HOW STRONG IS YOUR FAITH?

Buenos Dias!

This member helps us almost everyday! She always brings makes us empenadas also mmmm. Her name is Ceila. After spending almost every day with us she wants to go on a mission too! I couldn't be happier for her. 

Steve thanks for your birthday card. I am almost didn't see it, found it in the ensign mom sent me a week later I received the package. It was a lovely suprise! Hannah I sent you a letter today!

The weeks here pass like days and the days pass by like hours it's like I am living in God's days and hours. I really don't know what even went down this last week but I had a good week and learned something new. 

 

God answers prayers through other people.

In preparation for my interview with President Rowley he asked us all to study the gifts of the spirit and strive to develop, study, and fast to obtain these gifts. So first I tried praying to God. This is kind of embarassing that I am going to tell this to you all, but I prayed for many gifts one of which is the gift to prophesy. Because who wouldn't want the gift to able to prophesy and see the future? Then I soon realized maybe I shouldn't pray for a gift like that because I'm not sure how to use it. I mean who am I to prophesy? So I changed my mind I wanted to pray for the gift of Faith, because without faith I cannot obtain any other gift. FAITH is everything. Nothing happens in the mission if you don't have faith. To be honest I can never tell how much faith I truly have. I have always wondered how to measure my own faith? Or do I even have faith? 

Anywho my prayer was answered this week through different people--first in my interview with my president. President Rowley at the end of our interview said the closing prayer. In the prayer he said two times "thank you for the faith of Hermana Stringham." I thought to myself, well maybe I do have more faith then I think. Then later that same day I got a letter from my soul sista Hermana Kaeding. She wrote in her letter how she has been praying to have the faith of Hermana Stringham. She said "Stringham you may not realize it, but when we were comps you taught me how to have faith." It was kind of an eye opener for me that maybe God has given me the gift of faith I just need to use it more. 

I am going to ask you all a question that just came into my mind right this very second.

 HOW STRONG IS YOUR FAITH????

If you can't answer this question try and find where your faith is at. I think we could all use more faith no matter how strong your faith is. 

This is what I do. The door didn't open but at least I knocked. 

Well this last week none of our investigatores came to church. We always try to knock on their doors before church but we don't have time to pass by everyone. We also call them in the mornings but our cheap cell phone runs out of calling juice......whatever you call it, so we have no money I guess you could say to call people. We have a new investigator with a baptismal date. Her name is Milagros. Her baptismal date is for 27 of Decemeber. I need more faith for this baptism to go through as well. I have faith, but I just don't think she understands the importance of the baptism. 

Well. It's been great writing to you all. I hope you have the best week ever! Transfers are next week! I have no idea what will happen. So if you are following me stay tuned....



xoxoxoxoxoxoxo 

Hermana Stringham 

 

 

RULE #3 DON'T BE STUPID.---my personal favorite.

Hermana Roper! She is leaving me in 2 weeks wahh! 

Hermana Kaeding makes my whole day! I love and miss her. 

HOLA.

I got the bday package and nutella... thank you thank you!

Grandma Lucy I loved your note. Thank you! 

This last week we constructed a house! It was quite the challenge. We did it with bamboo sticks and leafy plants. Quite a sturdy house...not. I always want to do service projects but all the Elders and members always think oh the Hermanas can't do anything (whaahh). So we are usually not invited to these kind of things. But por fin I got to do a big service project with my district! It was just a little hot and my nose burnt pretty bad. We left at 6:30 am and came back at 2:30 pm. We had nothing to eat but little boloques (popsicles). While we were outside trying to build this thing I heard next door one of my favorite songs that says "Oh Oh your half way there, oh oh your livin on a prayer!" Or something like that. I can't even remember who sings that song, but it's a good one. Then I remembered that yeah I am half way there. I have completed NINE MONTHS!!! so loco! I can't believe how fast time goes. 

We had to burn the house before we built it...I didn't take any more pics of the house sorry. 

Random thought. Everyone here waters their front lawn. The front lawn consists of sand. But every morning they water it! Even sweep it. It's pretty hilarious. 

On Saturday Elder Evans and his wife came. Wow it was such an amazing day. The moment they arrived in the car with President and Hermana Rowley, they saw us all lined up ready to take a picture with our WHOLE mission. The four (Evans, and Rowley's) got out of there car and were blown away to see the whole mission together. Sister Evans just cried, and in that moment the spirit FILLED my chest. I felt on cloud 9. In moments like this I feel oh so grateful to be a missionary. I just felt the power of God. I know he is real and loves me. This is where I need to be. 

