COW STOMACH .................

Hermana Callysayas

Hoooollla Amigos

Another week has passed. I am sitting at the computer once again! I can't remember what happened this week...But all I know is that we need some new investigators and I need some more courage. We all get in our routine even as a missionary. To stop someone on the street is still not as natural as I had hoped it would be in the mission. But yeah...we aren't very good at street contacting. That is my goal this week. Just to TALK to people. Lots of the times I think as humans we justify every little thing. For example I justify not talking to every person I see because I can't speak very smoothly. Or at home I justified not sharing the gospel because heck I wasn't a missionary! But in reality we can't procrastinate all the things we know we should do! You can't justify not praying or reading scriptures as a family because your family is too busy. My lesson to you all and to myself is stop making excuses! haha I don't know why I am talking about this but I am trying myself to stop justifying my work. I can work harder, I can be better, TODAY not tomorrow or not when I know how to teach or speak Spanish.

Oh I forgot to tell you  I ate COW STOMACH. Ughh the texture was disturbing I felt like I was eating chewy flesh. My bishops family is amazing. His wife is my pencionista. And his sister is Analy. Today Analy resucued us from some park, fed us lunch.  Man the list goes on and on and on. Analy goes with us to almost every lesson, buys us ice cream everyday. Wow really there fam is amazing. just a side note about the people I love here.

Anyway, this last week we had inter cambios Hermana Callysayas came to my area and Hermana Rivera went to her area with her comp. Hermana Callysazas is one of the Sister training leaders. And wow she is amazing!! I learned SO SO SO much. She is such an effective missionary. When we are in a lesson she gets right to the core and speaks from her soul. While I stumble around my words and testify that Joseph Smith was a prophet haha. Well we had to teach the Law of Chastity...It was my first time teaching it in the field. Ouch. That's all I can say. At the end of the day I was really tired and felt kind of down with myself. I told Hermana Callysayas that I feel like I am not helping these people here like I want to. They have so many problems in their families it's unreal. I have never dealt with problems anywhere near what these people face and I was born in the church so I don't know how life is without the gospel. I have been so blessed in my life! She turned to me and said, your duty Hermana Stringham is to tell these people how amazing it is to have a family who is sealed in the temple and how happy you are even though you have never drunk, smoked, etc. Hermana Callysayas's parents are not members and haven't written to her once on her mission. For her it is really hard to teach about eternal families because she doesn't have that in her life. That is when it all clicked. Right then I thought of a line in my patriarchal blessing that says I will share with others the blessings I have receieved because of the gospel.

My purpose here is to share the joy of eternal families and the gospel. All I have to do is pull out the picture of my family in my scriptures and immediately there faces light up. It is so rare to find couples cealed here in Peru. The popular question here is ´´were you born in the covenant.´´ I feel so grateful to say YES I was. I am so thankful for a family who is all strong in the church and who support me, write me, pray for me. Because in the end nothing else matters. 

Elder Grow of the Seventy is coming this Friday to speak to us. President Rowley had us fast this last Saturday, because in all of the mission of Piura there were only 5 baptisms in the month of April. Ahh anway I don't much time to write more! But Maria our investigator was not baptized this last Saturday as planned.....we are working on it. 

I love you all! xoxo

hermana stringham

Hermana Callysayas and I :)