pucha

oh heyyyyyyyyyyyy.
thanks, as always, for my wondie wond emails that i receive from you guys. you have noooooooooooo idea how happy i am to receive them. you guyyyyys. i know that i still lack a lot of time as a missionary...but when i think of how fast the first half went, AHHHHHHHHHHH!!! it scares me a bit to think that i will have to return to real life. being a missionary is really fun and i always feel like the way i am spending my time has the most worth...to imagine my life doing other things-----cray cray. no puedo. also, of course there are things about peru that i dont like, but im completely accustomed to life here, and i cant remember which things shocked me when i first got here. and i have 9 more months to grow even moooorreee accustomed. oh man.
so yesterday one of the guys we are teaching, Cristian, came to church and me and the compi were sooooooo surprised. why? because he is what we call a "galan" or the kind of investigator who wants to flirt with us more than learn about the gospel. help me!!! it always makes me suuuuppppperrrr uncomfortable(I dont know how to react to flirting anymore!! how will i be when i return??). okay, actually, that is kind of a lie. usually, i just have to shut him down by giving a half-laugh and continuing the lesson hahahha but my poor little compi is SUPER uncomfortable hahaha it is pretty funny. anyway, we have another lesson with him tomorrow and we are having 2 of the elders accompany us to see if he really is interested in learning more. hahahhaha i dont know why, but im super excited to see what happens. eeeeek!!
also, i just MUST tell you guys that i LOVE my current zone that i am in. i love all the elders so much! ive adopted 6 little brothers. me and my companion have the funnest time. and they always are making sure that we are doing okay. that will be little eli, brandt, asher, and greyson someday. cuuuuutest!!!!
also, i got bangs. 2 words for you: lord farkwod (from shrek) i have learned my lesson not to trust the hair places here. bad news at black rock.
also, my little compi has been super sick this week, but i have learned more little tricks of the trade about how i can care for people more. one thing i did for the first time is i bought fresh little herbs from one of the markets here and prepared a healthy, herb tea for her from scratch! it was really fun.hahahha and it made her feel better, too! yay!
also...i drink soooooooooooooooo much water. and still...i am suffering from transito lento, o sea, constipationnnnnnnnnnnnnn. while my companion has had diarhea. oh how i wish i would have that. pleeeeeeeez. sorry...that is gross. but i have to share it with someone...

okay. now the important things. JORGE.
jorge is myy fave of the week. seriously. he has been coming to church for his own  will for the past 3-4 weeks and has the desire to be baptized and he reminds me a lot of how dad probably was when he was knowing the church.  his family is super catholic(they are actually active) and he still hasnt felt like it is the time to share that he is going to convert to the church. but he also told us that his family is super tight knit and that he they will see that what he is doing isnt anything bad, and he can feel that his life is changing through what he is learning, and he knows that his family will be able to see it too. he said that he hasnt been 100% sure of everything, but then when he told one of his friends who is also catholic about what he was doing, and his friend began to attack him a little bit, Jorge defended his actions--and he told us that was his answer that he truly beleives that these things are true. isnt that so great?? and it is true.
when he tells his parents about all of this, we are going to put a fecha of baptism for him.  he is soooooooooooo great. he is one of the most sincere, greatest, and ready person that ihave  met in my whole time in the mission.
also, today as a zone we studied about the atonement of Jesus Christ. still, it is something that i cant fully comprehend. but i know that is works because i have felt it. but it made me realize how important it is that we dont have fear when we are sharing with people about the commandments and we are inviting them to change and repent because through doing this, the people have to opportunity to apply the suffering of Christ to their lives. if we dont, Christ will have suffered for naught. They can feel it and be with out guilt in their lives anfd live happily peacefully in their lives--the way that God wants us to live. also, with trials, as mmuch as they suck, it is another opportunity to understnad a little more how Christ suffered for us. and we can progress from them. i realllllllly need to study more about it so that i can help people understand it better.
okay, well this is all for today. ahhh long. sorry. i love you guys all and miss you all SOOOOOOOOOOO much!!!!!
love, me
p.s. i am attaching some pics. of when me and the zone went to the central of lima a couple of weeks ago and then went to this hill with this cross and you can look out to allll of lima. it was pretty cool and fun. alsssooooo a pic of me and my compi b-c we love each other sooo much! and also letter i received from one of my friends that had a stamp on it that said missent to tyland. sooooooo if you guys write me letters and i never write you back...now you know why. they are in tyland. welcome to the postal services of peru.

