A couple of weeks in one post. Better late than never!!!

MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR:
I HAVE BEEN SLACKING.  SORRY.  THE MESSAGES IN THIS POST GO FROM OLDEST TO NEWEST.  THE NEWEST ONE IS AT THE BOTTOM.





I love the pictures of you all!!!!! I wish I could be in them with you guys, but one day yeah? You have been working hard, and yes, you do deserve a break! Guess what? Both Hermana Gifford and I stayed here in our area! :D We are both very excited about this. What is this about Coach Pete leaving?! Unbelievable. :( Thanks for sending a package! I will be eagerly awaiting it. Wow, that cold?! I can't hardly even imagine cold right now. It is hot, but a different kind of hot than Nevada. You understand. I think of you often and hope you guys can come pick me up. I want you to experience Peru and I especially want you to be able to come down and remember your missionary days. It would be super awesome no?

Thanks for all your kind words Papa! I really need them. This week I was sick (double dragon- diahrrea and puking yuck!) but only for like a day. I am feeling super lots better now, don't worry. Hermana Gifford and I are trying to lose weight, so it was just a strange answer from Heavenly Father right? haha. Mojo getting a friend? I will say it again, we always say we want another dog, but then it doesn't work out. Don't do it! There, I said my piece. haha! I am not sure why I am your hero, but I know you are one of mine. Thanks so much Daddy! It means more to me than you know. I sure am trying my absolute very best. It isn't easy by all means, but I know that this is where I need to be. 

So only 15 more days until I get to talk with you!!!! Don't judge me because when I call you I am going to be crying. I am going to call you because I know you will pick up the phone, so be waiting around the 24th yeah? I wish I could be there with you guys, but I am being taken care of here, so don't worry. We have an activity with Presidente, tons of ward and stake activities, and many visits to make during the holiday. I just have to make sure I don't get fat. haha!

Sorry this is so late, we were in Gamarra today. It is a HUGE shopping center. More like tons of city blocks that have billions of stores, but yeah. Really cool actually. }

One of the ward members is a butcher and we stopped by their house and there was a whole assortment of guts and dead chickens out, but I didn't even scream, and I actually looked at them. :) 

Hi! Just sitting here in Peru sweating (you're welcome Laurel Anne ;) ). It really is super cold there I hear! It is hard to even imagine cold right now. How is everyone? Corbs, how is The Book of Mormon goal coming along? I want to know where you are at. Are you working hard at your friendly neighborhood Dairy Queen after school? What else is new?

Sorry, I am not going to send anything for Christmas (you can call me a scrooge if you want), but I have presents for when I get back. :) (yes Mom, I already bought them and I can't give them back so you have to accept them ;)). I am super duper excited to talk to you guys! I am going to call on the phone the 24th I think for 5 minutes to set up a time when we can Skype. Then on the 25th we can Skype for a whole hour!!! :D Did you guys get to watch the Christmas devotional last night? If you didn't, you missed out. It was beautiful! I am so grateful that we have a living prophet on the earth in our days! What a blessing it is!!!!

My adventure for the week was today. We went to a place called Gamarra. It is a bunch of blocks of just stores. Tons and tons of stores. There are blocks, then there are stores, and sometimes in these stores are stories of little shops. The prices are super cheap, and you can find some good stuff (mostly it is just clothes). I cannot even begin to describe it accurately, but it was really cool. I bought a skirt and some earrings. It is also a bit dangerous, so we went with our zone leaders, two other hermanas, and the wife of Presidente Ardila. He and his wife are so great! I love them. We are going to have a multi zone conference next week for Christmas with them. I am excited to learn from President. He is a really good teacher and I learn a lot from him.I am also excited because there is a special surprise activity at the end of the conference, so we shall see. We also have activites every week up to Christmas within the Church. This coming Sunday we have a stake activity, then a ward activity the following week, which we get to help plan. We also have many invitations to visit families on Christmas. We are very well taken care of in this ward. :)

The message I wanted to share today was something I am working on that I learned a lot about yesterday. I am learning about the power of the love of Christ. Last week was a little hard. I was sick at the beginning of the week and homesick towards the end of the week. Yesterday though, during my personal study, I just had the greatest feeling in my heart. My heart was full of the Holy Ghost and I felt so much love. I realized that when we have the love of Christ in our hearts we are not homesick because we understand and remember why we are here. We are not exhausted because we realize that when we are tired, it means we have worked hard. We can smile because we realize the importance of what we are doing and can feel the love of our Savior more fully in our lives. The love of Christ changes people. It softens hearts, helps us to understand one another, and lifts us through challenges.  I am working on having the love of Christ in my heart so that I can give my all for Him and the people with whom I am working. We have a great blessing to have the Gospel in our lives. We we truly begin to comprehend what we have, we are filled with love for others and have a desire to share with them what we have. 

Sorry for the scattered thoughts. The sun and walking around all day wore me out. :) Mom, I hope you know that I love you. Daddy, I hope you know that I love you. Corbin, I hope you know that I love you. You guys mean the world to me! Thanks for being some of my best friends and for all of your support. 

