Amazing Week!

okay this week was so amazing.... this week i have seen the blessings of our work. i feel like i am a successful missionary and i feel like i am living up to my expectations; like i have been training all these 11 months but right now is the final race, well i know i have six more months but i feel like all the things i have been learning are showing more now. i have seen myself grow so much and i know that it is because Heavenly Father was shaping me during this time. every time i teach or find a new person i thank Him in prayer because i know it is because of my Heavenly Father that i am here and that we are finding His children that are ready. the field is white and already to harvest. i feel like we are finding more people and growing with them. 

well where do i start... we have familia morales - it is a husband and wife with 2 kids... i love this family with all my heart.... they are amazing. they have so much respect for each other and they are such good people. but they are reading the book of mormon and are progressing and we have a meta to baptism this month. we had family home evening with them last night at the house of the bishop and he is so good with them. also they are so happy to see us every time. then we have saul.. he is the old investigator and ahhh yesterday was crazy!!!! we taught him and made him ready for his baptism for saturday. he is such a good man. he is 20 and his girlfriend is a member. first we told him to investigate the church for his soul, not because of her, but he has been doing his part and really wants to be baptized. but one culture thing i learned here. a boy cannot be a girl's boyfriend until he asks the father to be her bf.... so he had to tell her parents that he was her bf before his baptism... he did sunday after we taught him.... it was intense!!! i felt like i was in judge judy... we were about ready to leave but the mom invited us to stay and we were like no it's okay it's your guys' thing and they said please stay! hahah we were like okay we can just listen.... yeah it was intense... but it's amazing when you start with a prayer and end with a prayer.... hahha but learned something new... hahha 

yesterday we visited a youth and his mom was there and we started to teach his younger brother who is 13 years old. this boy is crazy; he knows the bible like the back of his hand! he is really interested in the church, and his mom and brother are members so we challenged him to be baptized on the 16th of June. 

so this month has been great. my comp and i are searching and searching. but trying to help the ward at the same time. we are working on fellowshipping them. we got two of the "hard ones" to smile and invite us to visit more often. it was fun! hahha but i am really loving my time here. i love bearing my testiomony and learning more about the gospel. 

The Work

So this week was a great week. With Hermana Estrada it's always great. We are working with Gustavio right now and this past week we caught him smoking... I was so mad and sad that when we took the cigarette out of his hands and threw it on the ground, he was like, "Wait wait I can explain...." He was pretty scared of us. But we just sat down and asked him why.... he explained why, and we told him to have faith in Jesus Christ and he will help. After that day he kept his commitments to read and he limited to 2 cigarettes. But after that he regressed and did not keep his commitments. He did not go to church after 40 mins of knocking on his door yesterday... I was really sad Sunday with my bruised knuckles.... but during the sacrament I saw an old investigator and we taught him and he accepted a fecha for the 2 of June. Also the family we contacted last Sunday, family Morales, is amazing! We taught just the dad last night with the bishop and it was a great lesson. So the Lord always has people waiting to hear the message. We cannot be down but have to keep going and looking. It's great working with my comp. She pushes me and has so much energy for the work. Together we make goals and push each other. 

We are teaching a youth, Rafeal, and he was going to be baptized this Saturday but his mom and dad said no..... I was so sad.... I was about ready to cry... he was like, "But just wait. When I am older I can." I just smiled because he such a good kid... I want the best for him..... Also Brandon is doing great... He looks like a soon to be missionary.... He wants to go to the ward temple trip so we are going to talk to him about it. I love my area and the people here. I love the ward and the challenges we are dealing, but what I really enjoy is the unity I have with my comp. This time is going by a lot faster and I really do not like it to tell the truth but I am grateful for this time.

Mother's Day

We got to speak to Hermana Willie for Mother's Day. She is doing great! She looks and sounds so happy and her Spanish sounds amazing! 

They had changes last Wednesday and Hermana Willie is in the same area (REU and La Guitarra), but she has a new companion who is a lot like her personality wise and they get along very well. We could see and feel their energy and excitement for life and for missionary work :)  

Hermana Willie says that they are teaching four families, and she feels so blessed to be able to teach these families. She is humbled by their humility and the faith they demonstrate to overcome the trials they face. Many people there work hard every day just to put food on the table for their family. Even 8 year old children are out working instead of going to school so their family can eat. She says it has taught her gratitude for all that she has been blessed with. She also says that it is hot and raining tons now, and sometimes the streets are like rivers.  

We are so proud of our dear Hermana Willie! She is an amazing missionary and full of faith and charity!

We love you Hermana Willie!! Keep up the great work!

Charity

It's great here in Guatemala. Hot.... but great... I got in trouble by Presidente because I have not been drinking enough water so I am working on that right now. Also the mosquitoes are crazy right now.... I think how they feast on my legs during lessons, it's not fair. But let's see where to start. This past week we had FHE with one family of investigators and it was great. This family had so much more unity and I saw how this can help so much in the house. Also it hit me how every choice we make in our lives can determine our future. I remember mom and dad always said this but as a youth I never saw it. But here in Guatemala I see it, and it hurts seeing it. I at times think how blessed I was to be born in a family that is functional and with parents that always said no when they felt they needed to or made sure I was home on time. Being here has made me realize a lot of things and how important the gospel is in our lives. I am so thankful for the gospel. I am so thankful that I have my life and that I am able to help others have this vision. Brandon, our convert that is 16 years old, blessed the sacrament and I almost cried because he is progressing and reading the Book of Mormon. He is really special and I pray he serves a mission. He will be great. We are looking for more families to teach, and we have a new investigator named Rafael. He is 16, and he is amazing. He has two friends in the ward and they gave him a Book of Mormon, and he has been reading it. He knows it's true and loves going to church. It's amazing how having friends in the church can help someone be active and join the church. I give a lot to the boys that gave him the Book of Mormon. They love their friend so much that they gave him a Book of Mormon. That is what happens when we love someone, we want them to have the gospel in their lives and progress and receive eternal life. I love the gospel and every chance I get to share it with people. It is such a blessing having the gospel. 

