Chevere!!! (No idea how if that's how to spell it but its the Peruvian word for awesome, cool, great, etc!)

Chévere m, f (plural chéveres)

1. Cool, awesome, great (slang, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, El Salvador, Ecuador) 

Christmas was sooo good to talk to everyone. Except, I felt kind of badly that I took up most of the time talking, but thanks for listening. I miss you guys alot!! It was such a crazy feeling being the one on the other side of the screen, finally, wearing the tag and seeing all of your wonderful faces. Well, I love you all and I was so happy to see you. I am very blessed with a family who loves me so much. God is good.

Christmas dinner was papaya and yogurt. YUM. We eat that for dinner a lot. Or mango. We eat fruit a lot actually because our penchinistas husband is a fruit truck driver! It's awesome.

GUESS WHAT?? I got the package!!! THANK YOU : honestly. I love it. and you.

My comps are Hermanas Miranda Rhoten from Washington and Elizabeth Abbott from Maryland!!! The area is called Huanuco!! And you know those pics of Peruvian ladies with sticks on their backs!?! its a very real thing! its so awesome to see. I am pretty tan! But I think i am fatter, not skinnier, hahah. We eat more than you'd EVER believe- and its not all very good.... haha, but its okay, they are so generous for feeding us!

So, our area has tons of inactives (those who have been baptized but no longer come to church or participate); so we work on that A LOT! This week we contacted 52 people, which is more than usual- despite not being able to do that much work for 2 days (Christmas eve and day). We also did service for this SWEET lady in our ward (happiest Peruvian i ever saw) and she had a parrot!! It could say ‘hola’!! It was sweet.

We have one Hermana who is less active who just found out we have NO record of her in the church, so we have to re-baptize her! But she willingly accepted, so we are working with the whole family to re-activate them. They are great. The dad hasnt been to church in many years, but everyone can ALWAYS change through the atonement. It’s a beautiful thing. Wish us luck. :)

We also have our first baptism this week!!!! Please pray he sticks with it. Before we came, my companion and her old comp weren't really having success with him. And then this week we taught him 3 days in a row, he's been reading, praying, he went to church with us, and during sacrament i watched him as he quietly read the scriptures to himself. SO awesome! Then, he leaned over to me and whispered "when can I get baptized?" That was the best. We have a lot of investigators, but not many progressing. We teach a lot of people up in the ceros, which are the high, dirty, hot hills. It’s like a different world. Look up Huanuco on google. see if you can see me :)

We also contacted this man on the street and talked to him for a long time, ended up giving him the Book of Mormon, and he said he would have to pray to know it was God's words, and then he said we could come and teach him again!!! So we got his name and guess what? He is "Padre Willy" Father of the purple Catholic church. He wants us to come teach him!!! it was SO cool. He was so nice and asked so many questions. Maybe we can open his mind to more understanding :)

Well, it's great here! I really do feel like i grow and get better every day and learn sooo much. It is awesome. hey go read the talk the fourth missionary. its awesome!! I decided I REALLY don't like cold showers though... haha

 Our trio

Christmas presents from the mission! 

Okay, I love you!! send me some pics please :)

And remember: let EVERYONE know of the light in your life. (Christ)

Happy new year!!!!! 

Hermana Whitlock

Short and Sweet! We get to Skype Sooooon!!!!!!!!!!!

Madre!! I have 15 minutes to write, just to tell you I made it to Huancayo! I have a trio--- all three of us are gringos. It will be interesante. My first assigned area is Huanuco, la alemeda! We leave tomorrow morning for another 8-10 hour bus ride. The one here was actually not that bad! I felt a little sick, but it wasnt too bad! I have so much to say, but I will probably email more on pday, and I get to SKYPE you wed! 

On the ride here we saw llamas everywhere and snow on all the mountains! My area is supposed to be prettyyy hot though! Also to get to it we pass cerro de pasco which is the highest city in the world!! Its like 15,400 feet or something. I hope i don't serve there...hahah kidding, I probably am going to now. 

