Lovin´ the Mish in Libertad

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Hayley Imbler	9:50 AM (29 minutes ago)
to Kathleen, me, Michael

Happy Monday everyone!! Today is the big day.. transfers.. to be honest I`m pretty nervous.. my next month and a half of the mission are all weighing on today.. Haha ok really I know that the Lord will send me where he needs me most. Next week I`ll be letting you know in what part of beautiful Peru I will be in!

This week has really been a good one, we were able to reach our goal of 40 lessons again and we`ve found a lot of great people to teach! Monday we went to Hermana Jenny`s house and made french toast.. super yummy! Later we had family home evening with the Relief Society President and her family which was really nice. Tuesday was one of our slower days this week but we were able to find a new boy Victor who is 14. We also talked with Jhon, he´s been struggling with some family problems, but doesn´t want to talk to us much about them, but the good thing is that he is coming with us to teach lessons and I really think that will help him a lot. We also were able to teach Fatima, a less active 24 year old young woman and her family bought pizza for us.. mmm good day!

Wednesday was a really long but really good day! We first went to a reference of a less active young man and were able to teach him, his mom, and his cousins which was really cool. Later we had a lesson with another new young girl who is 14. We tought a lesson in the street to an older man who was really interested in the Plan of Salvation, but we haven`t been able to find him again since then...we´ll keep trying this week. We then found an older man, Rigoberto. His wife passed away about a year and a half ago and we were able to teach him about the plan of salvation. We have another lesson with him later today. We then talked to Cesar and Paola about tithing and they were super receptive and said that they were willing to live the commandment. Great way to end the day!

Thursday we talked with Kevin (the less active young man) and his mom again and she accepted baptism! Too bad there is the problem again of marriage.. darn it! We had some other lessons and then to finish off the day we found our golden investigator! Vladimir is 22 his grandma is a member. He has decided to turn his life around and was SO receptive to the gospel. He is a great young man and while we were sitting there teaching him I could only picture him with his missionary plaque (sp?) teaching the gospel to others. He committed to pray about Joseph Smith and we left feeling really great!

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.. Sorry sometimes I lose track of time and am going to have to blur the days together. We had another lesson with Vladimir and he told us about his experience with prayer. He said he felt really calm and at peace when he prayed and believes that it was an answer from God. We talked to him about the Book of Mormon and he was really excited to read it... the next day when we visited him he had read all of the first introduction pages and was fascinated with the Angel Moroni. I really think he is going to be such a strong member in the church. I am so glad I have gotten to know him. We also had some great lessons with Cesar and Paola. Especially Sunday night when we were able to talk about keeping the Sabbath day holy and I had one of the most magnificant feelings. As I was speaking I really felt the Spirit take control.. I felt like all the words coming out of my mouth were what Cesar needed to hear and it was a really spiritual moment that I will never forget. He committed to keep the Sabbath day holy and come to church every week. I am praying that he will remember the feelings he had and keep his word. We also had a really powerful lesson with Holger and Jessenia, and to my surprise when Sunday morning came, Holger came to church! It was the first time he came in the three months we have been teaching him and I really have never been happier!

Sunday I also was given the opportunity to bare my testimony. I shared my love for the family that brought Dad´s family the gospel and shared as well his written testimony. This week I really feel like the Spirit has been able to work through me and I have never been more grateful for the opportunities the Lord has given me to be an instrument in His hands.

Have a great week everyone!

Hermana Imbler

 

 

Lovin´ the Mish in Libertad

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Hayley Imbler	Feb 17 (2 days ago)
to Kathleen, me, Michael

I´m getting prepared to say goodbye to Libertad, although I am not sure how everything will go down next week with transfers I´m prepared to say goodbye. It´s definitely not going to be an easy one, but everything comes to an end eventually right?

Well this week has been a huge test of faith for a lot of us.. Monday we found out that Paola´s dad had passed away and they were really struggling with the news. We were able to help them understand more about the plan of salvation, but looks like they aren´t going to be able to get married until next month. I´m praying that I will be able to see it, but if not I will still know that I was able to help them in their first steps to receiving the restored gospel. Later Jhon came with us to do lessons which was super great. I think it will help him a lot! 

Tuesday we were only able to get in 4 lessons.. really this week wasn´t the greatest for lessons. We found a young man Branny who is really open to learning more about the gospel, we had a lesson with him Sunday but he wasn´t home.. looks like we´ll have to find him again this week. We also spoke with Jonathan and he is still struggling with lots of things, we planned an interview, but he didn´t show up. Then later he wouldn´t answer our phone calls and we haven´t seen him for this whole week...

