From Sweat to Sweaters

Week 54

HOLA!! 

Well this week went by super fast, it was sure full of exciting things! 

-We had concilio (council), that was super great! And as a zone we had completed with our goal for baptisms for the month so that was awesome! I also got to see some Elders that came to the misión with me and were in my district in the CCM (MTC)! One is the Elder from Las Vegas! I hadn't seen him since we left the CCM!

-Then we had zone meeting! That was probably one of my favorites! We watched that video of the man who saves up to be able to pay for the cruise, and took all his own food to avoid any additional costs, and on the very last day he finds out that everything on the cruise was included in the price. We watched that and Elder Orellana related that video to us as missionaries. That we all had to prepare before the mission, work, save money, interviews, doctor appointments, etc. and that now we have made it on the cruise. We have sacrificed to get here, but are we keeping ourselves locked up in our rooms and eating canned beans? Or are we taking advantage of every opportunity to be missionaries? Are we living beneath our potential? This really hit me. And I would like to invite each of you to take a look at your life, we have all made sacrifices to get where we are (in a job, university, etc.) but are we living up to our potential where we are? It's like that phrase, ¨Bloom where you are planted.¨ I think there are things we can all do to change and ENJOY where we are at. That was one thing I LOVED in conference, they talked a lot about being JOYFUL!! ¨and men are that they might have JOY!¨

-We also had divisions with some Hermanas over the Conference weekend, and it went super well! We went to Zacapa to watch Conference, so we just stayed there with them. It is always fun to get to know other areas!

-And then there was Conference!! I want to hear from all of you what you liked most!! Because it is sure hard for me to decide! I LOVED Russell M. Nelson's talk. I loved when he said ¨Jesucristo es gozo¨ (Jesus Christ is joy) - there is that JOY again! I also liked how he said as we try to take the instructions of the world in how to find joy, we will never find it. That is so true, isn't it? Yes, the world tries to offer us ¨fun nights¨ or ¨thrilling vacations¨ but those things aren't going to bring us joy. Those THINGS aren't going to bring us back to our Father in Heaven. I also loved the talk by J. Devin Cornish where he talked about how we should not compare ourselves with others. And that if we repent, we will be sufficiently good!

-It was super ¨calidad¨ (excellent) because even though we had to travel to go to General Conference, we still had 7 investigators that made the sacrifice to go. Most even stayed for 2 sessions! And Carlos, Jorge, and Edgar went to the Priesthood session! We were so thrilled!! 

BIG NEWS!!! SO today are changes, AND I HAVE CHANGES TO THE CAPITAL!!! That is all I know, I don't know where I will be or with who, but hey, I'll be in the capital!! :) So this week will be nothing short of an adventure, I am positive!

Ponderizing: Alma 28:14 ¨And thus we see the great call of diligence of men to labor in the vineyards of the Lord; and thus we see the great reason of sorrow, and also of rejoicing-sorrow because of death and destruction among men, and joy because of the light of Christ unto life.¨ LOVE this scripture! And I think it does a great job of explaining the emotions on the mission! Great sorrow and sadness when people don't accept, but great JOY (there it is again) when people accept and enter into the baptismal covenant.

LOVE YOU ALL! Have a great week!

-Hermana Garrett

Black Trash Bags, Bananas, and Pouring Rain...all in One!

It was STORMING!! And we were walking around with black trash bags, in the pouring rain, eating bananas... because when else would you do that other than on the mission?? :)

The best pinol and masapan EVER from a member!!! Masapan is like a vegtable, I think.
But it is kind of like a big fried potato...but not. You've just gotta try it! :)

It was Elder Ruiz's (second from right in back row)) last Friday on the mission!
This is like 2/3 of the zone.

Week 53

Hola todos!!! 

So this week FLEW BY!!! We started out with divisions on Tuesday, and then we had a multi-zone conference on Wednesday, and then the Women's Conference on Saturday! (And yesm I did get to see it this year!!!!!!! Just that it was in Spanish, but I am at the point now where I understand more than I did 6 months ago :) You would hope, right?! )

Well just about the coolest thing ever happened this week. Our mission president and his wife came to our area on Wednesday night to visit our investigators with us!!!! We were STOKED!!! Well I was super excited, and my companion was super nervous, but it ended up being so wonderful!! :) We had made so many plans and back up plans, and then a little before they got there, we started calling and passing by the houses of these people to confirm our appointments, AND EVERY SINGLE PLAN FELL: Literally every. single. one. But I had fasted that day that we would be able to have a spiritual experience with them, so I wasn't too worried, but I did kind of start to panic, thinking WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO NOW?!?! So we said a little prayer, and thought of Jonathan and Deyli. They are the couple that needs to get married. 

