Week 59

September 26, 2016

HOLA everyone! Happy almost October! This week is general conference, who´s stoked??? I AM!!

So this past weekend we got to watch the Women´s General Conference! Right before,  we went to visit Orlando and Elsa so we could bring Else with us to the conference.  I guess we underestimated the time because we got to the conference late!  It all worked out because apparently no one had brought keys to open the chapel so we could watch conference!  We had to wait for about 20 minutes for someone from the presidency of the district to go for the keys and bring them back to the chapel!  So we only got to watch the last 45 minutes. We were kinda sad, but I'm going to print the other talks today to read them this week.  I really liked Presidente Uchtdorf´s talk about faith, how sometimes our prayers aren´t answered, but that's not because we lack faith!  It just means it´s not in God´s plan!

Lots of people ride these around Peru and sell ice cream.  

Esmerita and Juan Carlos accepted marriage! They decided to start planning it out! The only problem is they went on vacation for a week and didn't come to church yesterday, and we wont be able to visit them until Friday night, but they took their Book of Mormon and I hope they keep reading!

This week in Moyobamba it was basically another flood cause it rained EVERY DAY! and of course we have the bad luck that when we go out to proselyte without umbrellas, it rains, but when we bring umbrellas, it doesn't rain! Friday night we got SOAKED and worst of all.. all of our appointments fell through! We went to stand under a roof of someone's home to pray to know where to go.  When we finished,  we decided to knock on the door of the house where we were standing.  So we did and they let us in! We were able to dry off a lot!   The family that accepted us  in is a single mom named Rosa who has three kids and about a year ago went to our church a few times with a friend! The sisters from a year ago were visiting her and she was excited to start listening to us again! She told us to come back everyday!

It started raining really hard one day and water started coming in under the door.
We ran out of towels so we grabbed what we could ... even baptismal clothing.  

Susi is going to move to a little town that's really far away so there isn't the church out there, so we wont be able to keep visiting her :(   She said she'll take her Book of Mormon and read it! We´re really sad she´s leaving, but I know that one day in the future she will find the church again and join it!

So that was my week! Love you all!!

Happy October!

Hermana Gurney

Week 58

September 19, 2016

Pictures from last week and her trip to Iquitos (Her computer wouldn't recognize her camera last week!)

At the Iquitos airport with Hermana Walker and Hermana Roque

My roommates for three days - Hermana Poma and Hermana Brotherson

Training Meeting

So this week was pretty great! I feel like I say that about every week, but I don't know what else to say ... because every week IS great! 

Just a random turtle picture!

So this week I went to Tarapoto again. We had a leadership meeting with President and Hermana Li and the leaders of Moyobamba and Tarapoto.  Anyways, we were on the car ride there and the driver was listening to some not very good music so we asked him if we could put in our USB to listen to music.  He said sure and put in one of the Elder´s USB. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir starts playing super loudly.  The Elder told the driver he could change it to another song on the USB, but the driver didn't hear, so we spent about one and a half hours in the car listening to Motab!  The Elders all fell asleep and so the driver changed the music back!  hahahahah.

 

On the way back, the police pulled us over and we were all stressed cause we didn't have our IDs on us.  Usually the police here ask for the IDs of everyone in the car.  When the policeman saw all of us missionaries in the car ... he told the driver to just keep going! Huge blessing! One Elder said it's because were "Angelitos Mormones" (little Mormon angels)!

This week a new family we have been teaching came to church! The wife had come with us a few times before, but this time her whole family came! They're named Esmerita and Juan Carlos. Esmerita is really excited to get baptized but Juan Carlos is a little iffy. He doesn't really understand a lot of what we´re teaching, so we've been trying to explain everything really simply. We talked about marriage last week and they're going to pray about it. Let's hope they make the right decision!!

Orlando and Elsa are still going strong! Orlando is going to go to the municipalidad (I don't know how to say that in English) to ask about his divorce papers, we have the faith that they will come in this month!

With Orlando and Elsa!

We´ve had a few rough days where we haven't been able to find anyone at home, but it has really helped us look through the ward directory and find all the members who aren't coming to church, which has been super helpful! By looking for those members, we've been able to talk to their neighbors or family and invite them to church! We've found some cool people that way!

Not sure why the wall says Tarapoto when we are in Moyobamba!  Ha!