Today was a bit overwhelming... ALL in Espanol, all new, feeling kind of sick and pretty scared! Then, they passed out tons of letters and packages and i didn't get any...but that's okay. also, if you ever send anything again, send it to mission home with my name AND presdidents FIRST!!!! that way a representative of the church will make sure it gets here. The one you sent will probably never get here :( So can you tell Daniel that and anyone else sending letters or packets??? Presdidents name first then mine, got it? :)

So I had to say goodbye to my CCM roommates. I love them very much! 

Here we are, our last night together :(

Before transfers we had 25 girls in one small house... hahaha YES.

OK! I'll tell you more Monday(new P-day) and then WED WHEN I GET TO SEE YOU!!!! okay. i have to go. I'm scared for tomorrow when we go to our area and sit on  super tight bus for 10 hours. With no bano. Wish me luck. Please pray for me :). But really I'm fine, don't stress. Love you!

Hermana Whitlock

Feliz Navidad!!!!!!!!!

This fruitcake-like thing they eat alll the time!

Okay, so I literally have 8 minutes left on the computer so this is going to be so short!!! lo siento. Maybe on Christmas when we SKYPE, I can tell you way more and you can take notes for my blog or something haha. 

Disclaimer: this is NOT complaining, i am just explaining things as they are. I LOVE it here. Dont you worry :)

Our house is wonderful! we live above our penchinista and she feeds us 3 times a day. SO MUCH FOOD: i fear for my weight. we cant ask for less or she thinks we are sick. and she doesn't listen anyway haha. its funny!! also, our bathroom has no toilet seats, and only COLD water. It's an adventure every time we use it ) We have 3 beds in one room and our desks out in the open area and a small room for our dresser and shelves. We have the whole top floor of the house. Dogs are EVERYWHERE: I kid you not. I see an average of 100 a day. also, sometimes there are piles of trash and TONS of pigs eating it. its so funny. A mission rule is no eatin  pig, I see why haha. 

So my first area I was assigned is Huanucho, and its really cool! Well actually its hot (so it should be perfect for me as an Arizonan, but everyone else thinks its hot) and its pretty dusty sometimes, and almost every night it pours on us!! We drive in little motocabs when its too far too walk (but usually we walk...A LOT!) and when we do, we as a trio have to squish in so hard!!! 

Both of my companoins are so nice and funny! Its great. being in a trio is pretty interesting though...everything is a bit harder with 3, haha.  

My picture book from home has a pic of me and Leif and everyone thinks hes my novio. Even after i promise he's just a great friend, they think i am lying. Its so funny. Also there is a missionary in my zone who reminds me of Becca SO MUCH!! i loved it. except then I missed her. I was showing our penchinista photos of the family and she said mom and dad were so fat. But -- its an endearing term!!! She also said I was very tall and fat.... thanks...I think??? hahaha

So we had lunch at a member's last yesterday and there was cui (guinea pig!). Sorry to Mrs. Lumpy and our other pet guinea pigs :) I was about to try some and then I saw its foot and nails...so yea, I haven't done that yet... haha. I have tried some other interesting foods (NOT good) haha. but you have to eat EVERYTHING they give you or its rude. So that's exciting, ha! 

Hey, in the mountains I saw lots of llamas!!!! It was so cool! 

So everyone should watch all of the Christmas "Mormon messages" videos. They are SO good!! Okay, I want to say wayyy more, but i have like 30 seconds left. I can skype wed either 3 4 or 5 my time but thats 2 hours earlier your time!! I love you guys. I have lots to tell you in person (in skype) so get ready to listen ;) haha and I also want to hear alllll about you Christmas! I love you guys!

Last but not Least -- Please remember Christ. And pray to be led to someone who could know that Christ loves them. Post an uplifting scripture or video on your facebook, or share your testimony with people this week. :)))

Hermana Whitlock.

PS 3 Nephi 5:13, Alma 26:12, 37 

also!! tell Melanie to write me a letter and her baby too and send me pics of them!! I miss them.

PSS, for my friends wondering why its important to have clean language, I would invite you to read Ephesians 4:29, and D & C 52:16. I really really like these. I think its important to talk in a way that is always uplifting and clean. I would challenge everyone to spend just a second thinking about their speech and try to speak in a way that a missionary would be comfortable listening too ;)

In the End, Only Kindness Matters. Plus lots of Randomness!

