Jaimee's Dec 15, 2010 Email

Yo, Yo, Yo, Yo,  Yo, Familia!

OKAY! FIRST OFF MOM!!!  DON'T BEAT YOURSELF UP!  I knew that I wasn't going to have an e-mail from you last week, and that's okay because I KNOW MORE THAN ANYTHING that you love me.   ha-ha.  So please stop beating yourself up about small things like that.   ha-ha.  (even though it does give me a good laugh!)   lol.  And don't worry about the lost letter from Aunt Jill.

Things like that happen, Mom.  IT'S OKAY!  I got the first batch of dearelders here on Monday.  Thanks!

Well I have a lot to tell you and it's probably going to be unorganized so I'm sorry.  First, I still have a stupid cough but the flu is better.  I got to go out proselyting this past Saturday.  What an amazing experience!  It was hard because I couldn't understand a lot of the conversation, but Hermana Quiroga, my old Latino companion, did most of the talking.  (I say old because they left yesterday.)  The Latinos are only here in the CCM (Central Capatatcion de Missionary) for 3 weeks, so we get two different companions while we are here.  Sadly, this transfer, there are more North Americanos sisters than Latinos, so I don't get a Latino companion.  Muy triste.  Anyway, the experience was amazing!  The people in Peru are so humble and receptive to the gospel.  It is amazing. We didn't baptize anybody, but it was a great experience.  ha-ha.  My Spanish is getting better everyday, but it is still a daily struggle, so please continue to pray for me.  I will really be hitting the books hard this week with the Spanish training. 

I don't know what they are doing for Christmas here.  They won't tell us because they want it to be a surprise.  But I hear it's going to be amazing.  I do get homesick every now and then.  I miss a lot of things.  I miss the constant Christmas music that was always playing in our house. I miss the candle scent of pine tree. I miss the cold and snow.  I miss the traditions, but as much as I miss all of that, I couldn't think of a better place to be.  I have truly been able to focus on the true meaning of Christmas, and I can tell that you guys have as well, with all that you are doing for Christmas this year.  It's amazing! I can't explain how big of an example you all are to me.

The food here ALWAYS consists of rice and meat, just usually chicken and beef, so I am getting sick of it.  I can't wait to get into the field!   ha-ha.

I will be sending more pictures next week.  And Mom, I will try to sneak one of "Chuck Norris", but we are only allowed to take pictures on our p-days, and he comes on Mondays.  So if he is ever here on a Wednesday, I will get a pic.  I wasn't able to get a picture of Elder Frank, the hot, tall, missionary, because of the crazy picture rules.  But I do need to abide by them.  Please tell Haley how much Jordan will be blessed for his obedience while on his mission.  The Lord blesses his missionaries more than you could ever imagine, but we have to be obedient.  As hard as it is sometimes, that is what the Lord asks of us.

We got to watch Mr. Krueger's Christmas last Sunday.  IT WAS SO FUN!  ha-ha.  It was the biggest treat for all of us!

Dad,  have you gotten anything from the health department of SLCC? This next e-mail, please send me an update of my personal bank account. Well guess what?  WE GET TO GO TO TOUR DE PERU" TODAY!!!  We hit our half-way mark here at the Peru CCM.  They call us "avecnados".  So they take the North Americanos on a tour of Peru. We get to go to the market and do some shopping, tour some of the old cathedrals and other stuff downtown,  AND GO TO THE BEACH!   I'll be sure to take a lot of pictures and send them next week!!!!   And don't  worry,  I am being smart with my money.  I keep it in my bra and only carry about 30 bucks, which in soles is like 60.

Please hang up my wish ornament for me this year.  I will e-mail you my wish next week!!!! And please have some stocking breakfast for me. I am going to miss that sooo much.  Mom, if you can, send me some candy to Ecuador.  ANYTHING!  I just need some American candy!  ha-ha.

