No Pegamos; Bailamos

 Hermana Ostler’s Update – April 28, 2014

  

This is the thing that I tell all the children. We do not hit, WE DANCE. And then they all start to dance and are happy again. I am so using it with my future children. 

My companion was sick all week. It’s the typical case of having a cold, going to the doctor (DOCTORS ARE NOT FOR COLDS), taking a ton of antibiotics, and then getting sick from all the medicine. So I did a lot of sitting around doing nothing, being a terrible nurse (how can you tell if it’s a fever if everything is hot here?), getting bored, starting to dance, stopping because that is weird.... And my companion slept for about 3 DAYS STRAIGHT WITHOUT WAKING UP. But it was good. 

There was one point when I sat on top of my desk, opened the window, and started to read the Book of Mormon. I was reading Alma 13 and it was like the windows of heaven just opened up and I just “got it.” I understood. I felt the tender communication of a loving Father in Heaven. I just felt so loved and so honored to be a part of his big ol’ plan. Read that chapter. I know that God continues communicating with His children. He has not stopped loving us. When we have questions, He gives us answers. What a joy that is! 

The dumbest Alex Question of the week:

Have you had appendicitis before?? Hahaha. 

I love you all. I really do!  

Hermana Alex

Visiting with Hans and Yovanna

My sick companion. 

THIS IS A PICTURE OF A MONKEY PEEING ON ME. PEEING. ewwwwww

Birds scare me.

I AM A GIANT HERE.

Chipmunk

Hermana Ostler’s Update – April 21, 2014

I am a chipmunk. This week one of our menos activos gave us cake to eat during the lesson. We were teaching about something really important and I got way excited and forgot that I had a mouthful of cake shoved into the corner of my cheek. I was sitting there expounding and expounding the scriptures. At some point I touch my cheek, and I realize I had had that cake in my mouth for the whole lesson. Only these things happen to me...

The Spirit that fills the room when Peruvian men pray - It is the most amazing thing ever. The men here live so far below their potential. They forget that they are SONS of God. Sons of That Great Being who made all things. They are His sons. He loves them so much and they forget so often. We are teaching a less active family, Hans and Yovanna. I love this family. I love the change that I am seeing in Hans especially. One day we were kneeling and praying and he said, “I don't deserve it, but thanks for changing me.” The humility of this man. He KNEW that he was talking to his Heavenly Father. That prayer really changed me. We are His children and He listens to us. We do not deserve this love but He gives it freely. I really do love it when the Peruvian men pray. 

The dino miracle. First of all. Thanks Mom for sending me a package full of dino toys! They are always in my backpack and I play with them when we are waiting for people to answer the doors. They are the bomb. Second of all, Norka sells chocolates with dinos inside! My compy and I have begun to collect them. Well, this week we were in the process of leaving Norka and Freddy. They do not want to divorce and then get married again. It really broke my heart to see that they didn't want to change. They do not come to church or read or anything anymore, but they KNOW it’s true. With this horrible sadness in my heart, I decided to buy one more dino. BUT THERE WAS ONLY ONE. And my companion snatched it first to buy it. I was so sad. First Norka and then the dino. But when my compy opened the package.... There were two dinos! I am serious. They never have two! It was one of those small miracles to see. God loves us. He doesn't want us to be sad and so he sends us the small things that get overlooked lots of times.

But the best part of the Dino Miracle...Norka came to church this week. Miracles exist People! 

Peruvians have a lot of weird traditions. One of the craziest is that if you sleep with a sore throat then your bones hurt and you get another sore throat. I never believed it. But after about 7 months of living in the jungle and sleeping with a fan... it finally caught up to me. The myth is true. 

I love you all. I love Easter. I love Jesus Christ. I thought about Him all week. We sure forget about Him sometimes, don’t we? We forget that it is because of Him that we are here, that we can be happy. I love that man more than anyone else in the world. He is my Savior and I am His representative. I am so proud to carry His Name. Let us remember Him.

Happy Easter!!!

The day calls your name! What are we going to do with another incredibly beautiful day that God has given us? I hope its something crazy, that makes us laugh, and brings us joy. This life is meant for us to be joyful!

I LOVE YOU ALL.

Sometimes we get bored during the strike. This is me surfing on a log... Hermana Ruiz is spraying the hose on me for a wave... 

My compy in mid lesson when a frog hopped under her chair. She has a phobia that controls her. Poor girl. Pueblo is full of these creatures. I LOVE them but cannot touch them because they probably are full of poison. Cons of living in the jungle. 

This is my companion not walking past that little frog.

This is Ambar and her family. They are awesome.

This little kid had a bike...with PEGS. I got way stoked and begged him to give me a ride.... But really... Dad. Put some pegs on my bike, por favor. 

Rosemery is going through a lot of problems with her marriage. She just got married and baptized but is now feeling like she wants to have her youth back. We are helping her realize that the family is the best thing ever and that the other things just do not matter anymore. I sure love this woman. 

