12/6/13

Hey everyone!

So, this week has been awesome! There aren´t really any reasons in particular but it just has been awesome. This last weekend the missionaries from the MTC (Missionary Training Center) came and did some proselyting in our area and it was so much fun! They come every two weeks and it´s always the BEST when they come. What we do is, the missionaries get split up amongst the ward members and they go for about 4 hours and teach the less active members in the area and also let the missionaries knock on doors and find references for me and my companion. This time, me and my companion (Hna. Apolo from Ecuador) split with the other missionaries and I went with a church member and a girl from Kennewick, WA!!!! It was so exciting!!! It was like seeing a family member or something, lol. When they first got there, I said I was from Oregon and she´s like, ¨Hey! I´m from Washington! We´re like, cousins!¨ And then I asked what part of washington and she said Tricities and I was like, ¨We really ARE cousins!" It was super exciting, lol. This probably sounds silly, but when you spend all your time around Peruvians or Utahans (I have no idea what people from Utah are called, sorry, in my whole zone, I´m the only North American not from Utah, lol), it´s a little exciting when you find someone from your corner of the globe. 

Anyway, it was really awesome to help the missionaries teach and go out and work with the members. It really does change EVERYTHING when the members help the missionaries. The work is so much easier and so much more successfull when we work in unity, and not everything is left up to the missionaries. We definitely can´t do it alone. 

Also . . . the is the weirdest Christmas ever, lol. It´s hot outside and I have a craving for watermelon and corn on the cobb and hamburgers. It´s weird to see all the Christmas lights and everything up. It´s cool. Also, they have hot chocolate parties at night time . . . which I don´t know why they do, because it´s still hot outside sometimes and I want ice cream or something. Also, while we´re on that subject of weird traditions, I had a pretty bad cold this week (but I´m over it now and I´m perfectly healthy and everything is ok!) and my pencionista (the lady who feeds us breakfast) made me drink hot herbal tea and hot soup (did I mention it´s hot outside) and I couldn´t have any fruit because fruit is cold and I can´t have anything cold when I´m sick . . . it was great, haha. They definitely have some funny ideas here. Like a lady in our ward told my old companion (Hna. Ku, who went home because she was sick, but is back in the mission now! :) that she got her hernia because her mom tripped and fell while she was in her stomache. lol, I love it. Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying the snow and the cold weather. I never thought I would say this, but I actually do miss the snow, lol. Love you guys so much and I Hope you have a great week! Remember to love and serve your family and your neighbors!  Love you guys so much!

Hna. Hulse

Climbing Cerros‏ 12/9/13

Hola Todo!

This week, I got my new companion fresh from the MTC and she´s from Ecuador! Her name is Hna. Apolo, and she´s super sweet and awesome. We are working really really hard to find new people to teach and invite them to come unto Christ! This is the first time in the mission that I´ve had a healthy companion who could go out an work all day . . .so far, haha . . . so we´ve been able to work a lot, but also, now it seems like people say NO a lot more . . .there really is opposition in all things. But I know that as long as we´re working hard and being obedient, we´ll be led to those who are prepared to receive the gospel. The Lord is preparing all people in their own timing, it´s just being led to those who are ready NOW that´s the hard part. 

We have giant ¨Cerros¨ or hills in our area, where the poorer people live, and the other day we received a reference from the missionaries at the MTC . .  ok, let me back up a little. The missionaries from the MTC come to our area to proselyte every 2 weeks, for a few hours on a saturday, to get practice before they enter the field full time. So we received a reference from these Elders who had a GREAT experience with this family and they gave me the reference and said, ¨You have to visit them! They want to know more and they want to be baptized!¨ So this week, we went out to visit them, and they live at the very top of a hill . . . which is actually a mountain. It´s about an hour hike through winding staircases and shanty towns. We´re sweating to death and trying to catch our breath (cause it´s like, 80 degrees) and knock on the door and a little boy answers, and we say, ¨Hola!!¨ and the parents are in the house . . . and we say, ¨Hi! We´re missionaries!¨ And . .. well, the parents weren´t exactly all that thrilled to see us. We got the door slammed in our face, and as we walked away, the kid was being punished for opening the door.  Now, I know you were all expecting to hear about how we found this family in the highest hill top and . . . I don´t know, some miracle happened . . . but it didn´t. Sometimes the mission is like that. Sometimes life is like that. We work REALLY really hard, and we expect this really great reward, especially when we´re doing the right thing, but we have to be patient. Patient with ourselves and patient with the Lord. It hurts when people don´t want to hear what we have to say, especially when we go so far and work so hard to bring it to them, and especially when we KNOW that they could be so much happier if they had what we are freely offering, but I just remember that everything is in the Lord´s hands. 

