Peace.

As some of you reading this, a lot might come to mind. Such as “peace out homie”…. Or “peace love and happiness”. No. I am talking about the real kind of peace. The kind that comes from being at peace with yourself. Being at peace because you know that everything will be okay. That no matter what happens right now there will be another day, another sunrise to come. The peace we find in living with hope because we know that through the atonement of Jesus Christ we can be happy no matter the circumstances we have in life.  

This week was one of the most stressful weeks I have had. Let me tell you. The personality of my companion and I is really similar. WHICH IS AWESOME!!! She loves to talk to people, she loves the gospel, and wow does this girl have personality! But really. The one thing that we both love to do is work. We love to do missionary work. But that got a little bit out of hand this week. We overworked ourselves to the point that after 3 days of complete exhaustion we sat down and literally looked at each other and said… Um, I think we are at the point that we can’t feel the spirit because we are stressing too much…. Yep, I didn't even realize that this could happen in the mission! But it did and we have learned so much! 

Last night I was up wide awake and thinking of all that has happened this past week and I can tell you that the days I was stressed beyond I was longing to feel peace. To have moments where I could just stop and feel like it would all be okay. It made me realize how important it is to have the spirit with us. We hand out cards as we talk with others in the street that has the question “How do you find peace and happiness in this life?” It really has made me think of it as we talk with others. It is through having the spirit with us. We are baptized, and right after we are baptized we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Oh how important this is! We are able to have a guide, a comforter, someone who can ward us of danger physically and spiritually. 

There is so much more. But as I was studying this morning I came across a list of things that we can feel if we have the spirit. It was taken by a talk given by John H. Groberg. It says that when we feel the spirit…

You generally feel happy and calm.

You are full of light.

Your mind is clear.

You feel love for others and the Lord.

You feel generous.

You are not offended easily.

You are very forgiving and kind.

You feel confident in what you do.

You don’t mind others seeing what you are doing.

You want to be with those you love. (the mission is a killer with this one! Haha!)

You are glad when others succeed.

You want others to be happy.

You willingly perform church work.

You feel like praying and reading scriptures.

You want to keep the commandments.

You control appetites and emotions, your speech is controlled and you do not feel anger.

You feel a deep desire to help others in a way that others would not know.

You feel sorrow when others have problems and sincerely desire to help.

Your thoughts and actions are open to God.

Oh how true each one of these points are. I have had a big reminder to always do those things that bring the spirit. I know that through living the gospel it leads us to have better lives. We can have the spirit which brings peace. Peace is an attribute of having the Holy Ghost. The only way to have the Holy Ghost is to be worthy. To be worthy is to follow the commandments. How can we know and follow the commandments? Reading scriptures and the general conference talks from our living prophet…. Wow. Doing those small daily things that EVERYONE always talks about leads us to have the sprit. Read, pray, and go to church (Sundays). Seriously. It is a cure all and you can enjoy having true PEACE in life. But I also want to testify that finding true peace in times of hardship and trials comes from our Savior. We cannot find it anywhere else. We cannot find it in worldly possessions such as money, entertainment, etc. We find it through living the gospel and being true to our beliefs. I know that peace comes from our Savior Jesus Christ.

Well, there is my spiritual tidbit! Amongst all our craziness I have had an amazingly successful, hard, fun, and enjoyable week as a missionary! I am taking advantage of each and every day I have. I realized I am half way through my mission and wow! There is no time to lose! My companion Hermana Baso is a blessing that I can’t even describe. We get along better than I could ever imagine and at times I don’t even realize the language is a barrier…. We love serving the Lord and that is what matters.

A funny little story with a miracle… Claudia our pension has been inactive for 5 years and I have tried getting her to church for the 8 months I have been here in Quilla! On Saturday my companion and I were talking with her casually and the topic of earthquakes and world disasters came up. Haha what the discussion we had! My companion was saying that if there really was a 9.0 earthquake right here in Quillabamba there would be thousands in the streets repenting… Oh how true it is! It happens! During those times when life is in jeopardy is when it all comes down to what we believe and if we really believe that salvation is something important.

 You know what? Claudia went to church the next day. I about pooped my pants when I saw her and her daughter walk in. But miracles happen. Yes, it was a huge miracle and we hope to continue teaching her. Oh how I love my mission and I will see you all next week!

 

We had a great big birthday party for Hermana Rocio (she did one for me) and we bought a piñata and everything! Tres leches to top it off which is incredibly delicious! Oh and the Inca cola.. Can’t forget the most widely known drink in Peru. We had a lot of fun!

It rained on Sunday which was a bit rough

 because abuelita could not come to church

 but it was beautiful as ever after it rained! 

The weather is like 20 sunny days to 1 day of rain

. It is the perfect weather. Seriously. 

It feels like 70 degrees between the hours of 7-11 in the morning

 and then from 11-4 is like 90 degree

s and from 5ish on is 70s

. Oh I am so spoiled. 

But there is humidity so not too spoiled.

Oh I got to teach a HUGE dog…

 Yes I was a little scared but grateful for the cement

 that accompanied us in our lesson… Haha!

Family home evening with Hermana Mery 

and the family of Yessica!

 Loving the game UNO! 

It is a hit mom!

 Thanks for sending it!

And they wrap their hymn books and put pics on the outside.

 Random and I actually think it is worse but whatever!

 Our service project for the week!

 Anything to help the members!! Haha!

We rearranged the room! 

We have a really nice but really small room.

 But I love it! We had a great time goofing off...