March 3rd, 2013

Hey family, I am doing well here in peru. I talked to my mission president and he told me i could make the decision i thought was best, if i want to come home a week earlier or a week later, what ever i want to do. To be honest i am still deciding, but this week i am leaning more towards coming home the week earlier. I love being on the mission, i love it so much and we have had such a great week. I have to decide by tomorrow though, so i will have to let you know in the next letter what it is i have decided to do.

We had a great experience last night, Hna martinez and i were walking and she felt we should knock a door, which to be honest, we dont do much. so we we are walking and see a door open. we contact them and ask if we can sing a song for them and leave. she was hesitant, said she was busy, but we pressured her abit and said it would be fast. we go inside and there is a cake, and her 3 daughters, it was obviously her birthday, she was wearing a princess dress. so we told her happy birthday, and sang i know my redeemer lives. after the song, the mom said, please dont go! please stay, i wasnt expecting you to actually be able to sing. please stay to sing happy birthday to my daughter. so we waited, and the whole family shows up! about 15 people and they told us they just had a death in the family, and we began to talk about the plan of salvation. the invited us back and want to go to church, the whole family!  i love it soooo mcuh, it was an awesome experience.

 

welp, ill let you know next letter what i decide to do. love you all, send tiff my love!

 

presidente chiang!

Wow me quede impresionada con su carta en ingles! usted la escribio, o su esposa? jaja. Bueno gracias por escribirme, la verdad estoy muy feliz aca en puno! estamos enseñando a muchas familias, y me ecanta el barrio. Se que usted es un gran apollo alla en puerto, y hay muchos que necesitan su forteleza. mande saludos a su esposa y su hermosa hija. les amo muuuuchooo!!!!

 

con amor, hermana Swartz

Feb. 25th, 2012

Hey family! ahh, everyone has written me about tiff. Thats so awesome, I cant believe how fast time has gone by, it seems like yesterday We were packing her stuff up to leave. so weird. she looks exactly the same from what i can tell. i love her. 

Welp I am in puno. I love it here! its cold. it was hailing today, my comp is hna martinez and we have sung non stop! We sing to everyone. I met one of our investigators with fecha, she was wasted. She was yelling profanities, and stumbling. and thats when martinez told me she was our investigators. Awesome. hahaha. everyone is drunk in february because of candelaria here in puno. a huge catholic party. awesome.

ummm. Welp not much to report other than that. life is good, I love love love my new sector. I love it! Also, i have been thinking a lot, and i talked to president, and i asked if i could stay a week longer so that you guys can go on your trip. I hope you enjoy it!!!!! Take pictures. Love you tons and tons! 

Hermana Swartz

Feb, 18th, 2013

Hey mama, Welp. I have a change today. I am leaving Quillabamba afer 4 changes, and after a year of my mission in the selva. Word on the street is that i am headed to Puno, huascar.... the sector with the highest altitude for the sisters, way higher than cusco. Its cold, it snows, there is no indoor heating, and fish and chuño is a typical meal. Awesome, i am stoked!!! haha no really, i am excited. Bring it on. Also because Martinez, my friend who i did all the concerts with, is going to be my companion! Also, the sector, is the side of a mountain. and very little oxygen. BACAN. 

So that was our week. Oh!!!! man i almost forgot! Mitzi got baptized!!!! She is awesome. Her mom and brother are members, and she got baptized saturday! We also had tons of people come to church yesterday! We had Marleni and her daughter Vanessa who will baptized the 23rd of february, and also Gladys and her son Kelvin, and we put a baptismal date for march 3rd! Its a bummer I wont be here. but Muñoz is going to send me pictures. It doesnt matter if i am here to see it or not, the important thing is that they get baptized. 

Welp, I am off to go say goodbye to the people. I love you tons!!!!! Make sure to tell kassie and tiffany to write me on dear elder when you talk to them! also jill and dani if you talk to them. I dont hear anything from them! Ni chimba! Manankancho!!!!! 


Presidente Chiang. me gusta esa respuesta jaja. Eh me voy a puno!!!!! Donde hace frio y voy a morir alli!!!! Asu machina. Bueno, les quiero mucho mucho mucho!!! Porfa mande saludos a raquel, americo, keila y julio. un favorcito, ¿podria preguntarles si ellos tienen correo electronico? Me gustaria escuchar de ellos, o communicarme mediante internet. Ustedes son lo maximo, gracias por ser mi familia en puerto maldonado. Les amo!!!!

Hermana Swartz.