¨Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you´re gonna get.¨. . . That quote doesn´t really have anything to do with anything, but it popped in my head, and made me laugh because it´s dad´s favorite movie (my sarcastic hand is raised . . .(that one´s for you, Mandy Kallas)) . . . Do perenthesis work in grammar the same way they work in mathematics? Ok, sorry this last part got way off focuss, haha. 

Anyway, I love you all so much and I hope that you can have a little patience with yourself and with the Lord. I know that when we´re doing the right thing, we´ll receive blessings far greater than anything this world can offer us. Love you so much! 

Hna. Hulse

Hay esta la foto merry Christmas‏ 12/2/13

Zona Canto Chico! (Canto Chico Zone) and our awesome jerseys. 

¡Hola Todo!

So, I´m sitting here and time is ticking away and I don´t know what to talk about . . . haha . . . this week has been pretty uneventful . . . But this was the last week that I had to work alone in my area! So I´m so super excited to get my companion, and we´ll find out where people are going for transfers and who my companion will be in about 2 hours! I´m so super excited! 

I hope everyone had a good safe Thanksgiving and didn´t go crazy with black friday . . . which I hear is now Black Thursday . . . that´s sad. One thing that I definitely don´t miss and that I´m so greatful that I don´t have to worry about, is being excluded from the politics and mayhem of the world. I LOVED reading the news and it´s still one thing that I really miss. As missionaries, we don´t read newspapers or anything, so the only thing I really hear about is what other missionaries hear about from their friends and family through email (which, if any of you would like to write a little bit about what´s going on in the world, I definitely wouldn´t mind, lol). So anyway, it´s been weird being completely excluded from that, but also so incredibly awesome. It´s like a stress that I never knew was a stress and now that I don´t have it, it´s pretty awesome. In fact, the other day, as I was laying in bed, it took me a full 30 seconds to remember who was president of the United States. In that moment, I was like, ¨Whoa . . . I am definitely a missionary in Peru.¨ 

Anyway, I´m sorry this email is really uneventful . . . it´s just been one of those weeks. I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving! Love you all so much and remember, that this month is not about receiving, it´s about giving! I hope you can all find a way to serve someone at least ONCE every day! 

Love you all!

Hna. Hulse

Happy Thanksgiving!‏ 11/25/13

Hooooolaaaaa!

Ok, I know I said Happy Thanksgiving like, 10 times last week, but it´s because I totally knew my family would be celebrating it early and I could read their minds, NOT because I have no sense of time and have no idea what´s going on in the world and that I got the week mixed up, haha. So, HAPPY THANKSGIVING for everyone else!

This week has been AWESOME! First, on thursday, we had a training with the president and his wife, and it was great, but the best thing . . . the entire mission is on a diet! hahaha! Sis. Erickson, the president´s wife, gave us a training on how to eat healthier . . . which was a little frustrating, because we know how to eat healthier and we WANT to eat healthier, but it´s kind of hard when you´re not in control of your food. As missionaries, we always eat with the members of the church.  Here in Peru, their main meal is lunch and they eat about 1 or 2pm. Every meal has a big bowl of soup, a main dish and a dessert. The main dish ALWAYS consists of a mountain of rice a few potatoes, and then some chicken or something. We eat zero fruits or vegetables 90 percent of the time. So yeah . . . the weight I was loosing (probably due to stress or something) is gradually coming back . . . but that´s gonna change, because now it´s a RULE for the mission that we serve ourselves or they have to use a half measuring cup to scoop our food. The members are also going to be trained in healthy eating, so yeah . .. I´m excited.

