HOLA!!

Whoa where did the time go?! I wrote my president, read your emails, and BAM! my internet time is up!  But I hope you´re all doing well! 

MOM! This week I got your envelope that you sent with the cool photo collages (that I now have on my wall by my desk), thanks! I hope to be able to put the song lyrics to use here if I can translate them :)

But things are going well here:

- Last week we had transfers and we didn´t have changes; Hermana Sassetti and I will be here another 6 weeks!
- We have una con fecha bautismal!!!!!

- Last p-day we went as a zone to Larcomar in Miraflores and had a BLAST! It is so pretty there and reminds me of California. Yall should look it up on google or something.  We were playing volleyball by the water and the ball fell and an Elder went to get it and he got slammed by a wave and lost his area´s cellphone so now the mission has prohibited going to the beach :(  But it was fun while it lasted!

Thats about it for now! Love you all! 

Hermana Bledsoe

La Prueba de la Fe (Eter 12:6)

HOLA!

Saludos a todos que lean mis cartas/blog! Espero que se encuentran bien y que se sienten el cariño que tengo por cada uno de Ustedes y especialmente el amor que tiene Nuestro Padre Celestial por nosotros como Sus hijos. Les quiero mucho!!

This week has been pretty good.  As a mission we have all started to read the Book of Mormon in 100 days and I´m super excited about it because I´ve done the 100 day challenge twice in English before the mish and now I have the opportunity to read the whole Book of Mormon en Castellano (Spanish)!  So far it´s going really well and I´m learning new things still as I start from 1 Nephi again. I´ve been able to find a lot more meaning in the scriptures as I read them in another language-- in fact, right now I prefer reading in Spanish! 

Something cool I came upon yesterday in my studies is in 1 Nephi 13 when Nephi sees a vision of the things that will come to pass in our day and talks about how plain and precious things in the Bible have been taken out and in verse 39 he says that another book will come to be by the power of God (The Book of Mormon) and that the gentiles will bring it to the posterity of Laman (Lamanites). In 40 it talks about how this book has the fulness of the gospel and restores the plain and precious things that were lost, and that it causes this people to believe in Christ.  I feel so humbled to have the opportunity to be sharing this message and this book with the Lamanite people here in Perú, fulfilling the prophesy of a Book of Mormon prophet. (Also when I was in California I was able to do this too)  It was a really cool moment when I read that and realized the great importance of the Book of Mormon and of missionary work in these last days.

Well, we are working way hard here in Salamanca and now we have a handful of people who are attending church and keeping their commitments, but for various reasons can´t commit to a specific date to be baptized.  For a while it was pretty discouraging and I felt bad because my poor companion, who has yet to have a baptism in her mission in a country like Perú-- which isn´t one of the most hard-hearted groups of people to be teaching--  but we are surely learning patience and that things happen in the Lord´s time and not in ours.  We received blessings of comfort from the Elders in our district and right now we are feeling very hopeful for this next transfer that starts tomorrow.

Dad, I forgot to answer you back the other week: in our mission we go to the temple every 2 months, and it is conveniently located within the boudaries of our mission so we also frequently get permission to visit there with investigators or we also tend to pass by it on the way to the mission office.  Such a blessing!  The Lima Temple is kinda small but SO gorgeous.

I love hearing from you guys and as Sadie said, I also pray for you all every day!

Les quiero!

Hermana Bledsoe

Photos: Last p-day we went as a district to the center of Lima (Plaza de Armas) and had a great time there.  We ate McDonalds there and saw a famosa (celebrity) and a bunch of paparazzi following her haha.  It was the last p-day for Elder Piñon (de México) in our district which was kinda sad but overall it was a great day!

Otro Testamento de Jesucristo

Heyyyyyyyalll!

Good to hear from you all!  Life in Lima is pretty good, Spring is FINALLY here and it´s starting to get a little warmer.  Crazy, right? ...Spring in October?  I know.  The sun here is really strong so I´m bracing myself for that.

I wish I had a ton of cool things to share, but we had a week that wasn´t too noteworthy. Last P-day was pretty chill and we found this really cool park, Parque de los Anillos (literally translates to Park of the Rings) right next to our house that is beautiful, well-kept, and FREE to enter.  They have alpacas there and a pond and it´s super pretty.  Hermana Sassetti and I run every morning and we´ve started to go running there.  Other than that, we´re still not seeing a ton of the fruits of our labors, but we´re just pressing forward and trying to stay positive.

Something that I realized this week is the real converting power of the Book of Mormon.  I always knew, but my testimony of it is growing stronger and stronger.  Especially here in South America we have the opportunity to show people that God loves all of HIs children in all parts of the world is really cool.  When we contact and mention this, we get a lot more of their attention.  It´s the best when we leave commitments with people and they say that they HAVE read from the Book of Mormon and even better when they say they have a testimony of it!! I love this book and this gospel!

