Family and Friends,

First of all, thank you so much for sending that package with Elder Miles, it was much needed!! And I loved the picture of Justin and I!

Well this is IT, the last Pday at the CCM!!! I can´t even believe I´m done! I don´t feel quite ready yet, there is still so much more that I want to learn, but I guess I can´t do much about it! This has honestly been the best 5 weeks of my life, it has really made me realize what is important in life to do. This week I was able to finish reading the Book of Mormon again and let me tell you I got so much more out of it than I have before. I KNOW IT IS TRUE! I always had a testimony of it, but every time I read it it just gets stronger and stronger. Those writings are inspired, and if you have yet to read the Book of Mormon all the way through I challenge you to do it! It may seem long, but I read it in 5 weeks in only my personal study time (which is not often) so you can get through it. It will help answer any question that you have and you will feel so much closer to your Heavenly Father. I know without a doubt that He loves each and every person that is reading this email plus everyone else in the world. His love for you is SO much more than you can even fathom.

Today I had a wonderful experience on the bus on the way back from the temple. I sat next to an older woman who had headphones in. When I sat down I immediately introduced myself and asked for her name. I couldn´t quite understand because it was loud, but I think it was Louisa (it´s ok because if I pray for her Heavenly Father will know who I´m talking about). I told her I was a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I asked about her belief in God and she said she was Catholic. I pulled out the Book of Mormon I had just bought at the distribution center and started talking about how it is another testament of Jesus Christ visiting the people in the Americas. I told her we use it along with the Bible and it is a true book. My Spanish is still not very good, but after I had written the mormon.org website on the back page I bore my testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. At this moment I looked straight into her eyes and told her that I KNOW the book is true and that if she reads it, it will bring her happiness and peace in her life. I felt the love that Heavenly Father had for her. I will probably never know what happened to her, but I planted a seed, the Spirit was there, and someday she will remember the girl on the bus who gave her the Book of Mormon and changed her life.

From this story, I hope you learn that little things make a huge difference. Louisa may not read the book for years, but one day she will find the truth of the gospel and I will never look back and regret not talking to someone. Everything you do, no matter how small it may seem can make a difference. We promise as members of the church to represent Christ. Do it at all times, in all things, in all places!! It will change your life, it will change others lives!

I don´t have much time left as always, but this week has honestly been so good. I am so excited to get out to the field and teach people. We are going proselyting again this Saturday and I couldn´t be happier. The best times are when I get to talk to people who truly need the gospel in their lives. I hope that I can do all I can to not waste a single opportunity to share the gospel. I love all of you and am constantly praying for you!

Ciao!

Hermana Imbler

Well hey there family and friends!

 

I can´t believe it, but I have officially been gone for a month now! I can´t even believe that it has flown by this fast! So much to say and not a lot of time to say it today, but I wanted to talk about my experience proselyting on Saturday.

 

Oh my goodness I can´t even begin to describe the culture and living conditions in Peru. We were able to go out proselyting last Saturday and it was just amazing to see more of Peru. Going out made me realize just how hard it is going to be to learn Spanish... the people speak so fast and I can only catch a few words here and there, but I think it went ok. We got about 20 contacts/addresses and names for the current missionaries to visit, but I´m not sure how far any of them will go, but it´s all good because either way they got a taste of the message we had for them and it could always spark an interest to learn more. The area we were in was poor, but not the poorest here in Peru, it was hard to believe what I saw. The streets were so dirty and there were stray dogs everywhere. I was nervous at first, but I got used to the surroundings pretty quickly. While we were walking I felt impressed to knock on one of the doors we had already passed, so I told my companion and the boy we were with (16 year old member missionary) that I wanted to go back and knock the door. I tapped on the gate (all houses have these weird gate things or metal, and you tap with coins so it can be heard better) and no one came to the door. We stayed there for a little longer and finally a woman answered the door. Her name was Madeline, she looked to be about 40 and just gave me a big grin when I saw her. I introduced myself and my companion and told her we were missionaries. I shared a brief message about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (as much as I could manage in Spanish) and we gave her a folleto (pamphlet). We were able to get her address and refer her to the current missionaries. I hope so badly that she will have the desire to listen more.

 

One of my favorite experiences of the day was when a little girl came up to my companion and I and started rambling about my hair. Haha I forget that being blonde is foreign to people here because I love the Peruvian people so much. She brought us to her home and had her neighbor come outside and talk to us as well, we shared a short message and got both of their contact information. It´s amazing how willing the people are here to just listen. Rarely were we turned away or denied the opportunity to share our message. The times we did get rejected were sad, but I feel so lucky to have had as many people open their doors that did. The people here are ready for the Gospel it is so amazing!

 

My new address for the field is going to be:

 

Hermana Hayley Imbler

Av. Carlos Izaguirre 124

Centro De Estaca De Tahuantinsuyo

Independencia, Lima 28, Perú

 

Please feel free to write me and I will do my best.

 

Adios everyone, know that I pray for you all every day and love you so much! Thanks for the emails, I do my best to get back to all of them!

 

Hermana Imbler

Hayley Imbler	1:09 PM (11 hours ago)
to me

Hola familia y amigos!!

