San Fernando - Post 5

Our favorite Missionary
Hermana Scarlett!

Submitting yourself to the will of the Lord - Sometimes that is harder than it sounds.  This was quite a week.  We had some great funny moments and some moments that really tested our faith.  

Monday was good.  We had lunch with a member from another ward that goes out with us.  His grandma made us SO MANY EMPANADAS!  I just about exploded and then they pull out the fruit salad for dessert.  I almost died! #empanadasgalore

Lunch with La Familia Nico

Tuesday we found this great kid named Brian. He listened to the sisters missionaries before and attended church four times but he stopped going when his dad traveled to Peru to help out with their shop.  But he wanted to go back to church.  #milagro

Wednesday we had district meeting and it was really good.  Then we had lunch with a family and their 4 year old little boy has the cutest crush on me.  He is so funny.  While we were sitting there, their other son pulled out this jar of peanut butter and said "here, i don't know what you guys use it for but you can have some."  We just chuckled.  

Lunch with La Familia Montenegro

I forgot to tell you guys at the beginning of the transfer we had lunch with the Young Men´s President (Young Men is the church's organization for boys ages 12-18.  The President is a member of the congregation called to oversee this organization) and he sells peanut butter.  He found a factory close by, buys it then resells it, and also gives us some.  IT´S SO GOOD!  So he gave some to the Young Men and they don´t know what to do with it so they give it to us too.  SO we are eating so much peanut butter and I love it! I literally cried the first time I had some. #sweetpeanutygoodness

Thursday we had weekly planning and right in the middle we had stop and go to a lunch appointment with an elderly member who lives a little far away, in the Elder´s area.  On the way it started to drizzle a bit.  We got a tad worried. After we finished lunch and started to head back to the apartment, it started to rain harder.  Then we got on the train and it started to rain even harder, then we got off the train and the biggest downpour ever dumped on us.  We were running trying to get back to the apartment to finish our planning.  A lady gave us some trashbags and we bolted to our apartment getting soaking wet!  What an adventure. #itsrainingitspouring

Soaking wet!

Friday we saw Brian and he told us about some things that were going on causing him to wait a while before he can get baptized.  He is a great kid that wants to change his life.  I know that one day he will be baptized and he will be a GREAT missionary!  

Saturday was a long day trying to find people to no avail - like all the other days we do this.  We had been planning on Brian being baptized, but that was postponed.  That night the Elders had a baptism so we helped them with it.  Like 20 minutes before the service, they asked us if we could throw together a musical number.  We pulled out "Creo en Cristo" (I Believe in Christ) and I sang the first verse, my companion sang the second verse, we sang the third verse in unison and on the fourth verse I sang the tenor part an octave higher while my companion sang the melody.  It turned out pretty good but I was shaking the whole time.  I get so nervous to be in front of people now! Halfway through the number, one of the Elders whipped out his camera and started recording it!  I just about killed him but it´s okay - it was a small act of service we could give.  After the baptism, I went to wash my hands and the water cut off again!  We ran to the kitchen to wash them but there wasn't water there either, so I was standing there with soap all over my hands.  We thought, where is there water?  The baptismal font!  SO we ran to the font to get the soap off my hands.  My companion, the elders, and the ward mission leader were all laughing at me. But i had no other choice! #whereisthewater?

Hermana Ostler and Hermana Scarlett

Sunday was a long and hard day . Brian´s dad wouldn't let him go to church.  But Carmen was confirmed a member of the church and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost :)  After that, we spent a long hard day being rejected by everyone and people yelling at us.  It was hard.  We went back to the apartment to take a cool down moment then asked the Elders to give us blessings.  In my blessing there were so many things said that were exactly what I needed to hear so I could keep on keeping on.

SO here I am.  Pushing on with faith in every footstep, trying to be better than I was the day before, helping people to come unto Christ.  But even in these difficult days/weeks, I can still see the blessings and the hand of the Lord in my life and in His work.  I am so proud to be a Representative of Jesus Christ, to do His work and His will. Sometimes it is hard but it is always the best for us in the end.

I Love you all!

