causa, cual es su cau, cau??

my subject line in my email is a joke. it is supposed to be said with pretend attitude. like "girl pleeez" haha and it means, what is your proble??

YO family! i miss and love you all so much! i look forward to pday solemente because i get to write you. how are all of you doing? thank you for all of the emails. they make every week 100% better. s

so this week has been so great. actually, at the end of last week it was really rough--i was feeling really down and i was mission all of you a lot. but thankfully for prayer--dang, i rely on prayer and the scriptures so much now. these 2 things i di notttt do enough of beofe the mission. i dont know how i survived. heavenly father wants to help us out, weve just got to open our hearts a litte, and he does the rest.

anyway, hna. yupanqui left for cocha bama last tuesday, yo pienso. and i got a new latina comp on wed. you guys-- she is my fave! hun. y was cool, but hna andres is the coolest!! she is soo cute!! she is from peru, so it is nice (much nicer) to talk with her because she speaks way clearer. bolivians speak so fast and dont put endings on some words. but hna. andres accent is perfect. and she wants to learn english so bad. hahah so ive been teaching her some. hahah she always says this phrase"que lindo" which in english is similar to " how cute", so i taught her that because it is something i knew she would use a lot. hahha she somehow thought that it was used for younger people, like little kisds, and she found out that elder leask, this elder for my district, was 23, and she said to him " usted no es cute." hahahah sooo funny and she said it to another companionship in my district, too, and they were sooo " offended" hahahait was so funny, and they were all mad at me for teaching her tahat. so to make things even more funny, last night at dinner she for some reasons wanted to know how to say, "you are a pretty woman." hahaand then i was like, mwhahaha! you should tell elder leask that he is a pretty woman. she was hesitant at first, but then she approached him completely seriously, and said it! hahaha and she told a couple of other elders in my district that, too. hahahha mannnn i was laughing soooo hard. it was just soooo funny. and cute in her choppy perufian accent. and shen whe would say it to different elders, they would throw up their hand be like, " por que???" hahahha sooooooo funny.

we got a new mtc president, and frankly, im quite happy about it. the other ones were good, but they werent thatttt happy. anyway, this new couple is the sweetest greatest little couple. i love them.

also, the ccm has been great, but mannnnnnn i am quite ready to leave. only 2 more weeks.

i love my district so much. we all know each other so well. last night in 2 different prayers, we couldnt even pray because we were laughing at stuff that had happened. you guys now how i get--once i start laughing at inapporpriate times, i just cant stop!

i am seriously making friends for ever here. it is great.

well, sorry this is a shorter email this week. those of you who havvent gotten letters from me lately, expect them soon! i promise they are on their ways!

i lov eyou all sooo much! i wish i had more time to write! sad. thank you for all the prayers. i feel them and dang boy, they help. hahah i{m weird.

love,

hna jilly pants

que en el mundo?

FAMILY!

okay, soooo much to tell you this week. i have to type super fast so hopefully it all makes sense.

so, at this mtc, the 3rd and 6th saturdays we go proseltying out. like outside the walls of the mtc. reallll lifeeee. crazy, yes? so that just happneed this past saturday and it was sooo great. it was me and hna. yup... and one of my teachers,  hno. vega. my fave. it was so great. here is what i saw and felt and stuff.

we rode on a bus to a ward building in MY mission. hollah. the capilla looked pretty normail. but all the floors had a coating of dirt with globs of dirt  here and there and globs of other strange things. but everything was framed in cherrry wood. there was no air conditioning, the pews werent lined prfectly--mass disarray. the bathrooms had brown stufff on the floor, and they both smelled really really terribly.

throughout the city there are these little buggie type of things. dad, you looked up a pic of them before i left. a mortoclycle or a bicylce with a cart or buggie, covered sometimes, attached to either the front or the back. so the bike is either pushing or pulling. these little vehicles of sorts intermingle with the rest of the traffic and it is the most terrifying thing. the drivers of these things are just as agressive as the cars--but they have ZERO protection. i would imagine riding in them to be a death wish. but at the same time, i secretly want to? hahaha}-everyone is outside all the time here. sitting, walking, playing, dancing. there is always music in the air. i could hear it everywhere.

-the first door we knocked on that answered was this guy name justino. though,  he told me to call him justin because he lived in america for a few years, and he wanted me to see that hahah. when he first came to his door, i was only speaking to him in spanish, of course, and then he pops out a, how are you doing, in english. hahah what the? ¿que en el mundo? but i still tried to speak as much spanish as he would allow. he really wanted to hear our message and he and his sone both seemed really sincere. i wanted to teach them right there so bad, but we could only stay at the door for about 5 minutes because they were eating lunch. but i want to go back there and visit with them sooo bad. plus, he really wants for me to--he said my face was pretty and that he rally likes my blue eyes hahahah ive never been complimented on my blue eyes before.

