So this week went really well. We had the confirmation of M. He is really happy with everything and his wife too so we´re really proud of him that he's been able to make the decision to be baptized! 

We also had a family night with “My” and his dad “Ma”. They didn´t come to church this week but “My” said that he hasn't had any alcohol this week and accepted the invitation to be baptized so we are excited about that and we´re going to keep praying hard for him! His goal is the 13th of October.

We have also been teaching the grandma of S who is a less active member. She is catholic and at first she didn´t want to receive us but since we are always teaching S  to try and reactivate him she decided it would be ok if we came and visited her too. She is really great and has warmed up to us a lot so hopefully we can help her understand the gospel better and baptize her :).

We finally got to visit with an investigator that we´ve had for a long time. It´s only the second time that we could teach her because she is always out of town. She is great and she has friends who are members and she is really positive. We just need to find her in a time that she is available. She has a lot of potential. We are also going to try and teach her husband too so they can be baptized together!

We taught JJ and he still hasn´t received his answer yet he said but he´s going to keep praying. He has some difficulties with some of the commandments and he said that he knows he needs to change but he´s just having a hard time with it. But he´s really positive and he understands everything that we teach him really well.

We are still teaching J and C. They are having doubts and problems with their mom because she basically hates Mormons even though her brother is a member. We watched the restoration with them which went really well and they said they haven´t received an answer but they are going to keep praying.

The best thing about this week is that A  said he wants to get baptized! He turned 18 yesterday so he´s going to get baptized Saturday! Woohoo!!! 

The only thing that really had me discouraged this week is that we taught a couple of less active families and they seemed really great and sincere but when it came time to show their love for God...they didn´t come to church. I think it´s the hardest part for me here in the mission is when people that have had testimonies of the gospel, or still have testimonies, negar (for lack of the word in English) (negar =deny) the Holy Ghost and what they have felt.

The thing that surprised me the most this week was when we went to teach a evangelical lady and at the end of the lesson she said the prayer, even though we taught her right, with her hands in the air practically yelling "el sangre de Jesus tiene poder" (the blood of Jesus has power) and then she touched my head like she wanted to cast out demons. 

We´re in divisions right now...I have a gringa companion for 2 days! 

Six months...but who's counting?

6 months...and isn't she beautiful!!!

So this week was pretty good we had lots of lessons and there were a lot of really positive investigators that we were able to teach. We taught the mom of a member about family history because she had doubts about baptism for the dead because her daughter was talking about it. We took the family that is in charge of family history in our ward to help us and it went great. She is really positive and understood everything.

The family I am teaching in English is doing really good. They seem to be pretty interested. He had doubts about the Book of Mormon so as an assignment I gave them 2 Nephi 29 to read and he understood that God can talk to whoever he wants whenever he wants haha so that was good. They still haven't come to church but they promised to come someday...they won't put a week though so hopefully they can come.

We also taught “My”. He drank again so that wasn't too great. I don't know how to help him! It's hard but we're going to keep trying to help him do whatever he needs to get on the right track! 

We also taught the husband of a member which went really well. His biggest problem is Soccer. He plays on Sundays and so he doesn't want to come to church. But he knows the church is true and everything he just needs to make the right decisions. He said he had a dream that he was in a white shirt and tie with a "bible" preaching the gospel and he saw his uncle and he said that the bible he had was wrong and was making fun of him. But he knows the gospel is true. His son and wife are awesome. He'll get baptized, he just has to come to church! They promised to start praying as a family and to have family night so that was good.

Now for the best part of the week! M got baptized! It was such a special baptism. His parents aren't members but the spirit was so strong and after everything he hugged his dad and they were both crying a ton. After Hna. Garcia said we want to see his baptism soon now too and he said it's not too far off!!! woohoo! M's father in law baptized him and they're doing great! Now they just have to go get sealed in the temple! It was so amazing. He was seriously ready to be baptized so we're all really happy for that. Especially his wife :)

Answers to my questions:

1. We are not in the capital but we are in a city and yeah I'm pretty sure it's the place you saw on Google Earth.

2. Escuintla is in the coast..the investigators in San Pedro went to El Tejar so no she doesn't know them

3. The ward is Las Margaritas

4. My hair was curled in the picture but not with a curling iron I'll show you how in like....11 months haha

5.I have a mustache but it doesn't matter because when I get home I'm having a spa day..pedicure, hair cut and color, massage, wax..The works haha  (And I’m going with her!!!)

