My New Home

A little background, I (mom) had sent her a package a few days after she left for Lima, with some shirts we had ordered & some treats. Every time I checked on the tracking, it ended in Chicago, there was nothing noted or documented after it left Chicago. I was worried it wouldn't make it to the mission home, but apparently it did. Chocolate and all. :)

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¡Hola!  This week has been great. We have been working hard, and the hard work definitely pays off! We have 8 new baptismal dates, which means 8 more people who will enjoy the blessings of baptism, then hopefully the blessings of the temple as well! It`s been so awesome to be able to bring the knowledge of the gospel to so many people who are so ready to accept and utilize the teachings of Christ in their lives.

Mom! I got the package! Thank you so much!! The chocolate was a little bit melted, but still edible :) Thank you so much for sending that. And I happened to have your note with me during a lesson when I felt prompted to share one of the scriptures you wrote to me, so I showed our investigator Christian your letter! The scripture really helped him, and me. Thanks mom. And about my address-- so people don`t really have addresses here. It`s more like "the pink house with 4 pillars between this street and that one". So that means that if anyone wants to send me anything, it has to be to the mission home. Sorry! But I will get it soon enough. They`re pretty good at getting mail to us, I think. ;)

So this week a bird pooped on my head. First time in my life that has happened, and it was first thing in the morning. So yeah, that was fun!

So here, most people don`t have cars. They walk or take a taxi or bus if they need to go somewhere, or a family might have a motorcycle. Every day I see tons of motorcycles with entire families on board! Mom, dad, and three children, the youngest being a newborn in the arms of the mother. It`s not safe at all, but sometimes you just have to do what necessity requires.

Sorry to anyone who has written me and not gotten a response; being a missionary is a full-time job! I really love reading your letters, and I will try my best to respond as soon as I can.

Love you all! Keep the faith! Have a great week!

-Hermana Busath

Here are some photos!!

Getting off the plane in Guayaquil!!

Last picture with my first companion, Hermana Nazer <3 

 Our group picture with President and Sister Torres

My new companion, Sister Cambal, and me, in front of the Guayaquil Temple

This is a view from my apartment as I was eating lunch today

 This is my apartment

 Sore pinky toe and funny tan lines, although the lines aren't 

showing up so much in the pic :(

Greetings from Ecuador!

Hallo! 

I`m alive! I made it to Ecuador! My first zone is called Machala and (if you can believe it) my first area is called Aurora! How ironic! My trainer`s name is Hermana Cambal and she is really great. She is so patient with my Spanish and really helps me to understand and speak and teach. She knows a little bit of English because she is from Northern Ecuador, and the school where she is from teaches English. So all is well!

P-day for the whole mission is Monday, so you`ll be getting my emails every Monday now! So the way writing emails works is that we come to this computer place in the morning, print off all the emails we received, read them throughout the day, then around 3 or so we come back and write our emails. But we only have 30 minutes to write! Elder Will Carver told me that in his mission they have 2 hours... I`m not really sure why it`s so different. Anyway, I might start writing real letters more instead since I won`t have much time here. So please include your address if you send me an email or a letter so I can write you back!

This week has been so great! I am so in love with Ecuador. The people here are so wonderful, the food is delicious, we have lots of opportunities to teach, the ward is very big and loving, the culture is different but sweet, and the weather is gloriously hot and humid :)

So the way that a lot of people make money here is selling things from their homes or cars, or driving taxis. The taxis are just self-owned cars, but they are safe enough. The driving is crazy, but everyone driving only pays attention to driving-- people don`t talk on the phone or eat or anything. So it`s crazy, but it`s safe. Now about the people who sell stuff: in the town Aurora where I live, there are tons and tons of "tiendas", which are stores in the front of someone`s house. That`s where we sometimes buy groceries and snacks and stuff. It`s pretty funny. Anyone that wants to can just sell stuff out of their homes. It`s the same for restaurants-- many people just make a "restaurant" out of the front room of their house. It`s great! And then other people drive around and sell things, like snacks and produce and cotton candy and fried stuff. Think about the little cart that Nacho Libre drives around... That`s exactly what many people sell things out of. It`s so legit! But as missionaries, we aren`t allowed to eat anything sold on the streets or in those little restaurants. We eat lunch every day at a member`s house, and they stuff us full of rice! It`s incredible. And we have to eat the whole thing. On Saturday, I literally ate until I felt like I was going to throw up, and I had only eaten 2/3 of it. My awesome companion finished mine for me while the members weren`t looking. What a life saver! I haven`t eaten anything crazy yet-- just lots of rice and Coke.

