Betta

Another hard hard week. BUT The cruz family was baptized. So it´s worth it.
We were studying on our roof because the weather was nice and we hate being in our room, and lo and behold, an hour later, I had a second degree sunburn on my arms and legs. I couldn´t walk for 3 days. I got bored real fast. Hermana inga was surprisingly very patient with me.
But Saturday, wow… struggles. The baptism of the Cruz family. I still couldn´t walk. I was miserable and felt like my legs would literally explode if I put weight on them. I walked anyway because we worked WAY too hard to help this family and I had to be there. We showed up 10 minutes before the service because They were still getting ready, and the font was EMPTY. There was no water in the chapel. Good thing there´s a chapel across the river with a font that fills up really fast. Problem SOLVED.  They were baptized, it was beautiful , and I am so happy.
A bird pooped on my head right before church. We were waiting for the Cruz family outside their house. It reminded me of one of dad´s famous mission stories. When I moved to the other curb to get away from the poop bird, I sat in a puddle. But we went to church, the poop was cleaned out of my hair, the water dried, and the family was confirmed members of the church. Once again, I am very happy for them.
Transfers are in two weeks. This is my 3^rd transfer with Hna. Inga in Sicuani, and that is very unusual. I don´t know what is going to happen, but I know one of us will get transferred. I guess we´ll see.
I love you all. Be good.
Love, Hermana Allred

Oh also, finally we have pday FREE! we don´t have to be with thezone all day. So i have a TON more time to write you all real letters and I can email whenever I want. Soooo don´t expect it to be the same time every week. 

it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Another hard hard week. BUT The cruz family was baptized. So it´s worth it.
We were studying on our roof because the weather was nice and we hate being in our room, and lo and behold, an hour later, I had a second degree sunburn on my arms and legs. I couldn´t walk for 3 days. I got bored real fast. Hermana inga was surprisingly very patient with me.
But Saturday, wow… struggles. The baptism of the Cruz family. I still couldn´t walk. I was miserable and felt like my legs would literally explode if I put weight on them. I walked anyway because we worked WAY too hard to help this family and I had to be there. We showed up 10 minutes before the service because They were still getting ready, and the font was EMPTY. There was no water in the chapel. Good thing there´s a chapel across the river with a font that fills up really fast. Problem SOLVED.  They were baptized, it was beautiful , and I am so happy.
A bird pooped on my head right before church. We were waiting for the Cruz family outside their house. It reminded me of one of dad´s famous mission stories. When I moved to the other curb to get away from the poop bird, I sat in a puddle. But we went to church, the poop was cleaned out of my hair, the water dried, and the family was confirmed members of the church. Once again, I am very happy for them.
Transfers are in two weeks. This is my 3^rd transfer with Hna. Inga in Sicuani, and that is very unusual. I don´t know what is going to happen, but I know one of us will get transferred. I guess we´ll see.
I love you all. Be good.
Love, Hermana Allred

Well, This week hasn´t exactly been the easiest. I´m really struggling, but it turn, I am really learning how to pray. Sometimes I getting news from home is really hard. It´s like I live in a little bubble where only Sicuani and its problems exist, and when I hear about home, that bubble gets a whole new set of problems in it. I love hearing from all of you, but man... sometimes It is hard. I know  Satan tries to get me in any way he can, and man... he knows me. I will be okay though. Patience, Faith, and Prayer. Nada mas.

I don´t really feel like writing very much today, so I´ll just tell you the miracle of the week.

We have been teaching The Cruz family for about 3 months. They were a contact from April, but the prior hermanas could never get in contact with them until June when I got to Sicuani. They are incredible. They have a dance studio, all of them play violin, and they are incredibly close. They do everything together. All they needed was the gospel to make that forever. We have challenged them to baptism 5 times this month, and every timethey got a little bit closer to saying yes. The dad said he didn´twant to right nowbut maybe in the future.

We came on Friday with the Elders to teach them, and they had popcorn popped, drinks, and they even surprised me with a violin and I played for a little bit. I had no idea what was going on. I just thought they wanted to have a little party. BUT after the prayer, Luis (8years old) was whispering to his mom, and then said. "we have a surprise for you. We are all going to be baptized on September 21st".... um.. WHAT? Are you serious? All this patience has finally paid off? You are going to make the best decision of your life.. I had no idea what to say. We taught them what itmeans to take upon you the name of Crist, and played Uno after. A night I will never forget. (we took pictures outside her houseafter. with the kidsin costumes.)

