Loving Trujillo

11-21-11

Why is it that I always start to cry when reading your emails? I don’t like it. I have been super homesick these past couple of days. I have been sick-sick, of course. I could feel it coming on in the airport and as I felt crappy I just wanted to be home.

ANYWAYS!!

I’m in TRUJILLO!!

I love it. This is where I am supposed to be and to be spreading the gospel right now. I love the city. I want to take tons of pictures, but we can’t be tourists so I’ll leave it to you guys to take tons of pictures when you come. You’ll be fresh.  I’ve already become used to a lot of the stuff in Trujillo.

Its really a poor area here, but they are living comfortable.

So my first week in trujillo.... well we have no hot water, like we are supposed to. They moved into a new apartment the day before I got here, and its doesn’t have a thermostat yet. I’m stoked about having hot water soon, and the freezing cold showers have not helped with my cold.  And you aren’t supposed to put the toilet paper in the toilet.  It clogs them. We found this out the hard way. hahaha!!  

My spanish is coming along pretty well. Most of the people can understand me and I can participate in lessons. Not completely equal yet, but a lot better than I though it would be. :)

I’m in the Monsaratte area. It’s right in trujillo.

So we started out hard that first night we arrived, we got to go on splits right in my area. Then the next day after more training and meetings with president Turk and his wife, we went to their house for lunch and then it was off to meet our companions. We started off teaching that night. I had no clue what was going on but I bore my testimony and could understand a lot.

I saw a bag of chicken feet in a bag at a house vendor yesterday. haha weird.  And I ate tomatoes, onions and fish all in one meal. and i didn’t die. surprised dad? haha. 

We have pensionistas that cook for us, they are pretty cool. They just returned from serving a mission in trujillo so we are going back to visit a lot of their lost investigators. Its been going great and I’m learning lots.

Hermana Oliveras is my trainer, she is from Mlima.  We will be together for 3 months as part of a new truing program.  i love her so much, and we have already had a lot of success and we work great together. 

We already had a baptism - he is a stellar kid and so excited to be a member of the church.  His grandma is a member and it's just great! (see photo below)

We also had a baptism while i was in the Lima MTC - she was our district's investigator. 

I love you all..

Loves!!!!!!!!!!!

Hermana Oliveros & I

First baptism in the field

Our MTC baptism - right in the middle

The Hermanas of Laureles Zone are Spectacular.

They are smart, clean, bright, courageous, happy and selfless. says Sister Turk

The Laureles Zone

Made it to Trujillo

Nov 16, 2011

Dear family,

I am here in Trujillo.  We got here at about 5:00pm yesterday, all is well. Last night the missionaries, and President and Sister Turk picked us up from the Airport. Then we had dinner, went out teaching with some missionaries here in Trujillo and rested in the hotel, today we have a bunch of trainings and I will meet my trainer later this afternoon.   I am tired, but fantastic!!!

I will email you more next Monday.

Love,

Hermana Sandstrom 

ps love you and they prewrote my script i only get this ps -love you. i have so much to share with you next week

Mom note :) I was able to pull information and photos off the Mission Blog - (the link is in the side bar)

Tuesday ...The new arrivals are here... all 19 of them.  

We loaded them on the blue eagle..

First stop... the Temple Grounds.

It is always a grand experience.

We checked them in at the Blue Malibu Hotel 

where they were going to eat dinner.

Then they are all paired up with great missionaries

and working tonight in nearby areas.

Wednesday, orientation, training and assignments.

They are going to be a dynamic group.

Hermana Sandstrom from Utah will be trained by
Hermana Oliveros from Peru

and they will be in the Monserrate area here in Trujillo.

One week and counting...

Today all of our new district went to immigration with some of other missionaries, so we got to hang out with our old district.   It’s been great to just chill. I spent some of my morning sewing 2 shirts 2 skirts, and 6 pairs of elders pants. Haha - so fun. After letter writing it will be to futbol it up before the temple this afternoon.

My mission life is going great! I'm so excited to leave next week. I’m ready for the field but so nervous for what is coming next. Ready or not here I come, and this is what I'm doing for the next 16 months.

Okay so here is what happened this past week...Last Sunday was awesome. We had a couple hours of study time and then we watched a church movie ‘Mountain of the Lord’, and a devotional by Dallin H Oaks.  It was great.  I love spiritual p days.

Also this past week, I finished the New Testament. It was so great. I don't think that I have ever read it from cover to cover; I have always stopped after the four gospels. It’s so cool and there are so many good scriptures after Acts. I love it. Phil 4:13.   Now my next goal is to read the  D&C before I leave.  It’s so coo.  I have already found some gems.  The boys will love these scriptures -  D&C 38:13,28 haha.  What movie does this remind you of? Ha ha

This past week they have gotten really strict with some of the rules.  The really small annoying ones and it has been really hard to be 100% obedient and to have a positive attitude about things. It takes so much out of me not to complain about the way they do things (which isn't very efficient) but I have to let them learn and just go with things. The language barrier has really been hard too. I thought my language was going pretty good, until yesterday and I had a hard time during a work-shop that we had.

my new sweet latin companion

I'm down to just a couple days here and can't wait to get on to the next step. Its will be scary and interesting for the next couple of months. haha.

