Feliz Ano Nuevo!!!!!

Well!  I'm here in Kingsburg with Elder Vargas my new companion/trainee!  Ha, he's not really my trainee!  He knows the area super good and he's got a bunch of member trust and is fluent in Spanish!  That only leaves me to train him on how to teach and how to be exactly obedient!  Ha, training Elder Vargas.  He's basically training me since I'm new to the area and still learning Spanish!  It's awesome though!  I don't have some bum missionary who is trunky and vegetating to the end!  Elder Vargas wants to work and that is just fine with me!  We are going to baptize the multitudes here in Kingsburg!

Clarification.  We will baptize multitudes in Parlier!  Kingsburg is a bunch of white people that aren't ready for the goodness of the gospel and Parlier is the gold at the end of the rainbow!  The light at the end of the tunnel!  The diamond in the rough!  There are so many people there ready to listen to the gospel!  It's a small town of all of the field workers!  They all live humble lives, but they are super ready to receive the fullness of the gospel in their lives!  Most of our work is there so we are looking for an apartment out there so we can move out there and live amongst the beleivers!  Haha don't get me wrong Kingsburg is good and there are people ready to hear the gospel here too so we spend 2 days a week there.  Parlier is where it is at though!!  

Looks like my area is a bunch of fields.  Right now it just looks like a bunch of dead wood all stood up in rows cause it's been so cold, but I'm sure come spring it's gonna be booming!  Can't wait!

Investigators!  We have around 16 right now!  AWESOME!  Modesto kinda struggled with having investigators, but this area is boooooming!  It's awesome!  Ha and 14 of them are in Parlier!  That place will be translated by the time me and Elder Vargas are finished with it!  Parlier!!!  Anyways, 2 we are focusing on are Brianda and Angel.  Brianda has Muscular Dystrophy and is dying.  It's really sad but she is super strong!  It's amazing! She's enjoying every single moment she has left and she says she is ready for baptism, but is shy about being dunked in the water because more than 1 person will have to do the baptism.  So we are working on that.  She'll yield to the enticing of the spirit!  Angel is the son of a less active member!  He's always hated the fact that he was baptized as a baby. He never has felt like that is something that you should do and so when the missionaries stopped by to teach his dad the less active, he asked them about that and he liked what he heard and has been taking the lessons ever since!  Last night, we went over and taught him.  What's awesome is he invited his girlfriend over to listen in too!  We taught the plan of salvation and challenged both to baptism for the 25th of this month!  Angel said he's wanted that for a while now and that it's about time we asked!  That is the greatest answer to a baptismal challenge I've had yet!  His girlfriend said that she would like to keep learning before she makes a decision, so we told her we'd be happy to oblige!!  The work is AWESOME and is moving forward every second of every day!

Hey.  I love you all.  Jesus Christ loves you all.  Heavenly Father loves you all.  Remember that always!  No matter what.  NO MATTER WHAT..... they will always love you and you always have them to turn to for strength, peace, love, and hope!

Happy New Year!

Love yall!

Elder Frame

Burning Dolls and Patience

Hermana Valverde and I on our day together! We had the sister leaders come again and it was my first time being with a Latina! Oh that poor girl because my Spanish still isn’t that great but we got along just fine! She is so sassy and a hard worker at the same time. She taught me a lot and wow it was fun to see her interact with the people because she is from the same culture (she is from Trujillo Peru)

Well I am going to write a short message this week! I had quite the week from moving this week to the New Year here in Quillabamba Peru to learning how to be patient with myself. I feel like I say this every day.

 Patience patience patience. 

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I have to read about it every day

 and remind myself the language will come. 

Anyways, first off the new year was great!

 We got to see many different things.

 One was that they make munecas (dolls) out of their old clothes

 and they write their bad habits or things that they want to change 

about themselves on paper and stuff it in the dolls and then burn it!

This is the ashes from the munecas that they burn on New Year’s Eve.We saw all kinds of piles of ashes everywhere on New Year’s Day…

 Oh and they take their suitcases and run down the streets if they want to go on a trip this next year. Haha I thought that one was pretty cool! 

I will probably have to start that one as a new tradition once I get back to the states.

 But TONS of fireworks! And it starts a little before midnight

 and doesn't stop for seriously 2 days. 

