Group photo 9/2/13

Extreme measures

Hola familia!

This is so weird, because I never thought I would say this, but it is actually hard for me to type this in English. I never really speak English here so when I actually get to speak English its hard!

But this week was SO good! I dont even know how I could explain all of it. I dont have a ton of time but ill do my best to hit the important parts.

So first my companion is from Mexico. She is so sweet and we get along really well. We are different in a lot of ways, but it doesnt really matter because were here for one purpose, and that purpose is the same. Its hard when I am frustrated or confused because um, no hablo espanol perfectamente, so I cant really accurately express my feelings to her. It gets hard but she is patient and helpful and understanding. 

So I have to tell you something absolutely ridiculous. We live in the second story of a building, but we live with members of the church, and we have to walk through their house to get up to our room. The structure of buildings here is so interesting. So the people we live with live on the first floor, our room is on the second floor (after you walk through the house) and our bishop lives on the third floor. Another person lives on the second floor, but we just have that one room. I hope that makes sense. So one day, we couldnt get the door unlocked to walk through to our room. We tried everything, we pounded on the door and called the people but they were so asleep that they were basically dead or something. It was ridiculous. We had gone outside to run, and since it was like 6.50 am they were asleep. Anyway, it was so annoying and I know I need to be thankful for them, but REALLY? We were trying to get in for almost 2 hours. And thats wasting all of our study time and preparation time and everything. Anyway, since the bishop lives on the third floor, I resorted to extreme measures, and jumped out of the window in their kitchen to the small little porch that is right in front of the door to our room. It was an experience. I dont know how to describe it...it was just "an experience". It was higher than was probably a good idea to jump. I like hung out of the window, holding on to the edge, then just dropped down. Definitely not the best decision Ive ever made, but it worked out, we got into our room and continued the day. Daniel, I didnt land like you would have, but I did an okay job. Except my heel hurts a little bit, but I really am okay., Missionaries do crazy things.

Anyway, everything here is different from America. Literally every single thing. Dogs and cats just roam the streets, peeing and pooping everywhere. They keep the streets pretty clean which is nice, but theres always puddles of pee on the sidewalks. Roosters live in peoples houses! So thats a nice wake up call every day. People live in the smallest, dirtiest houses, but its just not a problem for them because its all they know. People make and sell food on the side of the road, sometimes it smells so good but we cant eat it because wed probably die. Not really, but wed probably get really sick because they do a lot of things differently.

AH I am sorry I just did not leave myself enough time. I love our investigators. As dumb as it sounds, I cant remember them all by name yet because we teach so many people, but theres one boy that we are teaching named Gustavo who is so so cool. He has so many hard questions about the church that make us think harder about the doctrine than we ever have. In our first lesson with him, he told us that he wanted to be baptized if he found out the church was true. The first lesson! It was amazing. He is just a very sincere guy, with a lot of interesting experiences and thoughts about life. He went to church on Sunday too, which was awesome.

It is a lot harder to teach in Spanish than I thought it would be. I honestly know a lot, but I dont know enough to say all that I want to. I get a little flustered sometimes, but the people always say that they can understand me which is good.

I am learning so much. Just from talking to people I learn the language. Its interesting to compare what I learned in the CCM to what I hear in the streets. I love the moments when I understand, but sometimes I just kind of zone out and think to myself "I dont speak Spanish I dont speak Spanish I dont know what youre saying because Im American..." Ya know, stuff like that.

I want to tell you more about the people we teach, but I will do that next week when I have more time.

There is so much to say! I love the food so much. Its so rich in flavor and theres so much of it which of course is good for me. Except yesterday we ate like 18 pounds of beans, and obviously there are consequences with that... :)

Next week I will tell you more. Im sorry I didnt use my time wisely enough, but I will send pictures and tell more fun stories next week I promise!

Also about the address, its the one I posted on Facebook. I am in the lima east mission. And all letters and packages need to be sent to the mission home, which I posted on Facebook! Dont forget that!

Thank you for your love and support. I miss you guys so much, I miss our house and moms home made dinners. but I am so happy here. I love being a missionary. Thank you for being the best! I love you! And I will talk to you next Monday!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Michelle Scott

Coming into focus

HOLA FAMILIA!!

How are you all? I hope that this week was great. I loved hearing the news about Daniel becoming el capitan! That is maybe the coolest thing Ive heard all week. I am so proud of you and totally wish I could see you tear it up out there! Take lots of pictures please and send them all to me!!!

