Mormon Helping Hands

Helping Hands Service on the Beach

So this week, we had the opportunity to go to the beach and do an activity called ¨Clean the Beaches¨. It was so great! Our whole zone got to go with the stake! We went and were assigned a part of the beach to clean and let me tell you...the beaches here are nasty! I found about everything under the sun on that beach. But it was really great and it was cool because the whole beach was just covered with members in their yellow helping hands shirts :) It was a really awesome activity....and the water looked SOOO nice...as it is literally death here!! SO hot!!! And, people still drink hot chocolate for Christmas tradition...its killer!!  I am getting used to the hot :) I did get a really bad sunburn, though!! (See Baptism photo below)

I had a work visit in El Olivar this week with Hermana Sevilla (Hermana Jones companion), and I got to see the Quiroz family! AHH...It was the best! Luis runs up to me and says ¨Hermana Agle! Meet Hermana Agle!!¨ They named their white kitten after me haha :) It was so cool to see them because the ward has helped them fix up their house...so now they have a roof, light, water, and food! Ahh, it was so great seeing that :) I love this family so much!
 

Hermana Lopez is SO EXCITED about her package!! She had to hide it so that it's not a temptation to open it! haha! We cant wait to talk to you guys on Christmas!

Teo was baptized this week! Like I always say...Satan was working hard on baptism day!!! Everything went wrong! We got to the chapel, opened the font and there was slimy week old water in the font that had dead spiders and other unknown insects floating around!! Turns out, the drain doesn't work. So what do I do to clean it? We empty half of the font using buckets, about 40 kg of water per bucket (yes my arms are literally falling off, they hurt so bad) until I can get in and clean it. So, once its only half full, I walk in the NASTY slimy water and pick out each bug one by one with my hands. It was HORRIBLE! And, some of them were alive! Ugh! But...We got it pretty clean and the baptism went really well :) The things we missionaries do for baptisms :) And yes, I am SUPER sunburned from the beach!!

Lima Peru Temple Trip

Every month we have a companionship of the month here in my mission. This companionship gets to go to the temple with the President and his wife and then go eat at Tony Romas(The restaurant overlooks the beach). This little trip is called Moroni and Tony (it rhymes in Spanish :))... and this month Hermana Lopez and I were companionship of the month! SO I GOT TO GO TO THE TEMPLE HERE IN LIMA. It was so amazing!! We got to sit with President in the temple and just talk and talk and talk. It was a really amazing experience!! 

Repentance Changes People

So this week has been great!! We have 7 baptisms planned for the 14th of December! Eulalia and Renulfo are officially getting married the 12th of December, and their son Hilgard is getting baptized with them on the 14th.. We also have another family getting baptized that day! They are Gladys and her sister Teo and her daughters Stephany and Amalia. Amalia is soo smart. She is 11. Yesterday we asked her how she felt about having a prophet of God here on the earth right now?  She said, ¨I feel really good! Because there are a lot of priests that say they have the real priesthood but they don't. They are just liars.¨ We're glad she is understanding the lessons :) We are really excited about that baptism! We are having a Noche Blanca (white night) with the whole zone on that day. All of our baptisms will be together in one big baptism...and President is planning on coming!! That will be great!

This week I had the coolest experience! Doctrine and Covenants 15:4-6 has really helped me know my purpose as a missionary during the course of my mission. Sometimes, its scary to declare repentance to people, because you don't want to offend them. But...President Archibald told us that it is our job to offend these people so they actually ACT and REPENT. Alma also says many times that as a missionary he has authority to call people unto repentance. So we are working with a lot of less actives here in Peru. One specifically is Alex Espinoza. Alex is 60, inactive, but married to his wife who is active and they are sealed in the temple. He was a seminary teacher for 4 years. He has the strongest testimony of the Book of Mormon and the church. He said to us, ¨I know the Book of Mormon is true. I know the church is true. I will never deny it. I just don´t go to church.¨ Well, that kind of triggered my "declare repentance" button. Lets just say I read Mormon 9:3-6 with him and put in his name. I told him I didn't understand how he just ¨didn't go to church¨ with such a strong testimony?  I was hard on him...and it was uncomfortable :) But I held my ground, and at the end of the lesson, he said to me, ¨Thank you. You are right and I really needed that¨. Man....It was hard in the moment to call him unto repentance, but I know that is what I have been called to do. I know that as I do that, I am not hurting him, but I am helping him come unto Christ. He is starting to change, and now, I don't have any fear to completely fulfill my calling...because the scriptures never lie, it really works :) 

