Week 33 Feliz Semana Santa! March 28, 2016

The District Hermanas at Pinkberry! w/ Hermanas Thomas (Ogden),  Dionicio (Cali), Dorado (Puno)

Feliz Semana Santa! (Happy Easter)
First, Birthday shout out to Harrison! 17! Your last year as a kid so disfrutalo! (enjoy it)

This week we had a holiday, celebrating Christ! Unfortunately, What did everyone do on this Christ centered celebration? Get together and get drunk. Hermana Aida likes to call it Semana Tranca because of all the drinking. The procession close to our room was crazy! My companion wanted to get out of there but of course I had to take pictures. Everyone marches around with statues of Senor Cautivo and they recite prayers. Its pretty interesting!

Acting out Christ being crucified.

Processions! Right in the middle there is a big statue of Señor Cautivo that they're carrying around.

This week we met a lady in our area named Bertha. She just moved her with her family from Chiclayo and has been a member for 2 years. This last year she has been completely inactive and her 9 year old daughter Dayana isn't baptized! So we got them to come to church yesterday and Dayanas baptismal date is April 16th! They have a great family.

Manuel is the greatest! For the first time ever he showed up to church in black slacks a white shirt and a tie! I commented on it and he responded by saying "progress" How true! His goal for receiving the priesthood is April 16th! So awesome to see the difference in him.

A painting of Miguel Grau in the museum. (A war hero) Hermana Thomas and I were wondering why he has his hand on his stomach. We both agreed he was saying, "Please, NO MORE RICE!" (:

My companion and I ate the worst food in my whole mission yesterday.. I still am not sure exactly what it was but I wanted to puke! There was a little boy sitting next to me and I almost tried discretely shoveling my food onto his plate. Poor kid didn't like the food too much either. (:

Coming up on 8 months! Love you all so much!
Hermana Ingram

Chicken delivery arrived just in time and covered in flies too! It reminded me that I'm in a 3rd world country.

 I love Hermana Thomas! I hope we get to be companions one day (: She is hilarious!

The district with Miguel Grau. The Elders: Biedleman (Cali), Dilascio (Argentina), Norman (Morgan, UT), and Cachura (Cusco)

Just a little love from home.

Week 32 March 21, 2016

At Stake Conference and I found my cute trainer! The first thing she said to me "Hermana Ingram you have gotten so fat!" Thanks Hna Apeña I love you too! (gotta love the brutally honest latin culture right?)

Week 2 of this transfer!

Yesterday we had 3 investigators come to church!! Woot woot!
The father of the family is Carlos he is actually a member that hasn't been to church in almost 30 years but we are bringing him back! His wife Miriam is pretty funny... She is super evangelica. We recently had a lesson with the two of them and taught about the restoration and baptism. During the lesson she crossed her arms and defiantly said, "Yo no voy a bautizarme." "I'm not getting baptized." Then she stated, "You believe in Joseph Smith but I believe in God." We very patiently and clearly explained to her why that isn't actually the case and then her husband lost all patience. He still has a testimony of the church so he defended it the whole time. But it was pretty awkward when they sat there arguing and my companion and I looked at each other like "what do we do now?"
Moral of the story they came to stake conference! It was awesome, Elder Nelson Ardila from the Seventy came. Carlos and Miriam have two sons who are progressing so fast! They have been to church twice now and participate in young mens and seminary! So we will see where it goes with them.

I am always so surprised at how unbelievably open everyone is here. Almost every single time we sit down in a lesson everyone tells us exactly what is going on in their lives and the personal problems that they have. Every time I always feel like I don't even know how to respond. But a lot of the time the people tend to blame God a little and it's very sad. This week we met with a less active Hermana named Marisol. We taught her about temples and eternal marriage and she seemed to love the lesson. Then we invited her to set a date for herself to go to the temple. Thats when she started to cry and opened up to us about her husband and the problems they have. It was super sad hearing about everything she has gone through and how unfaithful her husband is. It's always hard when people have marital problems because as missionaries we aren't exactly qualified to give any type of marriage counsel. We helped her the best we could and as we were talking her cell phone rang. It was her husband. He told her he was almost home so she immediately put the phone down and ran to the bathroom to wash her face. She sat there applying makeup to make it look as if she hadn't been crying for the past hour. Something she said really made me sad. She said, "Why is Heavenly Father letting this happen to me?" I think I would respond first with. Heavenly Father can't control our agency! Sometimes others use their agency negatively and it may effect us personally. Secondly, about trials in general, I read this in a talk that I really liked:

