A week filled with love and sunshine

Buenos días!

What a week it has been! Seriously, this week has been so great, so filled with love and sunshine. A little cheesy, but true.

 

I wanted to start out by explaining, as I may already have before, that I am almost a giant in this country. Being 5´9 isn´t that impressive in America, but here, 5´9 is equivalent to 8 feet in the States. I realized this as I was standing in one of the buses that we take everywhere, called "combis" which are basically just like mini vans with a roof that is up just a little bit higher than normal. I was standing next to this sweet little Peruvian lady, she was just standing there normally, her head not even touching the ceiling, and I was literally hunched over in the most uncomfortable position, with my neck bent in some unnatural, inhuman way. It was a funny moment until I got out of the combi and smacked the top of my head super hard just like I do EVERY SINGLE TIME. It´s just one of those things you never really get used to.

 

I don't have much time left, just like usual, but I just wanted to share something I learned this week. I absolutely loved talking to you guys on Christmas. I thought it was going to make me sad and homesick, but it literally just made me so happy that it was impossible to be sad. And I´m still feeling that happiness! That was easily the best Christmas gift I´ve ever gotten. I was honestly kind of bummed because none of my packages arrived in time to open on Christmas, but on Christmas Eve my companions and I swapped some small gifts, shared stories about our lives, and just hung out in the dark in our room, HAPPY, listening to the traditional Peruvian Christmas fireworks as we went to sleep. I realized that night that I didn´t need the material gifts, and that was even clearer to me as we started talking on Christmas day. That was just so fun for me!

 

Sorry to throw in a scripture, but I´m a missionary so I can´t help it. In Luke chapter 2 in the Bible, we can read about the birth of Jesus. I didn´t read this until the day after Christmas actually, but it talks about when the angel appears to the shepherds. It says that the shepherds were attending their flocks, taking care of them, doing their jobs just like normal. But the angel comes, tells them about Jesus, and IMMEDIATELY they leave to go see Jesus. Not only that - the thing that I find most interesting is that the angel never really even tells the shepherds that they need to go see Jesus. It wasn´t even really a question - the angel just told them what was happening. But the shepherds recognized what they needed to do, so they left immediately to go and do it. They come to the place where Jesus, Joseph and Mary are, they see the baby, and the scriptures say that from that moment they left and told all people about what they saw. It´s something really interesting, and I can see very clearly how this scripture would apply to a missionary, but it applies to all of us. Christmas has already passed, so the trees come down, and we move on and go back to work and all of the other things that we normally do. Just like the shepherds, we have all of daily duties that need to be taken care of. But we can always find room for the things that are most important if we can first be willing to act, and second be ready - Ready to accept guidance, change, invitations. Whatever it may be. The thing that matters is that we have a Savior. We don't just have a Savior on Christmas, but every day. Always.

 

Sorry I am out of time again. I just want to say that I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and enjoy the beginning of this new year! You know what´s crazy, I complete 5 months in the mission tomorrow...aah, time flies.

 

I LOVE YOU! Until next week!

Hermana Scott

I wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Hello family and friends! I can´t believe that it´s already Christmas! I hope that each and every one of you have a very Merry Christmas and that it is a day filled with love and SNOW, 'cause I certainly won´t have any of that! :)

Speaking of days filled with love, I had the best birthday! Thank you for all of the birthday wishes. First of all, I got to talk to you guys briefly on the phone, and that was probably the greatest gift I could have ever gotten. It was so awesome, because as a mission we celebrated Christmas that day also. So half of the mission came together (the other half did it the next day...there´s lots of missionaries, we have to take turns) and celebrated Christmas! We just did a lot of goofy things, like every zone did a skit in front of everyone, and we watched some videos, sang some songs, and they gave us some sweet gifts. We all got a personalized journal and a santa hat. AND about 100 missionaries sang Happy Birthday to me in English AND Spanish. There is a girl in the mission named Hermana Mack, and it was her birthday, and she completed 20 years too! It was cool. I can´t believe I am 20 years old. The first thing I said when I woke up was "Ew I´m 20." Haha but it was a great day! Later we went out to this fancy Peruvian restaurant, then went to this huge park called "El Parque de las Aguas" or something like that. It sounds funny, because it is. It was a park of a bunch of huge fountains, water tunnels, and random things like that. All of the missionaries just had a blast becuase we don´t ever do weird things like that. It was awesome and hilarious and we just played and ran around, and it was a very happy day :)

