Baylee - Hola mi familia y mis amigos!

Hola mi familia y mis amigos!

So this week was a week where we learnd patience. It seemed that no one wanted to hear this great message we have o share...It wasnt all bad but we have made goals to improve this coming week!

Heres what happened...

- I have been doing some deep studying of he past conference talks in preparation for this coming weekend and the opportunity to listen to the chosen prophets seers and revelators of the Lord. I found an amazing quote that i would lik to share with you! ´nourish and encourage all light until it grows clear and bright´. from Dieter F. Uchtdorf, 2nd Counselor in the First Presidency. This means to me that we need to seek out the good and help it grow within us and within others. we need to love others enirely, even if they are different or dont have all the pieces put together yet. We are all children of our Father in Heaven and everyone needs a lifting hand. We can be the hands of God to lift and love our brothers and sisters here on earth. No matter how small the good is, we can tke it and nourish it into a thriving ball of light! :)

- On tuesday we taught the Morales family. they have received basically every lesson, i think i talked about them before. This time, it came clear to me that fear of the unknown and the different often holds us back from things that are for our good. I encourage each of you to have the courage to take that step of faith and follow our Savior. He is waiting for you, and i can imagin how sad He feels when we are too timid or too prideful to enter in at the gate and follow Him. He sacrificed so much for us, we can sacrifice a little here in our lives for Him.

- Tuesday was Hna. Salazar{s birthday!! She is now 20 years old and i take every opportunity to remind her that she is old :) In Ward Council tueday evening, the council found out it was her birthday and every pitched in to buy us 4 Hna.s each a burger and a bottle of soda to take back to our room with us to celebrate! It was fun, not to mention the burgers with delicious!

- On Wednesday, Hna. Salazar completed 6 months of being a missionary! We had another little bit of a celebration for that and shared a slice of tres leches cake with chocolate and then bought burgers at this new burger place. LOL we have been making bad food choices lately but i blame Hna. Salazar for turning 20 and for completely 6 months! we have to celebrate such occasions!

-Thursday something hit me real hard, a realization bigger than anything that has come yet....Im living in Peru! Alone! Speaking and UNDERSTANDING Spanish! ¡¿Qué en el mundo?! LOL guys. how crazy is that?! What an experience!

- Well, Thursday i experienced my first door being slammed in my face...we knocked an introduced ourselves and the lady literally just said no no no and slammed the door. It hurt, like a bit of a physical pain...that same day, another man opned his door and told us tha he woul only visit the church if w payed him a million dollars because ´the church pays us enough to keep a giant home´....ya we had few rude, anti xperiences this week...

- So, be proud! i am learning how to experiment and make do with the foods i have access to. I have made a few od concoctions that turned out pretty good :)

- Oh, on Wed. we visited with the old man i told you about last week, Oscar. i actually started crying in lesson...not because i felt the Spirit but because i want him to be baptized so bad! he needs this gospel and he needs to join his eternal family! not to menion he reminds me so much of Grandpa B....

- i have been thinking about Grandpa B. a lot lately...i miss him just as i miss all of my family..but i know families can be eternal, and my family is eternal thanks to the power of the Priesthood and temple marriages! Thank you, Mom and Dad, Grammy and Grandpa, Grandma and Grandpa, all my ancestors for being seald in the temple and blessing me with eternity if i live righteously!

- on Saturday, Hna. Salazar and i had a Disney sing a long! LOL during language study, i sang her Disney songs in Spanish, being super dramatic and putting on a show! Let It God, For the First Time in Forever, Part of Your World, Whole New World, and many many more! :)

- Saturday Women´s Conference was very great! I had to listen in Spanish...so it was a little hard to understand at times, but i learned that it is very important for us to open our eyes to the happiness that is right in front of us! There is happiness all around, and if we will just open up our eyes, we will see it! Find the happiness! :)

- Ok, guys...im losing my self control...im trying so hard to be healthy with my food choiecs, but its getting easier and easier to just chose the tasty treat! LOL im still working out good and hard every morning except Sunday, so thats good but the food...Goodness gracious! it doesnt help that there is a panaderia or a tienda on every corner here!

- Yesterday, Hna. Salazar and i had a bit of a pity party and ate mircowave brownies, pizza Wontons, make shift mac and cheese, and som bread wih crem cheese. Then later last night, we visited a less activ, my favorite Hna. Sara and she gave us slices of the left over cake from her grandsons 1st birthday party earlier this week! Ya, my healthy eating thing this week was rough!

