Weekly Letter 6.17.2013: Peru…..my love

¡Hola mi familia!

It has only been four days since I last wrote you. Awaiting anxiously for transfers to see what happens. Training or not training. In mission Lima East or Mission Huancayo. Life is good though. Its really hard to be a missionary on the holidays. Everyone cancels on you. Yesterday all our investigators cancelled so we ended up just visiting members and less actives the whole day. Curse el día de padre!! ha ha just kidding. I am very grateful for you dad! Its been really hard in this area to help our investigators progress. They are all so busy and mostly have time on the weekend and sometimes not even on the weekend. We have quite a few investigators that are just so close to being able to be baptised but yeah…then they don`t show up. Patience… Patience…But its little by little I suppose. We teach a lot of crazy people here. We have a few snakes… I think they just like us to come and visit. But we have some really great investigators too. Their progress is just extremely slow…

Its been really rainy here and freezing… but its not really rain its more like you are walking through a mist. I always feel like all my stuff is slightly damp in my apartment.

I can`t say that I have too much to report… We got to go to the temple on Thursday with my zone. My area is one of the more difficult ones in the mission but I feel grateful that I get to walk by the temple 6 or 7 times a day and teach our investigators there. And I finally got to go in on Thursday! It was really good.

So its funny because I am kinda in this stage where I can speak spanish ok and understand almost everything. But sometimes I get confused. Apparently the other week when I talked in church. I was a little nervous. I was talking to one of the members yesterday and she said that I said in the Doctrina y convenios sección 600… ha ha ummmm I don´t think that there is a section 600. Ha ha… People always laugh at me when I talk on the phone too. ha ha Its hard to tell what they are saying on phone but my companions always make me practice calling people. A lot of the time I am like what……. can you repeat that!

Well until next week…

Love you all lots!

Love,

Hermana Brittany Polatis

Mi Zona

So I usually study with my blanket and socks and slippers and sometimes my sweat pants under my dress… ha ha. Its a lot colder here than I thought and I am really happy I brought warm clothes.

 

 

Me and Hermana Bautista

Me in front of a local painting… ha ha The other day this guy was painting this and we stopped and to him. I don`t really know what the painting is supposed to mean but yeah its funny… ha ha

 

Weekly Letter 6-3-2013

Dear family,

 

This week I went through a training with the President… All the new missionaries went through it because a lot of us are going to be training next transfer. Which is in two weeks. The President asked me if I am ready… ha ha no… This is bad. I really hope I am not training next transfer. I am ok in my Spanish but there are still a lot of things that I don`t understand. These last two weeks of my training I am compañera mayor. I have to start making more of the decisions and what not. Its kinda stressful for me to think about.

 

Santa Felicia is good. We teach a lot of people in the temple grounds. On Saturday I saw my pensionista Lili and her family in the temple. i also saw some other people from the ward in Huanuco. It was great. So we keep meeting people on the street that want to get baptised! But none of them are in our area!!! Bah! But we have 5 investigators with baptismal date. The problem that we are experiencing here is trying to get investigators to church. Since I am in a very wealthy area, everyone is always studying and working and never home.

 

We are teaching this lady that is a buddhist and is crazy and never stops talking! Yesterday she came to church with us and we took her to the gospel doctrines class and she starts going off about reincarnation and karma. Ha ha the poor teacher! She likes to talk about miracles and the laying on of hands.

 

In the mission I kinda feel like stalker. Seriously… Remember the investigator I told you about before that is named Jorge. And we kept seeing him over and over again with his mother. Well we hadn´t seen him for awhile so I called him up and asked if he had time to talk with us. Well he didn´t show up to the temple where we planned to meet and we don`t know where he lives so we decided to go look for some people that were references. Well there we are just walking along and there he is! Ha ha I think that I thinks we are spys or stalkers or something because we always end up finding him and seeing him everywhere. But yeah I don´t know. He is kinda flaky and doesn´t show up to a lot of appointments so yeah…

 

Hopefully we are going to have a baptism on Sunday. It all depends if he shows up to church! His name is Abdon. I told you guys about him in my last letter. He is gold. He is praying and reading the book of mormon. Ha ha the first time he came to church was the funniest! He was terrified! We just need to find him some friends.