Anyways, I don't have much more to say!   I'm going to send all the pictures from last week and this week! whooo!

P-Day FUN!  Our zone went on a hike to Morro de Calzada!  It is just a giant hill that you can hike ... with a beautiful view!

Hanging out with Hermana Inca again!!

Love you all!

Hermana Gurney

Week 57

September 12, 2016

So this week was pretty great!  I went to Iquitos! 

We had a leadership council this week so the zone leaders and I got in a car and went all the way to Tarapoto, where I met up with the sister leaders in Tarapoto and we all flew to Iquitos.  We were there for three days! It was a crazy experience... it went by so fast! 

We talked a lot about how to help the mission progress and we came to the conclusion that the missionaries lack more spirituality. We all kind of go through the actions, but we aren't really growing spiritually, we`re not growing in our conversion. One of the assistants had the idea of setting one day apart as a day where we would try to always have the Spirit with us. We couldn't do anything that would make the Spirit separate from us. We felt it would help the missionaries realize what things they are doing wrong and what things they could do better to be more obedient and spiritual. It was awesome! I did it yesterday and it really opened my eyes...  I woke up and went to my desk to write in my journal really fast and I realized my desk was a mess! So I decided I had to clean it up in order to have the Spirit with me. So iIdid. But while I was cleaning up, I realized that my dresser and bedroom were also a mess! So I practically spent the whole morning just cleaning up.  I felt super good afterwards, there was definitely a difference in the Spirit! 

Then throughout the day I realized how much I was talking about things like going home or what I did before, and I thought that that probably wasn`t the best topic.  It was better to talk about the people we are teaching and how to help them, so I would try to change the topic, and it worked! I really felt so much more of the Spirit throughout the day. 

I especially felt it's influence when I was contacting. Recently Ive been feeling like my contacts were getting a little bit more and more of a routine, and I didn't like it, but I didn't really know what to do different! Yesterday I was able to contact this one woman so much more naturally and more focused on her. I'm not really sure how I did it, but I know it was the Spirit!

So now I have set a few goals of things I should change in order to always have the Spirit with me!

In terms of funny stories this week...

I got to hold a turtle!! The owners were talking about killing it and feeding it to us, but they were just joking, so don't worry, the turtle is still alive.

When we came back from Iquitos on Thursday, we got to Tarapoto at like 7:30 and by then it was too late to take a car to Moyobamba, so I spend the night with the sister leaders of Tarapoto... who happen to be serving in Partido Alto, my old old area! I got to sleep in my old house and eat dinner with my old pensionista! It was super fun! I don't have pictures though... I forgot to take some! 

Remember Diana and Susi? Well Susi is progressing super well! She can't come to church because Diana makes her work on Sundays and they don't want to close on Sundays. But Susi has been reading and praying and really wants to come to church! We're going to pray that her sister lets her go this Sunday!

Orlando and Elsa are doing super well! They're just waiting for someone to call them to tell them his divorce papers went though and then everything will be ready for their marriage! It's great! They are such a cute family.  

Everything is going well out here in Moyo!

Here's to a great week!

Hermana Gurney

(We asked her if she felt the earthquake that they reported on the news.  It registered as 6.1 magnitude and hit about 30 miles from Moyobamba  ... here is her response)  

Yes, I felt the earthquake!  It was funny because I woke up in the middle of the night and the ground was shaking and I was like wow! earthquake!! but then it kept going! and I started to worry, like should we leave the apartment? what should we do? and then it stopped.  So Hna Laura and I looked out the window and no one was outside so we decided to go back to sleep and if there was another, we would leave.

The funniest part is that the only thing I could think about was how my emergency kit wasn't complete... I had eaten all the emergency food in the kit and I was worried that I would starve to death because I wasn't better prepared! hahaha So today I'm going to go buy more emergency food!!

(Sadly the computer she was using would recognize her camera! So no pictures this week!!)

Week 56

September 5, 2016

Wow! We´re in September! Time keeps going by faster and faster I swear!

This week was great.  What even happened?