Anyway, enough of that, I don´t know why I went on about that for so long. The best thing this week was when Eld. Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles came and spoke to JUST our mission! He was supposed to go to Venazuela, but something happened and he couldn´t, and so he asked Eld. Uceda, an area 70, where he should go, and he said, Go visit the Lima North Mission because they´re the best! And he did! (Eld. Uceda´s wife served in our mission, so they´re a little biased). So we got to hear from him and his wife and Eld. Rasband (of the 70) and his wife and it was SO awesome. The last few months we´ve been hearing nothing but new training on working with the members. About how missionary work has completely changed. The members and the missionaries are now equal partners in doing the work of salvation. It´s no longer the missionaries´ job to find, teach and baptize. It´s now the work of EVERY person in the church to teach, baptize, confirm, retain, reactivate, and prepare all people to be partakers of salvation. It´s so exciting and awesome and I can´t urge you all enough to go to your bishop AND the missionaries and ask ¨What can I do to help you?¨ and then be willing to follow through and do it! Invite your friends and loved ones to meet with the missionaries. If you´re not a member of the church, go visit one sunday and talk with the missionaries to see what all of this is about. This gospel is so precious and wonderful and right now, as you´re reading this message, you feel good inside for a reason! This gospel is for every single person, and we need to remember that our very purpose on this earth is to learn and grow and one day be exalted and receive greater blessings. We really are pilgrims on this earth. This is not our home. Why then should we let our loved ones perish on the trail, if we know they haven´t made it home yet? Go to church. Read your scriptures. Say your prayers. Have family home evening and family prayer. And just as important as these basic elements are, SHARE the gospel. 

Being on my mission has taught me something very important, and that is how much I absolutely love my family, and how much I wish all of my friends and family could experience the great joy that living the gospel has brought me and my family. I love you all so much and hope that this week can be a fully productive and satisfying week. Don´t let time slip by you! Be happy and remember who you are, and if you don´t know who you are, turn to God in prayer, and He will remind you. Love you all!!

Hna. Hulse

11/18/13

Hoooooolaaaaaa!!!! 

This week has been awesome and crazy and wonderful and scary and stressful and AWESOME! First, monday night, my zone leaders called and asked me to give a 30 minute training at the zone meeting . . . it was crazy. I was SO scared! But I did it, and I survived and it was good, haha. It´s weird how I used to be terrified to have to give a 2 minute talk in sacrament (in spanish) and I´d have to write out every single word and it was terrible . ..  now I´m giving 30 minute trainings and teaching and conversing with people all on my own . . . it´s like, one day I woke up and all of a sudden I could speak spanish more or less. It´s cool how the Lord really does work changes in us and blesses us, and we can´t even really see it happening until we´re put to the test, and we look back and see how far we´ve come. 

So all week long I´ve had to search for members to go teach with me until I get a companion the first week of december. I mean, I have two companions from the other Area, but as for my area Santa Fe, I´m the only representative, so if I don´t find a church member to go teach with me, I can´t really teach in my area. It´s been a little frustrating, with members not just canceling, but forgetting to call and tell me that they need to cancel and just don´t show up, and things like that, but I´ve usually been able to find someone to teach with me when I need to. 

This week we had two baptisms, and one was Flavio´s. He´s the bishop´s father, he´s about 70 years old and almost ALL of his family are members. All of his children are active members and returned missionaries and he´s the only one who wasn´t baptized. His wife is an active member and volunteers in the Temple. She also is our pencionista (the lady who makes us breakfast) so we´d see him every single day,and so when I first came here, as soon as we´d walk in, he´d practically run out of the room. Then he had a major surgery (he had a brain tumor) and they thought he had died. He litterally woke up in a morgue. During the time he had a very profound dream, and he felt like God was giving him a second chance to change his life, so little by little he started talking to us and came to church, and we taught him, and now he´s baptized! It was so amazing to see this change take place in him. He has such a strong testimony and it was one of the most beautiful things to see His three sons and his grandson who´s leaving on a mission, confirm him as a member of Christ´s church and to bestow upon him the Gift of the Holy Ghost.

I hope all of you are having a wonderful week . . . oh hey! Thanksgiving is this week! HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I hope everyone remembers to count their blessings! Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD on the 19th :)

I love you all so much! Thanks for all your support and love. You´re in my prayers! Love yoooouuuu!!!

H´ Hulse

Flavio on the day of his baptism! Companions Hna. Olaechea and Hna. Murdock.

11/4/13

Hey everyone!

So . . . my companion went home .  . . again. I was really really sad to see her go and I still miss her a lot because she was an awesome missionary, but I´m glad she´s going back to get the help that she needs. So, we had an emergency exchange, and it´s been absolutely crazy, haha. My companions are Hna. Murdock from Utah, and Hna Olaechea from Argentina. They´re from the area right next to mine . . . SO . . . we are working in both areas . . . so we have two areas, two wards, to district leaders . . . it´s weird. Every night I call and report to my district leader and they report to their´s and it´s just so weird. I had to go on splits with a member just so I could attend my ward . . . it´s really crazy. I have to find someone from the ward to go with me almost every day to teach in my area, otherwise, we end up having to chose between the two areas . . . it´s rough, but I know the Lord will bless us so that His work will continue to move forward, even though we´re one missionary short. 

