Sent: Mon, May 24, 2010 8:45:30 AM
Subject: HOLLLAAAAAA!!!!!Hola Familia!!!!!!!!
Hola Familia!!!!!!!! OKKKKKKKK so this week has been CRAZY! Definitely, the craziest yet on the Mission. It is definitely a roller coaster ride and I am trying to hold on. I’m not going to lie I’ve had a lot of breakdowns this week where I come home and just start laughing and crying at the same time. It is kinda hilarious, but crazy! I can honestly say that I have never felt so weak in my entire life! It’s crazy. But I am holding on and I think of all of you at home praying and supporting me, and that gives me strength to keep going!!!! So remember, when Hermana Badham warned me that don’t worry if for the first change, you have breakdowns and honestly feel like you can’t do it...You can! I’m starting to realize what she was talking about!! haha. Guatemala does not disappoint!!! It is rough. I just feel like I’m still in a state of shock where I really don’t know what to think. It’s crazy, but my companion told me not to worry. She still feels that way. It’s hard to explain, it sounds crazy but now that I’m here I can understand why that would be. I’m just blessed because I have a great companion and we have a lot of fun and good solid people that are progressing....without these things I think I’d go absolutely crazy too!! Haha.
So I told you that the rainy season started last week. AHAHHAHHHAAAA!! The rain is just absolutely crazy. I seriously have never seen anything like it. Hermana Buterbaugh said the rain is like 10x worst here in the mountains than it was in the city. It’s seriously crazy! I swim home every night and cross rivers and lakes to get around. The water is up to your knees and all the roads are dirt so it just gets really ugly. Going home every night is adventures that I don’t think I will ever forget!! Auntie Reenie, I have been learning to call on the hand cart angels to pull me!! haha. I have seriously grown so much love and respect for the Pioneers. I honestly don’t know how they did it!! It is amazing!! I just try to think of them and all they had to do and then I think of all of you at home and it makes me just laugh and keep going but things get a little crazy here in Chimal. Adventure fo sho!! It’s really hard too because the houses we teach in are made of tin and tin is like a microphone for the rain so it’s really difficult to teach because the rain is SOOOO loud. It’s just crazy. I honestly feel like I’m in a weird dream sometimes. It’s surreal the situations I’m in every day. Like it doesn’t seem real...It’s crazy. Hard to explain, but yes.
Second, my companion is extremely ill. She has been booing…mission term for diarrhea and barfing her guts out...poor thing!! She can’t eat anything because every time she eats she immediately has to barf or boo!! It sounds like death in the bathroom I feel so bad for her...but she is a fighter! This is her last change so she’s determined to just go all out, and leave it all on the field....haha you see the cheerleader in her!! haha...so great!! But I feel so terrible for her. It’s rough. They say she has a virus and the scary thing is that this is happening to a lot of the missionaries right now. We share our ward with the two zone leaders and they have the same thing!! I’m ok, I have boo a lot, but I’m okay!! It’s just so sad to watch my comp. We have to both go to the city this week to be tested because there is some weird virus going around....its crazy!!
Then, it’s just been hard because a lot of people that we had high hopes for have been falling through. We were so excited because we were going to set a baptismal date for this girl, Estela who seemed really positive. She is about 24, has a daughter and just had some really terrible things happen to her in her life and with her husband. He was just a terrible man and when we came and talked to her the first time she told us Thank you Thank you because she had been praying to God to send her people that could teach her how she could follow Christ and be happy!! And then we show up and she said she knows we were an answer to her prayers. She kept her commitments, read in the Book of Mormon every night, actually remembered stuff, came to church...PILAS!!!!
We thought for sure we were going to baptize her. Then we show up at her house and there was just a different feeling. IT was so weird. We asked her what was wrong and she told us that she couldn’t listen to us anymore!! We were shocked and asked her why and she said that a couple of her Evangelical friends who she hadn’t seen in YEARS just randomly decided to show up at her house after years and years. She was talking to them and told them how we were teaching her and they just freaked out!! They told her all this crazy stuff about us and said she’d be ¨cast off¨ if she listened to us and they just told her all these crazy things. I couldn’t understand everything but they just said crazy stuff about how we don’t believe in the bible and weird things. So she said, we’re nice people, but that they are right and she couldn’t listen to us anymore!! We bore her a solemn testimony, but she was convinced that this was God answering her prayers and she’s going back to the Evangelical Church. I was like actually I’m pretty sure that was the devil, honey! But it’s crazy how that works. It’s a testimony to me of how true the church is that the devil will try that hard, but, I just felt so sad. Then a lot of people were standing us up. This other lady, we built her a bathroom, then the evangelicals came and built her an extension to her house...And we had to push back one of our baptism dates because our investigator’s evangelical neighbor keeps coming over and telling her stuff about us so she has doubts now. The Evangelicals here have the most power and they hate us so it’s really hard. But this lady and her family, I think they will be ok because she told us that she still believes and loves the Book of Mormon and feels the spirit when she comes to church....So were working with her, but I think she will be fine!! She still has a date. But ahahhahaahah, it is rough. Just a combination of everything just feels overwhelming at times. This is definitely the hardest thing just because I’m starting to feel the reality of the dark side and with the whole language barrier, culture barrier and just trying to get used to the poverty and this way of living and eating is just rough!! Heavenly Father honestly is stretching me in every way possible, but He does give me time to breath, smell the roses and reminds me why I am here.
