Lynette Blunck

2012-02-20T10:15:00.000-08:00

Have you found Quillabamba on the Map?????

February 21, 2012

Dearest Family,
Last week was incredibly enriching because we had the blessing of
listening to Elder Waddel from the area presidency. He started the
conference talking about how we can receive personal revelation, and I
was able to receive that blessing of receiving revelation. I went to
the conference with the question in my mind, ¨should I extend my
mission?¨. I had that question in mind because it´s heart breaking to
think about leaving the mission when I am just arriving to my peak. I
can speak the language, I´m bold, and, more than ever before, I
understand my purpose as a missionary. I also felt worried about
leaving my new companion. It was incredible how Elder Waddel
addressed my question in the conference. He explained that this is
the Lord´s work because He sends His missionaries home when they are
arriving to the best part of their mission. The Lord replaces the
experienced missionaries with new missionaries who have much to learn.
If the mission were only about reaching numbers, the Lord would leave
his missionaries in the field for more than two years or a year and a
half.
Elder Waddel also explained that many times missionaries are called to
their missions for their mission president. I think that thought
applies to me because many times I´ve asked why God called me to Peru
to serve. I have learned many, many lessons from Presidente and
Hermana Calderon. When I have more time, I´ll explain what I´ve
learned from them.
Right now I´m grateful for Dad´s thought ‘Levantate y sube al monte’
because I feel like God and President Calderon are the only people
rooting for me right now. My companion is furious with me. When we
went to Cusco, Hna. Osoy and I picked up our new companion. President
Calderon surprised me by asking me for an interview. He asked me how
Hna. Osoy and I had been getting along, and I told him that Hna. Osoy
was working okay with me. President continued by explaining that he
was worried how Hna. Osoy´s attitude could affect our new companion.
Hna. Osoy was willing to leave and work with my new companion and I
the past few days, but I noticed that her attitude is dangerous
because she shoots down our new companion´s ideas. I think when a
missionary is new, she needs to feel that her ideas are fantastic and
applied to the work so that she´ll keep having enthusiasm during the
rest of her mission. I commented this situation to President Calderon
yesterday, and now Hna. Osoy is going to have a transfer. She is
furious with me and telling all the Elders that it´s my fault. I´m
sure this rumor is going to spread through all the mission, but oh
well. My big goal is to be able to help my new companion Hna.
Martinez. I want her to finish her time with me with the same
excitement that a new missionary feels that first day that they enter
the field.

I hope that you don´t get too worried from what I´ve written.
Everything is part of God´s plans and I trust in that. Thank you for
all of your prayers. I´m excited to see you soon!

Love,
Hermana Blunck II

2012-02-20T06:21:00.000-08:00

February 13, 2012,

Thoughts from a letter Lynette wrote.

I never thought this time would arrive. Now the mission feels like one big dream, but it has been an incredible dream. I cannot believe how many parts of the world that I have been able to see. When I see the new missionaries arrive, I remember all the things that I had to adjust to. Everything about the mission life and living in Peru seems normal now. It's normal to be conversing with Peruvians, Bolivians, Chileans, and Nicaraguans at the same time. When I get to thinking about it, God is incredible because He's given me the opportunity to come to know His special children from other parts of the world. We are all so similar.
         Sometimes during the mission I've thought to myself, "I'd be a more effective missionary if God had called me to serve in the US, speaking my native language and being in my culture". What I recognize now is that I've been blessed beyond measure with the opportunity to mix myself with people from all parts of the world. I have learned about them and their culture and it has enriched my life. In some way I hope I have enriched their lives.
          After receiving my setting apart blessing to serve, I wrote down all of the promised blessings. I can recognize now that every one of them has been fulfilled. The mission is hard. It is the hardest thing that I've ever done, but it has also been the greatest thing I have ever done.  There is a reason it is called missionary work, to be effective you have to work. The mission has solidified in my mind the basic principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Christ's doctrine in simple, powerful and beautiful. He sacrificed His life for all of us to accomplish the Father's plan for each of us. I have learned to love His children here in Peru. No words can describe that feeling.
           During the mission I have also learned a lot about myself, my strengths and my weaknesses.  I hope I have become the kind of woman God wants me to be.
          It will be a fabulous day when I come home, until then I"ll keep working.

Hermna Blunck II

2012-02-20T05:38:00.000-08:00

February 13, 2012

Greetings from Quillabamba!!!!!

Dearest Family,
Happy Valentine´s Day and Happy Anniversary David and Sheri!!!
Greetings from Quillabamba!!! Quillabamba is a lovely little town
about five hours from Cusco. It is tucked between mountains and is
close to Machu Picchu. I am thrilled to be finishing my mission here
because it is warm like Puerto Maldonado. I was nervous that I´d go
to Puno and freeze to death. My companion is Hna. Osoy. Hna. Osoy
will be finishing her mission at the same time as me. President
Calderon has me here with Hna. Osoy to perform a special mission.
Hna. Osoy did not work well with her companion before, and so I need
to help her work hard until the end of her mission.
Our area will not be white-washed when Hna. Osoy and I finish because
we´ll be receiving a new missionary this week. We´re going to train
together. The new sister has arrived late to the
mission due to visa issues. Our zone is going to Cusco this week,
where we will receive our other companion, because we have a
conference with Elder Waddel of the seventy.
When I arrived, our area didn´t have any investigators, but we are
working now to try to improve the situation. We are doing lots of
contacting, and I am contacting all the grown men that I can. I feel
blessed that God has helped me to overcome some fears and I can share
with adults, especially men, the message of the gospel. Please keep
praying for us that we can find and teach families.
I hope that you all have a terrific week. I sure love you with all of my heart.
All my love,
Hermana Blunck II

2012-02-08T17:53:00.000-08:00

February 7, 2012

I'M IN CUSCO!

Dearest Family,

Greetings from Cusco. Hermana Giron and I are both here, but I`m the only one with a change tomorrow. President Calderon has been telling me that I`ll go to Quillabamba or Puno, so I`m anxious to see where I`ll finish my mission.

The members of the branch surprised me yesterday. A few of them came to the terminal to wish me off and a few of them even gave me simple gifts. The Peruvian people are great examples. They quickly give their hearts and their love to the missionaries.

The last two months haven`t been full of tons of baptisms, but I feel good because I know that the branch is much better than how it was when I arrived. One of our recent converts in now the ward mission leader, our branch president has lots of confidence with the Hermanas, and the branch members are willing to work with us. It`s hard to leave the branch because I`m familiar with everything, but I know that the Lord has more work for me to do in another area.

Hermana Giron and I have been able to convert some of our differences in personalities into strengths the last few weeks. It`s hard to leave Hna. Giron, but she is also a very independent young woman, and I know that she needs the opportunity to direct the area.

Yesterday was great because we had six investigators in the church. Two of the investigators included a couple that`s been married for more than fifty years. That is an incredible find in Puerto Maldonado and in Peru.

I hope that you are all very well. I`m excited to talk with you, and to be a part of your lives. In the meantime, I`m anxious to continue in God`s work because it is incredible.

With all of my love,

Hermana Blunck II

2012-02-03T18:57:00.000-08:00

January 30, 2012

HOLA! HOLA! HOLA!

Dearest Family,
How are you doing? I love you very much!!!
A special experience from the week was teaching one of our contacts
named Pablo. I contacted Pablo months ago with Hna. Benites, but it
didn`t seem appropriate to teach Pablo at that time. Hna. Giron and I
have begun teaching and he seems very ready now. Pablo told us about
a spiritual dream that he had years ago. He told us that every time
we passed by his little store, seeing me reminded him of his spiritual
dream.
We are also teaching a man named Luis. Luis is from Brazil and he
speaks Portuguese! (I`m learning how to understand Portuguese) Luis
is a reference of a member. He`s attended church off and on for the
last eight years. I don`t know exactly why he was never baptized. Luis
explained to us yesterday that he`s come to church all these years
because he likes the teachings. We were able to do a few inspired
questions to help Luis to recognize that he`s felt the Spirit in
church. Then we were able invite Luis to be baptized. Luis made a
few excuses but then we invited him to read Mosiah 18:10. This
scripture asks what impedes us from being baptized if we have the
desires and we`ve felt the Spirit.
We were able to have a baptism last week. It was a great experience
because the parents were less active, but they decided for their own
initiative to be active when they moved to Puerto Maldonado two months
ago.
I send you all my love!!!
Hermana Blunck II

2012-01-23T13:55:00.000-08:00

January 23, 2012

Thanks for Your Love and Support

Dearest Family,

I really enjoyed this past week. Hna. Giron and I participated in
divisions with the other sisters in the zone. One of the sisters from
the other sector served in Puerto Maldonado previously in our sector.
She came to Hna. Giron and mines` area and showed Hna. Giron the
houses of some old investigators. I got to discover another side of
Puerto Maldonado.
I`ve been reflecting a lot this week about the importance of obeying
our leaders. President Calderon has been talking for months about our
mission`s goal of having 100 percent retention. For a long time, I`ve
been thinking that it`s impossible when many of the baptisms here have
been part member families. The Spirit is helping me to recognize that my attitude showed lack of faith. When our leaders invite us to do something,
it`s always possible to do it. Sometimes we need to put a little more
faith in the Lord, and take the word of our leaders as if God himself
was counseling us.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to give a talk in our sacrament
meeting. The theme was based on how we can receive blessings. I
focused on following the counsel that President Monson gave us in
the last general conference. I also talked about the counsel that
President Calderon shared with our district two weeks ago. I
recognized two themes from President Monson`s general conference
talk. President Monson invited us to pray more frequently and to
obey all of the ten commandments.
Remember that I praying for you every day. I appreciate all of your support!!!!

With lots of love,
Hermana Blunck II

2012-01-17T19:23:00.000-08:00

January Is Flying By!