I finally saw a llama! There are not really llamas in the jungle, but apparently there is one in Moyobamba, and it's in my area!  Keauna told me to kiss a llama for her, so I blew it a kiss because if I got too close it tried to spit on me. I'll send pictures! hahaha

Also my pensionista gave us duck for lunch the otherday.  It was pretty gross.  Hermana Laura didn't want to eat it either.   When we walked up to our pensionista´s house to eat lunch,  there were puddles of water everywhere and some of them were red.  We asked  "what happened?" ...  we thought it was just rust or something.  It turns out it was the duck we ate!  Oh, Peru! 

With my companion, Hermana Laura!

We have an awesome member named Maria Cachay that literally has accompanied us three times this week to like five of her referrals.  She is older but walks faster than we do! I don't know how she does it! I think she likes hanging out with us cause she lives alone and I wonder if she feels a little lonely at times... but anyways two of her referrals have turned out to be super awesome! They are Diana and Susi who are sisters and live alone. Diana is a single mom of a four year old girl and Susi is 19. They are so cool! They say they're looking for a church cause they want to follow Christ. Susi came with us to a baptism on Saturday and she really liked it! They didn't come to church though cause they were working :(   We´re going to have to teach them about the sabbath day this week! But they have so many questions for us, and they understand everything, it's a nice refresher! We´re stoke to start working with them this week.

I do have a favor of all of you- if you could pray for Orlando and Elsa, that would be great! They were supposed to get married a few weeks ago, but Orlando´s divorcement act didn't come on time, and it's not supposed to come until November! Elsa really wants to get baptized, but she can't until they get married! They're still super excited, they're reading their Book of Mormon and going to church, but if you guys could pray so that his divorcement act comes soon, I know that would really help! 

Today we are going to go play paintball as a zone, so I'm sure i'll have super cool pictures next week! Just wait! 

Hope you guys have a fantastic week!!

Love,

Hermana Gurney

Week 55

August 29, 2016

As you all probably guessed ... yes, I had transfers.  It was actually a really hard goodbye.  I cried a ton when I had to say goodbye to Hermana Velazquez but I know she´s doing super well back in Tarapoto!

I was transferred to.... MOYOBAMBA!!!

Welcome to Moyobama!!

It's a two hour drive from tarapoto. So this time transfers weren´t in an airplane! Moyobamba is a lot cooler than Tarapoto (like temperature wise).  When I arrived here, everyone told me about how I was going to freeze! We´re still in the jungle though ... so it's still hot! Hahahaha!

My new companion is Hermana Laura.   She´s from Bolivia and has 14 months on the mission! ahhh! It's a possibility that I will be with her when she goes home! She´s really awesome and has such a sweet heart.  She has so much love for the people of Moyobamba! I´m so excited to learn a lot from her this change!

The craziest part of changes is that I was called as the Hermana Lider Capacitadora, which is basically the sister version of a zone leader. I have to go to all these extra meetings, go on splits with the other Hermanas to help them with their teaching, and a bunch of other stuff! I'm kinda stressed because I have no idea what I'm doing! hahaha  My companion isn't a hermana lider either, so I'm just on my own! It's okay, I'm learning! 

Another really cool part is that Hermana Inca is in Moyobamba as well!  It is great to see her again and now i´ll probably be with her when she goes home in November! It's crazy how fast time goes by!

The area I'm serving in, Moyobamba 2, is the old area of Hermana Tituaña, my trainer! This was her first area and now I'm meeting all the people she told me about!

Anyways, Moyobamba is treating me well! I do miss tons the people of Tarapoto.  I just emailed Hermana Velazquez and asked for an update on everyone back there! I'll let you know.

One fun thing we did this week was help a family make ice cream! We scooped up the ice cream in balls, but them on a cone, dipped them in chocolate, and then wrapped them up to sell! It was a super cool service! At the end, they gave us free ice cream too :)  I'll send pictures! 

Making ice cream cones with my new companion Sister Laura!

Saw this truck on the way to Moyobamba ... it says "Christ is coming soon ... prepare yourself."

Love you tons!!
Hermana Gurney

Week 54

August 22, 2016

It has been a great week! It went by super fast!

