Misio-neras!

So this week was LOCO!!   Our Mamita went on vacation and left us with money to get us through the week. We thought it would be awesome to get to choose what we eat and be on our own for a bit!  For P-day last week we went as a zone to the "Parque de Leyendas" in Central Lima, which is like a zoo-slash-theme park. It was awesome, but cost quite a bit. It´s the end of the month too, entonces, we were pretty much broke/hungry for the rest of the week!  But it was way fun. We ate at our bishop´s house a bunch and his wife taught me how to make "La Causa", which is a really typical Peruvian dish.  The bishop of our ward is the BEST!

Things got a bit crazier on Wednesday when Hermana Aguayo got super sick and we couldn´t leave our room very much to go out and work.  We had a lot of time to clean, organize, etc., so that was still good. On Friday, when my companion was starting to feel better, I got Pink Eye in ONE EYE! Haha. Que loco!  So we basically had the typical missionary week where we had just about every trial thrown at us but we SURVIVED! :)

Also this weekend we had the 28th of July, which is for Peru what the 4th is for us in the US.  There is a colegio (school) across the street from our "cuarto" and we got to watch from our windows as the kids there performed traditional Peruvian dances outside in the street. It was awesome and I just love the culture here in Peru.!  Lima is awesome because you get to experience the cultures of all the different provences because a lot of people move their families here from the provences for their kids to go to school here in the city. It sounds cheesy, but I seriously felt so much love for this people!  There were tons of fiestas in the streets (as much as there can be in winter here!) yesterday and it was way cool to experience the 28th of July in Perú.

This week we have... cambios (transfers).  I´m both excited because I finished my 12 weeks of training but way sad because I most likely won´t be with Hermana Aguayo anymore.  She is so awesome and I´ve learned so much from her!  I´ve been pretty lucky with companions and we get along super well... but so is the mission.  I hope one day I can go visit her in Chile! :)

Finishing this cambio, I feel like I´ve learned and experienced a lot.  I love the people here in my area and if I have to leave this week it´ll be really hard!  We didn´t have a single baptism this cambio, but I know that things will turn around, there are always dry spells in the mission for sure.  I feel good about the relationships we have with the members and investigators here and I feel like we´ve been able to do a lot of good!  

I´m so happy to get letters and emails from you guys and hear how you´re all doing! Thank you!  Just be patient with me for responses because we only get an hour to write both our Mission President and then our families and friends. Haha. Poco tiempo!  I love and appreciate you all! 

Hasta luego!

Hermana Bledsoe

It´s been a while since I´ve sent my funnies :)

What I would be tweeting:

I´m convinced that absolutely anyone who can ride a bus in Latin America while standing can wakeboard on their first try #extremesports

Caught myself singing along to Taylor Swift on the radio... this wouldn´t be considered a bad thing if I wasn´t a missionary #troubletroubletroubletrouble

#youknowyoureamissionarywhen FB means "Fecha Bautismal" (baptism date)

#youknowyoureamissionarywhen your first thought when you start to work out is that you should start with a prayer.

#youknowyoureamissionarywhen you´re looking forward to going to bed early on a Friday night... #cansada

Me Encanta Mi Vida!

 Mamita Celia y yo (nuestro pensionista) :)

 Hermana Aguayo y yo en combi (bus)

 Look what I found! Happy as a clam :)

Ciao Elder Rodriguez! (The humidity does crazy things to my hair!)

Poquito consejo...

HEYYYYYYY!

So this week was really great! Wednesday was Hermana Aguayo´s birthday (23rd!) and so many different people made her cakes and stuff.  We ate so much freaking food that day, holy schniekies!  

Other than that, this week was normal. Still working with some people and trying to help them overcome some challenges that are keeping them from being baptized, but we are definitely making progress!  We have a baptism this Saturday for our golden investigator, Gisella that I´m pretty stoked about.

Yesterday in sacrament meeting, our bishop kinda grilled the ward about responsibilities in the church. It was kinda funny, but he talked a lot about sacrifice and how if we don´t make sacrifices in our lives, we won´t have the blessings God has for us.  I´ve been thinking about that ever since and how important it is to sacrifice things that we have or things we want for the Lord´s will.  For me, it is a huge sacrifice to serve a mission.  Every missionary can relate.  We are asked for literally EVERYTHING in order to do God´s work.  It´s hard sometimes, but the blessings are amazing.  I am so glad I chose to sacrifice my time to serve the Lord with everything I have.  I feel so blessed to have this gospel and it is such a joy to share it with others.  It sure isn´t easy, but it´s worth it. 