So last week, I told you about my golden family. I just LOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVEEEE them to death. So all this was happening and it was just a rough week and we went to their house Saturday night for a lesson. And at the end of the lesson we were about to close and were bearing our testimony and the dad, Rosalio just stopped us and said I have something I want to tell you. I’m not going to lie; my heart just dropped because I was so scared that he was going to change his mind because of everything that had been happening. And he started off by saying that when he accepted his baptismal date, he felt it was true and good but that he still had some doubts. And I was like OHHHHH NOOOOOO! He said that these past couple days he started to have doubts if everything we taught him was true. And then he said, but I just meditated and just really thought about everything, and looked at the fruits and prayed so hard to know to really know if it was ALL true...and he paused and I pretty much pooped in my pants!! He looked at us and said...And I am absolutely convinced!!!! He said I can’t even describe to you the feelings that I felt when I mediated and prayed about everything you have taught me!! Oh my gosh, tears just started pouring out of my eyes. He said, and reminded us for a long time he had strong ganas or desires to attend church as a family but he couldn’t find one that he liked. He and his wife talked about how maybe someone will just show up and invite us to a church!! Funny huh....But he said NEVER EVER would he have imagined it would be in this way. That WE, would come from different countries, speaking different languages and would give up everything, our whole life to come bring the gospel to their family. He just said he never imagined it would be like this. He told us that we changed his family forever and that his family is convinced they will endure til they can’t endure anymore, because this is the truth!!! And then he said, I don’t know what else to say but Thank you. Thank you! And he was so touched that he started to cry and then the wife cried and you could imagine me and my comp. I was just squeezing their little son and just crying. And it really just hit me!! This is why I´m here!!!! This is why I cross through lakes, rivers, and thunderstorms everyday, this is why I put up with rejection, this is why I boo my guts out, and this is why I eat bad food! This is why I left my life and my family for a short while....So that other families can be together forever!!!!!!!! The gospel is TRUE!! Families are forever and it is as we live the principles of the gospel that we truly are happy. The gospel is soooo true! And seriously this makes everything, everything worth it!!!!!! It’s hard, but I am so grateful to be part of this most important and great work!!! Thank you thank you everyone for all your support and prayers. It was much needed and seriously is what pushes me through!!! The only thing at times! But I love you all soooooo much! Prestos todos prestos.....the church is TRUEEEEE!!!!
Love,
Hermana Ali
Hermana Alise Rei Kahululani Garcia served in the Guatemala City Central Mission March 2010 - September 2011 for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
First Companion MTC and CCM, Hermana Williams
May 16, 2010 Floating Poop
Hola!!!!
Another week, more adventures! Guatemala definitely does not disappoint. So this week officially started the Guatemala Rainy Season and BOY, am, I in for a treat...Esta LOCO!!!! The rain here is crazy and like nothing I have ever seen. And please start praying now because our investigators just laugh at us and say that this is ¨LIGHT rain¨ Ay yay yay!! It will be an adventure for sure. But it was so funny Saturday night; we were swimming home from our last appointment in the middle of a rain storm and there aren´t lights here so it gets pretty dark. The rain was like up to our knees within minutes and with dirt roads things can get pretty ugly so we were trudging home from our last appointment and I was in front of my companion and it was so dark so my companion handed me the flashlight and so I shine the flashlight and lo and behold I see it…The FLOATING POOP!!!!!!!! I started screaming HERMANA, HERMANA WATCH OUT!!!! IT’S THE FLOATING POOP!! And we both just started screaming and running trying to dodge the floating poop that was coming our way! And it was hilarious. There were people on the side of the road who started laughing at us because to them this is nothing, but to us Gringos we just started screaming and running and my companion slipped and fell and it was just hilarious!! You honestly could have a reality TV show of this. It’s crazy!! I seriously had to just stop and start laughing because it was so funny and surreal to me. I mean sometimes I just feel like I´m in a dream it is so surreal. BUT, I just remember I was standing in the middle of this rainstorm in the mountains of Guatemala with floating poop around me and I just started laughing because it was just the craziest feeling. Me and my companion honestly laughed the whole way home because it was just like ¨What the heck is happening?? It is honestly so surreal, but I am learning to just love and embrace everything about the mission. Heavenly Father sure does have a sense of humor to send me somewhere like this, but I´ve been learning to just laugh and LOVE it all. Come what may and love it right?? So, that was a fun adventure for this week and what I have to look forward to for the next couple of months!!
So now on to the MIRACLES!! Despite the floating poop and all that fun stuff, my companion and I have been witnessing MIRACLES!! She calls this the Miracle exchange! So this week, we committed two families to be baptized!! WOOOHOHOOOOO! SO EXCITING!! And these families are golden!! I just love them to death. This one family, the Garcias (is that not destiny) is just AMAZING!! I already have the family that I want you to meet. THEY are WONDERFUL, SO NICE and truly have been prepared to hear the gospel. They have three sons, Angel 7, David 5, and Noe, 1 and they are the cutest things. David, they rival, and are up there with the Lloyd. They are just the happiest family in the world and the parents are just golden. The dad said that it was always his dream to attend church as a family. He was baptized catholic but he said he didn’t like how the Catholic Church isn’t really family oriented and that people don’t live what they teach. The wife is evangelical which the evangelical church here you just gotta to see it its crazy, but she took her family to that church every week but Rosalio, the dad, refused to go. So anyway, when we taught them the lessons it was the dad who fell in love with the church. And they’ve just accepted everything. Everything we teach, they are live ¨Well Duh!!¨, and they just accept it. They can’t wait for Sundays and are usually like one of the first ones at church like 20 minutes early which here is unheard of!! And the dad he quit drinking smoking doing all those things when he had kids because he didn’t want to have his kids grow up with that stuff....I mean it is just amazing how the Lord prepares people! So they’ve just accepted it all and will be baptized in two weeks.
