LLAMAS!!!

FAMILIA! ¿Cómo estan? Les extraño MUCHISIMO!

How is everyone doing?

How is Utah Kayla and Kyle? What have you been doing? Have you been eating all the good  food????? I HOPE SO! I miss Rhinonononononon food......

How have you all been?

My week was good! I´m going to do bullet points, because I don´t feel like typing a lot...hehe

- I GOT TO RUN! Yup. After I wrote you guys last Pday, we went to this cool park and had a bbq with all the elders. It was fun. Despues, while the elders were playing soccer, I ran laps around the cancha. Oh my gosh, it felt so nice. But oh my gosh. Potosi has taken away all my skills. It was so hard! I could barely breathe! There is absolutely no air here on top of the world. It´s all good. I still got to run, and I was so happy.

- I SAW LLAMAS! My first llama sighting in South America. It was in that cool park that we went to for Pday. I was SO HAPPY.

- There were even swings at this park.... Last Monday was a great day....

- We made rollos de queso! With my favorite lady in our ward. They are sooooo gooooodddd.....

- I am becoming pro at washing my clothes by hand. Just sayin´

- I am continually impressed by the faith that the people here have. It is truly incredible. So many people have such strong faith in God. They are so ready to change and come closer to Christ.

- Today, the elders are making us lunch... Peruvian Food. I guess is the day of Independence of Peru or something. And there are a lot of Peruvians in my zone.

- I GOT YOUR PACKAGE! Oh my gosh. Thank you for sending warheads. That was the highlight of my WEEK. I opened my package before our Wednesday night activity, and I gave everyone a warhead. Oh geez. You should have seen their faces. PRICELESS. They don´t have candy like that here. So they were all freaking out. It was great. I wish I could send you the videos. I am going to try....

- The WIND HERE IS NUTS. We almost get blown away every day! And the members here say that it gets worse in August. I feel like I am in Kansas or something. Maybe I´ll get to go to Oz....

- We went to this family´s house to invite them to church on Sunday morning, but the mom said that they couldn´t go. We were sad, because the kids want to go to church SO BAD. As we were walking away, the little girl named Anai came running up to us, saying that her mom said that they could come with us. They were literally crying because they wanted to go to church so bad, so their mom finally gave in. It was so sweet. I cannot remember a time in my life where I have cried because I wanted to go to church so bad. I´m telling you... FAITH.

- We have been eating SO MANY PANCAKES! We make them for family nights. But they dont have syrup here, so we eat them with dulce de leche. Mmmmm

- I met a woman this week who reminds me so much of Grandma Janet. It makes me so happy. She cooks so good, and she is so sweet. And she just had surgery on her leg, too. She is in a lot of pain, so we are praying for her. Everytime I talk to her, I am reminded or Grandma Janet. It makes me happy.

I cannot remember anything else.....

I want to attach my letter to my president bc it has a cool story in it from my week. And I am too lazy to retype it... hehe

“PRESIDENTE!

¿Cómo esta????? Todo bien en Cochabamba? Yo espero!

This week has been great! As I get more comfortable with the mission life, I am finding that the weeks are starting to fly by. I cannot believe that it is already Pday again!

Like I said, I am definitely feeling more comfortable with the mission life. It is still very hard, and I still need work on my spanish, but I am definitely feeling at home in Potosi. My companion and I are working so hard, and we are finding lots of people to help.

I have found out on the mission that Heavenly Father really just puts people in your path that need the gospel. He works in strange ways to bring this plan to His children. The other day, we were late for an appointment. So we were running up this hill! We said hi to this joven en la calle, and felt impressed to talk to her. Heavenly Father placed this beautiful girl right in our path. She is a golden investigator. We set up an appointment with her for this past Friday.

As we arrived at her house this past Friday, her sister told us that she had been talking about us all week, and was so excited for us to come and talk to her. We taught The Restoration, and her and her sister were so amazed. We felt the Spirit so strong as we testified of Joseph Smith and invited them to be baptized. They said yes! They told us how they had been looking for direction in their lives, and were eager to begin to follow God´s commandments and be obedient. WOW.