- Today, our zone went to Negritos! Negritos is a beautiful little beach town in our zone, and it was fun! the few is amazing and Negritos is so calm and nice! Then, Hna. Zieneger and Echegaray brought back two Family size pizzas from Piura and us Hna.s ate in the room of Hna. Salazar and i. HAWIIAN! :) It was sooo yummy! and American! I splurged a little today and bought Pringles and a MilkyWay to get in a little more America because i really am missing our great country!

Well, theres my week! I lov you all!! i know his gospel is true, without a doubt! I hope you all are well! i invite you all to watch the General Conference sessions this coming weekend. its such a magnificent opportunity to listen to chosen men and women of God! Im so excited, and i get to listen in English this time! :) Hasta Luego!

-- 

<<< HERMANA BUCHANAN >>>

~ ~ ~ PERU PIURA MISSION ~ ~ ~

23 septiembre 2015‏

September 23 2015

Today is a good day. Today is transfers. I am so excited to see how this transfer will go. My new companion is Hermana Clove. She is super sweet and super freakin´awesome!! I remember the first time we talked was when I was a newbie last year and we had a sister meeting and she was all finally someoe newer than me! It was really funny and cute. She was in a new area really far away from anything. She goes home at the end of this transfer as well so I willl have two kills under my belt. They will soon have to call me 007. I am still in the same place, Villa Olga. I hope to help this area and find some more people. 

We are not allowed to go to the temple ever now. Some missionary made a mistake and that privilage ha been stripped of us. The Area President is livid with us. So we didn´t go to the temple or pass by it at all. 

Estefani is still a work in progress. She still has doubts on the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. yesterday we watched the Restauration movie the long version in the temple. And when we finished she said I still have doubts but I now understand that i really do have to read it and pray about it to understand it. It was cool to be able to see he rcome to that realization.

Yeah Cuba is a wrk in progress as well. Very soon we hope they will let missionaries in. it will be amazing to be able to help those faithful saints who are there and help them in their missionary efforts. On saturday we had a zone conference with Elder Zivic from the seventy and he talked about the saints there and how they are the missionaries there. people are getting baptized and just imagine what would happen if the missionaries where there full time and they worked together. It would be amazing. It should be tçlike thatin all parts of the world. The members are HUGE KEYS in the part of missionary work and everyone needs to help.

So thursday we had a zone choir practice because supposedly we were going to sing at the zone conference for Elder Zivic we took an hour to decide that we were going to sing Called to Serve even with the risk that we may sing it for an opening or closing song, which we did, but we ended up not even singing at all so that was ok. We also had lunch with Granges. Hermana Salazar made food that they make in Costa Rica and it was really good. 

Friday we had a Hermana Reunion and that was fun we talked about unity with our companions and we had birthday cake because it was Hermana Zegharra´s birthday. It was a pretty good piece of cake. That night we had tacos at the house of the familia Beltre. The elders came and so did the bishop and his family as a good bye party for hermana salazar. The tacos were really good.

Saturday we had the Zone Conference and we talked a lot about obedience. Which is really good with a new mission president. We also talked about missionary work in Cuba and we hope that really soon we will be able to serve there.

Sunday we had lunch at the Famila Rodriguez´s house and we had La Bandera. Rice beans chicken and avacado. it was really good. We visited a lot of people so that Hermana salazar could say her good byes and give her last word.

Monday the people who are going home have a meeting so I stayed in the offic all day we helped out there. Hermana Clove and I were companions becasue both of our companions were in the meeting. We joked that we would be companions for the next transfer. I talked with the doctors in Slat lake about my burn scar on my heel. We went to the bank to get American money and we fixed the ink in our bathroom at our house and we had wendy´s for lunch. Then we finished with a family home evening at a members house we talked about the importance of listening to the spirit. Sometimes we aren´t in tune with the spirit and miss it. Like the people in 3 nephi. the third time they heard the voice they understood.

Tuesday was our transfer meeting and Hermana Clove and I are companions!!! We were so excited because we called it the day before. We are excited to work and see some miracles. 

ToDAY! The elders came and got us from the houe and took us to Caribe Tours and then we changed people out and they brought s back to the house and then we talked for a bit and then we decided to go write and now we are going to go shopping becasue we have no food in the house. 

When we have questions we have to look for ourselves sometimes rather than just straight up as for the answer. When we look and come to our own understanding our own understanding is stronger than it would be if someone else would tell it to us. 

I love you!!! BE GOOD!!! 

