Another Week

Sept 24 2012

Hola Familia!

¡Como Estan? Yo espero que todo esta bien, y que todos estan bien de salud. Feliz Cumpleaños a todos! Hay muchos ahorita.. Ali, Tiff, Megan, Drew, Kendall, Charlee, Cooper, Clancie, Addie, Auggie, Lucas and Grandpa B.

This week has been good, nothing huge really happened.  We did have a fun little emergency drill one morning at 6:30. That was really fun, it was to prepare us because last week there was suppose to be a big earthquake and tsunami.  We waited and had all of our stuff ready to go, but nothing ever happened. This is like the third earthquake scare that I have had while in Peru, but I think we’ll be good. I don’t think the water will reach us up on the 5th floor. 

This past week we had a ward mission night. It was pretty good. We had some investigators come! That’s always the best part!. We watched 17 miracles. I love that movie. Most of the members were crying. It had such an impact on them, a lot of them hadn’t seen it. They really were able to see all of the sacrifices that the Pioneers had made. 

But other than that our investigators have come to kind of a stop. Johanna went with her mom to Chiclayo for the last two weekends. So we are anxiously awaiting here return so that we can set a baptism date- 

Our other investigators are Maribel and Mercy (they are the ones that Hna Turk had on her blog). They’re awesome. This mom is incredible. She is catholic, but her and her daughter are awesome. They are so receptive to the gospel. I love teaching them. They have given us multiple references for their friends and family. They are coming to church on their own. The only thing is that she doesn’t really see the need be baptized. She was baptized as a catholic and notices that they are really similar. :S  So we are trying to help her see and she has a little problem with the dad of her kids. But we are just going to keep working with her.  I love this family. They just welcome us in every time we go. Even if they don’t have a lot of time. They want us to come in and sing and pray, even if it was just for 5 minutes. We were there this past week and Maribel needed to make lunch, so she said lets pray and sing, then I’ll go buy the stuff for lunch, and you can teach my mom and nephew. So when she came back we were finishing teaching them the plan of salvation. She calls from the kitchen, “teach them how to pray”, So we did.... then she calls again, “teach them about the book of Mormon”... so we did. But it was funny. She wants everybody she knows to hear our message. So we’ll see what this next week brings and hopefully we can get some things worked out. 

Fernando is doing great, he is still coming to church and staying strong.

This week is going to be great, we have a lot of new people planned and we are holding a missionary fireside. We have a copy of a talk that Jeffrey R. Holland gave at the MTC and it is fabulous!!! I’m excited to share it with the members this week. 

I am so grateful for your support. I am so happy to be a missionary, even when the days are long and tough. The lord blesses his missionaries. I love my Savior Jesus Christ, and I am so grateful for what he has done for me. I am so happy that we have prophets here on the earth today. And we have wonderful blessing of hearing from our special prophet in two weeks. I hope that all of you will prayerfully watch conference and write down your revelations that you receive. It is a blessing that we get to hear from a prophet of god. 

Keep smilin, Love you! 

Hna Sandstrom 

this computer won't let me upload photos - maybe next week

One year older and wiser too

One year older and wiser too....espero que SI (I hope so)
Sep 17 2012

Hola Familia Mia! 

Como estan?

Tengo muchas noticias para ustedes! This past week has been great! We had the opportunity to go teaching with president. It was loads of fun! We had a couple of great lessons and it was awesome to hear president teach. It was very powerful. He was also able to give our pensionista a blessing. She has been the pensionista in our ward for 20 years. She has been having some random pains in her body and wanted a blessing. It was a great surprise for her. Also her husband has Alzheimer’s and it is sad for him to start forgetting things. But its great that he can still do things, and his memory is actually getting better. 

Fernando is the one without the tie- far right

Another great thing that happened this past week is that Fernando got baptized! He was still a little wishy washy during the week. He was seriously so convinced that Hna Lujan was going to come back for him. But as we helped build his faith and he was supported by other people; he realized why he needed to do this. It was amazing! His prayers are so sweet. You can tell that he believes that his Heavenly Father is listening. And he really reads, not all of the times when we leave stuff for people to read do they really read. But Fernando does! He can pull out the coolest things, and knows how to apply them. Sometimes he is a little off because he is so shy. 

His baptism was interesting. His friend in the ward Fedrico baptized him, but he had never done it before. So it took a while in the font, and he had to be dunked 3 times. (oh side note, the water here in the baptism fonts is freezing!!) But he was successfully baptized and is happy!. 

This past week I completed a year in the mission. I can´t believe how fast time flies. I can´t believe that I am a different person than I was before. I am so grateful that I have had the opportunity to serve a mission, and to learn from all of the people here in Peru. 