This last saturday, one of my investigadors, Elvia, was baptized. She´s 17 and her parents are members and she wants to serve a mission, and I´m so super excited for her! She´s super awesome and at her baptizm, she brought about 6 friends who aren´t members of the church, and almost all of her family was there and she just had a TON of support. It was awesome. Members stay members when they have the support of the ward and their family. Not only do they stay members, but they go on to do great things, like, serving a mission and going to the temple! So, my challenge for you, think of someone you haven´t seen at church in a long time, and go visit them. Invite them to church and sit with them when they come. When you join the church, you join a FAMILY, and that´s how we should treat each other :)

Thanks so much for all your love and support. I hope you have a GREAT week! Love you all!

Hna. Hulse

Crazy stuff a happenin´‏ 10/28/13

Hey everyone!

Sorry it´s been so long since I´ve sent a general email, it´s hard picking and choosing every week who I have time to write, but that´s the mission life. 

So, my companion has been really sick . . . (and I have permission to tell you this, haha) and it´s gotten pretty serious, so yesterday afternoon, we left to go stay with the Mission President and his wife for a few days . . . it´s really weird, haha. They don´t live in our mission boundaries (our mission is pretty ghetto) so we´re living in like, a completely different world right now, and I thought I would get super homesick being here, but honestly, I just feel super out of place and ready to get back to our dumpy room, by the noisy market and sleep on our creeky beds and get back to work. I mean, I didn´t think I´d get to walk on carpet again until I got back home . . . or play a piano, or use feather pillows or use an Ipad (yesterday we hung out on a sofa and watched the Bible Videos (biblevideos.lds.org) on the president´s ipad) or sit on a sofa or . . .yeah . . . the list goes on. Even though they only live 30 minutes away, it´s like a completely different world. It´s like we´re not even in Peru. It´s weird. 

 Our zone leaders (Eld Florian, from Peru and Eld Fristrup from Utah) are helping us with some appointments that we had, and they got 2 baptismal dates set with this family that we´ve been working with, and we are SO excited! I´m a little jealous we couldn´t be there for it, but everything happens for a reason. 

Ok, so within each companionship of missionaries we have weekly and monthly goals, and each district has a set of goals and then each zone has a set of goals, and they´re all different according to which area, district and zone you´re in . . . . claro como chocolate? (clear as mud?) Anyway, within the entire mission, we have a Standard of Excellence, and every month we all try to reach this standard, which, in short, you have to have like, a lot of baptisms and people progressing and some of them have to be families and older men . . . anyway, you´re probably all super confused, so to get to the point, this month, my companion and I are gonna reach the Standard of Excellence and we´re stoked. So yeah, we´re gonna keep praying and working hard and hopefully my companion gets better soon so we can get back to work soon. 

Anyway, I really hope all of you are doing great! Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support, it means so much to me. Always remember that God loves you and has a plan for every single one of us. Not a single person is forgotten or unknown by our Heavenly Father. Sometimes it might feel that way, but we have to remember that WE are the ones that turn from Him, so all we have to do is seek Him, and He will welcome us with open arms and provide the comfort and peace that we need. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Hna. Hulse

hey you! 10/14/13

Hola Todo!

This week has been LOCO! The Elders aren´t´allowed to teach young or single women, so we´ve been working in 3 different areas besides our own, to teach, and we´ve hardly had time to work in our own area. It´s a little frustrating, because there´s SO much work to be done and SO many people in our area who want us to teach them, but we just don´t have the time! Hopefully with this next transfer, we´ll get more sister missionaries in our area and we can get more work done! So this last weekend we had 2 baptisms, there´s a baptism this satruday and 5 more baptisms the saturday after, so October has been crazy but so awesome! We are super excited to see how much the work of the Lord is growing. We see miracles every day and it´s just amazing. My favorite part about missionary work is when I get to bare testimony of a gospel truth and I can feel the Spirit bareing testimony of my words and I can see understanding and clarity and inspiration and knowledge in the faces of the investigadors. It´s the best thing in the world! I´m sorry this has to be short, but thank you, everyone for all your support and love and prayers. I really appreciate it SO much. Remember that God loves each and every single one of you! 

