Thanks for Giving!

The festivities are here! This week we celebrated Thanksgiving and had a dinner as a zone with turkey, mashed potatoes, and the whole lot. I attached a picture of me and my companion, Hna. Aldana, and Hna. Maydana--another hermana in our zone. We even made hand-turkeys!! I actually made a peacock just for kicks and attached a picture of that too. (: 

But in other news, Huanchaco is doing so much better with a bishop. In this short week that he was called, we have seen much more activity from the members--and especially from the leaders. Hna. Aldana and I have been using Sundays as our pivotal day to set appointments with the members to accompany us and it has increased our time spent teaching them. With more enthusiasm for missionary work and with the season for Christ approaching, the hearts of the Huanchaqueros are being softned and changed!! 

My studies got pretty deep while reading Jesus the Christ this week and studying out of the manual "The life and teachings of Christ and the Apostles." I learned many new things but above all, I want to share my testimony of Christ's example. He is so perfect; humble, wise, powerful, and loving. He posesses all that we want to receive from the people we know and what we want to achieve in the person we can become. I know that choosing to be kind and abandon our pride brings about miracles and changes in ourselves and others. I know that Christ lives and that He posesses these atttributes even though I have never seen him with mortal eyes. When I choose to love and when I see love in others, I remember what it was like to watch my Heavenly Savior and Brother. 

Hope the beginning holiday season brings about desires to spread the gospel and Christmas cheer! Stay safe, all, and I'm wishing you a Merry Christmas season!

Love,

Sister Furness

Another Short One

This is going to be another short one today! (Sorry everyone!)  But we have great news this week---Huanchaco finallly has a bishop!! Our ward mission leader was called to be our bishop this week and we had to stop ourselves from leaping out of our pews and shouting for joy. I know he's going to be great and our ward will be in great hands. 

Talking to a friend about developing more patience and Christ like attributes this week led me to a scripture that I love. In 1 Nephi, when Nephi was conversing with the angel in the dream and he was interpretating Lehi's vision, the angel asked him a question to which Nephi didn't know the answer. The angel asked: "knowest thou the condescension of God?" to which Nephi replied:

 17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.

I loved what my friend said about this verse. He said that even though we don't always know why things happen in this life or even the small things that happen day to day, we can still know that God loves us and we are His children. Knowing our identity helps us handle the day-to-day trials with more patience and control  and it helps us have a more eternal perspective. Don't forget who you are as they say!

Love,

Herana Furness

5 minutes or less

literally have less than 5 minutes of internet time. 

HERE WE GO!

We had our talent show this week and it was AMAZING. 

We had a charla fogonera or fireside, in English, in La Esperanza and it was INCREDIBLE. 

One of the local ward members, Ritzy, received her mission call to Arequipa and will be leaving on December 15th. CRAZY!!! 

I attached a photo of the mission call letter opening. My comp was in Lima so I was with a mini missionary. 

So sorry I don't have more time today everyone! Have a great week and I'll try to write more next week (:

Love,

Sister Furness

Lion King Doctrine

Hey all! 

I'm happy to report that this past week I learned so many incredible things. Granted, there were some huge trials, but I have overcome them and learned something more incredible. I actually learned a lot of incredible things, but because of short time and lack of photos (sorry, I was boring and didn't shoot anything 😝), I want to share 2 things I learned from a great helper this week:

1. "The past can still hurt, as Rafiki told Simba, but you can run from it or learn from it." And he could return to the pride land because that was were he was meant to reign as king. We can let our pasts hurt us or learn from them. If we choose to learn from those mistakes we can prepare ourselves to take on the challenges that face us on our return to "The Pride Land" or Celestial Kingdom. :) 

2.  D&C 46:8-9

8 Wherefore, beware lest ye are deceived; and that ye may not be deceived seek ye earnestly the best gifts, always remembering for what they are given;

 9 For verily I say unto you, they are given for the benefit of those who love me and keep all my commandments, and him that seeketh so to do; that all may be benefited that seek or that ask of me, that ask and not for a sign that they may consume it upon their lusts.