 

Something funny to start off the email this week, we were informed a few days ago that we are no longer allowed to say "Hola" to people in or outside of the CCM.  Like, every single person in the world says hola. Its literally the only word in Spanish that I knew before I came here (okay not literally). But honestly, people in China probably say Hola. It makes sense I guess, because Its pretty informal, but when I heard that I just laughed out loud. The easiest, simplest word...and we cant say it. Oh well, its not a big deal. Just one of those things.

 

Anyway, so this week was great!! Not much happens in the CCM. I don{t think I ever gave you a run down of my schedule, but this is the basic day as a missionary-

Wake up at 6.30 sharp. Pray.

Get ready for the day.

Breakfast at 7.

Personal study until 8.30 ish.

8.30-Language study

9.45-Teaching techniques

11.-Teaching our investigator (its our teacher, but he pretends to be an investigator that he taught on his mission...its the most real type of situation we can get in the CCM. Its really pretty real too, which is awesome. Its fun, but its hard, just like it would be for a missionary out in the field.)

12.30 LUNCH

1.30-4.00 Personal study, language study. This is the time in the day that we get to focus on what we think is important. No teachers, we just study what we want to, its really nice.

4 - physical activity. Its like gym class in elementary school. We all get so hyper and just run around after being cooped up inside all day. On Tuesday we had a huge ultimate Frisbee tournament and it was so fun! Good times happen in our hour of physical activity.

5.30- practice teaching again (with our evening teacher)

6.30 dinner

7,15-9.00 language mixed with teaching skills, we usually end up doing role play teaching with other missionaries

9.20 - every night we have time set aside to eat fruit in the cafeteria. Its so funny to me. I think part of it (as gross as this is) is to help regulate our bathroom cycle, if you know what I mean. Seriously, all we eat is rice and potatoes and bread. So, why not eat an orange at 9 pm? You know?

 

So that is what every single day looks like pretty much. Except for Sunday...lots of church that day. We are still Mormons after all. And lots and lots of personal study. and P day is different too of course.

 

Today has been a great day so far. We went to the temple, then explored the city like we normally do. We always take the bus, which is the craziest part of my week by far. I think Ive told you a little bit about the buses, but they are honestly INSANE. they just pull over anywhere, theres a person hanging out the door screaming things about where the bus is going, and people get on and off it while its still moving. And I know Ive mentioned the crazy drivers. They just do whatever they want! It blows my mind. Today, we were waiting forever on the curb for a bus to drive by, then one pulls up and its filled to the brim with people, but they have it in their minds that they can squeeze a million people in there. So half of us get on, and they just randomly drive away and leave half of our group behind! luckily my companion made it on the bus, but one of the elders' companion didnt get on. It was just weird that they took off, and definitely weird that he wasnt with his companion. It all worked out though. Peru is crazy.

 

So I wanted to tell you about an experience I have been having. It happens every day, and its so hard to explain. Let me give some background -

when you become a missionary, you spend that entire 18 months or 24 months teaching people about the gospel every day. That part is obvious. Every day, you are working to bring other people to Christ, and to help other people along their way in the gospel. Its all about other people, thats the key word. Which is good. Youre supposed to legitimately "forget yourself and get to work." From day one, we have been taught to forget ourselves, and learn to dedicate your life at this time to the welfare of Gods children. Obviously you have needs to be met, but you know what I mean. Missionaries are meant to be selfless; totally and completely selfless. So I have been trying to figure out what exactly this means to me. For me to lose myself...what does that entail exactly? I need to be less sarcastic (good news, I cant speak Spanish so that one will be easy). I need to be less focused on my own problems (Does my hair look good? Dang I could really use some chocolate right now, etc.) But does losing myself mean that I need to laugh more quietly? Or that I need to change something about my personality? It took me a little while to figure out, and I know I have so much more to learn, but this is the temporary conclusion I have come to..

I dont need to change who I am. I still get to be Hermana (Michelle) Scott, but I need to let my focus be on the work I have before me, and the people that I will be teaching. God made me who I am for a reason. I have plenty of things that I can improve on- my punctuality, for example. Thats just one of 100 million things that could change. But right now, I need to just give myself over completely to the Lord and to this work.

Does any of that make sense?

Well, the past few days I have felt really weird. Its hard to explain...but I just havent felt normal. I would be so attentive in class, so attentive in my personal study, but all the times in between I felt like I was in a fog. I wasnt super loud and obnoxious at all of the meals like I usually am, and I was just a little more quiet. Its so hard to explain....but basically, I have been feeling like I am truly getting lost in this work. I used to dread teaching our investigators/teachers because I would always be nervous about what to say, but now I just cant wait for our next chance to teach. I can feel myself getting more absorbed into the real reasons for why I am here on a mission. Its crazy. I know that I am ready to get into the field. Sometimes I feel really panicky because of the language, and thinking about my first Latina companion scares the poop out of me, but I know that I have done what I need to do to prepare and I know that I am ready.

