Huge Service Project

Hola fam-

I was bummed to hear about beet harvest but hopefully the weather will decide that it will let you guys finish up with the harvest. Mom, you are quite the trooper hanging out on Halloween all by yourself. Halloween was remarkably boring here. I was really really disappointed. There was a heck of a fiesta behind our house at about 2 in the morning that reminded us that it was a holiday. Oh and yes I was able to see the pics, they are fantastic! I love looking at pics of my little neffy-poos. (Joe, I hardly recognized you without a bunch of hair on your face!)

Firstly, transfers were this week....annnnnndd...... I am staying here in La Rinconada with my companion Hermana Martinez for another transfer. This is super duper unusual, but we are excited to continue working with our investigators that we have here.

We had a Huge service project the other day where we put sand into 5 gallon buckets and hauled it through the house of the member and up some really sketchy ramp/ladder thing to the roof. The elders refused to let the hermanas help them for the first part of the service. we helped in the kitchen prepare for lunch for the family, but about an hour into it, The elders were wiped out and I took my turn to help with the hauling of the buckets to the roof. It was really hard and I was really tired afterward, but it was really great to be able to serve. I couldn´t help but remember when me and Benny had to empty Lake Larry under the barn with 5 gallon buckets. Love it.

Here's a funny story. We were finishing up for the night contacting and were preparing to head back to our pension to plan and go to bed. One of the pan ladies on the corner stopped us and we talked briefly. She told us that there was a huge fiesta at our house for someone who got baptized. We were awful confused and left to go see what was up. as we got closer to our house, we saw balloons and all sorts of crazy streamers in the door. we peaked in and there were loads of people in beautiful clothes all sat waiting for something. On the walls were Styrofoam angels and there was an enormous cake. We realized that this was a catholic fiesta and felt super duper out of place as we (the Mormon sister missionaries) Walked in the front door, passed in the middle of all of this stuff to get to our room. Hahahaha. It was pretty funny. when we walked in, everyone looked at us ahahahha.

Another funny story. Everyone here asks me that if I find someone who I love here in Peru, if I will stay here and marry him. Usually we just laugh and tell them that I am a missionary and aren't looking for a spouse. the other night we were contacting and one person asked me a question and I was SURE that she asked me if I was here "con mi Chico" I just straight up said "no tengo chico" and my companion busted up laughing because it was something completely different. The family was really confused and left scratching their foreheads. Crazy gringas !

Things are going slowly on the mission front. The lord is really trying our faith with our investigators right now. None of them can come to church. They all have fairly legitimate reasons, but we know better. It is super frustrating, but we will continue to work with them as long as they are willing to progress.

I tried my first bite of fruitcake yesterday. Everyone here is super obsessed with the stuff. It is all over the place. I told my companion that fruitcake was kind of like a joke in the united states, and she couldn´t understand why. Everyone eats the stuff like 4 months before Christmas and 3 months after. It actually wasn´t half bad.

People keep asking me about the language so here it is (don ´t judge me, I'm still learning!)

En realidad, tengo miedo para escribir en español porque sé que falta mucho en mis habilidades, pero sé que cada día estoy mejorando. Usualmente, sé que esta pasando y no tengo muchos problemas enseñando. Pero, cuando la conversación sale de el Evangelio, es mucho más difícil para intender. Tengo muchas ánimas para continuar aprendiendo para que otras personas puedan entenderme. Amo este Evangelio, y sé con todo de mi corazon que este es la iglesia de Jesucristo. Siento su amor y guia cada día. Sé que Jesucristo es mi Salvador y con la fe puedo hacer este obra de salvación.

Les Amo

Hermana Christensen

Me and one of the most delicious foods of Peru: Papa Rellena

Service Project

Our investigator Amparito