This verse helped me in my trials this week. I didn't ever feel deceived by anyone--but perhaps by Satan. These spiritual gifts are tools and talents that many have and can FIND in order to more effectively seek the kingdom of God. What bought me was the line in verse 9 that says: "and him that seeketh so to do." We are not able to obey all the commandments perfectly, but there is a division between those who seek to obey the commandments and those who simply don't. I know I am far from being perfect but I know that right now, I TRY and DESIRE to obey all the commandments. And that's all we need to qualify for these spiritual gifts! (:

Yeah. Enough writing. 

Heavenly Father loves you. I love you too! And that love needs to be spread to all. Best of luck to each of you this week!

Love,

Hermana Furness

Short but sweet

Don't have much time to write today, but in short--this week was AMAZING! We saw many miracles and found a good number of new people to teach. The ward seems to be changing here in Huanchaco, especially with the ward missionaries. It seriously goes to prove that working in a team is so much more efficient!! 

A verse that I found in this week's studies:

2 For behold, I say unto you that as many of the Gentiles as will repent are the covenant people of the Lord; and as many of the Jews as will not repent shall be cast off; for the Lord covenanteth with none save it be with them that repent and believe in his Son, who is the Holy One of Israel.

I found this verse while I was preparing for the Gospel Principles class that I had to teach on "el recogimiento de la casa de Israel." It's such a great topic and I highly recommend a read on that chapter in your gospel principle books. No matter what kind of family we come from or how righteous we have been in the past, the Lord will covenant with NONE except we repent and actively believe in Christ. When we choose to sin and not partake of the sacrament weekly, we are breaking the baptismal covenants that we have made, and the Lord cannot promise us the blessings that were awaiting us. When we DO partake of the sacrament and are ready to take it because we have already repented the days before that, we covenant AGAIN to take Christ's name upon us and we are forgiven for all that is past--including those things being forgotten as well. How lucky we are to be a part of God's people who are able to be forgiven and covenant with him so frequently! 

Ah! Got carried away. Love you all and sorry for the short email!!

Love,

Hermana Furness

oh and this is a photo of our carrot cake we made and the other of us with Enrique, the recent convert. Adorbs :3

Team Work

Dear friends and family,

Simply put, this week was INCREDIBLE with my hijita Hermana Aldana. These past few days we have been contacting, implementing new work methods and strengthening the ward missionary effort three fold. Hermana Aldana is an amazing missionary and it's hard to believe I have been called to train her! She has strong experience working with the missionaries in Argentina before she came to the field and her ideas blow me away! One of our greatest accomplishments from this week has been our ward missionary meeting yesterday that we assigned the missionaries to visit all the recent converts in the ward. I'm so happy to see this getting underway because our ability to reach all the recent converts is very limited! I'm so excited to be working in Huanchaco with Hermana Aldana!!

I had a great study in Jacob this week in chapter 2, and the last verse of the chapter really caught my attention. It's so aching and sorrowful that I had compassion for Jacob in his admonition to the Nephites. It says:

 35 Behold, ye have done greater iniquities than the Lamanites, our brethren. Ye have broken the hearts of your tender wives, and lost the confidence of your children, because of your bad examples before them; and the sobbings of their hearts ascend up to God against you. And because of the strictness of the word of God, which cometh down against you, many hearts died, pierced with deep wounds.

Reading this verse makes me think about the examples of parenthood that I have seen in all my life. My own parents, the parents of friends, aunts and uncles, the fathers and mothers I have seen in Peru; all have given me a great range of parenting styles. I know that not one child is ever raised the same as another and being a great parent isn't accomplished without God. To read this verse though, it really gets to me. It's so emotional and so tragic to think about the damage that can be done when we throw our families to the side. God has ORDAINED the family and, according to the scripture's definition, it means, "To appoint or confer authority or office."The family IS a position in the church, or even an office that requires our compliance to fulfill it's duties. We are very aware of the consequences of not fulfilling our church duties, which includes the salvation of our own and others' souls. To think of the family in more serious terms, this verse has helped me understand the eternal consequences of the hurt we can cause our family. I testify of the blessing that a loving family can bring to an individual, thanks to my family and their love for me. I know that when we make the best effort to communicate our love and serve them daily, we form eternal bonds and blessings that will await us and will support us all our lives. 