I just love this family. There is a different feeling in their home and it is the greatest feeling to see how the gospel really does bless and bring families together. It is amazing! But aahahhaahh, we teach this family every night at 7. They are usually our last appointment and no matter what happens throughout the day, I always end my day on such a good note because this family is amazing. Last night, the cutest thing we taught about the Priesthood and we told Rosalio that he would be able to receive the Priesthood, and that he’d be able to baptize his son next month because Angel is turning 8. And Angel was sitting on his dads lap and just gave the biggest, most pure smile and said ¨YES! Papi, I love you and I want you to baptize me! And he turned and gave his dad the biggest hug and started rubbing his head. I think it’s just something you had to be there for but that honestly was like the happiest moment of my life.
You live for these moments as a missionary. Rosalio was so touched that he started to cry and we were too! But there was such a strong spirit in that room where you could not even doubt for a second that the church was true. As I bore my testimony of the reality of the power of the Priesthood sweet tears filled my eyes because I thought about Daddy and how much I love him and how grateful I am that I grew up in a family where the Priesthood could be in my home.
Daddy, I love you SOOOOO much and am just so grateful for everything you have done for me. You have no idea. I just cried and cried because I just felt so much love and gratitude and pure joy to think about all that the Lord has done for me and my family, and then to be able to share this with others....I couldn’t be happier!! Floating poop and all, it’s worth it!!!! I just feel so grateful because I know this family was prepared and anyone could have taught them the gospel and they would have accepted, but I just feel so grateful that Heavenly Father allowed me to do it!! It’s amazing!!! They are already talking about going to the temple to be sealed in a year and were all so excited because I will be able to be here for it!! What a blessing!!!!! I honestly feel like the luckiest missionary yet.
Although Chimaltenango is a difficult area in terms of poverty and comfort and things, and although walking these rainy streets with floating poo is funny, it’s not always fun. But, I feel so grateful everyday to be here. My comp was telling me this surely is a transfer of miracles. She’s been here for three changes and they haven’t had a baptism and she said that it was her dream to be able to teach and baptize a family while she’s been on her mission, but she never has. She said she prayed so hard just to baptize a family, but her whole mission she hasn’t been able to But, now this is her last change and within two weeks, we have TWO families!! And they are PILAS!! So now she feels like she can go home happy. The Lord is AMAZING and I just feel so grateful to be here with my companion where I can be a part of these miracles!!! And my comp was a cheerleader in college!!! OH NOOOOO!!!! It is so funny. Seriously we know we were meant to be here together in Chimal at this time!! It is so, so great! My mission pres warned me though that not all companionships will be ¨made in heaven¨ haha. Yeah, I’m sure it won’t always be this way, but I testify to love and that miracles happen when you believe!!!! I BELIEVEEEE family! I am such a believer!! I love this gospel!! I love all of you!!!!! Thank you for all your love and prayers!!!!!! I really do feel them! Hugs and kisses.....The church is true!!!
Love,
HERMANAAAAAA Ali
Another week, more adventures! Guatemala definitely does not disappoint. So this week officially started the Guatemala Rainy Season and BOY, am, I in for a treat...Esta LOCO!!!! The rain here is crazy and like nothing I have ever seen. And please start praying now because our investigators just laugh at us and say that this is ¨LIGHT rain¨ Ay yay yay!! It will be an adventure for sure. But it was so funny Saturday night; we were swimming home from our last appointment in the middle of a rain storm and there aren´t lights here so it gets pretty dark. The rain was like up to our knees within minutes and with dirt roads things can get pretty ugly so we were trudging home from our last appointment and I was in front of my companion and it was so dark so my companion handed me the flashlight and so I shine the flashlight and lo and behold I see it…The FLOATING POOP!!!!!!!! I started screaming HERMANA, HERMANA WATCH OUT!!!! IT’S THE FLOATING POOP!! And we both just started screaming and running trying to dodge the floating poop that was coming our way! And it was hilarious. There were people on the side of the road who started laughing at us because to them this is nothing, but to us Gringos we just started screaming and running and my companion slipped and fell and it was just hilarious!! You honestly could have a reality TV show of this. It’s crazy!! I seriously had to just stop and start laughing because it was so funny and surreal to me. I mean sometimes I just feel like I´m in a dream it is so surreal. BUT, I just remember I was standing in the middle of this rainstorm in the mountains of Guatemala with floating poop around me and I just started laughing because it was just the craziest feeling. Me and my companion honestly laughed the whole way home because it was just like ¨What the heck is happening?? It is honestly so surreal, but I am learning to just love and embrace everything about the mission. Heavenly Father sure does have a sense of humor to send me somewhere like this, but I´ve been learning to just laugh and LOVE it all. Come what may and love it right?? So, that was a fun adventure for this week and what I have to look forward to for the next couple of months!!