 

I am out of time, but I just want you to know that I love you all so much. Thank you so much for the emails, for keeping me connected to my sweet home in beautiful CO. Im jealous of the wonderful weather youre having, its still winter here so its cloudy a lot, but it has actually been beautiful and sunny the past few days. A little miracle!!

I love you and I pray for you and I hope that you are all doing well. I cant tell you enough how much I love you. I have to go,but in just 7 short days Il be telling you about my life as a REAL MISSIONARY!!!

 

Con todo el amor en el mundo,

Hermana Scott

Missionary angels

HEY HEY Family!!

Sorry about that crazy moment earlier today. I am just not the brightest person in the world, so yeah I just don{t even know what happened.

 

Anyway, I have lots to say and not much time. First things first, I have some bad/funny news and I only tell you this trusting that you wont freak out...75% of the CCM is sick right now. Don{t freak out --- its totally fine and were all being taken care of. Let me explain. So every two weeks, groups of missionaries leave the CCM (since its the end of their 6 weeks), and since Latinos only stay in the CCM for two weeks, there is a day and a half span when there's just a small group of Americans. Then a whole new group comes in on those Wednesday nights. But when its just that small group of Americans, they try to treat us to American-style food. So this past Tuesday it was cheeseburgers for dinner. They looked funny but tasted pretty decent, so we all ate them. And they had french fries so it was quite the treat! Some of the elders ate like 3 or 4 of these things. Anyway...almost everyone here is sick, and were pretty sure its from those burgers. Food poisoning at its finest. Obviously it was an accident, so its not like were upset or anything, but its certainly not a good time. But all day yesterday I was feeling really crappy, so I literally stayed in my room all day long. A lot of other missionaries here had to do the same thing either yesterday or today. Its a bummer, but they take really good care of us. Everyones needs are being met. Luckily our CCM is pretty small, so its easy for every one to get the medicine they need and stuff. I feel so much better today, so don{t worry about me. But its not uncommon to see a missionary walking around with a trash can in their hands...just in case.

 

On a happier note, something super cool happened last week on Saturday. A group of little kids from one of the nearby stakes came to visit the CCM - it was literally a field trip to see the missionaries. It was the sweetest time that I have had here at the CCM. We were all studying outside, and it was a beautiful, sunny day, so it was the perfect time for them to come. When they first got here, the kids just stared at us like we were animals in a zoo. They all walked in in a line, and they were peeking over each other and jumping up and down to get a better view of us, and when they walked over they just stood there and stared at us. Then their teachers said they could come over to us, and they just swarmed us. So many little girls came up and hugged me, kissed me on the cheek, and super shyly told us their names. The little boys were giving us high fives. It was so cute that I wanted to cry. They didn{t know us at all, but just because we were missionaries, we were like angles to them. Just seeing their smiles made me so happy, I can{t even explain it. We haven{t seen kids in so long that all of the missionaries were just grinning from ear to ear, giving hugs and high fives. I just couldn{t handle the cuteness. They took a bunch of pictures of us too, so maybe someday a picture of me will hang in a random church here in Lima. It was really humbling to me though, to see how much those kids looked up to us. It made me realize how important it is for me to do all that I can to live up to the responsibility of being a missionary. People all over the world know who we are and expect us to take good care of the Lords work. Its kind of intimidating to think of it like that, but I know that I can handle it. I want to be the type of missionary that those kids, and people all over the world, know that I can be.

 

In addition to that, Elder Quentin L. Cook came and visited us! He didn{t give us the traditional "talk", he did a little question and answer type thing. It was so cool because it made it so much more personal. We were able to ask any question, and he would just give us an honest answer. I{ve never been that close to an apostle before. I got to stand and ask a question.,...I told him a little bit about our visit with the kids, and mentioned that in a calling like this, its hard to feel qualified sometimes, and hes an apostle so his calling is a little bit more important. I just asked him how he has felt qualified in his calling, and he said "You know that whom the Lord calls, he qualifies. The best advice I have for you is to trust that, and put on your shoes and get to work. He is with you, He loves you, and He knows that you can do it." It was SOOOO cool to have an apostle say that straight to my face over a sea of missionaries. Seriously, I will never ever forget that. And what he said is exactly what I needed to hear.