Seems that's all I have time for this week, everyone. But I'm so thankful for families and for the love they give. Love you all!

Hermana Furness

P.S. Photo of our last baptism for Hermano Enrique Chuquipoma and also a photo of me and my companion. 

Guess who's expecting?

Hey all! 

Seems that my turn has come to be called as a trainer!! I am going to receive my first "hijita" tomorrow while my dear companion, Hna. Bronson, will leave to her second area in Cajamarca. It has been an incredible 12 weeks with her and I have learned so much about the pure and forgiving love of Christ from her. I don't know if I have met a missionary quite as talented and hilarious as her either. I love you Hna. Bronson!

On Saturday, we had the baptism of Frances in the Primavera chapel at 5:00! The experience was very spiritual for her and she couldn't contain her smile (: I attached a picture of us this day and one of us with the ward council on sunday. We have another baptism planned for this Saturday and we're hoping to get the ward even more involved! 

We had a multi-zone meeting with Elder Calderon from the 70 this week too! What a crazy spiritual feast that was. My mind was blown and my heart changed!! He is a spiritual POWERHOUSE. Of the infinite things he taught us, one that stuck with me more than anything else was his concept to change us from just teaching the investigators to feeling is to get them thinking as well. The Spirit IS the key to conversion, but the investigators must consciously recognize that it is the spirit and understand what feeling his influence means. If not, it becomes a series of good feelings that aren't connecting to good behavior. Doesn't that make it so much more true when the Lord says:

16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them

                                                                                                                           Hebrews 10:16

The heart, mind, body, and spirit are ALL connected. And the spirit speaks to each one of these faculties, who need tender love and care. I aspire to improve my teaching ability by seeking out how I might help the investigator THINK and FEEL the message we have to share. And I challenge everyone to incorporate, if not combine, their scholastic worlds with their spiritual worlds! Because for God, they are one and the same.

Love,

Hermana Furness

P.S. Around Christmastime, although I'm not sure what day exactly, we will be having a LIVE broadcast of the mission Christmas program in the Plaza de Armas in Trujillo. It's apparently a huge event that brings an enormous crowd and thought I'd give the heads up to those at home to keep an eye out for the broadcast in December. Anyways, love you guys and write you soon! (:

Ooo Meh Gersh

What a great week it has been. Even though one of our investigators that is preparing for baptism has fallen through, I felt like I have seen nothing but miracles, happiness, and peace filled moments within each day. I am SUPER stoked for the baptism of an investigator, Frances, this coming Saturday. YEE! She is astounding and powerful in her testimony. So many members have commented on her maturity and readiness to be baptized. We will also be going to her art exhibit on Tuesday that we received permission for so hopefully I can snag pics of us together there (: If not, there will be baptism pictures! :D

Oh and speaking of pictures, totally slacked on those this week. So I attached a picture of our pensionista's kids, Monica with Victor sporting a moustache.(:

This week, my studies led me to some great revelations. I especially liked my studies in Ephesians in preparing for teaching chastity to an investigator. In chapter 5 verses 1 through 5 it reads:

1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

 3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;

 4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.

 5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor uncleanperson, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath anyinheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

I wanted to use this verse in our lesson because it doesn't just address adultry or fornication alone. My favorite part is that of verse 4 that mentions our manner of language and joking as a way to be virtuous or vile. God IS holy and clean of crude language, jokes, and gestures. He doesn't ever put someone's name down for the sake of joking nor criticizes them because "that's the way he justs sees it." Yes, even THAT is part of virtue. Anything that makes us filthy, takes down the true joy of another, and chases the spirit makes us shine more dimmly. I have learned, thanks especially to my intercambio with Hna. Pineda, that the question "who can find a virtuous woman?" is real and "for her price is far above rubies" rings true. Maybe we're quick to say, "oh well I've NEVER gone that far" but slow to recognize that the way we speak to others and "joke around" doesn't suggest so. I challenge you all to observe the way that you speak to others and how it builds them up or tears them down--including the way we speak about ourselves! :)

Love,

Hermana Furness

GC VIBE!

