P-day!

Three Words: oct..o..pus.

Querida familia,

Wow, it feels like I was just barely writing yall! I will try my best to make sense of everything I want to tell you!

One day we should be returning to Lima to get our visas, but we have no idea when. Hopefully all of that will work out! 

We live in a room in part of a members house in the other branch. Our sink gets backed up super fast so we do our dishes in shower. Its actually a really nice alternative, you can do it all at once. I highly suggest it!

We have lunch with Marilu, our pensionista, and make our own breakfast and dinner. One weekends we go to members houses for lunch. Marilu is one of our investigators as well! her and Elver have a date to be baptized in december because marilu have to save up money for her to get a divorce so she can get married to elver. Their kids are Yosra and Fabiano who were in the photo I sent last week. They are so cute, the familia Riso Arca. We are over there all the time and are such a great family. Fabiano likes teaching me spanish. We have fruit juice for every meal, which is really good. I also like the fish! There is also a really good type of banana that is orange called, platino isla. It would be perfect for halloween. Yall should order some or something. My peanut butter withdrawls havnt been too bad, but then again I have some reeses peices from the mtc I have been rationing out. Hermana Rosas taught me to warm up my milk for cereal. DO IT. it sounds gross but tastes so deliecous and if you have cocopuffs or something it´s like hot chocolate! I can see makell cringing but if you dont try it then you will never know. hot cereal is the new thing.

Oh yeah, I had octopus for lunch today! The aftertaste...yum. It is like eating a sponge that tastes like a mix between a fish and octopus. there is really no way to describe it. luckily there was a stuffed animal octopus close by for a picture. and luckily hermana rosas liked it so she finished mine.

We ride motos around, and its kind of like the indiana jones ride at disney land without seatbelts. jared and dallin would love it!

I went on an exchange to Piura and it was so fun. Hermana Ruiz could understand a ton of English so that was so nice being able to talk to someone. Its great only speaking Spanish, but I still dont know very much so it just feels good to speak English.

If you send me a package, make sure to put ¨Chad Alvin Rowley´´ on the top. If you send me anything send me cds, we have mini dvd players, pictures, or anything i could give the kids, peanut butter. haha jk. they have mani here which is like nutella but carmel, its good!

I am going to print off letters from here to read through the week. The internet connection is super slow so it takes a long time to load, and pictures take forever too, thats why i cant send very many. i lowerd the resolution on my camera so they will load faster.

This week we were teaching Marta, whos husband was killed recently. We taught her about the atonement of Christ and how she can be given strength. she also has cancer. It is so comforting knowing we have a savior who has suffered all so we can rely on him. I asked her to say the closing prayer, and I couldnt understand her response, but it was really long. She was talking SO fast, but i just kept good eye contact and smiling, having no idea what she was saying. then after a few minutes I hear hna rosas say, amen. marta had been saying the prayer that whole time with her eyes open and hand gestures, and i thought she was just telling us a long story. hahah I could not stop laughing inside.

I am like a child again. I remember Nate emailing home and saying something like that. I am constantly asking hna rosas what we are doing, what things are, how to say things (which is hard because she doesnt know english..) and just asking a million questions. She is so patient with me. Thanks so much for you love and prayers. I need them, but most importantly the people we teach and meet and the members of the branch here need them!

Oh and mom you would be hppy to know that I led the music in  the primary sunday. I used all your tricks and they loved it. We sang soy un hijo de dios a ton because I dont think they know many more. It was fun and those kids are great. They ask me to speak english all the time and love it. Its so fun talking to them and they love it when I ask them how to say things.

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESS TOMORROW!!!!! love you!

Have a great week everyone!

love Hermana Garlick

First Week in Peru!

                                                                      Lunch Time!

                                                         Our Zone at the beach on p-day!

I LOVE PERU!

Hola from Peru!!

