SURPRISE!!

K so greatest news ever: I can send pictures this week!!! Which means I have NO time during this hour that feels like a minute to read or write too many emails. This week has been crazy progressive and I am loving and hating the remainder of my time here.

 

We are all ready to get out into the field and start serving our real investigators. We have had just the smallest taste of interaction with real contacts and potential investigators on our Pdays, but we want to start giving lessons and helping all sorts of people overcome addictions, find peace, gain a friend, and most importantly, invite them to come to Christ. He is our best hope and most consistent source of happiness in life and as missionaries, we desire for all to partake.

 

In other ways however, there is not NEAR enough time at the CCM for learning Spanish. Its been a bit of a wake up call that we will have to speak Spanish near 100% in less than a week in all our communications with either our native companera or just the people we will be interacting with all the time. Its a bit of adapt or fall by the wayside!!

 

One of my favorite experiences throughout this week has been my interviews with the Hermans here at the CCM. I have been so blessed to be called a sister leader with my companera Hermana Walker who has done a fantastic job in being a sister leader as well. I love the time for interviews with the Hermanas though because I have truly felt the spirit testify the truth to me most at these moments. All these girls are here to serve their Lord and just need some consolation, a pep talk to keep on going, or just someone to have a good conversation with. We all strengthen each other--honestly, as sisters in a far away Zion-- and uplift one another to never give up and put our strength in Christ. It is so amazing and I look forward to getting to know each one of the Hermanas.

 

During class this week, we were able to view some pictures of the Chiclayo mission and specific areas within the mission. Let me just inform all of you--look UP Cajamarca. I am SO pumped to go to CHiclayo but I am on my knees praying for a transfer to Cajamarca at some point in my mission. It is beyond exquisite and has near everything I would dream of in beautiful landscapes.

Chiclayo is a blessed area and I cant wait to get my hands dirty with some real work with real investigators.

 

Since time is short and pictures are in need of attaching, this will have to be the end of my weekly email! I am enjoying every minute here and my testimony has only grown stronger and stronger each day. By next Pday, my in field commencement will have occurred--I can hardly wait to bear my testimony to others about how much I know this church is true. I know that missions are truly the paving for the literal gathering of Israel and that while we await the Lords appearance that we can have joy and peace within this Gospel. I love all of you and hope that the simple principles of the gospel remain intact in your lives. God bless.

 

Sincerely,

Hali Furness

1-my companion and I, Hermana Walker

2-our district mascot\my keychain\Steve the llama

3-me in front of the Lima Peru temple!!

Blessings Through Trial(2)

It IS crunch time everyone!

 

We just finished our 4 week mark and now we are heading for the last portion of my time in the CCM. The middle weeks are always a plateau for people since we get tired of studying and we get a little too comfortable here. But now that we have only 2 week to go, we all realize that we know ZERO spanish except for the basics and that we will have to be talking to REAL investigators soon. Crap.

 

No but more seriously, I have been enjoying my time here tremendously! We see so many miracles on the daily and I can see my Spanish progressing. Just today my roommates placed their first BOM even though we havent left the CCM. We talked to a woman named Patty and she was very happy to hear who we were and why we do what we do. Hermana Stewart from Utah bore a beautiful and simple testimony on the power of the BOM and I was so blessed to witness such a Christ like example of missionary work. This gospel is real guys.

 

This week, our investigators have been a little difficult to teach. They would answer the questions but didnt want to take much action. We werent teaching clearly and we couldnt find the niche they had with happiness. It wasnt until our last lesson yesterday with our investigator Carlos that we really felt the spirit and actually got somewhere. When we start to remember that it is their HAPPINESS we are here for, we become the disciples of Christ.

 

We have had 2 latinas move into our room this week! They are SO beautiful and I am happy to get some more interaction with Spanish speakers. I thought that I would be absorbred in spanish much more than I am but its surprsing how many English speakers there are.

 

This past week, we became really close to the advanced group that just left. It was bittersweet and we were quite sad the next day to have them gone. Friendship in the church happens so easily when we have good intentions. I am surprised at the growth in my confidence and desire to say something to people more often.

 

There was a moment this week that really touched me. My companion, Hermana Walker, and I were sitting on the benches outside here at the CCM and we were reading our scritpures. The sunset was so beautiful and with all the tropical plants and birds chirping and flying around it was so tranquil. The peace in my heart grew from a small warmth to an almost burning flame within me. It was so strong yet so peaceful and I could feel the truth of this church with an eternal perspective. I cant describe how gratetful I was for that re-confirmation.

 

My time is up and Im sad I cant send any pictures yet, but I hope everyone is doing well!! Keep reading and praying everyday because that is truly what keeps us on the straight and narrow.

Love you all!!

Hermana Furness

¿Que Pasa? Everyone!

Hello friends and family!!