Are you all on that GC vibe still? I am FLOATING cloud 9 for these past 2 days. General Conference was perfect and I am so happy to be a witness of such a historic event with watching 3 new apostles presented in one conference. There are a lot of things I loved from each talk, and I feel like the invitations to act have made me take away something more from this year's session. Have you all begun to ponderize?? (:

Our week was a whole lot better than the previous one. These spiritual boosters have definitely helped and I hope to use my notes from them to live a lot better. I have been focusing this week on being strong even when everyone else is weak,and have found out how hard it is to be strong alone. Thankfully, I have a great companion that supports me and I don't have difficulties supporting her decisions. We both are striving to improve on how diligent we are and how we can help solve life problems even though we're just young kids without doctorates or degrees. Did I spell those right?? (:

So anyway. I LOVED a verse that President Marler shared with us in our multi zone conference this week. It was a verse about Enoch and how he felt insecure for his disability to speak or publish the peace:

31 And when Enoch had heard these words, he bowed himself to the earth, before the Lord, and spake before the Lord, saying: Why is it that I have found favor in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech; wherefore am I thy servant?

If there was a verse that could describe how confident I usually feel in being a missionary, this would be it. I in NO way feel qualified or talented or exemplary enough to meet what is required in the shoes of a missionary. This is the most SACRED work I have ever done in my life. I only seem to become more and more aware of how I can never meet every expectation. But the Lord didn't worry about choosing Enoch--His focus was on qualifying. On the other side, Enoch was worried about qualifying himself and not choosing to trust in the Lord. (but just in this moment) (: I am learning that the Lord asks me to forget myself and stop worrying about what I lack. I will ALWAYS lack something. He asks me to make the choice to trust Him and He will do the work. It's HIS work, HIS strength, HIS spirit, HIS gospel, HIS power and are HIS hands. Nothing more. WE basically just get to watch it all happen. How blessed we are to be front row to that kind of glorious work. 

That's all for now (: Enjoy your week everyone and choose to be happy. Stop making excuses by saying "it's not that easy." Happiness IS a choice. So let's choose the right! (:

Love,

Hermana Furness

David Status

Hey family! Friends! Folks of the like!

It got DAVID AND GOLIATH LEVEL this week. We were at Mama Angela's house last Pday when her son, Jair, spotted a "halcyon" and all of a sudden, his dad comes running out with nothing more than a small rock and a rubber band slingshot. NAILED THE BIRD IN THE HEAD. That guy's got some excellent marksmanship. And we have photos of the prize! Hope it's not illegal or something...

On more important news, this week was horrible and great. Horrible because me and my companion went through the most suffering and difficult day yesterday, but great and actually amazing because we grew as high as oak trees. I felt extremely close to my Heavenly Father and testify that He does nurture and loves us as a real father does to every one of His lost sheep. I am so thankful and indebted to my Lord and Savior for the grace He has given us to get us through our Gethsemanes. 

As unfortunate as it is, I gotta' sign off. Found a scripture I loved in studies this morning for a refresher:

27 Wherefore, we speak concerning the law that our children may know the deadness of the law; and they, by knowing the deadness of the law, may look forward unto that life which is in Christ, and know for what end the law was given. And after the law is fulfilled in Christ, that they need not harden their hearts against him when the law ought to be done away.

So what is it that we obey? The lawgiver or the law? We can only be made alive through that which LIVES! 

So that's all I got time for. Love you guys and you have my prayers! 

Love,

Hermana Furness

I Know Not

I'm going to be really brief today, if possible haha, about something I learned this week. Up until now, our discipline to obey every single rule in the handbook and that President Marler has laid out has been nothing but wish washy. Our biggest hang up was eating outside with members, which had led up to guilty feelings and loads of other consequences--including the lack of the spirit's companionship. It had culminated to a breaking point friday night when we knelt down and literally cried and pleaded to Heavenly Father to forgive us and help us in our desire to change. This has gone on for months if not years, here in the field. I don't even know if the majority obey this rule. But the bottom line is that we recognized the importance of having the food rules here in the mission. Like I told President Marler in our weekly letter, it's not about cleanliness in the kitchens of the members and it's not about physical health alone that we have these rules or as many call them "restrictions." It is just about plain old obedience. That's why we have it. Because God told us so. Because President Marler, His chosen servant has warned us to do so. As the famous scripture goes:

6 And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me.

So I am out of time and words. We know not the mysteries of God, but we are to follow them if we trust that He knows a little bit something more than us. Keep safe everyone!