I love that I have an eternal family that can help me through all of my struggles. I am so grateful that I have this comforting knowledge that no matter what storm comes my way-- I have a great support system. I am so grateful that my parents are sealed in the temple and that they have always been teaching me by example. I didn´t realize how important that was, until I have seen the opposite. I am grateful for the priesthood that I have had in my home and that my dad was always worthy to give me a blessing and to lead our home. Thanks mom and dad, and con and park. Love you :)

 
I am so grateful for all of you! 

Until next week  :)

  

Hna Sandstrom 

Con and P, look what I found at the Bishops house yesterday ... Harry Potter in spanish.  haha made me think of you two

WOW - one year

Sept 10 2012
Hola Familia Mia!

Como Estan? Yo espero que todo esta bien con ustedes! 

All is good here. Im back in the city and trying to get use to the stubbernness of the people again. Haha

I am loving my new companion. She is awesome. Its really weird to be with a north american but we are having a great time, and im really happy.  We live with this family in their apartment building, but we live on the 5th floor. That was really fun carrying my suitcases up.... not.  We have made some great plans for this change and how we can help the ward be more involved missionary work. 

So we have a couple of investigators that we are working with. The first one is Fernando. He is so funny. He is a man of about 50, but he has some pretty weird beliefs. He believes that he doesnt have any sins. So that means he doesn´t need to repent. So funny. Also he misses so much the last Hermana that was here. In every lesson he says that he needs her to come back becuase she is the only one that can help him change. He´s in lvoe with her. Its Hermana Lujan this and Hermana Lujan that. I wish she would come back just so he will be baptized. But he did have is baptismal interview this past week, so hopefully we can keep him convinced that he should be baptized now, and not so far in the future.  Wish me luck this week with him. 

Also we have Jhoana. Her mom is a member, but didn´t learn anything before she was baptized. She wants her daughter to be baptized in lots of diferent churches just to makesure that she is covered. She just thinks that everytime you get baptized you get more blessings. Its weird. But her daughter is awesome. She has been coming to church for a while and loves it, she went to the church for years when she lived in Chiclayo. so we are hoping to get her permission here soon.

 

So thats been our week.

I was incredibly sad to leave Chimbote. We had a family home evening before I left and alot of the ward came. It was sad to say goodbye. Even though I know it will only be until april, but still. I love them so much. It was heart wrenchig to say goodbye to roger and pilar. This family is amazing. They are so strong in the church, applying everything they have learned.

 

Until Next Week.

Take care of yourselves!!!

LOVE YOU LOTS

Hna Sandstrom

 

THis internet place won´t let me load pictures. :(  I´ll send double next week.

Back to Trujillo

Roger & Pilar and family :)

Sept 3 2012

Hola Familia Mia!! Como estan??

Estoy bien aqui. Its been a crazy week and I’m happy to say that we are so tired. Haha

This past week we moved apartments. But we had a little mishap, because we were ready and our new place wasn’t quite ready, but it will be ready for the Hermanas to move in Tuesday night. It’s been quite the headache, but everything will work out great.

moving apartments

This is the week of changes, and guess what..... I’m leaving.... AGAIN: It’s so hard to leave. I know that its part of life and part of the mission but that doesn’t make it easier. President told me in our interview last week that if my headaches weren’t better when he called me in a week, then he was going to bring me back to Trujillo. Oh joy :( So he called this past week and we had a very good discussion. We both agreed that it was for the best for me to return to Trujillo.

So this means I am leaving my favorite place of Nuevo Chimbote! --tomorrow. I am going back to Primavera (my same zone as before) but to a different area, with Hna Langi. She is going to be my first North American companion. She is from Tonga but lives in Cali. It will be great fun!!!

Nuevo Chimbote - I love it!

But I am really sad to leave Chimbote. I feel like I have grown so much here. I have felt so much love from my companion, from my district, leaders, and from my ward. This ward is one of the smallest areas in all of the mission. But the members are amazing! They are so strong and so faithful. They are the pioneers of Chimbote. But they will always have a special place in my heart. I have come to love them so much, in such a short time. I have made friendships that will last forever.

I always heard that you would learn to love so much in the mission, and its true. I can’t believe how much that we can come to love people. They are amazing, I didn’t think that my heart could love people this much. I have really learned to love people here in the mission; to love my companions, other missionaries, members and investigators. Wow. Its just like hermana Bosco said, next door in Argentina [Watch out family, There is a lot more love coming, get ready :) haha

This past week I have been studying, what are miracles. Sometimes miracles aren’t what we think they should be.... Read in the bible dictionary about Miracles. Its cool.

Also Ether 12:4

Lots of Love

Hna Sandstrom