THEN! we went to visit them onSaturday to make sure they didn´t change their minds, and wow... guess what happened. They had popcorn again, and The Dad said "I bought goggles and a swim cap to prepare for my baptism next week". Um... are you joking? HE WAS NOT JOKING! the entirefamily of 4 is going to be baptized this saturday. I AM SO HAPPY! I have so much love for this family, and we havebeen patiently helping them overcometheir doubts, and finally, their timehas come. I can´t even express how happy I am. We love them. It´s going to be a good week. I canfeel it.

I love you all, 

Love, Hermana Allred

Cruz Family (minus the dad)

CruzFamily, the elders, and some neighborhood kids that were dressed up for a parade

Hermana Inga bought be an "I´m Sorry" cake. It helped haha

Tut tut, it looks like rain

Well,this week was full of Little surprises.

First of all, I´m sick. I lasted almost 3 months in Peru without getting sick. It´s just the flu (I think) so I´ll be fine soon, but all I want to do is sleep. Which we don´t seem to get a lot of here… I wake up at least 6 times every night. Not sure why. Maybe it´s because I haven´t had a real pillow the whole time in Peru. They are supposed to give them to each missionary when they come into themission, but for some reason Hna. Rasmussen and I didn´t. Entonces, the sister training leaders are coming tom,orrow for division andn they´ll give me one. POR FIN!!

The new Elders in our area have gotten sick at least three times in two weeks. Also, they have fleas in the blankets that the Zone Leaders gave them haha. It´s Elder Valdivia´s first month in the field and he already has sad stories to tell. Every time they are sick, they come knocking on our pensionista´s door and she calls us down to take care of them. They say “Estoy mal. Ayudame” which means “i´m sick. Help me.” So we analyze the problem, and give them manzanilla, pills, or eyedrops, and they chill in Hna. Glor´s living room on the couch until they feel better. Haha… they don´t have their moms here, so they resort to the only females they know will be willing to help them. Babies.

Mondays we get to call the other zones, and I don´t know why I didn’t earlier, but I called Hna. Rasmussen who is 10 hours away in Juliaca. BEST hour of my week. I love her and haven´t seen her since we parted ways in the terminal in Cusco. She´s rocking it. No surprise there.

One of the biggest surprises of the week…. YONY IS A MEMBER!!! We contacted him the week I got here, and we taught him, but had to give him to the elders cuz we could never find members to come with us to teach him. Yeah… he´s been baptized already. He had a baptismal date for this Saturday, but needless to say, that isn´t gunna happen.

We have been going to a little college to help Brithny´s dad with his English classes. The first class, I walked in and he said  “what do you know about romeo and Juliet?” I said “um… not much.” Then he said “Oh, well i´d like you to talk to my students about that book for an hour”……….Um… I´m pretty sure I sparknoted that entire term of 11^th grade English , so all I got is “There´s a guy and a girl and they both die at the end and romeo fights a guy I think, and um… there´s a monk who sells drugs. True Love, the end. I ended up helping them pronounce words like Three, tree, and free, for the entire class. Much more useful than Shakespeare, I think.

RANDOM

1—It is very difficult to find/shop for UNO here. Every time I walk into a store and ask “tiene UNO?” they say “uno de que?” ugh… I´m just a misunderstood gringo trying to find a card game in peru.

2—Lilly continues to be my favorite name. We have a new investigator named lilly (remember super old Lilly in Houston? The best) She has been investigating the church for YEARS and really wants to be baptized, but her “husband” (not married) Didn´t want to get married quite yet. (it´s only been 7 years and 2 kids later… but nopè. Not long enough to be sure haha) We had an AMAZING lesson with him yesterday and we can tell he´s changing and even said he wants to get married. We´re planning to set a date for their wedding in October, and we might not be in Sicuani for the wedding, but sometimes other missionaries get to enjoy the fruits of our labor. It´s fine.

3—A member told me I should have stayed home and gotten married instead of serving a mission. I really don´t understand that logic. It´s 18 months of my life that I am dedicating to the Lord, and in the process, learning how to be a better wife and mother and person in general. If I hadn´t come on my mission, I would have been AWFUL! I would have no idea what to teach my kids, and my temper was OUT OF CONTROL (sorry family). I would not trade this experience for anything. Also, I´ll only be 21 when I get home, sooooo I have another year until I´m an old maid (by Utah standards anyway haha)

4—A little downsyndrome boy named William ran up to us the other day while his dad was with him (we see him everywhere, but he never comes up to us), and he hugged us and wouldn´t let go. His Dad came over to us, and we set up an appointment. That little boy is so close to the spirit, it´s nuts. This family has great potential. We met his wife because he wasn´t home when we had the appointment, so we taught her, and at the end of the lesson, she told us that she doesn´t understand very much Spanish… sooo… for 30 minutes, we were rambling and she didn´t understand any of it. She´s super nice though. We just need to find someone that speaks quechua haha.

