July 25, 2016

Wellll hello again,

Just another Monday in Tarapoto living life and loving it. This week was awesome! Hna. Huaycho has been helping me so much and I am so blessed to have her! Our companionship is taking this town out of the darkness and into the light! Hna. Huaycho is the missionary I want to be - humble, patient, bold, follows the Spirit, odedient, and really loves the people. She makes me better and I am striving to be more like her. We have just been working super hard this week.

I have really been learning how to grow my faith in Christ. I have been learning that faith is really a principle of action! If we just sit and wait for the Lord to make everything better it will never happen! We have to give everything we have and then by the grace of God He will make up the difference. So many people that we meet just expect God to give them everything but it reminds me a lot of Elder Renlund´s talk from this conference - entitlement. I am learning to be less entitled and more dilligent so that I can be worthy and ready to receive the Lord´s blessings. They always come if we put in our part! 

Speaking of blessings this week we had been praying to find a family. Then, last week we had a sister come to church with her four kids. We had never met her but she stayed all three hours and we got her address to visit her. We went by a couple times this week but never found her house. The numbers are never in order so we couldn´t find her house number. We decided to go by one more time last night and a little drunk man finally found her house for us! We found her there in her little cuarto with her husband and children. They have been through so many trials but they were so excited to listen. They are both less active members and their children aren´t members. The dad said he wanted to get married and sealed in the temple and be able to baptize his children! We were shocked. And there is a massive wedding this coming week so we invited them and they accepted! So now we are just working like crazy to get their papers ready. It is so exciting! I already love them and I only met them once! 

This week has been infernally hot but we are getting by. My companion was in my zone in Punchana before and told me that I am now ¨negrita¨ but my tan lines are awful! I have the worst farmer´s tan from my shirt and my neckline. My shoes are the worst of all, but even my legs have a tan line from my skirt! Who knew that could even happen?

Two peruvian phrases I learned this week that made me laugh: 

- I am more tired than a chaski or I´ve been running around like a chaski - chaski were messangers for the Incas that literally ran from mountain to mountain with urgent messages

- I am more out of place than an egg in ceviche - ceviche is a dish that is fish that isn´t cooked. It is just cured in lemon juice and it never has an egg but every other peruvian dish has egg. My comp said that to me and I cracked up. Perú is the best! 

Love you all lots, lots, lots. Had a dream about you guys this week that everyone was at home and I was still a missionary and I came for a visit and got to hug each one of you. It felt so real so I would send hugs but I already gave you all one! 

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Fitzpatrick