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.