"The world would have us believe that trials are unfair and that we are entitled to only blue skies and sunshine... We may forget in the heat of our trials that God is aware of us and that He has a plan for us. He knows us individually and perfectly and customizes our mortal experiences to help us grow into our very best selves-- If we will let Him. He is the ultimate personal trainer!" I like that is says IF WE WILL LET HIM. We definitely cannot be changed to become like Christ by chance. Its a choice. Our will is the only thing Heavenly Father does not have, so it's our choice to try and align our will with his! "Every challenge you face, every hard thing you confront, every bad thing that happens to you, every unfairness, every conflict, every sadness, tragedy, every disappointment and heartache, every temptation and every opposition happens for one purpose only; to give you opportunity to respond by applying in your life the teachings of Jesus. As you do so you are change to become more like Him." So essentially it's our choice! I try to apply the Christlike attribute of patience every time the ward sings the hymns 5 octaves lower and with a melody similar to a rap song (:

Hasta la proxima semana!
Hermana Ingram

Week 31 March 14, 2016

Zone meeting! Lots of Hermanas with a photo bomb from zone leaders. Dionicio (Cali), Sandison (Twin Falls), Brown (South Jordan), Dorado (Puno), Sepulveda (Mapleton), Signs (Coloroado), Thomas (Ogden)

7 months! 

A good but very hard week. We worked super hard and how many inverstigators came to church yesterday? Ninguno... It was super disappointing when so many people told us for sure they were going to come, even going around to pick them up didn't work.

The good news is we found a new family! _ and _, (mother and daughter). _ has two kids, _ and _. So yes _ is a member, I'm sure you could guess by the names... But _ and _ are not yet baptized! We still haven't had the opportunity to sit down and teach them due to the fact that they have other problems that need attention first. This little family was previously living in _ (on the border of Chile) but moved very quickly and secretly to _ as they were experiencing extortion. What that means is that they have been receiving countless threats such as "if you don't pay this certain amount of money by this date I will kill your 2 kids and your mom"... She showed us the threats on her phone and lets just say I censored it. Terrifying right? So they moved to _. While living there, They left as a family for a day at the beach. Coming home later that night they walked into a completely empty house. Everything had been robbed. It was very sad when both of these women were sobbing as Hna _ said, "My children had nothing but the swimsuits on their bodies." Can you even imagine these trials? So from there we have been helping them in service related ways. Its been such a blessing to have Hna Dorado here just in time. They bonded to her within the first 5 minutes because she is from the southern part of Peru as well. Perfect timing! I know its definitely not a coincidence!

Saying goodbye to Hermana Shumway (Orem) and Hermana Vasquez (Cali). SO SAD! These two are amazing missionaries!!

Hna Bobbio has also been experiencing some hard trials. I got a call from her sobbing as she told me her little grandson Emilio, 3 yrs old, has a brain tumor. She asked us to tell the whole ward so that we could pray for him. (portion removed to maintain privacy) Emilio's dad, Harold, who isn't a member but someone who we are really good friends with, also called me crying. He told me he didn't know what to do and that he was scared. I honestly don't feel adequate to help someone in a situation like that! I told him we were praying for him and that Heavenly Father hears his prayers. I feel so sad for their family.

Hermana Dorado and I! She's from Puno! How cool to think that I've visited her home town.

But on a brighter side we have a lot of investigators that are progressing! We just need to get them to church!! I can't reiterate it enough, the importance of going church! We are literally battling against age old traditions and a culture that tells you to work or go out and drink and watch soccer on Sundays. It is so hard!! But not impossible..

