http://3yearsinbolivia.blogspot.com/2015/09/sisters-conference-sept.html

This week was really good. I´m really starting to feel like I can communicate with the people here and it´s awesome.

We had intercambios and I learned a ton from our Sister Leaders. I tried to apply a lot of it the next day during our weekly planning, and I already feel that we are going to see some good changes. My companion had a little bit of pain this week, but overall we were able to work hard and teach a lot of lessons. I´m extremely grateful that she likes to work and truly wants to share the gospel.

Lately I´ve been worried because a lot of our investigators aren´t really makng it past lesson 2 or 3, and I had been thinking about how we could have the Spirit more when we teach. But then I realized that a lot of the times when we leave the house I´m frustrated because we're either late or something like that. So after the women´s conference, I decided to be better, and yesterday our lessons were so poweful and I could feel the Spirit so strongly (and my Spanish was way better than normal). I also had to give a talk, and I know I got divine help with that haha.

On a different note, the other day we were in a trufi (pretty much a bus) on our way to an appointment, and we had to stop because there were a ton of cars in the street (and there´s pretty much never traffic in our area). So I was thinking that there was a wreck or something, but turns out there was a priest blessing the cars in the street - in white robes (with his sweats underneath) was sprinkling water on the engines of cars and some of their keys as well.

Also, the other day one of our investigators wanted to hear me pray in English, and it was actually really hard! I started to speak in Spanish like twice. So later I was laughing about it, and I tried again in our apartment, and my mind literally went blank. It literally sounded like the prayer of a little kid. I can speak to other gringos fine, but for the past three months I only prayed in Spanish, and it was so hard to switch back. Not a good sign for when I return haha.

It was really sad to hear about Elder Scott.  I wish I had known Justine was singing, because I actually thought about it when they said Cache Valley.  I´m so excited for Conference. I loved listening to the Women's Session in English, especially President Uchtdorf´s voice.

Anyway, thank you for all the emails, support, and prayers. I love being a missionary, and I love you all!

Hermana Rupp

The elders made us breakfast for pday

The mission home is across from the temple so we took a pic after

Hola Familia! This week was "bien, no mas." All the people say that here. We always ask how people are doing and they respond "Ay, no mas" haha.  Bolivia is a funny place. Rainy season is just starting, so one day we were completely soaked, but generally the weather is really nice. It´s funny though because during the day, everyone complains about how horrible the sun is, but then as soon as it cools off a little around 5, they all put on sweaters and complain about how cold it is haha.

Whenever we´re tracting and we knock someone´s door, they say they're working and they don´t have time. So then we ask if we can help, and they say,"no, I actually just finished." Haha literally everyone says it, and it makes me laugh everytime.

Sometimes it´s kind of hard here because people don´t really introduce themselves or care who you are until they get to know you. Every time I introduce myself to someone new, they never tell me their name in return, and they pretty much ignore me and talk only to my companion. It really bothered me the first week, but I´ve now learned that if I jump into the conversation, they´re then really nice and inclusive. ...Usually.  I really love the people here, and I feel like I´m actually friends with a lot of them now. And when I can´t understand, I just play with their kids haha. Overall, the people are fairly receptive, and really nice when you get to know them. Our Bishop is super helpful and very invested in missionary work.

I´m trying to trust my trainer. Although our approaches could not be more different, we both like to work. And, by the time we return to our apartment at night, we´re laughing and get along great. Seriously, work is the cure for almost everything. She is super sweet, and we do get along well.

I hope you all have a great week, and I love you!
Hermana Rupp

 The view from the top of our apartment where we wash our clothes.

  Usually there´s a crazy windstorm one or two days a week, so that´s why we all look so fantastic.

One of our investigators went to hair school and wanted to practice.

We don't have a ton of time today (My comp lost our cell phone, and then she wanted to go track the taxi that we thought it was in, so that took a little while haha), so sorry.