January 15,2012

Dear Family,
This week was a fantastic week. President Calderon surprised us by
coming to Puerto for a district conference. He was here four days and
spent quite a bit of time with us missionaries. Our zone conference
was very edifying and has given me ideas of how I can improve, such as
emphasizing the importance of family home evenings with our branch
members and investigators.
President Calderon accompanied Hna. Giron and I for a visit, and now
the couple that we visited have a marriage and baptismal date. It was
exciting to see this couple arrive at the chapel yesterday for the
district conference. Afterwards they told us that they really enjoyed
the conference. Also, a sister from our branch invited one of her
work friends to the conference and now we have a lovely new single
mother to teach. Something that I recognize is that God always
blesses us after He tries our faith for a little bit.
Faith is something that I have been trying to focus on learning the
last few months. It`s my personality to worry and doubt. What I`ve
been learning on is that faith, in essence, does not leave room for
doubt. It`s choosing to be happy and hopeful because we know that God
bless us, more that we even deserve. Faith is about having patience
with God`s timing and what He wants us to learn instead of what we
think that we should learn.
A conclusion that I came to this week is that if I put all my efforts
into serving God, the service that I give Him is like a grain of sand.
It`s tiny!!!! I`ve felt quite amazed that God`s work always moves
forward when our service, for most of us, is really quite small.
Sometimes Hna. Giron and I talk about how we always have willing
spirits but we have weak bodies. I would love to work all day, but we
also have to sleep and eat. I`m grateful for God`s patience with us.
I`m grateful the He blesses us for the little actions that we do, and
I`m grateful that He loves us even with all our imperfections.
I hope that you have a lovely week. I pray for you and I always think
about you!

Love,
Hermana Blunck II

2012-01-10T10:42:00.000-08:00

ANOTHER WEEK IN LA SELVA!!!!!!!

January 9, 2012

Dearest Family,
Thank you for writing me this week. It`s always fun to skim your
letters a little bit before I print them out.

This week has been a little challenging because we do not have
investigators with baptismal dates. I know that we are doing the best
that we can, but it is hard for our leaders to accept. Something that
encouraged us is that our branch leader told us that he really
appreciates that work that we are doing. We have several recent
converts that are going to receive the Melchizedek priesthood this
Sunday! One of our converts gave a great testimony yesterday.
Hna. Giron and I have been trying to help the Relief Society of our
branch with their visiting teaching program. We`re trying to help the
presidency catch the vision of their responsibility to excite their
sisters. It was pretty funny yesterday because Hna. Giron and I put
up a big posterboard with stickers next to the names of the
companionships that have done their visits solos or with us. As soon
as the sisters saw their names posted up front without a sticker next
to their names, they got crackin. Everyone starting making
appointments with their companions to do their visits. Even the
relief society president started feeling nervous. Hna. Giron and I
pray that in the process of helping the sisters we can have more
references and we can meet less active families.

We`ve finally got branch fellowshipping nights going. The big
challenge will be having enough members and investigators present to
make the nights effective. The members always say that they`ll come,
but it`s never definite. There is a companionship of elders in our
branch, and we`re coordinating the fellowshipping nights with them and
with the brother that is in charge of our branch until we have a
branch president.

I hope that you remember that I love and miss all of you.

Love,
Hermana Blunck II

Please send my birthday wishes to Jana!!!!!

HOLA, HOLA, HOLA!!!!!!!!!

January 2, 2012

Dearest Family,

Happy New Year!!! We enjoyed a great fireworks show in Puerto
Maldonado to celebrate the New Year.

Yesterday we had a neat contacting experience. While Hna. Giron and I
were walking to an appointment, an older man sitting outside of his
motorcycle repair shop called my attention. It`s funny because about
ten minutes before we contacted by him, I thought `I don`t really like
walking through this area because there`s never anybody ready to
progress.` God, though, did have someone prepared. I never would
have thought that contacting a mechanic would be so fulfilling, but I
left the contact excited. The contact is named Jose Quispe. He is
different than almost all the men of his stereotype because he doesn`t
drink. Jose is a simple man, but I think he`s one of the `salt of the
earth` kind of people. I hope that Jose and his family can progress
because we are really struggling to have people with baptismal dates.
Sometimes I don`t understand that we don`t have more families with
baptismal goals, but I try to trust the Lord. The good news is that
Hna. Giron doesn`t complain about how many people that we have with
baptismal dates.

This week we`ve been making an effort to teach from the Book of Mormon
more and to invite our investigators to pray about the Book of Mormon.
I hope that this can help us to have more people that receive
testimonies and commit to progress.

I love you all very much!!!

Love,
Hermana Blunck II

2011-12-19T19:24:00.000-08:00

Dec. 18, 2011

                        Hermana Giron, Presidente and Hermana Calderon,
                                              and Hermana Blunck
                                             MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Dearest Family,

Here are a few notes for you.

Grandpa and Grandma Blunck-I`m going to miss spending Christmas Eve
with you. I hope that you are safe and snug in your home and that you
feel of my love for you.

Sister Lazott-Thank you for writing to Sister Giron. You are so
thoughtful. She`s coming back from Cusco tomorrow and will be
thrilled to find a letter on her desk.

David and Sheri-I admire how hard you are working to be missionaries
in your community and I know the Benjamin and Hunter will be terrific
missionaries.

Dusty and Janeece-Mom sent me some adorable photos of my nephews and
nieces. I know that you are fantastic parents and I look forward to
returning home to you. I`ll be ready to play.

Mom and Dad-Thank you for the lovely Christmas package. I`ve seen the
jewelry box but I haven`t opened it yet because I want to have a fun
surprise on Christmas Day. Today I shared some of the cookies that
you sent with my zone. The missionaries just about died. They loved
the cookies. I think I might only have 30 mintues to talk on Christams
Day. Make your list of what you want to share!

Stephen and Shara-Thank you so much for looking into the housing for
me. I don`t know what I want as far as the social scene goes. I`ll
ask Mom and Dad for their advice and then have them tell you my
decision.

I love you all very much!!!
Merry Christmas.

Love,
Hermana Blunck II

2011-12-14T12:08:00.000-08:00

                       Hermana Blunck is currently serving in a jungle city,
                                      Puerto Maldonaldo, Peru.
This city borders Bolivia. She is training a new companion from Honduras, Hermana Giron. This is a picture of a baptismal service they participated in.

          Hermana Blunck is sporting a very short hair cut in all of these photos. Getting a haircut here in Peru is always an adventure, you just never know how it will turn out. After a good cry and a few tears it was tiime to get on with the Lord's work once again. Thank goodness our hair continues to grow!  Sometimes
                            we just have to laugh about life adventures.

Visiting Lago (Lake) Sandoval with President Calderon.

Hermana Blunck and Herman Giron.

One of the Lord's newest memebers of His church.

2011-12-14T11:39:00.000-08:00

Dec 12, 2011

Dearest Family,
This week is special because President Calderon is here to celebrate
Christmas with us. Today he brought us to a lake called Lago
Sandoval. Tomorrow we will have a Christmas dinner with him.
I`ve attached a few photos. They include a few photos of our most
recent baptisms and from Lago Sandoval. I need to take more pictures.
I`m super excited for the Christmas phone call. I love you all dearly
and miss you!
Love,
Hermana Blunck II

Dec 5, 2011

Dearest Family,
After making a quick trip to Cusco for a trainer`s meeting, Hna. Giron
and I enjoyed a lovely Sabbath day. Yesterday was a good learning
experience for me. On Saturday night, we brought a couple from the
branch to meet one of the families that we`re teaching. The couple
planned with the families to pass by on Sunday morning to go to church
together. Yesterday morning, I felt devastated to arrive at church
and see the couple from the branch without our investigators. It was
hard because the elders in our branch had a ton of investigators that
arrived and seeing them made me wonder if we`d been doing something
wrong. Well, Heavenly Father had a lesson for me because our family
ended up arriving after the sacrament meeting. They arrived late, but
they came!!!
The same thing happened in the evening, and once again I didn`t have
faith like God deserves that I give Him. He never lets me down.
Hna. Giron and I planned with a family to go to the Christmas fireside
together. When we passed by the couple`s house, it was locked up. I
felt sad because I was so excited for this couple. (Hna. Giron tells
me that one of my weaknesses is instantly giving my heart to the
people that we teach.) In turns out in the end that our couple showed
up to the Christmas fireside a little bit late. I feel a little
embarrassed that I get to worrying about things when everything always
works out according to God`s plans.
After our two experiences yesterday, I felt pretty humbled but
grateful for God`s patience with me. I`m super quick to doubt, but He
still blesses me.
I hope that you have a lovely week. I love you!!!!

Love,
Hermana Blunck II

Nov 28, 2011

Dearest Family,
Happy December!!!! Thank you for your lovely emails.
The special and humbling event of the week was receiving news from
Yuli, a recent convert, that she is pregnant. Yuli has not been able
to get pregnant for two years. Over two months ago, my companion and
I were inspired to promise Yuli that God would bless her with the
opportunity to have another baby by marrying and by being baptized.
During my entire mission, I`ve heard that we have the authority to
promise specific blessings to our investigators. When Yuli told us on
Wednesday that she is pregnant, I instantly felt humbled and reverent.
God really honors the promises that His servants make to His
children. I don`t share this experience to be proud. More than
anything, I am humbled to know the God is willing to fulfill a
promised blessing that one of His servants, an imperfect servant,
gave. Now I seek inspiration more than ever as my companion and I
promise blessings to our investigators.
Hna. Giron and I are getting along really well. This helps us to work
effectively together and invite the spirit. Yesterday we visited a
terrific family of four that is a reference from one of the sisters in
the Relief Society. We both believe that this family is prepared and
will progress. I`ll wrote more next week as we see the progress of
this family. Hna. Giron and I are working hard to be able to receive
references. We are in charge of the relief society activity this
Saturday. We are going to make it a lot of fun, but we`ve also put
the entrance requirement of a friend or a less active member for the
sisters to be able to enter. The relief society sisters are beginning
to trust us and that really excited me.
Funny experience--Hna. Giron told me this morning that I was sleep
talking last night. In my conversation, I invited one of our
investigators named Lili to be baptized!!! David and I are quite the
pair now. While my companion recounts that I was inviting people to
be baptized in my dreams last night, I remember dreaming about our
home and all the Christmas decorations. I hope the decorations are
coming.
This week I`m going back to Cusco for a trainer`s meeting. I`m
excited to finally be able to participate in the mission trainings!!
I pray for every one of you.
With all my love,
Hermana Blunck II

Nov 21, 2011

Dearest Family,
Happy Thanksgiving!!!!
I am thrilled to hear that Stephen is home and that he is healthy. I
know that God really looks after our family, and so He blessed Stephen
to be able to have his surgery while in good health and with Shara and
Mom present.
At the beginning of the week I made a quick trip to Cusco to pick up
my new companion. The church has a new training program for new
missionaries and President wanted me present in Cusco to receive my
companion and learn about the program. The program is called `My
First Twelve Weeks.` It is an amazing program that can really help a
new missionary develop terrific skills. My new companion is Hna.
Giron. She is from Honduras.
I felt really nervous when President told me that I would receive a
new missionary. I feel very humbled because I feel like I yet have
many teaching skills to develop. The good news is that Heavenly
Father helped me to overcome the nervousness quickly. Rather than
feeling nervous, I now feel a great responsibility. I want to teach
my companion `My First Twelve Weeks,` but she has yet to catch the
vision so it`s not something that she is anxious to do. I can`t be
too strict with her, but I also feel responsible to guide her in the
right path. I feel like it`s a fine line and I need lots of
inspiration.
This week we had a lovely baptism of the brother of our district
presidency`s first counselor. He received the priesthood yesterday,
and that delighted me. I know that this brother is a true convert and
will be a great leader.
I miss you very much. I want to write you letters with more detail.

