So we were assigned to work for 80 days as interns for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. After our 80 days, we took some time to see some cool places and spend time with the friends we had made. My last week is one that I will cherish forever. We saw the largest salt flats in the world, went to the first capital, visited a mine and went to a touristic site with the family we lived with.
Something I learned is that there is so much more to this world than what is directly surrounding me. We live in such a beautiful world with such beautiful people. I am so grateful for the people I have come to know and the great lessons they have taught me. I am excited for their futures and mine and to see what amazing things lie for each of us. The adventures I had my last week can best be told through pictures. So, I'll attach all of my favorites.
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This week has been great! On Saturday, we went to a wedding with the family that we live with. Sunday, we were able to attend two different devotionals for two stakes. In one of the stakes, we had a lot of people come. It took a while, but all of the stakes are now going to have Self-Reliance classes going on. something that we have struggled with a little bit is trying to get information from our gerente. We feel a little alone here and he hasn't given us much to work on. Yesterday, we talked to a specialist from sacaba and she told us that she is starting to get frustrated with her calling because the gerente doesn't help her know what she needs to work on and how to train. She doesn't feel prepared. She feels like she ends up going onto the church website to just figure things out on her own. We have kind of felt the same way here. I think, though, that because of that, we have learned so much more and come to be more self-reliant in our internship.
We haven't been able to do too many cultural things this week. We have just spent a lot of time with the youth here. We went to an institute party, we had the wedding and we go out to get food with friends. We are really having a great time. I will be sad to go, but I am also really excited to get back to my life and my family and friends. This week was a slow one. As for work, we went to English Connect on Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday. Last Sunday, we had nothing planned (which was totally new for us). We talked to the Bishop and we are planning a devotional for the ward we attend. This Sunday is going to be a crazy one. There are 3 stakes that are planning devotionals. We are still trying to figure out how we can be present in all of them. We feel very good about what has happened since we have come to Bolivia. Right now, we are working less hours. However, we put in a lot more hours in the beginning and we have been able to help all of the stakes start at least one new class. If we had more time here, I would like to work more on brainstorming with the stakes on how to get more members in attendance and how to help all of the priesthood leaders understand the importance of Self-Reliance. I think we’ve got a good start, but I see why this is a job for our managers. It requires constant follow-up and brainstorming. We are planning on spending the rest of our time following up with the specialists and motivating them to continue working hard with their wards and committees.
As for culture, this week, we went to a party for one of the stakes. We danced from 8pm-12am. When I first got here, I didn’t like the way that they danced and did their parties. Now, I love the parties. I am learning a lot of the dances. Something that we are struggling with is continuing to meet with specialists. I think it is because they feel as though they have already given us their time and they have busy schedules. We are hoping to be able to visit all of the specialists before we leave to share with them the importance of continuing to move forward and motivate their stakes and wards. Our time is running short, but I think so far, a difference has been made. I feel like all of my titles have something to do with a party, because REALLY I love the parties!! I am learning a lot. People party differently here, but I lOVE IT! This past week, we celebrated the 4th of July just how we would in the United States! In the morning, we went the "La Cancha" (one of the largest markets in South America). We looked for food and fireworks for our party. The Cancha is huge and there are TONS of people. It's known to be a little dangerous as well. When I go, I don't bring my watch and I always keep my bag right in front of me. We also haven't been alone. We bought fireworks there becase they are so cheap. For about US $20, we got 12 large fireworks (the kind that are probably illegal in the United States). They also gave us sparklers and other small fireworks. Once we got home, the rest of the day was spent cooking. We made Potato Salad and Hamburgers. The party turned out amazing. Probably one of the best 4th of July's that I have ever had. All of our good friends were there, the food was good and the fireworks were so beautiful.