With 13 minutes left on my email time here goes my weekly email. Everything has been SO sweet here. Our teachers are pressing us to try harder and harder every day so my Spanish and spiritual muscles are growing while we are trying to physically lose the pounds from the chicken and rice we eat every day haha.

 

I thought I would take some time to talk about my experiences on Pday today. We always get to go to a morning session inside the Lima Peru temple. It is so neat to listen to the sessions in Spanish--there is really nothing like it and it is so beautiful to be doing work for people that lived in Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, etc.

 

This morning and afternoon, our lunch ladies went crazy and made us these fantastic meals! We eat eggs and rolls literally EVERY morning and they just decided to make french toast. Lunch was this crazy buffet of pasta, desserts, rolls, and more so you know...the blessings of righteous desire right? haha

 

During classes this week, our teachers have been pushing us really hard here. They want us to work hard on Spanish and we have learned that we cant slack off here. It is such a blessing that these teachers care about us enough to push us. They really arent doing it for more money in their pockets--they push us because they care and have traveled the journey with us of knowing zero Spanish to being able to actually communicate with people of a completely different language.

 

One of my most favorite spiritual moments out here this week was during devotional. We all put on headphones because the speaker talks completely in Spanish, but they werent working this week. It was hard to try and focus on everything he was saying to try to piece together his talk but then towards the end, I just KNEW what he was saying. His face, his countenance, his spirit, everything about him. It all spoke to me and I could feel his love for this gospel. I could believe that I didnt even need to know the language perfect to know what he was talking about. What a tender mercy of the Lord.

 

With only 3 minutes left on my timer, I have to say adieu but I truly wish you all the best! I have a testimony that the gospel IS for everyone and that its so worth it to just give it one shot. THe transformation people have in thinking that life is good to KNOWING life is great is unbelievable. We all share the gospel through our examples and whether its intentional or not, people will perceive what we do if its good or bad.

 

Thank you all for all the support and keep on keepin on!!

Love,

Hermana Hali Furness

The Lord Doth Provide

¿Comó estan everyone???

 

Updates about my time here in the CCM:

 

So the first thing I have to talk about is all the weird stuff that goes on here! The CCM is SO much fun but it is definitely a scheduled and disciplined place. We are here doing the Lords errand and preparing for it is muy importante. A regular day in the life of a CCM resident--

 

Waking up, 6:30 a.m. or earlier, and showering in a bipolar temperature shower. (The flush of a toilet turns arctic water into burning lava.)

 

Breakfast at 7:00 and then Personal Study. The breakfast is ALWAYS eggs, rolls, and ham or cheese of some sort. They are CONSISTENT.

 

During the rest of the day there is Companionship study, grammatical classes, investigator teaching opportunities, and meals. Physical Activity is SO much fun--everyone wears futból jerseys and we either play volleyball, soccer, or if youre really brave, ping-pong with Presidente Gonzalez---the CCM president haha.

 

We have discovered, and by we I mean my district, that we can sing CRAZY good together. Somehow we incidently discovered that we all harmonize really well and now weve been asked to perform as a district in devotional and church. Don{t be too surprising if you hear about a traveling missionary group that sings and tours all the missions ;) haha

 

After dinner, we have more class and more investigators until 9:00-which we prepare for the next day by doing daily planning for a half hour. It is a struggle to plan for an already scheduled day and fake investigators but obeying the rules has truly blessed me and my companera.

 

Quiet dignity is at 10:15-10:30 in which we all write in our journals, meditate, pray, and think on Christ quietly in our dorms. If you haven{t tried it, I encourage any of yall to try this one night just for the kick of it. It is somthing that I earnestly look forward to and savor every minute of.

 

Since I only have 3 minutes left of email time, I thought I would save this for the weekly email-

Our new investigator Carlos, has been good, but we were all recorded to look at things we could get feedback on. Yesterday, our instructors gave us some tips and pointers on things we could improve on, but it was pretty techinical. We all felt a little burned by it and felt like they were asking a lot of us for only being here 2 weeks. Then I felt the spirit touch upon my heart. They are SUPPOSED to be pushing us. This isn{t a place where we take our time to learn on our own agenda and will. This IS spiritual boot camp. I felt a bigger desire within myself to push my limits and try harder in all that is asked of me. We cannot do it alone but with the Lord we are made strong. I was so thankful that I was able to look at the situation as something constructive instead of harmful. 

I wish you all the best and hope that all is well in Terreton!!

Love,

Hermana Furness

Hola Amigos y familia!