Wednesday was a little better for lessons, but still we were struggling to find people to teach, we really had to put a lot of effort in. We spoke to a lot of less active members and tried to animate them to come to church on Sunday, but sadly none of them came. Later that night Jhon came with us again to visit. All the power went out in the streets and we had a lesson in almost pitch blackness which was really interesting. Then later when the power had come back on we taught a lesson to Cesar and Paola and Cesar told us that his tools were robbed while he was working and he was going to have to pay a lot of money. I almost can´t believe how many trials they are having to go through. Satan is working super hard on this beautiful family. 

Thursday was another really slow day for lessons.. we had training all day until about 5 in the afternoon, but we were able to learn a lot about the importance of teaching with scriptures from the Book of Mormon. We did have a lesson with a less active member who at the end said that was a really beautiful lesson.. I think that´s the first time I´ve heard that from anyone after we finish a lesson. We then were able to find Randy, a 19 year old boy that told us he really wants to change his life.. He asked us the difference in our religion and all the rest and we were able to have a lesson with him that went really well. Later that night we visited Cesar and Paola again and talked about the Plan of Salvation and a little bit about temples and the work we do for the dead. 

Friday was slow yet again for the lessons and really the most productive lesson we had was with Enith, a less active member, the other lessons we had didn´t seem to go very well.. Saturday was another sad day, we weren´t able to teach any investigators, but we did help quite a few less active members and recent converts. We visited Jhon with Marvin (a return missionary) and at the end of the lesson Jhon accidently called Marvin Hermano Imbler.. we all died laughing! Sunday Victor, the son of Cesar and Paola, was really sick and so they weren´t able to come to church, but later we had a lesson with them that was really powerful and every member of their family offered a prayer, it was a really spiritual moment. We also found Serapio and Nicole, a new couple that we are going to work with really hard, they have 7 kids and even more grandkids, so we could really start a big chain reaction.

Looks like I´m out of time yet again... Remember that if you have had a week like I did when all seems to be going really badly, there is always the next week to start over. Never give up because you are in a low moment.. at the end of the struggle to climb the mountain there is a beautiful view just waiting for us. Have a wonderful week! Love you all!

Hermana Imbler

-Jhon, Pedro, Hermana Callejas, and Hermana I.

Lovin´ the Mish in Libertad

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Hayley Imbler	9:30 AM (40 minutes ago)		Feb. 10th  2014
to Kathleen, me, Michael

I can´t even believe how fast this transfer is going by.. I probably only have two more weeks left here in Libertad, which makes me a little bit sad, no actually really sad. I have loved this area so much. But I will try not to get sad yet, I still have a little more time. This week has been a pretty good one, but full of stress for sure!

Monday was probably one of the greatest p days, we were able to play with water with all of our zone.. Super fun! Although I was really sore after.. then later that day we talked with Veronica and Wilfredo again, but this time their daughter was there. They told us about all of their doubts about Joseph Smith and how they couldn´t believe he was a prophet. It was a real struggle to talk to them. They had looked in internet a whole lot and were reading things they shouldn´t have been reading. Looks like they have more trust in the media than in God. We explained how they could know for themselves, which was by reading the Book of Mormon and praying, and they said they would, but we will have to see how that goes. We then found Jaqueline and were able to talk with her. She was a little more open because Hermana Cata (pres. of relief society) came with us, but she´s still pretty closed up and doesn´t want to accept that she has received an answer. Lastly we visited Cesar and Paola and we are PRAYING that we can get them married and baptized on the 22nd. If all goes well it should happen, but it´s been a rough ride.

I don´t have much time today to write all the other days, but I will talk about the most important visits. We have been able to talk to Cesar and Paola almost every day and their lessons are coming along. They are really willing to accept what we are teaching and are progressing. The only problem we have like I said in the last paragraph is their marriage. Veronica and Wilfredo are continuing to struggle with the idea of a prophet and we are trying to work with different members so that maybe one of them can answer their doubts, but we are thinking that really it´s just a fault of reading and praying. Not much we can do to change that, but we will try to work with them together in the lessons. 

We also found a new family that are part of a family who are members. Gino and Mayra. Only problem is that Gino has to get divorced so that they can get married an then be baptized, so it will be a baptism I won´t get to see, but we are still working hard with them.

Last thing I can tell ya´ll is... JHON GOT BAPTIZED! So everything went really well on Saturday and Jhon was baptized by Pedro, a young man in our ward. The young single adults did a little get together after his baptism so that he could feel really part of the group. It was great! Sunday after lots of pains and struggles we finally saw Jhon walk in the doors, two minutes before he was supposed to be confirmed. Nightmare for a missionary, let me tell ya! But everything went great and then later Sunday night he came to a lesson with us and helped explain the Book of Mormon. Hopefully in a year he will be ready and excited to serve a mission! 

That´s all I have time for, but want you all to know I love you tons!! Thanks for all the emails and letters I´ve gotten, keep em comin!!