Other than that, we have really worked hard this week. While we were celebrating Christmas, we ran into this teenage boy at the park, and starting talking to him, and found out that he lives in our area. So we went and visited him this week, and his sister in law and brother were also there. They told us that they had already been to church a number of times, but that they had gone in a different city and when they moved they didn´t know where the church was. So they listened to us, and basically just told us straight up that they all want to get baptized, and that they wanted us to meet the rest of their family because her mom had always wanted to get baptized. We were just sitting there with the dumbest look on our faces like, "Yeah...sure." That NEVER happens. Let me repeat that..NEVER. That is a LITERAL miracle, and I don´t know how to explain the joy that we felt. We left, and since they live on the third floor of this building, they can see us until we turn the corner of the street, so as we were walking we were like "okay just keep it cool, act natural..." Then we turned the corner and just started jumping up and down, there may have been some tears, but really we were just so happy. It amazes me every day how as missionaries we literally don´t do anything. We just show up, or talk to someone on the street, and realize in these moments that God has already prepared these people to receive our message. I am realizing more and more that I need to be SO dang humble to do this work, because there are still so many times that I just want to do things my way, and realize that I really don´t know anything. I like to think that sometimes when I say stuff, God just kind of chuckles to himself and says "Someday you´ll learn." We have taught this family twice, and they are learning little by little, they have about 100 million questions, but we love to answer them. Bryan is 18, Cesar is 17, and Winnie is 21. Vanessa, the sister in law, is 25 I think. And they introduced us to Winnie´s boyfriend Carlos and Cesar´s friend Piero last night. They´re not even members, but they´re already so excited about the church and just want to learn more about it. It´s really amazing, and they´re all so sweet.

So I wanted to share one more thing this week. After I found out about Karl, Claire, and all that happened, my heart just shattered. I can´t even explain the sadness that I felt...it´s just so hard to be so far away, and just worse to think about the sadness and pain that so many people are experiencing right now. I wanted to share a personal experience...so I literally didn´t know how I was going to work that day. Every other minute, I would just start crying, I think I cried that whole day. I wanted to get out there and work, but I was just an emotional wreck. One thing that the men in the church do is give blessings of health and comfort, and what we believe is that they have the legitimate power to speak for God. So when someone receives a blessing, it´s not just words coming from the mouth of some random dude, rather they are literally speaking the words that God is saying to this person receiving the blessing. The only thing I could think of to do was receive one of these blessings, because I had no idea what else to do. So I called our zone leaders (one american, one latino) and asked if I could get this blessing in English. I don´t really know how to explain exactly what I felt in the moments that I was receiving the blessing, but one of the things that he told me that God knows us perfectly and has a plan for each and every one of His children. I have been hanging on to these words this week, and doing all that I can to believe in them without any doubt. I don´t doubt it, but sometimes we just don´t understand why things happen. I don´t know why all of these had to happen at Arapahoe. I don´t know why any bad thing happens to anyone, but I do know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has a plan. We may not ever understand it, but He does.

I wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Just know that I pray for you and love you all more than I can explain! Thank you for all of the Merry Christmases and Happy Birthday´s, they mean more to me than you know!

I LOVE YOU!

Hermana Scott

Feel the love

Hey there family!

