Reporting to Serve in Cochabamba!

Alecia is now where she needs to be. She is in Cochabamba! Safe and Sound and ready to serve!

 Hermana Alford with Pres. and Sis. Dyer her Mission President and his wife.

 

I think these are all the Sis. and Elders who arrived yesterday but I am not completely sure on that

 Hey Family!
How ya doing? I am officially in Cochabamba Bolivia! And it is so
cool! I met President Dyer and his wife in the airport! And they are
both so awesome! We stayed at a little hotel last night and had
pizza... And now we are doing a load of paperwork! lol! I will email
you monday, on my new pday! And let you know what my assignment is and
all that good stuff! lol! I love you all! SOOOOOO MUUUUUCCCHHH!!!!!!
Take care yall!
Love
Hermana Alford

She is in Bolivia!!!

No email today as she traveled from the CCM (MTC) to Bolivia today! I have great news!!!! I got to hear her sweet voice today!!! We were only on the phone for 14 minutes but oh how amazing it was! She had told me she would call from the airport if at all possible but I had convinced myself that she wasn't going to be able to call. So when a phone call showed unknown, I answered expecting to have to talk to a telemarketer!! Then she said, Momma! Oh how sweet those words were!!! The tears immediately came into my eyes as I realized that I was getting to talk to her! Oh how I miss her. She sounds amazing! She loves the people and the country already! She told me how beautiful it was! She is handling the altitude change well. She said she gets a little woozy but that for the most part she is good. She was also hot! I wish I was able to talk to her more. I put her on speaker phone and she spoke to us in spanish!!! She was absolutely amazing! Just ask me top of her class! LOL Well she just introduced herself but hey to us it was brilliant! : )  She sounds very excited and very upbeat! I know that she is going to serve well! Alecia is so very loving and has a knowledge of the gospel that will help her throughout her mission! It is hard to believe that she has been out for 6 weeks. She will be home in 16 1/12 months! But she is going to be serving with all of her heart, might, mind, and strength with an eye single to the glory of God the whole of those 16 1/2 months! Keep her in your prayers I know that they are helping!

Snatches of Alecia's emails this week.

Aleica's emails this week didn't have much information that extended beyond how much she loves me and the family so I will be sending small snatches of them here.

Here is a little piece from her email to her dad:  The best experience I had this week... I think personal study is about the greatest thing ever! I have decided to take one christlike attribute a week and study it really hard and try to develop said attribute... This week is humility, become like unto a child. I need to be humble enough to learn the lessons the Lord would have me learn and so on and so forth! I also listened to the fireside this sunday with out headphones(tranlator) for the first time! And I understood! It was way cool!

The kids' asked her what her favorite spanish saying was and she said: My fave spanish phrase is ¨¿Que en el MUNDO?¨ Which means What in the WORLD? LOL! Its so fun to say!

They also asked her what the funniest thing that happened to her this week was and she said:   The funniest thing that happened this week is that one of the elders in my district jumped out the window in class! And hes the district leader! So he is supposed to be responsible! lol! It was so funny! We almost died laughing! haha! Another favorite word of mine is Perro... Because Our teachers say it funny... And we just go around saying it all the time ! It just means but...But its fun to say! lol!

A note from me the Momma:   She will not be in the MTC much longer. She will be leaving next week. Due to safety issues I will not be posting the specifics of her travel. Just keep her in your prayers all next week. I will post when she gets to her destination in safety.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for her and following how she is doing.

 I have been advised that some of the other mothers have found this blog. A big thank  you to you too! I am very blessed to have such a wonderful daughter and equally blessed that each of you have raised up amazing daughters too. Our wonderful girls are helping each other through each others trials and rejoicing in each others joys. So from one missionary momma to another: I thank you for raising up some righteous daughters and I thank our Father in Heaven that our girls are serving together.

July 22, 2013 Alecia's email to family and friends

Hey lovely family! (And friends who may be reading this too!)
How´s life going on your end of the world? This is my last opportunity
to email all of yall while in the MTC... So i am trying to send yall a
picture or two... And i wanted to go ahead and send an over all email!
I love yall so much! And I am having such a great time here! And I
mean that with all my heart! The people are fantastic, this world
entirely new and exciting! I dont know when I´ll be able to email yall
again, because I dont know when my pday is and all that... So dont get
worried if it takes a while okay? Oh! And these are all the sisters in
my district by the way! My companion is the one with the pretty sandy
brown hair and i think she might be standing next to me... wearing a
black shirt. lol! love yall!

