Week 76- ''Don't cry because it's over, SMILE because it happened!''

Dear Friends and Family,

I am changing the color of
my skirt from orange to black!

DINNER last night. My mom sent it to us. Sheets and I.

Well my life for the last 18 months is about to end. There are so many things that I have gotten used to and things that I will miss. I am so grateful for the time I have had to be able to share the joy that I feel everyday.

Things I will miss:

Only being able to buy drinkable yogurt

Little stores everywhere to buy what you need on every block

Being shocked by the electric shower

The rest of my apartment. Dinner was DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!! 

The self esteem boost from cat calls and whistling that happen a million times everyday

Moto Taxis

Mazamorra (a dessert that I am bringing home)

The delicious food

RICE every.single.day.

Cold showers... often

hang drying my clothes

peeling apples, potatoes... with a knife and not a peeler

Adobe houses, one room houses

Speaking Spanish all day long

Traveling in buses down windy roads with incredible views and thinking I may die on this road...

Skirts everyday

Ugly mission shoes... covered in mud

Rainy Season where the streets are rivers

Chuño (the potatoes that should be thrown away but they keep and eat them after they transform them)

10:30 bedtime

Being with a companion always. You are never alone. 

Christmas morning. Don't look too
close, my hair is fabulous and I have
NO make-up. I had literally just woken up.

Mud everywhere

No water sometimes...

Fish with all of the bones still in them

Having my plan for everyday already set

Internet cafes... with the Spanish keyboard. I'm not sure how the normal ones are anymore.

My darker skinned friends.... I think lots of white people may be weird.

Knocking on random doors

Kisses on the cheek instead of hugs

Dogs in the street

Dogs in the park

Dogs everywhere.... that may bite you.

Panays (the women not from the city with the native traditions)

Panays just poppin a squat in the middle of nowhere

And when you realize that they didn't even pull down anything to get business done.

Quetchua

Inca Cola

Short People VERY short people

Awful singing.... and thinking it is amazing

Choclo con Queso

Not knowing what kind of meat you are eating

Altitude

3 hours of studying

Paneton

Christmas Day talking with family.

Cheap things

Sun that burns and not makes you tan

Hills... EVERYWHERE... that you walk up

Jungle

Fried Platano

Candle Light (because there is no electricity)

Mosquitos

Cuy (guinea pig)

Bed Bugs

Stomach Problems from what you've eaten

Boiling water to drink it

Make-up from catalogs... it's like a surprise

Markets that smell awful

The first time you talk to someone and they want hope

A smile from a stranger on a hard day

It POURED rain the other day and there was
no way around the river... I mean street.

Crying because you just love SOOO much and it hurts

That moment when someone enters into the water, dressed in white

A hug from someone thanking you for all that you've taught

The friends I have made

The people who are stronger than I am and continue on with a brightness of Hope

The ones that have changes my life

There are so many more things that will be grately missed, but the one thing I won't miss will be the person you all once knew. Being a representative of Jesus Christ, with His name over my heart, has changed who I was and my life for forever. I may not wear a plaque anymore, but His name is forever engraven in my heart. I will always represent Him by who I am.

I love you all and am so grateful for all of the love and support you have given me. See you soon!

Love Always,

Hermana Lang

Week 75- FELIZ NAVIDAD

Dear Friends and Family,

Popping my countdown balloon...
it has some water in it

My compi and I

The sketchy bridge we crossed...
it is literally falling apart

I have one week left and can hardly believe it. 

Mostly this week I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!! The best gift I have received this week was to know that my converts from Puno are still active and Raul had an interview to go on a mission!!! And that one of the families that we worked with and their youngest son and his cousin got baptized.... well THEY ARE GOING TO GET SEALED IN THE TEMPLE in February!!!! Best news. Another family from Puerto has already gotten sealed in the temple and there is nothing better than to hear that!!

Quillabamba with Hermana Ponce

Hermana Del Rio decided to take
more pictures of me practicing

My new talent

The cutest little girl ever.

Well this week we were in the selva of Quillabamba which pretty much just looks like Hawaii but more poor... and no beach. Well it was great fun there. 5 people accepted the invitation to be baptized while we were there. I was able to go out with Hna Gonzalez who is from Buenos Aires and her accent just made me laugh now that I have lost mine from Argentina but... it did start to come out a little more with her. :) Anyways sweet little Hermana Ponce took me out to dinner because I won't see her again before I go. It was just a great time there.... Especially the creepy man I decided to contact (I didn't know he was a creep) But he just stared profoundly at me and hardly spoke the whole time I invited him to church. When I shook his hand, he held on to it for a good long time and at the end he looked into my eyes and said, ''I love blondes!'' The sad thing is a lot of people here consider me to be blonde. I was about to say oh good, because I'm not blonde, but just decided the little white lie of I have a boyfriend was better. Luckily he didn't follow us, but we booked it out of there because we felt really uncomfortable there.

The Hermanas that live with me!

