happpppppy new year!

Hello hello hello!

i hope this finds you all happy and safe and sound. the email from pops about the robbery of kelbs and eric sounded terrible. whyyyyyyy would they rob a family moving? at christmas time? whyyyyy do they do that? it makes me soo ticked off. so, my sister kelly, im ohhh so sorry that happened to you guys. but i am glad that you are safe and sound in washington. 

also, in other newssssss...!!!!! you guys arent going to believe this, buttttttt, and elder in my zone told me that his cousin got his mission call, and it is for the mission...CHINA. and that his mission call wasnt normal, but that it had like a telephone number that he was supposed to call and also his mission is for 3 yearsssssssss! isnt this alll sooo crazy??? the mission in china is offically open. now we can all be sure that the 2nd coming is close close closer.

also, when i was talking to the family in alabama(which was great by the way!!) i told them about this guy we are teaching who is American and he is studying to be a lutheran pastor at the Martin Luther university in wisconsin? or some state like that. and he is down here until june helping out the lutheran church and improving spanish...AND WE ARE TEACHING HIM. personally, i am soooooo excited. we had our first lesson with him this past week, and he was such a nervous little thing. haha poor little thing. and when i went to show him a scripture in the book of mormon, he was looking at it all confused and said, " uhhhhh...hmmmm... wait. this isnt the bible---?" and then he wouldnt read out of it hahaha i was smiling sooo big when that happend because it made me remember EXACTLY how our country is. i looooved it. it reminded me of talking to my friends about the church in high school, and they reacted in ways like that. and i asked him, " oh, so you have no intrest whatsoever to even see what it is or read just a little bit out if it? and he was like, "well....uhhh..." just sooo nervous. haha me and the companion were talking about how we could note that he isnt super strong in his testimony of the things that he is studying. because at the end, he DID accept a book of mormon, and he agreed tooooooo read it. and now we are just praying soooooo so hard that his heart is touched. can you guys pray for that too, porfeeeees? his name is Nathan. 

we are also teaching a little girl named Joselyn. she is great, too!! and she possibly has a bautism this saturday. she is really cute and super great. 

okay, well, i had photos to send you guys, but i have the bad luck to sit at a computer that doesnt have a place to connect my pictrues to send them. sadddddddddddddddddddd. but next week i suppose, right?

well, i love and miss every single one of you SOOOOOOOOO much. it blows my mind to think that i will be able to talk to you guys and see you in just 5 months. isnt that just the craziest? 

love you much!

your sister jill frances

foto from Christmas party with the mission:

Feliz Navidad, Prospero Año y Felicidad!

MERRRRRRY CHRISTMAS, FAMILYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

i hope you guys are passing the christmas real real real great. and i hope you guys are keeping the traditions alive! 

because here, they basically dont existttttttttttttttttt. 

but that is okay, they have some cute little traditions like drinking hot chocolate tonight at midnight. and eating dinner at midnight. and fireworks. 

wooooo!! so we basically wont be sleeping.

we had our party for the mission this week. (im attaching 2 fotos of that. one is of me and President Borg, and the other is of 2 of my fave sister missionary friends that i have here. one is from georgia, too!)

also, in the mission christmas party, they fed us turkey and mashed potatoes and a salad with dried fruit and nuts, and it was delicious and american!!! i was soooo happy. i must say, these days, rice isnt looking super appetizing.

also, today we had a gift exchange between the elders and us in the zone. we all had to draw a name for who we had to buy a gift for...and that was super awkward...because 1) i drew the name of an elder that i dont know and dont really like(oops. heh) 2) he also drew myyyyyy name , and 3) we had to open up the gift that the person gave to us in front of the whole zone, and i felt like i was exchanging gifts like a couple would do.  eeeeeeeeeek!!!!  maybe i am just hyper-sensitive about these kinds of things as a missionary....hahhaa but whatevs. that is what happened.

you guys, we are teaching a lotttttttttttttttttt of people, but  the thing is to get them to progresssssssssss. that is the hard part, folks. so if you guys could pray for that. 

also, Luis has a date again for this 5 of January. so if you guys could pray for him, that would be realllll real great!!!!

i love you alllllll and i wish i could talk to ALLLLL of you guys this holiday season, but a las, i cannnnnttttttttttttttt.

but i love and miss you alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.

love,

sister jill frances

eeeeeek!!!!!

