Men Men Men

Hermana Ostler’s Update – October 28, 2013

  

Let’s just say that the men here in Puerto are very... forward. And horrible! They love to yell really awful things that I can now understand. They also like to grab at my legs or try to KISS ME (or my companion) IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET. This past week I just seemed to have had enough. I regressed back into my angsty, I-Will-Be-Sassy-Always phase. Oh man. My compy just about died of laughter from my extremely weird responses. The most common sound I make can be likened to a sheep getting stabbed in the throat -- but in a more angsty and angry way. Also yelling “IDIOTA,” or sticking my tongue out. Obviously, I have matured.

But on a more serious note, I realized that I had let a little seed of hate get planted into my heart. And how on earth can I love when I have a heart full of hate? I can’t. I have thought a lot about Christ this week. How He suffered for our sins, had nails driven through His hands and feet, was mocked, and spit upon. He NEVER had hate in His heart. He asked God to, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.” How humbled I have been! If He could love through all that, then I can love the people who are just too ignorant and do not know how to respect the daughters of God. (So I’ll just try and ignore their comments from now on.)

How thankful I am for the good men in my life! For my Father (how I love that man), my grandfather, my brother, my friends, the men who love and respect their wives and daughters here in Peru. I love them and I will never settle for less.

Also. Still no monkeys…

I love you all, and I promise my next email will be more FUNNY and less ANGSTY.

hahahaha

Hermana Alex

Alex and Dad

I Am a Tuckling

Hermana Ostler’s Update – October 21, 2013

Hello My Dearest Friendsies,

The rainy season has half way started in this strangely, strangely, painful hot locale. I thought Oregon knew how to dump water from the heavens in an extreme manner, but Puerto Maldonado takes the cake! When it rains, it RAINS! Like, rivers running through the streets and entire buildings being washed away and all. Well, the last part is a lie, but it does rain a ton.

WHICH MEANS WET WEATHER GEAR. My Mamacita, Hermana Masquez gave me her poncho and rain boots. Woohoo! Now as I walk the streets decked out in rubber, I feel like a “tuckling.” Or, a Turtle Duckling. It really is a very unique feeling --- I can’t quite describe it fully, but there it is. I am a Tuckling. It’s just that I feel so unbearably adorable in boots and a poncho, marching in my “I’m A Missionary” attitude. But all of this vanity is unfounded because whenever I glance at my reflection in a window, I don’t see a Tuckling. Rather, I see a hybrid offspring of a dementor-sith lord. But hey...in my heart I will always be a tuckling.

Also, a result of the wet weather... Running in the rain every day. One day we were running and I seemed to have forgotten that I live in Peru and that the streets contain an absurd amount of hazards. I was following Hermana Warner and she jumped over this beautifully giant puddle. And... if anyone knows me, they will know what I did next… I ran THROUGH the puddle. But it wasn’t a puddle. IT WAS A GAPING HOLE! The result was falling, blessing profusely, and maybe some profanities? Yeah, there were definitely some profanities. So now I have a giant scar and it will definitely be on my leg for years to come, so I will show you when I get back.

Enough of my silly shenanigans. I promise that I am a better person, curse words and all. I really am changing a ton. I feel an incredible interest in other people now, which is different for someone who is incredibly self-centered. Instead of daydreaming about myself, I find myself thinking about how to help other people, what I should say to alleviate their pains, and how much I just love my friends here. Sometimes I fall back on being selfish and think, “What is the point of all this? These people will never change. There is no point in spending all this time talking and helping and listening to these children, to these old people, to anyone.” How silly and asinine is this way of viewing the world!?! Whenever I get caught up in this negativity, one little phrase comes into my mind:

“Can there ever be too much kindness in the world?”

Can we ever listen enough?

Can we ever stop too much to play and listen to the concerns of little kids?

Can we ever hear too many life stories?

Can we ever feel the pains of others too much?

The answer is NO. There is always room for more kindness, for more good energy, for more real, unrelenting love for others. There is never too much.

I love you all. Keep doing all the wonderful things you are up to.

Love, Hermana Alex

Pre-Mission Alex (obviously)

My Worst Nightmare: Fasting In The Jungle

Hermana Ostler’s Update – October 14, 2013

  

If anyone knows me even a tiny bit, they will be aware of the fact that I love to eat. It’s this kind of passion that is extremely obsessive and I can be deadly to be around if I haven’t consumed some kind of something within 45 minutes after the first pangs of hunger. I call it “hangry,” and it is ugly.

So when we did a 24 hour fast without food or water this Sunday I was expecting it to be hard. But I wasn’t expecting to get to know the feeling, “Thireath.” Or Thirst Death! Ummmm… I guess it is hard to not drink water when it’s over 100 degrees outside and humid on top of that? What a new and grand discovery. AND EVERYONE OFFERED US SODA OR JUICE OR REALLY REALLY COLD WATER. In every house. I turned down FRUIT PUNCH!! The utter blasphemy of it all. I actually snuck water into the bathroom and drank an entire bottle in the shower so that my compy wouldn’t know. I STOOPED THAT LOW! But yeah. I survived... but my fast was horrible and I have yet to develop a strong testimony of this principle. Poco a Poco... as all our investigators say about quitting drinking or not sleeping around. Hahaha.

