Legalized

Hermana Ostler’s Update – June 16, 2014

I am officially half way legal. After a year of avoiding eye contact with police and not signing ANYTHING, I am now getting accepted by the country of Peru. We went to Lima this week to eat a lot of Papa John’s pizza and also do papers. If anyone has ever wanted to travel to Lima.... I would say that would be a MISTAKE. (Karrie Baby. Imagine me saying that in an opera voice like from scrubs.) Lima is a scum ball of a city. You can never see the sky because of the smog and there are a ton of people and I think the so called mountains are literally just piles of garbage with houses built on top. Basically a super ugly city. 

But! The temple is there! I had not been inside one for a year and it was so amazing. Spiritual rejuvenation at its finest. To be inside a temple is to be in the presence of God. It is to feel His Spirit and to learn of His Kingdom. I am absolutely obsessed with the temple and I never wanted to leave. As I sat in that Holy House a beautiful impression came to my mind. They were the soft words of a loving Father in Heaven who asked me over and over again... “Do you understand how much I love you? You CANNOT understand the love that I have for you.”

I testify that God loves us. We were His children before this life and that will NEVER change, even though we do not believe in Him or understand Him or obey Him. His love escapes all bounds of our imagination. 

Traveling to Ollantaytambo this week. It’s a tiny little village in the gate of Macchu Pichu. It was sweet working there for a day, but the cobble stone streets bruised my poor feet! The problem with divisions is that I miss my companion Hermana Tamariz wayyyyy too much. She is just as shameless as I am and all I do is laugh uncontrollably with that woman. When we were FINALLY reunited together we were talking in an overcrowded van and she turns to me, looks me in the eye and then basically yells, “I HAVE REALLY BAD DIARRHEA AND I HAD NO ONE TO TELL ABOUT IT.” Everybody heard on the bus and I spent the next 45 minutes laughing hysterically. 

Taxi rides in Peru are an interesting experience. You basically flag down whatever car will stop and then you get in and hope they know how to drive. It’s basically everything they teach you NOT to do when you are in elementary school. Last night we hopped into a taxi only to realize that we had hopped into the taxi of Paul Walker (the blonde guy from fast and furious) That last statement was a huge lie because this guy was not handsome OR good at driving, and all he did was swerve and yell at the radio (it’s the World Cup, people). When I told him to chill out he turned to me and said, “I am a professional.” Never have I prayed so hard. Lesson Learned? If he thinks he is Vin Diesel... get out of the car. 

Elder Oaks from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles came to Cusco. We had a special meeting with him as missionaries. For those who do not know, an Apostle is a Prophet of God, it’s the equivalent of Paul or Peter in the Bible. We know that the restored church of Jesus Christ has Apostles and Prophets and that we have the privilege to hear them and learn from their words. Elder Oaks is... He is swweeeeett. The coolest, deepest, most authoratative voice I have ever heard. That man has power when he speaks. He talked of the importance of the priesthood, of the importance of women, and the importance of the work we are doing. His words were so full of wisdom and love and I knew that what he said was the message that God was sending to us all. 

Sometimes people are rude. Sometimes they scream and cuss and sic their husband on you to do the same thing. That happens sometimes. But there are always miracles that follow. On Sunday we were walking and saw a little boy playing with his plastic ball on a mountainside. Just as we were passing, this mischievous ball went FLYING down the hill, leaving the little boy super sad. I had a strong feeling to chase the ball and went sprinting down the hill, yelling at everyone to STOP THAT BALL, to no avail. This ball was a little Mr Magoo because it almost got destroyed by cars about 10 times, but escaped every single time. We finally get to the bottom of the mountain and see that the boy and his mother were following us, also on the quest to get that ball back. We started talking to them. Her name is Marleny and is separating from her boyfriend right now. She was searching for something more in her life. She lived with members of the church before and has always wanted a family like theirs. She is now learning more about the church. I know that miracles exist and I know that there are people searching for something more in this life. 

I love you all. My thumb is healing and I have not thrown up this week. All is well.

Hermana Alex