I send you all my love,
Hermana Blunck II

Nov 14, 2011

Dearest Family,
I realize that this week is a big week for the family. Stephen and
Shara, I want you to know that I`m praying for you every day, even
while walking down the streets of Puerto. I fasted for you yesterday.
I would like to be with you to help you. I pray that you`ll be able
to feel the Lord`s support as a sign that I have all the desires to be
with you.
We have changes tomorrow. Hna. Grijalva and I were caught off-guard
last night because we were informed the Hna. Grijalva has a change.
Her change is the other sector of sister missionaries in Puerto!
She`s staying here but is changing companions. I`ve been asked to
come to Cusco for a few days. Maybe I`ll receive some training. I`m
a bit nervous.
Something that I learned this week is that references do not come when
a missionary asks for them. References are won by winning the
confidence of the members. This week the brother of the first
counselor in Puerto`s district presidency will be baptized. The
parents of these brothers are going to come from Lima. I`m thrilled.
The brother that is the counselor in the district presidency gave us a
great reference last night as we taught his brother.
Right now we are low on investigators with baptismal dates, but I know
that I have to have a lot of faith. Satan is working really hard on
me right now that feel fear. I know that Hna. Grijalva and I needed
to be together for six weeks because she helped remind me that I have
to put my confidence in God. Hna. Grijalva also helped me to remember
the fundamentals of being a Preach My Gospel missionary, which is to
use the Spirit to understand the real needs of every investigator and
to teach with the Spirit after listening intently to the
investigators.
I sure love every one of you. I can`t read your emails without
tearing up. I am blessed indescribably.

With all my love from Puerto Maldonado,
Hermana Blunck II

2011-11-07T12:00:00.000-08:00

Dearest Family,

Happy birthday to Grandma and Grandpa and Sheri! I am with you in spirit on your special days this month!!! I sure love you!!!

I want to thank you for writing me and thinking of me every week. I feel very grateful and blessed. There are lots of missionaries, including my companion, that never receive emails from their families. Please forgive me for being behind on my hand written letters. I will get them in the mail soon.

This week was a very good learning experience. Hna. Grijalva and I have had some struggles, but I think we`re overcoming them. The mission has helped me to overcome my fear to talk about problems. When I started the mission, I tried to keep working without talking about the problems, but it didn`t help. I think I surprise Hna. Grijalva a little bit when I regularly bring up problems in our night time planning, but it`s the best solution that I have when we don`t `llevar bien.`

We contacted two female attorneys this week. I enjoyed the experience. One of the ladies told us bluntly, `I don`t like your religion.` We gave the woman a little bit of time to explain her feelings, and she expressed that she doesn`t like that we don`t get up to clap and shout. We responded to the attorney that what really matters in a church is the doctrine. Everyone has different methods of worshipping. I enjoyed the experience because I felt afterwards that the Spirit had really helped us to respond with an answer that was appropriate for the woman. As an attorney, doctrine and principles matter to her. I think that she will always remember that what matters about the LDS church is the doctrine, and I hope that someday she will accept the gospel.

Love,

Hermana Blunck II

2011-11-04T17:56:00.000-07:00

Dearest Family,

I feel like I`m in Oregon. The rains have set-in in the jungle. Fortunately, I have my handy pair of rubber boots.

President Calderon visited us this past week. He gave several trainings to the leaders here and we missionaries also attended. I really, really appreciated the trainings. He also gave training to the missionaries that clarified everything for me. I feel confident now that I can work as God desires and President Calderon will be happy with those efforts. To put it simply, I can focus on looking for families to baptize even if that means that there will be less baptisms.

When I arrived in Puerto, Hna. Benites and I had several baptisms. During some of the baptisms I felt confused because the Spirit was agitated within me. I didn`t feel joy in the baptisms, but my mind couldn`t make sense of why I didn`t feel calm. I thought, `They`re baptisms. I should be happy.` I expressed my concerns to my companion, and she replied that baptizing children is often a means of motivating parents to learn about the church. This comment quieted me. In fact, I felt a little bad that I hadn`t considered that perspective.

President Calderon`s visited helped me because he talked openly. He said, `We don`t want to add the church`s list of inactives. Few, few young people stay active after their baptisms. They come to church mainly for the social interactions. Even if the young people are intelligent and they like learning about the church, few of they will remain active. Many young people excite missionaries because they are excited about the church, but the excitement quickly fades.` I know what President Calderon told us is true because I`ve seen it a lot. It`s a different story when children are baptized with their parents. They stay active.

In sum, I realize that what the Spirit led me to feel with my previous baptisms was the Spirit talking to me. The Spirit didn`t tell me exactly what was wrong, but I definitely felt confusion. That confusion signified that not everything was as it should be. I`m glad now, however, that I can finish my mission working towards what really matters most.

Love,

Hermana Blunck II

2011-10-26T12:58:00.000-07:00

Dearest Family,

I want to send my love and support to David and Sheri. I am sorry
that Preston did not come home with you. You are in my prayers as
well as Marisol and Preston.

This Saturday was the best day of my mission. I was an amazing day
because a family was able to be baptized, and I believe that Piter and
Yuli are real converts. That gives me more delight than I can
explain. Both Piter and Yuli have received real answers to their
prayers, and they`ve shared of their experiences with us. Piter and
Yuli were baptized with their niece.

Another wonderful woman was also baptized on Saturday. Her name is
Indira. Indira gave my companion and I the surprise of our life by
showing up to our baptismal service to tell us that she wanted to be
baptized too. Indira told us that the night before that she studied
and prayer all night and received her answer that she should be
baptized.
A sweet little girl was also baptized on Saturday. Her name is Anely.

Thank you for all of you support. I received several letters today
which was a sweet surprise.

I send you all my love from Puerto Maldonado,

Hermana Blunck II

2011-10-17T10:12:00.000-07:00

October 17, 2011

Dearest Family,
It`s been such a delight to read you emails and read about Preston`s
birth. I have no doubt that Heavenly Father is blessing our family.
This week I had one of the favorite lessons of my mission. We were
visiting our investigator that got married on Friday in the chapel and
will be baptized with her husband this Saturday. On Tuesday, we
visited Yuli and we noted that she seemed discouraged. Her fiancé`s
family was not being supportive of the wedding. After Yuli expressed
her feelings to us, I felt the Spirit strongly. I felt an urgency to
testify to her that she can have an eternal family. I pulled out our
family picture from Stephen and Shara`s wedding, and I began to tell
Yuli that I wanted to tell her about a family. While showing Yuli our
photo, I explained our family’s story. I testified that Mom and Dads`
decisions to join the church have affected the lives permanently of
every one of their children. I testified that the gospel truly
blesses the family. While I shared my testimony, I cried. I`ve felt
a great nearness to the family this week, and it could be because
Preston was born. To put it simply, this lesson was one of my
favorite lessons because I had the opportunity to testify of eternal
families.
I love you!!!
Hermana Blunck II

2011-10-11T19:49:00.000-07:00

October 10, 2011

Dearest Family,

I`m now with my new companion. Her name is Hna. Grijalva. She is from Guatemala. I`ve attached a picture that shows all my companions that are still in the mission field. Hna. Grijalva wears glasses.

It`s a great blessing to work with Hna. Grijalva because she comes from an area in Cusco. There`s great ward support there, and now Hna. Grijalva and I are working to develop better relationships with the branch members here. This last week we visited the district president, a district counselor, the branch relief society president, the elder`s quorum president, the primary president, and the young woman`s president. With each of these leaders, we had family home evenings with investigators. I love working in this way with the branch members.

Earlier this week was exciting. I went to Cusco. There, we had a conference for all the sisters in the mission. There are 19 of us. We listened to spiritual thoughts, and then we also got haircuts together.

Mom and Dad, I just want to tell you that a missionary named Hna. Alcantara from Tarapoto talked to me this week. She told me that her sisters always writes her about how well Tarapoto is progressing. She says that all the missionaries in the Lima North Mission are super obedient. This made me so proud. I know you`re doing a great work. I`m so proud of you.

Wtih all my love,

Hermana Blunck II

Lynette just celebrated her 22nd birthday in the mission field.

A tradition in Peru.

Sisters in Lynette's rama or branch.

Noche de hogar or Family Home Evening

All of Lynette's companions during her mission.

2011-10-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

Dearest Family!!!

I agree with all of you! General Conference was fantastic. It`s amazing how I receive different impressions from the talks as a missionary. My perspective has changed.

I feel content because the last week has been full of opportunities for me to receive answers to my questions or confirmations of my ideas. For example, I expressed concern to my companion a while ago that we were baptizing many young children. She explained to me that baptizing children often helps parents to take a bigger interest in the gospel. This comment quieted me because I hadn`t looked at the baptism of children in that perspective, but I still didn`t feel comfortable. This week I received a letter from Mom. She explained that Dad is encouraging missionaries to wait to baptize children when their parents get baptized. It`s okay to wait for a baptism in order to baptize families. These comments from Mom have touched home, and now I feel content. Something that excites me is that I went with Hna. Benites this week to the municipalidad to work with one of our couples on their marriage paperwork. It`s not as hard as I thought it would be to help couples in Puerto Maldonado to get married. I have greater excitement now to look for families to baptize.