 

Well hello there everyone, looks like another week down! That means I´ve been gone for about 3 weeks now! Crazy! To me it seems like so much longer though! I hope you are all doing well and I pray for you every day! So due to popular request I have decided to tell you about an average day here at the CCM. I wake up around 6:30, sometimes earlier if I´m feelin ambitious. Get ready, have breakfast and then go to class. We spend about 16 hours a day in the classroom doing studies for language and about the gospel. I thought I couldn´t handle doing long days without a nap, but turns out it´s actually pretty easy and I feel a lot more productive than when I take naps. We also have an hour for exercise which is like my highlite of the day. One of the other Hermanas and I are getting pretty ripped.. ok just kidding, we´re trying to keep off the weight because we eat SO much here! Like I´ve said the food is awesome and it´s really hard not to eat a lot of the time.

 

Funny story.. my companion and I like to do our personal study outside on days when it´s sunny, which has been about 3 or 4 days this last week, AWESOME! So we were outside last week and studying and my legs decided to get super sunburnt, along with my arms. I´m already officially a sister missionary with the skirt tan and the watch tan. Haha and my companion is whiter than me and didn´t get burnt.. not even fair!

 

I don´t have many good stories from this week, the days blur together for me and I forget what we do on different days, and most of it is just language study so not much fun stuff to tell. My apologies! The Spanish is coming along, sometimes when I write in my journal at night I accidently write some words in Spanish, but that´s definitely a good thing! Every time I go out on the street on P day though I realize that it is going to be soooo much harder in the field. Today we went to a different part of the city and it was really interesting, there are so many little shops and things are mostly really cheap here. 1 nuevo sol is about 2.75 in american dollars so the prices are decent. I found Dr. Pepper today at Metro (a grocery store) and I had to buy some. No rule against not drinking caffeinated soda, that makes one happy Hermana! Haha.

 

I wish I had more to say today but honestly it´s been such an uneventful week. The only exciting news I have is that we get to go proselyting for a few hours this Saturday. We will go with a teacher because we obviously aren´t fluent yet, but I am super excited to get out there and talk to some people. Peruvians are really friendly from what I´ve noticed which makes me really excited to be out in the field. I am also nervous though because I realize that once I leave the CCM I won´t have all the blessings I do here. Seriously the food here is prime, the beds are nice and a lot of other things that I know I am so lucky to have here. On the bright side I am finally getting better! The cough is going away and I´m starting to feel like I can get a lot more done during the day!

 

I love getting emails from you all, I take pictures and read them later and do my best to respond to all of them, so please keep em coming! It´s so wonderful to hear from home and know what´s going on in the lives of my friends and family! Sorry for the extremely short email!! I´ll do my best to find some interesting things to write about next week!

 

Love you all!

Hermana Imbler

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July 4th email

From: Hayley Imbler <hayley.imbler@myldsmail.net>

Date: Thu, Jul 4, 2013 at 3:12 PM
Subject: Re: Livin in Lima

To: Kathleen Imbler <kanni.rn@gmail.com>, Michael Imbler <marthur22@gmail.com>, Michael Moon <michael.moon@myldsmail.net>

Happy 4th of July family and friends!!!
Another Thursday means another feliz dia (happy day). Can´t beliieve it´s already my second P-day! Wow time flies when you are serving the Lord! I have a lot of things I want to talk about, but the computers here are so slow I´m never sure how much I will get in in my allotted time.
We had SUN this week, it was absolutely beautiful and much needed! I am gonna be one dark little girl when I get back because I´m already tanning and it´s winter here! Super exciting! So this last week was a blast, but the highlite of my week was... get ready for it... ELDER CHRISTOFFERSON!! He came and visited us at the CCM and I got to shake his hands and hear a wonderul message from him! Such a cool experience! He was here for the dedication of the 100th stake in Peru! Can´t believe they´ve reached that many! The work is truly progressing! So this week was also hard, the Latinos that arrived the same time as us left on Tuesday as well as the older group of Elders and Hermanas. I had a lot of friends that left. My companion and I sat with about 6 or so Latino elders at every meal and we just loved them so much. Elder Honores was definitely one of those friends I met in the pre-existence I´m sure of it. We couldn´t talk all that much because of the language barrier, but we call each other best friend (don´t worry it´s a very appropriate relationship haha). Ok next...
The food here is honestly SO GOOD! But at the same time sooo bad! I have to work out every day without fail or else I know I would gain about a million pounds. They have the best desserts. Dad would be dying if he knew what I got to eat for dessert all the time. Churros, flan, and the best cream filled donuts, plus some other great things. But the churros.. honestly some of the most wonderful things I´ve tasted. They are filled with a caramel like sauce... I don´t know how I lived without them! Alright enough about food because I´m starting to get hungry and dinner isn´t until 6 haha.
I want each and every person to know that is reading this email that I KNOW without any doubt in my heart that this gospel is true. It has blessed so many lives, especially mine and I honestly cannot wait to share it with the Peruvians! In Alma 26 verse 27 it says ¨Go among they brethren the lamanites...and you shall have success.¨ or something along those lines, I don´t have my scriptures in front of me at the moment, but I read that and it just reminded me exactly why I am here. These are MY brothers and sisters! I want them to be happy and to return to live with our Father in Heaven just as much as I want to return to live with Him.
I also want you to know how absolutely BLESSED we are to live in the USA. From the little exploring I have been able to do on the streets of Peru I am so thankful that I live in a place that has clean water, traffic laws, and many other simple things that I have failed to be thankful for in the past. Look around and see all that you do have, do your best to try and bless the lives of others who have little. Go to the temple, I wish I had realized how unbelievably lucky we are to have one so close to our home. A woman at the temple today traveled 12 hours from Arequipa just to do one session at the temple. That is dedication to the gospel and I hope that everyone who can will take advantage of every opportunity they have to do the Lord´s work.
For those of you going through a rough time right now: Elder Joseph B. Worthlin gave a talk and reminded us that even in our darkest times things will always turn out in the end. The Savior died on the cross on a Friday, the darkest Friday in the history of the earth, it was an awful time, but Sunday came and He was resurrected. So remember everyone ¨No matter how dark our Friday, Sunday will come¨-Elder Worthlin.
I love you all and pray for you every day!
Hermana Imbler