 

Oh and next week I won´t be writing till Thursday because my is going to the temple that day so they changed our p-day

 

Love you all!

Till next week

 

Love,

Hermana Brittany Polatis

Weekly Letter 5-27-2013: Santa Felicia

Dear Family,

 

And another week goes by… I got a ton of dear elders this week! I think they all built up and so I got them all at once. Thanks for writing me! I did hear about the passing of President Monson´s wife. So sad!

 

This week was just strange. Everyday is strange in the mission. Ha ha I feel like a horrible missionary sometimes. On Saturday we were helping a member with a birthday party for her 25 year old son. I asked her if I could help her with some of her bags. Ha ha I opened the bag and there is 2 bottles of booz… Ha ha no big deal. And on Sunday we eat with members. Well I thought we were going to their house when we enter this restaurant because they didn´t have time to make anything and were going to a party after. Ha ha just eating out on Sundays and carrying around alcohol for members. Excelente misionara! Not to give you a bad impression of the members here. But yeah a lot of people here are recent converts and so its a little akward sometimes… You don´t want to make them feel bad or anything but we are kinda here to cry repentance… oh bahhh…

 

We also meet people in strange ways. One night, on our way to a apt. we met Yuriko. I was off in my own world when my comp. stops and starts talking to this girl that we are passing. Turns out be a little miracle. She 19 years old, living alone in Lima because she studies here at the university. She basically starts bearing her soul to us about how she feels solo here and is really sad. Wants to go home but doesn´t want to go home because she is not happy there either. We ended up taking her to our apointment. We were going to a recent converts house. We taught her about the plan of salvation and our purpose here on earth. We also committed her to be baptised. She said yes! woohoo! She was an answer to our prayers and we were an answer to hers. Its a good thing my companion pays attention to the spirit because I have a really hard to paying attention in the street. This is what I need to work on. I am always in my own little world while we are walking along but if you pay attention God will put people in your path.

 

I can´t remember if I told you about Abdon. Abdon is 28 years old and we met him in the street too. He was way exited to talk to us! It is the best when people are exited to talk to you! But yeah we have had two lessons with him and he really wants to repent and change his life. He is awesome! He very humble and is aware of his sins and wants to be baptised too! We are starting to make progress here! My companion is really funny and great. A little trunky… with only 9 months in the mission but still works all the same. She always eats my fish for me and the other things I don´t like. I have found something I hate mor than fish! They are like olives but like a billion times stronger! I literaly can´t get them down my throat!

 

Until next week

 

Con mucho amor,

 

Hermana Polatis

 

P.S. Sorry for my spelling. I know its probably really bad. Spanish is really talking over my brain.

 

Weekly email 5-20-2013:

Dear family,

 

Mom and Nicole and Alanna! I got my birthday packages this week! Thank you Thank you!! I love everything! Especially the calender! ha ha I spent forever laughing at all the pictures! I love you guys! You are the best!

 

Ha ha its funny because Nathan and I seem to be in the same situations. He mentioned in his letter last week about not having water. Well we haven´t had water or light in our apt. for two days now. But I think they are working on getting it fixed. We have a lot of stored water though and flashlights. Ha ha so its been interesting… Also simular to Nathan we got asked to talk 5 right before the sacrament because one of the speakers didn´t show up. I did ok but ha ha… yeah… Its hard because I feel like I never really know what I am saying and then my mind goes blank. One thing I have learned from the mission is not to be embarrassed. Just go with it. I feel like everyday is crazy in the mission! Ha ha its kinda fun to be an american here.

