Dearest Family,

As you can see in one of the photos, I am learning all sorts of skills in the mission.  For example, I learned how to gut fish and prepare them to be deep fried.  With the relief society sisters of our branch, we traveled to a fish hatchery on Saturday for a relief sociey get-away.  It was a lot of fun.  One of our investigators came and enjoyed herself, but the heartbreaker is that she decided yesterday that she does not want to get baptized.  I feel really bad for the senior couple in our area, the Schellenbergs, because they worked super hard to help this couple marry.  They dedicated tons of time with this couple. 

The good news is that a different couple is going to get married the eighth of April.  I feel wonderful about this couple.  We had a lovely lesson with this couple that will marry last Wednesday.  The husband arrived home just as Hna. Villegas and I were preparing to leave.  The husband immediately shared his concerns with us.  It was beautiful to see how much he opened up.  The man, named Augustin, was sincere and humble.  He explained that it bothered him how Elder Schellenberg had been so persistent that they marry and baptize quickly.  It was at this time that I understand why I had felt impressed to read Mosiah 11 in my personal study in the morning.  I had seen that reading Mosiah 11 was a personal study recommendation as part of chapter 5 of Preach My Gospel.  Even though I didn`t understand how this recommendation related to anything, I felt I should follow this specific recommendation.  There are two verses in Mosiah 11 that talk about how God is slow to hear our prayers when we are slow to repent.  Thankfully, Augustin did not take this scripture the wrong way.  As soon as we shared the verses, he said, -I understand.- 

Augustin also shared his concern with us that he desired to believe in the Book of Mormon, but it was a real struggle for him because it is so different than the Bible.  Hermana Villegas and I shared with Augustin about the sticks of Judah and Ephraim and the corresponding scripture in the Bible.  We cannot share this scripture with many people because they do not understand.  Augustin, however, immediately understood the significane of the scripture.  It was so wonderful to have a lesson where we could answer questions with scriptures and our investigator understood the answers.  It is so much better to answer questions with scriptures than with our own words.  There is a great sense of legitimacy with scriptures than with our words.

I really love my zone.  Hermana Villegas and I are the only sisters in the zone, but all of the elders are super great to us.  I laugh more than I laugh the whole week on our preparation days.  Elders are so goofy sometimes.  I`ve attached a photo of our amazing preparation day last Monday.  We traveled to Ollantaytambo together and hiked up to some Inca ruins.  There are other ruins in Ollantaytambo, which are much bigger, but it costs a lot to enter. 

  

Thank you for sharing your missionary experiences with me.    I know that the greater effort we put into being missionaries, the easier Heavenly Father makes it for us to do.

Love,

Hermana Blunck II

Dearest Family,

I hope you received this email alright because it includes lots of photos.  I know that pictures speak a thousand words.  I hope you can see in these photos that I am happy.  I also hope that you can get a taste of where I live and what the people are like.

This last week was beautiful because the family I`ve written about previously were civily married and they were baptized.  The father`s name is Eynar and the mother`s name is Soraida.  Eynar and Soraidas` story is a miracle.  One Sunday they simply showed up at the church because Eynar dreamed that his family needed to change.  He felt that he should bring his family to the LDS church.  With the help of the senior missionary couple in Urubamba, we taught Eynar and Soraida about the fundamentals of the church Christ established and how these fundamentals have been restored to the earth in our times.  We taught them that they can directly ask Heavenly Father in prayer if the church Christ established has been restored to the earth.  We also invited them to pray and ask Heavenly Father if the Book of Mormon is true.  Eynar and Soraida, like me, received answers to their prayers.  For this reason, they chose to be baptized.  They are now beginning a very beautiful journey.  They are happier than they were two months ago.  They know what principles they need to teach to their children.  They know Heavenly Father`s plan for them in this life.  

I think my Spanish is progressing because I forgot this week the name `grilled cheese sandwhich.` A lovely lady served us a grilled cheese sandwhich one day, and when my companion asked me for the name in English, I couldn`t remember.  It took me ten minutes to think of `grilled cheese sandwhich.` 

I would encourage you to look up Urubamba and Ollantaytambo in the internet, so you can see some photos of where I`m serving.  There are lots of Inca ruins here.  I`m grateful to be in an area that really is a `Sacred Valley.` 

Here are a few explanations about the photos I`ve attached--

The photo of the couple dressed in white is that family that married and were baptized this week. 

There is one photo with two missionaries talking on the phone.  These missionaries are my zone leaders.  This image cracked me up so I decided to send it to you.  The missionaries are talking on there `cell phone.` In the picture, you can actually see that the phone is a traditional telephone.  The elders were hauling it around in their backpack like it was a call phone.  The goofy things we do in the mission!

In one of the pictures, there is a group of missionaries walking and also two traditionally dressed women beside them.  We see many women dressed this way in Urubamba and the surrounding pueblos.  In Quechua, these women are called `panais.` The missionaries in the mission jokingly call us sister missionaries the `panais.

The last picture is of my companion and I.  Hermana Villegas is from northern Peru in a town called Chiclayo.

  

Remeber that I love every one of you.  I am always pleading that Heavenly Father will bless you to feel of my prayers for you.  I am proud of you for working hard in your responsibilities.

All my love from Urubabma Peru.

Hermana Blunck II

Dearest Family,

If you can believe it, six weeks have passed since I last wrote you
saying that I`d arrived in a city called Urubamba.  Last night we
received news whether or not we would have changes.  My companion and
I are both going to stay in Urubamba for at least another six weeks.
I am please because we have some couples that will finally be getting
married and baptized.  We are so blessed to have a Father in Heaven who
perfectly understands our hearts.

This week we should have a couple getting married and baptized.  It
is the greatest blessing in the world to have the help of the
Shellenbergs.  They understand the paperwork process, and this
wedding wouldn´t be possible without them.  This couple that is going
to marry and baptized is the couple that came to church one Sunday on
their own accord.  This couple has been great missionaries for us.
They keep bringing more of their friends and family to church with
them.  Yesterday was pretty miraculous.  We had ten investigators in
church, thanks mostly to this family.  My companion and I have also
been fasting, so I believe Heavenly Father is blessing us.  The key
now is to help these ten amazing people enter the waters of baptism.

My companion and I are hiking around these days in rubber boots like
the boots we used for our pigs.  I know we look goofy, but its better
than scraping the barro, or mud, off of my shoes everyday.  We also
make a great fashion statement in our green camping ponchos.
Sometimes I ask myself if I am really serving a mission.  I never
imagined myself doing this.

Is Janeece really coming this week?  I didn`t realize that she was
coming so early in March!  Enjoy your time, Janeece.  I am so excited
for you!!!!!  Before we know it, all of this family will be
Peruvianized.

Thank you for your prayers the last few weeks.  I felt your prayers,
and I`m feeling a little better.
Please remember that I think of each one of you everyday.
Love,
Hermana Blunck II