Letter #36 from Mary

Happy birthday daddy!!!!

Hey daddy, can you forward this to mom and rachel? Its good to hear from
you all! I am here in quillabamba still, we tecnically have no progressing
investigators at this time, however we have a few that are almost
considered progressing lol. I have never worked so hard and seen so little
results. Its even harder watching other missionaries work less and reep
more benefits. You cant help  but wonder... am i doing everything right,
everything possible to help our investigators, and the Lord is testing me,
or am doing something wrong and need to change? I dont know to be honest.
But, I am so grateful to my heavenly for the people i have met. Veder is
really our investigator with the most progression. its amazing how the
jovenes... the youth of the branch have just taken him under their wing. It
makes all the difference. He goes to early morning seminary, he likes to go
to the church to play the piano, he is giving references, we just have to
get him to really commit! and also, get ahold of his dad, who doesnt have
his phone and went to work in the jungle for a while... so thats also
difficult. Also, all the catholic schools have this thing called desfile on
sundays and its required. but we are doing the best we can. man its been a
rough change. Grateful, i know i am learning a lesson i have never had to
learn. There is so much that has happened, and i have been so humbled, and
i have a feeling its not going to stop until i have been humbled to the
dust. And thats a good thing... but man, sometimes you wonder how much more
you can take. How much more can I possibly be stretched without breaking? I
love what destin said,"You wont die." also, i know that was your phrase
mom whenever things got rough. And its true, i wont die, And i am happy,
because i know i have been sooooo blessed. beyond what i could even
deserve. There is a season for everything.

Rach- i had a funny dream, i dreamed that i was with you guys and you were
all packing up to go to england, and i saw that you packed my blanket to
give to boston and maddie!!! i ripped it out from under boston, and even
though he started to cry, i just said to him, no! Hermana swartz´s blanket.
hahahaha. it was very similar to joey on friends when he rips hugsey away
from emma... strange dream lol.

DAddy, i hope your birthday rocked. i promise next year i´ll make you a
mean chocolate cake. I thought about you all day that day! 54, wow.
impressive. I love the pictures you sent, they are awesome. i just want you
to know, you are the best father i could have ever asked for. you have
always given everything you could to us, and you gave me a good example of
how a husband should treat his wife and daughters. I will not settle for
anything less than flowers every 3 to six months hahaha. Thank you daddy, i
love you sooo much, and i am sooo blessed to be your daughter.

Welp i think thats all for now. Just keep praying for our investigators,
they really need it. we need them to recieve answers to their prayers. I
love you all!!!!

Hermana Swartz

letter #35 from Mary

Mom, and daddy, thanks for your letters this week. Its not been the easiest transfer for me, but i love reading your letters. they help a ton!!! oh if you ever decide to send a package in the near future... i dont have mascara, and its SUPER expensive in quillabamba. also, mod bod shirts at some point would be welcomed. but if not, i will survive, and even still be happy. .)
Hey family!!! Wow, its been an interesting week. Conference was sooo great! all our mouths dropped with the news of the age change. They announced the 18 year old thing here a few months ago, so the big news was more the 19 year old rule. wow, my mouth dropped, and stayed there for like, 5 minutes. i couldnt believe it, oh how i wanted to serve when i was 19!!! We are the last generation on the mission before recieving the new revelation, so pretty much we are the last of the un prepared hahaha. after us, begins the newbies who are more prepared. lol. but it will be awesome. i think its brilliant. plus, i know that this is the time and the place for me.
Wow, thank thank thank you mom for telling me about jill! nobody has given me any details!!! i am so happy for her, she is all married now and what not. VACAN. and yay for the ring ceremony in june!!! yeah it has to be after the 27th. because i leave peru the 26th, but its like a day or two just to get back. man, good for her. And rach is going to do the pics, eh? thats awesome. RAchel does a good job. 
THis week, i was soooo tired. there are 4 of us who live together, and so when one gets sick, everyone gets sick. we all got a bad cold, and were so exhausted, i have never been so tired in my life. We all 4 share the same bedroom and everything. one morning, my comp asked me if i slept okay. i said, "yeah, i was out like a rock" she said, "really?" and then told me i was contacting in my sleep in spanish, and committing people to baptism, and then stood up to the window and was looking at my arms, and then got back in bed, and fell asleep with my arms straight up. how strange hahahaha. i was definitly not awake for any of that. so cool. 
<our investigators... mas o menos. they all are like 16 or 17 and need permision to get baptized but we cant find their parents. The only one who is 19 years old went on a trip to valle sagrado for the weekend so that was a bummer. we just cant figure out how to get them to progress!!! its sooooo frustrating! but we keep working. i guess i cant always be the one to reep, i have to sew as well and learn patience. But we keep working and praying, and hopefully we are touching hearts and preparing them so that soon they can accept the gospel. The more i study this gospel, the more clear it becomes and i love it more and more everyday. its soooo LOGICAL. it just makes sense. anyone who says otherwise is mistaken, and clearly has not studied it well.

