Muchas Buenas Dias Hermanos y Hermanas

Week 22

November 11, 2013

Hey Guys!

Hope you guys are doing great! This week was good. Remember the Rodriguez Family (they have a son with tonnns of questions?)? Well we have been teaching them for a while now, and this Sunday the whole family came to church together! That was awesome. We had a really great lesson on the law of chastity the other day. The dad had some doubts, and it was an intense lesson, but we followed the Spirit and it turned out really well. They actually already have their paperwork taken out to prepare to be married. They still have some challenges ahead but they are a wonderful family. Also the other day Hna. Rodriguez told us (in respect to the Book of Mormon) simply: It´s true. Oh she is so awesome. I´m excited for them and that they are making progress in growing in closer harmony to Christ and His teachings. His gospel really does make families happy. I promise.

And If you don´t believe me, try it!

This week we were walking on the side of the road. On one side of us was the road and on the other was this ditch-canal thing. We were walking along as a motorcycle came along towards us. He yelled something in Quechua that I´m guessing was something not very nice and then swerved toward us to run us off the road. It was kind of scary. He literally was going to hit us and we had to choose between the motorcycle and the ditch. I know Heavenly Father helped us to get out of the way really fast because in hindsight it was close. We chose the ditch. Luckily dad gave me long legs and I could straddle the canal. My little companion was less lucky and fell in and got a little wet, but we didn´t get hurt. From this experience I´m glad that the Lord protects us,
that I have long legs, and that people don´t usually try to hurt me because I´m Mormon. So that´s the adventure part of this week.

I love you guys so much it´s crazy! Have a great week! 

Love, Hermana Beckstead

The Picture: Pday Shennanigans

The week where my missionary plaque fell off right as I was standing over the canal

Week 21

November 4, 2013

Hey Guys!

Well, this week Ollanta was kind of crazy. Ollanta had their birthday on Tuesday, and celebrated for three days with really loud music and everyone dancing and not keeping the word of wisdom in the square. Then Wednesday was Halloween, which the kids actually dress up for and went to some of the stores for free candy. Then Thursday and Friday were dia de los santos and dia de los muertos. And everyone went to the cemetery. So this week was interesting trying to find our investigators at home. But here´s a good experience for you.

We are teaching a woman named Marilin. She and the father of her kids live together but aren't married and he is studying to become a Catholic priest. Needless to say, he was not very interested in our message or talking to us or anything, but we had prayed that he would listen to us so we could teach them both together. Well, he did. And not only did he listen but he was actually more accepting and receptive to the message than his girlfriend! He had changed so much that it could only have been a miracle of the Lord. The Lord is powerful and does miracles when we can put just an itsy bitsy bit of faith in Him.

So that´s the miracle of the week. I love you guys and hope this week is awesome!

Oh yeah, and yes, my missionary tag did fall off into a canal and got swept away to  who knows where. But I had an extra so it´s okay. But I still don´t want to make a habit of losing important things in water- missionary tag, glasses, etc. 

Lots of Love!

Hermana Beckstead

Hey Mom, Wanna Peruvian son-in-law?

Week 20

October 28, 2013

It´s the rainy season! This week we were just walking and out of now where came the loudest thunder I have ever heard in my life. It surprised me so bad. I´m an amateur when it comes to the rain!

Good news! we found out that the scorpions are a part of the scorpion family, but don´t actually have venom!  However, a few days after this happy news, my companion found a baby tarantula in the sink. NO! But it´s okay. The Lord protects us. See Luke 10:19

Remember Eulogia? The woman we met by coincidence (doesn't exist in the mission) who had a child who recently joined the church? Yeah, well she didn't investigate the church for very long because she doesn't have time, yeah yeah yeah. So why did we meet? Well, maybe it is because she has a teenage daughter that lives here and is interested in our message. We met Jimena one day when she was with her sister (a member of the church) selling maz amora (the best Peruvian snack ever). Well she has a lot of desires to learn and asks questions. So we´ve been working with her and had plans to visit her Saturday because that´s when her mom said she would be getting back from out of town. On Thursday I was on splits with one of the sister training leaders and we were in the neighborhood. For some reason I felt to go visit Eulogia, even though we weren't really teaching her anymore. We stopped by and found Jimena! She was home! We had a good lesson and learned she was actually going to leave town then and coming back Sunday morning. If we had ignored the feeling we would have come back Saturday and missed her. I´m grateful that the Spirit guides us in this work so we find the people we need to and don´t miss out on these great opportunities to share the gospel with people!

