Week 1: DIOS ES MUY IMPORTANTE!

Hola Familia! 

Has it really only been a week since I have seen you? How is my dog?
Are you taking care of him and being his buddy?? Oh and how are you
too? Haha just kidding. I love it here. I am already so in love with
Peru! I love the morning especially.. I have been getting up at 5:30
instead of 6:30 to study spanish and I love just sitting at the window
in our hall listening to the morning birds. We have to stay with our
Companera 24/7 unless we are on the same floor as our room. The
mornings are misty and it sounds like you are in the tropics! The
birds sound like my dog is destroying a squeaky toy.. No seriously.
Its hilarious! But there are also very beautiful birds as well. The
weather feels like Sandiego or Arizona in the Winter time.. and it
smells like the sea!

The language is coming.. In fact just writing this email I have had a
hard time spelling in enlgish because I have been writing in Spanish
for 8 days straight now.. The struggle is real. The first day we went
on the computers and took a sort of “Spanish” test. At the end the
screen said, “Congrats!” You have successfully reviewed 21 words.. You
have mastered 1! HOLA. 

Oh but it gets better.. Then that day a Latino Elder said, “ Hola
Hermanas!” I turned to him all excited and said, “ BIEN!”… Then turned
to mi companera who burst out laughing and told me I just said, “
Good.” That has happened a few times haha.. Sometimes I don´t know how
to react when someone says something to me so I just blurt out
something.. 

Oh but that was nothing compared to when I was trying to teach about
the restoration in Spanish and I accidentally said, “ God wants us to
eat.” AND “ God Forgives our fish.” 

WELL.. guess what.. by the second day I was praying and baring my
testimony in Spanish..Now lets pause for a minute.. This is the girl
the girl who dropped out of spanish not once…not twice.. but THREE
times in high school.. The struggle was real. So Dad, you are either
about to cry saying, “ Its a miracle!” Or you think I am lying.. Well
if you didn't believe in the gift of tongues before.. you do now.  

Want to know something else? I COMPLETELY understand spanish now.. It
has to be a Little slow still.. But I understand! The hard part now is
helping the Latino Elders and Sisters understand US! Half the time I
feel like I am playing the game Charades with them.. They look at me
like I am crazy.. but then we all just laugh. We help them learn
english.. And they teach us how to play REAL soccer.. Its a blast.
Anyways, I really love the language. I mean think about it.. A child
understands what “COME” and “Eat” mean before they know how to say it
themselves.. So that is what happened.. With having all Spanish
teachers and Friends who speak spanish.. it comes pretty quick. I even
forgot how to end my prayer in english the other day.. It is day 8 and
I am speaking in Spanish like I actually took those 3 years in high
school.

You feel like a celebrity here haha! Every room we enter all of the
Latino Elders Yell, “HERMANAS! BUENOS DIAS!” Its like they are a bunch
of Golden Retrievers and someone yelled , “SQUIRREL!”Yesterday at
dinner an Elder came up to me and said, “ Uh.. Hermana? You ah very
PRITTEEEY..” They are trying to hard to learn english and it is so
awesome! We even taught them some Cali Slang.. AHAH. So whenever they
pass us in the hall they hold up a peace sign with their hands and
say, “ Sahhh Dude!” It reminds me of my guy Friends back home when
they would pretend to be some Cali surfer dudes.. But I think the
Latino Elders say it even better… haha. The Elders and Sisters here
are incredible.. Some of them have only been a member for a year..Some
left on very bad terms with their families because they didn't want
them to serve a misión.. Some have really bad relationships with them
now.

I love my companera ( Hermana O.) SO MUCH. Basically we were made
to be Companions. We are ALWAYS laughing.. Half the time when we go
out for a run during physical activity we end up on the ground of the
track laughing about who knows what. Ill have a six pack in no time
from laughing so hard.. ( Insert winky face.. Uh I have no idea how to
do that on this computer haha).

We have a lot of fun.. We practice the spanish alphabet while playing
ping pong ( Which by the way I am a BOSS at now.) and also whenever we
hear a siren we have a new phrase for the day where we stop and say
it.. Yesterday it was " Dios nos ama!" We probably said it 100 times..
The sirens are like the ones in Prague.. Basically every second. 