I am constantly surprised by the faith that people here in Potosi have. They are so willing to change and come closer to Christ. It baffles me every single day. I love hearing their desires to follow Heavenly Father.

Her whole family accepted coming to church.

It was an amazing experience.

I am also learning to be more comfortable teaching more of the lessons. It is terrifying leading the lessons, but my companion and I have been practicing every day so I will know the right words to say. Heavenly Father has given me strength every day through the scriptures to have courage to begin leading discussions and teaching more. He literally brings me to a new scripture each day that I need. I know that we can find strength and courage through the scriptures.”

 I LOVE YOU ALL! I am going to send this one off, and read yours! GET ONLINE!

Hna Routsong

1. Pday at Los Pinos
2. Swings
3. I love Dinosaurs
4. I burned my hands and my comp put eggs on it to heal them
5. Baking my favorite food with my two moms here
6. My Favorite.... Rollos De Queso
7. Ever,Anai, Melany
8. Our dinner
9. Cute family
10. Llamas! I finally saw one
11.Crazy wind here!
12. Nuestra Noche de Hermanamiento
13. Package from home

Feliz Cumpleanos, Mama

MAMA! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How was your day? What did you do? Cuentame su día! I hope you ate salted caramel ice cream for me. I´ll have to read your letters, but first I want to tell you about my week. So we worked hard this week. I honestly don´t really remember much of what happened during the week. We had a lot of lessons, and even had some members come with us on visits. They were two cute little teenagers in our ward. One of them reminds me exactly of Tiffani. It is crazy.

Most of our week, we spent getting Vanesa ready for her baptism this Saturday. We spent a lot of time with her this week, and she seemed so ready to be baptized. Saturday came, and we came to get her for her baptism that night. But something was wrong. She was different. She said that she was nervous and scared. My comp and I started to get a weird feeling. But we talked with her, decided to move forward with her baptism. She had lots of different reasons for being afraid.... the water, going up in front of everyone, wearing a dress, etc.

So we are sitting there in her baptismal service, and I start to feel so so bad. Like the worst feeling in my entire life. We were surrounded by all these people, and I was supposed to feel so happy. I had been looking forward to this day for a long time. But I wanted to cry. I didn´t feel the Spirit at all. So I said a little prayer, asking Heavenly Father to please help us stop this if it wasn´t His will.

She was about to be baptized, and I pulled her aside and asked her one more time if this is what she really wanted. She said with tears in her eyes no. My heart broke. She changed and went home. My companion and I sat in the gym and cried. I felt like a terrible missionary, and I didn´t know what we did wrong. She was so ready before, and we really don´t know what happened....  so so terrible.

We visited her that night, but said nothing of the baptism. We are going to keep visiting her, and we pray every day to know how to help her.

So yeah, Saturday was the hardest day that I have ever had here.  I really wanted to go home. It made me so sad to see someone who I love so much reject something so good.

But I have learned something from this experience. Heavenly Father has a plan for everyone. This plan is specific, and only He knows it. Vanesa was not baptized Saturday because it was not the will of the Lord. But she will be baptized, because Heavenly Father loves her. We just have to be patient and have faith in the plan and timing of the Lord.

Yup....So that was pretty much most of my week. Other than that, we just have been working hard.

Our pension is out of town, so her sister is cooking for us until Sunday. Oh boy, does she serve us a ton of food! I almost die every time. It is like a mountain of rice! It is good food! Just a lot! We don´t even eat dinner because we are always so full.

Hmm.... what else can I tell you guys? OH! I am trying to learn Quechua!

Ñoká muña kuyqui canta!

I wrote that on your sign. It means I love you in quechua. We meet people every day that only speak quechua. It is frustrating, because they are always so dang nice and I want to help them! That little girl in the hat in my picture speaks quechua and spanish, so she teaches me some words. She is so cute. She sang us a song in Quechua the other day. It is so beautiful! You should look it  up on youtube people speaking quechua. It is awesome.