Love,

Hermana Furness

P.S. here are photos from our enormous beach clean up service project this week with the caballitos de totorro in the background ( the pointed straw looking boats.) (: one cheer for a cleaner earth! 

EXCITEMENT!

I am running on PURE excitement, adrenaline, and smiles right now. Seriously! I am on cloud 9. And I am also running on minutes left of our internet time so this is going to be real quick. But of everything, I just have to say that the LORD PERFORMS MIRACLES FOR EVERYONE! I have NO idea how it happened, nor what exactly we did to influence it, but as of yesterday, we have 3, possibly 4 investigators preparing to be baptized on the 26th. It was amazing to see the ward gather together to start making plans and supporting these great people and I feel like I'm crouched down at the starting line of a mile long sprint. It's going to be tougher than nails to try and help them be prepared and get everything organized, but fortunately, I have a great companion and we have an amazing ward. The fruit IS white, all ready to harvest!

Other news--we plucked and prepared 30 chickens this week to help a member who was doing "polladas" for our landlord's party. HARDCORE.

ANNNNNDDD my comp got put on crutches this week. So here's a picture of her motocross gloves and crutch getup. She's a trooper! :)

Have a great week everyone and know that the CHURCH IS FREAKIN' TRUE! 

Love,

Hermana Furness

Got Some Good News

Hello everyone!

I wasn't really sure what to write this week, but I thought I would get some thoughts out. As far as news, Hermana Bronson and I found out that we have another transfer together, so hooray! (: We have really become close and Huanchaco is another home to us. We called a list of members after our conference call with the zone leaders to let them know that we would be staying. We'll be making Reese's peanut butter cookies with a member today to celebrate! :D

Oh, and are you guys getting pumped for General Conference? Cuz I am STOKED. Start getting ready for it now so that this year's conference is something special for you all! :) 

I learned a lot about the reality of Ether 12:27 this week. God has shown me weaknesses I had never discovered before and he quickly showed me how to turn them into growing opportunities. My companion and I had a huge testimony building conversation last night and I love those moments in the mission. I have a greater desire to actually seek out the things and talents I am bad at so that I can find out how to be a stronger and more cultivated person. I got a LONG ways to go, but it's nothing that intimidates me now! Truly I invite you all to write down the things you feel you are good at and another list of the things you want to improve or learn how to do. Going about it is a personal search but the words of Jacob 4:7 is something I found comfort in. Have a happy Monday everyone! (:

Love,

Sister Furness

Oh yeah, I attached one of maybe 4 pictures I took this week. That's my weak attempt at drawing Tarzan holding my companion :) Enjoy!

Wheel of Life

Hey all!

Although this week we had a lot of things take our attention away from the work, we had some awesome moments and found some new people to teach. And President Calderon taught an AMAZING class yesterday in church. He used the "bicycle wheel examination" to teach us a way to self-evaluate how smooth our life is running. It involves the spokes of a bicycle as levels from 1 to 10 on how well we are in a certain area, such as socially, spiritually, with family, education, and other topics. If we had a 10 in each area, it would connect to be a perfect circle and the wheel would run smoothly and perfectly. But as we might be doing well spiritually, weak with our education, ok with our sociability, the lines connect to make an abstract shape and it rolls like an unrefined stone. I have a poor drawing in my agenda from taking notes that might show better what I explained. 