Elder Evans started his talk by saying "Well Piura. It's a different world." He described it as "Old School" "Hot Desert" "Not very pretty" "Amazing people" "Lots of moto taxis." I think that somes up this place pretty well. But these things about Piura that aren't so pretty make it pretty to me because there is nothing else in my life like it! He taught me sooo much and even moved me to tears. He told us how it is so important that are converts repent. Lots of the time we go from FAITH to BAPTISM and we forget the REPENTANCE in between. We are not authorized to baptism people who truly haven't repented and won't keep their baptismal covenant. Then he gave us three rules that I loved. 

RULE #1 STAY WITH YOUR COMPANION. So that you can always SEE and HEAR her. 

RULE #2 OBSERVE THE RULES WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX. 

RULE #3 DON'T BE STUPID.---my personal favorite. 

If we would keep these three rules he said that 99.9% of his job would be taken care of. 

Mi HIJA! Hermana Valencia, she lives and is healthy. 

Then he urged us to ask references from EVERY single person! Which is something I lack. So that day I asked every person on the street that I talked to and in every lesson we had for referrals.  And guess what we only got one! HAhaha, but I won't stop. This is my new goal. 

Nothing happens in missionary work until you find someone to teach.  I left the conference feeling so happy to be a missionary. We talked with 20 people that day and found 7 people in the streets! 

None of our investigadores came to church------YUp. 

This is the hardest but best time of my life! I love you all. 

xoxo Hermana Stringham 

Everyday here the sun shines whether you want it to or not.....

Hola Familllliiaaa y Amigoooos. 

How is everything back at home? Not much happened this week but things are going good as always. The week started out great with an intercambio with Hermana Child! Yes an American. Full English. That's a huge blessing right there! I love intercambios. I get to feel somewhat normal. I can talk about whatever comes into my mind! And Hermana Child cut my hair! Yayyy! I've gone a whole 9 months without a haircut, and let's just say it was a much NEEDED cut. My hair is so dried out and damaged because of the sun. 

We had one of those days this week, where you just fight every bit to not sit down in the sand. Thursday. We left the apartment at 3:00 p.m. met up with a member and headed on out to our appointments. DOOR after DOOR was busy or not home. We walked and walked and walked for 2 1/2 hours. My feet were all jelly and I felt like I was going to fall over on top of my companion. But we kept going. We all have days or times in life where God gives us trials or makes us walk a billion miles. But ya know what, these days are some of the best because we can show our Heavenly what we are made of. I'm not going to let Him see me give up. We came home that night exhuasted but feeling satisfied. Maybe we didn't have very many lessons but we did our part, and that is all that matters. 

The investigadores....are well progressing kind a... Not one of them came to church yesterday. Which means that two of the baptismal dates we set won't go through, but I haven't lost the faith! 

Today is P Day. The name just of P Day just makes me smile. It was a great day. We got permission to leave Sullana and go to Catacoas! It is the most touristy part of Piura. They sell a bunch of cool Peruvian souveneers. It kind of hurts though to go there, because I want to buy everything but I've got no room in my bags! So I had to go with the small items. Then we went and ate pizza at Papa Johns! It's been a while since I've had pizza...so I ate 5 pieces. Rightfully So! 

This week Elder Evans of the Seventy is coming to Piura. I think he is over all of the missionary work in the world so it should be awesome. Our WHOLE entire mission gets to go! We never have meetings like this with everyone so it's a pretty big deal. I can't wait. We have been asked to fast, prepare a talk, and study a lot in preparation to be able to recieve revelation. 

Everyday here the sun shines whether you want it to or not it never fails. I feel like a maniac pedestrian because we literally cross the street in zig zags just to walk in the little tiny shade that the houses provide. I don't want skin cancer. 

I love you all a lot. I have been blessed beyond measure. I challenge you to NEVER DOUBT A PROMPTING. This is my challenge to myself this week. 

xoxo Hermana Stringham 

Happy Halloween and Birthday to Me!

My Comp Decorated my Room

 Nov 3, 2014 

The Agguire Family Wishing Me Happy Birthday!

Abby Jones thank you for your letter!!!!!!!! I haven't read it yet but I will tonight. And Hannah I finally got your letter!!!!!!! I loved it so much! It made my day. I am sorry I forgot you are 6 years old! Man time flies fast. You can write so good! I am so impressed! I will write you back soon! 

First of all they don't celebrate Halloween here because they all think it is evil. Kind of a blow. To celebrate my companion and I bought hamburgers and dressed up in our apartment and took a few photos..pretty classy. THOM happy birthday the other day! Can't believe you are 30??????? wow. I don't like being 20 either I feel for ya.

I had a great birthday by the way! On Saturday Analy (who I always talk about..from my first area in Piura) suprised me and drove all the way to Sullana with the whole Agguire Family! 14 of them! Can you believe it. I was blown away. It's about a 45 minute drive, and the WHOLE intire family came. They baked an enormous chocolate cake (my fav). It was so great to see their family again. (My old bishop, pencionista, and best friends in Piura).  On Sunday I woke up to the room decorated thanks to my companion. We had a lovely time at church. I bore my testimony. Then we ate at a members house who also had her birthday that same day! We ate more chocolate cake....The Ortiz's invited us to dinner. So we ate with them too and I had yet another chocolate cake. 3 CHOCOLATE CAKES. I scored big yesterday. 