So there are 5 of us living in one big apartment. It would probably be more fun if I could understand them better haha but they are all so nice and helpful. I`ll send a picture of the main part of our apartment. My bed is the top bunk. We`re on the fourth floor, so I can see all of my area out on our porch. It`s beautiful!

Today it rained for the first time, but I guess we`re not allowed to wear rain boots :( I at least have my crocs, so my other shoes won`t get ruined by the rain. Other than that, the weather has been really great. Me gusta the heat!

The missionary work here is awesome. On my first day we had 7 people commit to being baptized! Although only 3 came to church on Sunday. We need to work hard to get people to come to church. But everyone here is so welcoming. We haven`t really had any problem with rude people, and for the most part everyone is willing to listen to our message. I`m learning so much about the gospel here and how it can really bless and change people`s lives. Our family is so blessed to have the knowledge that comes from the gospel of Jesus Christ-- we can live forever with our families! And we have the opportunity to make such special covenants with God so that we can have Eternal Life and be happy. The Book of Mormon answers all the questions we have because it is the word of God. Our Savior loves each person very much and is very aware of our needs. When we turn to Him and change our lives to be in line with His teachings, we are blessed and receive the help that we need. I know that my Redeemer lives. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ`s true church on the Earth today. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet who talked with God and Jesus Christ, and I know that Thomas S. Monson is the prophet of the world today.

Keep your chin up-- you`ve got a loving Father in Heaven who watches over you! 

Love you all!
-Hermana Angela Busath

p.s. I tried to send pictures, but they didn`t work. I`ll send them next week.

No email this week, just a wonderful phone call!!

Angela left the Peru CCM (MTC) this morning. She called from the Lima airport, on her way to Guayaquil. She sounded very upbeat and extremely excited about the new adventures that await her in the mission field!

She told me about the last investigator she spoke with on Saturday named Luz, who looked directly into Angela's eyes and asked her if she'd ever see her again. Angela said she hoped she would, but if not in this life, then in the next. Angela then told me that she felt that perhaps in the pre-existence there were those who might have looked into the Savior's eyes before coming to earth and asking if they would see Him again. She imagined that He might have told them that they may not see Him on the earth, but they would meet those who have His light shining through their eyes, and that they would recognize that light.

I am so overwhelmed with the spiritual depth that Angela shows us each week through her letters. She has grown even more in the past 6 weeks as she's been in a place of spiritual instruction, while learning the Spanish language. I feel the love she has acquired for the people she will serve in Guayaquil, the same kind of love that the Savior has for all of us. It is unconditional, and it is never ending.

Hopefully, we will receive an email sometime next week, after Angela has settled into her first area. I'm looking forward to learning more about her experiences.

Have a great week all!
Becky

One More Week!

Hello there! Guess who only has one more week here in the Peru MTC?! I cannot believe the time has flown by so quickly! I leave next Tuesday morning for Ecuador to preach the Gospel to the children of God in Ecuador! I have learned so much here at the MTC. My testimony of the Gospel has been incredibly strengthened as I´ve watched miracles happen every day. My Spanish is 400 times better than it was when I got here, and I can have a real conversation with the locals! I can´t wait to go tracting in Peru one last time on Saturday

, then get out to the field on Tuesday. And my companion is amazing. Hermana Nazer and I are definitely going to be best friends for life!