 

I only have 12 days left in the CCM! Can you believe it?? And its already been one whole month! Sometimes that feels like the longest month of my life, but looking back it has seriously flown by. I have learned so much Spanish its unbelievable. In our lessons, I can understand almost everything that our investigators say, and I find myself speaking really, really well. I know that I am being blessed so much in that, but sometimes I just cant believe how much I have learned. Its amazing. I know that in time I will be fluent...but that will certainly not be anytime soon.

 

Anyway, thats all I have time for. Thanks for all of the love and support. I love getting emails, even though I tear up a lot of the time. Its nice to get a little piece of home every week. I love you all so much, I pray for you always, and I am the happiest Ive ever been! Even on the longest days, I still go to bed smiling. Its great, the life of a missionary. :)

 

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!

 

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Scott

Hermana harmony

HELLO!!! How are you??! I am so excited to email you. I don{t know if I mentioned this before, but all the keyboards here are different, so my punctuation is no bueno. I{m sorry about that.

 

Anyway, this week was great as usual. A lot of interesting things have happened. But I just wanted to tell you about something that is a part of my life everyday, whether I like it or not.

SO my companion and I are so similar. Just adventurous, loud, crazy people (she is a little bit quieter than I am, so that's helped me calm down a tad). We love to have fun, and usually we do, but often times we argue with each other. Were both just a couple of stubborn hermanas sometimes, so we get into some genuine arguments sometimes. Looking back on all of them, I laugh because I know how stupid all of them are, but it happens, and everytime we have to learn how to just get over it. Sometimes, in normal life, you can have a little argument, and then a few hours later its sort of blown over and you dont feel mad anymore. You know what I mean? Well, my companion and I argue and then just a few seconds later we realize that were going to be together every second for the rest of forever (or just three more weeks), so we have so solve it right then and there. Its been really hard, because I hate getting in arguments, but its helping me to learn a lot about myself and how I can be just a better person in general. I know that I am not nearly as humble as I should be, I know I am stubborn, and I{m sort of a control freak. I like things done my way, and I{m learning that in a mission, that just doesnt fly. Its all about working together and doing what the Lord wants you to do. And with the spirit of contention, it is literally impossible to feel a spirit of peace, or of love, which is exactly what we need in order to know what to teach, or how we can continue to get better. But I am learning. And Hermana Thiel and I are really good friends. We have so much fun together. Our similarities is what brings the struggles, but we always get over them and joke about things like farts (sorry, thats gross) and double chins and all of that fun stuff. Good thing no one ever really hears our conversations.......

 

Anyway, I found out that when I tweaked my ankle I had strained a little muscle right above my ankle bone on the inside of my foot. But está bein, seriously its not a big deal at all. It hurts sometimes, but its just because that particular tendon, muscle, whatever it is, just takes a little while to heal. I feel pretty dumb for doing that, but I dont need a brace or anything. Its really not a big deal at all! So no worries :)

 

On Tuesday night, we had a devotional, and it was by a man named C Scott Grow. Hes a  member of the "70"...there is the prophet, the other two members of the presidency (three in the presidency total), twelve apostles, and then 70 other men. Those are the leaders of our church. Does that make sense? So this man was in the 70. Anyway, he talked about how important members of the church are in our work as missionaries. The members are so vital in helping people get baptized, because it obviously would be so hard to join a church if you didn{t know anyone or didnt feel comfortable there. Like for example, I always met with the missionaries in the Lattins home, or with other members, because its a comfortable environment. The members can often times do a greater work than the full time missionaries if they do their part in inviting, teaching, and including people. Am I making sense? Sorry my thoughts are all over the place. He also talked about how important bishops are in helping us find people to teach. I feel like as missionaries, we think that we can do our work all on our own. We have the mindset that we dont need anyone's help, that were just going to baptize nations on our own. But, thats just not how it works. Realizing how many resources we have made me so much more excited to get out into the field. There is so much that we can do, so many people out there that we can teach. Its just about figuring how to do it, and how to do it well. It was a really inspiring talk.

