6/24/13 Pics!!!

In a Cambie or a bus thing we ride alot!! 

I'm pretty sure that is Jacob!!! 

Us in action!! 

Love my compaion!

 

 

6/24/13 Email

Familia!!!! Man this week flew by! 

monday we printed pics, ate ice cream which i missed, washed our clothes, cleaned the house, wrote letters which cost like 3 bucks a letter.. (: but thats okay! we had FHE and the bishops house with an investigating family which was really good!

tuesday we had district reunion and then we had spagetti for lunch which didnt taste like spagetti at all.. haha we had some awesome lessons with our investigators and i realized how cool this experience is. i get to live in a completely different country, learn their culture and a whole different language, and on top of that i get to share the greatest message on this earth!! a message that has totaly changed my life! i love it here, i love this work. 

wednesday we had another lesson with sandra and i am always in tears in her lessons because she reminds me a ton of how i used to feel, alone, and not happy, even though i was doing things i thought would make me happy. this is why im here. to help people find the peace and happiness i feel in my life right now. to share my testimony of the atonement and the love our savior has for us. 

thursday we had weekly planning, then we met with an investigator who told me she wanted me to marry her son.. then her son came haha it was a bit awkward. also my companion told me shes never seen so many young men interested in learning the gospel. maybe thats why im here, to use my blonde hair to teach people about the gospel. haha thats how i look at it at least(: we had missionary night at the churcha and watched videos about the resoration, which is always a spiritual experience. we talked to a member who went to columbia on her mission and she told us a ton of crazy stories from there, i cant wait to have crazy stories of my own. 

friday we got a call from the leaders that the president was coming and that we had interviews with him that morning. my interview was probably one of the most spiritual experiences ive had here so far. i really felt the guidence of my heavenly father through my mission president. he is amazing, he talked alot about my future family and kids and how they need me to be here so i can help them. and how he felt like i was one of his daughters and he was sad he only got to be here for a short part of my misson(we get a new president in a couple weeks.) then he gave me a blessing and it was so powerful,  i have felt the help of that blessing this whole week. i also found out that my mission is number 1 in peru, 2 in south america and 3 in the whole world! pretty sweet huh? heavenly father knew i like to be the best(:

saturday we got to go to the market here which is crazy, they sell everything, litterally everything, the part with clothes is like DI time a hundred, you would all love it (: we had cow stomach for lunch.. yum (: 

Sunday we had church, and i realized most of the time i have no idea what im actually eating.. haha then we met at the church to watch the broadcast of the work of salvation which if anyone didnt watch it go watch it! it was amazing and plus it was in spanish and i actually understood it! crazy!! 

 

i learn more and more spanish everyday and it is starting to feel more like home here! miss and love all of you here are some things to read

mosiah 2:41 D and C 88:63 

also i challenge all of you to have family prayer every morning and night! it will strengthen your families i promise!! 

 

love you all!!! 

 

hermana weller!! 

6/17/13 Email

HOLA HOLA 2 semanas en peru!!

 

oh boy this week was probably one of the hardest weeks of my life! but i have learned so much and became so much closer to my heavenly father! i have never been so homesick in my life! but ive learned that with the help of our savior we can do anything!

<monday: pday! so we go to a little shop thing to email and then after we did some shopping for paper and stuff but its way different here because stores are all over and they are run by people out of their houses! also everything here is super cheap except for electronics which are rediculously expensive haha we got to go to a park and play soccer with our zone and i met my first alpaca!!!!! (: you could say i was pretty stoked about that haha i also got eaten alive by mesquitos, i seriously look like i have leperacy. but thats alright, its all part of the experience right?  also we wash our clothes by hand.. take freezing cold showers.. everyday.. and eat way too much rice (: ohhh and i got sick for the first time this day.. but like i said its all part of the experience and i love it ´(:

<tuesday: i told my penchenista i was sick and she gave me a bunch of wierd drinks that im pretty sure just made me more sick.. haha but its the thought that counts. we had district reunion and they gave me a leahona in english which was super cool because the issue has the story of the lost sheep!!

<wednesday: we did a lot of contacting, which with it came some funny stories. a baracha or drunk asked for my hand in marraige.. another guy insisted on giving us a drink of his pop which had floaties in it.. yummmmm but anyways my spanish gets better and better each day, usually i start the conversation or lesson and do as much as i can and then look at my companion and she finishes and then i bear my testimony, we have a good system(:

<thursday:; we had weekly planning at the church and then had lots of citas or lessons. we had an awesome lesson where i shared the first vision and the spirit was soooo strong. i love feeling the spirit in lessons and watching the spirit work in our investigators.

