The Power of the Priesthood

  So last night I was pretty darn sick. Puking, chills, headache, the whole shibang! Not fun.  Especially when you're in a foreign country. The sweet family I live with was so worried about me and were going to take me to the hospital (which makes me nervous for some reason). They were trying to diagnos me with all the things I might have while I was trying to explain to them that I would be fine, I just needed some water and some Sprite and I'd get over it. On the inside though, I was freaking out! I hadn't felt this sick in quite some time. I was starting to wonder if their diagnosis might be true. I was kinda a wreck... Then the thought came to me, "I want a priesthood blessing."

  Well, the family I live with aren't members and I go to church in a different ward on the other side of town. I didn't even know who I could contact to help me. Then I remembered I had gone with the sister missionaries in this area earlier this week and I had their number! So, I called them and they sent the mission secretary over to give me a blessing. Now I didn't know this man at all, but as soon as he came through the door I felt a special spirit enter the room. As he finished the blessing I immediately felt at peace. My body still hurt, but my mind was put at ease. 

  I can't help but be in awe at the power of the priesthood. I'm so thankful for the opportunity I've had to grow up in a home with the priesthood. I've had countless blessings for different things, and I'm always amazed at the spirit the priesthood brings. I love that I can be miles and miles away from home, and there's still someone with the priesthood that can help me out. I'm so thankful for good men all over the world who honor their priesthood. 

  I was able to get some good sleep last night and felt well enough to go to sacrament meeting today. The power of the priesthood is real people! I'm so blessed to have it in my life. 

Angles Among Us

Sometimes it's strange when it hits us. The other morning as I was doing some exercises the song "Angels Among Us" came to my head. These are the exact words to the feelings I've been having about so many of the people down here. 

"Oh I believe there, are angels among us

 Sent down to us from somewhere up above

 They come to you and me, in our darkest hour 

 To show us how to live, to teach us how to give

 To guide us with the light of love"  

I've come in contact with so many angels while I've been down here. Some I see everyday, while others I didnt even learn their name. 

On my second Sunday here I got out of church late. I had stayed around to go to a YSA meeting about an upcoming party. With my limited Spanish I managed to get roped into going on a date to this party (what?! Who does that?) with a guy I didn't even know, and wasn't quite sure how to get myself out of it... I had just spent the last few days in practically utter confusion as I was with people who spoke no English, I was hungry, and I just wanted to get back to my house. I was a wee bit frazzled. Well, when I finally got out of the church building it was dark. I knew a cab would cost quite a bit, but I don't want to get dropped off at a bus stop and have to walk in the dark to my house. So here I was, trying to catch a cab on Cusco's busiest street, and I couldn't get a single "registered" cab to stop. I was about in tears when two Peruvian girls about my age approaches me and asked me if they could help me. I told them where I needed to go and they helped me find the bus that went right to my house! No cab fare, and I now knew the best bus to and from church. Angels. 

Through Maximo Nivel (the volunteer organization) I was able to sign up with a naive speaking companion. It was random, but the fit could not have been more perfect! Suelem and I meet up almost every afternoon and talk and walk and she helps me learn Spanish, I help her with English (sometimes...) and we discover a new part of Cusco local style :) She's graduated from college and she's a doctor here at the regional hospital. She's super smart, patient, outgoing, and my best friend in Cusco. I love her! 

This last weekend she invited me to her house for her mom's big birthday party and I stayed the night and everything. She's had me over to her home multiple times and I just love being with her and her family. She's most definitely been an angel to me. 

On my way down here I was in tears over  problems with flights and connection. It was such a headache. I was already kind of dreading the flight home when I got an email saying my itinerary had been changed from 22 hours of total travel time to 28 hours of total travel time. Exactly what I wanted! Anyways, they sent me this new itinerary, but when I logged in with my flight reservation number it still have me my old itinerary. So, I made a phone call and the sweet lady on the other line got me flight itinerary switched to about 15 hours of total travel time. Huge hug to her for getting it all switched for me, and high five to me for being brave enough to make a phone call :) Another incident that might seem kind of minor to you, but that lady on the phone was an angel to me. 