-one of the scarriest parts of my day was getting whistled, yelled, and kissed at. thankfully hno. vega was with us--i dont know what would have happened if he hadnt been. eeek! and this area is in my mission, so i wonder if just me and a future companion will be expected to knock on doors around there. hno vega kept telling me not to look back, and he said when i hear, gringa or kissing noises at me, that it is extremely disrespectful. the fist time someone yelled something about gringa at me, he said that they needed the law of chastity. hah. but also, i felt really violated. and i'm completely modest!! im glad i couldn't understand what was being said.

 

oh man. i have like zero time left. the best part i haven't even written yet. we taught this lesson to this guy that was amazing!!!!!! i will just write it in a real letter i think. i just dont have enough time.

 

but it was sooooooooooooooooooooo good. i loved loved loved it. i cant wait to get out in the field!!!

2 things. there is this drink here that is called cafe con leche that the cooks prepare for us before a lot of meals. mostly breakfast though. anyway, it tastes and smells exactlyyyyy like coffee and it is the most delicous thing. the first day i thought they were feeding me the real thing. hahah sooo good

also, CHURROS. the. best. things. ever. no, taco bell or costco do NOT know what churros are. they are these amazing long rolls fried and covered in cinnamon and sugar, and fillllllllllllleed with delicous cream!! soooo good. today we are going on a tour of the city with the president and his wife, and supposedly there is a place that has the best churros EVER. oh my gosh. i cant wait.

okay, well, i will send a letter to the family that has the story on it from saturday. you guys, these people are so amazing and loving here. i love it sooo much. man, this is the true church. that's it. it just is.

i love you all soo soo much!

thanks for being such great examples and for always writing me. some kids never get emails or letters and i feel so bad for them. you're the best!

love

jill

just another week in paradise, homies!

YO YO YO. I I I. hahahaha that doesnt make any sense.

family! i love you so much! i have been so excited to email all of you this week. i cant believe i have been in peru for 2 full weeks. it has FLOWN. how is everyone doing? i love all of your emails you send me and the dear elder letters ( i just got my first batch in today, but i havent had time to read them yet. i'm looking forward to it though! yipeeeee!!) i wish i could respond to each of you personally on email, but alas, i cannot. solimente 30 minutes. wouch! hahaha wouch is something people say down here. it sounds so funny to me hahahah man

so today has been quite eventful. the temple was great. again. duh, of course it was. the bus rides over are always soooo terrifying hahahaha they stop like 1 inch from the people in front of them and i fear for my life everytime they pull out in front of a car that is just a few feet back. yikes!!! ahhh! hahahaha but somehow they always make it. im glad i dont have to drive around here. and then after the temple we can wallk around lima for a bit. so today we went to tottus which is this big nice grocery store and it has atms. i needed some soles, the money they have here, so i went to get some. dumb me, i forgot about my card and left it in the machine. whyyyyyyyyyyyy? so i was super stressed, drinking my inca cola and wating for the peeps i was with to be ready to go. and i didnt want to push anyone to go because it was my fault. i didnt want to ruin their days, si? so i was freaking out on the inside. anyway, long story short, my card is fine and i cancelled it. so parentals, you should be receiving a new one for me in a couple of days. that shoud be fun to send over. . .  i guess just disgusie it the best you can? sorry for my air headedness.

 

so since i am really bad at writing things smoothly, i just decided to make bullet points of the happenings as of late:

 

-me and my comp, hna yupanqui, have really bonded a lot this week. we have gotten to know each other a lot better and i can definetly feel my spanish improving.

-one of the biggest things i am learning here is that it is really important to have the spirit with me all the time. i know what it feels like to have it, and then to realllllllyyyyy have it.  and i need the latter all the time.  i have also learned more than ever that this time is not my time AT ALL. i have to reremind myself everyday of my purpose here and recommit myself. it is really good for me, but it can be hard.

-we eat a lot of potatoes and rice and meat. MEAT, dad. at every meal. you would be in love. but it is sooo much!. it tastes good. oh, and we have different flans alllll the time. seriously dad. you would fall in love with this place. anyway though, you dont even want to know how many times i have had diarhea. seriously. it is way gross.  hahahahaha and eveyone has it. the other day in the cafeteria, of all places, i heard this elder be like, ive had diarhea for 5 days in a row now! hahahahah pooor guy. but everyone has it. we're just all super open about it. hahaha its pretty sick really.

-i had a missionary today after the temple tell me that i look good in white. yikes. dont know what his motives were with that comment.

-so like my subject line says, this place is paradise!!! lia--you know how you always say, jill, lets see who is tanner, and then we compare forearms and you're always tanner--why i fall for it every time, i dont know, you olive-skinned goddess, you-- welllllll, it is winter in alabama, and it is summer in peru... hey lia, you wanna see who is tanner now???? hahahahah mwhaaa!!