Welp, time to go. love you all! tune in monday for next weeks report.

Letter #34 from Mary

Hey family! 

This month has been a rough one. not one baptism!!! everybody has their problems that prevent them from baptism. but i know that i have been obedient and done all i could to serve and teach others. i have testified of my christ, and am learning patience. ... i thought i was a patient person, but its becoming clear to me i am not. was i a patient person before the mission? because i always thought i was a down to earth patient, loving, person. My reputation on the mission is a little different hahahahahaha. What was i like before? that is a real question that i would like an answer to fyi. :) 

I was attacked by a chicken while i was giving a prayer yesterday. so that was cool. the couple only speaks quechua, so they didnt understand much, but we are going to bring someone who speaks quechua. Also our investigator came to church, Veder!!! he is 14 and sings a plays guitar, he played in the talent show on friday. yesteday we had a lesson and he showed up 2 hours early to play the piano in the church. he doesnt play by the way, he decided he wanted to learn, and sat down, and learned a third of the song a poor wayfairing man of grief!!!! incredible. i lack patience to do that. after about 30 seconds, i am done. but i would like to learn one day.  
What else, i sang his hands for the talent show, so that was fun. most latinos are tone deaf, so its not as scary to sing infront of them. hahaha. Um... kassie is home from what i know, she had health problems and had to go home. Tiff gets home in january i thing. crazy. time sure goes by quick. I want some pictures of london, and of my nefew bastian!!!! send pictures, and i{ll try to send some recent pictures next week, the ones i sent werent exactly recent, or ill wait until after i come back from machu piccu. .. anyway, love you all. the mission rocks. best thing i have ever done. 


Hermana Swartz.

Letter #33 from Mary

Hey family! another week has gone by in quillabamba. Holy cow the people are super different from the people in Puerto. I definitely did not appreciate how easy it was to get in doors. Here, the people are just not quite as friendly, but the members are great!!! We are working really hard to get to know the members better so they will give us more references. 

its so funny, as soon as i feel like im doing something well, i lack something else and have to go back and change that. Before, i was forgetting to repent myself and not just teach the atonement, if not apply it. today i realized, i am repenting, but i shouldnt focus too much on numbers, and need to teach with patience and love and pray to love the new people i am teaching. I just get so frustrated when I think i am teaching something well, and they just dont get it! i feel like its so simple, i just want to ask, what dont you get? why arent you getting this!? its SO SIMPLE!!! But i suppose it wouldnt be so simple if its the first time you hear it, or if you have had years of catholicism pounded into you.  one thing at a time i guess.  to quote jaffar, patience eiago, patience. 

I am headed with my companion to cusco again this week to go sing, but this time, my companion is coming with me!!!! i am super excited, she is going to sing in the choir. This time we are singing for the stake intiraimy, which is the stake that the mission president, President calderon is in, so its supposed to be huge! little bit nervous, but it will be great im sure. 

quick proseliting story. so we were looking for antiguos investigadores, and we knocked a door, and a little girl answered and said she didnt live there. i asked when she would be back, and the little girl said she didnt know, and shut the door in my face. now, normally i would just walk away, but for some reason, this irritated me. what did we do to her to have her treat us so poorly?  i turned to companion, and said, i am going to knock again, that was rude of her. so i knock again, with a little more force. we hear the mom yelling, who is at the door! what do they want!? she sounds ticked. my pride took off running, and left me stranded on the porch of a ticked off peruvian woman, alone. as i realized what i had done, and start thinking what i am going to say when she answers, right? So she answers, and we put on our best feliz cumpleanos faces, even though we were a little scared. so she looks mad at first, but then sees the badge of power and authority, and her face completely changes! she looks at me and says, do you know clara and hugo in cusco? they are members of your church... they are my cousins. I was still surprised by the change of... feeling? i dont know how to say what i want to say in english dang it, but you know what i mean. bbut in that moment i realize i know the whole family! hugo and clara helped us out a ton in cusco!!!! and we have plans to visit them this week when we are there!!! it was such a blessing because we almost never double knock a door after rejection, but i am soooo glad we did because she invited us to come back and teach her mom, and her son. she doesnt live with her boyfriend, so we{ll see what happens. but it was a blessing from the lord. what are the chances that i would know her cousins in cusco, cusco is big! and that the first words out of her mouth would be asking if i knew them! how cool???!!

Welp fam, the church is true. the book is blue. 

