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
First Companion MTC and CCM, Hermana Williams