OK,  here is a challenge for you guys.  One thing our district here at the CCM loves to do is play "scripture facts".  ha-ha.  We like to think of crazy facts we can pull out of the scriptures, and read out loud scripture stories and reenact them!  ha-ha.  Well, we came across a scripture in ALMA about Spiderman.  See if you can find it and then e-mail me, and I will tell you the exact scripture next week. I will buy a Peru gift for anybody that can find it!   hehehehehe.  I'll give you one more hint.  The number 3 is in the verse or capitulo. Good luck!

Family, being here in Peru has humbled me more than ever.  Dad, I can understand now everything you have taught me about being grateful that we live in America and for the things we have. The people here in Peru have nothing.  The houses are small and old.  Its amazing how much they are grateful for what little they have.  Continue to think about everything we have.  Here, smallest things like RAZORS TO SHAVE WITH, are a huge luxury to them.  The girls don't use tampons here either.  ha-ha. One of my roomates -Hermana Villegas - saw mine and Hermana Demke's tampons and she asked us what they were?  Oh my goodness! 

YEAH, I WOULD HAVE A HARD TIME EXPLAINING WHAT THEY WERE IN ENGLISH, AND I HAD TO DO IT IN SPANISH!!!!!!!!!!! Oh man, talk about awkward!?  Gees!  Hermana Demke was like drawing pictures and I was trying to explain things... yeah, that was sooo weird.  After that, I hid my tampons to avoid anymore of those kinds of situations!  ha-ha.

Mom, are you sending my e-mails to Stephanie Stokes also?  If you don't have her e-mail, have Sadie jump on my face book account and ask her for it.  And if you are not already,  please send these e-mails to Chalese too, okay?

Well,  I play the piano a lot here, but not for people to sing, just for fun.  But everybody makes me play the "Up" song  (from the Disney movie), like everyday, or when they are sad.  ha-ha   It's very funny!!!!

Oh, and THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYS FOR HERMANAS NIELSEN AND MORLOCK!  THEY GOT THEIR VISAS AND WILL BE COMING HERE TOMORROW!!!  It is truly a Christmas miracle.  They were some of the only Bolivian missionaries to get their VISAS.  With them being here, my Christmas will be SO MUCH BETTER!

The Lord truly sees our needs and blesses us because of our obedience!

Yo se qué el evangelio is verdadero! Yo amo la iglesia con todo me corazon.  Okay, I'll do this in English now because I want you guys to be able to understand.  But I do love this church and this gospel.  I have never in my life been this happy before. 

I love being on a mission and can't believe it's already been 1.5 months!  Thank you for all of your prayers and please keep them coming, and pray for those in Ecuador that I am supposed to teach, that they are being prepared to hear the gospel, and that I can have the Spirit with me and listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost to find those people.  Mom,  I got a dearelder from Aunt Jo.  Please tell her to go on splits with the sister missionaries.  There is nothing more powerful for missionaries than having a member contact go out with them.  It's amazing the Spirit that a member invites.

Again,  I love you all very much and I am very happy!  So PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, don't worry about me.  Mom, not once last week did I think you were a 'loser mom' or that you didn't care about me.  Honestly,  I was okay.  I was actually sad though because I knew you would be very upset about not being able to e-mail me.  But really Mom,  NO MORE BEATING YOURSELF UP!  Read the stripling warriors story.  ha-ha.  That is a good one!  And just know that I am here because of how you and Dad raised me.  I truly love both of you and appreciate all that you have done, and will do for me.  If I can raise my kids half the way you raised us, I would be very happy! You are both amazing examples, and I couldn't ask, or would ever want different parents!!!!!

Well I better go shower and get ready for the "Tour de Peru"!!!  I am very excited to get some stuff here.  Oh, Dad and Brady and Jordan, I got you guys THE COOLEST THING EVER!!!!  But sorry you won't get it for another 16 months or so!  This may be weird to tell you now, but my mission has been extended a month. I don't know if I already told you that or not?  ha-ha.  But they have extended it, but it is still my choice and we will talk about it closer to my release date.  But for now, it's a month over, so please keep me updated if you hear anything about my nursing school program.

Well,  I pray for you guys everyday and I know the Lord is blessing you. I feel bad that I can't send you guys Christmas presents, but I know that me being on a mission and sacrificing time for the Lord's work could be the best thing I could ever give you. 

