The Pinnacle of My Mission

This week has been CRAZY! Hna Ramos and I said our goodbyes, I arrived to my new sector in Cusco, received the training for new Sister Training Leaders - which is really just a fancy title to say that my companion and I serve the other sister missionaries - and we made mexican tacos! To be truthful, so much more happened than that, but there is no time to write about everything. 

What I will share is about a tender mercy that happened last change. 

As I arrived to my sector in Cusco, I ran into Hna Roman, an ex-companion (side note: I`m pretty much living in the centro for sister missionaries in the mission. Whenever someone new arrives or needs to do papers, receive medical attention in Cusco, etc, they all come to my sector. :) Sometimes my companion and I dont get to go to bed until midnight, but it is so fun to connect with all of the sisters! I wouldnt change it for the world.) and she told me some GIGANTIC news!

The whole last six weeks, while I was in Juliaca, the family that we had contacted and taught were not only Married, but they were BAPTIZED. You can bet that I cried like a baby. Hna Roman and I met Ronald and Yanet during a really hard time. Aside from some illness and companionship struggles, the Lord blessed us to find them. I kid you not, we were praying HARD to overcome our challenges and to do what the Savior would do. We were so, so weak, yet He moved us along and made us instruments in His Hands according as we relied on Him. I can now testify even more whole-heartedly that it is a blessing to be weak, and that by being humble, the Lord can bring about miracles. Even though we werent perfect as we taught Ronald and Yanet, we TRIED to give our all, which included continuous repentance, and as a result, the Spirit was able to testify of our words as we taught...We did absolutely nothing of ourselves; the Lord did it all and allowed us to have joy with Him in bringing souls unto Christ. I just, cant perfectly express how happy I am right now. I`ve been pondering a blessing that I was given as I was set-apart as a full-time missionary which talked about this feeling. It promised me that in serving, I would feel more joy than what I felt when I was baptized, and that bringing one soul unto Christ would bring unspeakable joy. That promise has been true. And this experience has been the pinnacle of my mission! Gosh - I love the gospel! 

Can you believe that we were able to teach Ronald and Yanet all of the lessons in 6 weeks, and they were married and baptized 6 weeks later? It all happened in 3 months from the time that we contacted their family! If that`s not a miracle, then I dont know what is. 

Also here are some pictures from this week:

We made mexican tacos. 

This all for this week! Love you all. 

Hna Arroyo

The shock of my mission

It´s going to be a challenge to write this week, because so much has happened within the last couple of minutes.

Have I ever told you about how awesome Hna Ramos is? She is so fun to work with, and the best part of being friends is that we will be able to hangout after the mission because she is also from Vegas! (Woohoo!) I love her to death. Here are some more dorky pictures of us:

(1) Hna Ramos and I get a little crazy after lunch. We decided that it would be fun to teach our Pensionista´s daughter how to do a dip. 

 2) We took this picture as we were doing service for a family that manufactures chairs. That´s a cool drill gun in Hna Ramos´s hands.)

I´ve had the time of my life being here in Juliaca. It was a tender mercy to come here and meet so many special people that we´ve been able to teach, but the Lord says that after six weeks, it is time to go! I will be going to be serving in Cusco as a Sister Leader, and so Hna Ramos and I will be parting soon. :,(( I´m still in shock about it all, and never in my life have I felt so inadequate! It´s a testament that the Lord really does call us in our weaknesses. :) Nevertheless, I am so excited for this new adventure and to learn all that I need to! (I know it is going to be A LOT of things.)

Anyway, this week was special! We met with Guido again, and he is progressing little by little. One of our less actives recently just put in her mission papers, and she is pumped to get ready to serve! We´ve also had several appointments with a less active familiy, La Familia Orihuela, and they are opening up to us more and more. We´re getting them started on reading the Book of Mormon as a family, and the kids came to Church this Sunday, all happy and smiley. Not to mention, they invited us over for the birthday of their daughter Dayan, and we ate a super yummy chocolate tres leches cake!! :) 

There is probably so much more to report, but nothing else is coming to mind. It´s been a great week!

I love you all! Always remember to pray and read the scriptures for guidance. They are the gateways to receiving personal revelation!

Hna Arroyo