Happy happy Monday! Hope you all had a great Easter! (and
ate extra lots of candy for me;) Whoa I have always loved Easter, but here in
the mission I appreciated it like never before. I am so grateful for my Savior
and his atoning sacrifice for each one of us!
This week was really good. Ok the week of Easter here is
"Semana Santa". The Catholics really go all out for this week. From Thursday to Sunday hardly anyone works, and it is just family time. They have
different rituals, celebrations, and activities each day to celebrate the week.
For example, the first day, they all put out lanterns on the street in the night
with candles & Hermana Alais and I were reminded of Tangled ha. Other
rituals are really dark and for example they reenact the crucifixion of Christ
in the city with chanting & ugh I would tell more about it, but I don't
like thinking about it. ha. This week I have fallen in love with the church´s video
for Easter! In English I´m pretty sure its called Prince of Peace? We have been
showing it to investigators, members, everyone, and everyone loves it. A solid
way to bring the spirit :)
Ok this week we had a few experiences that testify that there are
no coincidences here! We have a Heavenly Father who is so mindful of us. For
example, we were in a lesson with an investigator Thursday. During the lesson
we got a text from other missionaries with a referral named Emerita in our
area. We had another appt. after, but Hermana Alais felt prompted that we
needed to go visit the referral right then and there. We went directly to the
address of the referral & a lady opened the door in full panic mode.
Her mom, Emerita (70 yrs old), had fallen just minutes before and sliced the
shin of her leg open. Literally sliced it completely open. Hermana Alais is
studying medicine in Argentina and knew exactly what to do, before taking
Emerita to the hospital. I am convinced that Hermana Alais saved this lady´s leg!
She got her leg stitched up at the hospital and still is in pain, but doing
lots better. Come to find out, Emerita doesn't even remember meeting the
missionaries or giving them her contact information. She says she feels the
spirit whenever we are around, and wants us to keep teaching her everyday. I
caught the Arequipa fever Saturday. I had a migraine and my fever was real bad.
The bishop found out and immediately (Saturday night) offered to come give me a
priesthood blessing. He is so kind. Sunday morning I felt completely normal..
yeah miracle. We met another family of 4 this week and all of them want to be
baptized. Miracles here in Alto Selva Alegre!
Sad news: We found out this week that one of my favorites,
Fiona, lives on the street above our area, so we had to pass her over to the
elders serving in her area and we can't keep teaching her :( We are going to
stay in contact though! She is progressing lots and will most likely be
baptized beginning of May! Also, an update on the family with Paola and Fabricio. Their mom
has been so busy with work, so we weren't able to teach her this week. We
taught the kids, but we need the support of the mom, Patricia!
Hermana Alais and I get along so great. She is the best
ever!!! I feel like I have known her my whole life. Long story short, she had a
problem with her patriarchal blessing before the mission, and she was able to
receive a new patriarchal blessing this week from the patriarch of our stake
here. It was so special. and she asked for me to be in the room, so it was a
really cool experience. Also, we finally saw a llama! There is a llama that
moved into the park next to us. We visited the llama and named it Cuzco, but
shortly after these pictures, the llama spit on Hermana Alais, so we changed the
name to Yzma. Ha. Also, I can officially say that I have lived in Peru for 3
months and haven't had a sip of soda!! Everyone offers us soda, but I can get
away with my water. I love the mission! It is such a blessing to be a
missionary. The gospel changes lives! Love this gospel with all my heart. Have
the best week!
Alma 7:23 xo
Hermana Wood
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