July 29, 2015

 

 

Holy cow!  I am now in the advanced group of the CCM... haha how the heck did that happen?

 

Ok so this week I had a life changing experience.  We got go to proselyting with REAL missionaries in the Lima East mission on Saturday.  We went to an area called Chiclacayo and my companion and I were assigned to proslyte in the poorest area on the top of the hill.  The mountains don´t have vegetation on them so they just look like giant mounds of dirt and rocks.  The poorer people live higher up on the hill and their houses are made of whatever scraps they can find.  We took a 45 passenger bus that was stick-shift... Wha??  I was so impressed that we made it up the hills.  Everything was super dusty and I had a layer of dust in my lungs after.

 

Side note:  The highways here have speed bumps on them, so we´ll be going 50 mph then they slam on the breaks to go over a speed bump #party!

 

Anywho, we went to the top of this mountain and we literally walked up to a board and knocked on it.  This kid walked out and invited us to come in...  You guys. I have seen pictures and heard stories of places like this, but never in my life have I seen such poverty.  I couldn´t even listen to what he was saying because I was trying to hold back tears.  The ¨walls¨ were see through and the roof was a scrap of tin.  The couch was some stuff piled up with rags covering it.  A nasty dog came and sat on my feet during the lesson.  We went to several more houses like that and I began to realize that this was normal for people.  They were all so happy and they literally had nothing.  Here they call it ¨humildad¨ which means humility, rather than poverty.  Everytime ask a new Latina Hermana what she thinks of the CCM they always say that it is beautiful.  Now I understand why.  To me the CCM is simple, but to them it is so fancy.

 

Think of the crappiest part of Ogden and that would be about the nicest area you could find in Lima.  I am SO grateful to have grown up in the United States.  Why me?  Why did I get to grow up in a place where people have running water and are able to sleep on real beds and have real floors? I have been so blessed.  Please don´t take for granted what you have.  I am a changed person.  I will be forever grateful for this experience that has opened my eyes.

 

I love you all and I want you to know that Jesus lives and he loves us.  He loves the people in Peru just as much as he loves the people in the USA.  I am so grateful to be a missionary and to wear the name of Jesus Christ over my heart everyday.  Have a great week!

 

Love,

Hermana Harris

 

p.s. (Taken from Jenny's personal letter and added to this post.  Something this good should be shared. he he)  So the other day some hermanas were looking at my scripture case with the family picture on it and I heard one of them whisper, ¨She has a hot mom.¨  

 

 Haha everyone loves these crackers called Kraps.  They make for excellent puns.

 
My favorite aisle in the grocery store is the cookie aisle.

 My district loves to play beach volleyball.  It's the closest thing we've got to a real beach.

 

July 22, 2015

This week was fabulous!  My companion and I had to pray in sacrament meeting in Spanish.  I was SO nervous because Presidente Gonzalez was there.  Guess what? I survived!!  haha

 

I had a really neat experience this week.  We had a fireside on Sunday given in spanish.  They gave us translators but mine didn't work.  I prayed to have the spirit with me and it was the most amazing thing.  I wrote PAGES of notes from the guy´s talk.  I literally have no idea how I knew what he was saying other than the gift of tongues.  I was taking notes furiously and I was following along in the spanish Preach My Gospel and spanish scriptures.  His message was exactly what I needed to hear so I know that God helped me understand.  He spoke about spiritual gifts and obtaining the attributes of Christ.

 

A common phrase in my journal this week was ¨They´ve gotta stop serving compote de frutas.¨ They used to make the most amazing desserts like cream filled churros.  Then one day they served this unappetizing compote de frutas and nobody took it so they put it out the next day and nobody took it again.  Eventually people started to take one for the team and would get one so that they'd stop setting out the same ones, but these poor people had to eat those nasty things because we eat everything on our plates here.  Last night we finally got to the end of the compote de frutas and they gave us the most nasty dessert I've ever had.  It literally looked like snot and tasted worse.  The lady told us that it was good so I took one and had to eat it.  I almost threw up...no joke.  I want my churros back!  It's OK though because they have a freezer full of ice cream sandwiches from the Gods that I access daily...

 

I went to the temple today for the last time for 18 months because the temple is closed for the next two weeks.  The past 2 p-days I have placed Books of Mormon.  I don´t talk to strangers and I don´t speak spanish so giving out a Book of Mormon is quite the accomplishment.

