Leaving For Peru Manana!!

Hey there all!

Hope everyone is doing well. Things are great here. This past week was a full week of service. Some days were incredibly hot...and they measure the temperature in Celsius..so they´ll say "Oh my. 34 degrees!" ..while I´m thinking..."do they realize that is FREEZING?" I now can calculate the difference between Celsius and Fahrenheit. One older sister comments on how cold it is..joking I presume.

Jenesia and I both have some good Return Visits we have made. Even started a study with a woman named Luz! She invited us in to her home and we discussed the Chapter in the Bible Teach book on suffering. They are out of Bible Teach books here..so we had to share my study copy. She even started crying when we were reading a few of the scriptures. Very sweet woman. We are going to try to go tomorrow to see her before we leave. She said her door is always open for us to come. There is a sister that lives nearby...so hopefully she will cultivate the study when we leave!

I have found that a lot of our recreation revolves around food...kind of like the states! The Ponce family is so good about having people over to their house for dinner, family study and games. The meals are always SO good. Fresh fruit and veggies like you would not believe. No carne para mi! Last week we had Vicente over and his family. After dinner we played some Chess and Checkers and Cards. Vincente beat me at Checkers more than once...and when he won he picked up the gamepiece, kissed it, and exclaimed "I love you so much!" Pretty funny because the whole family thought he was talking to me...but nope...he was gloating over his victory. No more games for me! I can´t handle the losing streak!

Over the weekend we were able to hike the mountain behind the Ponces property...we went up pretty high...didn´t realize it would be as difficult as it was! Difficult but fun. I have scratches to prove it. Unfortunately it got dark before we climbed down all the way...but we made it back safely! Yesterday we were able to play some Tennis. Some of the brothers found out that I enjoyed playing...and although Soccer is the major sport here...there are some tennis courts further away. We drove across town to another city and there happened to be this court behind a Hospital where the doctors play on their break. A group of us played there for an hour or so...but our game was cut short by the doctors! Oh well. Still fun!

Jenesia and I had the privilege of giving discoursos last Thursday... a talk and a demo as well. Lots of fun. I could hear laughing in the audience from time to time. Think I said a few things wrong...oops. All the more interesting I guess! The congregation is so loving. Its been nice getting to know the brothers and sisters in the hall and work out in service with someone different everyday. They never put Jenesia and I together! Yesterday our territory was IN the cementary. Very different...but productive! Its nice staying so focused on spiritual things...pretty much 24/7. More time to study and meditate...more time for preparing for meetings...reading.. its wonderful!

So...tomorrow we are off to Peru! Thankfully...we are going to leave some of our stuff behind. Consolidate. We are trying to pack as lightly as possible to make the trip bearable because we will be moving literally the whole 3 weeks...maybe 4. We are taking a plane up to Arica...north of Chile..and then hopping over the border to Peru. 18 hour bus ride to Cuzco/Maccu Piccu... but we are going to break it up and stay with some friends at the half way point. A lot of sightseeing...hiking hopefully too. The last week...or 2...we will be with a Missionary couple living in Tacna.. (south of Peru)...and going with them to the congregations they are serving. By March, we will be back in Donihue, Chile...and will possibly stay here another week or so..(there is a nearby KH construction project)... March and April are still in the making...but I will make sure to update you all on the plans!

I´m afraid we probably won´t encounter too many Internet spots in Peru...but I´ll do what I can. We will be taking a ton of pictures as usual....I´ll upload when possible. I´m trying to find out how to upload videos too...and a better map. We will see what I find!

Miss everyone! Great to hear from you! Adios for now....

Un abrazo-

Stephanie