My
companion is called Hermana Conde. She is from Lima. She is.... Candice
Horito. Like she randomly, not all the time, but randomly looks JUST
like Candice and she talks JUST LIKE CANDICE! So needless to say, I'm
loving her. She's got a couple transfers less in the mission that I do,
but she's super cute and she knows the area well for only being here two
weeks before I got here. So she's new in Talavera too. And she's just
kinda a goof ball. Our Pensionista's first husband was a Japanese man,
and our pensionista told us that the way he punished his children was
with his fingers all close together and then he would pierce them with
his hand and yell "Castigo!". Well Hna Conde just thinks that is
hilarious so now she does it to me. All the time. "Castigo!" Also in
this respect she reminds me of Candice. But I already love her and we
are already great friends and she likes the Best Two Years soundtrack,
so we listen to that a lot, but hey I like it. Thus my subject line. We
go through alllll of Talavera singing that one line. It's the best! The
best two years!!!
So yeah she's my comp and I will send pictures.
Now
about my pensionista. Oh she is a hoot. Her name is Senobia and she's
just a fire cracker. We live in her house, which is the cutest little
thing ever. And she cooks for us breakfast lunch and dinner. She
looooooves to talk! And I like to listen to her. She always says
"Imaginate!" Which means "Imagine it!" allllwaaaays. And then she'll
stop in the middle of a story to tell us to eat more. But I don't know
why she tells me to eat more because immediately after she says that, she
tells me that yes, I have lost a ton of weight, but I'm still fat and
need to lose 5 kilos more to be skinny. But then she keeps feeding me
all the same! So I'm getting mixed signals so Imma gonna just keep eating. She
cooks some of the best Peruvian food I've had in my mission, although
once she did give us cow lungs and I just couldn't do it. But besides
that, all satisfying and edible!
And now about Andahuaylas.
It's gorgeous here! Absolutely beautiful. When I got off the bus in
Cusco on my way here, I ran into one of my old Zone Leaders and he
asked where I was going and I told him Andahuaylas. Well he was born
here (In the mission) and he just said "Oh hermana, you are going to the
promised land" and now I see why. It's a little town tucked into the
mountains and the mountains are just green and full of trees and plants.
I just want to go hiking everyday! And with my sector, that's basically
what we do. We have a mountain in our sector called Llantuyhuanca where
half of the leaders in our ward live so we have to go up there at least
once a week and its about an hour hike to the last leader's house on
the very top. So hiking is a regular occurrence. It's weird I went from
concrete jungle to... actual jungle. I have more bug bites on my legs in
this moment than I've had in my entire life, I hope none of them are
lethal, and I seem to acquire more everyday. Whooop for scratched and
scared legs! Show's I'm actually doing something I guess. And well I'll
show fotos of what I can't describe. Because It's just too pretty.
And
now to end. I want to share with you the words that my President shared
with me. Last week I expressed to both you and him that I was feeling a
little lost in the new branch. A little without hope. It's like I
wanted to work and do stuff, but I had noooo idea how. So I expressed to
him my doubts. And what he said just really lifted my spirits. I'm just
gonna copy and paste
"So…
encouragement is what I can provide… You not only can do it, you will
do it! The Lord never sent you here to fail. Now, success and failure
are very subjective terms, however, this is not your work. It is the
Lord's. He's in charge. Every day. In every area of this mission.
Therefore, place your faith where it appropriately belongs - in the Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. You need to literally lay it all on the altar
and tell the Lord that you can't do this without His help. Once He knows
that He will then use you as He wishes to accomplish that which He
wants done. I'm certain you are very familiar with the scripture in
Ether 12:27. It talks about our weaknesses becoming strengths. However,
what many miss in this scripture is that our weaknesses become strengths
because of our faith in the Lord and then what HE can do for us. Let me
just emphasize a few words in this scripture and I think you'll get the
idea: "… for if they humble themselves before ME and have faith in ME
then will I make weak things become strong unto them." We can't do it on
our own. We never could and we never will. But with our faith firmly
placed in the Lord, being humble, willing and teachable, He will make
our weaknesses into strengths.
Hermana Rust - you are not alone - never - and especially in the work of the Almighty. As they say in Peru: "sí, se puede"!"
And
I realize how true his words are. I especially love how he says It's
not my work. It's the Lords. I get so stuck in my own head, thinking
about what it is that I can do, what it is that I should do, that I
completely forget to ask, "What can HE DO through me?" It's his.
Completely his. His work, His Glory. SO trust in the Lord God and lean
not unto they own understanding. It's simple really. And when we realize
that, it's amazing how much more we can do. So yeah! I am in uncharted
territory. I have little knowledge of what it is that I need to do here,
but He knows all!! So I'm not alone. There is hope. And yes I can!
These words apply to everyone. Everyday, we experience something new,
something that maybe we don't know how to manage. But who knows and is
soooo willing to help us? Our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ.
So here goes nothing!
I
hope everyone is great, I love to get pictures so keep em coming! Mom
thanks for sharing your thoughts and I'll think about BYU. It's honestly
the furthest thing from my mind but I realize it's coming up quicker
than I expected. So yeah I'll keep ya updated. Love you all and thank
you for Prayers!
Hermana Rust
That's my comp. She's cute. Last Monday we made the cookies that the
young women sent me from the ward. Problem was that we didn't have a
oven so we just put them in the microwave... the results are to come.
Results: Giant snickerdoodle bricks. We still ate them all!
This is Nathan. He's 2 and likes the way my arm hair feels. He
would hold onto my arm and just rub his face on it. Probably the only
guy in my whole life that will ever find that appealing. 
I was reunited with my dear Hermana Baker! I love her to pieces!
That's Hna Senobia 
One of the hikes we take. 
This is the road we take up the mountain. That's Aracely. She's twelve
and comes with us up the mountain because her mom wants her to lose
weight lol.  |
| This is normal. To have a herd of cows on one of the main boulevards |
I picked some pears! The do it with this net thing. I still don't get how it works.
This is the view from a less actives house after a half hour hike. Incredible right?
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