I thought I´d start out by sharing a really cool experience we had with our recent convert Raiza. When she first decided to get baptized, she had a lot of opposition! Her grandparents were worried that her mom was forcing her into getting baptized and tried to talk Raiza out of it! Her grandparents have always been Catholic and didn't like the idea of their granddaughter joining the church. Vanessa (Raiza´s mom) had tried and tried to invite her parents to church, but they had no interest! Anyways, Raiza decided that she still wanted to get baptized and she invited her grandparents to attend. They came! It was quite a surprise! And they came with Raiza to church the next day, when she recieved the Holy Ghost. I guess that changed something in her grandparents! Because the next week, her grandma was at Raiza´s house when we showed up to visit them.  We were able to talk to her for some time.  She has now even accepted visits from missionaries over where she lives! We visited Raiza yesterday and she told us her grandma has been going to church every Sunday in her branch and that she wants to get baptized! We asked the hermanas that are teaching Raiza´s grandma and they told us that she keeps saying "Raiza teaches me, Raiza teaches me".  We were so proud that Raiza was able to be so strong and share the gospel with her grandma through her example! We´re excited to see how much more her grandparents progress!

We went back to the castle in Lamas!

Our District Leader "dies" or goes home today.  We bought a cake and put a RIP sign on it for our last
district meeting together!

This week we also had the privilege to help two kids get baptized for a second time... hahahaha!   So basically they were baptized when they turned eight but we´re not sure what happened ... because their records are lost! They weren't registered in the church system.  We looked for dates and stuff to recreate the records, but it didn't work out! So the Branch President asked us to teach them and baptize them again! So that's what happened last Saturday! Their names are Bruno and David and they are super cute! I'll send pictures. When they shared their testimony at the baptism, they both talked about how good they felt being baptized a second time!  Such good sports!

This Sunday it rained all morning, so naturally no one came to church! haha. Charles and Jany started praying and reading together but they never made it to church on Sunday :( We´re going to visit them tonight and hopefully help them understand the importance of going to  church... even when it rains!

Veronica and Segundo weren´t able to make it either.. we went to visit them yesterday to see how they´re doing, but they weren´t home! We´re going to try to pass by tomorrow so we can find out what happened!

But even though they didn't come to church, they are still progressing tons! We are so blessed to be able to work with these two families and I pray that they will find more joy in the gospel!

Week old puppies!!  So cute!

I love you all tons! Have a great week!!

Hermana Gurney

Week 53

August 15, 2016

This week was crazy! So much happened! Ahhh!

This week our zone leaders once again helped us out so much. They talked to us about exact obedience. They said that sometimes we come to a level of obedience and become complacent (is that the word??) at that level, and sometimes forget that we can always be more obedient.  It totally hit me because I had become comfortable in my level of obedience.  I wasn't being disobedient, but there were always a few little things I kind of ignored. So the zone leaders asked to us to start reading the Missionary Handbook with real intent, meaning that we would look for little rules we weren´t living and change them! It really works!  Hna Velazquez and I have been working really hard to be more exactly obedient to show more of our love for Heavenly Father.  It's been awesome! We feel better about our work, and we´re just generally happier! It's great!

A sister from Lima gave us a bag of clothes.  It had these turtle necks in the bag.
We put them on at 1:00 PM ... IT WAS HOT!!

We helped a sister in the ward named Luzdina with her family history this week. It was such a cool experience. We had asked her about her family history and she always said she didn't have any names, that she had to ask her family, and she didn't know when she would see her family.  It was always kind of a "I'll do it someday" kind of attitude. So the other week we decided to teach it a little better. We were studying for her in the morning and felt that we should share a scripture in Doctrine and Covenants that talks about how we can't be saved without our ancestors and them without us. I don't know what changed but I guess that scripture really changed something in her, because the next visit we had, she had found six of her ancestors' names!! So we took her to the Branch President´s house to set up her account online and it worked out great! We are going to print out two names for her to take with her to the temple in September and send the other four names to the temple! As we did it, I just felt so good inside! We are super grateful for Luzdina and her desire to help in this work! 

 

Charles and Jany came to church again! They are super cool! Jany said she received an answer and feels the church is true.  She says when she goes to church she feels peaceful, and doesn't want to lose that feeling ever, so she's going to go every week! It's awesome! Charles is still searching for an answer. This week were going to visit them with the Relief Society President and her family to teach them about why it's so important to have a family and get married.. hopefully we can help them solve some of their problems!

Veronica and Segundo were up Saturday night with their sick two year old... but they still came to church on Sunday! How cool are they?? We took a picture! :)

Veronica, Segundo, and their two kids!

So yeah, that was pretty much my week! 

Hope you're all doing great back home!!

Hermana Gurney