Week 23: FELIZ NAVIDAD (Merry Christmas)

Best week ever!!! 

We had so many Christmas activities!! On Wednesday we went to sing to all the people in front of the hospital. There are always a lot of people outside cause no one is allowed to enter unless they are the ones getting operated on. So we sang hymns and gave out book of mormons!!! 

Then we had a multi zona de navidad!! We had so much fun because every zone created a skit and presented it to everyone! Our skit was about missionarys trying to convert the grinch to be baptized hahaha 

A couple days later I got super sick and threw up everywhere!!! Probably because I got fed in every single house we walked into!!! I have never eaten so many tamles in my life!!! 

On Christmas eve and Christmas we basically just walked around to every member and asked if there was anything we could do to serve them hahaha but most of the time they just invited us in for dinner. In total between the two days we at 9 dinners!!!! So brutal! 

But Christmas here is sooo different. They all stay up till 12 am on Christmas eve and then they shoot of fireworks for like 20 minutes!!! That was so cool to watch because we went to our roof and watched it from a 360 degree angle! Then they all open presents in the middle of the night, then they all sleep in until 12 midday on Christmas!! So when we left the house to start working for the day there was literally no one on the streets!!! 

But I got to talk with my family!! It was so much fun but 40 minutes was not enough time at all!! 

Being on the mission during Christmas has taught me a lot about sacrifice. Yeah its weird to be out of the country during my favorite holiday but its all worth it because I am sacrificing for a greater cause. The mission really is all about sacrifice. We sacrifice our time and lives to serve our heavenly king. But really it isn't a sacrifice at all, because we are just trying to attempt to pay back the price that can never be repayed, which is the atonement of the savior. I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to sacrifice one Christmas away from my family, to help other families come unto Christ. 

Con amor, 

Hermana Salisbury 

Week 22: FELIZ 5 MESES (Happy 5 Months)

Ok literally I blinked and now I have 5 months on my mission!!! It is seriously the weirdest feeling how fast time flys by on the mission. 

SO it has been my job to coordinate a family night with every member of the ward for every night of December. So we have been going to these family nights for light the world, and the family invites an investigator. So it has been super cool having family nights every night of December! 

This week we had interviews with President Goodman. Interviews are always my favorite cause I get lowkey roasted but it always motivates to work harder!

If you guys remember from one of my past emails I helped a kid cheat on his English homework, well now we are teaching him!! And we had a lesson this week and we had just read the first vision and I asked him what he felt when we read it and he said I FELT NOTHING hahaha I seriously just busted up laughing in the middle of the lesson hahaha

This Sunday I was SOOO mad because one of our investigators who lives SOOOO far told us he would go to church. So we got up extra early on Sunday to literally HIKE to this guys house and right when he get there the members of his family tell us he cant come!!!!!! I hiked down that mountains so mad! But we walked into sacrament meeting like 10 minutes late because we had to walk so far but when we walked in we found one of our other investigators there!!! MIRACLES! 

It is low key sketch on the streets right now. Cause a lot of people who are outside at night, during Christmas are drunk. So we have had a couple of incidents but we are all good! 

I seriously love this season of Christmas because it is the celebration of the biggest act of love the world has ever known. A loving heavenly father sent his son to pay for our sins, so we could have a way to return to him. I hope you guys have the BEST Christmas! I will be here in Guatemala eating tamales ALLLL DAY hahah! 

Con mucho amor, 

Hermana Salisbury 

Week 21: Viaje a GUATEEE (Travel Guatemala)

Hola a TODOS!!! 

Y saludos a todos! Espero que ustedes están disfrutando su navidad en los estados!