July 16, 2013

I am doing wonderfully! I am so glad you are doing well! Man! Thats a
lot of salsa! Tell Russel I said hi! And I will be recording tons of
stories to swap with him! lol! All in spanish mind you! Although Ill
probably have a really wierd accent, since bolivians talk funny...
lol! I will definitely keep Grandma in my prayers, tell her I love
her, and that I hope she gets better soon! That chiropractor idea
sounds really good! Maybe it will help! Mmmm! That dinner sounds
great! AWESOME! Great way to deal with the boy situation! Im glad kady
was able to have a friend over! its pretty cool! Props for dad and you
for dealing with that situation so boldly! I gotta love it! lol! I
cant wait to hear about youth conference! exciting!I am doing quite
well! My most spiritual experience? Ive had a ton of those! But
proselyting this week was right up there!Our district was supposed to
go the second week we were here, with a latina or a teacher... But
there was a catholic holiday and we weren't allowed out of the ccm...
So... We hadn't been shown how to do it. They tried to get each of the
new people and the people who hadn't done it yet a latino... But there
were only 3 latinas! The next step was a teacher... But there weren't
enough of those to go around either... SO, they sent us out in groups
of four to a teacher... But our teacher apparently didn't quite
understand, because Hermana black and I were with him when he showed
us where we were on the map... And started heading off with the other
two hermanas telling us to ¨Go that way¨... It was hard, that's for
sure! But we learned so much from each other! And we were able to feel
the spirit of Gods love for these incredible people as we wandered
around sharing the gospel the best way we knew how! In our broken
spanish! lol! THey are so loving and kind and wonderful! I dont really
know how to describe this place to you... I just don't have the
words... Thank you for always supporting me mom. It really does get me
through the hard spots. Yes, I am eating well. Yes, I am sleeping
well. And I am exercising too! I love you too mom! Don't worry too much
about me! I am having a great time. Sure, its not ALWAYS baskets of
roses... But my companion is an angel, and my district is sent by God.
I truly love it here, and am learning more than I ever thought
possible! love you mom!Im sorry I haven't sent any pictures yet, I just
dont want to waste precious time trying to download them when I could
be writing you. I would really like to start sending yall letters
too... I have letters building up to send... Please, if you can, send
me some stamps! Its probably a better idea to send them to my mission
home though, since I only have two weeks left here... Idk if ill get
them in time... lol! I cant believe I am so close to the field! it
just boggles my mind! THe time here has really flown! On Thursday, i
believe, I will have been out for a month! Only seventeen more to go!
lol! This language is so crazy! But Elder Christoffersan said, when he
was HERE, that in two months... TWO MONTHS, if we worked hard, we
would speak! And I plan to hold him to his word! lol! Oh! I just
remembered! How do you have a pic of me on my blog? lol! One of the
hermanas here, hma Foresy, told me that her mom found my blog, and
that it had a pic of hma forsey and I on it! lol! But I havent sent
any pics... anyway, i just thought that was funny! I am officially one
of the adanced missionaries! lol! The group before us left this
morning, making my group the older ones here at the mtc... we are now
the ones to set the example when the next set of newbies come in...
its so crazy! I feel like just yesterday we were showing up with our
luggage, with no idea what to expect! Crazy! Crazy! Crazy! lol ! I
love yall so much! Tell everyone I said hi! Grandma, Rayden, Lauren,
Russel, Uncle Ron, Sandy, Jake, Ryan, Uncle Ray, Theresa, All the cousins,
Grandma hunt, Grandpa Hunt, Grandma and Grandpa Alford... Everybody! I
love and miss you ALL ! And let them know that I wish I had time to
write them all! Mom, I truly love you with all my heart! Thanks for
all that you do! Your amazing! Love ya!

Note from me the Momma:  If any of our family and friends decide you want to send her a package please know that it has to be less than 4 pounds or she will have to pay for it when she picks it up!
 ( Alecia sent this cute email)
Hostess is BACK?????? I just heard from another sister! Send me
something! lol! Yall have got to keep me updated on stuff like this!
lol! love yall!

Another note from me the Momma: I just realized some of this text will not make since without my email to her. Since I will be  printing this up I decided to post my email to Aleica her also!

Hello my darling!