Hermana O. and I also know when to focus though..We pretty much
only speak to each other in spanish.. We love our district as well! We
have two more Hermanas. The Elders are like our big brothers. On the
flight from Atlanta to Peru I sat by a Young man who is now my
district leader! We became best buddies on the plane playing scrabble
together and then when we found out that we were in the same district
we freaked out!! He is from some Island I dk where I will have to ask
again. His name is Elder E. Think big samoan rugby player.. and
Thats him. Hes da bomb. We all help each other out.. The other day we
were all playing soccer and I got off the field ( Because everyone
kept getting hurt and I wasnt about to be that person to go home with
an injury) and I sat with my companera and some of our Elders who were
talking about their girls back home..HAHA.. I told them to be MEN and
to get over it.. In the nicest way posible haha.. They got me when
they asked if I missed anyone at home though… Well I miss a lot of
people.. but yeah.. I couldn¨t make fun of them anymore.

We taught our first investigator! Well he is a fake investigator but
still.. The mtc has these cute Little houses where you go and pretend
to knock door to door.. I wasn¨t nervous at all and had no idea if I
said anything right but it was way fun.. We got to the door and he
spoke to us from the window.. I just said, " HOLA! Mi nombre es
Hermana Springer, Ella es mi Companera Hermana O.! Nosotros somos
representate de Jesucristo! etc etc etc" He didnt want to speak to us
and said that his homework was MUY IMPORTANTE... I fought back and
said DIO ES MUY IMPORTANTE! I didnt even think before I said that
hahaha... I kept saying.. Mu Muy importante.. Jesucristo es Muy
importante.." He finally got so annoyed with me ( No seriously I think
my teacher was anooyed with me haha) that he finally let me in.. He
then started to work on his homework and I said in spanish that we
need to put away distractions because this message we are about to
give is very important.. I don't remember what else I said in spanish..
Because most of it was half in spanglish. The Elders really beat
themselves up thinking their lesson went terrible.. So I reminded them
that it was literally only day 4 and we were teaching someone the
gospel.. in SPANISH. I don't try to be one of those “Rainbows and
butterflies” super smiley sister missionaries all the time.. I just
understand that it was day 4… Because I can count. Haha

I LOVE President Moore and his wife.. (The President of the MTC) They
actually know Grandma and Grandpa Chamberlain!  They sit by us at
dinner a lot. Hermana Moore is like a second Mom. She gives THE BEST
hugs.. When I hug her I just pretend I am hugging you Mama Springer..
Because I miss you a lot.

So I had volunteered to be the last one on the computers because there
weren´t enough for all of the Hermanas so I don't have as much time..
I am so happy to be here.. Yes, its hard.. 16 hours of spanish and
unlimited ice cream can make your brain feel like mush.. But I wouldn't
change it for the world.. You wanna know something crazy? I keep
having crazy Deja vu everywhere.. Well they say that if you have
Dejavu that means you are in the right place.. And I believe that. I
am so excited to get to Trujillo and teach the gospel.. I have been
out in Lima! It is scary and so awesome all at once.. I saw my life
flash before my eyes a few times just in the car.. Think of it this
way... Lines while driving are uh " suggested.." So basically everyone
is cutting each other off and slamming their breaks to not crash into
other cars... Anyways.. I love being a missionary.. I miss you guys so
so much.. But holy cow.. Just in 7 days I have grown to love my Savior
100 times MORE which I didnt think was even possible! He IS the big
picture.. We fought for Jesus Christ in heaven... and he is fighting
for US now.. And we fought alongside our brothers and sisters and
CHOSE Jesus Christ in Heaven.. When I think about it that way I know
that the people here in Lima are here on Earth because they chose the
same thing I did.. They know it. They are our brothers and sisters! I
have already seen how the spirit prompts and is the real teacher in
the lesson.. For my second lesson with my investigator I didn't know
what to say and I was stressing.. I realized that I wasn't teaching with
the spirit.. I relaxed and all of the sudden realized that I knew
exactly what to say in spanish and said it.. That WAS NOT me.. That
was the spirit helping me know what to say. I absolutely love it
here.. I miss you like crazy. Love Hermana Springer......... I don't
even know if this email makes sense.. I will have more time next week
.LOVE YA. Remember.. The church is Tru..Jillo. XOXO The TRUE CREW. Get
it? Because I am going to Trujillo Peru. Ha. Ha. ...

