This is Not Goodbye...It's a See You Later :)

Hermana Agle lost her Grandpa Agle this week.  This photo was taken just 3 years ago on his 80th Birthday :)

This week has been a roller-coaster for sure...With the news of Grandpa passing away and lots of new things happening in my area. When President Archibald called me on Saturday, he first asked me if I had a little bit of help from the other side of the veil that day. Once he said that, I knew what he was going to say. President said that it is hard to hear news(death of a family member) like that, but really I am going to be able to see a difference in the work. He said Grandpa was going to be there on the other side of the veil working along with me. I have been able to feel that this week. I am grateful for the peace that comes from the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. Things that happen like this are sad here on the earth. But through Jesus Christ, we will be able to see Grandpa again. I know this is true. This is not goodbye, it's a see you later :) I know that more than ever right now. And during these days I have felt so much peace knowing that. I know Grandpa is happy right now and we will see him again :) I am grateful for this knowledge that I have :) I wish I could be there for the funeral to be with all of you, Grandma, Dad, Brad and Jeff. I hope you can all remember this knowledge that you have and the great Plan that Heavenly Father has created for us. We will see Grandpa again. I testify that that is true. 

This week we have been working with so many less actives and we have seen fruits! A family of 7, that has been less active for years came to church this week!! The mom is the reason they haven't gone to church. We met them last Tuesday and the mom told us that the members had offended her and that's why her family of 7 doesn't go to church. Well, Hermana Leyva and I were very direct with her. I felt so strongly that I needed to tell her the things the way they are and not pillow any of it. So we loaded it on her. And look at that, the Spirit knows what he's talking about! She opened up completely! She said that she is used to people just pillow talkin her but that we have ¨SPUNK¨ and that it is what she needed. So they came to church on Sunday and we are working with them to get them to the temple. They are the familia Soto Ore :) So I'll get back to them in the future.

On the 31st of May we have a baptism. Her name is Ofelia and she has a little boy named Snayder who is two. They are very very poor. They live on the coast of the ocean in a little tiny room with just a bed and a stove. They live in the same place as pigs and chickens and a whole bunch of guinea pigs. And Ofelia has a HARD life story. Really hard. She has suffered a lot. But it has been amazing to see the way the gospel has changed her life little by little. She has a little bit more light in her eyes when we visit her. Her love the of The Book Of Mormon is growing. She recognizes the Spirit she feels while at church. We are working on really converting our baptisms so that we are not just creating more less actives. And we are excited to finishing preparing Ofelia to be baptized the 31st of May :)

Well, Kaela is getting married this week and time is going super fast! I am learning to enjoy every minute I have here in Peru as a missionary. I am sad I won't be at her wedding but I know it will be a very very special day :) I am proud of her :)

Keep pushing on, reading your scriptures, praying, going to church and striving to be like Christ every day. Doing that will bring so many blessings into your life and you will feel so much happiness. I am grateful for this gospel :) This week I am going up north to Huaraz so be waiting for beautiful pictures next week :) And I will be waiting for beautiful pictures from Kaela's wedding :) I love you all! Have a great week and I will be praying and thinking about the Agle family all week. I wish I could be there but I will be thinking about you guys. I love you all!

Hermana Agle

Quick Note

(Very short letter this week...but we had an amazing call with Cami on Mother's Day.  She had the opportunity this week to have a personal interview with Elder Christopher Waddell of the First Quorum of the Seventy who is currently residing in Lima, Peru.  She was very excited to meet him, and was so enthusiastic about the work she is doing, and the people she has had the chance to teach.  It was a short call (30 min.), but we felt the Spirit as she shared many inspiring stories with us.  We can't wait to see her in October!)

Hey, sorry I have been in Lima all day so I didn't have time to write. And RIGHT as I sat down at the computer, President Archibald walked into the office and we started talking, and we ended up talking for like 3 hours...about the work. So, I don't have time to write you anymore...because I have to catch the bus back up to Barranca right now. But seriously, my misión President is AWESOME. I am leaving the offices just BEAMING, because of what he has just shared with us. I am so excited to get back to Limoncillo and really help establish the church and baptize lots of people! Big things are coming these next 5 months so get ready to hear about all of them. I am finishing off this mission strong!!! Love you all! I loved being able to talk to you. I know it was short but I loved it....and we'll be seeing each other soon anyway :) I love you all. Thanks for all of the support you give me!! Talk to you next week!

Ciao,
Hermana Agle

The SPIRIT always testifies

Hey family!

