited to see how the church can help his life.

 

We also had other stories but ahhh, I would just take up your whole day writing about them. They were all amazing, I promise.

   

Heavenly Father blesses us in ways we can never imagine. The power of prayer is so powerful and if our hearts are in the right place he WILL bless us. I testify that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and that through him we can be saved to live with our Father in Heaven again.

 

I love you all so much and it is so amazing to know that I have so many people backing me up because sometimes it is REALLY hard. You are what helps me make it through!

 

I love you all so much!!!

 

Cuidense y Les Quiero Mucho!!!

-Hermana Wattles

 

P.S. I really love pollo (chickens)

We like to play with them during studies...

 

 

Tomorrow Never Comes

Hiii Friendsss and Familyyyy!!!!

 

Can I just start off with how this mission is a blast! I'm literally in heaven, I think. Ironic... don't missionaries go to heaven if they die on the mission, haha. I´m kidding but it really is amazing.

Every day is an adventure and my companion and I were talking about how tomorrow really never comese so for this reason, we need to be our best today. Be happy now. Always be learning and stretching. All of our wants, dreams, and goals can start today because tomorrow really never comes. Live in the moment people!

Anyways, this past week I was in Cusco again, ahhh. I had a minor health problem but it's all good now! I am so happy and healthy!

Due to my Cusco trips, work has been slower but not any duller. Every day I am learning more and growning more. We always find new people who are so excited to hear what we say and those times when we don't it is alright because I know that someday they will.

In Cusco, I went on splitz with some other sisters and it was honeslty the time of my life. They are so cute and I am starting to learn that we can learn the greatest things from the people sitting next to us. We just need to open up our hearts and be teachable. Learning is one of the greatest things we can do on this earth and we should never ever pass up an oportunity to learn something new. Every day I'm learning new words, teaching methods, gospel principles, messages that come from the scriptures and other things and also... I am learning that I am going to come home and not know any of the new trends... shoot. It's okay though because I will make my own peruvian trends.... and this mission is so worth it.

Also I am going to add this picture of my favorite little girl in the whole world. She is so pure in heart and willing to give me a hug at every moment in the day. She was baptized a couple weeks ago and she teaches me how to be pure in heart. She is so spunky and cute but just like all other children, she loves the Lord and only has good intentions.

I am learning that I need to become like a child, submissive and meek and humble and all other things.

I am so thankgul for all of my many blessings I have and I KNOW this church is true without a shadow of a doubt.

I love you all!

Con Amor

Hermana Wattles

oh and FRENCH TOAST