It was a little bit of a risk, because they don't have a phone, and they live far, and sometimes they are working at night, and the day before they had told us they wouldn't be there. ALLLL of that being said, we get there with President Crapo and they were home, and happy, and we were able to have one of the best lessons ever. It was so wonderful! And as we were almost finishing up, Jonathan said that President Crapo looked familiar, and asked if he spoke in a conference in Puerto Barrios like almost 2 years ago, and Jonathan started to re-tell a story that he had heard, and President Crapo was like, "Yes, that was me. That was my first conference as a Mission President." WE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT JONATHAN HAD GONE TO CHURCH IN PUERTO BARRIOS!! He said that he only went like twice! What a tender mercy. And that after all this time, he still remembered the story!

Well that was a super hightlight of the week. And now they are both reading and praying everyday! And they both came to church yesterday and are planning on going to Conference this weekend!!

Ponderizing: Alma 19:33. I love this. I hope that one day I can be 100% converted, to the point that I don't ever want to do anything bad. How wonderful would that be?! 

Well I love you all!! Enjoy conference!!! :)

Hermana Garrett

Here are some quotes that I have found throughout the week that I really liked:

¨Pull out the weeds and water the flowers¨ Dieter F. Utchdorf

¨You can have what you want, or you can have something better¨ Jeffrey R. Holland

¨Life must be understood backward, but it must be lived forward¨ Soren Kierkegaard

¨Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be¨ Abraham Lincoln

¨Jesus was not afraid to make demands of those he lead. His leadership was not condescending or soft. He had courage to call Peter and others to leave their nets and to follow Him. Not after the fishing season, or after the next catch, but NOW! Today.¨

Homemade Cheese

One YEAR Mark!

Meals From This Week

Week 52

HOLA!!!

So this week went by super fast! 

-I have now been here for a year! 

-We celebrated the dia de independencia (Independence Day), 15 de septiembre! but here they don't do much, just have a few parades! 

-We have been visiting some less active sisters, and Sunday THEY CAME!!! It was so great. We had plans to go and visit them this week, and I was trying to think of what we could share with them, when I opened my Ensign to the talk It Works Wonderfully! by Elder Uchtdorf. We shared that AND it was perfect.

-We found some people that were from New Jersey! (Shoutout to Hermana Pace!!) They had an accent and it made me super happy.

-So I am starting to put pictures in my Spanish scriptures to help me find stories, scriptures, etc, (because as you all know my memory is terrible! haha) And well I had found a picture of a sealing room, and it was just so pretty that I wanted to put it somewhere. So I started to look for a scripture, but gave up. But the next day in studies I felt like I had to find a scripture for it. So I started to look, until I found one in Matt. 16. And well that night we had a lesson with a member and some old investigators of the Elders, and the Hermana Darlyn is super great. And the member that went with us out of nowhere started to share about how her family got sealed, and Darlyn was like, I have had that question for so long, but no one can give me proof in the bible of how it is possible, What is this whole sealing thing and how is it possible. :) I was able to quickly flip to the scripture, and she was like, hey that makes sense. It was a "Thanks Holy Ghost, that was awesome" moment!

-Other tender mercy was that we found Edgar's dad, (that alone was a miracle because we had passed by and they said he wasn't home, so we passed by a member's house just down the road, and ended up helping the daughter with her Personal Progress, and then as we passed by his house he rode up on his bike) and then we were able to talk to him, and just like that he gave permission for Edgar to get baptized! It was so great!!

Ponderizing Alma 5:33 I LOVE this. Found it this morning, and it really hit home. It doesn't matter how many times we make mistakes, HE ALWAYS has his arms open and will forgive us. Shouldn't we then be the same with those around us?

Love you all!

-Hermana Garrett

Bakery (Panadería)

Ward Independence Day Activity

Week 51

Hola!!!

Well this week was full of ups and downs, as usual! :) But here are the highlights:

-We had a branch activity with a bunch of cultural acts celebrating the 15th of September (independence day here). (and also my 1 year mark (: ) And we had a blast. Everyone got really into it. The youth did a dance and the primary explained different things like the flag, the quetzal, etc.

-As we were walking to a lesson on Tuesday, there were these like 6 year olds who yelled at us "Mormonas, queremos su palabra" (Mormons, we want your word). It just made me smile. At least they know who to go to! :)

-We painted a house of an inactive. We just happened to pass by the house and felt like we should stop by, and there they were, and we were able to help them! It was a "District" moment (anyone who has watched the District knows what I am talking about) 

-Jorge went ON HIS BIRTHDAY with us to go visit some investigators, And it was just about the highlight of my mission. As we are in the lesson he was using scriptures, and bearing testimony, and testifying of what we had said! He shared his experiences, and it was just so amazing to see how the Spirit was working in everyone there. Our plans had fallen through, but we were able to visit one of his friends and it made for a wonderful evening. He invited his friend to seminary, so we shall see what happens. He also invited his girlfriend! *Member missionary* :)

-Well the hard part of this week hit us on Wednesday. As we got out of our district meeting we found out that Edgar (the teenager that is going to get baptized in 2 weeks) well his mom got shot. We went over right then. We spent most of the day with him. We got some members and youth to go over with us and we sat with him, sang hymns, prayed with him. He was so strong. and the next day we had a Noche de Hogar and he came and it was so powerful. He is sad, but I am so glad that we have been able to help him. And now I think his brothers are going to start to listen to us too. His mom had already given him permission to get baptized, but now he is living with his dad and we will have to get him to give permission. PRAY FOR US!!!

