Milkshakes and Milagros! June 29, 2026

¡Buenos Días Hermanas y Hermanos y Elderes! 

I hope you enjoy my novel. I need to tell you so much. 

If I learned anything this week, it's that Heavenly Father doesn't let stories truly end without a happy ending. 

Every day this week I have prayed for miracles, and Heavenly Father has heard my prayers. And no, we didn't baptize everyone in Lima who is older than 8 years old, and no we didn't find 200 new people who are dead set on making covenants next week. But the miracles we've seen and the people we have found are so special to me. I want to testify right here and now that we can all let our guard down a little bit with God. It's okay to trust Him with your heart. Take Him out of the box you've put Him in thinking “He can only do so much to change my life.” Decide today to put your faith in Him and to trust Him, watch Him change you for the better and make you feel whole. 

Esmeralda. Esmeralda's house is so cool. Lima is kind of like the Weasley's house in Harry Potter… if you need to make room for more people to live, you just build on top of the buildings that are already here… for that reason we climbed some very narrow ladder-stairs into the 2nd floor of her house… then some narrow, spiraling stairs into the 3rd floor where she truly lives. I have absolutely no idea how she got appliances, mattresses, a TV, or any type of the many small statues in her house INTO her house but I'm very impressed that she did. 

We only planned to be there for a short time… 10-15 minutes maybe… but we walked in and sat down and she immediately handed us plates of food she had just finished cooking. And I was hungry… God takes care of us. :) 

So we sat and ate with her… then we showed the newest Easter video the church made recently. At the end, the video talks about the resurrection. And she asked us about it… turns out she had no idea that Jesus lived again after 3 days. And she had no idea that because Jesus lives again… we can too! She then broke down in tears… turns out her oldest daughter passed away last year and it's been really hard for her to feel peace since then. But Jesus lives. And we all can too. She will see her daughter again. Esmeralda is not going to get baptized right now… but I know she felt the Spirit. We taught her about Jesus and He has given her some hope. Jesus Christ brings light to the saddest of stories. 

Anderson. Anderson was minding his own business, sitting on a park bench when he looked up and saw 2 young gringas and a peruvian walking towards him with a poster that said “How do you come closer to God?” (Sounds like the beginning of a dad joke) And we made him sign his answer so others could read it too. We asked him if he's heard of our church… he saw The Book of Mormon in my hand and said “I have a Book of Mormon.” Turns out his parents were sealed in the Temple, he was baptized when he was 8, and his little brother is serving a mission in Argentina right now. Anderson and his own little family are baptized in the catholic church now but he was interested in the idea of bringing his family to church this week. And we saw him again on the street a couple days later and he said he was really thinking about it. He doesn't live in our area so we probably wouldn't know if he went to church or not. But I really hope he goes. 

I know for a fact that we are not the only missionaries praying that he will come home to Christ's church. He's got a baby brother serving in Argentina right now who I am SURE in praying every night that other missionaries find his brother and help him at least THINK about coming back to church. When we saw him again he said he chatted with his momma about it… I have faith that she can help him come home to Christ's church too. 

GUSTAVO! Once upon a time we were trying to find a man named Gustavo. His address led us to an apartment building. Fun fact: the devil loves apartment buildings… most of the time we cannot get in there to find anyone. Darn it. We were looking around just to make sure it was the right address and a man was standing on the street and he asked “What number are you looking for?” We told him. Then he said “Who are you looking for?” We told him. And he said “Oh! That's me!” 

YALL the devil might love apartment buildings but he has got NOTHING on the Holy Spirit leading people out of those great and spacious buildings. CAN I GET AN AMEN?!?!?

Turns out Gustavo is an inactive member who served a mission in Peru just like me! He just hasn't come to church in a long time and we were like “Hermanooo… you should come to church this weeeek” and he was like “mmm idk… blah blah blah” and in the street I was like “HERMANO! AMIGO! COME TO CHURCH! IT'LL MAKE YOU AND GOD SO HAPPY!!!” And he went on with “mmm idk” but he wanted us to bring him some new scriptures… so you BETTER believe we were there the next day handing the scriptures to the security guard, outside the door, because we couldn't go in… because THE DEVIL LOVES APARTMENT BUILDINGS. But it's okay. Before we left that first contact I made sure to tell him that meeting him was our miracle that day. We sent him Elder Gilbert's talk: “Come home” and I hope he actually read it BECAUSE WE ALL WANT HIM TO COME HOME!!! 

Guissela and Hiro. We met Guissela in the park with her 6 year old son, Hiro. Let me tell you Hiro is a party and a half. The first thing he did was run up to us and start flossing. He's an icon. We told his mom all about church on Sunday and invited them to game night with the ward on Thursday and they CAME!! And she brought her husband Bequer! They had SO MUCH FUN and WE had so much fun just being with them! Hiro played ping-pong with the Elders while we took his parents on a tour of the church and taught them about temples and how we believe that families are forever. Bequer said he's always had all these very deep questions about who we are and what our purpose is. My companion looked at him and said “We have all of your answers.” It was such a cool night. I skipped home that night. They're amazing. I'm so blessed that I met them. 

Last story I promise. 

Dumet got Baptized! My friend from my first area! His baptism was at 4:30 and we got stuck in a lesson until 4:40. That lesson was really good though. We were answered questions about the temple, priesthood, and missionary work. I knew we needed to be exactly where we were. Dumet was going to make covenants whether I was there to watch or not. That's what I told Heavenly Father as I was praying in my heart during the lesson. At first I prayed that we would still make it to the baptism… then I prayed to know where we needed to be after the lesson was over. If God needed us to be somewhere else then that's where we needed to be. But no. We got out of the lesson, my sweet companion apologized that we were so late and she felt terrible and I told her over and over again that it was absolutely okay. But no, she's determined. She and a member hailed 5 different cabs until she found one that would take us to the church in the other area. We got there 30 minutes late and they were not even CLOSE to starting yet. We got to watch the baptism, we were in every picture, I got to lead the music, my companion gave a short message even though she met Dumet that day haha! God hears our prayers, miracles happen, especially when you do what you know is right. I also got to hug Hermana Bulkeley, who was at the baptism. That was an answer to a lot of prayers too. I absolutely love that girl. I have been completely spoiled rotten with companions so far. 

Miracles happen. God hears our prayers. Covenants are made, and they get to be renewed every week. So get your booty to church. If you've never gone to church I invite you to try it out… if it's been a while I'm inviting you to go. If you go every week I invite you to think about why and to share it with someone you love. There is a seat for you. We need your voice to be a part of those hymns. There is someone else there who needs your light. I would like you to remember these people I told you about today. Someone who has never heard of Christ's resurrection, her universe opened this week... Someone who's entire family has been praying for him to come back to church… someone who hasn't come to church in a long time was standing just OUTSIDE of where we never would have met him… but he was there. A family who's been searching for answers will find them. And think of me and Dumet. Dumet got baptized. My 2nd day here I sent 1 text, inviting someone to church. I didn't know God had been preparing him for a long time but He did. You never know how much power 1 text can have until you send it… so send it.

You are all so loved and so missed. I think about you and pray for you everyday day. If you made it this far, I hope you enjoyed my novel. These stories were too good to not share. Read your scriptures, get on your knees, and count your blessings. God will show up. I promise. En el Nombre de Jesucristo, Amén. 

-Hermana Anderson❤️