Well, it's been a crazy week like always! A lot of stuff has happened. Let's start with baptisms.

So, Edith and Jean Franco will be baptized this Friday. Because we are up here in Barranca, and we are so far from the city, the person who does baptismal interviews wasn't able to make it for this weekend. So THIS Friday they will be baptized! :)

Gloria...ASUMachhu. She is the FUNNIEST little girl on the planet. And so adorable. She was so excited to be baptized this Saturday. Everything was ready and set, we were just waiting for Saturday. Well, when we get there Saturday, her Dad was there. He said to us ¨I changed my mind. I don't want my daughter to be baptized and I am not going to allow it.¨ He and his wife had just gotten into a huge fight. He is not a member of the church and he refuses to listen to the missionaries. Gloria's mom is a fighter. She is a faithful member of the church and she is just such a strong woman with lots of problems in her life. Well, we told them that Gloria couldn't get baptized without her Dad's permission. But...we weren't just going to give up, so we stood there and talked with her dad as he angrily cleaned his lawn chairs. It was a very strange conversation. He ended up talking about science and how science and God can't exist together and science has proven that God doesn't exist. I told him that I was studying to be a doctor and he laughed at me and said that he was talking about MEDICINE, not miracle curing people. I was like uhhhh no, I'm studying to be a surgeon. I bore my testimony of God to him and we tried our best but he was just so bitter. It was awful. Well, it turns out Gloria and her mom snuck out of the house to go her baptism and they showed up to get baptized. It was awful because we had to tell her she literally couldn't get baptized. We didn't want to separate their family. So now we are going to go and teach her father with a LOT of power and authority and get that baptismal permission!! And while we do it, we are going to baptize him as well :) We will fight hard for Gloria!

Gloria made us balloon necklaces :)

So, bad news. Remember that bug bite that swelled up huge a few weeks ago that I had an allergic reaction to? Yeah, well guess what was happening to me as we were standing outside teaching Glorias dad?? These SAME bugs were attacking me!! I now have 63 huge red, infected bites on my legs and my legs are completely swollen! It is the worst. I have spent the past 48 hours scratching my legs!!! We went and bought a bunch of pills and creams and I have a treatment that I am doing but it's the worst!!! So I guess that was my bienvenida to Barranca :)

We had a really great experience this week that I would like to share :) In our carpeta de area(binder that was passed to us), there is a family of 4 with parents casados(who are married) and they have come to church before. But, there was not an address or telephone number and NO ONE in the ward remembers them! So Hermana Leyva and I have been praying a lot to be able to find them somehow. We didn't know how we were going to do it, but we had faith that we could find them. Well, one day we were walking with a member and we passed a house and she said, ¨I remember Hermana Munoz coming to this house to teach once. Lets go knock¨. So we went and knocked and it was them!! We were able to find this family!! It is a mom, dad, and two girls 14 and 11. So we are SO excited to start teaching them and invite them to be baptized again. Before, they had accepted a baptismal date but were not baptized. So we are going to teach and baptize this family of four. Heavenly Father is listening to our prayers here in Limoncillo!! I have felt the guide of the Spirit so strong here. I know there are a lot of families here that Heavenly Father needs us to find and we will keep looking and praying for them!!

Heavenly Father answers our prayers. I know it, because I have seen it a bunch in my mission! Sometimes he answers them after a while, sometimes immediately, sometimes we are happy with the answer and sometimes not. But He will ALWAYS answer our prayers. I have had a bunch of experiences with investigators where they have doubts about Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon and we just kneel down...right then and there...and ask God. And it works EVERY time. They always receive an answer. The Spirit always testifies. Every time. It is such a testimony builder to me. Yesterday I had the chance to teach the Gospel Principles class (Limoncillo is a branch so the missionaries basically do everything. Church attendance is about 80 people). I taught about the Holy Ghost and as I taught I just felt so grateful for the influence of the Spirit in my life. It has helped me make important decisions, and I have my testimony of this gospel thanks to the Holy Ghost. I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost and prayer. We can feel so close to our Father in Heaven through prayer. 

I love you all! Have a great week!!
Hermana Agle

ahhh...the beach!

