its christmas time and time for a carol, time to sing about a little kinnnng...

wellllllll well well, what have we here? 

i cant believeeee how close christmas is and i can talk to the padres(its sad that i cant talk to the whole gang and just part of the gang. ) and who ever else is at home (hannah, lia, rick?) it is so weird that as christmas is nearing, the sun is coming out. but i must say, i luh-huh-huuuuuuv the sunshine. i have missed it soooo much. now it comes out eveeryday. and about time! we had been like 4 months without the sun. sooooooo depressing. 

but of course, it is still strange to be near christmas and hot outside. me and the compi( Sister Seclen!!! she is soooooo sososososososososoooo great!! i realllllly love her because she is so spunky and fun and we laaugh alllll the time!!) will both be experiencing our first christmas away from home(well, its not my first one, because last christmas(i gave you my heart, but the very next day you gave it awayyyyy) i was in the mtc...but i was still amongst my culture...sooooo....to lessen the feelings of homesickness, we bought decorations and decorated our room for christmas!!!  i am attaching a foto of us with some lights that we put in the window. and we are making a tree to put on one of our walls---but we are making it out of bottle caps. we have been scavenging for beer bottle caps(easy, because everyone drinks!!) this week(im sure we have looked a little strange collecting bottle caps in the street...hahhaa or when i opened up my back pack and woooooooooo beer caps all around!), and we are painting them green, and making a tree. wooo!! i will be sure to send you guys a pic of the finished product. 

now, about the peopleeeeeee---

we are teaching this teenager, Luis. he is soooooooooooooooooo great. you guys have noooo idea. he has sooooo much [animos? what is the word in english...] to get closer to Heavenly father and to read the book of mormon. he reallllllllly wants to get baptized this 15 of December....but his mom has been a bit of a challenge. she thinks that it is tooo tooo soon. (but its noootttttttt!!!!) and he has to get permission from her sooooooo, if you guys could pray that his mom softens her heart and sees that luis is ready so that he can get baptized this DEcember 15th, that would be sooooooooooooooooo great.  that is allllllllll i need. 

also, i want to tell a little bit more about the new compi. Sister Seclen is from Chiclayo, in the north part of Peru, and she is a little bit of a rich girl, and i loooove it!!! hahahaha because we are in callo, which is one of the most ghetto parts of the mission, and it is soooooo funny to see her reaction to everything. ahhahahhahah loooooove it!!! one day we were walking and we saw a deead dog(oh so horrible), and she screamed hah and then we walked a few more steps, and we saw a drunk, passed out in the grass behind a sign, and she screamed again because she thought that the guy was dead! hahhahahahahhaa maybe you had to be there, but let me tell  you--SO FUNNY. 

okay, well family, i sure do love and miss you guys soooooooooo much, during this time of year more than everrrrr. but i know that we will see each other soon. i love you all soooo much!!!

love, 

jill

p.s. the first 2 pics are from a couple of pdays back at the beach and in caves. and with one of my favorite little elders, elder coello. and then valeria´s birthday, and then me and the compi.

heyyy guuuurl heyyyyy

family. 

another change here in the mission has ended! i cant believe 6 weeks have passed by againnnnn. seriously. it blows my little mind. but also, this means that my dear little companion, sister quispe, has a change, and i have to receive a new companion. she has been sooooooo great. im really going to miss her. she has been my only companion that i think i will realllllllly miss, even though we have been compis for almost 5 months(usually i would be super anxious to get a new companion, b/c it is a lonnnng time, but im totes not!!). oh well. changes are always hard, but i always end up learning un monton de cosas. sometimes i just want to speak in spanishhhhhhhh. sorry. 

okay what else what else. 

oh yeah, right now we are teaching a cute little 14 year old who is super super great. he loveeeeeees reading the book of mormon and his testimony of everything is growing super strong and fast. and he will be getting baptized this next weekend(the 8th) --unless he doesnt attned the church this weekend. but he should b/c he is wondie! but it has helped me realize howwwwwww important the book of mormon is in the conversion process of someon knowing the church. if someone is going to knowww that the church is true, and not only that it is something, good and nothing else, they have to read the book of mormon. and pray about it. 

i cant believe that thanksgiving, ya, happened and that christmas is onnn its way. i love christmas so much and i have been trying to get all the people i am teaching excited about christmas so that i will have a fun time even though i am away from all of youuuuu!!!

