April 18, 2016

Hola Familia,

 Still not sure why the emails weren´t reaching you all, but so it goes.

Wow, this was a crazy week for sure. 

This week we had district meeting on Wednesday instead of Tuesday and we worked Tuesday morning. Then, we had a special zone conference with President on Thursday. During the conference we got to see the new assistant because they always get changed a week early to be trained. And, the new assistant is.. Elder Smith! He is from Rancho Santa Margarita stake and was my zone leader for two changes in Punchana. Pretty cool. Now both of the assistants are Californians! Anyways, on Friday we had a special training of just sisters with the President´s wife. Then, Saturday we finally got around to our weekly planning when we always do it Thursdays! So crazy. Never had so many conferences in one week. But, I left pretty uplifted and ready to put my shoulder to wheel again. 

Also, on Wednesday our landlady knocked on our door and told us that she had already rented the room even though we told her we would be there until the end of the month! She told us we had to leave by Friday night. So, we packed up all our stuff and the District President and his son helped us and the zone leaders got us all nice and set up in our new house. The new house is awesome! It is HUGE and it is super close to our pension so its nice. And the landlady has a huge dog that follows us whenever we leave the house. Her name is Nina and she is the best! It´s almost like having a dog for ourselves! 

 We were also in an appointment with an investigator this week and this thing poked it´s head out of the ceiling. We were like what is that!? And then he told us ¨Hey! My monkey, I have been looking for that all day!¨ We got it down and then I got to hold the monkey! It wasn´t that pretty of a monkey, but a monkey none the less!

 This week kind of zoomed by. Sorry I don´t have more to report. Actually, this change kind of zoomed by. Today are transfers and I think I will be here in Aeropuerto again which is fine by me. I love Tarapoto and never want to leave!

Love you lots! 

Hermana Fitz

April 11, 2016

I can´t believe you guys didn´t get my email last week! What a rip! It said it sent and everything. Hopefully you guys get this one.

- me in the main plaza here

Not much to report this week. We went to a castle on top of a mountain with the sisters this week for P day and it was stunning! So beautiful! I couldn´t believe it. Turns out it was a less active that stole a bunch of money from members to build a castle, but it was beautiful! And the views were stunning and we took a half an hour bus ride out there and it was so fresh and cool and gorgeous. We even had some fresh coconut water at the summit. Tarapoto is Palm City so the coconut is super cheap here. I always buy a coconut and they split it open for you and stick a straw in there. Nothing more refreshing after a long day of work than a cool coconut. Plus they cost 1 sol which is about 30 cents. Worth it! 

Wow, can we talk about conference!! How awesome was that!? I was blown away. I felt the urgency of temple work and choosing to stand by the prophet. And it was so powerful to hear the talk about the refugees after the women´s conference and then to see Elder Uchtdorf tear up and realize he was once a refugee too. We are really being called to that labor urgently. And... a second temple in Lima!!! We couldn´t believe it! The whole room exploded when they announced that. It was awesome. Even though it might not be closer it will certainly be a blessing to these people. We are so excited!! No Iquitos, yet. Such a wonderful weekend of inspiration. It went by way too fast for me. 

How cool is it that we will be talking here in just a few short weeks. I love you all so much. I am doing super well and the zone leaders are going to Iquitos this week so I will probably get my package. Speaking of zone leaders, I do know Elder Smith, he was my zone leader in Punchana my last two changes. Also, speaking of changes, they are coming up and it´s crazy! I´m entering week 5 here. I really hope I stay at least another transfer. I love Tarapoto a lot. 

Hermana Fitzpatrick

April 4, 2016

This week was a good one. We are finally stabilizing and have a lot of people progressing so it has us excited to keep working. We had some fun experiences this week.

We went looking for a less active yesterday who had attended church with her non member boyfriend. Here it is super uncommon to find people married so they are living together with their daughter. Getting people married is probably the number one challenge in baptisms. But, we went to get to know him because he came to church! So that´s big. We just had the street name but not the house number and there were three blocks. We said, ¨Well, let´s start knocking doors¨. We asked some people if they knew them and they said no so we kept walking down the street. It was dark and the street was honestly pretty creepy looking but I just felt the need to walk a little bit further. There was one house at the end of the street with light and we walked to it, and it was their house! The whole family was home so we were able to go in and they welcomed us. He immediately started with, ¨Well, Hermanitas, I´m glad you came because I had a few questions on how I can get married as soon as possible to my wife¨. Our jaws hit the floor with shock and we just said ¨We can definitely help you with that!¨ We are super excited for him and his wife and they are our focus right now. It was a grand miracle and blessing.

