From: Camille Weller [mailto:camille.weller@myldsmail.net]
Sent: Monday, September 15, 2014 4:40 PM
To: Melissa Wheatley;
Subject: Last email from PERU!
Sent: Monday, September 15, 2014 4:40 PM
To: Melissa Wheatley;
Subject: Last email from PERU!
Wow what a weird feeling to think about not ever having to
get online in Peru again to write my friends and family... this past week has
been amazing, especially because it ended with seeing my mom for the first time
in 18 months! What a sweet reunion that was, and I’m so glad I get to have her
here in Peru with me for this next week! Monday was super cool; we got to go to
a place called Yura and got to hike through a little creek going through a
canyon, which ended at a huge waterfall, talk about an adventure in Peru for my
last p-day! Tuesday we had an awesome lesson with one of our investigators
about how she wants to be baptized, she said she doesn't know that much about
the church but that just from watching the members and how they are she wants
to become a part of that. She said there is a clear difference in our way of
living and our attitudes that she loves. it was cool to hear that from an
outside source. I think we forget that each one of us as members of the church
are an example 24/7 of the true church of Jesus Christ. People are watching us
and the impression they get is their impression of the church. Which can either
be for good or bad (: Thursday I had my last meeting with my zone, they made me
a cute cake that said "bye w" haha they´re the best. We had a little
goodbye party and then went and said goodbye to some members, packed up all my
stuff and headed to the mission home! I didn't get much sleep that night
knowing that my mom was in Lima and that i would get to see her the next day
but that's okay (: Friday I went and picked her up from the airport!!! It was
so good to see her again! I’ve missed my mama. That day we took all her
stuff to the mission home and unpacked a little bit and then we went on a 4
hour bus ride to MOQUEGUA (: we stayed with my pensionista there and had a lot
of fun chatting with them and having dinner, which was just grilled chicken
(she was lucky that day (; ) we also got to go get ice cream with some of the
missionaries there that night which was fun! then on Saturday we went to the
market and i had her try some Peruvian fruit that wasn't really her favorite..
haha we visited some of my converts and then we had lunch.... which my mom will
never forgive me for (: haha they made us civiche which is raw fish cooked in
lemon juice.. i thought that I couldn’t leave Peru without trying it but after
i actually did... i think i could have gone without.. haha i think i hated it
more than my mom did! definitely backfired on me.. that night we headed back to
Arequipa and then Sunday morning at about 4 we woke up and got on a bus to go
up to CHIVAY (: we got there, had breakfast in the plaza, and then went up to
the little chapel to go to church. She got to see firsthand what a beautiful
disaster it is up there.... there was no one to play the piano so i lead the
music and i was pretty much the only one singing...... which does not sound
good haha then the cutest old man blessed the sacrament and even though he
could barely walk he still knelt down to say the sacrament prayer... you could
sense the pain in the elders voices as they had to make him repeat the prayer
until it was said right.. the classes were good, as always the members were
full of interesting questions (: then after all the meetings the relief society
made us lunch, arroz choufa, and we handed out the dolls and toys that my
family sent with my mom. they all loved that! Then we still had lots of dolls
left so we took them up to the plaza and started to hand them out and people
started to run over to where we were to get them, so we handed those out pretty
fast. (: my mom got to see some of the houses that they live in and i think it
was a pretty humbling experience when these people who live in a one room, dirt
floor house run to go buy US a present.. then a little later we got on a bus
again and headed back to Arequipa! We´ve been here since last night and are
trying to take a little bit of a rest before we leave to go to Cuzco tonight!