6. Yeah we have hot water.

As for Christmas I still need to think about that so I will send the list next week. (I asked for ideas for her companions)

What happened with the volcano we haven't heard anything about it?! That’s crazy.  Volcan de Fuego erupted this last week and they evacuated 33,000 people from towns around it.  She was very close to it in her last area and took pictures of it spewing hot lava when she was in San Pedro las Huertas, by Antigua.  (see May 29^th blog)

 I'm glad you're not a crazy missionary mom but you better cry a little when I get home! Haha

El fin se acerca y hay poco tiempo....pero les amo muchisimo y estoy segura que son los mejores padres en todo el mundo. Que tengan una buena semana. les aprecio mucho!  (The end is near, there is little time left... but I love you a lot and I am sure that you are the best parents in the whole world.  I hope you have a great week.  I appreciate you a lot!)

Teaching, teaching...and teaching!

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

This week has been really good. It's a little hard having 3 companions and switching all the time but I like it at the same time because I am learning a lot from all of them. We split our area and one companionship goes to one area and the other a different one so we're not getting all confused about where our appointments are.

Last week we taught My a couple times and he even came to church on Sunday for sacrament! He is doing really good not drinking so that's great. Last night we had a family night with his dad and his sister (his sister is a member) which went really well. His dad Ma is progressing too. His daughter said he wants to go to church all the time and that he is reading the Book of Mormon! 

This week I did something a lot harder than I thought it would be...I taught in English! TWICE! There is a girl here that we taught one time and her husband is from Belize and doesn't speak any Spanish so when he came to listen I had to teach in English! It was so hard to do! I never realized that it would be so difficult to speak my own language ha-ha. I guess I really was called to teach in Spanish because doing it in English is hard work! But they are part of a different church. They are really receptive and said they would read the book of Mormon and pray so that's the key right there. I think if they will come to church they will feel the spirit really strong. The wife has family that are members so that’s really good.

We also taught M & S. He is doing great! His work is making it hard to teach him because he doesn't get home till really late some nights but he is ready for his baptism this weekend...and so are we! I can't wait. I can't describe how awesome this family is and how much love they have for each other. His wife is really happy and he already asked his father in law to baptize him. His mom who doesn't really want anything to do with the church said she would come to the baptism too! We’re all really excited for them!

We found a new investigator named A. He was prepared to listen to the lessons. He has a friend in Argentina on a mission right now and he told us he's been looking for a church because he wants to be closer to God. He said he would go to church but he had to go out of town. We taught him later on Sunday though and he's really receptive and said this Sunday for sure he will attend.

We taught a less active teenager named S which went really well. We even got him to give up his earrings ha-ha I'm wearing them right now...at least I have a pair of earrings now! (Guess I should send her some earrings?)

Well I love you lots and I hope you have a good week! Tell everyone I know that I say hi ha-ha especially the football team ;) hahahaha but really tell them I say they need to win some games..You can put that on facebook if you want. Direct quote...WIN SOME GAMES! Ha-ha 

but I love you momma you're the best tell Mike and Richie I love them

The Fearsome Foursome

I forgot to tell you last week that when I had to leave everyone cried lots because they all love me so much haha. But really! The G  family cried..Even their two sons! And then in the morning they all came to say goodbye to me as I was leaving! How sweet :) The place I live is in Villa Nueva San Miguel Petapa.

 Also Hna. Alvarado called and said Mama L was going to get baptized on Saturday so I need to find out if she did or not!

My companions are, Hermana Andrea Garcia from Ecuador was here before and we came and joined her (me and Mandy Garcia from El Salvador). We have the mini missionary for the rest of the cambio. She is from Escuintla. We have our own apartment in a little residencial.

This week was pretty decent. W isn´t progressing so we had to drop him. If he can come to church on his own someday we´ll keep teaching him. We tried to teach him 3 times last week and every time he was busy. We even helped him shovel dirt and stuff for his house and he still said he couldn´t take time to listen so I said we can´t help him unless he really wants to change so when he´s ready he can let us know. On a happier note..S got baptized! It was hectic but it happened! She felt the spirit really strong and we sang in her baptism Teach me to walk in the light and she started crying so that was sweet.

As you know Friday we received Hna. Melgar. She is really great and we can tell that she really wants to learn and she has a great desire to serve the lord and do all she can to start learning here. It´s different because we´re basically 2 companionships since we have to split to teach. These last few days I have been with Hna Mandy Garcia getting to know the area. That has been really great. We have been contacting areas and trying to find new people to teach so that was good and we had some good progress with that. One of our members that just got home from his mission even came and contacted with us and taught the people that let us into their houses!

On Saturday we had the interview for S so that was good.  After that we went to an area called Israel but the people there weren´t really receptive. 

On Sunday was the baptism and M and S came to our ward! We visited him in the night and he said he is ready to get baptized! His fecha is for the 15th or 16th..It just depends on if he has to work on Saturday or no. He has progressed a ton! I am so excited for this family! They are great! Also another kid we have been trying to reactivate came to church and sat with us. His name is E. Yesterday we had a Noche de Hogar with the bishop and an investigator that went REALLY well. She is really positive.