A CHRISTMAS TREE, right in the lobby of the CCM!

Last night we had a little special Christmas thing, (instead of language class) we got to come out and listen to the couple missionaries sing some Christmas songs, then they turned on a song loud over speakers and turned on TONS of Christmas lights!!! its SO beautiful! then they gave us cookies, egg nog ( not really but it was delicious anyway!) hot  cocoa, fruit and other sweets. We were permitted to take photos and mingle! I talked to a couple from the Area 70 who are from Phoenix for a long time! that was cool!! It was a nice event last night, and I LOVE Christmas lights. I realize I under appreciated them. They are great!

 

Sorry, but this week's letter is just a bunch of random happenings (siempre) sobre mi semana en el CCM!! So this week our district got changed around because some of our Elders (3) went to the Latino district! (if you already know Spanish well enough they can move you). So now we have 4 hermanas and 7 elders. I have a really great district. But, someone in our district went home. It was very sad. He was such a great guy, but he needed to fix some things. Make SURE if you are wanting to serve a mission, you have really prepared and repented if necessary. Its a sad thing for EVERYONE to see people leave!:(

 

2 songs I LOVE and would like to quote to you all are:

"You see that today holds something special, something holy not superficial, so here's to Jesus Christ who SAVED our lives." (Listen to that by tswift everyone)

And.... "We will fight, not out of spite, someone must always stand for the right, cuz where there's a man who has no voice, there i shall go singing.".. :)  I LOVE that song. I think its actually one of my all- time favorite songs ever. Its a real faith building song for me. listen to them (and The Gift, and Breath of Heaven-- because those are all songs i have sung at Christmas in the past) and think of me, okay? ;)

 

2 days this week we had GREAT lunches. And I mean great.- we got SO excited about the food, some people (me maybe) almost cried with joy. We got noodles, churos, coleslaw, pasta salad one day, and Mexican food, ice cream and pasta another day. MEXICAN. Best day ever. Yes we love food alot in my district... haha

 

On Sunday my district sang a musical number (Noche de luz) and let me just say... we arent the most talented folks around (as in, we cant carry a tune) BUT!!! our Elders are so adamant  about singing loud and proud, its so awesome!! We sounded terrible I am sure, but I loved it. 

 

Every Sunday 2 elders y 2 hermanas are asked to give a talk (not told before hand) in Spanish during Sacrament meeting and guess who got picked!? this girl! so I had to give a 3-5 minute talk solo in espanol sobre enduring to the end. it was very scary, but actually i had written some thoughts out a week before (thinking i would be chosen that week) so at least i was somewhat prepared. I was also asked to pray at the devotional Sunday night the entire ccm, latinos y norte Americanos are there and President and everyone -- in Spanish! Can I say scary?? We sat on the stand, but it was nice. I can tell my Spanish is improving in prayers at least! in fact, i only pray in Spanish now! or, i will say my entire prayer in Spanish, then say another little one in English for the things i have no idea how to say in Espanol! its really great, its coming! slowly, poco a poco, but i think at least by the time i go home, i will know how to speak it ;) 

And something that is so lovely here is that after my talk and my prayer, so many people told me how well you are doing or how "Latina" you sound (even when you know you don't) but it sure is uplifting!

 

In JSH 1:20 he says something like, " it seems as though the adversary was aware at a very early age that i would be a disturbor in the kingdom...." ( go read it) i LOVE it. I hope He thinks that way about me.  Joseph smith was such a good example of this, of faith and action. What a guy.

 

So I probably cant email next week! I will be on my 8 hour BUS RIDE OF DEATH (or whatever, they call it a lot of things here haha) but i have heard from SO many that my mission president is the BEST! they all say hes SUPER super funny, really smart (an ob-gyn) and very loving. I am so excited to meet him! 

Also, we got our church credit cards and huancayo mission only gets $14 US dollars a month...hahaha, what!? Is that even possible!? Other missions got 88 or 100 or so, which already sounds super little. I wonder if we just don't ever need to buy anything there? Well I guess that would be so nice!