OH MY LANTA! I almost forgot to tell you guys. On Thursday, it SNOWED HERE! Granted, it was for about 2 minutes, but it was snowing in South America! It was the craziest thing ever. I was happy. There was not enough snow to stick, so no pictures, but there was snow. I promise.

Oh, and mama! Apparently, your packages are in Cochabamba, and some sisters are bringing them to me today! I hope.... So I guess the address you have is correct! The mail here is just so dang slow.... I AM SO EXCITED! I hope they bring them today.

Nothing else really to report. I taught my first Sunday School lesson in Spanish. It was actually pretty fun. My español is getting better. I am definitely feeling more comfortable. It is cool. I had one dream in spanish, and I was so excited.

How is everyone there? I hope you all had a great week! I am going to send this letter off, and read yours.

Ñoká muña kuyqui canta!

I LOVE YOU!

Sister Routsong

 

 

1. Valerie  aka Tiffani

2. Valeria and Alejandra

3. Bolivian hats

4. Friends

5 Rollos de queso.... my favorite food here

6. Our heater is fixed ..... my best friend

7 Friends

8. Sometimes Potosi is beautiful

9 Happy birthday

10 Happy Birthday

No Es Justo!

FAMILIA! How are you????????? 

This week went by so dang fast! I cannot believe it is already Monday yet again. It feels like I was just writing you guys. How are you all? I decided to send this to everyone, because I know mom sometimes forgets.... hahahaha

My week was really good! Last Monday, we left for Sucre to meet our new president! We took a bus and arrived around 11 pm. Please look up pictures of Sucre. It is awesome there. SO DANG WARM! And we stayed with some sisters there, and their house is so nice. It makes my house look like a shack hahahahaha. And there are these cool dinosaur statues EVERYWHERE. I love it. I hope I get to serve there someday. 

Our president is really cool. We had interviews with him, and he seems like a really cool guy. I have only talked to him for a few minutes, but already I feel really comfortable with him. He speaks pretty good spanish, but still has some work to do. His wife is also so sweet, but barely speaks any spanish. 

Yeah, so Sucre was so fun. We ate salteñas again! Seriously, I love those things so much. And we ate BBQ BURGERS. I almost died. They were just like the ones in the states. I have been craving one for so long. The elders searched forever for them. The bus ride was also super super fun. It was a good time.

We have been working a lot with the members in our ward. I love it. They are so willing to help us, and go with us to appointments. We have been having SO MANY Family Nights. Literally like one every night. It is fun, but it is always a lot of food. Bread and arroz con leche, which I actually really like. Tonight, we have a family night with the lady who calls herself my mom. She is so cute. Her name is Hna Neli. We are going to make rollos de queso. They are SO GOOD! She is also going to try and make cheesecake for us. Sketchy, yes.... I´ll let you know how it turns out. The cheese here is.... different....they have this cheese called cholita cheese. It is SO DANG GROSS. It is squeeky. Literally squeeky. I cannot explain it. It is so chewy that it feels like bubble gum. No me gusta. Vamos a ver.....

OH! So we are suppsed to have a baptism this Saturday! Her name is Vanessa. She is so sweet. She has some fears that we are working on, and she is having a hard time discerning the Spirit. We are praying so much for her. Mom, wow. I have to say, I am never ever going to complain again in my whole life about my living situation. Vanessa is the sweetest, happiest girl ever, and she lives with nearly nothing. I wish you could see her house. I truly breaks my heart, and makes me feel so bad for all the times I have complained about how junky Glenhood was. Hahahah But seriously. It is truly a humbling experience. I wish you could see it. 

I had a really cool experience this morning during my study time. Did I mention how much I love studying in the morning? It is my favorite. So the past couple days, I have been feeling really really bad. The mission does crazy things to you. You start to see every single fault and error and mistake that you make everyday. It is really frustrating. You know me... I expect perfection. And it is impossible to be perfect here. Sometimes, I don´t feel like doing it. And it makes me feel so bad. I feel inadequate to wear the name of Jesus Christ on my shirt every day because I am so imperfect. So I pray every night for Heavenly Father to please forgive me. Well last night, I was feeling really bad again. This morning, I was reading in Daniel 10, and felt this overwhelming feeling of love overcome me. It was as if that scripture was talking directly to me. Heavenly Father is always there to strengthen me when I ask for help to change. He will help me learn more about the scriptures. He will help me be a better teacher. He will help me learn spanish. He will help me learn patience with my companion. He will always strengthen me. This is not the only time that the Lord has comforted me through the scriptures. Family. I have gained such a strong testimony of the scriputres here. If you have a problem, or a question. Go to the scriptures. Heavenly Father answers prayers through the scriptures. We just have to READ! 