Well a ton during the madrugada-middle of the night

 and then the next few days they were randomly going off. 

Thanks Mom for the earplugs! They have saved my life! 

They have tons of parties too! But luckily we didn't run into any drunks the night before but definitely the next day!!! Wow there was just random drunk men peeing in the streets and totally passed out on the sidewalks. That one was a new one for me.

 It was quite entertaining and it was definitely a bigger ordeal than Christmas!

 Wow!! But so fun to see it from another cultures perspective.

Hermana Valverde and I doing service in a menos activos restaurant. 

We helped them prepare food for that night, New Year’s Night.

 It was so fun and interesting so see how they prepared food!

Well, once again I am writing about how the mission is hard.

 I am such a happy person.

 I LOVE MY MISSION.

 I love every part. 

But just like everyone has said the mission is hard. 

Each missionary goes through something that is hard for them.

 But I have come to the conclusion that you cannot judge others.

 You don’t understand their whole story, and assuming is always the worst way to go.  Here on the mission so many missionaries compare each other and their Spanish and I have gotten caught up in this. For instance they will say “Wow they must have this much time in the mission because they speak so poorly, or this missionary probably has this much time because wow they are so amazing!” Since day one seriously the one thing I have struggled with is the language and now that my training is almost done I am freaking out. 

I feel like such a failure which is not true! 

I have made so much progress.

 But part of it is that I am not being patient.

 I am only 4 months into the mission.

 I just expect perfection.

 My companion has been so good to deal with me this week. It has been so hard. But don’t get me wrong.

 There has been so many miracles along the way.

 The Lord has blessed me. He has, and I need to recognize it. 

I found a scripture that has helped me so much.

 It is Jacob 4:7 “ The Lord God showeth us our weakness 

that we may know that it is by grace,

 and his great condescension’s unto the children of men,

 that we have power to do these things.” 

There is a book specifically for missionaries called “Adjusting to Missionary Life.” Wow this has been my bible this week. 

In there I have found that I HAVE to be patient.

 Even though memorizing is so hard for me there is so many solutions. I can learn different ways to memorize like coming up with actions, making flashcards, and so many other things. I have to keep a sense of humor. Especially with me because I am constantly making mistakes. 

Haha! I can’t even tell you.

 I have to find strength in my weaknesses.

 Even though I can’t speak very well

 I can share my testimony through my smile,

 service, and body language.

 And the number one thing I cannot do is compare myself to others.

 This is MY mission.

 I can only compare myself from what I did yesterday.

 The Lord has called me here.

 I remind myself every day of my purpose.

 I can go and do what he has commanded because

 he always provides a way.

 No matter how hard it is always worth it.

 I want to thank all of you

 for your support, love, and help no matter what point in my life.

 I hope you have all had a great week

 and I would love to hear from you!

 I do love my mission.

 I feel bad because it is one of those complaining emails but its real life.

 I can’t sugar coat it.

 But wow I am still so grateful despite all the struggles

.  It refines me, it molds me, and I will be better because of it.

 Keep moving forward.

 It has always been my motto. 

Love you all! 

Until next week!

Hermana Frame

We moved this week and it was quite the stressful ordeal and to top it all off the sink was broke.
 So of course Hermana Hoskins and I decided we could totally do it.
We are definitely not the normal sister missionaries.
We seriously went and bought a wrench to fix it! Look at us go! 

My companion did my hair twice this week because I was sick of doing my hair so WAAALAAA!! She is the best and it was definitely a good change from feeling like I have a mop for a hairdo.

This is a fun picture I took right after the New Year at our pensions house of her grandson and I. I love talking to him because he has as much vocabulary as I do and I can totally understand him HAHA!

A gigantic spider my companion found in a park that is in our area!!! A stinking tarantula!!! I died. Goodness me I just pray every night that I don’t ever find one close to our house

This is a Peruvian drink called Chichamorada. It has definitely become an acquired taste… I have talked about it before but they boil the black-purple corn with the pina rounds and then they drain it and serve it as a cold drink. I love it now! It is so good!

