Mission Memories

Dear Kamiko and Daysa,

I wanted to write you both this letter because I've been thinking about my mission. The BEST time of my mission happened between my 3rd and 6th months of my mission, which is where you guys are right now. First of all, I went into the MTC in August for 2 months. So, I got to Bolivia in October. It was right before Halloween. I brought candy corn to Bolivia and showed my Bolivian trainer how to make fangs out of them. Anyway, my trainer was a nice sister, with good intentions, but work with her was BORING. We were serving in a fairly well-established ward in Cochabamba. I really didn't know how I could be a missionary for 18 months if it meant knocking doors in the morning, going back to appointments in the afternoon to find no one home, then knocking on more doors. It was so dull. Ugh. 

Well, I quickly got transferred. Like I was only with her for about 3 weeks. I got sent to Riberalta, in the jungle, with Sister Eagar. She was from SLC. She was awesome. She taught me right off that the most ineffective way to do missionary work was to knock doors. So, we just talked to EVERYONE. We talked to people at the market. We talked to our "cab drivers". There were no cabs or buses. You got around on the back of motorcycles or you walked. It was a really small town in the jungle. It was hot and humid. It was a small branch and there were 4 companionships all sent up there around the same time. 4 sisters and 4 elders. We basically divided the town into fourths and we each had our own area in which to work. The members were awesome. There was a returned sister missionary who was very helpful. I spent my first Christmas there and I remember having a great time at the branch Christmas party. We also participated in a branch talent show. The RS President was a really poor lady named Hermana Muiba (BTW...All the members were really poor). One day her older son came home to visit. He was about 18. He hadn't joined the church. We taught him. He was baptized and left on his mission to La Paz while I was still out on my mission. 

We had the best missionaries there. We had Elder Obering, a really tall and funny guy. We also had Elder Fuentes, from Santiago. He's the one I've told Kamiko to look out for. He had an awesome sense of humor and a great testimony. Much more like an American than an Bolivian. We had Elder Roberson. He was a convert. He had joined the church when he was in the military. Nobody had posture like Elder Roberson. He stood and sat up straight. We also had a Bolivian elder, Freddy Guachalla. I think he thought all of us Americans were crazy, but he was a great sport. The sisters were Sister Eager, me, Sister Ferrufino, who was Bolivian and a bit serious, but seemed more like an American than many Bolivians did. She was really fun. And there was Sister Diehl. She was an American and was sweet and fun. We had a BLAST. Probably more fun than you should be allowed to have. We also worked HARD. Like I said, we talked to EVERYONE! We even met some soldiers who kept guard at the tiny airport that had one dirt runway. They wanted to learn, so we would go out to the military base and teach a bunch of soldiers all at once. 

We didn't have a chapel. We rented a few rooms in a building. Even at that, it had dirt floors. I remember seeing a sister hold her kid out in the aisle during sacrament meeting to allow him/her to pee in the aisle. The kids didn't wear diapers. They just wore these knitted legging thingys. I also remember arriving at our church building one day to see two bullet bikes parked in front. The zone leaders had come to visit. The most efficient way to get from their town to ours was to rent motorcycles and ride them to our town. We didn't have a baptismal font, either. All baptisms were either in a huge watering hole outside of town, while people were washing cars, doing laundry, etc. in the water, or in a water tank in a less-active member's yard or in the river. I didn't see a baptism in a font until 9 months into my mission.

Anyway, it was a great time and I loved it. I was there from November 17 - February 7. It set an excellent tone for my whole mission. I will always be grateful for Hermana Mary Juanita VanHorn Bagley Whitely Eagar for teaching me how to have fun and effective as a missionary. Yes, that was her whole name. Interesting fact about her. Her parents got divorced during her brother's mission, and remarried during hers. I am grateful that I got to serve in Riberalta, in the jungles of Bolivia. It was beautiful and memorable.

Just thought I'd share.

Riberalta. It did have a town center that had a few framed buildings and homes, but most of the outskirts looked like this. The town was on the banks of the Beni River. We got lots of rain, so it was gorgeous and green.

Me with the Muiba family in their home. Some favorite treats are on the table - quaker oatmeal and chocolate cookies. Sis. Muiba's son who got baptized is on the right. I have a hunch her husband was younger than her, but who knows?

This picture illustrates Elder Roberson's military posture. Next to me is Sister Eagar, then Elder Obering, then Elder Fuentes. President Fallis had come to visit us. I don't know how Elder Guachalla got cut out of the pic. Sorry.