2 Meses!!!!‏

Hola everyone!! It's Monday again!! :) This week was good! I'll start with Monday after p day. We did a food challenge! We had to eat a ton of different things, like Inca Kola, bread, marshmallows, granadilla, and a RAW EGG!!!! Yes, I ate a raw egg.... No, it was not good. It was terrible. Oh well. We made cookies with Michelle and Lillie (members) and they were yummy. On Tuesday we had a zone conference. We talked about how important it is to have your investigators come to church. It was a great conference and to end it, we got PIZZA!!!!! 

We have this investigator named Josue and guess what... He's getting baptized!!! On the 14th of November.  He's awesome and so I’m excited. 

We played futbol this week and I head butted the ball! That was interesting!  Also I made a wonderful discovery... Perù has fry sauce... FRY SAUCE granted, it's not Utah fry sauce but it's fry sauce!!!!!! :)

We had a regional conference and Elder Anderson spoke through satellite. He spoke in Spanish and did really well! Seeing as how he knows no Spanish, it was awesome. 

Our other investigators are good but they have a ton of excuses as to why they can't come to church. It’s very frustrating. The language is coming along fine. :)

Well. I gotta go! I love you all! Thank you for your prayers and patience with me!!  

- Hermana Hicken

My comp and me

At a member's home for lunch. 

pescado con arroz and beans

This is a moto. We use them to get around places and it's insane.

Fruit - it's very expensive here

Perro peruana. As you can see... they are... interesting.

The best hamburger ever. It has fries on it and fry sauce and lettuce and it's so yummy.

The ocean is that grey thing in the back

The best cookies in the world. Alfajores. Look them up and try to make them. They are so good! 

FINALLY lima beans in Lima Perù ;)‏

Hola every one!! Yes, for the first time in my 8 weeks of being in Lima I have had lima beans!  Another crazy week aqui en Per'u. I really need to learn to organize my thoughts before I start typing. We have two new investigators. Josè and Josuè. They're awesome. I HOPE that they'll pray and find to know the truth. My Spanish is okay, it is getting better every day but it's really hard to share how I'm feeling and my testimony when I have no idea how to say anything. 

This is my Companion, HNA Aguilera and the dog is Charro. He followed us into our apartment and laid down on our floor and WOULDN'T MOVE!!!!!! Oh my, the smell was TERRIBLE!!!! Church was good! Josuè and Louis (a man that we contacted on the street) came to church. They both liked it, I think... We did exchanges with the Zone leaders and we also did service for a less active woman. It still amazes me how little the people have. 

Our Stove

Funny story, so this morning we were making breakfast as always and my companion had the bright idea to stick our tiny stove on her chair.... As you can see from the picture... it wasn't such a bright idea. Yeah, it started smoking AND there were flames!!! It was awesome! ;) 

I promise next week I’ll write more and be a little bit more organized. Humberto is doing well. He's still sick but He's accepting our message and he understands. Also, Latinas LOVE their fireworks. Every night, there are tons of fireworks. I've also realized this week, how true the statement is that God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called. I know NO Spanish, I barely know how to teach the gospel but I know that through Christ I can learn and through the Holy Ghost I can teach the people here. I hope everything at home is great! Love you all! - Hermana Hicken

arroz chaufa - my favorite!

The apartment

Coolest tree ever!! 

Cat relaxing on the next computer over.
(This is the place they go to rent computers for an hour to write letters home)

Gringa in a Latina World‏

Hola everyone! I'm just going right into it. It's been a crazy week and a half. I left the CCM at 6:30 a.m. last Tuesday and we drove to our mission. After a large training in which I realized that I know nothing concerning the gospel and Spanish, we had lunch, which was pizza (that was a tender mercy), and I met my companion. Hermana Aguilera. She's from Argentina. She's been out for 8 months and she is awesome! She knows English and she loves los estados unidos (the US).  She’s been super patient with me and she has been helping me a ton.

We went to our area, Chinchasuyo, and went straight to work. I've noticed that I am getting better and better every day with feeling the spirit and learning Spanish. We have a few investigators, Humberto and Iraida. I try my best to talk to them. I bear my testimony and in our last lesson with Iraida, I said the first vision and yeah! We also do a ton of contacting! So I’ve meet a ton of people. I cannot tell you how many people have stared at me because I’m white and I don't look like anyone else (brown hair, blue eyes).  We're really close to the members, especially two families. I have some pictures that I can share with ya'll. The food here is amazing. I love it! They have this stuff called Chaufa. It’s Chinese and it's super yummy! Yes, I still eat rice with every meal. Soccer is life. We play soccer every Lunes, Miercoles, y Sabado. On Sunday we went to church. I bore my testimony because they "present" the missionary to the ward. The ward is TINY like as big as our RS at home. TINY!!!!!!!!! The ward is super nice and they are trying really hard to make me feel welcome. 

Conference was awesome! I’m definitely going to “ponderize” a scripture every week. My spiritual experience this week: I was not having a good day one day, and my Compañera sat me down and we read D&C 31: 3 and 6. It gave me comfort to know that my Heavenly Father is mindful of me and wants me here in Peru. I'm sorry, I have no time. I have seen the Lord work miracles in just a week and a half and I love it! Thanks for all your prayers! 

