Sent: Wed, June 16, 2010 8:52:00 AM
Hola!!!!!! Change oneÑcheck! And all I gotta say is......I SURVIVVEEEEDDDDDDD!!!!! I SURVIVED! I SURVIVED! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Shame the devil! haha. Looking back at these six weeks it has been one CRAZY CRAZY adventure. It really doesnt seem real. It’s like one big dream, but I survived! And I am so excited and pumped for this next change. One down, ten more to go....not like I am counting! haha. No I really am excited for this new change. I think it is going to be great!
I am still in Chimaltenango.....yaaaaaaayyyy! Have you watched the movie on Chimaltenango, yet&& Please watch it! And then think of me!! haha. Its sooo funny! You will laugh. Everyday I walk out of my apartment like…What the heeecckkk....Where am I.....Oh yeah! Guatemala! Chimals definitely been an adventure, but I am soooo grateful to be serving here!!! Honestly the Mountains are the coveted spot in the mish. This is where everyone wants to serve and I am so lucky that I get to serve here so early in my mission. We went to change meeting yesterday and I really just thought Wow! I am so lucky to be in the mountains! The city is like a more ghetto version of Long Beach...forget that! And the coast....a big Heck to the no! I told you about the coast. It’s crazy. And Since its rainy season the coast is also dealing with dengue problems and a whole bunch of funk! All I could think was Thank Goodness I am in the Mountains!!!!!!!!! Hallelujah! I mean I get to serve among the real Guatemalans. They still wear the typical clothing, walk miles to get wood and water, don’t read, write, nothing. It’s just GUATEMALA. And it is an experience. Last week, we saw this lady bringing wood to her house. They travel soooo far to get this wood and they bring it in wheelbarrows. This is how they cook their food. Can you believe that? So me and Hermana Buterbaugh offered to help her push the wheelbarrow and carry the wood into her house. Oh my gosh, it was soooo embarrassing!!!! These wheel barrows are misleading. They seem so easy to push...but NO! I take the wheel barrow and it just starts going crazy. I was Woooww, Wowww, Wowwwww and it just starts shaking and all the wood was like falling out! Oh man! I was like what the heecckk? So the lady just laughed and took back the wheelbarrow and we helped her set up her wood for her fire. But I could not believe how hard it was just to push that thing and they do it with a HUGE bucket on their head....I mean HUGE because they go wash their clothes at the same time in I don’t know where but they travel far AND they also all have a baby strapped to their back And they don’t wear shoes!!!! IT seriously is IMPOSSIBLE! I have NO idea how they do it!! Really. It’s crazy. But this is the kind of people you teach here and it is AMAZING!!!
I am just in awe everyday at how blessed I am and how easy our lives are! I just gotta drop to my knees and say THANK YOU!! Because I KNOW that I could never ever survive living like this. Heck I’m only here for 18 months and it is rough!! The hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I just can’t imagine. But I am getting used to it and I really do feel so grateful to be here!! I won’t lie, my mission so far has been rough, crazy, hard, hard, hard...But that’s what makes it great!! With the help of the Lord, I am finding that I can do things I never thought I could do. My mission is stretching me in every way possible. Everything that would be hard for me, I am having to deal with now. And it is rough and straight up sucks sometimes. I’m not going to lie I have questioned many times if mission calls are truly inspired and I told my comp to hide all hammers or anything that I could break my legs with from me because ¨Dallas Texas BEST Mission EVER!!!¨¨ haha. I know exactly what she means. haha. But the longer I am here and the more I am learning the more I KNOW that this is where I need to be. The truth is that Heavenly Father knows us more than we know ourselves. And this is teaching me humility like I never wanted to know and just that we need to rely on the Lord. When I survive Guatemala, I will know that it truly is only through the help wisdom, mercy and strength of the Lord because this should be Impossible!!!! The church is TRUE! I know that because I´m the missionary HE has sent and the church is still growing! Really. It is incredible. My testimony on that has grown so much!!! I’m learning more about myself each day and I have a testimony that honestly through the Lord, we can do all things. I believe! And testify to Love!!!
Bueno!! So yes I am still fighting and in good spirits! Oh my comp..... her name is Hermana Angel from El Salvador! She is Pilas and I loooove her!! The funny thing is we actually were in the CCM together. We both only have one change in the mission field. Oh no!! haha. We were both shocked when we found out wed be together. We are both babies, but I am grateful to be with her because we get along great and she’s pilas. We were friends in the ccm so its just fun. The only scary thing is like I said we both don’t have a lot of experience...one change! And she’s in my area so I’m supposed to be the one showing her the area which is scary because in Chimal things get a little crazy!!! But we are learning together and I am excited, I know President is an inspired man and even though we’re young and in a more difficult area, we can do great things. Time in the mish don’t mean nothing! haha. IT will be great! But it is definitely different. I am doing everything like a Latina now. Yesterday, I hand washed clothes with her in our pila, and this morning we made beans and fried platanos for breakfast, and for the past couple of days I have only spoken Spanish!!!! It’s so much fun though. I miss Buterbaugh and cried because we got along so well and there is no way I could of made it through the craziness of last change without her, but I am excited for this change. I know it will be great!
Anyways family, your daughter is surviving! Please continue to pray for me because OHH I need it! But don’t worry about me. I’m in the Lords hands. HE knows what He’s doing and all is well. Oh yeah, I went to the doctor and had funky stuff growing in my stomach so I’m on meds to kill it....that would explain the boo and nausea...yikes!! But it is going away and I’m grateful they caught it early. And I am getting eaten alive by bugs and it is cold now! Craziness never ends. But consider the alternatives. It could be Dengue in the coast or snow in Russia....So I will testify to love and say Hallelujah!!! Praise the Lord! Shame the devil!!!!! The church is true which makes EVERYTHING worth it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you all with all my heart! Don’t worry about me, I am okaaay!! When we get a chance to leave here I will send you pictures. WE don’t have a mail place here so I gotta wait til pday when we can leave!!! But I love youuuuu allll soooooooooo much!!! Prestos todos prestos......The church is TRUE!!!