Today we had a zone activity. We played volleyball in the scourching sun. Then everyone threw eggs in my hair. It's a tradition. But yeah it was yucky and my fingers and hair smell eggy still.....what can ya do. Thank you everyone for all the birthday wishes! I opened up my email today and it is filled with emails! I know I won't have time to read them all right now but THANK YOU THANK YOU. It means a lot!!!!  

Mission work is going great! We are inviting everyone to be baptized, 3 more people accepted a baptism this last week but none of them came to church....sigh. We are not losing our faith. 

One tip for you all if you come to Peru. Never get ready. Don't do your hair or makeup. It is dangerous. I rarely straighten my hair because bad things come of it, like drunk men. Just a precaution. 

I am sorry I don't have a ton of time today because I have so many letters to read but I love you all and I am doing just dandy! I can't tell you all how much I love the Book of Mormon and this gospel. Two of my favorite things. Ya'll are the third. just kidding. 

xoxo Hermana Stringham 

My comp made this sign for me - Big Foot

Our Halloween Costumes

The part of the cake that is messed up ended up on my face - Another tradition!

Just Keep Trying

Hello Everyone!!!

Summer has hit hard here. The mosquitos are starting to make there way to my skin, and I am wearing my sombrero almost everyday. We are looking for a new pencionista. I think Hermana Ortiz will be our new one as of next week. My comp and I lose our appetites everytime we walk into the house of our pencionista. She's great but we are gonna have to change. 

Yesterday 148 people attended sacrament meeting! Our ward is really strong. The attendance just keeps rising! We have been visiting one less active family the whole time I have been here in Sullana, and they finally came to church yesterday! Miracles exist.

President Grow when he came to our mission told us how important it is to not pass one family in the street without talking to them. At first our president gave us to goal of 12 families each week. This last week Elder Grow told us we should be talking to 24 families in the street every week! This goal shouldn't be hard, but sometimes it is. We are always running late to appointments, then we see a couple in the street. First I think man we have no time right now to talk! We are 15 minutes late. Sometimes I pass families and my gut hurts so I chase after them and look like a weirdo. It is a good challenge. I challenge all you missionaries to never pass a family in the street! The church needs families. 

In November a member of the Seventy is coming to our mission. Elder Evans. I can't wait. Everyone is going to Piura for this conference. I will get to see all my friends! 

We are teaching a 30 year old named Claudia. (She and her sister were the ones who invited us to eat sea food, from which we almost died).  Anyway we are teaching her, her sister Silvia, and her friend Wendy. They are very interested. Claudia has a baptismal date for November 22, but she still hasn't come to church because of her work. I am praying that she will be able to come to church and this date won't fall. 

I love this gospel. My testimony grows everyday. I am not some spiritual giant or anything but I feel that this church is true. I just know it. I am not alone. I feel God's peace and love in my life. He is the one who gives me strength and pushes me to walk another step or eat another plate of rice. I am humbled daily as I see all of my weaknesses. I think everyone needs a mission, just to be humbled. It's like God gives me a shovel and shows me really how much I have to grow and improve. But I am trying. I am shoveling that dirt as hard as I can. One day I will be able to see the good soil. And that's what I want to say to all of you. Just keep trying. Just keep trying. 

Love you all to death.

The Drink of Death.....

 Holllla! 

The Drink of Death

It has been a week to remember. I am gonna tell you all about my week, because it was too funny to keep it to myself. So we started out the week just great, the same old. Then Tuesday came and 3 of our investigatores invited us to lunch. So we went to lunch, and everything went down hill from then on. They ordered me a drink called "leche de tigre." yuck!  Warm milk with shell fish. Guys I ate mini octupus, squid, and I don't know what else because it was unrecognizable and incomprehensive in spanish. But a ton of sea animals. In my drink! I don't like milk either. A double wammy. But I chugged it and they all laughed at me. Then we stuffed our faces with fried fish and a whole bunch of "suavacita" carne. After I finished my Leche de Tigre I was relieved inside and decided to eat what I thought was a red pepper. Turned out to be the hottest pepper here in Peru. My mouth died and I felt fire inside. My face turned as red as my dress. Ugh I was so ready to leave that restaurant. 