Love you all!

Hna. Hulse

10/2/13

Hola todo! 

So, this Tuesday I got a new companion, and it turned out that my zone leaders weren´t joking this whole time they´ve been telling me I would probably be training . . . so yeah, less than two months in the mission field, and still not done with my own training, I got a missionary fresh from the MTC! Her name is Hna. Valdiviezo and she´s from Florida! She´s super awesome and works SUPER hard, even when she´s not feeling 100%. We´ve been having a lot of success this week and it´s just been awesome. It was really cool because a week ago Saturday, we had an activity where all the missionaries from the MTC came to our area and went with ward members to go visit other less active members of the ward. Well, she got sent to our area, and I remember thinking, ¨She´s gonna be my companion¨ And she is! Crazy, right? So anyway, this activity we had was amazing because the Sunday after, we had SO many less active members come to church. People that we had been visiting and working with for weeks FINALLY came to church and I KNOW it was because we had help from other ward members. Then, after the activity, we had so many people, mostly youth members, come up to us and ask if they could go teach with us during the week. It was so awesome! It is amazing the difference it makes when the ward members get involved. They help missionaries so much, and it´s so important that people feel welcomed and accepted into their own ward. Missionaries can´t do that . . .only the ward members can. So this week, ask yourself what you can do to help fellowship those you know who are missing from the congregation every week and how you can help the missionaries with those that they´re teaching, because they can ALWAYS use it. Thank you so much for all of your love and support. I really appreciate all of the prayers and all of the other support that I´ve received. It really does mean SO much to me. I love you all so much and hope that you have an amazing week! 

Love,

Hna. Hulse

9/16/13

Hello friends and family!!! 

This week we had transfers and it was crazy! As a new missionary, we have 12 weeks of training with our trainers, and every six weeks we have transfers and missionaries get sent to new places and get new companions and such. But since I´m being trained, and I still have six weeks left of training, it was expected that I´d stay with my trainer . . . well, because there are so many new missionaries coming into the field, my trainer had to go train a new missionary. It´s been good though! We had another baptism last week and we have a few more who have goals to be baptized this month, so things have been good! 

We´re teaching this one family who are just awesome. The dad is a member of the church, but is inactive. He´s kind of the black sheep of his family. All of his brothers (three) served missions and he´s the only one who didn´t and who doesn´t participate in the church. His wife (although they´re not married yet) is not a member and they have two kids (6 and 9). The dad said that he knew the church was true and he didn´t want his family to miss out on the blessings of the gospel because of his example, so he´s having his family meet with us and they´ve been coming to church and it´s just amazing! It´s amazing how much the Lord prepares us and helps us achieve the potential he sees in us. This family is going to be sealed together for time and all eternity in the temple one day and I´m so excited for them!

Also, I can´t believe that this week I´m going to have my 3 month mark! Time is going by so quickly! Oh! I got my first letter today and thank you so much Aunt Christine and Sis. Lippert! I loved my letters so much and I read them over and over and over again! Thank you!

Thank you all for your love and support! Have a great week!

Hna. Hulse

New Address, Not in the MTC anymore

Cassy's new mailing address:
Peru Lima North Mission
Ave Carlos Izaquirre #124
Casilla de Corrello 39-054
Independencia
Lima 28, PERU

9/2/13

Hey everyone!!

Sorry you didn´t hear from me last week! I have SO many people to write and still didn´t even get to half of them, so if you haven´t heard from me I´m really really sorry! That´s just the life of a missionary, I guess. 45 minutes just isn´t enough time! But anyway, yeah, this week has been really great! We´ve taught more lessons and found more new people to teach than we ever have in a week, so it´s been great. This last week at sacrament, we had 7 investigators, and one inactive-part member family come to church, and it was so exciting! It was so awesome! I´ve never been so happy to see people make such a simple good choice. I´ve never realized how important church attendance really is. Every single week, we teach people who say that they prayed about our message and read the Book of Mormon and they love having us teach them and they say that they want to be baptized . . . but for whatever reason, something stops them from acting on their faith, and going to church! It´s so frustrating and sad! But when they do come to church it is so exciting! The biggest help that gets them there are the ward members. Our ward members are awesome and are always willing to accompany them to classes, sit with them, and help them feel welcome. Anyone going to church, whether for the first time in their life or for the first time in many years, just needs to feel love and friendship. It´s so important when the members help. Missionaries definitely can´t do this work alone. Also, I have my first baptism this saturday! He is so awesome, too! He´s 48, and he first met with the missionaries 8 months ago when he was living in Austria, and he found the church here in Peru and we´ve been teaching him and now he´s getting baptized! It´s so exciting! There are many things every day that testify to me that this church is true, and one of these major things is the fact that no matter where you go in the whole world, the church is exactly the same. I love this gospel and I´m so greatful that it´s in my life! I miss you all so much, but I know I´m where I´m supposed to be. Take care of your families and love everyone! Love you all so much!

