June 1, 2015

Hello family! 
So it feels like forever since I have been able to write you guys. Also the internet wasn't working this morning so I am writing you now. We already know about transfers. Hermana Guzman has a transfer which means I will be getting a new companion in the morning. AHH my mom is leaving me! I am honestly really scared but also excited for a new adventure. I have learned so much these three months with Hna Guzman and I know her next companion will be very blessed. 

SO a lot has happened in a short amount of time. First, S was baptized! Her baptism was very beautiful. She was the only person that came from her family. But the ward here is very supportive and it was wonderful to have them here to support her. We were worried no one would show up besides us and the elders at her baptism, but we were wrong. The ward truly has become her family and I was so happy to have them help her make this covenant with the Lord. 

So the past p day we had mundial. This is why I wrote you on Saturday. The whole mission got together and we played soccer. I got to see Hna Beatty which was sooo great. It's like seeing someone from my family when I get to see her. She is doing very well and her companion finishes her mission this transfer so she is also getting a new companion. It was super fun to be able to talk in Spanish with her. We haven't seen each other in weeks and being able to see each other really showed our progress in Spanish. The spanish is coming. At this point I can practically understand everything. Talking is getting better too. I have a lot more confidence and finding myself actually wanting to talk haha 

This week we also had the marriage of J and N. They were super nervous and a few days before we thought they might not go through with it. But thanks to the support of the ward once again, they were married Saturday morning! It was a beautiful reception at the mission office and 15 couples were married. They will be baptized this month and right now they are kind of our main focus here in the area. They have a hard time being on time to things (like all of Peru has this problem actually) so getting them to church is a little hard, but we pick them up at their house every Sunday morning and help them. It is so important that investigators can attend church. This is where they have the chance to meet members, learn more, and most importantly partake of the Santa Cena (sacrament) and feel the spirit. My testimony of the importance of church attendance has grown a lot. 

This week was also a big week for the ward of Independencia. Two of the youth received their mission calls. One of them is Gipsi who is pretty much my best friend in the ward here. She is always doing splits with us. She is going to Argentina and the other youth is going to Mexico. Also cool story-one of Hna Guzmans recent converts just got called to be the Young Mens president. He has only been a member for about 5 months. 

Overall I am doing very well and the work here in Independencia is progressing. I have a lot of fear for this next week, but I know if I am obedient and continue working very hard I will see success with my new companion. This next group is huge so the president has said that we have to work harder and be an example for them. 

I loved the videos this week and the email. Sorry the email is a little shorter this week, but I am sending a lot of pictures. 

I love you all so much!

Hna Vernon 

Elder Johnson. He went to AF with me and we graduated together. Little weird to see someone from my life before the mission here in Peru 

Hna Beatty 

Gipsi received her mission call! here we are with the other hermanas and the family of Gipsi. 

Jean Pierre, Narya, and Jose Maria 

INDEPENDENCIA 

Mundial with Hna Guzman 

Samanthas baptism 

May 23, 2015. Early Email

Hello family!

So I know it's Saturday and I'm writing, but it's because this Monday we have something called Mundial. It's when the whole misión gets together and we play soccer. Mostly it's just an excuse to get to see everyone. But due to this, we have to write today. We didn't know until after last P day so don't stress about me not receiving a letter this week.

Anyway, it's been a big week here in Independencia! First off, right after we finish writing we are going to S's baptism. Yes she is getting baptized! We spent a lot of time with her this week and we ended up talking to one of her sisters. Her sister has given her permission to be baptized. Her mom also found out. Her mom doesn't support her, but she is letting her get baptized. S has some great friends in the Ward and I know that is going to help her stay involved after her baptism. If it weren't for this, we would probably have decided to wait a bit longer for her baptism. But anyway, yeah, she is getting baptized today and she is so excited! Our District Leader, Elder Nelson is going to baptize her and don't worry I will send pictures next week :)

This week I have been fighting a terrible cold. Luckily now I am feeling better. That has made it hard to stay super motivated this week because I have had like zero energy. But I found some cold medicine that has really helped. Everyone is getting sick right now because the weather is changing. Some days it's super hot, and other days it's cold. Hna Guzmán has been like my mom making sure I am taking my medicine and keeping warm so my cold doesn't get worse. So don't stress mom. I've got a mom from Bolivia watching over me right now :)

