Isabella's Letters and Photos!!!

hola familia today i have money and i have letters but the mail doesnt work again. they really know how to strike here in bolivia. so that makes me a bit said because i have something for everyone. and my card doesnt work so i had to asked borrowed and practically beg but the elder led up but then no mail service! last week was a bit hard, the sun as been blasting from 11 to about 4 during the day and i keep getting a headache during that time. then we had a new ward mission leader who didnt know anything about the baptismal font or the chruch keys and then the elders from temporal had used all the gas so the water was freezing the bishop thought this was fine and we even made the refreshments ourselves and it was hot pudding yay! ha ha our headaches just kept getting bigger and bigger and the workers who were working in the chruch that day kept usuing the womens bathroom with out closing the door of course this is very acceptable here but not to me and it just added to my headache and then i wait one hour chatting with the mom of danielita who is a less active because no one was there on time and she had to go, this is very aceptable here but not to me so it adds to my headache then ha ha i see this funny looking thing in the water in the font while our investigator is changing... yes one of the workers had spit in the water that made me furious so what did i do i smiled and picked it up and started to sing conmigo quedate señor and say danielita the water is fine honey im proud of you you chose to follow the savior today she cires and hugs me and gets in the water i then wash my hand again. and wonder like does the devil know i have a temper and is messing with me or does the lord know i have a temper and is giving me a lesson of loving whatever come my way i decided both and sang another hymn. my bishop is young and has a young family and doesnt remember what we ask of him part of me forgives him easily because i put myself in his shoes but then again i have been here one transfer and a half and i dont have a good map of my area or a ward directory so that part of me starts to see red. i said to my little hija hna mamani im sorry if im not cheery and this is your first baptism she said why was is to hard? i dont know she is so special? i didnt know what to say. and hna blackburn like i said went home i have been in the airport 4 times in less than one transfer but this one really hit me because she was going home... to my home and it made me miss the usa and all of you. this week we have a plan to make things work smoothly and im really excited. and im really excited that danielita got baptized she was so golden and another girl came to church and said just baptize me ive been to church investigating 1 year lets just do this already. thats another blessing this month. there are so many things im learning and like i always say the first convert is me. dave i think its great that you got 10 books of mormon please let me know how you shared them and janice any word on the women from the teacher convention. well love you hna florido

hermana danielita getting baptized saturday

i have letters for you but the green sign behind me says they are on strike again YAY!!!!!

if you dont have an electric heating blanket

putting my companion to work ha ha

the catholic church in cala cala is using one of our pamphlet images



when hermana blackburn went home

Yes!!! We finally heard from our beautiful girl in Bolivia!!!  I love love when they send pictures!!!  Until next week!!! ;0)

Our Legacy (Love One to Another) From Christopher

Hello!
I´m well. Don´t worry. And yes, I got my package. I really, really like my soaps and deodurdant. Thank you so much! I really feel happy here. DId I read right that you were asking us what else we wanted in packages in the future? Maybe you did. Haha. So, as far as things that I would like: more coconut oil. I loooooove the
coconut oil. I have cacao that was powdered and I´ve been eating chocolate like I used to make every day. It´s really, really wonderful.  Maybe as a birthday present, you could send a pound of cacao butter! Rico.

So, a week ago, we had 2 baptisms planned, but someone told us at the last second that they wanted to get baptized. They had a dream and knew that they needed to get baptized. The sad thing is that their family didn´t come to her baptism.

We also went to a museum of the relics of the indians in comayagua and I think there were like 3 displays of cacao. The food of the Lenkas: cacao, corn and wheat. I learned that they didn´t eat beans here until the Spanish came. Hm!

This week we didn´t have lots of lessons because we focused on the needs of others. Two days ago, for 1 hour, at 8:00 pm, we were filling up buckets of water in the rain because there is a "cuarteria" which is like small, small apartments put together, like a motel. 4 families live there. And we contacted one of them and helped them move a tv like 3 miles to this cuarteria. They were really upset honestly and the wife wanted NOTHING to do with us. The husband told us that he didn´t have anything, no work, no food, no water to drink.