Thanks for all of the support! I love this work, I love this gospel and I love my Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ. I am so grateful to be a part of this gospel. It really blesses lives. I have seen it. Thanks again! Love you all!

Con carino,

Hermana Agle

BIRTHDAYS AND BAPTISMS

This week was pretty great. I had my birthday yesterday and what do Peruvians do on birthdays?? They EAT. Like none other! So I literally ate all day. There was never a time I didn´t have a plate of food or cake in front of me. Peruvians take good care of their cumplaÑeras :) One of the plates I had was guinea pig! My pensionista bought it alive and killed it in her house...then she fed it to us. It was actually REALLY good. But I refused to eat the toenails...haha. Everyone else ate them, though! It was a fun experience :)

This week we had three baptisms!! Three little girls. Fiorella (15), Kiara (8), and Araceli (9) :) They were so happy to be baptized and it was a really awesome baptism. We are working with their parents to get them married so they too can get baptized ASAP.

With the 15 year old, Fiorella, it was difficult to get her baptized: 

This week was a miracle week! Fiorella was baptized this week and that was a miracle! Fiorella has always been a little duro de corazon. She had a lot of doubts about that Book of Mormon. So every time we taught the family she just sat in the corner and listened and never participated. Kiara and Araceli, her sisters, were set to be baptized Saturday, but Fiorella no.  On Thursday night we had our last lesson with the family before the baptism. We started the lesson reading the Book of Mormon all together. The Spirit was really strong while reading and Fiorella was paying more attention than usual. Later on in the lesson, as we were filling out the registro bautismales for Kiara and Araceli, I leaned over to Fiorella and I said, ¨you sure you don't want us to fill one out for you, too?¨...half joking to be honest. And she sat and thought about it for a while, and she said ¨Yes, I want to get baptized this Saturday!¨ I was amazed sitting there thinking how in the world did she just have that change of heart so fast?? And I was thinking about it and I knew it was the power of the Book of Mormon. I knew that she knew that the Book of Mormon was true and after opening her heart a little bit, the Spirit was able to testify to her and she decided to get baptized. I realized how powerful the Book of Mormon is and how important it is to help our investigators gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon...and Fiorella was baptized this Saturday :)

Update on Eulalia and Renulfo: ALL THEIR MARRIAGE PAPERS ARE SET AND THEY ARE GETTING MARRIED THIS SATURDAY AND BAPTIZED SUNDAY!! We are so excited for them :)

Thanks for all your support! I love you all and I love this work. This gospel is so true. I know the Book of Mormon is true and POWERFUL. In the Book of Mormon we can find many answers to our questions and prayers. I love the Book of Mormon. Keep striving to be like Christ and keep reading your Book of Mormon everyday. Doing each one of those things will help you do the other :) Love you all!!

Hermana Agle

 

Yeah! She got our Birthday package!!

Birthday Cake made by a member...so amazing!!

1st Guinea Pig meal

Yum!!

Baptism of Fiorella, Kiara, and Araceli

Nobody in Peru knows how to say my name :)

blowing out the candles...

CARLOS made this amazing birthday cake!!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HERMANA AGLE!