Hna. Hulse

8/20/13

Hey everyone!!

It seems like every week is getting better and better. Obviously I still have challenges and hard things happen, but I´m just doing a lot better every week. Can you believe it´s been 2 months already?? Only 16 left! Crazy, right? 

So, some things that I wrote down throughout the week to tell everyone:

Our pencionista (the lady that feeds us breakfast) gives us Avacado on bread ALL the time. I hate avacado. But I have to eat it, and it´s healthy for me, right? But every time I eat it, I think of mom and dad and how much they would absolutely LOVE it and that they would gladly eat it, and it makes it alot easier to eat. Avacados are starting to grow on me. 

Also, every morning, we drink yogurt for breakfast and I think of how much Blade and Alexis would love that. The yogurt here is something you drink, you don´t eat it and it´s delicious. It´s just like danimals . . . but better. 

I´m grateful that Cockroach poo smells like soy sauce and not actual poo. (Now you all know where soy sauce comes from) . . . I´m not actually sure if it´s poo . . . but still, whatever it is, it could smell worse, right?

I´m grateful for laws that keep people from setting up giant stages in the middle of the street right outside our apartment-house and putting on dance parties and concerts that last until 4 in the morning. At least, I will appreciate these laws when I come home, because now I know what it´s like to not have them. Seriously, imagine a stage being set up right outside your house up against your lawn and someone throwing a concert in the middle of the night. For realz, this happens. It´s crazy. But it´s amazing how much the Lord blesses us with the strength to accomplish His work. It was a rough night getting proper sleep, but when our alarm when off in the morning, it was like any other day. You can always find the strength you need in the Lord, physically, emotionally, spiritually, the Lord is always there to strengthen us when we go to Him. 

Also, I´ve lost about 20lbs in less than two months. Whoever thought missionary work was actual work? haha . . . really though, I´ve never worked this hard in my life. Never before, from the moment I wake up at 6:30am to when I go to bed (usually 11pm . . . we´re working on finsihing planning faster so we can get to bed at 10:30) we are working. 7 days a week (except 5 hours or so during Pday). It´s awesome. I love it. I´m glad I´m here and I wouldn´t want to be doing any other work. I only have 16 months left to enjoy this once in a life time opportunity . . . crazy how fast time goes.

Anyway, sorry this letter is REALLY scattered, but it´s all I got. I love you all and thank you for all your love and support. Stay strong and don´t let this crazy world get you down. Turn to the Savior in all you do and ¨He will direct thy paths for good.¨ 

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Hna. Hulse

P.S.

If you send me mail, please don´t label it as Hermana Hulse, just put my regular name. Thanks! 

8/13/13

Hey everyone!

This is gonna have to be a little shorter today, 45 minutes just isn´t enough time! But that´s ok . . . anyway, this week has been SO much better than last week. We´ve been working harder and teaching more and that´s always the answer, right? I´m really starting to adjust more and the language is coming along little by little every day. Number one thing I´m thankful for this week: Cockroaches don´t bite, haha . . . at least, I´m pretty sure they don´t. Anyway, I really do feel so much happier and I am doing SO much better. I love my companions and it is a little difficult being in a trio, but we´re learning to work and teach together a lot more effectively and we´re just having a great time together. Thank you all so much for your love and support. I´ll try to send pictures next week! Love you all!

Hna. Hulse

Monday, August 5

Hi everyone!

Well, I´m just about finishing up my first week in the mission field, and let me tell you, this is one of the hardest things I`ve ever done in my life . . . but I know it`s worth it. The thing that`s been keeping me going to counting my blessings, so to tell you about my week so far, I`m ONLY going to tell you about my blessings:

In my apartment;

We have four walls, a ceiling and a concrete floor.

We have a sink, toilet and shower

We have 3 beds (because I´m in a trio!)

We have really warm blankets

We have running water the majority of the time

We have clean drinking water

We have things sufficient for our needs.

