Excerpts from a REAL hand written letters!!!

March 18, 2012

        So yesterday I beat like 20 guys at “lightning”!  I sunk 4 -3 pointers in a row and I thought you would be proud of me daddy J

        We also sang in church today “You Se Que Vive Me Senor” (I Know that my Redeemer Lives).  I told you we were awesome at it!  My companionship taught district class today too.  That was good.

        So this letter is mainly to answer all the questions from mom’s dear elder and to tell you we moved upstairs so we’re in the hall of girls and our other roommates are Latina.  We’re in 2 groups of three and not 3 groups of two because the other nortes that got here before us are leaving next week.  They’re in a different district and branch than us guinea pigs. J  They’ve been here for 6 weeks already.  They just came and lived with us when they found out we were alone downstairs. (Well not alone but we were the only girls)  I liked where we were though cause we had one shower to 6 girls instead of 4 showers to 24 girls.

        On the plane we all sat mostly together in rows but our rows were spread out on the plane.  Like I sat between two elders.  There are a lot of people that don’t know any Spanish, some that know a bit and some that know a lot.  It’s just weird teaching in Spanish because I don’t know gospel Spanish yet.  All of our classes and teachers only speak Spanish starting tomorrow.  We start contacting on Tuesday and our companion will be Latina so we can actually talk to people haha.  We only do splits on Sundays and contacting days with Latinas.  I like mine.  One is from Costa Rica and the other is from Guatemala.  The one from Costa Rica speaks a lot of English because she had it in University.  I’m giving her an English Book of Mormon I got for 50 cents or 4 quets.  The garments here are like 4.50 quetzals, so like 50 cents too.  It’s awesome!

        In LA we met up with some other missionaries.  One sister who was from Hawaii and an Elder from Oregon.  He is our District Leader.

        Today for “deportes” (sports) I’m not playing basketball because I’m obviously too good at it J.  Ha JK

From Letter to Mike

March 18, 2012

……How’s the weather there?  It’s not too hot or cold here, just right J.

       Being here is really hard but it’s also really cool.  The food is AMAZING! Mostly… We have lots of steak and eggs and beans and rice.  And they have bread with literally EVERY meal.  The milk here tastes like melted ice cream it’s so rich!  Haha mmm tasty ;)  (That from a girl who NEVER drank milk!! Can’t tell if she’s serious or not, but if it tastes like ice cream…) 

       My Spanish is ok, it’s just hard teaching in Spanish.  When you go on a mission make sure you read Preach My Gospel BEFORE!  I feel stupid for not.  I know like nothing.  I’ve made some pretty great friends fo far.  Most of the Elders and Hermanas are pretty great.  (Well the ones I came with).  There is a Tongan Elder who barely speaks English and he has to learn Spanish. 

       I love you and miss you,

Carolyn 

Saturday, March 24, 2012

So this morning was kind of fun.  Carolyn wrote us and we wrote back and forth kind of “talking” to each other until her half hour was up.  Mike was on my tablet and I was on my laptop so there were different conversations going back and forth.   (Brian is working in California this week.)  So, there wasn’t really an email to post, but I will try and piece together our conversations for this blog.

YEAH!! I never got a dearelder from Michael but I kind of figured that's what it was from your dear elder where you said to read his immediately haha. I'm so happy for him!!  I'm on the computer every
Saturday at 10:30 to 11 so if you can get on then that would be great so I can talk to you. This week we went contacting it was AWESOME!!  we went with Latino comps so we could actually talk haha we had one guy that was seriously interested which was great :)  We go to the temple every Thursday. This week I did the whole thing in Spanish which was really cool! How are you doing?    Click here to see the Guatemala City Temple

I won’t have a Latina companion in the CCM because the districts are all separated into English kids and Latinos. I'll have the same two all 6 weeks. On Tuesday we get to go to an actual market and like a bus tour of the city. There really isn't such thing as SYL (Speak Your Language) but in the classroom. I think most of us are doing our best to speak Spanish always though. Elder “B” went to the Provo MTC. If that's on my blog will you make sure his name isn't on it.(That is the Elder whose father passes away last week.  I looked up the obit.  He had leukemia so I’m sure the elder knew he wasn’t doing well.  I sent her the obit.)  Thank you also I want the spandex for working out. It just sucks wearing G's here because its so hot!

