Following

Family and Friends!! Hope you all had a good week! This week for me was super good. We had transfers this Saturday and Im going to be staying here in Zamacola with Hermana Alducin! During the week I had a really awesome experience about following the promptings of the Spirit. In the morning we went to our appointment but they weren’t there so we were walking to our Plan B but then I had a feeling that we should visit a sister from the ward but I didn’t really know why, we kept walking towards Plan B but then I just thought NO, I need to go back to the sister. When we got there we talked with her and shared as message with her. As we were leaving she told us that she was super worried about something and didn’t have anyone to talk to because her mom was out of town and didn’t feel comfortable talking to anyone else. She then told us her worries about being pregnant. She recently had a baby and was worried about the health of the new baby if she was pregnant and also she was worried about being able to support the new baby because they were low on money. Hermana Lopez opened her Book of Mormon to share a scripture with her but Hermana Vilma had a question about the purpose of the footnotes so she randomly turned to another page to show that the footnotes help us better understand the scriptures and they give us more references to read. When she randomly flipped to the other page Hermana Vilma read a scripture that was highlighted in her book of Mormon that said something of the sort that we need to do things that please God and not the world. She expressed with us that this scripture was exactly what she needed to hear. After we finished talking to her she told us that our visit made her day and that all she needed was to hear the message we had and to talk with her. It was a really neat experience because I was able to see how the Lord works through us as missionaries to help His children here on the earth. Another good experience from this week was the blessing of being able to leave with 8 different members this week! We put a goal together to have 10 lessons with members present and as a ward we completed 9! Last week we only had 4 lessons with members present so it was great to see a huge progress, especially since we are now leaving with all the leaders in the ward and not just 2 or 3 of the same people. Also, this Sunday we had the Musical Recital in Selva Alegre, my first area here in the mission. It was SO good to see people from Graficos! I got to see the bishop and his family, my first pensionista Hermana Deby, a convert Diana, investigators Juan Condori and Ines, and other members, Frank, Hermana Lucy, Hermana Lady and her family….so many! It was fun seeing them again! This Recital was super good because you could just feel the Spirit superrrr strong and at the end I announced the other Recitals that were going to have in Paucarpata and Central and a lot of people said that they are going to come to the other ones and bring there friends as well! Its been a blessing for me to be able to use my talent with music to share my testimony with the people here in Peru. Well I hope you all have a great week. Love you all! Love always, Hermana Flora

mission

Family and Friends!! This week definitely had its ups and downs. The saddest part of the week was Sunday when 3 of the recent converts didn't come to church again this week. Its been a big worry because we want to help the recent converts become strong and active in the church and its sad to see them slip right through our fingertips. But the good news! Since we have noticed this big worry we had planned a training for the Ward Counsel. We put in practice what President Zobrist asked of us by putting goals together as a ward. Usually when we make goals of baptisms and rescues we just make them with each other, my companion and I, but President asked us all to make goals with the Ward so that we can have the same vision and work together. Our Training went MUCH better than I had expected. We saw a different side of the members and we saw their desires to help us. Not all of the members were super excited to help but the majority were much more willing and they also had good ideas for us in the work. We are now just going to hope for the best and see how this week goes and see how our goals turn out for the month of June. The truth is that the work really is impossible without the help of the members. Ive noticed it EVEN MORE this past week when our recent converts haven't been coming the past weeks and we've been the only ones worried about them. This work isn't a work for 2 but a work for the ward. If we don't work together there is no work. Sunday we gave talks in the Sacrament Meeting. I talked about what the members needed to do in order to get the temple in Arequipa to come much faster. Sadly, the temple wont be a priority if the members here aren't doing there part. We are now focusing even more on Family History and sending more names into the temples for baptisms for the dead. The temple is programmed to come within 5-7 years, but with the effort of the members it looks to be more like 7-10 years. Hopefully the members can put there best efforts forward so that it wont take that long! Also, this week I went to Cristo Rey with Hermana Escobar on divisions. It was a good experience being be her because I felt like I really could help her out to become a more effective missionary and to help them out in there area. I enjoy being a sister leader because I have the opportunity to help more hermanas out here in the mission. I might not be the perfect missionary but I know that the Lord had called me to help out the hermanas here in Arequipa and Im happy to do it! Well, the moral of the story. All you members out there please help out the missionaries! Its super hard and sad being a missionary when you don't feel the support from the members. Help out the missionaries! Go on visits with them, feed them, give them rides, who knows, just make them feel good! I love you all! Thanks for being such a good support for me while Ive been here on my mission. Its an awesome experience but it would be impossible without the support of my family and friends from home! Thank you! Love always, Hermana Flora xoxo

