October 1, 2012

i am still loving my area, and yes there is still tons tons tons of rain, but i really am enjoying it because i know that is one of the special parts of guatemala. 

we having been working with the family joj but we are really working with them and it is not getting easier... i really do not know what to do but we are praying for them and hoping that they can progress. but we decided that we need to keep looking for others that are ready, and this past week we were contacting and found a family and they are so special... he is 28 and she is 23 and they have 2 children. we found him and gave him a folleto and he read it all when we visited him with his wife... it was really special he likes it and has so many questions... also all of our citas fell and so we ended up contacting and there was a house that we always pass and i always see the woman outside but when we pass i think "hum i want to contact her but ah we don`t have time" or "tomorrow"... but yesterday we had a cita and i was like no i am going to contact her, she was wrapping a present and was trying to figure out how to do it and i was like "hey i can help! but it will be like how we wrap in the states." then i explained how my brother does not like to wrap and i always got asked to wrap it for him.... ... and it turns out that she had missionaries before but at that time was gong to another church. but right now she is not going there and she said we can come back whenever we can. it was a great experience... 

here are some pics. enjoy!

September 17, 2012

can you believe how fast the time is going? septiembre is already almost over and i cannot believe it... it is happening so fast.... i have another companion. she is from el salvador!!!!! hahah i'm so excited to be with her. she is so short, and she is a ball full of energy hahha. i love her so much. she is just so easy to love. but i'm learning so much from her. in these 5 days i've learned so much that i cannot believe how much i've changed... i am so excited to work with her in this change and to work with the ward members and just to be here with her in san felipe. so my first day with her we taught luis. he is the youth that had a fecha to be baptized last saturday but didn´t he asked to be baptized friday and it was such a wonderful experience.... after the baptism was such a tender moment... he thanked me so much and was like "thank you for not giving up on me"... it was so beautiful. i was so thankful that i got to see him baptized. 

this week we are working really hard and trying to help people come unto Christ. i see myself grow a lot and i was thinking how the Lord knows when we need to have those moments of growth that we at times do not want. 

our baptism  this friday was from family yac. they helped with another youth baptsim last saturday and they gave a reference for the sisters in san felipe. so just in this month 3 of their references were successful... i really love this family! they are so kind.... they really have grown in my heart.... 

so there is still lots of rain and we didn´t get any ash or signs of the volcanoes in antigua but did you know that i live near an active valcano? .... yeah i think i live by two, but it's a really pretty view from my window every morning.

September 10, 2012

so this is going to be short letter, but this week was great with hermana acosta. this week we had 2 baptisms and it was great because we had it with 3 other wards and it was just really nice. lots of people. we are working right now family joj and they are having difficulties so we are thinking how we can help them... its a little hard working with them because when they fall it's hard not to feel the pain.. i am really thankful for them and the opportunity to be working with them. i always think how does Heavenly Father feel when his children make the choices that cannot help them return to him? but i know that He is always helping us to help them come closer to Him; to have hope and to feel that they are not forgotten or alone. i am really thankful that i have my comp. she is teaching me so much and i love how we have the same thoughts. it shows that we are both listening to the Holy Ghost. i am so thankful to be here and we are working hard to help this family and a youth and a another family receive the gospel. the challenge is reading the book of mormon and going to church, but gotta keep working hard... well i have changes this week and i am a little scared but i know it will be all fine because i can learn more and progress. but i am a little sad because the time with heramana acosta went so fast.... but that's how life is :) 

September 4, 2012

this week was wonderful. i'm so thankful for my comp.... i am learning so much from her and i'm so thankful that i'm here to learn all these things... i know that it will help me be a better person and come closer to Heavenly Father. so this week we had wonderful experiences... we put 2 baptisms for this saturday with tony who is a youth and is a reference from a family and alba another reference from a member. she is a grandma and is visiting from the states and i don´t know how it will work out but she did not want baptism because she did not feel ready but talking with her and her grandson she accepted and i know the missionaries in cali where she is living will be mad at us but we just felt like it was right to challenge her to be baptized and her grandson can baptize her. but i love her she is really cute.... and tony was a wonderful experience with him when he was trying to decided to accept to be baptized... he was like "i want to but i don´t know. a part of me is saying no." we shared d&c 6:33-36 and he changed his mind and said yes. it was cute because the lesson was with members and they were so happy for him. it was a good lesson. i love working with the members here. 

but the best part was with family joj... so the wife is a little hard and did not want anything to do with the church but she has changed so much and she went to church sunday. it was such a blessing to see their whole family at church and to be seeing a change in their hearts and in their family. i'm so thankful that we get to work with them and to help them feel of the love of Heavenly Father. well that is about it i think. there is so much that happens here and i cannot write it all just know that i am doing good and am loving it here in san felipe. changes are next week and i know i'll be getting a new comp. i'm a little sad... i love my comp but i know there is more for me to learn and i know that i have learned so much from hermana acosta... i love my mission and i'm thankful for your support and prayers. 