Every morning when I show up to preschool this beautiful lady is there. 

Flor is one of the most Christlike people I've ever met. She works at the preschool every morning where she get paid like crap. She goes directly from there to a girls home for girls whose parents either don't want them or are in jail. She works there until 11 pm at night, wakes up and does it all over again! Her only day off is Sunday, and the last two she's spent the afternoons with me teaching me how to make some Peruvian food. Not only is she an angel to me, the kids at the preschool, and the girls at the home, but her family has started a tradition where they give Christmas to a small town in the high Andes. This year they are taking Christmas to a town called Chupani. They take enough clothes for every person in the town to pick a shirt, hoodie, and pants, a bag for each child filled with animal crackers, popcorn, candies, and a toy, all the stuff to make a big pot of hot chocolate, and a special Christmas bread to serve with it. Some members of my family were generous enough to send me some money to give to their cause. When I told her, she almost started to cry and we went on a little shopping spree to buy some of the things they needed. What an awesome experience! I just wish I was going to be able to be here to take Christmas to Chupani. She truly is an angel and is making a difference in a whole lot more lives than mine. I love this lady. 

There are countless other angels I've encountered only trip here: other volunteers, the family I live with, the Gavancho's, Hermana Rasmussen, the people that work at Maximo and so many more! 

Not only do I have these amazing people in my life here, but there are so many at home as well. My friends, my family, random people I've come in contact with--all showing me how to live, teaching me how to give, and giving me much more love than I deserve. 

Take the Tour, People!

Last Friday they didn't have preschool, so I decided it was time to buy my 10 day ticket to see the rest of the ruins in the area. Boy was it a busy 10 days! I decided I needed to do it as cheap as possible, so public transportation it was! I asked a friend that lives here where the bus terminals were to the different places I wanted to visit, and I was on my way! 

My first visit was to Ollantaytambo. I had driven through this cute town on the way to Machu Pichu and was so excited to go back! You can see the ruins as you drive into town, and they are stunning! I ended up taking a tour from one of the guides there, and I'm SO glad I did!! I learned so much! (I even opted to take the tour in Spanish...whoop whoop!) I loved my tour guide too, Yulissa. Some of the things I found most interesting were:

There are PRE-Incan ruins there. 

One section of the town Ollantaytambo, where people actually live, still has the same streets that the Incans had (no cars!) and the bottom half of all the houses are still the original Incan stone while the top half is colonial. 

The rocks for the Sun temple are gigantic! They were also transported onto the top of this hill from a quarry on the other side of the valley. It must have taken forever!

They stored a lot of food there in these buildings that had ventilation to keep the vegetables fresh for a long time. 

They had multiple ways to tell the time of the year. 

It was an AWESOME day! 

The next week on Tuesday I went to Pisac to see the ruins there. I had a guide of sorts...an older man I met on my way back from Ollantaytambo the weekend before. (I'm aware it probably wasn't that great of an idea, but I'm still alive) we walked up to the ruins, and boy was it a hike! The ruins were beautiful. Pisac was beautiful. Ernesto was pretty interesting. I didn't learn a ton about the ruins though...bummer deal. But, here's some photos! 

Wednesday afternoon I finally visited Quoricancha. I walk by it everyday and I finally went inside! It's beautiful! It was the Incans' most important temple, here in their capital Cusco. When the spaniards came they turned it into a monestary and built on dormitory and school rooms. 

Thursday after preschool I hopped on a bus to get me as close as I could to my next destination: Tipon. I just got dropped off on the side of the road and had to walk about an hour til I got to the ruins.  I walked through the actual town Tipon and got to see some pretty farm land. The ruins were beautiful! Once again, no tour, so I didn't learn much, but look at this water system!

I also walked a ways along this canal that is still used. 

Finally, I got to walk over a kilometer on original Inca Trail! So awesome. It was actually kind of a spiritual experience, just me, out in the country, on an Incan trail. I loved it! 