I have a scripture especially for KYLE. KYLE BOY. This scripture really really helped me this week, and I thought of you when I read it. Phillipians 4:13. 

Oh, one last story before I send this one off. I had to give a talk in sacrament yesterday. The 1st counselor asked me 5 minutes before sacrament meeting started. Never has more fear struck my heart than at that moment. OH MY LANTA. I had nothing prepared.... and don´t these people know that I don´t speak spanish?! Dude.... but I remembered that scripture in Phillipians, and I just went and did it. Who knows if anyone understood what I was saying, but I felt really good afterwards! I spoke on Enos 1. I love that chapter. And this was the first talk that I had ever given without any preparation, and completely mediante the spirit. BALL SO HARD! I felt good. The north american elders in my ward said I did good, but who knows... hahahah They could just be saying that to be nice. Oh well!

I´m gonna send this one off so I can read about your week. I LOVE YOU ALL! I made sure to not drink hardly any water this morning, so I can write for the whole time. Hahahaha My poor companion....... 

WRITE ME BACK! 

Love you!

Hna Routsong

 

 

 

1. Splits in Sucre  2. Sisters in Sucre  3. Bus drive to Sucre  4. Dino statues   5. Family night
6. Scooby doo slipper  7. Another Family night  8. All the sisters  9. My white legs

 

Happy 4th of July in Potosi!

My family! How are you?????? How was the cruise? Are you all mega sunburnt????? I am so jealous. TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT! Actually, you probably did... I´ll have to read your emails after I write this one.

This week, I actually don´t remember what we did..... we worked A LOT. But I have learned the power of obedience in the mission. When you are obedient, the Lord blesses you so much. He has allowed us to meet so many people that are so ready to hear the gospel. I will admit, there are some days when I just don´t feel like working. I have had two separate occasions when I just didn´t want to knock another door. But I remembered a talk by Elder Holland that said something like... Knock one last door, even when you don´t want to. Use all of your energy, and He will bless you. Every single time I have chosen another door, that person has been so ready to hear the gospel. It is amazing. Truly miracles.

So yeah, we have met some cool people this week.

We have also been reading the BOM with this less active family. The mom and dad are super active, but the daughters don´t feel comfortable going to church just yet. So we go every day to their house at 6 pm and read with them. I can see them becoming more comfortable with reading and feeling the Spirit. It is cool. One thing that I DON¨T like is that the mom, bless her heart, is totally crazy. I love her, but she scares me. She ALWAYS HAS FOOD FOR US. And it is always the same thing.... this bread and watery hot chocolate. I eat it every time, but I never want to hahahahaha And this lady is always like, EAT MORE EAT MORE! But we eat so much every day,  that I always feel like exploding. One time, we had these really good rolls at her house, and I asked her where she bought them, but she won´t tell me! She says she will only tell me if I eat more food at her house. What the heck..... she is insane... hahahahah I don´t even know if that story made sense, but oh well. I love her. We are working hard for her family. And I will always eat her stale bread, even when I am so full that I will explode.

What else is new here? I´ll give you some of the weekly facts about Potosi that I discovered this week.....

- It is getting colder. July is the coldest month here they say.

- One day, the wind was so cold and so crazy, that I thought I was going to die.

- We don´t sleep with our heater anymore, because we are afraid that we are going to die in the middle of the night in a fire. Our electricity is crappy......

- The stars here are my favorite thing in the world. They are so bright and beautiful. There isn´t much light at night, so sometimes you can see the MilkyWay. So dang cool.