photos

Look

Family and Friends!! Highlights of the week... Well It's been CRAZY because the people here in Arequipa went on strike for 3 days. In our area it wasn’t super bad but for the Elders in our zone the weren’t able to go to the meeting on Thursday because all the roads were blocked since people were throwing rocks at the cars trying to pass and had huge rocks in the middle of the streets. I didn’t see it but they explained it to us. It was kind of crazy. Our area was a lot calmer because barely any buses passed by and there area ALWAYS buses everywhere. We had interviews with President this week! I love President Zobrist. He's such a great man and has so much love for all of us missionaries. On Sunday we went to Chivay for there Branch Conference to participate as a choir. President Zonrist and Hermana Zobrist were both there. Chivay is a super small little town about 4 hours outside of Arequipa. Its been a blessing to be able to play the piano and sing here and be able to share my musical talents with the people here in Arequipa. I love it. The biggest highlight of the week started on Monday. It was a big testimony to me of Gods love to me. This might seem like a weird way to begin the story but it all begins Monday when our phone got stolen from my companions backpack. I was super frustrated in general because of what happened a few months ago when my whole backpack got stolen. Lets just say I was a little bitter…. So Tuesday when we were going out to work I knew that I couldn’t leave with the feelings I had in my heart. I prayed a lot in my heart to have love for the people and find the good in the world. When we left I still had bitterness in my heart, we passed by some drunk men and they started yelling at us like usual, but then my heart was melted when I saw a cute little boy walking hand in hand with his mom. The answer came when we walked passed this one lady that was selling potatoes in the street and she looked at us and said hi with the biggest smile Ive ever seen. My heart was filled with happiness and my prayer was answered with her smile. After the lesson we passed again by her and this time I just talked to her and gave her a card to watch the new video Because He Lives. This was something new for me because usually Im super shy to just go up and talk to people but the love that I had for her cast out all fear that I had. I really just felt a big desire to tell her what I knew. This week I have been feeling more love than ever for the people here, thanks to the man on the bus that stole our phone. Its funny to see how God works sometimes. Theres many bad things in the world but if you open your eyes you can see the good, its out there, you just need to look. Keep your eyes open and look for the good in the world. Look for the good. Be the good. Love always, Hermana Flora

Finding Nemo

May 4th Family and Friends!! This week we had a training with our Hermanas about Unity within companionships since almost all the hermanas in our group had transfers. We analyzed the companionship of Dory and Merlin, Nemos dad. We talked about at the beginning we had difficulties with our companions because we don't really know them that well just as Merlin and Dory did when they first met. But once they got to know each other and have patience with each other they were able to better successfully achieve there goal. We compared this to the heremans and there companionships, that we need to work in unity in order to achieve our goals on the mission. The girls really liked the activity and we are hoping that they will be able to work better together and find ways to work in their companionships. We had a lesson with Max, (17) the recent convert who got baptized at the end of Feb, and we are now preparing him to baptize Denilson! It would be such an awesome experience to see Max baptize Denilson. He's been such a good convert and is even preparing himself for his first talk on Sunday in Sacrament Meeting! We are hoping that he will one day go on a mission when he turns 18! I look forward to seeing the family this weekend for Mothers Day! I love you all! Have a great week :) Love always, Hermana Flora

Happy Valentines Day!

February 16th Family and Friends!! Happy Valentines Day, Dia del Amor! Love for Christ!! Hope it well for all of you! As for us, its been an interesting week. We did a Sister´s activity the day before Valentines day so I could meet all the girls that we are in charge of and to have a good time together to celebrate Valentines Day! We focused on the worth that we have as daughters of God and talked about the love of Christ. We made cookies and did activities as companions so they could have a better relationship with their companions. It turned out to be a fun activity. At the end we gave them a little gift that was a small mirror and a note that told them to look in the mirror and see the beautiful daughter of God that they were and to let the light of Christ shine through their acceptance. It turned out being a good activity! I love all the girls and I look forward to spending more time with them and being the best help that I can be. But when the activity was over there was a companionship that was having lots of troubles so we talked with them after in the mission home for about an hour or so trying to help them solve their problems. Then when they felt a little better President Zobrist came back. He talked to me and Hermana Waldron to see how things were going. The highlight of my week was when he told me that he has seen a new light in me since putting me as Sister Leader. He said that I am showing more love and taking things more seriously, in a good way. He said that he sees me as a good sister. I was really happy to hear that since I was really worried and nervous to be in charge of a group of girls. Its nice to feel that President has confidence in me. Another crazy thing that happened this week was that we received another sister in the zone from an emergency transfer. She is new to the mission and has been having lots of problems and has desires to go home. She's now moved into a trio with two other girls in our zone. We have been really nervous about her and giving her lots of love and checking up on her since she is very unstable right now. We have been praying and fasting for her so we hope that she will love her new companions and her new area and want to stay here with us in this great work. This week I have really felt the role of being a Sister Leader. Its been stressful since we have a whole group of sisters that we have to worry about on top of our area. But its been a blessing because I know that I am trying to be a better missionary because of it. This week we will be seeing the baptism of Max! We also have a great activity planned with the missionaries in the Stake. We are doing an International Buffet and all cooking something from our country. For the United States we are planning on making pancakes! We hope to have many investigators there and less actives as well. The best would be new investigators that want to learn more. This week has been super interesting since I feel like the focus had been on our other assignment as Sister Leader, but it is a calling that I know that Lord has given me and I am happy to have it! As a mission we have really been pushing the importance of the Book of Mormon. As a mission we've been teaching and preaching more about the Book of Mormon that the whole mission ran out of Book of Mormons! haha so hopefully we get more books so we can pass them out to our investigators this week. I hope you all have a great week and remember to read the Book of Mormon. Remember that God loves you! Love always, Hermana Flora

