The Importance of Charity

where did february go??!! it's crazy to think that as of yesterday, february 28th, i've completed 7 months in the mission field!! this has definitely been the fastest month of my mission, so far, and quite possibly of my life.

  me, the peruvian flag, and the amazon river
...this picture says it all! :)

i'm flyyying! (titanic)

this week for p-day, we went to a boat museum!! literally, the museum IS a boat that was used during the amazonian rubber boom in 1906. it was super cool to read about the history of iquitos on papers that were tacked up on the walls of the boat. i wish i had read up more on iquitos before coming!! it made me feel more connected to this little place. admission to the museum was five soles (and totally worth it). also, i got to see the amazon river for the first time! what more could a 19-year-old girl want?! :)

 my girls

 (count on hermana wood to ruin the cute pic)

 what's up?

an amazon river boat from 1906

in other news, i found a scripture this week (alma 8:22) that describes our pensionista situation perfectly. i'm pretty sure they were writing about us when they said "and it came to pass that [hermana wood and hermana arteaga] ate bread and were filled; and they blessed [andra] and her house, and they gave thanks unto God." attitude of gratitude, people!!!

for the beauty of the amazon

so, one of our two investigators, katy, has moved. *tears* but, we passed the referral along to another set of hermanas, and they're going to take care of her for us!! hopefully she can keep progressing, because she really wants to get baptized!! in the meantime, that leaves my comp and i with even fewer investigators - just one, to be exact. and, diomedes (we found out when he called us at 2:30am) has a drinking problem, so we'll be having a little chat about the word of wisdom this week. staying positive, though, because there's a lot of potential in this area!!

my comp and i, the elders (zone leaders),

and our ward mission leader, leo

last night, hermana arteaga really opened up to me. she is struggling with a lot in her life right now, but you'd never even suspect it, because she's always SO positive. literally, she is constantly joking and laughing. when she confided in me last night, it made me realize the importance of loving our companions. i wish i had served her more than i have, because she needed it so badly!! i've always done nice things for her, but she was reeeally struggling. i told her i loved her so much and shared a scripture with her (like the cheesy missionary i am) and told her god's plan is PERFECT - even though it's frustrating sometimes. moral of the story: it's easy to love the members, and you'll come to love your investigators, but loving your companion takes concentrated effort. so, here's a challenge to all of my missionary people all over the world: get to know your companion, let yourself get close to her/him, and SERVE her/him every day!! in other words, develop charity!

GUESS WHO GOT A NEW FAN

basically, being a missionary shows you every single flaw you have - but, it also shows you exactly how to overcome them. i can't put into words all the things i've learned here - the importance of charity, how to forgive, the meaning of repentance, not to mention gaining an appreciation of how the atonement is incomprehensible in its scope yet applicable in our lives every single day! i could go on and on listing the things i've learned, so far. i love my savior, i love being here, and i love all of you!!

hermana wood

More from this week's message to Hermana Wood's dad:
this week has been super inspirational, as usual!! i swear i learn a million new things in every single personal study session. it's so incredible (the gospel). :) m. russell ballard says that once the spirit of christ enters our hearts, we will never be the same. so true! i feel like a completely changed person, and i know i will never be the same!! i'm pretty sure you won't recognize me when i come home!! haha, well maybe, but i feel really different. the gospel is perfect and pure and can change us completely!! recently, the fact that i'm going to live forever with god and have eternal life (if i'm righteous mwaha) has become very real. it gives me so much hope!! like it makes me feel giddy! sometimes i feel like a little kid thinking about it, haha. god and jesus are so real and the spirit can speak to us and give us their words, and basically the church is true and god has a plan for us. :) haha, i think i just gave you an overview of the first three missionary discussions...but, that's how my brain works now. ha, love you, daddy!!

More from this week's message to Hermana Wood's mom:
so, our chapel has a super old piano (the one i mentioned a couple of months ago) and an electronic one with no pedals (that's basically worthless, haha). but every sunday, we go to a different ward to help visit less actives, and we always have to wait forever, so this week i brought the marshall mcdonald book bill sent me and PLAYED PIANO for the first time in over two months! it was INCREDIBLE - i could've stayed there for hours!! the whole time i was playing, i had ants crawling on my feet and biting me, and the keys made my fingers black with dust - but, i was playing and didn't care. life is good. :) love you, mommy!!