Ponderizing: Mosiah 16:7

Have a great week! LOVE YOU ALL!!

-Hermana Garrett

Baptism and Birthday

Relaxing Preparation Day

In the Tuk tuk

MONKEYS!!! I think I found my soul mate. At least he wanted me to stay! :)

Every great companionship has matching shirts, right?

Before and After Cleaning House + Etiquette Dinner

It took 16 bags to clean up outside!!

Fancy dinner for the youth!

Week 50

HOLAAAAAAAA!!!

So this week flew by! Here is the rundown:

-We had divisions, and were able to find lots of new people in our area! We also extended a baptismal date to the older Palma brother, and he said yes!! 

-Jonathan and Daily also accepted a date to get baptized!! They are so awesome! We just have to get them married... :)

-We had concilio on Thursday, so we got to travel to the capital! And there were some new missionaries there, and one sister came up to me and asked where I was from, after talking for a little, she asked me if I had a blog, and I was like, oh yeah, I do! And she was like, I knew I had seen you somewhere! She has been reading my blog since she got her call! That made me so happy!! :)

BIG NEWS!!! Olga got baptized! It was such a miracle, because like the night before her mom said that she couldn't, but then we went and talked to her, and then she said it was fine. And we had a ton of problems with the baptismal font, but in the end all turned out fine. :) 

The zone surprized me with a cake, that was real nice :) And on my birthday we had divisions and the Hermanas brought little cupcakes! :)

We also had a service project with the youth. They wanted to help us out (how sweet, right?!) So we cleaned up all the weeds outside our house! And then in the evening we had a fancy dinner with them. We taught them table manners. They all loved it!

Ponderizing: Jacob 5:59. What do we need to do to change our roots, so that our branches will grow "good"? I have been thinking a lot about that "What lack I yet?" talk. And there are lots of things I am trying to change. I invite you all to think about what things you can change too. 

Love you all! And thanks for all the birthday wishes. Year 20 of my life will be a good one! :) Stay tuned

-Hermana Garrett

Waterfalls

Galletas and 'Guanas

Translation: Thanks for your help in missionary work!

Look what we found in the church!
EDITOR'S NOTE/COMMENTARY: Is it just me or does anyone else
find it ironic that they are teaching anatomy terms and find the perfect model?!

Week 49

HOLAAAA!!

Well I have sure enjoyed this week! As you can see from the pictures, it was an exciting one! Full of iguanas during english class, exploring more waterfalls, and getting to know more of our area. SO we are now in charge of ALL of Estanzuela. SO that has been fun!! It is the best because there are new things everyday, but I have my same companion, and the same investigators. It is the best of both worlds! AND we moved houses!!! We are now in the Elders' old house! It is much nicer! And we have water ALL DAY LONG!! AND we have a shower!!! Before we had to pour water over our heads from a pila.... It's in the little things folks!  

Well this week Olga is getting baptized!!! She is so excited!! We were able to get her mom to say yes this week!! Well we didn't actually do anything. Carlos (the older brother that got baptized 3 weeks ago) he just talked to her, and bore his testimony to her and she said YES!!! 

Carlos is doing so well. He is just soaking up EVERY part of being Mormon. And yesterday in our Sunday School class with the youth we did some practices about how to explain Joseph Smith, and I almost cried when he was acting as the missionary. He bore such a sweet and sincere testimony. And it really helped me strengthen my testimony that the Spirit teaches so much better than us!! And Carlos told the seminary teacher this week when she asked what he is going to do as soon as he finishes school this year, and he said he just wants to go on a mission. :)

Well thank you mom for sending me that recipe for no bake cookies. EVERYONE here loves them. SO we started to give them to the people that go out on visits with us. And they all end up asking us how to make them!!

Ponderizing: 2 Nephi 24:3

LOVE YOU ALL! And I am living up my last day being 19! (my companion told me as we left the house that I looked like it was my first day of school! So in honor of my siblings who DID have their first day of school today, here is a classic First day of school pic) 

-Hermana Garrett

Our Last Zone Picture

Empanadas, "Bolshas," ... Guatemalan tikka masala & spaghetti

Empanadas in the shape of flowers and butterflies!!!
How else do you eat them?!

 It rained a TON this week! :) We used these bad boys!!

We had divisions one day and the other sisters used them too! It is going to be a thing! :)