I wanted to end this email by sharing with you how much I have loved my mission.. my mom sees a lot of things about Peru that I don’t notice anymore, I have come to know and love their weird corky ways here and to me it feels like home. I know that I will miss Peru dearly and especially everyone that I have come to know and love but I’m starting to feel like I’m ready to come home, that I have done all I need to do. I have loved this time that I have had as a personal representative of Jesus Christ and all i hope to do is to continue to be so, only without the name tag. I know that next week will be when all that i have learned will be put to the test. I know that trials and difficulties lay ahead, but that with the things i have learned i will be able to meet them, overcome them, and learn from them. I have felt the joy and unexplainable happiness that comes from sharing the gospel and I don’t think my love for doing so will ever go away. I have seen the gospel change people lives... it brings a certain happiness that they have never experienced and opens their eyes to the wonderful and bright future that awaits them. I have helped people to feel the love that their Heavenly Father has for them and helped them to become closer to him. I have worked side by side with my Savior in hopes of helping people come unto him to receive forgiveness.. To help them understand that He is waiting with open arms to cleans them and help them be free of guilt, to give them strength to face their problems and pains, and to change their weaknesses into strengths. I feel as though i had a strong testimony of the church and its teachings before I left, but that each individual principle has been more deeply etched into my heart. I have seen and felt the importance of prayer.. Without it I wouldn’t have made it through the beginning of my mission when i first got to Peru. I had never felt so alone, so scared and most of all so frustrated with myself. I felt like all of my weaknesses were being brought out of me and i learned that i am nothing without the help of my Heavenly Father.. I think it was crucial that i learned that in my first couple months because i needed Him more in these past months then ever did before. As i have gone from area to area and had to leave the people that i loved so much and had such amazing experience i had to trust in my heavenly that he would watch over and take care of them better than i ever could. I have loved and learned so much from each of my companions, and consider each one of them my very best friends. I have also been so blessed to come to know so many other young men and woman who made the decision to come out here and serve the Lord and to leave behind their families and lives. It’s funny because we all come from such different backgrounds but somehow we all come to feel like family. There will always be a special place in my heart for all of the memories that have been made during this time. I also feel very blessed to have such amazing friends and family that have been by my side through it all. I couldn’t have asked for a better support team and I can’t wait to hug you all and see all of your beautiful faces! Thank you for everyone that prays for the missionaries... let me assure you that your prayers are felt and very appreciated. I guess one of the major downfalls of being released as a full time missionary is that I will no longer have millions of people praying for me... but new missionaries will come and they will need those prayers just as I have. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ and that all of its teachings are there for our good and will truly bring us more happiness than anything else. I know that God loves us, we are his children and he knows us perfectly. I know that Jesus Christ suffered and paid for our sins so that we may be forgiven of our mistakes and be able to return to live with Him and His father one day. I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ.. I will never be able to thank them enough for the opportunity they gave me to come here and be a part of this great and marvelous work. As I’m writing this I’m thinking to myself that this email will never be able to exemplify how I feel about my time as a missionary.. My heart is filled with gratitude, joy and sadness as this wonderful time comes to a close. Thank you for all of your love and support, I will see you all soon.
Con Amor,
Hermana Weller
"And after all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the gospel." -Joseph Smith
I wanted to end this email by sharing with you how much I have loved my mission.. my mom sees a lot of things about Peru that I don’t notice anymore, I have come to know and love their weird corky ways here and to me it feels like home. I know that I will miss Peru dearly and especially everyone that I have come to know and love but I’m starting to feel like I’m ready to come home, that I have done all I need to do. I have loved this time that I have had as a personal representative of Jesus Christ and all i hope to do is to continue to be so, only without the name tag. I know that next week will be when all that i have learned will be put to the test. I know that trials and difficulties lay ahead, but that with the things i have learned i will be able to meet them, overcome them, and learn from them. I have felt the joy and unexplainable happiness that comes from sharing the gospel and I don’t think my love for doing so will ever go away. I have seen the gospel change people lives... it brings a certain happiness that they have never experienced and opens their eyes to the wonderful and bright future that awaits them. I have helped people to feel the love that their Heavenly Father has for them and helped them to become closer to him. I have worked side by side with my Savior in hopes of helping people come unto him to receive forgiveness.. To help them understand that He is waiting with open arms to cleans them and help them be free of guilt, to give them strength to face their problems and pains, and to change their weaknesses into strengths. I feel as though i had a strong testimony of the church and its teachings before I left, but that each individual principle has been more deeply etched into my heart. I have seen and felt the importance of prayer.. Without it I wouldn’t have made it through the beginning of my mission when i first got to Peru. I had never felt so alone, so scared and most of all so frustrated with myself. I felt like all of my weaknesses were being brought out of me and i learned that i am nothing without the help of my Heavenly Father.. I think it was crucial that i learned that in my first couple months because i needed Him more in these past months then ever did before. As i have gone from area to area and had to leave the people that i loved so much and had such amazing experience i had to trust in my heavenly that he would watch over and take care of them better than i ever could. I have loved and learned so much from each of my companions, and consider each one of them my very best friends. I have also been so blessed to come to know so many other young men and woman who made the decision to come out here and serve the Lord and to leave behind their families and lives. It’s funny because we all come from such different backgrounds but somehow we all come to feel like family. There will always be a special place in my heart for all of the memories that have been made during this time. I also feel very blessed to have such amazing friends and family that have been by my side through it all. I couldn’t have asked for a better support team and I can’t wait to hug you all and see all of your beautiful faces! Thank you for everyone that prays for the missionaries... let me assure you that your prayers are felt and very appreciated. I guess one of the major downfalls of being released as a full time missionary is that I will no longer have millions of people praying for me... but new missionaries will come and they will need those prayers just as I have. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ and that all of its teachings are there for our good and will truly bring us more happiness than anything else. I know that God loves us, we are his children and he knows us perfectly. I know that Jesus Christ suffered and paid for our sins so that we may be forgiven of our mistakes and be able to return to live with Him and His father one day. I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ.. I will never be able to thank them enough for the opportunity they gave me to come here and be a part of this great and marvelous work. As I’m writing this I’m thinking to myself that this email will never be able to exemplify how I feel about my time as a missionary.. My heart is filled with gratitude, joy and sadness as this wonderful time comes to a close. Thank you for all of your love and support, I will see you all soon.
Con Amor,
Hermana Weller
"And after all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the gospel." -Joseph Smith