My birthday was very lovely. Thank you for your kind words and lovely gifts. It was a delightful day because we had two baptisms in the night time. I never imagined before that I`d celebrate my birthday with baptisms

I am without a companion now. Hna. Benites is finishing her mission, so she`s already traveled to Cusco. It will be interesting to see who my new companion is. I feel nervous of course, but I know that "it`s better to look up."

Love from Cuzco,

Hermana Blunck II

2011-09-26T12:34:00.000-07:00

Dearest Family,

Happy General Conference week! I am super excited to watch General Conference. We had the opportunity to watch the Relief Society broadcast on Saturday.

This week was lovely. Two younger girls were baptized. One of the girls is the daughter of less active parents. We are still working with the parents to help them remember their baptismal covenants, but I am excited that the daughter chose to be baptized. The couple`s son should get baptized this next week.

A while ago Hna. Benites expressed to me that she had an idea to have a companionship of missionaries in Puerto focus on less active families. Hna. Benites surprised me because that`s what Mom and Dad are doing, and she had the same idea. I suggested to Hna. Benites that we propose the idea to President Calderon. I wrote the idea in one of my weekly letters to President Calderon. He hasn`t responded, but I really hope that he considers the idea. I`d love to have that responsibility.

Everyone asks me if the heat kills me. It doesn`t do me in like some of the other missionaries. I feel very blessed. For our preparation day activity last week, we rode in the back of a truck into the jungle to a place that has a soccer field. We also walked into the jungle a little bit. There, we all hung from the type of vines the Tarzan swings from in the movie.

Happy Birthday Rita!!! I can`t wait to talk to you!!!! I love you very, very much. Happy Birthday!!!!!

I`m not actually sure what I`ll do on Thursday, but I`ll definitely eat some ice cream! Maybe everyone in Oregon can enjoy a piece of marionberry pie for me =) and some French muffin puffs too =).

Please say hi to everyone for me!

Love,

Hermana Blunck II

2011-09-25T17:32:00.000-07:00

Hermana Lynette Blunck in Puerto Maldonado Peru.

September 19, 2011
Dearest Family,
How are you doing? This week a wonderful investigator named Carina
was baptized. Carina has been a testament to me that there are really
people prepared to receive the gospel. They just don`t know where to
find it until we talk to them. Carina is a single mother. She lives
at home. None of her family members came to her baptism, and before
her baptism they all told her that she was making a mistake. Carina
didn`t let her family`s comments shake her even a little. In her
testimony, Carina shared, ｴeven though my family didn`t come today, I
know that I have a family here.ｴ This really touched my heart.

Love to you all,
Hermana Blunck II

2011-09-12T16:14:00.000-07:00

Sept. 12, 2011

Dearest Family,

Thank you for writing to me. I love hearing about your adventures. Has everyone started school? I can`t believe how the time is flying.

I`m really grateful for the time I spent in Urubamba because it`s helping me to have hope for our branch here in Puerto. This week in Puerto was eye-opening. I realized that the branch needs some support. Missionaries before have worked hard to have lots of baptisms and they`ve done that, but the branch has been neglected along the way. I`m not exactly sure what a good starting step is to help a branch improve, but I`m confident that revelation will come. What ideas do you have? Something else that I realized this week is that many of the baptisms that have been enacted were for youth. Unfortunately, many of these youth have gone less active. I continue feeling an urgency to look for families to teach. This last week we actually found a promising family. The mother`s name is Eve. Even though we didn`t teach any lessons to the family before Sunday, the family attended church because we invited them. I`m praying that this family can progress.

This week has been a fun week discovering jungle fruits. Hna. Benites and I have gotten to laughing really hard as we chucked rocks at trees in hopes of knocking down fruit. This week we discovered guanabana and kaimito. Kaimito is my new favorite fruit. We also found coconuts, and a little girl hacked open the coconuts for us with a machete. I was quite impressed.

Love,

Hermana Blunck II

My new companion in Puerto Maltonaldo, Hermana Benites.
Sept.5, 2011
Dearest Family,

Thank you for your beautiful letters. I am sweating it out here in Puerto, but I am content. Puerto is a place very prepared for the gospel. We have found many wonderful people to teach this past week and they are progressing.

The work in Puerto feels very different for me. It`s less stressful. Whereas my companion and I taught in all of Urubamba and the nearby cities before, now my companion and I only have our small area where we focus. There`s a small number of members that live within our area, so there aren`t members frustrated with us because we don`t have time to visit them. The fact of the matter is that we don`t leave our area. Hna Benites and I don`t walk as much as I used to, but that`s okay. I liked feeling that we have a little space in our agenda to contact well.

Love,

Hermana Blunck II

August 29, 2011

Dearest Family,

Thank you for writing me such lovely notes. My new area is Puerto

Maldonado. I`m about three hours away from the Bolivian border. I`m

in the jungle!!!!!!! I am super feliz!

My new companion is Hna. Benites. She`s finishing her mission this

transfer. I feel very privileged to be with her because she has lots

of experience. Normally, missionaries with lots of time in the

mission are put with younger companions. Thank you for remembering

me—this week I complete one year in the mission. I`m not sure yet

what we`ll do to celebrate, but Hna. Benites and I are planning

something.

Hna. Villegas is in Puerto Maldonado. I didn`t think that President

would send me to Puerto.

I know that I need to have lots of faith and excited for the next few

months while I`m here.

I send you all of my love!!!!

Love,

Hermana Blunck II

2011-08-07T14:03:00.000-07:00

Lynette still is serving in Urubamba Peru. Urubamba is located in the heart of the sacred valley of the Incas. It has been an incredible experience for her to serve here. Lynette has grown to love the people here and her companions. Recently our son Stephen visited the Cusco region and was given permission to see Lynette so these are a few photos he brought back. Her companion is from Chile, Hermana San Fransisco. They have been very blessed to live near a senior couple, the Schellenbergs from Utah.

Every zone needs a zone t-shirt. Here the hermanas show off theirs at the top of Machu Picchu where they met Stephen and his wife Shara.

Stephen and Shara spent a wonderful preparation day with Lynette and her companion at Machu Picchu. Lynette is fluent in Spanish and she is happy serving the Lord. The first of September she will have served one year. Time had flown by. Sometimes the hardest things we do in life turn into some of our greatest blessings.

2011-07-18T12:19:00.000-07:00

Dearest Family,

Hna. San Francisco and I continue to work in the Sacred Valley. We`re starting to spend more and more time in Ollantaytambo because there are many people there who are prepared to receive the gospel. Hna. San Francisco and I even wrote to President Calderon suggesting that he put missionaries in Ollantaytambo. We`ll see what happens. Hna. San Francisco and I would love to be sent there.

For the past two months Hna. San Francisco and I have been visiting a senora called Mari. Mari owns a restaurant here in Urubamba. Mari`s told us that she likes The Book of Mormon and that she wants to come closer to God, but she`s never come to church. We couldn`t figure out until yesterday why she`s never come to church. Yesterday we visited Mari and shared with her the importance of obeying all of God`s commandment, including keeping the Sabbath day holy. Mari then agreed that one can obey all of God`s commandments if she has the desire and will-power to do it. Mari quickly changed the subject after she made this statement and started talking about how she likes the Book of Mormon. When Mari changed the subject, I thought `Mari recognizes the power of will-power. We can`t drop the subject of the Sabbath day so quickly.` With that thought, we asked Mari `Do you have the will-power to keep the Sabbath day holy`. This direct question turned out to be a key for us. We were scared to talk so pointedly, but Mari ended up explaining that she has problems in her personal life that she is trying to resolve. We believe that Mari might get a divorce from her husband. This problem is the overwhelming concern for Mari right now.

I have a bigger testimony now of the importance of talking directly. First I learned with my companions that no matter how much it pains me, I have to talk honestly. Now I`m learning that I have to do the same with our investigators. I think it`s possible to talk pointedly and with love, it just takes practice. Not talking is more painful than talking.

Hna. San Francisco and I feel a little weighted right now because everyone (members, new members, investigators, and leadership) are asking us why we don`t visit them. We are working our hearts out to visit everyone, but our area is quite big and consequently we can`t be with everyone all the time. When I feel overhwhelmed I try to think about the Savior. I know that he makes up for our weaknesses. He helps us carry our responsibilities. I know that what we feel is only a portion of what Mom and Dad feel, for example. I can`t even imagine how the prophet feels. What a blessing it is that we have a Savior that makes up for us when we fall short.

Can I ask you a favor? If you`ve written me recently will you write me soon? During our day in Cusco on Tuesday, the backpack of a missionary that contained lots of letters for me was stolen. I feel a little sad that I didn`t receive those letters.

I sure love you!

Hermana Blunck II

2011-06-27T19:22:00.000-07:00

Dearest Family,

I hope you had an especially lovely weekend with Alison`s wedding. Congratulations Kristin on your upcoming wedding. I received the letter you wrote me today.

This week was terrific. We experienced several miracles and had lots of fun in an event called Inti Raymi. Inti Raymi is a festival that the Incas celebrated every year to worship the sun. Cusco has an reenactment every year of this festival. President Calderon gave us permission this week to take our preparation day on Friday to watch the event in Cusco. The festival includes many dancers that are dressed natively and includes actors such as the chief Inca. The festival takes place in three places, such as the Plaza of Armas and Saqsawayman. We watched the event in all three places. The photo I`ve attached shows Hermana San Francisco and I in Saqsawayman. Saqsawayman is a huge temple complex which the Incas built. It includes huge stones the are all cut to fit perfectly together. It is really quite magnificent.