-- 

Todo Bien!!!

Hermana Buchanan

Baylee - Hola familia y amigos! :) ¿Como estàn?

September 21 2015

Hola familia y amigos! :) ¿Como estàn?

This week has been one of ups and downs, which seems to be becoming the norm. Heres what went down this week...

- Monday night us Hnas had aniother sleepover in our room! We decided to make something real...FAJITAS! LOL i guess that isnt a thing here in Peru so the two Peruvians were weary, also Hna Huanca from Bolivia and Hna Arce from Paraguay. I guess Fajitas are a Mexican thing LOL. I played chef, though and it was way fun! I even made the tortillas! LOL we used our pancake recipe and just used less sugar, a little more salt, and more liquid. they actually werent too bad. Tortillas are so expensive here that it made more sense to try this experiment. I also cooked the chicken and the peppers and the onions. it was way good! it made me think of home! i also made us WonTon s`mores LOL which were very yummy! We played a silly version of spin the bottle where we asked each other questions to get to know each other better. Good Times! we were up until 3 AM though, and i was sooooo tired!

- on Tuesday, Hnas Ziegner, Arce, and Ortix went to Piura for the doctor, so Hna Huanca was in a trio with Hna. Salazar and i. it was fun, but definitely a way different experience trying to teach with three people!

- so i finished my second journal Monday night...LOL i am going to come home with sooo many journals full of stuff!

- Wed. while we were knocking on doors, a 10 year old or so boy answered the door and then asked who we were. LOL we told him we were missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ, and as he ran to tell his mom, we heard him say, Îts Jesus! LOL we laughed so hard! 

- Thursday night, i realized the Hno. Francisco was my very first lesson that i taught here in the field, and now he has a baptismal date, is going through the interviewing process, and plans to be baptized in October! Fruits of this labor!! :)

- Thursday was our last district meeting in my very first transfer...Cambios were this week...Today! im now in my second transfer in the field, third transfer overall!! WOW!

- Friday we taught one of our investigators amed Luisa. She was so interested, prepared for our visit, having read the whole Restoration pamphlet and having lots of questions...she even said that she felt good about it when she prayed. But them came in her husband...he was all gruff and upset during the lesson, then afterward basciall told us that our lessons are shoving a wedge in their relationship and that whatever decisions are made he will have the last say and he has decided that they are Catholic and will always be Catholic...Luisa kept looking at me with these pleading sad and tearfilled eyes all through his speech...Im almost 100% positive that her husband is abusive...That was such a frustrating day for both Hna. Salazar and i...we cant do anything...he wont let us come back to visit...we did give Luida a Book of mormon and encourqaged her to read and pray...Grr..i was so upset!

- Saturday i discovered a new favorite food of Peru...Slasa de Piña! So good! served with rice of course and chicken! It reminded me of the Pork Chop Apple thing my mom makes, and it made me feel liek i was having a tiny bit of home! Loved it!

- In our mission, theres a tradition of making memory scrapbooks! its the coolest thing. we all have our little notebooks that we pass around to the people in our districts and zones and to the members and the make a page of memories with encouragement and photos and their info to find them on facebook aand thriough email after the mish! its such an awesome thing!

-Sat night we had a celebration! it was a Family Home Evening, but it was quite a celebration. a goodbye for Elders Miranda and Flores and Hna Huanca as the left for transfers and Elder Miranda headed home. But also a fieat to celebrate Hna. Salazras brithday! she turns 20 tomorrow! LOL here in Peru theres a tradition to sing to the birthday person and do the candle thing like normal, but then the person gets attacked with eggs! people smash eggs on your head!! FOR REAL! so thats what Hna Sala<ar got Saturday night! It was wonderful fun! And i got it on vide, of course! It turned into a war! with eggs asnd flour! Such a good time. i escaped getting hit, but now i know what to look forward to in a little over a month....I will be a good sport, prmise! :) For the party, we had a giant chocolate cake, brownies, homemade donuts that are basically scones, Causas, and chips! so tasty! i had the biggest pice of cake ever! not because i chose it but because Hna. Susanah Rosales served me a huge piece! delicious, but i think i almost died from all the food!

- That same night was such a late one...Hna Salazar had to shower when we got back to the room of course, wo we were up late again!

- Sunday Hna. Salazat and i practiced our power stance and screamed to the heavens ^soy una buena misionera!` LOLthat means i am a goo missionary! We were having a down day, so i made Hna. Salazar do this. such a relief to just yell!