Stacking cups. This was my fifth time trying it before I succeeded. Ronny (the teenager) is a guy that makes me STUDY when I teach him. He saw my abounding impatience with the cups and told me... "how can you preach the word if you don't have patience?" hence... studying patience this week.

The Time I Lived in Jail for Four Days in Peru

Hermana Ostler’s Update – April 14, 2014

Before people get way too alarmed... I did not actually go to Prison Prison. Those things are straight up freaky here. But I DID live in my tiny little room for about 4 days straight because of the strike. THAT IS A LONG TIME TO SIT AROUND AND DO NOTHING. This is without internet or movies, mind you. We sat in our window and watched all day as the people went absolutely APE -- Burning things, throwing trash and rocks, fighting with sticks, truckload upon truckload of police and army guys, robbing, pillaging, screaming..... It was.... TERRIFYING. I have never ever ever ever seen something like that. The anger of the people was completely out of control.

And the next three days... complete silence. No one was in the streets. Little bands of ugly spirited men paced the streets ready to attack stores that were open or people who looked rich... It was one of the scariest moments of my life to leave the ‘prison cell’ and walk a block to our pensionista to eat lunch and dinner. 

Be grateful for what you have. Be grateful that you live in a place with order. 

And be grateful that you were not as bored as me this week.

-       feeding pigeons

-       makeup wars

-       paper boats

-       reading the old testament 

-       sleeping

-       taking 6 showers in one day... it’s hot here okay??

All in all, an interesting week. 

I love you all! And do not worry because I AM OKAY! We are so protected. I love you all. 

hermana alex

This was the punishment for not knowing the name of the man that gave Moses the Priesthood. I screamed, "THE FATHER IN LAW." But yeah.... It was Jethro. JETHRO. The name that my father always uses to yell at random people. JETHRO. Also... This is a new sister missionary. She speaks no Spanish and I have forgotten English. The other day I told her that I "sleeped" for a long time. IT'S SLEPT! 

When we got stuck in the house for 4 days from the strike. We got all fancied up and then we realized that it wasn't such a good idea to look so GLAM outside with the miners.

After two days stuck in the room with people throwing bombs outside... we did this. 

Then she made me into a Latina. I have no idea if this is racist in the States. But really, everything is so politically incorrect here that I forget. 

Then we made her into a gringa. I WAS STIR CRAZY OKAY???

This is me trying to feed the pigeons. Again... stir crazy. I made up my own pigeon language. BUT THEY ARE SO SPOILED AND STUCK UP. They would NOT eat the fruit loops. Nor the frosted flakes. I have yet to try the chocolate - But really, ask me about the pigeon language in 7 months. It's incredible. 

Then we made paper boats to play with in the tub we wash our clothes in.
That one says to repent Pueblo Viejo!

I love this picture of my compy. I do NOT like that umbrella. It is always gouging my eyes out or wrapping around my hair....I hate the umbrella. I AM AN OREGONIAN. WE DO NOT USE THOSE THINGS.

Which one is my dinosaur??

Be A Light

Hermana Ostler’s Update – April 7, 2014

Sometimes I still get words mixed up here. An example... 

I was talking to a less active member and I asked him why he hadn’t been to church. He told me, “soy excomugaldo” and I heard “soy abogado.”

For those who don’t speak Spanish. 

Excomugaldo is excommunicated, or kicked out of the church for doing something bad. Abogado is lawyer. You can imagine my response. “How great! Don’t worry about the little things! Let’s go to church together! Woohoo!” 

The poor guy was so confused. YEAH! Spanish problems!

The strike continues. Right now we are locked into the internet cafe because there are people trying to break in and rob us. PERU! But really. I feel like I am in a bunker. Way cool. The strike is actually pretty crazy. We have to run away from them sometimes because they are way pissed. We were walking across the park yesterday and we had to walk past them. I have never felt so much darkness. These are men that work in the mine. They have a life that is absolutely contrary to God. It was one of the worst feelings. And they were saying the most HORRID things. I think that when men start to disrespect women, that is when God just leaves. His Spirit cannot be in that kind of situation. My comp and I also got separated when we were crossing the road to get away. I dashed through all the motos and my companion stayed on the other side. She said that when I left, she felt like half of her light left too. 

Light exists. God exists. But darkness also exists. It’s so real. I am so thankful that I have the Light of Christ. That ability to do good and to be good. I feel pain for those men. Not because they are on strike, but because they have disobeyed the commandments of God for so long that they have lost that light. Do not lose that light. Love and serve. Be someone good. That is what I learned this week. 

Also. That horrible feeling when you are in the shower... and the shower stops... and your hair is filled with shampoo. I laughed and laughed. My companion was so confused why I thought it was so great. Those moments are the best! Those moments when you realize that God has a sense of humor and that we can just LAUGH when the crazy things in life happens to us. I hope I will always be able to laugh.

What else… Oh, Chocolate, my dog friend, stealing my pamphlet about Joseph Smith and me yelling, “WELL YOU BETTER READ IT AT LEAST.” All the people in the street were laughing so hard. 