Book of Mormon

March 30, 2015 Family and Friends!! Hope all is going well at home. This week was another good week here in Arequipa, Zamacola! Last Monday night we had a NDH, Family Home Evening, with the Pacheco Family. We talked about families and how important they are to us. Then we had them imagine as if this was there last day here in the earth and they had to write down all of their last consejos, counsels, to their families. They spend a good time writing down all their thoughts and counsels for their families. Then we talked about what they wrote for their families and some even teared up about what they wrote because of the great love they have for their families. We then collected the papers and put them in Hermana Waldrons scriptures. Then explained how the Book of Mormon is a counsel from our ancestors. They wrote all their knowledge and counsels for US so that we can become better people and learn from their mistakes. We then grabbed their papers that they wrote and said that when we don’t read the Book of Mormon we are ignoring their counsels, I then took the papers and ripped them up. Then we said that when we don’t read the Book of Mormon because we don’t have time we are ignoring their guidance and I ripped the papers up and even threw them on the ground. Im pretty sure everyone was supppperrr mad at me at this point. They were all shocked but realized that this was true. They want their families to listen to their own counsels but we aren’t even listen to the counsels from our ancestors. We then taught about the importance of the Book of Mormon and gave them the 90 program to read the Book of Mormon and invited them to read the Book of Mormon everyday. They all accepted. At that moment, we pulled out all the papers that they wrote on. It was a trick! We really didn’t rip up the papers that they wrote, We just ripped the papers that Hermana Waldron and I wrote with blank pages in the middle. They all got so much happier and were even more determined to read the Book of Mormon. The best part of the lesson was that Hermana Pacheco LOVED the lesson so much that she is planning to teach it next Sunday in Relief Society when she has her lesson. This past week we have been checking up on them and they have all been reading the Book of Mormon. It was a really impactful lesson and its great to see that they are all trying to get better at reading the scriptures. It was a good reminder that we all need to read our scriptures more. Entonces, I invite all of you to read your scriptures everyday. I know that it is a big blessing and it will change your lives if you put your best effort into reading your scriptures everyday. I love you all! Love always, Hermana Flora

New Changes

Family and Friends!! Its been another good week in Zamacola! I now have a new companion, Hermana Alducin from Mexico! She is really sweet and speaks English almost perfectly! She has 10 months in the mission. Its always weird getting use to a new companion but I know that we will get a long really well. This week we have been focusing more on having lessons with members and its been a good success! We are also super excited for this week because Denilson is going to get baptized! He talked to his mom and this Sunday they announced it in the ward! The bishop also pulled him in to give him an interview. I really like this ward here in Zamacola because we receive a lot of help from the members and it makes the work a lot easier when we have support from them. This week we are also going to have a Noche de Videos and watch some videos in the Chapel and make popcorn. Hopefully we will get a lot of investigators and members to come. I hope all is going well at home :) I love you all! Love always, Hermana Flora

See you Laters

Family and Friends, This week was super crazy. It was the last week I had with Hermana Waldron because she finished her mission. I'm going to miss her but I'm glad that she lives really close so I'll just see her in a few more months! I was able to see Hermana Waldron's family come in to the Airport. It was a long wait because they got pushed back 2 days more than they were supposed to. The Recital Musical was really good this week. They got it all recorded so I'll send it home when I get the copy! Transfers are today and I'm getting a new companion from Mexico. She has about 10 or 11 months in the mission and I've met her before and she seems really nice! We're going to keep on working hard here in Zamacola and seeing more miracles. Hope you all have a good week! Love you all! Hermana Flora

Reunions Recitals Baptisms

April 13, 2015 Family and Friends!! This week was fulllll of activities, meetings, and the baptism of Paul and a young boy Rafael in the ward. It was such a good week. Also, this morning we woke up at 2:30 in the morning to go to Chivay which is 4 hours away and visit the sights there. SUPER PRETTY! Where to begin, The Recital that we had was a pretty good success, we hoped to have more people but thats okay. The people that all came LOVED it and want to come to the nest one that we will have in Umacollo this Saturday. Paul. Got baptized! Its been a good time that weve been working with Paul (19) and we have honestly seen a true change in him. He has testified of feeling something different while reading the book of mormon and attending church. He was really worried about getting baptized since his mom was super against it since she said that he had already been baptized in the Catholic church before. I shared an experience that I had with him about having courage in what we believe in and going to the Lord with our desires and how that with our Faith we can see miracles. We invited him to pray and ask God to give him the proper words for his mom to accept his desire to get baptized. He accepted. We went back 2 days later and he shared his experience that he had with him mom and he too had seen a miracle. His mom accepted and said that if it were his desire she would accept it and support him! What a miracle! It was so great to see his ánimos (excitement) to get baptized! Another miracle this week that happened was from the Recital Musical that we had on Friday. We decided to sing in the Mercado (Market) and pass out the rest of our invites. We talked to a group of jovenes, boys, that seemed interested. One in particular seemed more interested than the others but we just invited them to the Recital and left. I had a strong impression to go back and talk to them. I wasnt sure if they would still be there but 2 of them were and one of themwas the one I wanted to talk to! His name is Johnaton. I felt super weird going back up to him but I decided to do it anyways....well guess what!? He SHOWED up to the Recital SOLO! We set up a time to visit him this week. But it was really cool to see that the Spirit was guiding me to go back and talk to him even though I felt weird about doing it, Im glad I followed :) I encourage you all to follow the directions of the Spirit and do what is right even if we might feel uncomfortable about it. I know that the Lord has a better plan and vision of what will happen through our acts! I LOVE YOU ALL!! Have a great week! Read your scriptures Love always, Hermana Flora