5—I have a dream journal, and they are all super weird. The weirdest one this week was that I was in a huge house searching for a shower, but I couldn´t find one. Our entire Zone was in a movie room watching a movie. I never found a shower, but I did find a room full of fridges of Café rio. I was super disappointed when I woke up. I really miss Café Rio.

Well, I´m still trucking along. Not gunna lie, this week wasn´t my favorite, but not all of them can be the favorite. Gotta have trials to recognize the blessings. 

I love you ALL! write me :) send pictures of Jennie´s wedding cuz I wasn´t there and i think pictures are almost as good haha. I LOVE YOU ALL! (again)

Love, Hermana Allred

1-- Waving to the gringo train (note the little kid in the corner)

2-- new elders at a FHE at the Bishop´s house

3-- Sicuani

1-- Abish trying to escape nursery as usual

2-- Miguel my Sacrament meeting buddy who likes to draw on all of my books

3-- Elder Lehman trying to ride a tiny broken bike

1-- Wiky and Abish, the bishop´s kids.

2-- sicuani

3-- Jackie and Carlitos (cousins.) Carlitos is severely handicapped and I love him, and he loves me. He always calls me "TIA" (aunt) and hugs my head haha. He´s the best.

1-- chapas

2-- William (not the downsyndrome one.. the one who´s mom is a member), His mom, and I in their internet cafe

3-- Todos nosotros en su cafe de internet

This week

Wow this week. EXPLOSION of success. Not numbers, but the real kind. The kind where you go home at the end of the day and want to cry tears of pure happiness.. That what you´re doing makes a difference in the life of someone. I LOVE THIS MISSION!

First of all, we are teaching Brithny and her family still. Her mom wants to get baptized, but her husband´s divorce still isn´t finalized. He is a member, and we can´t really teach him anything cuz he´s brilliant haha and used to be a bishop, but we just remind him what he needs to do by teaching him gospel principles. Like tithing… I almost cried on Sunday. They have been struggling financially and didn´t know how they were going to make it, and we taught about tithing, and this Sunday…. Oh my gosh. They paid their tithing. They haven´t seen blessings yet because it´s only been one day, but their faith is INCREDIBLE. They are keeping ALL of their commitments, and we are going to visit them every Sunday from now on. They are so special.

WILLIAM!!! His mom is less active, and his dad is Catholic, but he soaks up everything and comes to every activity, and we have noches de hogar with them all and they have an internet café, so they always look up videos. I gave them EVERY source of positive gospel videos I could think of. William is going to grow up watching the Living Scriptures just like our family J I love them so much. His dad wants to make sure he really wants to get baptized so we don´t have a date yet, but he WILL be baptized. HE reads the book of Mormon more than some missionaries haha. He is awesome.

We have 2 elders in our ward now!!! they are helping so much with the drunkards of the area haha. We can´t really teach them alone, so we haven´t been teaching them. They are spiritual GIANTS and the Ward loves them already. We helped a less active member sand her house (my English is awful… sorry) and we´re going to paint it this week. YAY service.

I never remember what I want to say when I´m actually writing. Dang it.

Random:

Sister Conlee: I need your chocolate chip cookie recipe. I am so deprived and the ward wants me to make them cookies. 

Dad: I GOT THE SOCKS!!! My feet are very very happy.

Our president is the best thing to ever happen to this mission. SO MUCH is changing for the good and we are SO happy here in Sicuani. I don´t know what will happen next transfer, but I really don´t want to leave. So much is changing. 

I want all of you to know how very much I love every one of you. I am grateful for every single email and wait on pins and needles to read them every Monday. SEND MORE PICTURES! Also, I have only recieved one hand written letter (from sister Conlee) So if you sent one, and don´t know if i´ve gotten it yet, I haven´t haha. They should get here relatively soon. I hope.  

I love you all.

Pictures: first email

1-- the view. Gorgeous

2-- A kindergarten in Sicuani

3-- The Lamb of the Barrientos Family (miriam milagros)

Second email

1-- Lady and I. I always scream-sing the STYX song at her. She doesn´t understand, but I think it´s funny.

