Feliz Navidad!!!!

Wow, it's already Christmas??? I can't believe it! It doesn't seem like Christmas time but it seriously is! I love Christmas time, it's always been my favorite holiday. It's completely different here and I love it! Everyday we testify about the birth of Christ and his importance in our lives! And I testify that Su Expiación es la mas importante cosa en esta vida! (His atonement is the most important thing in this life). We cannot live with our Heavenly Father again WITHOUT the Atonement.

Our Christmas tree

I learned something really cool this week while taking the Sacrament: there were two priests blessing the Sacrament. While we were singing the hymn, I was watching them break the bread. One was breaking it hurriedly and quickly, trying to finish before the song ended. The other was breaking it slowly, and carefully, and singing along. The Sacrament isn't some hurried thing that we take once a week. It should be the pinnacle of our week. We should look forward to renewing our covenants and should do it with reverence and respect. Just something I learned that I wanted to share. :) 

This week was great! On p-day our Zone did a gift exchange. Elder Patzi got me and I got Elder Sanchez. I gave Elder Sanchez a cool wallet thing (what do you get an elder??) and I got these earrings and a wallet thing. It was awesome. We then watched The POLAR EXPRESS! Way too trunkie for me! :) 

My Christmas gift from Elder Patzi

Anyway, this week we also had revision de Cuarto. Hna Erickson (wife of president) came to our apartment and made sure that all was well. We cleaned like crazy!! I'm very grateful that my father taught me how to clean. :) Thanks dad! 

We had a visita de trabajo con E' Mickelson. So the first time we had a visit with him, I was so nervous I couldn't say the first vision. I’m happy to say that this time, I was able to share the first vision, and I said it with power and the Spirit! Pretty awesome!! :) 

We also had interview with President Erickson. He promised my comp y yo that if we have 10 investigators in the church every Sunday, this area is going to flourish like none other. We're working hard on that. This past week we had two, next week we want more, but it’s not just our job, it's also the job of the ward! They need to help us. 

We're getting more and more references every day! My comp and I have started saying that la obra misional es 10 percent missionaries and 90 percent members. We teach and they do everything else. They support, and help, and once we're gone, they're there to stay and answer questions. That's why it’s so important to have member missionaries! 

Anyway, this week was great!! Thank you all! And have a great Christmas! Love you!! 

--- Hermana Hicken

 

Hooray!  Watermelon is in season!  They are huge.

Well, this week it was humid and hot!!  Apparently, its ten times worse in February so that'll be interesting to see! :) Anyway, this week was fun! First, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PACKAGES!! I have enjoyed the goodies inside and I’m so grateful!! Thank you!! :) 

Funny story... Okay, I get a lot of attention here because I’m a gringa. I get a lot of unwanted attention. I get a lot of "hellos" "how are you" in English and I always ignore it, but one time my comp and I were just getting super annoyed with some drunk men who were being... drunk. So while they were trying to say hello to me, my comp said, "Ella es de Alemania no Estados unidos." She pretty much said that I’m from Germany not the states. That got them to be quiet! :) Now anytime people try to talk to me in English we say that I’m from Germany. :) 

Anyway this week was good. After emailing last week, we went and ate at Chili's. TRUE AMERICAN FOOD!!!!!

The rest of the week was normal. On Wednesday we did service. We cleaned the rooftop of a building! That was fun! Sadly, I don’t have pictures but my comp does so maybe I’ll steal them from her. :) 

Maria y Manuel are doing okay.  Maria is amazing and one of my heroes! She's one of those ladies that takes everyone in and takes care of them no matter what. She loves everyone. She's also really scary when she's mad! It’s interesting! :) 

We picked up a new investigator named Enrique... he's a doctor and we teach him in his clinic. He's awesome! He has so many great questions that we are able to answer! I love it! 

Navidad is coming up! If you haven't seen the new Christmas video you need to. And please remember Christ this Christmas. CHRIST FOR CHRISTmas. Yeah, anyway, here’s a picture of a nativity WITHOUT Christ. It looks so lonely right? Don't forget Christ. ;) Anyway, love you all! Have a great week!! :) 

--- Hermana Hicken

The sun over the ocean

Metas, Metas, METAS!!!!!!!‏

Another week aqui en La Misiòn Perù Lima Norte!! Navidad is slowly starting to arrive in Lima! It's not the same here as it is in America. For one... there's no snow! And two... Santa Claus (papa noel) is about ten times creepier. 