Friday afternoon I finally went up in the Pachacutec Monument. I pass this four times a day coming and going to different places and I'm still in awe at how big it is. I'm quite fond of it. I went around sunset so I could see the view of Cusco in the day and night. Both were great! 

Here's some cool facts about my friend Pachacutec. 

He was the Incan ruler that basically built the empire. 

He lived to be 125 years old and was made ruler when he was 23. That's 22 years of being king! 

He was the mastermind behind Machu Pichu. 

I finished off my ticket on Saturday by visiting Moray and Maras. I went with a tour agency this time. I figure my guardian angels are pretty worn out after all my journeys and slightly dumb decisions down here, haha. Once again, so glad I took the tour! I learned so much! 

Moray was an experimental growing facility. Because the Incan empire varied so much in climate zones (desert, high altitude, and jungle) they designed these circular terraces to be able to imitate each climate in one place. The farther down you go in each terrace, the warmer it gets. The stones heat up and give each terrace a slightly different climate. There were three different circular terraces, but this one is the only one that is being up kept. 

Then we went to the salt mines of Maras. These are actually pre-Incan. There's a place where salt water comes out of the ground and they irrigate it to all of these little reservoirs. When a reservoir has sufficient water they dam it off and wait for the sun to evaporate the water and then they harvest the salt. Today each reservoir is individually owned and the families come and work on the reservoir and harvest the salt and sell it. There were multiple families there working on Saturday. 

I continue to be amazed at the things I'm learning and doing down here. I'm so blessed to have this opportunity to live in this city and not only see the things I do, but be surrounded by and learn from amazing people everyday. 

The Cemetery

  Kinda weird, but one of my highlights this week was taking the kids to the cemetery. 

  November 1st was Dia de los Santos and so this past week we learned about why the kids and their families were celebrating the lives of their loved ones who have passed away. So, on Wednesday all the kids brought flowers and we headed up to a cemetery nearby. I wasn't expecting it to be like the Cokeville Cemetery, but I definitely wasn't expecting this! There was garbage everywhere. Our intention in going was to clean up a few graves and place the flowers on them. We didn't have to go very far to find three abandoned babies' graves. So, we cleaned up the trash (2 bags FULL) and places the flowers in the graves. It was about the closest I've been to tears during my time here--seeing a cemetery in this condition.  I know it's weird, but I guess I just have a special place in my heart for cemeteries. 

  Anyways, the kids loved the time outside and the day was beautiful! After the graves were all cleaned up the kids said a prayer for the babies and it was so sweet. I sure do love these little kids! 

Peru Hop

This past week I was able to go on quite the trip and saw some more of Peru. I'm just going to highlight each place we went to real quick! 

CAÑÓN COLCA 

We saw Condors. They are birds with a wing span of six feet. They are also similar to humans in that they stay with one partner their whole life and only have one or two children. They're almost extinct and are protected here in Peru. We were lucky to see them. 

AREQUIPA

We were only here for a night, but it was beautiful! 

NAZCA

The Nazca Lines. I only got to see two from a tower, but here they are! 

The Tree. 

The Hands. 

HUACACHINA

We had SO much fun on te dune buggies and sand boarding!!

It was steeper than it looks people!

I love this girl!!

PARACAS

We mainly just relaxed here in Paracas and enjoyed some down time. We went out on a boat tour and saw the Islas Ballestas. They were pretty cool!

So many sea lions! 

And there were PENGUINS!! What?!

LIMA

The main reason for y trip was to end in Lima and go to the temple. I went Saturday morning and it was lovely. 

We also went to the beach near Miraflores. It was actually quite beautiful! It's just a rock beach, but I thought it was nice. 

The best part of the whole trip though was traveling with Bianca. 

