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Hayley Imbler	10:10 AM (10 hours ago)
to Kathleen, me, Tania, Michael

Happy Monday family and friends,

I can`t believe that this day is here... The last email that I will send to all of you from here in Peru as a missionary... I`m entering the last week of the most wonderful experience that I have had in my life..

It has been full of ups and downs just like a roller coaster.. the saddest of times and the happiest.. when I have been the most unsure and the most sure.. the most scared and the most secure.. The mission has prepared me.. and I have never been more grateful..

Sitting in this chair in the local internet reality is washing over me as I realize that it really is coming to an end.. I don`t want you to think that means that I am not going to work hard this week, just that you can all know that the moment that for me was so distant and so surreal is finally becoming reality..

I thought a lot about what to write this week and decided that the best thing I could do is let you all know that the mission has changed me.. Why do I say that? Because I think it is the most important thing that has happened in this whole journey. I am not perfect.. still very far from it, but I have come to understand that, accept it, and try my best to change.. I don`t have a single doubt in my heart that we can all change and really become like our Heavenly Father through the atonement of Jesus Christ.. there is nothing that brings me more joy than that knowledge.. A few verses in Alma 26 have been brought to my mind that I feel sums up about how I feel..

 17 Who could have supposed that our God would have been so merciful as to have snatched us from our awful, sinful, andpolluted state?

 19 Oh then, why did he not consign us to an awful destruction, yea, why did he not let the sword of his justice fall upon us, and doom us to eternal despair?

 20 Oh, my soul, almost as it were, fleeth at the thought. Behold, he did not exercise his justice upon us, but in his great mercy hath brought us over that everlasting gulf of death and misery, even to the salvation of our souls.

I sometimes wonder how God has been so merciful to have snatched me out of my fallen state.. I wonder sometimes why He did not just exercise his justice... but he answers in Alma 24

 14 And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these things known unto us beforehand, because he loveth our souls as well as he loveth our children; therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, that the plan of salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future generations.

 Because God loves my soul.. He did not want me to perish so he let me come to the knowledge of every single thing I have learned here in Peru.. He listens to our prayers.. no matter how insignificant we think they are, He forgives us no matter how far we think we have fallen, He picks us up. He loves us even though the world might hate us. He Can and Will change us, we must only give Him our will.. He will make us into the person He wants us to be. He Lives. I know with all my heart that He lives and that He loves us.. And I will not boast of myself but of my God, for in His strength I can do all things, therefore many mighty miracles were wrought in ME for which I will praise his name forever (Alma 26:12.. changed a little bit). Thank you for your support while I have been here serving the Lord.. I love you all so much!

Hermana Imbler

Ok... here in Perú it definitely doesn`t look anything like Christmas, but it is now officially December.. I hope you will all start listening to some good Christmas music for me.. And pray that there will be snow when I get home... I want a white Christmas.. ha ha!

I have very little time today.. like 2 minutes because we are headed to Lima Central today to see some sights

All is good here in Santa Fe! Nayta was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday and we are really happy for here.. below photos are attached.. 

We have found some good new investigators this week.. although we had a lot of struggles this last week.. we had a sister in the clinic and my companion had to go stay with her while I worked with her companion.. and then Hermana Callejas had to go to immigrations so lots of struggles.. but we are super excited to work this next week..

I hope you all have a wonderful week.. I am hoping that my next letter will be a whole lot longer and I am hoping to include some great things... as it will be my last official letter.. because the week after I will be headed to see my wonderful family... wow can`t believe time has gone by so fast... more next week! 

Love you all!

Hermana Imbler

Hola Familia y Amigos!!!

How is everyone doing?? I`m loving life here in Santa Fe.. maybe it hasn`t been the easiest week of my mission, but I have sure learned a lot about patience and self control.. I bet you are wondering what experiences I have had that would make me say that...

I`m not going to get too in depth in the negative, but this week I had the privilege of meeting 4 new people and having 4 different lessons in which my patience was tried... Each of these people in their own way rejected the true gospel of Jesus Christ... and every single one of them let us know through ways that tried us.. I felt more than anything very sad for the hardness of their hearts and hope sincerely that one day they will be softened enough to accept what will make them happier than any other thing in the world...