 

So today out shopping at a huge grocery store called metreo there is a 4 story shopping place kind of like china's one but way more ghetto. Next dooor. we get our soccer jerseys there. Anyway, there is a tiny little booth there with Victoria's Secret perfumes (but only like only 7) and like 10 pairs of clothing from Forever 21. And then they have their labeled bags and everything. I thought it was so funny! My comp thinks they came to America, bought  a few things, and then brought it back to sell. idk if that's true, but it was super fun to see!

I am at this stage of the mission where I cant really speak English or Spanish...its weird. its so hard to think in 2 languages haha. but it'll come someday I know! I am really nervous to leave because I know so little Spanish, but i know God will help me!!!

 

Sorry this email is so random and not very interesting. This whole week we have just been learning Spanish like crazy, and studying SIEMPRE. Not much outside of the usual study, work, study, teach, soccer, class class class class. :) ONE WEEK LEFT! its crazy, I am so not ready! But I am so stinkin' excited anyway. We shall see how it goes!!!! I love you allll!!!

 

:)

Your Favorite Hermana 

Thanksgiving and NOT Being Homesick!

Its that time of week again!!! The one we all count down to every day... don't know if that's a good thing haha... Okay first off does that mean ALI WILL BE LEARNING SPANISH?!? I found out from Tommy and Daniel! Costa rica!? No stinkin way. you are so lucky. That will be sweet!!! Someone call Allison for me and tell her how much I love her for me!!! I cant wait till I hear Mckenna's call too! and Colette's! Boy-- missions and missionaries are the BEST. Also, I feel blessed to know so many hermanas who want to serve just like the guys. Its awesome. Power to the woman! :)

So! Thanksgiving was a very nice day!!! regular day like always, only we had an hour lunch where they set up a "buffet" that was like 5 types of potatoes, some turkey, rolls and rice! and then pumpkin pie. Those food ladies worked so hard for us and it was so sweet :))) Also, I made my district play Ultimate for physical activity in honor of our family tradition :) I miss that. I will admit I was a little homesick, because if you know me, you know i LOVE my family. But I was okay :) My companera y distrito es like my family here.:) For the night we watched the MTC live devotional! 2 super cool things-- Elder Nelson talked (he was just here!!) and he referenced Peru a bit, anndddd i was wearing my blue and red stripped dress (Alli owns it and Syd has the same one in a diff colors) and I was telling my comp how cool it would be if I saw Sydney! Well guess what!? I SAW HER! and we were wearing the SAME dress!!!!! she was in the MTC choir! it showed her a few times! I was so happy haha. Also my companera believes I am psychic because I often times am. its very nice.

Grandma Sybil!!! THANK you for your poem in my red journal!! I love it. I read it often. its so sweet. I love you!

I ONLY HAVE 2 WEEKS LEFT! Which is crazy, I feel like i have been here many months, yet it feels like when the last group of Latinas came it was only a week ago, and they've already left!! (every 2 weeks!) I do not feel like I know enough about the gospel or the language to leave yet... So I am going to have to put a LOT of faith and trust in God. I am very nervous about that!

I LOVEEEE alma 26:37, D &C 33: 7-9, Alma 29: 9. an D&C 25:12!! if not, thats fine, everyone just go read those and smile :) theyre great!!! 

We had a full fast on fast Sunday, only we start after lunch Saturday so it was a full 24hr. fast, and then we went contacting and tracting again. That was interesting because I never even felt hungry until relief society when my stomach wouldn't be quiet. but everyone was a little worried we would be hungry out proselyting for 5ish hours, but it was fino! this time we knocked on the doors of 18 less active families and only ONE let us in. It was a teenage boy and a little boy, so I shared a scripture with them on Gods love and bore my testimony solo en espanol. It's very frightening, but thrilling to do so! We passed some houses that were literally just bricks--not put together with cement or anything, like 5 feet high and some thin boards on top. its so humbling. And there are dogs everywhere! also this week I went to the area where last time when we went there were tons of gunshots! No excitement or guns this time though. ;) Since we weren't having any luck, mi y my compenera decided to street contact! I passed out 10 of my folletas (my goal was 6!) and we got several people willing to come to church and take lessons from the missionaries! it was awesome!!!! 

