Week 23?? I don't actually know what week it is!!

Hey Everyone!

Whooo so this week was interesting ... well actually nothing really new happened!  :)   I finally received my Christmas packages and letters! Thank you to everyone who sent me a letter ... they really made my day :)

So let's see.. I had a work visit this week!  My sister training leader came and worked with me in my area for 24 hours.  I was actually super scared... I still kind of follow around Hermana Inca at times, because I still don't feel like I know everything or everyone in this area! But it actually turned out all right, we were able to find everyone and teach them without many problems.  I learned a lot from that work visit.. I learned that even though I'm the junior companion, I still have a voice. If there's something I think we should do in our area, I can tell my companion and suggest it because I am called to serve in this area and I too can receive revelation for my area.

Hermana Inca and I tried really hard this week to find new people to teach.  We had one investigator who wanted to be baptized...but he just went on a trip and we don't know when he´s coming back. We had like 10 people promise us they would come to church, and then no one showed up. It´s so sad when you know they know what the right choice is, but they don't do it. It makes me think a lot about how Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ feel.  They know we know what the right choice is, but sometimes we still choose to disobey. They have lots of patience with us!!

In terms of funny stories... I dont actually know if i have any!! I know there was probably something but I can't remember!

Well last Monday for p-day we went and played capture the flag with water balloons, which was super fun. I guess that gave me a really good workout because then for the rest of the week my legs were sore.. which is not good when you have to walk everywhere during the day.. in a town full of hills. :)

We started teaching a couple that is renting out apartments and they were totally trying to sell their apartments to us.  They were telling us it had air conditioning and might have internet.. and that there would be a place for me to park my car. I had to tell them that I don't have a car and they seemed super surprised.  haha.

I have become quite addicted to curichi of aguaje.  Aguaje is a fruit they have down here and curichi is just like a cream made out of the aguaje. It is super delicious, and lots of people give it to us when we visit them and it's the best.  

Our penionista gave us some food this week that even Hermana Inca didnt want to eat... I dont know what it was but it was pretty gross. It was like gooey and had little hairs sticking out... I ate one and I couldnt eat anymore haha. We went and bought ourselves lunch afterwards.

So yeah that was basically my week! Hope all is going well!

Love you all!!

Hermana Gurney

Oh yeah, my camera broke this week.  I'm taking it to get fixed today, so sorry there are no pictures!

Week 22?

January 11, 2016

So this week was interesting..

Elder Uceda (a leader in our church) came to the jungle to speak to us! whooo! It was awesome, he was super hilarious and really helped me see what I needed to do to improve to be a better missionary.  One thing I really liked that he taught was the importance of really studying your scriptures every day.  Not just reading them, because anyone can read them and never have a spiritual experience, but if we really read them and analyze every word and ask questions while were reading, we can really understand and learn so much more! He says that God had things "hidden" in the scriptures, that we can only find and learn if we spend the time searching and studying the scriptures.  It was super cool! It really showed me how reading the scriptures can actually be fun, because you're always finding new things! 

At the conference with Elder Uceda.  I actually put in my contacts so I kinda look normal!

So what else happened this week?

Hermana Jackson, another gringa who has one transfer less than I do in the field, was with me and Hermana Inca these past two days.  Her companion is in Iquitos having a meeting with the other leaders of the mission. So whooo another gringa! It's cool being in a trio, but it's also kind of weird! Especially cause now I´m the gringa who knows more Spanish and it's kind of weird that I can actually teach someone else new words in Spanish (I guess that means I'm progressing?) She actually really helped me feel more confident in my Spanish abilities, and its fun to actually be able to talk to someone in English at times when you just really don't want to talk or think about Spanish anymore. 

All the Hermanas in Tarapoto tried to make sugar cookies!  We used a little carry around oven.
You plug it it and put a giant cover over it ... and it cooks!

Funny stories...people will say funny things to us in English.   Some guys in the street the other day told us "I like your pants!" and I was just laughing because all of us were wearing skirts.  Hermana Inca shouted  back, "I'm not wearing pants!" in English. I don't know if they understood, but it was pretty funny.