One of our miracles of the week relates to our day at the Inti Raymi festival. After returning to Urubamba, we realized that we forgot our cell phone in the taxi. This put us in an instant panic because cell phones are usually stolen instantly. We just received the cell phone from President Calderon on Sunday practically brand new. Hna. San Francisco and I ran to the terminal but the car had returned to Cusco for the night. We called it and called it, and nobody answered. On Friday night, we prayed our little hearts out. On Saturday morning, we went to the terminal at 5am because we knew the we had to intercept the taxi as fast as possible. Through the tender mercies of God, one taxi driver helped us to find the taxi we`d riden in because we didn`t see our taxi when it pulled in the terminal. Once at our taxi, the driver told us that he`d just cleaned the van and didn`t find a phone. We were heartbroken, but we called our phone and miraculously it started ringing within the car. It had fallen way underneath the seats. I can`t give all the details adequately to explain how many tender mercies we experienced in this event, but it was definitely a miracle. Maybe this experience seems simple to you, but it was very special to us. I know that God looks after us in every need that we have. He helps us when we are doing His will.

I`d love to receive a few letters from you!

All my love,

Hermana Blunck II

2011-06-06T18:52:00.000-07:00

Dearest Family,

I am with a new companion now! Her name is Hermana San Francisco, but don`t be confused. My companion is not from the U.S. =D. She is from Chile. I think it`s the most beautiful thing that I am having the opportunity to have companions from many different countries while in the mission. President Calderon came to visit our zone right before the change meeting and named three different hermanas that could be my new companion. When I heard Hna. San Francisco`s name, I got my hopes up that she would be the one. We got to know each other a little bit while I was serving in Cusco. It turns out the she was the one. Hna. San Francisco just completed six months in the mission. Speaking of time in the mission, I completed nine months in the mission this past week. Can you believe it?! I honestly cannot believe it.

Quite honestly, I was nervous to begin this new change, but I`m getting over the nervousness. Hna. San Francisco and I work well together. We hadn`t practiced together, but during our very first lesson we were able to blend our teaching together. My goal with Hna. Francisco is to have very open communication. I told her right away exactly how I was feeling and I think Hna. Francisco appreciated it. All of my life, one of my weaknesses has been speaking honestly with people who are not family members. I believe that the mission is finally helping me to improve my communication.

Hna. Francisco and I are trying to begin working with less active members. I feel really excited about this. We are also trying to plan our lessons with a purpose. Of course, we are striving to do lots of contacting. I pray that with these efforts, God will open the windows of heaven.

Please send my greetings to all the extended family members. I do receive their letters, so encourage them to keep sending them. I try to write them as often as I can.

All my love,

Hermana Blunck II

2011-05-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

Dearest Family,

This week was special for Hermana Villegas because Alejandro and Cerila married and were baptized on Saturday. Their eleven year old daughter was also baptized. Sunday was also special because another special woman was baptized. We were not expecting her to be baptized this week. The woman`s name is Eulalia.

Something extra special about Eulalia is that her son is serving a mission in Trujillo. He grew up in Cusco with his aunt and joined the church there. The missionary sent the reference of his mom to the Cusco mission office and Hna. Villegas and I subsequently received it. Eulalia does not read or understand quickly, but she had lots of enthusiasm to be baptized. She takes care of an 86 year old man, who is still quite intelligent, and he helped us out a lot on Friday. On Friday we visited Eulalia to invite her to watch the baptisms on Saturday, and the older gentleman encouraged Eulalia to go. Eulalia was worried about serving lunch and the gentleman said, ‘don`t worry about it, we`ll eat early.’ I think it would be the sweetest thing in the world to baptize this gentleman. His name is Alberto. Eulalia also has a daughter that still does not want to get baptized, but we do lots of confidence with her so she will get baptized in time.

Thank you for always expressing your confidence in me. I know that God is with us. I know that God is with me. I feel that He has some families for me to find in the next few weeks.

Take care. Happy Memorial Day to all of you!!!

Love,

Hermana Blunck II

In one of the photos I`ve attached, I am playing basketball in Huallabamba with a young boy we taught. We met his mother and father in a park in Urubamba. The boy, Brandon, loves to play basketball, so it`s a good thing that I had some B-ball practice with Stephen over the years.

The second photo is the family the married and baptized this past weekend.

The third photo includes Eulalia and Cerila. Eulalia and Cerila have already started becoming friends.

2011-05-24T19:16:00.000-07:00

Dearest Family,

I am sorry that I did not write you yesterday. Thank you for all of your wonderful emails! I leave the internet with the biggest smile in the world because of your letters.

Yesterday was a lot of phone. The Schellenbergs put on an Olympics contest for our zone. If you can believe it, I placed second out of our whole zone! I won a cute Machu Picchu hat. Some of the games in the contest were more based on luck than skill, but not all of them. I did more crunches than all the missionaries in my zone and so I won that contest! Aren`t you proud? I also did more pushups than some of the elders in my zone.

This week the couple we have been teaching is going to get married and baptized on Friday or Saturday. We are super excited. The mother is returning today from a ten day trip to obtain the paperwork necessary for her wedding. Bless her heart. She`s been through a million of adventures. Sometimes it is very difficult to get birth certificates and other legal documents from the little pueblos. For example, Cirila couldn`t get some of her husband´s paperwork because terrorists had burned the city building. Thankfully, Elder Schellenberg was able to work through the problem with Alegandro`s paperwork, so we`re still set to go.

I think I should look into studying nursing because I gave Hna. Villegas a shot this morning! Hna. Villegas fell on Sunday and felt a lot of pain, so we visited the doctor yesterday and he sent us back to Urubamba with pain reliever shots. He showed me how to give the shot and gave me the assignment to give Hermana Villegas two shots today. Quite honestly, I was nervous this morning, but we both survived. Hna. Villegas isn´t paralyzed and I`m not paralyzed emotionally.

Hermana Villegas sends her greetings to all of you!

Every one of you are in my prayers! Please take care of yourselves and be safe!!!!!

Love,

Hermana Blunck II

2011-05-09T17:01:00.000-07:00

Dearest Family,

Happy belated Mother`s Day! I hope yesterday was very special for every one of you. Yesterday was wonderful for me. During the afternoon and the evening, I had to resist the temptation to call Mom and Dad again. I hope you appreciate that you can call Mom and Dad whenever you want and that you call them often!

This last week Hna. Villegas and I put on a talent show for our branch. It turned out quite well. A lot of investigators came, and most of them where the type of investigators that never attend church. We`re hoping and praying that having entered the church for the talent show will help these investigators to attend church on Sundays.

In the photo I`m sending, I am helping a ward member with her choclo. Usually choclo is dried and then stored as individual kernals. The corn is lots bigger here than it is in the U.S. It is not quite as sweet. Many people prefer to eat the choclo with cheese. Something else that I learned to eat is corn stalk. The inside membranes of the corn stalks are sweet, so the locals peel off the out layers of the stalk and the munch on the inside. They do not swallow what they chew on. They simply suck on the sweet juices and then spit out the pulp. Interesting.

Sorry this email is not very long. Adding a picture takes quite a bit of time. Thank you for writing me! I hope to hear from you again next week!

Love,

Hermana Blunck II

2011-03-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-09T16:34:00.000-08:00

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

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-15T06:17:00.000-08:00

Dearest Family,

Happy Valentine`s Day to all of you! Today feels like another normal day in the mission, but I am enjoying remembering the years when Dad brought home flowers for both Mom and me.

This week we had lots of trips to Cusco. We traveled to Cusco for interviews and a multi-zone conference. Even though we were away from our area quite a bit this week, we were able see some of our investigators make progress and we met some promising contacts. For example, Hna. Villegas and I hopped in a bus on Friday, and contrary to how it normally is, the bus was practically empty. There was only one man in the bus and his daughter was accompanying him. Here`s the cool part of the story. As soon as we entered the bus, the man started talking to us! This almost never happens. Immediately, he also started to share with us how he is unhappy with the Catholic religion. He does not like the drinking and fiestas. This man has two daughters whom he adores. We shared a little bit about the plan of salvation with this man and talked about the possibilities for his family. Hna. Villegas and I have an appointment for this Tuesday to teach the man in his home. I am trying to have a lot of faith right now. Because this man is so golden, I`m kinda scared to teach him. I`m trying to remember that God only works according to our faith. In addition, I`m trying to remember that if I have the Spirit while I teach, God will make up for all my weaknesses.

Here`s another inspiring story from the week. Yesterday, a family attended all of our church meetings simply because they felt they should come to our church. I was confused for a long time because I could not figure which member had invited the family or which companionship of elders had brought the family to church. I was confused because nobody had brought them. The father had dreamed that he needed to change and that his family needed to come to the LDS church. I`m trying to have lots of faith for this family too. I`m trying to have the attitude that this family will enter the temple shortly. I honestly feel scared, but I know that God will only work according to my confidence in Him.

In the photo of the pathway lined with rocks, I am in a town called Ollantaytambo. Ollantaytambo is even more amazing than Urubamba. It`s sits in a valley and on all the hillsides are Inca ruins. I`d recommend looking up this town in google. Hna. Villegas and I are really happy because President Calderon recently changed the rules for our rama. There are four companionships in Urubamba and he recently said that we can work wherever we want in the rama. Initially, each companionship had their area and Ollantaytambo was not part of the area of Hna. Villegas and I.

The photo of the baptism is from Feb. 6^th. The senior couple in Urubamba, the Schellenbergs, helped this couple to marry, and they were baptized afterwards.

In the photo of my companions and I with instruments, Hna. Villegas and I are in our pension. Our pensionista and her husband play Peruvian instruments for performances. Their music is beautiful. The elders in the picture are my district leader and his new greeny companion.

Remember that I love each one of you!!!!!!!!! Please give my dear nephews and neice great big hugs!!!!! Remember that "trials are not the end, just bends in the path!"

All my love,

Hermana Blunck II

Time for a Change!

2011-01-24T18:55:00.000-08:00

Dearest Family,

How are you? I hope you are doing very well! It is always a delight to hear from you! Thank you for keeping me in touch with the family news through letters and emails.

I am doing great! Last night the forty missionaries who are currently in serving in the city of Cusco (including me) had the opportunity to travel to a city called Sicuani for a special program. This program was called `De Nosotros, El Mayor.` In English, the name of this program is `The Greatest of Us All.` We missionaries traveled to Sicuani because we participated in the program. We sang with a special choir made up of the church members from Cusco in the last song. This program celebrates Jesus Christ. It testifies that we worship Jesus Christ as our Savior. In the program, there are about eight beautifully composed songs, which commemorate different aspects of Christ`s life such as his birth, the miracles he performed, and his resurrection. While the choir sings the songs, a program of images and video clips about Jesus Christ is projected above the choir.