However, our mission right now is really focusing in on rescuing the members of the church that don´t attend. The attendance rate of members is pretty dismal. We were visiting one such member the other day. Visiting this hermana is always an adventure it seems. We were talking just normal and all of the sudden she pulls me into this hug (well, headlock) and holds me there and offers me her son as a husband. She tries sweetening the deal and tells me (all while holding me in a headlock) that she would wash my clothes, brush my hair, and ¨oh, what I would'´t do for you!¨ Well, never having to wash my clothes or brush my own hair ever again sounds like a pretty sweet deal. But I´ll have to pass. I´ve got work to do!

Well hope you all had a swell week. Love you a ton! Happy Halloween!

Love, 

Hermana Beckstead

Move That Bus!

Week 19

October 21, 2013

This week President Harbertson came to visit. We are hopefully about 2 or 3 months away from Ollanta getting their own casa capilla! A casa capilla means we can have church services here; it will just be in a rented room or in a home. So exciting!

Yesterday we were visiting a family and my companion asked them very frankly the reason why they weren't at church yesterday. The sister told us that they didn't have enough money. For their whole family to attend church it would be about 20 soles. After the visit my companion and I were talking about if there could be some help available to them. Later that evening we were visiting a family who is recently coming back to church. The father drives people in a car for a living, and has been trying to buy his own car for a while. He has reached his goal, and for this blessing, he and his wife have decided that in this 12 or 15 passenger vehicle they are going to drive the members of Ollanta to church. For free. They told us to spread the word and specifically mentioned this Family we had visited earlier. Wow! This is such a blessing for the members here to not have to worry about the financial aspect of attending. We are going to pack that bus, like in Sister Silvano´s book ¨Just one More¨. Oh, I am sohohoho excited. 

This week someone here asked me if I could cut off some of my hair and leave it to remember me. I guess curly brown hair is kind of special! But yeah, don’t think I am going to do it. Kinda weird.

We have a new ward mission leader! He is quite the enthused hermanito, and I think it’s going to help us a lot to work together with the members. 

Hope you all have a great week! Love you tons!  

I’m Grande, I still believe in Miracles, and I’m a Mormon

Week 18

October 14, 2013

 My new companion is Hermana Olivares! She is 21, from Peru, a great missionary and is awesome. One thing that makes her awesome- she bought a hula hoop for exercise in the morning. This is awesome, my friends.  She has 7ish, almost 8 months in the mission, but she already is such a great missionary. I’m going to learn tons!  One thing that is fun is that she is a little short for a latina, and I’m a little tall for a gringa.  So basically, I’M  GINORMOUS! I am reminded of the time when mom referred to me as the “big one” [of her daughters.]  I am indeed the big one.  So we make a fun pair.  One awestruck child in the street remarked how I am grande and she is chicita!  It’s pretty fun. We took some pictures skipping down the street and such to help show our heights. 

 

Well. Most of our investigators right now aren't married but are living with someone. So that is our main challenge right now. It's hard to help people to get married here because the tradition is a huge fiesta and really expensive. Very few of the couples here are married  Most just live together and and have kids together but don't actually get married. Margara isn't ready for the date we had set. We have to help them understand somehow that the size of your fiesta doesn't matter to God but that you keep His commandments and don't live together before marriage. 

