Week 28

Hey Hey Hey! 

So ya what a crazy week!  So last monday I was frantically writing letters to all of the members and converts in Jaihuayco when I recieved an interesting phone call.... PSYCH!  I am being transfered to Potosi.  They told me i was leaving in the airplaned the next day... so i frantically packed and prepared to leave the city.... but....then.... Tuesday morning I recieved another phone call.... PSYCH AGAIN:  I am being transferred to VillaMoscu again.  Well, naturally this did no good for my mental health in general.  I was running from place to place and calling everyone to figure out what my transfer actually was ... for realsies.  ugh.  Well, wednesday they called and told me to pick up my companion in the airport.  okay....  We are going to villa moscu for sure.  My companion´s name is Hermana Blacutt.  She is from orulllo, Bolivia.  IT is like a four hour drive away.... can you imagine me serving my mission in St. George?.... ya that is what it is for her.  But she was in a different city up until now, Sucre.  She has a little sister and that is it.  She is graduated in economy and worked at a loan office before her mission.  She is super cool.  We are really just trying to not get lost in our area right now. haha!  Villa Moscu is super cool.  It is up on the hill, if you know what i mean.  They all have intercom doorbells.... o hackin.  missionaries worst nightmare.  Well, the members are waaaaaayyyyy super cool.  Our pensionista totally rocks.  Her food is sooooo good.  We share our pensionista with two other companionships of elders.... our district leader and the assistents to the president.  we eat with them twice a day everyday.  it is a lot of fun to talk with them.  I am definitely going to gain some weight in this area.  Every member so far has given us like an entire meal when we go to visit.  wow... but it is just so delicious.  But ya it is super different here.  the ward is so hackin organized.  It is almost like the wards in the u.s.   they even have programs for sacrament meeting... that really blew my mind.  

Well, some sisters that were in this area before came and showed us around a little bit this week.  it really helped alot! the sisters are super cool in cochabamba.  We went on our grand tour, and afterwards... we started from zero... reopening the area.  We werent extremely productive, but we know where the bishop lives!!! (the second floor of the house of our pensionista...) haha!!  awesome.  and easy.  We are also attempting to clean out our house... ugh gross.  but ya, my comp is super afraid of insects, so it was my responsibility to kill all of the spiders... and crazy and slightly uncomfortable fact....:  We have to tap our shoes in the mornings before we put them on because the scorpions like to hide inside of our shoes.... o my hackin... crap....  but ya, so far i havent seen one single scorpion so maybe the other sisters were trying to freak us out....  

Really cool people in my ward:
Temple Workers
THe consolate (or ambassador, i dunno)  of Brazil
Mission President
Temple President
A member of the Seventy
   awesome!!!!!!

O ya and we totally had lunch on saturday with the coolest members ever.  They live in the teletubby house... their house is literally almost an exact replica... hahahaha. i  will totally send you a picture if i have the opportunity to get into the house again.   the father is recovering from brain cancer and works across the street in the temple. they have seven kids, and are the most unique people i have met so far.  haha! awesome.  But ya, the members are really willing to help us and give us references.  i am really excited to get to know them and work side by side with them... Everything is going great.  I hope that everything is going well at home.  Ilove you!!

Janessa

Week 27

Hey HEy Hey!!

So ya! how is everyone doing??  Everything went fantastic this week. We are teaching like crazy, and having a great time.... so naturally... I have a transfer.   ahhhhhh!  hackin.  i am going to leave Jaihuayco behind, and I am going to go to my new area this Wednesday.  It is called VillaMoscu.  I dont know my companion.  But! interestingly enough,  VillaMoscu is in Cochabamba.  I am staying in the city.  huh.  cool i guess.  I also know that my companion and I are both new to the area... which means we dont know anyone or where anything is... The last sisters that were there havent been working in the area because one of them was sent home because she was sick.  so the other sister has been in a different area in a trio... so ya, this is going to be interesting... hopefully the members will help us get started.  O ya and i forgot... The Temple is in my area!! o ya!  and the mission home is in my area too.. President Dyer is in the ward that i will be working in.  cool cool.  So ya, it is going to be really different.  It is the wealthy part of town, so i dunno what it will be like.  I will tell you how it is next week.  O man, I am going to miss Jaihuayco.