Love,

Hermana Waite

Yes, finally some more pictures. The first is of me eating pizza  few weeks ago. Yum! It was only like a buck in American dollars and it was good! The second is of Panetone!!! It is bread with pieces of fruit stuff. It is sweet, and everyone eats it during the holiday season. Fernando bought one for Hermana Gifford and I. The other is of the posters that are being distributed to all the members throughout the whole stake. It is to remind the members of the importance of members in missionary work and the work of salvation. Can you spot me? 

What happened to the month of December?! Can you believe that it is already Christmas next week. We had a super beautiful fireside yesterday. Two investigators of ours were there, and we could really feel the Spirit. It is hard to be away from home for the Holidays, but I am looking forward to this Christmas. Really, there are not many years where I get to be serving the Lord with all I've got during His birthday. It really is a beautiful experience, so I am happy. :)

Wednesday we are going to have a multi.zone conference with President Ardila. We are going to eat a Christmas dinner, have shows from each zone (we are doing a super funny skit) and then a surprise activity. I am really looking forward to it, and am looking forward to learning more from Presidente. He is great! For Christmas we have been invited to eat at the house of our ward mission leader. His family is like a family away from home. They are always helping us out, and we are super grateful for them. We are planning on having a baptism this Saturday, as well as our ward party. Sorry, not much time, but guess what? I ate guniea pig yesterday! I am feeling pretty accomplished at conquering my fears. haha!

I love you all, and hope that we can always have the love of Jesus Christ in our hearts. The love of Christ works miralces, not only for those we serve, but also in ourselves. I am soo grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ in my life. 

I love you all and will talk to you next week!!!! :D Thanks for all you do!

Love,

Hermana Waite

Sorry, I forgot last week. Here is the email, another will come tomorrow too.

Hi! :D

This week was full of blessings and miracles. We have been having a hard time finding new investigators, but with a lot of prayer, walking,work, and more prayer, we have 5 new investigators!!!! :D They are not just anybody either, they are super prepared and receptive to the message of the Gospel. Almost all of them have dates to be baptized, so we have a lot of work to do . Yes!!!! Working and teaching is the best. I get to learn so much from those we teach, strengthen my own testimony, and help people find the truth. There cannot be jobs much better than this, except for being part of a family. But they are close. :)

We have transfers today, but I think that Hermana Gifford and I are staying here for un cambio mas, which we are super excited about! We have so many people to work with: new investigators, less actives, recent converts, and members. Our ward is ¡LO MAXIMO! and I feel at home with them. We are in charge of planning our ward activity for Christmas, so we have been thinking of ideas for that. We also have many invitations to visit families during Christmas, so don't worry about us. We will be eating tons and tons of Pantetone. It is kind of like a fruit cake, but really quite yummy. It is like an epidemic here in Peru, kind of like pumpkin pie in the States during the holidays. Yesterday I tried something, and it is now my favorite Peruvian dish. It is called Tallarene Verde. It is like basil pesto pasta, but with a cream sauce. It is so good!!! Don't worry, I am collecting recipies so that I can cook this stuff when I get home. And there is always the internet. :)

Last week we had a transmission on Sunday about the work of salvation. In the Church, our goal is not just to have baptisms. Our work is to help others to come unto Christ and be saved, like it says in Moroni 10 I believe. We should be helping others to gain salvation. There are four groups we need to work with: first, we ourselves need to be converted. The second group is less active members. We need to encourage others to return to the Church and to renew and prepare to make covenants with God, because without these covenants, we cannot come back into His presence. Next we need to help recent converts to stay active in the Church and to become CONVERTED. CONVERSION is a very important word for all! We need to become converted to Christ and His Gospel. The last group is members. We need to help support and strengthen each other. Life isn't easy, but it sure is easier with friends! We need to help each other remember our Savior and that we are children of God and that He loves us! He really does! We need to help each other remember and keep our covenants and prepare to make other covenants, or promises, with God.

I know that this church is true! I know that God has a plan for each of us and that He loves us! I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he was an instrument through who God could work to restore His church to the earth. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. 

I love you all!!!! Let me know what I can do for  you! 

Hermana Waite

Latest Report from Peru

Hello!!!!

Sorry about the cold. I am going to melt here come January. haha! It is hot, but I really enjoy the sunshine. I am happier when there is sunshine. 

This week there were 3 baptisms in our ward!!!! :D We are sharing the area with the Assistents to President. They had two ladies get baptized on Saturday and Hermano Fernando got baptized too!!!! During the baptism I learned something about the Atonement. I was thinking about how Hermano Fernando could leave all of the things in his past behind (he has had some rough times) and how he had the opportunity to start over again. I was not thinking about his past mistakes, but the bright future he has ahead. It got me to thinking, this is how the Atonement is. Jesus Christ came to Earth and gave His all, EVERYTHING He had. When we come to Him with our sins or problems, He isn't judging us, He isn't looking at how many times we have made the same mistake, He isn't asking us why we aren't better. He sees us before Him, humbled and trying to be better, admitting our mistakes, and promising to do better. Then He looks at us and sees who we can become, and all He can feel is love. He only wants the best for us, so He was willing to give all, He is willing to forgive and lift our burdens, because He only wants the best for us. He wants us to leave all the bad behind and start again each new day because He can see the bright futures we each have and the amazing people we can become. 