- Sunday, i received a testimony that we really do help people! we had an appointment with a family and a husbnad named Donald. We knocked on the house that we thought was uit and asked. a mother answered and her son was named Donald so she started talking to us and started crying...Her son just left last week for Piura, saying he wont come back and he is basically ruining his life...we didnt realize we were wrong with the people, but the mother, Rosa, let us in and we talked about prayer, faith, Gods timing, eternal families. She told us earlier she wasnt sure if God exists because of all this bad stuff, but because He sent the two of us, angels she called us, her faith has been strengthened. we have another vivst with her later this week. I know God had us knock on her door to bring light into her life, and i know that this gospel turly is the gospel of happiness! Such a wonderful, strengthening, affirming experience! 

- Sunday night we went to another FHE with Hna. Wilma, the relief society president. we didnt stay long, but it was also fun! That same night, after we were at the room of Hna.s Ziegner and Huanca trying t help them prep for todays transfers, Hna. Salazar and i took one of Hna Hunacas suitcases with us and then they were going to head to our room a little later for another sleepover with the other Hnas! We were walking to the main street, after 10, to get a moto. There was 5 guys sitting at the corner...and amazingly Elders Bradford, Miranda, and Flores were towards us coming from the Rosales home. The 5 men got up as we approached, cat calling and one got up in my face, very close. Then came Elder Bradford! He already way tall and huge compared to Peruvians, but he got all hunched and amde himself look even bigger and went up to the man all angry and the guy backed off immediately. Elder Miranda took the suitcase from me and was on one side of me while Elder Flores took the other side and Elder Bradford was behind the group as we hurried to the main road...ya that was a scary expereince...my heart clenched so hard, but i was perpared to fling the suitcase at some faces LOL...Its dangerous to be out past 9:30...especially here in Talara....but its all ok! the Lord protects us! He sent the Elders out at the same time as us to keep us safe! 

- Then we had our sleepover! brownies and talking is all, while Hna. Huanca finished her sracpbook pages for peoples memory books. we were up until 2 ish and had to be at Eppo at 5:30...ya i am exhausted today! LOL we have had a lot of late nights today...Heavenly Father please forgive us. its always all messed up during the week of Cambios...

- Cambios this morning were way more sad than i expected. i was sad to see Hna. Huanca go, of course, but i was surprised by haow sad i was to see the Elders leave too. Elder Miranda and Elder Walked are going home! Elder Flores, Elder Buennning, Elder Ramos all went to different areas...it was so hard! But i made it through my first Cambio experience! And Hna. Ziegners new companion Hna Echegaray is very cool! 

well thats my week! the church is true everyone! please remeber that we go to church to partake of the sacrament, to renew our covenants, to keep the commandments of Go, not for the people. no one is perfect, and the church is the best hosiptal, the gospel the best medicine. only through Christ can we be healed and made whole, receving true and everlasting happiness! I love you all more than words can say! :):)

-- 

<<< HERMANA BUCHANAN >>>

~ ~ ~ PERU PIURA MISSION ~ ~ ~

Brielle - WOOW tanto tiempo!!

September 16-2015

WOOW tanto tiempo!!

This week was kind of a long week, and not. Wednesday night we had exchanges and I went to a lesson with Hermana Malabi. I just realized that the last time we taught together we were in the MTC learning and struggling together and we taught the lesson just fine. 

Then Thursday morning at 5:45am the asistentes came and picked me and the companion of Hermana Malabi up to go to the mission office and wait for the bus to come get us. There were maybe 20 other missionaries there. We were traveling to Santo Domingo to get our Temporary Residency. We got there at 9am and began the process. The elders from my group were there and the process that they and I went through was different than those that are new new. We had to do our finger prints, take a picture, and wait. For lunch we ate at the beach across the street from the office. First time I have been to the beach here. The other group had to go to the doctors. So while they did that the elders and I went to the mission office of one of the missions in Santo Domingo. We just sat around and talked. Then we left for Santiago. We got back at about 8:30pm it was a long day.

Friday we did weekly planning and had lunch with a member named Luci. She is so sweet, the food was really good. Then we walked for 30 minutes to our first appointment, Italia. Our last appointment, Estefani, is a new investigator and is really insterested in finding the true church she is catholic but doesn´t believe in their teachings and she is learning from the Jehovah´s Witnesses and doesn´t agree with their teachings. She has told us she likes our church. We invited her to be baptized but haven´t put a date yet. We had an appointment tonight but she doesn´t feel well.