There was one lady who we had seen at the beginning but who just walked past, and at the end of our time, I asked if we could go back that way and for some reason (3 hours later) she was still there! so we talked to her, and she belonged to another church, and didnt want to give us her name or anything, But I kept asking her questions, and handed her my last folleta and she was SO happy!!! she said it was muy hermosa and she loves gifts. I asked her name again and she said Magdelyn! so I told her my name and how similar it was, and at the end we set up a time to visit, and a promise she will come to church, and she told me that I spoke Spanish bien and that i was muy intelligente :) She was great!!! And also! I talked to 4 little kids on the road for awhile about Hannah Montana, haha, they were so cute. I MISS KIDS: and babies. and EVAN. so so so much.

I am reading the New Testament now and I have never read it through before! Its awesome!!! it is ALL about Jesus and his ministry and life. If you haven't, then read it, okay?! also, our 2 "investigators" (our teachers who act so we can practice) had so much progress this week. We committed one to baptism!!!! its so exciting even though it isn't real, haha. I memorized the first vision in Espanol!!! its so scary saying it though, I know what I want to say in English, the trouble is translating it, conjugating the verbs, and forming sentences that even make a LITTLE sense! its basically just spanglish haha. In class we do 2 hours solo espanol each day... and its HARD. that's usually when I am the most quiet.... haha. but i love it here. I love the Book of Mormon. My comp and I had the lessson (40 min) on sunday and it went really well! i learned so much in preparing for it! also, I thought I would be nervous to bear my testimony Sunday, so I decided i wouldn't unless I felt the spirit... well, he's tricky because I ended up being the second one up there. I wasn't scared though and I think I made a bit of sense!

OH! i just keep remembering things haha. Last night a lot of Latinas who are transferring out were saying goodbye to us and taking pictures and what not, and they begged me to sing. They literally chanted "cante cante cante" over and over... so they told me to sing "billionaire" by Bruno Mars. At first it was just 2 Latinas recording it, then they made me do it 2 more times... so I am on like 10 cameras singing that song.. hahaha. THEN they made me (but I also begged some other hermanas to help me) sing some T-Swift, and some church songs! it was funny. and embarassing. :P

Today was Temple day-  and its so great! Such a sweet spirit that resides in the temple here in Peru. I love it!!! 

Well, thats about it for this week!! I bought a few soccer jerseys today!! yay! Well, I cant think of anything else... and Mommy, correct my ingles por favor!

Everyone should write me a letter ! yay yay yay! I'm happy just thinking about it! I love you guys. This Church is true. If you but desire to know that for yourself, pray. Sincerely. Ask God. He might just let you know. :) I love being a missionary and wearing JESUS CHRIST'S name below mine every single day. Its humbling. Happy late thanksgiving everybody. Stay righteous.

Hermana Whitlock

WOW! That's a Strong Wind pt. 2, My Testimony

This part is so important, it gets it's own page!

So lastly, I finished reading the BOM in 18 days (averaging about an hour a day or so) so I basically finished it in 30 hours or less! So I was excited about that! One, I saw so many wonderful things I have never noticed before, and two, I developed a love of reading it. I literally was excited for study time so I could read! It was like reading a favorite novel or something! 

I just want to share with you my testimony. I know this gospel is true. I KNOW it. I would encourage any of you, including my (non)member friends, to do this simple thing-- pick up the Book of Mormon, read a few pages, and pray about it. See if its true. I dare you ;) I did that my self this last week. Really prayed. And I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the el libro de Mormon was written for us, by prophets of God. 

I know temples are the house of the LORD. It's crazy to think about it. He dwells there and I can feel his presence each week when we attend the temple! (even when the session is entirely in Spanish!:)) 

I am honored to be wearing this tag on my shirt that says that I am a representative of THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST. Not only that, but I get the divine privilege to serve the Lord with all of my 'heart, might, mind and strength' for 18 months.

I know that Christ's Atonement is real and because of it, every single one of our sins can be forgiven. I taught my investigators this week about the Plan of Salvation, and I know it to be true. 

What's more, every word Christ has ever spoken is TRUE. He died for me. He died for YOU. He died for the annoying kid sitting next to you and He died for those people who make fun of you or mock you. We are brothers and sisters. And if we exercise faith in Christ and come unto him, He will show us the realness of this. 

