Breathe. When Things Get Hard, Don't Get Sad: Choose Gratitude!

Hooollllllllaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Another week has come and gone!! Craziness!! Hope everything is going well. I pray for your happiness each day!! As for Guate, things are going good! This week was another interesting one. We had a baptism of Maria Salazar. Don’t know if I told you about her. Maria is the wife of a less active, well was less active member. She actually doesn’t live in our ward, but she was one of those eternal investigators. She’s been taking the lessons in another ward with different elders for 9 months, been going to church, everything, but never wanted to get baptized. Well the elders didn’t know what to do with her so it was the stake president’s idea, he said, well we have hermanas in the stake, why don’t they teach her!!

We started to teach her about a month ago, and yesterday she got baptized and cried like a baby!! haha. When we first showed up at her house and asked her why she didn’t want to get baptized she said because once I get baptized, I’m not going anywhere so I need to KNOW!! And to me, that’s a good thing!! So we just said that’s GREAT!! Let’s make it happen!!! I don’t know we just hit if off and had some girl time...taught her, became great friends and really focused on helping her to see that she already knew and after months and months accepted a fecha and her husband was shocked!!

Yesterday, she got baptized and it was such a powerful service. The spirit was so strong. Ah man, I just loooove Maria because she’s so pure and sincere. She made our district leader cry when she bore her testimony to him in the interview about how she knows and isn’t going anywhere. But after the she came out of the water, she seriously was glowing and we were in the bathroom waiting for her, she just gave us the biggest hug and wouldn’t let go. She was crying and crying and this made me cry. It was so beautiful and she just hugged us, I would say for a good 10 minutes and just said, “Thank you Hermanas! I always knew I needed to do this, and I couldn’t have done this without you”. It really was just so beautiful to experience and see the joy of the gospel and the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ. It’s the most powerful thing in the whole world!! So anyways, good day! It makes the 99 not so good ones, TOTALLY worth it!!!!

What else happened this week......Oh! Well this week I had the opportunity to preach in a bus! haha. That was fun!! So I think I already explained a little about the crazy Guatemala magic school buses. They are crazy. Well every time I have to get on these crazy buses, I always talk and contact the person sitting next to me and this is ALWAYS an interesting experience. Sometimes I honestly feel like I have a disease or something because the people will do everything in their power to try to ignore me, pretend their sleeping, or curl up on the wall....It’s so sad sometimes....I feel like Elle Woods. Why don’t these people love me? Everybody loves me!! hahahaha. It’s sad sometimes, but wearing the tag, being a gringa and well at least in my experience here, not so much! But, anyways- not important. I got off the bus with my comp and I was expressing frustration to her telling her urrrrrrr there has to be somebody who rides those buses who wants the gospel. Why dont these people want anything? I don’t understand. And she started to laugh at me and said, yeah maybe there’s someone, why don’t you stand up in front of the whole bus and contact. And I was like, hey not a bad idea!! Let’s do it!! Hermana Guranda didn’t know she was joking, but the next time we got on the bus, I was like Hermana, are you ready? She was like what? I was like let’s contact in the front! She was like what? You are you crazy!! Heeeckkk no!! I was like Hermana! Serious!! There could be an escogido, chosen, here!! Lets go!! Hermana Guranda was just like no way!! So I was like fine, so I just stood up, didn’t know what to say, so just said Hooollllllaaa!!! Bueeeennnnnaaaas Tarrrrdddeeesss!!!!!!!!!! May I have your attention!! haha and just started talking! And Hermana Guaranda was just sitting there laughing at me. But it was kinda cool because the bus driver turned off the music when I started talking and the whole bus went silent. haha. I was like wow, so I shared a message about Jesus Christ and just invited everyone to hear about the restored gospel....but here’s the sad part, after I shared the message, I walked down the aisle to talk to every person with my pamphlets to see if anyone wanted one, and absolutely nobody did....haha.

I felt like a little beggar just walking down the aisles....you...you...you...no! Okay! So I thanked everyone for their time, sat down and the bus driver started blasting the music again. But my companion just looked at me and just started laughing at me and was just like, “ ohhh hermana garcia I was kidding, but good job”. She said she never thought in a million years to do that. But now that’s what we’re going to do. She just laughs and says alright you speak and I’ll stand there and smile. haha. ok. Although we haven’t sacked references from it, I at least get off the buses feeling like alright....you know what...we tried!!! And sometimes that is all we can do and all that Heavenly Father expects.

I am learning each day to just make the best out of everything and just be happy. Seriously, I tell Hermana all I want is to be happy and have been realizing that if you just do all you can, obviously, we’re not perfect and there’s so many things I’m trying to improve on, but if we just try, Heavenly Father will bless you and you will be able to feel happiness despite discouragements. Honestly my favorite scripture, well one of them is in Doctrine and Covenants 123: 17. When I look back at these past 8 months, yeah I have faced a lot A LOT of discouragements and you know me, It killllsssss sometimes, I feel like such a failure at times but I can honestly say that I am learning to just be happy. I breathe, and when things get hard, I remind myself, don’t get sad; choose gratitude!!! Another one of my quotes or life lessons that the mission has taught me.

Honestly I can’t express it enough how much I loooooove all of you and just how grateful I feel. My life is a dream. The mission; and acne a close second has been the hardest things I have ever had to do. everyday i just look at these people and the lives they’ve had to live and I just drop on my knees and literally cry and testify to love because I cant believe how blessed I’ve been. i have everything any girl could ever ask for, and that’s why I just love my daddy!! Both the one in Heaven and on Earth!!! I feel so blessed and I feel only an experience like this could really make me see that. Still don’t understand, but have learned to just be grateful!!! We are soooo blessed and when we honestly remember that, we will ALWAYS, ALWAYS be happy, even in the midst of floating poo and hurtful rocks!!!! Life is beautiful!!! Loooooooooveeee you all with all my heart!!!! And i really mean that!! God lives and loves!!! `He’s blessed us beyond belief, for that I will forever testify to loooooooooooovvvvvveeeee!!!! Love you all!! Prestos todos prestos....the church is true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!