Stirring up trouble 10-13-14

#bestweekofthemission!

...#sofar

AH I wish I could tell you all of the downright unbelievable things that have happened in these past six days! Maybe I'll try to sum it all up quickly.

Monday we found out that Hermana Kim was leaving, so we had a little farewell Family Home Evening for her with some of the members in the nighttime. I was pretty darn sad because I love her SO much but I knew that she would go on to do bigger and better things. :)

And I was right! Tuesday was transfers and Hermana Kim was called to train a gringa! Yay! And my good pal Elder Larsen, as I predicted some good time ago, was called to be the new Assistant. And I was called to stay here in San Diego and tear it up with my new companion Hermana Paredes! She is from Cochabamba, Bolivia, has 3 transfers in the field and is the daughter of Hermana Aliaga, one of the sister trainers. Let me just tell ya...

She is powerful.

I feel like she is retraining me and it's the BEST! Hahaha I probably seem like such an underachiever in my letters. I am at least near average, thank you very much.

Anyway, so we got home and got to finding and teaching. We have found new investigators every day and our total for this week was 16. It seemed like families were just appearing out of nowhere! We left the established goal of 10 daily contacts in the dust and I realized that when we pray with faith and act according to the guidance we receive, the Lord truly does put many people in our path who He has prepared to receive the gospel. He puts them there because He knows that we will listen when He tells us to talk to them. And then we do and He puts more right around the corner! So sometimes it took us like 10 minutes just to walk a 100-yard stretch to get to an appointment.

Then we had a stake conference (STILL haven't seen General Conference but it's a-comin' this weekend for us!) and it was so incredibly inspiring! We have some seriously amazing members and leaders in our stake. My companion and I both received a lot of personal revelation and revelation for our area and it helped us to work even harder.

I have not felt such exhaustion in a very, very long time. My feet have probably never ached so ardently, and I have likely never felt such strange random pains before. From time to time I realize that I am dying of hunger because we're working so hard I literally forget to eat! But 

I 

AM
SO 

HAPPY!

I told Hermana Paredes our first day together that she is going to kill me. She laughed and said "Okay, great! I'm so excited!" I was referring to ending my mission...but I think she had a little something else in mind.

She's already become such a close friend as well. How blessed I have been! They say your missionary companions prepare you for your spouse...I think my husband might be schizophrenic. I have had quite a variety of companions. But all in all, I'm going to be one lucky girl.

#stillnottrunkypromise

Well...I'm going to leave it at that because I need to go save the world! I love you all so much! Read the words of Nephi!

Hermana Hewitt

Few are chosen 10-6-14

Yesterday was a day without the sacrament! Ah qué dolor! I still love my darling Perú. I just fail to understand why the entire country has to break the Sabbath. And what's more is that we weren't allowed to watch General Conference. Furthermore, our stake decided to have Stake Conference next week and so we still won't see it! Anyway. I'm not going to talk about it. Just pray that little hermana Hewitt doesn't lose her marbles. :)

During my entire mission I have not had the opportunity to share a district with an elder or sister who was in the last transfer of his or her mission. A zone, yes, but a district, no. Until this transfer! Elder Payne finished his mission training and in such a short time we got to learn so much from his incredible example. He is a teacher and a humble, righteous person and seeing him leave has made me contemplate the changes that a well-served, consecrated mission has on a young person.

Elder Gillies' first baptism and Elder Payne's last. IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL.

My mom and I have always been real connected. It's kinda weird. (Love you Mom.) I read today an email that she had written earlier, reminding me to read D&C 121:34-46 and lo and behold, that was the focus of one of my personal studies last week! My companion and I discussed the difference between being "called" and being "chosen," and we talked about how to BE one of the chosen. I would strongly advise you to read those verses. 

And then, as I said my prayers last night after a somewhat difficult day (LOTS of contacting and very little teaching), I felt the clear impression to open up my Book of Mormon to Alma. I read Alma 41 and was surprised that I had never noticed so many important principles there. This morning I read Alma 41 again, and again, and again...and again. Each time I read through the chapter I wrote down impressions that came to my mind and principles taught. There were many, but I just want to share one that is directly related to the passage in Doctrine and Covenants 121.