She's on the top bunk!

Apartment study area

Yesterday for Pday we went to the dentist and to the paca to buy clothes...I´m wearing used clothes! haha aren´t you proud? My filling fell chipped so we just got that fixed.

Her kitchen

Closet

Love you momma have a good week :) oh yeah there is a curves here! crazy huh! 

New Area in the City!

Here I am!! In Las Margaritas in the capital...well it´s not the capital but it´s not the coast or the mountains haha I´m in a trio with Hna Garcia de El Salvador and ..Hna Garcia de Ecuador! It´s cool I really like my area.

So I still don´t know too much about the area but we´re learning fast. All I can say is that it is really different than the mountains! I really like it here and I like the change. I love my companions Hna Mandy Garcia is really outgoing and it always makes me want to be more animated about the work so that´s great. I also really like being in my first barrio (ward)! Even though I still had to lead the music in church haha. It was awesome to see a full chapel!

This week we´ve been focusing in on a few really good investigators since the goal this week is to have a baptism for every companionship and our area hasn´t seen a baptism since April!  We visited a kid named W. He´s 16 and he is preparing to be baptized this week. His family has had a lot of problems and right now he only lives with his brother who is 17. But he is really great and really positive when we go to visit him. We´re planning on him being baptized this weekend.

We are also visiting a member’s husband. He is awesome! We´re going to baptize him for sure we just don´t know when yet but he´s been coming to church and he wants to have an eternal family so he´ll be baptized. He´s really positive too and he understands a lot. We are going to have family night with them tomorrow. They have twins and they are such an awesome family.

We are also preparing S to be baptized. She is 16 and she lives and works for some members in our ward in a circus. We are also planning her baptism for this weekend we just have to teach a few things and she´ll be ready. It´s a little difficult to teach her sometimes because it seems like she doesn´t understand a ton but she wants to be baptized and she´s learning little by little. We have an appointment with her tonight.

We taught a guy named M and he has a sister that is a member of the church so that helps. His biggest problem right now is futbol and the word of wisdom. His sister that is a member is dating a boy who wants to be baptized too but he´s 17 and his family won´t give him permission so that´s the big problem there. He turns 18 the 24 of September so we´re going to plan for some time that week! 

Yesterday for PDAY we went to metro centro...which is what they call a MALL!! Ahh man it was awesome. I had to get new shoes so that was fun. Other than that we just cleaned for like 3 hours because our house was a disaster. There were tons of spiders and ants and cucarachas. Now it´s not so bad.

This week we are getting a "mini missionary" from Escuintla. It’s just a sister that is preparing for a mission so that will be weird but interesting. We´ll divide into 2 companionships since we´ll be 4 missionaries..in one house..with one shower...haha

This week we have to have a perfect week as a mission because our goal for September is 300 baptisms so we have to be obedient with exactness to achieve it. 

Sorry the email isn´t that long..that´s what happens when you go to a new area!

Oh.. and the thing to send photos on the computer doesn´t work so you´ll have to wait till next week

It's Time for ....a CHANGE!!!

IT’S TIME FOR….

Familia G - getting baptized tonight!

A CHANGE! Yep the rumors are true I´m going to get transferred tomorrow and I am really kind of nervous because I don´t want a different companion. It´s weird to think that I am leaving San Pedro and saying goodbye to everyone kind of sucks but it has to happen right? Well the best part of this week will be today...THE G FAMILY IS GETTING BAPTIZED! woohoo! Their baptism was supposed to be Sunday but asked if we could do it today since I´m leaving so we have a baptism tonight!

so this week wasn't the best. It was a little bit more of a trail than the rest but we got through it alive and well and ready to do better this week! Starting it off with a baptism tonight! The G family is getting baptized and I am so happy for them! It´s always good to baptize but it´s a completely different feeling when it´s a family because you know you are helping them toward the goal of getting sealed in the temple! They are such a great family and already love the gospel. They´ve been receiving a little bit of problems with their neighbors but they are really strong and they know that what they have felt is really from God. They are seriously a golden family and I am so happy that I had the opportunity to teach them! Everything we teach they are willing to do. It´s been a great experience for me to be a part of their lives and help them on the path toward eternal life.

We couldn´t get in contact with H or MJ this week. Apparently MJ  went to work in Escuintla and H  just seems to be dodging us. He is having problems with the word of wisdom again so that´s not good.

We went to visit N and H but their mom isn´t going to give them permission to be baptized right now. We just need to keep praying hard for them so M will let them be baptized. The teachers in N´s school aren´t supporting her anymore since she wants to be baptized so she had to get a job to pay for school. She´s really strong..it´s amazing.