 

I have one thing that I want to share before I forget. So I dont know to what extent you know this about me, but I have some self confidence issues sometimes. Sometimes its not a big deal, but other times I am really aware of myself, my mistakes, what I look like, blah blah blah. Being a BYU was like the best time of my life besides the mission, but being around all of those pretty people in their pretty clothes made me more self conscious about what I look like. I know that sounds really dumb, but one thing I wanted before I came out here was to just not worry about that stuff anymore. I found that as soon as I got here, it lessened significantly, but it was still something that bothered me. It sounds so stupid, like honestly who cares what I look like, I{m a missionary for goodness sake! I{m not trying to impress anyone, I{m here to serve the Lord. He just wants me for my heart. Anyway, I knew these things, but it was sometimes hard to really believe them. And I guess there was just one day that I was really beating myself up. Other things, like not speaking fluent Spanish, or not knowing a word, were just piling up and I was feeling pretty crappy about myself. I went to bed that night, and prayed for Heavenly Father to help me learn to love myself, but at the same time forget myself so that I can be a better missionary. I want to see myself as a missionary, a daughter of God, who is loved and supported by Him and my family and so many people. I just wanted to be able to get over that stupid problem that I{ve been having. Anyway, I had a dream that night. This is a dream, not real life-- I was with my companion, and our two roommates, and we were out doing real missionary work. We stopped at this really fancy house, and the door was just open so we went right in for some reason. You can do that in dreams, you know. So we walked into this room, and there were fancy clothes and jewelry and shoes EVERYWHERE. it was filled to the brim with beautiful things, and the second I walked in there I just went crazy. I started grabbing things, taking off the clothes I was wearing, and putting on these fancy clothes. The girls I was with just stood there and watched me, with these freaked out looks on their faces. I didnt really care though, I just kept looking at all of the stuff, trying more and more of it on. Eventually we left (after I had chosen the outfit that I wanted) and we were walking away. Then all of a sudden I looked down and thought that I "needed" to change again. So I sprinted back to the room, and started looking at more of the stuff. I stopped when I saw my face in the mirror, and I just looked so sad. I looked at myself right in the eyes and said "what are you doing?" And then I woke up. So that sounds crazy, right? But the second I woke up - I mean, literally, the second I woke up - I sat straight up in bed with the biggest smile on my face. I don't even know how to explain it, but I had the strongest feeling that God just literally doesn{t care about that. He didn't call me to Peru to walk around like a diva, always worrying about my hair or whatever. Its so hard to explain, but I could just feel Gods love in a way that I never have before. I couldn't stop smiling. I hope you don't think I{m crazy, its not like I think I had a vision or anything, but in a way it was just God telling me what he wanted me to know - that I am here, as a missionary, and a missionary is all that he needs me to be. Just the very best missionary that I can possibly be.

 

SO yeah, thats crazy. But ever since then, I have been so happy. I just wake up, ready to face the day, because I{m a missionary, and I know that God is truly watching over me, taking care of me. I know that He loves me.

 

Life here is the best. I'm past my halfway mark in the CCM! I have less than 3 weeks left which is insane. But its great. I am so happy. I found out that a lot of people in my district can sing REALLY well, so we've been singing hymns in all 4 parts (soprano, alto, tenor, bass), and it sounds so amazing. I'm not even a good singer, but I just pretend so that I can be included in the beautiful harmonies.

 

Also, I want you to read the scripture in Alma 36:24. If I had time to type it I would, but I am out of time. It explains almost exactly why I am out here on a mission. Its just my feelings exactly. I know Daniel and Dad that you are not really interested in reading the book of Mormon, but just for my sake, read that verse so you can understand a  little more about why Im here.

 

I have to go, but Just know that I love you all so so so much!!! I keep wanting to send pictures but I never have enough time. Next week I promise youll see pictures. Well, I love you and I will talk to you next week. Seriously though, I LOVE YOU.

 

Con MUCHO amor,

Hermana Scott

Crazy bus drivers, stray dogs and potty humor

HOLA MI FAMILIA!!!!

Holy cow, I got so many emails today. Thank you to EVERYONE who emailed me, it was hard to read them all through my tears...thanks a lot. But really, thanks a lot. I love hearing about life back home and I am so thankful for all of the support and love I feel, even though I'm 3000 miles away.

 

Also, just so you know, the spanish keyboard is slightly different so that;s why all of my punctuation is always wrong and I'm typing at the speed of light so please excuse any errors.

 

So this past week was AMAZING. Last Thursday was my first p day, and I emailed you before we went out into the city so I didnt get to tell you about it, but the city of Lima is incredible. Its like nothing Ive ever seen before. All of the buildings are different colors and sizes, and most of them are super old and ghetto. When we go out to go shopping, we take the bus, and the bus drivers are insane. The buses are so sketchy..the whole experience is just hilarious. Drivers here are actually insane and there are basically no traffic rules. All of the missionaries just pile on to these little buses and hold on for dear life as the speed through the city. Its impossible not to laugh, but crying is also normal. Just kidding. Dad, you would hate the drivers here.

