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

This week can best be summed up by saying that I have a firm testimony of "forget yourself and go to work."
The week started out rough. On the verge of tears rough. My trainer left, I felt completely inadequate, and despite all the logical reasons why I shouldn't be nervous, I just felt sick.
Hermana Cabarcas left Tuesday morning, and my new companion, Hermana Lopardo, and I, arrived in Tiquipaya early that afternoon. That whole morning I had just felt sort of depressed, but when we went to our first appointment, all the negative feelings just went away. It was such a miracle:) Later that night and the next morning they started to return, but, once again, we went to our first lesson and I felt great. I love the people here so much, but I don't think I truly realized how much until this week.
Hna. Lopardo is super cool. Obedient, hard worker, and has got a definite sense of humor. We get along great and I'm really excited for this transfer.
Yesterday we had one of the best lessons of my mission thus far. We went to visit a man we had contacted the day before and, like usual, he said he didn't have time. So we left and were almost to the end of the street when he came back out of his house and asked us to come back. So we returned and taught his family and him about the Restoration. They were all super attentive and had perfect questions. They have crazy potential and I'm so excited for our next appointment.
I love being a missionary and there is so much joy in sharing the Gospel.
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!
Love Hermana Rupp

So we have transfers tommorrow morning, and I´m staying in Tiquipaya, but Hermana Cabarcas is leaving for Potosi. I don´t know much about my new comp, so I´ll let ya know next week :)
We have a lot of really great investigators, and I definitely feel a weight of responsibility to help them progress. Frankly, I feel really inadequate, but luckily I don´t have to do it alone. In fact, if I try to do it alone, I´m doing it wrong. I´m very grateful this is the Lord´s work, and I can have full confidence that He´ll help it progress. I just need to be an instrument through which He can work. I´m trying to become that.
I´m constantly impressed and humbled by the poeple here. We went to visit a convert of three years the other day, and she has practically nothing. She has barely any money, and doesn´t always know what she´ll eat for that day. However when we entered her house, she had hymns playing in the background and she had been reading an old Liahona from 2013. I could feel the Spirit so strongly in her little home, and I´m so impressed with her. I know that she has so many challenges in her life, but she still continues to do what she should. I wish that all could have her faith and conviction, including myself.
That being said, I think about the things I did at home, and whether or not they invited the Spirit. A lot of times they didn´t. So I would challenge all of you to think throughout this week if what you are doing is something that can invite the Spirit to dwell or not. If not, fix it.
I know this is the Lord´s work, and I´m grateful to be here in Bolivia. Thanks for all the great examples. Love you!
Hermana Rupp

This week was super good! We worked hard and found some awesome people.My companion said that I even place Books of Mormon in my sleep haha.
Saturday we were tracting in one of the more rural parts of our area, and we found this super nice woman who let us in to our house. We taught a whole lesson, and she came to Church the next day with her children! We were so surprised because even our best investigators have trouble attending Church. She was also telling us that she didn´t have enough money to celebrate her daughter´s birthday, but they still paid for a trufi to get to the chapel. Super humbling and super inspiring.
We had a conference with President Hansen this week, and I learned a ton. He talked about the talk, "Which way do you face," and making sure that we don´t invert the first and second commandments and fear men more than God. Something I think I need to work on a lot.
I love being a missionary. Some days are super hard and I´m almost always tired haha, but I love it here. There is a true joy in doing the work of the Lord and sharing the Gospel. Have a great week and I love you all!
Hermana Rupp

Happy Halloween! Bolivians don´t really do much for Halloween (some of the kids dress up and give out candy in the plaza), but today is Todos Santos, which is similar to Dia de Los Muertos. They all go to the cemetery and leave bread and flowers on the graves of their family members. And that´s about it.
It´s funny because almost every weekend here in Tiqupaya, there´s some kind of festival or party. But. when there´s an actual holiday, they don´t do a whole lot.
I feel comfortable with my Spanish, but sometimes it´s a little hard to understand when someone makes a joke, simply because it´s usually a word I don´t know. So i think I sometimes come off a little boring because sometimes I just laugh and don´t know how to respond haha. Oh well, it´s all coming along.
We got to go to the Temple two weeks ago as missionaries, and as well with two recent converts this past week. They didn´t have enough people to do baptisms so we ended up walking around outside for a little while, but it was still awesome. I wish we could go more often.
Overall, this week has been really good. We worked hard, and I truly feel content and happy here as a missionary. I know without a doubt that God loves us and answers our prayers. I love this Gospel and I´m grateful for all of you and continued support.
Love Hermana Rupp