Conferencia

April 6,2015 Family and Friends!! Wasnt Conference just the best!? It is such a blessing to be able to hear from the prophet and the apostles every 6 months. From Saturday Afternoon, I liked the talk by Wilford W. Andersen, Keep Practicing, about Music and Dancing. The dance steps are like the steps of the gospel but the music is the spirit. We need to feel the music in order to dance. I loved this talk. Then I liked the talk by Dale G. Renlund about the Joy of trying again. A Saint is a sinner that keeps on trying. From Sunday morning I loved Jeffrey R Hollands talk and how we need to better understand the Atonement of Christ. Sunday afternoon, Kevin W. Pearson about enduring to the end and how it is the real test of discipleship and that once we make a covenant with God there is no going back. Then Russell Nelson about the Sabbath Day. He taught that True Believers keep the Sabbath day holy. It was a good conference weekend. I encourage you to choose a talk every week and reread it, re watch it or re listen it to so that we can better learn from our latter-day prophet, apostles, and leaders. Here in Peru this past week is known as Semana Santa, Holy Week. They celebrate almost everyday of the week, but more than any day they focus on Friday, the day of Christs crucifixion. There were many parades in the streets this week and on Friday many people were going around passing out pamphlets about the death of Christ. But its sad to think that the most important of all the days is the day that they dont really celebrate, and that is Sunday! The day that Christ resurrected to live again. We know that He lives! What great news it is to know that Christ overcame the world and that because of him we too can be resurrected. This Friday is our Musical Recital, El Vive. He Lives. I am super excited because I know that its going to be an activity unforgettable. We are going to have it videotaped. President and Hermana Zobrist are going to come. We are going to have a slideshow presentation and talks about the Atonement, the love of Christ, and the Resurrection. The music is really powerful and I know that many people will feel the spirit in a very special way this night. We are hoping to have the chapel FULL of members, nonmembers, less actives, and new members. Im so excited! Denilson is now officially ready for his baptism! He had his interview after the conference Sunday morning. All we need to do is plan the baptism and he should get baptized this Saturday! This past Friday, we had an Easter Dinner with the Hermanas that we are in charge of. We had them all write down the attributes of Christ then at the end have them pick an attribute that they want to work on or get better at. We all went around and talked about these qualities then committed to get better with just this one quality and little by little we will become more like Christ! The attribute that I choose was patience. Every since, Ive noticed that God is giving me more opportunities to practice my patience. haha By the end of the mission I should be full of patience! haha What Christlike attribute do you want to work on? We can help each other become more like Christ! Let me know what you have decided! I love you all! Remember that Christ loves you too, more than you know. Love always, Hermana Flora

Family and Friends!! Its been another good week here in Zamacola with la Hermana Waldron! For the past 2 months we have been trying to visit Hermana Berenize. She is such an incredible woman. She is 30 years old and has 3 young and beautiful daughters the age of 5, 3 and 1 years old. Her life has been pretty difficult the past 3 months because she had fully committed to seperating from her husband. He had been really bad to her and didnt allow her to leave the house for anything, not even to visit her family or friends. She use to go to church about 4 years ago but then he stopped permitting her to go to church. She told us that she would escape and go to church if he didnt come home because he was out drunk somewhere. She always looked at the church as a refuge from the world. About 3 months ago she got the strength and courage to leave her husband. She knew that it would be really hard for her and her family since she doesnt have a job, and she would be seperating her family. But she prayed a lot about the situation and knew it was what she needed to do in order for her children to grow in the church. This past week was the first time that we have been able to teach her in her house. Right now she is living with her mom and her younger sister in their home. She is a very humble lady and has expressed her desires to us about getting baptized but when the time is right. We know that she is going to be such an amazing member and will help many others in the church. She is such a brave woman and has such great desires to do what is right. We hope that she will find great comfort within the church. My favorite thing that she told us was that nothing in life matters if you arent spiritually strong. You can have it all but none of that matters if you arent with the Lord. Remember that this is true. Nothing matters if we arent doing what is right in the sight of the Lord. I love you all! Have a great week! Love always, Hermana Flora

The good fight

Family and Friends!! This week has been a lot different than normal. We had divisions, leader meetings, choir practice, and an all day activity with the stake of Umacollo. The highlight of the week was probably the Stake activity in Umacollo. It was called, Un dia como misionera, one day as a missionary! It was for all the Young Women in the Stake of Umacollo. They asked 8 hermanas to come and help out with this activity since there were only 2 sisters in the whole stake. It started at 8am and ended at 5pm. We got separated into groups and each missioanry went with either two or three young women. In my group there were three jovenes, 13, 16, and 18. They were the sweetest. We started the day off with personal study, companion study, and then District Meeting. Then we got some names and left to go visit! The girls were super nervous and asking me what they should do and say. The first 2 doors we knocked on denied us, but with persistence we got into the house of a member, Jasmine, who is less active. At first the girls were really nervous but once we started teaching and talking with the hermana they started opening up and the lesson was super good! After, we came back for lunch and ate as a Stake. The girls were still excited about the work that they asked me if we could go out and pass out the rest of the folletos, pamphlets, while the rest of the girls were still eating. We left for 10 minutes and the girls were trying so hard to pass out the folletos to the people they found in the street. It was super cute seeing their determination. It reminded me of the spirit that I had when I first came to the mission. I loved this activity. At the end, we had an inventory and talked about all the qualities that we all had. I didnt realize how much they looked up to me until this moment. Then at the very end of the meeting there was a testimony meeting. All of the three girls got up and bore their testimonies about how they loved going out and look forward to serving a mission in the future! It was great. After the activity we came back to our area and visited Denielson. He is 16 years old and he is golden! He had many good questions. Hermana Waldron asked him what he had learned while we was on divisions. He remembered basically everything about the lesson, which was the Restoration. He then said, your church is true because it has the priesthood! He then asked a bunch of good questions. For example, he asked if he could get baptized twice. Hermana Waldron then explained that it is important to get baptized with the correct authority. Denielson then said, I need to get baptized! WOW! We were both dying inside with excitment. We then invited him to pray so that he could recieve an answer from God and feel secure about his decision. He accepted to prepare for the 28th of March. Yayy! Its been a great week. The best part of the mission is teaching someone and having them understand and want to change because of it. As missionaries we are here to invite them to come unto Christ. We arent obligating people to come unto Christ, just inviting. But the best part of the mission has been when people have accepted and felt this great joy that we feel. If only everyone accepted what we have to teach. He peleado le buena batalla, he acabado la carrera, he guardado la fe. 2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Keep up the good fight!! Love always, Hermana Flora