My District at Christo Redentor

Ciao Lima

Well, this missionary is no longer in Lima!! I am serving in Barranca Peru with my new companion Hermana Leyva!! I couldn't have been more excited in transfers when they said I was going to Barranca with Hermana Leyva! She is SO awesome. She is from Trujillo, Peru and she studied at BYU for 3 years! Barranca is about 4 hours north of Lima and my area is PURE BEACH. It is the BEST. For example, we have an investigator who lies on this super green hill that overlooks the ocean and as we teach her we sit on the hill and she feeds us sugar canes that she growns herself...goodbye dust, dirt and dogs...hello paradise! Haha...I love it here!! I am serving in Hermana Brown's old area so that's cool too :) My area is called Limoncillo. It is a small branch...not a ward, and the Branch President is so awesome. He is a fisherman and is very, very humble. Hermana Leyva and I are Sister Training Leaders here in Norte Chico. The mission is split into 2 parts: Lima and Norte Chico. So now I am over the sister's here in Norte Chico! Which means I get to travel to Huaraz, Huaco and Huaral! Huaraz is about 4 hours from Barranca so we are going to be doing a LOT of traveling! But I am excited to get to know Peru a little bit more :) For example, tomorrow we have a leadership training from Elder Waddell (AHH) so Hermana Leyva and I, with our zone leaders, are heading back down to Lima tonight for the training tomorrow. Lots of traveling but it will be cool! Hermana Jones is a Sister Training Leader as well!! I am so excited for her! These next few transfers are going to be awesome!!

So, this next Saturday we have 3 baptisms here in Barranca! There is a woman named Edith, and her son, that have been coming to church and are SO excited to get baptized! We met them, set a baptismal date, they accepted, and we are really excited for them. Edith is awesome. She called us yesterday and told us how much she liked church that day and how her kids had finally fallen asleep and she called us to tell us she was reading her Book of Mormon :) She has 3 kids and her little two year old is the cutest! She has down syndrome and just smiles all day long. She is to die for! We love teaching them and are excited for their baptism this Saturday.

Gloria is also getting baptized this Saturday! She is a part-member investigator. She is 10 and excited for her baptism as well. She hadn't gotten baptized in the past because she wasn't sure if she should be Mormon or Catholic. So we invited her to pray and find out from God which one she should be. When we went back the next day, she said, ¨I have gotten my answer from God! And it starts with ¨M¨¨!! So...she is getting baptized Saturday, as well. Mom...she LOVES the CTR ring I gave her! Thank you for sending me those!!

Well, I am so excited to be here with Hermana Leyva! We work really well together and I am excited to learn everything I can from her :) I am happy that I will be able to see her at BYU after the mission :) We already decided that we are going to have ¨Peruvian food Thursday's¨ and we are going to cook together after the mission. I am very excited :) Hermana Leyva and I are here in Limoncillo to baptize families. I have been studying the doctrine of family a lot more deeply since I've gotten here in Barranca and I am ready to help families be ETERNAL families. So that's what we have been doing. Contacting families like LOCAS. I know that the gospel brings happiness to families. I have seen it in my family. Being in Peru, I have realized how much sadness and how Satan can influence families so much. But the solution to this is the gospel. I am excited to bring this gospel into the homes of the families here in Barranca. To help them receive the ordinances necessary to be an eternal family. I know that families can be together forever if they are based on the principles of the gospel. I love being able to be a missionary and share my testimony with the people here in Barranca. I am going to miss Lima, and Los Olivos and Hermana Lopez A LOT. But I am excited to be here in Barranca and work harder than I ever have for the last 6 months of my mission. This gospel is true. God and Jesus Christ live. They love us and desire our happiness. Keep pushing along in the gospel and working hard to keep the commandments. LOVE YOU ALL!

Hermana Agle

The mark Los Olivos left on me!!

Hermana Jones and her 2 trainees

My favorite meal here...Pachamanca (before & after)

Semana Santa

Well, this week was a pretty interesting one.

This week was the SEMANA SANTA here in Peru. It is the week that the people here in Peru celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the states, we celebrate a day (Easter), but here in Peru, the people walk around the streets all day, people go to church all day, every day for the whole week! Every church has something different that they do during the Semana Santa. Some people go to the center of Lima to climb this HUGE hill where there is a cross on top to ask forgiveness for their sins. Some people visit 7 different churches to show their devotion to Christ. NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE (members of the church included) eats meat...Just fish. They don't even sell meat in the markets. So I have eaten a good amount of tuna this week...haha. I never want tuna again! But anyway, we have had to face a lot of Apostasy this week. But it has been cool as well, because every time someone asks us what our church does for the Semana Santa, we get to tell them that we don't celebrate the Semana Santa, because we have the privilege of remembering Jesus Christ EVERY SINGLE SUNDAY of the year when we partake of the Sacrament. Christ is ALWAYS a part of our lives, not just one week of the year. I am grateful for the Sacrament and the covenants that we can renew every single Sunday :)

