And it Came to Pass :)

Hi friends! Hi family!

Well, I am still here in Peru! Late last night we received more news! The church decided they don't want to use the U.S. Embassy for our travels. So we are back to square one! They have to try to get permission from the government here to send in private planes! Our President says he hopes that they can figure it out before conference this weekend but we don't know! 

I am safe here in Peru. I am happy! I am excited to see my family in a matter of days. I don't know when yet, but we know the church is working on it!  

I just wanted to bear my testimony about something real quick! Okay before my mission I had never put too much thought to the phrase in the scriptures "and it came to pass". As everything has happened the past month around the world with covid-19 I have paid extra attention to this phrase in the scriptures! YOU GUYS! In the scriptures it doesn't say "and it came to STOP" and wow am I grateful for that! Being in quarantine this past 2 weeks I have had a lot of time to ponder and really study the scriptures! I am so grateful for this time I have had! In this difficult time of not knowing when planes will come, or when the virus will stop, we CAN know that this time isn't here to stay. THIS WILL COME TO PASS.  What hope! I am grateful this restored gospel that we have is a church of HOPE! God loves us all so much! 

I hope you all have the best week!! I will keep you posted the best I can on when I know more information! Thank you for all your prayers and support! I feel it everyday!! I will be sending a few extra prayers to my cute parents the next few days because of everything going on haha! I am happy being a missionary for the true church of Jesus Christ! 

I love you all!!! I have a lot of pictures that I will be sending the next few days! 

And WOW WHO IS EXCITED FOR CONFERENCE THIS WEEKEND WOOT!!!! 

Love you all!!!

Hermana King :)

Time for an Update!!

Hi my friends and family!! Just wanted to give a super quick update!

I got a call this morning saying that the North Americans are going home! I am headed home tomorrow morning or Wednesday morning. We don't know which quite yet! BUT I wanted to let you all know that I am safe and under the Lord's protection here! 

I will give an even bigger update later, but I don't have time right now. I love you all so much!! I will SEE you guys soon!! 

Thanks for the fasting yesterday! Ha! I think it worked. ;) Love you all!!!!

Love,

Hermana King :)

Mas fotos

Important new information from Peru Lima Central Mission

Dear family members of missionaries of Peru Lima Central Mission,

It is with profound sadness that we inform you of the following updates regarding the future missionary service of your beloved sons and daughters.

On Friday, March 20th the Church issued an Official Announcement which said in part: “In the coming weeks, based upon world conditions, substantial numbers of missionaries will likely need to be returned to their home nations to continue their service. This will be done in a systematic way based on the urgency of travel restrictions, level of COVID-19 concern, and other considerations… Returning missionaries will go through a 14-day period of self-isolation and then may be assigned to serve within their home country, based on local conditions….”

This afternoon, March 22nd, we participated in a video conference under the direction of the South America Northwest Area Presidency. They informed us that all missionaries worldwide will be sent home in the coming days and weeks, with the exception of those who are currently serving a full-time mission in their own home country, they will remain in the mission field.

Of those returning home Elders who have 6 months or less and Sisters with 3 months or less remaining will be honorably released immediately.  The remaining missionaries will return home for a period of at least 14 days of “self-isolation” and then will be re-assigned to a mission within their own country.

Peru is still under quarantine for another week and there are rumors that it could be extended.  However, the US embassy will be helping us to obtain limited flights for missionaries returning to the United States even during the quarantine period. 

Those missionaries from other countries are yet to be determined, some of our missionaries’ native countries are also currently under quarantine restrictions.

This is obviously an unprecedented global crisis and things change quickly, so please be patient. The exact time of their departures are still unknown but we anticipate it will be sometime over the next few weeks, we have no other details at this time.  You will be notified immediately when we have secured a flight for your son or daughter. Missionaries will be instructed to be ready to leave with short notice.

Please be prepared to support and encourage your missionary spiritually, emotionally and physically when they return home.  They will need some extra love and attention in processing the abrupt change in their missionary service. We love them as our own children, and will miss them more than words can express.  We are so grateful for their honorable and consecrated service and for the privilege we have had to serve with each one of them!