So the trip to Guatemala city was BRUTAL. We had to go there to do something with our VISA'S. It was 11 hours in bus there and then 11 hours back!!!! But I got to go with all the other missionary's from my group in el CCM!! So it was worth it haha but when we got to the capital we basically got locked into a hotel for two days cause it is so dangerous there. But I realized how cut off I am from the world when I got to the hotel cause my jaw was dropped walking into a nice hotel seeing jugs of water and complimentary breakfast hahaha Our first night we heard 7 gun shots outside the hotel haha Then the next morning we went out to explore down town (such a dangerous idea) hahaha 

Then we went to the immigration office and ALL of the kids from the CCM were there!!!!! IT WAS CRAZYYY! It was so good to see everyone from my district! It was crazy to speak Spanish with them cause the last time we spoke Spanish together we were TRASH!! hahaha 

Then we went to a mall and once again I experience cultural shock. I didn't even know how to go into a normal shop and look at the clothes like a normal person! 

Then we traveled back to good old SAN MARCOS! While we were traveling we were getting off and I happened to be a couple people ahead of my companion, and right when I got off the bus TOOK OFF WITH MY COMP and I just stood there in the middle of xela without a companion! hahaha but long story short we ended up finding each other haha

Then when we got back one of the Hermana's in my zone was walking down the stairs and slipped and literally BROKE HER BACK and couldn't move for 2 hours. SOOO bad and SOOO scary. And it is so hard to speak Spanish in emergency's! SOOO HARD cause im just thinking 1000 miles per hour in english but i have to talk in a different language! But she is doing a ton better! 

But this week was CRAZY! It is so weird how the language was my biggest concern for 3 months but now its on the back burner hahaha There are so many more things to worry about out here!! 

People are always saying "Hermana salisbury you are always laughing and smiling ALL day how do you do it??"  Which is a really good question cause missionary work is HARD WORK. But I think the answer is I am SO happy to be here doing the work of the Lord. And there is no reason to ever have a bad attitude or have a bad day here because I am taking part in the greatest work on earth, the salvation of souls! There is no place I would rather be than here talking in Spanish, teaching about a savior, here in San Marcos Guatemala!

Hope you guys have a good week!! Light the world this week by serving someone like the savior served!

Con amor,

Hermana Salisbury

Week 20: Estamos echando FUEGOOOO (We are on FIRE!)

HOLA Familia y amigos!!!!

This week was another crazy week on the mission!!!! 

We traveled down to REUUUU again!!!! For the almuerzo de nuevos! It was so fun to talk with all the girls in training and receive advice from our mission president! 

But the best part about traveling is taking the CRAZY buses. Just imagine the most old ghetto buses from the 80's and those are the buses here in Guatemala. But we decided to BUSIARRRR!!! This means we get up in front of the entire bus and introduce ourselves and then talk with every single person on the bus! It is SOO hard not to fall over and hit the ground with all the crazy turns but its wayyy fun hahaha basically we talk with everyone and invite them to church, baptism, to read the scriptures, etc. At the end of the trip we had talked to 85 people and invited 14 of them to be baptized!!! 

We had a girl committed to be baptized with a fecha fija y todo but we got a call on Saturday night that she didn't have permission to get baptized. And after I heard that I just CRIED. I realized in that moment that I actually love the people and I care for their salvation. 

But with every trial comes the miracles if we work hard and be patient. We had the biggest miracle in church on Sunday because we had 7 INVESTIGATORS in the church!!!! It seriously was the best feeling ever!! I can testify that if we are patient in our trails we will see the miraclesALWAYS!!! 

Then I got a call on Monday saying I need to travel to GUATEMALA CITY today!!!!! For my visa! I am sooo not pumped to travel for 9 hours there and then 9 hours back but I'm ready for the adventure hahaha So I'm in reu AGAIN waiting for my bus to Guatemala City right now. 

But this week I realized that as a representative of Jesus Christ and as a disciple of Him, we need to be willing to forget ourselves in the midst of our HARDEST trials. Because He did the same for us, while he suffered for us he thought about every single one of us, during His hardest moment ever. We need to be willing to think of others during our trials and then we will see the blessings and miracles in our lives. I testify of the saviors love and I testify of the importance of His example. 

LES AMO MUCHO!!! NOS VEMOSSSS! 

Con amor, 

Hermana Salisbury