christmas is soo so so so so soooooo soooon!!!!! our plans for christmas thus far is to do a little bit of house hopping because a lot of people are inviting us over!!! yayyy!!!! the more busy the better, so that i dont cry my little heart our. *i must admit that  yesterday i was feeling a bit on the sad side because one guy gave a talk about christmas traditons, and it made me think a lot of ouuuuurrrr christmas tradtions, and i cried a little. oopsies. but im fiiiiiine! if i wasnt sad a little bit, that would mean that i dont have a heart. but i do!! 

so, one of the things that we are going to do on christmas is we are going to the house of our converts, Susi and Carlos and we are going to bake christmas dinner together and be with them, and another one of our converst, Jorge as well. i am actually super super excited!!!

im not sure yet of the time when i will be calling you guys, but this next week or so we will plan for that, so dont worry your little heads. 

so, we had the baptism of Renato!! he is super solid. the president of the quorum of elders who was there whispered to us, "theres the future bishop." and it is sooo true! this guy is solid. it is the power of references for the ward. that is why you guys are soooooo important to the missionary work, okayyyyy? you have to invite the missionaries to teach your friends. 

anyway. also, last night we had our first visit with a little old man, Antonio, with 85 years old and he is my fave!!!!! he reminds me of uncle winston because he is still super sharp and super healthy. and last night during the FIRST lesson, we invited him to baptism and put a date, too! we were both feeling super strong about it, and the moment presented itself perfectly, and we HAD to do it. and so he is going to prepare himself for this 5 of January. 

also, Malena and Luis....they are still soooooooooo great! but it is more complicated with them. this week we are devoting to winning the confidence the parents. so if you could still praying for them, that would be grand!!

okay, well, this is all for now little ones! i love and miss you all soooooo much!!! i hope you are all enjoying this wonderful time of year!! 

love, 

sister jill frances

also, i passed my 1 year mark with my fave family, Susi and Carlos, and i attached a couple of fotos from that night. yay! and they egged my head(this tradition...), so that is why my hair is wet. 

myspacebardoesnt work

well, like my subjectline says, my space bar doesnt really work. eeeeeeeeeek. i mean, it does, but i have to give it a good punch everytime. my thumb is going to break!!!!!

also, this week we went to this grocery story in the rich part of lima, and found...MOUNTAIN DEW!!!! so, i bought 2 cans...because it was a bit on the expensive side. but, yayyyyy!!!! and i drank one this morning, and now im on fih-yuhhhhhhhhh. oh how i loveit soooooomuch!!!!!!! i haveso much energy i feel. it is fake i think because MD has a lotof caffeine, amiright?butttttt it is making me want to attach these little faces and pics!!! woooo!!

ohhhhhhh k.

sooooo christmas is getting closer and closer. before we know it, it will be here!! me and the compi look for any and alllll opportunities to help people decorate their houses or their christmas trees(i will forward the email that un miembro sent us with pics of when we were decoratingthe tree. it was sooooo fun!!! the family is inactive, but since wehave been visiting them, not anymore!!!woooo!!)

so yahhhhhhh.

Luis still doesnt have permission to be baptized. BUT this week wetaught him about fasting and this week we are goingto have a fast with him that his moms heart will be softened. and we are going to do all the possible to win the confidence of his mom.pleeeeeeez pray for that so thathe can be baptized this 15th. 

also, Malena. She has 13 years and she is alsosooooooooooooooo wonderful! she eats up everything that we teach and she always completes her committments toread the book of mormon, or whatever. and her challenge as well is PERMISSION. her mom is member, but inactivefor 15yearsssssssss. and her grandma also is member but for 15 years as well, and her grandma was even relief society pres! and they areboth sayingthat she needs more time. ayyyyy!  im finally understanding what it means when someone is a member of the church, but is not converted. anyway, her date for baptism will be forsometime at the end of this month,(IHOPE!!!) but please pray for her tooo. 

and thenthereis renato. Heis  solid. his baptism is for this sunday, but he has to assist to church this sunday in order to be baptized. please pray that he will asist. 

okay, well that is all for now! i really love my companion!!!! we have a lot of fun together (maybe tooooomuch...) our downfall is laughing. we are both similar in that sense that welaugh too easily....soooo we are working on our self control...

anyway, everything isgreat!! thanks for theemails! i love andmiss youall sooooooooooooo much. 

love, 

sister jill frances