 

On Saturday, we had our first experience prostelyting. This was my favorite part of the week by far. So even though we speak hardly any spanish at all, they sent us out into the city to teach people like real missionaries do. It was so crazy and I was super nervous. All of the missionary companionships were partnered with either a missionary, a teacher, or a member of the church living in Lima. Me and Hermana Thiel were paired with a sister Missionary from Chile, so she was obviously fluent in spanish and had been out for a while so she knew her stuff. The very first thing that we did when we got off the bus was walk down to this old, run down shop and met the old lady to teach her. She was really quiet and slurred all of her words, so since I already don't speak any spanish as it is, it was nearly impossible to understand her. Also, people here, whenever they greet you, they kiss you on the cheek. So that was new. But I'm sure all get used to it. So we sat in the back of this little shop, and taught her about the priesthood of the church, which is something that we had never ever ever practiced in class before. Me and Hna Thiel looked at each other and simultaneously pooped our pants. But, it went really well. all I really did was tell her in what little spanish I know about what I believe about prophets and the priesthood. It was really cool for me because I realized in that moment that it doesn't matter if I speak fluent Spanish .. I'm here to preach the gospel, and if I can tell people in my broken spanish that I know the priesthood (sacerdocio) is real, that prophets are real, and that the Book of Mormon is true, that's real all that matters. It was an incredible experience. The lady we were teaching was not super down to have a couple of gringas teaching her, but I just couldn't stop smiling. So that first lesson was crazy and awesome. Crazy awesome. Then, we got to do that exact thing for about 3 and a half more hours. Haha it was so insane. There are stray dogs EVERYWHERE in the city. They just run around. bark sometimes, and eat food off of the streets. Occasionally the get in giant dog fights in the middle of the road, but they don't even come near people so it's really not a huge deal. A lot of them wear little puppy shirts and stuff, which is so weird, but it's normal here I guess. Anyway, we talked to so many people. We would walk up to them and say HOLA! Mi nombre es Hermana Scott, y ella es Hermana Thiel (or the other way around) Podemos compartir un mensaje con usted? Then we would speak really really painfully slowly about how God is our loving Heavenly Father, or about how Jesus Christ died so that we could be forgiven of our sins, and I just had so much fun. It was the most exhausting thing in the entire world to listen to all of that Spanish, but I found that even if I can't speak fluently, I can understand almost all of what I hear, which was amazing. People are so confused and sad.  People all over the world look for something that will bring them happiness, and we literally just have it. So many people would just listen to what we had to say. It was kind of sad because a lot of the people I talked to, I probably wont see ever again, since we were just out that one day. Although, we got contact information for 4 different people, because they wanted the missionaries to come back and teach them more, so maybe someday I;ll see some of them again. But one more awesome thing that happened.. the missionary we were with had a meeting scheduled with a 12 year old girl who had been taking the discussions with the missionaries for a while. We taught her about baptism, and the sister missionary had us share personal experiences about how being baptized and becoming a member of the church has blessed our lives and helped us overcome trials. Hna Thiel and I shared a lot, and the spirit was so strong. I was almost in tears reflecting on how blessed I have been since I have been baptized. The girl understood us for the most part, and after the lesson, the missionary asked her if she wanted to be baptized, and she said YES!!!! It was so amazing. I wish I could relive that moment, but hopefully that will happen a few times when I'm out in the field ;) Later, the missionary told us that they had been asking her if she wanted to get baptized for a few weeks, and she just felt inspired to ask again while we were there, and she ended up saying yes!!! It was so amazing. Basically, the church is true. Every 2 weeks in the CCM we get to go out and do that, so I get to go two more times before I'm out in the field for good! I will have plenty more stories to tell, I'm sure :)

 

Sunday was so wonderful. Sundays here in the CCM are the best. We just got to church and have a solid three hours of spiritual enlightenment, then spend the rest of the day studying and watching videos of apostles speaking their words of wisdom. But the best part of this week was Tuesday night, we got to watch a devotional LIVE from the MTC in Provo, Utah. It was the first time that the MTC in Provo has ever streamed a devotional live to all of the foreign MTCs. So it was so incredible to be able to be a part of that. The man who spoke was Elder Richard G. Scott, and he talked about the importance of prayer and the blessings that prayer brings into our lives. It was a great talk, and it just was so cool knowing that missionaries all over the world were watching the exact same thing. I can't explain what it feels like to be a missionary...being surrounded by people doing the exact same thing that I'm doing, and especially walking around and seeing so many people wearing those little black tags is the greatest feeling in the whole world. Anyway, that talk was great, and apparently we get to do that every single Tuesday night *the live broadcast thing). Its going to be so cool! Also, in a few weeks, one of the apostles are coming HERE to Peru to speak to us missionaries!!! His name is Elder Quentin L Cook, and he's coming with Elder Talmage and one other person. It's going to be so freaking awesome!!! Excuse my language, but seriously it will be amazing. I will definitely tell you all about it.

