Hooollllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!! I am sooo happy to hear that everyone is doing well!! Thank you for all your love, letters of encouragement and prayers!! They are heard!!!!!!!!!!!!! waaawwaaa!!!!! well this week has been a great one!!! I have truly felt your prayers pushing me through and have gained a stronger appreciation and testimony of the reality of this! First of all, wasn't conference amaaazing! Seriously, it was like crab legs to the soul. Aaaaah man I don't know but I think conference on the mission is like 100 times better on the mission. When I heard the prophet and president Eyring speak it just seriously pierced me and I literally screamed, "The church is true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Shall we not go on in such a great cause sistttttttter!!!!!" haha.
Seriously, I cried so many tears of happiness and felt soooo grateful to be here in Guatemala just to try help others to see, feel, and looooove this gospel!!! I felt a little sad though because I got to watch it in English and I felt really sad for my comp and the other people, because unless they learn English they will never be able to hear the prophet's voice!! I seriously told my comp she HAD to learn English; one to get a better job but daaaaaang so she could listen to the prophet!!! Honestly it was the first time that I really thought about that!!!!!
Conference really was a spiritual feast and I still feel uplifted. I thought to myself; really daaaaaaang the church is true. soooo true!!! I came on the mission knowing that and for that had such high, high expectations for the mission. and I have to admit for a while I felt tempted to believe that maybe it was just that my expectations were too high or that I was just trying too hard and wont reach these goals, BUT seriously during the conference I had to repent and I was reminded; NOOOO, the church IS TRUE!! DONT LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS, but INCREASE YOUR FAITH!!!
That is exactly what came to my mind and again I wrote this big on my wall so everyday I can just wake up and go loco for missionary work.....so I just feel so empowered and have more determination to just do this thaaaannngg!!!!! So far hmmmmm......haha; for me its a miracle in how I feel hopefully well be able to do miracles for the Lord in this area.....I'm still trying. its been three days gotta give it some time. but as for us miracles......
.......ok so as you know this whole change my poor comp has been sicker than a dog. Everyday its the same routine. Barf, diarrhea, nausea, extreme body aches, more barf......ugliness!! It honestly is so sad and just depressing. But this Monday it hit the peak. the whole night Hermana Guaranda couldn't sleep because she was just throwing up and had fever, pain, the whole bit. I woke up and Hermana Guaranda was just lying in her bed crying. Crying. and seriously I thought this was going to be it....she was just going to call president and say, "No Mas!!! no more!!!" She told me that she didn't know what to do. We've been to the doctors, received priesthood blessings, medicine, prayers but nothing!!!! She told me this was the sickest she's felt and that she couldn't open her eyes and was just crying. So I just went to her bed to hug her like I always do and she asked me if I would massage her head because that's what her mom always does. So I went over and started massaging her head and she was just crying and crying and I started to tear too just because I felt soooo bad for her. It seriously was so heart breaking.
Hermana Guaranda really has been through SOOOO much this change. It was hard for me, but really for her it just seemed like the crap hit the fan. Poor thing. But she was just crying, crying, and was talking about how just she cant, no more. She was saying how sick she felt and how tired and weak she was because she can't go to sleep and it was sooo sad. I seriously looked at my companion and didn't know what to do but get down on my knees and just pray. I left her on her bed and just went to my bed, dropped down and offered the most simple but heart felt prayer pleading and begging the Lord to help my companion. It was one of those times I really felt myself praying and pleading the Lord with everything I had.
I got up sat on my bed and looked at my companion and she was just lying there, still looking so weak and still crying. I then just decided to go on with the normal activities studying and preparing for the day. I was sad and thought again we were going to miss a lot of our citas. I even called people that I could to cancel because from the morning I thought there was no way we were going to be able to go out. But, as I was studying in the other room at 10:30am my comp wakes up and tells me, " alright, let's go out and work!" I was in shock. I looked at her and asked her, "are you ok?" She told me, "don't worry about it we've got to go." So really I thought nothing about it and just thought she got better!!
We went out worked the rest of the day and came home at night as planned, the normal!! I said my prayer and was about to go to sleep and I wont ever forget this....Hermana Guaranda said, "Hermana Garcia, thank you!!!" I was confused and asked her, for what? She started to tear up and told me, "I know you prayed for me." I was like what are you talking about? She told me this morning I know you prayed for me!! She told me that she remembers I was massaging her head and she felt so weak honestly thinking she was going to go home and she said she remembers me leaving and it was silent and all of a sudden, she literally felt a pillar of light something come across her body literally just sweep her body starting with her face and she had no idea what was happening she said. she said she couldn't open her eyes and see me but she saw me praying and said Hermana Garcia is praying for me. Then she said she was just knocked out....completely and just was able to sleeeeep, for the first time in how long!!!!! She woke up and we worked and since then has not felt sick!! and she didn't cry but was tearing up and told me "thank you, hermana!!!" I was filled with sooooo much joy and I started crying because I felt so grateful to Heavenly Father. Heavenly Father really does hear and answer prayers!!!!!!
What a testimony booster to me!!!!! This change was so difficult for me. Sometimes I really did feel like when I prayed I couldn't feel that assurance that my prayers were really heard just because there were so many discouragements. Heavenly Father helped me to know that SI!!!!! He really is there and He really does hear and answer every Childs prayer!"!!! Sometimes it takes time or it may not be what He wants us to learn but I feel so grateful to know that HE is there!!!!! So my job is just to hang in there......siga adelante and just do my best!!! That's ALL I can do!!!!!!! Just pure love!!!!! The gospel is TRUE!!!!!! I am SOOOOOO grateful to know that!!!! For that I just gotta keep swimming....literally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Prestos todos prestos....the Church is true!!!!!!!!! Looooooove you alllllllll with all my heart!!!! Wouldn't be here if it weren't for you!!!!!! Loooove you!!! and I mean it!!!
Love,
Hermana G!!!
ps........okkkkkkk ready for the Guatemala moment of this week...haha. Something crazy always happens. This week, okkkk so my comp and I were talking to this family. we were standing outside they were in their house and we were talking through the window. It was windy cold, rainy and all of a sudden I felt something warm. it was like slow motion I thought, why is my leg warm? I look down and a dog is peeing on me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! whahahhahahahhahah!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I SCREAMEEEEEEEDDDDDD!!!!! chucho feo fuera!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And my comp looked and just started laughing. Dying of laughter. I was wet with dog peee and it was seriously soooo disgusting but soooooo funny and soooooooooo Guatemala!!!! Seriously it was nuts but soooo funny I must say!!! Can you believe that????? Ay aya yayay!!!!! Guatemala.......best mission ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love you all!!!!!!!
First Companion MTC and CCM, Hermana Williams