I´d be lying if I said I didn´t miss you guys a TON but I love hearing from you and knowing you´re doing well.  Don´t worry, I´m not getting trunky haha.  I still have less than a year left and I´m enjoying the experience.  

Les quiero bastante! Cuidense muuucho!

Hermana Bledsoe

Lo sé, lo vivo, me encanta :)

Holaholaholaaaa!

So good to hear from yall! Congrats on the reassignment Sister Bledsoe!  When I first saw the email I thought you were going to Farmington, Utah hahaha... New Mexico will be SWEET!  I´m so excited for you!  Itll be so cool to get to be in the states for a bit.. I know from experience that by spending time as a missionary in your own country first it gives you a better perspective of the role of missionaries in another foreign country.  It sounds weird but I promise you´ll understand later!  

Also, it was cool to hear about the Cabo trip and all the cool things you guys did.  I´m looking forward to one day when I can come with because I´ll finally be able to speak to the people there more than "Hola" and "Como estas?" Haha.  Maybe the next one can be a year from now? :) Haha. And I know that by doing small acts of service like giving a soccer ball to kids in the barrios (I know what that is now too!) makes a big difference.  It´s amazing how much understanding you gain in the mission, especially after just 4 months here in Perú.  Well done fam!

This week went pretty well, we have been contacting a lot more and have been having some successes with that. We also got three people to commit to a baptismal date this week, but unfortunately none of them came to church this Sunday. On Wednesday we had interviews with President Ardila and mine went really well.  He gave me a lot of encouragement and told me that I´m doing a good job and I really needed to hear that!  The whole interview was really guided by the Spirit and I left more energized and determined to work hard.  He really is like my dad here in the mission and it was great to have the opportunity to talk for a little bit.  Btw, I told him about your recent missionary experience, Dad!

We have been inviting people (and by that I mean every person we talk to) to the four main sessions of General Conference, but just a few could make it Sunday morning.  The rule in the mission is that we have to bring an investigator or a less-active to be able to attend the sessions-- except the Sunday morning session.  So I really only got to see that session yesterday in the morning.  It was kind of a bummer because we had had a bunch of people who told us they would go Saturday, but they all fell through for one reason or another.  However, I learned a lot from the talks in the session that I DID get to see and especially was touched and motivated by President Monson´s talk.  I feel more strongly now the importance of teaching the Plan of Salvation because it´s so important to keep an eternal perspective when we are faced with trials or when we have to make big decisions.  If more people understood that the Gospel is salvation and not just a pretty message, I think they would choose to act and keep their commitments.  So we will see how that goes!  I feel a lot more motivated now to help everyone I meet understand these truths that I have known my whole life and have guided me throughout it.

Yesterday we had an interesting experience contacting.  We stopped by to visit a less active sister who sells fruit at a stand in one of the marketplaces by Lupita´s house and as we started to visit with her, an older, homeless gentleman that we always pass and greet on the way to Lupita´s asked me to "preach something" to him and I went right into the Plan of Salvation right there in the street.  We talked for about 30 minutes and we were able to explain almost all of the plan in between his long commentaries (Peruvians talk a LOT). He showed me a bunch of scriptures in the Bible and I realized he knows it very well. He went on to tell us he has been homeless for 40 years and wants a place to live. I don´t really know where this came from, but I promised him, as a servant of God, that if he keeps His commandments he will be blessed and find somewhere and live.  The man (his name is Ricardo) thanked me for coming here from the United States to bring the word of God to him and to the people here.  I told him my companion came from far away too, but he just kept on talking to me, haha.  He said that he could feel that I was sent from God because I preached with His power and authority and with His words.  I thought of the talks I heard that day in Conference and I thanked Heavenly Father silently for giving me the ability to teach in such a manner,  It really wan´t me, but the Spirit working through me to touch the heart of this (kinda crazy, but sober) homeless man.  I feel so blessed to be able to be here right now sharing this Gospel and for these experiences and I know that each one of His children is so precious to Him.

This Gospel is true! Sigan adelante!

Les quiero!

Hermana Bledsoe

Pics:

Last p-day we played volleyball (futbol is now prohibited in the mission!) as a zone outside and our hands got all dirty.  Hermana Ocampo and I!

Hermana Sassetti in our matching Perú soccer jerseys (personalized!) :)

6 meses completadas!! Just Pics This Week-- due to limited internet time

pollo milanesa con palta, ensalada, arroz, y limónada :)

from our temple trip this week!

Six month selfie!