Sunday we had toacos for lunch with the Vega family. They are awesome.Tomas Vega is quite a character. 

Monday we had a zone meeting because they had concilio on saturday and there are changes coming to our mission that will help us with our work. First obedience. and the change of some rules. All Hna. Salazar says At least I am leaving no importa. I am excited for the changes.

Tuesday we had coordination meeting but didn´t have comite ejecutivo but we sat around and talked with the bishop he is just a computer full of random knowledge. 

Today we went to Calle Del Sol so that Hermana Salazar could find her dress and shoes. We were successful. Then we ran to the mission office. I dropped my letters off and then we went home for lunch and to chill out. Then we came to write.

I want to share a quote I found today, oneday, no matter what reason we may have for unhappiness- whatever trials we may face, have faced, or are facing- one day they will all come to an end. Right at the end of his agonies on the cros Jesus said, It is finished. Her certainly meant that his Father´s will had completely been accomplished, but there is someting more in those simple words. His SUFFERING was also ouver. No man suffermore than he did, and if HE came to a point in his life where he could say of his suffereing, It is finsihed, all of US will come to the point in our existence when we, too, will say, It is finished. And it will be finished, no matter what it was. The tears will be wiped away. That end we may hope for. That end we may be assured of. 
     -S. Michael Wilcox

This quote stood out to me and I wanted to share it because how many of us have had pain in our lives. No matter how small or big. Pain is still pain. It really hits me because with my accident and my burns I felt so much pain, pain that I cannot fully describe. I know that there is someone who has felt that same pain and even more. Jesus Christ knows the feeling of every little pain we have felt. He knows. He is always with us. Letting us learn and grow. Your pain will pass, He will help you get through it. 

-- 

Todo Bien!!!

Hermana Buchanan

Baylee - Hola!! Mi Familia y Mis Amigos, te amo!! :)

September 14 2015

Hola!! Mi Familia y Mis Amigos, te amo!! :)

LOL So to be honest, this week was kind of rough because many, many of our appointments fell through and we werent able to teach a whole lot. But it was also really a packed full week too because of many trips and different moments! So heres what happened this week...

-right after emailing last week, Hnas Salazar, Ziegner, Huanca and i ran into this man. he took my hand to shake it like any normal person then leaned down and kissed it! he tried to keep a hold of it and he was super creepily focused on me. LOL the other Hnas were just as weirded out...we invited him to attend church and worked to leave...he kept talking! i guess some missionaries gave him a Book of Mormon, which is good but he was being so creepy...we actually ran into on the street Sat also and he followed us trynig to catch up and talk, but we walked fast to get to correlation. Then he actually showed up at church. thats really good except he was asking around trying to find me. specifically me...The members and the lders watched out for me, but it was weird!

- On Tuesday, Hna. Salazar and i had our 5 week meeting/celebration in Piura! we woke up at 4:30 to leave from the bus station, Eppo, at 6:30 in order to be in Piura at 8:30 for our 9 meetnig. It was a wonderful day! i got to see all my friends from the CCM and talk in English! LOL I learned so much spiritually too! I learned a lot about the importance of patience in this work as well as about our responibilites our stewardhip over our area. We got to split into trainers and trainees, and we took that opportuinty to talk about problems we have with our trainers or with the members or what not. Presidente informed us that our mission is the lowest scoring mission, if you will. we have developed a culture of laziness, and Presidente has given our new group the challenege, the expectation to change this. we need to work hard, teach more, find more people. It was also nice that day because we got sliced watermelon, sliced pineapple, Chifles, Papa Johns pizza, a giant delicious tray of veggies, Monster Cookies from Hna Ramussen! LOL delicious food! and at the end of our meeting, the Rasmussen`s son and his wife who were visiting sang us the Battle Hymn of the Republic. it was so beuatiful and spiritual! i cried! i really miss beauitful music! its so hard to find here because so many Latinos just dont have any idea of intoniation or rhythm whatsoever...It was a beautiful day though! :)

- Tuesday night, i began my Intercambio with Hna. Ziegner. she came to our area and i had to lead all day Wednesday! it was a hard thing to do, but it also helped me see that i know a lot more than i thought i did! Hna. Zienger and i had French toast Wednesday morning and then shared a donut, which was really cake in the shape of a donut with filling, that night. We didnt have a whole lot of success throughuot the day, but we did find one new family! They seemed super interested, but we havent been able to teach them since...i really hope we can get them interested and help them come closer to our Savior!