Cambios

Friends!! Today we have changes. Basically half of the whole zone is leaving and were going to be getting all new people in the zone. I'm really excited because Hermana Bourque is coming to the zone!! Hermana Bourque (mi hija!). I'm super excited to see her today when she comes! This week has been another great week here in Peru. We keep seeing more and more miracles. This week as a mission we have been working more on asking for References from everyone, EVERYONE. I feel like we had been asking like crazy but it has turned out to be great! I don't know why we never had been asking like this before. It's really the best. We've gotten some new references from the members and we can tell that they are more excited to help us out. One of the miracles that we saw this week was when we were in Consejo de Barrio, Ward counsel. It was definitely the best ward counsel that I've ever been in here in Peru. There weren't many people but we still had counsel. All of the members were participating and coming up with ideas to help us in the work. We are seeing more progress with the help from the members. Our new Mission Leader has also been helping out a ton, it's been a huge blessing! This is the last transfer of Hermana Waldron. I can't believe that we now only have 5 more weeks together. Its super sad, but were going to make sure that she ends her mission working harder than ever. Hope all is going well at home, Love you all! Hermana Flora

Converts

Family and Friends!! This has been a crazy busy week. We went on 2 divisions this week back to back and then had 2 baptisms back to back. It was such a fulfilling week. Narcy and Ariana got baptized Friday evening. We finished divisions right before lunch, went and ate, then got ready for the baptism. When we got to the font the water had all poured out! We frantically ran around trying to fill the font back up. We grabbed buckets and filled them up trying to fill the font up as soon as possible so we could heat up the water. We got the font filled pretty fast so we went over to the heater but it wasn't working at all! We called some people to come and help us. By the time we got the heater to work it was 15 minutes before the baptism was supposed to start. But thankfully the water seemed to heat up faster than expected. It wasn't warm by the time of the baptism but it wasn't deathly freezing. Nancy got baptized first by Elder Rosado. She had the biggest smile on her face and was so happy to be getting baptized. It was the sweetest thing. Then her sister, Ariana, got baptized by Elder Taylor. They were both so happy, even though they were freezing. During their testimonies Narcy shared that she was praying the night before to know if what she was doing was right. She said that she felt really good about it and when she woke up that morning she was filled with excitement. Erika, the mom of Narcy and Ariana, thanked us for helping out with the baptism and making it the most perfect day ever. She was probably the happiest one out of the three of them. She's a member but is recently coming back to church. It's as if the whole family is coming into the church. Erika was really happy to see her daughters get baptized. I know that they are going to be great converts and be able to help others come unto Christ as well! Saturday evening was the baptism of Max. Since we had problems with heating the water with the baptism before, we made sure to get there really early. We just happened to get there a little too early...haha The water was now TOO hot. It was probably the same as a hot tub! As he got in he said he was going to get cooked! haha The last baptism was too cold and now this one was too hot. The next one will be perfect! Anyways, other than the hot water, it went super well. Max was a little nervous before but the look on his face after getting baptized was priceless. His smile was bigger than I've ever seen. He was filled with joy. It was such a good day. Mosiah, the one that baptized Max, has been a HUGE help this week. He is now our new mission leader! Its the best! He thinks of everything and has been helping us with the baptism plans and with support from the members. Its been UNREAL how much he's been helping us. We're excited to work with him in the work of Salvation. This week has been crazy! We were dead tired by the end of Sunday, but it was all worth it. It was a miracle week. We were able to see 3 converts get baptized this week. It was the best experience. I love you all! Love always, Hermana Flora Family and Friends!!