Letter #32 from Mary

i am in quillabamba again! i love it, hermana lepez is my companion. She is 33 years old, but she is great. she is from Argentina. I still dont know the area or inv. very well, but we had two couples come to church yesterday that have to get married. Soooooo much work, but if thats what god wants, thats what we'll do. Also, cool experience. Hermana lepez and i were talking to a man who's son is the second councelor in the rama, and we were talking to him and started on the book of mormon, and at the end, we taught him how to pray. after, his son with tears in his eyes said in 10 years of listening to missionaries on and off, he has never heard his father offer a prayer, and thanked us. Thats why i am here, thats why i am serving. i love love that heavenly father is blessing me so much to help others change their lives. its such  a blessing to watch others change, and watch them discover a happiness they have never known.

 

i got some excellent letters from a lot of people, thank you so so so much for your letters. it costs so much to respond, so i will try but if i dont write back its becuase i am broke, not because i dont love and appreciate the letters. i heard kass is headed home this week, try to find her and talk to her. Also, brittany anderson is home. i hope they write me! I want pictures of jill and her new husband. Girl best be writing me soon!!!! welp, i have to go.

Letter #31 From Mary

Hey family!

 Well, I just got back from Quillabamba yesterday. The concert went really well, but the song his hands... got slaughtered which was so sad because it should be the best song in the program. so we decided to take the choir out, and make it into a solo or a duo piece. i think it will go much better. Quillabamba is sooo pretty, but i was so sick. I flew to cusco, then the asistents, myself and elder ryan, and president and his wife drove out to quillabamba, 5 hour drive. it was really fun, but i got super sick. its a dirt road on the side of a mountain that is super curvy. As your coming down, it looks like land before time. soooo awesome. The bathrooms were they typical peruvian bathroom on the side of the road... a hole in the ground with a tarp for privacy... special.

I know there is a blog.. this part i dont really want on the blog for everybody, but its whats happening. In the rama, They named me the unofficial relief society president because i kept asking for one... i dont know how many times we have asked for a president, and they keep telling us... una se va a nacer... wow. thats like saying you blew up a library and a dictionary was born. so finally my comp and i organized the visiting teaching companionships, we are also organizing a better plan misional working with 5 families for the branch mtc, and also trying to work with 5 less active families from the relief society and 5 less actives from the quorom of elders... and on top of it, traveling, and still have to get 2 or three baptisms a month, and get all the key indicators. How is this all possible you ask? Well to be honest i am not sure it is, because we are falling short. a rama means branch fyi. but I am pretty sure i am going to have a change because i have been here 6 months, and thats normally the longest people have in an area. Its a long time. i dont know if you know.

thanks for the letters!!!!! i got a few already!!! wow. Letters help sooooo much to boost el animo... i dont remember how to say that in english, but its true. Welp, love you all soooo much! the mission is the best thing that has ever happened to me. i have never been so tired, the black circles under my eyes are impressive hahaa. i love it. I also heard that president wilkinsen got called to be a mission president in costa rica!!!! oh my gosh how cool!!!! Welp, gotta run. love you all.

 

Hermana swartz

 

ROMI!!!! lo que me dijiste... que chevere!!! tienes que hablar con el, no con el chico de lima... el chico de tu barrio. podria ser vacan. ¿Como te va tu llamamiento?¿Todavia estresante? Bueno yo se que para mujeres jovenes, no hay mejor persona de ti, mi mamita para ser presidenta. Oye! que tal tu familia!!! queiro saber de tu hermana, se va a casar??? ¿que tal tu sobrinito?!!! Y tus padres? no me has dicho nada de ellos!! ¿Que te pasa, eh?!!

 Te quiero muchoooo!!!! --- Hermana Swartz

Letter #30 from Mary

Hey family! life is great. Thanks for your emails! Destin is such a better person than i am. I would like a package for christmas haha, I would love music, classical... piano and cello if possible. Also, I would also like to know how much is on my account? i have to withdraw some money because I am going to Quillabamba this week to sing. 

Welp, there is not too much to report this week, just working hard. Well, okay I was a little frustrated this week because we the people that were progressing, arent progressing and it looks like we are going to have to drop the majority of them and focus on the new people. This for me is one of the hardest parts, are they not progressing because i didnt do my part, or because they are choosing not to accept it? There is so much that goes into a baptism. its not just teach, invite, baptize. its a whole equation that if one thing is off, you have to go back over your work, figure out where you went wrong, and redo it. and thats not even including free will! you throw some free will in there, and its a whole different ball game. The question is, how am I personally, am i personally on track? are we on track as a companionship? are we being obedient? are we teaching well together? Do we love and serve eachother? Do we apply the atonement daily in our lives? Do I teach what people need and not just lessons? Do i work the whole week to get numbers so the leaders dont burn us, or am i really working because i want to help the people with the things that they need? Do i study the scriptures because i should, or do i seach with diligence? Do I pray because i am supposed to, or do i pray with hunger, and real intent? When i teach, do i teach to check off a lesson, or i teach what they need with love? So many questions!!!! so much room to improve. 

