#ChristmasIsComing and #Cha-cha-cha-changes

I´m planning on quoting that Shrek song every change. Just in case you haven´t noticed by now.

And! ....  *imaginary drumroll please*

I´m going to Quillabamba!

New companion, new sector.

IN THE JUNGLE. 

It´s going to be really hot. And humid. 

But I´ve seen pictures and it´s GORGEOUS. Looking forward to it!

(Kelly here. I shamelessly lifted some photos of Quillabamba from The Interwebs. It's gonna be okay. Don't worry about it. Enjoy!)

(End of thievery)

But I´m also going to miss Hna Azevedo a lot :( We hoped we could be together for Christmas. I have no idea who my new companion is... But I´m sure it´s still going to be a beautiful Christmas!

This week Hna Azevedo and I were able to help the JOHNSONS! with a Family History fair in Sicuani. It was so awesome to see them again! Hna Azevedo and I both worked with them when we were in Cusco and we love them to death.

Hna Azevedo and I also made a bunch of little snow flakes and put them on the cieling. I LOVE CHRISTMAS. It was fun, and now the room feels a little more festive :)

I don´t really remember what else happened this week. We worked. We laughed. We worried about changes a little bit. We helped Indira accept her new baptism date (CHRISTMAS!!!) and finally got to talk to her mom a little bit! I´m leaving Sicuani now, and I´m a little sad, but Hna Azevedo is staying here with her new companion, and she´ll be able to let me know how everything is going. 

I´m just so happy to be on my mission. And I´m starting to realize that I don´t have very much time left here, so I'm trying to live every moment the way the Lord would want me to.

Mum's countdown wall (128 days left!!)

See you next week!

(when I´m in the JUNGLE. I´m going to the Jungle. Kind of can´t believe it. So excited.)

Love you all.

Hna Hill

Hey!

Why do those things (como se llama.... OH! No. Le perdí. Oops...) have to be creative. I´m cool with "Hey!" for this week.

Today we went to Raqchi. It´s a cool touristy lugar. Incan ruins and the like :) We also had a zone thing for pday and it was incredible. That means we were outside in the sun literally all day long. We´re super super sunburnt, and I´m kind of not sure what I wanted to write this week. Tired. We´re really tired. 

("Compi, we´re tired, no?" Siiiiiiiii......)

But we´re also really really happy :) And hoping that next week we´ll find out that we have another change together! (We´re starting semana 6 right now. Lo máximo.)

But know that I´m  loving the work, as always. And I´m so very happy to be here. Filled with joy, really.

Meow. Hugs and kisses. 

Have a great week!

Hna Hill

p.s. My comp and I say "meow" at least 500 times a day. I don´t really know how that started. But it´s a habit now. It´s also funny, cause Hna Azevedo doesn´t even like cats that much. I do. I love kitties.

meow meow!

We hiked a lot today. I LOVED it!

Our district (only two elders. Haha.)

pics: The elders in our ward, and nosotras obviously, with those papers for the new Christmas thing #HaNacidoUnSalvador. The elders are funny. You can download those papers (in english too...) at navidad.mormon.org and share it with the whole internet world!

Follow the white arrows in Raqchi! (which we didn´t do. We went backwards almost the whole time.)

During that zone thing in the morning (we also hiked then!)

Part of Raqchi. It was amazing! And this wasn´t even my favorite part. Hna Azevedo has all of the cool pictures.

It´s a Beautiful Week!

Like the U2 song, but with week instead of day.

Thanksgiving!

Doesn´t exist here. And the only thing we did (just me and my comp) was bug our zone leader (his name is Elder Pavon and turkey in Spanish is pavo.) and buy pollo a la brasa for dinner! (chicken with french fries. The closest we could get to turkey.)

MACHU PICCHU!

Was absolutely incredible!

I´m currently trying to load a couple of pictures... We´ll see if it works... We took about 700 pictures! :) haha.

Bus at 2 in the morning to head to a different city to catch a train to Machu Picchu.

View from the train. It´s like a half jungle thing in that part of Peru. 

Our Machu Picchu group! It was a really big one this cambio (lies. Usually there´s like 20. I liked this better.)

This was our view of Machu Picchu for about 25 minutes. There was fog all day long (hence the Hna Hill Crazy Hair) but this was the worst of it.

It almost looks fake, it´s so incredible.

Machu Picchu with my compi!

Me, the states, and a fog covered Machu Picchu!

La Obra!

Is just amazing. It´s changing my life. I don´t ever ever ever want to leave this behind. Our investigator, Indira, who is preparing for her baptism in two weeks is just adorable. She´s sixteen years old and is trying to get permission from her parents, and every time she talks to them they warm up to the idea a little bit. And she´s just THRILLED to talk about it. She reads and prays every day without  us reminding her, and understands everything. Sometimes she acts like we´re changing her life, but she´s also changing ours. Hna Azevedo and I are just LOVING working here in Vilcanota. Life can´t be much better than this :)

Me!

I´m happy :) Very happy. Don´t know how there´s room for so much happiness. I´m seeing the Lord´s hand in every single part of the work, my life, the world in general, etc. It´s a very beautiful thing.

Another beautiful thing is that there´s a new Christmas video from the Church. I love Christmas, and I love my Savior. Who just so happens to be the reason we celebrate Christmas! Go watch the video. Es hermoso. #ASaviorIsBorn

I love you all :)

Hna Hill

This Week :)

Was great!

