Dec 20, 2010

Dearest Family!

     I hope you have a very, very Merry Christmas!!!!!!!.  I am thinking of everyone of you in this special season.  I know each of you are thinking of me because I received nine letters today!  Thank you so much for taking the time to write me and email. me.!!!
    
     Yesterday was wonderful.  First of all, Hermana Cuenca and I have the opportunity to baptize Ciprian.  Ciprian is the spouse of  Martha.  Martha and Ciprian were recently married in Dec. 11th thanks to the hard work of my former companion Hermana Pizarro.  Ciprian has been coming to church for about four years with his wife, but he could not receive the ordinance of baptism because he and Martha were not married.  There was a special spirit at the baptismal service.  It made me excited to continue working with my new companion Hermana Cuenca so that we can help other people in our area receive the eternal blessing of baptism.
     Hermana Cuenca is a hard worker and is very focused on her purpose... to invite others to Christ. The doctrine of Christ is clear,  the necessary first step is baptism.    I like this because we are extending the baptismal invitation a lot more.  I am feeling more comfortable inviting people to be baptized.  It is an invitation to others to take some action in their life to come unto Christ. 
     I am excited about the plan Hna. Cueca and I have for the week.  We are going to  contact all of the people in our area book who have attended church before but have not been baptized.  We hope that now might be the right time for some of these people to be taught. 
     Yesterday I also had the opportunity to give a five minute talk in sacrament meeting.  The bishop let me choose the theme.  My theme was the Book of Mormon is the best gift we can give to our families and friends this holiday season.  I think the bishop likes me more now because he met Mom and Dad at the temple.  It's pretty fun because he's starting to joke with me.  Even greater than my opportunity to give a talk, was the opportunity to  participate in two performances of a  major Christmas program that the two stakes in Cusco and the Cusco Mission have produced, entitled "De Nosotro, El Mayor."  For this program, a combined choir from the two stakes sang the songs composed by Kenneth Cope about Jesus Christ.  We have Kenneth Cope's CD at home.  While the choir sang, there were continuous video clips and images of Christ displayed on a huge screen above the choir.  The missionaries joined with the choir to sing the final song about the second coming of christ.  We all dressed in white tops, and we were supposed to represent the angels declaring the second coming of Christ.  The program was a huge success.  We had one performance on Saturday and two on Sunday because so many people showed up for the Saturday performance.  I loved singing in this performance.  The spirit was incredible!  Every person who attended the performances knows we believe in Christ.  
     Here is my huge story of the week.  Hna. Cuenca and I went to talk with Martha on Wednesday about the baptism of her husband, Ciprian.  When we arrived, I noticed that Martha had a friend over.  I tried to strike up a conversation with her, but she appeared unattentive and distracted so we preceeded to talk with Martha in Martha's kitchen.  A while later Martha's friend, Yanida, joined us in the kitchen.  We talked to her for a while, and then she started crying.  She told us that she was three months pregnant and she had almost taken a pill to abort her baby but "could not do it".  With that, she opened her hand and threw a pill on the ground.  I was in complete shock at this point.  When I had said hello to Yanida, it was moments before she was going to take this pill.
     Yanida almost aborted her baby because she is in extremely difficult circumstances.  Her husband is a drunk and spends all of their money on alcohol.  He is violent when he is drunk.  He always promises he will change but he does not change.  Yanida feels badly for bringing a baby into the world when there is no money to provide for it.  Hna. Cuenca and I did our best to inspire Yanida.  We commended her for saving the special spirit within her.  I think the experiecne with Yanida will forever be in my memory.  I could literally see the pain,  the poverty, and the humility in Yanida's face.  I was heartbroken for Yanida. 
     Every time I think of Yanida's story my testimony of the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are reinforced.  There is a reason why we marry in the temple.  There is a reason we go to church.  There is a reason we live the word of wisdom.  Truly the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring us happiness in this life and in eternity! 
     
Remember I love you!!!!!!!!!!!

Hermana Blunck II