So now on to the MIRACLES!! Despite the floating poop and all that fun stuff, my companion and I have been witnessing MIRACLES!! She calls this the Miracle exchange! So this week, we committed two families to be baptized!! WOOOHOHOOOOO! SO EXCITING!! And these families are golden!! I just love them to death. This one family, the Garcias (is that not destiny) is just AMAZING!! I already have the family that I want you to meet. THEY are WONDERFUL, SO NICE and truly have been prepared to hear the gospel. They have three sons, Angel 7, David 5, and Noe, 1 and they are the cutest things. David, they rival, and are up there with the Lloyd. They are just the happiest family in the world and the parents are just golden. The dad said that it was always his dream to attend church as a family. He was baptized catholic but he said he didn’t like how the Catholic Church isn’t really family oriented and that people don’t live what they teach. The wife is evangelical which the evangelical church here you just gotta to see it its crazy, but she took her family to that church every week but Rosalio, the dad, refused to go. So anyway, when we taught them the lessons it was the dad who fell in love with the church. And they’ve just accepted everything. Everything we teach, they are live ¨Well Duh!!¨, and they just accept it. They can’t wait for Sundays and are usually like one of the first ones at church like 20 minutes early which here is unheard of!! And the dad he quit drinking smoking doing all those things when he had kids because he didn’t want to have his kids grow up with that stuff....I mean it is just amazing how the Lord prepares people! So they’ve just accepted it all and will be baptized in two weeks.
I just love this family. There is a different feeling in their home and it is the greatest feeling to see how the gospel really does bless and bring families together. It is amazing! But aahahhaahh, we teach this family every night at 7. They are usually our last appointment and no matter what happens throughout the day, I always end my day on such a good note because this family is amazing. Last night, the cutest thing we taught about the Priesthood and we told Rosalio that he would be able to receive the Priesthood, and that he’d be able to baptize his son next month because Angel is turning 8. And Angel was sitting on his dads lap and just gave the biggest, most pure smile and said ¨YES! Papi, I love you and I want you to baptize me! And he turned and gave his dad the biggest hug and started rubbing his head. I think it’s just something you had to be there for but that honestly was like the happiest moment of my life.
You live for these moments as a missionary. Rosalio was so touched that he started to cry and we were too! But there was such a strong spirit in that room where you could not even doubt for a second that the church was true. As I bore my testimony of the reality of the power of the Priesthood sweet tears filled my eyes because I thought about Daddy and how much I love him and how grateful I am that I grew up in a family where the Priesthood could be in my home.
Daddy, I love you SOOOOO much and am just so grateful for everything you have done for me. You have no idea. I just cried and cried because I just felt so much love and gratitude and pure joy to think about all that the Lord has done for me and my family, and then to be able to share this with others....I couldn’t be happier!! Floating poop and all, it’s worth it!!!! I just feel so grateful because I know this family was prepared and anyone could have taught them the gospel and they would have accepted, but I just feel so grateful that Heavenly Father allowed me to do it!! It’s amazing!!! They are already talking about going to the temple to be sealed in a year and were all so excited because I will be able to be here for it!! What a blessing!!!!! I honestly feel like the luckiest missionary yet.
Although Chimaltenango is a difficult area in terms of poverty and comfort and things, and although walking these rainy streets with floating poo is funny, it’s not always fun. But, I feel so grateful everyday to be here. My comp was telling me this surely is a transfer of miracles. She’s been here for three changes and they haven’t had a baptism and she said that it was her dream to be able to teach and baptize a family while she’s been on her mission, but she never has. She said she prayed so hard just to baptize a family, but her whole mission she hasn’t been able to But, now this is her last change and within two weeks, we have TWO families!! And they are PILAS!! So now she feels like she can go home happy. The Lord is AMAZING and I just feel so grateful to be here with my companion where I can be a part of these miracles!!! And my comp was a cheerleader in college!!! OH NOOOOO!!!! It is so funny. Seriously we know we were meant to be here together in Chimal at this time!! It is so, so great! My mission pres warned me though that not all companionships will be ¨made in heaven¨ haha. Yeah, I’m sure it won’t always be this way, but I testify to love and that miracles happen when you believe!!!! I BELIEVEEEE family! I am such a believer!! I love this gospel!! I love all of you!!!!! Thank you for all your love and prayers!!!!!! I really do feel them! Hugs and kisses.....The church is true!!!
Love,
HERMANAAAAAA Ali
May 11, 2010 Motab and Pablito
Hola!!!!!
It was SOOO nice to talk to everyone on Sunday. I received just the boost I needed and am even more determined to just give the mission all I got! Thank you everyone for all your love and support! It means the world.
Well these past couple of days has been AMAZING and it seems like things are going to start picking up real fast. The first couple of days were pretty rough just because I was in a state of shock and we weren’t really teaching anyone. We’d contact a lot, but no one really wanted to listen to us so it got pretty frustrating. And that whole rejection thing gets old really fast!!! But things are starting to turn around and I have really come to understand that this is the Lords work and He will help you do it!
So here’s the miracle.....So my companion has been in choirs all her life. She’s a singer. So everyday we start our day by singing a hymn and it is so fun because she harmonizes with me and I love it because she makes me sound all pretty like the Motab or something. It’s awesome and I love it!! And you know me, the only thing more fun than preaching the gospel to me is singing and trying to be all dorky and harmonize and stuff. It is so much fun. But we were singing and it was so pretty and a thought came to my head and I stopped singing and was like OH MY GOSH SISTER this is it! She was like what??? I told her we should just go around and sing for the people and the people we contact. Instead of just talking to them and knocking on doors we should jazz it up you know add some spice and just ask if we could sing them a hymn. Then after bare our testimony about the truth that we are singing about, relate it to the restoration and then go from there. At first I think she thought I was a little nuts because that’s a lot of singing to do, but since we weren’t having really any success before and we both love to sing we decided to give it a try. And in a couple of days, things are starting to pick up. We’ve got the ball rolling and I think it’s just going to get better and better! We’ve definitely been able to get into a lot more doors. A lot more people will let us in but they don’t want to change or listen to us and make up lies about how busy they are yadda yadda yadda yadda, but we’ve met this family that is PILAS!! Means golden en Guatemala.