Singing in Sicuani and traveling to Sicuani was a magnificent experience. The people of Sicuani are humble. They treated us missionaries and the choir members like royalty as an expression of their gratitude. They were grateful that we came to sing for them. Most importantly, they were able to feel the Holy Ghost in their hearts. I felt the Holy Ghost as well. The Holy Ghost testified to all of us that God really loves us. Because He loves us, He sent us a Savior who can save us from our sins and who can heal us from our pains.

Traveling to Sicuani was magnificent because I got to see more of the `campo` around the city of Cusco. In other words, I was able to see the farmland outside of Cusco. The farmland is beautiful. It is concentrated in the lowlands of huge valleys, but one can also see terraces with crops growing way-up on the hillsides. Some of farming methods used today existed way back in the times of the Incas.

The photo I have attached shows my companion (Hermana Cuenca), me, and another companionship of sister missionaries in `De Nosotros, El Mayor. In this photo, four different countries are represented. We have a great time together.

Hermana Cuenca and I will not be together much longer. The big news of the week is that I am going to have a change of area! I have been serving for the last three months in an area of Cusco called Inti Raymi. I do not know yet where I will go. I could stay in Cusco but serve in a different part of the city, or I could change cities. The Cusco mission includes cities as far away as a twelve hour drive by bus. Naturally, I am a little nervous to change companions and to change the area where I serve because they are now within my `comfort zone.` I am also grateful, though, for this opportunity to put my trust in the Lord. I know that He has something special for me to learn from every companion and every area. On the mission, I am really learning that I can do hard things. I`m placed out of my comfort zone often, and so I can`t imagine that many things will intimidate after I finish my mission.

Remember that you are always in my prayers, and I am always thinking about you!

All my love,

Hermana Blunck II

January 17, 2010

2011-01-17T13:49:00.001-08:00

Dearest Family,

It is wonderful to hear from you. I never cease to be amazed that the news I hear from you is always positive. There is no doubt Heavenly Father is pouring out the windows of heaven upon our family.

Hermana Cuenca and I were not blessed with the blessing of a baptism this week, but it was still an inspiring week. We had family home evenings with members and non-members almost every night of the week. I really loved one of our lessons because we prepared a creative lesson and we taught to the needs of the people present. Teaching creatively and teaching to specific needs is always something that I desire to do more because it invites the Spirit. For our lesson, Hna. Cuenca and I cut out feet prints. In the family home evening, we placed them side by side like footsteps, but we eventually had the paths of the left and right feet diverge. We asked one of the children to walk this path with diverging left and right feet prints. The child observed, while laughing, that they could not do it after a while. Hna. Cuenca and I explained that this example represents that we cannot neglect our spiritual goals in pursuit of temporal goals. When we work to fulfill spiritual goals in addition to temporal goals, we can walk a comfortable straight line. When we forget our spiritual goals in pursuit of the temporal, it is like we are walking two different paths with our right and left feet.

One of the other reasons why the week was inspiring was because Hna. Cuenca and I began receiving some references from our ward members. Our efforts to serve the members and teach them are starting to bring forth fruit. We are really excited because many of these references attended a performance of De Nosotros, El Mayor last night. This program is a powerful testament of Jesus Christ.

Last night we missionaries also participated again in the performance of De Nosotros, El Mayor. (The album in English is called The Greatest of Us All. Kenneth Cope is the composer of the songs. We sing Brother Cope`s songs of this album in Spanish for the program). So many people came to the 7pm performance that we had another performance. In total, we have participated in 5 performances of De Nosotros, El Mayor, and all of us missionaries and the choir are going to travel to Sicwayni next Sunday to give a performance there. Sicwayni is about two hours away from Cusco. This program has been a great missionary tool for Cusco. Many people have been able to learn that we believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior. Hna. Cuenca and I have not received any references from this event for our area, but other missionaries have received references, which is the purpose of the program.

This next Saturday we are going to have our first missionary work activity with the ward. The activity is called El Ataque. We are going to divide up the ward into areas and have companionships of ward members visit less-active members. I think the activity could be a little more exciting, but it is a good start. The assistants have done this activity in the past, so they want to do it here.

The photo I have attached is from last night`s performance of De Nosotros, El Mayor. Hna. Cuenca and I are with our district leader who is from Guatemala.

Please let me know what I can do for you!

All my love,

Hermana Blunck II

2011-01-11T16:02:00.001-08:00

January 11, 2011

2011-01-11T16:00:00.000-08:00

Dearest Family,

I know I`ve said it before, but I really think today has been the best preparation day ever so far. I received the Christmas package from Oregon and a package from Mom and Dad. I have not opened the packages yet, but I am super excited. I don`t dare open the packages with all the elders around because they`ll rob me of everything. I also received lots of letters today. Thank you so much for all you doing to support me. I cannot explain my gratitude adequately.

Hermana Cuenca and I had an interesting experience yesterday. We got to see ourselves from an outsider`s perspective. To go to a choir practice for `De Nosotros, El Mayor,` Hna. Cuenca and I hopped in a combi. There were not seats available for us initially, and so we stood in the bus. As I looked around while standing, I noticed a North American with blonde hair. Immediately, I felt interested to talk to this girl. To my happiness, a seat quickly opened up next to this girl. I asked the girl if she spoke English and, much to my surprise, to said, `We`re missionaries too.` This girl was traveling with a Latina girl, like Hna. Cuenca and I travel as companions, but I had not noticed the American`s companion because neither of them had plaques. The Latina companion appeared like the normal Peruvians in the bus.

Hna. Cuenca and I proceeded to ask the American missionary and her companion all sorts of questions. I expected the missionaries to explain that their mission was for two to three months. I was completely wrong. Their mission is for twenty seven months! They are missionaries for the Nazarene church. The American spent three months studying Spanish. The Latina and the American will be companions for the entire twenty seven months. They will spend all of their time in one area.

The missionaries explained that their goal is solely to help people come closer to God through the Bible. They are not trying to get people to change their religions. They hinted that their work is challenging because they said `practically everyone tells us `I`m Catholic` and shuts the door.` Learning about the facts of these girls´respective missions and their feelings was fascinating for me. Talking to these missionaries strengthened my faith in my calling. As missionaries for the LDS church, we have every blessing in the world to help us succeed and grow. We have Preach My Gospel. We have district and zone leaders. We have the priesthood. We have the opportunity to serve in many different areas with various companions. With every new area and new companion, we learn new things. Some of the greatest blessings on the mission include the gift of tongues, the guidance of the Holy Ghost, and our own testimonies. In addition, we have the message of the restoration and the promise in the Book of Mormon that every person we teach can receive their own testimony from God.

This week was challenging for my companion. We lost four people with baptismal dates. This hit my companion really hard. Heavenly Father is buoying me right now. I actually feel excited about the work, and I feel a greater love for the mission even though our work had challenges last week. On the whole, every week and every month I love the work more. I`m learning something new every week. Hna. Cuenca and I have determined, for example, how we are going to approach our area. In our area, we need to find the people that are already married. The couples just don`t get married, even when they have testimonies. Although the married couples are challenging to find, I know there are some in our area and Heavenly Father can help us find them.

I have attached a picture of Hna. Cuenca and I in our room. I`m going to try to be better about sending pictures.

I pray for each one of you. I am proud of everyone one of you. I can see how the gospel blesses our family in every moment.

All my love,

Hermana Blunck II

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011-01-01T13:37:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of me in Cusco. I especially love the families we are able to teach.

This is my new companion. She loves the gospel and is a really hard worker.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.!

I hope your hearts have been filled with joy in this special time of year. My heart has been filled with joy as I've thought about my Savior and His great sacrifice for the world. I have felt happiness, real happiness, as I've taught the people of Cusco that the church of Jesus Christ is on the earth . It has been a joy to teach my brothers and sisters that God loves us, His children, so much that He has established His church on the earth in this day.

I thought you might enjoy some pictures because I know pictures speak more than words.

Many of you have asked how is my Spanish coming. The good news is that I participated in a dinner last night with three Peruvians, one Chilean, and one Guatamalteco. I was the only native English speaker. I would say that I understood 85% of the converstation. And don't worry, I talked a lot too. All the missionaries at the dinner were really interested in talking to me about driving. I was the only one who could drive. In South America, there is lots of traffic congestion so it makes it very difficult for people to learn to drive here.

I love that I have the opportunity to speak Spanish and learn about a culture different that mine. For example, yesterday I got to experience a Peruvian New Years. The New Year is much bigger than Christmas. To celebrate the New Year, practically every Peruvian buys fireworks to set off. The whole sky comes alive at 12pm sharp. Last night it was incredible. I have never seen such a firework show in my life. The fireworks are awesome because they fly up into the sky and explode. I live up on a hillside so the whole sky was lit up as we looked across the valley below us.