<friday: mom your not going to like this... my companion and the family we live with killed 3 ducks.. themselves on the roof of our house to eat!! i seriously had to walk away because i was crying..hahaha like any spoiled american would that doesnt know where their food comes from. it was awful, then i ate it later that week. haha ohhh man i love peru! we had exchanges and i went with hna diope who only has one more month left in her mission, i went to another area, san antonio which is way different then my area. its all dirt hills and shacks.. like tarps and bamboo for houses its crazy how lucky we are in america. and how lucky i am in my area! Also dogs are everwhere and some have shirts on, it always makes me laugh because their like humans here.

<saturday: i went back to my house, we had an amazing experience this day with an investigator who at first didnt want to let us in but did, we watched a movie about christ with her and were all in tears, she said she was doing all she could to be a good person but still wasnt happy... i was reminded how i used to feel and how much happier i am now. i know with all my heart that this gospel is the way to true happiness. through obedience we can be happier than we ever imagined! that is why im here. i want to help people like her find that peace and happiness like i did.

<sunday: first i had to teach a class to new members.. in spanish haha but somehow whenever i need to talk i come up with the words to say. i know its because of the help of the spirit. i also had to share my testimony in sacrament which was a little scary but im sure they understand that my spanish isnt the best. by the way im pretty sure that me and the 3 other american missionaries are the only white people in all of moquegua... everyone stares at me haha but ill use it to my advantage and share the gospel with them (: Also HAPPY FATHERS DAY to all the wonderfull men in my life. and thank you for the examples that all of you have been to me!!! i love you all!!!!

 

a little more about my companion, shes 24 and the oldest in her family and doesnt speak any english.. haha but wants to learn, so we help eachother. shes from peru and shes awesome!!

 

im learning more and more that if we didnt have hard times we wouldnt be learning or growing. i wanted to share two talks with you all.  come what may and love it by wirthlin and cast not away therefore your confidence by jeffrey r holland!  love you all!!!! peru is different but amazing!! ill adjust one day(¨:

 

love, hermana weller!!!(:

6/10/13 Email

I’m not going to be able to write much until i figure out how to work everything.. haha but ill do my best.

 

Moquegua!!!

 

QUE TAL FAMILIA!!

i cant belive im in peru!!! it is a completely different world here!! at the airport in gorgia i ran into hna bledsoe!! we got to fly together and get to peru together!! i stayed in a hotel the first night in peru and it was really nice! i stayed with hna ivie who is going to trajillo. on tuesday we went to the police place to get our visas and were there for forever!! but i met up with two other elders from my district and then ended up flying with them to arequipa that day! i stayed with the mission president that night because i was the only sister and then the next day we had training and then i got on a bus and went to my area which is moquega and is about 4 hours away from arequipa, its really hot here and the sun is super strong but i love it!! the people are so nice and patient with my horrible spanish. haha my companion is hermana purizaga and she is from peru and is so great! shes super obedient which is good!! i learn so much from her and she is very patient with me! when we pray we kneel on a pillow on the floor, hold hands and then hug after.. how cute huh!!  wednesday night we taught a lesson and honestly i didnt understand anything that was going on haha everyday consists of lessons, meetings and contacting people on the streets. we live in the branch presidents house on the third floor, and their daughter and her family live on the first floor and shes the one that cooks for us! the food is different here but its good!! for breakfast we eat rolls and eggs usually and for lunch, which is huge we eat rice and chicken and potatoes usually. and for dinner we usually just have a piece of cake.. haha its great though. We walk everywhere and somehow its always uphill... haha the cars and drivers here are so crazy.. i dont think there are any rules! ohhh and i ate cow heart..... yummm.. tasted like steak ! haha all the woman here great eachother by kissing eachother on the cheek. i am learning more and more spanish everyday and learning the culture and ways of the people. They are seriously so humble and nice.. i dont even know how to explain it. I´m learning more and more everyday about everything.. and i know that this church is true. and it can change peoples lives, all over the world!!! sorry this is so short! ill do better next week i promise!!! love you all!!!!!

 

Adios!!

Hermana weller!

 

Note: (NO PICS sent this week..so sad!)