Hermana Allison Scarlett

San Fernando - Post 4

My companion, Carmen and I - Baptism Day!

September 22, 2014

Carmen got baptized :) It was a bit stressful because she is 73 years old and forgets just about everything, including what to do during the baptism. But it happened and she is happy. 

So as for the rest of the week not much happened.  I got my new name tags!  My old one is a year old, dirty, and scratched up, so I retired it.  

This week we did divisions with the sister training leaders and I went to Tigre with Hermana Traverso.  She is awesome and I learned a LOT from her :)

Wednesday was good. My companion got sick so we went home a couple hours early so she could rest.  It was pretty bad but the next day after some rest and medication she was back up on her feet and ready to work.

Thursday was normal, Friday too.  Saturday Carmen had her baptismal interview and passed.  She is so cute and has a hard time remembering things so we gave our District leader all the little things we use to help her remember.  She passed :)

The San Fernando District

Sunday was her baptism.  Like I said earlier it was kind of stressful for various reasons but it happened and she is happy.  However this computer won't let me send pics so i´ll send a bunch next week :)

As for me I am good :) We are trying to find more people but it´s been a struggle.  But we just keep on keeping on :) 

Oh and I turn 1 year old in the mission this Thursday!  QUE LOCOOOO!!!  TIme flies by so fast!

Love you all <3

Hermana Allison Scarlett

San Fernando - Post 3

This week I wasn't very diligent in my hashtags so I'm going to rack my brain and try to remember what happened this week :)

Monday:  Well we had a good lesson with Carmen.  She was having a hard time with prayer, just because she is 70-something years old and has a hard time remembering things. So we explained the prayer and we invited her to offer the closing prayer.  So she crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and bowed her head, and so did we.... but she didn't say anything!  My companion and I peeked at her and peeked at each thinking "Is she praying in her head?" We sat there for like 5 minutes! After many silent conversations of what we should do, we finally we asked "Carmen, could you offer the prayer out loud?" It was a bit of a struggle but now she is praying much better :)  We have to teach very simply and clearly for her but she is so great! I just love her :)  

We also had a Family Home Evening with members but it was pretty much a disaster.  The husband had the spiritual thought and took FOREVER! When he finished we had 20 minutes to get home and the family JUST put in the Hotdogs for dinner! I was super anxious because we CANNOT GET HOME LATE!  We threw our hotdogs together and they rushed us home in the back of their Astrovan.

Tuesday I don't remember what happened, Wednesday either...

Thursday we had Zone Conference, which is when the AP´s and Mission President teach us how to be better missionaries. They are so fun and I always learn so much!  We talked a lot about the Book of Mormon and the Spirit and how those 2 together are the greatest tools we have in the conversion process. After the meeting we all ate pizza. (Just to let you know, Pizza here is SO GOOD! Pizza in the US is NASTAY! It´s the sauce :))  Hermana Ostler and I went to the bathroom to wash our hands but the water in the bathroom cut off.  SO we are standing there with wet soapy hands thinking "WHat are we gonna do?!?"  We run to the kitchen to use the sink and my companion stopped in front of me and was like "uhhh...." and i crash into her.  I look around her and President Ayre is in there with some other missionaries having a serious conversation.  They are just looking at us with our soapy wet hands and we are like "Sorry, can we use the sink?"  And President Ayre just starts laughing and said "Yeah:) What happened?" SO we tell him and we just got a good laugh out of it :)

Friday we planned, nothing exciting.

Saturday we had a Service Activity!  WHOOO!! I LOVE SERVICE!  It is so hard to find service opportunities.  SO our whole zone got together with members from our wards and some of the neighboring wards too.  A block down the road from the church there is a School that EVERYONE in San Fernando knows because just about EVERYBODY went there. Tt was covered in graffiti so we cleaned off the front and side walls then re-painted them. It was so fun to just let our hair down and serve and enjoy time with members and missionaries.  :)

Sunday Carmen came to church :)  She is doing so great and will be baptized this coming Sunday :)  I will send pics :)  Keep praying for her and pray that we can find more people that are prepared to accept the Gospel!  

