#12 Chuño Central

Ok so here in Puno they have this food called chuño and they have this long running joke with the missionaries that our stake is actually Chuño Central and not Puno Central. That's what they call it at least. And what chuño is is potatoes that have been stomped on, sunk in the lake for however many months, and then sun-dried. And apparently its horrible and everyone gets sick when they eat it. I never had the pleasure of trying it, until this week that is. Our pension made it and put it in a soup and I just ate it not thinking it would be anything super gross and it ended up being actually pretty good! After I had finished eating the soup, our pension, Elida, came in and asked me how I liked it with this sly grin on her face, And I told her I thought it was good! And then she said "Ahh you like my chuño!" So yeah I officially became a Chuño Central Missionary this week. And you know I'm not seeing any lasting effects.

Ok so last week was cambios right? Right. So I figured Elder Orellana would be getting the old heave ho, But I didn't guess that both Elderes Orellana AND Cuba would be getting shipped out! And that no Elders would be replacing them! And that now Hermana Gonzalez and I are the only companionship of missionaries in Barrio Victoria! Yup that's right. It's only us. And hardly ever is it only one companionship in a sector, especially Hermanas. So this week has been pretty hectic. We obtained the Area book de los Elderes and we have just been trying to find all their investigators and contacts and everyone. but it turned out being pretty successful and we taught a tooooon! They've got some good investigators. And now they're ours! Muahahah!

 One is named Nancy and we had our first cita with her one Saturday where I committed her to baptism!!! It was my first time asking someone to be baptized and I gotta say, I kinda nailed it. Another is a suuuuper young couple, both are 21 and have a 5 year old kid. They are Ariel (This is the boy) and Mariluz. And they are both suuper receptive and want to learn and they're already married so bonus!  But yeah its been a super fruitful week with lots of great experiences. We also vistited on of the old investigators this week. Her name is Yuliana and gosh I just love her already. It's been a year since she was last taught and we're not sure why she terminated the lessons in the first place, but she basically told us that she needed to learn more and pray. And no one ever says that to us without us asking them to in the first place. So yeah Good week for investigators! And last week we had 0 investigators and less actives in sacrament meeting. But this week we had 5 investigators that stayed for all 3 hours mind you, and a whopping 11 less actives!!!!! Most of which it was their first time since they've been active! Can you believe that? I was in wondering awe. Literally. So yeah once again, good week for the work. And Julio returned to church! For those of you that remember Julio. That man loves to talk. We had an appt with him this week and we didn't get a single word in. But he's a big fan of D&C so that's cool. 

Spiritual moment

So Presidente Harbertson has been counseling us to let go of our "Guerras de rebelión" or our weapons of rebellion. And as I think more and more about that, what that really means, I realize how much I really do need to change and how many things I use as weapons of rebellion in my mission. Whether it be staying in bed for 2 minutes more, or allowing myself to think only about myself and not focus in those things that need focus. These are my weapons of rebellion. And they are things I am trying to bury just like the AntiNephi Lehis. So I invite you all to think of those weapons of rebellion we carry around. And I invite you to bury them. Because the load is so much lighter without them. 

And that's all I got for now folks! Picture time!

Con mucho Amor,

Hermanita Rust

This is Elder Flores. He's from Chile and kinda the chillest person out there. And this is him Quidditching! He's a Potter Head as well. Foto Cred. Me.

And this is me on top of a giant Inca Head. So basic everyday stuff. Mt. Rushmore of Puno I guess you could say.