Puppy Pee and Changes

Hermana Ostler’s Update – September 8, 2014

I am sad to announce that my frenemie, Hermana Tamariz, is leaving me to suffer (according to her) in the jungle of Quillabamba. But really! It’s heart breaking to see her go because that sassy, name-calling Peruvian has really become one of my best friends. I swear, we spent the whole time laughing together. She called me Llama Face and Butt Face and Man Face and so many other things and yet my love for her is only bigger because she just GETS me. She didn’t mind that I dance to church music like a crazy every night or that I can eat a whole box of cereal in 10 minutes or that sometimes I just really need to eat before I talk.... I love her! And her testimony and spirit is so big, she loves this life and it makes me happy to think that she may be coming to The States to insult me in English as well! 

My new companion will be Hermana Valverde. I do not know her at all. But I know that she is very small so I will continue to enjoy my slight giant status for a little longer. 

President Harbertson has been inviting us to do our 3 visits each week. The 3 visits consists of visiting 1. The Bishop 2. The Ward Mission Leader and 3. Other leader in the Ward. Our ward mission leader is such a cute little man. He is the only convert to the church and walks on his tiptoes and made us pizza once. But honestly, this man does not do much to help us with the missionary work. He is the key to having success and yet does nothing to help us advance. We decided to take up President Harbertson’s invitation and visit this brother. His nonmember wife opened the door, told us her husband was not home, and invited us to sit down and wait for him. I usually don’t like to wait because Peruvian time is Peruvian time (2 hours late), but we felt that we needed to visit this brother. The brother walked in about 10 minutes later (miracle!) and we began to share a message with him and his wife (another miracle!). We shared the scripture from Doctrine and Covenants 121 which talks about trials. We then sang the brother’s favorite hymn (How Firm a Foundation) and invited the brother to pray. As this wonderful man began to pray, he also began to sob. He thanked God for sending us, the missionaries, to his home because as he walked home he felt overwhelmed with sadness and despair. He told us that he felt so so so alone and didn’t want to share his burden with others. He thanked us for coming to his home and giving him the strength to keep praying, to keep trying. I know that God sends us to homes to help His children feel loved. We are never alone. 

This Sunday we made one of the biggest mistakes that missionaries can make. We accepted TWO invitations to eat lunch. WHY??? The first one was supposed to start at 12, but cooking beans in Cusco means waiting for 2 HOURS MORE. Beans are such rebellious little suckers in altitude. Justamente the second lunch started at 2 as well. Let me tell you, I have never eaten so fast in my life. The first lunch were BEANS and FRIED BANANAS and FRIED EGGS and AVOCADO. Talk about a punch to the digestive system. We then sprinted to the other house where they had prepared LAMB SOUP and CARAPULCRA and DESSERT. I think my companion and I rolled out of that house like little ticks full of thick blood. I will NEVER do that again. EVER. 

This week I had the wonderful opportunity to be marked as the territory of a puppy. I LOVE PUPPIES, mostly because they are so wiggly and have extra skin. I go completely looooopy for puppies. So I naturally stopped in the middle of the street to play with one, as my hysterical squeals and giggles increased, the puppy went beserk and lost complete control of his “bodily liquids” and peed all over me. I need to start controlling my excitement with puppies, but it’s so hard when they have EXTRA SKIN. It kills me. 

This morning were the transfers. Transfer day is always a day of secrecy and such in the offices because no one can know where they are going until 10. Well, chismosas que somos, we went to attack the weakest Elder in the offices, the mail elder (Elder Medina). We asked him oh so kindly to print off the transfer list, which he did with so much enthusiasm. I, knowing the brutal nature of the other office elders, ran to the printer to take out the paper. As I did so, I heard battle cries and saw that my companion was literally obliterated by one of the assistants (Elder Albert) as he tried to cover the information on the computer screen. The Nurse Elder (Elder Nicholls) sprints past me trying to intercept the paper in the printer, not knowing that I had stealthily obtained it. It basically resulted in the other elders screaming “YOU ARE WEAK YOU ARE WEAK” to the poor mail elder and us leaving victorious, knowing the transfers. So if you want to steal information, go to the mail Elder. 

I love you all. I love being a missionary because I learn so much and have the chance to focus in on others, to love them into following God’s plan. Love is the essence to all that we do. If we do not love, than we are not living as God would have us to. Another thing I have learned from the mission is that being a complete nun and super super single has made me learn so much about marriage. Woah there. But really, I feel like a wise little owl that can see a different perspective on relationships because I am not blinded by my own. Interesting musings, no? 

hermana alex

After finding out about the transfer.