In the meantime, please know that your missionaries are all healthy, happy and hopeful!  As a mission family we trust in the Lord and in His prophet and we know there is a wise purpose in all of this.  May the Lord bless you and all of your family with health, faith and tremendous peace amidst this passing storm.

With sincere love and appreciation,

President and Sister Strong

Stayin alive stayin alive!

The three amigas!

Mis mejores amigos!! I hope you are all safe and happy! Theres a few things that have happened the past few weeks that I want to share!! 

Firstly, I am safe and happy! I am counting my blessings every single day.

Secondly, I said goodbye to my training and entered REAL mission life as a normal missionary! I said goodbye to my mom, Hermana Luke :( and said hello to my new cute compy, Hermana Lopez!! She is the best and I honestly have never laughed harder! We teach each other new things every single day!!

Thirdly, not only did I get one new compy, I got a HIJA in the mission as well! I had to go into the office about a week ago and President pulled me aside and told me we were going to be getting another comp last minute...um what!! I was so excited!! I thought it was another missionary from a different mission BUT shes a missionary from the CCM in the Philippines! Which means...I am training!! Yeah I was confused too hahah! I am so happy and wow I am so excited about this!! We got our new cute compy Hermana Fajardo and she is so little and so cute!! She is from Peru!! I love my two comps so much! 

Fourthly, yup I am in cuarentena haha! We are in cuarentena for 15 days at least. It has been fun to try to think of ways to teach using our small little brick phone but WOW there has been so many miracles. I know in hard times like these there is a lot of reason to be upset and to be sad. And sometimes, yes, its okay to take a minute to be sad. BUT it is also so important to realize how many blessings we have! We have COME FOLLOW ME! Did the Prophet know whats up or what? Wow revelation. We have this time to spend with our families and the people that we are quite literally STUCK with right now haha!

I am so happy. I know there has been a lot of news as far as North Americans coming home from foreign missions. I have heard nothing about my mission in Peru! I am so happy serving the Lord here. It has been hard! We had to cancel Jorge's baptism and have had to kind of restart with finding people! BUT what an awesome opportunity to learn new ways to be missionaries and to serve. Opportunities, opportunities, opportunities.

Amigos! Friends! 

I just want to testify to you all that I know God is aware. I know God is aware of all of His children. This time is VERY difficult for all of us! This time is also an opportunity to try to figure out what we can learn from this difficult hardship. I love you all! As a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ, I have been able to see hearts change and this gospel change families. We have something special, we have the truth! We have the RESTORED gospel of Jesus Christ. How special!! We are so blessed!!

My challenge this week is to stay safe and be happy. I love you all. If you are looking for something to do...I HAVE AN IDEA!! Read your patriarchal blessing and get out a piece of paper. 3 columns: blessings, commandments and warnings. And have fun :) This is something I did last night in the LITTLE free time I had ;) Hermana King is safe and sound and as happy as ever!! I miss you all and love you guys!!

STAY SAFE!! And always put trust in the Lord! The most reliable person we have. :)

Hermana King :)

Getting set up for a trio

A usually busy, busy street is vacant because of the quarantine.

Posting an Update....

Since Hermana King hasn't been able to write her usual email lately, I thought I would update here. Abby is in a new companionship in the same area. Her beloved trainer, Hermana Luke is now a sister training leader!

Abby's companion is Hermana Lopez from Mexico and they are training a Peruvian sister, Hermana Fajardo, who was supposed to be going to Japan but has been temporarily reassigned. They are quarantined to their apartment but are in good spirits. Abby is keeping up her characteristic optimistic attitude!   She is absolutely loving her mission in Peru. For now, there are no plans to send the missionaries home. We do get to talk to her more, 3 times a week!

They are a cute trio and, believe it or not, Abby is the tallest of the three!! She helps them with their English and they help her with her Spanish.

She has not been able to post any pictures but Sister Strong put this up on the mission blog, so we got to see a picture of her new companions.