The good news is, every sunday, the congregation is filled with people we have brought to the church, and people we have helped bring back. There is soooo much joy in seeing the difference in their lives, and seeing families live the gospel. Alma knew what he was talking about when he said that he strived everyday to bring others to the knoweledge to the gospel because it brought him joy. Word. Well i love you all so so so much, i hope you are all doing well! send me letters, even if its just through Dear elder! its FREE dang it. I hit six months and its like somebody put a cork in my fountain of letters. I  was abandoned after only 6 months. lame. 

And all this I leave with you,

 with all my love. 

Hermana Swartz.

Letter #29 from Mary

Hey family! wow there is so muchg to say and no time. for christmas, I would love music. mo-tab, and classical. and candy, please. 

On Wednesday I got on a 13 hour bus ride to PUNO!!! I am still in puno, but i go back to puerto today. i came for the concerts,,, we had a concert in juliaca on friday, bellavista saturday, and puno central last night. we were on tv for puno on thursday morning and sang on tv! Then sunday, in the morning hrna martinez and i went to los uros... those are the floating islands on lake titikaka to go sing for the members! the church is made out of reeds too, it was amazing. We went just the two of us with the 2nd councelor of the mission. Also, i wasnt there for it saturday, but my two converts got baptized! I was sad i couldnt be there for it, but the most important thing is that they got baptized, and i am beyond happy about that. 

I have been so blessed, and i dont feel i deserve any of it. The people treat us like celebrities or something, and we were signing autographs for an hour, but to be honest i almost said last night i dont want to do this anymore. its hard, its stressful, and half the time i sing well, the other half i make mistakes. plus i never have been one to love the spot light that much, so much pressure. I am still going to finish out all the concerts, but its hard. there is so much going on in my area that i am missing. But i know that that in the long run, the concert helps gets tons and tons of references, so thats makes it worth it. If the lord wants me to sing, thats what i'll do. 

rach, send pictures of england! i cant believe you are going! also, i want pictures of my of my niece and nephews! love you all, i'll send pics of puno!!!!!

Hermana San Francisco!! Wow, me encantan sus fotos! Se acuerda de hermana creek? ella es mi companera! loca, todavia estamos en puerto trabajando duro. tuvimos dos bautismos sabado, pero, ahorita estoy en puno visitando para cantar! es muy chevere. Come un heladito extra en la playa para mi!!! Oiga, que paso con sus citas con los chicos! cuenteme porfa!!!!  quiero saber que esta pasando alli pue! le quiero mucho, cuenteme cuenteme! 

Letter #28 from Mary

Hey daddy, that sounds like fun camping with david and chris. i sure miss cool weather, its so hot here all the time. i am going on 6 months here in puerto! my companion and i are doing really well. I love her so so much! We only speak in spanish, and are working hard. 

Here is the update. the peruvian postal service is on strike in lima... we can still recieve letters, but we cant send anything out! The worst part is i went to another service, and paid a bunch of money to send it out a few weeks ago to the us, and when we went back, they told us that their company doesnt send mail internationally. yep, so that means the cheif that told me he could just pocketed my money. awesome. sorry family and friends for not writing you all, i have tried, but it just backfired. BUT PLEASE STILL SEND ME LETTERS!! we can recieve just fine, just cant send. 

Things that have happened this week. in church, rosa and frank came! frank is a member less active, and rosa is his girlfriend who we are teaching, they live together and have a child. They both stood up and bore their testimony of the gospel with tears in their eyes-. it was truly a miracle to see. the whole branch was in tears. It was also so awesome to see almost all of the people i have taught and that have been baptized be in church yesterday... there were at least 10, and 3 investigators who have all accepted baptismal dates. Also, Vilma and her son werent there, but they are getting baptized too. Vilma had such a hard heart before and she has truly had such a change of heart. She is in puno this week, but is going to attend there!!! and be baptized at the end of this month. 

Also there is this little girl who we love, her name is angela. I have never seen a child with a bigger desire to go to church. everyday, when we walk by her, she chases us down and says, hermanitas!!! we are going to go to church on sunday!!! she is 3. yesterday, her mom didnt go to church, and when we passed by her, she ran to us, and said ¨are you going to take me to church? its sunday!? she had been waiting all week for us to pick her up. we forgot. church had already passed, but we figured we could invite her to see the church, but her mom said she didnt have time. Angela burst into tears. it broke our hearts. its so sad to see when the children have a desire to be righteous..and the  parents do nothing about it. ugh its frustrating. so sad. 