Hayley Imbler	Jun 27 (3 days ago)
to michael.moon, Kathleen, me

Hola mi familia y amigos!!!
Before I say anything else... HAPPY 24th JARED!!! I love you so much big brother! Sorry I missed your day, but I hope this shoutout will suffice ;)
First week at the CCM (mtc...) is done! I absolutely love the Peru MTC and feel so lucky that I get to be here instead of at the Provo MTC. How about that fireside on Sunday?? Bueno, si? So wonderful to hear from the Prophets and apostles of the Lord. The internet is slow here, and I mean VERY slow, so I will try to get as much in as I can in my allotted time. This week has been full of ups and downs so I´ll start from the beginning:
Day one.. the plane ride. AHHH, it was probably one of the most horrible experiences I´ve had, not going to lie. I was sick the whole time and there was nothing I could do but sleep to pass the time. We got to the airport around 1:30 ish... from what I remember. There was a Korean popstar on our plane that I´m sure Justin and Caris know about, I saw him at the LA airport and recognized him from pictures, but the Peruvians totally went crazy when he got there. Who knew Peruvians liked k-pop?
Day two: Lots of instruction about living at the CCM, there were SO many sisters, it´s such a wonderful time to be here and the Gospel is spreading quickly, I love it!! I don´t remember much about my actual first day at the CCM, but I know I was sick again. The food is good but it has taken almost a week for my body to get used to it. We eat rice for like every meal, except for breakfast, and the Peruvians eat meat ALL THE TIME! It´s a huge adjustment.
Day three through 6: I´m packing these all in to one paragraph because my days kind of blur together. We have awesome teachers and I feel like I am learning a lot. The Spanish is coming, not as quickly as I would like, but I know that the Lord is helping me so much. If I were taking a normal Spanish class there is no way I would know as much as I do now in just a week here at the CCM. My teachers are amazing, they speak very little English, but I think it´s better that way, it forces me to learn new words every day. The Latinos are my favorite people ever! They are extremely kind and genuine. The Latino Elders are especially awesome! I sit with them at meals and try to talk with them as much as I can. They always let the Sisters go first in line for meals and will get drinks for us and much more, such gentlemen!
I didn´t really feel like I was in Peru until today, P-day! We got to go to the Lima temple which is beautiful! Small, but beautiful! The driving here is insane! Riding the buses I thought we were going to hit about a million other cars or go up on the curb, definitely something I will have to get used to. We also got to go to this cool store owned by a member. They have ties and scripture cases and lots of other awesome handmade Peruvian things. I don´t think I´ll get the chance to send a package home because it´s really expensive, but I will bring what I can in my suitcase. We went to a store that is kind of similar to Walmart after the temple and I found GOLDFISH, so expensive, but so worth it! They had some great Peruvian candy as well. I wanted to buy some kind of sweater, but I didn´t see many clothes, because believe it or not, it´s cold here! I am wishing I had brought a few things that were warmer!
Next topic (sorry I´m so scattered, I´ll get better at emails with time) Mi compañera Hermana Whatcott is hilarious! We´re completely opposite though. I´m loud and very talkative and she´s pretty quiet, but when she does talk she´s super funny. I think we are getting along pretty well. Our lesson last night (fake investigator) was hilarious though. We asked Carlos what he wanted in life and he said a family, so of course I turn in my book and start talking about eternal families. In the middle of that discussion (all in Spanish) Hmn. Whatcott suddenly asks him to be baptized, also in Spanish, so I turn and say, what are you trying to say? Then she repeats herself and Carlos and I both look at her and are like ¿COMO? Hahaha it was so funny, turns out she thought I was talking about baptism and not eternal families. Oh well we´ll get better with time, it is only our first week! I´m about out of time, but I want you all to know that I LOVE THIS GOSPEL! It is so true, and it never changes no matter where you are in the world! I pray for you every day and love you all so much!! Adios for now!!
Love,
Hermana Imbler