This picture is from the Peru Lima Central facebook page. 
She wasn't able to send any pictures so we were so happy to get this!

We got to meet Hermana Lopez and Hermana Fajardo on google hangouts!

A Series of FORTUNATE events!!

WOWOWOW!! What a week in San German!! This week so much happened that was straight miracles to say the least!! 

Tuesday the 3rd:

We had a cita with Carlos and TWO of his sisters!! Okay okay so this night at about 8:30 our obispo texted us and said.......he had the permission from Carlos's mom to get baptized AND (!!!!!) IT WAS GOING TO BE THIS SATURDAY!! Um yes. We had 4 days to plan a baptism! haha! It was the biggest miracle because before I got here, they could never find Carlos, and then as soon as we were able to start teaching him, his mom said he needed 5 more months of going to church before he could be baptized. We have fasted and prayed A LOT for Carlos because he has such a special testimony. We cried, we couldn't believe it!!!

Wednesday the 4th:

We were able to talk one of our less active members of our ward through a drinking problem. The gospel of Jesus Christ can heal any wound. I testify of that!! We had divisions with the hermana caps and we love them so much!! 

Thursday the 5th:

We had an entrevista for Carlos with the Zone leader and our District leader! He PASSED!!!! Then we headed to my medical appointment! Adjusting to Peru is fun my friends!! I got put on a really fun diet hahaha I haven't been able to have any colors in the food! no fruits, no veggies! No seasonings on my chicken or anything haha! Esta bien! I am a happy camper!! The doctor laughed when we told him what part of Lima we lived in hahaha. He asked us why we lived in such a ghetto place and then laughed again haha! I love San German SO MUCH haha so we told the doctor exactly that haha!

Friday the 6th:

We had a cita with Jorge and we gave him a practice baptismal interview and he passed it!!! YAY!! He has a fecha for the 20th of march!!!

Saturday the 7th:

BAPTISM DAY!!! But firstttttttt President called us in the morning to let us know about changes....my cute, cute compy is going to be an hermana cap!!!! I literally am so proud of her!! I am going to miss her like crazy but wow I am so jealous of those hermanas she'll be over!! I am staying here in San German!! My new cute compy is from Mexico, and her name is Hermana Lopez!! I get her on Tuesday!! I am going to be leading this sector which is CRAZY!!! THEN we headed and cleaned the capilla for the baptism. We had the baptism and wow. It was so special. We sang and spoke a little bit. I have never seen so many people come together so fast! Almost the WHOLE ward was there. SO CRAZY!!! It is such a special experience and opportunity to be apart of this work. WOW. I am so grateful for everyday I get to be here!! WOW!! ALSO Jorge came and was telling everyone to come to his in 2 weeks hahaha!! YES! Animos!!

Sunday the 8th:

Wow! What a good Sunday. We were able to get around to saying goodbye to people that Hna Luke is so close to! We had such a fun NDH this night with Familia Montero and some other members! Carlos was also confirmed!! YES!!!

Alright my friends!!! My spiritual thought  is this:

"Charity isn't an act(actions), it's a condition."I love this because the CONDITION is how we convert. It is so cool that we have Jesus Christ to look up to and to RELY on. He is our PERFECT example. Trusting in something so consistent is the best!

My challenge!!

Read "The Challenge to Become" and then make a list of every time it talks or mentions charity. Study charity this week and find one way to incorporate charity in your everyday life!!!

I love you all so much!! Thank you for your prayers and your love!!!!

Love,

Hna King :)

Abby's new companion is Hermana Lopez.  She is on the left side the 3rd from the front.

A little appreciation

Hey!!

