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 :)

Hola! So I got my flight plans this week, HUGE blessing.:) I leave on Wednesday morning and fly to SLC. Then from there to Atlanta and then off to Peru!!!:D I am feeling a mix of emotions, stress, sadness, excitement, peace, happiness. It will be such a blessing to be able to get there and start serving Heavenly Father and the people in Peru. I want to thank everyone for the support they have given me; it is much needed. I know this is what God wants me to be doing at this point in my life and where He wants me to be!

Love,
Hermana Waite