The next Monday, we went to a little hill on the outskirts of Quillacollo where there were little old houses made out of mud and straw. I wish I could tell you the history of it all, but one of our friends took us in his car and we ended up just walking around. It was really pretty though. On Tuesday, we went with two friends to a higher point in the city where you could see everything. We went to the end of one of the bus routes where the beer factory was. One of my friends and I found a train that went up higher into the mountain and we were able to go up with the car. It was a beautiful view. Tonight, there is a party in one of the stakes. I love the parties and I am really excited to go and dance! As for work, this week I have been thinking a lot about the impact we have made on Cochabamba. I know that it is not possible to change the fate of every stake and their participation in Self-Reliance, but I do believe that we have made a difference. Right now, we are seeing the results of that. On the week days, we haven't been too busy, but on the weekends, we are on the run. This weekend we had a meeting with the area seventy, Elder Pozo. We shared with him the progress that has been made and all of the great things we have been saying. We also shared how we think things can improve. It seems like many people feel like they have never been invited to participate in the Self-Reliance courses. I think one of the last things we can do is try to figure out how to fix that. I definitely believe that it starts with the leaders of the church. Since we have started, we have helped 5/7 stakes start up Self-Reliance courses where they did not exist before. We have been able to help all of the stakes to offer more stakes and brainstorm ways to strengthen this initiative in their own areas. This is truly a beautiful work. I know that God loves us and that he wants us to be happy. I know that we can be truly happy if we are taking care of ourselves and striving to serve others just as the Savior did. This week was great! We got back from the convention and got ourselves ready to start again with work, school and fun. We have been struggling with things to do lately and so, we set up a phone call with our manager to brainstorm new projects that we can work on. As of right now, we are working on really getting all of the stakes started with Self-Reliance courses and English Connect. There are three stakes that need to get started and, as of right now, they all have plans to start. This Sunday, we met with one of the committees and made real plans to get moving with courses. The other two stakes have plans. The hard thing, though, is following through with the plans. We really struggle with communication between us and the stakes. A lot of them don't respond to us or forget about the meetings we had set. We are really working hard to maintain communication with the leaders.
Besides that, there isn't much else. I had a phone call with one of the other interns in Ecuador and they are struggling with the same thing. We are planning to call them this week so that we can brainstorm things together. We all have a grand desire to help and serve the people in our areas but, we are not being given many opportunities to do so. I know that we are very capable of making a difference and so, hopefully, with the help of the other interns, we can come up with some new ideas to present to our managers. Besides work, we have been visiting a lot of cool places with the other youth in the area. This week, we went on a hike that led to a waterfall. The hike was called Apote. We went with 6 other single adults from the area. It was really fun and very beautiful. At the end of it all, I walked over to the river to clean off my shoes so that I wouldn't get my friends car all dirty and he came up behind me and pulled me into the water. I tried to fight back but, I ended up in the water again. I was completely wet the whole day. On Friday, I went to a wedding with some friends. I didn't know the couple and so I tried to lay low. There was lots of food and dancing. They had a live band come to play and everyone danced. I am getting better at the dances but I still look dumb. At the end, the bride went to throw the bouquet. The other girls told me to come catch the bouquet with them but I didn't want to. I felt bad because I didn't know the bride nor many of the other girls. Either way, they pulled me up. I decided that I would stand towards the back and avoid the bouquet. When she threw it, I saw it coming in my direction so I ducked and ran. I don't know how, but I ended up with the bouquet. I think it's fun that the same tradition exists in the United States and Bolivia. This week was really great! I have been getting to know more people and learning so much more about the culture. I am going to be really sad when it is time to go. This week was a really good one for me. I got to reflect a lot on who I am and the kind of decisions I am. I made a lot more friends. I learned how to dance. I got to visit a really cool new place. I got more practice training and teaching. This week, was the Young Single Adult Convention. We had asked for permission about a month ago and still hadn't heard anything. We really wanted to go because a big part of our internship had been leading up to this event. We were going to train groups of 50-70 young adults on the importance