- that same night, Hna Ziegner and i had a scary moment....we entered a house while knocking doors of this man. his sisters and mom were there too, but he was the only one listenign...and he was creepy! he talked about how his friend had killed a man and his eye was blackened because i guess some guy tried to kill him...LOL he also was asking for our Facebook info and where we lived, so we left him an invite to church and quickly left...then another guy farther down told us he coudnt open the door we knocked and to come around to the front, but as we went to walk around the corner, a moto taxi guy yelled at us to be careful and go to the other corner...the guy at the door was yelling at us to come...so we hightailed it out of there. a couple of American girls at night with men around was a bit of scary moment LOL but it all worked out!

- Thrusday, Hna. Zienger and i went to Piura again to visit the dentist. Hna. Ziegner came with me as my translator to be sure i could communicate with the dentist. the dentist was very cool and helpful. my teeth are all ok, he just said i have sensitive gums and i need to be careful and gave some more advice. and it only cost 50 soles!! thats less than 20 Amreican dollars!! for the dentist!! WOW!

- our day i Piura was so fun! we went to the mall, Real Plaza and walked around just looking at what was available. real civilization! Then we ate Pizza Hut and some Chinese food. and then of course we needed dessert so we went to Pinkberry, a frozen yogurt place that is also in the States. DELICIOUS! they had NUTELLA!!! LOL i went all out! so so so good :)

I love you all! I know this gospel is true! i am here to help my brothers and sisters here in Peru come unto Christ and find the joy and happiness that this gospel brings. I truly hope all is well with everyone at home in the real world. my world of focusing just on the gospel is such an experience! :) 

Hasta Luego!

-- 

<<< HERMANA BUCHANAN >>>

~ ~ ~ PERU PIURA MISSION ~ ~ ~

Brielle - September 9 2015

September 9, 2015

Man I don´t understand how times flies by when it doesn´t actually seem like it is going so fast. I just, no entiendo.

We had a cosecha on Friday with the elders of our district in our area. Hermana Salazar and I have been working on getting all the work members put together in an excel file according to what neighborhood they live in so we can contact them more easily. So we printed those lists off and got copies of the map that I bought to help them find the areas. Then we met at the church and gave pass along cards that had our name and number on it and we went out. The elders weren´t able to find many people and niether were we. But we met back at the church and the elders were wiped. They finally understood when we say that our area is muy muy grande that we aren´t kidding. Then we had a ward activity and watched the movie The Croods. It was pretty fun. I just like that movie in general. We also got our fridge fixed becasue I am pretty sure when we were defrosting it that my comp poked a hole in the freezer because she wsan´t patient enough to let it melt she just wanted the ice out at that moment. But she says she didn´t stab down, so who knows but we finally got our fridge bad that is all that matters.

Saturday we had exchanges with members and me and my member we didn´t have a single lesson we tried but they weren´t home so we ended up contacting the whole time. She is in Young Womens so we had to go to the church early because she had mutual.

Sunday we had lunch at the Familia Bretón and it was good like always we talked about ghost and dying. I think it is because we were teasing Hermana Salazar and them we just kept going on about death.

Monday we had a district meeting and didn´t little interviews at the end then we went to Pica Pollo for lunch together. 

Tuesday was a day spent at the hospital. Hermana Salazar got her heart checked because she has been having chest pains. Then she got some other tests done then we met up with hermana grange and we talked with the plastic surgeon who cleaned my wounds when I was in the hospital here. He looked at my burns and said that all looks really good. So don´t worry about the burns anymore, for now. 

Today we were going to go on a hike but we decided last night after we cleaned the house lets not go and just chill out. so we opted out. I cleaned all my colored clothes and thenwe went to calle del sol for three hours. Then we ran back to the house adn I grabbed my over night bag becasue I am going to Santo Domingo to do visa stuff.

That´s about it.

Yo sé que nosotros podemos ser más feliz en nuestras vidas si nosotros hacemos todas las cosas que nuestro Padre Celestial quiere de nosotros. Él permitirnos a aprender muchisimas cosas por medio de nuestros pruebas y Él va a ayudarnos solomente si nosotros somos haciendo todo que él quiere. Yo sé que la Igelsia de Jesuscristo de Los Santos de Los Últimos Días es la iglesia verdadera. Y el Libro de Mormón es la palabra de Dios y nosotros podemos aprender las cosas que Dios quiere de cada uno de nosotros. 

No fotos this week I am a slacker at fotos.

Be good.

-- 

Todo Bien!!!