This week is also....nothing here. Yeah it is Thanksgiving in the States, but no such thing here...yet. haha! There is a family in our ward that is always so helpful, always helping us with whatever we need. We are going to go to their house on Thursdayand bake them pumpkin cookies and share a family home evening lesson as a way to show gratitude. Should be fun. We also have a new investigator. She has had a super rough family situation, but she is so prepared to hear the Gospel. We are really excited to teach her. 

This is also the last week before cambios (what is the word in English?). But yeah, so we shall see if I stay or if I go. The Lord knows what is best, so I will go or stay according to where He sends me. Well, that's all for this week. Know that I am so thankful for each and every one of you and the support you give me. Thank you!!!! 

I love you all and will write you in a week and talk to you in a month!

Love,

Hermana WaiteHello!!!!

Sorry about the cold. I am going to melt here come January. haha! It is hot, but I really enjoy the sunshine. I am happier when there is sunshine. 

This week there were 3 baptisms in our ward!!!! :D We are sharing the area with the Assistents to President. They had two ladies get baptized on Saturday and Hermano Fernando got baptized too!!!! During the baptism I learned something about the Atonement. I was thinking about how Hermano Fernando could leave all of the things in his past behind (he has had some rough times) and how he had the opportunity to start over again. I was not thinking about his past mistakes, but the bright future he has ahead. It got me to thinking, this is how the Atonement is. Jesus Christ came to Earth and gave His all, EVERYTHING He had. When we come to Him with our sins or problems, He isn't judging us, He isn't looking at how many times we have made the same mistake, He isn't asking us why we aren't better. He sees us before Him, humbled and trying to be better, admitting our mistakes, and promising to do better. Then He looks at us and sees who we can become, and all He can feel is love. He only wants the best for us, so He was willing to give all, He is willing to forgive and lift our burdens, because He only wants the best for us. He wants us to leave all the bad behind and start again each new day because He can see the bright futures we each have and the amazing people we can become. 

This week is also....nothing here. Yeah it is Thanksgiving in the States, but no such thing here...yet. haha! There is a family in our ward that is always so helpful, always helping us with whatever we need. We are going to go to their house on Thursdayand bake them pumpkin cookies and share a family home evening lesson as a way to show gratitude. Should be fun. We also have a new investigator. She has had a super rough family situation, but she is so prepared to hear the Gospel. We are really excited to teach her. 

This is also the last week before cambios (what is the word in English?). But yeah, so we shall see if I stay or if I go. The Lord knows what is best, so I will go or stay according to where He sends me. Well, that's all for this week. Know that I am so thankful for each and every one of you and the support you give me. Thank you!!!! 

I love you all and will write you in a week and talk to you in a month!

Love,

Hermana Waite

November 18 Email and Photos.

Hello again! This is your daughter. ;)

How are you all? I hope really really well. 

This week was great! I completed 2 months in the mission on Monday. The week started a little rough, but ended really well. We have seen so many miracles, every day. I am convinced that there are miracles all around us every day; we just need to open our eyes. 

Friday we had an activity that was to help investigators come to the church. We had what was called "Noche de Postres" or Night of Desserts. All the memebers brought a dessert and we all got to try them. Plus, there were so many non members, and we got to talk to them and have lessons with some of them this week. So basically it was like missionary heaven. (Free yummy food, and tons of potential investigators- what's not to love?!) We did not have the baptism this past Saturday, but are planning for this Saturday. We have been doing a lot of family home evenings, which are really nice! Last night we had a first family home evening with a recently baptized family! It was way cool. Also we had a little girl ask us what she could do to be a missionary. Wow, heart melt! We are having a lot of success working with the member. 

I am learning so much! I am so extrememly thankful to be here. I would be so much less of a person if I were not here. It is like it says in Matthew, when we lose ourselves, we find ourselves. I know that really, I am nothing, and that God is everything! Remember that He loves you and so do I!

Sorry, not much this week. I will have to tell you about it when I call you next month! :D And boys, don't forget to spoil Mommy extra for me for her birthday in a few weeks!!! I love you all so much and am praying for you every single day! Love you!!!

Love,

Hermana Chalea Waite

Another Week. November 11 Email and Picts.

Hey there awesome people!!! 

How is the best family in the world this week? I am sure a little cold. I feel a little more for you guys because it was cold here this week, which is weird since it is turning summer. Anyways, this week was a little difficult, but don't worry, I am totally fine. I just want to help people, but we have to rely on the Lord to touch there hearts and we have to allow everyone their agency. Which is really hard sometimes. But yeah all is good! :) We are planning on having a baptism for Fernando this Saturday! I am so excited. He is a great person, super nice. 

