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 niño" 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 

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

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

Celebrating Women's Conference

Women's Conference - we celebrated at a great restaurant!

Hello Everyone:

This week was incredible, and I absolutely loved Women's Conference! I definitely needed to hear every single one of the talks and I am very excited to apply the talks to my mission!

District Activity

District Activity with the other Hermanas

A Little Hockey in the District

Funny: We had a p-day activity where we played beach volleyball. This was really fun, but my KNEES got absolutely roasted! Of all things, really, haha:)

Cultural: After having been reviewed by the editing committee, this section has been omitted.  You may inquire of Katie regarding its contents at a later time. Rest assured, she has not lost her sense of humor.

Another gringa and I watched conference in English.  What a blessing! :D

Spiritual: We had exchanges this week in Tupiza:) Tupiza is a good 8 hours in bus from Sucre so for 2 nights we had a pretty excellent experience in the bus. It really made us grateful for beds, haha! Exchanges are wonderful becuase we can learn so much from one another during this change in companionship. Specifically, I got to serve with a sweet girl from Idaho who is new. We laughed all day, and it was amazing for me to see just how much energy she radiated when teaching/contacting. Although the language is new, and she is also new to missionary work, I loved seeing her efforts to help the people in her area:D

Have a great week. I love you all!

Con amor, 

Hermana Garff

Things Are Sweet in Sucre

El baptismo de Familia Duran (Juan, Pablo, y Mario)!

Hey Everyone:D

This week was amazing! I was able to grow in so many new ways, and see the hand of God every day:) Specifically, we had 2 baptisms this week, and I was able to help

Nuestra zona jugando volley:D

Funny: I was trying to print out a phrase by Elder Holland in Spanish for our zone conference, but my mind was in a complete WHIRL on p-day because internet time is so limited. Thus, I accidentally printed it in English. I realized this, and hurried to print antoher copy, but realized after we had left that I had printed it in Portugese, haha! Resolutely, I had a gringo help me translate the phrase into Spanish.
Good old gringos:D

We were teaching a lesson to a woman when her niece decided to join us.  Throughout the lesson she was rifling through my bag, and ultimately decided that my water was the best item to enjoy :)

Cultural: I have learned to check expiration dates:) There are little stores about every 10 houses, which is great, only a little sketchy sometimes because the expiration dates are a bit off, haha:D

Zone Conference :D

A picture of exchanges we had with another companionship  I love this picture, because we were all trying to take a picture at once, and Sister Madsen ended up with a completely red face, haha :D

Spriritual: We had 2 baptisms this week and it felt so great! Juan Pablo and his dad, Mario, are such amazing people and have such strong testimonies of the church. My favorite part of the baptism was seeing the bright smiles on their face after their baptisms and hearing their testimonies as well. They are very excited and eager to grow and help in the church!

Bolivian Night in Sucre

No Dragons in Sucre

My New Zone

Hey Everyone:)

This was an incredible week and I learned "oso" much!!! I was able to go on exchanges with two sister trainers and we are going to have 2 baptisms next week:D

Celebrating birthdays here is a bit different:D

Funny: Bolivians celebrate birthdays a bit diferently. There is always a giant cake and the person with the birthday "takes a bite out of the cake" but in reality, everyone knows that their face gets smashed into the cake when they go to take a bite. It is awesome! 

There are pigs in this area!

Cultural: Our area is absolutely beautiful and it is filled with livestock! I have seen pigs, goats, chickens, cows and sheep! It is amazing and I am so happy to be here (with the exception that I haven`t seen any dragons....;()

A CUTE girl whose parents were recently baptized as of a month ago.  Her name is Gabby and my companion and I love her TO DEATH!

Spiritual: Because I am serving as a sister training leader, we get to have exchanges with the other sisters. This week we had two exchanges where I got to serve in two different areas. The people are incredible just about everywhere here, but what I loved was the strong desire that the sister trainers had for their companions and the strong desire they have to serve the people in their area. The sisters in my district are incredible and I love and will learn so much from them!

A cute girl from one of the pensionistas during intercambios.  She loves to "jump high" and she loves it when we take pictures of her...so I have a lot on my camera, haha!

It looks like we cooked something, but in reality, we just washed her dishes and threw on some aprons, haha:D

I love you all so much:) Thanks for your love and support!

Hermana Garff

We All Need 4 Ducks and "Special Spanish"

Note: In her new area, the computers do not accommodate Katie's photo memory card.  She has promised to send more pictures next week.

HELLO Everyone:D

I am in Sucre and it is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! I love the people, the culture, the food, todo!:D What I love the most is that there are no fences:) I served in Ingavi, which was probably the wealthiest area in Bolivia. It was wonderful and I loved it, but there are NO FENCES to keep us from reaching the people!

Funny: We were teaching the Restoration one day and I was likening the 4 principles we need to that of a chair (we need 4 chair legs/4 principles to be able to sit down (or have a strong foundation in the church). However, I accidentally said we need 4 "patos" (no "patas")....which means that we need 4 DUCKS to sit comfortably in a chair...solid, haha!

Cultural: The people hear are WONDERFUL, but the house development is a little slower. Hardly anybody in Sucre has a functioning bathroom or a running shower with hot water. Gratefully, we have both of those, but WOW! That was definitely a shock to me!

Spiritual: God has blessed me abundantly with the language. Por FIN I feel like I can understand just about anyone and I can say just about anything....but with "special" Spanish, haha:D