Feb. 10th, 2013

Hey family! Holy cow I can go to utah state!? That really is actually a surprise to me after i blew off those last two classes. I have no desire whatsoever to go to BYU Idaho, or UVU or UofU. to be honest I am not sure where the desire to go there came from. I think mostly because i ruled out all the other options, and felt good about the only one that was left haha.  Awesome. Let me know what i need to do, how much the cost is, if i need to take out a loan and how. Is making up the two classes i dropped something i can only do at UVU so that it doesnt stay on my record? what would be the smartest approach? If i need to make up the classes and then transfer, i can do that too. Whatever it takes.

And mom, wow that sounds soooo fun to come home a week early, but I really would like to stay until my last day. This is a time i will never get back, and I wouldnt feel right about trading it for a vacation. Even though its super tempting. considering i would leave on my birthday. but, I want to stay until my last day.

Rachel- and chris... send pictures. that sounds soooo awesome. David, youre such a good brother. :) Destin, keep working hard.

i have letters for you and a disk that <i am sending with a sister that is going home this transfer, she lives in highland! her name is Heather <lindsey.

 

Well, this week, we had sooom many awesome lessons!!! Also we are in Carnavales. Things are crazy!!!! Everyone in the whole country goes crazy with waterballoons and water guns. Sundays are the worst and its for all of February. Yesterday, outside our room, a group of 7 boys surrounded a girl and drenched her in car oil and tinted water, and plastered her with mud! on almost all the roof tops are groups of people that peg the people on the ground and dump buckets of water on them. Then there are the trucks that go around with 30 people in the back with water balloons and buckets and peg people in the streets. Even the old women were on the roof tops nailing the young people on the streets laughing! i have never, never in my life been so nervous just to walk down the street. <oh and then there are the groups of boys that have black paint and walk  around grabbing people getting paint all over them. Its insane. this sunday is supposed to be worse. Even the police get hit, no one escapes carnavales. you literally cant walk 10 steps with out getting hit.

 

but we had some really good lessons as i was saying, all is well, we are just working hard, and trying to get people married. Its a process. Welp. love you all tons and tons. Talk to you in a week!!!!

 

Presidente Chiang! Eh yo tambien soy su otra misionera favorita, ¿no? :D Gracias por las fotos, no puedo creer cuanto ha crecido Alexa! sus flequillos son bacan tambien!!! y si, es verdad, mis zapatos son recontra feos, pero segun mi familia, me han mandado otros!!! solo tengo que aguantar hasta que lleguen. Todo esta bien aca en quillabamba, estamos trabajando durazo, ayudando a otras familias poder casarse. Mande saludos a americo y raquel, keila y julio, y marta y jose, y todos! Extraño puerto bastante, espero que un dia pueda volver a verles. Les amo, y les extraño.

 

Romanett!!! eh que tal la chamba? como esta? todo bien en chile? Cuente me que esta pasando! espero que todo le vaya bien alli, le quiero mucho! No hay mucho para contarle, todavia estoy aca en quillabamba, pero supongo que tendre un cambio este mes. vamos a ver. Cuidese mucho!!!! 

 

 

Feb. 3rd, 2013

So this week we had a really good experience. We were in the street walking and a man calls out "hermanitas!" I assumed it was a drunk and didnt listen at first. But he called us again, and we turned around to see a man with his pareja.. not wife, but more than girlfriend, and their son with his girlfriend who is pregnant. They told us they wanted us to go to their home and teach them. My mouth dropped open. Its a family of 7, 6 of them have to get married and one is only 9 years old. But they told us they need a change in their life, They are looking for something more and that they want to be baptized! So we are working with them, we are going to put the dates for the weddings in March... if all goes well there are 4 couples that will be married and baptized in march. Its a lot of work, and i more than likely wont be here to see them married or baptized, but i am going to everything i can to make sure everything is lined up before i go. This week we have truly seen the hand of the <lord in this work. We have been sooooo tired, my feet hurt, my legs itch, and most people just dont get it, they dont get the importance of this message. And its probably because a lot of the time we dont teach well, or because of our weaknesses, people dont progress, but its was cool to see that even though we do everything possible and its not enough, the <lord has all power and can help us out if its His will and if we do our part. But i really feel like many of times when people progress, it has nothing to do with us. Its all The lord taking care of business, and we just cant keep up with all the blessings he gives us. But we do our best. 

Also, i have come to realize i lack faith. so many times the lord asks us to leap, or to make sacrifices, and we arent willing to make them. example... the faith of someone who quits there job to go to church on sunday because he has sufficient faith in the lord to know the lord will provide. So many of us cling to our safety net because we lack faith to let go and believe that the Lord will catch us. That is something i would like to work on. 