As children of God who chose to follow His plan and come to the earth to live, we made a righteous decision. When we chose to be baptized, we made a righteous decision. When we choose to enter the temple, to serve a mission, to be married and sealed together as families, we make righteous decisions. We have desires to work with God, and thus we are called (D&C 4). But those who are CHOSEN are those who CHOOSE to make righteous decisions every single day - in every situation, in every relationship, in every thought. We were created to act and not be acted upon, which I think I have mentioned previously.

There are relatively few individuals in this world who will choose to follow the Savior every single time they are called to do so. There are relatively few who will choose to have faith in Him, to repent, to be baptized, to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and stay true to those covenants and principles for the rest of their lives. They are those who endure to the end and do it well. They are the chosen.

Elder Payne was one of those missionaries who endured to the end of his mission and did it really, really well. Every missionary who receives the call has the opportunity to decide if they will be one of the chosen. Likewise, every child of God who comes to this earth to be tested has the exact same decision to make.

Will you choose to be one of the chosen?

Your choice. :)

Hermana Hewitt

 Best friends! P.S. I cut myself some bangs. They don't always look that bad.

Working Happy 9-29-14 (pics at the end)

First off, I should probably apologize for not explaining last week that the picture was of me and a recent convert, Carmen. She is the best convert I have ever seen!

We are STILL struggling to get people to come to church. I have honestly never dealt with such difficulty in this key indicator in my whole mission! It's unbelievable! But I have scouted out ideas from smart friends and we have new plans to make it happen. The only sad part is that because of voting, there is no church this week in Perú! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!! We can't see General Conference yet! Well maybe. We're still checking on that.

Sometimes I write little "To-Do" notes for myself when I am a mother, based on things I see here in Perú. One I wrote with a star by it the other day: "Do not allow your kids to be YouTube video addicts." Enough said.

So Presidente challenged the whole mission to come up with ten new finding techniques each week. My comp and I had been thinking of a few different ones before, but hadn't really broken out of the routine of street contacting and knocking doors and asking for references. But we decided to follow the voice of our noble leader and spent some extra time thinking of ten techniques. We talked about it in district meeting as well and decided to start doing weekly district activities to find. So this week we sang hymns in the San Diego outdoor market. It was an interesting experience...Elder Payne was teaching us deep doctrine between each hymn and my lungs were on fire, but we made it.

The best part is that we got some references from that activity! We went and were able to find one of them last night. His name is Felix and he was at first a little confused as to why Elder McAllister wasn't at his door (he was the one who contacted him) but he listened to us and I was surprised at how quickly he absorbed our words. Because his family wasn't there we couldn't go in and have a full lesson, but we set up another appointment. We were about to leave and I felt so strongly that I should give him a Book of Mormon, so I pulled one out of my bag and put a bookmark in 2 Nephi 31. We explained to him the purpose of the Book of Mormon and invited him to read and he just held it in his hands and grinned, nodding his head and telling us that he was going to start reading right away. 

President's the best. He knows everything. I will say it again and again.

Hahaha we went to buy bread the other day at the panadería by our house and the lady gave us an extra piece because apparently we're the "regulars." AWE MAN WE ARE WHAAAAAALES

In other news, we contacted a woman and set up a return appointment for Saturday in the morning. When we got to her house we heard "Rolling in the Deep" playing...but it was not Adele singing. It was karaoke! At 11 in the morning! We hesitantly rang the doorbell and the music continued without vocals. Then the volume was turned down. About a minute later, the same woman opened the door in her pajamas. She immediately apologized and said she was unbelievably occupied with homework and paperwork that she needed to finish right away, but that we could maybe come back later.

Look, I know I'm smiling, but that doesn't mean I believe you.

We just left giggling and hoping she gets all her paperwork done in time.

