Thursday, April 23, 2015

"Center of Lima, Souvenirs and all kindza other stuff" (April 21st)

We went to the center of Lima the other day. It was terribly hot, but we still left lookin good! 








"Happy Birthday Meg!" (April 21st) Note: (I turned 18!!!)

Hermana Addington, thank you for leaving your comfort zone and strengthening your faith daily. We love you. Stretch your faith in finding. I know you will be lead to those who need to hear your voice! 
My mission president sending out so much needed teaspoon wisdom. He really is the best. When we has a district meeting in Chorillos on Tuesday, he gave us a 15min lecture on not wasting time. "The world is full of things that dont require any effort, but take away so much precious use of your time. Dont spend it like its a rewenable resource. Read all you can while youre here, be productive, find people to teach, eat healthy, dont call people names! The list just gois on and on. He really does push to be better, and I am grateful for his example. I am seeing it more and more in my mission life. We live in the world, but are not of the world. There are so many things I did before the mission, watching TV, eating junk food, etc, that werent bad, but could have been more spared. 
When we were baptized we used our agency to choose between good and evil, but after that, we use our agency to choose between better and best. God doesnt condone our decisions if they are used to help other people or enjoy the great things of life, but he knows that we could always be using it better.We are here to help others, and especially as missionaries, I have to constantly take a step back and think, "Is this activity going to help me complete my goals? To rescue someone, bring someone to the temple, be baptized, or make my area better? If not, it really doesnt need to be done." 
That has hlped me up to this point in my mission, to be more productive. There are still trails; right now me and Nielsen are finding alot of less actives to rescue, strengthening  and retaining the recent converts, but we still dont have any new investigators in church, or preparing for baptism. And thats kinda like our prime priority as missionaries. But we have faith with the people we find this week that everything will start getting better. Theyre called the amily Virutia, who we found looking for a less active. They are really on board with the whole "familias eternas" thing, so we are going to work as hard as we can to help them progress. We are also working with Janet and Katarina, our adorable family. They invited us to dine pollos a la braza the other day right before a lesson, and we asked the about the food in Iquitos. In her Southern Spanish accent (Picture mamas voice, but speaking Spanish), "The food in Iquitos is pricey! I almost broke my back working to earn enough money to buy greens and milk for Katty!" Aparently its really difficult to clean everything there, so they eat alot of foods to peal, like mandarinas, platanos, corn, etc. I dunno Ill ask her more about it later and fill Mason in on the details. HAPPY MISSION CALL, BTW MASON! I can only imagine how youre feeling right now. Im really proud of you. Start reading preach my gospel right now, and listen to as many David A Bednar and Holland talks as you can to get the doctrine down. The language will come when you get there, but get a head start listening to talks in Spanish as well on LDS.org.
And MEG! I AM SO SORRY i ONLY HAVE 2 MINUTES TO WISH YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Ill write you more next week, I promise. I just want you to know I am so proud of you and all your accomplishments. You have become an amazing young woman, who can handle anything with wit, charm and a smile. I will get you the best birthday present I can find in the mercado. Please wish everyone else in the family hi, and let them know theyll get a call from our mission secretary Elder Grover (Utan) this week to ask details about my departure in September., They just need the name of your bishop, ward, stake, and home address so I dont get lost when I get home. Cuz I guess that happens to some missionaries. 
I LOVE YALL! Have a great week! 
Read 1John 4 and Mosiah 2. Theyre really good. 
Hermana Addington

Happy Birthday Meg! I love ya more than Peruvians here love Peppa Pig! (They love her alot here.) 
Ill write more in the actual email home, but just know that I love you so much and am so grateful to have you as my sister from the same mister!