We also have had looks of rainy days this week again. It is so nice to wake up to rain, even though it means the streets are going to be a mess. I am so grateful for the beauty of the earth and all the small things the Lord puts in motion to bless us. I think of all the beautiful flowers we see here and how they wouldn´t exist without the rain. It´s a little like the blessings we see with our obedience. I have learned we always see blooms and fruits of our obedience. If we are disobedient it is like putting an umbrella over the plant and then asking why we don´t see any flowers. When we meet obedient people we can tell because the blessings they receive are obvious, and when we ourselves are obedient we see fruits, more than anything in the company of the Spirit!

 - breezy and beautiful mountainside

I really enjoyed the Women´s Conference and the messages on service that we received and I am so excited to see General Conference. I remember at home I always looked forward to it because it was an opportunity to stay home and sleep on the couch while we watched, but now I am excited to receive the counsel and guidance that inspired servants of the Lord have prepared for us. I really enjoyed in the April Liahona the article by Elder Eyring I believe about preparing ourselves to receive the messages. We really are able to receive revelation through the same spirit of revelation that the apostles have. If they prepare to give their messages, we equally need to prepare ourselves to receive them. I am preparing myself for this week. Looking forward to it!

Funny thing that happened this week :  Our pensionista taught us how to make stuffed yucca. I don´t know if there is yucca in the states but I will for sure be looking for it because I know how to do so many things with it and it is so yummy. But, we had to fry them and I made my little empanada and went to throw it it the pan. My pensionista tried to stop me but I refused her help thinking I was doing ok and dropped the little guy in the oil. It was a bigger drop than I had planned to make and the oil shot out and hit my pinky finger. It hurt so bad and the only thing iced in the house was a bottle of soda so I held onto it all lunch. My pensionista told ¨Ya ves, tienes que hacerme caso¨ with her usual straight sass. She is the queen of sass. I love it. She is the Relief Society President and in consejo she just serves everyone sass. She is basically my role model. She calls me Hermana Puentecitas because of my middle name and I call her Reinita Erikita.

 - my pensionistas mom transporting her chicken- mishaps happen

Today we have p day with the hermanas and we are going to a castle! It is in a place called Lamas and it is supposed to be super beautiful. I´m super excited. The sisters are a good group. 

Love you lots! Hope your week is fantastic!

March 28, 2016

This week was great! We have a lot of progressing investigators so we are excited for everyone and everything. Plus, it has been rainy and breezy and beautiful. Life is good and God is great. 

Yesterday were elections here in Peru so that means that we didn´t have church! Yep, you heard that right. Church was cancelled because it is a law here that you can´t have meetings or sell alcohol or basically do anything but vote the day of elections. But, we went to work as usual on Sunday and worked the whole day. It was pretty crazy and it looks like we are going to have round two of voting in June so it will be another Sunday without church. I´m not a huge fan, but we are loyal citizens and so we have to cumplir with the law. 

Looks like a woman named Keiko might be the one who wins. We will see, it´s a whole drama and everything. 

We also found a house this week! It is super beautiful and huge! But, it was outside of our budget. I put all my negotiating skills to work and talked the landlord down 100 soles! You would´ve been so proud Dad! We are super excited to move but it might be the first week in May. We will see. Anyways, it has a balcony and two rooms, a bedroom, and a main room. It´s awesome! And I fought super hard for it so it is gratifying to be able to go there.

 - view from the new house!

Today we are going to some waterfalls close by here and I am excited to see what they are all about. 

Sounds like you are all doing well. I am looking forward to talking to you all soon. Have a great week! 

Hermana Fitz

March 21, 2016

Wow! What a week it has been. Week 2  down here in Tarapoto and it has been a dream. Everything is awesome here. And it has been raining basically everyday so it has been nice and cool. Here when it rains our whole area turns into a mud pool so the boots have come in handy. In my other area not so much because it was all sidewalk, but here they work well. 