Ah so many funny things happened this week. I'll just send some pictures. But a couple good quotes:

"You have the gap of the river of Moses between you!" - Elder Gillies, telling Elder Payne to move just a tad closer to take the stinking photo. (He hasn't read the Bible in a few years.)

"I just want to hit all the little kids." - Hermana Kim, a little frustrated that we had been walking for a while and there were only the neighborhood niños playing in the street.

"Hermana Hewitt, translate 'Chupacabra.' "

 - "...suck goat?"

"GOAT SUCKER!" - Elder Payne, explaining to us the legend of the vampire-ish monster Chupacabra

"If I squint REALLY hard...and I cover my right eye...and with a LITTLE BIT of alcohol..." - Elder McAllister, describing how I might be able to find a woman who looks somewhat like my mom in the congregation of our ward.

I hope these things aren't offensive. They are extremely humorous to us missionaries. I have felt pain from laughing so hard this week. Things are good and they will be great!

I love you!

Hermana Hewitt

Photos: 

1. Hermana Kim fell asleep saying her prayers after personal study.

2. And I spent the remainder of our lunch hour...TRYING to study…

3. Here's our district/ward missionary force - our last Sunday together before Elder Payne goes home and transfers come around next week!

4. We bought shirts that say Shut The Front Door. And my companion keeps kissing me with a fish.)

Don't ask me!  I have no idea what it means either! :-)

Hot ice cream 9-22-14

Well, here we are in the end of September and it's STILL FREEZING COLD. Just imagine. I am going to go from blistering, sweltering, suffocating heat to winter in Logan, UT in December. It will be so welcome. If I could tan, I would come back like a California Girl. I am just going to get there in the darkness of winter with a face riddled with freckles. Thanks, Perú.

Anyway, I tried to convince Hermana Kim to buy ice cream with me the other day and she just looked at me as if I were one of the crazy people we taught this week. I suggested hot ice cream and she just shook her head and walked away.

Hermana Kim y Hermana Hewitt

In total we taught about 13 new investigators this week, though we could only count ten because at least three were just a little off their rockers. Or a lot. Well, one sister was listening semi-intently as we taught her about the Restoration and when I asked her a question to help her focus she started yelling about how in one ear she was hearing the word of God and in the other ear she was listening to Satan trapping the hearts of her neighbors (they were playing loud salsa music). She then firmly told us that what we were saying was all well and good, but she simply did not wish to repent at this time. Maybe later, she mused. Well...alright.

Another gentleman was sitting outside his house with his wolf and when I contacted him he said we could come back later after the game was over. So we returned with a sister from the ward. When he opened the door she looked at me like WHAT HAVE YOU DONE! We took a seat and he remained standing behind his chair. He told us he didn't have shoes on...so we said we could wait. When he came and we said the prayer, we began to teach and very quickly he began to discuss the two World Wars and the influence of China and gypsies and economic theory. We tried to bring the subject back into play and he grumbled about how he would be able to explain this to a man, but yeah well we're just a couple women.

The moment I mentioned the word "prophet" he perked up and said, "THAT'S IT! Prophets are basically like gypsies! You DO know what I'm talking about!"

It all went downhill from there. Anyway. We didn't count him as a nuevo investigador.

However! We did find a wonderful new family! It was so beautiful. Here's what I wrote to Presidente. A while back we contacted a family as we were searching for a dirección desconocida. We tried to set up several appointments but all of them fell through until finally we were able to visit the mom and two of her three kids on Tuesday. When they invited us in, we found out that the night before, exactly the night that the dad had gone far away to work, their car had been stolen and they were being ransomed for 3,000 soles. They were all really sad and worried and scared. We taught them a little bit about the priesthood and how it had been restored, and the elders came and gave the mom and her son a blessing. Instantly they were calmer. We set up another appointment but knew that we shouldn't teach them without their dad. His work schedule has him at home for only one week before leaving for a month or two. Well, the next appointment fell through, but we decided to stop by yesterday night to see how they were doing. Without hesitation they invited us in and there was the dad! WHAT!!! He had come back for the car incident. And guess what? They had gotten the car back without any troubles. So we taught them the Restoration and all 5 members of the family accepted to be baptized! The dad left this morning for Huancayo again but we are finding a meetinghouse in his area and he is excited to read in the Book of Mormon and pray and hear from the missionaries there!