My Birthday in Guatemala

 this past week was great. i have a wonderful companion and zone. on my birthday they gave me ice cream from mangos and had balloons for me and letters. they were so cute, oh also fireworks, it is tradition here to have fireworks for peoples birthdays. i was thinking when i heard them "ah they just broke the rules for me!!!!" ah!!! to tell the truth i felt a little terrible. this week i was thinking how in the mission i have become so much more obedient i know that i need to work on it more because i am not perfectly obedient but i am so much more than i was before the mission. i think it's one trait that i have always had but it is developing more on the mission. i think of the stripling warriors and how they obeyed with exactness. how amazing is that! they followed everything that was commanded of them! in the mission we have the mission manual and rules in the mission and i am trying to follow them but i do fall short at times. this is when we can be thankful for the atonement and repent. 

i loved reading the ensign for this month and reading how the atonement is so deep that we at times do not understand it but at the same time it is so simple. atonement is when Jesucristo died for our sins and made it possible to live with our Heavenly Father. but in the talk by Elder Bednar he said that it is to help bad people become good and to help good people become better. at times we think that it is only for people that have just sinned but it is for all of us everyday. i think it is amazing to be learning more about the gospel in the mission and teaching others how to live it. to tell the truth, when i teach it is when i personally learn. we are helping others to learn, but i know that i am the one learning. i love my mission and am so thankful that i have every day.

Testimony of Scriptures

we found a family Friday that is really positive!!! we are really excited, the husband had so many questions and felt the spirit. the challenge is getting them to church. they work so hard every day to provide for their family. they sell mangos so they gave us some yesterday and oh man they were good... i was thinking how when i go home i ll sure miss them so i am going to eat as much as i can!!!! but there is so much fruit here, its like paradise i love it! but this week was fun because we have been contacting like crazy and its fun seeing how my Spanish has gotten better and thinking how to teach people when they have doubts or questions. but one thing i know is always bear your testimony... so here we travel on a bus to Guitarra and this bus gets packed! also this past Friday there was one pastor on the bus preaching. it was interesting listening to him and thinking oh i wanna look up those scriptures, my comp is funning because she knows the Bible really well and understands Spanish better and she tells me how this other scripture would contradict what he said. she is really funny, she cracks me up. but we had great lessons with people where they had scriptures and we would have lessons with just scriptures. this really helped me think how blessed i am to have my comp and to be learning so much more about the scriptures. to not just use the same ones but always search for more, my testimony has grown about the Bible and the Book of Mormon, they really are semejante... umm.... together haha they support each other and help us be able to understand the doctrine of Jesus and Heavenly Father better. there are so many churches on the earth and they all have the bible but they have so many different doctrines. i love bearing my testimony to people about the Book of Mormon and the church. i think how if it wasn´t for my mission i probably would have never learned the importance of being a witness of Heavenly Father. i am so thankful i am here and thankful i am learning these things.

The Rain is Coming Back

so the rain is coming back... happy but not. haha. i feel like i am in a greenhouse.... it rains and the heat is crazy! so yeah i am in a greenhouse right now.... but i took out my chinas and was ready to walk in the water again, but i know in a few months it will be getting a lot worse. my companion is enjoying it, she always says she gets tired when it rains and i tell her well you will be really tired for these next 6 months and especially in october. that's when it gets crazy!

so this past week we baptized jaun! i don´t know if you remember him but we have been working with him for about 2 months. he was going to be baptized last month but presidente told us to wait and we did. it is crazy to see a change in him. he is a different person and he is really funny. he is like a little kid and he says some pretty funny things that make us laugh. i felt bad though because none of his family wanted to come to his baptism. i know he was sad too. the bishop talked to him afterwards and said that the ward is his family now. but i just can´t help to think how the gospel is so true, it changes so many lives and helps people see their purpose. i love working with investigators, converts and less actives, they are all at different levels of growth but i love seeing how the Lord cares for all of them and wants to help them all have the gospel.... the mission is wonderful.... i am so thankful that i am here and thankful that i have this chance to meet so many people and learn from them.

i wanted to tell you about one family. hermana oniele. she is a convert and has 7 kids and is a single mother. she is the only one providing for all her children and they are really poor. but she is such a hard worker and is always helping others. every time we visit her i am uplifted and think to myself how strong her faith is. the talk during conference about single moms hit my heart because i thought of her. but one elder's brother in the states did a project for his boy scouts where he bought shoes and sent them here for the children because a lot of them do not have shoes and we took some to her kids... they were so happy and it touched my heart. she is such a wonderful person. one thing she told me is it is hard living at times and we have difficulties but we should not drop the church because that is where we get our strength to keep going. she is such a hard worker and she has health problems but she keeps going.