Fun fact: As my comp and I were walking the dusty hot streets we talked about what each city in Peru is known for... Lima, the capitol. Trujillo, the flowers. Arequipa, famous volcanoes. As we got to Piura the both of us paused, looked at eachother, said "chifles" in unison, and then busted up laughing at how sad but true it is. Chifles are fried banana chips... and that's what Piura is known for. Also THE HEAT. Don't take cold for granted!!

Miss everyone sooooo much
Hermana Ingram

PERU: Niños playing with burning garbage

Week 30 (week 6 of transfer 4) March 7, 2014

Manuel's baptism!! With Hermano Raul who is our ward mission leader

Week 6! MANUEL GOT BAPTIZED!

Friday night it rained... and hard too. In the afternoon we left with hna aida to teach a cute little family. Their mom is a little difficult and lacks a lot of faith, but we are working on it! When we left it was pouring rain. The streets had turned into rivers. We had to flag down a moto just to help us cross the street! As we were walking back to Hna Aida's house we passed by the street that also works as a drain. It was FULL!

The street that turned into a river!

My comp and I ran down the side of the "river" to watch cars and motos attempt to cross. Meanwhile Hna Aida sprinted to her house to save everything from getting destroyed. We later went back to help her bail water out of her roof (all of the roofs are flat here and collect rain water like a swimming pool) So we spent about 2 hours sweeping away water onto the ground below.

Botando el agua el techo de Hna Aida!

At 8 o'clock in the church we had our very last lesson planned with hno manuel before his baptism. But with the rain we both knew it wasn't going to happen. Long story short Hno Manuel practically swam to hna aidas house to have his last lesson! It was awesome. We read about the people of ammon and when they became converted to the Lord they buried their weapons of war. I related that to him and his baptism. That from here on out all of his bad habits or bad decisions will be buried deep in the ground and he can truly be converted to the Lord. He bore a strong testimony about how much he has changed. After the lesson the light went out in all of our area! so we practically swam home in the dark with trees falling along the roads. It was an adventure if you ask me.
And the next day Manuel was baptized.. Woo hoo!

Hna Mauricio completed her 4 months as a mini missionary and went home this morning. My new companion is Hermana Dorado from Puno! She is from my same group at the CCM and is awesome.

Miss everyone so much!
Hermana Ingram

Happy and content eating cold ice cream in the cold rain. I sure do miss the cold!

Amazed by the amount of water!

Hermana Aida when the lights went out! She was a little scared :)

Brave cars that ended up getting stuck.

Week 29 The Analogy of the Carrot February 29, 2016

My favorite Hermanas outside of Chilis! Hna Sepulveda (Mapleton), Hna Thomas (Ogden), Hna Mauricio (Paita), Hna Sandison (Twin Falls), Hna Mitchell (St George)

Yesterday while sitting in sacrament meeting, I realized that I have been here for a little over 200 days!

It's been a rainy week. I personally still happily welcome the rain, although I'm sure the however many million Piuranos would beg to differ. The problem with rain is that NO ONE is prepared. There is absolutely no drainage system in Piura. So wherever the raindrops fall that's where they will stay until they either soak into the ground or evaporate. Half of the streets in our area have become rivers. Anytime we want to cross the road we look for a part where someone has placed bricks or rocks to step the way over. Close to Hermana Aida's house there is a giant ditch that drains out into a street called Sullana. The ditch is filled with garbage and now, due to the rain, water too. The mix of rain water and garbage has released the most horrible odor. Anytime we walk to her house I feel like I am stuck inside a giant cooking porta potty. Feisimo!! All of the houses here are built only to keep out the sun. So these poor people with dirt floors literally live in mud.