Hermana Buchanan

Baylee - Hola mi familia y mis amigos!!

September 7 2015

Hola mi familia y mis amigos!! 

How is everyone?? i truly hope you are all doing well! heres what happened ths past week....

-On Wednesday, i had two lunchs! two almuerzos! We visited an investigator just before lunch with our Pensionista to set up a time for another visit, and she gave some of my favorite...Aji de Gallina! she made it with picante, which surprisingly i am starting to like! LOL i used to not be able to handle spiciness in the slightest, but its really growing on my here. i really like this stuff called Rocote! anyway! after that, it was time for lunch with our Pensionista, and since we pay for that beforehand, we had two lucnhes! Later on in the day Wednesday, three of our appointments included gifts of food or some IncaCola to drink. LOL Wednesday wasnt a super great day for eating helathy because we ate so much!

- I received a card from my Mom on Thursday with liuttle letters from my brothers!! I was so very very excited about that, and it was much needed as a little bit of encouragement! Thanks mom i love you1! :)

- So theres this dessert thing called Chufla....it is the most disgusting thing ever! its like porridge, mush stuff with some cinnamon thats served either cold or hot...we had it served to us hot by the Morales family...i tried so hard to choke it down and be thje good house guest...but they could tell i was dying. Celeste and Flavio are so sweet and took it away from me so i could live LOL! immediately after, Hna. Salazar and i went to by some bread to quench the nasty taste and settle my writhing stomach...i truly hope i never have to eat Chufla again!

- so if you remember last week i mentioned our golden investigator Karen...well turns out she wasnt quite so golden...she told us that she feels in her heart that her church, the Catholic church, is true. Even after attending sacrament meeting and loving it. She loves the Book of Mormon and she loves our church meetings...i think shes hestitant because her grnadmother is so very Catholic...thats something really hard about Latin America...generationjs of families are Catholic...hmm...its really sad about Karen though...

- So theres this less active mom whos about my moms age. her name is Sara and her and her family are turning into some of my favorite people! Hna Sara is only less active because she travels to Lima so much for her health. she has problems with asthma. But we visit them quite a bit. at first i really just liked visiting them because there house is actualy clean and kind of like a house in the States LOL but she has real concern and love for us and she jokes with us and her family is extrememly welcoming. I love them!

- Friday night, we visited Hna. Elli our Pensionista to teach her and her family about the Restoration. we have been advices to visit member families and talk about this and the importance of sharing this with neighborsa nd family. it was a long lesson because her son is a member, but hes the kind of member that readsall the negative propaganda and searches out other things and he alwasy has a lot to say...but after Hna Elli gave us chicken sandwiches and ^hot^chocolate LOL so that was good!

- I had french fried TH night! LOL thats a big deal! any time i get to eat American food it is a big deal LOL!

- I have been working on improving my prayers this week. sometimes its hard to pray sincerely whether its because im dead tired, i feel weighed down with the hard work of the mission, i miss home, whatever...but i have really been focusing on this aspect of my spiritual nourishment this week. taking the time to pray to our FATHER is essencial! its not just a oneway conversation. we need to be still and listen for the responses he has for us. give him the time of day, listen like you would when you go to your earthyl father for advice. I wish i could go to my earthly father more directly for advice right now, but i do have my Heavenly Father at my access whenever i need him. i advise you all to try and spend a bit more time on your knees this week. not even saying anything, just listening for the answer from you FATHER! i testigfy that He will answer!

- so i have been missing the food frm home ablot lately LOL so i made this list...and its ongoing...of foods from home! i have three columns. one fgor meals, one for desserts, and one for everything else! I miss lots of things, and writing them down has helped a bit. maybe not because i think about it a lot LOL but i have the list nonetheless.

- Last night we had a sleepover with Hna. Ziegner and Hna. Huanca in our room! :) it was so so fun! We made fried Won Tons with cheese, ham, sausage, and some spaghetti sauce in them! like little mini pizzas! and we made some sweet Won Tons with cream cheese and cinnamon sugar! and we made brownies in the microwave! So tasty! We also watched a church produced movie about some missionaries. i dont actually know what the movie is called, but it was really good! we were up way late...Shame on us LOL but since today was Pday we made an exception. This morning we got up and ran which was great! and we made pancakes! :) pretty much an awesome morning!

- today we went to the beach as a zone! It is absolutely beautiful!! I will send pics next weeek! we road in this large minivan all packed in for about half an hour. we walked the sandy dunes, played volleyball and soccer in the sand, walked through this cool cave. of course, we cant go in the water LOL but the beach was still way cool!

