Surprise, Surprise from Barranca

Howdy!

So a million things happened this week!! Tons of surprises. 

Remember last week when I said that I was pretty sure I wasn't getting transferred? Well yeah I was totally wrong! So we finished internet and our ZLs called us and said that I was getting transferred so I needed to pack but I didn't believe them because they always joke about that but it was true so I went and packed and we had a couple of lessons and I said my goodbyes so some people and it was super sad! I absolutely loved Puente Piedra so it was sad to leave and to leave Hna Alonso but I was excited to see what was going to happen.  

Well we got to the transfers on Tuesday with all of my stuff and they started naming off the transfers and everything and Hermana Agle, my trainer here, who was a sister training leader in Barranca got sent up way north to Huaraz to train again and then I got sent here to Barranca to be a sister training leader in this north part of the mission.  in "Nortechico" as they call it, which means north of the city of Lima and it is so different! It is beatiful! We are in Barranca which is about 4 hours north of Lima and it is right on the coast.  My area, Limoncillo, is literally on the coast and so we have the beach and I can see the ocean from most of the parts of the area.  The air is clear, there isn't as much dust, not as many dogs, there are fields of sugar cane, and life is good!

My companion now is Hermana Leyva, and she makes this area awesome as well! She is super duper and I already love her.  We actually feel like we already know each other because we have basically had all the same companions haha.  She is from Peru, Trujillo which is up North but we have a ton in common because she speaks English and studied at BYU for three years.   Her dad was the mission president of the Lima East mission a couple years back.  She is great and we are already great friends and are loving working here together. She goes home in two transfers, so in August.  We set lots of awesome goals together and are excited to get the work done here.  Everybody says that the work is harder here up North but we're just not going to believe them and work anyway. There aren't a ton of members here, we work in a branch and Barranca isn't a stake yet, it's a district.  So our job is to strengthen the branch and make it bigger! We're excited.

This week we also had our mission leadership council which was great because President talked about how we really need to become "Buscadores", or "Finders." Finding in missionary work is what people normally like the least so once they find people, they just teach them and then baptize them but then they have to start all over finding and it becomes a cycle of not too much success.  Well if we really want to baptize weekly, we ahve to be FINDING weekly and just have the strong desire to always open our mouths and preach the Gospel.  So this week we have been keeping that in mind and our new motto is, "No hay limites" or, "No boundaries" in missionary work.  Everytime we think something might be weird or uncomfortable or inconvenient we just remember that. For example, the other day we walked by a school and there was a car parked with a family inside waiting for their child.   we decided to knock on the window and make them roll it down to talk to us and we got an appointment from them! NO hay limites. This way the Lord can trust us more and put people in our path in weird ways and we can find them. So now we are finders in missionary work and are already seeing a ton of miracles here.  

Life is good and I love my area and my companion and missionary work!
The church is so true and the Lord's hand is in this work!

No hay limites.

Hermana Jones