7.29.13

HOla! Ok so this week was a lot better. I am adjusting more and more. The language is still hard but I am learning the importance of patience and that I have only been here for a little more than a week. The beginning of this last week kinda sucked bcause we werent able to do much because of my stupid dog bite. I ended up having to go to the clinic and having them check it out. the gave me a shot in my butt and some pills to take (I had no idea what was going on, I just did what I was told). then the next day I got a shot for rabies. So i am now receiving the rabies vaccinations. But don´t worry, I don´t have rabies. It is getting a lot better. It is still bruised pretty bad though. In one week I had 3 needles in different parts of my body (butt shot, rabies, and they had to take my blood for my visa). Welcome to Bolivia.

I have a letter for Chrissy but I dont know when I will be able to send it! But I dont want Chrissy to think I am ignoring her letters. thanks so much Sista! The beginning of this week I had a little breakdown because of the language. We were walking in the street to a cita (appointment) and I turned to hermana Quispe and said "necesito llorar" (i need to cry). haha I had to get it out then or else it would have happened during the lesson and that would have been bad. Anyways Quispe was super nice about it and was just comforting me. I felt better after. I still suck at spanish but I have noticed that I am learning more and more each day. It is crazy how much Heavenly FAther is blessing me. I feel unworthy a lot of the time for all the blessings because I am not perfect and in my prayers I am constantly complaining. haha God is so merciful. I am extremely grateful. It´s true though, being a missionary gives you so much more confidence to just go up and talk to people and knock on their doors. I love it. Normally I would be nervous or intimidated but I don´t even care now. I truly want to share the message of the Gospel to these people and see their lives change through it. I never realized how much I wanted to be a missionary until I came here. I want to teach lessons, I want to talk to people about the Gospel. I get bummed when our investigators aren´t home or too busy to be taught (it happens a lot). I just look at these people and think ¨"this message can change your life." I have been trying this week to look at people through the SAviors eyes, and its a really cool thing. I feel emotional when I do it. HEavenly FAther loves us all so much and he wants us all so badly to come to him. I just wish I could speak spanish better so I could actually say those things. I get really frustrated in lessons sometimes cause I know what I want to say but I just can´t. It´s really hard. I hate sounding like a 5 year old when I talk. haha Its probably so amusing for everyone. I have been reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish and that is helping me a lot. I get stressed here because a lot of our appointments fall through and then I dont feel like we are getting as much done. I  dont want to feel like I am wasting time or wasting my mission time. You know?

Living circumstances are funny. The past couple of mornings we have had no water, which is an adventure. And then we dont have a washing machine or dryer so we have to hand wash our clothes. Its a lot of work! seriously though, my arms are sore after. But it is kinda fun cause i feel all old fashioned. We might move in with a member who has an extra room and lives alone with her 2 daughters. She is lonely, she is separated from her husband and he lives with another woman. I feel sad for her. She is so nice and I think she wants us to have more company. her house is super nice too, so thats cool.

We got a baptism date set for one of our investigators this week! Her name is Teresa and she is only 15 years old and lives alone and is independent. She came to church with us yesterday and i think she liked it so I am excited about that!

You guys sound busy! Did you get a bike cruiser for me too, after my mission???? haha Have fun on the trek! I´m sure it will be great. I´m glad you like having the sisters living with you guys, and they better appreciate my room. I am trying to send pictures but they are all failing. I will continue to try! Thanks so much for all your love and support. I love you!!!

Hermana Wursten

7.22.13

Hola!! Can you believe that I am actually in Bolivia being a REAL missionary?! I definitely can´t, also its hard to feel like a real missionary when I can barely communicate with the people. Anyways I am in Tarija!!! I had to fly here from Santa Cruz and I met my trainer here, Hermana Quispe. She is from Lima, Peru. She rocks. She has an awesome testimony, is the only member in her family, 23 years old, and is super nice! I feel bad for her cause she has to deal with me. haha It is really hard for me because I want so badly to be able to participate more in lessons and talk to the people more but I just can´t. Like I don´t know how. But I am praying that it will get better and I know Heavenly Father is blessing me. The members and people here are very nice. There are a lot of members here but many are inactive. Like we will talk to someone on the street and they will be like ¨"oh yeah I am a member, but I dont go anymore" in spanish obviously. So we visit with a lot of menos activos (inactives). People try and talk English to me a lot, but they only know like a couple of words and its hard to understand through their accents. Probably how it is with me too. haha