So this week was a hard week, but a good week. All of my leaders here (district leaders, sister trainer leaders, and hna Guzman) have been pushing me every week to contact more people. haha I don't really like contacting, but we have to contact 100 people per week. Hna Guzmán and I have been a little short of the goal the past few weeks. Due to this, my leaders have been giving me goals each day. When Hna Guzmán and I had our companionship invetory this week we talked about ways that I could overcome my fear. We decided that she isn't going to contact at all, and I have to contact our 100 people for my last week of training. We also have been searching for more opportunities to do splits so that I can have more opportunities to teach without her. I will admit this week has been super hard, but it has also been such a good learning experience. I am learning to rely less on Hna Guzmán and feel like I can really contribute. She has also been having me answer all the calls from the district leader. So overall I have been doing a lot more. We are trying to prepare me so when we have transfers, I can really feel like I know what I am doing.

 So we are working with a less active in our área to try to help her get married. She was super active in the church all growing up and then ended up having a child with a man that isn't a member. They have two kids now and she still comes to church quite often. But her husband doesn't want to listen and wont allow for her kids to be baptized. However, she knows that she is breaking one of the commandments not being married to her spouse. She is scared to talk to him about marriage because she knows it's something he doesn't want to do. We have tried to talked to him, but he doesn't listen. So we decided to bring the elders with us this week for a little more priesthood power :) Elder Nelson taught a really good lesson on chastity and we could tell her husband is starting to understand that marriage is something his wife really wants to do. It was really cool to see the spirit work through Elder Nelson and through us to know how to talk to her husband.

I don't have a ton of time to write today due to the baptism. but all is well. I love you guys! Thanks for the quick emails. Hopefully next week my emailing time will be a Little more nomal :)

Hna Vernon

Letter from May 18th, 2015. I ate guinea pig this week.

Hey family! 

So this week was a crazy week. First off, the email is a little late because this morning we took a little trip to Lima Central. I don't remember if I told you, but right now we are working with a family and trying to help them get married and baptized. Their names are J and N. They have a little two year old boy named J who is just the cutest. We contacted about a month back and have been teaching them. They are super hard to get visits because they are busy, but we have been persistent. We visited them last night with our zone leaders to try to encourage them to get married. They have been thinking about it for quite some time and finally agreed to get married. The mission is holding a marriage ceremony on the 29th of this month so we have to go today to write up all their papers and stuff in Lima Central. and guess what.. I'm going to be a witness for their wedding. Haha another thing I never thought I would do. But yeah everything went well this morning and they will be married on the 29th! They will be baptized a few weeks after. I love working with this familly. Hna Guzman and I have talked about how the Lord has been preparing them. They have also had a lot of trials since we have been meeting with them. J lost his job, but they Lord is providing a way so that they can keep His commandments. 

Ok now about S. So She wasn't baptized this week. And it's kind of a long story. Saturday morning she was supposed to be baptized, we passed by her house that morning to make sure she was ready and we find her older sister. She told us that S never returned the night before. We could tell her sister was super worried because S lost her cell phone a few days earlier and no one had heard from her since she left for a party the night before. We spent most the day searching for her. We finally found her at one of her friends house about 3 pm in the afternoon. Long story short-due to the fact that her mom and sister don't know she was going to be baptized, she was really scared and didn't go through with it. She told us she slept through her alarm but we believe that the real problem is she doesn't feel quite ready. Hna Guzman and I talked and we think this might be better, because we were both a little timid about this baptism due to her parents not knowing. So we are going to continue to visit S and hopefully with time we can understand what is best. This week was another reminder that the Lord knows what is best for each and every one of his children. S has a grand testimony, and I know with time she will be baptized. 