So I am feeling really weird as I write this email. I know you all told me not to worry about it, but what you have all told me about the shooting really really surprised me, and I still have tears pouring non stop down my face. I just can´t really fathom the fact that that really happened. What´s more is that I knew Karl...he was my friend. I was his Link Leader. He bought my AP US History text book for $30 right before I left on my mission. Never in my life would I have imagined that this would happen. My heart goes out to you guys, that community. I don´t think I knew Claire, but regardless, that´s the most heartbreaking thing that I have heard in so long. I feel bad, I just ran out of this internet cafe bawling like a maniac, and my district leader from Honduras had no idea how to help me. I know this situation isn´t a funny at all, but I kind of laughed when I saw his face, probably thinking... "crap, that girl is white and doesn´t speak spanish, and she´s a girl." My life is still awesomely awkward.

All I can really think about to tell you at this point is one thing that happened this week. We had divisions for two days with some hermanas in a different area, and my companion Hna Phillips and I went to an area called Cieneguilla. It is probably the most beautiful area that I have seen in my almost 5 months out here. First of all, their area is HUGE. You have to take a bus for like 35 minutes to get from one end to the other. And it´s all mountains, hills, and GREEN trees. There´s not a whole lot of green in Lima. Just a lot of buildings, dirt, and empty windows. But not in Cieneguilla. When we were there, I felt like I was on a grand adventure. I loved being able to see green, flowers, and mountains again. It was amazing. The greatest part though was when we met the bishop. So Hna Phillips had served in this area for 5 months, so she knew everyone really well and had the area memorized almost. And the bishop just thought she was the best missionary in the world. Which she is amazing, but it was just so cool for me to see how much he appreciated what she had done for his ward. He is kind of a funny, awkward guy, but the love that he has for people is something that you can just feel. We had gone to his house, and we met his whole family, and you can just tell that this family is being raised with so much love. The kids are just happy, little balls of energy, and they are so friendly and just love to play. The bishop and his wife live in a humble house, but they are so happy and they love serving the Lord, and they´re not ashamed to talk about how much they love the church. I literally don´t know how to explain it, but I had been thinking of my first area a lot, and missing the people there, and when we had this division I missed it more. I just fell in love with Surco, what can I say. But meeting this bishop in some random part that I had never been in, I realized that that is exactly what this gospel is all about. Love. The love of God for His children, the love of Jesus Christ. Of course the missionaries, who teach this thing all the time, should feel that love. That´s the hope at least. That we feel love for the people we serve. And as I talked to this bishop, and could so easily feel and see the love that he has for this gospel, I felt it too. And I thought of the people I´m serving now in Monterrico, the less actives, the investigators, the members...I love them, too. I don´t really know what Im trying to say, but the love that I feel and teach about every day is something undeniable.

I think I thought to share that because of what happened at Arapahoe. There are so many people in the world who don´t feel that love, who don´t know the happiness that comes with believing in something greater than yourself. I am so thankful for the knowledge that I have of this love, and grateful that I not only feel it from my Heavenly Father, but from all of you as well. I love you, and I miss you. Take care of yourselves, and know that I am praying for you.

All of my love,

Hermana Scott

Mission picture 12-9-13

Transferre​d to Monterrico

AH I always run out of time. But HELLO! I will make this fast!

So I changed areas. And it was one of the hardest things I´ve ever done in my life. I love Surco, and I always will, but for some reason, God wants me in Monterrico. So here I am!

Monterrico is literally the richest part of Lima. It´s kind of a rough change because Surco certainly was not like that...everything is different here. It´s not bad, it´s just different. Everyone is always in a hurry, and contacting in the streets is almost impossible because people ignore you or say "estoy ocupado." We also live right next to the Embassy of the USA so that´s weird. I always feel weird when I walk by. A white girl in Peru WOULD be walking by the Embassy of the USA, wouldn´t she?