What else? Oh YEAH! I live in Puerto Maldonado and it is the bomb. It’s really hot. I mean... really hot. Mom and Dad, I may be using your credit card to buy shorter skirts because it’s just unbearable to even wear clothes - especially if these clothes are long black skirts. But I love it here! It is so cool - just like the Jungle Book. But I haven’t seen a monkey yet. I ask everyone I meet, “Where are the monkeys?” And they are like, why are you screaming in my face about monkeys? But I REALLY want to see one. With faith, perhaps---

Also... did I mention that I LOVE the people here? The moment I got here I just started making best friends with everyone. I mean, horrible men sometimes yell terrible things at me, but it’s just because they think my pasty white skin is super sexy. I mean, how on earth could you be attracted to a sweaty white girl who has liquid eyeliner melting all over her face? The mysteries of this life.

But yes, the people here are so amazing. I have so many best friends here. It is one of the most beautiful moments to meet someone and realize that we were friends before this life. When people used to talk about that I would always roll my eyes. Like, please- I do not believe that you were best friends with this random stranger from Walmart. BUT NO. IT’S SO TRUE! There are times when I meet someone and I automatically have this huge love for them. Their life is somehow extremely connected with mine. I can tell some people right away how much I love them and it’s not weird because they feel the same way. I am here for a reason. I am preaching the gospel to my friends. Its soooooooo cool.

The other day we were walking down this very muddy street when I saw a tiny little puppy. Naturally, I stopped to squeal uncontrollably and sit in the mud to play with this dirty animal. The owner walks out of her house, sees us, and runs over. HERMANAS! She was so, so, so excited to see us. We found out that she is a less active member who stopped going to church because her beloved son died earlier this year. We started talking to her and she told us that the night before she had a dream about the sister missionaries coming to see her. She woke up with peace in her heart for the first time since her son died. She then had been looking at pictures of her son and saw one of him with a gringa. As she was looking, she heard my squeals and came out and saw us. I saw that photo and it WAS ME! Not really, but this gringa was the spittin’ image of me. I don’t know, this just seemed to fill her with so much consolation.

I know that God lives. I know that He knows His children. He knows that they have heartbreaking lives and He is ready to offer them His love. I am His messenger, called to spread His plan of happiness. I know this with all my heart.

Love, THE SWEATY HERMANA ALEX

Pre-Mission Alex

I AM TO SEE THE WONDERFUL JUNGLE OF PUERTO

Hermana Ostler’s Update – October 7, 2013

  

Yes! Changes have come and I am headed to.... THE JUNGLE. Puerto Maldonado to be precise. I am terrified and so excited. They have monkeys and dengue fever and it’s really hot and I am just so stoked to experience something new. Its 12 hours by bus, so if you are wondering what I will be doing tomorrow it is looking at my photo album of my beloved Urubamba and reading the Old Testament. Yay!

This update is going to be short, but I just wanted to say that I love my mission. Sometimes I have felt like maybe I haven’t done any good, that maybe I haven’t touched anybody’s lives for the better. Sometimes I feel small and worthless. But today I had the horribly sad and beautiful experience of saying goodbye to the people I love that live here in Urubamba. 

http://www.lostworldadventures.com/map/images/map_peru.jpg

New Paragraph because this is important. I HAVE DONE GOOD THINGS HERE. I am not wasting my time. I have touched the lives of others because I gave my whole heart and soul to them. I wept with them in their tragedies, we laughed at the stupidly hilarious moments and most importantly, my soul spoke with the souls of others. I let them feel the love that their Heavenly Father has for them. I cried a lot today and others did too. We will miss each other and I know that there is a life after this one, that I was meant to meet these people, and that we will be together in the presence of God after we die. I know this with all my heart. 

Now I need to go buy bug spray. 

Love you all. 

Hermana Alex

Eating Cuy

Killing Elder Cava with some kind of harvesting tool

Cuy Intestines Look Like Noodles

Hermana Ostler’s Update – September 30, 2013

  

First, apologies to all the people who received some depressing emails last week. I am a missionary! I have no time to be gloomy! 

Companions are a hard thing at times. That is just the truth. My current companion is nearing the end of her mission and wants to go home. We have cultural differences and personality differences. It is an interesting dynamic. But let me tell you that I have an overwhelming love for her. She has a wounded soul. I have had the opportunity just to be there and listen in her dark moments, which makes it impossible for me to have any ill will towards her. That is such a gift to me -- to be able to love her with all that I have, holding nothing back. I am learning so much about the love of Christ for all people through this experience. 

I have been teaching Elder Cava how to read in English. The other day he read the word “calling”, stopped, looked at me, and then asked, “like the vampires?”

The Cullens. Hahhaha! I died. 

I ate cuy (guinea pig) intestines the other week. NO ONE TOLD ME UNTIL AFTER… 

All of our investigators dropped us this week. ALL OF THEM. It has been a little depressing. Ahhhh. But yes, no one wants to listen to us. People who had beautiful testimonies just started slamming doors in our faces, or pretending to be sick, or wanting to be baptized in the Catholic Church for the Padrinos (Godparents).

For all my friends and family who are not members of this church... When you see missionaries walking by, REMEMBER ME! Remember that these people have feelings, that all they want to do is share their beliefs to a kind face. Invite them to an ice cream, listen to them, and remember that we are all just little kids. Be nice to us, and remember me! 

I have held rabbits, baby sheep, and baby goats this week. THEY SMELL TERRIBLE! My compy has a strong gag reflex to smells and so it was hilarious to see her gagging all the way home because the acrid, old poop smell was covering our entire bodies. If anyone has seen me with baby animals they will know that I just CANNOT handle it. I just can’t. I squeal and giggle and make double chins all over the place. The photos are definitely model material. 

I love you all! Keep happy and know that I am always praying for you. 

From Peru in the Spring Time, 

Hermana Alex 

REMEMBER ME!