This week we had another training with Pres Erickson. I love every chance we get to learn from him. This week he talked about raising our voices (in a good way). We can't be afraid of our own voices. There are many scriptures in the Doctrine and Covenants that talk about sharing the gospel like a trumpet. So after his training, we did practices where president walked around and told us if we were teaching with a loud enough voice. Haha so I am learning how to speak up. President Erickson is very loud ( in a good way though). He is always yelling with love, as he calls it. But he said something very interesting. When we talk louder, when we talk with power, we feel the spirit more. Which is so true. I have been experiencing that this week and it has  made a very big difference. This is a funny story about Pres Erickson and his loud voice. He was doing a training in a different area at a chapel and was talking really loud. I guess the doors of the chapel were open and someone outside heard him speaking. Anyway, the man entered the chapel and stayed the rest of the day to hear the lessons of Pres Erickson. Now he is receiving the missionaries in his area. As missionaries we are sharing the restored gospel-the truth. We can't be afraid to speak with the voice of a trumpet.

So this week I caught the flu. Yay. It's because the weather here is constantly changing. But I'm pushing through and trying my best to take care of myself. Don't worry mom I am taking my vitamins. 

So this week if you guys could pray for N and J that would  be great. They are such a great young family with so much potential, and they really want to do what is right. 

Thank you for another great email. It was fun to get a little paragraph from Sarah. I will be honest, I'm jealous she gets to spend time with you guys, but tell her I say hello. Emma tell Haydn I'm excited for him! I love you guys a ton!

Im still eating a lot of chicken foot. Also I ate guinea pig this week. 

Con mucho amor

Hna Vernon 

Letter from May 11, 2015 "La Hermana de Marte"

Hey family!

It was so so fun to Skype and see you guys this week! I loved seeing all your faces. You all look happy and healthy. I'm sorry the connection wasnt great. But it was really the best we could find. Hna Guzman liked seeing you guys and meetig you. Mom whenever I show a picture of our family, the people always say that you are so young! So just so you know, you have still got it :) haha 

So you guys already know about S, but yeah she is getting baptized this Saturday! Its really hard to see her not have family support, but her testimony is so strong. We actually had a quick lesson with her this morning and she is so ready for baptism. 

Thanks for keeping me updated with what is going on with Grandma Fernie and the family. I'm glad grandma is doing well and I know she truly appreciates all the help she is receiving. 

This week on Thursday we had a special training with President Erickson. It was our zone and three others. President Erickson is very strict, but very loving as well. He talked about how all of our actions start in the mind. In order to be productive missionaries, we have to have a firm mind. If we are doing what we are supposed to, but our mind is back home, or not focused on the work, we are going to have a hard time really having the Spirit with us and the ability to help the people we are in contact with. I really liked this training and Im thankful for a President who can guide the mission. Hermana Erickson also talked with us. Haha she reminds me of a little librarian. But she talked about as a mission, we are a family. We have the responsibility to follow all the guidance and rules the president gives us. We read a lot of scriptures in 1 Nephi about how Nephi was always following the council of his father. This is part of the reason he became so strong in the gospel. As we heed to the guidance of President Erickson, we are going to see the fruits of our labors. After the training, they fed us hot dogs. haha all the gringos were happy, and the Latinos were a little upset. 

So when I was skyping you guys, I dont know if you guys could see, but there was another girl in the room. Her name is G, and she is a member in the ward. She just submitted her mission papers and she is probably one of my best friends here. Her brother was baptized the week before I got here, and we are working on getting her dad active in the church. He was baptized, but doesnt have a testimony. Also, he was a pastor in a different church. SO whenever we teach him he always has a ton of questions. However, Hna Guzman knows her Bible very well. He is now reading the Book of Mormon and is starting to accept the book. Its amazing to see the Spirit work through him. 

Well thats about all I have for this week because I was able to talk to you guys yesterday. But once again, it was sooo good to see you guys and I know I always say this, but thank you for the prayers and support.

Oh one more quick story. So Tuesday night we were at the church helping a family with their family history. They have a young daughter who is about 10. Anyway, I was talking to her, and she told me I talked funny. haha it really didn't bug me at all because I am very use to people commenting on my Spanish. But the funny part of this story is she then continued to tell me that I am "la Hermana de Marte". Which in English this means I am the sister from Mars.

 So "La Hermana de Marte" sends her love! 

This picture makes me laugh because Heather appears to be standing on the wrong side.

This looks better. She is standing with the other Hermanas haha. She said one of the members is a clown and came to their training and told several jokes.

