Week 77

HOLA!! I cannot believe how fast this week flew by! Here is the run-down:

-Monday:We found an hermana named Maribel! We were contacting, and she was very receptive, and after a moment of talking with her, we put an appointment to come back another day, but she asked if we had to go in that moment, and we took just a few moments to show her a video, and then we went to our appointment for family home evening. And it went super well! It was with our ward mission leader and his son who isn’t a member, and a co-worker. We talked about the plan of salvation, and the co-worker Juan Pablo is super PILAS (awesome)! He is actually an investigator of the Elders, but was asking us super great questions! (Mostly about the final judgement and the resurrection)

-Tuesday: We went with Eric, and had a great lesson! We taught the plan of salvation, and after when we quizzed him, he remembered all of it! And then after that we went with an hermana named Paoli, and we asked her why she didn’t go to church, and she was like, "well I had my baby on Sunday!" We were like, oh okay! It is always important to know WHY someone didn’t do something before you judge! Haha

-Wednesday: We went with Eric again and talked more about the Atonement. It went so very well. Until the end when his mom told us that they go to another church occasionally because there is someone that helps them financially… And more than anything it made us sad because the mom has been a member for about 4 years, and her son went on a mission and all. But then in the evening we went with the Sintuj family to answer some of the questions of their 11 yr old. She had asked us why some people don’t take the sacrament, and how we can know that God has forgiven us. We were able to answer her using the Book of Mormon. I love being able to use the Book of Mormon to answer all types of questions!

-Thursday: We went to Ipala for divisions! It went super well! We were able to meet new people, and there was one part that I liked a lot. We had found a new family and we were teaching about the Restoration of the Church, and the hermano was like "well you guys come around and talk to us about Jesus just like all the other missionaries of other churches do¨And I have never felt so strongly that our message is different. And calmly I testified that our message was different. I testified about how thanks to Joseph Smith, the Church was restored, and it is the only true Church. He just sat there, and we kept on teaching, and then at the end he told us that now he understood why we are different and went and got a copy of the Book of Mormon that he had in the other room and told us that he had had this book for 4 years, but never knew what it was. It was awesome to explain what it was and why it is so important.

-Friday: Some members invited us to eat lunch, and after we had eaten, we shared a little about the Book of Mormon, and  we gave them a list of questions that can be answered with the Book of Mormon, and the parents chose theirs, and then the daughter told us that she wanted to know what made us want to go on a mission. I told her that Alma 36 was basically my reason and my process of deciding to serve a mission. Then in the afternoon we had a great lesson with Yesenia. We were reading with her in the Book of Mormon, and we were explaining a little about the Holy Ghost and how we can get answers to our questions. We also explained how we knew it wasn’t by chance that we had found her, and then she started crying and told us that she knew it wasn’t by chance, and that is why she is always so happy when we are there.

-Saturday: So we had made all these plans to have a lunch with some members and Maritza, we had confirmed everything, and then we got to Maritza's house, and she was like, sorry I can't. We were so sad. And then we got to the other families house and only the mom was there. So we still had the lunch and all, but it was sad because her daughter was sick, her husband was out of town, and the other daughter was at a youth activity. Sometimes all the plans fall and you just have to move on. That is something I have learned.

-Sunday: Eric came to church with his mom! That was a huge miracle! And some less actives that we have been working with came, and they brought a friend! That was awesome! Then the rest of the day was super rough, but it happens sometimes, right? But the good thing is we are going to see miracles this week.

Ponderizing: 1 Nephi 13:37 And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure until the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be.¨

Love you all! Hasta pronto!

Conference with an Apostle

Week 76

WOW! This week really did fly by! Here are some things we did:

-Monday we had a lesson with Yamileth. She is so wonderful! She is so ready to get baptized, but she isn't married, and her boyfriend doesn't want to get married... We had a lesson with them together for the first time. We talked with him very boldly, explaining that Yamileth is making changes in her life, she wants to choose the right, and that the one thing that is keeping her from progressing and being clean from all her sins is him. And even after talking to him for a while he was like, "No, I'm not ready because I don't know if it will work out..." (and they have been together for almost 3 years) Yamileth was sad after the lesson, but she said that she will keep going to church and wait until he is ready to get married. She is great. And is only 20 years old.

-Tuesday: we went with Martiza from last week (The nice and receptive "Catholic") Well the lesson went so well! We explained about how we have the Church today, and a little about the Book of Mormon. And at the end of the lesson we invited her and her son to be baptized, and they accepted!! They set a goal for April 15th. Now we just have to teach her husband and they can all get baptized together!! Then in the evening we went to the capital!

-Wednesday: We had Concilio. My last one! That was so sad. They call the missionaries that are about to finish los valientes (the brave ones) And well the "valientes" all go up to share their testimonies. It was one of the few times that I wasn't nervous when I got up there. I was able to share my testimony with such clarity of mind. That is very rare for me! :) I know it is only through the Spirit. And I really did feel like I knew the things I was saying. Because I do. I know this is the only true Church. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know we can all repent and be forgiven. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God and that he restored the Church. I know that we have a prophet today named Thomas S. Monson who continues to lead the church. I know that the temple ordinances are real. And that through them we can have eternal families as we continue faithful. I am so thankful that in this time that I have spent here in Guatemala I have come to know these things. 