- today, all of the Hnas in our zone ate lunch together! Hna.s Ziegner, Huanca, Salazar, Arce, Ortiz, and i all went to this little cafe and had burgers and french fries!! Then we made our way to Picatta Mia which is a bakery that makes bread but also deliciuous artful desserts. i had advised everyone on Cheesecake! it was a hassle because we had to wait for them to finish making it, but it was well worht the wait! They had Oreo Cheesecake!! literally i have been thinking about cheesecake for the past two weeks, so having it today was like heaven! All in All, today has been my most favorite Pday!! :)

- The Morales family has been on my mind lately. they have received almost every single lesson us missionaries have to teach, all with Hna. Salazar and her past three comps. they are so hestitant about baptism...they know its right and true...this week, when we met with them, i was straight up honest with them. the options are baptism or no baptism. Hna. Salazar likes to be nice, and sometimes she is little too nice LOL i told the Morales family in the most loving way possible that the time to choose is now and there are two options....next week we have another meeting with them, and i gave them an ultimatum. they have to choose yes or no next week because we cannot keep coming to teach them if the answer is no...its sad, but we need to find those that are ready to enter the waters of baptism...its so hard!! i really want the to be baptized! i was able to share more about how my dad having the Priesthood has blessed my family as i explained that this privilige only comes to worthy members of the church...The whole situation is hard. I pray for them daily!

- everyday here in the mission is har,d every day has its challenges...but i know this gospel is true! Jesus Christ is our Savior, and this is the only way for us to enter the Celestial kingdom to live forever with God and our families. I know it, i live it, i love it!

I love you all! i encourage you all to read the Book of Mormon. That book is true and it is the evidence of all else that is a part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! :) Hasta Luego!

-- 

<<< HERMANA BUCHANAN >>>

~ ~ ~ PERU PIURA MISSION ~ ~ ~

Brielle - 3 septiembre 2015‏

Hey ya´ll!!

Things are great here. Working hard as always.

Friday, yep a supposed hurricane went past. A member called us in the morning saying to prepare so we went to the store and got a few things not really believing. And then we got calls later in the afternoon from our leaders to not leave the house because it was dangerous, so we didn´t. The storm was really just a storm. Wind, rain, thunder. Nothing to horrible. We watched a movie, Fireproof. We were really bored. It was a good thing that is was just that day that it tormed because didn´t have any drinking water in our house. OOPS!! 

The next day, Saturday we had a FHE with some members and less actives. It was a good time. we shared a parable that I can´t remember and played a really silly game. Then we walked home.

Sunday during church the elders got a call that their investigator needed help washing her uniform for work for the next day and she couldn´t do it becasue she and her husband were sick. So us and the elders went and washed all their dirty clothes and did their dishes and cleaned their house. We finished washing the clothes and had them out to dry and it started to rain so we helped bring them back in but the rain didn´t last for long but still it was kind of funny.

Monday we had a zone meeting and I gave my first training in a zone meeting. The title of my theme that the Zone Leaders gave me was. Am I taking responsibility for my efforts without blaming other? It was kind of hard to plan for but I talked about how everything we do is done with our agency and we need to be accountable for the things we do because in the end that is how it will be when we are judged by Christ. Did you do all you could? YOU, not well your companion didn´t do this so it didn´t happen, YOU. After we went to McDonalds and with your recepit you could get your name put on a Coca-Cola bottle so we all did with our last names on it. I am going to keep mine made if I get to go to the beach put sand in it or something. We also had exchanges and I stayed in Villa Olga with Hermana Zegarra. She is from Peru and so sweet. We had a good successful day. We had a FHE and it was way fun. Then we walked home and we were really far away and we had a big group so we all wouldn´t have fit into a taxi so we all walked together and it took about 30 to 45 minutes. 

Tuesday we had meetings with the ward and we are really trying to get the ward to get some activites going to get people doing things and develop more unity among the members.

If you got any ideas for ward activities please share any and all. 

Wednesday we got up early and went to an area called Sabaneta, one of hermana Salazar´s old areas to say good bye to her people there. I stayed with a member, named Luchi, for about 4 hours. We talked and studied. She was really sweet. Then we ate and visited a few more people. Went to go write before we had to go catch the Gwawa to come back to Santiago, but the power went out.

So here I am writing today!! 

Photos.... Can and bottle

              Watching a movie during the supposed hurricane only missing                 popcorn