June 26th

So this week was really pretty good. It went by really fast. We only had 2 investigators at church which was really kind of hard because we were planning on like 8. But we had a couple miracles this week so that was good. We taught “I” and he accepted the baptismal date for this Sunday.  We went and talked to his parents and they gave him permission to be baptized! So that was really good! We also taught RV. He keeps saying he wants to change and everything and we called Sunday to see if he was going to go to church and he said yes so we went all the way to San Juan de Obispo to get him and then he didn´t come with us which was disappointing!   

I saw my first Catholic street procession. I guess they think that part of Jesus´ spirit is in this goblet thingy..that was weird.

We taught a member who is an alcoholic which is actually one of our miracles..He seriously wants to change his life and he was on the verge of tears the whole time (the lesson was on repentance) and then at the end we asked him to say the prayer) kneeling and he said he couldn´t because he wasn´t worthy but then he did and he started crying and after he said he felt something indescribable. Then he came to church on Sunday with his dad and brother and after church his brother gave him a blessing :) Also another less active member who is alcoholic  too came to church and last night we taught him and his family about temples and invited them to prepare to get sealed as a family (their daughter has already been through but they haven´t). So that was awesome! We taught Hna R and it looks like her mom isn´t going to give her permission to be baptized even though she told us that she could make her own decisions... we´re going to keep trying with her though.

C didn´t come to church this week. He lives in Antigua and travels a lot so we can only teach him after church but he wants to bring his family and everything because he really likes it and feels the spirit.

We also got a reference from our branch president’s 10 year old son and he came with us to teach. It was so cool that he wanted to help us out! We also taught the lady who lives in the house that we live behind and her son. He got a priesthood blessing because of a motor scooter accident and then he felt lots better so we asked that since he has felt the power of the priesthood if we could teach them haha.

I taught Sunday School this week which went ok..besides my language disability haha. I think the most spiritual thing that happened this past week was that I dedicated our house. Hna. Alvarado had a really scary terrible feeling in the house one morning and that night we talked to the zone leader and he said to dedicate the house and so we did and it was such a good feeling afterward. Kind of like spraying satan bug spray haha.

Yesterday we had zone pday again because we were the most successful mission last change and so we got food and played games with the President and his Family. AND one of the elders brought a FOOTBALL! a real one not for soccer :) we also got dearelders yesterday too. I got some from grandma and grandpa and dad and EMILY BURT!! haha I also got the wedding announcement for Josh and Stephanie tell them sorry I wasn´t able to go haha. Last week I made calypso skillet which was great thanks for the articles about the SV temple! Last week I got duck poop on my skirt..That´s about it. haha

 My questions...

What ever has been decided about your meeting place in San Juan las Huertas?  nothing yet we´re still in Antigua for church

What did you mean by "all the people wear cortes"?  What are cortes?  Indian clothing?  yeah it´s india clothes

Will you be going out there regularly to tract? probably once a week because it takes a long time to get there

How is your hair?  Did you cut it? No I didn´t cut it..I haven´t even gotten it trimmed yet but I need to  

Do you let it go naturally wavy?  yeah..its up everyday mostly though

How is Hna Alvarado's english coming?  Really good! she prayed in english at the end of District meeting

This is how you "Contact a Bus"

Do you practice with her?  of course. I taught her to say I have a rock in my shoe and I tooted :)

How long has it been taking to get dearelder.coms?  Just at transfers? Just depends..at zone meetings, interviews and transfers. I got some this monday

So do you have any idea what will happen at the next transfer?  not yet

Mike (her brother) Got His Mission Call!

So did you hear?

That my big brother is going on a mission and I am SOOOOO HAPPY FOR HIM!? Mike received his mission call to Seattle Washington, leaving Aug. 15^th!  haha if that´s not it then no..oh I didn´t get the video it wouldn´t download.