So we have transfers tomorrow! I don't know what is going to happen to us, but I will let you all know next week. It will be interesting to see what happens?!! I have LOVED my time with Hermana Lopez here in Los Olivos. I have learned things that I never thought I would learn. I have been able to develop some of my weaknesses, I have grown to REALLY love the people here, and we have had a lot of success. I love it here. Hermana Lopez finishes her mission in a month...So if we are separated now, it will be the last time I will see her. That is kind of freaking me out!! I love her a lot. She has helped me get to know my Savior and I will ALWAYS be grateful to her for that. She is my best friend :) She says Hi to everyone :) Mom, she says that you are a magic mom and she really wants to get to know you :) I always talk about your food, mom :) Because Peruvians are always like ¨food in the United States is gross because it is all from cans and McDonalds¨. Well, I have to defend my country...So I always tell them that my mom cooks SOO yummy and I always talk about your food...then they change their mind :) So Hermana Lopez says that she wants to try your food one day :) And she says HI to the whole family and that we are a great family :) And she says HI to Cameron too and she apologizes for her bad pronunciation in English haha :) But she thinks you are really cool :) So anyway, I'll let you now what happens next week!!

So, this week we have seen some GREAT miracles. We had 10 investigators come to church! We contacted in the street...like none other this week...and we saw results. People came to church and we were able to set some baptismal dates. We met a boy named Marco, yesterday, and he is WAY cool. He is 18 and he came to church with a friend. We set an appointment for that night and had him come to our pensionistas house to teach him. We started the lesson off by asking him how he liked church? Well, he started talking about how different it was from all of the other churches, and how we did weird things, and he felt strange and it wasn't anything that he had ever grown up with. As he was talking I was like ¨ahhhh, dang...one of these cases...super catholic that just wants to fight with us...¨ But after he finished saying all of his thoughts about the church he looks at us, his face lights up and he says, ¨I have never felt the way I felt in your church and I LOVED it.¨ Man, Marco is great. He loved hearing about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. He accepted the invitation to be baptized the 10th of May. So...we are excited to keep working with Marco, and be in this battle with Satan until the 10th of May. Our President always says that when we set a baptismal date, we are declaring war to Satan.  I am excited to win this war :)  !!!

Well, as always, I love being in this work. I love being a missionary. The mission is hard. And there are lots of challenges and really difficult times. Times where you feel completely alone and like there is nothing you can do to feel better. But in those times, Christ has always been there for me. In different ways, but I can ALWAYS feel him. And I love that. And I know that Heavenly Father is working with us and he loves us and wants us to learn and progress. We have challenges for a reason. He doesn't want to just see us suffer, but he wants us to learn, grow and develop. I am grateful for this gospel and the blessings I receive everyday from it. I love you all!! Until next week!!

Love,

Hermana Agle  

Book of Mormon Challenge!

Well, this week has been an emotional roller-coaster! 

1. I am officially an old missionary! I have a year in the mission! My MTC district is emailing like crazy just wondering how it is possible that time has passed so fast! I can't believe I have been here a year already. Just 6 short months left. I am going to do EVERYTHING I can in these 6 months to help these amazing people in Peru accept the gospel :) I have learned SO much in the past year, and I am going to put it all into practice these next 6 months! I hope to see lots of results :) These pictures are of a poster that my pensionista and her family made for me on my year mark :) 

2. So something pretty interesting happened in the South America Northwest region this week. Elder Uceda, Elder Waddell, and Elder Grow made a huge announcement. Not so much an announcement, but invitation. They asked that in the family home evenings here, the families are going to focus 100 percent on the Book of Mormon. Families are invited to read the Book of Mormon together every single day for 15 minutes and finish it before the end of the year. Once we finish it, the bishop will send a letter to the 70 and they will write us a personal congratulations letter in response! :) SO I am SUPER pumped about this invitation!!! I just finished the Book of Mormon this week and I am totally going to read it again before I finish my mission...so that I can receive one of these congratulations letters!! 