Love Hermana Blunck

2010-12-30T13:09:00.001-08:00

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

2010-12-30T13:05:00.000-08:00

Dec. 13th

Dearest Family,

     This Friday and Saturday was pretty crazy. Our couple that we were trying to help marry needed to sign paperwork on Friday. The sister never arrived at the municipalidad
to sign the paperwork. We went to her house and she had forgotten. We dashed off to the municipalidad again with only thrity minutes to spare until the municipalidad closed, and blessedly she was able to sign the paperwork. There is a lady in the municipalidad that is a true angel. She could go directly to the celestial kingdom for how nice she has been to us in our frantic moments.
     Saturday morning was kind of the same situation as Friday. The couple arrived forty five minutes late to the marriage ceremony. This is so Peruvian, arrive when you can. I was a nervous wreck until they arrived. Saturday was also fun, because I was able to be one of the two witnesses in the marriage of this couple. Can you believe I was a marriage witness?
     The spouse ultimately decided that he did not want to get baptized on Saturday like he had planned. His baptism is tenatively planned for this next Saturday. It was heart breaking because he can finally be baptized now that he is married. The big problem that exists in Peru is a lot of couples live together and have a family together but they haven't been married by law. Peru does not recognize church marriages. We can not baptize them until they have been married by the state, as we believe in living the law of the land.
     Here is my favorite experience of the week. I was riding in a combi ( a small van they pack a lot of people in) and I started up a conversation with a man in his fifties. He first informed me that he solely believes in God. Shortly there after this man named Juan started asking me all sorts of questions. All of his questions centered around the first lesson we teach. So, in the bus I shared the first lesson with Juan and gave him a Book of Mormon to read.
     All the questions Juan asked lead me to believe that Juan believes in more that just God. I think he made that statement becuase he did not want me to be pushy with him. I tried not to be pushy.  Rather, I tried to honestly answer Juan's questions and sincerely share my testimony of the message we share. One of the questions Juan presented, which I loved , was how is your church any different than the Jehovah's Witness church. I explained that we believe in personal modern day revelation and that we have a living day prophet.   I also explained that we do not ask the people we teach to believe our words as missionaries or as a church. The promise in the Book of Mormon is very clear in that every person can pray and ask to recieve a witness from God in their hearts if our message is true and if the Book of Mormon is true. Everyone can find out for themselves if the Book of Mormon is another witness of Jesus Christ. The one thing that saddens me is Juan doesn not live in my area. The elders I have given Juan's name to are lucky. Juan asked some great questions. I think Juan could be a very strong investigator and member of the church.
     The news is in, I will remain in Raymi for a least another six weeks. Tomorrow I am going to meet my new companion. I don't feel nervous to meet her. My only hope is that she is not finishing her mission at the end of six weeks. I hope to have a companion that I could potentially work with a couple of transfers in Inti Raymi.
     Mom and Dad, I can't believe you met my bishop at the temple in Lima. How awesome! Heavenly Father's tender mercies are truly amazing. Of all days and hours to be at the temple at the same time.
     I am thrilled Janeece has our house in Oregon decorated. Christmas is my favorite holiday. I can envision it perfectly in my mind.

All my love,
Hermana Blunck II

2010-12-09T17:58:00.000-08:00

Dearest Family,

Did you enjoy the Christmas Devotional last night? I got to watch it
in English. It was so much fun to think that all of you were watching
the broadcast at the same time as me. What I love about being a
missionary is that it totally changes the way you think. For example,
Elder Eyring said something that really stood out to me as it applies
to missionary work. The majority of the truths we know about Christ,
and how we worship Him in this season, have come thanks to the
restoration. Because a fourteen year old boy had a lot of faith, we
know during this season that we worship a Christ who is a distinct
being. We can read about Christ in the Book of Mormon.
Here is an update on the three families we were trying to help turn in
all their paperwork last week for a marriage on December 11. One of
three families will get married on that date. In the afternoon, the
father of the family, who is the only nonmember of the family, will
get baptized. The man`s name is Ciprian. His spouses` name is
Martha. It is funny because I did not expect this family to be the
one to follow through with their paperwork and make a marriage a
reality in their lives.

I have fallen in love with Ciprian, Martha, and their family. There
have four kids now and are expecting a fifth. The kids love to speak
to me in English. This family is probably the poorest one we are
teaching. (I helped them wash their laundry a few weeks ago and sent
a picture). I would love to introduce you to this family. I think I
will forever have pictures of them in my mind.

I am trying to do lots of contacting like Dad encourages his
missionaries to do, but I am still waiting to receive the fruits of my
efforts. Many people and families are nice and say ´come to my home,´
but then they reject us when we come to their doors. I am not going
to give up on contacting with everyone, however, because it saddens me
when we missionaries do not share our knowledge with everyone.
All my love,

Hermana Lynette Blunck, Hermana Blunck II

2010-11-07T08:29:00.000-08:00

Mom and Dad met me at the airport when I arrived back in Peru. I was so glad to see them. The MTC president in Peru gave them permission to see me and to have lunch with me on occasion. I call myself Hermana Blunck II as my mom is Hermana Blunck I.

In the middle is Hermana Haggard, she was my Provo MTC companion, to my left is my first Latino companion, she is from Chile. She was a huge help in teaching me more Spanish.

Look out Cusco, here I come. Cusco is located at 10500 feet elevation. My lung capacity is really going to expand while I am there. The good news is, the air is crystal clear. All the homes in Cusco have red tile roofs. Many of them are made out of abode bricks. My mom took this picture when she visited.

My first companion, Herman Haggard. She has been terrific. She is a kindred spirit.

A visit from Mom and Dad. I am proud they are able to serve a mission. Great blessings have come to our family because of their decision to serve a mission. A big thank you to all my siblings for their support of them which allows them to serve.

Before we boarded the bus to the airport, I needed one final shot of all the American sisters at the Peru MTC.

Here I go, off to Cusco! It is about an hour flight from Lima. For the next 16 months I will go where ever the Lord wants me to go and and I will give my all to Him. I am excited to meet the people of Cusco, to love them, serve them and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them. Let the jouney begin.!

Llamas are an animal I should see a lot in the Cusco area.

2010-10-27T08:09:00.000-07:00

Dearest Family,

It was wonderful to hear from you. There is never a dull moment in life.

I´ll do my best to recap some of the highlights of the past week. One
of the biggest highlights was having the opportunity to proselyte for
a full day last Saturday. We drove two and a half hours away to a
city called Huaral. There, Hna. Haggard and I proselyted and looked
for ten inactive members with our teacher. It was a great experience.
We were not able to find most of the inactive members on our list,
but we did find one person. This person´s name is John. He is about
18 years old, and he and his father are inactive. We we first started
talking to John, his facial expressions indicated that he was not
thrilled to listen to us. After my companion brought up the subjects
of serving a mission and entering the temple, John´s facial
expressions completed changed. It was amazing to see. John felt the
spirit at the end of the lesson, and he quickly agreed to attend
church last Sunday. Hna. Haggard and I have an appointment to teach
him again this Saturday. We are going back, and I pray that he will
remember how he felt last Saturday so he will have a desire to receive
our message. It was an incredible experience to teach a real person.
I cannot wait to enter the field next Tuesday.

Here´s one more story about last Saturday. We made a contact with a
woman sitting in a mototaxi. At first she was not very interested,
but she become interested when my teacher invited her to read Alma 40
to learn about where her child is, who has died. We walked by this
mototaxi about 45 minutes after making the contact, and the woman was
still sitting in the mototaxi. To our delight, we saw her reading
from the Book of Mormon with a friend! I think this picture of a
woman sitting in a mototaxi reading a Book of Mormon will stay in my
mind forever.

Another highlight of the past week was seeing Mom and Monday. It was
amazing because I had felt on Monday morning a deep yearning to see
Mom. I was thrilled on Monday afternoon when a missionary told me
that Mom was sitting outside the caferia. It is like Mom read my mind
and heart. Last week was a little challenging, but that is okay. In
one devotional Elder Holland gave to missionaries, which we recently
watched, he said some profound remarks. He said that missions, of
necessity, must be hard so that missionaries can be worthy to wear a
nametag with the name of Jesus Christ on it. He said that
missionaries must take a least a few steps in the Garden of Gethsemane
so they can appreciate Jesus Christ. Please, do not get me wrong!!!
I did not share these remarks because I am feeling sad. I simply
shared these remarks because I believe they are very profound.

Hna. Haggard and I continue to get along great. It will be hard to
leave her, but I also know that it is what I need to do. I can´t wait
to be speaking Spanish all the time. On Monday, we had an English
fast where my whole district spoke only Spanish the whole day. I
loved it and wanted to say ´Why don´t we do this all the time?!¨´

Last week, Hna. Haggard and I had a meeting with the CCM president.
We wanted to know how we felt about our instruction here. We were
positive because we have loved our experience here, and we also shared
a few ideas about how it could be better. It was a little difficult
for me because I have the hardest time talking openly when I fear I
could hurt someone, but I am glad we did it. It was a very good
learning experience for me. I honestly cannot believe how much I am
learning as a missionary. I am learning about myself, the world, the
Spirit, other people, and news ways of thinking. It is so funny
because I thought I had life and the gospel figured out pretty well
before I became a missionary.
Thank you for all of your love and support!

Love,

Hermana Blunck II

2010-10-27T06:06:00.001-07:00

Dearest Family,

Last Saturday was the greatest day ever because I received a stack of
about12 dearelder.com letters. Thank you for taking the time to write
me every week. Thank you Sister Lazott for sending me all of those
general conference recaps. They are inspiring.
On Sunday, our branch president shared his testimony and
he said he was a tough investigator. I can picture him being a
challenging investigator because he is also an intimidating man. I
also know, however, that this man has never deviated from the gospel.
He has been a faithful member and a leader in the church since the day
he became a member. Thanks be to those missionaries that lovingly
taught this man.

To switch gears...last Wednesday we went on a short tour of Lima. It
was wonderful. Hna. Haggard did some shopping, and I handed out lots
of pass along cards. I was very encouraged because it was not as
scary as I thought it would be. The people of Peru are genuinely
nice. On our tour, we stopped at the coast and saw lots of surfers
(yes, there is great surfing here in Lima). We also stopped in
downtown Lima. I had never been there with Mom and Dad, so I loved
seeing it. There are lots of beautiful buildings dating back to the
1500´s. Hna. Haggard and I went inside one old church that has
catacombs underneath it. The catacombs were pretty crazy, but I
actually loved the rooms of the church more than the catacombs. One
of the rooms is a library. It has books that the Spaniards brought in
during the 1500´s. Some of the books of huge. I just love seeing
such history. I have a big appreciation for old churches ever since
going to Israel. They funny part of the experience is the Hna.
Haggard and I went a Spanish speaking tour because we had little time.
We had the best time acting like we understood everything our guide
was saying.

The Latino missionaries here call me Snow White. It´s fun. I am not
sure to take their remarks that my skin is very white as a compliment
or an insult =D.

Feel free to email me next week, but send dearelder.com letters to the
Cusco mission.

Love,

Hermana Blunck II

2010-10-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

I only have three weeks left until I finish my training and fly to
Cusco. Is that unimagineable? My companion from Chile left yesterday
for her mission after three weeks of training. My new companion is
Hermana Haggard, who I have known and loved since I entered the Provo
MTC. There are not enough Latino sisters for us to have Latino
companions. Our goal is to talk to each other in Spanish all the time
so we do not lose the Spanish vocabulary we have recently learned. It
was not too hard for me to say goodbye to my companion. I think this
is Heavenly Father´s way of assuring me that I am doing the right
thing, and I need to keep moving forward with faith.

