Hi friends! Can I just tell you all how awesome it is being a missionary? Seriously I've had the BEST experiences of my life in these last 15 months. We had a great week! We had the baptism of Maryori this last Saturday and it was beautiful and the Spirit was so strong. Speaking of baptisms, my baptismal anniversary is this Thursday! I'll have 3 years as a member of the church this thursday the 23. The time has passed by SO fast but it also feels like I've been a member my whole life. I had completely forgotten about it and this morning I was resting on my best and had my eyes closed, my companion fired a giant firecracker thing filled with confetti! She scared me SO bad it was the best haha then she screamed "Felices 3 años!!!" (happy 3 years) and told me she didnt want to wait to do it until thursday. It gave us a good laugh haha I'm grateful to have a companion like her! She also told me she has more surprises for me this week so I'm actually a little scared but I'll let you all know next week what happens. It's so great to make friendships on the mission like this. With every companion I've had I've learned something from them, something that's made me a better person. I'm super grateful for the friendships I've made out here and for the things that my companions have taught me, I'm forever grateful for meeting them.

This week we are getting ALL the missionaries in the mission together in Arequipa for a conference! It's going to be awesome! In all my time in the mission we've never gotten all the missionaries together in one place so this will be super special! All of us out here in Tacna are the farthest away, so we're going to travel in the middle of the night the 7 hours to Arequipa. We are going to hear from Elder Godoy. He is the area president out here. I am assuming that he will be speaking to us about the temple that they are going to start building in Arequipa! The temple was announced in October of 2012 and they are going to start the construction Saturday March 4th. We have been waiting a while for this!

Temples are different than the chapels that we meet in every Sunday. Temples are houses of the Lord. It's where special covenants and ordinances are done that allow us to recieve blessings here on earth, but also in heaven. The authority and power found in the temple is eternal; it's the same power that exists in the eternities. So everything that is done in the temple is also put into effect in the heavens. The temples are where the powers of heaven and earth meet, and you can feel it being inside one of them. Temples are where families are sealed for time and all eternity. And I am so grateful that I have a knowledge of the beautiful restored gospel of Jesus Christ that allows blessings like this to be poured out onto all the people who follow Him.

Have an amazing week my friends.

Hermana Celardo