Happy Valentine's Day

Family and Friends!! Happy Valentines Day, Dia del Amor! Love for Christ!! Hope it well for all of you! As for us, its been an interesting week. We did a Sister´s activity the day before Valentines day so I could meet all the girls that we are in charge of and to have a good time together to celebrate Valentines Day! We focused on the worth that we have as daughters of God and talked about the love of Christ. We made cookies and did activities as companions so they could have a better relationship with their companions. It turned out to be a fun activity. At the end we gave them a little gift that was a small mirror and a note that told them to look in the mirror and see the beautiful daughter of God that they were and to let the light of Christ shine through their acceptance. It turned out being a good activity! I love all the girls and I look forward to spending more time with them and being the best help that I can be. But when the activity was over there was a companionship that was having lots of troubles so we talked with them after in the mission home for about an hour or so trying to help them solve their problems. Then when they felt a little better President Zobrist came back. He talked to me and Hermana Waldron to see how things were going. The highlight of my week was when he told me that he has seen a new light in me since putting me as Sister Leader. He said that I am showing more love and taking things more seriously, in a good way. He said that he sees me as a good sister. I was really happy to hear that since I was really worried and nervous to be in charge of a group of girls. Its nice to feel that President has confidence in me. Another crazy thing that happened this week was that we received another sister in the zone from an emergency transfer. She is new to the mission and has been having lots of problems and has desires to go home. She's now moved into a trio with two other girls in our zone. We have been really nervous about her and giving her lots of love and checking up on her since she is very unstable right now. We have been praying and fasting for her so we hope that she will love her new companions and her new area and want to stay here with us in this great work. This week I have really felt the role of being a Sister Leader. Its been stressful since we have a whole group of sisters that we have to worry about on top of our area. But its been a blessing because I know that I am trying to be a better missionary because of it. This week we will be seeing the baptism of Max! We also have a great activity planned with the missionaries in the Stake. We are doing an International Buffet and all cooking something from our country. For the United States we are planning on making pancakes! We hope to have many investigators there and less actives as well. The best would be new investigators that want to learn more. This week has been super interesting since I feel like the focus had been on our other assignment as Sister Leader, but it is a calling that I know that Lord has given me and I am happy to have it! As a mission we have really been pushing the importance of the Book of Mormon. As a mission we've been teaching and preaching more about the Book of Mormon that the whole mission ran out of Book of Mormons! haha so hopefully we get more books so we can pass them out to our investigators this week. I hope you all have a great week and remember to read the Book of Mormon. Remember that God loves you! Love always, Hermana Flora

ITS POURING

February 9, 2015 MIRACLES!! Family and Friends!! This week has been the biggest miracle ever. I look back at this week and cant even believe that it even happened. Our first week here in Zamacola we had been working hard together and sort of started over in the area since Hermana Waldrons other companion was super sick and had bad knees so she couldn't walk too much, so when I got here we went out to work and worked hard! This week we were able to see some of the blessings of our hard work. We have been putting our faith in the Lord and pushing ourselves to work to the hardest of our abilities. I am thankful that the Lord has been trusting us with His children here in Zamacola. We have been able to meet and have lessons with people that are really ready to hear about the gospel. At the beginning of this we didn't have anyone that was preparing for baptism. By the end of this week we were able to help 4 people put dates down to get baptized! We now have 3 people that are getting prepared to get baptized the 21st of Feb and another the 28th of Feb. It really is a miracle! Im super happy to help these people come unto baptism. The first 2 people that accepted baptism were 2 sisters. Nancy (17) and Ariana (11). There mom (Erika) is a member but less active for about 15 years and wants to come back and see her daughters get baptized. We had a Noche de Hogar (FHE) with them on Tuesday and talked about the convenio of baptism and how important it is and the younger sister Ariana seemed more excited than Nancy but by the end of the lesson after explaining to Nancy that we all make mistakes after baptism, she was more excited to get baptized. She thought that we had to be PERFECT after baptism. But I asked her if she thought that we were perfect? And of course were not, so then she felt more excited to get baptized! They're preparing to get baptized the same day (just as her mom did with her sister) for the 21st of Feb! The next person is Max (16). His brother just got baptized 2 months ago and he has been interested in the church and wanted to take a different path in his life. Our second lesson with him we invited him to baptism for the 21st of Feb and he accepted. His brother was SUPER excited and I know that he will receive lots of support from his family since his brother is a member and his brothers wife and all her family are members. We eventually hope to get him on a mission! The last person this week we invited to baptism was Luis. He just showed up at church 3 weeks ago with his girlfriend, Daniela, who is a member from another city. They came again this Sunday and we set up a time to visit with them after church. We asked them what there goals were with our visits and Daniela told us that she wants him to get baptized! Then Luis said that he wants to learn more. He said he doesn't want to get baptized by force but wants to know more about baptism so we taught him the Gospel of Christ which includes baptism. After better explaining what baptism is, we invited him to prepare for baptism for the 28th of Feb and then he asked, ¨How can I prepare for baptism?¨ What a good question! We confirmed to him and let him know that we will be here to help him and also gave him some reading in the Book of Mormon and invited him to pray about it so he can receive an answer too! I really cant believe the miracles we've seen but its true! Thanks for all your prayers and your love. We are doing great here and working hard. We have a lot of good things going here in Zamacola! I love you all! Hermana Flora