So... My companion and I got water from a well that we drink from, food and everything we had. The wife was still upset. So it began to rain, and she left the room in the middle of the visit and began to fill up buckets of water. For 4 months they have not had running water and all that they have had is from the rain. So, there was this wife being really upset and throwing a fit. I told Elder Coreas that we weren´t going to leave until all of their reserves of water were full. And we filled water up from where the rain collected into a pipe until 9 at night. We were SO WET! Haha. It was the best ever.
I learned this week that we need to find those that are struggling and strugglewith them. The pioneers suffered for us and we have to learn how to suffer with others. That is our legacy.

I love you all so much.

Also, I would like money if you can, when you can. And if you´re going to send things, I would love to have a 1 pound of 2 pounds of maca. I really like eating and I almost have none. It´s not a need, but a wishlist: half a pound of pau d´arco, sarsparilla, kelp, cayenne and yeah. You can buy it all at mountainroseherbs.com and they might have a deal on shipping to Honduras also. Who knows. If you can awesome.

Thank you so much. I love you all.

francisco xiomara and angela that dont know how to smile

from the lenkas to you

rugs of minerals grains and salts that they make in comayagua

the mask of a shaman and to think that i wanted to be a shaman

 Can't you just hear Christopher laughing in that last picture above!!!  This Mom loves those dimples!!!  We haven't heard from the beautiful girl yet today.  If we get a late email I will post as soon as we get it!!!

A One Letter Monday!!!

Isabella's Letter and Pictures
chris last time a sent a card it was 6 weeks ago not 4 months love. i have somethings written and am working on a little something that im going to send all together. im sorry that you feel forgoten but you really arent ever forgoten please know that. o love you very very much. but sometimes when things dont click with your companion you do feel alone and misunderstood. this work is strage humans are strange the culture and society changes from place to place and we need to forget ourselves and read this from time to time when things dont make sense but eventually come together d&c 101 95 it cracks me up every time. and then i think thats why i was sent here it cant get any more strange. we have a baptism this week she is golden met her just a week ago but has all the attendence and all the desire to be baptised. im so excited hna blackburn is going home that makes me sad we usto chuckle at things that to bolivians seemed to normal that were so as she would say basakwards ha ha ha her knee is busted and it hurts to even lay in bed she is another one of the people ive met on my mish that im so greatful to call friend. i have to go and will write more next time i love you all take care and chris te quiero mucho! janice tell me what jared thinks of the picture and happy bithday

The closest thing she has seen to Barney since she has been there.

cuando las tres gringas tenian diareah when the 3 gringas had diahrea

grafitti thats fun

happy birthday o love you a lot!

me gustan los esqueletos aqui i like the skelotons here

mi nueva hija boliviana my new daughter whos bolivian

un pajaro hornerito a little oven bird

We have not heard from Christopher yet today.  I will post as soon as we do.  I also got to talk to Isabel last Friday!!  Great birthday present, but I only got too because she lost her credit card and debit card and we had to work things out to get her new ones!!!  Pray for a letter from Chris soon....so this mom doesn't have to walk around in crazy mode for a week!!!

In Love & Lonely in the Rain

Isabella's Letter


i dont know why but i have a special place in my heart for old people they are like wrinkly children. i love them so much and i have patience for them. my hija hna mamani is from boliva and she decided to contact a old lady in the park the other day, i had been trying to be positive even though my guts had been hurting pretty bad and things had been ¨exsplosive¨ in the bathroom. but here was this old cute lady and i could help but smile at her like i would at a baby and we sopke she said she had dreamt of christ since she was little and told me she knew all there was to know about christ becuase she saw him repeatedly in her dreams and it made me laugh inside so i said well abueliti (which is how you show love and respect for an older quechua person) if you are still here on earth there is something God wants you to learn and we are going to help you learn it. she laughs and says im too old to learn ill forget you by tomorrow! and she laughed and said besides i know christ ive seen him. i said well im looking at you and i dont know you looking is good but its not enough she said you are young but that is true, are you single? my grandchild is a devil and he needs help which made me laugh so hard... what spunk in a 85 year old grandma. i said no im not but lets take you to church on sunday and we taught her restoration and she forgot it by sunday but said she would get baptized and loves having us over she is so cute. i love her truly love her. we also have a family who said they would come to church and we didnt have to pick them up but i sat there and they ....Suprise! didnt show up by themselves so i hurried over in a taxi looked really bumped and said you promised and i sat and waited and hour for you so i brought a taxi for you lets go she was so suprised but got in with her beautiful family and went afterwards she said i loved this and this and santiago who is a little devil behaved so well she was impressed she said im coming next week for sure. i know this work isnt about numbers but when people fail in all their commitments week after week and no one is progressing and it feels like you are pulling teeth instead of spiritually feeding them you start to think that your success might come in the probablity of higher numbers until you find people again that truly want to be shown how to have a relationship with God and then you change as well and it becomes about them again. i love what dave said about tithing there are so many layers in each comandment God gives you. each experience is rich and if you savour it you will learn something new each time. Janice thanks for cancelling the card i dont know what im going to do about the mail thing they are still in strike so well see, my number is 4452008 not the one they give you in salt lake. please give the pres a call and tell him what they need of me so he can help me.
 