So what happened was we were singing for this lady in the street and she had like 8 kids, and this little boy came walking up to us. We were singing so he just stopped by to listen. That lady let us into her house so we went in to teach and that boy left. We taught the lady but she was extremely Catholic so she didn’t want anything to do with our message. Story of our lives!! Sad days! But it was good we bore our testimony about the restoration and left. Then my comp said that we should go visit this fam that we contacted on the street. But the problem with Guatemala is that there are no addresses here. There are no street names, numbers on shacks...nothing!! So, if you contact someone on the street it is incredibly hard to find them. They tell you what tienda they live by and what there house looks like and that’s it....so it’s really hard. But this one family seemed pretty nice and they told us they wanted us to teach them, but they lived on the bottom on the colonia which here means on the bottom of the mountain!! But we both had a good feeling about them so we decided to give it a try. So we hiked down this mountain to go find this family. LOCO I know. We ran into cows, goats all kinda crazy things but it’s what you have to do!! haha. But we got to the bottom and we asked around and everyone knows everyone here so this little girl took us to this family’s house--of course they weren’t there. So I asked my companion what to do next and she said I think we have to go back to arboleda...which is at the top of the mountain!!!! In my head I was like ¨Are you serious--Loco! But Prestos todos Prestos... and we hiked back up! And when we got to the top to arboleda we started walking and we saw Pablito, he was the boy who stopped to listen to us sing on the street and he was like “Come to my house! Come to my house!” So we followed him and went to his house. So we went to his house and we saw his mom walking home. Pablito ran to his mom and was like Mama! I want you to meet my friends!! So she invited us in and it was magic! This lady has three sons, honestly the cutest most joyful children you will ever meet in your life. Her husband passed away a long with her two other kids and their situation will just honestly make you want to kill yourself. It is just really sad. But she invited us in and we started teaching her about the plan of salvation and she just cried. She told us that a couple of years ago she got really sick and was supposed to die and she just prayed so hard because she had three sons and they are young and her husband died so if she died she knew there would be no one to take care of her children. But she said she fell asleep and had a dream that she was surrounded by these people dressed in white and they were helping her, and when she woke up, she was completely healed and was fine! She said this changed her life and she knew that God loved her and her family, and despite their circumstances were going to be ok!! Isn’t that crazy_!! So we taught her and its been great! But Last night we went over for mother’s day to drop off a present and some food, because the kids don’t have food to eat. And it was the most spiritual lesson of my life. It was at night and they don’t have light in the house so we lit candles and we gave her a lesson and sang hymns and she just cried and cried and Man!! I wish I could describe those feelings! The spirit was SOOO strong. All the little kids gathered on our laps because there’s not a lot of room in their little hut and they held the candles out and I will just never forget the spirit that was there. Honestly, these moments just make the entire mission and all the rejection worth it. Maria, that’s her name, cried and told us thank you for bringing the word of God into her house. So we have this family, and they are going to be baptized and they introduced us to their friends and other family so we have appointments with all of them!! It is amazing and it all started from this little boy Pablo who heard us singing on the streets....It’s amazing how it works! I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this family. Their kids are just the sweetest happiest children you’ll ever meet. Pablito is 7 and then there is David and Manuel who is 6 and 5...Pilas!! They come running down the street when we come and count down the days to church!!!!! It seriously is the best!! So that’s the exciting news! WE also have another family who is also PILAS!! We love them to death and we already set a baptismal date for May 30th. I am so excited. They have just embraced and accepted the gospel and there is just a different feeling when you walk into that house. They have three sons who are also just adorable and we bought them hymn books and books of Mormon and when we come the kids just get so excited. It’s AMAZING how the gospel can bless families, soften hearts and just bring pure joy!! Last night honestly was like the best night of my life because we set these baptismal dates. It was mother’s day here so we dropped off these little cakes and both these families just talked about how happy they are and the difference they feel in their home. It is incredible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The mission has been hard, but just sooooo worth it! Also this family, their neighbor wants us to come over because they heard us singing! I am just seriously on cloud 9 right now. The area is just picking up and starting to really bloom and I know its just going to get better and better.
Family, it is amazing how you can go from the lowest low to highest high!!!! I love this gospel so much and it is just amazing to be here! Just know that I love you!!! Thank you, for all your love and prayers. I honestly feel them! Please pray for these families. Their circumstances are extremely hard so we just have to keep working with them. Little Pablito already works. He’s like 11, but is extremely malnourished so looks maybe 7 or 8 at the oldest. They can’t read so we are just doing our best. The gospel is amazing and I know it will bless their lives. There is no better feeling than to share this message with people that truly are in darkness and then to watch the light and joy it can bring to their lives. AHAHAHAHAHHAHHHHH things are just changing so fast and I can’t wait. I can just feel it. It was hard at first, but I know this area is going to pick up real soon!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you all!! but i have to go..... Prestos Todos Prestos....The Church is TRUE!!! Until next week...
Love,
Hermana Ali
It was SOOO nice to talk to everyone on Sunday. I received just the boost I needed and am even more determined to just give the mission all I got! Thank you everyone for all your love and support! It means the world.
