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.

Asking To Be Humbled (The Time Heavenly Father Drop Kicked Me In The Face)

20 June 2013

Before you get too alarmed by the subject of this email, just remember that our Heavenly Father does everyone lovingly, even if it does mean "drop kicking" his children in the face.

This week I have learned that I can do NOTHING without the help of my Savior, Jesus Christ. This last week I started to notice my prideful tendencies, how easy it is for me to become self-absorbed and think that I am better than others! As a LITERAL representative of Jesus Christ, I knew that walking around expecting people to treat me like a Rainbow Unicorn was not going to cut it. So I did what any knowledgeable person doesn't do, I prayed to God to be humbled. If you don't want to be humbled, then I recommend not following the path that I chose.

The next day was rough. It just seemed that everything was so hard, and no matter how much I tried, I couldn't force the Spirit to be with me. The lessons we taught were shaky, the Spanish wouldn't flow like it has in the past. We were teaching this one lady and there was a point in the lesson where I completely lost it. For anyone who doesn't know me, to "lose it" is to breakdown in ugly sobs. It is not aesthetically pleasing in any way, shape, or form. We had just read D&C 19:16-19, which describes the suffering that Christ went through so that we could repent of our sins and become like him. The pain and agony He chose to go through, every single sadness in this world, every single moment of weakness, of anger, of heartbreak. He felt it all. And he felt it for YOU. And that is so true. I felt His love during that lesson that was falling apart at the seams. This work is impossible to do without the assistance of my Savior. And I want everyone at home to know that I am not doing this to go see Peru. I am on a mission because I know that my Savior and Redeemer lives. He has a plan for us and there is no reason to feel lost or alone in this life, because He suffered through those pains in our behalf. Pride may be something that I struggle with, but it will be conquered as long as I remember what it feels like to be truly humbled.

What a way to start off an update, am I right?!

Here are some more highlights!

~Hermana Coffey getting severely injured T-Rex running. She has had this foul yellow pus oozing out of her leg for days. But do not relax so soon, unsuspecting residents of 17M, we will be back....with a vengeance.

~ My party dress (vestida fiesta) is getting some mileage. I will send some pictures of it next week. Whenever I enter a room a disco ball appears out of nowhere and I have no choice but to chant, "party dress, party dress, party dress"...

~The Prophet and all of the Apostles are going to be here this week! They are doing a Worldwide Training Broadcast from the MTC, so things are going on lock down over here in East Provo. The Hermanas and I decided to join the choir. Which is a new experience for me. Anyways, we walk in and they were dividing everyone up into "Sopranos" or "Altos". I was swiveling my head around looking for the "Tone Deaf" section but since I couldn't find it, I now mouth all the words in whichever section requires less walking. So look for me on TV!

~Hermano Bartolomei brought us some Hershey's kisses in class yesterday. It tasted like nasty rat poo that had been sitting on some more rat poo for 10 years. Gross gross gross. I put it in my mouth and it crumbled into a whirlwind of chalky poison. I looked over at Hermana Coffey and she was gagging. And let me tell you now, I went nuts. The laughing just would not stop. I was choking and crying and convulsing. I HAD TO LEAVE THE ROOM. Poor Hermano Bartolomei was so confused, and offended as well. But man, it just made me go a little crazy.

~If I could be anyone in the world, I would want to be Hermana Beckstead. True story. No explanation needed.

~During service this week Hermana Hansen and I had to clean the elevators. I was cleaning the outside of the doors and they closed in on me, resulting in screams of distress from me and mocking laughter from the classroom that was watching me.

~ELISE IS HERE. Every time I spot her on campus, I run around in tiny circles, as does she. Pure friendship right there.

~P-days are the best days. That is a fact. We are going to celebrate by napping for hours.

~The biggest highlight of my week was just having the opportunity to feast on the scriptures every day for hours. That is honest-to-goodness better than any galleta (cookie) I get from Shannon in the mail. (Thanks!) Some people here complain about how long we study the scriptures but I am that nerd in the corner just shoveling it in. The Book of Mormon and Bible are the easiest way to feel closer to your Heavenly Father. That, and prayer, of course. When I read I can feel my soul become unburdened, I feel more love for everyone in this entire world. To everyone within reading distance of this email, The Book of Mormon is true. I may be stupid in many other regions of my life, but in this I am firm, I am correct. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. Read it. Feast on the words of Christ. Ponder and meditate on whether it is true. And then ask your Heavenly Father if it is correct. Do this with the real intention of finding out the truth, do it with an open heart, and you will be answered. Grace, Karrie-Baby, read that book. I gave it to you because I love the two of you more than life. Read it. Or don't, and send me a galleta and then read it.

~During one of my lessons (in Spanish, of course) I told the lady that I had a lot of fear. Fear is "miedo" in Spanish. But there is also a word (miedro), which does not mean fear. It means something a lot worse. So yes, I cussed in my lesson and told the lady I had a lot of miedro. I am sure she was thinking "too much information!"

Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of galletas,

Hermana Alex