And really really hot.

Like the third time in my whole mission that I was sweating. Yuck.

Hna Azevdo looking beautiful - and ice cream

ICECREAM. On a super hot day. 

We took a lot of pictures in the campo parts of our sector, we ate icecream, found a horse in Chumo, had a ton of help from the members, studied a lot of scriptures, had divisions with the Hna Leaders, ate some more junk food (obviously that six months to sexy thing is going to be 5 months to sexy now...), helped our investigator find answers and accept a goal/date for her baptism! Had a bunch of lessons that might not count in the logros, but that definitely count when you´re talking about my heart. I´m so grateful to be here. I´m so happy. And I´m loving the work more than ever. We´re seeing so many results of our faith and our work!

We also roasted mini marshmallows and did an invasion of missionaries in Rosaspata. So I got to visit the abuelita Alejandra again. I love her so much!

Oh. We´re also going to Machu Picchu next week. Hna Azvedo and I are really excited. 

Love you all SO MUCH!

Hna Hill

(Kelly Here again) No Email Stories V 2.0

We didn't receive much of an update from Keni this week. She didn't email on Monday, which had me worried because she's been so sick, but she emailed on Tuesday and had some great news:

"I saw the doc yesterday - BACTERIA FREE! Woohooo! I´m good. Strong. Healthy, etc. She told me "hey, be careful for these last 5 months. Don´t want to go home with that bacteria again!" haha."

That makes a mum and dad feel good!

After telling Keni about my girls day with her aunt and grandmas, this is what she had to say:

"Travelling and doctors yesterday. We literally had no time :) Yay for girls day! I want one one of the first days home. My feet and hands are horrible and I need me some manicures and pedicures."

So there you go - I'll be sure to schedule some pampering time with the girl. Can't wait! I'm pretty sure the reason she didn't write an update this week is because I had asked her to send a Christmas list so I could get a package sent out right away. It's pretty extensive and includes things to "make her pretty" in the next several months. Teeth whitening, facial cleansers, a new straightener, etc. Merry Christmas to the girl! :)

We did get a few photos. Enjoy!

The bacteria test - LIBRE SOY! #SpanishFrozen I no longer have the chupaguata (stomach sucker). The only bonus - lost a ton of weight!

Sleeping on the bus returning to Sicuani. It helps me not get bus-sick. A little.

Comp selfies. We have fun.

(Kelly here) I'm not sure what this is but a quick Google search turned up a few headlines such as:

"15 of the Most Dangerous Festivals Around the World"

"How Some Peruvians Celebrate Christmas: Christmas should be a time for peace and joy, but, as we all know, “quality time” with family and friends can drive even the most zen-minded among us a little nuts. Some Peruvians have found the perfect sublimation strategy. It’s called Takanakuy, and it involves knocking out your nearest and dearest on Christmas Day."

Yes, now I understand the look on her face. :)

(Kelly Here) No Email Stories Today

(Kelly here: Keni didn't write an update but did report that she's feeling much better, although not the best. She'll see the doctor again next week to see if she's rid of the bacteria. Please continue to pray for her. She did send pictures, so enjoy!)

President and Hna Harbertson and I. They´re the best :) I love and respect them a lot.

One of the girls we teach, Miriam, has a pet rat. It´s a baby!

That baby bread that they eat on dia de los muertos (which isn´t too much of a thing here. They basically eat bread and drink in cemeteries. And have a couple of little traditions). The bread also gave me and my companion food poisoning. Never buying from THAT bakery again.

Rat.

Comp selfies last pday. 

(I almost never do my hair now... Shhhh...)

Hey! #cha-cha-cha-changes

How´s it going? :)

I´m good. Transfers are today! I don´t have a change! Me and Hna Azevedo are staying in Vilcanota, together, for another change! Which is honestly what we were praying for.

Hmmm... what happened this week? I feel like it´s been a really long week.

We contacted Sicuani until they no longer wanted to give us their information, and then we kept on contacting.

We then had 4 new investigators, thanks to contacting people like crazy.

Halloween! I was clark Kent/Superman and my comp was Catwoman and then Superman´s cat. It was a fun day.

And there was a  baptism in the other ward. We sang come thou fount of every blessing. It was a beautiful day!

I don´t know, I´m just still so happy :) We´re seeing so so so much that the Lord was taking care of the people in our sector when we couldn´t work when I was sick. It´s been such a huge blessing. We´re just loving the work, and loving that we´re still companions, and that we can continue to work here in Vilcanota!

Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween and I love you all to death! 

(Get it? That´s cause it was Halloween. Puns. Love them.)

Hna Hill

The only Halloween ANYTHING I´ve seen in Sicuani. And it was on Halloween. 

Me - as Clark Kent. #HalloweenintheMish

Me and my comp in Halloween! She didn´t walk around like that all day. She disneybounded (or whatever the equivalent would be) Cat Woman and painted her face when we were in the house for the night. Halloween was super fun :)

Me, as Superman.

Me as superman again!

My comp learned how to do that flower thing with her tongue, but she can only do it if she´s looking in the mirror.

Incredible sunsets in Sicuani featuring: a panai and a mototaxi.

I love Sicuani.

My pensionista carrying her husband - who just got called to be our new bishop!

I bought an army of llamas. One of the best decisions I´VE EVER MADE.

I love llamas :)