IN THE FIELD!

My Dearest Family! 

I seriously think I`ve had the hardest week of my life here. I miss you guys all so much and I wish I was home! Help me out by sending me some love! Not stuff about home, but about your faith in me. 

But enough about all that sad stuff (Mom, I`m sending you a seperate email about all that...) 

My last few days in the CCM flew by.... We went back to immigrations to get our visa cards and we had to take a picture! Mine turned out decent... Except for the fact it kinda looks like I have a unibrow!!! Bahahahaha... .But.. it is kinda funny! I also contacted 2 people while I was there! 1 was an inactive member from Chile and I talked to him about why he hadn`t been to church and he said he would go because I talked to him! Another was a sweet little old lady who was curious about us! Haha. Fun stuff. 

That Friday (August 21st) we had our in-field orientation! Lots of talking and sitting, but they made it really fun, which was nice for me! Ah... talking abou the CCM gives me sadness... I miss it so much!! 

My last Sunday in the CCM, I didn`t have to give a talk, so that was kinda nice! All of the avancado girls sang a song-- be still my soul-- and it was so spiritual! I miss all those girls and pray for them every night! 

We also watched The Testaments which, I THINK is the movie Keith Directed??! If it is, I was so happy! If not, I was still happy and it made me smile thinking about Kieth and Dagny and how I love them and miss them! 

We also had our singing in the hallway that night-- the Sunday before the big group goes out, we gather in the hallway and sing God Be With You Till We Meet Again. It was sad, and sweet. 

My last day in the CCM I was nervous... It was weird to say goodbye to everyone and think I wouldn`t see some of them-- like my teachers-- for probably forever.. ekk... 

The First Day in the Field... Holy Canoli... We had to wake up really early and eat breakfast (I ate next to Presidente Gonzalez--- What a sweet guy.. He has such faith in missionary work. I love it.) and then we went to the parking lot of the church next to the CCM and waited for our President! Whn Presidente Gonzalez and his wife said goodbye... I cried and Presidente Gonzalewz gave me an arm hug since I`m a missionary.. HAha.. 

Presidente Erickson and Hermana Erickson arrived and we got on a bus!! We drove maybe an hour away and then we arrived at the church building where they do all the mission stuff (apparently the mission home is super delux and a few mission presidnets live there with their families.) we had a bit of an orientation and then we ate pizza! Then... we met our companions!! My companion`s name is Hermana Lòpez! She`s 22 and from Paraguay. She has only been out on the mission for 5 months, but everyone told me she was a great missionary! I`m in the zone Canto Grande and the area Canto Rey-- perfect for a singer like me! Haha.. It is so different here!!! Our room is a one bedroom apartment with a small bathroom attached. Crazy different! When we got to our house, I unpacked for a bit, but then went out and taught! It was crazy! I have never had my cheek kissed so many times in my life or been asked to say the openening prayer so many times either! It was fun and kept my mind off of missing home and you guys. 

The next morning, we awoke and went back to the church building for some more training. President Erickson is seriously the best! He talked about how there will be so many ups and downs in the mission. That`s how God works. And he compared us to chocolate chip cookies.  Right now, we`re the dough. We have all the ingredients of a good missionary, but we have to go through the fire-over-trials of adversity to become missionaries.  We got to eat Chifa (which is what they calll chinese food down here) and I got to see all my peeps from the CCM who are in my mission as well, so that was fun! 

That everning, we did LOTS of teaching. Our mission is the highest baptizing mission out of 32 missions and we teach about an average of 35 lessons a week-- tough stuff. But good too!!! 

Thursday, we woke up SUPER early to go see ELDER BEDNAR!!! He was here in Perù and Lima Norte and Lima East Missions got to have a conference with him! When he walked in the room, I felt peace. I know he is called of God. The whole thing was so sweet and I felt the spirit so strong, I cried so many times!! So cool! When we got back from the conference, we ate my first lunch in the field-- Here, we eat lunch with the members. This first lunch, this lady gave us this yummy soup that was kinda like clam chowder.... But it had basically a whole crab in there too! Complete with claws and hair on the shell!! Linnae-- you would have died! Hahaha.. It was pretty good though! Food here is different and I`ve had a couple bowel problems, but none too bad! 

Friday we had a zone conference! My zone is so awesome! There`s a good mix between Latinos and Norte Americanos, so that`s fun! 

My district leader is named Elder Page-- He`s from Colorado and he`s seriously the best... He has helped me SO much as I`ve struggled and he``s very patient as well.. His companion is Elder Calle from Bolivia! They`re both hilarious and super nice! 

We have an investigator named Luis who struggles with Marijuana. He hasn`t had a problem for a while, and I think he has a sincere desire to change his life. One night as we were on our way home, he called us. We met him outside of his house and he told us that he was having heavy temptaions to samoke again. I told him that he should always have a prayer in his heart! I think it helped. Hermana Lopez said that it was a total change of heart for him... For the better.

Saturday was really hard for me. I was struggling with why I am here and what the heck I`m doing here. Elder Page really helped-. He came over and gave me a blessing and told me I was going to be a great missionary. Like I said, He`s the best! 

Saturday, WE ALSO HAD A BAPTISM!!! Haha. I know, it`s crazy that my first week we had one. Her name is Maria and she lives in a very humble home. Her baptism was simple and sweet and helped me to remember why I`m here-- for a moment. 

Sunday was probabaly the roughest. I missed home so much. Elder Page really helped me by letting me talk to him and tell him what was bugging me. We had ward council later and that was nice too.. My spanish is FAR from perfect, but I can see it getting better. 

Last night, we had a kind of rough lesson.  This woman has been taking the lessons--kind of... her mom is-- and she had so many questions! One of the hardest was---- Why are prophets only called in the US? I seriously had no idea and neither did my companion, but we tried our hardest and really encouraged her to look to God and the scriptures for answers

Today is P-day! we spend a lot of it with our zone, so I`m excited to see how that goes! 

That`s all I have family!! I love you guys so much. I can`t help but think of you in everything I do... Sometimes (pk, all the time) That makes it hard, but I`m trying to believe in myself. 

I pray for you. Pray for me and the language and my heart! I love you guys! 

xoxoxoxxsoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxo 

P.S. I can`t figure out how to do pictures, but I`ll try to figure it out! 

Love
Hermana Andrus