Although right now its a lot of adjusting and learning the language is hard I am still grateful to be here. I have noticed how much Heavenly Father is helping me throughout the days. I just pray constantly for comfort. I am definitely a bit more emotional here than I have been in a while, I don´t think it is just because I am struggling with the changes but also because I feel the spirit so much. Like the other morning I was just praying before personal study and I just started crying and I had no idea why. haha During personal study that day I read Alma 34:41 and it was perfect for me, like seriously. I want that to be my missionary plaque scripture. As I was sharing with Hna Quispe what I had studied I was explaining how that scripture touched me and I was jsut crying. haha What an emotional wreck I am. I was like "no se porque estoy emocional" I dont know why I am emotional, and she was like its the spirit.She is so nice. I prayed that Heavenly Father would bless me with a trainer with patience and God answered my prayers-. In church yesterday the Bishop called me up to bear my testimony and teach a little of the first lesson. OH GOSH. can you imagine how dumb I looked up there trying to speak spanish. haha but it actually wasnt that bad. I just bore my testimony and talked about the Restoration. I only had to talk for 5 minutes so that was good. I just assume all the members understand I don´t know spanish and admire me for trying. Hna Quispe said I did a good job though.

The cool thing about being a missionary is that I feel more comfortable just approaching someone and talking about the Gopsel. I feel like normally in real life I would be nervous and intimidated but I dont feel that. I love talking about the Gospel. We have just been visiting less actives, and knocking doors and teaching investigators. I am horrible at remembering everyones names. They are all like different names and harder for me to pronounce. It is cold here right now! We are in winter and the winds are crazy. Yesterday it was seriously SO windy. mucho viento. no me gusta (gusta means "to like", well direct translation is it is pleasing to me. I think). The food is ok. Most of the time I like it but sometimes its not that great. Its just a lot of CARBS. rice, potatoes, pasta, chicken, beets. They have a lot of soups which I like. And they just LOAD up your plates with food. and then I feel like I have to eat it all even if I am not hungry. So if I come home looking like extremely round, don´t judge. But I´ll probably end up getting a parasite. They gave us a filter water bottle at the CCM but I left mine at the airport so I can´t really drink much water here. They have a lot of rules when it comes to what we can eat and drink. They drink either juice or soda with every meal. never water. I miss water.

It was sad saying bye to all of my District and I miss them beause we were all good friends. I pray for them every night. Epecially Hermana Faulk. She is awesome. So I will be here in Tarija for at least 3 months because that is how long i am training for. Please pray for me and my Spanish. There are so many dogs here. I got bit by one my 2nd day here. It was the dog of Laura, one of the ladies we are teaching. It bit me as we were walking in and it bit me hard. The back of my upper thigh is super bruised. We asked her if the dog has its rabies shot and she said yes. so hopefully thats true. But I´m not worried about it cause the Dog bit me where my garments are and those are a protection. and I am a missionary so God is watching over me. I will try and send pictures of it if I can figure out how to send pictures. I am trying to think of what else to tell you all. The houses here just dont feel like homes to me. the people are pretty poor. But the people are so humble and I love that. My apartment isnt the nicest placeI´ve ever seen but its fine. the bathroom is separate. They dont use shower curtains here. and I have taken a cold shower the past 3 days. haha I didnt know how to work the hot water but Hna Quispe just showed me how to today. We get fed lunch and dinner everyday by a member, I think the church pays them or something. So the only meal we have to worry about it breakfst. So that is nice.

Dad, that is awesome that you go out with the missionaries alot! They always encourage us to teach lessons with members, its super important. It gives the investigator an instant friend in the church and Its great for the people to see how members are and how they live their lives and to hear their testimonies too. We had FHE last night with a member family and they invited some of their friends and it was fun. We did a lesson on the Plan of Salvation and one of the members was able to bear his testimony. We played some games after too so that was fun. I liked that cause I felt like I was able to show my personality more to the people because it is hard right now when I cant communicate much.