The people here are a little more educated and well off than the people in Iquitos so I have been learning how to adjust my teaching because I can go a little faster and teach a little more because they understand more. So it´s nice to be challenged in that way. But, they are not as receptive. In Iquitos, if you contact someone 9/10 times they will at least invite you in and listen. Here, they actually say no when you ask them if they want to hear more! It was kind of shocking for me but I am learning to just be bold with inviting people even though they are pretty rude to us here. At least the members are awesome!

- trying, unsuccessfully, to cover naked native lady in pretty mural 

 We are getting more familiar with the area and we are pretty settled in now, but we still have moments of not knowing where in the world we are. On Wednesday we looked for a house that we had service at for almost three hours!! And that morning it was super hot. We called everyone we knew for help, used our map, asked people in the street. Nothing. Never found it. We were dead after that. But, we went back the next day to try again and found it within ten minutes. I guess we were just not meant to find it Wednesday. 

- the street I live on (for now!)

- Tarapoto at night *swoon*

 We are also looking for a new house because we aren´t living in our area and it is a twenty minute walk to our pensionista everyday, three times a day. There are no houses in our area though!! The sisters before us and the sisters before them were looking too but never found anything. We are hoping to find something soon though. Everytime we see a sign For Rent we stop in and look. Sometimes I feel like I´m on House Hunters International taking in the options in Tarapoto , Perú. Diagnostic: Dismal. We found the high priced house number 1 with more than what we need, we found the low priced house number 2 with not enough, we are just waiting for the in budget house number 3 with a few sacrifices that they always end up picking. The search continues.

- Dead after looking for the house for three hours in the sun. 

Also have a knarly sunburn from this day

 Today we are going to watch a movie with the zone and just hang out a little bit. It should be a good day! The zone is awesome here because there are 16 missionaries, including the zone leaders, and half of them are sisters so we have a good time. There are four more elders but they are in a city about two hours away and only come in for one p-day during the change. Girl power!  

Also....my birthday package came!!  They hand out the packages Mondays after internet so it got here last Monday but I wasn´t able to tell you. It was awesome! Thank you so much!!  We have the clings on the window, the lights are up. I love playing with the bead board and  my favorite thing is the hourglass. We use it everyday. My comp likes the Pez and we are going to make the cookies today! My pensionista is excited too! Thank you!! And the shirts are such a blessing. Nice to have some more options!

The garments probably did get here already. The thing is that now that I´m in the jungle and away from the mission office I have to wait until the leaders go to Iquitos for the leader council and pick up all the packages and stuff. They go at the beginning of every month so it should be just a couple more weeks. Thank you!!

Much love to all!

Hermana Fitzpatrick

                 

March 14, 2016

Well, this week was a big one because.... I had changes!!

And... I´m in.... TARAPOTO!!

They called me Monday night and then I left Tuesday in the afternoon. My companion was already here so she picked me up at the airport. I packed all my stuff up Tuesday morning and then went to the airport and I was off! An hour later we landed in Tarapoto and it is BEAUTIFUL!! I am in love with Tarapoto. I am in area Aeropuerto 2 in the same ward as the zone leaders. My companion is Hermana Velasquez and she is from Honduras. She has one change fewer than I. We are both new to the area so they say that we are opening the area again.

Tarapoto is a city on a hill. It isn´t an island like Iquitos so they are able to have more things, like a huge theater, nice supermarkets, American things (!), and cheaper everything. It is the promised land!!

It has been pretty stressful this week trying to get to know the area and figure out where all the people we are teaching live. Tarapoto is a district with branches and so the areas here are a lot bigger than the ones in Iquitos. Also, there are mountains!! They are gorgeous! And I love seeing them from the window in our house. Iquitos is super flat and all paved streets basically, but here a lot of the streets are dirt and they are just on the mountain so there is a lot of walking up and down. I got pretty tired this week with all the walking. The climate is awesome because it is fresh and cool, at least in comparison to Iquitos. It is so beautiful I wish I could describe it or send pictures that do it justice, but I can´t.

We spent the whole week trying to find everyone and just, walking, walking, walking. The members here are amazing too! They are stronger than the members in my other stake! The ward council just took action and people actually do what they are assigned to do! It´s incredible. I am astounded and so happy. I never want to leave Tarapoto. And there are waterfalls and a castle here so we are going to go eventually for a P-Day. It is a fairyland here. Things are cheaper, so we eat really yummy food. We just eat a massive plate of fruit with yogurt for dinner and we have salads everyday. It is the best! You really don´t even know how happy I am to be here.