Nayta.. Progressing like you wouldn`t believe.. ok you can believe it because it is true.. she is one of the cutest girls that I have been able to meet here.. this Sunday we will have her baptism after church so that her brother can baptize her. She is reading the Book of Mormon almost every day and when she left from her pre-baptism interview our zone leader was really impressed with her answers.

Irvin as well is doing really great... but his grandma doesn`t want to give him permission to be baptized.. It was a big trial of my patience talking with her and trying to explain the importance of it.. She is Catholic and has many of her own ideas... she said that Irvin can`t be baptized because he was already baptized in her church when he was little.. and that she isn`t seeing a change in him fast enough.... well.. we are just going to have to keep sharing with her and see if she can gain her own testimony.. that will help both her and her grandson.. Irvin was pretty sad though.. he says he really feels like he is ready to make this step in his life.. he has now come to church two weeks in a row.. both times with suit and tie.. I think he`s ready too.. but we can`t do anything without his grandma`s permission.. only lots of prayers..

One day we decided to contact a lady that was walking on the street.. turns out she was a less active member.. She has a daughter, Carola, who is 10 years old. We were able to visit her and teach her.. We got her permission to be baptized and made a date.. but on Saturday we went to visit and her dad was there visiting... He left their family years ago.. and only comes once a month if that... Well he was not happy to see that we were teaching his daughter.. angry would be a better word.. he said that he doesn`t want Carola to learn anything about religion until she is older... which doesn`t make much sense.. but we are going to visit her this week and see how things go with her mom Zenaida who is in care of her.. 

To end my letter (sorry I feel like it is short again..or maybe it`s just me), yesterday we did divisions to try and find some new investigators.. I headed to some of our appointments and literally every single one fell through... I checked our Plan bs.. and everything as well fell through... I was stuck.. I thought of some places to go and no one was home... I prayed in my heart that I would be able to find at least one person who was ready to hear the gospel.. I turned the corner with Maggie (the girl who was with me) and decided to knock on a door.. There was a moto outside and he had his music playing loud.. the girl who opened the door could barely hear me.. and I was distracted.. words kind of spilled out of my mouth and I introduced myself twice by accident.. haha I felt like a newby.. I again prayed in my heart that the moto would have some reason to leave.. not 15 seconds later and he drove away.. (Prayers are answered, no matter how insignificant)... I was able to concentrate and then began to gain the confidence of Vanessa, a 20 year old girl from Piura here for vacations until January.. I was able to share the message of the Restoration and answer her questions.. at the end she was really excited for us to go back and visit and called me her amigita.. Yay! The moments when I feel like there is no one else and nothing else left to do but pray and the Lord sincerely blesses us with the experiences we need.. I am so grateful for that.. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week... and I hope you know that no matter how insignificant you think something might be, you can pray and God will guide you to what you need to do.. Put your confidence in Him in all things... and he will direct you for good.

I love you all!

Hermana Imbler

The Final Countdown     Hayley Imbler	9:51 AM (8 hours ago)
to Kathleen, me, Michael, Tania

Haha... I couldn`t resist putting that subject line...

First off, sorry for last week and not writing, if you can believe it I totally forgot to write my weekly email.. 

Well... to my surprise.. I got transferred! These last 6 weeks (well now 4 weeks) I will be spending here in the Santa Fe ward.. I`m still in San Juan de Lurigancho, which made me happy, and the happiest part of this transfer is.. my companion.... In transfer day President called my name, and then to the shock of everyone called the name of Hermana....CALLEJAS!! I will now be finishing the mission as the companion of my daughter again!!! We were so happy we cried right there in transfers... it`s not every day you can finish the mission along side the sister you trained. 

So we are happy here in Santa Fe and working hard to reach our goals.. These last two weeks we have struggled a little bit trying to find new investigators, but we are working hard to try and find those people who are prepared to hear the restored gospel.

This last Saturday I was able to head back to Bayovar for Facundo`s baptism which was really cool! I was able to see many of the members and they were all happy to see me, which was a wonderful feeling. Hna Osorno is training a new sister there and they seem to be doing well.. David should be getting baptized this next Saturday or Sunday, but unfortunately I won`t be able to go.. :( I am happy to hear though about the progress of those I was teaching and how they are doing.