I can´t believe I am here! Thanks so much for your emails, they were so fun to read! Wow. I have no idea where to begin. Ok, first of all, I am in the city Paita, about five minutes from the beach! We are in the Begonias 1 Branch. My companion is Hermana Rosas and she is from Lima, and knows only a very small amount of English! She is so great and is so patient with me. Ok so Peru. It´s the best! Everyone rides motos around, which are motorcycles with carrage things for us to ride. They are so cheap we barely even walk anywhere! The area we are in doesn´t have very many paved roads, it´s just dirt. Piura is one big desert! It´s winter right now, but feels great during the day and at night cools down a little. I love how we kiss other women on the cheek! It doesn´t matter if we are meeting someone for the first time, or see them every day. We always do it! The people are so loving. And are especially understanding with my Spanish! The kids are the best. They always ask me to speak English and they think it is the neatest thing ever. A group of people in our area asked me to teach English, so we are having our first class this week which will be fun! I have also had some people ask me to teach them to play the piano. I´m not sure how to teach the piano, and I am especially not sure how to in Spanish. haha I also have never had so many compliments on my hair. But apparently they like it. There is absolutely no fast food here! the closest thing I can think of are the carts selling pan (bread) while they honk their horns. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day, which I actually like a lot! We make our own breakfast and dinner, but go to our Pensionita, Marylu for lunch. She makes the best food! I can´t remember what half of it is called, but it is delicious. We have a lot of chicken, rice, fish, bread, and fruit. Hna Rowley said most Hermanas gain weight in this mission. I can see why! And they give us huge portions. Oops. haha I am glad hermana rosas likes to run with me in the mornings!

This keyboard is weird and I am trying to type fast so sorry for the mistakes. I have gained a new appreciation for so many things since being here! There is no warm water here-showers are much quicker when they are cold! Also, the tank that has our water in it sometimes runs out so we don´t have water. We have a ton of bottled water for drinking. I never appreciated water as much as I do now. It´s amazing how easily our perspectives can change!

 I love the sounds here. There is constantly music playing and dogs barking. We thought there were a lot of dogs in Puerto Rico. No! haha. But there really aren´t stray dogs here-they are part of the community! Some other differences- there are mini peep doors, not peep holes, there is no carpet, just tile!  

It´s amazing how much Spanish I have learned in just one week! My first day I felt like I couldn´t understand anything, but now I feel like I know so much more! I have a long way to go though. Hermana Rosas helps me so much and it´s fun helping her learn English! Sometimes I forget she doesn´t know english and say something, but then realize she has no idea what I just said. We do a lot of picture drawing, acting out, and dictionary looking up. Sometimes when we are talking to people or in lessons I feel like I am in a movie that I can´t understand. I want to communicate and understand so bad, but i can't! This just makes me want to work even harder!

We teach lessons and talk with people here all day. I love teaching lessons about the gospel, the people are so receptive and I actually understand most of the words! One of the families we are teaching is la familia ayon. They have three kids and are so great! It´s the greatest teaching about Jesus Christ and how the Gospel can bless their lives. The Spirit is so strong and real! It´s incredible how phrases or scriptures come into my head to share. i love joshua 1:9 Be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the lord thy god is with thee withersoever thou goest. Doesnt matter if we are in a house that barely has a roof on it, in a humble town in Paita. The Lord can always be with us! That has brought me so much comfort as I have been in this new country with new everything! I love it here and wouldn´t rather be anywhere else! These people may not have many possessions, but they have the Lord! And they have the gospelof jesus christ. That´s what really matters!

I played the keyboard in sacrament meeting, and only the right half works. I was playing the intermediate hymn when four kids ran up and started playing the piano with me. I was laughing so hard it was so funny. I don´t think they have anyone play the piano very often. I just had to turn it off because I was trying to tell them to go sit down, but i don´t think they understood me. and if they did they probably would have stayed up there anyway. That was ok because they are so cute!

Love you all! Hope all is well in los estados unidos. Cant wait for this week and for all the new things I will experience! Being a missionary is the best, i love every second. Yes its hard, but thats the way its supposed to be!

Chao!

hna garlick

PERU Here We Come!

Monday is MaKell's Birthday and it's also the day I happen to be FLYING TO PERU!!! I'M SO EXCITED!!!

FAMILIA!!!!!

 

AHHH I can't believe it!!!! We got our travel itenerary, and we are heading to PERU ON MONDAY!!!!!!! It was such a surprise! :) We were sure we were getting reassigned since everyone else that is going to Peru has been. We talked to the travel office, and they said they are letting us go as tourists, and letting us get our VISAS once we get there! How crazy is that?! It has been an exciting week knowing that we are actually heading to Peru. We have a lot to do before Monday. We need to pack, clean, and keep practicing our espanol and studying the gospel! It's weird to think I have just 3 days left in America for 17 months! Me and Hermana Gutierrez are constantly so excited and just laugh because we don't know what else to do. We are going in a travel group with 10 other missionaries, and heading to atlant, miami, and then to Lima, starting at 3:30am till 11:00pm. That will be an exciting day! We will probably be in Lima for a few days for VISAS, then we will fly up to Piura! I'm not sure when I will be able to get on the computer again, but hopefully I will have some fun stories to tell you about Peru. The MTC has been such a great experience, and I have been greatful for every second of it! I am most thankful for the people I have met and what they have taught me. I know I was put in the District, Zone, with Hermana Gutierrez, and with the teachers and leaders I have, for a reason! It has been an adventure for sure, and it will only continue to be a fun adventure!