Here are some adventures I have had this week. So Thursday night we get a call from the Primary President asking if I would play the piano for the practice for the Primary program in sacrament meeting. My compañera says yes I will and the next day (Friday) we go to practice. Once there, I find out that I am also playing for the actual program on Sunday (yesterday). Yeah, I was so nervous, but it went well. I kept thinking about how Grandma Waite told me to practice piano before I left because I would use it on my mission. haha! I should have practiced more. Another cool thing I get to do this week, I get to be an English teacher! Every Wednesday in the church building (capilla instead of iglesia) we are going to be teaching free English classes. I guess here it is a really good way to find new investigators to teach. Hermana Gifford is going to teach an intermediate class and I am going to teach the basics. :) I am excited! :) We are also having a ward activity this Friday called Noche de Postres. All the ward members are going to bring a dessert and a friend. Then the investigators are going to judge the desserts based on taste and presentation. All of us are going to share dessert and get to know new investigators.  Hermana Gifford and I are going to try to make rice krispies or something like that. Corbs, too bad you're not here because you could totally enter your chocolate cake! mmm!:)

A normal day... breakfast, study for 4 hours, then out to work. Street contacting has not been super effective in our area, so right now we are racking our brains to figure out what else we can do to find new investigators. We are working with the members and visitng less active and recent converts, which is working really well! Seriously, members are SUPER DUPER important in missionary work!! I would invite every one to do it! So yeah, right now we are trying to think of new ways because we have used tons of the suggestions from Preach my Gospel, but nada. Although yesterday I realized that we are doing a different kind of work here by supporting the ward. We had like 2 less active members at church yesterday, which was great! In our mission, we have four groups of people:missionaries, members, less actives, and new investigators. These are the people we work with. In this area, we are just focusing on a different group than usual. :)

I hope all is well!!! Good luck with b ball Daddyo! Corbs, I would love to hear from you if you have a minute...:), Mom, HOW AWESOME that you get to be a Zumba instructor!!! Please can I come to your class when I get back?!:) I love you all so much and pray for you every day. Even though the world is bad, I know that with the Gospel and our Savior, we can make it! It is sooooo important, especially now, to stand up boldly for what we know is right. I invite you guys to read a talk by Elder Maxwell titled "Wintry Doctrine". When we become His disciples, we stand up for what is right regardless the consequences. 

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Hermana Waite

Busy week and I forgot to post again. Here is from Nov 7th. Another letter should come tomorrow.

So the pictures. Animal crackers I found in the store today.... :) yo= happy. my compañera Hermana Gifford, and some of our apartment and the view from the balcony. :D I think about you every day. I really hope you guys can come get me when I am done!!! I want to have lots of adventures with you. :)  We could ride the busses and go shopping and sing the reggatone songs that are playing on the radio, and walk around by the graffitti on the walls. The other day 'No es amor' by Aventura? was playing on the radio and I totally thought of you. I am becoming a little more adventerous too I think. I love you SOOOO extremely much Papa!!!! Take care, and don't forget to rest some too. Don't just work all the time. take a 'p day'.;) 

LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got to try papa huancayena last night! Shayla Moulton told me it was yummy, and we were talking about it with an Hermano who cooks for us, and he made it for us! :) That's cool that Presidente is posting pictures on Facebook! Don't judge my looks too badly that first day, it was a little crazy in the morning. haha!

 Ok Dad, to answer your question, we eat all sorts of stuff. For breakfast we have bread, usually a crunchy roll with ham that tastes like baloney, and another soft roll with usually jam, sometimes eggs. We also have some sort of juice with every meal, or echo. Echo is a super yummy drink. I guess it is like coffee, but it doesn't have the same ingredients as coffee, so it isn't against the word of wisdom. Anyways, that's super yummmy! We sometimes have oatmeal too, which I really like. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. For lunch and dinner, we usually have the same thing. Some sort of meat, usually chicken, with rice and veggies. We eat broccoli, peas, carrots. Beans sometimes. We have juice and echo with it too. Last night we had pasta with our chicken instead of rice, and papa huancayena. I have not tried anything here yet that is yucky (knock on wood). It is all good. I am even learning to eat chicken with bones and stuff in it (yes, point! :) ). haha ! Every Sunday, and I guess Fridays and Saturdays now, we get to eat with the members. This week we were visiting families and were expressing our desire to learn how to cook Peruvian food. We have invitations to a couple of houses to learn. Yay!!! :) Mama, to answer your question, cuye is guneia pig. It is expensive though, so only for special occassions. I have heard it's good, but I am not wanting to try it.... we will see. I guess in the jungle, (not where I am at), they eat cat and monkey. Really! I promise. 

Our area is the nicer part of town, yes. Our apartment is...wow! We call it the palace. Presidente loves us, let's just put it that way.:) I love living so close to the temple too! We walked around the outside of the temple the other day with our investigator Fernando (the one who is getting baptized the 16 of this month), and he told us that he thought it was like Heaven. :) This is so true! I am so extremely thankful for the covenants we have the opportunity to make and that as families and friends, we can be together forever!!!!! :D This gives me hope, that through Christ and His atoning sacrifice, all will be well in the end. 