How are you doing? I have had a very eventful week!  I told you about the salsa. I wound up getting 71 pints!  It was fun but very tiring! Especially since I had to stop and go to the church for Russell's report to the High Council! He had an amazing mission! I know that ya'll will enjoy swapping stories when you get home.  I am so excited about the things that he was able to accomplish! He was called as the assistant ward clerk. He said he will be doing the things that he did on his mission, finding the lost members and cleaning up the records!  I know that he will have an amazing life!

Anyway, please keep Grandma (Heaton) in your prayers. She is in a lot of pain. The doctors told her that she had a slipped disk in her spine and that it caused her to get a pinched nerve. I am really worried about her. She is also planning on having knee surgery on August 5th. I asked her to go to a chiropractor and see if they can help her with her back! Just pray for her! I know that she will start feeling better soon.

We went to Leesville this past Sunday to watch Russell give his welcome home talk! It was fun! I texted Aunt Theresa and we planned the family dinner. Ron made some really delicious brisket and ribs. Yum! We all had a great time sitting around on his porch and talking!

We had the missionaries over today and allowed Kady to invite Johnathon, her friend. Daddy took him outside and gave him a copy of the For Strength of Youth pamphlet and went over the section on Dating! He told him that we believe in following these standards. He told him he was welcome to visit as a friend but that we do not believe in dating steady! I have no idea how it went over but he was very respectful when I went out!

We had him here for FHE and we showed the Restoration! It was nice.

Kady, Brandon and I will be going to Youth Conference Thursday through Saturday this week. It ought to be fun. I will be riding with Carrie Owen. I will have to tell you next week how well that went.

Tell me how you are doing! What has been you most spiritual moment? How is the language and the lessons coming? Are you getting enough rest, to eat, exercise!

I want you to know how very proud I am of you! I love you so much! When you are in your most difficult moments please remember that you are loved by many! You are a beloved daughter of God! and you are my beloved daughter. Remember that you have many blessings and count each one of them! Stay strong my sweetie! I love you I love you I love you!

Love Eternally,

Your Momma!

July 9, 2013 Aleica's email!

I love you so much mom! You are so incredible! And I am so proud of
you! I pray for you and the kids every day! You should totally see if
you can send me some of that salsa! lol! I want some! haha! Did you
know that the packages have to be four pounds or less? I would really
like some pics of the family! And us stamps will be fine. We have this
thing called pouch mail, where all our letters are sent together to
the states, and then sent to wherever else they need to go... So you
could send me a letter here with the stamps in it and I could send you
letters now! It would be awesome! It takes about six days to get
here... Anyway, my black shirt is in my grey box... The top one in the
closet... lol! I have been learning so much here! We took the newbies
to the temple today! And it was incredible! I talked today! I
literally spoke to latinos! THere was this one lady on the bus, her
daughter is married to a mormon! So cool! We had a great time! The
fourth of july was cool here! they have a special celebration here for
all the north americans! It was really cool! Apparently they think we
eat thanksgiving food like all the time though! I finally figured out
what to do with my hair today! Our sister leaders are so cool! Oh, and
Hma black and I have been the recipients of some mysterious gifts!
Twice now we have come to our room to find letters and candy addresse
to us! So cool huh? Anyway, It is so cool to be able to go to the
temple every week! Every pday! Awesome right? Hma black and i have
been getting better at our teaching! We actually got rid of our
¨safety blanket¨... or our ultra planned lessons... and tried to go by
the spirit... It wasnt a super awesome success... But we were happy
with the fac that we did our best. The trick is to remember that this
is a learning process, and not to get to caught up in the failures...
Only to look at what we need to improve. Like today, I totally should
have given that lady a pamplet... But I second guessed myself... But I
was one step closer because I actually talked to her! so anyway, moral
of the story is that I am learning! Do I sound wierd yet in my emails?
you know, like most missionaries eventually do? lol1 Oh! THeres a
sister here from Austrailia! She is way cool!

Noted from Me (the Momma): Jared sends Alecia some of the cutest emails so he gets some pretty interesting responses I just can't resist posting Alecia's responses to him so the following is her comments to Jared.

  Hey Jared! Yeah, the fruit is pretty
cool. No crab or lobsters... But they do have fish and shrimp... And
there are some really HIGH mountains RIGHt next to us! You can see
them on sunny days! They dont have trees on them like ours do
though... They just look like really tall piles of dirt!!! IM glad you
had fun! My week has been Awesome!!! My fave thing that happened on
independence day is that one of the latinos sang us happy birthday to
our state! lol! ANd LOTS OF GOOD FOOD!!! LOL! love you kiddo!