Change

Well.  This last week has been super awesome!  I have been able to use my priesthood authority like crazy!  We gave 4 blessings last week!  2 of them were not members!  It was awesome!  The first two were to members and on the second one the member had asked her two roommates if they wanted blessings too.  They both said they did so we gave them both blessings.  The one that I gave was in English so I was able to say a little bit more than I would if I gave it in Spanish.  After I finished the lady was crying and she could barely thank us!  The Priesthood is so amazing!  Why aren't there people just lining up at the font wanting to be baptized just because we have the actual power of God on the earth!?  Satan is a real wretch.

Anyways, those blessings were awesome to lead up into Christmas which was WAY better than I expected it to be!  I knew seeing my family would be super awesome then I just thought the rest of the day was gonna be kinda lame, but I was way wrong!  It was super awesome!  After seeing the family and chatting with them we opened up our gifts and we loved them!  Ha especially Farkle!  Nobody had ever played it before but everybody is a fanatic now!  After some Farkle we went and had an early dinner and then watched Frozen.  Everybody was impressed with that cause they had never seen it before.

After Frozen we played Monopoly for the rest of the night and the two Martinez kids killed us!  It was their first time playing Monopoly ever!  And they killed all of us!  After that we just went home and listened to Christmas music for the rest of the night cause we have to wait for a whole nother year until we can listen to it again.

Also. Transfers were on Saturday.  I've been called to be a trainer and complete the training of an Elder Vargas in the Hanford zone in Kingsburg.  Dang! I'm leaving Modesto!  Elder Budding is staying though, so it'll be in good hands. It's gonna be a huge growing experience though because I am not completely fluent in Spanish, I barely got out of training and I have no idea what his area the Kingsburg area is like!  Elder Vargas is fluent in English and Spanish so that'll be a huge help.  All I'll have to do is get him used to being denied and then how to effectively use his time.  Ha.  I'll be learning pretty much right along with him cause he's only got one transfer less than me!  Change!  Always a hard thing, but always a good thing to grow!

Leaving means I have to say a lot of goodbyes, so I'm sending a bunch of photos of great members and friends I'll be leaving behind so yall can get a look at all their beautiful faces!!

So to conclude this entry.  Change is good.  Accept it and go forward with faith in Christ.  Anything is possible with a God on your side!  Haha pray for me!  (And Elder Vargas!!!)

Love yall!

Elder Frame

Oh what a Day!

Talking with my wonderful family! As a missionary this is a very anticipated hour... Oh but how wonderful because I was able to see Elder Frame clear in California as well. I basically cried the whole time because I was so filled with emotion! 

So this week was one for the books! One I will never forget! I was able to experience Christmas in Peru of all places, in crazy hot weather, and also have my first baptism! WOW CAN I TELL YOU WHAT…. IT WAS A CRAZY WEEK! Oh and to top it all of I got to see my wonderful family! Oh how I love them, yes miss them, but sorry not enough to come home quite yetJ

So first of all Christmas. WOW! We had many gifts from our families that we enjoyed oh so much--- thanks parents and family for all the crazy great missionary gifts! We were able to study, enjoy our time together and also visit so many families, converts, and members. It was definitely one to remember.





My gifts on Christmas! THANK YOU FAMILY!




Hermana Hoskins was sent a puzzle and we LOVED putting it together. It reminded us of our families on Christmas!

The best part of all of Christmas though was when we were able to visit Hermana Engrasia (abuelita) and take part in her Christmas. She is so old and she couldn’t go to Cusco with her family so she was alone all of Christmas Day which just broke my heart. But visiting her was an experience I will never forget. She was pretty low in spirit as we arrived that night around 7, had spent the day all alone, and had not eaten because her stomach has issues. Oh my heart was hurting so much. And to top it all of I had just got done talking with my family and feeling so blessed to have them in my life. But as I sat there thinking about my home in the United States I then came to realize how important this moment was for her. She is 89 years old, WITHOUT family, WITHOUT a big Christmas dinner, WITHOUT presents, WITHOUT friends, and struggling with her physical health. Wow, I was completely humbled. We came to a moment in the lesson when I was sharing a favorite scripture about Christ and she just started crying. OH MY GOODNESS!  I AM CRYING JUST WRITING THIS. She was definitely feeling so lonely. So we decided to just stop and start singing Christmas songs. We sang fun ones, hymns, and any other Peruvian Christmas song we knew. We even sang our favorite Christmas songs in English. Oh to see her countenance change. Her eyes just beamed with joy, she was smiling, and wow!  I couldn’t be happier! It hit me hard. Christmas once again wasn’t about the presents, the Christmas trees, the lights, the commercialism. It’s the things you give from the heart. It is love that you share. Oh abuelita I will never forget you. Thank you for making my Christmas a memorable one.