Monday: after emailing we went and ate lunch and then played games like capture the flag and ultimate frisbee. The Latinas had NO idea what Ultimate Frisbee is so we had fun teaching them how to play! :) It was a pretty normal day. 

Tuesday we had our weekly meeting with our zone. We talked about our Metas (goals) for this month. The goal for Chinchaysuyo this month is 3 baptisms with 1 man over 18 and 1 family. The goal for Tahuantinsuyo is 14 baptisms with 4 men over 18 and 4 families. It's pretty awesome! We're trying to make our goal! Also I met a woman from Utah, she took a picture of me and my companion and tried to get presidente in the picture with us... that's kinda against the rules and it's the presidente so we said no thanks and left.... but yeah. 

Wednesday: I ate hìgado (liver) for lunch and it was really good! As pictured here. 

(This picture was sent to me -mom- through facebook from a member)

Thursday we had another meeting with our zone where we talk about the goals of the mission. This month the mission goal is 130 baptisms. The goal for the year is 1600 baptisms and I think we have about 1500 baptisms right now. It’s crazy! We also talked about our normas de la mision. Cada week we are supposed to have 32 lessons and 100 contacts. Well, now we have to have 32 lessons, 70 contacts and 15 references. It's pretty awesome! I'm excited to work with this new goal! 

The rest of the week was normal. Maria y Manuel still need to get married! Like NOW!! We're starting their papers this week!   The coolest thing happened while I was teaching Maria and Manuel about the plan of salvation and I had this feeling to share with them the picture of us (the whole family). I bore my testimony about how one decision that my parents made 21 years ago has blessed us eternally! The spirit was so strong. I know that our family will be together forever! It was so cool! :)

Friday we had a visita de Trabajo (exchanges) with the hermana leaders. I stayed in my area with Hna Rodriguez. It was cool to kinda be in charge for once. 

Oh, Sunday: I also ate chicken hearts!! Really yummy. I promise! 

Anyway, that’s it for this week! Thank you so much for all the support! I love you all! 

Also pictured: a gigantic nativity scene... takes up half the room! 

---Hermana Hicken

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! AND HAPPY BAPTISM FOR MAYRA!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOOOH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MAYRA WAS BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I’m so happy for her!! 

I'll start with Monday. After emailing, we went to the capilla and watched Wreck it Ralph and ate McDonalds. We also talked to Mayra about her baptism. It was a pretty restful pday ;) we also played capture the flag! 

Tuesday was hna Aguilera’s nine month mark so we ate cake and pizza with some members! It was a lot of fun. Also, we had a huge earthquake (7.3). It was felt in 5 countries... AND I DIDNT FEEL IT!! How sad... :) 

Wednesday: nada, just a normal day. :)

Thursday: THANKSGIVING!! Okay, so Peruanas don’t celebrate thanksgiving. So our zone made pancakes and eggs and did our weekly planning together. It was a lot of fun! After working and all that jazz, hna Aguilera and I bought pizza and Inca kola and that was our Thanksgiving dinner. :) 

Friday: okay... So it was "pouring" rain... It never truly rains here... but the sidewalks get super slick. We were walking to our apartment and hna aguilera decided to run... and slipped on the stairs!! Oh my, it was hilarious! :) Anyway, it was a normal day tambien. We taught Maria and Manuel. And three of their adult kids and all of their kids. It was crazy! :) We taught them about chastity and how they need to get married. Hopefully they'll get married this month! :) 

Saturday!! It was super crazy! In the morning we cleaned the capilla and proselyted a little. In the afternoon, Mayra was baptized! The water was freezing cold and she did not want to get in! But somehow she got baptized! ;) I’m so happy for her! She's my first baptism and real convert because I started the lessons with her!! :) WOO!!!! 

Sunday, Maria and Manuel came to church which was really cool! :) This week was awesome!!! Thank you all for the prayers and support! Well, gotta go! Love you all!!