July 2, 2013 Alecia's email's to home!

 

 Okay... So, turns out I actually have an hour on Pday each tuesday to email everyone... But it times down in thirty minute increments... Which is when the computer kicks you out, and you have to re sign in... Wierd huh? Anyway, my second thirty minutes were spent waiting for this message to load last tuesday! So I am really excited to have more time today to email yall! So, you asked last time what its like here. Well... Busy! That would be the simple answer! But mostly we spend a TON of time studying.... Studying spanish, studying the gospel... and we practice teachign to fake investigadors... My investigadors are HARD!!! We, unfortunately, got the hardest teacher to play our investigador... But its okay, hes just making us stronger... I am having such a great time! My district is SO awesome! Oh! And theres this kind of treat or snack here called ChocoSoda... MUY BUENO!!! Its like a chocolate covered cracker... So far I have resisted the urge to purchass them myself... But I have had quite a few of Hermana Blacks! lol! Oh! You can send me letters! Did you know that? I need stamps! So that I can write yall! I dont know if yall are planning on doing packages or not... But if yall are, I forgot my black shirt! lol! And reeses pieces never hurt anybody! lol! I truly love hearing from all of you! Write more! Dont be afraid of me being able to read it all! I can always take pics of the emails and read them later if I have to! Physical activity time each day and Pday are life savers ! I truly love to learn as much as we have, but the lord knew what he was doing when he gave us personal time! lol! The sisters in my room (there are six of us) have all been sharing pics of there familys... I was so sad that I didnt have any... But I found some! In my camera! I was showing them off for hours! All the cool stuff I did with the kids while I was in college, I have pics of them in my camera that I apparently never erased! What a blessing right? But I do want those pics from Aunt Michelle! lol! I have been learning so much ! I can now go into a "lesson" with out anything planned... and actually speak! IN spanish! and help them feel the spirit! Its broken spanish... but it is spanish none the less! So.. my breakfast every morning, youll never guess... Is cereal! IN yogurt!!! lol! The cereal turns to this disgusting mush in milk... SO, we copy catted the latinos and put it in the really thin yogurt! MUY BUENO! You hardly ever see the sun here... But every once in a while we get lucky and itll be a sunny day.. Like today! I got to make my bed today! I hardly EVER have time to make it the way I like to! We are so completely busy! Theres hardly time for ANYTHING! But I am slowly getting used to it... OH! I had a few stories to share! I did somehting really funny yesterday! I spent probably half (if not more) of the day wearing mismatched shoes!!!! LOL! I looked down during class, and realized there was somehting funny about my shoes ! They were different COLORS! One black, one brown! And whats even funnier, is as my companion and are about dying of laughter, one of the elders says that he had noticed earlier... but just thought i was the kind of person who would do that on purpose!!! lol!!! So funny! Anyway, Ive been pulling funny moments like that all the time Ive been here! I fell out of my desk, possibly giving the elders next to me a show... lol! And so much more! I have to go now! Tell everyone I love them SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!! Have a fantastic week! 

 

Alecia's note to Jared:

I  havent seen any pine apples yet, but I am constantly on the look out. They do have this really wierd fruit that you crack by knocking it on your head, and looks like the insides of an alien... or maybe it looks like a bunch of frog eggs... Idk... But its pretty tasty... The texture creeps me out though! And I wont get to climb mountains till I get out of the mtc... But I can see them! And they are beautiful!  love you more!

 

 

Hey dad! Love you too! Thanks for the scripture! I will be studying that later. The hardest part so far has been facing the "investigadors" and knowing what I want to say... But not how to say it in spanish. No, we are not required to speak spanish... But we are encouraged to do so as much as possible! It is so great to hear that things are going well with you. You are truly the greatest man I have ever met, and I am so incredibly happy you are the one my father in heaven chose to be my Dad. And what you just shared with me is actually quite incredible... I will have to show you someday the incredible record I have been keeping in which I have been taught this same principle over and over and over again by the lord... He really wants me to get it through my head! lol! I love you dad!

Stay true and know that I love you so very much! You are the example I refer to in my daily life while i am here! Oh! And I am totally watching my bag like a crazy person! Just so you know! lol!