- Kayla, you will like this fact. So there are these elders in my zone who are totally CONVINCED that Potosi is haunted... and their house, too. We eat lunch with them every day, and they always have a story to tell us about the previous night when they saw a duende..... duende means elf or midget. They are literally CONVINCED that there are duendes in their house. They say that they have seen them. So yeah.... I´m living in a haunted town. You, Tiff, and I need to come here after and have a ghost hunt hahahaha

 

- OH! I have new boots! Seriously, my feet were like popsicles, but I bought new boots this past week. Yeah, it was a miracle that they had my size! They are a little ugly, but I don´t care. I am warm now.

- Dad, I have been meaning to tell you.... the people here speak such crazy cool spanish. Instead of r´s, they say z´s. Por ejemplo...... tezzible instead of terrible! It sounds awesome.

- Oh, and dad. I had a dream this past week that I was home, and we were speaking spanish together. It made me so happy. I am so looking forward to that.

- I see so much sadness here in Potosi. I hear about women whose spouses beat them, people crying, drunk people passed out on the street. It makes me want to work so much harder. I have learned so much about the Plan of Happiness this past week. Really, the only way to gain true happiness is through the gospel.

- The people here are so humble and willing to listen. Sometimes I am so surprised at how willing people are to listen to my crazy spanish.

- Keith, Kyle, Kayla, Rhiannon..... last night I had a dream that we were all eating BWW. I miss that. I woke up a little sad....

- No one here has a refrigerator......

- The other day at our member lunch, me and a couple of elders were talking about those rolls from Texas Road House. I have been craving them ever since!

OH! I forgot to tell you guys. I am going back to Sucre today! We leave at 6 pm, and will be there until Wednesday night. We get to meet our new president! We have a conference all day tomorrow, and interviews the next day. I am excited. Sucre is a cool place.

I´m going to send this off, because I am excited to read about your cruise!

Love you!

 

The Week of Miracles

Mamasita! How are you??????? I hope you are soaking up the sun for me in wherever you are!

Mom. This week was seriously just what I needed. So last Monday, after Pday and our mini mundial, I get a call from my zone leader saying that I had tramites in Cochabamba in 1 hour! Tramites are for your visa. He said that I needed to be packed and ready to board the bus in 1 hour. So we ran home and packed quickly for Cochabamba! Mom, I was seriously excited.... I haven´t been to Cocha in almost 2 months! I was going to someplace warm! I packed really  fast, and we got in a taxi and headed to the bus station. I hadn’t eaten all day, so I bought an orange and a pack of crackers for the ride. I was going with 3 other girls from my zone on a bus. We left around 9 pm, and didn’t get to Cochabamba until 6 am. I tried to sleep on the bus, but it was pretty difficult..... But I didn’t care... I WAS IN COCHABAMBA! We were supposed to do tramites that day, but the office was closed, so we had to wait until the next day. We went to a restaurant and ate salteñas and smoothies. Salteñas are literally my favorite food here. Look them up online. I cannot really describe them. But Hna Webb also came from Sucre, so we were together! It was so fun! That afternoon, we went to a district meeting, where we met up with Hna Crawford! She is like my best friend from the CCM. Hna Webb and I spent the afternoon with her and her companion, teaching in Cochabamba. Mom....oh my lanta.... Cochabamba is SO FREAKING different than Potosi. It is literally crazy. There is so much fruit, it is so warm, I don’t have to wear flipping tights, and there is such good food there. Ahhhhhhhh

Anyway, Hna Webb and I got to say with Hna Crawford at their house. Mom, I was in culture shock once again. I felt like I was in the states again. Their house is so nice..... The best part about it??? I got to take a HOT SHOWER. And I shaved my legs for the first time in forever hahahahahahah Seriously, I was in heaven at their house.

The next day, we had tramites. We had to go to this little office and get all this medical stuff done to us. I got my blood taken, my teeth checked, xrays, my weight taken, and had to pee in a cup.  Mom, Craziest thing ever. One of the many miracles of this week... I have lost about 8 or 9 pounds..... What the what??? I have no idea how it is possible, but it happened. Craziness.