This week DearElders came on Friday but my package got here Wednesday (the one with the shorts and the hangers and the candy and of course the Bean-o haha. I can't send pics I guess it's against the rules for the CCM but I will send you my flash drive next week. Tell Zach Goodwin I'm happy for him too and you did find the right obituary by the way. Thanks for that

ROBBY AND PAIGE HAD THEIR BABY!!! That’s awesome! Tell them congrats from me.! Well ya es tiempo! I love you so much tell dad I love him too when he gets there LOVE YOU!! !.

Carolyn's mission president for the Central mission has a blog also.  I was just reading it and HAD to share this story from it!  It is written by his wife:
Every day we see miracles in the mission field. Every missionary experiences these miracles during their service. What is really a great blessing for President is that when he reads the weekly letters of the missionaries he hears about these miracles. Some are very sacred that we could never fully explain adequately and some are just everyday occurances in the lives of obedient missionaries. One of the focuses we have had is "Abrir su boca", open your mouth. We have set some very high goals in our mission for contacting every single day. Some missionaries are great and attack the goal with complete obedience, faith and diligence. While others are not so believing....'it is to hard, what purpose does it serve, etc.... Of course as the missionaries obey other areas that they have goals in begin to happen and the faith begins to grow. Many miracles that happen are in the lives of members and especially in the lives of the investigators. I want to share one such story about the miracles of missionaries opening their mouths and doing what the Lord has asked. Being robbed here is a very common thing. The way of travel for all the missionaries is by 'chicken buses'. These buses are very very crowded and many times robbers come onto the bus and rob everyone including the driver. There is nothing they can do but give the men what they want because they are always armed and they travel in groups. Sometimes the miracles from being obedient are never seen by the missionary but they are always noticed by someone.

This experience was told to us by Elder Euteneier:  "We have an investigator that was going on a bus to Escuintla one day. Four gang armed members entered the bus and everyone on the bus knew them and knew that they were going to assault the bus. Two of them stayed up front and sat down, two others went to the back of the bus. Everyone on the bus, including the investigators were all nervous and anxious when eight of our missionaries entered the bus. They began to contact the bus. Four Elders took the front of the bus and four Elders took the back of the bus. Unbeknowest to the missionaries they contacted all four of the gang members at the same time and gave them pamphlets. At the next stop, all four of the gang members got off the bus without a single threat. Our investigator told me that we are definitely sent by God to guide and protect the people here. So not only does contacting buses rid us of fear, help us find chosen people and spread the good word but it protects agains Satan's agents as well."

March 17, 2012  "Yo Se Que Vive Mi Senor"

Hey so I am sending you the same email because I really only have time to write one. It has been a long and frustrating week especially yesterday but i will get to that in a minute. 

Mom I LOVE dear elder letters because we get them on Wednesdays which was good because I was homesick on wednesday and I was really happy to hear from you! Kris Anderson wrote me one too which was really nice. Please tell her I appreciate it. Normal mail takes about 9 days to get if you want to write real letters. I will leave the ccm either the 23 or 24 of April so i should be in my area in enough time to set up something for mothers day. I was watching the district this week and in one of the episodes one of the elders talked about how he decided to go on a mission. I got a pretty strong impression that Mike would go :)

I'll answer all of the questions in the letter I send you. MOM-can you send my scriptures? It sucks not having ones that I have marked. Also do any of you want Guatemalan scripture cases? they are really cool. 