I am flawed. So so flawed. But I love that I feel those inadequacies, side by side with the knowledge that as long as i am trying my best, it's OKAY. God loves me and I will be forgiven :)

I love you guys. This gospel is real and true and will bless your lives if you allow it to do so. I hope I can achieve "perfection" as a missionary in each of your eyes. En el Nombre de Jesucristo, AMEN.

Amor forever, 

Hermana Whitlock

WOW That's a Strong Wind!!!

CCM Week THREE:

Hey Abbie, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I sent you a letter, you should get it...someday haha. So here we play soccer every single day (minus Sunday) (see pic below) and its so fun! I have lots of injuries though... like a jammed my toe, and huge bruises all over my legs... haha and here i am known for scoring goals, and taking people out... I think having older brothers did that to me... oops. ;) 

The other day me and my comp were studying, and discussing the El LDM, when she said, "You know what I realised? all we ever talk about here is birds, and gospel doctrine." hahahaha. But its so true. this place is INFESTED with birds. Fighting, pooping, flying, mating, tweeting, etc. its just disgusting. I don't love that too much... hahaha. There are also ants, everywhere! They don't do nothing to us though, just crawl and crawl. My comp thinks I'm weird because I like bugs... and there are lots here to like :) 

I am getting a wicked shoe tan!! and ctr ring, and watch tan! Speaking of which, PLEASE think my Whitlock grandparents for the watch. I wear it almost every day and I love it! and it gets a lot of compliments! 

Also! This is neat. Here people say these two words of advice a lot: "steady as she goes" and "poco y poco" -- which grandpa Leif's advice to me was the same two things!! (little by little) So, that man's a genius. Thank him please.:) 

More thank yous! thank Dr. Ricks (Uncle Dave!) for my jaw work. it hasn't been hurting nearly as badly! it locks sometimes but doesn't pop or drop (hehe) so that is good!!!! I just want to say thank you everyone who did anything to help me get here. I owe  a lot of thanks to friends and family! I know it!!! Like for instance, all you angels who wrote something in my red journal?! I was having a really hard night this week and I was reading it and my heart was bursting with gratitude for my AMAZING friends and family. I don't deserve you guys. Thank you. 

So the day after my hard day (I was sick, and feeling discouraged, I got a blessing and the things they said happened to be the things I was down about, it was AWESOME!) and then after that I got a letter from hermana Brooke Palmer that had the BEST advice. and THEN, I walked outside the next morning from breakfast and they were SETTING UP CHRISTMAS LIGHTS. I literally almost cried with joy; it was a little embarrassing :) but everyone is real happy about it too. Also i think we are having some sort of thanksgiving feast Thursday! I will let you know. Hey, someone hug Abs real long and hard for me on thrs., okay!? 

ONE MORE THING! Yesterday around 1 or 2 pm, my companero y mi were doing our studying, and i noticed my clothes shaking, and then hers, and then our bench and I exclaimed, "Hermana! That's a strong wind!!!" Shortly after that, the entire ground started shaking hard for like 10 seconds... So yeah, I have lived through an earthquake in Peru! :) When it happened everyone had to come out of the buildings and wait a few minutes in case of an after shock, and some people where scared, but me and my companero just thought it was so fun... hahaha. :)

We listened to a devotional by Elder Holland last Tuesday that reallyyyy hit home. I just want to share a few quotes from it. He said that "Missionaries are the most prayed about people on EARTH" and that "people have the right to think you are perfect, and you do NOT have the right to make them think otherwise." It really made me want to be a "perfect missionary" in the eyes of my friends, family, and the people of Peru. I hope I can earn that title before I come home! It was a real tear-jerker talk. I loved it :) He also said that "ours is the day in which every prophet, priest, and king wrote and dreamed about." Wow. Ours is a sacred, HUGE responsibility, and I will never be a missionary to mess with that. He said a bunch of other great things, but I can tell you more about those in 18 short months ;)

Much-loved sports field

Lovely grounds of the Peru MTC (CCM)

ps. ALLISON put her papers in!!! Someone call her and tell her I love her for me!!!!!!!!!!

***To read the rest of the letter, click HERE***