More about what Bolivia is like this week for those of you
that are curious ;D so the city of Cochabamba is GINORMOUS! What in the world! It’s
so crazy! The part of the city that I am in is campos [fields] than anything
else and has mostly all dirt roads (which is a problem when it rains and we are
trying to walk from appointment to appointment ;D)
I am still so surprised by how rooted the people are in
culture. There are these cute, crazy strong, cultural ladies called Cholitas
EVERYWHERE here! I didn't think that I would see that many, but they are all
over! They wear these velvet skirts and lacy shirts and LONG black braids with
things hanging out of them.
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| Cholitas |
There is also trash everywhere. I start getting little OCD
[obsessive compulsive disorder] urges to pick up trash and to clean it up, but
there is SO much that I wouldn’t know where to start ;D
The mountains here are gorgeous... wow... they are huge and
green and beautiful! I just am awestruck every time that I look at them. They
are amazing!
I am officially addicted to the mangos here... I absolutely
love them! YUMMMMMMM!
OH! We did service this week for a new investigator that we
have! It is a little different than before because we had come to visit her in
our regular skirt and shirt get-up and she answered the gate/door saying that
she was busy working. We offered to help and she happily accepted ;D We were
expecting to help wash the clothes or do something of the like, but we ended up
using pick-axes and hoes to move a BUNCH of HUGE rocks out of her yard! hehe! It was actually quite hilarious since we were in skirts and nice clothes and
this lady's son was telling us that we really didn't have to help the entire
time ;D hehe! Oh, it was hilarious to me! I wish that I could've gotten a
picture with my pick axe and me in my long skirt ;D
More on the spiritual side of things, one of our
investigators has his baptismal date set! WOW! He is so great! He has doubts
just like anyone else but he is so hungry to know about Heavenly Father and
about everything the church has to offer! I am so happy for him and his family
that they are taking such an amazing step in their lives!
Many people ask why baptism is so important, and I’m not an
expert, but I really do believe the fact that
baptism is a way to come closer to our Heavenly Father. Through baptism we are
clean from everything the world throws at us. At times I feel like the world
just has buckets of mud that they like to throw at people... Where we start out
wearing all white, clean and pure and ready to make something of ourselves in
the world. But with everything that happens and mistakes we make we all end up
dirty and uncomfortable, just yearning for a warm shower to get EVERYTHING off.
Baptism is our warm, comforting shower that we can take and the new, pure white
clothes that we wear at baptism is the representation of that pureness and cleanness
that we receive when we are baptized. I love that! It is so amazing that
Heavenly Father gave all of us the opportunity to become clean and stay clean
in this life and truly return to live with him when we align ourselves with
him! WAY COOL!
Anyways, that is all I have time for today, but I am always
thinking of and praying for you guys!
Hermana Mather
P.S. If there is anything that you want to know about
missionary work or Bolivia or anything in general, let me know ;D I`ll try to
answer in my next email!
P.P.S. I found out how much we walk every day! My compi from
the CCM (love that girl!) gave me a pedometer before leaving and I found out
that we walk around 10,814 steps each day (which is around 5 miles from what
they tell me ;D) so.. There you go ;D
[Hemana Mather's Mission president's wife, Hermana Hansen, provided some pictures from their mission's Sister Missionary Conference last Saturday prior to the Women's Session of General Conference]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the same organization set in place by Jesus Christ. We have a prophet, just like Moses, Abraham and other prophets in the Old Testament. We also have Twelve Apostles. These men lead our church under the direction of and inspiration of Jesus Christ, and our Heavenly Father.
Saturday night the women of the church around the world gathered in chapels and homes with internet access to hear leaders of our church including an APOSTLE. Elder Henry B Eyring. We were counseled to be defenders of the family and we were reminded that the family is ordained of God. Elder Eyring counseled us to be compassionate and loving, and reminded us of the role of the Holy Ghost as a comforter.
This weekend will be our General Conference when we will be taught by all of our Apostles and the Prophet. I am excited. If you would like to know what a prophet of God has to say to the world today, join us on www.lds.org Saturday and Sunday April 4 and 5, at 10AM and 2 PM MST.
On Saturday all the Sister Missionaries in the Cochabamba area gathered at our home for a Sisters Conference. We missed our Sisters in Sucre, Potosi, and Tupiza!
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| Our Sisters learned about stress reduction and exercise. |
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| They loved learning about self-defense. |
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| The mission home is not small . . . but we filled 3 areas with tables for dinner! We also found and bought for paper plates! They are not easy to find . . . and even most food court places and the cholitas on the street always use plates and cups that can be washed. (President Hansen and the assistants who were helping with clean up were grateful!) |
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| After the Sisters Conference and dinner we all watched the General Womens Conference through the internet projected onto a screen downstairs in Spanish and streamed to the TV upstairs in English. |
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