27 Junio

Hitting my YEAR MARK this week! Crazy. Amo la piura vida y nunca voy a despedirme de ella.

This week Carlos told us that he did not want to get baptized... He has been expecting some type of sign from God that this is the direction he should go, and he hasnt received anything. It is hard for him to understand the role of the spirit in knowing that the church is true. He is always praying to know, he reads the book of mromon everyday, and he has been coming to church the last few weeks. I know that if he keeps progressing like this he will be able to recongize his answer by the Spirit! But after church this week he was the happiest we had ever seen him, we hope that he will be able to notice the changes in his life since he has started living the gospel.

Robert and Diana are like active members of the church. :) We are just waiting for the 23rd of July to come so they can get married. Yesterday we ate lunch with them, and they were asking us so many questions about keeping the sabbath day holy, being worthy to take the sacrament, etc. They want to do ALL they can to be as obedient as they can be. Its incredible. And Diana asked us "When is the soonest day i can get baptized? I wanna get baptized that day." Love this family!

This week i had an exchange with Hna Dorado, excompi :) Always learning so much from her! It was fun to catch up with her and here about the awesome things she is doing in Miguel Grau (my birthplace). She helped me to remember how important it is to talk to EVERYONE because we never know why we pass by the people we do, and who is prepared. And everyone deserves and will have the chance to hear about the restored gospel. Love sharing it!

Hna Richan

20 Junio

Hola familia! First of all, thank you everyone for the birthday emails and all! It was an good day, we played soccer that morning with my district, and they stuck with the Peruvian tradition and threw eggs and flour at me, great way to start the day! My cute comp made me breakfast, we worked all day, and my pensionista made me lemon pie. :) Love all the people here, couldnt have been better.

It was a super interesting week, unlike any other week ive had on my mission. Lets just say we had a full day of pure rejection with fake excuses. We went to visit this one lady, and she her kid told us she left with her baby. And next thing we heard was her baby crying. The next lady that we couldnt enter her house because she was home alone, as we saw her mom poking her head out the window behind her. Excuses like that ALL DAY LONG it got to the point we were just laughing at how rediculous all of the excuses were. At the end of the day, we finally had an appointment with a sister that never fails us, and the power went out! We were super far from our apartment, so we had to run back to our room. BUT with all of the things that happened that day, we were able to distiguish between the people that were actually ready and willing to hear the gospel, and those who werent. There is always something good to pull out of the bad things that happen hahaha.

Diana and Robert came to church again! They are incredible. They have been having so many problems lately, but they are putting God first in everything and its incredible to see the blessings. They will get married in July, and then Diana can get baptized, and they are already making plans to go to the temple in December to be baptized for Dianas mom. The gospel really blesses families!

I decided that my favorite part about the mission is finding new people. There is a reason that we are lead to each person, and everytime we go inside a house we can learn about the lives of these people, why they are the way the are, and help them to find purpose in life. I love hearing their questions and seeing their reactions to the message of the restoration. The more I teach it, the more i am able to understand it and how incredible it really is. 

Love you all, xoxo.

Hna Richan

Hna Casimira

Familia Castañeda 

La Copa Piura Vida

La Copa Piura Vida

Peru tradition of cracking eggs and throwing flour for your birthday.

13 Junio

Livin the Piura Vida in Algarrobos and loving it! So many good things happen every week I never know what parts I should mention...

We just found out that Diana and Robert are getting married! July 23rd. She is anxious to get baptized, she told us that she doesnt want to be living in sin anymore. So we are aiming to have her baptism the 24th. They both came to church yesterday for the first time, and stayed the full 3 hours. Im so glad they they took their own iniciative to get married, and show their faith! Yesterday we felt like we should pass by for them, and Robert told us we came at the perfect time because they had been fighting. We expained to him that satan is working with them because he knows they are about to take a big step in the right direction, and he told us that was exactly what he needed to hear, so we are praying that they keep moving forward with faith in the blessings that are going to come for getting married, and Diana getting baptized.

We are working with a little old man named Daniel. He was an investigator 3 years ago in a different area, and right as he was about to get baptized he moved. And now that we are teaching him again, he is excited about coming back to the church and getting baptized. He camed to church yesterday, so the only thing holding him back from getting baptized is his church attendance. 

Carlos came to church! He wasnt able to stay the whole time, but while he was there he was soaking everything in. He is one of those people that wants to know everything, and wants to be super sure of his dicision to get baptized, but he is progressing, so little by little he is leaning towards baptism. 

Awesome investigators in our area, I feel blessed to be in the right place at the right time, with an incredible companion! Hope things are good at home, love you all!

Hna Richan

Churess 

Mission Correlation 

 Cathedral

 Sand Boarding 

 Beach with District

 Beach with District

Beach with District

6 Junio

Lovin' life in Algarrobos! Hna. Orellana is the best, I'm learning SO much. She only has a month left in the mission, she knows what she is doing, so I'm gonna try and learn as much as I can from her in this transfer. The area is HUGE, the ward is about the size of all of Talara, so it is kind of hard learning the area, but lots of people to work with and a lot of work to be done!

We are teaching this couple, Cynthia and Carlos, who are AMAZING. They are both reading the Book of Mormon, already in 2 Nephi, and they love it and understand really well. They are already friends with a few members too, and this week they accepted a baptismal date for July 10, we are going to do what we can to help them.

There is another couple, Robert and Diana. Robert is less active, and Diana is not a member. She is SO excited to get baptized, so ready, but they need to get married. Before Robert was a little bit hesitant, and only wanted to get married if they could have a huge party and go all out. But he is finally convinced that if any opportunity comes up to get married, they'll take it. So next step, help them get married.

Corina and Fredy are two teenagers taht we are teaching, they are cousins. They are so sweet and humble, and super receptive. They have had a super hard family life, Both of Fredy's parents passed away, and he was adopted by Corina's older sister. They also want to get baptized, know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and have felt the Spirit. They have only been to church one time, so we are hoping that we can help them to feel more comfortable going to church and talking with the members. 

We had Leadership Cousel on Thursday, and talked a lot about the importance of contacting our investigators every day. Thinking about it, it is so true that we need to help these people understand that the gospel is not just a once/twice a week thing, but something that we need every day. If we really put in the effort to repent every day, pray, and read the scriptures, that is when God is going to be willing to bless us and to help us change. But I'm excited to try this out and help these people feel the love that Christ has for them as they put in their effort to come unto Him.

Hasta escribirnos en una semana. Sepan que les amo y oro por ustedes a diario. Amo la obra del Señor, no hay nada mejor.

Hna Richan

 Some of my favorites

 Hermana Deisy

Leadership Council

 Leadership Council

 Leadership Council

 Leadership Council

 Zone Meeting

We felt like preaching in English for the day

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