Thanks for everything! Love you lots, I'll write you again from TRUJILLO in just a matter of days!!

Love H. Sandstrom

Touring Lima

with Hermana Adams 

 

Hermanas going to Trujillo

Less than 2 weeks to go

Nov 3, 2011
On our p-day wednesday, a lot of the north american hermanas had to go to immigration to get our official peruvian ids. Pretty cool, then we rushed back and went straight to the temple.

So just over a week ago a group of north americans left and all of the latinos left. There were only about 25 missionaries here. After they took off, we went to class for a little bit and then played soccer for hours. It was so much fun! I love it. Last P day we went on a tour of lima. We got to go to this old monastery and take a tour. It was so cool, it was built in the 1400s and and is still being used today. We got to go to the catacombs and see big common graves of 25,000 skulls and other bones. so sweet. The last burial down there was 4 weeks ago, crazy huh. After we got to do a little shopping and just enjoy the scenery and an AWESOME burger from McDonalds. I swear McDonalds has never tasted so good. Haha. That night after we got back the americans got to play a game of futbol. So fun. I scored a couple of goals and the elders were patient with all of the hermanas. There are a couple of us that like to play and have continued to play everyday with the new latinos and our elders in our district.
 
We had some changes in our districts and i miss my old group. Its been hard to get used to but I'm learning new lessons. Change is hard but the Lord knows what He is doing. I LOVE My new Latin companion by the way. She is so so sweet. She went through the temple for the first time yesterday, she speaks no english and is from a small farming town in southern peru.
 
Life is going good here. I can't believe that I have less than two weeks left. SO NUTS. I'm so excited.

Oh funny thing on Halloween we all wore miss matched clothes just for fun, then our dl stuck his head in before lunch and said all of our mission presidents were here for lunch (they were all in Lima for a couple of days for a mission presidents conference) --we freaked!! So funny- we tried to hurry to change our outfits fast, but i didn't have enough time. We got to meet them and then we had our picture taken with President Turk and that is what is on the mission blog . So that was so funny. but great!! And then for more halloween fun that afternoon we all dressed up as elders.

So after meeting President Turk and his wife, who are fabulous, I got really excited. I'm ready to teach real people and start sharing the gospel. The scriptures are our most powerful teaching tool, and I love them. I will finish the new testament today or tomorrow and read the D&C before I leave. So fun. I love it.
 
Its such good weather here. Spring time all the time. Thanks for the love and prayers. I need the help right now.

Challenge for this week: READ Our search for Happiness. Its a quick read but now one of my favorite books. And Study Ephesians 6:13-20.  

Love, H. Sandstrom

Going Out and About

Just a short mom post before Kaylee's letter--Thanks to so many of you for your prayers in ours and Kaylee's behalf this past week-end.  We all felt strengthened.  After meeting with her mtc president last week, he encouraged her to write her thoughts about Lindsay and not being able to be together as a family as the anniversary date of the accident passed.  Then this kind man scanned them and emailed them to us on Monday.  It was good for all of us.  We can feel her growth and strong spirit as she works through things. 

Here is her letter for Oct 26th

Today is our special p-day. There are only about 25 missionaries here at the mtc right now. All of the other groups have left for the field. So today we are going to the temple and then we are going on a tour of Lima. I'm excited to get out and play tourist for a little bit.

This past Saturday we had the chance to go tracting again. But this time our challenge was to get into houses. We drove about 45 minutes away and then all broke up into groups.  We got quite a few people to let us have their information so that we could come back later and teach them. We got into a house and taught a lady a full lesson. It was so great!! She was so excited about the Book of Mormon and loves the bible. She seemed golden, but our teacher who was with us thought she was a little too good to be true. But anyways I'll keep praying for her. We ended up teaching someone else in front of her house and I couldn't understand anything she said. Things were coming out of her mouth but her lips weren't moving-- its tricky.

This past week I finished the Book of Mormon (remember we were challenged to read it in three weeks when i first got here). It was an awesome experience. I loved reading it fast and learning about the stories. I felt such a power after reading. I'm so excited to be able to share it with people for the next 18 months.  It’s true!!!

Now we are working on reading the new testament and the doctrine in covenants before we leave in less than three weeks. It’s about 34 pages a day and will be a little trickier with all of the parables and stuff. But I'm excited. So many people here are Catholic and have a strong conviction of the bible. It will be cool to know the stories in the bible and book of mormon and be able to compare them. So here is a scripture challenge for you! In Matthew 18:18 there is a scriptures about whatever you shall bind on earth...... where is this scriptures in the book of mormon? If you look under bind in the TG it won't be there, but I promise that it is in there. Good luck!

So on Tuesday all of the North Americans and Latinos left for the field. It was sad to see my latin companion go. She had been having a rough week, and it was affecting the spirit between us. She wouldn't ever pray and had a hard time wanting to teach our investigators. On the bus ride to the tracting on Saturday she opened up to me. She said she didn't know if God hears her prayers and has a hard time praying. She didn't know if she was supposed to be here, and she is scared of the field. As we have been companions, I have noticed that we are similar is some ways. Here is one of them that I noticed. She is from lima, and this is her town. Now she is leaving everything she has known and is going somewhere completely new! Sound familiar?  I was able to empathize with her, and try to testify and help her realize how much her Heavenly Father loves her.

I love this gospel; I love seeing the change in people’s lives when they come to know that it is true. When they see the Lords hand in their life. The Spirit is so amazing. It touches people’s hearts and gives comfort in the worst of situations.

I have had a really hard time this past week about not being with my family. It has been hard to go through this 3 year mark with out you guys. A lot of doors opened up, things that I thought I had buried a long time ago. It has been good though to be in a place where I can constantly feel the spirit and am reminded of Heavenly Fathers plan for us, and to remember the atonement. I have been constantly reminded this past week of the atonement and what it means to me.  And how to teach it.  We are incredibly blessed!! Christ has suffered for EVERYTHING we have been through.

I love you all so much, thanks for your prayers and your support!

Hermana Sandstrom!!

Only 3 more weeks

Hola Familia!

Sorry for the delay this week, the head people of international mtcs were here visiting Wednesday and the president didn't want us all gone on p day, so it was moved to today-Friday. That made for a really long hard week but oh well. On the bright side we have another p day on Wednesday. yea

So good to hear from all of you! So good to read your emails. I haven't gotten any hard mail or dear elders since I came but I love speed reading your emails.

So here’s a recap of this past week. We got to go out side of the mtc and act like real missionaries. On Saturdays we get to go out and tract. We went out last Saturday night and did some street contacting. I was so nervous!! I could hardly eat my dinner of chicken and rice (I know, I don't know what I was thinking ;)  as we were finishing eating Hermana Adams and I were joking around and she said watch you will go out there have an awesome time and maybe even speak some English to someone. We just laughed. So as we were out tracting we just started stopping people on the street and got to know them, we would tell them about the church. We ended up getting 7 references for it!  It was so awesome. But here is the funny part. We had stopped a guy and were talking to him. I gave my very fast version of "we are members of the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints" (everybody talks so fast here, its nuts) and he asked where I was from. I laughed because he new my spanish was so bad, I told him the united states and he started speaking to me in english! It was so funny! He works with a company in the states and could speak english really well. I had a hard time trying to think of how to teach the gospel in english. I we ended up talking to him for quite some time, and I ended up being impressed to share the Book of Mormon with him. The only copy I had with me had markings in it that I should use for teaching and notes in the margins. I really felt like he needed it though. So all in all I gave him the copy. I felt so great!!! If this is what its going to feel like for 18months I’m so excited. So it ended up being just like Hermana Adams predicted.

But here is the scary part. Tomorrow when we go out, our goal is to get into 5 families houses and teach them the first lesson and have them want to have us back. Ah!! I'm so so nervous again. I have a hard time understanding fast spanish, and thats the only language people speak outside the mtc. haha

So remember how I love diving in and studying the scriptures. Well I love it and everyday this past week I have become to love it more and more.  Hermana Adams, another elder in our district and I have been going at it. We ask some pretty hard questions or get some hard questions from our investigators and we have to find the answers in the scriptures. Here is one for you… in Matthew 18:18 it says.... and this same scripture is where in the Book of Mormon?  Good luck. And another one is why can't women in our church hold the priesthood?  Back it up with a scripture. Or find any scripture about the apostasy. It so fun! I wish I knew the bible better. It is such a great teaching tool down here because they are all Catholics. Which I think is awesome because they have a base and a belief in Jesus Christ. That makes it so much easier than atheists.

So there really isn't anything new going on here.  All of the advanced North Americans leave on Tuesday along with our Latinas. Then we will all get new missionaries from the states and Latinas for our last three weeks. It’s so weird that I only have 3 more weeks here in the mtc. It feels like I need a lot more time, but at the same time I feel like I have been in the mtc forever.

So this past week I had a pretty good break down. We have to write a letter to our mission president every week and he asked us to share stuff that we would be having a hard time with.  Well I wrote him about Lindsay and ended up having a break down later that night.  Not just a small break down -- I haven't had a break down like this for almost 2 years. Hna Adams stayed up with me most of the night crying, it was bad.

I love you and thanks for remembering me in your prayers.