We had a really great week.  We found a lot of new people to teach.  O ya and we went back to the house that is full of baby animals.  tee hee.  i got a picture with the duckling.  hackin cute!  and ya this is my companion also... but ya, now i am will have  different companion.  My companion is going to train in Jaihuayco.  phew giddy up!  this is her second time training.  She trained my companion from the MTC, hermana boyce before she came to jaihuayco.  But ya, it is all good.  We made orea cake last monday and it was totally awesome!!  and delicious.  and we made pancakes on sunday and papaya shake.. woo wee we are eating well this week!!  So ya, that is all that really happened... nothing super hilarious.  So as of this week, I have officially been on the mission for 6 months... wow! Can you believe it?  I am a third of the way done and i feel like i am just beginning.  Well i hope everything is going well at home.  good luck this week. i gotta go pack my bags.

Hermana Milne

Week 26

Hola!  Como Esta?

Okay so this week was hackin hilarious.  i hope that i can remember it all.  But ya, how is everything going?  How are the Olympics going?  Okay i am just going to write out my week.  Enjoy! haha

Tuesday:     So we went and visited this less active family.  The father is a return missionary and he is married with three little kids.  They havent been coming to church because of work and the kids. But the father was in a motorcycle accident a few weeks ago.  he messed up his foot and leg pretty bad.  He is on crutches, and is unable to work.  So we were able to find him and his family at home one night.  We thought it would be a great idea to watch a church movie with them.  So the whole family gathered and the father hobbled into the room on his crutches.  We then began the movie.... I guess i wasnt really thinking, because we brought the movie about the stonecutter.  He was a pioneer that immigrated to Utah from england.  He lived far away from salt lake, but was called to be a stonecutter for the temple. He walked 6 hours every week to salt lake city to work on the temple all week and then would walk home... but one day a cow kicked and broke Johns leg.  the leg had to be amputated.... sounding familiar?... My companion and I glanced at each other and realized that this might be an awkward ish movie to watch with this poor father with an injured leg... hahaha o man... so weird.... well, the pioneer persevered to the end and still walked the six hours on a wooden leg in order to work on the temple for twenty years... hahaha.  well i guess they at least kind of liked it. because they came to church this sunday. so weird...  but we had a good laugh afterwards

Thursday:  We had an appointment with an investigator, but she was washing her clothes.  she said she was almost done, so we said we would sit and wait.  .... one hour later she was still washing. haha! so we kind of gave a lesson while she was scrubbing her clothes and just left.  Needless to say, the lesson was very unique.

Friday:    We had a zone conference.  Our area book was one of the best in cochabamba... ya!! score.  the conference was really good, and afterwards we went out tracting.  And something amazing happened.  So we had a reference named Oscar.  We taught him once, but he had classes so we never could get a hold of him again.  But we always would run into him on the street.  I have run into this man 4 times on the street.  It is definitely not a coincidence.  Every time we tried to make an appointment. but he is in the military and didnt have time... and then finally he said that he was going to la paz.  But we ran into him again!  He said that the military is keeping him here in cochabamba til january, and we were able to find his house and teach him... finally!! he also said that his daughter is going to our church in la paz with her uncle... it is not a coincidence.  He is a really awesome guy, and he wants the best for his family.  

Saturday:   So we had our interview with the president in the offices saturday morning.  We got ready and took the bus in order to go to the office.   but how was i supposed to know that there are two different buses that are almost identical?  Needless to say we took the wrong bus, and ended up getting lost.... o hackin. I dont even know where we were at all.  and i didnt have enough money to take a taxi, but luckily we found the right bus.   we were totally 30 minutes late to our interview.. sorry president!  haha.  my bad... so i dont know the bus system in Bolivia... hack.  Afterwards, we had a great day and found 5 new people to teach.   ya!!

Sunday:    We asked for help from the bishops son.  we had two appointments, and we wanted a member to tag along.  He is preparing for a mission, so we thought that it would be good for him.  So we went and picked him up, but both of our appointments fell through, so we ended up walking around looking for people to talk to for three hours... poor kid.  But we totally found 2 new people. and it ended up being a great day. ahah!  

Monday:  We are going to make a hackin awesome special dessert today. i am so excited.  We are going to go to an american supermarket to buy all of the ingredients... ya!  Today is the 6th of august.  Independance day for Bolivia.  So ya, there are a million parades and marches going on.  it is soooo coool.  All of the kids in the schools have march in their uniforms, and the bands have been practicing for weeks and weeks.  It is going to be so much fun.

Okay so i have one more story, and it totally deserves a title.... are you ready for this?