For any prospective or future missionaries:  I can´t lie and say the mission is all wonderful all the time. Missionaries are still people!  We´re not perfect and the people you serve aren´t either. But it´s okay!! :)  My companion Hermana Aguayo once shared with me a scripture in Alma 26:30 that, from what I remember in English, says basically that we suffer pains and afflictions in life (or in the mission) so that we can help someone else find joy, and in the process we find joy too. This is probably the best advice I´ve received about the mission and I hope it helps anyone reading this: When things get hard, think of the people waiting to hear the Gospel from YOU. Think of them when you´re tired or want to give up.  They are waiting to hear it from YOU and you will find great joy in bringing them that eternal happiness. Read Alma 26! :)

Sacrifice really does bring forth the blessings of heaven, in fact, it brings miracles! All we are asked to do is show our faith in Jesus Christ. I know that through Him we can do all things! :)

Okay, I´m done preaching :) I love yáll!

Ciao!

Hermana Bledsoe

Este Semana

 Hermana Aguayo made sushi for dinner one day (!!!!)

 4th of July in Peru!

 Hermana Aguayo thought it was weird to eat ice cream in winter haha :)

 Two of our ward missionaries, Karen and Holly, with our name tags and Books of Mormon... our mini-me´s :)

Taking the bus with the Elders-- Elder Chiroque y yo!

100 Estacas en Perú!

This week was pretty awesome because on Saturday we got to attend a huge celebration for the Church... this weekend the 100th stake was created here in Perú!  The church rented out a stadium of a university here in Lima and had a huge cultural celebration (kinda like a temple dedication celebration) and Elder D. Todd Christofferson came!!! 

There were about 15,000 people there plus missionaries from all the Lima missions and there were dance performances by a bunch of different stakes (all that performed are in our mission) and it was SO cool to see all the culture represented!  I loved it. 

They showed a video of the history of the church here in Perú and at the end they had a segment (like the video they show in the MTC) with "The Spirit of God" playing in the background and a map showing all the stakes and the years they were created.  I noticed that the 50th stake was created in 1992, meaning that in my short lifetime of almost 21 years, the amount of stakes has doubled here!  It was pretty cool to see and realize that I have a small part in that right now.  

The very best part of the night was when all the missionaries got to walk up onto the stage together and we were "presented" (my best translation) to the crowd.  It was incredible to walk up there and see 15,000 Peruvians waving on my left and Elder Christofferson on my right.  UNforgettable! Asu! Machina! Hahaha.

Elder Christofferson spoke to us (in perfect Spanish) and he said basically that he was super impressed by the saints here.  He gave them an apostolic blessing and counsel to continue sharing the Gospel here.  That night was so awesome.

This week we also had a member referral success story.  A young couple in our ward referred us to the cousin of the wife last Sunday and we´ve had 2 lessons with her since.  Her name is Gisella and she is 20 like me!  We gave her a tour of the church and she got to meet members there and she said this is exactly what she´s been looking for.  And she loved the baptismal font!  She is so excited to get baptized!  I can´t say enough how much the missionaries need help from members to find people like Gisella who are ready and need the Gospel but like the scripture says, "know not where to find it."  It´s amazing!

We also have a 12 year old investigator named Jesus who is so cool. He is always at church and people in the ward think he´s a member!  We asked him why he wants to join the church and he said because he wants to hold the priesthood and one day serve a mission... my heart MELTED! Haha. That is one of the greatest things I could hear as a missionary. How amazing are the people here?!

Last Thursday was my "cumpli-mes" and now I have 3 months in the mission... it goes FAST! This week I will have been here in Perú 1 month! Crazy.  Life here is good. It´s July now, the coldest month in Perú, so I will have officially have had winter since last winter in the US! Haha. It´s all good though. 

This morning we washed blankets and sheets (everything here is done by hand) and I had the job of stomping on them in a tub of soapy water while wearing rubber boots... it was awesome!  We put on music and I got to dance around and stuff... it was super fun.

Oh and yesterday at a member´s house for lunch I ate CHICKEN FEET! It was pretty weird! Haha. Life is good here and I´m so grateful to be here in this BLESSED country!

´Til next time!

Hermana Bledsoe

 Almost all of the hermanas in our mission on our way to the 100 Stakes celebration! :)

 Compañeras :)

 All the Lima Este gringas at 100 Estacas!

 People arriving at the event

 100 Estacas!

Hermana Aguayo, Hermana Echegaray, y Hermana Johnson