2-- CASA BLANCA (Justin, this oné´s for you)

3-- um... I think I just died. NUTELLA AND (normal) PEANUTBUTTER in SICUANI PERU! They just barely started having this in the lil grocery store here. IT´s 16 soles, which is about 7 dollars, which is THE SAME AS THE USA!!! So happy. Hermana Inga can buy her own now and stop eating mine haha.

4-- Wiky taking pictures at church again.

1-- rainy Pday

2-- service with the new elders

3-- Yony´s chinese Restaurant. Elder Harmon was teaching him for us, and he got transferred to Cusco, so we had lemonade with him in his lil restaurant. 

Wow. I love my life.

Dear Errybody,

Wow I am happy. I really can´t describe in English how truly incredibly happy I am, So I will do it in Spanish.

NO PUEDO EXPLICAR MI FELICIDAD A USTEDES! Cada dia aca en Sicuani, mi testimonio crece y caeo mas enamorado con las personas. Nunca quiero salir!

Okay, if there were mistakes, give me a break. I only have 2 months here haha. FIrst of all, my Spanish is nuts. In a good way. The Lord truly is blessing me with the gift of tongues. I understand EVERYTHING (unless they´re from Argentina… then I just laugh). I tried saying a prayer in English the other day cuz an investigator wanted to hear, and I butchered it. I forgot how! We only pray in Spanish.

HERMANA INGA AND I ARE STILL COMPANIONS!!! Transfers are this week, and we thought for SURE hermana Inga would be transferred, but she is staying in Sicuani with meJ sucks to be her right now. Haha. Joke. She loves me. We are working really really hard together and a lot of things are changing for the better in our área. I really can´t begin to describe howmuch I love this área andpollo ala brasa and my pensionista and the random animals I see walking down the Street, and the trips to Cusco, and the freezing rain, and the bishop, and the kids, and AHHHH! I never want to leave, but it´s going to happen. I only have 14 months left of my misión…. This is going by so fast. The real world of studying and stuff scares me. I don´t want to stop being a missionary. We don´t know if we have a transfer until really late Sunday night, and the transfers are Tuesday morning, so we have a hard timeplanning for the week cuz we never know if we are going to leave or not. We only have Monday tos ay goodbye to everyone. Luckily we have at least 6 more weeks together. And we get to watch conference together!!! With our lil Ward J So happy.

We had some american experiences this week and I loved it. There is a random restaurant in the plaza that´s like the Malt Shoppe in Provo, only a Little more Peruvian haha. Our Pensionista is AWESOME and took us to eat there cuz she knows I love american food. We ate chicken strips and fries with KETCHUP instead ofmayo. Miracle. WE always eat everything with Mayo. (sisters… Mayo sickness hahahhahaa). They were playing Green Day and Avril Lavigne on the TVs and I had a battle in my head because I wanted to listen to it, but I can´t and I really wanted to eat my chicken. Haha. Missionary problems.  

TWO BAPTISMS THIS WEEK!!! Once again, they are both very very strong and come every single week and love learning.

Miriam!! The girl who was going to be baptized inJuly, but her family got all up in her grill and they postponed it. YEah. She´s a full blown member of the Church now and we´re teaching her mom J She wants to be baptized too. WE stopped by her house the other day, and Miriam said “She´s busy. She´s killing sheep.” Um… what? Did I translate that right? Did you just say nonchalantly that your mom is killing sheep? Yup. That´s what she said. Haha. I LOVE PERU!

Brithny was baptized too J (she´s the one in the baptismal clothes with her whole family. Miriam is the pictures with me and her two brothers with hats in the pews of the chapel) her dad is a member and her brother too. We are teaching her mom and hopefully they will all be able to be sealed in the temple in the next couple years. I love them so much.

Hey all you people in Utah. GO TO THE TEMPLE!!!You don´t understand what a blessing that is. You can go whenever you want. The people here have to save up all year just to go once. It´s expensive, It´s a 14+ hour drive in a stinky bus, and you all live 5 minutes from a million temples. Do NOT take that for granted. I wish I could go L Imiss it.

All you people that CAN serve missions, should. It is the greatest thing I ever decided to do. HANDS DOWN. Do not let this opportunity pass you by. It will CHANGE your life.

I love you all J KEEP EMAILING! If I don´t respond, email again. Sometimes I forget which ones I have responded to.

Jennie: CONGRATS!!! YOU ARE MARRIED! I am so happy for you. SEND PICTURES PLEASE!!! I feel so out of the loop

Dad: I sent a huge envelope of letters to you. There are instructions of how to send them to everyone. LOVE YOU

I love you all an unbelievably large amount and hope you all are doing great.

Love, Hermana Allred