 

On another note, the work in Huanchaco has truly been great. We are focusing on finding new investigators as I might have mentioned--which has been more difficult than it seemed. We can find many people to teach and get an appointment with, but finding "the chosen ones" is more like finding the ripest apples on the tree. It takes a lot of skill and asking the "Lord of the vineyard" for help in recognizing the ripe ones, but when we find one it gives us a completely new drive for the work. In our efforts we have found a few chosen ones that have some great potential. I mentioned in my letter to President Marler that I desire to come to a point where the missionary purpose--teaching and acting as Christ--isn't a hurdle that I am trying to overcome. I would like to reach a point that the missionary work is natural and my focus is completely on the needs of the investigators, less actives, and the ward. Having a great companion like Hermana Bronson has helped and being with a missionary who has less time has taught me a TON. I love being with her!

One scripture I want to share (that yes, is from President Calderon's class haha) is one that he shares quite often from Alma 38:1--

1. My son, give ear to my words, for I say unto you, even as I said unto Helaman, that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosperin the land ; and inasmuch as ye will not keep the commandments of God ye shall be cut off from his presence

Although the english scripture is good, I prefer the translation of the verse in Spanish:

1  Hijo mío, da oído a mis palabras, porque te digo, como dije a Helamán, que al grado que guardes los mandamientos de Dios, prosperarás en la tierra; y si no guardas los mandamientos de Dios, serás separado de su presencia.

I think the key phrase is that it says, "al grado que guardes los mandamientos" or "the grade(level) that you keep the commandments." President Calderon has expounded on this and has helped the ward focus on the "level of obedience" we are putting forth. When I feel like I might not be "prospering" in the mission, I have to step back and observe how dedicated I am to obeying every rule, suggestion, and spiritual inclination that comes into my path. As my sister mentioned to me before my mission, "obedience produces blessings, and exact obedience produces miracles." The invitation for all of you at home is to observe the level of dedication that you are putting forth to receive the eternal blessings God has in store. I hope we can learn to be as humble as The Perfect Sacrifice was in the coming week. Love you all!

Hermana Furness

The Water is Polluted

It has been such a spectacular week and I don't know where to begin. 

On Tuesday we had a district meeting that completely changed my perspective on the work in Huanchaco. We have been focusing on less actives because that's a huge problem in south america and Hna. Bronson and I felt that it was our duty to get the lost part of the herd back into the coral. But our district meeting on Tuesday was amazing and I heard God say to me that "I NEED you to be finding those that do not know the gospel yet. Your focus isn't on the less actives right now--I will take care of that. I just need you to find new investigators right now." It was so clear that we set a goal of 14 lessons with members this week and we celebrated with 15 completed lessons yesterday. So it looks like we will be working to find people to baptize (: 

Alright. 2nd greatest moment of the week. We were teaching the Garcia Family this week and taught them about the plan of salvation. They ALL paid attention and it was one of the best lessons me and my companion had taught. At the end, I felt prompted to invite them to be baptized and it went over smoother than butter. They still need to pray to know if it's right, but the mother of the family said when we were with them:"well, if we are to be baptized, we should be baptized as a family, no?" 

(:

I was SO happy to hear that.

3rd best moment of the week--we were in Ward Council yesterday and the stake representative, President Calderon (who is acting as bishop until we have another one called) talked on how we are going to organize the work in Huanchaco. We created lists and we will be deciding on who's names to fill the lists with this week. I thanked him afterwards because Hna. Bronson and I had been desperately crying and praying to God on how we can organize the work here. It's hard to be a missionary. NOT because of walking everywhere, the culture is different, or because it's not our accostomed lifestyle. It's hard because people don't want to progress sometimes and it's hard because trying to balance all our responsabilities is a magic act. But the best news is that those things are manageable with the help of the Lord and dedication to trying our best. It is AMAZING to be a missionary. 

I don't have much time, but I gotta share this thought from our legendary ward council meeting yesterday. The 1st counselor to the stake president is our back-up bishop, if you will, right now in Huanchaco. He talked about ward as a fish tank and the danger of "polluting the water" with gossip. It has been a pretty bad problem here, apparently. But he talked about the necessity of a water filter to keep the water clean, which is the bishopric within the ward. All of the gossip and hearsay should be taken to the bishopric who filter out the lies and find the truth to keep the ward healthy and sanitary for those who are in it and those who are visiting. When we have a loving environment free from groups and gossip, investigators and new converts will swim happily in our little ward tanks (: I just thought I would share that all with you!! 

Love,

Hermana Furness