Hot chocolate for dinner.

Adjusting to a new culture, language, and life as a missionary has been an experience. With all of the difficulties, I am grateful for the chance to be so close to Heavenly Father and to love His children. In return, He has blessed my companion and I with so many tender mercies! Our pensionista and her family has been one of them.

Our first week in Puno was hard, and one of our trials was eating all of the food that Mama Rosalia (our pensionista) put on our plates. No joke, each meal could have fed two or three people! It is a great thing that Peruanas know how to cook. . One day that same week, after eating until we wanted to puke, Hna Chipunavi and I decided that it would be fun to run up these massive steps that we climb to and from every meal. We totally regretted that decision real quick! The next week we decided to ask if we could just have hot chocolate and bread for dinner. Rosalia said yes. (Woo! As a side note, her family sells hot chocolate and bread in a hole in the wall tienda. They really know how to make some good hot chocolate! I am determined to get the recipe.)

Besides stuffing our faces, Mama Rosalia treats us like her daughters. Just the other day she gave us some of her jackets to wear because it is winter in Puno right now. She is so loving, and her kids are like our siblings. They like to help us out in our lessons with investigators, which has been a big blessing! I dont know how we will ever repay them for everything that they have done for me and Hermana.

As far as our investigators go, Mirian doesnt have a baptismal date yet. We found out some disappointing news last week that may keep her from being baptized, but we are still praying for her.

We extended two more invitations to baptism this week to our progressing investigators Victor and Maricela. Both are super sincere about learning and changing their lives in order to follow the Savior...out ot the two, Maricela is attending church every week with her boyfriend (a member), so she is progressing rapidly.

A funny story of this week was when Hermana, me, and a member went out to an appointment with a family in the ward. We had no idea where they lived, so our walk turned into a hike up several sets of huge, corroding, stone steps and mountain. It was quite the adventure! We laughed through it all, and laughed even harder when our appointment was cancelled. No one has ever regretted a good workout. 

Needless to say, Peru feels like home. Those stone steps that lead to Mama Rosalia{s arent so hard to climb anymore. I love the people of Peru, and this love is only increasing with each week.

Thank you for all of the prays and support! Remember to help out your ward missionaries. It makes a world of a difference when an investigator hears to testimony of a member.

Love you all!

Hermana Arroyo

PS The babies here are the cutest! They melt my heart, as always. The baby in the second picture is Camila, whom Rosalia watches some days during the week. Have a good laugh.

The Lord loves His children.

So many things happen in just one week! It is impossible to account for everything.

I'll start off with the missionary work in mine and Hermana Chipunavi's sector of Puno. We had a really slow start last week because our area book of investigators was not really well-kept, but we set out to call of the people we have numbers for and tract them down. (Actually, Hermana did the phone calling. It would have been hilarious if I would have even attempted to talk Spanish over the phone!) We've also had a lot of support from the ward members in helping teach lessons, which has been a tremendous blessing because the natives aren't always trusting of newbies. Needless to say, we've have double, maybe tripple the number of appointments this week than the last, which we know has come about because of prayer, faith, and hard work. We owe alll of our blessings to Heavenly Father. 

I'll tell you a little about some lessons that we've had. In one with a less active family, the boyfriend of the daughter expressed some doubts about live after death and the work that is done in temples. Never in my life have I been so excited and full of conviction to testify that there is life after death, and those who do not recieve the blessing of knowing God or experience the blessings of the gospel in this life will have the opportunity to do so in the life hereafter. The Spirit was so thick in that room, and it was because Heavenly Father wanted one of His sons to know the truth. I know without a doubt that there is life after death, and we can be reunited with our loved ones for eternity through the blessings of the Restored Gospel. 

We also have another investigator, Mirian, who reminds me a lot of the way I first reacted the missionaries when they contacted me. But she is so much more prepared than I was! We met Mirian in a park one day, and we left her with a pamphlet about the Restoration. She seemed really unreluctant to meet with us, (as is often the case with lots of people here at first-encounter) but when we followed up with her, Mirian had read the whole pamplet! AND she had QUESTIONS! What's more, she committed to be baptized. Hermana and I will be meeting with her this week in order to discuss a date, and to make sure it'd okay with her mom since Mirian is under 18.

Another great thing happened this week as we were contacting in our sector. As Hermana and I stopped to check for directions in a certain street, an overwhelming feeling came over me. I couldn't help but feel that we needed to find out who we needed to visit on that street! We knocked on several doors before one opened, but we were so surprised when it did. We met Kathy who just radiated with light! For once, someone wanted to hear our message as well! What's more, we found out that Kathy has nephews and neices who are members, and she is familiar with the Book of Mormon. I have no doubt that Kathy's family members have been praying for her, because the Spirit was so strong before and during the time we were talking to her. We later found out that Kathy actually isn't in our sector, but this experience has been a reminder that Heavenly Father desires His children to know Him, His Son, and to experience the blessings of the Gospel so that they can return to live with Him after this life. 

This gospel is true, everyone! 

Thank you for all of your prayers, support, and love. Know that I love you, but most importantly, that God loves you and you are a son or daughter of His.

Until next week!

Hermana Arroyo

Viva Cusco/Puno

Hello everyone!

It's been a crazy and blessed week. Me and seven other misionaries from the CCM boarded a plane to Cusco, and arrived to a huge group of excited missionaries and our Mission President. I can't fully express how right it feels to be a missionary in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at this time. Heavenly Father is with me, and His blessings are everywhere.

After arriving in Cusco, us newbies took a tour of the city, and our tour guide - a member and Incan descendant - tolds us about the culture. Some of the things he explained was how the Quechua believe there are three things to live by in order to become more perfect everyday. They include no stealing, no lying, and not being lazy. They are also strong believers in avoiding all shortcuts and in doing hard things. Given their rich history, the Quechua have lived up to this. I've already love this people so much.

The next day was orientation, and I received my assignment to start a new sector with my companion, Hermana Chipunavi (She is from Bolivia). We are currently serving in the city Puno as the first sister missionaries in our area. It's a tremendous responsibility, but we have faith that the future is as bright as our hope and hard work.

I don't have much time to write everything that I would like, but let me just tell you that missionary work is hard. It is challenging, but the blessings include a kind of heavenly joy. I've already had my share of challenging, but I know without a doubt that heaven in near. Sometimes I wake up in the morning completely exhausted from the night before, and so I pray. A lot. And Heavenly Father keeps sending tender mercies every single day, which have given me the strength to endure. My companion and the people in this ward are also tremendous blessings. Although I cannot understand everything that i spoken in Spanish, I feel their spirits and the love that they have for the Savior and the Restored Gospel. This Church is true even in Peru, and I cannot tell you fully how much of a comfort this is.

I want you all to know that i have an abiding testimony of this Gospel. It is my rock, because Christ is my Savior, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is His. I know this with all my heart through a witness I recieved from God. I've prayed about it, and the Spirit bore witness of this truth to mine - and it still does everyday.

Please keep my companion and i in your prayers. We need all the strength and help of heaven with us as we seek to bring others closer to Christ. 

I love you all! Make sure that you tell all the missionaries you see just how proud you are of them. Tell them that they are strong, and that they can keep going.

Bueno Fe

Hermana Arroyo