May 16, 2016

Wow, Dad I hope you are ok. That is really scary. I hope the scooter won´t do that again and that you are up and feeling better soon.

Sounds like it has been a wild week back home. Hope everyone is ok.

The zone from the change before when we went to the waterfall in Ahuashiyacu

This week was actually stellar for me. We hit it hard this week and just worked like crazy. It was nice to get back at it after having a disappointing week. We met all our goals for the week and had the highest numbers in the district. We felt pretty good. We also had a work visit this week with the sister leaders. I went to their area in Partido Alto and it is really beautiful. I worked with Hermana Roque from Bolivia and it was really inspiring. We set goals afterwards and have just been super dedicated this week to our work. Even though we had another date drop we really felt ok and prepared for it and we were able to work with the members and find a new family that are really great. I know that the Lord is in this work and that he guides our path to those that are prepared and that in the end, His work is not frustrated, just ours.

We also had our last interviews and room revisions with President and Hermana Gomez. They are leaving next month and President and Hermana Li get here on June 28. It was pretty surreal, but it was my favorite interview that I have had yet. I left so uplifted. I have really been thinking lately about how I´m getting close to the middle of my mission and if I have really changed all that much. President asked me exactly about that and my progress and I was really able to reflect on all that has happened so far. I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve the Lord. It has been trying and difficult at times but I thought about that interview as we worked that night. It rained all that day and I was walking through the mud in my boots as another cita fell through. I felt SO happy. I can´t describe it. I just thought that I would not trade this experience for anything. I have changed. I feel so much more confident in my testimony of Jesus Christ and I know so firmly that Heavenly Father loves us. Every single one of us. The fun jungle experiences are great to tell a story but my mission is really centered on that fact - that we have a loving Heavenly Father and that Jesus Christ is our savior. Through the rain, through the challenges, through sickness I am so blessed to be able to share my testimony with the people here in Peru and to see people change their lives by accepting and living the gospel.

Also these were my third room revisions and every room revision if you pass and have a clean house they give you a little apple sticker. With three stickers you get to go to lunch with President. So, I got my third apple and went to lunch! It was awesome. We went to a SUPER fancy restaurant called Chalet Venezia and could order whatever! There were four sisters and three elders there with President and Hermana Gomez and the assistants. I ordered a chicken quesadilla because President said it was really good and I trust him because he receives revelation for me, and he is Mexican, so I ordered it. SO yummy. Came with guacamole and everything. And we had refresco of passion fruit and grape and camu camu which is a fruit that only exists in Iquitos and is super yummy. It was basically a dream. I went to pick up my companion afterwards because she ate lunch in the pension and she was thoroughly jealous. She ate chicken and rice. Lol. First meal they have not put rice on my plate!

It also rained so hard this week and our street which is dirt turned in to a full on river. I had to put my boots on to go to breakfast! And we had to go to a different street because it was impossible to pass through. It was awesome.

Everyone has commented on my cercillo (that´s what they call bangs here) and it´s a classic. Getting used to it. Sent more selfies and feel no regret for taking them. If living in South America has taught me anything it is that you should never be ashamed of a selfie. Own it. The ladies here take it to the extreme with their selfies.

Love you all and hope that you are all ok. I pray for you always.

May 9, 2016

Wow, such a great Sunday, am I right!? It was so nice to finally be able to talk to you guys! You look great and I love you all.

This week like I said was pretty hard but we have had so many blessings! We have found more people that we think will progress and we were able to see the Lord´s hand working in our lives.

We made pizzas with all the sisters on Monday in the house of one of the members. They turned out pretty good and then we watched the Emma Smith movie so that was fun. Ladies´ day! 

 On Wednesday we helped our pensionista for service with her pig! Peppa Pig is huge here with the kids and Peppa has a little brother named George, so this piggy is named George. It did not want to take this picture with me, but we don´t always get what we want.

 Calling you on Thursday Momma from my little cabin.

Don´t mess with Hermana Velásquez. 

Also when we got to church before anyone else and everything was locked. Good times.