Well these past couple of days has been AMAZING and it seems like things are going to start picking up real fast. The first couple of days were pretty rough just because I was in a state of shock and we weren’t really teaching anyone. We’d contact a lot, but no one really wanted to listen to us so it got pretty frustrating. And that whole rejection thing gets old really fast!!! But things are starting to turn around and I have really come to understand that this is the Lords work and He will help you do it!
So here’s the miracle.....So my companion has been in choirs all her life. She’s a singer. So everyday we start our day by singing a hymn and it is so fun because she harmonizes with me and I love it because she makes me sound all pretty like the Motab or something. It’s awesome and I love it!! And you know me, the only thing more fun than preaching the gospel to me is singing and trying to be all dorky and harmonize and stuff. It is so much fun. But we were singing and it was so pretty and a thought came to my head and I stopped singing and was like OH MY GOSH SISTER this is it! She was like what??? I told her we should just go around and sing for the people and the people we contact. Instead of just talking to them and knocking on doors we should jazz it up you know add some spice and just ask if we could sing them a hymn. Then after bare our testimony about the truth that we are singing about, relate it to the restoration and then go from there. At first I think she thought I was a little nuts because that’s a lot of singing to do, but since we weren’t having really any success before and we both love to sing we decided to give it a try. And in a couple of days, things are starting to pick up. We’ve got the ball rolling and I think it’s just going to get better and better! We’ve definitely been able to get into a lot more doors. A lot more people will let us in but they don’t want to change or listen to us and make up lies about how busy they are yadda yadda yadda yadda, but we’ve met this family that is PILAS!! Means golden en Guatemala.
So what happened was we were singing for this lady in the street and she had like 8 kids, and this little boy came walking up to us. We were singing so he just stopped by to listen. That lady let us into her house so we went in to teach and that boy left. We taught the lady but she was extremely Catholic so she didn’t want anything to do with our message. Story of our lives!! Sad days! But it was good we bore our testimony about the restoration and left. Then my comp said that we should go visit this fam that we contacted on the street. But the problem with Guatemala is that there are no addresses here. There are no street names, numbers on shacks...nothing!! So, if you contact someone on the street it is incredibly hard to find them. They tell you what tienda they live by and what there house looks like and that’s it....so it’s really hard. But this one family seemed pretty nice and they told us they wanted us to teach them, but they lived on the bottom on the colonia which here means on the bottom of the mountain!! But we both had a good feeling about them so we decided to give it a try. So we hiked down this mountain to go find this family. LOCO I know. We ran into cows, goats all kinda crazy things but it’s what you have to do!! haha. But we got to the bottom and we asked around and everyone knows everyone here so this little girl took us to this family’s house--of course they weren’t there. So I asked my companion what to do next and she said I think we have to go back to arboleda...which is at the top of the mountain!!!! In my head I was like ¨Are you serious--Loco! But Prestos todos Prestos... and we hiked back up! And when we got to the top to arboleda we started walking and we saw Pablito, he was the boy who stopped to listen to us sing on the street and he was like “Come to my house! Come to my house!” So we followed him and went to his house. So we went to his house and we saw his mom walking home. Pablito ran to his mom and was like Mama! I want you to meet my friends!! So she invited us in and it was magic! This lady has three sons, honestly the cutest most joyful children you will ever meet in your life. Her husband passed away a long with her two other kids and their situation will just honestly make you want to kill yourself. It is just really sad. But she invited us in and we started teaching her about the plan of salvation and she just cried. She told us that a couple of years ago she got really sick and was supposed to die and she just prayed so hard because she had three sons and they are young and her husband died so if she died she knew there would be no one to take care of her children. But she said she fell asleep and had a dream that she was surrounded by these people dressed in white and they were helping her, and when she woke up, she was completely healed and was fine! She said this changed her life and she knew that God loved her and her family, and despite their circumstances were going to be ok!! Isn’t that crazy_!! So we taught her and its been great! But Last night we went over for mother’s day to drop off a present and some food, because the kids don’t have food to eat. And it was the most spiritual lesson of my life. It was at night and they don’t have light in the house so we lit candles and we gave her a lesson and sang hymns and she just cried and cried and Man!! I wish I could describe those feelings! The spirit was SOOO strong. All the little kids gathered on our laps because there’s not a lot of room in their little hut and they held the candles out and I will just never forget the spirit that was there. Honestly, these moments just make the entire mission and all the rejection worth it. Maria, that’s her name, cried and told us thank you for bringing the word of God into her house. So we have this family, and they are going to be baptized and they introduced us to their friends and other family so we have appointments with all of them!! It is amazing and it all started from this little boy Pablo who heard us singing on the streets....It’s amazing how it works! I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this family. Their kids are just the sweetest happiest children you’ll ever meet. Pablito is 7 and then there is David and Manuel who is 6 and 5...Pilas!! They come running down the street when we come and count down the days to church!!!!! It seriously is the best!! So that’s the exciting news! WE also have another family who is also PILAS!! We love them to death and we already set a baptismal date for May 30th. I am so excited. They have just embraced and accepted the gospel and there is just a different feeling when you walk into that house. They have three sons who are also just adorable and we bought them hymn books and books of Mormon and when we come the kids just get so excited. It’s AMAZING how the gospel can bless families, soften hearts and just bring pure joy!! Last night honestly was like the best night of my life because we set these baptismal dates. It was mother’s day here so we dropped off these little cakes and both these families just talked about how happy they are and the difference they feel in their home. It is incredible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The mission has been hard, but just sooooo worth it! Also this family, their neighbor wants us to come over because they heard us singing! I am just seriously on cloud 9 right now. The area is just picking up and starting to really bloom and I know its just going to get better and better.