Please don't miss me too much, and enjoy not having me there, because in a couple months,  I will be back home. Time here has gone by so fast and I hear that the CCM is the slowest part of your mission.  If that is the case, I am in trouble, because the field will go by TOO FAST!  I can't let a single second go to waste, because I know I will NEVER get that second back.

Haley, when I get back from my mission, you and me are going to volunteer at the MTC in Provo in the TRC! (Teaching Resource Center)  OKAY?!  It will be super fun!  I am actually thinking already about maybe working at the MTC for the first semester of school if I don't get right into the nursing program.  ha-ha.  I am already thinking of ways I can be a fake missionary when I get back.  I am excited to see all of you again, but I will dread the day I have to take my name plaque off.

Mom,  I am glad you like the pictures. I will send a lot more next week!!!  You said in the pictures that I look really happy.  YES, I AM SOOO VERY HAPPY!!!!  Oh, and yes, I use safety pins to hold up my skirts because they are too big for me now.  But the other day, I stood up from praying in class,  and my skirt almost came ALL THE WAY DOWN!  ha-ha.  Oh boy, I will have to have some people in Ecuador alter them for me!  But oh well.....

Well again, again, again, (otra vez) I love you so much!  I will e-mail you next week!!!! Take it easy!

P.S. Dad, we need to get a taca taca table (foosball).   Its my new favorite sport and I will be writing a letter to the Olympic committee so they can put that into the Olympics.  lol.

P.S.S.  Did you guys ever tear out the wall downstairs? What happened with the whole flooding thing?? Keep me updated on any crazy or funny news updates.  It's weird to think there is a world out there! 

P.S.S.S. Haley, how is my ipod doing?  Are you downloading the new songs onto it for me?  If no...DO IT!

P.S.S.S.S.   I miss my guitar.

Okay,  I love you all!  Goodbye family!  See you soon, and you will hear from me again next week!

P.S.S.S.S.S.  The CTR rings here are AMAZING!!!!

Jaimee's Dec 7, 2010 Email

Hello again!

Sorry for the delay in forwarding this e-mail, but I had my monthly catch-up call with my sister, Jo, in South Carolina, and those catch-up calls last for hours!  (smile)

This second e-mail from Jaimee, (Hermana Flores), is such a testimony to me of the power of the Lord to help His children, (and especially His missionaries), in times of need.  Jaimee sounded so down in the last e-mail, (as you read earlier), as she was still transitioning to South American culture, and the new and very different Peru MTC,  (CCM), and different food, a different language, different friends, new companions, new district, the Chuck Norris of Peru work outs, and all of this during a holiday season!!!  Wow, what a difference the Lord can make in one week in the heart and mind and soul of a one of His servants, when given the chance!  We were so relieved to hear that Jaimee is doing so much better now, and getting used to everything in another country, and learning the language a little better every day, and starting to feel like she fits in there.  Jaimee is one of our most resilient ones, for sure, and it sounds like she is still showing her true colors when the going gets tough!  ("You go girl!")  And it is wonderful to see our prayers - ALL of OUR prayers - being answered for our missionaries serving all over the world!  Please keep praying with us for Jaimee, as well as all the missionaries serving throughout the globe, because we know that there will certainly be more difficult times ahead for Jaimee and others serving so faithfully!  It just goes with the territory.  So this week, we will see how her spirits are in her e-mail to us, and we will keep you updated for sure!

Thank you ALL again for all the love, support, friendship and prayers for Jaimee (Hermana Flores)!  And may this holiday season bring all of us great joy and blessings of peace and hope as we ponder the love that our Savior and Heavenly Father have for each of us!

We love you!
-Amy and Renier


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From: Jaimee Flores
Sent: Tue, Dec 7, 2010 1:57 pm

Dear Family!!!