The work is still pushin' along! :)

We are working with a couple that are grandparents and want to get baptized :) They are not married so we are helping them with all the paper work so they can get married! Their names are Eulalia and Renulfo. Hermano Renulfo recently went blind because he had a stroke. He was going to die, but he got a Priesthood blessing and he is getting better. He can now walk! And he got a little bit of his vision back! It was really a miracle because he was very, very close to passing away...but after his blessing he was fine and the doctors don't know what happened! The Priesthood is so POWERFUL. It was really a miracle. SO, now we are doing all we can do to help them get married and baptized! They are the cutest little couple :)

Sorry so short today! But I love you all and thanks for all the support! :)

Con MUCHO cariño,

Hermana Agle

(Because Cami's letter was so short...I've decided to post my letter to her this week!  She will be celebrating her birthday on Sunday, November 24th!! If you have a chance, please send her a quick HAPPY BIRTHDAY at camille.agle@myldsmail.net)

Cami,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Wow, I can't believe it is the week of your birthday.  I remember clearly the week you were born.  I was taking a children's literature class at BYU.  It was only one night a week (I knew I would be having a baby that semester...so I took it easy :) The week of your due date came and went....you hadn't come, yet.  To get to class each week, I had to park down in the parking lot just west of the Smith Field House/Richards Bldg., and walk all the way up to campus by way of the stairs.  I was having some pains...but thought I could make it to class that week.  I sat through class that Tues. night (Nov. 23rd...I was already 3 days overdue!!), but started getting more and more uncomfortable.  Finally as class ended, I decided that I might be going into labor??  I went home and tried to lay down...but I was having terrible stomach pains at that point.  I decided it was time to go to the hospital. Grandma DeeAnn came over to sleep and stay with Ty and Ave.  Dad and I went to the hospital.  They hooked me up to all the machines...but just about that time, my labor kind of stopped.  I was physically ready to have you, but I guess you decided to wait a bit (you've always loved delayed gratification :) Finally, about 4 am...the hospital staff said, "We know you're in labor, but things have slowed down, so go home, and try to sleep for a while...then come back when the contractions are more consistent.  Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep!!  Finally around 8am...I couldn't stand it anymore.  We went back to the hospital, and I was in full-blown labor.  You were born about 6 hours later, on Wed. November 24th...the day before Thanksgiving!! I'll never forget that day...as you arrived, you just looked around at everyone with the biggest eyes, and didn't make a peep! You looked just like DAD!!  We were so excited, relieved and happy!!  I can't believe it has been 20 years...it seems like yesterday!!  You have been a joy to us since that very day!!

I think it is crazy that you will be celebrating your birthday on election day!! Does that mean you can't go to church??  I hope you at least get the packages we sent you?  Please check with the mission office if you haven't received them. They should be there about now!  BTW...have you received ANY packages we've sent you??  You've never mentioned any.  Anyway...I hope the day is great!  I wish we could see you just for that day...it will be the 1st birthday we have been away from you.  We will have cake in honor of you!

This week has been busy...but great!  Dad is in Utah interviewing, so that means I am here to get the kids everywhere they need to be. The first part of the week was a little crazy, because I was getting my talk ready for YW in Excellence.  I was the "guest speaker" for the evening...and that was nerve wracking!  The theme for the evening was shoes & purses.  I ended blowing up the photo of your shoes you sent me last week (the timing couldn't have been more perfect!), and using those as an example of a daughter of Heavenly Father that is STANDING IN HOLY PLACES!! I think people were genuinely touched to see how worn your shoes are!!  Think about it...just 2 years ago, you were sitting in that very meeting!  I can't believe all that has happened in those 2 years. You still didn't even know if you were going to go to BYU!?! The Lord has blessed you...and he continues to bless you!  The rest of the week was busy with lots of meetings.  I've had 3 Public Affairs meetings this week...but it is good.  I am learning more about my responsibilities, and about the need to get the message out about the positive things the Church is doing.

The Lord is blessing us as well!  For me, just knowing that you are happy to be in Peru, and happy teaching the gospel, and serving the Lord is blessing enough for me!  I couldn't be prouder of you! You make me want to be a better person, and want to live the teachings of the gospel better!  We miss you dearly, but know you are in the right place!  The missionaries in our ward (2 elders & 2 sisters) sang in sacrament meeting yesterday.  It was so good, and all I could do was think of you...doing the same thing somewhere in Peru!!  We Love You so much...and can't wait to see what the future holds for you...it is going to be amazing!

