Week 7: Hermana Albornoz

I never know what to write and today is no exception. Tomorrow is one week in beautiful Arequipa, Perù. I miss the trees of Georgia but the sun setting over 3 volcanoes makes it worth it. Plus the cacti reach amazing heights here. I love it here so much!!! My shoes have never been dustier and i´ve never been chased by so many stray dogs but I wouldnt want to be anywhere else. 

I love my trainer/companion. Her name is Hermana Albornoz and he hails from the country of Chile. She also loves thrift shopping (Canchinas=thrift stores) and we are going today. She is a great singer and knows all the Disney Princess songs (in Spanish obvs) so I can broaden my arsenal-Sorry mom and dad. (youre welcome, sisters). 

The members of the Cèsar Vallejo ward are few but GOLDEN. They are so generous and gracious and sparkly. I´ve already asked for cooking lessons (s/o to SJCC) and I have a feeling that the rice will even out with how much we walk everyday. 

Everyday, the fact that i´m tall, white and awkward is reaffirmed. I don´t think that i´ve been stared at this much in my life. It´s been a solid week since i´ve seen a fellow mayonnaise. Being in an unfamiliar place is very humbling. I can understand almost everything and everyone but my speaking skills are still lacking. During lessons I can say one or two sentences about a topic and most of the time, my companion has to expound further. All the investigators love to call on me to say the pray. Luckily I think I have that down-thank you CCM. Joke´s on them haha. I still make lots of mistakes. Today I accidentally said that my dad is 412. WHOOPS.

Everyone that i´ve talked to here believes in God. I should start a tally of how many times people say " Soy Catolica" Haha its great. But you can tell this is a God fearing people. Anyways, just wanted to let you lnow that all is well, I´m working hard, and I am so grateful for this Gospel and for the light that it brings to people. 

Love you all

Hermana Christensen

p.s. we got a pensionista for breakfast and we usually just eat some fruit or something for dinner so I don´t need a stove. Thanks for the advice though! Lomo saltado is better than any smoothie I could make.