im aliveeee!!!

happy belated birthday, lia!

no, my subject line shouldnt suggest that i escaped from a near death experience. hahahah but i didnt write you guys yesterday because we changed our pday to today because we went to the temple today...!!! and it isnt opened on mondays, soooooo, get it? i was soooooooooooooo happy to go to the temple today, too becausse i havent been in over 12 weeks!!!! so today is very good for that reason. and i ate burger king for lunch!!!! hahahhaa mabes that isnt very cool for you guys, but it always pulls me back to my american roots and makes me soooo happy. but also, i ate a whopper and it made me remember those days when i was 7 years old and dad bragged that i could eat 2 whoppers?? wha wha whaaattt?? i could barely finish one... how in the world...? and i stiiiiiill have the little belly that i gained with those 7 years of mine. but it was still enjoyable. also, dad, did i really eat 2 whoppers? that is prettttty gross. eeeek!! 

also, this day is really great because the sun is out!!!!!! you guys have nooo idea. it has been sooooo gloomy for the past like 2 months. sometimes i think i have that one thing called SADS. is that what it is called? where you are sad from no sun? i havent been sad, exactly. but there is a huuuuuuuuge change in my mood when the sun comes out. spring is finally here, so we shoullld be seeing more of my wonderful friend, mr. sunshine. (hahahhahaa that sounds like something mom would say, huh?)

also, as you may see in some of the fotos i am sending, i have chubby cheekssssssss. welp, thats what eating rice and potatoes and chicken will do for you after 9 months. 

9 months. can you guys believe that i will be home in 9 months????' someone should get pregnant so that we can have a countdown together. any takers??? no no no--hannah and lia. no.

ahhhhhhh. what else what else.

oh!! yeah. okay, so luis has a baptism date for this 30th of this month. PLEEEEEEZ pray for him. actually, please pray for everyonnnneeeeeeeee. me and my compy are working ohhhhh so hard. and i have never felt so vulnerable. some of these people i have realllllly grown to love. a lotttttttttttttttttt. and knowing them better and where they come from makes it even MORE important to me that they accept the gospel because i can see how much it could change their lives. so, any prayers from annnnnyyyone are GREATLY appreaciated. 

also, i have been wayyyy constipated. hahhaha thats pretty gross to say "wayyy" before that. hahaha. another thang that rice and potatoes does for ya. and i had to get a little capsule thing put "up up and away" (if you know what i mean) so that i coulld go to the bathroom. it was really uncomfortable. but...it worked. oops. sorry if that was too much hahahha.

allllsooo i am attaching a couple of pictures for you guys. the first one is of our current pensionista, Nelly. she is really great and makes really good food. buuuut....doesnt use veggies. 

the second one is of me with these cute little brother and sister, Emelyn and Brylan. they are suppperrrr poor, but super happy. this day with them brought food to their house and cooked with them and their mom and older brother and fried fish together. wooo!! twas quite fun. and emelyn fixed my hair. 

and the 3rd one is of me with Jeffrey and Sol Maria, who are also brother and sister. they are less active, but are sooooo great!!!! we had an fhe with them. jeffrey always comes to lessons with us and so we bought him a friendship bracelte and now him and me and my compy have matching ones. hahaha.

and the last one is of today with the zone, eating burger king. wooo!!! 

i love you guys all SOOOOOOOOO  much and miss you a ton!! thanks for all your thoughts and prayers!!!

love, 

jill 

"Direct access to World of Warcraft!!!!!!!!!!!"