--- Hermana Hicken

lomo saltado

Primer cambio en el campo: termine!!‏ (google translator:  First change in the field, finished!)

  

Hola! First, my Spanish has exploded!!! Seriously! I can't type in English anymore! It’s really cool!!!! I'm just gonna start... 

Monday, we found out that both me and hna Aguilera are staying in Chinchaysuyo so we're here until after Christmas!!! YAY!!! :)

Now here's the funny thing about last pday... hna Aguilera broke our phone and so... WE WERE FREE FOR THE WHOLE DAY.... NO ONE could call us or anything... it's a very awkward feeling knowing that your district and zone leader can’t contact you...of course we weren't chambonas (lazy, or not doing what were supposed to do) but yeah. We went to Starbucks and got non-coffee frapuccinos and ate lunch with a member. papas rellenas. Best things ever! (as pictured here) 

 paps rellenas

We then said goodbye to Elder Cruz. (he's the one on the left) He was transferred to San Felipe. The rest of the week was pretty normal. We taught Maria and Manual about the plan of salvation and they want to get married! 

mi primer distrito, e' cruz, e' melgar, y mi compañera y yo :)

Mayra is getting baptized on the 28th!!! My first baptism!! AHHH! SO EXCITED!!! bien vacan! (really cool!) On Wednesday, we had a black out... Half of our area was in complete darkness, and it was super dangerous so we just went to our apartment and waited for the lights to come on. but they didn't so we went out and taught Josue and his family, in complete darkness, I had my trusty flashlight so that was cool! ;) On Thursday we had a noche de cine (movie night) with the ward! We watched “Meet the Mormons”. Now... here’s the funny thing about peruanos.... They have Mormon time AND perunano time... so when you say it's starting at 6:30 it’s not going to start and 6:30 or 6:45... Oh no! 7:30 or 8 if we're lucky! But somehow we ended before 9 and I was able to make it through without screaming in English :)

Anyway, Saturday we had a visita de trabajo (exchange) with our district leader and zone leader... That was interesting. I was super nervous! We taught Leonor (she's a recent convert) she told us to wait outside because she had to feed her cats and put them to bed. Our zone leader said that in his 17 months of being a missionary he has never been told to wait because of cats... When we were teaching, Leonor’s cats were being a little crazy and so she would come up behind them with a stick and smack them on the head. She’s also 80 years old and hilarious! I love her! 

Sunday was pretty normal, we worked super hard to complete our goals, which we did. That makes me super happy! Cool thing, so we do noche de hogares (family home evenings) with the members and we did one with a young family the other day. We were talking about prophets and usually, when I speak I stumble a ton... but this time, I spoke fluently... My comp said that it's the best I’ve ever spoken! AHH!! My next goal is to have a whole day of no English. It's been a crazy awesome week! Well, that's it for now! Love ya'll! 

--- Hermana Hicken

comp y yo

 

papas huancayina

my comp's new pet :) 

 This is what Perù is like. I wrote it all down and took a pic of it.

(Editor mom's note: This letter was sent 11/16/15)

Futbol for life!‏

Hey y'all! 

Well this week has been crazy! After emailing, we went right back to work. We proselyted and taught because on Tuesday we had a mundialito with the whole mission! 

So Tuesday was our PDAY. On Tuesday, from 8 am to 2 pm we played futbol. Each zone was a team and we each got our own jerseys. Tahua (my zone) got 3rd place... I think, I'm not really sure. :) But it was a ton of fun! I met the whole mission... which isn't a ton, as you can see from the picture it's only like 250 or so. Anyway, the sun was out and we all got super sunburnt, I mean, really sunburnt. I look like I have a disease right now because I’m peeling, but oh well, it was a ton of fun! :) 

Team Tahua (my zone)

Hna Pugmire and me. We were in allstate choir together

 After futbol we came back and got ready for proselyting. We had dinner with Percy and Lilli (picture). We had papa johns! So yummy! 

Percy and Lilli

  

Satanas y Jesucristo. guess which is which :)

Best chicken and arroz and papas fritas ever! with... guess... BEETS!!!

And finally a Peruvian who is taller than me!! ;)

Wednesday we had a special conference with presidente about the promises of the Book of Mormon and how its super important to be direct with your investigators. 