Wow it  sounds like so much has happened this week... I am so glad rachel went to help the sister with all those trials, how hard!!! if there is one thing i have learned, its that nothing is impossible, just difficult. if the lord gives us trials, its because its for our good. even though we dont understand them sometimes. i realize that i am saying this and here i am happy and blessed on a mission, but i still know them to true, and i will take that knowledge with me through out my life, and apply it whenever i have to ask, Why is this so hard? Anyway, i love you all. please write me, its been weeks since i have had even a letter. but my comp gets tons! love you! 

Burboa, y Villanueva! Uds estan en sus casas!!! espero que todo les vaya bien, y que siempre recuerden las cosas que han aprendido de la mision! voy a enviar las fotos que tengo a ustedes. ciou!

Hermana swartz.

Letter #27 from Mary

Daddy, can you forward this to everyone please??? Thanks pops. I loved
your email haha with the 15 year olds... some times i feel the same way
with investigators, only instead of drinking redbull, theyre drinking hard
liquor. so fun. Mom, sounds like a blast in canada!!! oh my lanta, so fun.
sometimes a getaway with friends is exactly what we need. Hey did you guys
get my package, i sent a package with some music... I reallly hope you got
it! 

Rachel, i would love more of the physician formula concelear. the make up
is not so great here. I love love love hearing about my adorable nefews and
neice... i had a dream that you are going to have another baby in february,
just a heads up on that. that would be way cool if you guys go to london
for a few months!!! cool oportunity!!!

Destin, wow. Russia is tough, but fascinating. My key indicators are
normally contacts, 50 ish, with member 15, 12, 10 10, 12 new, less active
and converts 10. ish. Its a little tough with the members sometimes, but
the whole mission is now really focusing on getting the members to
participate in the ward and branch mtc. they have to get contacts, and give
away books of mormon, and at the end they graduate, but it teaches the
members how to share the gospel so we can work on a bigger scale! i am
soooo excited.

Yesterday we had district conference, we sang a special number and then
president called me up to sing a duet with him hahahaha oh man, so we sang
on the spot... it was really special ahaha. But i feel so grateful for all
of the blessings i have recieved and i can not imagen my life with out this
mission. I have truly been so blessed with incredible opportunities, its
incredible. my panion has a transfer, and i am staying here in the jungle.
i wont get to finish training her. President told me he is putting hermana
creek as my companion. She is an american sister that is struggling with
the language, and hasnt had much help from her companions. pres has never
put two american sisters together before... and we are from the same group,
we were together in the mtc! so that will be interseting, but i am really
sad to not be with hermana ayala. she is so christ like and really has
tought me so much about how to serve. i love her so so much. oh well, such
is the mission.

oh daddy you asked about how are my investigators... this month has been a
little rough. but we have three baptisms scheduled for the 28th. we have
been working really hard with isabel, she is around 60 yrs old and feels
she is too old to get baptized and feels embarrassed. we are really working
to help her feel that age does not matter to christ. Tambien we have 2
kids, 9 and eleven and they come from part member families. and want to be
baptized. so thats good. anyway, please pray for isaabel to have the
courage and the kids to have the support from their families to be
baptized.

Letter #26 from Mary

Hey family! I love the moab pictures!!!! Dad, you are so cool. The Elders
were all very impressed. I am not going to lie, i am a little jealous. Cant
wait to go when i get home!!!! It sounds like you two are playing more than
ever. Whats that like again? I cant remember.

Destin, what is it like being a missionary in Russia? Do you guys knock
tons of doors? How many contacts do you get a week? What do you guys do
all day? Do you focus on the same investigators for months and months? Its
got to be the same, but so different because we find people and teach them,
and if they dont progress, we drop in 3 weeks. I would love to know what
you guys do over there. Lots of activities, or what?

This week we helped a family move, the whole zone did a service. but it
wasnt your typical move job... here its a little different. We took apart
the whole house and carried all the materials to the new lot to rebuild the
house. We literally moved an entire house. So much work, and of course we
didnt completely finish, but the majority of the house we moved in about 4
hours. We were beyond tired, but its always a good feeling to serve others.

Welp family, love you so much! i love the mission, we are struggling a
little with the investigators right now, we havent had one baptism this
month, but we have 3 that can get baptized the 28th, so we are really going
to focus on what they need, and see if we can help them gain a testimony.
And if we dont reach our goal of 3 baptisms this month, its okay. the most
important thing is that the people we baptize really have a testimony of
the gospel. Baptize converts is the goal. Anyway, love you tons family and
friends! tell maddie happy birthday!!!!