Love you all so much! I read through al my old letters and realized that I haven´t written like ANYBODY in such a long time!  So I am working on that.  If you'd like a letter, send me your address and I´ll try to get one to you ASAP.  

Hermana Allison Scarlett

San Fernando - Post 2

You should probably just present everyone you know to the missionaries now...Because if not, we´re just going to find teach and baptize them anyways :)  Sept 8, 2014

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!  This week has been pretty rough but we have received a great blessing because we continued diligently through it all :)

Tuesday not much happened other than I saw some interesting things.  The only one which i will comment to you was on the way to find a less active.  We saw a dead, dried, shriveled up cat on a pole on the top of someone´s house!   QUE ASCO!!!!!!  #creepycat

Hermana Ostler and Hermana Scarlett

Wednesday was a rough day.  So we went to visit some less actives but nobody was home or wanted to talk to us. Then my companion had to go to the bathroom so we drop by the church and I´m looking through my bag... and I DON¨T HAVE THE KEYS!  My companion checks her bag and se doesn't have them either. I go into panic mode, say a little prayer and feel like we need to go to the house again.  We go to the house and the Portero is outside  (guy in charge of the building) - we ask him if he found some keys..... and he said yes!  When we left the building I had LEFT THEM IN THE DOOR!!! How Dumb am I?!?  Thank goodness he found them and not someone else (Tender Mercy of the Lord).  Later on we are walking down the street and Hermana Ostler steps in dog crap and this guy walks by and says "It means good luck!"  So we strike up a conversation with him and gave him a Book of Mormon while my companion cleans off her shoe.  He was SUPER AWESOME! Except he doesn't live in our area and he works sundays.... so yeah, but later I saw a smiley face cookie on the sidewalk and it made me smile and i felt better :) #whataterribleday

Thursday was the miracle day.  We started out our day and yet again nobody had time for us.  We went to visit a less active family but they were moving and didn't want our help.  I was just like seriously!?! When her neighbor walked out and I started talking to her and invited her to church.  The less active´s kids were running around and screaming and throwing sand.  I just wanted to grab those kids and teach them how to behave, but I can´t so I just tried my best to talk to this lady.  She liked what we had to say and accepted the invitation to go to church and be baptized on the 21st.  It was a surprise when she said yes but we were super content :) #encontrandoescogidos

One year mark - six months to go!

Friday we went by Carmen, the lady we met yesterday, and she wasn't there so we were a little sad and doubted a bit in her commitment to go to church and be baptized but we continued anyways and had yet another long day. That night we had a FHE (Family Home Evening) with the ward.  Before getting to the church my companion and I stopped by an ice cream shop, bought some ice cream, the went to the church and hid in the bathroom eating it.  I took a video and it is SO FUNNY! For the FHE my companion and I were in charge of the games.  So we played a version of Rock, Paper, Scissors, where if you lost you had to attach yourself to the person who won, creating a dragon.  The goal was to have everyone behind you and be the head of the dragon.  We also played "Do you love your neighbor?"  It got pretty crazy.  It was so funny because the AP´s (Assistants to the Mission President) are here in the ward and I was kind of like "No pressure huh?" But they are really cool and a lot of fun.  #NDHmisiona

Saturday we were able to see Carmen!  She was excited to be able to go to church with us and was really taking seriously the commitment to be baptized on the 21st.  Also Saturday I realized that we, the missionaries in San Fernando, are basically the secretaries of the AP's. We have saved them so many times, they owe us big time.  SO hopefully next transfer we can get the find out transfers from them early :P

Sunday Carmen came to church!  We got there early to show her around the church and she liked it a lot.  Then we back to the chapel and sat down and a member walked in and I was about to introduce Carmen to her when the member said "MY FRIEND! CARMEN!" ANd gave her a big beso y abrazo (kiss and hug).  The member asked us "How did you find her? We´ve known each other for about 30 years!"  The funny thing is that earlier in the week we went to this member´s house and asked her if she knew anyone that would like to hear our message or go to church and she said she didn't know anybody. Then we show up at church with her friend who set a baptismal date!  Thus the title of my e-mail!!  We showed Carmen the baptismal font and she just took a moment looking at it and I know she felt the Spirit so strongly.  She wants to bring her husband next week and is super excited to keep learning more :) #everymemberamissionary

So basically what I have learned this week is that the Lord blesses you when you do all you can and He blesses you when you least expect it.  Seriously being a missionary is the best.  Sometimes it´s a lot of work and you get really tired but when you find the people who the Lord has prepared to hear and accept the Gospel, it´s all worth it.  All of the rejections, long days of nothing, cannot be compared to being an instrument in the hands of the Lord bringing the Restored Gospel to those who are waiting for it.