Mayra with me and my comp

The rest of the week was pretty normal so I’ll just tell stories... :) Mayra is getting baptized on the 28th of this month. We found Josue! After two weeks of looking, we found him and we talked with him. He's been SUPER busy and hasn't been able to talk to us but we got another appointment with him and hopefully he'll be there. Two cool experiences... 1. One day we were teaching one of our other investigators and she was saying the closing prayer and in my head I asked Heavenly Father to bless her, and I heard back, you need to pray for her. I realized at that moment that I wasn't praying for her specifically!! SO, I’ve started praying for her. Second... I was reading in the bible and was thinking, if I were living in the time of Jesus would I believe in Him? And the thought came to my head... You are believing without seeing. Just two cool experiences that I had.

We're also teaching this family, they aren't married but they've been together for 12 years. They're pretty great! Anyway that's it for now. The language is fine, I can finally understand but I still can't speak. Anyway, thank you so much for all the prayers and yeah! Love y’all!    

- Hermana Hicken

A Sunday of miracles!‏

Hola everyone! This week was crazy, but absolutely amazing. So it started out kinda rough, PDAY we didn't do much. I met my "Abuela" in the mission. She is hna Aguilera’s trainer. That was cool. We didn't do much after that.

Tuesday, tambien, no mucho. We did divisiones, that's when I go with a member and my comp goes with another member and we teach separately. It was kinda nice to be in charge for a little while. :)

Wednesday we had visita de trabajo con one of our zone leaders again, he told me that I really need to work on my Spanish but that it's a ton better than it was when I got here... It really is better. 

Thursday... On Thursday things switched 180 degrees. My comp and I had reunion de zona. We went over our metas (our goals) for the month and after we came back and talked and fixed some of the problems that we had. Almost immediately we felt better and we now work better as a companionship.

Friday we taught Mayra about tithing and promised her that if she paid her tithing she would be blessed. She’s a little apprehensive but she's going to try it. We also went to the market about bought a ton of fruit! And it's good fruit! ;) (Jody here: Sarah loves fruit and hasn't been able to find it/afford it on her mission these past few weeks so this is a happy thing for her!)

Saturday, Mayra didn't show up for her interview... We called and called but she wasn't there. We played futbol in the morning and I actually did alright! I almost made a goal but a little Peruvian Elder was a little bit quicker than me and got there first and stopped me ;)

Sunday was the best day... Okay, it started out bad. Mayra and Josue didn't come to church which means we have to push their baptism dates back again... It’s really frustrating when you have a solid investigator and they don't come. But we're staying positive and were going to try to talk to them today. After church and lunch we did divisiones again. I went with Michelle. She's an RM and she's awesome. We started out by teaching a new family. Maria y Manual. They’ve been together for 12 years but they aren't married. When we got there Maria wasn't very happy because Sunday is the only day that she can be with Manual, he works every other day. But I told her (in Spanish) that our message is for the family and can be taught in 15 minutes. She let us in and we started teaching. The spirit was so strong in that lesson. When we got to the first vision I recited it word for word with no mistakes and without looking down. Afterwards, we waited for a few seconds. The spirit was SO STRONG it was seriously almost tangible. I then bore my testimony and invited them to be baptized. They both said that they would like to be baptized. Maria said, that she's been looking for a way to become clean spiritually and she thinks she found it. AHH!!!! Afterwards, Michelle told me that she had never felt the spirit that strong on her mission and that my Spanish is a ton better! 

The Gift of Tongues truly works! I went through all of Sunday speaking Spanish and I actually understood people. I'm not perfect in Spanish, I still need a ton of help forming sentences but It's amazing how quickly you can pick it up when you have the help of the Lord. One of the people we contacted yesterday thought it was amazing that I could learn a language in 2 months. I again testified to him that the Spirit was helping me learn. Well that's all for now. This week has been crazy but awesome! Thanks for all of your support and prayers! 

The church is true! 

- Hermana Hicken

The View

Sunset (over the ocean)

My companion and a dog

(I asked Sarah how long her hair was getting so she sent me this picture.
She's standing in front of the windows in their apartment.
They have to cover the windows with brown paper.)