Letter from May 4, 2015

Thanks for the email. Mom and dad I loved seeing the pictures. Looks like you guys are having a lot of fun. Mikey is also in Hawaii this week, so I got a lot of pictures from both of you :) 

OK so YES I GET TO TALK TO YOU GUYS THIS SUNDAY. Mom I already sent you an email about this, but yeah it will be sunday night I think around 7:30 my time. I might be able to call you this week as well to confirm. But no promises. I will have about 45 minutes to talk. I know its short, so lets try to get all the crying out BEFORE we make the call :) 

This week was another full week of adventures. Every cambio (so every 6 weeks) we have a day that we do visitas de trabjo with the sister trainer leaders. Pretty much its when we split up as companions to work with them for 24 hours. This time I stayed in my area and one of the sisters came to join me. I was super nervous to be in charge of my area without sister Guzman, but it was such a good experience for me. The sister trainer leader that I worked with is Sister Karratti. She is from St. George and reminds me a ton of Sarah Judd. (which I heard she is engaged and that is crazy). It was fun to have a north american companion for a day. Anyway, she gave me a lot of great tips and told me not to worry. For the time I have in the mission, she says I am doing just fine. It also made me realize that in 4 weeks, Im not going to be one of the "new missionaries anymore. There have been missionaries that have trained after their first 3 months. And the group coming in next is huge I guess. So Hermana Guzman has really been pushing me to prepare me for whatever will come next transfer. Sometimes its super frustrating cuz I just want to say in english "I dont know what Im doing!" But I simply open my mouth and try my absolute best. I dont know if people can understand me, but Im talking. haha 

This week we found a family! Which is awesome because we have had trouble with that lately.

They are a younger couple who has one kid. We taught them and they were very receptive to the gospel. They have to get married before they can be baptized, but they already had plans to be married. So we are trying to help them. So if you guys could pray for J and N, that would be great :) 

Overall, I am starting to adjust more and more each day. And I am gaining more confidence. Every Sunday night we do splits with members of the ward. So last night I went with Allison. She has her mission call and will be leaving in June. Anyway, like always, we did more contacting in the street. I felt an impression to talk with a mom that was sitting with her two kids. So we started talking and she called her husband over to listen. They were very interested that I was from the United States and had left my family to preach the gospel. Like you said in your email dad, as missionaries we really are set apart from the world. We have a light with us wherever we go. haha so I am trying to just keep smiling and praying that the Lord will guide my words. 

This sunday Hermano E got to bless the sacrament! That was so amazing because he has become a completely different person than who he was when I got here. His family is so much happier and whenver we visit them, we can see the difference the gospel is making in their lives. It was also fast sunday and a ton of the recent converts bore their testimony. Sometimes the simplest testimonies are the most powerful. I was sitting by one of the converts during church, Hermana Leslie, and she said someting really profound. She is 19 years old and speaks pretty good english, so she loves to practice it with me. Anyway, in her broken english she said something along the lines of "isn't it cool you can come to Peru and feel the same spirit as you felt in Utah?" and thats the absolute truth. I am in a country where EVERYTHING is different. However, the gopsel doesnt change. The gospel is the exact same all around the world. I have found so much comfort in this the past 2 months in the field. The Savior understands every language, and most importantly knows our hearts. 

I love you guys and love reading your email every week! Thank you for the pictures as well. 

The house looks great :) haha 

 

mucho amor

Hna Vernon 

Letter from April 27, 2015

Hey Hey familia! 
Thanks again for another great email and pictures! Emma you looked so pretty in your dress! I love your dress. That's a great color on you. It reminds me a lot of my senior prom dress :) I always LOVED school dances and I am glad you could go to prom. 

Ok so I know you all want to know! I am still with Hna Guzman. We have 5 more weeks together. Which I am very grateful for. She knows the area so well and the people here adore her. She is very good at focusing on people and not lessons. I am trying my best to learn from her so when she leaves I can do my best to carry on the work we are doing here in Independencia. We also have two new missionaries in our zone. One is an elder from South Jordan, and one from Colombia. The truth is, it was fun to see how much I have improved these past 6 weeks when talking to the new elder. It's hard to see progress when we are measuring it day by day, but I have realized that the Lord is truly with me every day as I work hard. 