Well exciting this is that we are teaching a girl named Karla who is awesome!!! Her cousin got baptized a few months ago and she wants to come to church this week! She coudn't last Sunday because she was volunteering in an orphanage for Christmas. All of her questions lead right up to the next lesson we have planned to teach her. Her parents have NO interest, but they are very friendly and supportive of her.

Anyways, this time of year, I hope that you remember the birth of our Savior! I wish I had more time to write, but ''The spirit of Christmas is the spirit of Christ.'' Let us all shine with that light!

Love Always,

Hermana Lang

MERRY CHRISTMAS from me!
In front of the tree my mom sent! :)
Love you all!!!!!

Week 74- Patitas are not for eating.

Dear Friends and Family,

This week was a little bit crazy. Last Monday we had P-day as a zone and we just played soccer all afternoon... which it's been a while, so I was a bit sore the next few days.

Hermana Del Rio and I... we played basketball in the
morning for exercises and got soaked.
The only problem is that I didn't have shoes.

Abancay (Patibamba)

Revuelto de Patitas

Tuesday we work up and went to Abancay. We got there for lunchtime and then worked all day. I was with Hermana Morales and let me just tell you, I started to get a little anxious for home. Abancay has PERFECT weather... just like California! :)

Andahuaylas

Wednesday in the afternoon we went to Andahuaylas. Well the road was closed and so we took another road. I prayed a lot.. It's a one way road and it's a dirt road. Usually you look down and you can see like a foot of the road by the side of the car... NOPE. All I saw was the valley floor WAY down there. It's a windy bumpy and some parts are even muddy road and I was just glad to make it to Andahuaylas after 5 hours.

Ma' Maura, Karen, and I

Thursday was Hermana Del Rio's birthday (my companion for this week haha) Well my family in Cusco... they happen to have more family in Andahuaylas and they invited us over for lunch. It was Revuelto de Patitas... um......... definitely not my favorite food. It had COW HOOVES in it. Have you ever eaten cow hooves? I don't recommend it. It is like jello flavored meat with mushroom color. It was a little hard to swallow. Then that night, there was a quinceñero. I don't know if you have ever been to one, but they last all night. It happened to be in the restaurant on the floor below us. On the bright side, at least it was music that I liked and could enjoy while not sleeping.

Us making faces

Friday we were in Talavera. I was a little frustrated because working in my own sector has been a little bit impossible lately and I was praying to know that everything would end well. Well I read 2 scriptures that answered it. Alma 28:9-10 and DyC 97:8. It was such a sweet tender mercy to me. Well that day was really cool. We visited a lot of members that weren't going to church and the fun part was that I knew all of the elders that had baptized them! It was a fun experience to know that I was helping these people. God really does have a perfect plan for everyone. Then we got back to the pension at night in Talavera to go back to Andahuaylas and the cute little pensionista had made a cake for us as a surprise! It was really yummy too! Then we get to Andahuaylas and they took us out to dinner because everyone just loves us and I think I may have gained 3 kilos... until I weighed myself and I am not sure but miraculously I weigh the same as before.

Hermana Huaman,
Hermana Coffey, and I

Hermana Morales,
Hermana Routson, and I

Hermana Llacsa,
Hermana Tamariz, and I

Our cake from Hermana Rufina

Abancay (Intimpas) It's either up or down

Saturday we were back in Abancay. I got to work with Hermana Tamariz (my sister from the mission. Hermana Olivera trained her like 7 months after me) Anyways, we went and visited a couple. The guy was baptized like 2 and a half years ago with one of the ex APs and then the girl was living with him and wanted to be baptized, but can't because they aren't married but live together. So we talked to them for a long while about HOW important it is to God that they aren't fornicating. After a good long while, you could tell that they felt awful for what they were doing. The most powerful part was when we started testifying about how this is exactly why Christ came to earth because we all mess up. You could see that they went from being really sad and heavy to being filled with light and hope. We then asked when we could come back and he said well the next time you come back, she won't be living with me, but we can work out a time to meet all of us together because I know she wants to get baptized and I love her so much that I don't want to be in the way. It was so cute to watch them. They really do love eachother just a little confused on how true love means to wait a little bit longer until you are married. Well after that, a fun fact is that someone thought I was actually from Mexico. It was one of the elders and he looked super confused for a bit and you could tell was contemplating something until he just said Hermana are you from Mexico? Hahahaha I just laughed and was like nope! Hermana Del Rio who is actually from Mexico said that I could be from Tepito (which I'm not sure if I want to be from there... I think it is a rich snobby place hahaha, but not completely sure. I'll just take the compliment that my accent is getting a lot better).

That cute couple that I taught... Edwin and Sarita

I have this face mask stuff and
we decided to use it!

Sunday afternoon we were back in Cusco and I helped my companion out a little with getting better so that this week we can travel to Quillabamba.

I hope you all have a wonderful week preparing for Christmas and that you can remember Christ this time of year. Love you all!

Love Always,
Hermana Lang