So they're awesome. And we're just loving life here in San Diego Dos. Also we had a work visit with Hermana Aliaga and I didn't almost kill her like all the rest. Success! 

ALSO one of the members bought us ROOTBEER and it was a good day.

Quote of the Week:

"Ah I hate Lord of the Rings! It's so booooring. Like when that one guy gets there...Randall? Grandalf? I don't know. That bearded guy. It's just so dumb." - Cinthia, a very opinionated ward member who accompanied us

Well...make good choices. Say sincere prayers. Serve and love one another. LIKE I LOVE YOU.

Hermana Hewitt

"If it's not fun, it's not the Gospel!" 9-15-14

President Archibald is a GENIUS! That was the line of his letter to us this week. Goodness, he is so great. I love President and Sister Archibald!

We really did have a lot of fun this week. Hermana Kim and I decided to make a new commandment for ourselves: Thou shalt not enter thy house in the nighttime without having contacted ten people. So we contacted up a storm and have started already to see the fruits of our labor! In the five days since we set that rule we've made 56 contacts. Not all accept, of course, and that's a whole different story, but there are a lot of possibilities here. There are a lot of prepared families!

I think the biggest struggle with investigators in this area is keeping their commitments. We have taught some seriously hardcore lessons in which the Spirit was so strong, using the scriptures and examples and parables and relating the commitments specifically to the investigator. You know, we teach people, not lessons. But then they don't show up to church, or we go back and find out they didn't read or pray after we left! So that's pretty frustrating. Therefore we are working on finding new ways to teach and invite and verify commitments. Will you pray for us to receive inspiration on that?

I'm really grateful for priesthood power. A ward member came with us to visit a less active sister on Tuesday and her aunt, who she was very close to, had just passed away. He instantly offered to give her a blessing and it was beautiful! Men, always be worthy, ready, and willing to use your priesthood authority to bless God's children.

We talked about why we should never go swimming as missionaries. D&C 61:14.

 14 Behold, I, the Lord, in the beginning blessed the waters; but in the last days, by the mouth of my servant John, I cursed the waters.

Also, a recently reactivated sister who accompanied us on Thursday taught us some phrases in Quechua. 

MANANKANCHO: There's nobody here.

HAKU RIPUNA: Let's go!

IMAYNAN KASIANKI: Hello. How are you?

PANKANKI: Who are you?

Ah también. Hermana Kim asked me to cut her hair this week, so I did. It's pretty darn cute. I was living vicariously through her as I cut it short (missing my short short hair but accepting the fact that I would probably receive hate mail in Spanish if I did that here), and if she hadn't started to throw a fit I would have cut it shorter. Anyway, we were eating lunch later on and she just couldn't get the length of her hair out of her head. She sometimes calls me Hermana Hedwig...I don't really know why that started...but she stopped to look up from our game of Uno and simply said, "What a shame, Hedwig. What a shame."

She loves me.

On Friday we were knocking doors in the morning and as we passed a certain house, she began to explain to me in English, "In this house lives a señor..." I gave her the word in English. "Gentleman." She smiled and said, "Sí. A gentle señor."

Also we sang some good old My Chemical Romance walking to an appointment in the afternoon. Hermana Kim got really into it and started whisper-yelling, "WHEN I WAS A YOUNG BOY MY FATHER TOOK ME INTO THE CITY TO SEE A MARCHING BAND..."

We ate some delicious soup with weird meat in it. She asked what it was and I said I thought it was the fat. She grimaced and said, "Of what, MONSTER?"

Also, we contacted a man while we were standing waiting to make copies in a corner store. He was really nice! He asked where we were from and I said I was from Cajamarca, a part of Perú where a lot of gringos live. He didn't believe me and I told him the truth. We invited him to church and he said, "Look, I would love to, but I would just go and debate with all of your doctrines." I asked him what doctrines and he started to tell us that we didn't believe in Jesus Christ and God having the same purpose. I explained very simply the Godhead and he was like...Oh! Alright! Great! And without too much hesitation he made another joke about Cajamarca and slowly walked away laughing. We discussed later the how clear it was that the Spirit had testified to him of the truth of what we said and he was kinda stunned. Never forget your testimony!

