So,
I decided that it was finally time to give you guys the recap all about my trip
to Bolivia. I’ve told you all bits and pieces and I will certainly answer more
questions about miscellaneous parts of the trip but for now this is just a nice
overview for you all to know what I was up to for almost three weeks.
We
flew into La Paz (the capital city) on Thursday, June 12 at about 7 AM. We were
all pretty exhausted but I slept a lot on the flight to be prepared for the
day. After taking way too long at Bolivian customs (filling out forms promising
we’re not terrorists, etc.) we were picked up by our tour guides in La Paz and
taken to the hostel where we were going to stay in La Paz. We got to the
hostel, dropped off our stuff, then took a 2-3 hour bus drive (my timing is a
little shaky in hindsight sorry) up to Copacabana, a little touristy town on
the shore of Lake Titicaca. We then took a boat out to an island, Isla del Sol
on the middle of the lake and hiked up to a hostel where we spent the night.
This hostel was by far
the most ghetto accommodations I have ever been in. It wasn’t terrible; it had
electricity but beyond that it was extremely primitive. The water for the
hostel was brought up daily by mule, making it frigid and utterly insufficient.
I think the whole place ran out of water for showers after like 5 people had
taken a thirty second hypothermia-inducing-ice shower.
The view on that island
was BEAUTIFUL though. We were so lucky to have a full moon that night, and when
you’re on the highest lake in elevation in the world you feel like the moon is
right next to you. The kids got some amazing pictures, I’ll upload them once
the kids send them to me.
We hiked across the
entire island the next day (beautiful hike, about 2 hours long) and skipped
stones on this absolutely breathtaking beach. Then we drove back to La Paz for
the evening and did some souvenir shopping the next day. I really love La Paz,
it is a cool city. So packed, way too much for me to live in but fun to visit.
The altitude is really killer though, I think it’s something like 14,000 feet
elevation (I don’t have wifi as I’m typing so I can’t verify). A ton of people
got altitude sickness, I was feeling pretty good though.
So Saturday night we
flew into Santa Cruz, where we were to spend the majority of the expedition.
That evening we were picked up by Brigam Barrientos, one of the greatest men I
have ever met. He’s 30, the first counselor in the stake presidency, and our
local coordinator down there. That means he arranges the obtaining of supplies,
dinners, pretty much helping out with anything to make the trip leaders’ lives
easier. He was such an amazing guy. Definitely a spiritual giant, but more of
an Ohio style one. Like he cared so much about the gospel and wanted to share
it, but he was also a normal person. You felt like you could connect with him
as friends. I don’t know if I’m explaining this adequately, I’m just trying to
say that there are some church leaders that don’t seem like human beings.
Brigam is truly a great friend.
We
went to church the next day and had some of the greatest talks I have ever
heard. One man talked about the restoration and it was so powerful. I hadn’t
heard the First Vision told in Spanish since my mission. As I listened to this
man testify of the prophet and the gospel I was truly overcome with the spirit.
I can testify with all of my heart that Joseph Smith truly did see God the
Father and Jesus Christ. It’s miraculous yet undeniable to me.
After
church we went on visits to less actives in the ward to invite them to a
fireside that our kids were putting on. They ended up getting 17 less active
kids to the fireside! Such a great missionary opportunity for the kids. One of
the girls in our group was not feeling so hot and didn’t really want to go to
the visits or the fireside but we convinced her to last minute. She ended up
going and absolutely loving it!
So
the next day we finally started work on the school. It is in the countryside
just out of the city; a super impoverished area. We were attaching a room onto
a school that other HEFY groups in the past had built. We worked at the school
every day from 9 to 4 and the kids finished the majority of the foundation by
the end of the trip. The next groups mainly just have to do brick laying now.
Every
evening we did different activities with the ward to help reactivate the less
actives. We had a game night, sports night, dance, talent show, so many amazing
things. 10 of the less active kids came to church our second Sunday too! The
ward was so appreciative and our kids’ testimonies grew in countless ways.
Then
our second weekend we all flew to Cochabamba to go to the temple. I had a
layover with two kids and the mom that was on the trip so I just emailed Jack
and skyped Mom and Dad and Charlotte. The temple is absolutely gorgeous though.
The town it is in is super hilly and just has a wonderful setup overall. They
also have a giant Christ statue like the one in Rio. They say it’s bigger than
that one (I wouldn’t know, I’ve never been to Rio). It’s fun though, when
you’re at the temple you can see the Christ statue and it just makes me think about
how wonderful He is. Truly our Saviour.
Overall
this was truly one of the best experiences of my life. I would love to tell you
guys about every single kid and how much I love them. I love these kids so much
and want to help them for the rest of their lives. It was an amazing
experience; I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Temple trip.
Top Row: Jon, Me, Dema, Josh, Kyle.
Second Row: Haylee, Rebecca, Mady, Bobie, Cassie, Essy, Alyssa, Sam.
Bottom Row: Isaac, Aly, Madison, Rachel, Mems, Anna, Regan, Parker.
Dancing with Danova, one of our youth's favorite Bolivian youth. She was such a sweetheart.
All of the youth and Mary (one of my co-leaders) in the Miami airport on the first day.
Top Row: Parker, Kyle, Isaac.
Second Row: Mems, Cassie, Alyssa, Sam, Dema.
Third Row: Aly, Haylee, Rachel, Madison, Josh, Mady.
Bottom Row: Regan, Essy, Mary, Rebecca, Anna.
(Bobie, a girl, is missing from this picture).
Sunset at Lake Titicaca.
Me and my boys: Parker, Josh, Me, Sam, Isaac, Dema, Kyle.
Our adult coaches with the trip leaders: Jon, Mary, Trish, Julianne, Me.