Anyway I love you all soooo much. I know tiff gets home this month, dont know when. Give her a big hug for me. She is a maquina. 
Love,,

Hermana Swartz.

Jan. 27th, 2013

Hey family! wow so much is happening! okay I just have a few questions. Rachel... i dont know if you had told us earlier, but you are pregnant? Is that right? Hwo long! And Katie is pregnant too!? And she broke her knee cap?? holy cow, thats awful! I love her. And amber got a concussion!? holy cow, that is crazy! But everyone i know is still alive, right? DAddy, keep working hard in your classes, get caught up asap! its the worst being behind. 

Rachel- Also, I sliced my hand open, mom should have the pic in her email. I fell on a rock on new years eve and had to go to the hospital. Ill give you the details when i get back, but for now, ill just say i am sooooo grateful for the hospitals in the states. Also, the what now? They dont want to stand by their warantee? I may be a missionary but i will pitch a fit if they dont stand by that. Thats not cool. How you gonna send a sister to peru and not stand by the shoe warrantee. Thats definitely why i bought the shoes. 

Also... I am actually thinking I want to know about going to utah state in the fall. i am not even sure if i can, i have a class i have to make up, could you look into that mom? Maybe if you could talk to the counselor, that would be awesome. 

Well, everything is good here in quillabamba. I am 99 percent sure i have a change coming up because i am on my 4th change here. we are working a lot with a family here, they are the family quillilli. They have two kids, and the dad is a member but lives with his girlfriend. she wants to get baptized and so do their two kids. Hey i just ran out of time.

love you all!!!! wish i had more time, but theres not! love you!!!!

Jan. 21st, 2013

Hey family! mom... holy cow. My mouth is watering from the pictures of your cakes!!!! so good! Hey when i get home, I want some of that and probably cofee cake. that would be a good plan i feel like. And all your grandchildren are blonde with blue eyes! How weird, but they are all so big and adorable!!! Have i really been gone that long? 
Daddy, i am super glad your classes are going well, keep working hard and youll do great. Do you feel like your perspective has changed since you were in the university before? I bet its more fun now.  love you daddy. 
Rach!!! Thanks for you letter. so do you guys even work, or do you just take trips and play all the time? I dont even remember what its like to sleep, so make sure and take some naps for me while you are on the beach, yeah? Also, Chris, i understand. putting in contacts is a traumatic experience. 
David, its good to hear from you so often. Keep working hard, love you tons.
Destin, Its about 34 degrees celcius here, not sure what it is in faregnheit either, and i dont remember how to spell that either lol. But its cookin here, not as much as puerto, but its still hot. Hope all is well in Russia. <love you little brother. 
Let me know when tiff gets home. I know its coming up here. 
Welp, Here in peru things are good, Andres and Omar got baptized saturday!!! so that was awesome! We are stoked about that. They are so awesome! We are teaching some really cool people right now, its awesome. Its so interesting because when we are so tired and we keep going, thats when the lord has blessed us the most. I feel like i have changed so much since i first came on the mission, and yet, i am still me. :) Its just interesting.   I love you guys tons and tons. I hope everything is going well there in utah. If there is snow, send me a picture! i havent seen snow in so long.... maybe if i look at a picture of it, it will be like a little bit of ac here in quillabamba. 

here are the pictures of my shoes. They are pretty much hashed, both pairs. not sure if they can send me a replacement, or what, but let me know what they say! Thanks! 

Hermana Swartz

Jan. 14th, 2013

Hey family! 
Lone peak is #1 in the nation for basketball!? Thats awesome. Daddy I hope everything goes well for you in your classes, do your homework everynight and make sure you turn it in on time. :D And dont ditch class! oh how the tables have turned haha.

Everything is really good here, we are working hard, we have 3 people that are going to get baptized this week, Omar, Andres, and Aquiles. We are really doing everything possible so that they are ready to get baptized and are praying that they dont fall through. They are all so awesome. Andres doesnt remember much, but he remembers the things that are important. Its so funny, its exactly like the movie fifty first dates, we have to remind him about everthing or he forgets hahaha but he is super awesome.  I will have to tell you the story about how we found aquiles when i get home, its awesome. 
And the less active family we have been working with came to church!!!! but we found out that the wife has been having an afair for the last two years, so that was rough... we are not sure what to do the situation. The I know the Lord is capable of healing all families, but that is such a hard situation. We are going to keep praying for them so that they can know how to handle the situation.