Also, yesterday was real trunky in church. Everything was about eternal marriage and the family. I took notes and cried. It was just so darn sweet. NONETHELESS. I'm going to come home and hash out that epic feat of finding my exaltation in just a little less than FOUR months, and UNTIL then, I am STILL CONTACTING FAMILIES so that they can figure out theirs.

I am really happy.

One more thing! We started out our district P-day early today and spent three hours hiking around in the clouds. I'll send some pictures. It was the adventure of a lifetime. HARD because we got lost and the hills here are extraordinarily steep and lacking in trails, but so much fun! Our district is very close and I feel so blessed.

 The journey up Ensenada Mountain begins.

 Feeling pretty accomplished!

 Our district (minus Hermana Kim...she was taking the picture. There weren't exactly a ton of other people up there)

My attitude about weekly planning

The sun came out for the first morning in months this week! Then it went back into hiding.

I love you all! Make good choices!

Hermana Hewitt

*Pictures "We don't take no for an answer" 9-8-14

Happy P-day everybody!

I found my Doppelgänger on a wall this week…

doppelgänger |ˈdäpəlˌgaNGər| nounan apparition or double of a living person

This week we were in search of revelation. When I arrived at my new area I found that there were no progressing investigators; in fact, our area had not seen investigators in sacrament meeting for weeks! Having left Pro with several progressing, I was excited to get some new life in San Diego.

Welcome to San Diego (I don't know why this is written in English)

Then we both almost died of a stomach infection. So we went out and worked and drank a LOT of Bismutol and (hahaha did I mention that Hermana Kim thinks Limp Bizkit is Limp Bisquick?) used some of Granny Mary's magical essential oils to help out with the headaches and found some new investigators. 

Hermana Kim and I are CONSTANTLY laughing!

And also we almost got robbed by a couple lost sheep (I had originally typed in creepers...just so you all know. I am working on my charity. I was once taught that there is indeed a white-out/delete key for life, and that is repentance.) when we were contacting in exactly the area the Lord had directed us to. 

Guess what that means?

There MUST be families there! 

2 Nephi 2:11. For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things.

Therefore, I decided that it was better to be obedient to God than Satan and we marched back into that place with three YSA members of the ward (all of which are preparing to serve missions, two of which are tall and somewhat intimidating if you ignore the glasses and the conservative ties) and an army of angels. We taught a bunch of people and indeed found more families to teach this week! 

One of my favorite finding ideas is to offer help with English homework. We have tried to teach English classes but sometimes they just end up being ward activities or utter failures. However, almost every Peruvian child has to take some sort of English course in elementary school. 

So we had gone out with a member and she mentioned some old investigators who had gone to church but hadn't been visited in awhile. We knocked their door and the mom came out. She was so sweet! But she didn't have a lot of time and her angry mother-in-law was there and she didn't want troubles. We talked to her for a minute in the doorway, made an appointment, and were about to leave when she asked if I could help her little son with a project. So we entered their house and they presented us with a play farm. She handed me a sheet of paper with a few sentences about "the chicken" scribbled on it. Our new little friend needed to practice his pronunciation so he could present the chicken. Here are the sentences:

"The chicken is yellow."

"The chicken is beautiful."

"The chicken is delicious."

"The chicken drinks water."

"The chicken plays with me."

Look, I don't know what they are trying to teach these kids. Are chickens friends, or food? Or both? Does that mean we should eat our friends? My awful companion started to crack jokes all the time! I found a post-it note in my agenda from Wednesday that says: "Felices 14 meses en la misión. The chicken is yellow, drinks water, and is freaking delicious if it's roasted! #joytotheworld"

That's why we are best friends.

These are cookies from the chicken project. Mine was missing an eye. They were delicious, just like the chicken.