MIRACLES!! :) Family and Friends!! This week has been the biggest miracle ever. I look back at this week and can't even believe that it even happened. Our first week here in Zamacola we had been working hard together and sort of started over in the area since Hermana Waldron's other companion was super sick and had bad knees so she couldn't walk too much, so when I got here we went out to work and worked hard! This week we were able to see some of the blessings of our hard work. We have been putting our faith in the Lord and pushing ourselves to work to the hardest of our abilities. I am thankful that the Lord has been trusting us with His children here in Zamacola. We have been able to meet and have lessons with people that are really ready to hear about the gospel. At the beginning of this we didn't have anyone that was preparing for baptism. By the end of this week we were able to help 4 people put dates down to get baptized! We now have 3 people that are getting prepared to get baptized the 21st of Feb and another the 28th of Feb. It really is a miracle! I'm super happy to help these people come unto baptism. The first 2 people that accepted baptism were 2 sisters. Narcy (17) and Ariana (11). Their mom (Erika) is a member but less active for about 15 years and wants to come back and see her daughters get baptized. We had a Noche de Hogar (FHE) with them on Tuesday and talked about the convenio of baptism and how important it is and the younger sister Ariana seemed more excited than Narcy but by the end of the lesson after explaining to Narcy that we all make mistakes after baptism, she was more excited to get baptized. She thought that we had to be PERFECT after baptism. But I asked her if she thought that we were perfect? And of course we're not, so then she felt more excited to get baptized! They're preparing to get baptized the same day (just as her mom did with her sister) for the 21st of Feb! The next person is Max (16). His brother just got baptized 2 months ago and he has been interested in the church and wanted to take a different path in his life. Our second lesson with him we invited him to baptism for the 21st of Feb and he accepted. His brother was SUPER excited and I know that he will recieve lots of support from his family since his brother is a member and his brother's wife and all her family are members. We eventually hope to get him on a mission! The last person this week we invited to baptism was Luis. He just showed up at church 3 weeks ago with his girlfriend, Daniela, who is a member from another city. They came again this Sunday and we set up a time to visit with them after church. We asked them what their goals were with our visits and Daniela told us that she wants him to get baptized! Then Luis said that he wants to learn more. He said he doesn't want to get baptized by force but wants to know more about baptism so we taught him the Gospel of Christ which includes baptism. After better explaining what baptism is, we invited him to prepare for baptism for the 28th of Feb and then he asked, ¨How can I prepare for baptism?¨ What a good question! We confirmed to him and let him know that we will be here to help him and also gave him some scriptures to read in the Book of Mormon and invited him to pray about it so he can recieve an answer too! I really can't believe the miracles we've seen but it's true! Thanks for all your prayers and your love. We are doing great here and working hard. We have a lot of good things going on here in Zamacola! I love you all! Hermana Flora

Because of Him

Family and Friends!! With this week being fast Sunday we put our faith to the test and as always we were able to see many blessings. Fasting has always been a struggle for me since I love food and its super hard to go away from water while we are walking all day and night teaching people. But when we put our trust in the Lord He will never let us down. As a mission we put a goal to get 10 new investigators every week. The week had been coming to a close and we only had 3 new investigators and it was Saturday night...what do we do?...We had been working hard and diligent the whole week but we weren't seeing any results...I was a little bummed but we continued working with a smile on our faces :) Sunday came along and a member came up to us and invited us to show a video during the baptism of her daughter that afternoon. We got a video together which was called....Because of Him. (You should all watch it by the way, only 3 minutes and its the best). At the end of the baptism we showed the video and shared our testimonies after. After the member family came up to us and told us they wanted to introduce us to their friends that weren't members. There were SO MANY! They all seemed super interested and wanted to learn more and come to church. Hermana Waldron and I were both just so excited! Blessings come, Sunday night came along and we reached our goal of 10 new investigators! We were both so surprised!! Thanks to the members we were able to work together in a team and see miracles happen. I can testify that Fasting brings blessings. It is a huge trial of our faith but its a way that the Lord can bless us. I love you all! Have a good week and know that God loves you. Watch the video Because of Him!

Happy New Year

Family and Friends!! Happy New Year! Cant believe another year has passed. I had never seen so many drunk people in my life than I did on New Years Day. Thankfully our mission President recieved revelation that we should all meet up as a zone and read the Book of Mormon. We got together as a zone of missionaries and read a chart that had 90 days of the Book of Mormon, and read it all in one day. We read from 8 in the morning until 8 at night! It was a lot of reading, but it was a great experience. President Zobrist wants us to focus more on the Book of Mormon this year, in our studies and in our lessons. So we basically read almost the whole book of mormon on the first day of the year. I loved it! After the reading as a zone many missionaries shared their testimonies about the Book of Mormon. Since I didnt have the chance to share mine, I would like to share mine with you! I know that the Book of Mormon is an inspried book written by prophets of old time specifically for us. Through the principles taught in the Book of Mormon we can become better people. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and I love reading it everyday. I encourage all those that havent read the book to read it. If you really want to know for yourself if the book is true, just read it and ask in prayer and I know that God will answer if you have faith. If you have a testimony of the Book of Mormon, share your testimony with at least one person. I know that this book can change lives. I am thankful to have the opportunity to be a full time missioanry and share this testimony I have with the people here in Peru. This year, read the book of mormon. Share your testimony about the book of mormon. We really are in the last days in preparation for the Second Coming of Christ. We need to prepare now. I encourage you all to start preparing little by little everyday. We can prepare by trying to be more like Christ everyday. Smile at someone you dont know. Write a nice note to a family member or friend. Act in service to others. Love unconditionally. I would like to share one of the last verses in the Book of Mormon which is in Moroni 10 verse 32 says...Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind, and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ. We are all invited to come into Christ and be perfected through Him. It is now up to us to see if we want to accpet His invitation or not. Love you all! Love always, Hermana Flora

