Happy New Year!!

¡Familia Mia!
It was so good to see and talk to you all on Christmas! It was probably the shortest 40 minutes I've ever experienced. Needless to say, I'm excited for Mother's Day haha.
Since we just spoke a few days ago,I don't have a whole lot to report this week expect that I'm staying in Tiquipaya with Hermana Lopardo! I didn't think I would be her for another transfer, but I'm really excited. I truly love Tiquipaya and the people here.
These past few weeks, I honestly haven't felt like a very qualified missionary. Maybe it's been the lack of people progressing, or just the feeling that I'm not doing enough, or I don't know. Either way, I just didn't feel like a good missionary.
But, I was reading the Conference talk by Larry L. Lawrence, "What Lack I Yet?" (i think this is the title, I was reading it in Spanish haha), and I felt very impressed with what he said about starting where we are. To the Lord, "our direction is ever more important that our speed." Although I lack a lot, the important part is what I try to do each day to improve and become more like Him. Before I felt discouraged, but after I truly felt hope and encouragement that I could become better. And I know that this opportunity to change is a blessing that comes from the Savior's sacrifice for us.
I would encourage each of you to ask our Heavenly Father how you can improve, and then be humble enough to listen and to change. I know that each one of us can become a little better, and that it's never too late too start!
I love you all and hope you have a great New Year! Thanks for everything!
Love Hermana Rupp

Famlia mia!
Not a whole lot to report this week, mainly just that I'm getting SUPER STOKED to talk to you guys! Transfers are next week, and I think that there's a good chance I'm leaving. I really love my area, and I don't want to switch, which makes me think that I'm more likely to go haha. But, I know the Lord will send me where I need to be, so I'm not going to worry about it too much.
We were helping one of our of recent converts this last week (who was abandoned as a child) with her family history, and it was so cool. We think we found her uncle and her grandma, but were still looking for her mother. I've never seen a family get so excited about family history. Even her father in law, who never wants to talk to us, was really interested. The Spirit of Elijah (it's elijah in english, right haha) is real, and I have a whole new appreciation for family history.
I spent a lot of time saving photos from my comp's computer so I don't have a lot more time, but It's alright because we get to talk in 4 DAYS. I'll give you lots more details then :)
Have the best Christmas, don't cry too much because you miss me :) I love you!
Love Hermana Rupp

Well, it's been an interesting week, folks. We had a baptism scheduled for this week, but our investigator bailed the night before. It was super hard and disappointing because she's so prepared. We don't know exactly what happened because when we called, she said that she couldn't because she was out of town at her brother's house, Only one problem, she doesn't have a brother... We still haven't been able to find her.
They also cut the water to our apartment. Well, probably to all the houses close to ours as well. So that means that I haven't showered in 2 days, and am a little concerned about what I'll do tomorrow if it still hasn't returned. Poor people that have to sit next to me in trufi's. Pray for me. Or better yet, them haha.
This week, it's been hard not to get discouraged. Not very many people are progressing well, and it's difficult not to feel like it's my companion and I's fault. Obviously there are a lot of things we need to improve in, but we're not exactly sure what we can do more to find prepared people.
Apart from this (does this expression work in English? I honestly can't remember), there are so many people here that have such hard lives. We just spent the afternoon cooking with an elderly couple in our ward, and I was talking to the woman that works for them, who is also a member. Not only is she so poor, but she's the only member in her family, and they hate her for it. One of our other investigators lives in one room with her three children, and doesn't have work because she's blind. So many people here have been beaten and abused literally their whole lives.
However, I'm constantly amazed and humbled by their faith and devotion. The change that the Gospel has made in their lives is so evident and so inspiring. Although it's easy to get discouraged, they are evidence that the Atonement is real. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior, and that because of Him we can live again as well. For this reason, ¡Alegrete mucho!
I love you all, and have a great week!
Love Hermana Rupp

Our "hike" the other pday:

My comp and I had a pretty free pday, so we went and explored one of the more rural parts of our area. It was super pretty and fun, and sort of felt like a normal hike at home. So I´ll send photos of that next week as well.
This week was good. Slow, but good. A lot of our investigators bailed, so I feel like we walked a ton and don't have a lot to show for our efforts haha. But, I know that we worked hard and did what we could, and that slow weeks are bound to happen.
Hermana Lopardo is awesome. We get along great and we work hard. I also don't think I've laughed this hard in quite a while. I feel very comfortable and happy here in Tiquipaya and, for this very reason, I'm starting to get the feeling that I won't be here for much longer haha. Oh well, I'll worry about that when transfers come :) Either way, I'll focus on enjoying every day that I have here.
Thanksgiving was a great. We went to the house of our recent converts, and the Elders (who are also gringos) and I told them that we were going to have an American dinner. Unfortunately the Elders couldn´t find any turkey in the supermarket, so we settled for the next best thing: hot dogs haha. We didn't have anything to cook them with so we literally just used sticks that we found around their house and roasted them around the campfire. It wasn´t quite what we had in mind orginally, but it really felt like we were with our "family away from home." I thought about all of you together and it made me a little sad that I couldn´t be there too, but I know this is where I should be and I really love being a missionary here in Bolivia.
Elder Godoy, one of the Seventy, also came to visit Thursday, and we had a conference with all the missionaries. One thing that he talked about was the difference between lecciones and enseñanzas, or that we can´t just have lessons, we need to really teach and help people progress. It made me think that, not only do I need to improve in this, but that many times we do the right things, but we're sort of just going through the motions. Our goal should always be to come closer to Christ and invite the Spirit more into our lives.
Anyway, I hope that Thanksgiving was great and that you have a safe drive home! I loved the picures. Love you all!!
Love Hermana Rupp