Branch Presidency's family

On Saturday we had an area attack which went really well and we got lots of references from that so now we just have to contact them all. An area attack is when all the missionaries in the district go to one area to contact.

Members

We taught J twice this week. Once during the week and the other time after church..SHE CAME TO CHURCH! ahh man. That was such a miracle. Out of all the missionaries that have taught her family she finally told us she is ready to be baptized. She is great and already knows more than most of our members because she has been reading like 5 pages of the Book of Mormon every day. She´s already in Alma. The night that we taught her after church was really interesting...we were outside sitting around the patio table and her daughter S was babysitting two little neighbor boys and one (that was about 2) went under the table and was under there for a really long time and when we looked...HE WAS POOPING! haha it was hilarious and stinky.

The other miracle is that L came to church! She told us she wanted to be baptized too! Man that was huge for us. This is the first time she has been really sincere about being baptized! That was awesome.

Yesterday we went to lunch with the Gainors at a burger place. I´m sending a box of stuff home with Ian so you´ll have to get that somehow haha. The red tie is for dad and the yellow one is for mike. You guys can fight between the other two haha. We also had a family night with some members and The G family. They are really excited for today!

How is orientation? School starts next week? Don´t forget that your job this fall is send me news about football.

Well I love you lots and I hope you have a great week this week! LOVE YOU and I´ll let you know all about transfers next week!

So this week was pretty good. We went to Santa Ana and visited a friend of a member (well it´s the member’s son´s girlfriend). That went really well. We taught about the restoration and then we went back and visited her again and taught the Book of Mormon. She is really receptive and said that she will read the Book of Mormon but she couldn´t come to church because she is working on Sundays.

We also went and taught N. We had previously talked with her mom and she said that she wasn´t going to give her permission to be baptized because the grandma said she would disown them if she did (even though she already has other family that are members and she talks to them). So we went and taught N  and she said she REALLY wants to be baptized and everything but she´s been having problems with her grandma, friends and teachers. The school said they would take away her support if she got baptized. She´s been faced with lots of difficulties but at the end she prayed and asked God to help her be strong even if her friends and teachers stop talking to her and helping her. Now we just need the permission from the mom.

We also went and taught H. He is still asking tons of questions and everything. He is having lots of problems with the Word of Wisdom still. He likes to do drugs...now it’s only marijuana but before it was a ot of other stuff. We were really direct with him and told him he needed to stop. He said he knows it’s bad for him and that God doesn’t want him to do it but he said he wasn’t going to stop. So then we kept talking and finally he said a prayer for like 30 minutes asking for help with his problems and that he really wants to change and he started crying during it but then he didn’t come to church on Sunday. He said he was going to visit his brother who is in jail (MJ´s not husband but father of her children). Basically he was put in jail by a crooked cop and so their family is suffering a lot for that. MJ wants to marry him and so we´re trying to get that figured out so she can be baptized too.

MA and his family are on the right track! They are so awesome! C their daughter was going to start taking English on Sundays but they switched it to Saturdays so they could keep the Sabbath day holy :) That was awesome to hear! They are loving church and everything and they accepted the challenge to be baptized 26th of August! They are so happy that they can have an eternal family someday! We taught them the plan of salvation (well finished teaching them) and then after church we watched the Restoration with them. They also came to the noche de hermanamiento. They´re such a golden family and I am so excited for them! 

Making Pizza with the other missionaries.  Looks good, huh?

On Friday we had interviews which was really awesome! Man I love President Brough he is the best! He has such a great love for all of us. One of the things he talked about at the end was D&C 93. That we have the ability to see Christ in this life in the Temple so keep going! English or Spanish haha. He said that some of our grandparents have seen him and it’s the reason they have such a great reverence for the Temple.

Yesterday we made pizzas for pday and that was awesome!

No I didn´t see Cameron (a friend from SUU who is down there right now) but he ran into some other missionaries in Chimaltenango and they brought my stuff! THANK YOU! and THANK YOU FOR THE PACKAGE WITH THE GAINORS! haha I´m sure I said thank you for the other. The CD you just sent is REALLY good! As for my towel...it´s drying pretty decently but I think it would be nice to have the other kind for Christmas...as well as some caramel corn :) haha. Also I would like some of the other skirts but it can wait til Christmas too I don´t need them now. I´m good on packages for a little while but thank you so much for sending them! 

Hna Alvarado wants a little preach my gospel too if that´s ok.

Don't know why the sad face...she must be missing me!

As for my letters, can you put them all on a flash drive or something too?

How is Mitt Romney doing? ...and the future of the United States? haha 

Well I love you both so much! Thank you for all you have done for me and I hope you have a great week! Tell mike I say hi and I love him! LOVE YOU

Worn out shoe from walking on cobblestone streets