 

I think I told you about how we have physical activity time everyday, and at first I spent that whole time running and doing crazy workouts with my companion, but I totally dipped out on those work outs and started playing soccer every day and I'm getting so much better!!! Seriously, it's crazy. I can actually pretend that I'm good now. Obviously soccer is not the most important thing that i'm doing, but dang it's fun. Last Friday I played with a bunch of latinos and they were do intense, it was so fun to play with them. They have skill like I've never seen in all of my life. So that was cool. And yesterday I played goalie for the entire hour and only let like 4 goals in. It was sick, but I kinda tweaked my ankle so i've been limping today. Hahahaa probably not a good idea to get hurt out here just from playing soccer. But it's really not that bad. Just know that by the time I come home I'll be as good as Daniel...or Messi.

 

Well, I don't really know what more to tell you all. The food here is so good, i'm just hoping I don't get fat.

 

OH one thing I have been dying to tell you....so since none of the American missionaries are used to the food here, pretty much everyone here gets sick for like a day or two. so it's just a little stomach ache, you feel crappy for a while, but it fades. Basically you either get constipated, you have diarrhea, or you feel like youre about to barf, or all of the above. Anyway, the elders found out a clever way of figuring out whats wrong with a person as they walk out of the bathroom... in spanish NUNCA means never and SIEMPRE means always, so they just say , Is it the nuncas or the siempres? Hahah when I first heard that I died laughing. do you get it? Dang i love potty humor. Too much.

 

Well I'm out of time, but I just want you all to know that I love you so much. Thank you mom for the email about Emmas farewell and everything, I loved that. Daniel, i'm so sad to hear about riley. good luck in tryouts, I hear you have a good chance at sitting on the JV bench this year! Congrats ;) Dad, I'm 5,9 and so far I weigh the same as when I left...I think. Hopefully that doesnt change.

 

I think about you everyday, but I am happy here and doing something that I truly love. I am learning so much spanish, I'm becoming so comfortable with speaking. It's so cool. I am so happy! I miss you all and I  hope that you are doing well. Please take care of yourselves. Know that I love you. I miss you, but 18 months is going to fly by. Thanks for all of your support and love. The church is true!!! I love you!!!!!! Until next time...in 7 days. i'm taking a nap in about 14 minutes! #heckyeah

 

I love you!!! Con MUCHO amor,

Hermana Scott

HI!!!

Oh my goodness you have no idea how happy I am to be emailing you. Thanks for your emails, they brightened my day...and certainly my whole entire week. The original plan was that I would have pdays on Monday, but it turns out that they are on Thursday. So expect emails on Thursdays.

 

ANYWAY, let me tell you about my week! So, everyone always tells you that missionary work is the hardest thing you}ll ever do. Now I understand why. I{m not really even a missionary yet (technically I am), but every day is so hard. It{s super fun though too, so don{t worry. But this is my daily schedule: wake up, eat breakfast, study the scriptures, study Spanish. Study Spanish. Study scriptures. Role play in Spanish. Study Spanish. Eat lunch. Study Spanish. Get it....? Well, we study a lot. But we get one hour of physical activity every day, so me and my companion take full advantage of that. We{ve been running a lot, and she was on the track team at ISU so she has all kinds of work outs that we can do. And we play soccer and stuff. It{s great. And the food here is SO GOOD. Like...I may or may not come home 38 pounds heavier than I am right now. Just kidding, I won{t do that. But I love meal times, that{s for sure.

 

The Spanish is coming along really well. I learn so much everyday. I am no where close to being fluent in speaking, but when people talk to me I can understand almost all of it. Then there are also plenty of times when I don{t understand anything that people are saying to me and I just stare blankly back at them like an idiot and say "uhh...no comprendo" Hahaha you hear those words a lot here in the CCM.  But I love it so much.

