Letter #9

Hi Everyone,

 

Week 2 has been good. We had some very special lessons this week. There is one investigator, Ruben, he came up to us in the park and asked us if we were like the elders. We said yes, he said that he was taking the lessons about a year ago but when the elders got changed to a new area the new elders didn't visit him. He had a BOM and somehow he found one of those Sunday school books, teachings of the prophet - John Taylor. I think he said he found it in the street? Weird! He is very interested, hopefully that will continue. We are having a Noche Blanca on the 22nd for the stake and from La Cañada there will be one baptism. We were supposed to have 3 but one of the investigators moved to another ward and the other we don´t think he will be ready in time, he misses a lot of his appointments because he is busy with work and has been having a lot of family problems, basically he got kicked out of his house because he was changing his standards. This place is crazy. But- Hna. Castro came to La Cañada on Friday! So it is good to be with her and have just one companion. She is from Lima, Peru and has 10 mos in the mission. She is 23. OH! Did i tell you that Hna Huaynate is 39! She told me she was 29 and I believed her for a while and then she told me the truth haha. So things are good with Hna Castro. She is a really, really good missionary. I will learn a lot from her. Now that I am with Hna Castro we have moved downstairs in the same house/apartment complex. We have 2 rooms and the bathroom. We don't have any kitchen stuff except a blender, a stovetop thing, and some pots-pans. there is no kitchen sink, etc. I don´t know if we´re getting the oven anymore. I liked living on the 2nd floor better, it was more comfortable and the bathroom was a lot nicer but what I found out is that we will probably not be here that long. The plan to begin with was to have me and Hna castro to to Barrio Paraiso, but my visa got delayed so Hna castro went with 2 others to Belen (Bethlehem!) , and they are looking for a new house now in Paraiso, so i think we are supposed to go there after a few weeks. but who really knows.

 

Everyone is nice here and will accept an appointment in their house. So it´s hard to find out who is really interested or not. But they are forgiving with my Spanish too.

 

I don't know exactly how hot it is. But it´s very hot. I get headaches sometimes from being out of the heat (stress too, I think).

 

Oh FYI, there are about 140 missionaries in our mission, I think. About 15 sisters. The mission has little parts of Brazil in it. But I won´t go there. There is only one area outside of Santa Cruz that sisters can currently go to. it´s called Yacuiba. Hna Huaynate was there for a while.

 

To travel we walk. There are taxis but we don´t really take them just ourselves, but we take them if we are being transferred, and we took them the day we were getting fingerprints etc. We take the bus (micro) sometimes when we are meeting with our zone. Everyone drives really crazy here.

 

Washing clothes- it's not just a bucket. There are 2 sink basins and there is water hose thing hooked up to it. So one basin is to wash the other to rinse. On the wash side there is an angled side that you can use to get stains out. Don´t know how to explain it. Washing clothes by hand is soooo boring though. I don´t like it.

 

Our pensionista is great. Her name is Hna Julie. Hna Randall taught her how to make pizza, and she makes it all the time now because she wants to perfect it. Yummy. The other stuff she cooks is good too. Everyday we have rice, usually we have chicken, and then some sort of salad with veggies and sometimes with noodles.

 

I know I said that I would send photos, I have all the stuff i need here, bu this computer won´t do it. Sorry! I´ll try again next week.

 

I love you all. Being a missionar y is hard but great and my testimony grows every day. Read the Book of Mormon and pray. Don´t ever stop doing those two things. And go to church.

 

Keep praying for me please!!! love Hermana Tibbitts

Letter #8

Hello!! I'm in Bolivia! Things are good. I arrived Wednesday morning, President Calderón and his wife came to pick us up as well as the assistants. We went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch, haha, but it was a lot different than the Mexican food I have ever had. My companion was Hermana Castro from Perú. I say was because they had to separate us and put us in trios the next day, so now I am with Hna Huaynate from Peru and Hna Randall from Logan, UT who arrived 3 weeks before me so Hna Huaynate is training 2 sisters! But on Saturday Hna Castro is coming to our area to be my companion and so there will be 4 sisters for our area. Our area is La Cañada. It's not pronounced like the country north of the USA. I like it. We have a lot of members that want to help and give referrals and we have a really good pensionista (cooks for us), she is ok if we don't want to eat everything. The first night I stayed with hna Castro at a hotel in El Centro, they gave me time to rest after the flight which was nice. We were on american airways the whole way. For dinner we went to the mission home, they live on the 11th-12th floor of an apartment building (penthouse)- it's very nice. The next morning was training, we got our debit cards, they told us how to fill out paperwork, etc. Also we had to go all around getting stuff done for my visa. The visa that I got was just for 30 days so now they are working on the one for longer time. So we had to go to a bunch of places to sign stuff and get our fingerprints taken. I got my fingerprints taken like in 4 differnet places. Also we had to give a blood sample.

Our apartment is nice. Most places here rent out room by room so we have 2 rooms, one with a little kitchen!! And that is where our desks are and the other is where we sleep-have our dresers. We are on the 2nd floor so it's pretty private and we have a patio that connects the 2 rooms and our bathroom, which is private, and the thing where we wash our clothes. It's pretty nice. When Hna. Castro comes we are going to live on the 1st floor but we will have the same kind of accomodations but the owner of hte house might give us an oven!! Which would be great so we can make brownies. All the Bolivianos are obsessed with brownies. We don't have a phone right now so we have to use payphones which is kind of annoying but we manage. My companions were moved to where we are a couple of weeks ago so they're still getting settled in.

