Monday, March 14, 2016

Juliaca - dogs, mud, and a lot of beautiful moments.

There are a ton of dogs here. And a ton of mud. But I`m loving all of the beautiful moments I`ve had this week. 

One of my favorites (that includes a lot of dogs and mud as well.)

After a really sweet and adorable noche de hogar in a somewhat sketchy part of town, we had to leave by ourselves and find our way to the chapel for another cita. As we were leaving, a drunk man told us not to go down one street because there were a lot of dogs. We chose not to listen to him, because we never like to listen to drunk men, and after a little bit, we were surrounded by several giant, angry dogs. (Drunk Man wasn`t kidding.) Blocking every way that we could leave, and coming closer. I hate dogs who live in the street. So, after realizing we had no other option, we stopped, crossed our arms, closed our eyes, and prayed. I asked that the dogs could calm down and leave so that we could make it to our next appointment safely. The whole prayer we could hear the dogs barking and coming closer, and when we finished the prayer and opened our eyes and all of the dogs stopped barking at the same time and walked away. And as we were leaving, one of the dogs who had followed us was sleeping. Then, we ran (through a lot of mud and more angry dogs who didn`t do anything to us) to our next cita. 

I`ve had SO many prayers answered and so many beautiful moments not only in my mission, but in my whole life.. I just loved how quickly this answer came. He responded so literally and so quickly. I also loved the sleeping dog bit. Hna David and I were giggling and ridiculously happy all night. The Lord answers prayers!!

I also haven`t been bitten by a dog yet (not sure how. They`re EVERYWHERE) and I`m hoping that I`ll be able to finish the mission without that experience. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Oh! My new companion! Her name is Hna David. She`s from Colombia (another latina! woohoo!) and she`s a crack up. We`re realizing that our only "problem" in our companionship is that we talk a LOT. We decided that we first have to plan, study, etc. before we`re allowed to start talking to each other. She`s also helping me make sure that no one here knows when I`m finishing. Kind of love that part of Juliaca. No one knows when I`m coming home. 

I`m so happy. So ridiculously happy. This work is beautiful and life changing. I love my Savior and the opportunity I have to serve him!

Love you all.
Keep on keeping on.
Hermana Hill

p.s. No time to upload pics this week. Next week.

(Kelly here. Since Keni was a young girl, she didn't care where/when and if she felt it necessary she would stop and pray. Many times we would follow her lead even though she was 8-9 years old, because she's always had a special gift of the Spirit. She often felt promptings even when her Dad and I hadn't yet. We never knew if the worst case would have come to fruition if we hadn't followed her promptings, but it was never worth it to find out. Sometimes it wasn't ideal to have to turn around and drive an hour in the opposite direction just because of a feeling she had, but we always knew it was worth it to teach her that she and her brothers are just as capable as her parents of receiving revelation for themselves and our family. I am not surprised in the least that Heavenly Father calmed those dogs for the simple fact that two sister missionaries had the faith to ask. I'm continually grateful for the gifts He gives my girl and I'm so proud of her for knowing that He will if she just ask. What a beautiful moment of faith).

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