So this week was pretty decent. We taught brothers who are really Catholic and we had to teach the apostasy twice so they would understand that the priesthood was lost from the earth. They are both super involved in their church..You know what they say; the most devoted Catholics make the best Mormons! haha we also taught the father of a family that is members. His wife and kids are recent converts but he´s not a member. He seems to want to change and be more involved with his family but he didn´t come to church again so that was not good but we´re going to keep teaching him so his family can be eternal :) We also taught a guy named F. He is an old investigator (him and his wife) but they never wanted to receive us (hna. Manzanares and I) but Hna Alvarado and I went back and have taught him a couple times. He seems pretty receptive but his wife isn´t ever there so we normally just teach on the front steps of his house. We are also teaching W and K. They are 12 and 15 and they seem receptive also. Their little sister S is the most receptive. She´s only 10 but she´s really smart and wants to come to church and she pays really good attention in the lessons. They couldn´t come to church last week though because they were watching the house and their sick grandma but their parents gave them permission if they want to come this week! We are also teaching a friend of a member. His name is I and he is a little bit slower but he seems interested in the gospel. We taught E who is a recent convert. He broke his foot at school but he came with us to church. I don´t think he realizes the importance of the covenants he made during baptism. He´s only 14 and so he has a lot more to learn but I think when he understands how awesome it is to have the priesthood and be a member of the true church he will really feel the spirit and love the teachings of the gospel. We are teaching a lady named V. She has a really hard time paying attention to the lessons so we have to figure out a way to keep her interested if you have any suggestions. We taught Rus mom and sister this week. Her sister is really receptive but her mom still wants to be catholic. BUT she said that she will respect R’s decision if she wants to be baptized so that´s HUGE! Now for the familia S.  Hno. S  isn´t reading but he´s looking up pictures of the temple on the internet at work. This morning we went to teach them and they were adorando the Virgin Mary. I don´t know what to do with them but hopefully we don´t have to drop them because I really like this family and want them to be baptized! We have a golden investigator. His name is C  and he came to church twice. He is the boss of one of our members and he LOVES learning more and coming to church so we´re hopefully going to see a baptism soon. He said he was going to start bringing his family too! We went to Santa Maria de Jesus this week for the first time since I´ve been here. All of the people live "hasta alla arriba" or "aqui no mas" haha. Most of them legitimately don´t know their addresses and the streets don´t have names. It´s tiny and everyone wears corte. I love that pueblo and I want to find someone named Laman or Lemuel there. We contacted a lot there and had a couple lessons. Sunday we only had C in church as an investigator but it was a 'missionary Sunday' we played piano/led the music, gave the talks in church, and taught Sunday school. I guess that´s what happens when people don´t show up...It was my first 'we don´t have anyone to talk so the missionaries have to do it!' haha but I think it went well. For Pday we watched 17 miracles and it was my first time seeing it! Man it is so good but I cried a ton! It made me realize that my struggles are NOTHING...make Mike watch it haha 

Also Hna. Alvarado made enchiladas and this week I´m going to make calypso skillet! haha she wanted American food.  If you want to send me some easy recipes that would be great.  Do you have any pictures of Mike opening his call since I couldn´t get the video?

I have a favor to ask...will you get in contact with these people...they are the elders that baptized/taught my branch president...one lives in Enoch! The C family is their names

Elder Graybil, Elder Elaison,  Elder Bowthorpe, Elder Stevens (enoch)  they called him chicken little and the address I´m sending in a picture is his,  Elder Cunningham 

 This is what I want in the newsletter: excerpts from my weekly letter and D&C 88:81. It´s a commandment to tell everyone about the gospel and everyone should do it because we are all children of God and if we really love our friends and family we will share with them the importance of the gospel and let them know that this is the only way to gain eternal life.

 LOVE YOU MAMA!! Have a great week thanks for being the best mom ever!

  I had to keep that last sentence in there! 

Working Hard in San Pedro Las Huertas

Welcome to San Pedro Las Huertas!

