Week #43 - Esperanza

Sorry for not having written a mass email to everyone this last week. There wasn´t any time because I had transfers!1 I´m back in Trujillo in Esperanza, and I was called as a Sister Leader with Sister Soldevilla from Perú who has two transfers left! Esperanza is a pretty big zone, and we are in charge of 10 companionships here as missionary leaders. I´m super excited to get to serve and know each of the sisters here. We are starting up exchanges tonight, and I´m nervous because I just got here a week ago and I have to lead out in the area with a sister who just got into the mission field! Our area is huge and I´m not super familiar with it, but I know that with the guidance of the Spirit and with trust in the Lord, we´ll be led where we need to go in every moment. We´ll be needing to have two exchanges every week, so I´ll really be getting to know my area alone haha, but there won´t be a ton for time with my new companion. :( 

I felt at home again when we got here in Trujillo, because in Cajamarca it´s a hold new world. I´m back in the humidity here and the people are so humble and kind. It made me remember my first week here out on the mission when I was in Granados. It´s definitely a lot more dusty and dry here, but I´m excited to have a break from the super strong sun in Cajamarca. Right now it´s pretty windy and pretty cold at night so I´ll been needing to use my coats and pants under my skirts, and all. There´s a huge layer of fog all day long every day which is a little depressing because the sun doesn’t show, but in a couple months the heat will hit here and I´ll be sweatin´ a ton. But I´m super grateful to have hot water again to shower!! This last Sunday the bishop asked me to talk about Amor a Dios and it went well considering I feel like I haven´t slept these past 8 days, haha.

It was so hard to say goodbye to all the wonderful members and people we were teaching in Cajamarca. They truly are like family to me. Ray didn´t end up coming to church my last Sunday because his dad, who he never sees, came into town for Ray´s birthday. I was really sad, but then Mercedes, his girlfriend, told me she called him during Sacrament meeting right when the bishop announced that I would be leaving. He left his family right away to say goodbye to me, and came to church and we took pictures and talked for a while. He asked if he could offer a prayer for me outside the chapel before he returned to his house, and it was so touching. I´m so blessed to have met such wonderful people here on the mission. 

James Noria, a member in Cajamarca who always helped us a ton in appointments, gave me some great words of advice. He knows what kind of a missionary I am, and that I like to be pretty intense and obedient haha, which is great, but I am often hard on myself. James told me he was very hard on himself on the mission, and was obsessed with being obedient but he told me in English ¨you won´t remember the rules you kept, but the people you´ve served and helped change¨. This really hit me and made me realize the importance of balance on the mission. Even as missionaries, we are never going to be perfect. As long as we are striving to fulfill what the Lord expects of us, which never is perfection, we will achieve miracles and end the mission satisfied. He told me to pray to God at the end of the mission and ask God if I had done everything He had called me to do and if He was satisfied. It´s so important to be in tune with what the LORD expects of us and not only focus on what we expect of ourselves.

I´m super excited to be working here in my new area. The members are amazing and so willing and ready to help us. It´s a very strong ward, and that’s KEY in helping bring others to Christ. We will be having an Open Chapel activity this Saturday for those who want to get to know the church, and a Super Contact activity on Wednesday with a giant Book of Mormon, so these should be great opportunities to find new references!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!! You all help me stay so motivated to work hard until the end of every single day so that I can pray to my Heavenly Father satisfied that I gave it my all to find His daughters and sons that are searching for the truth. Love you!

-- 

Hermana Doney