I know it's only Tuesday, but I guess tomorrow is some crazy Peru holiday, so they had us switch our temple day to today, so they changed our p-day for this week, which is probably why I didn't get an email from you guys... But it's okay!!!   Anyways, this week has gone by so fast!!!! I can't believe I have been out over a month!  WOW!  It truly is a reality check on my part.  I realize how precious this time is and how lucky and blessed I am to be here in Peru and serving the Lord!  Today was awesome!  The temple here in Peru is so little.... I mean tiny!  But it's fun doing sessions in Spanish!!!!   ha-ha.  Oh wow!!!   I am loving the MTC here more, and more, and my Spanish is getting better everyday.  I really enjoy my personal study time though, because I get to really study the gospel in the language that I am fluent in and it's awesome!  I truly realize how awesome the scriptures are, and everyday all I want to do is read them!  I have been studying the atonement a lot this week, reading a lot in Luke and it is amazing!!!  I can really feel the Spirit when I read about the atonement, and I want to challenge all of you this week during the sacrament to really think about it, and what it means to you.  I can't even imagine the suffering Jesu Cristo went through for all of us.  It's such an amazing sacrifice, done with love, that everybody deserves to know about, and I have the blessing in my life, and opportunity, to go out and share this message with the people of Peru and Ecuador!   I promise you, as a representative of the Lord, that as you really ponder and think about these things, you will find great comfort in the fact that you have a child out serving the Lord, and I hope you can feel the Lord's love for your sacrifice!

Well, they put the rest of the Christmas lights up around the CCM and the other night, they let us all go and hang-out outside for half an hour to enjoy it!  They're fun!!!  (with the music)  The food here is getting better....  or I am just getting used to it.  They have THE BEST CHURROS here!  They are filled with like caramel!   We all call those days, "DIA DE CHURRO!"   YUMMMYYYYY!!!   I am really starting to love my companion and my hall mates.  We are all really good friends now, and I am sad they are leaving next week, but excited to see if Hermanas Morlock and Nielsen get to come!  Please, please, please, pray for them this week and their travel VISAS.  They really want to come to Peru and I think Hermana Morlock might kill somebody if she has to stay 3 more weeks in Provo!  ha-ha.

Well, some bad news now....  I GOT THE FLU!   Yep!  I had it all week and have had a temperature of around 102 degrees for about 3 days.  But these past 3 days, I am doing much better!   But because of my sickness, they could not let me go out and proselyte on Saturday.  So I had to stay here and sleep.  But I am excited for this Saturday to go out and do it!  My Spanish isn't that good, and I have a hard time understanding the natives, but I hear it's great fun!  

So how are things with all of you?!?!?!?  Anything exciting happening in Utah?  How is the SNOW?  WOW, I really miss the snow, believe it or not! It doesn't even feel like December here!  ha-ha.  How is Jordan doing?  I haven't heard from him in a long time!!!!   Please give me some updates on him and his mission!   And let him know how I am doing too!   Mom, I heard you wrote Hermana Nielsen a letter.  WHAT DID IT SAY!?  ha-ha  

Mom, I got to play the piano the other day, not for anybody, but just for fun.  It was nice to be able to play!   My teachers here are really cool!  One is really, really, really, cute!   But he is proposing to his novia this Christmas.  Haley, there is a guy here I really want to marry!   ha-ha  His name is Elder Frank and he is Jordan's height!   He is super, super, super, tall!  ha-ha.   Whenever he is bored, he likes to talk deep doctrine stuff.  It's funny to hear his doctrinal theories!   That's what we do when we are bored in the CCM, just talk more scripture talk.   But I truly love the scriptures!   They make me very happy, and am sad I didn't realize how great they really were until now. 

So, some more bad news....  We are definitely NOT allowed to call home for Christmas or from the airport, but maybe from the mission home when we get to Ecuador.  I am not sure,  but either way, it's all good, I guess.  These are the rules of the CCM and I have to abide by them, especially now that I need the blessings with the language!   ha-ha.  

The natives here are funny.   This elder in my district - Elder Assante - has a Latino companion that likes to learn English phrases.  So he writes what he wants down in Spanish for Elder Assante to translate for him.  And the other day,  he brought over a piece of paper and asked him to translate it word for word,  and the translation was: "Are you a missionary, or what thing are you?"   And Elder Assante was like, "Do you want me to correct any of it, or change it?"  And he said "No",  so Elder Assante was like,  "Okay,  here you go."  And the Latino elder ran down the hall and kept asking, "Are you a missionary, or what thing are you?"  ha-ha.  It was SOOOOO funny!!!!  