-another thing i have learned a lot this week is that i cant get caught up in teaching lessons. im teaching people. im so worried about saying things right in spanish, that i forget im talking to real human being, you know? it is really important to relate everything to that person.

-so one of my north american companions, hna nelson. she is great right? she is faithful and it is great. but sometimes she is crazy. literallly. the other night she had a nightmare, and apparently she hopped up in the middle of the night, put her hand to the square, and said,  in the name of God i command these evil spirits to leave!  her latina comp was pretty creeped, weirded out by her for a while. hahaha some people have bad dreams, wake up, say a prayer, and fall back to sleep. but then some do that. she is crazy. ahahahahhaa sooooo weird.

 

okay, well, my time is just about up. i love you all so much! i will try to write some letters today and send me them off. they should get to you in the next 6 months ahahahahah jokes! hopefully sooner.

i love you so much. thanks for all of your prayers. i pray for everytime, too, just so you know. wink face. im not alll selfish. mucho amor!

jillbo

one amazon woman, coming right up!

FAMILY

it is soooo good to finally write to all of you!!!! it is so great to have pday today, and i was able to leave the campus of the ccm and go to the lima temple! cool, huh? man, this place is nuts. it is so new and different and i am really learning to love it. the driving is, uh oh dopey. riding on the bus to the temple with so many missionaries was stressful to say the least! everyone moves at different paces and people were shouting in spanish. no intiendo! did i tell you guys that i have north american companions, and then also a south american companion? i have both. i am with my north american comps (3 some) most of the time, but i eat all of my meals with hna. yupanqui. crazy name, i know. took me quite some time to remember it. yikes. she is from bolivia and she is just the greatest. when i gave her a hug for the first time, she kissed my neck, and i almost jerked back because it was so odd to me. what the? girls no kiss me, k? but i am getting used to it, and i LOVE this culture. they are so excepting and loving right away. i dont know how they do it. also, they are very concerned with clean teeth. they brush them after every meal. americans are savages i feel, sometimes. also they have really great table manners, and they take really great care of all of their things. no one throws anything on to their beds or puts things on the floor. they are very gentle and thankful for the things they have. i have mucho to learn.

 

thanks for all the emails! i wish i could get on the compooter every day. but  alas. . . also, dear elder letters dont come every day anymore! me saddddddd. so sad about that. in fact, they print them off in provo! what the? so it takes foreerrrrr to get any mail. but dont be discouraged, cumkwats. i will get them eventually!!! letters are da best.

i hope you all had great new years. outside the walls of the mtc there were very loud fireworks. it was actually quite terrifying because they were lighting off those HUGE fireworks in the middle of all they houses. right. next. to. us. too loud for sleepy, k?

 

so everyone here has to read the BoM in 19 days!!! crazyyyyyyyyyyyyy. ive never read it that fast. not even close. we started last thursday and i am in alma. it is really cool to read it this fast, but also, i really like to linger on certain things i read, so i dont know how i feel about that part. but they told us we arent supposed to stop and ponder. it is differnt but cool i suppose.

 

all packaged foods here, instead of calories, it says energia. energy!?? yes, please. hahahaha guilt no more.

 

there is a missionary in my district ( i love my district by they way. how am i getting so lucky??) who sounds JUST like kronk from emperor's new grove. and he is going to cusco. too perfect.

 

by the way, we are on eastern time zone, just to clear any confusion. so joanna, our clocks say the same thing! cute!

 

i am terrible at futbol. my feet never want to do what my head tells them to do. stupid. hahaha

 

i feel huge. sometimes it really throws me off that so many of the men around me are shorter than me. at the mtc in provo, i always felt really femine because there were so many boys in the suits and i was always wearing skirts. but here, some litterally have to bend their necks quite a lot to talk to me. they come up to my shouldrs. yikesey pants.

 

it is really cool to see the spirit work with me and my companions. it is NUTS. in lessons we are connected so well. and the investigators arent even reallll!! man, seriously. it is so cool.

 

my belly is always full here. the food. soooo good. peruvian food is the 2nd best in the world. did you know that? and they give us huge portions. but the mtc has professional cooks, and in the field, the food will be humble. . .  also i have already gotten diarrhea. twice. bad news.

 

also they are very picky about how our beds are made and we have to make them EVERYDAY. it is nuts. i am really slow at it.

 

okay, my time is up. this was all over the place again today. i am sorry!! hopefully i can get some pictures today soon.

 

thanks so much for the prayers. i can feel them. last week was way rough and i wanted to come home, but you guys must be praying very hard. so thanks a bunch.

i love you all a lot. and i miss you SOOOO much.

 

i wish i had more time to write, dang it!

love,

hermana amazon.