 

I still don't speak much Spanish, but understanding is getting easier.  I feel so blessed to be learning Spanish because it is also forcing me to learn the language of the Spirit.  I know these things are true but I am literally unable to share that without testifying of simple truths and relying completely on the spirit to relay the truthfulness of the message to the hearts of God's children.  What a blessing!

 

I know that God is good and that he has a plan for each of us.  Life is good.  I love you guys!

 

Con amor,

Hermana Harris

 

 They have a map with all of the missions on it and mine is definitely the coolest mission!!

 I still look down and see my name-tage and jump.  When did I turn into a missionary??

This was our last trip to the temple.  Our amazing teachers are Flor Chacón and Cindy Altamirano.

     

 

July 15, 2015

  
Week 2 in Peru:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIZA!!!! I've been thinking about you all week!

So when I moved to college, I seriously doubted my decision to go to USU.  I wanted to give up, but I stuck to it and had the most amazing experience.  I met wonderful people and loved every second of it.  I also learned and changed so much.  

Likewise, the first week of my mission was super rough and I was prepared to take the next flight home.  (I conveniently had a return flight scheduled for the 30th for immigration purposes that I didn't want to waste. ) haha

On the way to the airport to drop me off, my family was running late then we ran out of gas so we stopped at a station and the pumps didn't work.  We drove for a while and went to another station, but again the pump didn't work.  We went to yet another station that had problems, but eventually we were able to get gas.  I had a powerful impression that Satan did not want me to go on a mission.  I had forgotten about this until this last Sunday...  I may have gotten un poco ill.  (Don't worry, the doctor told me I had a strong heart beat so they didn't need to rush me to the hospital.  So comforting.)  haha but really I'm fine.

Anywho, I tell you this because Elders Noel, Williams, and Hafer gave me a blessing.  Elder Chaz Hafer was the mouthpiece and he said, ¨Rachel, you Heavenly Father wants you to know that he has a plan for you that is different than anyone else's.  Never doubt.  There are people here who need to hear your testimony and your experiences.¨ It was so powerful.  I can do this!  

I know that God is good and he knows what he is doing. I know this church is true and that Christ is my Savior.  I wouldn't have moved to Peru if I didn't know that.  Satan doesn't want me here because I know that Christ is preparing the world for His second coming and I am going to shout it from the roof tops.  There are people here who need to know that families are forever and that truth is on the earth today.

¨We doubt not the Lord nor his goodness.  We've proved him in days that are past.  The wicked who fight against Zion, shall surely be smitten at last.¨

I love being a missionary.  It's hard, but so special.  These are exciting times. Thanks for your prayers.  Love to you all!

Con amor,

Hermana Harris 


So the Book of Mormon in Quechua is insane...  These are the sisters going to Cusco with me who get to learn Spanish and Quechua.  So stoked!!

My district is AMAZING!!!  Half of us are going to Cusco and the other half will be serving in Lima Central. Oh and Elder Frehner is going to Iquitos.  Whenever we tell people that we get to serve in Cusco, they get super excited and say it is beautiful.  When Elder Frehner says he's going to Iquitos everyone says, Hace calor en Iquitos.  (It's hot in Iquitos)  So we have this joke that whenever someone is hot they say It feels like Iquitos in here.  haha

 We literally had a futbol camp for our district today, because soccer is a must in South America and none of us girls are very good.  Instead of our Elders getting mad at us, they decided to have a ¨soccer camp¨ to teach us how to play.  It was super fun!  (ps to grandma and Jenny I´m not sun burned... I was just running really hard.  It is impossible to get sunburned here because I never see the sun.)  

July 8, 2015

 What the heck.  I can´t believe I finally get to write!!  This has been the longest week of my life!  Honestly, this is the hardest thing I have ever done... but also I have never laughed so hard and so much in my life.  I don´t have a lot of time, so I won´t be able to respond to every email, but I love you all!

First off, Peruvian drivers are insane.  Like they just zoom around at like 90 miles an hour and cut everybody and their dog off.  They drive 3 inches away from each other and never stay the lanes.  It´s terrifying, but also I´m super impressed with their skills.  They have to be way more aware of the cars around them than we do in the USofA.

The food here is amazing.  I am SO sick of rice though and it has only been a week.  We eat rice for every single meal.  Rice and chicken for dayzzzzzzz....  I love when they pull out the ice cream machine.  Yeah, I've already gained weight, nbd.  I blame the CCM people though, because they told us we are required to eat everything on our plates, so if we can´t eat all of something we shouldn't take it.  The only problem is that they dish the food for us.  What can you do?