anyway, not much more to report here. i had pics i wanted to send you, but i forgot the camera. sorry. 

talk to you in a bit!! i love and miss you sooooooooooooooo much!

love,

me

happy thanksgiving??

hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

this week has been good. for starters, i began the week with my face terrrrrrrribly sunburnt. seriously. extremely badly burnt. so badly that it was swollen. also i was dehydrated. hahhahaa as im writing this, im hoping that i am not worreying the mother too much. mom? no no, k? because now, im just fiiiiiine, hunny. but i learned my lesson that i should drink more than just one bottle of water in a day when i am out in the sun and then the next day i shouldnt fast. heh. i was fasting when i realized that i was dyyiiiiing. hahha jokes jokes! i wasnt really dying. but i was verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry ugly. really. ugly. i looked like a monster. i couldnt see my eyes very well or anything. how embarrassing.

also, the part of lima i am in right now is called Callao. im in a district of callao, and basically callao is like one of the most worldly, scary places of the mission. where i am isnt too dangereous, not to worry. but for some reason  i havent told you guys about all the cross dressers that are around these parts. really. its messed up. not only cross dressers but also people who have  changed completely. except their voice. hahahhahaha. how embarrassing for them. anyway. just thought id share that little tid bit with you guys.

okay, annnnnd the baptism of susi and carlitos was WONDIE. i couldnt stop smiling the wholeeeeeee time. the. whole. time. my face cheeks hurt at the end of the night. thank you soooooooo much for your prayers for her. i know that it is due to those that little susy pants was able to be confirmed. twas a miracle. susy and carlos and carlitos and valeria are my FAVORITE family of the mission. when they go to the temple to get sealed i am determined to return to go with them. they are soooooooooo great.

okay, so for this week, i believe that is all that i have to share. i am going to try to attach a couple more pics. i attached pics of carlitos and valeria in their house, too, because the ones from the baptism arent that great of them, and you guys haddddddddd to see their cutenessss!!!

okay well, i love you guys soooooooo much. i cant believe that it is thanksgiving, ya. what the??? how did this happen??? my brain is soooo confused because of the weatherrr.

okay, i love you all sooooooooooooooooo much!!!

love,

me

p.s. happy birthday this 23rd to kelly and maddie!!!!!!

yay! i write now, k?

okayyyyyyy woooooow. this week i feel has been crazy. mostly because the main leader of the missionary work for the whoooole world came to our mission and talked with a few of the missionaries, and then later we had a meeting about everything that is new to the missions in the whole world. for starters, when someone has the learn a foreign language for their mission, normally they would be in the mtc for 9 or 12 weeks. wellllll. now it is 6. and the other misssionaries who are speaking their same language would normally be in the mtc for 3 weeks, but now only 2. and there will be some missionaires who wont even go through the mtc, but straight to the mission field. crazzzzy. i pity them. that  would scare mee sooooooooooo much. but also, they told us it is because the mission work has to progress faster and faster. the guy that spoke also said that he is like 99% shure that Jesus Christ knows now whennnnn he is coming. crazy huh? its soon, folks. also, because of the change in the time in the mtc, we had to change the time when transfers-changes are by 3 weeks earlier. and our mission president told us that this probably means that we will all go home(those of us who go home after february) 3 weeks early. also, crazzzy. it is only 3 weeks, right? but that means that i will end my mission like june 4th. it isnt 100% sure, but that is what it is looking like. so, now you know. 

okay, so those are a few of the new things they shared with us. 

now---- we had the baptism of santiago this weekend!! woooooooooo. it was realllllly sweet and wonderful. he and his wife julia are sooooo great. they both help the other be stronger and more faithful in the church. their next goal now is to go to the temple. wooooooooooo!!! 

also, susi and carlos. PLEASE OH PLEASE pray for them this week, specifically, by name. that susi can be baptized this week and that a miracle can happen with her work so that she can come to church this sunday and be confirmed as well. pleez oh pleeez. that would probs be my only request for this week. 

okay, this is all i am going to write today. sorry it is shorter than usual, but esta bien. next week i promise. im going to send another email with a couple o pics. 

i love and miss you all the mossst!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

love, 

jill

here are 2 pics from the baptism, and one from pday today. we went to aplace with caves and it was super cool. there are more pics. but the internet is super slow here. enjoy!