It's Always a Good Day

Hola Familia!!

Thank you so much for all the emails and love!  I have the best family

and friends a missionary could ask for!  Thank you so much!  I am so

lucky to be able to read everyone’s testimonies every week.  So you

guys (aka mom) asked me some questions.

Spanish:  Yes it’s a ton easier than 7 weeks ago, but I still am not

fluent.  I can understand a gringos Spanish perfectly, but some

Latinos are really hard to understand.  When we are talking about the

Gospel it’s a ton easier, but when they are telling stories it’s a

little harder.  I feel like I have improved a lot though.  In lessons

I can usually say what I want to say and I can understand Spanish of

people I am around a lot, like Hermana Rene.  This week I went on

splits with Hermana Chipunavi.  She came to my sector, so that meant

that I had to take the lead in lessons and talking with our

investigators and people we visited.  It also meant that I only spoke

Spanish all day.  I felt like I did pretty good and I loved being with

Hermana Chipunavi.  She is great and helped my Spanish a lot!  Every

day it gets a little easier.

Laundry:  Well this has actually been quite a mess.  Our person that

washed our laundry also washes the clothes of four other elders.  She

lost my sweats and almost my towel.  So we went and talked to Hermana

Rene and now she is doing our

laundry!  She is like super mom I swear!  She hand washes everything

and she does an amazing job! She has literally adopted us into her

family.  This week she accompanied us to a lesson (yeah she has time

for that too).  But she said to our investigator Cesar that she has

four kids, two latinos and two gringas.  And then she said “We are

happy, just us five”  WE love her!  She also tells us to not put too

much mayo on our food and salt.  And when Hermana Holland left to go

on splits in a different sector , she made her bring a jacket.  I

don’t know how she does everything!

Health:   I am sleeping fine, like always.  I can fall asleep in five

minutes and stay asleep the whole night.  I am very grateful for that

blessing!  I haven’t been sick once and we haven’t had to stay inside.

I don’t know how my health has stayed so good.  We get rained on a

lot, lots of cold showers, but I think its half on the food and half

on just taking care of myself.  Maybe it’s the vitamins! I don’t know,

but I am grateful for it.  The mosquitos are probably the worst thing.

Last p day we played soccer and I got bit.  It was so bad my ankle was

swollen and really tender and bruised.   Now it’s fine and back to

normal coloring J.  But I have used a whole tube of Neosporin.  For

the first time in my life, and that’s saying something.  Also my hair

has been falling out more than usual.  I think it’s the climate….

 Food: Well it’s a ton different than home.  Rice every day for lunch,

potatoes and usually a meat too .  Breakfast and dinner are really

small, like really small, but I have gotten used to it.   My favorite

thing is Camote frito, which is fried sweet potato.  It is so good!!

And my favorite meal is Aji de Gallina!  Its literally the best thing

ever!  I love when René makes it!   Desserts are just not sweet here

and they don’t eat for pleasure J.

Boots:  I am so glad you sent them to me!! Thank you thank you!  I

wear them on the days when I don’t want to wear my dirty walking

shoes.  They are great!  Thank you!

This week was really good!! But sometimes it’s really hard.  I would

say that the hardest thing is just feeling overwhelmed with how much

work there is to do.  There are a lot of family problems here.  I

won’t get into them, but its very taxing to listen to them all.  Its

emotionally draining because there is a point where you just don’t

know what to say.  There are a lot of menos activos here as well.  Its

overwhelming.  But the best thing was that 5 menos activos of ours

came to church this week!  I loved  it so much!  I think that they

usually need a friend or need to know that someone is wanting to see

them.  And that is an example of how rewarding missionary work is.

Yes you feel very sad about everyones trials, but then they come to

church its all better and worth it.

This next month is something they call Carnival.  I don’t know

everything about it but I do know that it includes throwing water

balloons at people.  Yes, it’s not February yet and Hermana Holland and

I have already gotten hit.  Ungooglable fact about Peru:  Their aim is

really bad!  WE just got our ankles it but still it was pretty funny!

Every Friday night in our ward we have Noche Misional!  Its like a

party with everyone every week!  It’s the best and this time we played

a game called the Bomba!! Its way funny and easy to play!  I found

myself on the team with a bunch of the kids in the ward,  our team

name was No Se, which is I don’t know in Spanish…. Haha I accidently

chose the name, but it worked out!  Haha The ward is seriously the

best and we had way to much fun playing this game!  I wish I could

explain it to you guys but it will probably take too much time!  Just

know that we laughed a lot and now I have like 7 Latino friends J

Agreeing with dads words, yes you are thrown into a random city in

Peru.  Yes sometimes I feel like I have no idea what I am doing here.

 Buts its always a good day.

  This Book of Mormon challenge is the best.  I have found one of my

favorite chapters.  Chapter 17 of Nephi.  First off, I love when Laman

and Lemuel are complaining about life and saying how they could have

enjoyed all their material things in Jersualam.  They obviously never

had a testimony in their dad the Prophet, or they would know that if

they had stayed they would be about to be destroyed.  And I love the

example of Nephi in this chapter,  He bears his testimony to his

brothers and does so with so much power.  It’s just amazing!  I love

that he had the priesthood power with him in this chapter.    My

favorite thing that he mentions is when he talks about the people that

only needed to look at the serpent to be healed, but because of the

simpleness of the way they didn’t look and were lost.  I thought about

the simple things that the gospel asks us to do, pray, read, attend

church, and how often we don’t do them.  They are simple so why don’t

we do them?  I think a lot of problems could be solved by doing these

things.  The natural man is swift to do iniquity and slow to remember

God.  I know that if we do the small and simple things now that we

will truly grow to be converted in the gospel and be prepared

(especially the youngins) to make eternal covenants in the temple J

Well I love you all to pieces!! Thanks for the support!  Have a great week!

love, Hermana Russell