My companions are Hna. Ku (from California) and Hna. Otiniano (from Trujillo). Hna. Otiniano is my trainer and she is so super sweet and nice and amazing. She`s only been in the field for 4 months, so we`re all kind of learning together. Hna. Ku has been in the mission for the same ammount of time as me, but she`s been in the field longer because she already speaks spanish. I`m not gonna lie . . . it`s been rough. But I have seen miracles every day. It`s important to remember that we all can see miracles every day, we just have to look for them. The Lord is in our lives and He sees and is always aware of us . . . but WE need to be aware of him. Sometimes I look around my area (Santa Fe) and I think . . . where am I? It literally is like being in a different world . . . My dad always said, be greatful you have a roof over your head . . . and let me tell you . . . I`ve never been more greatful for that in my life, because SO many people here, can`t count that as a blessing. I miss my family. I miss America. I miss English. I miss a lot of things, but I know I´m supposed to be here. I know in the scheme of things 18 months is hardly any time at all. I´m so grateful that I have the Lord to turn to. He is giving me strength that I could never have on my own. I love you all so much, and I´m sorry I don`t get to respond to people´s emails like I want to. I really appreciate hearing from you all, though. Just so you know, my new address is my mission address (the one in independencia). Apparently it costs around 6 US dollars to send mail to the US from the area that I`m in, so you won`t be getting any mail from me . . . but that doesn`t mean I would not absolutely die of happiness if I received mail from you! Love you all so much and thank you for all your support. 

Hna. Hulse

July 25th

 Hey Everyone! My internet connection is super slow and I keep getting kicked off the computer, so hopefully this makes it. Sorry it has to be short . . . I only have a few mintues left and haven´t been able to read anyone´s emails yet. Also, I don´t have an Enter button, so you get to read this in one giant paragraph. This week has been super awesome! I´m so excited to get out into the field! I can´t believe I´m gonna be out there in less than a week. They changed the mission boundaries and created a new mission out of about 90% of the Lima North Mission. So now, in our mission, we have a small portion above Lima. It used to be a ton of the Amazon jungle in northern Peru, but now it´s a small area of shanty towns and slums, which is excactly what I expected, so I´m happy and excited to get out there. Right now, that mission only has 15 missionaries in it (usually they have like, 200) and so when our group gets there, we´re going to double the mission force. It´s gonna be awesome. Also, if you don´t hear from me on thursday, it´s because my pday changed to Monday, so I probably won´t get to write for over another week. If you don´t hear from me, know that I´m alive and I´m happy and I´m somewhere in Peru with my new companion teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ :) I love you all so much and thank you so much for your emails! It´s so good to hear from you! Love you ALL! Hna. Hulse

Spreadin´ the Word in Spanglish‏

Hey everyone!

 

I had a fantastic week! The best week so far! Saturday, we got to go proselyting . . . I don´t even know how to say it in English any more, but you all know what I mean. Anyway, the put us on a bus saturday afternoon, dropped a group of us off in the city, gave us a map and loaded us up with pamphlets and Book of Mormons . . . Books of Mormon . . . whatever. Anyway, and said good luck, have fun and see you in four hours! It was SO crazy! Luckily, we got to have this 16 year old kid from the local ward go with us, but some companionships weren´t as lucky, and had to go at it by themselves. To be honest though, I was a little jealous. This kid was so awesome and he´s gonna be a great missionary, and it was great to have someone show us around, but we´d go to talk to someone and he´d do ALL the talking and end the conversation before we could even really say anything. Eventually, though, we got more brave and started talking more and cutting in, haha. It was amazing the difference of their reaction between when he would do all the talking and me and my companion would do the talking. It was a night and day difference. It seriously strengthened my testimony of the fact that we have been set apart and given proper authority to preach the Word of God and be representatives of Jesus Christ. Also, today, we got to go to the temple and shopping and what not. I went to the distribution center and bought a Liahona (magazine) General Conference edition cause I forgot mine at home. Well, on the bus ride back, me and my companion sat next to a man who was SO friendly and awesome (and spoke some english which was a huge plus) and he asked if we had anything to give him, and I felt so lame because I totally forgot our pamphlets, but I pulled out my brandnew conference Liahona, told him to go to Mormon.org, and he gave us his name and address and number and It was just SO AWESOME! I just love being here and doing this. This is definitely the place for me to be. I love you all so much and thank you so much for your support. I hope you have a fantastic week. I appreciate all of your emails! Sorry I don´t have time to write everyone this week, but I will try to next week if you didn´t get one from me. Love you all!