Love,

Mom

A Peruvian temple that was used 2000 years before Christ.  There is are baptismal fonts and everything...so cool!

These ruins are from the INCA's and almost extinct!

Miracles are Happening Everyday!

Saying Good-bye to my pensionista...Hermana Juanita!

Wow! Kaela is getting married! That is BIG news. I am kind of in shock to be honest...I feel like we are both still 14 :)

I am going to send a short email but lots of pictures today.

We had a miracle baptism this week. Her name is Silvia and the first day we met her, she told us that her whole family are members and that she has wanted to get baptized for a while but never had the chance. We knocked on her door, and she was baptized this weekend :) Miracles are happening every day here in Peru :) SO many people are ready to hear the gospel in this new area...We have just got to find all of them!

Silvia's Baptism...and my new companion Hermana Lopez

Elder Solis of the Seventy is in my ward! We have family nights in his house on Monday's...So that is SWEET! :)

I found out that on November 24th this year is voting day in Peru. And on voting day in Peru, the law is that you have to stay in your house all day...you can only leave the house to vote. So on my birthday...I will be imprisoned in our house :) Haha!  It will be an unforgettable birthday!!

Something new about this area: People give us a LOT of food...like A LOT!! I walked around half bent over all the time because I am always full!  We probably have 3 lunches and dinners every day...with food PILED on the plates. Man. It's. Rough!

My companion is Hermana Lopez. She is from Guatemala and has been on her mission for 11 months. We got here to Peru the same day, though. She served in Guatemala waiting for her VISA. She is AWESOME and we work really well together! I love her!!

Something cool I learned this week:  I learned that we are obedient for one of 3 reasons; 1)Fear, 2) We want to receive blessings, or 3)Love. After I heard that this week, I was reflecting on why we need to be obedient...specifically in the mission. It shouldn't be because we are fearful of getting in trouble from our zone leader, it shouldn't be because we want to get blessings for ourselves, but it should be because we love our Heavenly Father and we will do everything we can to show that love to Him. We are here on a mission to help His children get on the path they chose in the pre-mortal life. There are so many of His children that have drifted away and we, as missionaries, are privileged to be here and help them return to the path. We should be willing to do ANYTHING for Him to help his children....even getting up at 6:30am :) I have been thinking about this this week, and it has changed my way of thinking. I want to be obedient because I love my Heavenly Father, and I will do anything to help Him in this work!

I love you all...thanks for all the support!!

Con Carino,

Hermana Agle

My SHOES after only 6 months in the mission field!!

Saying Goodbye to Marlene, Stephany & Andy

This was taken right before Hermana Jones shoved this cake in my face :)

The Quiroz Family

Goodbye party with Jose and Omar!

Kervin and Julio came to say goodbye!

Love these Hermana's!

New Area - New Responsibilities

Wow, it has been a CRAZY weekend. Transfers were this weekend instead of on Tuesday (when they usually are) because President Archibald is going to Cusco this week for a Mission President training. So...I found out on Friday at 2pm that I was getting transferred! Hermana Jones and I were really really sad! I didn't want to leave El Olivar! Also, the Quiroz family baptism was the next day (Saturday) and I was going to miss it!! So, we went home and I called the Bishop and told him I was getting transferred and I started packing. Later that night we had an appointment in the chapel at 7pm...and when we got there...there was a surprise party waiting for me!! The ward rushed, and threw together a party for my birthday because they had been planning for later this month, but I was getting transferred so they did it early!! And everyone was there! The whole ward came and all my converts! It was really really cool! It was also Julio's birthday so we celebrated together :) And I told everyone my brother's birthday was on Monday so we celebrated Joshie's birthday too :) It was really sweet, and I was able to say goodbye to everyone! It was really great!