Family, it is amazing how you can go from the lowest low to highest high!!!! I love this gospel so much and it is just amazing to be here! Just know that I love you!!! Thank you, for all your love and prayers. I honestly feel them! Please pray for these families. Their circumstances are extremely hard so we just have to keep working with them. Little Pablito already works. He’s like 11, but is extremely malnourished so looks maybe 7 or 8 at the oldest. They can’t read so we are just doing our best. The gospel is amazing and I know it will bless their lives. There is no better feeling than to share this message with people that truly are in darkness and then to watch the light and joy it can bring to their lives. AHAHAHAHAHHAHHHHH things are just changing so fast and I can’t wait. I can just feel it. It was hard at first, but I know this area is going to pick up real soon!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you all!! but i have to go..... Prestos Todos Prestos....The Church is TRUE!!! Until next week...
Love,
Hermana Ali
May 5, 2010 Chimaltenango and Hermana Buterbaugh
Sent: Wed, May 5, 2010 8:34:01 AM
Subject: Beinvenidaaaaassss a la campo misional!!!!!!
Hola!!!!
Ok, so I am finally out in the mission field and it is CRAAAAZZZZYYYY!!!!! So usually, Presidente has all the new missionaries stay in the city for their first couple of transfers. The city is the training zone so missionaries can ease themselves into Guatemala living. But, my last name is Garcia. Does that happen_ NO! They threw me in the loco MOUNTAINS of Guatemala!! They just sent me out right away to Chimaltenango and it is CRAAAZZZY!! Its funny because in my interview with pres i saw on the board all the transfers and Chimaltenango just really stood out to me....but i didn’t think I would go there because new missionaries are supposed to stay in the city first for at least a transfer or two. I am really excited, but scared at the same time. Lucky for me I have a great companion and we have just clicked. She is from LA, and when we met it was hilarious. This is her last transfer and she said she prayed so hard that she would get a North American companion. When she saw me she said her wasn’t going to lie she was kinda sad because she thought I was a Latina!! But when she found out I was from Hawaii she started screaming. then I started screaming and we jumped up and down and started hugging I didn’t know why, but it was so exciting and then the Presidente walked by and was like ohhh no!! Did I make the right decision; it was funny. But she said that she never had a North American companion and that’s all she wanted so I was an answer to her prayer!! Hopefully, as time goes on I’ll still be an answer and not a nightmare! But we get along great. She was also excited that we were going to end in the mountains. We thought for sure we’d be in the city, but you just never know!!
Soooo, Chimaltenango.....I am a little speechless I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s not like totally boonies mountains, it has a lot of people, but it is definitely le sketch. When we got to our apt, I didn’t really know what to say. I was a little in shock especially when my comp said this is the nicest in the area. We have concrete floors which I guess is lucky, but it is pretty much like having dirt floors because it is filthy! Everywhere you go in Chimaltenango is dirt, litter, and poop. No joke. Our bathroom is the type of bathroom where usually you couldn’t pay me to go inside. We can’t flush our toilet so it has a permastank. It is just crazy!! We left the house and when I met the people, I was even more in shock. Every house I’ve been to so far have dirt floors and are made out of tin. It is the craziest thing.
For dinner, we were fed watery oatmeal and bread and jelly and you feel so grateful because you know people sacrifice so much to give this to you. I´m not going to lie it was really, really hard and I was and am in a lot of shock right now and I don’t know what to think. One day I have a comfortable bed, hot showers and air con at the ccm and the next day I have none of that!!!! I’ve never felt so inadequate and just like I don’t know what to do or how I’m going to do this because on top of all of that you rally cant understand anyone. I think it is a blessing for me that my comp speaks English because she can talk to me and tell me that it’s all going to be ok!!!! Family, I am going to need your prayers because this is going to be the hardest thing I have ever done!!!!
I know it’s going to be hard, but I really am so grateful to be here. I think this is exactly what I need and know the Lord is mindful of me that He would send me here. I´m not going to lie my attitude wasn’t the best. I had a smile on my face and I looked like I was really happy and I was skipping and jumping for joy while seeing my apartment and tracking, but in my mind I was screaming and crying. But, last night, we taught a lesson and it just hit me. We were all sitting around in this small dark tin house. They had a light in their house but it was just a light that you go camping with so it does not light very well. And we read together in the Book of Mormon. I looked at this family and I don’t know how to describe it but I just felt so much love come over me and I felt so grateful for all that I have and I felt awful for even thinking bad thoughts or complaining about my situation. I have been so blessed and I just felt so grateful for all the things Heavenly Father blessed me with and for all that my Savior did for me. This family had nothing, but as we read the Book of Mormon together, we were filled with pure joy! We sang a hymn and sweet tears streamed down my face because the Spirit was so strong.
They were so happy and I just felt terrible to even have those feelings I had. I’m not saying that I´m cured and that things now are going to be easy, but I know with assurety that this is the Lord´s work and that this is his plan for happiness. We don’t need all the worldly and vain things of the world to be happy, but happiness comes from following God, knowing your purpose, living the gospel, and being with your family which is the Lord’s most precious gift. This is happiness and this is the message I’ve been sent here to send. This is true and it’s what I have been able to learn here. What a special gift!