On Sunday I bore my testimony in Spanish, and I was amazing that I could actually say all that I wanted to! I´m not struggling through conjugations and vocabulary anymore; it all just comes to me and I know that it is a blessing from the Lord to be able to learn this language.

I saw an awesome Mormon Message here the other day called "A Book of Mormon Story". It´s about an African American man living in England. Everyone please watch it! Mom, if you could attach the link to it on YouTube, that would be awesome :)

As I sat in the temple today, I was reminded of the love that Heavenly Father has for all of His children. He wants us to talk with Him through prayer, and He wants to talk to us through the scriptures and through the whisperings of the Holy Ghost. I know that He answers prayers. I know that He cares about all of our problems and hard times, because we are His children! He has a plan for us, and He will help us as much as He can if we look to Him for help. If you´ve never read the Book of Mormon, or if it´s been a while since you last picked it up, or if you read it every day, please read it today and take Moroni´s promise in Moroni 10:3-5. I know that the Lord will bless you for remembering Him and I promise that He will manifest the truth of all things unto you.

Love you all! 

Wish me luck in Ecuador, and I wish you all the best in these coming weeks!

Love,

Hermana Busath

(below is the video she wanted me to share)

(hooray, she explained the pics this week)
Pictures: A couple are from the 4th of July-- the cooks here decorated the cafeteria for 4th of July for all of us Americans and had a special BBQ lunch for us with vanilla ice cream and a huge American Flag cake! Then 2 pictures are from the temple and the other 2 are from our bus ride today. It kind of shows what it´s like-- crazy packed and really sketchy, and we are always standing. It´s a fun time every week! We love riding the bus!

Shortie Email

Welp, I just lost the entire letter I wrote to you. Yeehaw. I love
Peru. So this is going to be very short. Oh and the enter button
doesn´t work, so when you see a #, mom, please hit enter for me :) 

# A few awesome things happened this week! First, Elder Christofferson
came to the MTC to give a devotional! Does he know our family? I know
we know some of the apostles, but I don´t know if we know him. When he
shook my hand after, he called me by my name and he pronounced it
correctly! His devotional was awesome. I wish I had time to re-write
about it. But during the closing song, we made eye contact (I was on
the front row right in front of him) and we smiled at each other. It
was really awesome. I imagine that being somewhat like how it will be
when I look into the Savior´s eyes again someday. I felt very warm and

loved. Elder Christofferson is an amazing man.

# Second great thing: Hermana Nazer and I got called to be Sister Leaders! It is a calling
comparable to Zone Leaders, and it means that we are in charge of the
welfare of the North American sisters (about 80 of them). I´ll tell
you more about that in the next letter, hopefully, if my email doesn´t
get erased again :) 

# "So the "investigators" we are teaching, as we teach them, we

pray for them and follow up with them. We also receive inspiration
concerning them and their situations and I can feel Heavenly Father´s love for them as

I teach and listen to them. This week I had a special experience. As I
was teaching our investigator Teresa, she told us about a problem she

had, and she told us that she doesn´t think that God loves her anymore
because she feels filthy after what she has done. I was overcome by a
rush of the Savior´s love for her as she told us her deepest feelings.
To be able to tell someone, when they feel so low, how much their
Father in Heaven loves them, is one of the sweetest experiences I have

ever had. It´s amazing what you are able to feel for another human being when you
are doing the Lord´s work and striving to bring others unto Christ. 

# So I got a couple letters! On Wednesday I got 2 letters from mom and 1 from Bobby
Bell. I am sending some out today, but I can only write letters on
p-day. And I also got McKay´s email version of his dear elder mail

today! I am so happy to get mail from all of you. If anyone else has sent
me a letter, through dearelder.com, I hope it gets here soon! And I´ll try to write you back

soon. But from now on, only send letters to my mission address or my email address, not the MTC :)

I love getting letters! It´s true what they say, "to missionaries, letters are like Christmas presents!!"

# Sorry this one is short. So many great things happened this week, and I wish I could write more
about them. Look to the Savior and you will find peace. 

# Love,
Hermana Busath 

(No explanations on the pictures again this week)