First email from Piray, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Email from Monday, December 8, 2014.
FAMILY FRIENDS AND LOVED ONES!
I HAVE ARRIVED IN BOLIVIA and I LOVE IT!!!!
Everyone
who ever told me anything about Bolivia being scary, gross, or weird
was wrong. Okay, it might be a little bit different than the states
(okay A LOT different) and there are some gross things (like a man
peeing on the side of the road in our neighborhood or the chicken tallon
in my companions soup at my very first meal or the cow udder I ate on
my second day) but I really love every second because it´s all part of
the exact experience I´m supposed to have right now.
MY COMPAÑERA
I´ve
got a thing for short companions from Utah who are perfect for me
because I´m here with Hermana Lyon from South Jordan, Utah! She´s pretty
great.And grab your tissues again because this is another amazing story
of how we came to be. Before I even got here, President Willard changed
the return dates of all the missionaries who were supposed to go home
in January so that they could return home to their families before
Christmas and start school in the winter. Hna Lyon was one of those
missionaries but she felt really uneasy about going home and after
praying about it, she knew she needed to stick with her original date
and stay for one more transfer and she met with President Willard and
told him that she didn´t know why but she knew she needed to stay. Also
note that 11 hermanas went home the day I arrived. So I and 1 other
hermana who trained at the Provo MTC showed up to replace 11 hermanas
who Pres Willard said were some of the best. Then when I met with Pres.
Willard for my first interview, he told me that he felt that it was no
coincidence that I came when I did and that he knows I´m going to be an
awesome missionary and that he received a clear revelation who my
companion should be. So when me and Hna Lyon met, Pres Willard said
"Hermana Lyon, Hermana Gauger is going to be one of our best. She is the
reason you are still here. Because she needed to learn from you because
you are one of our best and the Lord wants you to teach her everything.
She is the reason you´re here and Hermana Gauger, Hermana Lyon is the
reason you arrived when you did." I know. I cried just like you probably
are right now. First because Heavenly Father is so awesome and has a
perfect plan and second, because of the amount of faith my mission
president has in me already. I hope that doesn´t sound braggy because
I´m definitely not anywhere close to being the best missionary right now
but I do feel every day that the Lord is going to work mighty miracles
in my mission and I´m so excited about that!
THE FOOD
Okay,
my only secret little wish is that I could live tweet my reactions to
the food here because every meal is.......unique. But I haven´t had
anything that was inedible yet. We eat a lot of potatos and rice and
chicken and it´s actually all awesome. Minus the soup. I hate soup! But
we eat it every day......so I´m trying to get over that. I eat cereal
and yogurt for breakfast, we have a pensionista (member who makes us
lunch) and then we don´t eat dinner. LIke at all... Like I eat at
7:30,
1:30, and then at
9:30....
I´m still adjusting to that because I get so hungry when we´re out from
2:30-9 every day. Me and Hna Lyon are going to be better about bringing
snacks so we don´t completely starve. But really, the food is good and
I´m probably going to love it very soon.
AREA
I´m in the
city of Santa Cruz and my area is called Piray! It´s awesome and
there´s a lot of work to be done here. My bishop is AWESOME and LOVES
working with the missionaries. He´s super patient with my Spanish and
during ward council he announced "Hermana Gauger is new here and is
learning so we´re all going to work with her so we can improve our ward
and help her." And he always reminds me "vamos a ayudarle, Hermana" It´s
so sweet.
IDIOMA aka LANGUAGE
Okay so
let´s just take a moment to appreciate the 7th article of faith because
the gift of tongues is real and I have been so blessed. My Spanish is
not really bad at all. It´s just a matter of adjusting to the accent,
learning more words, and remembering how to conjugate. But I experience
marked improvement every day. My first day, I just smiled through
lessons and felt like a fool as I fumbled through my testimony but
yesterday, I opened my mouth and just taught by the spirit. IT WAS
AWESOME! I love Spanish and I also love that Hermana Lyon helps me
improve but not by forcing me. She just makes me want to improve and
teaches me by her example.
WEATHER
Think
of the hottest day we´ve experienced in California. A day we probably
spent in the pool or in the A/C or eating ice cream. Well, every day is
that hot (it really doesn´t feel hotter than I´ve experienced in Sac
town) but there is no escape! There is no pool (actually there is but
not for me) and there is no A/C! My only refuge is the shower which has
no hot water but I consider that a blessing. I´m pretty sure I´m not
going to gain too much weight because I sweat so much. But the
comforting thing is that even the Bolivians are sweating and complaining
about the heat so we´re all in this together...slowly dying of heat
stroke. Haha just kidding. It´s not that bad, I drink a lot of
water-purified water! But every day, I glow and shimmer in the sun
because I first lather my entire exposed body in SPF50 sunscreen and
then follow that up with the strongest bug repellant ever and then I`m
all oily (think, nacho libre oily but then in sister missionary clothes)
HIS WORK, HIS WAY
The
Spirit seriously guides us every single day!! And it feels so natural.
I´ve seen some pretty miraculous things happen in lessons and gained an
even stronger tesimony of the gospel as I´ve watched it change lives.
It´s amazing. We have our first baptism this Saturday! Jaed! He´s such a
cool guy and has such a great desire to change his life. Please pray
that all will work out!
I love this place, these
people, and this opportunity. I haven´t felt too stressed yet but
sometimes I do feel a little overwhelmed at the thought of doing this
every day for the next 496 days. So I try not to think about it like
that. Thanks for the prayers, love, and support.
Con mucho amor,
Hermana Gauger
Mi Cama
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