Hna Mauricio and I on top of the Elder's building

Last week at around 1am I woke up soaking wet. At first I thought maybe there was a leak in the roof but quickly realized that the electricity was gone and I was swimming in my own sweat. (I can't sleep without the fan blowing directly on me) Hna Mauricio also woke up from the heat. Both knowing that we wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon decided to go up to the roof to cool down. On the roof of our building we store extra mattresses for when the Hnas need a place to stay. I thought, how perfect! we can sleep on the roof! As I was setting up the mattresses hna mauricio yelled at me to get down. She then told me that there were men on our street below with guns. Yes I was totally freaked out! But just like those ridiculous people in horror movies I had to see for myself. So I peaked over the ledge and there was a group of men attempting to break into the restaurant across our street. Normally in the US I might call the police.... Sadly in Peru calling the police would be a disaster, especially at 3 in the morning. My comp and I were exhausted so we just went to bed. 45 min later we woke up when the rain started to come down. The men had disappeared and the restaurant was still intact. And for the record I did not see a single gun! We didn't sleep much that night...

District hermanas, Hna Dionicio (Cali) and hna Gutierrez (Argentina) 

In this mission we knock doors from 6pm to 8pm every single night. The goal is to get into the house and teach a lesson right off the bat. During Hermana Training pres Rasmussen told us that he had been praying for a way to really help this mission improve. Two missionaries came to him with a new plan. A way to be more simple and direct missionaries. In essence, the plan consists of knocking on a door, getting into the house and beginning by teaching baptism. We tie baptism in with the Restoration and then after all is said and done we challenge baptism. What may seem surprising, a decent amount of the time, we leave that house just 15 min later with a brand new investigator, who is willing to pray and ask to know if our message is true, come to church, and be baptized on specific date! I personally love it. If one person says no we move on to the next house. The more simple and direct I get to be, the easier it is for me to teach, and the easier it is for them to understand. With this plan, we are only looking for those that are prepared and willing! I like to think of the carrot analogy that I heard from hna Sandison, one of my favorite hermanas.

Investigators are like carrots:
On occasion we walk out to our gardens to go and pick a carrot or two. Sometimes we reach down in attempt to pull up a carrot only finding that it doesn't budge. But of course the majority of us struggle with patience. So we try again and again. Nothing. We want that carrot so bad but just cant accept the fact that its not ready yet!
Other carrots, on rare occasions, spring straight up out of the ground with only the slightest tug. They re ready.

Our investigator hno Manuel is like a carrot that pulled itself straight out of the ground without any help at all. He literally came to us completely prepared and ready. Not all investigators that eventually make it to baptism are like hno Manuel, but even then, we are looking for the people who are at least willing to try!

Hno Manuel is the best! He has had a hard history of drugs and alcohol that resulted in the breaking up of his family. From the first time I met him until now he has changed from night to day. Every time I ask how his reading in the Book of Mormon is going he always tells me that he loves reading about repentance. Once he learned how to repent, he applied it. Ever since, The atonement has been working in him. There is a literal light in his eyes, la luz de Cristo! It has illuminated him. At the closing of every lesson he says the prayer and thanks his Heavenly Father with such sincerity that I know he is ready for his baptism this Saturday.

Piura in the heat of the sun

Recently I heard a cool story about a math teacher. One day in class this teacher decided to ask each of her students what they were grateful for. She went around the class while each of her students said the specific things that they were grateful for. Then oddly enough one of her students sat there for a moment and finally said, "I am grateful for my eraser" when asked why she responded, "Because every time I make a mistake I can erase it and then start again"
The Atonement is our literal eraser! Some people feel like their page is full of mistakes and they are too far gone. Its simply not true! Heavenly Father is always there con sus brazos abiertos. Someone once said that the Atonement is the most tangible evidence of God's unending love for each of us. I love this quote from the prophet President Monson. "Your Heavenly Father loves you, each of you. That love never changes. It is not influenced by your appearance, by your possessions, or by the amount of money in your bank account. It is not change by your talents or abilities. It is simply there.
It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. Gods love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve love. It is simply always there."

I'm almost positive there were times in Manuel's life where everything felt hopeless,where he didn't even feel like he deserved to feel the love of God. He easily could have stayed there, sinking farther and farther in his hopelessness and bad choices. But he made the choice to apply the Atonement and now look where he is?? Absolutely FULL of Gods love!