 

Sunday we had a devotional by George D. Durant and his wife. I went up to him afterwards to shake his hand and said how I thought he knew my Grandpa. He sure did! So that was fun. He was such a great speaker and had us laughing the whole time. He talked about how being bold is important, and it's something that is not loud, but quiet. We need to share with others what we know to be true. It was a great message!

 

Today we got to go clean the Provo temple! It was such a neat experience. We cleaned each crystal piece of chandeleers. It took such a long time, and the crystals weren't even dirty! It was quite the process too, taking it all apart and putting it all together. It made me think about how Heavenly Father cares about each one of us individually, and takes time to answer our prayers and to give us what we need. We are all beautiful crystals to him!

 

Well, it's funny how I can't think of what to say when I feel like I have so much to say! I love you all and pray for you each day! I can't wait to get to Peru. Yes, it's scary barely knowing a little Spanish, and not knowing what it's going to be like, but I know it will all be ok because God is the one in charge! Yo se que Jesucristo es mi Salvador. Yo se que el Libro de Mormon es la palabra de Dios. Yo se que Thomas S. Monson es un Profeta hoy. Yo se qu con Dios, todos es posible! Esto es la mas importante cosa.Talk to you soon!

 

Love,

Hermana Garlick

Love the MTC!

Happy Fourth of July Week!

Hey y'all!

 

Happy Fourth of July yesterday! It was such a fun day. Hope you got all the pictures I sent. They had a special devotional last night for us, and then we got to watch 17 Miracles! After that they had icecream and we got to watch the fireworks from the Stadium. We were all cramped in the south corner of the MTC, but it was so fun watching from there. I am so proud to be an American and am so thankful for the freedoms we have. We talked a lot about how the Restoration of the gospel would not have been possible if it were not for the founding of this great nation. How lucky we are!

 

While we were watching 17 miracles, I made a list of "My 17 miracles," I have seen in my life! It was fun reflecting back on how the Lord has blessed me so much in my life, and I know it is way more than just 17 times! More like 17 times a day. But anyways, I spent some of my personal study time this morning studying about miracles. I love reading about all the miracles Christ performed in the bible. And I love how miracles always work according to our faith. In the bible dictionary under "miracles," it says that miracles are manifestations of divine or spiritual power. I was thinking about this, and Elaine being born was definitely a manifestation of Divine power, as I felt the love of God so strong as I prayed for comfort and as we were together as a family. This helped me learn the divine truth of eternal families, of Heavenly Father's plan for his children, and of the power of the Atonement. Because of the resurrection we will all live again, reunited both body and spirit to stand before God. I know we will see Elaine again, and that is possible because of Jesus Christ!

 

On Sunday we had Sheri Dew come and talk to us in Relief Society! She was such a powerful speaker and I took so many notes. One of my favorite parts was when she said, "Conversion requires immersion." Just like we need to be immersed in water to be baptized like Christ was, to be fully converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ, we need to be immersed in his teachings. We need to be continuously learning about him, and applying his teachings to our lives. She also likened it to learning another languge. The only way I am going to learn Spanish is by being immersed in it and practicing it as much as I possibly can! The same is true with the language of the Spirit. In order to be able to hear and follow promptings from the Holy Ghost, we need to continously be working at understanding how the Spirit speaks to us and then have the faith to follow those promptings!

 

I am so happy to be here, and am learning and growing so much everyday! Today we are supposed to get our "travel plans," and then next week reassignments I think if our Visas are not in. I can't believe my time here at the MTC is coming to an end! It has flown by. Our district really has become like a family. We love each other so much and it is going to be hard saying bye to all them in a couples weeks. I am so grateful for all I learn here. I can't wait to see what is in store in the future! The future is as bright as your faith! Have a great week!

 

Love, Hermana Garlick