So this week we had some difficulties but all in all it was pretty good. We visited C P and she said she was still scared to ask permission to go to church and so we set an hour to pray every day together until Sunday so that she would be able to come. Well we ran into her husband later in the week and he told us she could go. Then when the Branch Presidents wife passed by for her she said she didn't want to come. We also taught a family who is recent converts except for the dad is not a member. We taught them with the Family Proclamation and he said he would start coming to church and having family prayers. He didn't come to church either but his wife said they are praying together now so that’s good. We taught the wife of one of the counselors in the branch presidency. The whole time she was just telling us about how her husband needs to repent for his past and a bunch of stuff like she can't see the changes he's already made in his life. We had our comite ejecutivo and everyone was really helpful with the things we need to get done. They were telling us about all their friends we could teach, the less active members, old investigators..it was great. They all had someone in mind to bring to church on Sunday too but it fell through. I think you'll be proud of my contacting techniques though...this guy rode by us on a bike and I ran up next to him and contacted him. haha I even got his direction. I think I'm going to do that again sometime. Well now for the familia “S”. I planned a really good lesson using Alma 5 (or Alma Sincho as we like to call it). It was really direct. She said she'd talk to her husband again and that she would be baptized without him if she had to. Then we called and she said that her esposo had to work so he couldn't come and she wanted him to at least be there at the baptism. I really don't know what to do with this family! We need to teach the husband more but he always has to work! Anyway on Saturday one of the members helped us all afternoon. Her name is Maria  and she's awesome. She is always willing to help us with everything. We only got 3 investigators to church but we taught two of them already and they seem really positive. We also got a less active member and her kids to church that hadn't been in a couple months. We taught her mom too and she said she wants to be baptized but she doesn't want to marry her husband. We also taught her less active sister so hopefully she starts coming back to church too. Also the Volcano is spitting up again which is pretty cool. Yesterday for pday we went to the Gainors and baked cookies and washed our G's because hand washing them doesn't clean them good enough so they smell a little funny. haha also I wrote letters. The cookies were oatmeal chocolate chip but they weren’t as good as yours momma...

So are you, hna Steed and hna Gifford in the same zone now?  If so, and you have any Reeces Peanut Butter cups (there will be some in the next box you get from Ian) share them with Hna Gifford for her birthday, which is on a pday.  Where is Hna Muhlstein serving?

We are in the same zone. Hna Gifford switched districts though but Steed is in my district. YAY FOR REESES!! thank you woohoo! The chocolate here sucks. Hna. Muhlestein is in the capital but I don't know. She just got a new companion too so I'll find out

RAIN - alot of MMs are talking about rain coats.  Did we get you a rain coat that is sufficient for what you need with the rain?  Maybe you are not in the jungle area where they are saying their sons are getting drenched so you're ok, or can you buy a poncho or something down there?  That is what one mom said her son did.  Does your backpack stay dry?

My backpack stays mostly dry but I put all of my books in a plastic bag. I wrote a real letter yesterday, my rain coat is great.

Here are the pictures that I have recently taken. I'll take some of the house to send to you..Hopefully I can send the video again too.  (She thought we had gotten a video of her house, but we never got it)

 How are your shoes holding up?  How about bug bites.   Do you need anything?

My shoes are fine. I’m getting lots of bites too but that's the mission. 

New Companion and lots of hard work!

So this week has been pretty good. My new companion is Brenda Alvarado, from Mexico, State of Mexico.  She's a convert, only member in her immediate family. She has 6 months in the mission and she's a really hard worker. We're getting a long really well so far. It has just been hard to adapt to the changes because she is really different than Hna Manzanares but she's really great and has a lot of hope for our area!  I like Hna. Alvarado A LOT!. 