Thank you everyone for all the prayers and emails for my companion and I. Her surgery was a little more complicated than they were expecting, but everything went well in the end, and we could leave on Wednesday. Each day we have only left our apartment for a little while, but by tomorrow I think she´ll be able to work a full day. She's a very hard worker and staying in has been hard for both of us, but overall this week has been good, and I'm grateful that she has such a strong desire to teach.

So a little about my area. We split Tiquipaya with two Elders, and our area is in the middle. So, it's not as poor as their's, but it's also not the nicest. There are some nice houses in our area, but we also teach some people who have pretty much nothing. Some don't have work and have trouble buying food and water (you can't drink any of the water here). One woman we taught literally was sleeping in a little shed full of sacks of flour. So at least she had food. That being said, I'm pretty sure my area is fairly nice overall. We wash our clothes by hand, but we have a working toilet and a warm shower, which is awesome.

Our area is big, and there is a lot I haven't seen yet. There are a lot of fields (they're pretty small and in just whatever patch of ground where there's room), and livestock like cows and chickens. I really like it. The weather is pleasant, and the people are great.

Overall, I really love it here, and I´m really just excited to be a missionary! There's definitely a joy in serving that is unlike I have ever felt before. Especially when teaching lessons.

I'm already out of time, so I'm sorry but I'll have to send pictures next week. I'll send lots, I promise. 

I love you all, thanks for everything!

Familia!

This week has been crazy. I think I made it pretty clear last week had some rough moments haha, but this week I have felt very happy, peaceful, and excited about the work. So thank you for all the prayers and support, I really appreciate it. 

The other day we were teaching a lesson to a family who has all been recently baptized (except the parents who are waiting to be married), and I realized that the 9 year old daughter was writing my name in the margin of her Book of Mormon. My initial instinct was to tell her not to doodle in her scriptures, but then I thought of 1) all the dumb things I wrote/colored in my first set, and 2) that she would look back through her scriptures at some point and remember that I had been one of the missionaries who taught her. The thought of that made me feel so grateful to be a missionary. It´s crazy how much I already love all the people. And the kids are awesome. My second day here I bought a bag of suckers to hand out, and I gave out like 10 within 2 or 3 hours. I´m pretty sure my comp thought I was overdoing it, but it made me feel better haha. Even if the people don´t know me that well yet, at least the kids do.

My companion started having stomach pain earlier this week, and we figured she had eaten something bad. She threw up a few times during the next day and a half, but was pretty good the following day. However, on Thursday she got really sick again and was having stomach pain, so we stayed in for a few extra hours. The next day (she was feeling better) we talked to Hermana Hansen, and she recommended going to the clinic. So on Saturday morning we went to the hospital, thinking we´d only be there a few hours for a check up. 

They gave her an ultrasound and a CAT scan and turns out she has kidney stones because she hasn´t had enough water. They told us that they needed to run some more tests and that we needed to stay the night. We wanted to leave. However, it´s a good thing we didn´t because, upon further examination, one of the stones is massive, and can´t pass without being broken up. 

For a while we thought she was going to have to leave to have the surgery, but I called President Hansen and also talked to the doctor in the Lima CCM (who then called the Bolivian doctor), and apparently it´s safe enough to have here. So, the two of us have been in the same hospital room since Saturday morning (expept for right now since two other hermanas came so I could write you guys), with only the things that we had brought for tracting. No extra clothes, no tooth brushes, only our scriptures and pamphlets. Some really nice Elders have brought us food and finally a DVD player because we were dying of boredom, which means my poor companion has had a ton of time to stress about her operation. It´s not too complicated, and we should be able to leave tomorrow night or the following morning. But, if it doesn´t work, then she needs an actual surgery, and we´ll be in the hospital for seven more days. I feel so bad for her, but she´s handled it pretty well.

Anyway, I´m running out of time, but the baptism sounded awesome, and I wish I could´ve been there! I loved the pictures. Thank you again for all the support, and I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Rupp