Sorry it has taken me so long to do this, I honestly kept forgetting. But this week I finally wanted to write and thank you SOO much for who you guys are and for raising Hermana King. She is my best friend and one of the greatest miracles of my mission. I see her grow so much each day in her Spanish, her love, her understanding, and her capacity as a missionary. She is fearless, patient, faithful, hardworking, friendly, and downright hilarious. Who she is says a lot about your family and the principles and environment you guys have given it. I am so grateful for the support you give her and the encouragement. You might not have realized, but the good you have been doing for her has been blessing me, too. I learn so much from her everyday. I am super excited. I consider myself part of your family, so I hope you understand that I will be visiting you guys. I haven't memorized the "Who are Kings" thing yet, but I'll get there. I love you so much! Keep up the good work and have a great week! Thank you so much again for what you have taught and are teaching Hermana Abby King.

-Hermana Sarah Luke, your adopted family member

Real life temple run!

Happy MARCH everyone!! 

I come up on FOUR months this week. WHAT!! Also-as far as the caption goes...hahah so there are HILLS of houses. And if you go to the hills, the further up you go, the sketchier it gets haha! Well! The hermana caps are in Independencia, the hills. We had changes with them this past Friday and welppp our moto driver took us to the top of an ELDERS sector and 15 minutes away from the Hermanas hahaha! So we stood there like 2 white people with ALL of our stuff. When we say God really does protect his missionaries, we mean it...haha! All is good. We WALKED back down the mountain and took a different driver and all is well haha!

Well!! What a week let me tell ya! Wow. I love Peru. I love the people. I am so genuinely happy. WOW! Grateful is the biggest understatement!! 

Tuesday!

We had TWO service projects! We did a cleaning project where we cut branches and swept! For hours! Haha! Our whole district was there so it was a blast! THEN we went and painted again!! LO MAXIMO!! We also taught this BOSS LADY that owns a mechanic store. She seriously was the coolest lady!! 

Wednesday!

We went and served Roberto this day! He owns a juice shop (the best juice ever) and the girl that worked for  him straight up left..so it has just been him for a few WEEKS! Crazy no? So we went and just helped him clean his shop today. We had district mtg and it was the best!! We focused and read from Alma 18 and Alma 22. Um do it if  you havent. haha! We used chapter 18 to teach Carlos and he finally has a CONFIDENT testimony!! The best!!

Thursday!

Hna Luke had to go to immigrations for the day and so did another Hna in our zone. SO I got to go be with Hna Ara for the day!! It was so so SO FUN!!! She is the cutest. I had so much fun! We ate lunch with her pensionista and she shares an area with another set of sisters! Okay I just love them. We took a picture and yup haha! There is one not like the other lemme tell ya hahah! It was the best ever! ALSO!! Today Jorge committed to tithing!! YES! So so proud. 

Friday!

We had another service! We painted again! Then we headed to intercambios and it was just the best time ever. I love the people here! It was so cool because I was able to teach a family that had just lost someone and I connected with them! I showed them one of my FAVORITE scriptures Enos 1:15 and told them that God can give them comfort. Okay guys. I really, really just want to tell you how involved God is with our lives! He is involved in EVERY detail. He LOVES US!! 

Saturday!

We finished intercambios! We went to an activity with our zone! We shined shoes and shared messages about the restoration! It was so cool!! Okay the Gift Of Tongues is a real thing and I AM SO GRATEFUL for it. Wow. Spanish really started connecting this week! What a miracle my friends what a miracle. Haha! Roberto! We had the best cita with him! He got a girl to work for him!!!!! You guys dont understand how BIG that is!! Literally weeks. God is the best!! We had such a good cita with him! 

Sunday!

Jorge beat us to church today! YES! Go him! And we had a cita with him later that night in the capilla! It went so good! We also had a NDH with our other amigo Jorge! He finally committed to praying!! YES!!

Today!

We went to La Punta!! We went to the beach and ate lunch with our zone!! WOOT!!

My spiritual thought:

"...I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.."  I LOVE this. He phrases this prayer has an attempt. He was willing to continue trying until he received what he was looking for. HOW COOL! YES! I love this. We need to have the mentality that it might take a few tries, but we'll get it!

My challenge for you all!

Say a prayer and think about something (act of faith, service, hobby, etc.) you've only attempted once, and TRY AGAIN!

I love you all SO MUCH!! Have the best week!!!!

Hermana King:)