 It has been a blessing to continue to meet with Luz Marina to teach the recent convert lessons. She is just so cool. She comes from very humble circumstances but accepted the law of the tithe and always finds the 6 soles ( I think) for her and Rajjoo to attend church. This week they were completely out of money. She searched her house but couldn't find a single sole. Her purse didn't contain any money but she was determined to go to church. She and Rajjoo got on their knees and prayed. She decided to go borrow some money from a friend. Later they were leaving to go to church so she grabbed her purse and 7 soles fell out. She then found money in other spots where there hadn't been before. They ended up with 30 soles, I think it was. I know that the Lord literally does open up the windows of heaven and pour out blessings for keeping the law of tithing. Tithing is not so much of a sacrifice when you account for the blessings received.  God is so merciful and I’m grateful I have met Luz Marina and Rajjoo.  I have learned so much from their examples of faith and received so many blessings from their friendship than I could have expected beforehand.  It astounds me how much the Lord loves and blesses us and has prepared His children to accept the gospel. I love the Lord.

Have a great week! Love you lots!

Hermana Beckstead

Ollantaytambo, Round 3

 Week 17

October 7, 2013

Hey guess what? I'm not a baby anymore! I have finished my in-field training! Can you believe this is my third transfer in the field? Sunday I learned that I will continue to work in Ollanta. Hermana Caicedo left for Cusco this morning and my new companion is Hermana Olivares. I will meet her tomorrow and am excited to work with her. I have heard great things. She is from Peru and has about 8 months in the mission (I think, a little bit of guessing there).

Conference was AWESOME! I had been looking forward to the Conference for some time now, especially because I heard we would get to watch it in English. So when we arrived and they said no English because their TV was broken I was pretty sad. Fortunately Presidente Moises saved the day. We found another TV and I felt extremely blessed to be able to watch Conference in my own language, in Urubabma Peru. The messages were so good and inspired. I hope you were all able to listen, and if not, watch them on lds.org and read them in the Ensign next month! Also, I just have to add my testimony- that members your help seriously is vital to this work! Please invite your friends to hear the discussions, meet the missionaries, or volunteer to accompany the missionaries on a lesson if you ever have a free hour. It truly helps us more than you know!

This week Hermana Juana (pensionista, and in one of the pics) let me in on her little secret: I ate horse meat! Apparently it didn't taste weird enough when I had it for me to question what it was but the idea is a little weird. It may be a possible explanation for the fiesta but not fun kind) in my stomach not too long ago. 

We have a family! The parents aren't married and they have TONS of questions but they are cool. They are fun to teach because they are so attentive to the message. They have a 12 year old son and he is quite the pensive boy. He asked us questions like who created God and if God created other planets and stuff like that. Fun, fun, fun.

Well I hope you guys had a GREAT week! Love you lots!

Hermana Beckstead

It’s Spring in October!

Week 16

September 30, 2013

Well this week was one of those weeks where mysteriously enough it would appear that all of our investigators are working in the chakra (farmland) or are in Cusco, or whathaveyou, at the same time. All of them. Hmmm, I smell something fishy! But it’s true what they say about how we need opposition in all things. This week has helped me appreciate the weeks where we can visit the people we are teaching. So the week was kind of different, but here are some highlights and random thoughts. Also, here are some pictures from a p-day where we hiked to this waterfall and also a picture from Rajoo´s birthday. He’s 9! 

              This week my stomach was having a FIESTA. But not the fun kind of fiesta. That should be enough information about that.

                We were able to have some awesome lessons with less active members. It’s a little sad but it feels nice to find out the reasons why they are inactive. Believe it or not but it makes it so much easier to help them that way! There were two less actives from Ollantaytambo in church Sunday. Woohoo!

                 I am excited for General Conference as all get out. I’ve been looking forward to it for at least a month and it’s finally coming! Plus, I will get to watch it in English with the other gringos. We watch it at 11 and 3, so with the 1-hour difference I will be watching it at the same time as you Mountain Timers. Pretty cool.

                  No scorpions this week! This has to be a result of somebody’s prayers, so thanks guys! And the power of prayer is real! 

                This week I finally got to the try the cuy that everyone always talks about. (Cuy is guinea pig). I would say it was worth all the raving- it is pretty delicious. Bony, but delicious. 

So, yeah, sorry for the randomness and maybe slight boringness of this email, but this week hopefully we will be able to track down the people we are teaching and get back to having adventures! Love you guys a ton and hope all is well! Remember the best source of help is from above. Always look up! 

Lots of love,

Hermana Beckstead