Old and New Companions

We taught Hna L she is really catholic and doesn't want to come to church or anything yet but she believes in the Book of Mormon.  President Cubur is really excited to help us this change which is really good. We met the wife of the first counselor in the stake presidency and she's not a member but she will be haha. We're actually going to teach her this week. We visited a less active/recent convert who said he had been having problems with drinking but that he has been sober for 4 months now so that's great. He said he wants to be forgiven but then he didn't show up to church. We taught Hermana S and she said she still wants to wait to be baptized until her husband is ready too. We tried to explain to her that she can't wait and then set a fecha for 10 de junio. We taught S and her family and she's still being stubborn but some of her kids are really responsive. Her daughter R  came to church with us on Sunday so that was really great. We taught another less active recent convert named S.  I guess she had been having problems with the branch president so she stopped coming to church. On Sunday we had a bus for just members so that raised attendance a bit which was great. The familia S came to church with us. The lesson in Sunday School was about baptism BUT their son was being tremendo (for lack of a better word in english) and Hno. S didn't stay in the class to listen. After church we had a lesson with them about baptism and the word of wisdom because Hna. S  told us her husband had been drinking coffee again. He said he would stop. Then Hna. A  asked him what size clothes he wore and he told her and asked why. and then she said for your baptism clothes for next Sunday! haha It was great. He didn't say he wasn't ready so that's good. One of the lady's in the ward brought a friend to church so that was awesome! We are going to teach her tomorrow. we taught Hna. G  and she still doesn't want to change. It made me really sad when we were teaching her last night. I felt the spirit really strong but she wants to stay catholic for now. We taught a new lady named O. She had been having problems with her husband and when we came she said we were an answer to her prayers so that was a blessing to be apart of that. REMEMBER TO TAKE ALL THE NAMES OUT WHEN YOU PUT IT ON THE BLOG!!  (That is why you readers just see letters, we are not allowed to post the names of investigators or members in their blogs)  

Reunited with CCM Companion Hna Muhlstein

This week I also pushed a lady in a wheelchair over cobblestone so that was a good work out haha.

Has it rained much where you are?

Yeah it rains a ton right now. I use my boots a lot (THANKS JANICE)

Well I'm about to get off but I Love you and I hope you all are doing well! 

¡les quiero mucho!

May 29th Volcano & Changes!

week 6..last day of my first change!

So...this week was not the best week but it definitely wasn´t the worst! haha 


Tuesday I forgot to tell you that I contatced my first bus!!! I seriously stood up in the front of the bus full of people and started talking to all of them. It is really scary. I´ve done it 2 times now. 

Celebrating "Cleanest Zone in the Mission!"

Super Pday was really fun. We played mafia and had ribs, potatoes au gratin, and cinnamon rolls! I had like 3 :) haha they were delicious!  (See the other photo on the next blog.  I got these pictures off the Mission Pres' blog)


On Wednesday we went to San Juan del Obispo and taught a new investigator who is best friends with the branch presidents wife. She´s cool. We also went back to C´s house (the one who´s husband is no bueno) she said that after we left he beat his daughter Carolina (what a pretty name) and was really mad. She didn´t go to church because she was having trouble with her husband. But she´s still recieving us which is good. She also told us she has cancer and her son has a bone problem...lots of things going on in this house. 

The baptism interiew for the Familia S was on Saturday. Elder Moon said the Hermana was awesome and she´s definitely ready to be baptized which we already knew. She is really great. But the hermano wasn´t so great. He told him that he believed everything that we taught and he thinks it´s true but he just doesn´t want to be baptized right now. Hna. S  wanted to wait for her husband though so they didn´t get baptized which was pretty disappointing but that´s the mission for ya. They´re going to get baptized while I´m still here though..I just know. 

A boy in our branch was baptized though which was really cool. he´s a sweetheart. His mom is a recent convert and they are the cutest little family. They are going to be so blessed! 

Yesterday I went and got all my visa stuff taken care of so that was good. DAD tell grandpa I got his dearelder! 

Volcan de Fuego erupting (Its about 20 Klms from her)

 One of the pictures I´m sending is just like black and red..ITS THE VOLCANO!! haha I finally saw it throwing up which was cool. 

That´s really all that´s happened this week

LOVE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Members at a boys baptism

Family of the boy being baptised