I love you ALL!

Hermana Allison Scarlett

San Fernando - Post 1

Haha so a while back Steven George (my cousin) put a hashtag in his letter and it made me laugh, and it gave me an idea.  Every day in my planner to remember what happened that day I have a section to put hashtags Haha i know it is cheesy but it works! SO every week i will share with you some of my best hashtags :)

Me and My Mom - Hermana Mowry.
She's finished her mission and  is heading home!

Tuesday- So I get my new companion and we are running around everywhere to get ready and stuff and then we go to work.  IT was good.  That night we had some visitors stay with us.  SOme of the hermanas that were finishing their mission spent the night with us, and one of them was my very own mother, Hermana MOWRY!  Oh man it was such a great night.  We talked for a long time about the mission and our adventures together.  SHe is seriously the best!  #killedmymom

Wednesday- SO i hashtagged this day wrong so I don't remember what happened.  I just remembered we planned for a long time #oopswrongday

Thursday- SO thursday we had our zone meeting.  It was really good.  At the beginning they talked a lot about our calling and our purpose here as missionaries.  i was a bit awestruck because that{s what I had decided to focus on the transfer is magnifying my calling and becoming a misionera mas eficaz.  Also that day there was a sister that was supposed to go home but there was a pari de transporte so her flight was cancelled.  So she accompanied us the whole day.  It was really great :)  I kept tripping over everything, so we made up a song.  So the song la cucaracha is about a cockroach that can't walk because he is missing a leg, but we changed it to this:

Hermana Scarlett! Hermana Scarlett!

Ya no puede caminar (Now she's not able to walk)

Porque tropieza! Porque tropieza! (Because she trips herself, because she trips herself)

Ocho veces por dia! (Eight times each day!)

CHA CHA CHA!

#soylacucaracha

Friday- So friday we had a really awesome member from the neighboring ward accompany us.  He is a recent convert and loves missionary work.  He accompanies just about all the missionaries in the zone.  His name is nico.  I thought he was our age, like 18 19 or 20.  But no! He is only 15 years old!  He is seriously a boss! #chicitonicito

OUR FAVORITE MISSIONARY
(Named Hermana Scarlett!!!)

Saturday- SO this day one of the young women accompanied us to do visits and then afterwards went by to her house and visited with her less-active-non-member family.  She pulled out this way cool looking book of mormon.  We were like Woah!  Where did you get that?!?  They had found a box of them in the church a while back and just gave them to whoever wanted them.  She ran back to her room and brought out 2 more and gave them to us.  I am going to treasure that book of mormon for forever :) Also, we went to visit a  eternal investigator.  Him and his family have a shop.  All of his family are members except for him.  All of them are less-actives except for his sister.  She is awesome and a returned missionary.  One of my first days she came up to us and was like, "I really think he's going to be baptized soon"  So we went by and found him.  He is an interesting person. They sell a lot of those snapback hats there and i realized that they had about 3 with the Charlotte Hornets logo on it!  I was like WHAAAA?!? That's like 20 minutes from where i live!!! SO i took a picture with it and they said when I leave they are going to gift one to me. #NCsnapback #AntiguoLDM

Capilla Abierta - Church Open House
for the new chapel in Vicente Lopez!

Daniel's Baptism in Vicente Lopez!!