Oh P.S I have to learn 2 languages……. Oh and I have to give a talk in
Spanish this Sunday.. Wish me luck!

I can call on Mothers day from Peru time 3-5pm. Deal? If ya want... haha.

Note from Carly: She sent these photos, too, but they didn't really fit into the narrative, so here you go!

Ashley Is Alive!

Hi, everyone! This is Carly, Ashley's big sister. I will be maintaining her blog and giving you updates on Ashley while she's serving her mission in Peru.

Good news--she made it safely to Peru very early this morning! Here's the quick email she was able to send to our dad this morning (edited slightly by me for better readability):

* * *

MI FAMILIA! HOLA! I am alive, I am well, and I am SO extremely happy.

OK... I do admit that I was pretty terrified getting on the plane. I have so much to tell you, but I only have 5 minutes. So this will be a messy short description.

First, I totally befriended a famous rapper from California that sat by me on the plane, and I gave him my Book of Mormon. We are buddies. He is a BOSS.

The elders and sisters are calling me Hermana A Teresa (kinda sounds like Ermana AYEE TEDESAAA) because a guy picking us up said my name like that. No idea why.

We drove to the MTC and it looks so third world. Imagine the movie I Am Legend where the zombies go and sleep at night. That's what the building looks like. Haha! I am the only blondie in the entire MTC. And I have never felt so white in my entire life. We arrived at 2am to the MTC and they literally just left us on the curb and I think they forgot about us? Oh BTW...That sister I met when I was bawling in security is like my new best friend. And we are companions! Anyways, we got to the MTC and were lost for about an hour. Someone came and saved us and said, "Hermanas! We have been looking EVERYWHERE for you!" Whoops.

I love it here. I laugh at myself trying to speak Spanish. But it is only Day One. The food is absolutely terrible. HAHA! But it makes me laugh. For breakfast I had watery yogurt and this drink that is like liquidy oatmeal. I am starving.

I love the weather. It isn't even that humid. And it kind of smells like the ocean? I am so warm and happy I will probably die when I get back to Utah.

Uhh...what else...I saw my first llama...and I gashed my shoulder open on my bunkbed because I kind of fell off almost.

One last thing! P-Day is on Wednesdays, so don't panic if I don't email Monday!

I cried when I met the MTC president, because he can speak English and knows what's going on. There are only about 10 sisters in the entire MTC. All latino and absolutely beautiful.

I am safe and very VERY happy. :) I know this mission was tailored specifically for me. It is familiar.

I LOVE YOU! Please send this to everyone else because I am so flustered trying to send it! You are amazing. I will talk to you soon.

-Hermana A Tedessaaaa

* * *

Notes from Carly:
A) I am super impressed that she was able to tell us so much in such short a time!
B) I find it adorable that she doesn't recognize that "Tedesa" is just Spanish-speakers pronouncing the R with a tap, like they all do. She'll learn soon enough! :)

The Boy Behind The Stove

I was sitting with my Dad in his office downtown just the other day when he told me this story about my great great uncles Percy K. Fetzer. I wanted to share it for those about to head out on a mission or really for anyone! It really does show you that there is always someone watching your example and shows how God works in mysterious ways to make us instruments in sharing the gospel with those who seek for an answer. On our missions, maybe we will be prompted to turn a different direction or knock on a certain door..and then maybe that person we teach won't even get baptized or accept the gospel..You may think it was a total waist or think maybe that wasn't a prompting? But I promise you that you are put where you are suppose to be and maybe sometimes it is just to plant a small seed... Those people WILL feel the spirit and perhaps it will be 20+ years or  longer.. but they will remember that feeling and remember your example...then seek for an answer. Perhaps there will be a small set of ears listening to what you have to say even when the parents are blasting music/tv/whatever.. Too often we underestimate the power of just a simple testimony given, a small act of kindness, a listening ear, all which have the potential to turn a life around.