The Great Scorpion Hunt    Part 2!

o ya... thats right.  so we came home saturday night and there was a scorpion in the middle of the floor.  i freaked, and my new companion thought that it was really cool.  So I followed the example of my previous companion  and smashed it with a broom, like a crazy person. what can i say...  i panicked.   o ya.  i have taken on the new role.  My companion thought it was totally awesome and wanted to keep it.  We sweeped it up and put it on the table... but!! the plot thickens.  Ten minutes later, i decided to poke it and make sure it was dead.... and... it was still alive!! i had only stunned it with the broom.  ahhhhhh. hermana!! what are we going to do?? but, my companion was determined to preserve it. so she proceeded to pin it to our table.... and we waited for it to die.... and then it didnt die.  so yes...we had a live scorpion pinned to our kitchen table.  I got some sweet pictures.  I think that it finally died overnight.  My companion didnt believe me that scorpions are dangerous.  so she was completely calm about it... now i was the crazy one.  But we later found out that there are two types of scorpions.  we had killed the brown kind.... which the sting of a brown scorpion will put you in bed for a week.  and the sting of a black scorpion will kill you.  uhhhhhh.  needless to say, my companion was pretty shocked to learn this.  But do not worry,  I am very efficient with a broom.  And next time, i will be ready... o ya.  do not worry,... i have everything under control..

Well i hope that everyone is doing well.  good luck this week!! i love you

Janessa

Week 23

Hey hey hey hey. 

So (as usual)....  this email is going to be rushed, short, and probably make no sense.  haha.  enjoy!!  I have a new companion, a divided area, and we are sharing the ward with elders.  This has totally changed the game.  All we did this week was visit members and try to contact all of the references that we recieved.  It has been a little tough.  The members seem to forget the poor missionaries that are coming over to talk for half an hour.  We are really focusing on receiving references from the members.  We teach the family a lesson, and then encourage them to share the gospel with their friends, and then we tag along on the second visit, and hopefully get a lesson in.  it has been a lot of fun, but we really havent seen the fruits of our labor yet.  so ya i am totally learning patience right now.  We have found a couple of people to teach... i am just a little sad because i had to surrender most of my investigators to the new elders, because they are in the area of the elders.  esta bien.  So ya,  we pretty much just walked around our entire area, and we now know what our new boundaries are.  wow, it was completely exhausting, but we are having fun. My companion is totally cool.  Hermana Mercado is from La Paz.  and she is like super super smart.  She is going to be an electronic engineer.  She is almost done with school.  she just has to defend her final project when she goes home.  So ya, she is a total math genius.  We are planning an activity.  she is going to teach/tutor math, and i am going to teach english classes... o boy.  if anyone has any idea how to teach english as a second language... i really need some advice and ideas... o boy o boy.  it may or may not be a complete disaster. ahah!  i will tell you how it goes.  

So ya there is a circus in are area right now.  across the street from the chapel... awesome.  i really want to go... but i cant.  And i just dont even know how to describe a bolivian circus... so ya i will just leave that one up to your imagination.  

I got to go the the cochabamba bolivia temple this week... so amazing.  i love the temple here.  everyone in cochabamba knows where the mormon temple is.  it is so beautiful, and i just love to go.  which reminds me,  how is everyone doing on the challenge i gave in the mtc?  have you been going to the temple monthly or no?  if not,  this is the time to repent and start going more often!!  ya.  

So my new companion and I decided that our apartment was a .... complete.... disaster.   So we have been completely cleaning out our apartment this week.  It was totally gross. We found some discussion books and flip charts that are at least 30 years old... hackin.  they are really cheesy and awesome.  so ya, every spare moment was spent cleaning and organizing the house.  so pretty much, my week was cleaning in the mornings and nights, and then walking our boundaries in the afternoon for like five hours... wow it has been a little exhausting, but we have finally finished cleaning. a lot of the sisters like to leave clothes and stuff behind, so we have been going through old missionary clothes for two days... exhilarating.. i know.  so ya,  everything is so perfect and organized right now.  now all i have to do is hand wash all of my clothes, blankets, sheets, baptismal clothing, and table cloths..... o HaCkInG....!   We didnt have the best luck this week.  so, we are on the bottom floor of an apartment building and the plumbing in Bolivia (believe it or not)  is not the best in the world.  so naturally, our toilet never works right!!! ahhh.  the landlady is not really doing much... but wait.... i have more.  our shower broke this week.  so i have been showering in freezing cold water for a week.  so naturally i have another cold right now.  ahaaha.  ... but wait... i have more.  the elders forgot to pay the power bill for three months, so they turned off the power.  ahahaha.  no shower, no light, and no bathroom.  it was an interesting week.   but no worries.  luckily, one of the elders knows how to fix stuff.  so he temporarily fixed the shower... (except it totally smells like smoke and stuff. i think it is a problem with the electrical wiring or something)  So we are kind of afraid to shower right now.  And Elder Alay was kind enough to pay the power bill, and we now have power, so at least we can heat up a little bit of water to bathe....  silver lining? the shower head doesnt shock me if i accidently touch it.  hhaaha.  we are hoping that the land lady will try to do something about the plumbing this week.  other silver lining? our apartment is squeaky clean (other than the bathroom)  So ya, that was my week this week.  getting to know the members, and attempting to repair our apartment.  I know that this was completely random, but ya.  what can you do?  Good luck with everything this week.  And i want everyone to pray and thank God for your water heaters and functioning toilets.  o ya and washing machines and dryers.  (wow i think that was my best closing statement of all time)