Thank you for your prayers for S. We met with her mom this week. Haha Hna Guzman compared it to talking to the father of Lamoni. I couldn't understand all that was being said because her mom was talking super fast, but I could see the spirit working through Hna Guzman. S has permissionn from her dad to be baptized so the truth is she can be baptized. She just wants her mom to agree as well to the baptsm. When we left after talking to her, she had softened her heart a bit, but we are stil praying daily that she will accept the baptism. However, S passed her interview and has a date set for May. She has a very strong testimony. We also have a date set for another investigator named C. He is 18 years old. We are also having problems with his parents, but he is old enough to be baptized without permission. He is the boyfriend to one of the girls in the ward so he has a lot of support from her family. The truth is, there are a lot of youth who don't have the family support in the church. When they hear that all of my family is members, they are usually shocked. We are very blessed. 

Overall, I am adjusting really well. I will admit it has been so so hard. And there are still some days where I question what I am doing. But then we go to work and I feel the spirit so strongly that I cannot deny that I am in the service of the Lord. We did splits again this week. I went with a girl in the ward named S. She leaves in 2 days for her mission to Guatemala. She is super nervous and she asked me if I was nervous before I left. I told her, the truth is, I am still nervous cada dia.  Sometimes I feel like no one is listening to my words. But I remember the story in Mosiah about Abinadi. He stood as a witness of God, even when every one around him wanted to kill him for his beliefs. But because of his testimony, he was able to reach the heart of Alma. We dont always know who we are helping or how our testimony will help them. But if we dont share it, then there is no chance. I am trying to remember this when I have fear to talk or bear my testimony. 

The leader of our zone knew I have had a bit of trouble finding the courage to speak. So he has given me a challenge that I need to personally contact at least 8 people a day on the street. He told me he was going to check up with me at the end of the week. Well yesterday because one of our lessons fell through while we were doing divisions, Solmyra and I decided to go to the park and contact. We contacted over 20 people. She was super nervous so it was fun to do it together and help her. When I reported back to Elder Nelson that I had in fact reached my goal every day and even contacted 20 people that night, he was very pleased. He told me that the secret to being happy in the mission is fulfilling our goals. Its the truth. I am most happy when I am being completely obedient to the tasks I have been given. 

So even though the language has been hard, I havent had a problem enjoying the food. They serve us soo much here. Im scared I have gained a few pounds, but every time I tell the people I want to eat less, they say I need to enjoy the mission. Also its completely normal here to call someone fat. Its part of how they describe people. 

Its starting to get chilly here. The nights are colder. But the mission has provided us with blankets. I think today we are going to buy jackets. My watch that we bought me broke. So I only have the only that you guys gave me for Christmas. I love the watch, but I am worried to wear it on the streets sometimes. So I am going to buy another. We didn't have warm water at all this week. So I have been taking cold showers. ALSO they had to shut off the water one day.and of course it was right during my shower. Luckily we had buckets of water in the bathroom. So i ended up washing out my shampoo like I was a pioneer. Each day is filled with so many different adventures. 

I love you guys so much and thank you for your examples! Its so nice knowing I have my own little support system back home. All my love from Peru!

Hna Vernon 

Hermana Juhl. She was the only gringa besides me but she was transferred. I will miss her. 

Our Zone before transfers.

My new mission bag.

I can't always speak, but I can Love!

Hello family! Thank you for another great letter. Congrats Emma on making the cheer team! Ah I am so excited for you! I know you will be great and I'm proud of you for trying different things through high school. I loved being involved with the school. Hannah that's cool you got to be in Hope of America. I never got to do that and Im a little jealous :) Also I'm glad you are able to finally ride your electric scooter outside and not around the house anymore. Tell Starszy I say hello and make sure you are doing his tricks with him. I miss that crazy dog a lot. The dogs here aren't nearly as cute or well trained as him. Dad I'm sorry you were feeling sick, but it's good to hear you are doing better. Thank you for the little lesson in the email. I look forward to your words each week. You always know what I need to hear. 

OK so now about my week. This week was another week full of hard work and new adventures. I say adventures because each day I am doing something new or experiencing things that I never thought I would. 