of Self-Reliance. Aside from that, this was an opportunity for us to make more friends and immerse ourselves more in the culture. However, getting permission was a little complicated because of where the convention was being held. Long story short, we ended up receiving the permission that we had been waiting for and we were able to go. The convention was hands down the highlight of this week. We got to know a new area of Bolivia, we ate new food, we met new people, learned to dance and got to share how much we love the Self-Reliance initiative with other youth our age. Thankfully, the weeks leading up to the convention, we had been preparing just in case. Aside from work, I had a lot of fun at the convention. There were 2 dances and I got to dance a lot. When I first got here, I hated the dances. HATED. People here dance a lot different than I am used to dancing. It's kind of funny because, at home, I have no shame dancing (flailing my body around to the music). Whether people are laughing with me or at me, we're all having a good time. Here, I get the weirdest stares. I've had a couple of people tell me to stop because I was doing it all wrong. ouch. About a week ago, we had some friends come over and one of them was so patient with me. He slowly taught me how to do a lot of the dances and never once judged me. This made the convention so much more fun! I still only like dancing with people who are patient with me and know what they're doing but, I am not as embarrassed because I know a little more. It's really fun! Something funny that happened this week: At the dance in the convention, one of the boys asked me to dance. He was really good at dancing and BEYOND patient with me. It made it so fun. (I've danced with other boys who just side step and stare at me as I stand there doing nothing-not fun). Well, I am really oblivious and it takes me a lot to pick up on hints... Anyway, this boy asked me like three times if I was tired. Every time he asked, I looked at him and said no. I was so confused why he kept asking me if I was tired. If I was tired, I'd say something. After about 45 min. of dancing, there was a break in the music. We all went to get water. He looked at me and said he had to go to the bathroom and that he'd be right back.... HE. NEVER. CAME. BACK. Definitely not one of my best moments. Oh well hahaha. Overall, this week was so fun! I am really grateful to be here. I reflect on all of the events that led up to this trip and I am really grateful for Heavenly Fathers hand in my life. I know his hand is in my life because there have been so many tender mercies relating to this experience that I cannot count. I know God loves me. I am thankful to be his daughter. This last week was great. We had more of a routine schedule and worked on small things like: filling out a questionaire, planning a training that we will hold on Sunday and going to English Connect and other activities. The highlights of this week have probably been: Making sopa de mani and pique macho, playing volleyball with some members in Sacaba and going to the movie theaters. Overall, this week has been pretty laid back but, still fun.
On wednesday, we made food with some of the members. Hermana Nilda taught us how to make Sopa de Mani and Pique Macho. We wrote down all of the ingredients and, at the end, we are going to make a recipe book that we can take home. That was fun. It also reminded me of my mission because sometimes we would cook and eat with members but, I always felt guilty if we stayed too long. This time, we could do whatever we wanted and stay as long as we wanted. We also spent some time talking to her son who was born in Virginia and speaks perfect english. I am excited to come home and try making the dish for myself. After making food, we went to the stake center in Sacaba and played games with all of the HEFY kids that are in Bolivia this week. That was fun! I met a cute girl who knows a lot of my friends from Vegas. It was fun to spend some time and talk to her. We also got to play some games with the members. It seemed like they were really excited that a bunch of American teenagers were visiting them. One day this week we went with hermana Janeth to play volleyball with her friends. That was super fun because we played in a building where the court was surrounded by walls and the ball was allowed to bounce off the wall. I'm not very good at volleyball but, it was still fun. Other than that, our week has been pretty calm. Today, we went to renew our visas. It wasn't very hard. We just walked over to immigrations, gave them a photocopy of our passport and visa and they stamped our passports again. We just have to return on the 10th of July to renew it again. As for work, we have been working of some questionaires to try and figure out more about some of the self-reliance courses and see what the members understand. We are also planning for some meetings coming up on Sunday. We have to give a training to all of the stakes in Cochabamba about our purpose here and how we can help and support them in their callings. After that, we have a meeting to talk about the YSA convention that we hope to go to. We want to plan games so that it will be fun. Later on, at night, we are speaking for about 5 minutes during the institute fireside because we are going to open 4 Self-reliance courses for young adults. I am really excited about this because I think that self-reliance can help young people so much. I have been affected a lot by these principles and I want to share it with others. I am really excited for this next week and I hope that we get to participate in some exciting things and make even more friends while we are here. On Friday, we went to the cemetery. It was definitely an experience not to be forgotten. I had to write a homework assignment about our experience. This is what I wrote:
On Friday, May 31, we went to the main cemetery in Cochabamba, Bolivia. We got a little lost on the way but, once we got there, we were excited to see that the experience at a Bolivian Cemetery is very different than in the United States. The main differences that we noticed were: most of the bodies are not buried in the earth rather, they are put in a slot above the ground, many people leave photos and trinkets to better remember that person and who they were, people left cards that played fur elise. The main similarities were: flowers were left at the sites and some people were buried in the ground. Overall, the experience was one for the books. Before even making it to the entrance of the cemetery, I looked at Silke and said, ‘I think that's it!’. She said, ‘no that can't be it because that just looks like a bunch of tiny houses’. We got closer to the entrance and it was the cemetery. We walked in and the first thing we noticed were tiny houses were families of dead people laid. Each little house was different. They varied in color, size, shape, etc. We even saw one that was in the shape of a rocket. Some of the houses were even empty. They were built by living families so that, when they die, their little houses will be ready for their bodies. It seemed as if these houses were built for the wealthier. Those who may have not had as much money in their lifetime were slid into individual slots found in a wall. The cemetery probably had 100’s of these walls. They were about 5 people high and 20 people wide. Each slot was about 3 feet wide and 3 feet tall. The boxes went about 7 or 8 feet deep to be able to slide in a casket. It looked as if, after the casket was slid into the hole, a concrete lid was sealed into place and an inch ledge was left so that families could place photos, flowers, trinkets, etc. Many people left cards that played fur elise in the background and, when they started to run out of battery, the song became slow and creepy sounding. These walls were the main form of burial in the cemetery and it seemed as if about 90% of the bodies were buried above the ground. Aside from the differences found in this cemetery, there were still some similarities. The biggest similarity is that most of the graves had flowers that were brought from family members. This is a common tradition in the United States as well. Flowers are left by the sight as a sign of respect, love and remorse. Many sites even had fresh flowers that hadn’t been sitting there for too long. The other similarity was that there were still some people who were buried in the ground. However, only a few of the sites were in the ground. After having talked to a resident of Cochabamba, it sounded like there was another cemetery in the city where the majority of the sites were in the ground and were covered in grass. She didn't know why they were different. Overall, our experience at the cemetery was a neat one. We learned a lot and saw things that we hadn't seen before. I saw a cemetery on my mission in Peru but, I wasn't able to spend as much time and observe as much as I had observed on this visit. It was kind of fun, kind of creepy. To add to the part about the cards playing fur elise, Silke goes, 'could you imagine walking through this cemetery in the middle of the night and you hear the sound of fur elise dying in the background'. So scary. Silke dared me to climb into one of the slots. So I did. Other than the cemetery, there hasn't been much more to share. We are visiting all of the stakes and helping our with their Comitees. A few of the stakes who had nothing before are now working towards a plan where they can start the courses. We know all of the stakes except 3 now. Cochabamba is really big. Everyone is really nice and making our job super easy. There are a few stakes that feel like doing self-reliance is a lost cause. Nonetheless, we will continue working hard to help everyone in every stake. We finally got to go to the Cristo statue. We met some friends at the Institute dance and they invited us to go hiking with them. We took a "trufi" to the church where we all met and walked to the base of the mountain. We, then, took a taxi to the top and took some pictures. We paid 2 bolivianos to climb up into the Cristo statue and look out all the holes to see the view of the city. It was beautiful. This Cristo statue is the tallest in the world. Who knew? We walked down the stairs to get back down. It was really fun and a good start to our trip. I really want to make a lot of friends here.
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EmilyHi! I am a student at BYU and I am studying Spanish with minors in Global Business and Latin American Studies. I am doing an internship in Cochabamba, Bolivia with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and their Welfare and Self-Reliance initiatives. Archives
August 2019
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