family!!!!!
im sooooooooo happy to be writing you guys. and, as for my subject line--you can thank the two guys that are sitting on each side of me. thank you "pandamonium" and other, who i havent had the pleasure of seeing your screen name yet. woooo!!! also, on my desktop, all ihave to do is clickity click, and iiiii can enter in, too!!! oh, and by the way. his name is "itaro20" hahhahahhaha oh man. toooooo funny. anyway...
you guys, i wish i could express to you howwwww happy i am with this change. being in a trio is nottttt where i like to be as a missionary, that is for sure. and now it is just hna. quispe and i. and i DID NOT enjoy the presence of my other companion, and so this week has been soooooooooo much more enjoyable with just the 2 of us. hna. quispe is reallly great and so far she is my most favorite compi. we both have the same goals about what we need to do to have more success, and it is sooooo great.
this week, however, something has happened to my back. what the? i dont get it. well... actually i do.  i was realizing how out of shape i was and i found a jump rope and this past wednesday i did a couple of little jumps until i realized that jumping up and down definitely wasnt making me feel less fatty--on the contrary, i could feel every ounce of fat that i have. and so i stopped because i was embarrassed .hahahhaha and hna quispe was laughing at me hahaha. but then i think that something happened in my back and i have been having shooting pains like never in my lifeeeeeeeeeeeeee. so today i am going to the doctor. eeek! wish me luck!! total will be good, no worries.
okay, so this week we have had the pleasure of meeting 3 little men who are just the greatesttttt. i love them sooo much! one is luis blas. we have been teaching him this whole week and we invited him to be baptized for the end of this month, and he said yes!!! he has 21 years. hahaha i mean he is 21 yrs old. and we met him knocking doors and he has turned out to be super great and is progressing nicely.
also, there is Jorge. jorge is 24 yrs old and he came to church a week ago because he works with a girl who is an RM and she isnt in our ward, but found the address and gave him the address to our chapel, and he came all by himself. and then yesterday he came agaiiinnnn and after church we met with him and he told us that his friend from work had shared some things about the church with him and he took interest in what she was saying because it was new information that were things that he had thought about before and seemed true. and he told us that he has felt really good coming to church. and we taught him about the restauracion yesterday and he was really receptive and we asked him that if he receives the answer to his prayer that these things are true, would he be baptized? and he said yessssss!!!! he said that his family is super catholic and that they dont know that he has been attending this church, but that he thinks that everything will be okay. and we told him that maybe his family wont respond well, too, but that God will make everything okay. he is sooooo great and so self motivated.
and the 3rd is Noel. (hannah...hahhaha) he is 21 as well. and we taught him for the first time last night too. he was a street contact and we gave him the book of mormon and  invited him to read the introduccion. and last night when we met with him we asked him if he had the chance to read some of the book, and he said yes. and then began to tell us that he was really enjoying it, and began to tell us everything that he had read and learned, and basically had read like the first 15 chapters!!!!! eeeeeek!!! can you believe it?! we were soo happpy!! i couldnt stop smiling. he is so great too.
i feel super privledged to be teaching these people. theyre all soooo so so so great.
we are teaching these 2 ladies Vilma, and Fania and they are both in the process of "receiving their answer to prayer" as to if this is the true chruch and if they should be baptized. PLEASEEEEEEEEE pray for them to receive the answer in a way that they can recognize and to have the faith to follow what they receive.
well family, i love you guys alll sooooooooooo much. and miss you soooooooo much. hey! im half way done. i´ll be seeing you guys in just 9 months. crazy, huh???
love,
hna jill

behind these things aliiiive!!!

