30 Mayo

HOLAA FAM. After an awesome 6 months in Talara, I am BACK to where I started, in the zone Algarrobos, my area is Algarrobos 1. I am now hna leader with Hna Orellana, the humblest, sweetest sister in the mission, and this is her last transfer in the mission. I am SO excited to be back and to be able to see all the amazing people from my first area too.

This past week in Talara was one of the best. I was able to see some awesome things in these past few days. The cutest family, the kids that you always see in my pictures, their dad, Andy, is less active. And usually when we would teach him, he would laugh things off and not put anything in practice. But yesterday, he finally captured the message, and we could see that he realized that he needs to change and be an example for his kids. It was cool to see after all this time working with him. And his dad, the grandpa of those kids, hadnt gone to church for months. He had been super stubborn with us, if we told him he should go to church he wouldnt go. And this Sunday he came! And when we visited him he was super different, more humble and willing to listen to us. Made my day to see these changes after so much time.

Hna Gladys, when i was saying bye to her, told us how grateful she was that we had knocked her door. She said that she was mad at her son, and about to pack all of her stuff and leave when we knocked. And she said since then she has changed, and she has felt a different spirit in her house. She is awesome, wants to get baptized, just needs to go to church. But i know that day will come!

 My neighbors in Talara are seriously some of my all time favorite people. And 3 days ago their daughter, Xiomara, moved in with a family in Piura while she is studying. And it happens to be the house where I will be living! So her mom Hna, Guisselle, comes to visit her all the time, which is a blessing. Hna Guisselle hasnt been going to church very often because she is a little bit discouraged. Her husband is not a member, and lives in Piura for work. He reads and has a testimony of the Book of Mormon, but doesnt go to church and doesnt want to act on how he feels. And all hna Guisselle wants is to have an eternal family, but that just seems unrealistic for her. But we have sent the referral to Piura for her husband, and no one has taught him. BUT he is going to be coming to visit his daughter all the time where WE live, so we are going to snatch him aside and teach him. I promised her that we will convert her husband so we will see what happens.:) But i love this family and hope we will be able to help them!

Love this work, excited for good things to come in ALGARROBOS! 

Hna Richan

 Love La Familia Nuñez Garcia

 Sunrise with the Christ Statue

 Our runs overlooking Talara

 The Bruno Family

Saying bye to the crew

22 Mayo

My time is coming to an end here in Talara, but livin it up while i can, love this place! This is going to be short, but here is a little bit of what has happened this week...

This week we had an awesome lesson with the Fam. Bruno. They are starting to understand everything, and understand the blessings of the gospel. When Hno. Victor prayed, he mentioned how much he wanted to change his life and be there for his kids, and repent. It was awesome, and the whole family came to church the full time. Love this family a lot.

We found a new investigator, Hna Sheyla, she is 17 years old. She told us how she had been praying for something like this to come her way, and it did! After teaching the restoration, she explained it back to us perfectly, which is super rare. But when people understand the message, they are always willing to pray to know if it is true, and she is willing. She said if she feels like it is right she will get baptized on June 18. 

Im so grateful to be here in the mission, new experiences keep coming and I am learning so much, but most importantly I am gaining an even greater appreciation for my Savior. I know He lives, and I know He loves us. 

Love you all, have a great week! Xoxo

Hna Richan

 Best day of my life

 Best day of my life

 Hermana Park's Birthday - Before and After

 Branch Anniversary

 English Class

18 Mayo

HOLA FAM!

Here is a brief summary of the ups from this week....

-Taxi driver wouldnt let us pay because i was singing and i guess he liked it.

-The kid in the bakery gave us a whole bag of bread free.

-Had a super cool lesson with the Bruno Fam, we talked about how important the Book of Mormon is and they all came to church.

-There is the cutest lady, Hna Nancy, that sells chicken and fries in the street, and we buy from her all the time. And it paid off because she came to church!

-We found a cool family this week, that we found out is the brother of our district pres. The perfect type of people to find.

-Hna Keisa, the recent convert, has been going to lessons with us and is feeling more comfortable sharing her testimony with others.

-We had a lot more support from the members this week.

-Found another family that wanted us to talk about the importance of marriage with them... Perfect because the gospel is the greatest blessing for families.

-Hna Gladys, the lady we met last week, told us that she wants to stop drinking coffee to live the word of wisdom. 

-Gave yet another talk in sacrament, one of the things that used to scare me the most and now i love it hahaha. God really does help us to overcome our weaknesses when we put out trust in him.

Im sure there are so many other great things that happened this week here in Talara, but here are a few! Love you all, have the best week! Xoxo

Hermana Richan

9 Mayo

MI HERMOSA FAMILIA it was so fun to talk to you all yesterday, mama hope you had a good day. I already mentioned a lot of this in the skype call, but here is what happened this week...

This week we met Hna Gladys and her daughter, Gladys... She told us that her daughter that lives in Lima is a member of the church, and when she lived here in Talara she always invited her to church. And she never went, but she told us that now she thinks it is her time. Her husband died 3 years ago, and she is now realizing that she needs to have a path for her life. She prayed about Joseph Smith, and told us she felt the greatest peace. Then she came to an activity in the district with us, and she ended up knowing a lot of the people there that are members. It is always a blessing when the investigators have friends in the church! Im excited to keep working with las Gladys. 

The Fam. Bruno is still awesome, the whole family went to church except Hna Ana. We had a lesson with only her this week to teach her about the Sabbath day, and she seemed to understand really well, but she just lacks a little bit of faith. She works on Sundays, but she works on her own time. We are working on helping her gain the faith to understand the blessings she will receive if she keeps the Sabbath day holy.

 We are now working with the family of a recent convert (a year and a half). His mom at first didnt want ANYTHING to do with us, but out of nowhere she decided that she wanted to listen to us, and she now lets her daughter go to church when before she wasnt allowed. So that was a MIRACLE, i hope things go well with them. 

Yesterday I spoke in Sacrament meeting about service. And how everything we do in the church is to serve, and to become more like our Savior. Like it says in the Book of Mormon, that Jesus Christ suffered all because of His infinite love for us. And how can we gain a Christ-like love--> we can serve. I know as we serve we come to love as Christ loves. I love the talk that Elder Holland gave in November about mothers. Because they serve their children they love them, support them, and suffer for them. Love you mom, Espero que tuviera un bonito dia de la madre, gracias por todo!

Hna Richan