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

25 Abril

BRADI wrote this in Spanish so I tried to translate into English with Googles help.  I put the Spanish version below:

I wanted to make a letter in Spanish today from Peru. 😊 This week we found many new investigators.  I'm excited to see what happens with them. We found a brother named Octavio, and his  daughter Ariana. We went to his house 3 times looking for a less active, and they were still telling us that she did not live there. We thought it was his son who is a good Catholic, who did not want to come back, but then I realized that the less active was living alongside haha ​​... But it gave us a good opportunity to talk to this brother. Then we contacted, and he let us in. he and his daughter accepted the invitation to pray about Joseph Smith, and said, "Maybe this really is the true church. Let me know." I enjoyed the lesson very much. We also found two sisters, Celia and Leny, who accepted baptismal date of May 28. I like to see that God is sending us people chosen here in Talara.

We continue teaching the Bruno family, and we are planning an activity to earn money so that they can divorce and remarry. They have a lot of faith, and teach after fasting, they asked when they can fast. The truth is that this family makes me so happy, I know, although it will take some time, they will be baptized and be leaders in the church. Talara exactly what you need.

there are always miracles to see in the mission, and I know that when we have the Spirit, we are guided both in our actions and in our words. Yesterday in sacrament meeting, a brother talked about the potential we have. Each person has the potential to become perfect like Christ. When we see people as children of God, he gives me more desire to talk to everyone and help them to achieve this potential. I am so grateful for the perfect plan that God has given us. We must put life in His hands so that He can change us. I love this gospel, I know that is true.

I thought I would write in Spanish because I no longer think in English. Hehe.

With love,

Sister Richan

Quise hacer una carta en español hoy día, ya soy peruana. 😊 Esta semana pudimos encontrar a muchos nuevos, estoy emocionada por ver lo que pase con ellos. Encontramos a un hermano que se llama Octavio, y a su hija Ariana. Fuimos a su casa 3 veces buscando a una menos activa, y el seguía diciéndonos que ella no vivía allá. Pensábamos que era su hijo que es bien Católico que solo no quería que regresáramos, pero después me di cuenta que la menos activa vivía al costado jaja... Pero se nos dio una buena oportunidad de hablar con este hermano. Entonces lo contactamos, y nos dejó entrar. él y su hija aceptaron la invitación de orar en cuanto a José Smith, y dijo "Quizá esta realmente es la iglesia verdadera. Quisiera saber." Me gustó mucho la lección. Tambien encontramos a dos hermanas, Celia y Leny, quienes aceptaron fecha bautismal de 28 de mayo. Me gusta ver que Dios nos está enviando a las personas escogidas aquí en Talara.

Seguimos enseñando a la familia Bruno, y estamos planeando una actividad para ganar dinero para que se puedan divorciar y casar. Tienen mucha fe, y después de ensenar el ayuno, nos preguntaron cuando pueden ayunar. La verdad es que esta familia me hace tan feliz, yo sé, aunque va a demorar un poco, que van a bautizarse y ser lideres en la iglesia. Exactamente lo que necesita Talara. 

Siempre hay milagros para ver en la misión, y sé que cuando contamos con el Espíritu, estamos guiados tanto en nuestras acciones como en nuestra palabras. Ayer en la reunión sacramental, un hermano discursó sobre el potencial que tenemos. Cada persona tiene el potencial de llegar a la perfección como la de Cristo. Cuando vemos a las personas así, como hijos de Dios, me da mas ganas de hablar con todos y ayudarles que puedan alcanzar este potencial. Soy tan agradecida por el plan perfecto que Dios nos ha dado. Hay que ponernos la vida en Sus manos para que El pueda cambiarnos. Amo este evangelio, sé que es verdadero.

Pensé en escribir en español porque ya no pienso en inglés. Jeje. 

