Dearest Family,

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

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

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

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

  

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

Love,

Hermana Blunck II

Dearest Family,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  

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

All my love from Urubabma Peru.

Hermana Blunck II

Dearest Family,

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Valentine's Day!

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!

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

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