Happy One-Year Anniversary!

Hello there everyone :) 

         It feels like I just sent an email yesterday haha this week has FLOWN. It’s been a crazy one. And yes, mom, transfers are soon :( The 16th so we still have 2 weeks left. But it’s gone by so fast! Hermana Callizaya goes home in one more transfer :( And then I´ll be home soon after. Ahhh I don’t like it! Love what you wrote though about enjoying every minute. I’m definitely trying my best. I´ll work a little harder though to enjoy every cold shower ;) haha the shower is even colder now! It’s a little cold at night here. A LITTLE cold, not much colder. But the water is LOTS colder haha. I´ll enjoy it though while I can :)

         So much has happened this week! Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE the Cisneros Family? Well I do! Turns out that Sandra can’t get married this week because we had to go 8 days before... And we went 7 days before gosh dang it. But she’s getting married next Friday, the 13th. She hasn’t caught on yet though that she’s getting married on Friday the 13th so shhh! Her husband would totally be the type to not get married just because that day is bad luck haha. We have made sure not to say Friday or 13th in the same sentence when talking about it :) 

         The whole wedding deal has stressed us out though. I was in a different area with exchanges but I guess Sandra called off the wedding one day and said they decided they didn’t want to get married. We went back the next day when I got back to Sullana and she said they were in a fight, but now the wedding is back on. We seriously need all the prayers we can get with these two lol. We just need to make it to the 13th! They’re getting married the 13th and the 15th is her baptism :) right before transfers, just like she promised :) Her husband is so stubborn sometimes though. The ward offered to pay for everything. Wedding, reception, EVERYTHING and he said that he didn’t like that someone else is paying for their wedding. Now they’re gonna have a little ceremony and nothing else. I’m good with anything as long as they get married :) 

         Luz is also SO great! She’s had a rough life. She opened up a lot to us this week and told us about her childhood and how she was beat and how her husband had a lot of women and just awful stuff. Seriously. I don’t know how she’s so great with all she’s been through. But guess what?! I was sitting by her in Sacrament yesterday and she leans over and whispers, "Hermana Roper. God answered my prayers about baptism." She wants to get baptized with Sandra!! :) Finally! 

         Here’s a little bit of the crazy part though. Her other daughter, Michelli, has lots of problems. She came back to live with her parents like a month ago and has been really sick. Well, now we know the reason. She’s pregnant. She got pregnant by some guy in Lima. It’s been so hard for her mom. A few weeks ago Luz told me, "If I had met you two sooner, things would have been so different" and I didn’t know why she said that, but now we know. She’s been super sad these past few weeks. Nobody knows though except for us, Sandra, and Luz. 

         Anyway, Michelli called us Saturday night after we had left their house just bawling and was like, "Hermanas PLEASE pray for my family. Something bad is gonna happen, I know it." Yep. We were freaked out. Then we got a call at midnight from Sandra. Michelli is suuuper sick and has been in the hospital. We haven’t seen her since, but Michelli wants to change too. She told us that she wants to join the church, but she doesn’t know how to change. Told you guys it was a crazy week. For real. But she’s better now :) 

         Okay hmm... What else has happened... Oh! Marcos! :) Did I ever tell you about him? Well he’s 20 and the one who is meeting with us behind his parents’ backs... Yep. He’s SO great. He’s getting baptized Wednesday. Yep, super fast! He was like, “Hermanas I want to get baptized!” And we told him we had to teach him a few more things and he goes, "Things like what? Ask me questions. I know the answers." And he did. He knew everything... Except about the part that we shouldn’t work on Sundays. He had no idea. So we taught the lesson Friday about Sundays. We shared our testimonies and he just wasn’t ready to give up working on Sundays. So we brought in another Elder that just happened to be in the church at the same time. Elder Huaripaucar (Yeah. Try sayin that name lol it took me a month to get it down) but he shared a powerful testimony. He gave up his job to be baptized and everything worked out for the better. After this testimony Marcos says, "Bueno... I’m gonna do something I’ve never done before. I’m not gonna work on Sundays." He was supposed to renew his contract Friday, and he didn’t. How amazing is that?! He has such faith. He now has no job. He´s a little worried, but says he knows everything will be okay. 

         A cool thing also happened yesterday. We realized that after the Cisneros family, we have pretty much nobody progressing. Yesterday we were bummed because we had only found one investigator all week. We knew that wasn’t okay. So we went out finding new investigators. Nobody wanted to listen though. I won’t lie, I felt discouraged. It was hot, we were sweaty, we were tired, and nobody would even accept a pamphlet. I remember standing at one door and just saying a prayer in my mind, "Please Heavenly Father. Just let us find ONE person today." Then we both said we weren’t going to return to the room until we found someone. (Unless it was 9:30, of course) We decided to go to an area we had never been and ended up finding two great investigators :) It was so great. It was just another testimony builder that God is aware of us. We might be only two missionaries in the world, but he cares about the work we are doing here. 

         Anyway, out of time :( Love you all soooo much! See you in 6 months! Happy one year! Have a great week! :)

Love,

Hermana Roper