Hmm... What happened this week?

Not much more than working :)

Our ward had a talent show. Us missionaries sang "Hallelujah" in Spanish. We may or may not have angelic voices. We also did a couple of short sketches and our ward did a bunch of stuff and it was probably the most fun talent show of my life.

Last Monday a lot of us went to a dinosaur park. In like the boonies of Cusco. I`m not sure why it`s there, but it was super fun. We`re also fairly certain there are Incan ruins underneath it. Somebody should go excavate that. Hermana Wight (who is basically the ballerina-from-Washington me) and I had more fun than anyone there. Including a 6 year old. Hna Wight is one of the Hnas who lives in our apartment right now. We chat it up a lot because I think she`s hilarious. (is that vanity if I just said she`s the same person as i am?)

One of our investigators wants to get baptized! We haven`t given her a date yet, but she`s on her way. We asked her the other day if she believed that the church was true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, etc and she said that she was certain! I`m basically beyond thrilled. Hna Condie and I contacted their family in the street, and they`re slowly, but surely progressing! 

Not much else. I`m just so thrilled to be here. I LOVE being a missionary.

Love you all! Hope you have a wonderful week!

Hna Hill

Oh. I also hit exactly 1/3 of my mission this week and I`m not entirely sure what to think about that. 

(Kelly here)

Keni wrote a quick little message to me that read:

Sorry I don`t have time. Again. I`m the worst. I feel like you guys don`t quite understand, too, so that makes it worse. LOVE YOU SO MUCH.

(Kelly here - I had asked her about her companion and the typhoid, and what it really meant for her)

Also - typhoid is an infection that you get if you eat something really bad. Like poop or somehting. Not contagious.

And I haven`t been really sick, just days here and there. Oh, except I had parasites for like 3 months. They`re gone now. DON`T freak out and call the mission office or anything, yeah? Parasites happen sometimes in 3rd world countries and I just had to take two pills after dinner and they were gone.

Love you!

Keni

(Kelly here - last time)

Sigh. Kids! "DON'T freak out" ... yeah right! :) But I'm not freaking out. I just don't know why I couldn't know these things as they're happening (so I could properly worry like a Mum should). Hahaha. But seriously. Double sigh.

Still Don`t Have My Peruvian ID

You know, the one that means I can legally stay in the country for a year and a half. I went to Lima for two days. I don`t really like going to Lima. I missed my mission and my companion and my sector, and it was also really hot.

Things I learned in Lima:

I have absolutely no idea how to use a cell phone anymore. They gave me one so they could call and check up on me when I was sitting alone in migrations for HOURS. Cell phones are hard, man. And all I had to do was hit a speed dial if I needed help. I struggle with technology.

Even though (apparently) Lima is cooling down, it`s crazy hot. And humid. Cusco has been cold almost the entire time I`ve been here, and it just keeps getting colder. So that shocked my system :) I slept without any kind of blanket or sheet or anything.

Even though Lima Este, Iquitos, and Cusco are missions in the same country, they`re very very different. It`s funny how that works.

I`m improving more with my Spanish than I thought I was! And getting progressively worse with my English.

Apparently my shoulders are misshaped? I don`t think so, but the guy who took my pictures for the Interpol thing photoshopped the crap out of them. 

I also really love airplanes! Until there`s turbulence. (How do you spell that?) And then I get crazy sick.

That was pretty much the most eventful thing that happened this week. When I got home, Hna Gonzalez 2 and I worked. No one really had any time, like at all, so we have about a dozen citas scheduled for this week, and I`m really looking forward to it :) After a couple of slow weeks it`s great to just work really hard.

We had a study assignment from the Hna Leaders today, and it was to study our patriarchal blessings and write down the promised blessings that are included in it. I knew there were blessings in it, but I didn`t realize how many until today. And they`re all based on my faith and diligence and obedience. It`s incredible how much we can be blessed if we`re living faithfully! I encourage you to do the same with your patriarchal blessing. It turned a somewhat crappy day into a calm, beautiful, and peaceful day. Patriarchal blessings are so amazing.

I LOVE being a missionary :) And I`m so happy to be back in my sector working DURO!

Con TODO mi amor, (Kelly here. Apparently, that means "with all my love") (Good to know).

Hna Hill

OH! And happy birthday to the very best step-mom around - Valerie! I`m so lucky you`re my other mom! 

The Second Gonzalez

Is awesome! And sick. Since she`s been sick, and we`ve been in and out of the hospital all week, we haven`t actually worked in our sector. We`ve been in the house, and the hospital. But that`s given us plenty of time to get to know each other better!

Hna Gonzalez is currently struggling with her thumbs up thing.

We`ve been in and out of the hospital all week because the medicine they`re giving her for her typhoid is through an IV. So when we`re sitting in the freezing cold hospital, I taught her how to play Farkle (one of my favorite games EVER) and how to say "Get back, witch!" and "I`m not a witch, I`m your wife!" and if you don`t know what movie that`s from, I`m ashamed.

....