August 27, 2012

life is great in the mission. we are working with a lot of families and this week we did divisions to help be able to teach these families. this past week we have been trying to figure out which families to focus on a little more. but yesterday one family in our ward bought all the materials for me to make navajo tacos hahah yeah i made them here and they loved it! it was great!!!! hahah they were so happy, they always ask questions about my tribe and it's really fun. also this past week i got really sick but luckily it was just one day.. i have gained a stronger testimony about receiving priesthood blessings to heal faster. but it was cool because i left to teach and we had a wonderful experience with a family. we taught with a member and it was such a blessing to hear her testimony... i loved it. she told us that that day was really hard for her and she did not want to go out and teach with us but she did and afterwards felt much better.. it's great. 

this family we are working with is a little hard and we are pushing to help them. during the lessons with them we can feel the spirit so much but we need to just have more patience with them... this is family martinez... haha right now i have a lot of investigators with that last name... i love it hahah. 

there is lots of rain and lots of work to do... i love my comp and am learning from her everyday. also i love living with hermana estrada and crooks, i have the opportunity to learn more from them. they are great and i am so thankful for my area. oh yesterday we were looking for an investigator outside the church and i heard someone say "hermana willie" and it was a family from reu! familiy morales i helped baptize the father-in-law law of the sister. his name is hector. remember that he was baptized 21 of july? they came to just see us and i was so happy. i really do miss them and they told me that he goes to church every sunday and when they showed me a picture of all the family outside the chapel i almost started crying... i really am thankful to be here and just to met new people and help people change their lives... i know that i need to work harder and be a light to others.

August 13, 2012

i love san felipe! i cannot believe how love can change with areas and with people, when i was in coatepeque i thought i can never love in reu like i did in coate but now i see that with my three areas (hahah, yeah lots huh) there is a different kinda love but the same... understand? its love but it's a different kind hahah
so this week was amazing.... i really love my new comp. i have never met someone that can have so much love and charity for others. i am learning so much from her. everyday i think how much i learn from her, and it is amazing. also i love the members here. i am learning so much from them... i think it is amazing how the gospel changes lives.... a lot of the members here are converts and their stories are amazing.... i think how important our work here is because if missionaries did not find them they would not have changed their lives and all their family could not have had this happiness. one member in our ward... ah she is amazing.... yesterday we visited her and well... i need to start the story from the start. so her name is nayté she is a single mom of five and she accepts all people into her house. a lot of kids are always in her house because she loves all. there is a youth name ronadye he is 11 years old... his family does not care for him his mom and step dad always drink and he ends up staying the night at the house of nayté, he practically lives there. he works everyday and does not know how to read... his life is really hard but nayte gives him love and helps him realize that he is worth something..... well he got baptized sunday morning.... i think its amazing how she helped a soul receive the gospel... i know she has changed this kid's life forever... she has helped him have more opportunity in his life..... i have learned so much from her...  i have seen my life change and faith strengthen because of her.... she is always sharing the gospel with everyone because her life was not easy but because she has the gospel it is better. she is amazing.... then there is elsy she lives with nayte and wow the both of them are such wonderful people.... they help so many learn about the gospel and are always helping us and willing to give their time.... i am so thankful that i know them and for the opportunity to be here. to just know them.... so that was a little about the wonderful week i had.

with investigators we have a lot of families we are working with and it was a miracle because on sunday a family lopez went to church.... he lived in the states for like 14 years and the whole family but the wife talk in english... so at times when i want to express or joke i talk in english they love it... but we had such a powerful lesson with them saturday that he accepted to go to church.... it was amazing how the holy ghost witnesses what we teach... i am so thankful that this time in my life i have the opportunity to teach this wonderful gospel and to let the children of men feel his power and love.... it was such a wonderful experience with them. 

friday was our pday and we got to go to xetulul, it's like 6 flags, and we spent the whole day there. we as a zone, well zone in reu and the zone here had the most baptisms so we got to go there. it was so much fun and i love being here with hermana acosta and estrada they teach me so much..... but it was a wonderful memory because it started to rain like crazy! i was like yep we are in san felipe...... hahah but it was raining so hard this day! it was pouring from 2 until like 8 it was crazy.... i have never seen so much rain in my life all the streets where like rivers. so remember how i said that san felipe gets the most rain in guate? so that was a lie. i asked my bishop and he said "no, in all of central america"..... so that is a lot haha he said it is just starting..... 

New Area

i had changes. i am no longer in reu. i am...... in ..... SAN FELIPE!!!!!!!!!!  it is about 20 mins from reu and we go to reu every 15 days to get food and stuff. but it is a lot cooler here and i am loving it. but it is the area that gets the most rain in guate i've heard from my new bishop. so i will be looking forward to this change. my new comp is hermana acosta... she is also one of my good friends in the mission. she has the same time as me and when we found out we were comps we could not believe it! we thought how is that possible but the other part that it amazing is that hermana estrada is in my zone, district, and in our house hahah we are sharing a house and she is with hermana crooks and she entered the mission with me too. we are all in the same house and have the same time in the mission. it was a little weird but i am loving it. i love having my friends near me, they help me so much. but this change i am so excited because we have a family that we are working with. they lived in the states for about 15 years and the children understand english. at times i talk in english to them and they like it. i really love this family. the first day i met them my love for them grew. i am really praying that we can help them accept baptism but there is a lot to do until then.... i am loving this area... i am so thankful that i am here and to feel once again like i do not know anything.... i feel like a new missionary and i am excited to get to know this area. the ward seems really good and we are going to try and do activities with them. but that is about it right now. just that i am loving my new comp, she shows so much love and is one of the sweetest people i have ever met... she never sees the bad in people and is the definition of charity. she is from perù hahah i've had the only perù sister in the mission hahah and i m loving it!