Romanette!!!  Chica, yo le puedo llamar por su nombre ahora! <usted es la
presidenta de mujeres jovenes, eh? lo maximo. No lo puedo creer que usted
ya se fue para la casa, y esta viviendo normal!!! Que raro! Que bueno que
mi hermana le accepto por face, por fin! Usted va a subir todas las fotos
para que las pueda ver despues de la mision, ¿ya? No se olvide de su hija
aca en peru, en la mision! Le quiero mucho, y se que las chicas en su rama
le necesitan, y van a aprender tantas cosas de usted.  Hasta luega
mamita!!!

Hermana Swartz

Letter #25 from Mary

DAVID, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  I didnt forget your birthday, I just forgot to TELL you happy birthday last pday, but I thought about you all day! all the elders in my district wore their american flag ties and put up flags all over, and we had soda to celebrate being americans, and the latinos celebrated with us. some of them even know the pledge of allegience haha. we are all very very patriotic hahahaha. man, the states. how i love being american.

yes the strap broke, I just took them to get them repaired on friday, and they are working great. its only about 24 soles, like 10 dollars to fix both pairs, so they should be good to go. Thanks for responding though :) holy cow, Mckenna looks incredible! i cant believe she is married. super wierd.

Okay here is the update with me. I got a call on saturday morning from president Calderon, the mission president that i was flying out to cusco at noon because there was another musical conference, and he wanted me to sing again. so i flew out from puerto to cusco, and stayed the night in the mission home, my comp stayed with the others sisters in puerto. Then I went to church in the morning, and right after church they put me on a combi to sicuani, its a 2 hour bus ride thats jam packed with people. so fun. so i get to sicuani around three, we have practice at 4 until 6 and then at 7 we performed. THere were about 700 or 800 people there. I sang sigueme again with hermana martinez, and this time I was the soloist for the song his hands, in spanish obviously. and i didnt forget the words this time!!! There are three of us that are going to be traveling all over the mission to do the musical presentation. Elder Galvez on piano, Hermana martinez is the choir director, and sings the duet with me, and I am going to be singing. We are going to Quillabamba, Valle sagrado, Puno, Abancay, puerto maldonado,  all over. Its really fun, but its not so fun traveling on bus for hours and hours, so it was cool to fly in, much easier. I just got back about an hour ago from cusco, and am back in puerto for pday. Its really a gorgeous presentation, there are tons of members, and investigators, and the missionaries are coming out of it with people with baptismal dates. its awesome.

I hope everything is going well back in utah! sounds like there have been a lot of fires... wow!   its strange how quickly life moves. especially when I am watching from the outside hahaha. Well family, I LOVE being a missionary, I have been so blessed to be here at this time. I feel like the Lord has just taken my hand and lead me to the places where I would grow the most, and where I would find the most joy. I love you guys so so much! miss you all tons, but I know i am exactly where i am supposed to be. 

Letter #24 From Mary

Hey family! it sounds like everything is going really well in utah these
days. I love hearing about how Boston is in tumbling! oh my gosh, i wish i
could see him running around. Man i have some cute nephews and a super cute
niece. So you guys had the driest summer ever huh? I have to say i miss
dry weather just a little. And Mckenna is getting married, and Jessica had
her baby!!! oh my gosh! that is awesome. What did she name the baby? That
is great that Kevin and Jill are grandparents! wow, thats weird that kenna
is getting married. so weird. I didnt get destin´s email this week, and
can you please PLEASE tell me about the shoes!? this is the 3rd week i have
asked, and nobody has told me what i need to do.  i need replacements!!!!
please look into that today! and let me know what i need to do. i am almost
positive there is a warranty, and both pairs went out after only 6 months.
nope. not acceptable. please let me know please let me know please let me
know. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.

Okay, now the good stuff. We had a baptism on saturday, Klebert got
baptized! it was really awesome. Klebert has 4 daughters and all are
baptized and his wife is a member too. He gave his testimony and said that
he had listened to countless numbers of companionships of missionaries, and
never accepted. other times, he shut the door in their faces. He said he
was so grateful to me and hermana caicedo, he said that we were the only
ones who were able to touch his heart. Its so strange, because we had no
idea that he had been dificult in the past, he seemed to us like a golden
investigator because we didnt have a registro, a teaching record. wow, that
took me and an english elder about 3 minutes to remember how to say
registro in english haha so funny. anyway, anyway, its interesting because
i know that it will be the same with some of the people we had to drop,
that one day, some of them will accept the gospel, they just arent quite
ready yet, or are waiting for the right person to explain the gospel in a
way that they can understand.