Even though sometimes I feel like the mission could not get any harder and I just feel like giving up, I feel way too blessed to be able to be a missionary and help people receive the gospel and watch their happiness radiate.

Hermana Ingram

The district. We had to have our meeting on the roof of the building!

Cute Hermana Aida getting her haircut (: Love that woman!

Week 28 At least she sent pictures... February 22, 2016

This is the extent of Hermana Ingram's letter this week:

I don't have any time! But the good news is that our old investigator Manuel is back and he will be getting baptized March 5th!
Somebody send me some snow it is as hot as hates here and I'm cooking!
Sorry mom I'll prepare a super awesome email next week I promise...

Our missionary work activity. Everyone wrote what they're grateful for. Manuel (our investigator) is on the bottom row second from the left!

My comp and I.

The district at the new casa capilla in Tambogrande

Hermana Shumway is the greatest! She's going home this transfer. 

Oh Hermana Aida is an angel

Even though my face is hideous, I just had to take a selfie while this man told us we were doing the devil's work. 

Making cookies with Hermana Rasmussen, so fun!

The food at Hermana training...

How funny! Elder Simmons with Hermana Sullon, Hermana Aida Sullon and I (:

The old trio!!!

Week 27 A Baptism!! February 15, 2016

CAJAMARCA! In Peru there is a place called Cajamarca where all of the white Peruvians live. Apparently they wear hats like this one and do their hair in braids. Hna Bobbio, in her motherly ways, told me I needed to wear a hat because of how strong the sun is lately. I was definitely considering but I don't want people thinking I'm a testigo! (Jehovahs witness) They wear hats and carry umbrellas... So Hno David stuck the Trujillo temple on there, good to go!

What a week!

Good news: MARCOS WAS BAPTIZED!
The morning of his baptism I got a call from his mom Marcela. My stomach dropped when she told us that we couldn't baptize her son. I told her okay and that we would call it off. When I hung up I immediately started praying! I called Hna Aida for advice (shes an angel) She told me to wait a little while and then call Marcel back. So that's what I did. When I called Marcela back her brother answered and told me that she was outside of the house talking with William (Marco's dad). So I hung up and long story short we had the baptism!!

Yay Marcos at his baptism!! What a happy day (:

Bad news: It was a rough week! I felt like no one would listen to us, almost all of our lessons fell through. I was honestly amazed at how many things weren't working out. On Wednesday I was really having a rough time. After yet another lesson fell through I was walking down the street feeling sorry for myself. I especially hate feeling sorry for myself when I see what other people have to go through around me. Their trials are unbelievable! So I said a prayer. I'm not even sure what i prayed for exactly. 5 minutes later we passed by a woman and two young girls. The woman didn't look too good, her eyes were all swollen from crying. As I kept walking I could not shake the thought of her out of my head. So finally I knew I needed to go back. So I told my companion we should go see what was wrong. By the time we came back the woman had walked away from the girls still crying. I first approached the girls and asked them if there was anything we could do to help. They stood there and stared at me and then proceeded to whisper into each other's ears. So I left and walked up to the lady. We asked her if we could give her a hug, as odd as it may sound. When I hugged her she bawled like a little kid. So there I was on a street corner hugging a random stranger who was sobbing. When she finally came to herself she told us that she traveled a long way to see her daughters and that they wanted nothing to do with her. When she said that I started to cry too! In my head I was thinking "Oh the things I would do just to see my mom for even 5 minutes!" Seriously! I was almost mad at those girls! We talked to her for a little while and I even shared my testimony with her.
I was grateful that I got the chance to help someone even if it was through a hug. Small and simple things can make a difference too (:

I sure miss my family! Especially my mom (:
Praying this week we will have a lot more lessons and find some people who are ready to receive the restored gospel!!
Hermana Ingram

Hermanas! (: Hna Atencio (Ecuador.. I think) Hna Sepulveda (Mapleton!) Hna Thomas (Ogden) Hna Mauricio (Paita) Hna Spainhower (Payson!) and the always lovely Hna Rasmussen!

The Zone