Change

Family and Friends!! This week has been filled with much excitement and change. This Tuesday we recieved a call from the Zone Leaders and found out that we had emergency transfers and I will be leaving Arequipa to another area. I didn't believe it at first but yes it is true. I am now in Moquegua! At first I was bummed because I had only 2 days to prepare to leave and then I was gone. I didn't get the opportunity to prepare for the change or say bye to everyone. The reason we had changes was because there were 3 sisters that finished the mission in the middle of the transfer so President had to make some changes in other areas. When we were talking to President Tuesday night we asked him why he was going to change us and he told me that I am going to a new area to get ready to TRAIN! My companion right now is finishing her mission in 3 weeks and then I will be training. He told me I have 3 weeks to get to know the area before I train. OH MY! This is big news. I was excited about this news but also a little overwhelmed. I felt better about the emergency transfers because I knew it was for a good reason. I would rather leave now and have time to prepare than go to a new area with a new companion and train. That is just wayyy to stressful. Soooo I am now in Moquegua, which is 4 hours south of Arequipa. My new ward is San Antonio. My new comp is Hermana Chamorro! Moquegua is a desert. Its pretty hot and humid. Moquegua is surrounded by mountains and everywhere is covered in dirt. Here is more like how I pictured Peru. Theres not much greenery here but its pretty in its own way. My new companion is almost done with her mission, only 16 more days. Hermana Chamorro is super sweet and so nice. She is very humble and also funny. We get along really well. I am still getting to know her but I can tell that I will enjoy these next weeks with her. I want to have her enjoy the rest of her mission that she has! She's 23 years old and is from the Central part of Peru. She's sincere and easy going. Im happy to have this time to get to know her. This Thursday we had the big conference with Neil L Andersen. WOW! It was incredible. Being in the presence of an apostle is unexplainable. I learned 2 big concepts from him that I will apply in the mission and in my life. The first is the Atonement. He taught us saying that our investigators need to understand the Atonement. If everyone understand the Atonement then everyone would have a change in their hearts to do whatever in needed for the Lord. If only everyone could have this change in their heart or this knowledge of the Atonement. We need to help the people understand the Atonement and have this grand change in their hearts. This is our role as missionaries. The second concept that I really liked was when he was talking about honesty. The bases of spirituality is honesty. If we want the spirit we HAVE to be honest. To me, this was obvious. I feel like I don't have problems with being honest but then when he compared it with our investigators it really hit me. He said that if our investigators aren't being honest with us then how can they expect the Lord to help them feel the spirit. This hit me because there are SO MANY people that tell us one thing but do another. So many tell us they will go to church and don't come. So many tell us they will do something but don't REALLY have the desire in their hearts. This is something we need to change. I like this because I want to help others be honest. Honesty is such a good quality to have. I want people to be honest with us and not tell us they will do something if they don't have the intentions to do so. From this I want to help others realize the importance of honesty and of the Atonement. The last thing I learned was that the gift of tongues is real. Neil L Anderson spoke to us in SPANISH. He knows French and Portuguese but said he only knew a little bit of Spanish. He said he would speak as much as he could in Spanish and have the translator help him if he needed help. Well, he spoke the WHOLE HOUR without the translator. OH MY. I was so impressed and wished I could have this great gift as well. He has a lot of humility and diligence to just try and speak a language he doesn't completely know in front of a group of people. Wow. I was impressed. He spoke sooo well. He is definitely a prophet of God. In his testimony to us he told us that prayer is a blessing and is something muy grande that we have here on earth, then said that we are all children of God, and that he KNOWS that the Savior lives. I love hearing the apostles say this. I also know that the Savior, Jesus Christ, lives and loves everyone of us. I am thankful for what He did for us, for our salvation and for our happiness. We would be lost without Him. I am thankful to have this time to serve as a missionary for Him. Thank you for all the love and support! Love always, Hermana Flora xoxo