les quiero ciao


Christopher's letter
I honestly miss home, but I´m not home sick.  I feel far from everything sometimes.
I haven´t gotten a letter from Isabel in 4 months, but that´s okay.  I really don´t think
about it much.  I just feel like a person without relationships.  I feel very alone sometimes.
But I like I said.  I´m not home sick.   I just feel very isolated.
To talk about the many blessings that I do have here.  Every night I hear frogs that...
sing you could say.  It makes me really happy.  I´ve never, ever heard frogs sing
at night.  And as they´re singing, I can see fields of warly illuminating fire flies, like stars
in the field as the earth becomes coldy covered by the night.  I can´t tell you how
much I love fireflies.  They´re called "luciernagas". 

We´re going to have 2 baptisms this week. I´ve been able to see a lot of love in the branch,
reaching out to these to new investigators that we´ve noly know for a month one and the
other 2 weeks. It´s strange how these things happen.

I´m learning a lot about relationships with my companion.  I sometimes feel very alone
and not respected, but that´s never what he´s thinking.  So I figure that I need to simplify
my life.  Whenever life becomes complicated in whatever way, you just need to simplify
it.  Buy less, do less, think less, and just help people.  Forget yourself.
That´s what I´m doing right now: getting forgotten.

Forever forgotten,
and happy,
Elder Hill


Anyone got any ideas how I could possibly reach through the email system and hug my kid? His letter made me a little sad....hopefully tomorrow is a brighter day!

Mother's Day Phone Calls and Monday Letters and Photos!!!

Mother's Day Phone Calls
Yesterday morning very early we three way called Chris and Isabel again, just like on Christmas!!!  They sound wonderful and this time not even the least homesick.  Isabel is so ready to have a constant companion, the last couple of hers have gone home with health related issues and Chris thinks he is in Paradise.  It was fun to hear them converse, flipping back from Spanish to English and English to Spanish.  We talked about how fast time is moving for them right now as Isabel is half way done and in a couple of months Chris will be as well.  I think they both feel a little anxious about that right now.  I will ask again for everyone to pray for them...for their Safety, for their Health, for their ability to find those they were sent there to find and be able to teach them, and that they will have all the blessings our Father in Heaven sees that they need.  If nothing, these missions have taught this Mom to relinquish my kids to the Lord's hands!  At times Chris has been in some extremely unsafe situations and Isabel been very sick, but the Lord has taken care of them, he has protected and healed them.  I could not have done more or asked for more.  May the Lord keep them in the Hallow of His Hand and when the time is right bring them home safely to us and to each other. So here are the Monday Letters and Photos!!!