So there´s one part of this area that is literally magical. I don´t care if I sound cheesey or weird, but it´s true. Its´called  Villa Libertad, and it´s so pretty and it´s more like what you think of when you think of Peru. I promise to take pictures this week. Its´amazing. We do a lot more work there because the people actually talk to us.  But this week, we stopped by to visit one of our investigators in her store. We were just going to pass by because we were going to go look for someone else, but we thought it would be nice to just swing by really fast and say hi. Her name is Vicki, and she has two sons, Alex and Jesus. Jesus is severely disabled and we had never met him before, but Vicki always talked about her struggles taking care of him. Basically, we met Jesus. And for the first time, we understood. He is really severly disabled, and I can only imagine how hard that is because they have hardly any money at all. We sat down with her and were trying to teach Vicki, but people kept coming to the store so she had to keep talking to them. Hna Killian (one of my 2 companions) turned to Jesus and said " Remember how we were friends before this life? We told you we´d come and find your mom and teach her. We´re trying. We really are." She said that, and Jesus, who can´t speak at all, just smiled SO HUGE. I couldn´t help but cry. It was such a sweet moment.

Sorry I have 0 seconds left. Just know that I love you!! Thank you for your support.

MUCHO AMOR,

Hermana scott

Pictures!

Sharing a story of JC

HELLO!!! Hope all is well! Once again, thank you for the emails. I love getting them! Thanks for all of the love and support.

Like always, I´m a little short on time. But that´s just the story of the life of a missionary. Haha I sound like a drama queen. 

I wanted to tell a brief story though. So we are teaching a guy named Jorge Chavez, and his wife Liliana really doesn´t want to listen to us. Jorge Chavez is a rather odd individual, but he really loves the church and the gospel, and we are working with him a lot to get him to the point where he can get baptized. The only thing that really blocks his progress is the fact that he isn´t married, but his wife is Christian and she knows that it´s moral to get married and everything, so they´ll be doing that really soon, which is awesome! So basically, JC is for sure getting baptized, it´s just a matter of when. Anyway, so we visit him a lot and talk to him a lot (or, we visit him, and he talks to us....he´s a talker), but we are slowly, SLOWLY, gaining the confidence of Liliana. "poco a poco". So we are lucky if Liliana talks to us. Yesterday, JC called us and told us he wanted us to come to his house because he had something urgent to tell us, and our thought was Um...yeah we´ll try to squeeze you in into our schedule of 8 appointments in 6 hours. We were super busy that day because Sundays are crazy, and honestly kind of irritated that he wouldn´t just tell us on the phone, but we said we would make time to go see him. So miraculously (or just maybe because God is in charge of all this stuff) one of our appointments changed, so we had plenty of time to go visit them. We get to the house, and Liliana is there, JC had just left but was coming back. So we sat with L for a little while, and chated about life, but she didn´t seem to want to talk about the "urgent thing" so we didn´t really say anything. but when JC came back, he had all the details and was really concerned. Basically, he told us all about what had happened, and it was about Liliana. She goes to a Christian church, and always had talked about how much she loved it. But apparently yesterday morning, after church, her pastor and his wife met with her in his office, and they were talking about how L and JC aren´t married, and how it´s a sin. They also called her out on the fact that she comes to church alone, and that her husband goes to another church (that´s us...oopsies). Basically what they told her is that she is no longer "allowed" to come to church, and that she needs to find a new congregation. After JC stopped telling the story, L tried to say something, and just started bawling. It broke my heart. And it´s not like we were about to pounce and be like "Oh hey good news you can come to our church now! You´re church was wrong all along!!!" That was not at all what the purpose of this was. Hna Hamilton and I just looked at each other, and we didn´t really know what to say. Obivously we believe that our church is the true one, that´s why we´re here. But that´s not what she needed to hear in that moment. We shared a story about Jesus Christ, and talked about His life and what He did for us. I don´t know how to explain it, but the Spirit was so strong in that room. In the scriptures, Jesus Christ asks us to have a broken heart and a contrite spirit. I can tell you for sure that Liliana´s heart was broken in that moment, and I think that hearing about Jesus Christ is just what she needed. It was really cool for me, because I felt like I wasn´t even teaching. It was the scriptures that we read about Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, and the feeling that we all had.

I want to say more, but there is not time. I just want to say that if I´m learning anything out here, it´s that I really don´t do much. I just wear a black tag, walk around and sweat a lot, and hope and pray that people can feel God´s love through our words in broken Spanish.

I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Hermana Scott