6/3/13 Email before the Airport

Well i'll tell you a little bit of what happened this past week! First off we set a baptismal date with Sister Neri and we had the coolest experience. We really felt like it needed to be June 29th so we asked her if that worked and she said yes. and then a couple minutes later she was talking about her grandson that had passed away and then told us that June 29th was the day that he had died.. she said she felt like it was his way of making that day a good day and that she could tell he wanted her to get baptized! Such a cool experience! Then i found out Wednesday that i was leaving for Peru on Friday so we got ready for that only to find out i wasn't going to leave until Monday! After we found out we went to a part member families house and found out the mom had gone to Peru on her mission!! She told me a bunch of stories and then said she was having a Peruvian lady come teach her and some other ladies from the ward how to make a Peruvian dinner on Saturday and invited us! We got to go and it was so much fun! The food was amazing and she even had Inca Cola the soda they have in Peru, it was a nice way to ease me into the culture there i guess(: We had a pretty good week, lots of tracting and lessons, and Sunday was amazing! We had all of our investigators come to church! We had even called sister Bitner and told her not to come because she rides her motor scooter to church and it looked like it was going to rain but when we got to church she was there... thirty minutes early! She said she prayed about it and felt very strongly that she needed to go! She's so awesome! It was testimony meeting, which is always amazing and then that day we had a dinner at 3 and a dinner at 5;30! So needless to say i got fed very well my last day in the USA(: I really have loved it here in Kenosha Wisconsin but i'm ready to get to Peru! I'm not sure how solid my Spanish is but i know that if i put my trust in Heavenly Father that everything will work out. I have grown and learned so much in these past couple months and I'm so glad i get to have this experience. I love this Gospel and I know that it is the true church and that if we follow its teachings we will be blessed and we will have happiness in our lives(: We will still have trials and difficulties but they are for our benefit and there to help us learn and grow. Our heavenly father knows us perfectly and is always there to help us and to guide us in our lives, turn to him and he will help you!! I am so excited for this next part of my mission and i'll do my best to make you all proud(: Stay happy and healthy and dont forget to read your scriptures and pray!!! I love you all so much!! Thank you for everything you do and for your support and prayers!! <3

 

Hasta La Vista(:

 

Hermana Weller

5/28/13 Pictures!

Us and one of our cute investigators! 

Welcome to Wisconsin! 

Me and my Trainer! 

Mark needs this mailbox!(; 

CHEESE! All the cheese one of our investigators sent us,

Ignore how awful I look, it was a long day! 

Celebrating my two month anniversary! (; 

Beautiful view of the lake while we were tracting! 

Me and my future lake house! (; 

You can't really tell but this is the coolest purple house!!

So MOM you can live here and I'll live in the beach house

down the road(:

(5/28/13) 2 Months down!! Only 16 months left, time needs to slow down!!

