Miracles do happen

Familia,

We had changes this week but no changes for H.Hernandez and I!  Still going strong in my training.  Spanish is coming mama :)

SOPHIE FREAKING ROSE BUD,

I miss you more than anyone (shhhhh don't tell)

I'm so stoked that you are running for office.  You are gonna kill it.  It's nerve wracking but win or lose, it's a fun experience and you are opening up to new experiences.  So crazy proud of you sis.

Is school over yet or what? Go swimming and eat cup o snow for me because I'm deprived here eating my beans.

Love you!  You look better in my clothes anyways haha.  Miss you!

 

 

THE RUNDOWN:

• I get a lot of fun shout outs in the street, especially by men sitting with their wives and the police, like "mmmm goot morning" and "goodbye my love!"
• There are a whole lot of explosions going off all the time.  Like, to the point where they leave my ears ringing.  If I didn't know any better I'd think we were under attack.  World War 3 anyone?
• My right cheekbone is bruised from kissing so many cheeks.
• You know a good game of futbol is going on when you're walking down the street and suddenly voices from every house on all sides of you start screaming at the same time haha!  They are crazy about their soccer here.
• I live in fear of packs of vicious dogs.
• Everyone here thinks I'm from the Ukraine..?
• It takes all of my courage every night to turn on the lights in the apartment to see what bugs await us.
• I have forgotten what skittles taste like.
• We have been teaching an awesome family, right?  Next thing I know she starts talking about how she witnessed a murder, people are trying to find her and kill her, and she is also a criminal and should be in jail.  Oh okay......uhh..  can I leave please?  We are going to have to stop teaching them unfortunately. ;)
• Frog update:  We killed it on accident trying to get it out of the house..  and then it was resurrected.  Quite literally.  Not sure where it is now haha!

 

So once again, I'm gonna tell you all what I have been thinking about this week.  I do a lot of thinking considering I can't talk much haha.  But I was thinking about how interesting it is that the more we learn about the gospel, Christ, and God's eternal perspective, the more inadequate and unworthy we feel to play our part.  It is beautiful.  It is necessary to become humble and start to realize how much we truly rely on God and the miracle of being saved by Christ's grace.  The great prophets of old, including Alma the younger, always taught us to "acknowledge our unworthiness before God at all times."  As we learn more about God's plan and our individual roles we need to play in His plan, we SHOULD feel inadequate.  Whether it is in our missions, callings, or being a contributing member in a family.  (and if you don't ever feel inadequate, props to you for having everything under control ;) ) But the beauty is that we need not allow that feeling of unworthiness lead us to despair- but rather to humility and a willingness to learn, grow, and serve as our weaknesses are turned into strengths.

 

Also.... Our investigator was baptized on Saturday :)  and that is why I said that MIRACLES DO HAPPEN.  Jeni has been talking to the missionaries for a good long time, but hasn't wanted to be baptized.  The transfer before I got here she decided she was ready to be baptized, but she is having problems with her husband and wants a divorce but he doesn't.  They don't live together, but the process takes so long here, she was planning on having to wait at least 3 years to be baptized.  We talked with President Curtiss and after much prayer and fasting on all of our parts, he decided she can be baptized as long as she is sure she will keep the law of chastity until she is divorced haha.  3 days later she was baptized.  I played the piano and the spirit was amazing.  She bore her testimony and with tears in her eyes, she testified of the prophet Joseph Smith, her role in God's plan, and called us misioneras angels.  I was only here to teach her a small portion of what she knows, but I have been blessed to be a part of her conversion and see her light up every time we talk about her baptism, before and after.  I love this work.

When Elder Ochoa came to our Conference

 

Family I love you and I miss you.  I am so proud of all of you and your accomplishments you are all having at home!  I have the best family in the world and I don't care who knows it.

 

No Empty Chairs

Mo Rae

The Frog Lives On...

THE FROG LIVES ON. . . in our sink. Haha the frog is living in our drain and we can't get it out. Every once in a while it talks to us and it echoes really loudly in the apartment. Talk about creepy in the middle of the night...

THE RUNDOWN:

So remember when I used to do my hair? Yeah those days are long gone.

Remember when you would tell me to read my scriptures and I'd only read one verse and thought I'd die? Now I almost start crying at the end of personal study time every day because I want to keep reading my Book of Mormon.

Remember when you told me one day I'd like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir? It happened.

My feet are getting nice and calloused so I'll be expecting a good long pedicure when I get home in a year and a few months.

I wake up to a rooster crow every morning. Literally. It's not just in the movies, it's real life.

I wait a half hour for my water to almost be considered boiling to make pasta to eat with my beans.

Often times I think camping would be a luxurious alternative to living in our house.

I take bucket showers.

I walk a lot.

I sound like a child but I try to teach.

I have gotten good at smiling, nodding, and acting like I know what's going on.

I love being a missionary.

So the other day we had a zone meeting and like usual I almost understood half of what they said. At one point we all surrounded the baptismal font while a sister read an inspirational quote about baptism in spanish. No, I didn't understand it, but it gave me a moment to think. Looking into the font I was brought back to my baptism on my 8th birthday. I didn't really understand the entirety of the gift I was receiving as I entered the waters of baptism, and my dad helped me situate my hands just right so I could plug my nose. I remember thinking, "I'm clean. I'm perfect." Granted, for a moment I was. But soon enough, I was making mistakes. I still am. But now I can take the sacrament and be clean again.

Being on my mission I have learned more about the blessings received at baptism. I still can't comprehend it all. But we become candidates for eternal life with our Father who loves us more than we can imagine. When I was baptized, I didn't have any idea that in about 10 years I would be living in Guatemala, inviting people every day to be baptized and to allow the light of the gospel into their lives.