Love

Hermana Imbler

Lovin` the Mish in Libertad

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Kathleen Imbler kanni.rn@gmail.com	Feb 3 (5 days ago)

Welcome to February, the hottest month here in Peru and the beginning of water carnivals every Sunday. If you walk in the streets on Sunday it is pretty likely that you will get wet. Luckily for us I think the kids have a little more respect for missionaries, but we will see how that pans out the coming weeks! 

You will never believe this, but this week has been even better than the last... We weren`t able to do divisions this week, BUT we ended on Sunday with 42 lessons!! We beat our record by 6 more lessons and without doing divisions with the sisters in our ward. My companion and I really are so unbelievable happy! Hard work really brings not only blessings but makes a missionary extremely happy! 

On Monday we went to visit Victor, but he didn`t end up being home, so we visited his niece who is a less active member (she came to church on Sunday. yay!!) Then we went to visit a lady who had told my companion she only went to church once for the Elders.. haha because they are good looking, pretty funny! Her sister received us and we talked about some different things. The first lady asked me how long I`ve been in Peru because I didn`t know how to speak Spanish.. the first time I`ve heard that one.. really cut me deep for a little bit, but later I realized she didn`t want to listen to us at all, so I don`t really feel all that bad, and I know from experience that the people can understand me. We also found another new lady who has a little baby girl. She has a lot of faith, but she has been hard for us to find again, so this week we will be looking for her! 

Tuesday was our busiest day of the week... we ended with 9 lessons!! I never thought I would teach so much in only one day, but it really was wonderful! We came home tired, but grinning from ear to ear. We talked to Silvia who is an older woman. She is really sweet and always receives us, but she is lacking (like about a million of our investigators).. marriage. We are struggling to find the husbands of these really great women, and if we do find them, sometimes they just don`t want anything to do with us. We also were able to have lessons with quite a few of the less active members that we are teaching which was great. We spoke with Jonathan about repentance and faith again and he`s been really struggling. We are just waiting to see what happens this next week with him to see if he will continue with his desires to be baptized. We are praying lots for him. We also were able to have a lesson with the little brother of Jessenia (who also came to church on Sunday.. really happy Sunday). 

Wednesday we had a really interesting lesson with a younger guy Ivan, he seems like he really is looking for something that he has been missing in his life. We were hoping it was the gospel, but turns out this week he moved to Ankash to explore a little more and try to find himself out there in the jungle.. very poetic really if you think about it. He gave us little origami flowers when we said goodbye. Hope the missionaries over there can get a hold of him, or when he gets back the missionaries here in Libertad will go looking for him. Later we talked with some friends of a cute girl in our ward, but they both live really far so we are going to have to pass them off to other missionaries... Later we talked with Veronica and Wilfredo, and we learned that they also aren`t married.. I guess someone wants us to help these people get married. Later we talked to Cesar and Paola and they told us that they really want to get baptized and married! The only problem they`ve had with marriage is lack of finances. We´re going to try to do an activity to help them out. 

Thursday was pretty slow because we had our Ward Council and Jhon`s interview, but everything went pretty well! We were able to talk to the Jabo family again and Maribel (the mom) committed to try to come to church. We also talked to Cesar and Paola again and they committed to pray together to see if Joseph Smith really was a prophet. 

Friday we found the son of Veronica and Wilfredo, Christian. He was really receptive and I think he will progress a little faster than his parents. He is about 22 years old and his prayers were really sincere. We then found Victor again and talked to him about the Book of Mormon. He said when he was really little he always saw one of the same books in his house and wanted to read it, but when he was finally old enough to read it he couldn`t find it. He promised to read it, so we will see how that goes. We also talked to Paola and Cesar about the Book of Mormon and they were really intrigued and said they would read it together. We`ve been visiting them every day so we can keep the adversary from attacking them too hard. 

Saturday was a day full of lessons with less active members so not a whole lot to say, but we were finally able to explain the Book of Mormon to Holger. At first he didn`t want to put in the effort to read it, but at the end he said he would read it if it really would help him to find answers to his questions.

Sunday was a good day!! Jhon, Jessenia, and Antony came to church. Jessenia had her baby blessed. Maribel, Aaron, and Chiara also came to church (The Jabo family). We only lacked the dad.. he`s going to be a little rougher, but.. we had a really powerful lesson with them Sunday night, so we will see where that leads. We also were able to have a really great lesson with Cesar and Paola.. they couldn`t come to church because Cesar was really sick, he had a fever and had to have some shots.. super sad. But our 2nd counselor in the stake presidency offered him a job so that he doesn`t have to work on Sunday. The lesson was just full of the spirit, and we are going to visit them again today! 

That`s all I have time to tell you all, but it really was a fantastic week. We are seeing the hand of the Lord in many aspects of the missionary work. My testimony grows stronger every day and I really know that this is the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ. I`m working every day to try to be more like Him. Hope you all have a fabulous week and always remember that by small and simple things great things are brought to pass! 

Hermana Imbler