Machu Picchu

Hey family!!

 Bueno we just got back from Machu Picchu and it was AMAZING!  I am

so tired though.  I haven´t slept in 24 hours because reuniting with a

certain old compi kept us up whispering all night, but we did have to

get up at 1:30 to head to Machu Picchu.

  Well this week was super hard in terms of the work and we were

super duper frustrated.  Hermana Alailima is a great support and I

love her so much for her hard work and persistence.  Its not easy

being here but I know one day it will be worth it.  Because it was

just a boring week I will skip right to macho picchu.

  After sacrament Sunday we headed to Cusco.  Another Hermana went

with me and we travled with the zone leaders.  It was a long but

beautiful ride like always.  In the terminal I was greeted by Hermana

MInaya and it was the BEST REUNION!  Later I went to the Cusco house

where Hermana Solar and Hermana Campoverde and a ton of other awesome

Hermanas were there.  IT was so fun to see them and reunite with them.

 And so that night we woke up or stopped talking at one thirty and at

two thirty we had to be at the church.  We got picked up in a little

van and were driven to where you take the train to machu picchu.  It

was super long and I was so cold!  Gosh I miss the warmth of Puerto.

Hahah Anways when we got there we took the train up to Machu Picchu

village and from there we took a bus to Machu Picchu!  It was

beautiful and the tour guide was the best.  He would stop us every so

often and talk to us about the culture of the quechuas and what Inca

really means.  It was so interesting and I wish I could tell you guys

everything I learned.  We spent four hours walking around and

exploring with the tour guide who is a member and was wearing all BYU

gear.  He was super cool and answered every question I had  without

laughing… haha.  Its such a cool cool place!   I can´t really even

explain…. I guess ya´ll gonna have to come.

Something I asked was why they had to build their temples or live so

high up in the mountains because its literally takes all morning to

get there and its super well hidden.  Well Beto the tour guide said

that they believed in sacrifice.  That you had to work a little and

sacrifice a lot to build a temple.  I just loved this.  The Lord does

require sacrifice, but everything that requires sacrifice is amazing

and worth it,  just take Machu Picchu for an example.

Well I love you guys a lot.  I am going to keep working hard and

sacrificing because I know that its for the best cause we could

possibly imagine.

Love you guys un monton!

Hermana Russell