Hermana Janessa Milne

Another Week 22

Hey! okay so it is actually week 22.... i think.  o well esta bien.

how is everything goin?  was 4th of July completely awesome?  It is the one american holiday that most of the bolivians know. haha.  Okay so i am really low on time, so this will be fast.  i spent my last two days with my trainer this week.  we had to visit everyone, so she could say goodbye.  and naturally everyone wanted to feed us.... oooooo..ugh.  so.... much .... food.  i cant even believe how much i had to eat this week.  one time i just couldnt finish, and i just hope and pray that the member wasnt offended.  ugh.... it is so hard to say know, because these people make the food with love and service, and it is impossible to say no. I had to drink this like... purple corn juice... o man it was so hackin gross.  wow.  it was a pretty new experience, and two different members gave us some in two seperate instances in one day.   what are the chances of that happening?  But ya, we visited everyone until wednesday.  we went to pick up my new companion from the airport(which just so happens to be in my area)  The plane was two hours late.. bolivian time.  And then we met up with the new elders that we are gong to share the ward with.  We were all set... but we had one little problem.  My trainer really didnt want to leave the area.  She was supposed to go to her new area, but she decided to stay and show my companion and the new elders our area.  haha all of us were really tired from traveling all day, but she just kept dragging us along.  Finally we put a stop to it, and she left at 830 at night.  Well, my new companion´s name is Hermana Mercado.  she is from la paz, bolivia.  She is goin to be an electrical engineer.  she just has to finish her final project after her mission.  She is super smart, and she only has one transfer more than I do.  both of us are relatively new to the mission.  She has been in Tupisa for her first six months, so she is not used to the city environment.  There arent cars or paved roads in Tupisa.  She is kind of in shock, and she reaaalllly misses her old area.  My trainer has been sick for awhile, so we dont really have many investigators. So we feel like we are opening a new area.  We are really excited to work.  

The elders in our ward are pretty cool.  Elder Alay has 22 months on the mission, and Elder Shafer has 7 months on the mission.  We are going to share our pensionista with them, so we will eat with them twice everyday.  they seem really nice, and Elder Alay knows their area pretty well. Though it is kinda weird, they way that they talk.  i feel like we are competing or something.  we really arent working together.  i dunno how it is supposed to be... but i just imagined that we were going to help each other out... but i guess that might not happen... hmmm. whatever. i am just happy that i have a good companion.  It was Elder Shafers birthday this week.. which is sad because he is brand new and nobody knows him.  but we actually got to eat real cake... it was awesome!! Well we are going to be working a lot this week. and we are totally cleaning our entire apartment.  o ya and our toilet and shower broke this morning!! what are the chances of that happening?  so ya, we need to go get that fixed.  ugh.  well i hope you have a good week.  i am excited because we get to go to the temple tomorrow.  good luck with everything.   I love  ya!

Hermana Milne

Week 22

Hey Hey Hey!