The next day we got up and went to transfers. Saying goodbye to my pensionista was really really hard :( I am going to miss Hermana Juanita!! I love her! When we got to transfers we found out that Hermana Jones was training! I was so excited for her...She is going to be an AMAZING trainer :)!!  After we found out about Hermana Jones' assignment, I found out I was being transferred to Los Olivos...and that I was being called to be a new Sister Training Leader for the south 1/2 of the mission! My companion is Hermana Lopez, and we are opening the area (it is new to the mission, never has had missionaries before) and we will be working together as Sister Training Leaders. Basically, a STL is a "zone leader" for the Hermanas:)  We get to travel around the mission visiting the Hermanas to train them and stay with them 24 hours to see how their missionary work is doing...which is super cool because I have the opportunity to get to know all the sisters really well!! We will do these visits twice a week. And guess what?? Hermana Brown is a Sister Training Leader as well! She is in the Northern half of the mission(in charge of those Hermanas) and we are in the Southern part of the mission(in charge of these Hermanas)! It was a HUGE transfer!! 

Directly after transfers and training with President and Sister Archibald, I went and asked permission to go back to El Olivar to see the Quiroz families baptism(which was later that day).  I was so excited when he said YES! Hermana Lopez and I moved into our new house (which is awesome!)...and then headed straight to the baptism! The Quiroz family was baptized and it was the greatest baptism ever! Almost the whole ward was there and the Quiroz's were so happy :) President Archibald and his wife were able to make it to the baptism as well...so that was really great! I am so excited for the Quiroz family, and just humbled to have had the opportunity to teach them about this great gospel! We all cried A LOT when we had to say our good-byes!!

Honestly, I love missionary work because I have so many opportunities to serve. For example, last week there was a HUGE fire in my zone. 200 houses burnt down and families were left homeless. We went to clean up and cook food for all the people that had nothing. It was so sad because everyone was just begging us for food and they literally had nothing. But I was happy to be able to go there and serve the people...And with this new calling, I am so excited to serve and try to help the other sisters. Really, I don't feel very capable, but I know with the Lords help I can do it. When I was called, it reminded me of President Hinckley's quote when he said "remember the risk the Lord took on you when He called you".  I am excited to work hard in this new calling and really serve the other Hermanas. Big week, and I am happy! Missionary work is the best :) Thanks for everything! Love you all! :)

Love,

Hermana Agle

Hermana Brown, Agle, Winters & Bills - Reunited once again!!

Inviting = Baptizing

The Quiroz sisters....Love them!

Mom and Dad,

Wow, that is SO great that Emily is inviting so many friends to church!! And that the ward is focusing so much on missionary work. The focus in church has really changed, huh? I've seen a huge change in our ward here, and I was wondering if this was going on all over the world...or just here in Peru? And I am SO happy that it is happening all over the world!! Everyone needs this gospel. Keep inviting friends! My friend Mikilah Gregerson sent an email this week (she is on her mission in Colorado, Denver North) and she said that she is teaching so many high school students because their friends had shared the gospel with them....So, tell Emily to keep inviting her friends! Give them a Book of Mormon! It might sound scary, but it's really not. It is what makes us happy. And if we love someone, we want them to be happy right? So give them a Book of Mormon! They deserve to know the truth, too!! Everyone does! 

This week in our ward, we hit an all time high of members who came to church!! Because there are thousands of members in the ward but only about 100 of them are active. But this weekend there were about 250 people at church! People here are inviting, inviting, inviting, which is great for us because that means we are baptizing, baptizing, baptizing!! :) And of course this week is when everyone came...the week when I was assigned a talk!!  It was so cool giving my talk and seeing the benches of the chapel full :) It made me happy! :) I spoke on recognizing the impressions of the Holy Ghost. Before my mission, Cameron told me that I should try to give all my talks without any notes and just go by the Spirit. So that's what I did! I had thought about it all week, about what I was going to say, and I just got up and starting talking, and it went really well!! After my talk, I sat down, and was thinking about it and I was like, "wait a second. I just gave that talk in Spanish! What?!" It's amazing how Spanish is just like my second language now! It's getting to the point where sometimes I can't tell the difference when someone is speaking to me in Spanish or English. I am scared to lose my gift of tongues after the mission! I love Spanish so much!

