1 year whaaaaaa......

GUAT'S UP??

 

Hi family :)

 

THE RUNDOWN:

The beds. We had to get creative...

-6 months down.  I really don't know when that happened.  See you in a year folks.

-I had to test for parasites again but the test came back negative.  So I don't really know why I'm sick but it's awwl good.

-We had a sleepover last night with 19 hermanas... wooooo!  Talk about awkward parties hahaha (activities to make us be friends..)

Hermana Adair, me, Hermana Lopez (my comp)

-I ate cheesecake and for the first time in my life I actually enjoyed it.  The mission does things to ya.

 

This week was a strange one, that's for sure.  I'll just get right to the facts.  My comp is super cool and I love her to death but she doesn't want to be here.  Throughout an emotional first week I found out about more of her problems.  She has a big load of health issues.  Leukemia, heart problems, back problems.. and millions more.  When she sent her papers in the first time with her health issues listed they told her she couldn't go on a mission.  She then sent her papers back in without saying anything about her health issues.  Now she is here in Guatemala and is suffering and about passing out every 5 seconds.  It's really hard for her because our area is legit so hard and we have to climb mountains every lesson.  She also left a very serious boyfriend at home and went on the mission because she was scared to get married.

 

So after having interviews with President Curtiss and Hermana Curtiss and praying a lot, she has decided she wants to go home.  We talked to President and Hermana Curtiss again and have decided that she will wait until the end of this 6 weeks and head on home.  She feels like she should get married and I think she is figuring out that the mission is harder on our health than she thought.  Now, she's as happy as can be haha.  Sometimes it's hard to get her to wake up and work because she's already got her mind at home but she is still a really good teacher and I'm learning a lot from her.  So yeah, just a little news flash haha.......

 

We had some really special experiences this week despite the weirdness of all that.  We had a lesson with a woman working in a small tienda outside of the bus stop.  We had already taught her the Restoration.  We were explaining the Book of Mormon and how it is the keystone of our religion and how if she reads it, ponders the messages in it, and prays to know if it is true, she will in turn know that the church is true.  She then said with a smile and a bit of amazement, "The other day I was making dinner and I started thinking about your lessons.  I feel like this church is true!  I don't know why I couldn't stop thinking about it or why I feel so happy, but I feel like it is true."  Dang, my comp and I just stared at each other with tears in our eyes and huge smiles on our faces.  Yes, it is true.  We are working hard with her because she has a hard time recognizing the Spirit and her husband won't let her go to church and is always drunk and abusing her, but we have faith that she will progress :)

 

Saturday we finally had our baptism with Marisol :)  We were a little nervous because it was pouring rain and hoped people would show up, and turns out people showed up soaking wet!  It was so special and she was so nervous but so happy!  Her two favorite hymns are I Am a Child of God and Families Can Be Together Forever, so I played the arrangement I have of the two mixed together.  The spirit was so strong and she then complained when I finished and sat down because she was crying haha :)  (she's not one to show much emotion or let people in).  When she entered the baptismal font she was

Me, Marisol, Hermana Lopez, and Elder Lopez

practically screaming for 5 minutes because it was so cold and only stopped talking long enough for Elder Lopez to say the prayer and baptize her hahahaha.  She ran out of the font practically screaming about how cold it was hahaha.  When everyone congratulated her after, she had tears in her eyes once again.  We have an investigator who had a baptismal date but can't get baptized right now because she isn't married. Her son who is 12 years old, named Angel, went to the baptism with some of the young men and came up to me after and said, gazing at the font with a smile on his face, "I am going to be baptized. I will be baptized soon."  It was a special night :)

 

Life has it's ups and downs right?  I am learning to cherish the good things and the bad things as well because without the bad parts, the good parts wouldn't seem so good :)

 

Love you so much fam :)

No Empty Chairs

Mo Rae