Well family this past week was awesome!! On tuesday we had our first district meeting and met the senior missionaries in our area, the husband went to Peru on his mission so it cool to get to talk to him! (no news on the visa by the way) We got to meet with one of our investigators Sister Bitner and then we tracted pretty much all night! I've had a lot of interesting tracting stories but those will come later in the email(: Wednesday we did service at St vincent de Paul, a thrift store sorta thing. we pretty much just go through books and throw away the Harlequin ones. haha Its great(: we tracted again that night and the last door we knocked a nice black man came to the door with his daughter, we gave our little spill and then he told us it was funny that we stopped by, that him and his girlfriend were deciding on what they were going to do, im guessing seperating or something but he told us we could stop by again, so we will probably do that this week it was just a cool experience, even though we didnt baptize him or even give him a book of mormon(yet:)) i could tell that us just stopping by had an influence on him. That day was the first day i went home and my feet hurt! Im sure ill have a lot more of that when i get to Peru, but ill take advantage of the time that i have a car here(: Thursday we met with Tammy and her family, They are so awesome! We have already taught them the first three lessons and they always keep the commitments we leave, They are both still praying to know if they need to get baptized but she said she can already feel the change in her life, that shes more happy and things seem to be going smoother, its awesome to hear her say that! She also told us that when she stopped us that She was drawn in because of the glow or light we had about us. I thought that was so cool, that people can litteraly see the light in us, it makes me realize how important it is for me to be obedient and to be living and doing the things i need to to have that light in my always. Friday We had a couple of lessons and then had dinner with the Carters, They are such a cute family, all the families in our ward are so great to us! Which reminds me, FEED THE MISSIONARIES(: That night we were headed out to tract and i kind of had a bad attitude about it when a picture fell out of my scriptures of my family, I know that all of you would want me to be doing the best i can and i know that you are praying for me so i changed my attitude and it turned out to be a great night! We went out to some houses on the lake shore and they were all gorgeous! i found my future beach house(: It is so green and pretty here, i may end up living here sometime in my life(: Saturday we got to take one of our investigators to a little girls baptism, It was such a cool experience to see her feel the spirit and to feel how strong the spirit is at baptisms. We had another lesson with Tammy and it of course went super good as always(: seeing how the spirit works through us is one of the coolest things. Anything i accomplish out on my mission is not me, its the spirit and me being worthy to have the spirit work through me. I know that heavenly father has prepared people to accept his gospel, we just have to have faith and go find them! This was also the first day i got the door slammed in my face.. haha As they taught us in the mtc.. it was a nice breeze(: Sunday we walked sister bitner to church and it was really cool to get to have her come. My favorite part was RS, we talked about temples and how important they are, it made me miss having the oportunity to go whenever i want so i need all of you to take advantage of getting to go and go as much as you can! We had dinner with a family from the ward and the wife had gone on her mission to Wisconsin so we had alot to talk about(: It was so cute her little son kept saying that he wanted another little brother and kept telling his dad "Just do it, just put another baby in moms tummy, its not that hard! " haha we all got a good laugh with that one(: That night i could tell there was some tension between our companionship so after nightly planning i just threw it out there and said "does anyone have anything they want to say?" well i didnt know i was opening the flood gates.. haha we all talked it out for about two hours and now were closer than ever, so i guess it was a good thing but at the time i wasnt sure what was going to happen(: Monday, Memorial day, Instead of being up in lava with all of you relaxing, i got to to go tracting all day in the rain(: It was actually probably my favorite day here so far! First off it was my actual 2 month mark! Whooohooo!! Except im still sad that time is going by so fast!!  We changed our doorstep aproach a little bit and it was so much better, we handed out 5 book of mormons and talked to a lot of great people, hopefully we will get some new investigators out of that but if not i know for sure that we planted some seeds(: One older guy at a HUGE house even told us we could come back later, that they were grillin... but that it probably wouldnt be our "scene" haha we were half tempted to show up and see what he would say but decided that probably wasnt the best idea(: We had dinner with a cute single lady from our ward who we quickly realized just needed someone to talk to, It was great though, i love hearing different peoples stories and their experiences in life. Especially hearing peoples conversion stories, it makes me remember that miracles do happen and i just have to keep trying!

                                                                                                                                                           

If theres anything i learned this week worth sharing it's that the hard times and the struggles we go through are to make us stronger. The difficult times i have here just make the good times that much better! Sometimes i dont know how im still out here but then i remember how much support and love i have back home and how much help i have from my heavenly father. I have learned so much about the gospel and how to teach since i've been here and even though im still excited to go to peru im happy with being here for as long as i need to be! i know that God knows best and that he will put me where he needs me to be. Some scriptures for you all to read and ponder about... Either 12, 1Nephi 16:29, D&C 42:29, Mosiah 24:15, 2Nephi 31 and 32, Alma 32 and 34 (: That should keep you all busy with your nightly scripture study(:

 

Here are some of the funny tracting quotes from this week...

"hi were missionaries from the church........." -us  "Thats okay were not." -mean guy. haha

"soooo whats your message? how often do you do your rounds? how much does that book cost?" -Sean, one of our potential investigators.. haha

"Have you ever heard of the Book of mormon?'-us  "I have but im not interesting...." -man haha

"you wouldnt be interested in buying an RV would you?" -man

haha and so many more interesting things happen that i dont write down!

 

I love you familia! Thank you for your letters and your packages! they really do make my day! i will try to write you back as soon as i can but as you know im pretty busy out here so be patient with me!

I have two quotes i want to leave you with..

"There is neither man or woman in this church who is not on a mission. That mission will last as long as they live and it is to do good, to premote richeousness, to teach the principles of truth, and to prevail upon themselves and everybody around them to live those principles that they may obtain eternal life. " -President Brigham Young.

"No mission will ever reach its highest potential until there is cooporarion between the missionary force and the membership of the church." President Thomas S. Monson.

 

Love and miss you all!!!

Sister Weller(: