Lima - Post 1

Hello Readers,

This is Hermana Scarlett's mom writing.  Things have been a little crazy lately (in a good way) for our little Sister Missionary so she hasn't sent out her usual mass emails to the whole world.  Instead she asked I update ya'll on her mission.

First, two Sunday's ago Gerardo was confirmed a member of the church and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  That morning had been really busy for everyone and the Bishop of the congregation had forgotten about Gerardo's confirmation.  During the congregational hymn, Hermana Scarlett was trying to give him hand signals to remind him.  In the midst of her gestures, she wondered if there were spanish gestures rather than the english gestures she was using.  When she realized she was trying to translate her gestures into spanish, she busted out laughing - in church :)

That afternoon we skyped with our missionary and I can't say she was beautiful because the connection was horrific - she was a pixelated blob on the screen!  Eventually we turned off the video and just talked which improved the connection some.  We blamed it on 85,000 missionaries skyping their moms all on the same day - Mother's Day!

Yesterday, Hermana Scarlett was online long enough to let me know she was being transferred in an emergency transfer to Lima!  Of course I thought - how can she be transferred to another country without the mission notifying me?!?!?!?!  It took several emails back and forth before she and I were on the same page - there is a itty bitty town way out in the country, right in the middle of Buenos Aires and Rosario, called Lima. There is a set of sister missionaries there currently, one is a trainer and the other is a new missionary out only four weeks on her mission.  The trainer has been sick and there isn't good medical care in Lima.  She is transferring in to Vicente Lopez and will be with Hermana Sanchez.  This will put her in close proximity to the Mission Doctor and the Mission President.  Hermana Scarlett will go out to Lima and finish training Hermana White.  Allison is soooooooo excited to train and she is more than prepared for this new responsibility.  

Lima has just over 10,000 residents and is primarily farm and cattle ranches.  It is a mid-point stop on the railroad between Rosario and Buenos Aires and on the river too.  The other main industry for the tiny town is the nuclear power plan on the river - it provides most of the power for the entire country of Argentina!  The church there is very small, the congregation is called a Branch and they meet in a rented house in the town.  The sister missionaries live in a teeny tiny house with few modern amenities - there is an electric hot plate, running water and a very small water heater.  Hermana Scarlett and Hermana White are spending their first day together cleaning their little home top to bottom, throwing out the clutter and broken furniture and organizing themselves - rolling up their sleeves and getting to work, thats my girl!

Hermana White is a convert to the church and was baptized about 16 months ago.  She is from Washington state and the two became fast friends quick - especially since they spent so much time yesterday in the car.  Here is the low down on that - the office missionaries drove them to Lima - just over two hours, and upon arrival realized that the keys to their house were with the sick sister - back in Vicente Lopez!  So they drove 2+ hours back and retrieved the keys AND the area cell phone which they didn't realize they didn't have until they asked for the keys!  Then for the return trip, they were put on a bus which they had to switch off of onto another bus with the return trip taking three hours.  LOTS of time to get to know each other!

Allison is so excited for this new adventure - new companion, training, new area in a totally new environment, a little branch of members and more.  I told her all this change was the perfect breeding ground for major personal growth.  With prayer, faith and obedience she will have great success with this companion and in this new area.

Stay tuned for more of Hermana Scarlett's missionary adventures in Lima.....