This week something I learned was that the times we have work are the best times. I was a little down earlier in the week because although we were talking to people on the streets and such, nobody wanted to listen. I was a little discouraged. We were praying to know how we might find new investigators, and our answer came through the members of the ward. Besides Fernando, our 6 new investigators are all references from members of the barrio (ward). I have gained a stronger testimony of the need we have for members to participate in missionary work! and really, as members, we do not have to do it alone! I would invite everyone to have the missionaries over for a family home evening with a non member or a less active member (these are the BEST!!!!!), or ask them to come over and teach you and help you practice how to share the Gospel. As my compañera always says, the Second Coming of the Savior is near, and there is only a little time that we can share the Gospel with our friends and loved ones. And trust me, when we put forth our best efforts, I promise that the Lord will help us! It is GREAT!!!! Anyone who is preparing for a mission, do not get discouraged! It is only hard because Satan knows that this work is important. With Christ, we can do ANYTHING!!!!  

It is amazing to see miracles every day. Some people call them coincidence, but they are miracles and evidence of God's love for us. I promise that miracles are all around. We just need to take the time to listen and open our eyes. 

Well, I guess that's all for this week. 

Remember I LOVE YOU SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!! Thank you for your letters, love, and examples! I pray for you every day. Keep your faith and testimonies bright! 

Love,

Hermana Waite

Email from Chalea last week of October

Happy Monday! :)

So yes, Monday is the new Pday. I am here in Santa Patricia. It is a mission district in the city of Lima. Wow, what a week! So I see Corbin is doing well..... Goldstar. haha! Glad you get to enjoy it Corbs. Enjoy it while you can.:) And if you have time, I would love to hear from you.....please:). A four way tie?! Dang! Who with? You will have to let me know how it goes. Having Nevada day off will be nice! That will be so nice to scrapbook Mom! Sounds very relaxing.  Dad, good luck with the mining.;) haha! One of the sister leaders in my zone is from Las Vegas, and she was pretty hyped about it being Nevada day. For Halloween we are going to try to coordinate outfits, color wise, and then we are going to dress up as missionaries! ;) haha. We will see if we can do much work that night. I heard that we have to return to our apartment early because it can get a little weird,but idk. Right now my trainer and compañera is Hermana Gifford. She is from Idaho and went to BYU I too! She is a really good trainer! I am here 3 trainee. We live with two other hermanas, Hermana Hazelton, who also was up at BYU I and Hermana Burgraaff. I know her a little bit from the MTC. At the moment, we live in a tiny little room, but after email we are going to move over by the temple!!! :D We are spoiled with this apartment. I guess it has three rooms and three bathrooms. Plus it is by the temple, and by our pensionista, so really nice and convenient! A pensionista is someone who cooks meals for you. We also have a lady who does laundry for us. It is nice.:) The food here is good! I have not had cuye yet, (knock on wood that I never will), but I guess it is a delicacy and rarely eaten because it is expensive tambien. The father of our ward mission leader raises them to sell. Anywho, yesterday we got to have a little Brazilian food. It was yum.:) Every Sunday for lunch we get to eat at a member's home. Yesterday we ate at the home of our ward Relief Society president. Her husband is from Brazil, and his birthday was Saturday, so we got to try frijoles Brazilaños. We also had super yummy cake. It was like banana bread with cream cheese frosting. 

Our ward is SUPER awesome! They are so willing to help us, and they are so excited to have sister missionaries here. Hermana Gifford and I are kind of 'opening' the area. We share the area with the assistants to the President, so in the mornings, they are working in the office. This area hasn't had sisters for about 5 or 6 years either, so we are really excited to be here. Our ward mission leader is, as we say here in Peru, lo maximo! De verdad. He is newly married and is studying and working, but he is always there to fulfill his calling and go to appointments with us. His wife is great too! She too studies and works, but she is always helping her husband help us. We are actually working in the 100th stake in Peru too. Dad, remember when you showed me that this summer? Well now I'm here! :) So yesterday I gave a talk in sacrament meeting. The second in two weeks because I spoke on my last Sunday in the CCM tambien. It went well though. The people understood my Castiano (Spanish) so that's a relief.:) My compañera and I both talked about the importance of members in missionary work. Really, members are so important! When we work together, we can accomplish so much more. Something I love about here is how willing the people are to go visit less active members. They are always focused on helping people grow in the gospel. I hope we can do that more at home, and that we can share the gospel more too. In my talk yesterday, I talked about a few simple ways we can share the gospel. One of the ways I mentioned was how at home, there are pictures of Christ or quotes from the prophets in our home and how this really invites the Spirit. Thank you family for living in a way so that we can invite the Spirit of God into our home!:) 

Ok, so a few things about the mission. First of all, President Ardila wanted me to thank you. He told me to tell you thank you for sending me here. He understands that it is hard, he has three beautiful daughters, but he wanted me to let you know that he really appreciates it. Second, we cannot recieve outside money without permission. Here in the mission, we want to be equal. We can recieve extra money from home, but there needs to be a reason for it. This is the email you can send it to. 2012359(at sign) ldschurch.org. If you have questions, contact President Ardila. I don't quite understand how it works and he can answer your questions better than I can. 