Here in Santa Fe we have a few investigators that are progressing towards baptism.. First Nayta.. she is the little sister of a return missionary and has just moved here from the jungle.. She is 13 and really smart.. she is following through with all of her commitments and her testimony is growing fast.. we are planning her baptism for the end of the month 29th of November.

This week we met a 16 year old boy named Irvin.. and let me tell you I got my socks knocked off.. I never thought a kid so young could be so spiritual. We taught him about the Book of Mormon and assigned him 1 chapter to read.. he came the next day having read the first 3 chapters of Nephi as well as all of the testmonies.. we are hoping to help him be baptized on the 6th of December..

Well looks like I am outta time again.. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8... time for everything.. Love you all so much! Take care this week!!

Hermana Imbler

Another month gone by, hope you all enjoyed Halloween.. here in Peru there aren`t many that celebrate like we do.. it has a bad rep here.. they say it`s a satanic day.. but there were quite a few kids in costumes asking for candy.. they don`t go house to house like we do, but rather shop in shop.. because there are a lot of little stores one the streets. I was thinking about the usual ward carnival we had and wishing there would have been something similar here. 

This week was a little bit slower for us, but ended up being a good one! We are working towards getting David to be baptized this Saturday, but if we don`t finish his lessons we will postpone it until next week. He is doing really well and is enjoying the lessons.. he is a little shy and doesn`t ask many questions unless in a really low voice during gospel principles.. haha. But I am sure he will keep progressing.

Anyi is doing great.. even though her family doesn`t want to listen and her parents aren`t super interested and don`t want to give permission for her to be baptized she is sticking with her decisions. She`s 16 and probably one of the most focused girls I have met.. When she started learning about the gospel she changed a whole lot of things. She`s been to church for two weeks now and stays throughout the whole thing. She told us yesterday that she had a boyfriend, but after learning about the holy ghost she said a prayer and asked God if she should be dating him and received a strong answer.. she didn`t hesitate to act on the answer she received. I am so proud of her.. and am praying her parents will soften their hearts.

We haven`t had much luck finding Franklin this week.. we left a Book of Mormon with his dad to give to him, but we aren`t sure he has gotten it yet. He still hasn`t come to church so we are not sure exactly what we will be deciding to do this week.. if we`ll keep trying a little longer or if we will drop him for a while.. 

Facundo is awesome (8 year old nephew of Miguel who was just baptized). He is probably one of the smartest little boys and his prayers are very sincere.. He is gaining friends in primary and loving being at church, we are starting to teach his older sister Karen who is 19 and a little rebellious, but we think that little by little she will soften up. Miguel´s dad who never has wanted to listen to us finally gave us the opportunity to teach.. so of course we shared the Restoration.. he told us that he really enjoys reading so we are going to bring him a Book of Mormon and I am sure that if he really reads the whole thing and prays about it he too will join with his son and grandson in the church. It´s amazing to see how the Lord works on people little by little to soften their hearts.

Alejandra.. Edith´s little sister is also doing well.. but yet another problem with permission.. her mom says it is really soon for her to be baptized, but she is loving young womens is reading the BoM every day and really putting forth her effort to learn. The young men and women are doing a great job of befriending her and she said that she feels like never before.. she said for the first time she doesn`t feel alone.. I realized that good friends really make a huge difference in our lives.. I am so grateful for the wonderful friends I have had that have pushed me to make righteous decisions.. Be the friend you would like to have.. a frase that we should all put in practice. 

We had an interesting lesson with a younger guy named Renzo.. he didn`t let us teach in order and just wanted to learn about the BoM.. we tried to explain and we invited him to pray.. but he said that it would be better for him to ask his uncle, who is the pastor of his own church.. after about 10 minutes of explaining why it is always better to ask God he didn`t have many desires to keep listening so we headed to another lesson.. Remember that... before looking for help from anyone else.. the first person we should ask is God.. He will always tell the truth, and give us the most perfect answer.. I know that is true, and have really come to have a great testimony of prayer here in the mission.

One day this week all of our lessons fell through and it was about 8 at night... I had an impression to look for a reference that the elders had given us about a month ago.. I had gone to look for her 3 times without success and it wasn`t the time the elders said she was home, but we went anyway.. To my surprise she opened the door and was really happy to see us! She had been wondering when we were going to go and visit her.. she is a very happy 27 year old and loved everything she learned from us.. We are going to keep visiting her and I will keep you updated on her progress. 