This is the first email on Pday that I get to send!! Ive sent this to my mom so she might be posting this to my blog at calledtochiclayo.blogspot.com and a link to facebook. The first 5 minutes we got here they allowed us to send a quick email that said we were alive and breathing but we didn}{t know we would only be allowed to email again a week and a half later!! So finally here is my email and the details about my blissful time here at the CCM (:

Ok, so the language-

Spanish is going somewhat good haha but that}s only because i{m in a class with some serious champs. Eveyrone is super excited and enthusiastic about learning the gospel and learning the language that you have to keep up! But it{s ok because there are lots of times for companionship and personal study for spanish and reading scriptures. There are a TON of latinos and latinas here and we get to practice speaking spanish to them haha. By the way, my grammer and spelling and punctuation really sucks because we only have 1 hour to type, we{re typing on spanish keyboards, and I{m learning to speak a whole new language haha.

The weather--

It{s much different than I expected--I thought it would be a tropical warm sunny vacationy feel but it{s actually kinda weird ha. The sky is always gray with no clouds really and it{s just a tidge chilly. Not something a light jacket can{t handle haha. Today was VERY warm however, and it was great to see some clouds yesterday. Do you know what}s weird though? The moon is upside down here haha. Instead of a half circle that{s vertical, it is horizontal like a bowl. Weird huh?

Mi compañera--

Her name is Hermana Walker and shes really great! Shes from Provo and is mad funny. She also likes movies and sarcastic comments so its fun to listen to her haha. I don}t know if she{ll be staying here much longer though because she might be headed home soon--she just needs to find the right path for herself (: but i{ve really enjoyed spending time with her--although it is an adjustment to remember to have someone with you all the time; you can}t go to the bathroom without your companion!

The food--

Chicken and rice, chicken and rice, chicken, and rice, chicken, and sometimes rice. Haha but really though the food is amazing! It{s really good and you actually do have options--they do potatoes a lot and fruits, jello, soups. There is ALWAYS eggs, 1 slice of ham or cheese for breakfast. But the ROLLS are to die for. When we first got here there was a sign that said ´´no more than 4 rolls´´ and we scoffed at that because we wondered who really needs 4 rolls.

BUT REALLY.

Only 4 rolls. They{re delicious and we know why there{s a limit now.

The investigators--

When you hear rumors about teaching within the first few days of ariving here you kinda feel like they{re kidding but its so true. We have taught 3 times in spanish and its crazy how much spanish I already know!! Don{}t worry--they{re not REAL investigators but we have to treat them like they are. Its really good practice for the field and I}ve learned a lot about the simplicity of the gospel and the power that simplicity holds.

We pray ALLLLLLLLLLLL TTTHHHHEEEE TIIMMMEE. Morning prayers, meal prayers, opening and closing prayers for each meeting--companishionship prayers, daily planning prayers, weekly prayers, prayers for people that need help, prayers for learning Spanish, prayers for our investigator, just ALL the time. And i luuuve it. If someone ever thinks about going on a mission, they better be ok with the concept of praying.

OH!

So today we went to the temple and it was a very neat experience. We stayed in 1 tiny room with about 20-30 people in it and it was all in Spanish. When we got to the veil we had to say it all in Spanish and it was so great! Ah but I forgot my temple reccommend but they accepted my old one that I kept despite Bishop telling me to destroy it. Could think I followed my gut!! ;)

I have some really horrible news :(

we can{t send pictures or written letters until we leave!! :( I{m not sure why but thats just the rules. So i can{t attach pictures today but I took lots today don{t y}all fret (: (shoutout to Jessica E. ;) ) The pictures at the temple were BEAUTIFUL because it was clouded over.

I love and miss all of you so much and hope that my letters can be a good influence in your life. The best part about being with the people here is that they are so Christlike and think to help people with problems everyday. Just today, we were walking on the streets in Lima and a lady was moving boxes into a taxi. Our schnazzy elders in prime suits stopped and started helping her move them into the car. She was so gracious that she hugged one of the elders and he just sat there like an awkward RM that cant touch girls haha. It was so sweet.

I know that this gospel is so true and I can{t believe and comprehend how blessed I am from it. To return to God so happy because I{ve brought some of my sisters and brothers to this gospel will be one of the greatest feelings in the world. I know that the Book of Mormon IS the word of God and that you will take the time to just read it for yourself and no one else. I know that God does love you and he loves me because He provides a way back to Him even though He had to sacrifice His most beloved son. I know Jesucirsto loves us like no other and wants us to take full use of the Atonement that he gave His life for. I know that there everyone and anyone is worth the same as our families and friends--that every soul is worth saving.

I love you all and wish you the best!!!

Always love,

Hermana Hali Furness

I´M ALIVE!!

We werent allowed to call last night so right now, we are allowed 5 minutes to write an e-mail home to let our parents know we're alive. I had a safe travel´and all of my bags arrived. I miss and love you and dad so so much and cant wait to begin my training!! Peru is BEAUTIFUL by the way and I can already tell that Im going to love the people in it. I hope to hear from you soon and my pday should be on wednesday or thursday. Not sure which. I love you so much!!

 

Sincerely,

Hermana Furness