Con amor,

Hermana Ríchan <3

18 Abril

Transfers TODAY! But no, I stayed with Hermana Valdez, I'll have 6 months here in Talara. :) Which I'm super happy about, I love it here! 

We found out that Ana and Victor Bruno are not married, so now we are working on that. We were lead to believe that they were married, so it was kind of a shock when she told us they weren´t. But im seeing it as a blessing because if we would have known in the first lesson, we might not have seen them as a golden family. But they ARE a golden family, that wants to get baptized, and Hna Ana has told us that it is important to her to get married, so she can go to the temple as a family. They have been in Lima this past week, but now that they are back we are gonna do all we can to help them.

A few weeks ago, we started teaching an investigator that the elders were teaching, Keisa. She is 20 years old, and her brother and sister are members. And on Saturday she got baptized! So that was an awesome experience. She had a history beforehand with not wanting anything to do with the church, and seeing the changes that her brother made in his life made her want to investigate. She is awesome, always bringing friends to church, and sharing the gospel with others. 

The Fam. Barrientos is still living in Sullana until they find out what is wrong with Hna Maritza. She has been sick lately, but we call her often, and visit her daughter. Praying that she can recover quickly! Her testimony is so strong, and I know with time she will be able to be baptized with her family.

Things are good here in Talara! We are now working with members a lot more the strengthen the branches here. I love hearing the testimonies of all the members, and how they were introduced to the church. The church is the same everywhere in the world, and I am so grateful to have met many people with the same beliefs, and knowing that the gospel is being preached everywhere. I love this work ! I hope you are taking the time to remember the Savior daily, soon he will come.  Les amo <3

Hna Richan

Doing Service

 Learning how to cook

When the power goes out

 5 Weeks

Found my car Peruvian Version

my faves

 

Keisa's Baptism

4 Abril

The week of general conference is always a good week! Such an awesome experience to hear the words of the prophet out here in Peru, in Spanish, and it is all the same. I was able to watch the Sunday morning session in the stake center of Talara with all the members, and I can't even explain how cool the reaction was to the new temple in Lima. Everyone gasped, and afterwards everyone was so excited. It made me realized how BLESSED we are to have so many temples in Utah. And i dont think we realize how important it is that we go as often as possible, and take advantage of that blessing we have. There are so many people here that want to go to the temple and cant afford it, or people that go one time in their life and do all they can to get there. Like Kent F. Richards said, we need the temple more than anything else. We are so blessed to have the knowledge of these priesthood ordinances that will allow us to return to our Heavenly Father. I cant wait til i can go to the temple again, but its an awesome experience teaching and helping these people find their way to the temple too.

One of my favorite talks was by Robert D. Hales. I loved how he talked about the Holy Ghost, and how He respects our agency. I had been thinking about that before the conference, if we have the Holy Ghost with us always, why do we still make so many mistakes, and why is it still hard to resist temptation sometimes? But it is true, the Holy Ghost ALWAYS warns us. We know beforehand if he are able to do something wrong because we have this warning from the Holy Ghost. The difference is we need to recognize that it is the Spirit warning us, and then use our agency wisely by following the impressions of the Holy Ghost. Reminds me of Mosiah 16:12. God is not going to let us make a mistake without warning us first.

The Family Bruno still amazes me. We went to teach them with our branch president this week, and they have such a good understanding of everything. 

The Family Barrientos has been having health issues lately, but still have desires to get baptized. Hna maritza went to live with her sister for a little bit so she could live close to the doctor, we are praying that she will be okay. But it was a miracle that Hno Thomas and their daughter Maria were able to go to conference. After not going to church for a couple weeks. 

This week we have been working with members and helping them set goals to go to the temple! We have been seeing changes in the lives of some of these people, it really is amazing the miracle and blessing that the temple is, and these people are realizing that and are willing to change. 

Hope you have the best spring break! St george will be cool and all, but today i went to a famous beach with a million sea turtles. But enjoy the red rocks. ;)) Love you all!

Hna Richan