 The food is still great! we don't start speaking only spanish til next week but weve already started teaching in spanish which is really hard. 

Anyway I want to tell you about yesterday. I got really frustrated and I kind of forgot why I came. Its just been really hard learning everything and not having any time to do things and to litterally have NO time to MYSELF. We dont get anytime to to digest what we learn which sucks. Anyway The President came in at dinner and was looking for one of the elders I immediately knew something was wrong. Well to cut down the story a little His father died yesterday morning. He's such a great Elder and hes been staying really strong. He has a really strong testimony and knows everything is going to be fine. Well our district (not the same as his) has gotten really good at singing yo se que vive me senor (I Know that My Redeemer Lives) and we're singing it on Sunday too but we went in to their classroom and sang it for them. I shook his hand after SERIOUSLY THERE SHOULD BE AN ACCEPTION TO THE NO HUGGING RULE!! I think my own personal reason for being here is to remind people that everything is going to be ok and that we can be with our famileis forever.

 I'm really greatful for you guys and I love you so much! 

P.S sorry for all the misspelled words LOVE YOU

March 10th - First official P day
This is mom (Sharon) again, and anyone of you who knows me, know I ask a ton of questions.  Credit my dad for that.  I want to know everything about anything!  So we worked it out that I would ask her questions and she would just answer them in her letters to me.  So, that will probably be a lot of the format in her "blogs".

1.  How was the flight? 
THE FLIGHT WAS OK JUST LONG AND I GOT A LITTLE BIT OF SLEEP. THAT NECK PILLOW WAS  AWESOME! i WAS SITTING NEXT TO MISSIONARIES SO NO I DIDN'T DO GOSPEL STUFF HAHA  WE GOT TO OUR FLIGHT FINE :)

2.  What happened when you got to Guatemala?  Did you get to rest or go straight to work?
 WE HAD BREAKFAST AND THEN GOT TO REST UNTIL 10 AM. IT WAS THE LONGEST DAY OF MY LIFE HAHA THE TIMES BEEN GOING PRETTY FAST SINCE THEN THOUGH i DON'T KNOW WHAT THE SCHEDULE IS FOR THE TEMPLE BUT i STILL HAVE THE SAME COMPANIONS (THE ONE FROM IDAHO AND THE ONE FROM SHO-LOW)

When did the missionaries from Central America get there?  
SAME DAY WE DID JUST LATER

How many are there in a room?  
6 TWO TRIPLETS.THERE IS A FLOOR FOR JUST SISTERS BUT IT'S FULL SO WE STAY IN THE CASA DE HUESPES (guest house) WHICH IS FOR THE TEMPLE WORKERS  WE HAVE A BATHROOM IN OUR OWN ROOM WHICH I'M SUPER THANKFUL FOR!  (Weird - don't know why they have two triplets instead of 3 companionships of 2.)


OH AND WE LEARNED HOW TO PRAY AND BEAR OUR TESTIMONIES IN SPANISH. IT'S WAY COOL.


I'm doing really good and the food is way good! It's just hard because I don't know spanish or much about the gospel. I feel like the people that went to Provo are way more prepared but then again it is only the 3rd day haha. but yeah the food is great mostly! We had steak two days and the black beans they make are amazing! We had chicken cordon bleu yesterday!  I like my companions they're pretty great one is from Idaho and one is from Sho-Low (AZ). We get to work out everyday and today we played volleyball and basketball :) 


I like it here a ton but of course I miss my family!! haha
WELL I LOVE YOU AND I'M GLAD YOU MADE IT HOME SAFE! THANKS FOR THE UPDATES! LOVE YOU!!!!!!
  

CAROLYN'S FIRST LETTER!