As for teaching... we have an investigator who has a baptismal date for the third week in November!!! :D No, I did not just snipe someone elses' baptism. The other day we were contacting people in the street. We saw this man walking with his mom and asked them if we could stop by and share a message about Jesus Christ, and they agreed. We taught him on Friday, he went to a baptism on Saturday, and all of church yesterday! He is reading the Book of Mormon and wants to be baptized as Christ was. It is so cool, his whole countenance has changed. He smiles a ton and his whole countenance is just brighter. When we leave things in the Lord's hands, He really does work miracles! :) I know that He is with us! 

Mom, thanks for always writing me! I love hearing about how things are going. Dad, thanks for sharing part of your talk! It is so important to see people's potential and to see them as friends. That is something I do to not be so scared. Mama, when I am down, I try to count my blessings too. This helps me to not be so sad. We are so blessed and the Lord knows what He is doing. We just need to lay everything into His hands and let it go. Corbs, keep up the great work! You are such a great guy! Be careful, and don't get too spoiled. ;)

Well, almost time to go. I love each of you so very very much! Thank you for your support and your examples! It makes things a lot easier here. Know that I pray for you every single day. I love you tons! Until next week!

Love,

Hermana Waite

Email from 10/17/13

Famililia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

How are my favorite people?! Sorry about your hurt hip bro! That stinks. :/ Good luck with playoffs, let me know if you guys make it there. Glad Cookie is still running strong (Only cool cars do that, right Corbs ;) ). And Mama, school is going well? I bet you are tired Dad! You all work so hard! Thank you for all you each do for me every day!

 

So before I forget, I was asked almost two weeks ago to be a sister leader! ( it is pretty much a zone leader for the Hermanas). Hermana Mack and I have been trying to be good leaders and help the North American girls out. Our Latina roommates are SO CUTE!!!!! I love them!!!!! Last night we had another Latina Hermana in our room and she was surprised at how well our Spanish was and at how tall we are. She asked us what we eat in the U.S. that makes us so tall. H. Mack and I were laughing so hard! :) Well, T-minus one week and I am out! We leave for the field Tuesday morning. I am going to miss our district and the CCM, but I am excited to go teach. I know this is where I need to be! The other day when we were playing soccer I was pondering about the amazing position I find myself in. Here I am in Peru, I was playing soccer, outside with the sunshine and a light breeze, with an opportunity to grow stronger in spirit more than I ever have in my life, and with the chance to very soon share the most important thing in my life with others. My heart just wanted to leap out of my chest in joy and gratitude to Heavenly Father for letting me be here! :) We get to go out on Saturday to go proselyting again. We are going to visit some less active members. Hopefully this time won't be as shocking as the last and that the Spanish will be better. haha! Spanish is starting to come along. This is my analogy. There is a forest; on one side is English, on the other side is Spanish. As you start to learn Spanish you walk deeper into the forest, and when you are on the other side of the forest, you know Spanish, but in the middle is a dark forest where sometimes you cannot remember the word in English, but you don't know it in Spanish, so you are sitting there flapping your hands around trying to find something to say. hahaha!!!!! Another thing I was excited about this week was being complimented by a Latino on my soccer skills. :)

 

Spiritual thought... Conversion has been on my mind a lot this week. Conversion is a process of becoming who the Lord needs and wants us to be. Central to everything we do is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Without Him and His atoning sacrifice, nothing would have meaning. Alma 5 has some great questions that can help us know if we have become converted. I really really am trying to become the person Heavenly Father wants and needs me to be. I know He is there, and I want to be on His side when the end comes, along with all my loved ones!

 

Well, that's all the time for this week. I am leaving on Tuesday for the field, so Idk when I will get to email next week. It might be next next week. Love you all!!!!

Hermana Waite

I'm late. Sorry

It's that time of week again! How is everyone? Good? Not too cold yet I hope. It is weird, people are starting to get Christmas decorations in the store and I'm thinking, 'Hey, wait! Isn't it turning summer?' Weird. haha.

This week was a pretty good week. Sometimes it is hard to be cooped up in classes all day, with the same people, but we have an awesome district! Our teachers are really great too! One of them, the one who teaches at night, always has us go run a few laps to wake us up when we are sleepy. They really know what they are talking about though and are really patient with us. They give us great feedback after our lessons and help us to reach our full potential as missionaries. I guess I will start with a spiritual thought this time. First of all, general conference. Did you guys get to watch all 4 sessions? I think that was the most spiritual one I have ever listened to in my life. Our branch president had us write down questions we had, and I kid you not, like a quarter of them were answered within the first session. When we do the Lord's work with a purpose, with the Spirit, and with real intent, I promise you that He will help us!!! Secondly, yesterday we were having a lesson about how the Holy Ghost can help investigators (and us too) to become converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our teacher did a great example that really hit home for me. He had a glass that had some water in it. He explained that the water represents our talents, and that each of us have varying amounts of talents. The empty space is where the Lord fills up the glass for us. No matter how empty or how full that glass is, He will fill up the rest of the glass for us if we are doing His will and putting forth our best efforts. Wow! It just really hit home that I don't have to be perfect, just do my best and exercise faith. Yes Mom and Dad, I said it, you guys are right. :) It just takes time a veces for things to get through to my head. Anyways, we also watched a video clip of Elder Bednar, and he talked about how sometimes we question if a thought or feeling is a prompting from the Holy Ghost or if it is our own thought. He said, Stop worrying about it! He explained that if we are trying our best, the Lord will guide us, and most of the time, we will not realize at the time that we have recieved a spiritual promptings. We need to be living our lives according to His commandments and He will guide us. It was really a testimony building lesson. :)