Please family, pray for me. Even if I know these things, I still struggle. It’s just the biggest struggle to learn to truly forget about yourself and get to work. More than mastering Spanish, more than anything that is my biggest challenge. But I have high hopes. I know the Lord is helping me and laughing at me too especially when I do things like scream in the cold showers or gag while I’m sitting on the toilet. Seriously, I wish I had a video camera so you could see me out here, but honestly I know this is where I am supposed to be. I feel the Spirit stronger than I ever have in my life. This is honestly the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but I know without a doubt that I will grow more than I ever have in my life. I love the gospel. I love my Savior and that alone pushes me through each day!!!!! I love you family!! Your love and support means so much to me. I can’t wait to talk to you next week!!!! Prestos Todos Prestos...The church is TRUEEEE!!!
love,
hermana ali
Subject: Beinvenidaaaaassss a la campo misional!!!!!!
Hola!!!!
Ok, so I am finally out in the mission field and it is CRAAAAZZZZYYYY!!!!! So usually, Presidente has all the new missionaries stay in the city for their first couple of transfers. The city is the training zone so missionaries can ease themselves into Guatemala living. But, my last name is Garcia. Does that happen_ NO! They threw me in the loco MOUNTAINS of Guatemala!! They just sent me out right away to Chimaltenango and it is CRAAAZZZY!! Its funny because in my interview with pres i saw on the board all the transfers and Chimaltenango just really stood out to me....but i didn’t think I would go there because new missionaries are supposed to stay in the city first for at least a transfer or two. I am really excited, but scared at the same time. Lucky for me I have a great companion and we have just clicked. She is from LA, and when we met it was hilarious. This is her last transfer and she said she prayed so hard that she would get a North American companion. When she saw me she said her wasn’t going to lie she was kinda sad because she thought I was a Latina!! But when she found out I was from Hawaii she started screaming. then I started screaming and we jumped up and down and started hugging I didn’t know why, but it was so exciting and then the Presidente walked by and was like ohhh no!! Did I make the right decision; it was funny. But she said that she never had a North American companion and that’s all she wanted so I was an answer to her prayer!! Hopefully, as time goes on I’ll still be an answer and not a nightmare! But we get along great. She was also excited that we were going to end in the mountains. We thought for sure we’d be in the city, but you just never know!!
Soooo, Chimaltenango.....I am a little speechless I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s not like totally boonies mountains, it has a lot of people, but it is definitely le sketch. When we got to our apt, I didn’t really know what to say. I was a little in shock especially when my comp said this is the nicest in the area. We have concrete floors which I guess is lucky, but it is pretty much like having dirt floors because it is filthy! Everywhere you go in Chimaltenango is dirt, litter, and poop. No joke. Our bathroom is the type of bathroom where usually you couldn’t pay me to go inside. We can’t flush our toilet so it has a permastank. It is just crazy!! We left the house and when I met the people, I was even more in shock. Every house I’ve been to so far have dirt floors and are made out of tin. It is the craziest thing.
For dinner, we were fed watery oatmeal and bread and jelly and you feel so grateful because you know people sacrifice so much to give this to you. I´m not going to lie it was really, really hard and I was and am in a lot of shock right now and I don’t know what to think. One day I have a comfortable bed, hot showers and air con at the ccm and the next day I have none of that!!!! I’ve never felt so inadequate and just like I don’t know what to do or how I’m going to do this because on top of all of that you rally cant understand anyone. I think it is a blessing for me that my comp speaks English because she can talk to me and tell me that it’s all going to be ok!!!! Family, I am going to need your prayers because this is going to be the hardest thing I have ever done!!!!
I know it’s going to be hard, but I really am so grateful to be here. I think this is exactly what I need and know the Lord is mindful of me that He would send me here. I´m not going to lie my attitude wasn’t the best. I had a smile on my face and I looked like I was really happy and I was skipping and jumping for joy while seeing my apartment and tracking, but in my mind I was screaming and crying. But, last night, we taught a lesson and it just hit me. We were all sitting around in this small dark tin house. They had a light in their house but it was just a light that you go camping with so it does not light very well. And we read together in the Book of Mormon. I looked at this family and I don’t know how to describe it but I just felt so much love come over me and I felt so grateful for all that I have and I felt awful for even thinking bad thoughts or complaining about my situation. I have been so blessed and I just felt so grateful for all the things Heavenly Father blessed me with and for all that my Savior did for me. This family had nothing, but as we read the Book of Mormon together, we were filled with pure joy! We sang a hymn and sweet tears streamed down my face because the Spirit was so strong.
They were so happy and I just felt terrible to even have those feelings I had. I’m not saying that I´m cured and that things now are going to be easy, but I know with assurety that this is the Lord´s work and that this is his plan for happiness. We don’t need all the worldly and vain things of the world to be happy, but happiness comes from following God, knowing your purpose, living the gospel, and being with your family which is the Lord’s most precious gift. This is happiness and this is the message I’ve been sent here to send. This is true and it’s what I have been able to learn here. What a special gift!
Please family, pray for me. Even if I know these things, I still struggle. It’s just the biggest struggle to learn to truly forget about yourself and get to work. More than mastering Spanish, more than anything that is my biggest challenge. But I have high hopes. I know the Lord is helping me and laughing at me too especially when I do things like scream in the cold showers or gag while I’m sitting on the toilet. Seriously, I wish I had a video camera so you could see me out here, but honestly I know this is where I am supposed to be. I feel the Spirit stronger than I ever have in my life. This is honestly the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but I know without a doubt that I will grow more than I ever have in my life. I love the gospel. I love my Savior and that alone pushes me through each day!!!!! I love you family!! Your love and support means so much to me. I can’t wait to talk to you next week!!!! Prestos Todos Prestos...The church is TRUEEEE!!!
love,
hermana ali
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)