Ya know how it gets overcast and warm when it is just about to rain?  It literally feels like it is just about to rain all the time.  I have not seen the sun, moon or stars since I've been here.  It´s constantly overcast.  It has only rained once and it was just mist.  It´s super weird.

They announced that Boyd K. Packer died last week and I cried.  He´s my favorite!

The people in my district are amazing.  Elder Cole Noel from Eden is my district leader.  He´s super great at it too.  He used to be a punk, but I love his guts.  Elder Barry is this kid from Cali who is in my district and he´s probably the funniest person alive.  We just laugh all day.  

We have two main phrases here in spanish.  Que en el mundo, and que bueno.  When we don´t know what to say we just say ¨que bueno¨.  (This keyboard is impossible)

Spanish is so hard.  We study it all day and I still don´t speak an ounce of the language.  We were put in companionships so that there is one person who has taken some Spanish in school and the other person hasn't.  I´m supposed to be the one who speaks Spanish, but I most definitely do not.

We teach lessons every other night to this fake investigator named Sara in these little tiny fake houses.  My companion and I have to write a script down in Spanish and just try to read it to our investigator.  She tells us about her life and we have to try to help her in Spanish.  It is the most frustrating thing in the world because I know what she is saying and what she needs, but I don't know how to say it in Spanish.  Our first two lessons were so bad and I just felt horrible after.  The spirit wasn't there.  My companion and I decided we needed to try to change that.

We both were given blessings and the next lesson we prayed about what we should do.  We decided to share our simple testimonies using all of the Spanish we knew.  Somehow we were able to share the feelings of our hearts and the lesson went really well.  It was a miracle.

We had to stand in line all day yesterday at the international police station so my district decided to talk to the people around us and try to share the gospel in our terrible Spanish.  We ended up giving out several books of Mormon and pamphlets.  It was super scary!

I want to share the biggest thing I've learned this week.  I used to want to learn Spanish so that I could talk to the people of Peru, but I've come to realize that I need to learn Spanish so that the Lord can talk to the people of Peru through me.  Like this has nothing to do with myself.  It´s all about being an instrument or mouthpiece for the Lord.  That has made learning Spanish so much easier.

On the fourth of July all of us Americans wore red, white and blue.  It was awesome!  The Latinas all wanted to practice their English so they would say, ¨happy four uh July.¨  The lunch ladies decorated the comedor with balloons and American flags.  The best part is that they fed us hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, onion rings, and pie.  It was amazing.  I cried.

I love that speaking only Spanish has helped me to go back to the basics of the gospel.  We only know how to say simple things so our testimonies and prayers are simple, but powerful.

I love being a missionary!  It is so hard and I´m tired all the time, but when we all stand and sing called to serve there is such power.  It is crazy how much I feel the prayers for the missionaries. 

I´m sorry if this isn't making sense.  I have a thousand things to say, but no time.  I love and miss you all so much!!!!

Con amor,

Hermana Harris

 We play volleyball everyday.  The Latinas love to tell us how to play.  haha

July 1, 2015

I got to sit by Elder Sheanshang on the flight to Atlanta!!  He is my favorite!  The lady on the other side of me was watching an R rated movie....  hahaha awko. So in Atlanta we met up with a bunch more missionaries then we flew down to Peru.  I had to pull a grandma Harris and buy some motion sickness medicine...  I got pretty nauseated on the first flight.  

The flight to Peru was so long, but I got to sit by the window.  Hna. Walker sat next to me.  We got to eat a salad for dinner on the plane and I was so excited.  I loved looking out the window, especially flying over ecuador.  The city lights were majestic.  

We didn´t get to the CCM until 3 am and we had to get up at 7:30.  I am SO tired.  

Yeah so Peruvian drivers are insane!!!  They just zoom everywhere and when they come to a stop light they just honk and plow through. Also the stop lights have a count down so you know when the light is going to change... genius.  Haha so the bus ride was awesome from the airport.  

The whole immigration thing is SUPER complicated.  We had to go through immigrations and customs and tell them that we were here for training and we needed to be here for a minimum of 90 days.  I didn't get hounded but some other missionaries got asked tons of personal questions. 

Peru is nothing like America.  This will take some getting used to, but I love the people.  There are so many fun Elders and Sisters here.  There are 5 of us from Weber High. The buildings are all made of concrete and it is way humid.  I feel like I am  in a cold sauna.  My companion is Hna Barfuss.  We had pizza and hot chocolate for breakfast...?  hahaha  I love you all so much!  I will get to write for an hour next Wednesday, which is my P day.

con amor

hna Harris