Anyways, after tramites, we got to go to the zone conference there in Cochabamba and I saw all of my friends from the CCM. It was such a good day. I hadn’t seen them in forever! After that, we had lunch with Hna Dyer and then went to her house and helped her pack and get ready to leave. She left this past Friday, and now we have a new president! We are going to Sucre again next week to meet him. I am a little nervous, because I´ve heard he is strict. Vamos a ver.......

We also got to go to the temple! Another miracle, because normally they don’t let missionaries go to the temple during tramites. I was so happy.

The next morning, we left and headed back to Potosi. I wasn’t sad. This was exactly the break I needed. I got to go to the temple, see all my friends, eat good food and FRUIT, and just kind of relax for a couple days. It made me grateful to be in Potosi actually. Everyone in Cochabamba is so spoiled. I have learned so many lessons being in Potosi. And I love the people I have met here. They are so humble. One day I´ll get to be spoiled in Cocha.

But now for the best news yet! Saturday, we had 4 baptisms! Mama, it was truly a miracle. So this family that I have been telling you about was so ready for baptism. The son even attends seminary! But the mom has been waiting for permission for a very long time from her husband. We had been fasting and praying all week for her, and decided to move forward with faith for the baptism. We still didn’t have permission, and it was the morning of the baptism. She had fasted and prayed, and on Saturday morning, called us saying that he finally said yes! We almost died.... So we have 4 new members in our ward...Rosa, Jorge, Sergio, and Noelia. My first baptism! I was so freaking excited. And oh my gosh, this family is so strong. Their testimonies and faith are incredible. They bore their testimonies on Saturday, saying how this was the happiest day of their lives and how they were so excited to learn more and follow the example of Jesus Christ. It was so great. I think I said this before, but I really feel blessed to be a part of this experience. I really didn’t do anything for this family. It was all the Spirit. I can spit out a few words in my broken spanish, but it all comes down to the Spirit. And they have it. They are so happy, and so ready to learn more. It was really a miracle that I got to be a part of their special day.

Yesterday, they were confirmed in church. Yet another miracle, because they live so far away that they are normally so late to church. I teared up when they were confirmed because they are finally able to begin the steps to becoming an eternal family. This is what i have been preparing for. Helping families be together. It is so cool.

OH! And yet another miracle. So one of my favorite people here has been waiting for permission also from her father to be baptized for over a year. She comes to church every single Sunday...by herself. Holy faith. Her name is Vanessa, and she is about 13 years old. She loves the gospel. So yesterday, we decided to take the initiative and talk to her dad ourselves. I was nervous..... But he was so nice, and he readily agreed to sign the paper. My jaw dropped to the floor as he signed that paper. Truly incredible. We are planning her baptism for this next Saturday. I love her so much. I wish I had a photo with her!

Anyways, so yeah. It´s been a great week. I think Heavenly Father gave me a little vacation, because He knew that my family was also on vacation. Hahahaha

Cochabamba was beautiful, my first baptism was amazing and I will never forget it, and I have literally seen miracles here in Potosi.

Anywho... What´s new? How much weight did you gain on the cruise? Did grandma fall off the balcony??? How is Kirk??? Was the cruise director as goofy as the last one? Did you eat lots of icecream? I hope so.

Oh! Can you tell Mernzy and Emily Blackhurst that I finally got their birthday letters, and that I love them???

OH! AND TELL EMILY BLACKHURST HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR ME!

How is the family? Have I missed any birthdays this week?

I haven’t had time to read your letters, because I have been writing like a maniac. I have been so excited to tell you all my stories from this week.

What else is new??? It is supposed to get colder this month, or so I have been told. The wind is picking up. My comp and I are going to look for boots today.

This week is the 4th! Will you guys be on the boat? You´ll have to tell me all about that. Apparently here, we are not allowed to leave our house because it is dangerous. So we are planning a sleepover with the other sisters and having a bbq the next day with the elders. Who knows... I´ll tell you all about it next Monday.

What else do I want to tell you???? Hm........ I cant think of anything else.

But I hope you are all having a great time. I miss you all! Send me pictures!

Love,

Hna Routsong