Jealous you all got to go to the State Fair! I love the state fair, especially the livestock. haha and the cinnamon rolls! Maybe I will find some cinnamon rolls here! The backyard furniture looks super good! Anyways I have nothing else to say. Although it sounds like I am having a hard time adjusting, its really not that bad. I am so glad I am here on a mission. Sometimes I wake up and I cant believe it. But it is such an amazing experience and I am grateful for how much I have grown and the things that I have learned and the people I have met. This is seriously an amazing opportunity and I would recommend it to anyone! I pray for you all daily and I am so grateful for the wonderful family that I have. The church is true! I know it more now than I ever had and I am closer with my Heavenly FAther than I have ever been. Please continue to pray for me, especially with the language.

Have a great week!! I love you.

Hermana Wursten

7.18.13

I am here!!! As you probably already figured since it has been two days. ha So I don't know why they are having us email 2 days later but better later than never. I love Bolivia. It is a lot more green than Peru and not as busy either so I like that. I haven't met my trainer yet or actually even done much stuff since we got here. I will meet my trainer today and then find out which area I am going. The past 2 nights we have stayed at a hotel and just hanging out at the mission office and running around doing different errands. My mission pres is in the states right now cause his wife needed surgery so I will meet them probably the next transfer. Anyways the mission address is the same and send things only to that address, including packages. It was great talking to you the other day! I love you all and I will email you on pday which is Monday. Love you! 

Hna Wursten

Letty Called!

On July 16, 2013 Letty called my parents house on her way from the MTC in Peru, to Bolivia.  This is the email my mom sent out about their phone call:

We got to talk to Letty this morning.  She called from the airport using coins so we talked to her for 7 min.  I was really bummed that it wasn't longer.  About 20 minutes later she called again and we talked for 21 min and then got cut off.  About 10 min later she called again and we talked for 13 min so all in all it was a 41 min conversation.  She sounded really good.  And even a little more mature and grown up.......but still Letty.......one of the Hermanas went to sit on her suitcase and fell off and Letty thought that was hilarious.  (Actually, I would have too!)  She's excited and yet a little nervous.  She wishes her Spanish was better so she could communicate better.  I'm sure she'll progress quickly once she has no one to speak English too......     Next time we talk to her will be Christmas.   She probably won't be emailing this week.

Stacy

7.8.13

Hola familia! Nothing too crazy this week just the normal CCM stuff. This is my last week here! It is seriously crazy and kinda terrifying too. But I am excited to get to Bolivia and start teaching. Even though my Spanish is pretty bad. Like seriously. I have improved a lot but there is still jsut so much more to learn and practice. In our lesson last night I kept screwing up and saying the most ridiculous things. haha Hna Faulk and our maestro were cracking up. Esta bien! You live and you learn. But my maestro has told me I have improved a lot so that is nice to hear. But then again I dont know if he is saying it to make me feel better about myself. haha Ok so apparently we have a new mission address and I dont have it yet so I would hold on sending anything to my mission right away until I can let you know. Ok so I leave on Tuesday for Bolivia to be exact. I am not sure of times and stuff yet though. We can call home so Mom I will call your cell phone so make sure you have it with you all day on tuesday. Also I will probably call collect so just a heads up. I dont know how else to do it. It is weird when I tell people my first name, its like I am telling someone something super personal about myself. haha One of the workers in the caefeteria asked me what my real name was today and it was so weird telling him my real name. and he couldnt even pronounce it so its probably a good thing I go by Hermana Wursten here instead of Letty.