Also we went to visit Jorge, who was our first baptism out here in puerto,
he has sort of been flailing lately with the gospel, skipping church, and
we just felt like he was different. So yesterday we went to go talk to him
to figure out what was going on with him. At first he was really closed
off, but then opened up about how whenever he does something good,
something bad follows. He said, i know if i pray today and read my
scriptures, tomorrow, bad things will happen. and it true, he told us all
of the bad things that happen right after he makes a good decision. He said
he is not happy at this time in his life because he knows he is making bad
decisions, and he knows the gospel is true, but whats the point in praying
or going to church if horrible things follow. We explained to him that yes,
there are times of trial. But that we are here to be tried, and tested and
the people that remain faithful in the times of trial are the people that
recieve the blessings. We have to stay strong. I told him he needed to
repent, and come back if he wanted to be happy. its not easy to be a member
of the church of Jesus Christ, but it is worth it.

The gospel is true. I am so grateful to all my friends and family who have
sent letters, i love hearing about all the things i am missing. Its
interesting looking in from the outside, and watching how quickly life
moves. I love the gospel, I am working hard to be exactly obedient, my
companion is so great! I love the mission, I love peru, I love the
people, I love the gospel.

Love Hermana Swartz.

Letter #23 from Mary plus pictures!

Hey family! Everything is really good here in puerto maldonado. My companion is wonderful, she is so great. we have a good number of people progressing, we had 5 investigators in church yesterday, so that was great.  Thats hard with destins companion, its hard to be a good leader. I feel the same way, that i dont deserve to be a leader. but if the lord wants me to train, i will do the best i can. I have had dark circles under my eyes this entire week and last week from the stress of everything, it had everyone asking me if i was eating okay, or if i was getting any sleep. but last night i finally felt like i was able to get a good 8 hours. its hard because we are always running, always stressing over what the investigators need, what do the members need, what do the leaders need, what does my companion need, and I forget about everthing else!

The mission is good, i wish i had good stories for you, but this week, we just worked hard and we should have a baptism this saturday, Klebert.

Rachel, holy cow! you almost died it sounds like! i am so so so glad your kids and house are okay. That would stress me out so much, i dont know what i would do or how i would feel, not knowing if the next time you see your house if it would be in ashes or not. scary. but awesome that it turned out okay!

Momma, you are home it sounds like! its good, i think daddy missed you :) I love you daddy, love you mom, and rachel and chris, david and amber and destin, and all my cousins and grandparents, and friends. i have been so blessed to have such a strong foundation of people who love me, i am so grateful for all of you, and the support i have recieved here.

can some PLEASE look into getting my shoes replaced asap??? i know there is a warrantee, and my two pairs i bought are broken. what do i need to do to get more??? i have a pair i am using, but its a cheap pair, and wont last long here in the jungle.

 

Love you all. Hermana Swartz.

Letter #22 from Mary

Hey Daddy! HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!!! I LOVE YOU SOOOOOOOOO MUCH!  I hope
Fathers day rocked, even though your favorite child is serving in Peru. 
But I miss you and I thought about you all day! I hope it went well, one
more fathers day, and I come home right after! I am just sending this to
you, can you forward this to mom and rachel, and david and the family?

This week was a really busy week! I got a new companion, hermana Ayala,
and she is the best comp ever. I absolutely adore her. She is from El
Salvador, but lived in Costa Rica. We are in Cusco right now but just for
today! we go back to puerto maldonado tonight. This week, we had our 2
weddings, and the two couples got baptized saturday morning. The fifth
drank the night before, so we are going to keep working with him. It was
amazing to watch the two couples bear their testimonies, there is a joy
that comes from bringing others to the gospel that cant be explained. Right
after the baptisms saturday, we got on a bus to Cusco for the recital.
There were about 1000 people there, and it was amazing. There were three of
us that sang solos and sang together, and it went really well. Well, except
for the fact that I had to start the first song, and got lost for about 5
seconds, and it was the longest 5 seconds of my life. I was super
embarrassed, but I found my place and picked it back up.

Also, yesterday I had the chance to go to attend the ttio ward, my first
area. Jose, our investigator who only looked at the ground, and who had
made so much progress and then i left to puerto, he and his pareja got
married, and he blessed the sacrament yesterday. I could not help but cry
as i heard him pray. He has truly had a complete change of heart in his
life, i have never seen anything so drastic, and its all because of the
gospel. The lord truly blessed me to be able to see the fruits of my labors
yesterday, and i am so grateful. most missionaries do not get that chance.
What a blessing.

Life is good, I love you all, i´ll try to send a picture soon of the
mullet. It rocks. you will love it. The church is true.

Hermana Swartz.

Dear mom and daddy! 