This week, I have seen a lot of the fruits of my missionary work. I have realized that being a missionary...while the main focus is helping people come unto Christ and be baptized...but so many other things happen too. Our old ward mission leader is 21 years old and he did not want to serve a mission at all. But, we've been inviting him to come out with us to lessons and be a part of our missionary work. Yesterday, he told us that seeing our missionary work and having the opportunity to work with us these past couple months, he decided that he wanted to serve a mission!! So, he turned his papers in yesterday and we are waiting for his call to come! Also, we are still teaching the Quiroz family and they are very, very humble. They don't have light, water, or food in their house. So our ward has gotten together to help the family. We are providing food for them, and the Bishop is working with the owner of the house to make a contract to hand ownership over to the Quiroz family so that the church can go in and fix up the house and give them light and water. It has been so cool to see the ward come together and help this great family...and they deserve it so much :) There are SO many ways to do missionary work like this. Missionary work isn't just contacting in the street and handing out pamphlets. It is helping people come unto Christ. And there are so many different ways to do that! Being an example, doing service for someone you love, giving out a Book of Mormon and telling them what a blessing the gospel is in your life. All of these things bring people closer to Christ :) I know this church is true and that everyone needs this gospel!

I had a really cool experience with the Quiroz kids this past week. We were doing an "Iron Rod" activity where they had to go from one end of the room to the other and I was standing on the other side holding the candle representing the end, or eternal life. After the kids had gone through everything...faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end...they finally made it to me and gave me a big hug and kept saying "We made it! We made it!" That was a really cool experience and it made me think of our Heavenly Father. I was so happy when the kids had finally made it to me and they just gave me a hug and were so happy and excited. I imagine that is what it is going to be like when we get to return to our Heavenly Father. He is watching us here on earth and he is rooting for us to get back to him. Now is the time to keep enduring. Keep enduring through the hard rough times, and enjoy the blessings of the gospel. Because Heavenly Father is watching over us and rooting for us to come back to Him, ad when we finally make it to the end, we'll be able to give Him a big hug and say "We made it!" And that will be a very very good day! :) I know this church is true. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and every time I read it, the Spirit testifies that it is true. I know that Christ came here to America to visit the people here and teach them the gospel. And I am so lucky to be here in Peru with the descendants of those people :) I love it here. I love being a missionary and sharing the gospel with the people of Peru :)

Thanks for everything Mom and Dad. For your emails, and your support :) I am praying for you always and I miss you!! Love you all!

Hermana Agle

I Love, Love, Love teaching the Gospel

Samahara's Baptism this week...isn't she just the cutest!!

This week was awesome! A little girl named Samahara was baptized!! She is 9 and her mom is a member, but is very inactive. We have been working with Samahara these past couple of weeks to prepare her for her baptism and she was finally baptized this past weekend :) She is so sweet, and she really wants to be a missionary some day :) Her baptism really helped her mom as well. She is starting to re-activate and we will continue to visit them almost every day. We have a new key-indicator in the mission called "Rescued" for the less-actives that we help re-activate. So we will rescue Yulisa, Samahara's mom :) The family is so great :) Samahara's dad lives in Virginia(the DC South mission!!!!!!) and he was just baptized this past weekend as well!! It was so sweet to have two people get baptized this weekend from the same family, in two very different missions in the world, both of which I served in. Kind of cool, huh? :) So we are happy for this family! :)

We continue to work with the Quiroz family to prepare them for their baptism!! They are still so great and every time I teach them, I am humbled. Their house is just a little straw house with no light and we just teach around a little candle. They LOVE the Book of Mormon. LOVE it. If every member of the church loved the Book of Mormon as much as they did, Christ could come tomorrow because we would be ready! It has been so incredible watching their testimonies slowly grow and their love for the church sky-rocket. They love it every time we visit. And they are just the cutest little family. This is the kind of family that everyone wishes to find on their mission. The ward also loves them so much. Everyone is involved to help the family with anything they need, and so humbled every time we ask them to come with us to a lesson at their house. I love this family. I love love love them! And am so excited for them to get sealed in the temple. They will be able to get sealed around Nov. 1 of next year so I might just chill in Peru after my mission until then so I can go to the sealing! haha. It is amazing how much love you can develop for your investigators! I feel as if they are my own family :)