 

 HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY MOM!! Sorry I wasnt able to send you a card or anything or call you but I am sure you understand, right? I hope it was great though. 4th of July sounded like it was fun! We didnt get any fireworks or anything but they decorated the cafeteria all american and gave us "american" food. It was so sweet and we all were so grateful!! South Americans are the best. for reals. They are the nicest. We played kickball too to really make it more of an United States day! It was a lot of fun. My throat was a tad sore from screaming during the game. Yeah, I am the annoying girl who gets really into kickball. Today was our last time going to the Temple for a year and a half! I am pretty bummed about that. I love the Temple. Except today I was so so so tired and fell asleep through like half of it. Way to really soak up my last time, huh? I am seriously exhausted all the time. And I get 8 hours of sleep every night! I dont get it. Hna faulk told me I fall asleep like everyday, either during personal study or other stuff. I try not to but I just get SO TIRED! My life is so hard. Kidding, the life of a missionary is the best. It is just a little tiring and my body is not used to not being able to nap. Sounds like ND was a lot of fun! You guys seemed very busy, which isnt surprising to me at all. We got another one of "investigators" committed to baptism! It was an awesome lesson. He was asking us all these questions and we were just testifying and the spirit was totally there. Our teacher said it was a really good lesson. Its always really great when you have lessons like that and it makes me so much more excited to go out into the field. 

Ok well I dont really have much more to say. We go out proselyting this week so I am excited for that. Wish me luck! I am grateful for all the prayers that go my way. I deifnitely need them. I pray for my family every night. I love you all! have a great week and hopefully I can talk to you on Tuesday!

 

Hermana Wursten

7.1.13

Hola! It sounds like you are having a great time in North Dakota. I definitely want to make my own trip to Gackle after I get back. Today was great, like always. On the bus on our way back from the Temple I started talking to the man next to me and I talked to him a little about the church and asked him if he wanted to know more about our church and  that the missionaries could meet with him. Mind you, this was all in Spanish! It was really cool! I couldnt really understand everything he was saying but we gave him a pass along card and I amsure I sounded like a total white girl. but it made me feel more comfortable about going to the mission field! Cause I only have 2 more weeeks left here! Isnt that crazy? Sometimes it freaks me out. I love the CCM. I got the credit card in the mail so you can activate it now! Thank you for that! I would advise anyone to send letters and stuff to my mission home from now on because I dont have much time left here.

 

Ok so Elder Christofferson spoke to us the other day!!! It was so great. He was here in Peru cause they were celebrating the 100th stake in Peru. He did some question and answers. and It was jsut really great to hear from an apostle of the Lord! We all got to shake his hand after. We were supposed to go proslyting again this week but we ddint get to because of Elder Christofferson being here and it was some huge Catholic holiday going on so that would have been a little awkward. I got to meet my mission president and his wife the other day!!! It was such a special moment. All of the new mission presidents for South America (my mission president is new) were here for lunch and we were in our classrooms studying and they pop their heads in and ask what mission we are serving in and when we told them Santa Cruz Bolivia they told us they were our mission presidents so we all went up to him and his wife and shook their hands and gave the wife hugs. And with tears in her eyes the wife say, "we have been waiting to meet you" I instantly got emotional and you could just feel the love. It was amazing. My mission parents!

 

I have been reading the New Testament in my personal study and I love it! Seriously the New Testament is so great. I love reading about Christ. He rocks. I feel like since I have been here my relationship with God hasgrown so mcuh becuase I am relying on him more now than I ever have. And i am doing his work so he is the perfect person to talk to when I am frustrated confused sad upset, etc. seriously every night I am just excited to pray and pour out all my feelings to Heavenly Father because I know he loves me so much and actaully cares about what I have to say. Lately me and Hna Faulk have been trying to practice how to committ people to baptism from any conversation and so far we are doing pretty good. I would just feel more comfortable doing it if I knew Spanish better and could actually say things how I want to say them. Learning a new language is hard, and it can be pretty overwhelming somtimes. I just cant let myself get down about it. I know that if I am doing what God wants me to do he will help me out. So that is comforting.

 

Mom, do you thinkyou could send me a copy of my mission call and also make a small laminated patriarchal blessing for me? It would be really cool to have those things. Also could yousend me some american stamps? They have pouch mail here which is pretty cool and you just need American stamps for it. I will admit I was wrong when I said Iwouldnt need any. haha Our district has beeen playing sand volleyball like everyday for Physical activity and we seriously suck. But its so fun and I love volleyball! We are gradually getting better. Anyways I hopeyou guys are having a great trip! I miss you all and love you so much! The church is true! Seriously though, read the Book of Mormon everyone. Talk to you next week!

 

Hermana Wursten