 

So I want to tell you about some of my experiences out here! Every mission is broken up into districts, and so in the CCM it{s the same set up. My district has 8 elderes y 4 hermanas. We{re with each other all day everyday because we are always in the same class together. In the morning, our teacher{s name is Hermano Bernuy. He is sooooo great! He is so patient with us Norte Americanos, and he really works with us to help us understand. None of the people who work here speak very much English, so from day one we{ve literally only been taught in Spanish. Hno Brenuy can speak some English, but one of the kids in my district is really good at Spanish so she just translates for us usually. It{s so tiring to listen to Spanish all day. It{s great because it{s helping me learn a ton a lot faster than I would otherwise, but after every class my brain is just fried. Our other teacher, in the afternoon and evening, is Hermano Machuca. I think he{s my favorite. But I don{t know cause they{re both so wonderful. Anyway, Hno Machuca is so spiritual. He is just not a very loud guy. He speaks really slowly to us to make sure we understand everything. Don{t judge me for saying this, but I{m pretty sure he{s part African American, because there{s just no way he{s 100% Peruvian. I can{t figure it out. Also, I don{t speak Spanish so it{s not like I can ask him. ;)

 

I LOVE LATINOS. The Latin people are probably the best part of this place. And that{s saying a lot because I REALLY love this place. They are honestly the most friendly people I have ever seen or met in my whole entire life. I wish I could communicate better with them, because they just radiate happiness and love. I usually just say "HOLA! ¿Como le va? Oh...bien!!!" Haha it{s so funny. They just look at us and know that we can{t say anything else. The other day, part of our lesson was on how to bear our testimony in Spanish, and after we practiced for a while, our teacher had us go out and practice in front of other classes. Me and mi compañera went to an all Latino class (bad call). But I said it all correctly! So that was cool. But I guess I was blushing because one of the elderes pointed to me and pointed to his cheeks and said "Rojo" and all the elderes started laughing. It was a good thing, it wasn{t mean or anything. It was just really cute and funny. Anyway, that felt really good to be able to speak some real Spanish.

 

I have so much I want to tell you...!

My thoughts are so jumbled, sorry. Lima is amazing. I{ve only seen a little bit of it, because we are trapped inside here all the time, but from what we can see over the fence it is so beautiful!! Its usually cloudy because its winter here right now, but its not too cold or anything. But it was sunny yesterday all day, and it was the most beautiful weather Ive ever experienced!! I can{t wait for it to be sunny and warm all the time. But who cares about weather. Seriously.

 

On Sunday, we had testimony meeting. Our sacrament meetings are only North Americans, so we spoke English that hour. It was so cool to see all of these missionaries walking up to the stand to bear their testimonies. I couldn{t help but cry most of the time, because I just felt so uplifted by the faith of all of these young men and women. So many of the elderes here are 18 years old. EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD! And SO MANY Hermanas are 19. We are all so young, doing this crazy thing. I love the strength that I feel from seeing a whole huge group of people my age wearing those black name tags. Every day I have this moment when I think to myself "Holy crap I{m a misisonary." Except I don{t say crap because missionaries don{t say that word... but seriously, it{s amazing. After sacrament meeting, we had a sunday school lesson. Honestly, it wasn{t that spiritual because all we talked about was the rules and the fact that we need to keep them. It was a great lesson, but nothing too special, BUT, relief society was amazing. relief society is a meeting of just the women, and so lots of estrogen there. We bore testimonies for the whole hour. It was Americans and Latinas, so us Americanas were trying to bear our testimonies in Spanish. I was literally balling during that hour. The Latina sisters would share their testimonies in Spanish, and I understood so little of what they were saying, but as they cried and shared the reasons why they were serving missions, it just hit me that the gospel is true in every language. All over the world, people need the message of Jesus Christ in their lives. That{s why all of us leave our homes for 18 to 24 months. So that people everywhere can feel the joy that we feel. I tried to share my testimony in Spanish, and I did an okay job, but seriously the spirit in there was so strong.

 

I wish I had time to tell you everything. But me and my companion are really similar and really different and the same time. We butt heads every now and then, but she is so great, and I{ve been on time to almost everything because she keeps me in check :) My room has 4 girls in it, me and my companion Hna Thiel, Hna Day and Hna Brigance. They are so great and we have all become the best of friends. Its nice that I like these girls, because it would be hard if we didn{t get along.

 

I learn so much here. I{m learning so much. I can see myself changing already, but in a good way. I have a desire to learn. I{m tired, because the days are so long and we do so much, but every night I fall asleep happy. I have been sleeping REALLY well to, because I{m so exhausted at the end of each day. But I{m working my hardest and doing my best, and it{s really paying off. Just know that I am happy, I really am. Despite all of the hard things, it{s truly amazing to be here. I wish so badly that I had time to tell you more. But I just don{t have time. The people are wonderful and they are taking care of me. Don{t worry about that. I miss you all more than words can say, but I am also happy here. Please don{t worry about me too much, because life is good.

 

Have a wonderful day and a wonderful week, know that I love you and that you all mean the world to me.

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Scott