Sis. Alecia Alford Bolivia, Cochabamba Mission: December 2014

November 3, 2014 Email and pics

a really big rock and i!!! ;)

LOOK! ;) i found myself a new friend! ;) haha !

Chicken foot soup.. Turns out that china is not the only place where they eat chicken feet! ;( yuck

halloween with my comp! ;

my comp and I up on a hill!; )

Matching!!! ;) as always! ;)

our name tags and our area! ;)

The two zones of potosi together! ;) crazies! ;)

Our zone before transfers! ;)

Hey mom! well, this week has been a little bit better... but not so much! ha! now my comp is sick... poor thing. But we were able to get a little bit more done. No, i will not be training. I will be finishing my mission with a new companion named sister webb. SHES A GRINGA! I did NOT see that one coming! haha! anyway, i dont know her yet, but i will meet her tomorrow in the afternoon... and hna Quispe will be leaving in the morning... ;( i have not ever cried for a transfer... but i have for this one. I will miss her so very much! She is off to Cochabamba! she is going to be companions with hna nunez! my old comp! ;) i know they are going to get along well! ;) anyway, this week has been kind of awesome! we had two rescues and we have a baptism today! we went out exploring one day in our area, to see how big it really is! and WOW! what a beautiful place we found! It hasn’t got a lot of houses or people... but lots of sheep, donkeys, cows, a river and so on... it was pretty great! ;) and we found a few investigators as well! no, the package has not arrived yet... but i have high hopes that it will get here tomorrow or Friday.. seeing as there will be missionaries coming up from cocha... they might just bring it with them! ;) i wish i could have heard brandon sing! and kady lady too! ;) sounds fabulous! ;) i am hoping to organize a talent show in the ward before i leave... it would be really awesome! and a great way to invite investigators to get to know the church! ;) i really just want to work and work HARD this last transfer... i want to leave it all on the table! and know i finished strong! love you so much mom! hope you have a great week! love hna alford

October 27, 2014 Email and Pics

: my comp and i last pday!!! ;) crazies! ;)

talent show pday with the zone! :)

My zone last pday we played beach volley!

: Hail storm!!!!

hey! so, this week hasn’t been overly interesting... i got a really nasty cold and literally haven’t left my bed other than to go to lunch and come back.. ;( BORING! I still have a cough and sneeze.. but have more energy to move around and am doing much better than before! ;) You see, the weather here is just going NUTS! From ridiculous baking heat, to HAIL STORMS and ridiculous cold.. so, lots of people are getting colds... i just happened to have been one of the lucky ones! haha! Anyway, i am determined to work hard this week! its the last week before transfers! WOW! I don’t want my comp to go... but its almost a hundred percent certain.. Oh! and we are planning to do a little something for halloween! i am way excited, although my comp says that in peru its like against church policy to celebrate halloween! wierd right? She says that we are lowering the churches standards to those of the world or something... anyway, i still want to do something. i have been praying for you guys this week, a whole lot! hope everything is going alright!

anyway, not much else to tell... hope everything is okay up there... and that things are going well!

love hna alford

ps, i have found a place to send packages! i am going to send the last of the special letters soon! ;)

October 20, 2014 Email and pics

PA traditional bolivian dish called picante de pollo.. or spicy of chicken? haha ! yum!

: cooking with my district because our pensionista is sick!

Note to future missionaries... This is a way cool idea! and a tradition in the cochabamba mission... each misisonary has to have a note book, that they then give to their friends, companionns, converts and so on to fill out. Its like a scrap book that your friends and loved ones fill out for you! Its called ¨recuerdos¨ BRING A NOTEBOOK!!! ;) But a sturdy fat one... ;) and you wont regret it!

Missing pic.

an example of a recuerdo.. hna roxana and her family made this one for me!

Missing Pic.

: another recuerdo, this one from a sister i met on the mish!

: A peruvian dish called aji de gallina! Some good stuff! ;) ill be making it for you guys so you can try it!

a table full of giant helpings!!! haha! this was for the bishops wife and daughters bday! ;) Yum!

the famous chuño, or wrotten, dried, and resoaked potato... yuck! haha !P

My comp and i goin to church! ;)

: my comp and i in the taxi!