Today, luckily, I did NOT fall on anyone on the bus. haha! I did get a nice bruise though from soccer this week. Hermana Mack and I play soccer with the Elders every day now, and the other day one of the Elders and I were going for a ball and had a collision. His nickname is Elder Oso (Elder Bear). He is a strong Canadian guy and it left a good battle scar.;) It is way fun! Sometimes it is a little frustrating, because you know Elders are not supposed to touch Hermanas and vice versa, so they sometimes just let us have the ball, when I want to actually play ball, but it is still fun. :)

I lov eyou all sooooooo much! I think about you often and pray for you daily! I invite you guys to re read the conference talks. I know that each of us can recieve revealtion through the prophets. I am so thankful to have a living prophet on the earth today. Good luck in Tahoe boys! and Mama, keep kicking tush in those college classes! I love you all!!!!

Until next week!

Love,

Hermana Waite

P.S. Hermana Mack and I got two new Latina roomates last night! so we are practicing Spanish for sure! :)

Email from Oct. 3

Buenos tardes!

 

How was everyone's week? How were the games? Hope you all are feeling better! This week was a really good week! First off, Hermana Mack and I got to teach yesterday, and it was SO AWESOME!!!! The Spirit really helped us to know what to plan and how to teach. Our investigator was really receptive, and we were all really happy at the end of the lesson.  Before I forget, here are some things I wanted to write about really quick. :

Corbs, I thought of you in class last week. We were talking about tener and one of our vocabulary phrases was, The investigator is thirsty, or El investigador tiene sed. WATER!!!! hahahaha!

 

Dad, I ate milanesa and alfajores this week. Also, we got to teach some members from an area called Chiclayo. At the end of the lessons, we were talking to them, and one of the men there said I was an Argentinian because I talk so fast. haha!  I thought of you. :)

 

Mama, I always think of you when I go outside. It is green and there are beautiful flowers everywhere! It would be so great if you guys could come down! I love it here so much.

 

Another great thing about this week was that Hermana Mack and I started playing soccer! We play with the Elders, and the first day we played, I was just running around smiling my face off. :) It  felt so good to play. The Elders are chill too, and we all have fun, nothing really competetive. Hermana Mack is also helping me to stay in shape. That coupled with about 2 pounds of protein in the meals each day, I'm going to be able to beat Corbs at wrestling soon. ;) Just kidding bro, I know you can still kick my tush.

 

So now for some spiritual experiences. This week we have been focusing on some grammar topics that I have had trouble with in the past. For example, one of these was por and para. Earlier in the week we had talked about the idea of focusing on praying for just what we need for that day, instead of praying for general topics. So that morning in my prayers I had asked for help with understanding por and para. We got to class, and things just clicked! We even did a worksheet, and I only missed two!!!! I promise that when we ask the Lord for help, He will help us according to our needs and what is best for us!

 

I know that God is aware of each of us! He truly does love us and knows exactly what is going on in our lives. I promise that He loves us ,and that as we turn to Him and pray to Him in faith, we will have the help we need to overcome anything that we are dealing with! I testify that I KNOW that this is true!

 

Sorry, this is scattered, but I just thought of another funny story. Today we were riding a bus home from town. Someone got up, so Hermana Mack and I decided to sit down so as to create more room for people on the bus. Well, she sat down, and as I went to sit down, the bus lurched forward, and I totally fell into this guys' lap! haha! It was embarassing, but it was funny. Today we also went to a store called Totus. It is like a Peruvian Walmart. It was really nice, felt a little bit like home.

 

Well General Conference is this week! I am excited to have the chance to hear from the prophets and apostles that God has called to lead us on this Earth today. I really hope you guys enjoy it! I know I will, and as an added bonus, I will get to hear English for a whole weekend! :D I feel spoiled. ;)

 

Our district is really great! It will be hard to leave them. All of the Elders in our district are going to Chiclayo, and Hermana Mack and I are both staying here in Lima East.  She, one other Elder, and I are the only ones  here right now who are going to Lima East. I've heard a rumor that it is the best mission. I'm just saying what I heard. ;)  Well familia, I love you all soo very much!!!! I hope you know that. I think about you all every day and pray for you every day too. You are such rays of sunshine and hope and love in my life and I want to say thank you for that!

 

I know it is hard to be apart, but know that this is what needs to be. I am so excited to come back and share with you in person all about my adventures, right after you get the biggest hugs of your lives! :) Please be happy, and know that I love you! God bless you!

 

Love,

Hermana Waite

Photos and email from Sept 26, 2013

Well.  Looks like Chalea is still smiling.  The following is from her latest email.