Also, we had some less-than-favorable experiences that left us giggling. Lots of people who just don't need us (see Alma 5:51). 

 51 And also the Spirit saith unto me, yea, crieth unto me with a mighty voice, saying: Go forth and say unto this people—Repent, for except ye repent ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of heaven.

And a whole lot who personified 2 Nephi 29:3.

 3 And because my words shall hiss forth—many of the Gentiles shall say: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible.

I LOVE THE BOOK OF MORMON.

I also really love being a missionary. I cried on that 14-month mark because I realized how much I don't ever want to leave Perú. I'm going to be trunky for the mission when I get home. 

Last day with Hermana do Santos

But don't worry! The Lord has His due time for everything and I will cheerfully accept His will, even when it means I have to return to the real world. And I will give you all a big abrazo. :) 

I love you!

Hermana Hewitt

Quote of the Week goes to a short conversation between Elder McAllister, Elder Payne, and I:

E. McAllister: "So Elder Payne, did you play sports in high school?"

E. Payne: "I played 2 years of football...and soccer...they cut me from the basketball team. I was too slow."

Hna Hewitt: "What?! But you played soccer!"

E. Payne: (awkward silence) "I was the goalie."

Oh…

We had a conference with Bishop Davies and I was reunited with my favorite Australian New Zealander, Hermana Hooper. Elder Urmston decided to adorn our photo.

Welcome to San Diego! 9-1-14… pics

Well everybody, President finally got fed up with me and decided to send me away to San Diego. Not even home to Logan...just to San Diego.

aren'tyougladit'snotalcatraz?

My favorite thing ever is to show people the photo I have in my scriptures of the San Diego temple and say LOOK! This is where I'm going to get married! In San Diego!

And then they start racking their brains to remember where in this Lima suburb they have seen such a building.

Yeah so San Diego is part of the Zona Prolima. Literally next door neighbors with Los Olivos. Also literally the LAST ZONE I EVER WANTED TO GO TO. I have made jokes about it my entire mission. "Hehehe just as long as they don't send me to Prolima!"

So everybody got a real good laugh when my picture showed up there in transfers. Good stuff. 

My companion is a riot! Hermana Kim. My second companion from México! But she's from Merida, which is in the south. She said it's by Cancun... pretty sure we are going to have a companionship reunion at HER house.

HOLY COW our zone leader just said we only have ten minutes...sohohooo I will tell you all the details later. Ah man I am frustrated now! It's alright.

Anyway so we have EIGHT missionaries in our ward! Our zone leaders (Elder McAllister and Elder Quenta), our district leader (Elder Hernandez and his comp, Elder Poma), us two sisters, and Elder Payne, who is training Elder Gillies (AKA the guy who sings "Joy of Life" from the 2013 EFY album. He is so funny. Still working on the whole missionary distance thing, but he'll get there). There are 5 brand spanking new missionaries in our zone! And there is not a single missionary in my zone with whom I have shared a zone during my whole mission. So I have felt a little homesick from time to time, but then again I am so excited to have all these new friends!

Los Olivos District - the "old crew" before transfer

Alright so Hermana Kim speaks pretty good English, and she also likes to hashtag everything. Here are our hashtags of the week:

#jewifiable (Malea Moody will know why this is funny...)

#gringa (a taxi drove by and simply said "gringa" into his speakerphone)

#fatricia (to keep us from eating too much)

#storytime (companionship inventory)

#corazonserrano (the most popular and annoying musical artist in Perú)

Also, we had the worst night ever on Saturday. There was a crazy dance party going on ACROSS THE STREET from ONE in the morning to EIGHT in the morning. We slept very little. And the three times I did fall asleep, I had nightmares about Hannibal Lecter. Also we both got food poisoning. So that's fun.

Also, Hermana Do Santos is now senior companion in Pro! YAY.

I wish I had more time to write but unfortunately it escapes me. I love you all! I'll update you more and send the tons of photos I had prepared next week!

Street painting that "showed up overnight"

Hermana Hewitt