Hey Mom and Dad!! Well we only have 15 minutes to write just to say we're here safe! The plane ride was alright. The CCM is really cool and the food has been really good so far. I'm in a triplet right now with two girls that were with me from Salt Lake (Sister Judd and Sister Muhlestein. It's been a pretty crazy and LONG day. I can barely
keep my eyes open haha. I understand most of what people are saying so the language should come quickly hopefully. We had individual meetings with Pres. Nicholysan and I told him Margo was my Aunt and he flipped
out and got all happy haha. He really likes her (mom make sure you tell her)! He's way cool. We got time to take a little nap this morning after breakfast so that was nice. Definitely not enough time though haha. Well I'm really glad to be here! The city just looks like Peru or Mexico but I'm sure when I get out there it will all be gorgeous and green! P Day is Saturday so I'll be able to write again probably. I love you guys a ton! Thank you for the emails already
sorry I don't really have enough time to answer them today. LOVE YOU!
P.S mom you were wrong about the hangers! there aren't any haha.
Love, Carolyn


This is "mom" now.  Yeah, they hangers were a real debate in our house.  I bought a bunch of wire ones for her to take down but then we decided against it (THANKS FOR THE BAD ADVICE RICHIE!).  

Cedar to SLC to LA to Guatemala!!!

So this is Carolyn's mom writing this blog.  Give me a little time to perfect this, as right now, I really have no idea what I am doing.  Any pro bloggers out there who want to offer any advice...you know my email.

Yesterday Carolyn was set apart at 11am and then we all headed to the Cedar City airport for a 1:15 departure.  They told us that once everyone was there they would leave even if it was early.  So, of course everyone got there and they wanted to leave, so they called us to come through the security gate and get on the plane.  All I know is our family was in NO hurry!  It was nice to have Drew Hansen and his parents be there to say goodbye also.  She said her goodbyes to "dad" and Mike and then WE were off.  Yes, WE.  I flew with her to SLC.  We left Cedar City at least 15 minutes early and then we arrived in SLC about 30 minutes early.  Janice (Carolyn's Aunt) picked us up to take us to lunch at The Cheesecake Factory.  This was to be Carolyn's last memorable meal in the USA.  Of course since we were early and there was a new H&M store right next door, Carolyn wanted to "shop" one last time.  (Like she could even shove one more item in her carry on!)
Carolyn was very happy to see that lunch was going to be a "Family Affair".  Her two aunts were there along with  7 cousins and some of their cute kids!  Although her All American Burger was overcooked, she really enjoyed her Lady Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake.
Then we were off back to the airport.  We were going to still have a long time to wait around, but I wanted to be there  way early rather than too late.  Finally a small group of missionaries arrived.  It was 4 elders and 1 sister who had been in the Provo MTC for the last 3 weeks.  They had had NO Spanish training yet, as they were also part of the accelerated learning program, but they were given the option to still go to the MTC in Provo for those first 3 weeks.  (Carolyn was never offered any option.)  They just went through the same training as the missionaries going to English speaking missions have.  The sister was from Canada and her name was Hermana Steed.  There was another sister who kind of found them on their way to the terminal.  She was doing the same thing Carolyn is - going straight to the CCM in Guatemala.  Her name is Hermana Bates and she is from Utah by way of  Wyoming.  (She speaks really good Spanish already.)  Little by little more and more missionaries arrived.  All of them were going to either the Guatemala City Central (Carolyn's mission) or Guatemala City South missions.  There was one sister that I knew from Missionary Moms was coming in from Billings, MT.  So Carolyn and the other 2 sisters went to meet her plane in the the other area of the airport while I watched all their carry on stuff.  I'm sure she was quite surprised to have a welcoming party there to greet her and show her where to come.  Her name is Hermana Gifford from Montana.  Then eventually 2 more sisters and 2 more elders showed up.  The other two sisters are Sister Judd (Arizona) and Sister Muhlestein (Idaho - I think).  As the six of them sat and talked I think any nerves or fear they may have been feeling subsided a bit.  They are a really cute, energetic group of girls who are going to work hard and have fun doing it.

So the journey begins.....