Thanks for all your emails and all of your support! I miss you guys a lot! I am glad that everyone is doing OK, Dad enjoyed his birthday, and Ave could come home for the weekend. Sounds like you guys had a good time. And tell the Harts that I am praying for them. Sounds like a really hard time for them. It also sounds like they are handling it the right way. Heavenly Father is watching over their family, and Jordan. I love you guys! Talk to you next week!

Love,

Hermana Agle

Food from America...brought by our Pensionista's daughter

Samahara's beautiful family!

Dayana and Priscila Quiroz :) So Cute!

Peruvian dogs are hairless!

The Still Small Voice

Stephany at her baptism!

This week has been incredible. One of the best weeks of my mission :) I feel like I say that every week, but really... It was amazing!! Stefany was baptized!! The 12 year old girl in the big family that we are teaching :) Her baptism was so awesome :) We had a Noche Blanca (white night) with our district because we all had baptisms this week so we did the baptism together :) Stefany was so cute after, when we got back to the house to celebrate all of her friends ran up to her and said "how do you feel??" and she said "NUEVA!" :) She is really happy :) And the whole family came to the baptism and were able to feel the Spirit so it was really really cool :) We are working with the rest of them to get them baptized soon! :)

I had one of the coolest experiences this week. The first time that I  actually HEARD the "still small voice" of the Spirit...and it was AWESOME! Hermana Jones and I were walking to Previ from Condor and ran into Irán and her mom and one of their friends that was about 40 years old. We talked for a little bit, just a quick little conversation and said goodbye and walked away. As we were walking away, I had the strangest feeling.  As we were crossing the street to Previ, I heard "turn around right now!" as if the Spirit was yelling at me! So, I immediately turned around and started walking back and Hermana Jones was like "where are you going?" and I just said "I don't know" and kept walking. Right at that moment, Irán, her mom and their friend turned the corner walking back towards us flagging us down. Turns out, the woman that was with them, her name is Jackie, has wanted to listen to misisonaries for a long time, and she just has never had the chance. So we went to her house to teach her and she has 3 little kids. Marjoire (13), Priscilla (11) and Luis (9). Their house was the most humble house I have ever seen and her kids the most respectful, well-behaved kids I have ever met. So sweet and just so cute. They live in a little wood shack with a straw roof and they don't have electricity. We huddled around a small candle to share the gospel with them (it was night time). We shared a message with them, and the Spirit was SO strong in the room. They told us they wanted to get baptized as soon as possible :) They are getting baptized the 26th of October :) This family has been PREPARED. And I'm so glad the Spirit yelled at me and told me to go back so that we could find this family and bring the gospel into their lives. They are the kind of family that is already so humble and good and following Christ.  Now they have the gospel and will receive all of the blessings that the gospel brings to families. So we are so excited for them!! :) 

Kervin was able to go the temple this week and he bore his testimony about it the Sunday after :) He is really progressing and going to be the best missionary :) Also, Julio and Estela are in the process of getting married so they can get baptized and enter the temple as well. Julio called us (he calls us a lot because we can't visit him anymore), and told us that and it made me SO happy. I love that family :)

A dog attacked me this week, it was really scary! But...the funniest part is, Hermana Jones totally abandoned me! Haha! The dog ran up and bit my skirt and was tugging on my skirt and I turned around and Hermana Jones was bookin' in down the street. I was able to get away from the dog, though, and he calmed down a little bit and walked away...but it was scary! Apparently Hermana Jones thought so too! :) We got a pretty good laugh out of that!. I just turned around and my companion was nowhere to be seen!! It reminded me of a story that Steve told me about his mission with dogs attacking him and his companion :) 

Last week on Pday we got to climb this huge hill and the hill is a Peruvian cemetery. They bury people above the ground here. So, going up the hill is just like a maze of graves that are above the ground.  At the top there is a Virgin Mary that is watching over all the graves, and at the top we found a bunch of human bones just lying around. It was SO sweet!