My birthday was nice. It was district conference so we had an awesome meeting and then a good lunch. We bought a cake on Saturday and ate it Sunday from this ritzy bakery. Tres leches! So yummy. Other than that nothing. The members don´t know me here so nobody really did anything for me but they were really sweet when they found out that it was my birthday. And President and Hermana Gomez were there for the district conference so they wished me a happy birthday too.

-the extent of the birthday celebrations with my new companion

It has been a humbling week, but I am super happy. I also have 6 months in the mission now. WOW. Time flies. Just this change and one more and I´m at the halfway. It´s pretty wild.

I also finished the Book of Mormon in Spanish this week. I had the goal to finish it before my birthday and I finished it on the twelfth so that was cool. I have a newfound love for that book and I know it is true. I know that it is the word of God and that Joseph Smith translated it through the power of God. I appreciate so much the clarity of the Book of Mormon and I know that the restored gospel is true.

I feel so blessed to be able to share that testimony every day. I love you all and I will give more info on Tarapoto as we go. So happy!!

Hermana Fitzpatrick

March 7, 2016

Hola!!

- Happy Birthday Russy!

I am writing again from the slowest internet in Punchana. It might be my last time coming here. Changes are tonight so I will find out tonight if I stay or go. I am pretty calm either way. I have been in this area my entire mission and at this point I can´t really imagine going anywhere else. But, it is all about where the Lord wants me. We will see.

- Cynthia and Alvaro, two of my converts here!

- Going out to work with Alonzo. We are getting him ready for the mission! 

This is the biggest street in our area.

 This week in food - my pensionista sells juice and chaufa for breakfast in the mornings and this week started selling anticuchos in the afternoon too. It is skewered cow heart and we have been eating quite a bit of it. I really like it. It´s like beef strips with a different flavor. Also, realized this week that what I thought was beef this whole time I have been here has not been beef! I thought the red meat down here in Peru was just of lower quality or something but we had it again this week and my companion asked me ¨Do you know what this is?´´ I said ¨Yes, beef¨ and she said ¨No, it´s the ligature¨ so, there we have it. That´s why the meat was so tough and weird tasting this whole time. Learning something new constantly.  I also learned how to make mayonnaise which I will definitely be doing when I get home because I literally eat everything with mayo and it is so yummy and I have no regrets about it. I will have to teach you all the ways of the Peruvian casera. 

This Tuesday the motokaristas went on strike because new police inspections for motokars are taking all their salary. So, on Tuesday we had no transport. The strike started the night before with groups of mototaxis zooming down the streets and waking us up every once in a while with all their racket. Then, on Tuesday we had to go to our zone meeting and we had to walk. Normally, the meeting is in the stake center, which is central to all the areas but, for some reason unknown to me, the zone leaders sent us to the Amazonas chapel which is the chapel farthest away from everyone. And we had to walk. So we sacrificed our studies to walk out there. The strike meant that everyone threw glass and burned things and put barriers in the street so that not even the people with their own motos could pass by. It was pretty crazy. But, it just lasted Tuesday and Wednesday we were reunited with our beloved motokar once again.

- the closest I will ever get to riding on a moto. The ladies ride on the back of the motos like this. Sidesaddle. Pretty scary but they must have really good balance because I have never seen them fall. 

On Wednesday this week we got home a little after nine after a lesson and I went to open the door, when I realized I didn´t have the keys to the apartment! I had never forgotten them before but I left them inside the house that day! We yelled below for the landlady but she didn´t hear us. We were so desperate that I even thought about scaling the wall to try and get the keys from the window, but our landlady´s son finally answered his cell phone and we got in. It was a close call for sure. 

This week classes started here. Here school vacations are from December to March. It was odd for me to see the school in front of our house start to receive students again because I was here when the classes ended too. I have been in this area for such a long time but I have grown so much. I think about when I got here and it feels like yesterday but I also feel like a completely different person than who I was when I got here. I hope for the better. Who knows what the rest of my mission has in store for me. I have experienced so much in this little area and grown to love the people here so much. I don´t know when I will leave but I know it will be hard to do whenever that time comes. 

Much love from Iquitos,

Hermana Fitzpatrick