Last Sunday, I halfway sang a duet with Hermana Haggard. Aren´t you
proud of me? I say halfway because when we stood in front of the CCM
audience, nothing came out of my mouth. All I could do was shake, and
my shaking became really bad when I looked over and saw Hermana
Haggard shaking horribly too. At least something came out of her
mouth. The reason why we were singing a duet is because our district
volunteered us to sing the first verse of I Know That My Redeemer
Lives by ouselves. They joined with us for the final verses. I have
lots of opportunities to sing as a missionary. It is good for me
because I have never done choir before.

Hermana Haggard and I were felt very grateful and humbled on Monday.
We taught a lesson in Spanish to our teacher who was pretending to be
an investigator about the priesthood. There Spirit was there, even if
it was a pretend lesson. We felt humbled because only three weeks ago
we felt stressed about having to get to know someone in Spanish for
ten minutes. Now we are teaching 20 minutes lessons in Spanish and
sometimes on topics that we never studied intently.

Here are some thoughts I have had recently about faith--
As we have faith in Jesus Christ, specifically in the reality of His
atonement, He comes to us.
Christ may not comes to us physically, but he does manifest himself
through the Holy Ghost, who works wonders and miracles in our lives.
-2 Nephi 26:13
In the words of Elder Bednar, ´The Savior said he would come to His
apostles. Let me suggest that one fo the ways whereby the Savior
comes to each of us is through His abundant tender mercies.¨
I used to feel sad that the people in the scritpures literally saw the
Savior and I had not. What I am learning is that I can see the Savior
in my life everyday through the wonders of the the Holy Ghost and the
tender mercies I experience.

Thank you for your love and support! I saw Mom and Dad yesterday when
they picked up a few missionaries who were entering their mission.
Mom and Dad look great. They are in the jungle today and come back
tomorrow.

2010-10-07T14:36:00.000-07:00

It is my preparation day again. The best way to describe how time passes on a mission is 'A day feels like a month, but a month feels like a day.' I have been on my mission over a month now, which I can hardly believe! The good news is that I got my first nap in today. It was very needed and rejuvenating. I know I am really becoming a missionary because I am now waking up before my alarm goes off, which is around 6am. After a year and a half, I don´t think I will be able to sleep in very late =D.

My Spanish is coming along. I know I say this every week, but I do not know how else to describe it. My Spanish is usually its clearest when I teach because Heavenly Father is blessing me. Last Wednesday, for example, I was feeling pretty tired when I began my practice teaching appointment, but Spanish somehow came out of my mouth. After the lesson, a Spanish elder actually explained that his 'boca was abierta.' This means his mouth was open as my companion and I talked. I love rereading my notes from the blessings I received in the months preceeding Sept. 1 because I can already see how they are being fulfilled. I was blessed in three different blessings to be able to learn Spanish quickly so that I could 'understand the people I serve and form some eternal relationships.' I am grateful to be experiencing the fulfillment of these blessings.

Here is my favorite experience of the week. I was outside studying, and I felt prompted to talk to the gardner working close to me. I talked with him for a while, and then he opened up a gave me some amazing advice. He said, 'Don't tell the people of Cusco that you want to share a message about God because they believe they don't need anything more. Tell them the truth. Tell them that you have a message that will help them be better spouses, students, and parents. Tell them you have a message that can lead them to be with their family forever.' This man's advice was perfect.

My companion and I still get along very well. She will be leaving on Tuesday for the mission field. She told me that she does not have any fear about entering the mission field, but she does have fear about getting a new companion. I can understand where she is coming from. Next Tuesday night, Hna. Haggard and I will be the only North American sister missionaries here because the Latinos will be gone and so will the other American sister missionaries. New sister missionaries will come next Wednesday, and I will get a new companion then. I learned today that next Wednesday the CCM takes us on a tour or Lima. I am very excited because the only place we usually go on preparation days is the temple and a local grocery store. I hope that we can go to the olive tree park near Mom and Dad's apartment when we have our tour of Lima.

This week I had the lucky opportunity is participating in a Jillian Michaels type of workout. I went out the play fútbol on Monday for exercise time, and there was a man in the field rounding everyone up. He put all the missionaries who had exercise time at that moment through a rigorous workout. He had us running sprints, doing burpies, weaving through cones, doing tricep dips, etc. It was hilarious. I could not stop laughing. I could not breathe either, but it was hilarious to hear some of the missionaries moaning and to hear a coach type of figure cracking down on everyone. It turns out that the CCM had invited this man to come, and he will come twice a week from now on. I am still sore from the workout, but it felt so good to exercise really hard. Sometimes I feel my body craving an intense workout.

Aren't you proud of my for playing f'utbol with all the elders? Mom and Dad helped me realize that the elders wouldn't expect me to be good anyway, so it would not matter if I made a full of myself. Maybe I will be good at soccer by the time I return to the U.S. My announcement is that I headed the ball yesterday. I also made a goal last week =D.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Love,

Hermana Lynette Blunck

Back Home...in Peru!

2010-10-02T07:49:00.000-07:00

I am in Peru again, and I am thrilled to be here. It is so reassuring to be close
to Mom and Dad. Last night, I was sweetly surprised by Mom and Dad.
They met me at the Lima airport. The MTC president gave them
permission to meet me there. Talk about a fun reunion. I feel
humbled that they came because it is a long drive for them to and from
the airport. They got home very late last night. Mom and Dad were
able to meet some of their Lima North missionaries in the airport. I
believe the missionaries were pretty surprised to see their mission
president when they arrived in Peru. I am sorry that I did not call
everyone yesterday. Our layovers were not very long. My companion is
from Chile. I know that I have much to learn from her. She talked to
me this morning and I feel like I understood 5% of what she said. I
am excited for my Spanish to improve rapidly while I am here. There
are 5 American sisters in the CCM and 14 Latino sisters. My preparation day
is next Wednesday, so send emails before then if you want me to respond.
Emails will be the best way to communicate with me.

Here is my address for letters:
(It is a little different than what I e-mailed you a few weeks ago)
Hermana Lynette Blunck--Peru Cusco Mision
Av. Melgarejo 159
Urb. Campo Verde
La Molina, Lima, Peru

Loving the MTC

2010-09-18T09:47:00.000-07:00

This week has been fantastic. I have honestly been amazed by the level of happiness I feel as a missionary. There are hard moments, but there is an amazing feeling of peace when doing the Lord's will. Last Sunday, Sister Elaine Dalton spoke to the sister missionaries in Relief Society. She encouraged us to pray and ask Heavenly Father how we personally receive revelation. I was blown away that we could be instructed in the MTC by such a woman. We had a devotional on Tuesday. It was incredible as well. The MTC is truly a special place because we missionaries are continuously taught by very inspired people.

In our Spanish lessons this week, we learned how to speak in different tenses. I can speak in present tense okay, but I still have lots of work to learning conjugations for other tenses. I really love learning Spanish. I cannot wait to get to Peru because I believe my Spanish will improve exponentially then.

On to my travel news. I will fly out of SLC next Wednesday morning at 6am. I will fly to Texas, on to Miami, and then to Lima. I am going to have some layovers. They will not be long, but I want to call as many of you as I can. Only one of my two companions will be coming to Peru too. My companion who has her call to Bolivia has not received her visa, so she will complete her MTC training her in Utah. I feel badly for her because I know she is anxious to learn Spanish, and it is challenging to be fully immersed in Spanish here in Utah. My companion who is going to Peru is on a different flight than me, which is funny. This means I will be flying by myself with a bunch of elders. I'll just have to ask them who wants to adopt me for the trip.

Last night, we taught a pretend investigator. We got to know him in Spanish, and then we taught him the first lesson in English. It was a very good experience because he asked many questions based on the Bible. I imagine the people of Cusco will be a little more simple minded than him so their questions will be different, but I am still glad for the experience. What I loved about the lesson is that I literally felt my mouth being filled with words. The investigator asked a question about Joseph Smith being so young when God appeared to him, and instantly Heavenly Father helped me to remember Samuel from the Bible. I talked about how he was young when he received revelation from God. One of my companions then talked about Moroni from the Book of Mormon and how he was only 10 years old when he was called to be a prophet.

Here is a funny story one of the elders in my district related to me about his teaching experience. He was testifying about Joseph Smith, but he became confused so he started saying "Yo soy JesuCristo." He was trying to say "I know that Joseph Smith..." but he was actually saying "I am Jesus Christ." He said that when he said this his investigator looked at him increduously and asked, "You are Jesus Christ?" This story made me laugh so hard last night. One of my companions laughed so hard that she snorted and my teacher, who is Columbian, gave her the oddest facial expression.

The good news is that I laught a lot everyday. My companions are wonderful. They are having there challenges right now, but I am feeling at peace so I am able to listen to them and support them.

I sure love you all!

My Address and a Few Pictures

2010-09-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

I went with Stephen and Shara to take pictures in front of the Missionary Training Center sign, and it was missing because of construction!

On Saturday, Stephen, Shara, and I went through the Salt Lake Temple. It was my first time inside this temple. The Salt Lake Temple is beautiful!

Shara and I in front of the missing Missionary Training Center sign =D

Outside the Missionary Training Center. I am amazed that there are at least 335 missions in the world.

Stephen and Shara were so kind to me. I loved spending a week with them in Provo.

In front of the Provo temple with Stephen.

Stephen and I missing the Missionary Training Center sign.

The beautiful Temple Square grounds in Salt Lake City.

My MTC Address:Sister Lynette Marie Blunck
MTC Mailbox # 239
PER-CSC 1103
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

My Mission Address:

   Hermana Lynette Blunck
   Peru Cusco Mission
   POB 30150
   Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0150
***This is a pouch mail address, so only single sheet letters, folded into three panels, and taped at the top can be sent to this address. Write the address on the letter. Do not use an envelope.

Called to Serve

2010-08-24T19:55:00.000-07:00

I am called to serve in the Cusco Peru Mission starting September 1, 2010. On this blog, my family will post my weekly letters and hopefully pictures too.