 

Hna. Hulse

Purple Corn and Speed Walking

Hey Everyone!

This week has been probably one of the hardest weeks of my life, but one of the best, and it´s only gonna get better! All the missionaries who had been here for a while kept saying ¨just make it to Sunday, and the rest will fly by.¨ It was so true! The first few days seemed like FOREVER, but now time really is flying by and it´s only gonna go faster!

So, a little bit about my time here so far . . . the food is amazing. I thought it´d be really easy to lose weight here . . . nope, i was wrong, lol. We´ll see how it goes though. We have so much fun with our physical activity hour, and I´ve been working out pretty hard, so I think I´ll be ok. One of my roomies is like, a pro speed walker . . . no joke. My legs are SO sore from speed walking. I know it´s weird, but this is like, legit speed walking. Her name is Hna. Imbler, and she speed walks faster than I run. So, she´s been teaching a bunch of us her ways, and it´s been pretty awesome. Also, the I can finally prove that popcorn is a vegetable. At least, the peruvians think so. We have it on our salads, and it´s amazing. Also, sometimes they try to recycle food that didn´t get used, so the leftover dessert you ate for dinner might be tomorrow morning´s fruit juice . . . purple corn. It´s weird. Not a fan. Also, we have rice with every single meal (except breakfast), but it´s ok, because it´s super good rice.

 

My companion is so super awesome (Hna. Shelton) and we have lots of fun together. I LOVE the Hermanas in my district and sometimes we have WAY TOO MUCH fun . . . yeah, it´s kind of starting to become a problem, lol. We definitely need to focus more. But our teachers are amazing and we have the best people here. I just love it SO much. Everyone just has so much fun and even though it´s so hard being here, everyone is just so happy. I´m running out of time, so hopefully next thursday I can tell you guys more. The computers, internet, and electricy are REALLY slow and will randomly shut off . . . which says something, because we´re in the ¨rich¨ part of town. It´s crazy. But Anyway, I´ll hopefully figure out how to send pictures, sometime.

Love you all!
Hna. Hulse

 

P.S.

I forgot my book with all of my email addresses. PLEASE email me so I have it!
cassandra.hulse@myldsmail.net

First Day (Sorry it is up so late I will Try to be better)

Hola Familia!!!

Oh man, this is crazy! I can´t believe I´m in Peru! So, the flight was great . . . I only threw up 5 times . . . but I sat by super nice people every time and then met a bunch of missionaries at the Atlanta airport and now we´re all instant friends! haha, it is totally awesome. We got into Peru at midnight and by the time we got to the MTC and into bed, it was about 2am. Then, we had more sister missionaries arive! So we got to get out of bed and help them carry their bags up to the third floor and get them settled in. We got to bed at about 4am, but they let us sleep in until 8:30. We are really tired, but super happy and excited and I have an awesome companion! She´s super nice and we are just having a blast. Peru is very interesting . . . I´m definitely gonna have to get used to the air . . . I thought L.A. was smoggy . . . nope, haha. I´m so excited though, and man, I just can´t believe I´m here. I´m sorry this email is so short, but I´m running out of time and the key board I´m using is super funky. I love you all so much and thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. I know that the Lord is blessing me because of your faith and dilligence, and I know that the Lord is blessing YOU because of all the support and love you give me. I love you so much and don´t worry about me, because I am having and AWESOME time and doing a WONDERFUL work and I know that the Lord is with us both. I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU!!!

Hna. Hulse

One more thing, just so you know, they told us that this is the largest group of sisters that they´ve had at the MTC. Out of the 66 missionaries that arrived, 3/4 of us are girls! Isn´t that crazy?! Anyway, love you guys. Hope to hear from you soon :)

My Mission Blog!

Hey Everyone! I thought I'd jump on the "mission-blog-bandwagon" so people can keep up with me during my 18 month mission to Peru! Also, my address is posted here for easy and convenient access, because I know you're all just dying to write me ;) If you ever plan on mailing a package, make sure you get a hold of my parents for more information and details. They can show you how to go about doing that . . . it's a pretty complicated and annoying and unreliable system (from what I've heard), so I'm not really counting on packages during my mission, lol. Anyway, love you guys and see you when I get back! Until then, enjoy reading up on my adventures!

"Look unto the Lord in every thought; Doubt not, fear not." - D&C 6:36