Isabella's Letter and Photos
hola so yesterday i spoke with my family that was great so great. it didnt make me home sick since they gave me good advice and told me to keep working only to please the lord. and even though i invited 9 families yesterday they had already said they would go and i promised them blessings and testified but when i picked them up, none came i am still okay because i pleased the lord i did all that i should have and could have and i know that even though bolivians are hard i wont be to blame. i cut my hair today. turned out okay. we had a finding activity we set a table and just started preaching and contacting and seeking the children of God it was fun rewarding and surprisingly easy i dont fear people anymore i know the gospel is true i could lay down my life for it and so when people answer the door and say no o shut the door or yell or mess with me and pretend to be possessed (because it has happened and i do have an appointment with that guy) it doesnt intimidate me at all before my mission i would be afraid but i knew i should do it anyway so i would out of diligence and obedience now i share it with love with power. the first door i knocked with my mish mom hna crossley was this biligerent old white guy who thretended to call the cops and i gulped and hna crossley said well could we help you with something and that only made him gnash his teeth more and then she comely said or do you know of anyone who would like to receive us and learn more of Christ? i was afraid but had a great example she said what a treasure but even he needs the gospel he just doesnt know it yet. now compare that with that guy who pretended to be the devil ha ha jaime is his name he said i cant hear you im the devil i said well if you are then i´ll have to beat you with this pamphlet he laughed and i was glad that he was indeed bluffing, he then said okay i´ll give you 15 min i said well hermano jaime you arent doing me a favor im doing you the favor so that you might find the path back to Christ, i think he was a bit stunned but listened and told me i could come back on saturday. my little helper karen who is only 16 and was the first in her family to be baptized was kinda afraid but super excited by the experience. karen and other young women have been taging along because i have been alone in my area but im going to have third daughter like everyone thought. hna palma my 1st and then hna martinez and i sadly dont know the name of this third little greenie. and although training is stressful at time im just glad im not going to be in a threesome YES!!!!!!! and the bishop in cala cala has been nice to me lately so thats great too. and time just flies and i get affraid for when they pull the plaque on me :( because i like this work and chris better think of ways (just as much as i am) to be able to go to many more missions. its hard but its rewarding all men need to come and all women please come there is so much work to get done in such a short time and we dont comprehend who we saw and promised we´d help here on earth to find the truth and the phone calls instead of making me home sick they made me i never want to leave this place sick ha ha i kept calling my mom hermana and my dad hermano and it was halarious because i speak like a bolivian and i wish you could all come and i think i might extend my mish one more month and then go home and then visit again bolivia, i love the stuborn little hat people too much ha ha leas amo mucho quidense Feliz dia de las madres.  also janice im very very proud of your missionary effort with that lady you met on you trip and invite the neighbor kids to a family home evening at your place:)

Activity to Find People

Same Activity

Eating at the Mission Home

Isabella's Creative Photography...if you look Close in the cement it says "Missionary Walk 2001"

Christopher's Letter\
have three minutes. I´m sorry that I´m not writing much this week.  I love you all. Please know that I love you all. So much. I really understand what Isabel said about not wanting to leave. It makes me want to be super far from you all as possible. Haha. I really like the mission. We need to be a mission based family after. Please invite at least one person to church that you all know in the week. Please. They need it and it will bless their life.  From the law of chastity to that the prophets right now are saying that you need to be debt free. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is so real. Also, give, give, give all you can to others. I love you. I know that God lives, and that this is his work.
Sincerely, Elder Hill

Short Letters and Photos!!!

Isabella's Letter
sorry i wrote a lot to my pres this week but here are some pics this week and im still with no companion for the rest of the transfer but hopefully im not training again i want work really hard no more doctors or rests or melt downs or im going to finally have a meltdown of my own ha ha and i hope the package comes soon!  chris why did you send us excersice routines? what are you trying to say ? ha ha and do you guys have the address for joeson or gina?


bueno les amo mucho perdon and i hope the trip went well i printed your email havent read it yet and i hope everyones health is good. ciao

Hmn Martinez in pink next to me went home because of medical problems

My daughter in Sucre. The president let her come say Goodbye.
  She is the one that fainted  on me. She is going back to Chile

Mural represents the voice of the people.

These are the bathrooms in the schools.
  The worst part besides squatting down  is that there is a 5 inch gap between the door and the floor.
 Any kid could peek in!

This three year old plays his charango for a living.
I gave him 3 Bolivianos to take a picture with me!

hna florido

Christopher's Letter
 
Dear mom, dad, isabel.


I think that might be alright, but President hasn´t said anything about the phone call.  Um. Also, I live in paradise, and I hope that I am here forever.  I also love this job and I love you all. And I´m so happy that you talked about the church, mom, and that you won that award. And I´m sorry, dad, that you were sad about the mustang. I love that you are practicing spanish. I have to go. I love you bye!
Sinceremente,
Chris

Until Sunday....I will post about my Mother's Day Phone Calls!!!!  :0)