CONFERENCE: SO OBSESSED: I loved it. If you haven’t watched it. Do it. I just felt that God was speaking to me. I know it is true. I have no doubts listening to them. 

I love you all!

Tractors. I have an EXTREME obsession with them.

Hermana Alex

GRINGOS. The conference party. Elder Gallegos (the elder next to me. my zone leader) was way confused by my screaming and laughing and clapping during the talks. I JUST LOVE THEM SO MUCH. (The talks, not the elders.)

TO WATCH THE APRIL 2014 GENERAL CONFERENCE, go to: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLClOO0BdaFaNWGTdSq0_EgcD8yrwsutTO

That is my dirty clothes on my head. All of the kids wanted to know what I was selling, so I started to yell, "Ropa de Gringa!" in the streets. 

This is my companion trying to catch me on the stairs leaving Pueblo Viejo every day.

This is a monkeys head in the girl's mouth! My companion was dry heaving. The girl was eating a sucker and apparently wanted to share. 

I have fifteen chicks in my lap. Hence, the way stoked face. 

We went to the beach and danced.  

Strikes, Kamoocha, and Fighting with Moto Taxis

 Hermana Ostler’s Update – March 31, 2014

  

Strike! In Peru! This means that a bunch of police walk around everywhere with bats and throw tear gas at everyone. Putting rocks in the streets, throwing eggs… all very, very normal. It also means that everyone sits on the curb attacking motos with long hooks to slash tires, but then go home for lunch. Because no matter how important something is here in Peru, LUNCH beats everything. My kind of mentality, really.

Kamoocha. Kamoocha is a lady that lives in Pueblo Viejo. She is a little handicapped and walks around with a machete and her little dog. The other day she was coming down the stairs with about 10 bags of... I have no idea what. It’s probably better not to know. But as a missionary I am always looking for ways to serve. And I love walking those stairs, so why don’t we just take them all down for her?? My companion was hating me but we did it. After, La Kamoocha was eager to show her gratitude. ANNNNDDDDD. SHE KISSED ME. But not a normal Peruvian kiss. Remember those eels at the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River that suck on that one window when all the salmon are passing by? KAMOOCHA KISSES LIKE THOSE EELS. Oh man. She gave me a big sucker kiss on my cheek...and would not let me go. She has very strong lips. I finally pulled away and we RAN. I had to pour a giant bottle of water on my face and rub hand sanitizer on all my body to get all that Kamoocha drool off me. Lesson Learned. Never serve people. Especially a Kamoocha. Just kidding. You really should serve other people.

Hello, my name is Hermana Ostler, and I fight with the Moto Taxistas. It’s a problem. They always try to charge me so much, which results in me yelling in really fast Spanish. “Is it because of these eyes? My hair? I LIVE HERE. I AM NOT DONE. 3 soles or walk! Yeah! Just walk away!” They always charge me three soles! I WILL NEVER PAY THAT. EVER. THAT IS MY VOW. “You think that I don’t know? I am smart? It’s the skin, right? I will never pay that extra sol.” My compy just watches in amazement. I have my pride. But I never pay the extra sol! I am so thrifty!

I love to testify. I feel like little by little, I am becoming a more powerful missionary. I just don’t get scared to tell the truth anymore. Before it freaked me out because I didn’t want to offend. I have learned that when you really love someone the truth will always help and they usually never take offense if you say it with love. 

We cannot be saved in sins. We cannot be rewarded for disobedience. We must be obedient if we want the blessings of God. I am learning how to be good and do what is right. It has always been so hard for me, but I love the things I am learning here. 

I love you all!

Hermana ALEX

FOREVER A HOBO. This is after spending the night at the other Hermanas' house because we had to go pick them up at the bus real late the night before. 

All I have to say is that whoever ends up marrying this girl is one lucky guy to see a face and hair like this every morning. Congrats future husband!

This is my zone. We are pretty fun. 

Elder Schumacher, my old district leader, was talking about the controversial topic of Sister Missionaries. I guess we are sometimes really horrible?? Hahaha. But do not worry because this kind Elder from St George told me... "Don't worry Hermana. You're not high maintenance, just dumb."

.....thanks! I guess that is what I get for calling all the time about bats in my room and falling into holes and stuff.

We went to this place called La Colina. Its way cool. Its a swimming pool! Why did we go to a swimming pool ON THE MISSION?? If anyone knows my mermaid tendencies, they would also know that I was way tempted to swim. But we did get to splash around and it was fun.

Look at my compy's face. I love it. Boca de Obesa. 

My companion has no idea that I am stealing her food in this picture. I look like a flippin' anaconda. So tight.

My compy went to Lima for the week to get all her papers done. (HOW IS SHE LEGAL AFTER A MONTH AND I AM STILL WITHOUT A VISA 10 MONTHS LATER???) 

But she left with my camera and this is basically the only photo that came back with her. Of fish. Her words, "but I really like fish!"