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One Hour

Family and Friends!! I am coming on my last week here in Moquegua with Hermana Bourque. Nothing is set or sure but Im thinking that I will be leaving this tranfer so this is probably my last week in Moquegua. Its a little sad to think of leaving the people here so I try not to think about it for too long. The weeks have been mixing together and time just keeps flying by. Highlight, we are going to see Cristian and his younger brother get baptized THIS Saturday! Were super excited. We also set up an activity as missionaries to have a Sports Night that consisted of Ping Pong and Basketball. It was a good turn out with less actives and members and a few investigators. Another highlight of the week was Sunday talks. Its the 3rd week so naturally the missionaries speak. I wasnt wanting to speak at alllll because I feel like everytime I go up to speak no one listens because theyre either on their phones or sleeping or talking to others next to them. The worst is that the Bishop and his counsels wont set a good example since Ive seen them every Sunday on their phones looking at FaceBook or Instagram. I was talking about my frustration with a member and he remembered a talk that was in the Priesthood Session in April 2014 called the Chosen Generation. I asked him to print it off and it was Perfect! I planned to read much from the talk because I loved exactly what the man had said. I prayed a lot so that I could teach with the Spirit so that I would be able to help the members understand the importance of the sacrament meeting. When it was time to go up I begin teaching from what I had planned but one by one people starting going off into their other world found through their phones. I pushed the talk aside and began to teach from the heart. I taught, There is a time and place for everything. Sacrament Meeting is NOT the time for Instagram or FaceBook. Can you not give an hour or three hours to the Lord? Is it really that difficult to put your phone aside for just an hour? The rest I dont remember but the feeling I do remember. The room was silent and everyone was focused on what I was saying, as never before had happened. After the meeting the counselor came up and told me sorry and that he wouldnt go on Internet again, I was surpried. Then the bishop told me he was going to cut the Wifi in the building. Woah. I wasnt expecting that much of a reaction but I am just glad to see some actions happening so that the members can better focus on the importance of the Sacrament Meeting rather than be playing on their phones. Hope all of you can also remember the importance of the Sacrament Meeting. Can you leave your phone for 3 hours for the Lord? Love always, Hermana Flora

Following the Spirit

January 12, 2015 Family and Friends!! Good week. Filled with many highs and lows but I would like to share the best part of the week when I followed the small promptings of the Spirit. It happened to be the same day as Jaymes birthday! haha good day! Well in the night we had a lesson set up with a member and their friend that is investigating the church in the chapel. It was 7 and we waited until 715 and then he told me they werent probably going to come but if he didnt call in 30 minutes then it would be rescheduled for another day, so we waited there a few minutes later. I was reading the Liahona when I was thinking they would probably not be able to come but I continued reading then thought that we could just enter for dinner a few minutes earlier. Then I had a thought come into my head super strong that said Get up and Go out to work. I literally stood up and told my companiong, Let go! Hermana Bourque had no idea where we were going but we went out and left. We decided to go to Cristians house. He had his baptismal interview with President the day earlier, but after the interview he still wasnt set on getting baptized. When we got there the lesson was very inspired. The Spirit was super strong and we were calling him to repentace. He told us that he stilll wasnt ready for baptism and still needed to prepare more because he felt like his sins were too big. We then taught him about how that is what Satan wants us to think. We talked about what team he wanted to be on. Satans team or Jesus Christs team? Of course he wants to do whats right. We then commited him to do what Christ would have him do if He himself were in the room with us. We commited him to baptism for when he felt comfortable. He accepted for the 24th of January! Cristian just needed a little push to get him on the path and get his animos back up! Then 2 days later we went back and invited his brother, Humberto, to get baptized with his brother the same day. He accepted as well! We are excited to see them both get baptized this month! ALSO! We have been teaching their cousins who are members but less active. Paul, who is 17, is now active, but the older brother, Renato, 22, we are trying to activate. When I first met him I didnt think I would ever see him in the chapel since his heart was super hard. Well weve been teaching him these past weeks and Sunday when he came to church we asked him to talk to the bishop. I completly saw the change in his heart. We are hoping to get him prepared to recieve the priesthood and ready to baptize his cousin Cristian and his brother Paul to baptize Humberto! It would really be the best thing! The bishop told us that it would be possible but it all depends upon Renato and how the interview goes and how his desires are to come back to church and fully reactivate. I REALLY HOPE SO! I fasted in the beginning on the month to see a miracle. This would be the miracle that I would hope to see. Love always, Hermana Flora

Come unto Christ

January 5, 2015 Family and Friends!! Happy New Year! Cant believe another year has passed. I had never seen so many drunk people in my life than I did on New Years Day. Thankfully our mission President recieved revelation that we should all meet up as a zone and read the Book of Mormon. We got together as a zone of missionaries and read a chart that had 90 days of the Book of Mormon, and read it all in one day. We read from 8 in the morning until 8 at night! It was a lot of reading, but it was a great experience. President Zobrist wants us to focus more on the Book of Mormon this year, in our studies and in our lessons. So we basically read almost the whole book of mormon on the first day of the year. I loved it! After the reading as a zone many missionaries shared their testimonies about the Book of Mormon. Since I didnt have the chance to share mine, I would like to share mine with you! I know that the Book of Mormon is an inspried book written by prophets of old time specifically for us. Through the principles taught in the Book of Mormon we can become better people. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and I love reading it everyday. I encourage all those that havent read the book to read it. If you really want to know for yourself if the book is true, just read it and ask in prayer and I know that God will answer if you have faith. If you have a testimony of the Book of Mormon, share your testimony with at least one person. I know that this book can change lives. I am thankful to have the opportunity to be a full time missioanry and share this testimony I have with the people here in Peru. This year, read the book of mormon. Share your testimony about the book of mormon. We really are in the last days in preparation for the Second Coming of Christ. We need to prepare now. I encourage you all to start preparing little by little everyday. We can prepare by trying to be more like Christ everyday. Smile at someone you dont know. Write a nice note to a family member or friend. Act in service to others. Love unconditionally. I would like to share one of the last verses in the Book of Mormon which is in Moroni 10 verse 32 says...Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind, and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ. We are all invited to come into Christ and be perfected through Him. It is now up to us to see if we want to accpet His invitation or not. Love you all! Love always, Hermana Flora