President Thomas S. Monson tells this story--

My mind goes back in memory to a general priesthood meeting held in 1956. At that time I was serving in the stake presidency of the Temple View Stake here in Salt Lake City. Percy K. Fetzer, John R. Burt, and I, the stake presidency, had come to the Tabernacle early, that hopefully we might find a place to sit. We were among the first to enter the Tabernacle and had almost two hours to wait before the meeting would begin.

President Fetzer related to President Burt and me an experience from his missionary days in Germany. He described how one rainy night he and his companion were to present a gospel message to a group assembled in a schoolhouse. A protester had broadcast falsehoods concerning the Church, and a number of people threatened violence against the two missionaries. At a critical moment, a woman who was a widow stepped between the elders and the angry group and said, “These young men are my guests and are coming to my home now. Please make way for us to leave.”

The crowd parted, and the missionaries walked through the rainy night with their benefactress, arriving at length at her modest home. She placed their wet coats over the kitchen chairs and invited the missionaries to sit at the table while she prepared food for them. After eating, the elders presented a message to the kind lady who had befriended them. A young son of the woman was invited to come to the table, but he refused, preferring his position of solitude and warmth directly behind the kitchen stove.

President Fetzer concluded the account with the comment, “While I don’t know if that woman ever joined the Church, I’ll forever be grateful to her for her kindness that rain-drenched night thirty-three years ago.”

The brethren sitting in front of us here in the Tabernacle had been speaking to one another also. After a while, we began listening to their conversation. One asked the friend sitting next to him, “Tell me how you came to be a member of the Church.”

The brother responded, “One rainy night in Germany, my mother brought to our house two drenched missionaries whom she had rescued from a mob. Mother fed the elders, and they presented to her a message concerning the work of the Lord. They invited me to join the discussion, but I was shy and fearful, so I remained secure in my seat behind the stove. Later, when I once more heard about the Church, I remembered the courage and faith, as well as the message, of those two humble missionaries, and this led to my conversion. I suppose I’ll never meet those two missionaries here in mortality, but I’ll be forever grateful to them. I know not where they were from. I think one was named Fetzer.”

At this point, President Burt and I looked at President Fetzer and noticed the great tears which coursed down his cheeks. Without saying a word to us, President Fetzer tapped on the shoulder of the man in front of us who had just related his conversion experience. To him he then said, “I’m Bruder Fetzer. I was one of the two missionaries whom you befriended that night. I’m grateful to meet the boy who sat behind the stove—the lad who listened and who learned.”

I do not remember the messages delivered during the priesthood meeting that night, but I shall never forget the faith-filled conversation which preceded the commencement of the meeting.

The words of the Lord seemed so appropriate then. They are equally appropriate now: “And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!” (D&C 18:15).

We are a missionary-minded people. We have a divine mandate to proclaim the message of the Restoration. You young men here this night are on the threshold of your missionary opportunity. That energetic missionary from the Book of Mormon, even Alma, provides for us a blueprint for missionary conduct: “This is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy” (Alma 29:9).

The Light

JST John 1:1-9

How is Jesus the Light? And what is the Light of Christ?

When there is light you can see. There is a brilliance and sense of direction that comes from light. Darkness CANNOT overlook light. It is what his example is and what we are drawn to. It is like the natural inclination and knowledge to know what is right and wrong. I almost feel like we are born with it. Maybe something we learned in the spirit world that makes things more familiar to us here? That influence to do good and become good. 

6 He that ascended up on high, as also he descendedbelow all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth;

 7 Which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made.

 8 As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made;

 9 As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made;

 10 And the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you stand.

 11 And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings;

 12 Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—

 13 The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.

Have an open heart to let the light in. If we let that light into our soul we can have peace and not fear darkness because HE is the light in our soul that helps us to do good and guides us throughout our entire lives.