 

Yeah, but this week was ok. Its hard to get investigators to progress here. They are always busy studying and working and are never at home when they say that they will be. But what was awesome this week is the the missionaries from the CCM came and worked in our area on Saturday for about 4 hours. We have a lot of new references to work with and some of the missionaries even taught a few lessons! So that was fun!

 

We got a call at ten-thirty at night saying that an Hermana was going to be staying with us of a few days. She didn´t get to our apartment till twelve-thirty in the morning. Her name is Hermana Johnson. Fresh from the Provo MTC. She was with us for 2 days and left this morning. Poor girl had to live in our apt. with no light!

 

Something cool that happened this week was with one of our investigators Jorge. We met Jorge on my brithday! We met him in the street and taught him a short lesson in the park. He didn´t show up to our next appiontment in the park and we were kinda bummed. But then we saw him in the street with his mom. He kinda ignored us and was in a hurry and shook our hands and left. Then we saw him 2 days later again with his mother!! But again he barely acknowledged us. But we were like its a sign!!!! 3 times we see this person! So we called him later in the day and immediatly he asked if we could meet with him. We went to the temple and taught him in the visitors center. It was a really great lesson and he agreed to be baptised. He didn´t show up to church this Sunday and his phone was turned off but hopefully things will work out! I don´t think it was by luck that we saw him 3 times. If there is one thing that I have learned its that God puts people in your path. A lot of time its kinda hard not to be discouarged because no one is progressing and yeah but something good always happens everyday to keep our spirits up.

 

Thats my week! Kinda crazy! I love you all!

Love,

Hermana Polatis!

 

Hermana Soliz and me

 

Weekly Email 5-13-2013: Santa Felicia

Dear Family,

 

Sorry about last night. The bishop got stuck in traffic and wasn´t there for me to use his skype and I was kinda stressed trying to figure out how to tell you all that I couldn´t and needed to change the time. But I am exited to talk to you tonight!

 

On Monday night I got the call that I was being transferred! To Santa Felicia, La Molina, Lima . I was told that I was leaving the next morning at eight thirty in the morning and to hurry and pack. My companion and I were both really shocked! Usually you are trained by the same person for the total 3 months and we didn´t think that the changed would affect us. I was really sad. Especially since my birthday was on Wednesday. We both cried a little bit! Huanuco is the best and I was really sad to leave our investigators and the members there. So Tuesday I spend the whole day on the bus and arrived in Lima that night. My area is beautiful. I live 8 minutes from the temple and walk by it mulitiple times a day. I am in a very wealthy area. It couldn´t be more different from Huanuco! My pensionist is the Bishop´s wife. Their house is across from the temple. Its really wierd trying to adjust to the change. Its very different here. The people are not as humble and willing to listen. I go from the dirt poor people in Huanuco to sitting in rich and fine dining rooms. Its wierd. Ha ha it has kinda been rough. But nevertheless, I like my new area and ward. A lot of the teachers that work in the CCM are in this ward so its kinda nice to know someone.

 

My birthday was good! I ate lots of cake. The hermanas in my zone bought my some cake and later we had tres leches at the Bishop´s and they sang me happy birthday in english. Before I left Huanuco too. Hermana Lili and her family sang me happy birthday and all gave me little speechs. They also bought me cake for the road. So it was good!

 

Haha there are some strange people in Lima! There is a crazy lady that walks around with her crazy hair! She is not all there is the brain. I think she is posessed by the devil. She pointed at me all creepy and basically said YOU ARE NOT OF OUR KIND! ahhhhh… She hissed it all creepy like. Ha ha and some loco kissed Hermana Soliz on the cheek and was kissing our hands! She was freaking out and I was laughing my head off and then we ran away. Oh yeah I forgot. My companion is Hermana Soliz. She is from Bolivia. She is way cool! We are a lot like. She likes art and music and finished her degree in architecture. Well I will talk to you more tonight! Loves,

 

Hermana Brittany Polatis

 

Lili and her family. The best family in Huanuco! Our sad goodbye at the bus station. They came to set me off and sing me happy Birthday.