She's from Australia, she's a teacher, and she's awesome! I love her! We were no more than five feet from each other te whole nine days and we never even got sick of each other. (Or at least I never got sick of her! Haha) Saying goodbye was hard, but I guess now I have a good excuse to go to Australia :) 

The Trek

So, I didn't just magically appear at Machu Picchu. I actually went on a 3 day trek that was the bomb! It was called the Inca Jungle Trek. Anyways, we took a bus to a very high altitude (14,160 feet) called Abra Malaga. 

A view from the bus. 

At this point everyone I our group hopped on bikes and we basically coasted down a steep, windy canyon for about 3 hours. So. Much. Fun! 

The group :)

Ayla and I at Mirador Carrizales. 

After we got off the bikes we had a delicious lunch and headed to the Urubamba River for a dang fun rafting trip. The rafting was about an hour. We had awesome guides, the weather was great, and the rapids were good. When we got done with the rapids we hiked up into the mountains outside Santa Maria where we stayed the night with an Incan family. 

All of us eating some dinner. 

The next day we headed out for a day of hiking. I loved it! We even got to hike a little on the Incan trail! 

McKenna, Leeza, and I on the Incan trail with our Incan warrior paint haha. 

Enjoying the views at one of the Incan messenger stops. 

Walking the suspension bridge. 

To finish off the day we enjoyed some hot springs just outside of Santa Teresa. They were very nice! It was kind of like Lava Hot Springs. 

McKenna, Elena, and I enjoying the springs. 

Friday morning we got to go zip lining! It was pretty darn fun. It only had five cables, but they were pretty long. 

The we got to finish off with this bridge! 

After the zip lining we headed out to do some more walking. This day was all fairly flat, but we walked quite a bit. 

Walking the tracks with Machu Picchu mountain in the background. We were so close! 

We finally arrived in Aguas Calientes where we enjoyed warm showers and some dinner. 

Luckily these legs aren't mine! The Mosquitos were pretty ruthless though. 

Chillin with Pachacutec. 

The next morning we headed up to Machu Picchu. 

This was a pretty watered down version of the trek, but let me tell ya, it was awesome! I had a great group and I was able to meet some amazing people. The weather was the best! We really lucked out. Our guide was awesome as well and he taught us so much about the Incans, the plants in the area, the people that live there now, and more. I couldn't have asked for a better trip! 

Sometimes dreams DO come true :)

  Around the age of 12 I found out what Machu Picchu was. Ever since then, it's been my dream to see it. Well, yesterday it happened!! 

  I woke up at 4:00 am to get ready to start trekking up the mountain from the town we were staying in, Aguas Calientes. We left the hostel at 4:30 and I arrived at the entrance gate at 5:45. The whole hike I felt like a kid on Christmas morning. I couldn't believe it was actually happening!! I was so close to Machu Picchu. So close to fufiling my dream! 

  When I was finally admitted into the ancient citadel, I was speechless. I mean, look at this view! 

I love how the clouds are just above the ruins. Breathtaking. 

I was able to take a tour of the city and learn a bunch of awesome things about the Incans and the city. I LOVE all of the history I have been able to learn. After the tour we were free to explore the city on our own. And explore I did! I'm pretty sure I went in about every room!! I just couldn't stop! 

This was a rock in the main square. Each point was exactly on with the compass (thus the phone...)

They used those three windows to tell the time of the year based on where the sun shone determined the solstice and the equinoxes. 

Ceremonial rock 

Entrance to the city. 

I was also had one of 400 tickets that day to hike Waynu Pichu Mountain. It was incredible! The hike up is steep and fairly rugged, but not too long. And the view? Absolutely amazing! 

(Waynu Picchu is the bigger mountain there in the background)

I was also able to make the short walk to see the Inca Bridge. The wood is no longer original, but the trail is. 

Right before I had to leave the city I basically ran up to the Sun Temple. It was cool to get that view of the city as well. 

When it came time for me I say goodbye to Machu Picchu I literally almost cried. I was not expecting to feel that way, but I was so sad my experience was ending. Luckily I have a million pictures, and the experiences in my mind. What an amazing day. 

My last look at Machu Picchu. Thanks for being everything I imagined and more!