Hermana Guzman is a hard worker. She loves to keep our schedule full. So this week we were pretty booked with lessons. Because of this we had to do divisions twice. I've done divisions before, but it has always been with other missionaries or members of the barrio who have a lot of experience. But this week was different. 

(OK back story) Remember me telling you guys that there was a girl on my instagram from my mission that left a comment like "we are waiting for you Hermana Vernon?" Well yeah I met her this week! Her name is Romina Bosa and she lives super close to my area. I was at the capilla (I think Wednesday night) and right as we were walking out she grabbed my should and said something like she couldn't believe I was already here. It took me a second to realize who she was, but it was really cool to meet her. She also speaks fluent English so that is really cool. Anyway she gave us her number and said she would love to do divisions with us. So we called her Friday and I did divisions with her while Hermana Guzman went with a girl in the ward. Romina is just the sweetest girl. She is 17 but acts like she is 20. She has done little missions so she has some experience. She and I are friends on facebook and she said she has been seeing the pictures that you are posting of me.  She said that you guys are very proud of me and she can tell we are very close as a family. haha I will admit I got teary eyed when she said that because I know it's true. I am so so blessed to have you guys. Mom you can add her on facebook. She said she would love to keep you updated with how I'm doing. 

Anyway, so I did divisions with Romina on Friday night. We had lessons planned, but practically no one was home. So I kinda had to make different plans. We ended up visiting a family that is less active and we had a really good lesson. i am gaining more confidence to talk (slowly, but its coming). Also, we contacted probably half of Independencia. The truth is…..I dont like contacting, but it's becoming much easier. 

Last night we did divisions as well. I went with a girl named Allison in el barrio. She has her mission call and will be leaving in Junio. We taught two lessons, and then went to the park to contact. She is really nervous to contact. haha I told her I completely understand how she feels. But we ended up teaching a woman in the park about the restauracion and I was amazed how much I could actually say. I have SO much to learn. But I can see myself improving. 

So we spent a lot of time with our recent converts this week. We had dinner with Ema and Jordan Saturday night. They complimented me on my Spanish and said they can really see an improvement. That made me feel really good :) Ema studied in Italy for 3 years and knows Italian. So she told me that she understands how I feel trying to learn a new language. This week I feel like I really started to bond with our converts and investigators. haha its probably because I am starting to understand them. But now the work is easier when I have love for the people I am teaching. That is what has been my goal. I can't always speak, but I can love. My patriarchal blessing talks about me being a person who has the love of Christ. I am really trying to work on this and I have felt the help of the Lord. 

Also the little kids in our barrio love me. Probably because I am gringo as gringo can be, haha but I've made friends with the primary. They are also easier to understand and like to help me try to roll my Rs. Which I still can't do, but it is coming. 

So right now we are teaching a girl named S. She is 15 years old. She really wants to be baptized, but her mom is hesitant to give her permission. So would you guys pray for S and that her mom may be touched by the Spirit to let her daughter be baptized?

We have cambios today but we dont find out until later. However, I have the feeling I have one more cambio with Hna Guzman. Our district Leader, Elder Segura goes home tomorrow so this morning we had breakfast with the missionary couple in our area and all the missionaries in our zone. We had pancakes and scrambled eggs and all us gringos were in heaven. I have really bonded with my zone and it will be sad to have cambios this week. But I know President Erickson knows exactly where we need to be. Elder Segura shared a scritpure in Mosiah 28. The first few verses are about the sons of Mosiah and how they have a desire to serve. Verse three talks about how their hearts would ache if they couldn't have the opportunity to help souls come unto Christ. It was really cool to see how elder Segura has developed this same want on the mission. As missionaries we have the opportunity to be representatives of Jesus Christ. I'm trying not to waste a single day of the mission and take full advantage of the chance I have been given to help the people here in Lima Norte. 

Mom I promise I am taking care of myself :) and yes I am excited for the cooler weather. I will be honest I miss my sweaters. If you haven't sent another package yet could you send me one of mine? Just to have a little bit of home with me :) also possibly some scarves. I miss those as well. 

I love you all so much and can't thank you enough for you love and support. I am blessed with the best. 

Hna Vernon 

Selfie in apartment

Heather's feet! Is it a tan or dirt? Maybe a little of both.