Well, so many more great things happened this week but that's what my journal is for :) I might just send my journal home so you guys can read all the great experiences I'm having. The mission is so great. I love it. It is HARD and takes a lot out of your body and when Pday comes, you are TIRED but it is SO WORTH IT. Seeing the joy this gospel brings to families makes everything SO worth it :) I love this gospel and I know it is true. I know Christ lives and God is our Father and He loves us and listens to us. I love you all so much. Thanks for all the support :)

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Agle

General Conference was the Best!

This boy's name is Josua(Joshua)...he's basically Joshua's twin!

Hey Mom!

This week has been incredible!! We were able to get 9 people to general conference! And every single one of them loved it! Conference was SO AMAZING!! I really loved all of the talks too! I thought it was cool how President Monson said that this conference has been one of the most influential he has ever heard! Isn't that amazing?!  I loved his talk on Sunday morning. I also LOVED Elder Holland's as well! Also, the talk on Saturday morning about Christ-like attributes, I really liked that one! Helped me a lot! Conference is the best on the mission :) Better than Christmas! Here is a really cool experience I had this week! I wrote this to President so I'm just going to copy and paste :)

This week, like I said, we set the Villa family on date. And it was a really amazing experience! We were all huddled together in their little carpentry shop and we had just finished teaching all of them lesson 3. We have been teaching them for a while but one of them, Bryan, it was our first time teaching him. After we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we invited them to live it and be baptized. We went around the circle specifically to each person and invited them to be baptized. The spirit was SO strong! I felt like I was in a testimony meeting, because one by one we went around the circle and each person expressed their desire to be baptized. Even Bryan, who we had never taught before, expressed his gratitude for general conference and his desire to be baptized. The 14 year old, Naysha, said that during conference, she had received answers to some of her questions and she also expressed her desire to be baptized. I could feel Heavenly Father's love so strongly in that room. We taught them about the Celestial Kingdom and one of the steps to get there as a family is baptism. The spirit was so strong and we could see the desire in all of them to get baptized into the true church of God. It was really an amazing experience! We are so excited for this family!

The Villa family is the family I told you about last week :) We are SO excited for their baptism :) It was interesting because remember how we changed our areas? The DAY we started working in El Condor, our new area, we met this family and we've been teaching them ever since :) And from the beginning I have had such a strange feeling about them. I feel like I know them! Like I have met them somewhere before! And I have felt from the beginning that they are ready for baptism :) It has been really exciting working with them and preparing them for baptism :) 

So a year from TODAY, I will be coming home from the mission. Crazy huh?? The transfers are October 7th next year. I really hope you and Dad can come here to Peru to pick me up and you can meet all of the ward members and converts! Although you wont be able to speak Spanish...but I will translate! You have a year, start practicing! :)

That is a great idea to set aside 30 minutes a day to study your scriptures! (I mentioned to Cami that I had recommitted myself to this each day)It will help you a LOT! I'm glad I have the mission where I can develop those habits. It will really help you remember the Savior throughout your day. Something I have learned here is that we can't just depend on Sunday's to get our spiritual nourishment. Every single day if we read and study the scriptures, or read a conference talk or something, we can strengthen our testimony a little bit, and grow firmer and firmer in the gospel. I loved the talk this weekend about how NOW is the time to strengthen and live our testimonies and told tight to the Iron rod. I know that reading your scriptures every day will really help you do that. You will grow so much closer to your Savior, and strive to live more like him. This church is so true. Every time I teach someone about it, my testimony grows stronger! I am so happy and privileged to be one of the 80,000 missionaries that is serving in the world right now. It was so amazing to hear every single person that prayed in conference, include the missionaries! I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ :) Love you all!!! Keep working hard to strengthen you testimonies!!

Con BASTANTE amor,

Hermana Agle :)

I met Collin Russell's teacher from the Peru MTC...he's in my Stake!!