We get like an hour to e-mail here in the CCM, so it's much better when e-mailing you!   Well,  I am going to send you guys some pictures in a different e-mail.  I hope you like them!  I hope all of you are doing well.  I am very happy - the happiest I have ever been!  I love being on a mission and I wish all of you guys could experience this!  Peru is awesome!  The people are awesome, and the culture is amazing!  I am truly blessed!!!  I love you guys and I will e-mail you next week.  I think my p-day will be on Wednesday!   Otra vez... please pray for the Hermanas still in Provo that they get their VISAS!!!  THANK YOU SO MUCH! 

I love you guys more!!!!
-HERMANA FLORES

Jaimee's latest email.

Dear Family,

Where to begin!!!  Well the CCM is very different here.  Because it is so small, they run this place like a boot camp, and I'm not even kidding!   ha-ha.  They are VERY strict with rules, and once a week, on Monday, they make us do this person training class with the Chuck Norris of Peru!!!! That's what everyone calls him!  My friend from Provo, Hermana Demke, was working out hard and then got dizzy, so she stopped for a second and he yelled at her, and I started laughing, and then he made us run laps around the futbol field! (soccer field)  Then we were talking while we were running laps and he made us start running in opposite directions of each other!!!  He is crazy!!!! 

Well, I have found out that we are NOT ALLOWED to call our families on Christmas or from the airport to Ecuador.  I don't know why, but that's just the rules.  (Lame, I know.)   As for sending packages, Mom, its okay, just hold off until January.  I know you can do it!  And in January, please send me some potato chips and candy!   ha-ha.  I have lost probably close to 10 pounds.  None of my skirts fit me anymore.   Which brings me to your next question...the food.  The food here is good, but every day it's just meat and rice, meat and rice, meat and rice. They serve cuy...guinea pig.  I haven't tried it yet, but the other day they served pescado, (fish), and oh my goodness, was it amazing!!!!

They put up Christmas lights here that are pretty cool, but they play music when they are on, and they are always off beat with each other so it's annoying.  The rooms here are really nice and so are the bathrooms.  And yes we can drink the water.  All of it in the CCM is filtered!!!  I still room with Hermana Reid, but we both have Latino companions, but we are district companions in a threesome with Hermana Demke.  My district is not as cool as my old one.  We don't talk much, and aren't very close, so that's a struggle.   But every day we get to know each other a little more.  I miss the Provo MTC very much.  I feel like I don't feel the spirit here like I did there.  I miss the teachers in Provo and their excitement.  They would share their testimonies with us everyday in Provo, and here,  I haven't heard any of the teachers testimonies.  It sucks.  The language is coming, but is still a constant struggle.   My companion speaks VERY LITTLE English as EVERYBODY here!  The teachers don't even speak English except a little bit.  It's hard here, but I know that this is where I am supposed to be, and I know that it is NOT supposed to be easy.  It was not easy for the Lord.  I do have my weaknesses, and sometimes I ask "why"?   But then I remember the Lord in Luke 22 also asked,  "If though be willing, let this cup pass from me...", never the less, he went through with the atonement and what a great blessing that is for us to be able to have that sacrifice! 

We don't have any general authorities come here.  In fact, the only devotional we have had was our CCM president, chastising people about certain sins!!!!!!!!   It was sooo awkward!  He is a very stern guy!  I'm pretty sure he was in the Navy.  He is very unapproachable. 

We have the American Consult in Peru coming on Thursday and the mission president and his wife want everybody to sing "Come, Come Ye Saints" in English.  Not a problem for us North Americans, but ha-ha-ha, you should hear the Latinos trying to sing!!!  Everybody here thinks that I am Latino too.  The mission president's wife the other day started spitting out Spanish to me!   I was like...uhhh I'm not a Latino!!   It's kind of our joke to see how many people ask me that.  And then one day somebody asked me if I was from France because of my accent!!   It's crazy!!!!  

