Lima - Post 5

June 23, 2014

Well this week was quite an interesting week.  I actually got to work in my area for like 2 days and we still were able to see blessings. So my week went a little like this-

Monday: We got a call that morning from the Sister Training Leader to let us know that we were going to do exchanges.  That is when we trade companions and areas to learn from each other.  They were gonna come over that night then the next morning I would head to San Pedro with Hermana de la Cruz for 2 days. So after p-day activities, we worked 3 hours then headed to the house to prepare for the exchange.  They got there at 10:30 that night.  Our apartment is TINY and it was FREEZING so we didn't sleep very well that night.

Tuesday: We get up, I pack my stuff for 3 days and we head to San Pedro.  We were late for a meeting back in San Pedro with some other missionaries so they moved the meeting to that night.  We went to work and had a blast!  That night we had a little electric heater and so we thought it would be a good idea to turn it on full blast and close the doors while we slept so we would be really warm.

Wednesday: I woke up like 10 minutes before the alarm went off and I was sweating, had a huge headache and felt so hot and dry.  I thought I had a fever and felt like I was gonna die. I said my prayers, got out of bed, headed to the bathroom, then headed upstairs to exercise.  Hermana de la Cruz came in and I told her "I have the worst headache EVER"  an she said "ME TOO"  We then realized it was probably from being closed up in a tiny room with the heater on full blast.  SO we drank tons of cool water to rehydrate ourselves, took some Advil and once we got outside in the cool air we felt a million times better! We worked that day then headed back to Lima that night and slept in our tiny apartment with 4 girls again, froze and didn't sleep well again!  

Thursday: We all get up and get ready study then the other sisters headed back to San Pedro.  Hermana Wietl and I then did weekly planning which took a while.  We worked only for a few hours because the next day we had a sisters conference.  So we had to head back home, shower, pack, and go to Zarate to spend the night.  That night there were 8 of us girls in an apartment - It was interesting and yet again we didn't get a good quantity or quality of sleep. 

Friday: Headed to San Fernando and found out that it was a holiday so the fastest bus wasn't running and the other bus we had to take was about to leave. To get all the Sisters on that bus, we stalled by slowly getting on board as the others were buying their tickets.  We were the last 2 to get on the bus.  We got to the meeting right on time.  It was a lot of fun and so great to see some of my other sister missionary friends and catch up with them.  SO we finish the meeting and get to the place where we need to take the bus to head back to Zarate. The Zarate Comun bus passes by but we didn't take it because it takes 3 hours to get to Zarate so we waited for the Zarate Express to pass by.  One passed by and we flagged it down but it didn't stop because it was full.  We waited again and another one passed by, same thing happened.  So we had been waiting for about an hour and another Zarate Comun bus comes by and we hop on.  It was a long bus ride and we were all so sleep deprived that EVERYTHING was funny. We finally get to Zarate and take our bus back to Lima and get there about 9:30. We weren't feeling too great but we had to travel again to another place for a meeting the next morning.  So we just decided to sleep it off and go to the meeting in the morning.

Saturday:  Woke up and felt just terrible but I get the strength up to get to the shower thinking that after a hot shower I would feel better.  I didn't but got out and dressed because I REALLY wanted to go to this meeting. I look at Hermana Weitl, she looks at me, and says "do you really think it´s a good idea to go to this meeting?" We both knew what the answer was so we called the elders and we  told them we weren't going to be able to go and that we were sick.  So they told us to just get some rest and they would see how we were doing when they got back.  SO we slept for like 5 more hours and the elders called us and said they got back and had some stuff to bring to us.  SO they came by, dropped off the stuff, and saw that we still weren't doing too great so were were commanded to just stay in the house and get better.  So we were in the house sick all day.  

Sunday:  SO we get up and felt a million times better. We go pass by our investigators to get them to church but nobody came.  But after church we got to work to make up for the crazy week we had.  We are now working with and investigator named Victoria and she is super great.  We are also working with Juan who has a baptismal date set for the 19th.

Oh and remember the miracle guy we met last sunday? Qell we tried to find him all last week but couldn't until yesterday. So he´s a little bit interesting... he started telling us about how he had accepted Jesus then he started talking about how he used to be anti christ and when his brother accepted christ he wanted to go burn his house down and almost did.  then how he accepted christ was that he purposefully burned himself on the leg and had it healed by the power of God.  Then he started talking about how his sister is a prophet and just some other weird stuff.  It was pretty weird....  so we were just like we´re here to help people find the truth and make covenants with Heavenly Father, the first being baptism and he was like well i´m just going to go back to my church.  So we just invited him to read the Book of Mormon and pray to see if it´s true then we left and I´m pretty sure we won´t be going back.  

SO that´s my week and I want to share a quote from Joseph Smith I found this morning in my studies.  You may have heard it before, I had, but it just kind of gave me more of a drive to keep on doing this work.

"The standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the Truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done."

What a blessing it is to be doing the Lord´s work, especially at this time when it is moving forward faster than ever.  Even if I feel discouraged or beat down I know that I am doing what my Heavenly Father wants me to be doing. I am where He wants me to be.  Yeah, sometimes it is hard, but no matter what the truth of the restoration will go forth until all the world has heard.  I seriously love being a missionary and being able to share what I know and be able to help change people´s lives for the better.  I know without a doubt that the Book of Mormon is true and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only true and living church on the face of the earth. It is guided by a prophet and apostles who have the power and authority of God, just like the church Christ established while he was here upon the earth, because it is the SAME church.  And I have the great blessing to share that with people every single day.

¡Que grandioso es mi llamamiento! (My calling is so awesome!) I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Hermana Allison Scarlett

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD AND JOHNNY! (Did you know your birthday is the same day as the anniversary of Lima? How cool is that?!?)