What else... A guy from Venezuela just moved into our area, and so we went to go visit him.  He is a member of the church but less active. We couldnt find his house.  We had a member that was going to come with us, so since we couldn't find his house we decided to call the member and tell him not to come. So I get on the phone and I tell the member we cant find the house of Mr. A, and right when I finish saying that, a guy walks out of this dark corner behind a tree and says something.  I kind of freaked out because.. well its a creepy guy standing in the dark. But the guy walks forward and it's the less active we had been looking for! It was super awkward but hilarious at the same time.  Anyways, we decided that the elders are going to come teach this guy, because he´s kind of creepy, and it would just be better for them to do it hahaha!

Us with Hermana Maruja (pronounced muh-roo-huh).  She is the Primary President.
She is super sweet and always buys us stuff when she comes out with us to visit people!  haha

A member's home!

Anyways, a more spiritual story..

We found a lady named Esmila last week that we started teaching, and literally two or three lessons later she told us that she had a vision of light when she was reading the pamphlet we left her and so she thinks that's an answer from God that is church is true. (She told us she was reading and then kind of fell asleep and just saw a light, and that's her answer!) Anyways she came to church yesterday with her daughter and really liked it so let´s hope that she keeps progressing! If you could pray so that we can help her get closer to Christ, that would be great!

So yeah that was my week, I hope everything is going well for you back in the good ole USA, where it's cold and you're not sweating all the time!

I love you all!

Hermana Gurney

Week 21

January 4, 2016

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

FELIZ AÑO!

In Peru to celebrate the new year, they do fireworks at midnight but then the next day they all take a suitcase and walk around their house and put all their old junk in the suitcase and throw it out.  This starts the new year cleaner and happier!  I celebrated the new year by helping a sweet hermana cook the food she was going to sell in the afternoon. You wanna know what I did to help? I cut off the toenails of chicken feet.  No, you did not read that wrong, I literally took a knife and cut off the tips of the toes of chicken feet. Don't worry, the chicken were already dead and the legs were already cut off, but it was still pretty gross!  Hermana Inca kept laughing at me cause I thought it was disgusting!  hahaha.

Also we got a new present this week: Hot water!!! We made a deal with the man who owns our apartment, that we would pay 50 soles more in rent every month if he could hook up our apartment with hot water in the shower. So this week I got to shower in hot water! It was one of the biggest blessings ever.. It made me feel like I was back home! :)

In terms of the area...

My legs have still not adjusted to the amount of hills. I come home everyday and can barely walk anymore cause my legs are so tired. It's especially bad on Fridays and Saturdays when we have to work all day. But its okay, by the end of this transfer I will have the legs of Kim Kardashian! (words of Hermana Inca)

We have lots of less actives who are starting to come back to church but who also have LOTS OF PROBLEMS.  I feel like a big part of being a missionary is just listening to problems. Sometimes I just get tired of all the excuses and problems that stop people from going to church or reading their scriptures, or praying!  I hope they can recognize soon that God knows what is happening in your life but yet he also knows you can still keep the commandments! 

My companion is awesome, I am actually having a blast with her!  Even when all our appointments fall through and were just walking in the street talking, I have fun. An elderly man told her Hermana Inca that she has pretty eyes and then said, "give me your heart". She told him she would, but he has to come to church first!  haha

But yeah that's basically whats been going on this week, nothing too different or exciting!

Hope you all have a wonderful 2016 and that you will complete your new years resolutions! 

LOVE,

Hermana Gurney

Portions of a note to her brothers encouraging them to start now preparing for their missions:

Hello my future missionaries ... There's so much I wish I would have done before my mission to prepare, so now I'm telling you ...

1.  Read the Book of Mormon everyday... even if it is just one verse.  I promise you will see a difference in your life if you start reading it daily.  

2.  Try to understand the Atonement.  It is literally our salvation.  Thanks to Christ, we can repent, we don't have to suffer for our sins, but we can return to live with Heavenly Father.  He suffered to understand exactly what we're going through to help us.  It's awesome!

3.  Exercise!!

4.  Learn how to love the gospel.  The gospel is for everyone!  There is something (or many things) in the gospel that can help you specifically!