The gym time here is different too.  All their stuff is super old and they don't have a gym, except they got a new fútbol field, but the guys always take over it.  I always play fuzball on a fuzball table with my Latino companions.  It's pretty fun, oh except on Mondays when I have Chuck Norris work outs!!!! 

The weather here is awesome!  It's like always in the 70s and it's amazing!   So how is everybody in Utah?  Anything new and exciting?   How is the Festival of Trees going?   Did Katie Clegg have her baby???   Tell me everything!!!!!!   And Mom, the dearelders taking so long to get to me are okay.  Just getting an e-mail from you once a week is awesome!   But I am excited to hear about Sadie's patriarchal blessing.  Make sure she knows I fasted for her as well !!!!!   And Mom, when you fast again, will you please fast for Hermanas Morlock and Nielsen, that they can get their travel VISAS.   We have all been praying really hard, and they are really wanting to come over to Peru!!!! 

We get to go to the temple today and go shopping in some of the stores around the temple. I keep a list in my journal every week about stuff that I  want to write to you that is cool, or important so you won't miss anything.   So I'll be sure to put that experience in there!!!   And yes, Mom,  I am still writing in my journal, and I have learned to love it!!!  

Relief Society here on Sundays is awesome because we get to do it in English!!!!!  ha-ha.  Aside from that though, EVERYTHING is in Spanish.  It's exhausting and I get really frustrated, pero I know that I am learning a little more everyday!!!!  ha-ha.  Do you want to know what's weird here?  We are NOT supposed to flush the toilet paper!!!!!!!   It's sooo gross!   ha-ha.   I still do though.  lol   I just flush it a little bit at a time, for like 4 times!!!  eeewwwwwwww!   lol.  Oh, and Mom, they asked us to tell our parents and families to stop sending dearelders and letters to us at the Peru MTC 3 weeks before we leave for Ecuador.   Just start sending them to Ecuador in the middle of December!!!!  

My watch still doesn't work, but I am going to go get a battery for it today, if I can find a store.  lol.   I am kind of nervous about going to the temple.  It is all in Spanish.  ha-ha.   I hope they are patient with me.  Oh, and no Mom, Dad is wrong.  We do not get nap time (siesta) everyday...  I WISH!  It would be nice to take a nap everyday. 

It sucks having to teach with a fluent Spanish speaking Latino companion because they just take over the conversation, then I get lost because they talk soooo fast!   aaahhhhh!   Please, please, please, pray for me always and especially with me receiving the gift of tongues right now!!!!  I am definitely going to be studying my Spanish a lot more, which sucks because I am studying Spanish in my personal study time and I feel like I don't have anytime to study the doctrine anymore and get that spiritual uplift that I need everyday.  Yesterday, I broke down and quit studying the language and pulled my "Preach My Gospel" out and my scriptures, (in English), and just studied the atonement for like 1.5 hours!!   I LOVED IT!!!   But I can't do that everyday here, or at least, I don't feel like I can.   I am still confused a lot with how I should be studying.  In class, they don't really teach us how to teach with the Spirit like they do at the MTC in Provo. In Provo, they really stressed teaching the people, not the lessons, and here I feel like it's just the opposite.  idk.  I miss having the Spirit with me everyday.  I think that is why I am so down all the time.  But I know that I just need to be patient. 

We are only allowed to take pictures on p-days here, and today is my first p-day, so I will be sending pictures via e-mail next week!   But I can only take pictures outside.  It is forbidden to take pictures inside of the buildings or rooms in the Peru CCM,  and if we do, they take our cameras from us.  So you won't be getting any cools pictures of my room or anything.  But I still have some fun and cool pictures to send you from the Provo MTC.  I took tons of pictures of everything there so you could take a virtual tour of my life in Provo!!!   ha-ha.   Well my time is running out.  I love you all very much and think about you everyday!!!  You are always in my prayers.  Please keep me updated on your lives and what not, and I  will do the same!!!   Can't wait for next week to hear from you!!!   Oh, Dad, how is your job going?????   Anyways, I love you and miss you more!

LOVE,
- HERMANA FLORES!