Sister Katie Garff

Sister Katie Garff
Bolivia Cochabamba Mission

Monday, April 24, 2017

Pictures y todavia MAS, jajaja!

Fried broccoli... not one of our favorite dishes,  haha!
A cute family that we have been able to teach for these past few weeks:)


Our companionship friendship bracelets:D
These next few photos were taken as we were touring the Catholic church on P-day, haha:D  
We got to see pretty much all of Sucre from this beautiful view.  It was amazing!





We invited all of the Hermanas to our house to learn how to make no-bake cookies from a new gringa in the mission:)
Blurry photo - sorry - we just post all we can get
Right now we are having a Jesus marathon, haha:)
When we are preparing and eating breakfast, we have found that it is a fabulous time to do the marathon;)
But...sometimes when you are focusing too much on the Jesus marathon, you forget about the toast, hahaha:)
My companion is a saint though, and she still ate my hockey puck toast;D
THIS was the comida from LA PASCUA, hahaha; D  the funny thing is that I didn't even question it before eating it.  I just took a picture because it made me think of a rainbow.  Truth be told, we eat this sort of food all the time here, but now looking at it, I know I would have been extremely skeptical before the mission, haha!
My companion hit 9 months 2 weeks ago so we celebrated with pizza.  This companionship is awesome because I too, will hit 9 months during this transfer together:D
We were offered this interesting seed water in the street, and it is rude to say no, but it is also a rule that we can't drink things directly from the street, so we made her feel good by taking a picture and asking if we could put it in our water bottles for later...haha;)
Dogs are seriously EVERYWHERE here, haha:)  If we counted, I think we could report 200 different dogs every day.
People never wear seat belts here, and it is very common to sit in the back of the cars, like we are right now;)



Monday, April 17, 2017

Carpet!

When we had the leadership conference, we were able to stay in the mission home over-night and I cried when I saw and felt the carpet beneath my toes:)  I love carpet and will never under-estimate it's ability to please ever again!
Hey Everyone:D
This week was so great, and I sincerely hope that you were all able to have a great week too:D I would LOVE for you all to meet my great, new companion! Her name is Hermana Lopez and she is a RIOT! She is from Tennessee, but was born in Peru and also lived in Utah twice and Costa Rica once. She speaks English and Spanish, so we speak a good mix of Spanglish;D What I love about her is that she is so kind, and always strives to be better. She is 20 years old, and she has 9 months in the mission. We are honestly great friends even just after a week. I am so grateful for her!
Funny: We live in a garage, so it is always really cold in the night, so we sleep with 4 alpacha blankets:) The funny thing is that because the blankets weigh a ton, so we usually end up kicking them off during the night (thus, it is also essential to wear hats and coats at night so that when we kick the blankets off, we won`t freeze, haha:D)!
Another funny thing was that I was trying to express how rare it was that one of our investigators had a kind and loyal husband, but I accidentally said "raro"....which means weird, haha;D
Cultural: There are lots of little holidays here, one of which is "dia del niƱo" which is like a day to celebrate kids. It was awesome, and I love that the people take time to appreciate their kids:D Also, the people celebrate La Pascua (Easter) really interestingly. Some families celebrate with 12 plates of food! Our pensionista didn`t cook 12 plates of food, but she cooked something very...interesting, haha! There is a great picture, but I can`t send any pictures because the computer can`t read my memory. Maybe the next week;D But yes, it was a strange mix of this green soup, mashed, red, something, fideos, onions, tomatoes and I honestly have no idea what else, haha:D
Spiritual: Hna Lopez is the greatest, and is also very creative. We were able to sing Easter songs to a bunch of people in the area of other sisters in our zone to help them find new investigators and it was great! We were able to find about 20 new people to teach:D
I love learning in the mission, and I love what I am doing! Have a great week! 

Hna Garff 

Monday, April 10, 2017

Hola Hermana Lopez

We made areas (a Colombian food) with the other hermanas in our zone
Hello Everyone:)
This week, I was able to learn so much, and I am happy to announce that we had changes:) I will be still be serving in Sucre, but with another Hermana-Hermana Lopez:) She is a great missionary, and one of my best friends in the mission. I am excited to serve with her starting tomorrow.
One of our families in our neighborhood who have a ton of little pet pigs that run around like dogs, haha!
Funny: I was explaining one of our investigators to another girl in our zone, and I was trying to describe her husband "pareja" but accidentally said "parasito"....parasite, haha:)

Cultural: During intercambios this week, we had a lesson with a sweet woman and about 7other kids that we had met playing in the street. While we were teaching the lesson, their pet pigs trotted out and starting sniffing and snorting at our bags. We laughed so hard that we could hardly teach the lesson!
We helped an Hermana peel her potatoes to sell on the street with her friend.  I think we peeled nearly 250 potatoes!
Spiritual: During other intercambios, God blessed us with a miracle to encounter a woman who I believe to be extremely prepared.  When we contacted her in the street, she happily invited us right into her home.  After a great lesson, she thanked us profusely for out time and explained that she usually never leaves her house, but felt prompted to do so a few minutes before we contacted her.  I know God prepares His children to hear His precious word!:)
We had a leadership conference in Cochabamba and I was able to see one of my good friends, Elder Warr:)
Have a great week!  I love you all and desire your success:D

Love,
Hermana Garff


Monday, April 3, 2017

Conference, Conference, Conference :)

"My Favorite Picture"
Hello Everyone:D
This week was GREAT! It was absolutely hilarious and I would love to describe it, but I would also love to describe my companion before we might have transfers:) My companion is Hermana Beltran and she is from Colombia. She is 28 years old and will finish her mission in May. I really respect her for her honesty and think her examples in lessons are great for our investigators! 
Hermana Beltran from Colombia
These are the cutest girls ever :)
Their names are Gabby and Danny
and they have the voices of angels.
They really ARE angels :D
Funny: We went to visit a family, and the little kids let us in to help them with their homework. While my companion taught some math, I decided to sweep. While I was sweeping, I discovered their older sister hiding in a closet, haha:) We laughed and talked for a bit and are now, excellent friends! We also had a drawing contest which is added in this email. Needless to say, we decided that I needed drawing lessons, haha!
The Drawing Contest :D
"The Baby", haha :)
Cultural: Another funny moment was when we knocked on a door to meet with a woman, but ended up talking to the nanny because the woman had not returned from work. We were talking for a good 10 minutes when she all of a sudden panicked and told us she needed to get the baby. We thought, great idea until she reappeared with a baby bird in her hands....Perhaphs babysitting priorities are a bit different here for different people:)
One of the cute Hermanas in our zone who has trapped a spider in her bed post with tape, haha :D  She checks on it every night to make sure it is still there; arachnophobia - what a thing, haha :D

I got to see my hija again today as we are in Cochabamba for a leadership conference.  She is doing so well and is one of my dearest friends.  What a blessing that was to see her!
Spiritual: Women's Conference and General Conference were absolutely incredible and I really enjoyed the sessions. I absolutely needed to hear the messages-especially about confidence in God. I love conference talks and I am so excited to apply them to my teachings:D
I love you all. Have the best darn weeks of your lives:D 
Hermana Garff 
We always receive green mandarins for our dessert after lunch.  This is great, but they are green and just not as good for a bit of time, haha :)  One day, we discovered we had 15 mandarines, and contemplated contacting with them. haha!
A Night in Bolivia