Oh what a day!

Wendy's baptism day! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!! Oh and our district leader Elder Jensen and Elder Belliston!

WENDY!!! I don’t usually talk about investigators but, WOW SHE IS THE BEST!!!! She is 23 years old, works in a moto taxi (and LOVES it), is single, and LOVES to talk about “God’s word” with us. She is amazing! We, as a companionship, have been teaching her since the 2^nd week of being here. It is so special to me because this woman has been there since the very beginning of my adventure here in the mission. She was there the first lesson when I spoke two words (basically Jesucristo and Hola) and I couldn’t understand her at all to now when I can understand her (most of the time), and I can sometimes respond and also teach whatever I want. She is such a great example to me!

yep the GREEN water

But funny story! On her day of baptism we went to see if the zone leaders were filling up the font and WOW!!! Hilarious!! We show up and the water is green, completely green. Okay, to the Peruvians this is like normal apparently but I was flipping out about it. I was like- come on people we are going to baptize her in this?! But of course I bit my tongue because of course everything would be fine. Okay and then we go to find the baptism clothes. There was a bazillion keys the president gave to us and we couldn’t find the closet they were in so we were sitting there trying every key in every cupboard (mind you there is like 20 in the church). Oh heavenly glory. But then of course the elders show up and we are talking with them about the water in the font, and what happens but my companion DROPS THE KEYS IN THE WATER!!!!!! And we have no key to unlock the font yet because one of the counselors had it. Oh goodness me. And you can just picture me freaking out because I am a perfectionist and this is a baptism we are in charge of and I want it to go smoothly. Long story short we did find the clothing, my companion fished out the keys, and yes even though the water was green Wendy got baptized in it because she said “Oh! It’s just like a swimming pool”. I could not believe it! The swimming pools here are also this disgusting green color so apparently she was fine. Thank heavens. It turned out as a great baptism and such a memorable day! OH WHAT A DAY THOUGH. 

         

Today I am so grateful. So grateful to be out here on the mission. I love every part. The hard parts, the crying, the people, the missionaries, the tiny apartments, the food, the holidays, the culture, I could go on and on… But I am feeling so blessed. The biggest blessing is to be here learning, teaching, and spreading the gospel. It is true. My favorite thing to say to investigators is that either the church is true or it is not. You can find out for yourself. I promise it will change your life because it has changed mine. I appreciate all of you that have been a part of my life. I am grateful for the support. I am thankful for a family that loves me, for friends that care, and for a Heavenly Father that knows everything I am going through. Basically I JUST LOVE THE GOSPEL. Well, I better go. Have a great week and enjoy your New Years!!! I am sure I will be coming with crazy stories next week from what will happen here in Quillabamba Peru.

Love,

Hermana Frame

Christmas morning breakfast! Panatone (fruit cake and chocolate)

A manger scene in one of our converso recientes house.
 It was definitely different but I loved it! Purple lights and all!

Christmas dinner for us at a member’s house! Definitely one I won’t forget! It was delicious though!

A fun picture I took while waiting for an investigator of Quillabamba

Merry Christmas from Methdesto California!  Love you all!

So we had huge news this week!  President told everybody that our mission is going to be splitting! 3 of the Northernmost zones will be combined with the Southern half of the Sacramento mission to make a brand new mission!  The California, Modesto mission!  Modesto?!  Ha when some of the members in our branch heard that they said "What?  Methdesto is going to be a mission?!" Haha apparently Modesto is the meth capital of the country so it surprised them a bunch that it was going to be it's own mission.  The change is going to be happening in July when the mission president comes in to his brand new mission!  Super crazy!!!!  So as I took this information in, I realized a few things: There's a possibility that I will serve with Elder Tucker Gammell and Elder Austin Jensen and any others I know serving in the Sacramento mission (which would be super cool!), if I am put in the Modesto mission I won't have a temple in my mission anymore (which would be lame), I could go through 2 different missions! It's pretty sweeeeett!  President also said that a few members of the Quorum of the Twelve will be here in January to reassign missionaries to the Modesto mission! Hopefully they do a mission tour so they can talk to us!  The last time this mission has had a tour by a 12 was more than 2 years ago so we're overdue for another one!!!  Whooooooooooo!  So many super cool things happening!!  Only dumb part about it is that we all have to wait until July to find out if we are being reassigned or not.  So many awesome things that are happening!! This also just goes to show that the work is truly moving forward and that the Lord is hastening it in his own time!