The Ortiz Family

The next day.....Hermana Valencia and I woke up with 102 degree fever. Hermana Valencia was vomitting luckily I wasn't. I tried to get up to work but couldn't. I've never stayed a day inside so I felt like a rebel, but we decided it's better to rest. Later that night we had an appointment we couldn't miss so we got dressed and left the apartment half dead. Wasn't a smart idea. I came back to the room that night with a cold and even more tired then before. Yeah the next day came, we were still the same. My companion told me she saw a spirit in our room (definitely halucinations). We just layed in bed the day following too. It was horrible - but kind of funny. We watched mormon messages to pass the time. My sweet companion made me oatmeal and oatmeal pancakes every morning. It was some good bonding time in the room this week. And I made a decision to never eat shell fish again. Why did I eat it in the first place? I never liked fish anyway. 

Another story for the week. There are flies here everywhere! We were eating with our pencionista one day and I took a sip of my juice and felt something in my mouth. I pulled it out slowly and saw a live fly! Ughhhh yuck. Not again. 

It wasn't a very pleasant week of eating. I prefer to not eat right now. 

11 Baptisms

We ended the week well with the baptism of Franco! We had a massive baptism in the stake center. President and Hermana Rowleycame. There were 11 people baptized just in Sullana! It was the coolest baptism I have ever witnessed. The turn out was great too! We all watched the baptisms on the big screen! There was a camera at the baptismal font so we all could see each baptism! We saw everything. Even the feet that popped up. It was a great day and my last day with my amiga :( I love Hermana Valencia so much! 

Hermana Hualingua! 

Zone Conference Sullana

Guess what? I am still here in Sullana! I thought for sure I was leaving. I said goodbye to everyone (I even told my name to two families....rats).I am with Hermana Hualinga who has been out for 13 months. She comes from a family of 15 kids! She is 21 years old and is from Lima. I am happy to still be here  - I love my ward! 

Stairway to Heaven

I love you all. I hope your week was a little bit more encouraging than mine. 

xoxo Hermana Stringham 

I thought I might be the first missionary ever to not learn the language of my mission!

Hola! Mom thank you for the package!!!!!! My birthday came early. We loved our dresses and everything else! We are saving the brownies for a rainy day. Also Piura's mail people are on strike so I have a ton of letters to send to you all but I can't.. I have had them for a while now. sorry. Which also means that I can't receive letters for a while if you have sent me something. 

Time is flying like always. This is my last week with Hermana Valencia and probably my last week in Sullana. I have loved this place, the people, and my companion. In my first area I'll be honest I didn't understand much. So I wasn't as attached to the people I was teaching, I was just trying to wrap myself around the language they were speaking. I am proud to say that I am so much more comfortable with the language. It was such a trial and I thought I might be the first missionary ever to not learn the language of my mission. God lives and he works miracles. And my spanish is one of those miracles. I can't speak perfect but at least I can understand and don't have to fake it anymore. However the translators in conference talk a million miles per hour. I could understand the messages but it just wasn't the same. I can't wait to read it all in English. But yes conference was amazing. Some quotes I loved:

"If you serve you serve. If you don't serve you don't serve." (he burned us with that one)

"Which way do you face?"

"Are you living in a way that you can have the blessings in your patriarchal blessing?"

I loved how the apostles spoke in their mother language! I got a lot out of conference. What I learned most is that this life is hard we know it's hard. We must accept that we can only grow through challenges, and isn't that our purpose here on earth? Everyone has agency. It's a gift but we must learn how to use it wisely. We are faced with decisions everyday. Are we always putting our lives and decisions according to God's will? I loved how one guy...I can't remember who...said we need our spiritual passport. Now more than ever we need a testimony for ourselves. If we have forgotten our testimony or simply don't have one. Look.Find.Ask. God will give it to you. Our testimonies we stay with us for the eternities. So make it strong. Today. 

I also felt impressed to remind you all to remember to pray everyday and read scriptures not just personally, but with your FAMILY. Please do this! Have Family Home Evening too. You will find a stronger spirit in your home. 

The Ortiz Family

I am so excited for the Ortiz Family. Franco will be baptized this Sunday and their family will be sealed in the temple in November! And to think that we almost didn't knock on their door. But I need your help. We want and need Franco's dad to baptize him,  Please pray with me that Brother Juan Carlos will be able to baptize his son Franco. It will be something really special. This Sunday there are 14 people being baptized just in Sullana! So we are planning a massive baptism and President Rowley is going to come! I can't wait. 

Hermana Valencia and I are two kids who can't control our laughter. Man I definitely haven't become more serious in the mission. I can't contain it with her! We cannot sing together in lessons, it just takes the spirit out like fire. We have become true sisters and best friends. I am sad to leave her. 

Well I can't remember what else happened but it was a good week. 
Love and miss you all terribly!!!

xoxo Hermana Stringham 

Analy suprised me and visited us today! She bought me a birthday cake! I love her to death. She is turning in her papers to serve a mission! I know she will be such a good missionary and her companion will love her.

          We had a cake war. They always throw cake in the face. I am a little scared for my actual birthday. 

Hermana Margoth is the best!