Sweet Sixteen!

thanksgiving dessert

thanksgiving this year was definitely kicked up a notch from last year's "half a cooked banana!" remember that? :) our pensionista prepared a peruvian version of mashed potatoes, rolls, and a piece of chicken. actually, thanksgiving dinner was lunch, because lunch is the big meal here. but later, after dinner, we went to a cake place in our area and bought little roll cakes (that were not worth five soles, haha). we also drank apple cider that morning. :)

briggs searching for the perfect coconut

this week, when we were out looking for people to teach, we saw a cute couple walking ahead of us. we've been trying really hard to find a family to teach, so we said let's go talk to them! we started speed-walking to catch up, and (literally) right when we got there, they both hopped into a motokar and sped away. my companion and i just looked at each other, discouraged.

but, then i said "we walked over here for a reason." so, searching for it, we started walking again. we randomly approached a house, and a man saw us knocking. he made a very exasperated noise, then came out to see what we wanted. hermana briggs and i exchanged another look, feeling a little exasperated. but, we started sharing a small message about the BOM with him.

then, briggs slowly pulled a book of mormon out of her bag, glanced at me, and offered: "hermano, this book is for you. will you read it?" we almost never give away BOMs like that, because we are so far away from the mission offices that it's hard to get more once we run out (they come once a month). i nodded at her, and the guy accepted it! turns out he didn't even live in that house, so we may never see him again. as we were leaving the man, hermana briggs leaned over and whispered "that is the weirdest impression i've ever received. hopefully he reads it!!"

utah girls in the mountains once more

even though thanksgiving is over, i hope we'll all remember to be grateful!! with christmas coming up, each of us has an opportunity to "ilumina el mundo" (light the world)! let's truly CELEBRATE IT this year!! love you all!!!

our pensionista's daugher's birthday -

she loved the card we made! :)

p.s. i complete 16 months in the mission today - happy sweet sixteen to me!! i can date now, right? (haha, just kidding.)

cake on p-day

hermana wood