hhhaahhaha so the subject line of hannah´s email was "here i am once again", which, of course, is from a kelly clarkson song, which got me singing that song, which then got me to remember how celeste used to sing it....which leads me to myyyy subject line. the song says, "behind these hazel eyes" but celeste said what my subject line says....hahahhahaha ohhhh funny.
okay on to other matters...
tomorrow we have changes again!! woooo!!!! i cant believe how fast each 6 weeks is going by for me. seriously. 7 changes left and i will be home. isnt that the craziest???? that is going to go by sooooooooooo fast. after tomorrow, only 2 more change meetings of the year. eeeeeek!
so if you are imagining that as i am writing this i have a lot of energy, you are corrrecccccct!!!!!!!! thanks to the liquid/powdered energy i recieved from you guys for my birthday, i now have  LOTTTS of energy!!!!! but i save if for those special occassions. like when i have migranes. for some reason i have been having migranes like alllllllllllll the time. i dont know why...  but i got some prescription migrane meds, so those help. and i have all kinds of caffeinated treats. yipeeee!!!  oh no. im rambling soo much. disculpe.
okay, so also, i am happy because one of my compis has a change!!! and it is the one that always gets offended!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yesssssssssssssssss. i must tell you guys that it has been extrememlyyyyyyyyyyyy difficult to live with her. and this past week, i may or may not have told her that. woops. mabes it wasnt the most christlike thing of me to do, but something had to be said. so i think we are all happy about the change. i think that the mission is bringing out the agressive side in me. and so i am practicing being assertive rather than agressive. hahahaha oh man. i wonder if i will have changed a whole lot when i get back. you guys will have to let me know.
okay soooooooooooo, what else. what else.
oh yeah--so we have been teaching this guy named oscar and he was going to be baptized this past saturday, so he had his interview on thursday night. then, after his interview, he asked me and my companions if he could talk with meeee in private. uh oh dopey. we said no because, of course as compis we have to be within sight and sound at all time. and he kept saying that it was something personal and just needed to talk with me about it. so we said, hey mabe you can talk to the bishop. and he said,no, i just need to talk with hermana fleming. hahhahaa  anyway, so after much deliberation, he decided to come out and say, " okay, well, im not very smooth with saying thiings like this, but... hermana fleming, im in love with you."  and when he said the love part, he got a little quieter. i immmmmediately looked down at my feet because i knew that if i looked at him any longer or at my companions i would lose myself to laughter.
hahahhahahaha it was one of the most awkward experiences. especially if you knew this little guy--and i say little with the most literal meaning possible.
also, i am attaching some pictures of this less active family that we have been teaching and visiting and they are FINALLy back active and it is the best best best feeling to have them at church. oscar didnt show up to his baptism i think because of embarrassment...oops. and so this family, the family Garcia, to help us feel better, took us out to dinner. you guys, they are superrrrr poor, and they took me and my 2 compis out to dinner!! they are the greatest and i really love this family a whole whole lot. they introduced us to a family friend who wants to know the church, so now she is getting the lessons, too.
ALSO. how could i forget???the apostle Elder Christofferson came and spoke to us, and the other 4 missions here in Lima this past friday and it was super super super great. man, the spirit in that room was superrrrrrrrrrrrr strong. i cant even tell you. it was a really great day.
we are teaching a lot of great people. pray for them that they can progress. i  never really share with you guys my testimony of these things...i think because i share it with people all the time. but there is not a doubt in my mind that the church that Christ established when he was in the earth with profets, apostoles, and the authority of God--the priesthood--has been restored to the earth, through another prophet, like in the times of the Bible. and because of him, we now live the blessings. we have the Book of Mormon, too and if we read and pray about the words found in that book, to know if they are true or not, we will gain a testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet, called of God, and our testimony that Jesus Christ as our savior will increase. and anything that we read from the bible that isnt clear to us, will be made clear with the Book of mormon. and the same with the book of mormon--if something isnt clear from that, the bible will help us.
i am really reallllllllly happy to know these things. thanks for all your examples that have helped me understand these things better.
il ove you all andm iss you all sooooooooooo much!!!
love,
jill
p.s. the last pic is of my comp and our little lady that does our laundry. she is THE GREATEST. she cleans and dries, and irons and fold our laundry every week. i love her sooooo much!!! her name is Chela.