Welp, tomorrow is change day! The big news is that
I am training again! I am staying here in puerto another 12 weeks.
Also, my companion is going to train. I am sooo proud of her, I am
going to be a grandma!  This means another 12 weeks of the 12 week
program, 9 months in total of the 12 week program. Thats half of my
mission!!!!! But its all good, I told my companion it must be because
I havent learned what i need to learn yet out of the program and so
the Lord is going to keep me in the program until I have learned
what it is I need to learn.
The double wedding is this Friday, and then Saturday morning we have 5
baptisms. I'll be here for the wedding, but then Saturday night I have
to go to cusco, and leave my poor new comp here to handle the 5
baptisms. Luckily the Zone leaders said they would take care of the
baptisms for us since she´ll be bran new and I'll be  MIA.
The recital is this Sunday, the 17th. I have not had anytime to
practice, because we finished up everything for the double wedding,
plus we had a baptism Saturday, and a mutual activity with the youth.
When I first got here, there was no branch council, and 40 attendance
to the sacrament meeting, and no programs for the youth. It has grown
so much, there is now Branch counsel every week, programs for the
youth, the attendance has gone up to 105 mas o menos, and we could not
be happier. There are over 600 members, and only 100 attendance so
obviously we have a lot of work to do.
A few funny things, Rach, My pencionista has a 3 yr old daughter and
she saw the pictures of Boston and was absolutely smitten. Her name is
Alexa, and I loooove her!! I laughed so hard, She was all, “mmmmm”
hahahahaha oh my gosh so funny. Also, next item of business, I went
to get my hair trimmed, and she gave me an interesting arrangement.
Its called a mullet, and there is a freakish resemblance to Joe
Dirt. David i trust you´ll inform mom who that is. But hey, thats
life. It´ll grow.
Also, my shoes from missionary mall are broken! I need to know if
they can replace them? I believe they have a warrantee, and I need to
know what to do to get more. Dad, can you go to missionary mall, they
keep a record of all the receipts I think so you should be able to go
with my information and ask them what you can do from there. Also
daddy, I love the picture of uncle darrel! I miss camping in montana.
Lets go when i get home, yeah? Have fun this week with mom being gone,
you dont have to check in with anyone!!!  Tell darrel  I love him, and
tell brent I love him, and his jeep. Cant wait to take it out when I
get back!!!! hahaha
Mom thats so awesome you are in spain! Please send me pictures! I want
to go to spain someday, even though they talk wierd. Rachel,  I love
hearing about boston and maddie, sounds like you two had a blast this
last week. I love you all, miss you all!
PS, what does shot gunning mean in missionary terms? Kassie sent me a
letter saying she is shot gunning on her mission, and im pretty sure
its not referring to weaponary. We dont have the same slang here in
Peru haha.  Love you all!!!

ps christy, i can definitely get emails from you! i just cant write
you back personally.

Mary's Latest email: #20

Hey Family, 

Hope all is well in the states and in russia! This week the trainers and District and Zone Leaders all traveled to cusco, myself included. It was really great, I love going to cusco. It was a little rough, becuase we have a lot of things we need to improve on, but there were some interesting things that were announced. First, background info, When President was here with the assistents, we were eating dinner with them and the Zone Leaders, and just making conversation I mentioned how Rachel was a traveling sister at the end of her mission. He also asked us to sing a song and told us he´d buy us ice cream if we sang, so of course i sang and thought nothing of it, and ate my icecream with as much joy as a 3 year old little girl. Here are the effects of a seemingly innocent dinner with President. president apparently loved the idea of traveling sisters and announced this conference that he is going to call two sister assistants to the president to travel and work with the sisters of the Mission. So Rachel, you have officially influenced the Mission of Peru Cusco. NIce work. He also had me sing the closing song to the conference as a solo and announced that i would be singing in a musical recital in cusco on the 17th. so... I have go back to cusco on the 15th, and we are going to get everything ready. Yep. I dont know how that happened, but it just did. Awesome.

I got your package for my birthday!!! Thanks for the peanut butter, and tissues. I cought a cold in cusco, and gave it to my comp, so it was perfect timing! I also got Mariela´s package. I got a letter from her saying she was sad i didnt get it, but I got it! i loved her package, we made the mashed potatoes in the pension, and it rocked. I love her. I also just got a letter from Meaghan Reese, and Mackenzie pedersen... I love them! I am soooo grateful for all of the letters from friends and family, a letter can turn your whole week around and put a smile on your face when everything else is going wrong. I love it out here, I love the mission. right now we are having a hard time because all of our investigators have to get married! We are trying to find others as well but its hard. Everybody smokes, or has their pareja, but that is what we are here for, right? The Gospel of Jesus Christ litterally changes the way people live their lives, and it is such a blessing to be able to help people change. its not easy, and takes time, and requires patience, which i completely lack by the way, but in the end i know it will be worth it if we can bring that family to the gospel, and the joy that comes with making eternal covenants.

I love you all, I miss you all my dear family, and I am so blessed to have the opportunity to serve here in Peru, in Puerto Maldonado.

Hermana Swartz