It`s from the Princess Bride. One of my favorite movies ever. I`ve now converted her to being a fan, and she hasn`t even seen it. She informed me that it`s now at the top of her list.

(Courtesy: The Google)

So now we go around all day long saying get back witch, and I`m not a witch, i`m your wife back and forth. It`s the best. I was really missing quoting movies, because it`s just not the same in Spanish. Generally they change it up a little bit, and even if they didn`t, my Spanish isn`t good enough to get it spot on. Now I figured it out! I just have to teach her the quotes :) 

She also has incredible faith. As we`ve chatted for a week, I`ve seen her testimony, and wow do I want to be like her! When we chat about investigators, less actives, other mission experiences, etc. I can see just how firm her foundation is in the gospel and it`s awesome. I`m excited to see her teach, because I`m sure I have a butt load to learn from her.

Hnas Hill and Gonzalez

Also, First González? IS ENGAGED. And she didn`t send me an email. Someone fly to Buenos Aires and kick her butt for me, yeah? I miss her. Every time I change a companion, it`s sad, but I`m also really lucky with my next one.

Everyone`s betting my next comp is going to be another Argentina. I`m starting to think the same. Especially because sometimes I talk more like I`m from Argentina than Peru. And I know almost more about their culture than the culture in Peru. Who would`ve guessed I came to Peru and will come home speaking like I`m from Argentina?

Love you all bunches and bunches and hope that you have the best week ever :) Next week I`m sure I`ll have more to write about, like investigators or something. Oh, and happy birthday yesterday to my cute cousin Noah! Stop growing up, kid.

Hna Hill

Hna Borja, Elder Blancarte, and me. These two are a crack up.

 I saw Hna Love! From my district in the CCM. I love that girl to death.

I Can`t Use "Cha-cha-cha-changes!" For a 3rd or 4th Time, Can I?

Hna González is leaving me. Well :) She`s going home. Tomorrow. At least we can hang out more today! We`re going to go have lunch with our whole district because her, and one of the Zone Leaders are finishing their missions today. I`m pretty excited, it`s going to be fun, but then sad too. Who wants to bet there`ll be cake and then I`ll gain another 400 pounds? :)

My new comp, who I haven`t met yet, is ANOTHER Hna González! She`s from Argentina as well. I`m starting to think maybe all of my latina companions will be Argentina and a González.

And I`m staying in Alamos :) I`m thrilled. I just want to get things up and moving again in our sector. And I`ve heard that González 2 is a hard worker, so I`m a happy camper.

In other news: I lost my USB last Monday. Well, I say lost. I`m pretty sure I forgot it in the internet place and the guy in charge kept it and is lying. But luckily I never erased any of my pictures, I`m just missing ones from Hnas Condie and Gonzàlez. And ones from home. Oh well. I bought another one today.

And I also found my dad`s doppleganger. Last Monday the Familia Guarrielo had our whole district over for pizza and the niece saw my agenda and was like "uhhh... Who is on your agenda with you??" It`s me and my daddy! "It totally looks like Ricardo!" 

So we took a photo like the one on my agenda. And now he`s always like "Ciao hijita, be safe, get home on time, etc." and one time was like "well, makes sense that she`s pretty, because she looks like me!" Who would guess that I`d find my dad`s doppleganger in Peru? Especially because his mom is from Uruguay and his dad is from Argentina and he was born in Chile. The world is a funny place.

Conference was the BOMB. I loved every minute of it. Well, Saturday was hard to catch all of it, but Sunday? I cried a lot. From joy and the spirit, don`t worry :) Saturday morning we watched it in Spanish, because we couldn`t find anywhere to watch in English, and it was so difficult. I understand the Spanish perfectly, that wasn`t the problem. You could just also hear the English in the back ground, and that confused my brain to no end. It was so hard to focus on only one language when I can understand both without trying. So while I understood the words, I only got the gist of the talks, and not really all of it. And then in the afternoon we watched it on the internet with the Haslers, but it cut out a lot and we missed whole talks. But Sunday we had no problem and I`m just eternally grateful that I got to watch conference at all. I. LOVE. CONFERENCE.

I may have done happy dances all week long. Which made Hna Gonzàlez laugh her head off. Apparently I have no dance skills.

I love being a missionary. So much. I really am so very happy to be here :) Wouldn`t change anything.

Love you all! Go watch conference if you haven`t already!

Hna Hill

A hat that`s made from llama fur that I`m pretty sure makes me look really attractive.

Our district and the Fam Guarrielo

Me and Ricardo Guarrielo, my Chilean dad (and 'Merican Dad and Keni)

Nosotras, the Rhoades - a senior missionary couple that teaches our english classes - they`re amazing, and Elder Largent photobombing. He`s tall.

Nosotras, and Elder Nicholls. He was my first Zone Leader and is going to be for a third of my mission. 

(Wow. I`m spending a third of my mission in Cusco!!)

Ricardo and Rosa Guarrielo, the Johnsons, and Nosotras. The Johnsons are amazing as well! They`re in charge of Family History in the mission and the Guarrielos are LOVING doing their Family History.