Rubi and Jorge are doing really well and are very strong in church. Yesterday Jorge was called to be a ward missionary and we are really excited to get to work with him in these next coming weeks. Rubi cried during testimony meeting yesterday.. the spirit was really strong. I also felt impressed to share my testimony. It was one of the most spiritual experiences.. when I walked up to the pulpit and began to speak I felt as if I was listening to someone else.. my voice was different and not just from the microphone.. I felt every word that I testified.. I know without a doubt in my heart that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church here on the earth.. I know God lives.. He loves us.. no matter who we are or what we have done. If there is anything I have learned in the mission it is that God has a perfect love for His children.. never forget it! I love you all, have a wonderful week!!

Hermana Imbler

P.s. My companion and I in Chilis... mmmmmm (one of the very few american restaurants here in Peru.. first time I have been there and it is just as good!)

Short
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My title line is short, because literally I have no time to write... Sorry everyone! I am stuck looking for all the classes I have to take... I think real life is a little more stressful than missionary life..

First off.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD (tomorrow!) I love you so much and hope you know you are the bestest dad in the whole wide world! Thanks for your example in everything!!!

This week has sure been a good one! We have gotten to know many new people and we are seeing the ones we love progress! Facundo is the nephew of Miguel that was just baptized, and we are teaching him.. He is only 8 years old, but probably one of the most intelligent kids I have ever met. We are planning his baptism for the 15th.. the good news is that he has a great uncle who will help keep him on track!

David Soto is a 22 year old kid who has come to church quite a few times in the last few months, but every time we had tried to teach him he was always busy or our appointments fell through, but finally this week on Wednesday we were able to teach him. He is a pretty shy kid and gets embarassed really easily but has a lot of desires to learn. We invited him to be baptized and.... He accepted!!! So November 8th we`ve got his baptism planned and we are really excited for him! His older brother is a member and is engaged to one of the members of our ward.

Looks like the bell just rang... and I`m outta time! I love you all! Have a great week!

Hermana Imbler

It`s hot... and when I say hot I mean hot! Out of nowhere San Juan de Lurigancho upped the degrees and we are now in Summer.. although at night when then sun goes down it is still pretty cold.. I know I say this a lot.. but where does the time go? 16 months in Peru and only 2 to go until I will be not only dreaming of a white Christmas but living it.

This week I have had a lot of time to reflect on my time as a missionary and really look at the changes I have made.. and there is nothing better I can imagine doing... The experiences I have had have truly changed who I am and have changed who I will yet become.. I have come to love the Gospel more fully and more intensely than before, and I couldn`t have asked for a greater blessing than that. 

During the week we had some really great experiences..On Wednesday we were able to do service for a sister that is in a wheelchair and her husband left last week for Venezuela. We had one of those ¨First observe, then serve moments¨. At first we were planning on helping her make earrings, because that is her work right now, but entering the house we made an observation and decided to clean and organize what we could. After 2 hours and a house much cleaner we helped her start making her earrings. Her daughter Adizela who is 17 has been really close minded and cold with us.. but after seeing how we helped her mom she really opened up. She is less active, but we are praying that little by little she will open up.

Edith and her sister Alejandra are doing ok.. I would say Alejandra is a little better. Edith hasn`t come to church since the first week we met her. She still listens and has desires to be baptized, but she isn`t fully putting in her part.

One of the best experiences we had this week was Thursday... we were a little late leaving the house in the afternoon and then every single one of the lessons we had planned fell through.. we needed to stay close to the house because we were going to do divisions.. so we thought about it for a while withoutmuch success.. I then remembered a great contact that we had made the week before so we headed to her house. To our surprise she happily opened the door and invited us in. Felicita has 4 kids from 8 to 27 years old. Her husband passed away 6 months ago and she has been struggling a little bit. We talked about the plan of salvation and the Spirit was strong. We really feel as if she will progress. 

I`m thankful for the time that God gives me to learn.. every moment we have is really precious..so let us not waste time being sad, angry, resentful, but let us rather enjoy the peace and joy that the gospel brings. I love you all so much!! Take care!

Hermana Imbler