This week, wow! So much growth, I couldn't even try to tell you all of it. Sometimes I feel like the prophets in The Book of Mormon that say they cannot even write a hundreth part of what is going on around them. Mama, to answer your question, we get to go through a temple session! :D I am so excited because the temple is in my mission, so I will be able to go often. Last week I did the session in Spanish, and understood quite a bit of it, this week I did it in English because I wanted to be able to ponder more. yesterday we were sitting in class and had a mild earthquake. haha! It was so cool! I was sitting in my chair and I felt in vibrating. I looked around, and the scriptures on Hermana Mack´s desk were shaking too.It only lasted about a minute and a half, but it was neato! :)

 

I still love the  busses here. Don't worry, we are being careful. They do make a complete stop to let you on and off. They just hurry on from place to place. The Peruvian lifestyle, from what I have seen, is unique, but very cool. The people work are so nice, and they take time to enjoy things in life, yet they work hard and are outgoing. Examples: Today at one of the bus stops a man was crossing the street to catch the bus. The driver could have sped off, but they waited for him to cross the street and let him get on. Another thing, the people here who sell things, they have to make their living off what they sell, so instead of just sitting around, they are out working, really getting you to buy their stuff. It's kind of neat that they are so willing to do that and so confident in themselves.

 

So this past Saturday we went proselyting! That was a humbling experience. We met at a chapel in Lima, and then paired up with some members of that ward to go invite less active memebers to church and to see what we could do to help them. We also got paired up with Latinos (that is what they liked to be called here) as our companions. Yikes! It was scary at first, but I am glad we got to work with them. :) So we went out and the places we went to were so different than there in the states. One of the ladies just had a cement floor that was cracked with some tin sheets for a roof. That was humbling in and of itself. Another humbling experience was the language barrier. I could understand a good portion of what was going on, but it was scary to be the only white girl on the block and to share a message about the Lord with complete strangers. However, I did it! and it was a good experience. My compañera and I were able to share some scriptures with the ladies we visited and remind them that they are needed and loved. We also found a lady who wanted to learn more about the Church, so we gave her a pamphlet about the Plan of Happiness and we wrote down her name and address for the missionaries who are already out in the field. It was exciting.:)

 

Something I have been learning this week is how the Holy Ghost can work through us. There have been vairous times this week, during proselyting or when we are teaching our "investigators" where I have had thoughts pop into my mind of things I needed to say. I promise that as we live worthy of the Holy Ghost and take the time to listen, He is there to guide us in the things we need. Examples: During proselyting, I totally blanked on what scriptures my companion and I had wanted to share. I breathed and thought for a moment, and a scripture would pop into my mind. Another time, just the other day in fact, Hermana Mack and I were teaching one of our investigators. I have been having a little trouble thinking of thought provoking questions that will help our investigator get involved in the lesson. God definitely was aware of this because during that lesson, I easily had questions come to mind and pretty much jump out of my mouth, that helped our investigator learn more about our loving Heavenly Father and the plan that He has for us. It is such a neat feeling!

 

Well family, almost time to go. I think about you every single day. I miss you very much, but I am so happy and comfortable here. I learned this week that those feelings come from the Holy Ghost and that that is God's way of reminding me that this is where I need to be. I love you so much!!! Thank you for your prayers, love, and support. Until next week!!!!

 

So much love!!!

Hermana Waite

P.S. Mom, Hermana Mack is from Arizona, but she speaks really good Spanish.  We get along well! :)

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Email from Sept 19, 2013

Looks like Chalea is getting into the groove of things (except her emailing skills).  Here is some of her first email home:

Well, I had a really nice email and it just erased on me. :P

Granadias are like oranges,but with slimey insides. They are fun to eat because you have to crack open the hard outer shell and then you get to slurp the "guts" out. haha. Corbs,the food is really good,but I will be ok without rice for a while. haha! Good bisteak though!

 

Spanish is going really well! Hermana Mack (my compañera) speaks Spanish, and she and I get along well. Guess we are the "old ones" in our district because some of the Elders are 18 and some young 19 year olds mostly, except for one Elder. They are great though! and Hermana Mack and I like helping them with Spanish .

 

Today we got to go to town. We went to the temple (which is in my area!), ride the crazy pack you in like sardines busses, and explore the Metro (a shopping center). The busses reminded me of you Dad.

 

Sorry this is short, it will be better next week because I won't accidentally delete it .

 

We have already gotten to teach two lessons this week. Our teacher acts as an investigator of the church and we have gotten to teach him. It is so amazing how the Spirit works through us if we are ready and willing to allow Him into the lesson.

 

I know that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer. I know that God is aware of each of us and that He is right there by our side,as are His angels. I know that if we sincerely pray in faith, He will answer us, but we need to be willing to do as He asks.

 

If you know anything, know that I love you VERY much! You are seriously the best family and the best friends. Love you! and have a fantastic week!

Love,

Hermana Waite

Whewww!!!! She made it!!

I just got the following message from Chalea.

<hola! Well, <I am safe here in Peru!!!:D Got my name tag and everything, so it´s official. Don´t have much time now, but P day is on Thursday, so I will get back to you all soon. I love you all soo much, but I am so excited to be here. It is beautiful. Have a fantastic week!!! Love you all.

Hermana Waite

P.S. Thanks for your email Papa :)