 

Erick. The bum who is finally getting baptized on the 27th after a year of attending church!

Other than that it's just been the same good old week!  Rolling up the sleeves and digging into the work! We've been visiting a bunch of less actives since that is what President has asked us to do as our keyholder!  As far as investigators, Elizabeth and Erick are scheduled to be baptized this Saturday! It's going to be awesome for Elizabeth's husband Carlos to be at the baptism!  Robert and Melissa are progressing as we continue to visit them!  Also, we have four new baptism dates for January!  Teresa, her husband Hicidro, her son Fabian, and her daughter Celeste, all have dates for the 17th of January!  They are turning into be solid investigators!  How we found them is actually pretty sweet!  President has asked us to find solely through less actives and that's what we've been doing.  It hadn't been yielding much fruit and so we thought about going back to knocking doors two hours a day, but in the end we decided to have faith in President's vision and we kept visiting less actives.  That night we were talking about our dwindling investigator pool when we got a call from 4th ward and they gave us a referral for a family that they set up an appointment with their super bad Spanish. Then the rest is history!  The Lord blessed us right after we decided to follow the advice of our key holder, who receives revelation for us.  The Lord knows if you are trying and he will bless you.  So don't lose hope!  It's all gonna work out!

Anyways!  Happy Christmas to yall and don't be sinning!

Elder Frame

Christmas in Quillabamba!

 Hermana Arroyo, my companion, and I at the Christmas party we had in Urubamba about 4 hours away.
We combined with another zone and played Christmas games and had a devotional.
 It was so fun and it was great to feel the Christmas spirit! 

Wow! A year ago I would have never thought I would be in Peru let alone Quillabamba during the Christmas season! I LOVE IT THOUGH! Here Christmas is not as big of a deal as in the states which is so heartbreaking to me! It is fun to randomly see Christmas lights hanging from windows and on the palm trees… Haha! Oh, and there is a few Christmas trees but not like ours in the states! They are about half the size and they all have ridiculously fast flashing lights that are all different colors! It makes me laugh so hard! But yeah, apparently New Years is a HUGE deal here, with lots of drunken people and lots of crazy traditions so I guess I will see!

Panatone! It is the fruitcake here that is so fun to eat and enjoy with hot chocolate! The people here LOVE IT!!! We smell it randomly as we are walking down the streets and we immediately want some! 

But it is my first official Christmas away from home. I have tried imagining it for a while, but it has been quite interesting. I have not been homesick at all but being away from family at Christmas is sure different. It makes me really think about what the real reasons for Christmas are and how I plan to celebrate Christmas the rest of my life. I have realized it is in the giving. I know so cliché but really. It is the giving of our souls, our character, and our personality. I love Christmas because of the time you get to spend with the people you love. It is giving from your heart, giving others your faith, your love, your time. 

I also read a talk from James E. Faust and he said “Our Heavenly Father has given us so many wonderful gifts not knowing if they would be accepted. He has offered us His peace, His comfort, His love. All we have to do is accept His gifts is to be obedient and follow Him.” We also need to receive. We need to receive Him. The Savior. He is the way to a happier life. I love testifying of him. It brings such an adrenaline rush for me. Heavenly Father sent His son for us to feel peace, comfort and His love.

 I want to also share a scripture from Galatians 2:20 “Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” I love being here on the mission because He is why I am here. He is why I celebrate Christmas and He is the reason I get to be with my family forever. I hope you all have a great Christmas and I love and appreciate all you have shared with me. Your light, your love, your faith, and your spirit. 

Have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Hermana Frame

Hermana Marina making Aji! It is a sauce that they have that is SOOOOOOO HOOOOOTTT!! I am addicted to it though! 

limonada! We stopped in a restaurant to get lemonade and it was to die for! It is freshly squeezed and wow it was so good especially because it was such a hot day--- so funny to have lemonade during the Christmas season.