I love you all tons and tons. I am going to send some pictures, I know its been a while since I sent pictures. 

Dantley, Queria preguntarte si conoces a Alexandra, pero se me olvido la semana pasada. Ella es tu conversa? No me acuerdo su apellido, pero ella tiene un hijito que se llama Brandon, el tiene como 9 años mas o menos. Ella nos dijo que se bautizo en cusco con Pastrana, entonces no se si la conoces, Ella es super buena y nos pidio una manera para contactar con los Elderes que la bautizaron. Seria bacan, ella es super buena, pero creo que le daria mucho animo poder communicarse con tigo si es tu conversa. Gracias por todo, tu carta me ayudo mucho durante la semana. cuidate mucho! Espero que sigas recibiendo muchas bendiciones del señor y recuerdas que eres un hijo muy especial de Dios y que el te ama. Y Elder Parra manda suludos. 

Hermana Swartz

Jan. 7th, 2013

Hey family! This has been such a good week! but before I get into that, Dad, how is your back? are you going to be able to go to your classes okay? Rachel, i love hearing about boston and maddie! Brilliant idea about the monster spray hahaha he used the whole bottle eh? I love that little boy. and I am sure Maddie and I will be best friends. I cant believe how grown up she sounds! So weird. Destin! How funny that freezing is not that cold for you in Russia haha. I have been in the jungle since march, and just found out i dont have a change! I am going to have 6 months here in Quillabamba!!! I love it here, and my companion is fantastic, and so is the other companionship of sisters we live with. They have all helped out tons this week because I couldnt do everything i normally am able to do. I think they are going to take the stitches out today, so thats good. 

Mom, how awesome that your students got whipped by a 75 year old woman. Grandma is so awesome. With a raquet in her hand, that woman is a MACHINE. I love our family hahaha. 

Alright, this week was a really good week. My companion and I are super excited to get to work this up coming week too because we thought i was going to have a transfer, but I am staying! there is a family we are working with that the dad is inactive, and he has two kids and lives with the mom but is not married. They want to get married and all get baptized! We are so excited because working with families  is so awesome because you feel like you are doing a good job as a missionary. And also, miranda is going to the temple to be baptized for her mom who passed away so we are really happy for her. Its so interesting because the happiness of investigators and members is our happiness, and their sadness is our sadness. 

This week, I have been studying a lot about sacrifices and the type of sacrifices we need to have. In the Liahona... i dont know if its in the ensign or not, but there was an article about a family that was doing a service project and their 3 year old son and 4 year old daughter were asked to give up a toy for a needy family. The mom went to check on the little girl wondering which toy she would give and found her daughter rocking her favorite doll singing to her and then tucked her in to the gift bag with a little blanket and said that she hoped someone would love her. the little girl didnt change her mind, or feel sad after about her decision. What an example! I was reading in Exodus 12 about sacrifice and how christ was the perfect sacrifice, with out defect. What type of sacrifice am i willing to give? Just something i wanted to share that I was studying this week. 

I love you all so much and i hope you all have an awesome week this week!

Romi! Feliz año nuevo! Todavia estoy aca en Quillabamba y es lo maximo. Estaba pensando en usted y quiero que sepa que le quiero mucho, y espero que este año sea lo mejor. 

Rogers- Thank you for the email! I really appreciate you taking the time to write.  Luz talks about you all the time, you have really impacted their family. Actually, all of Quillabamba still talks about you and all the good things that happened when you were here with your zone. It is obvious that you gave your very best as a missionary, you can tell what type of missionary a person was by what they leave behind. I hope everything is going well for you wherever you are, and that you know that there are a lot of people here who love and miss you. 

Hermana Swartz

Dec. 31st, 2012

hola mami y papi! daddy was in the hospital eh? daddy are you okay? what are the side effects? are you going to be able to everthing you normally do? i love you lots and am praying for you. well, i should probably tell you i just got out of the hospital about an hour ago. daddy we are twinners! this morning we went up to a waterfall for p day and i fell and sliced my palm open. to the bone. so that was fun. i am typing all of this with my left hand so that is also fun. its amazing all the things we use our right hand for that i never realized. hahaha i definitely took my poor hand for granted. i got 7 stitches. its cool though. i always wanted  sweet scar from the mission... but scars have a price lol. its nothing  compared to surgery! i love you daddy and hope you get well soon, yeah? love you all.

 

oh yeah, beder got baptized! it rocked. its been a good week over all. ill send pics of my shoes asap, probably next week.love you all

 

hna swartz