I may have made a huge mistake but... I GOT BANGS! 

Surprise! And also I already regret it.

Anyways you pretty much know everything from this week and forever. I love you tons and will talk to you soon. 

Hermana Fitzpatrick

May 2, 2016

I´m here in the craziest internet. We showed up because all the other ones were closed and the guy is super drunk and blasting his music but he gave us the hour for free so no complaints. Just partially deaf nothing more. 

Wow, we will be talking on skype in less than a week! How cool is that?! It´ll be the same drill, I get my mini-call on Thursday to coordinate all that business and then I will be calling Sunday afternoon. 

Love you lots mama! 

 This week was pretty good. We have a lot of people progressing and are working hard to get them to baptism. Sometimes if people lose that initial excitement they don´t end up getting baptized, they just kind of flatline in the gospel. We had a cool experience this week looking for a reference. The numbers of the houses are always in disorder and so we were looking for this family but couldn´t find their house. We were pretty frustrated because it was going to be a family and a reference from an active member so we kept looking when, we ran into a family that we had contacted last month! We had passed by their house a couple times but never found them. But, we found them and they let us in this week and we taught them a little bit. It´s a family and they are married (!) Exciting stuff.

 I have been studying the Book of Mormon this week and thinking about Lehi´s dream. I have learned a lot about that dream. It is the best! It has everything! One thing that caught my attention was that the paths that Nephi 12:17 talks about are broad but the path that leads to the tree of life is narrow. I have been thinking about why is Satan´s path broad but the Lord´s narrow? I was thinking about how when a path is wide you think you have a lot of give, a lot of room to move around and still be ok. That´s how Satan wants us to feel. He wants us to think we can do whatever we want and we are ok, we are still on the path. But, the path that leads to true happiness is narrow and there is no room to think that you are ok when you are really headed off the path. That´s what I have been studying this week. 

We had some cold days this week! I had to put on my sweater and everything! Brrr But now it is passing and it is hot again.

 We also passed by a street and found a little monkey on the ground. We went to pick it up but it jumped on the back of a dog and would not come off. It was actually pretty cute. 

Fun stuff. Love you all a ton! And we will talk soon!!!!

Hermana Fitz

April 25, 2016

Wow! I can´t believe Greg graduated! That is so crazy. Time moves so fast. How awesome that so many people could go support him. Also, shoutout to your dress mom. Look fab! 

This week was the first in the new change! I stayed in Aeropuerto with Hna. Velasquez and we are both really happy about it. The area is progressing a lot and so it is exciting to be here. We have a couple baptisms coming up and the branch is the BEST! The branch council actually visits people and does stuff! It is incredible. We have had so much support and references and everything is just peachy in the area. Not without stress, but things are good. 

On Monday we went with my pensionista to a farm her family owns. A lot of people have their houses in the city and then live on farms outside of the city where they grow all their produce and raise cows and pigs to sell and the such. It was a thirty minute ride in a motokar on a dirt road. but it was beautiful! The farm doesn´t have water or light but it has a house and a ton of fruit trees and animals. When we got there it started raining and I thought oh no how bomba but it went away and left the most beautiful rainbow! We cut down coconuts and enjoyed those and passion fruit and other fruits and just tooled around a little bit. It was awesome! I love the natural beauty of the jungle. It´s incredible.

 The zone hasn´t changed that much but we have a new zone leader and I have a new district leader so that´s fun. 

Also, this week the dog that lives in our house has been in heat and she is purebred so they didn´t want just any dog to get in on that so they locked her away like a princess in tower on the third floor. But, she got out and for some reason has taken to us like her owners so she came to our house and would not leave! She is the best but has a lot of energy. Fun to have a pet for a day. 

A doctor gave me a pen this week from one of the people that come and sell him medicine. It is for a medicine for babies with diarrhea but it writes well so no regrets! I rep that substance all over Tarapoto. 

So proud of you Greg! Hope you enjoy your month off. Pretty soon we will be chatting in real life and I can say more but love you all lots! See you soon!

Hermana Fitzpatrick

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!