- Hermana Hicken

Mi compañera y Yo.

Making cookies at a member's home.

My area

Amazing food!

Last days at the CCM

October 7, 2015

Sarah is now officially in the mission field.  We received a short hand written letter from her (scanned in and emailed) and two pictures from the mission office.

In her letter, she said she loved conference and that it was "absolutely amazing".  Here's a part from the letter: "One cool think I learned is that my mission really focuses on bringing families to the gospel.  We have a goal to baptize two families a month!  Kinda crazy huh?  I'll write more on Monday.  I love you all.  Please be safe and stay close to the gospel."

LAST PDAY IN EL CCM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey all! It´s been a great week at the CCM! In fact, it's my last week!!!!! :) YAY!!!!!!!!!

I'll start with last Thursday. I got sick, again. This time is was worse. I went to Hermana Gonzalez (CCM President´s wife) and she gave me these magic pills that really work! So that was great. Funny story... so Hna. Tangren is one of the hnas in my district. She is terrified of spiders. So in her lesson she of course has a spider crawling on her shoulder... Her companion tries to brush it off and whispers "spider". Hna Tangren THROWS her books up in the air screams and starts jumping up and down. Somehow they calmed down and their investigator said the closing prayer. Apparently, he asked Heavenly Father to bless the Hnas with their spider problem. After her lesson she sprinted out of the house, screaming and ran into the bathroom. We all heard and ran out of our classroom to see what was going on. It was hilarious!

Friday: we taught our new investigator, Yennifer. She's 15 and in high school. She’s awesome! We've only had one lesson with her buts she's cool.

Saturday: We started our fast and because we started our fast we didn't have dinner. So instead of dinner we sat in our district room and watched Mormon Messages about addiction recovery. It was really cool to hear those stories and learn about people's lives. :)  Hna Rivera (worked at the Mexico CCM with G&G Hicken) is getting married and we saw her wedding invites. That was cool. She’s best friends with our teacher so she's in there a lot.

Sunday: Fast Sunday. Our whole district bore our testimonies. I love Sundays in the CCM! It’s so spiritually enlightening! That night we listened to Elder Ballard and Oaks speak. They were so awesome. They both talked about loving your investigators and listening to the spirit. After the Devos we had a district testimony meeting. We talked about our conversion stories and that was cool!

Monday: Today we took district pictures, we learned grammar and how to teach people not lessons and then we watched Elder Scott’s funeral. Wow, it was beautiful! I really started to miss Utah again!! Oh well. I love how Elder Christofferson said that he was a man who could look up to God with a pure conscious. After that, it was a normal day and I learned that the gift of tongues is real. It is so real!! :)

Tuesday:  a normal day in the CCM. We watched another Devo and Elder Oaks spoke again. He talked about how the Plan of Salvation should be central in our lessons and that we can receive the companionship of the Holy Ghost everyday by partaking of the Sacrament. That was cool!

Today: I LOVE THE TEMPLE!!! So, cool experience... we were sitting in the Celestial room and I looked over and this sister was sobbing. I had the distinct impression to go over and talk to her, so I did. She is Latina and knows NO English. I knelt down next to her and said in Spanish "Hermana, I know I don't know Spanish well but I know that Heavenly Father wants me to tell you that He loves you. He is so proud of you, and He is listening to you" she smiled and said thank you. I received such an overwhelming feeling of love for her and I know that was Heavenly Father. And, I was able to say it in Spanish. I've been on cloud nine since!! :) I love you all! I can't wait to get out to the field! Spanish is going well and I’m learning more every day.. Except I despise Subjunctive.... that's just a terrible tense to try to learn... :) love ya!

- Hermana Hicken

Our District

One Month Down!!‏  (note from editor/mom: This letter was sent September 23)

           Hola everyone! It´s been a crazy week! First off, I'm sad that Elder Richard G. Scott passed away but he's finally at rest and we all know that he is happy and with our Heavenly Father. I want to share this quote with you that I love! "My mission belongs to the Lord with all my heart I give my energy and my time to the Master, because I love HIM. Therefore, ´'m going to look at everyday not as mine, but as His. And I will treat each minute of his time with respect and focus and the dedication that it deserves." - M. Rusell Ballard.

            I love that quote and it is so true. This isn't my time, it's the Lords. Well, this week was kind of slow.  I´m getting sick again :( but hopefully I only get sick in the CCM and never in the field! (knock on wood).

 I'm going to start with Saturday because that was a crazy day!! We proselyted on Saturday. So around 1:30, my district and some Latinos drove to the Lima East Mission. We got there and my companion and I were put with a member and an RM that teaches at the CCM. Our goal was to find all the less actives on our list and invite them to stake conference.... Easier said than done. Why? Because all the houses are on the sides of mountains and an address system is non-existent!!! After the first two attempts, we decided to just start contacting. It was awesome. I was in complete shock for the first half hour but I could kind of understand the people and I shared the Restoration with a lot of people. It also helps that we had some people that actually knew the language.