It was awesome this week as I was able to finish the Book of Mormon. Church yesterday was focused 100 percent on this announcement from the area Presidency and I was asked to give a talk in sacrament meeting on the announcement and the Book of Mormon. I loved being able to speak to the members(and our investigators that were there) about the amazing blessing we have by having the Book of Mormon in our homes. The Book was written by prophets specifically for us in this day...For our families! President Packer describes the Book of Mormon as our spiritual protection and I believe this is true. The Book of Mormon testifies of Christ, that is obvious, but it has a certain power that is indescribable. It is so amazing and has worked miracles in my mission. I have a very firm testimony of this book, and when people spit in my face, telling me that the Book I hold in my hands is a book written by fools...I am glad that I can walk away with a firm testimony that I KNOW this book is true. It has helped me with spiritual protection in my life. I am excited to take up this challenge and make the Book of Mormon even more present in my life.

Well, that is all for this week. We are pushing forward ready to receive LOTS of miracles in this work. Bring it on Peru :) Love you all!!

Hermana Agle

My awesome district :) Elder Alvarez from Cusco, Elder Montesino from Honduras, Elder Larsen from Logan, Elder Congora from Huancayo, Hermana Hewitt from Logan and Hermana Pinto from Bolivia :) And me and Hermana Lopez :)

   

General Conference was AMAZING!

The Quiroz Family...LOVE!

Well, this week has been a good one. A LOT has happened! We will start with some news:

DAYANA QUIROZ IS GOING TO THE TEMPLE APRIL 10 (my year mark) TO DO BAPTISMS FOR HER FAMILY :) I had another work visit in El Olivar this week and was able to see the Quiroz family. I continue to see the miracles the gospel brings into our lives through this family. They have progressed, and gained strong testimonies of this church. They are doing so great :) We baptized them 6 months ago but they are just too special to not talk about them always :) Mom and Dad, I cannot WAIT for you guys to meet them!! They will not be able to talk to you haha but they will just LOVE you. So I was really happy to hear that from Dayana :) She is also attending seminary every morning with my old pensionista Hermana Juanita :) 

Well, Conference was amazing as always. I love conference weekend...It is better than Christmas :) I received so much strength and guidance from our living prophets and I could feel that they were speaking the words of God himself. What I really loved was Boyd K. Packer's talk. Wow. SO POWERFUL. His testimony at the end left me with my heart beating pretty fast. I felt it strong. All of us gringos went into a little room to watch conference in English and we were silent as we listened to the STRONG spirit fill the room as Boyd K. Packer bore his personal witness of the Savior. I also loved Elder Bednar's talk. I love when he speaks because his talks are always directed towards EVERYONE. Everyone can benefit from what Elder Bednar says ALWAYS. I loved being able to understand this scripture in Matthew better. I also loved Elder Uchtdorf's talk. I loved them all haha. It is a goal of mine to re-read ALL of the conference talks before I get home. Next conference I will be coming home!! AHH. Time goes way too fast.

This week I was able to strengthen my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I have studied, marked, searched and pondered the Book of Mormon this past year, and this week I will finish it completely. I am excited to bear a powerful testimony that I know that every single page of the Book of Mormon is true. I know t is true. I have strengthened my testimony of Jesus Christ through this book and have been able to feel the Spirit so strongly testifying to me that it is true. So I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon and everything it has taught me. It is just so true! There is no way to explain the miracles it works in our lives but it really works miracles! It can comfort us, it can help us understand the misteries of God, and it helps us draw closer to our Savior. I am not a prophet or anything but I want to challenge all of you to read the Book of Mormon cover to cover and try Moroni's promise and ask God if it is true. I know that you will receive your answer and your faith will be strengthened so much through doing it. It is a powerful book and I tesify of its divinity!!

I had a pretty painful experience this week with one of our investigators. She completely shut.us.down. And it was PAINFUL. I haven't felt that must sadness in a long time. Seeing someone reject the gospel after hearing it...hurts A LOT. What I learned from it, though, is that just because someone is rejecting the gospel, does not mean that it is not true. This was one of the whirlwinds that Helaman talks about in Helaman 5:12, but if we have our foundation in Christ, we will not fall in our testimony. Like many said in conference, NOW is the time to stand as witnesses and disciples of Christ and not let worldly things get us down. We are always going to see people that will reject what we believe and tell us it is not true and we are dumb for being a part of it. BUT STAY STRONG. Remember who you are. A member of the Church of JESUS CHRIST. This is His church. There will be opposition. But let's stand strong and never deny the things we know to be true :)

Alright well have a great week! I love you all!! Keep inviting your friends to church and following-up with them. Take them by the hand and WALK with them as M. Russell Ballard invited us to do :) Les amo!!

Con cariño,

Hermana Agle

Susie's brand new teeny tiny puppy!

Hermana Agle(the CAT) has grown!!

Classic family photo with the Quiroz Family!!