Sunday- SO sunday we had a very unique opportunity.  We had been asked to help out at a open hase at the chapel of... VICENTE LOPEZ!!  Yeah the very vicente lopez where i served about 6 months ago :)  The chapel there had been under construction for 9 months and they finally finished it and decided to do an open house to help share the gospel.  SO we got there and started chatting with the sisters serving there and they were like "You will never guess who is getting baptized tonight" I was like "WHO!?!" And they said Daniel Vergaray.  I was shocked and just started crying.  He was an investigator who had been listening to the missionaries for years, and one of his member friends told us to go by and visit him.  SO we did.  He is seriously the best but he was just being stubborn about making the decision to be baptized.  He was studying philosophy and came up with questions to everything that didn't really matter. But they said they taught him awhile then dropped him, but he kept coming to church.  Then a month later he called them and asked them to come by, so they did and he told them that he had a series of dreams and knew that he needed to be baptized and put his own baptismal date.  They told me all of this and i started to tear up.  It was way awesome that exactly that day they had asked me and my companion to go by and help out.  Being able to see the members and see Daniel get baptized helped me feel more at peace with my short time that i spent there in vicente lopez.  #DANIELGOTBAPTIZED #VLcapillaabierta

And then today, I got onto my email and had like 0 e-mails and I am really sad.  I need a bit of moral support because i was pretty stressed out the first couple days and Mondays are my relax, people care about me day.  SO if you all could write me that would be great :)  Love you anyways <3




Hermana Allison Scarlett

Transfers!

August 25, 2014

IT IS TRANSFERS DAY!

And I am in....... duhn duh duh duhnnnn

SAN FERNANDO 2!!!!!!

San Fernando is where the mission offices are and the APs also.

And I am training again!

My companions name is Hermana Ostler from Orange County California.  She got here las transfer and Hermana Keith (She is awesome!) did the first half of her training and I am coming in to do the last 6 weeks.  It{s now a joke that i am the madrastra (step-mother) because my 2 hijas in the mission had another mom (trainer) before me.  But she is super sweet and speaks really well!  We are going to have a GREAT time here :)

Text Message from Presidente Sanchez when he found
out I was being transferred.  It says, "OK thank you
thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you
thank you for all you have done here in Lima for us!" 

As for my week, I really do not remember much.

Tuesday in the District meeting Elder Paricahua mad Ceviche for us.  It is a typical peruvian dish and it is SOOO GOOOOD!

Thursday the APs called us to tell us we needed to go to the meeting for trainers who were going to receive new missionaries.  I knew that Hermana Durán was going to train.  She is AWESOME and is going to do a great job :) So we spent pretty much all day friday traveling.  

Saturday Presidente Sanchez (branch president) and Fernando (Recent convert and elder's quorum president) Made us Asado as a farewell for Elder Paricahua and Me.  It was Delish!

Yesterday  I woke up and felt really bad and ran to the bathroom.  I was in there for like 10 minutes with some pretty bad diarrhea.  And about 5 minutes later i was running back.  I was like that all morning and i felt pretty nauseous  No fever or anything, but after running back and forth to the bathroom all morning I was so weak.  So we were in the house all day again.  So we spent the day cleaning and packing and organizing and I slept a lot trying to get my strength back.  

La Familia Muga, Hermana Duran and I - Before the Baptismal Service

At about 7:30 the Zone Leaders called us to tell us about where I was going.  They told me I was going to San Fernando 2 and that I was going to train.  I was like WHAT!?!  I thought it was a joke.  They were like no.  The APs didn't call you? And i was like uhmmm no! So they called the APs and then called us again and said i was going to finish the training of a new hermana.  ANd then the APs called us and told us.  So it was a surprise just like last time but i am excited :) Both Hermana Durán and I felt like with all the success we had last transfer together, the Lord was preparing us to have more responsibility.  We knew she was going to train but I didn't know what I was going to do.  I had been so stressed but now that I am her and am with my new companion I am more relaxed and ready to take on this new experience :)

SO all in all i am good :)  I love the mission and am ready to FIND; TEACH; AND BAPTIZE!

Hermana Allison Scarlett

P.S. I turned 11 months old in the mission yesterday!  I ONLY HAVE 7 MONTHS LEFT!!!!! AHHHH! time is FLYING!

La Familia Muga - my family, found and baptized!