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
That sounds like a fun and inspiring event! So funny about having almost a year straight of winter. :) Glad you got to enjoy the 4th with a traditional treat. I loved the local helado in Mexico. -Sis Fox
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