Santa Cruz is really interesting. I haven't really seen much but it seems like a lot of people come here from other cities in the country, so there is a variety. It's super hot here! We carry water everywhere. On a street by our house they sell used clothing from america, it's quite funny, i bought a purse there, it's too hot to carry a backpack, in my opinion, plus all i really need is my BoM and water. Most of the streets are dirt and full of garbage. Our area is between the 4th and 5th rings, not really sure if it is north, south, or whatever but am here!

We had a baptism Saturday! It was a little 9 yr old girl named Gabriela. Her family is less active. Although I didn't have much to do with it it was cool to have a baptism my first week. It was very nice, we panicked a little before because the church was having plumbing problems but the water stayed in the font long enough to baptize her haha.

I will send pictures NEXT WEEK! I keep forgetting my usb but i will remember this week.

Most of the missionaries here are from Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina. They just recently started letting Americans come here so there are afew that have been here 8 months or so and the rest of the americans came in the last 2 or 3 changes. Everyone is nice though and its not too hard to get used to the accents people have.

I now have 45 minutes to use the computer every week. But I also have to email Pres. Calderón during that time. I am in an internet cafe and the internet is slow.

You can send dear elders, send me one and we can see how long it takes.

I can only email PARENTS, BROTHERS, SISTERS, and GRANDPARENTS. No other missionaries, friends, aunt-uncles etc. just fyi.

I love you all! have a good week!

love, Hermana Tibbitts

Letter #7

Hey, I got special permission to write you because MY VISA CAME!!! And I'm leaving on Monday! ( Jan 3).

 

Here's my itinerary

Leave MTC at 8 a.m. monday

flight leaves at 12:35 to Dallas

arrive Dallas at 4:10 depart to Miami at 4:55 (close!)

arrive Miami 8:40 depart to Santa Cruz at 10:50.

arrive to Santa Cruz at 8:50 a.m (1 stop in La Paz somewhere in there).

I am traveling with Elder Reyes and one other elder but I think he is just going to La Paz. no sisters :(

 

Thank you everyone for your prayers for my visa. Prayer works!

I'm really excited to meet my mission president and start really working! I was jumping up and down when I found out that the visa had arrived!

The MTC gets kind of boring when you are learning the same things for the 3rd time. but it's good to get more practice! something that Hna. Israelsen and Hna. Leatham do a lot is acutally practice teaching. Their district has a schedule that I don't really understand but they practice 4-6 lessons a day and take turns being investigators. So each companionship has about 8 fake investigators that they teach, as if they were progressing investigators. It's really hard to keep track of who is who. But it is good practice.

Well I don't have much to write since it's only been 2 days. Being back in a trio is kind of hard and I am in the intermediate class now so I'm not learning too much as far as spanish goes. I hope i have not totally thrown off Hna. Leatham and Hna. Israelsen. they are both so great but i think they get discouraged a lot with planning and with spanish. Hna. Leatham is from manti, ut and went to utah state and is studying english. if you remember hna. israelsen was my companion the first 2 days here. she is from snowflake, az, and is a nurse.

 

Have you seen the mormon message for new years? it's way good! I feel like i mention those every time but that's the best entertainment we get around here. well, other than "the district" - teaching videos that go along with Preach My gospel. They are actually really good! They follow real (very good) missionaries and everything they do. They are done in 1/2 hour episodes and every time there is a cliffhanger so whenever they end, all of us are like "ahh!!! what's gonna happen!- are they going to accept the invitation to get baptized? is she going to read the book of mormon?" it's quite funny.

 

Yesterday I got the opportunity to be a new missionary "host". Basically what happens is that when a new elder or sister comes, they have someone to help them get checked in, put their bags in their room, get their books from the bookstore, and find their class and companion. I only was able to help one sister yesterday, because all of the other sisters had arrived by the time I was done with her. I guess after I took her then a bunch of new sisters came at the same time. But I was able to help a sister named Sister McAdams, from Ohio and Draper, ut, going to Warsaw, Poland on her mission. She was so excited to be here and we got to talk a lot and it was great. I hope I helped make her feel comfortable here!

 

My arms hurt from gym! I did weight machines yesterday and now I'm regretting it! Oww!!

  

I hope you are all well! Write me BY EMAIL for when I am in the mission. Just send it to dannielle.tibbitts@myldsmail.net. You can also mail things but I would recommend sending them to the physical address instead of the pouch because it will take FOR-EVER to get to me if you use it.

 

I love you! I am learning and growing so much every day! Some days are challenging but it's totally worth it. Being a missionary is the best opportunity that I could have taken. I have already changed so much!! Keep up reading Preach my gospel. Do some of the activities in the boxes and at the end of each chapter! They are amazing.

 

Hopefully I will get to talk to you from the airport.

Hope everything is going ok with the move!!! I"m praying for you guys.

 

Love,

Hermana Tibbitts