BUT continuing with the week! :) 

-On Friday we had one of the most spiritual Zone Meetings in my whole mission. There have been very few times when I have been able to be in front of large groups of people and not be nervous. And well on Friday I had to get up to bare my testimony, give 2 workshops, and sing, and I wasn't nervous at all! Blessings, right?! And then speaking of more blessings, after the zone meeting we went to find a less active family. We were outside the house yelling "Buenas tardes" but nobody came out, and when we were about to leave, the son came out from around the corner with his basket to go buy tortillas. When he saw us he let us in, and they were apologizing that they didn't hear us. Well we had a wonderful lesson, and in the end we invited Eric (the 14-year old son) to be baptized, and he accepted! And after that we went with Maritza, and her husband was home, and he was reading the Bible that we had given them! And so we were talking with them and the hermano opened up a ton to us. He explained that he is a part of an AA group, and that he is having some problems with his family members. We were able to talk briefly with him, because he got a call and had to go to work. But hey, we met him, and we feel like he trusts us. 

-Saturday: Well the day went by super fast because we went with Yesenia and taught her about the authority and all, and she accepted all of it, and says that she will pray to know if she needs to get baptized. And then later we went with a less active family to help them make their tamales... that was interesting! And later in the evening we were able to go to the adult session of the stake conference and it was awesome! We had 4 investigators that attended, and an hermana that we are re-activating came!! And afterwards we asked President Crapo to talk with Rigoberto - the hermano that is basically a member but hasn't gotten baptized. And boy did President talk to him! It was awesome! And afterwards left him with 3 Nephi 11 to read and told him to come to the session in the morning, and they would talk about what he read. 

-Sunday: SOOO Rigoberto showed up to the session with his family and all and we were all excited like, "so did you read", and he was like "yes." So we took him over to talk with President after the session, and Rigo was like, well I read what you left me, and then they started talking and president basically did the whole baptismal interview and at the end told Rigo that he needs to pray and ask God if it is all true, and then he needs to talk with us to set a date for his baptism. It was awesome! And after Rigo was like wow. President Crapo is a great man. And what do you know? Rigo went home, prayed and when they were eating lunch as a family, Rigo said I am seriously considering getting baptized... when do you all want me to do it?! And when we went by their house in the evening Rigo wasn't there, but the wife and daughters told us and we were all freaking out! And in the prayer they gave thanks for President Crapo! Believe me, we are also giving thanks for him! And Eric also came to church with his mom and sister!! That was so great!!

Ponderizing: Alma 34:8

Love you all!

-Hermana Garrett

Week 75

HEY EVERYONE!!

Well this week went super well! Here are some of the highlights!

-Monday: We had a great Family Home Evening with the Garcia family! The dad isn't member, but has been coming to church the last 4 weeks. He asked a lot of great questions, and we are hoping to be able to see some more progress with him in these next few weeks!

-Tuesday: In the morning we were really focused on finding some new people to teach. We were knocking on doors when we found Maritza! She is great! She is 27 and lives with her husband (they aren't married) and her 7 year old son. She was the only one home, but was so very receptive! Although she was raised Catholic, she was asking us many questions about the Saints, the Virgin Mary, and about prayer. She had been raised in the church, but she said that she really didn't know why she did many things, and she didn't understand a lot of things. So we are going to keep working with her and her family!

-Wednesday:Well we went with an hermana named Yesenia. She is also super great! She is the one that last week when we went with her she was super nice and it seemed like she had been waiting for us. Well we went with her and her son Lester! Lester used to go to church with some members, but hasn't gone in some time. We taught the Plan of Salvation, and after when we invited them to pray to know if what we had taught was true, hermana Yesenia said "Well I know this is true!" we asked her how she knew and she had a hard time saying exactly why but said that it made sense and that she felt good about it. We explained that it is through the Spirit that she had received that confirmation that it was true! How wonderful is the Holy Ghost?! Then in the evening we had the BEST English class ever!! So between our 3 companionships here in Chiquimula we all take turns teaching the class, and there are about 15 that normally come! And some had come from almost 45 min away!! None of them are members, so I took advantage and using pictures, explained a little about temples, about how we believe that we can be together forever, and then a little about what we do as missionaries! It went so well! 

-Thursday: We had divisions in Esquipulas! It went well! It also made me thankful for my area! :) 

-Friday: A sister from the ward took us to visit some less actives that we didn't know. It went well and we were able to visit with them. And then in the evening we went with some recent converts and while we were outside waiting for the sister to change we started to play soccer with some of the kids! It was all fun and games until someone got hurt, and then it was just funnier! haha I was running for the ball and when I went to kick it (thanks to all the dirt, little rocks, and my wonderful shoes) I completely biffed it! And ended up on my side dying from laughter! But I have a nice big reminder of it on my knee and elbow! And it was right as the sister was coming out to tell us we could go in, and right as a big group of teens walked by! Everyone was laughing :) Good memories!

-Saturday: We were running all over the place helping the Elders get ready for their baptism. But then in the afternoon we were able to find a less active sister and she was very open to listen to us, and she said that she will come to church next week!! And her daughter hasn't gotten baptized yet, so we are going to work with them both! 

-Sunday: We went with a sister again to visit some less actives. We went to some houses of people that normally don't open up to us, and when we went with this sister they all let us in! So my challenge is for everyone to go with the missionaries to visit less actives! Maybe the missionaries will have more success with you there!!

Ponderizing: John 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. "This is my motto for the next few weeks - As long as I am in the (mission), I am (a) light (in) Chiquimula." I think we can all change the words in this scripture to make it apply to us all. And we can all keep being lights to those around us!

Love you all!

-Hermana Garrett