How is everything going?  So I hope that you have a great 4th of July.  It ought to be really fun.  I wish i could be there, but we have a lot of things to do this wednesday.  Because... tranfters!  Ya, i am going to have a new companion.  Her name is Hermana Mercado, she is from Bolivia I think, but i am not sure.  Everyone says that she is a good missionary.  My companion is leaving to another part of cochabamba.  She was really surprised that she is staying in the city. she has been in cochabamba for 10 months, but in three different areas. There are other cities we can go to.  i dont know how to spell them though... woops.  well there is potosi which is cold, and there is tarija which is pretty hot.  and cochabamba and sucre which have a super mild climate.  I cant help but chuckle at their definition of winter and cold.... haha.  it is a little chilly in the morning and nights and that is their entire winter.  After July, the climate goes back to absolutely perfect.  The people are so shocked when they see that i am not wearing a sweater and coat in the mornings. it is not even cold! They are convinced that i am going to get sick and die.  o man, but we are usually running all over the place so i dont even feel the chill one little bit.  So ya, Cochabamba is beautiful, and i guess i have more time in my area.  But something even more exciting happened.  We are going to share our ward with two new elders in the area.  It seems that we are going to split our area in half.  It is going to be interesting.  But good, because our ward is so huge.  The struggle will be that the two new elders and my companion are new to the area... i am the only one that has experience here.  o boy, here we go.  but it will be fine.... minus the part that i still have no idea where the bishop lives...o boy. he works a lot, so we havent contacted him.  So ya,  we have spent the last three days looking for a house for the new elders... and we have been completely unsuccessful.  do you know how hard it is to find a place with a private bathroom... ugh.  We need to find something before wednesday... but ya.    

So i got my first package!! it was so totally awesome.  Shoutout to my mom.  The smarties candy was amazing and the pictures and music.  o man. my mom is the best in the world.  American candy just makes everything so much better.  

Okay so i dont have alot of time.  But i have one semi pathetic story.... Why didnt i learn how to cook before my mission.  We went to a members house to cook with them... and then they ask me what i used to cook at home.... uh.... well i microwaved a lot of stuff... and spaghetti and sandwiches?  then they give me the weirdest look.  Cooking is a part of life here.  and the majority of people do not have microwaves or really nice ovens... uhhhh.  and chocolate chips are hard to find... what am i supposed to do.  i know how to make cookies... but the ingredients dont exist here. (chocolate chips or brown sugar)  So ya, my companion cooked with the members. and i ended up trying to untangle yarn for two hours... hahaha.  it was the thing that i was capable of doing.  o man.  mental note, have shar and my mom teach me how to cook when i get back.  The bright side is that i learned a lot of patience while attempting to untangle the yarn.  haha

Well i gotta go.  we have a lot of members to visit today.  i hope that you have a good week!!  love you.

Hermana Milne

Week 21

Hey Hey!

How is everything goin?  so i dont have a whole bunch to tell this week, but ya... my companion has been sick this whole week, so we spend a lot of time in the apartment.  she went to the doctor twice, and we have all of these prescriptions. so hopefully she will recover.  but the bad part is that our pensionista is going to put her on a white diet.... which means i am on a white diet too... you asked what i eat everyday?  rice, noodles, and chicken. and now it is going to be completely plain and dry... noooooo. meh its okay. i dont need all of that food anyways.  esta bien.   we have transfers next week, and i dont know what is going to happen.  you will just have to wait until next week to find out what my fate is going to be...  my comp and i might stay, or i will leave, or she will leave.  it is all up to the Lord and the mission president.  

So last monday we went and did service in the house of an investigator.  we cleaned windows for like three hours.  their house is really cool.  and we had a great time.  it was one of the best p days that i have had so far. and then they made us french fries and hamburgers. it was totally awesome.  they are a really nice family.  the teenager is going a little awry and the mom is really worried about him.  her oldest son died in a car accident, and now her younger son is going to parties every night and even drinking sometimes.  we are teaching him the importance of the word of wisdom.  and the danger of alcohol.  wow. it is tough, but really important. i hope we can get through to him.  

so i have officially started reading jesus the christ. it is so good.  we have had a lot of time in the apartment this week, naturally i have a lot of time to read and study.  i am learning new things everyday.  the mission is so good because you get to watch people change their lives and you get to change your own life and develop your knowledge of the gospel of jesus christ.  

we went to a less active member´s house on saturday.  she is so amazing. cenovia is like our little caretaker.  i have written about her before.   it was her birthday and we gave her a bible.  she loved it, and she said that our gift answered her prayers.  we got to eat cake and watch a church movie with her and her family.  she is so awesome.  she makes our week so much brighter when we go and visit.  

well i hope that everything is going well at home.  nothing really hilarious happened this week... sorry.  lame.  well good luck with everything, and o ya. send me candy or something because all i get to eat right now is white rice and plain chicken... haha... later.

Hermana Milne