I love the conversion story of King Lamoni. "The dark veil of unbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the light which did light up his mind, which was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness - yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul"

I don't know what that's like yet, to see that kind of a beautiful change in my investigators, but I know that I will see that change in their eyes as we guide those prepared by the Lord and help them find their way to the baptismal font and then onward in their lives.

I love this work and I love our Father who has provided such a perfect plan for us.

Family, I am so jealous that you are in New York/ Baltimore/ wherever you are.

Sophie, my companion has "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban and we blast it every day and it reminds me of when we sang our hearts out at the concert! p.s. You are so stinkin gorgeous.
Mom, send a letter to Dean Kaelin and tell him to tell David Archuleta to wait for me.  Thanks.

I love you all! Until next week.

No Empty Chairs.

Morgan

HE is constant

Feliz Cumpleaños mi madre!!!  I love you more than life itself and it's perfectly fitting that we celebrate you two days this week.  You deserve to be celebrated every day with cup cakes and balloons and flowers.  And black licorice but only because you like it.  I love you so so much.

 

Fue bien especial y divertido hablar con ustedes ayer para el dia de madres!  Les estraño mucho!

Mothers day here was interesting, we had a dinner for the madres in the branch and everyone danced, ate nasty food, and hung out!  I even made a pancake in the microwave to celebrate. Woooooooo!

 

So about our new friend in the apartment..  I told the story on the phone but I'll tell it again.  So the other day I was just reading my book of mormon casually when my companion comes out of the bathroom screaming and yelling things in spanish, as if I could understand her.  She then yells "FROG!!!"  Hahaha then this frog comes hopping out of the bathroom and I saw why she was screaming.  Yes, we have frogs living in our shower.  I was the happiest camper though because I thought it was cute.... Until it disappeared.  Nope, I don't like that one bit.  That night we shut all of the doors so it wouldn't make itself comfortable in our shoes or our beds.. but all night I could hear it crashing around haha!  I was too scared to do anything about it so I was up all night listening to the frog destroying everything in it's path.  The next morning my things on my desk were everywhere and I knew it had a fiesta on my desk in the night.  So who knows where it is now.

 

District in the CCM

Where is my time machine?  Everyone here tells me "Oh in 3 months you will be fluent",  "oh in 5 months you will understand EVERYTHING",  "oh I'm 9 months in and I still don't understand anything".  Okay people, just get me to the point where I can talk about more than my favorite color.  I was pretty frustrated this past week at the Conference with Elder Ochoa and my mission president pulled me aside and talked to me and gave me a blessing.  He said everything I needed to hear. - I would be blessed with a tremendous amount of confidence.  Heavenly Father desires that I come to Him in prayer to resolve issues in my life and that I should confide in Him and put all my trust in Him as I pray with an open heart.  I will feel the spirit in abundance in my life.  I am called of God to do this work.  I will find the people that I was sent here to find and I will know I have found the people I was supposed to by manifestation of the spirit.  After, president said, "wow, that was a great blessing.  I never know what is going to be said.  Your Heavenly Father loves you."

 

What I learned this past week is that Heavenly Father is constant.  In all things.  The spirit always testifies of truth and brings peace to our hearts.  I felt my Father's love flow through my heart.  His love is constant and sure.  In a world where so much is temporary, unreliable, and unsure, it is so comforting to know we have a Father in heaven who will never change.  I love Him.

 

Family I love you and I love hearing about all of your adventures.  Keep them coming!  Hasta Lunes!  Les amo!!

**A note from Mom - We had a wonderful phone call with Morgan yesterday.  She is frustrated with her inability to fully understand and speak the language, but she was in good spirits and has a very positive attitude.  She told us some funny stories, and some tender stories as well.  She told us that in the Conference with Elder Ochoa, she and an Elder sang a beautiful arrangement of If I Could Hie To Kolob.  Who would have thought... She sweetly told us how her appreciation for her family has grown as she has been away and she repeatedly told us that she is very happy:)

2 months already??

What in the world!?  I only have 16 months left of my mission...  It's going too fast.

I feel like Isaac in our Christmas home video, "I got MAIL, who's jealous??" 

Family.  You sent me girl scout cookies.  You are saints.  Thank you so much for the package!

So funny story.. Elder Ochoa from the 70 is coming on friday for a conference and our zone leader called me to see if I could play piano or sing.  I talked about my song I played in the CCM and he said perfect, come to the practice tomorrow and teach two missionaries in spanish.  So I taught them the song in spanish and then my zone leader decided that I sing better than them so I will be singing the song.  Oh okay.  Then today he called me and said change of plans, you are now going to learn my arrangement of If I Could Hie to Kolob and sing it.  Whaaaat.  So now I'm singing who knows what this Friday for a conference.  How did that happen.  Who have I become...

"We truly need Him every hour, whether they be hours of sunshine or of rain." -Pres. Monson.

Well ain't that the truth here in Guatemala!!  One minute it will be so crazy hot, and the next minute we are drowning in 2 feet of water!  It's crazy here but it's so great!  Every night I feel like Mr. Incredible drying all of his books with the blow dryer.

I have been thinking a lot about repentence.  Everyone here thinks Jesus came to save us all and now we don't need to do anything in return besides be grateful that we are saved.  Yes, Christ saved us.  But now He requires us to take advantage of His atonement and become perfect.  Perfect is a lot to expect right?  But "unto whom much is given much is required."  Christ atoned for us so that we could have the opportunity to CHANGE.  If we strive every day to utilize Christ's atonement, to allow it to change our thoughts, desires, actions, and priorities, we will see our lives slowly becoming more like our Savior's.

Family, I miss you, but I'm glad I am here :)  I am so grateful for this opportunity to share what I know to be absolutely and amazingly true.  I love you all :)

NEC

Hermana Yates

We went cave exploring today!