My comp and our picante de pollo!

more pics of the bday party! ;)

: The matching twins! ;) my comp and i have started dressing in the same color!!! haha! the president told us we looked like a good team! ;) Pic

Hey mom! ;) so, sorry about making Jessica feel sad... i know you know i didn’t mean it that way. i am sad to leave all my friends and this life style behind.. but i am so very excited to be home with you all for Christmas as well! I almost screamed of excitement as the president told me i would be home the 16th (probably) woohoo!!!! That means time for Christmas! but i am sad as the time seems to be passing by way too fast!!! anyway, i know that God has the kids in his hands. Thank you so much mom, for always being the great mom that you are. Thank you for your prayers, your fasting, your searching of the scriptures, and all your care for each and every one of us. i know that it will be worth the while! ;) There are some crazy things going on down here. Anyway, that was a bummer, but this week has been filled with great things! we are working harder than ever! ;) And even looking forward to some possible baptisms and rescues! the president told us that it is quite certain that hna quispe will be leaving this transfer! ;( we only have two weeks left together! and that is not a happy thought! funny though, i am praying she stays... and its likely she wont! funny how life works huh? ;) so, what else have we done this week? oh, there was a double bday party at the bishops house... his wife is off to chemo this week yet again, and so they celebrated her bday early so that she could eat and everything! anyway, it was a fabulous moment spent among friends! ;) We also had to cook our own lunch for a day! i was totally up for a sandwhich and an apple for lunch.. but my comp and the elders looked at me like i was crazy! WHAT! haha! you see, they eat WAY more at lunch time... so, we got to cooking a giant meal for lunch. And it was way fun! ;) and yummy! ;) haha! but i still would have been okay with a sandwhich! ha! anyway, love you lots mom!

hna alford

October 13, 2014 Email and pics

: Aaaaahhhh!!!! The Bishop wants to kill my comp!!! haha! this is from the bbq yesterday!

Note: No one was harmed in the making of this picture. It was just a little fun. : )

the bishops daughters and i at a bbq yesterday!! :)

: Bolivian BBQ! ;)

Missing Picture:

This is waht you call tawatawas... WAY YUMMY!!! We helped an investigator and her family, make, wrap, and sell them! WOW WAS THAT FUN!!! AND YUMMY

Hey mom! So, we are doing great down here! I talked to my companion about how i think we should be working more, and that we should take advantage of every moment of the day.. and we have been doing much better in that! We have been working our buts off! and loving it! this week was elections in Bolivia... so yesterday we couldnt work at all!!! There wasnt even church! so, the bishop and his family invited us over to their bbq! Wow was that good! ;) and we had a blast! haha! Anyway, i have been trying to not think about how fast the time is passing lately. Mom... i dont know how to explain what i feel... i am so excited to see you all.. but i dont want to go home. I think about it and just want to cry. Here, lots of people like to bother those who are finishing their mission... and make them ¨trunky¨.. i wish they wouldnt.. because it just hurts to think that my mission is coming to an end. Anyway, i am trying to take advantage of every single second until the very end! I want to finish strong! and know that i have given it all! this thursday we are going to have interviews with the president. I wonder if he will tell me the official date? as far as health goes, i am doing great! a little bit of a cold.. but that seems to be all as of right now! I would like to ask your prayers for a few people as well: 1, hermana patty (the bishops wife) she is going through chemo right now and needs all the prayers she can get. she wants to come closer to Christ and be forgiven of all her sins! pray for her as well!!! Pretty please! anyway, i love you lots mom!

hma alford

Oct. 6, 2014 Email and pics

: another strange fruit.. this one looks like a potato... but has a sweet flavor to it, and you eat it raw. Not overly tasty... but interesting!

My Comp Gave me this new dress. I love it and I love her.

Ready for Conference

My Comp and I

As for you mom, something you said caught my attention, ¨So many people look up to me and think that I am doing great but in truth I am hanging on by a thread.¨ I dont know if maybe i am just overly sensitive to things like this... but it sounds alot like what i was going through before the mission.. i started kind of hating that so many people would tell me how great and wonderful i was... as if i didnt have my own battles. even to this day many of the kids believe that same lie. that life has been easy for me, especially when it comes to the gospel. It has not been easy. And i know it is not easy for you. Perhaps, that is the beauty of the path... Perhaps that is the greatest courage there is, to hang on by a thread, and trust in God as you do so.. Mom, sometimes, people see us from the outside, and never know whats going on inside.. But that is how we can be an example! Keep doing what you are doing, trust in the Lord, be a great mom! and you will do a great work.. even though you feel small! i feel the same some times down here. so many tell me i am doing something great and fantastic.. but i know i am not perfect... and i know i lack in so many things! but God can use the smallest things, to make great things come to pass!!! love you so very much mom! and i know that things will be okay..

love