We were supposed to be done by 5, so at 4:30 the RM said that we had one more chance to contact. My companion and I saw this lady doing her laundry outside and we both felt the need to talk to her. We walked up and when she saw us she was beaming! Apparently she is the sister of a Bishop. She went on a mission and married a less active and now she doesn´t go to church. She invited us into her home which is really a rectangle room that fits two beds and a couch. She gave us water and we talked to her about coming to church on Sunday. She said she would!! She was so cute, she had the cutest little kids and they were so funny!! They were so cute! :) It´s awesome to see how the Lord works in people's lives. He knew that we would be climbing up a mountain and He told us that we needed to talk to her. All in all, it was awesome! We placed 4 Book of Mormons and 6 pamphlets. I was SO sore! I was also in shock at how humble and kind the people are. They have nothing and yet they love their lives so much.

On Sunday, we learned about how to study the scriptures better. I´ve decided that I’m going to try to visualize the stories when I study. Pretend that you are there while Ammon is teaching King Lamoni, or while Nephi is building the boat. I have found that I pay a lot more attention by doing that. And I have found that I LOVE the book of Alma!! It´s an awesome book!! :) New people came which means that I´m an avansado!! One more P-day and I’m out!

Camila AND Jose (our teachers) are going to get baptized so that's cool. It took a lot of patience on my end but hey, they're happy!

One of the sister missionaries here is a convert and when we watched The Testament (a beautiful movie about the coming of Christ to the Americas) I told her that it was amazing that we are teaching those people. She didn´t know that the South American people are descendants of the Lamanites. She started crying, and the spirit was so strong! it was awesome!

So today... apparently the CCM forgot that only 20 people can fit inside a session room so they schedule 2 groups of 20 to fit in one temple session. So my group didn´t get to go to the temple today. :( Instead, we sat in the visitor's center and read 3 Nephi 11 and 12 as a district. That was awesome.

I'm starting to get tired of the CCM but it's alright, I’m just learning patience! I love you all! The Language is Muy Bien! Have a great week!!  - Hermana Hicken

Mi compañera and me.

Hna Perez (orange shirt) and Huber, they helped us get used to the CCM.

The Lima North mission is TINY (under her fingertip)

One elder is also going to Lima north but you can't have one elder in a picture with all hermanas,
so his companion had to be in our picture. It was hilarious!!!

Our wonderful elders!

Llama ties for dad, brothers and friends

My Spanish scripture cases!

Qué en el Mundo

Alrighty!! All the North Americans taught the Latinos how to say "what in the world" and now, all the Latinos, including our teachers, say Qué en el mundo.  So there you go. 

Hi everyone!!! I'm doing pretty well. :)   So... remember the sister who didn't fly with us on August 26th? Well apparently she read her flight plans wrong and thought she left on a Wednesday not a Tuesday, so she had to go to the Provo MTC for two weeks, but now she's here so it's all good! 

We got new principantes which means that I’m an Intermedio!!! Funny story... so last Monday night I woke up at around 2:30 AM to someone in our room but I went back to sleep. When I woke up the next morning, there was a random sister in our room sleeping on the floor!!! I politely asked who she was and she woke up and introduced herself. She’s American and she flew in a day early... it was so weird!!

I’m going to go out of order. Sorry. 

So people in our district saw my music book and really wanted to sing the “As Sisters in Zion” medley. So we did and oh my, the spirit was so strong!!!! Also that Sunday, I bore my testimony to my district about the fireside we had had that night and the spirit was super strong there! We watched a fireside by Elder Cook and I took away a lot of great things, mainly just that a mission is an act of unconditional love. We also talked about how we always need to have the spirit with us to preach the gospel!  

My voice is better!! Yay!! Oh funny story... so, when we don’t want a ton of rice at dinner and lunch, we say "poco arroz" but one elder in my district said, "por qué arroz" which as we all know means “why rice”? It was hilarious.

It´s amazing how much you learn in one week here. I’ve memorized the first vision, the restoration lesson and the plan of salvation lesson all in Spanish!!  I also learned this week that we need to pray all day every day!! CADA DIA!!!! Es MUY importante!!! Heavenly Father wants us to talk to him and if we aren´t talking to him then we aren´t progressing and we aren't learning as much as we could be. In the field you pray 18 times a day. And that´s not counting the lesson prayers, the prayers in your heart, and the random prayers! Pray cada dia!! Another thing I learned in church is that the fullness of the gospel is here on the earth but every Thursday, the first presidency and the quorum of the 12 apostles receive more revelation. I thought that was cool... I can´t remember if I’ve said that before... :) José is crazy!! I don´t know how I feel about him but he likes our message (José is her teacher). We also got a new investigator named Camila. She´s awesome! We´ve taught her the restoration and the plan of salvation and she´s progressing. It´s crazy here, but awesome! I have pictures but I think I’ll send them to my mom and she´ll put them on my blog. I love you all. Thanks for the support!!! :)

- Hermana Hicken

The park outside the CCM

The Metro has things like what you'd buy from street vendors, that's where we got the crazy pants.

Casasitas- that's where we do the teaching

Me and my compañera

CCM water fountain