Week 32: 7 Months of camping

I seriously have been camping for 7 months in Guatemala! hahaha

This week was so crazy. So many crazy service opportunities hhaah Carrying fire wood on our heads, bamboo sticks, washing random peoples clothes by hand, and playing soccer with the kids!! 

Everyone is always so shocked to talk with me hahaha The other day we walked up to a lady washing her clothes on rocks and I started speaking Spanish saying we could help her finish up and she couldnt stop smiling and laughing when I would use chapin slang hahaha just imagine a white girl washing clothes on rocks speaking fluent Spanish hahaha I would laugh too. 

Then we saw a group of kids and they wanted to play soccer with us, so we told them if we win we get to teach them the gospel....WE LOST hahaha maybe next time hahaha now everytime we see the kids they ask when we are gonna come play with them hhaha so funny. 

The leaders had a reference for us and came to our area to help us find it, all was calm but then we ended up CROSSING A RIVER AND HIKING UP TO A FARM and long story short we didnt find the person we were looking for hahaha. 

So I got the BEST compliment I have ever received on the mission. I was told from an investigator that I EXPLAIN THE GOSPEL BETTER THAN A PASTOR!!!!! hahaha YAY goals have been met. 

I also have gotten really good at washing my clothes by hand and doing my makeup on a little shard of glass )we dont have a mirror.

This week was rough. Honestly the mission is so joyful, but there are hard days. Sometimes I will feel really down and then I will go to a lesson or talk with the people and my out look totally changes. I forget about my own worries, my own problems. The people here are amazing. I am learning so much from their examples. Something I learned a lot about this week was patience. I feel like I have mastered patience except for one part. Patience with the will of the lord. Sometimes we REALLY want something to happen, or to not happen, and we put all of our time and energy trying to fix it but in the end it doesnt turn out how we want it. Thats when we have to find the patience with the lord, and his timing. I have learned the importance of this during this week. I know if we find patience for the lord, we will find peace in this life. 

Con amor, gozo, y ANIMO,

Hermana salisbury 

Week 31: I MET ELDER CHRISTOFFERSON

What another crazy week!! Corriendo por todos lados!

SO we traveled to Xela on Thursday to listen to Elder Chirstofferson (one of the 12 living apostles of Christ) He is really funny! He talked a lot about the importance of our personal conversion to the book of Mormon. This book is so powerful because we are promised if we pray and ask if it is true, we will be answered.

 

Our new president is Presidente Arrendondo. He is awesome!! He is an area 70 and will be here till April! One of the best things I have heard him say so far is, "I want you guys to work so hard that you come home from the day and DIE and then I want you guys to be resurrected the next morning to baptize converts" hahahah so intense. 

Then we found out WE GET TO FACETIME OUR FAMILY EVERY WEEK!!!! WOOOO It's honestly so weird cause I am already used to not talking with my family face to face every week, but I am excited!

This area is INSANE. We literally have to hike to little pueblos to go contacting or visit with the members. It is SOOO pretty here!! I seriously feel like I am in the movies hahaha but anyways we went to visit one family that literally doesn't have anything, and we went and shared a scripture. But while we were leaving I offered the 4 kids a sticker and their faces just LIT UP! They seriously said thank you SO many times. And I think that experience really made me realize that we don't need big things to be happy. 

Update: People still cant say my name. I went to my new ward this Sunday and they had me and another sister bear our testimonies and the consejero del obispo said "OK first we will hear from hermana Larsen and the other sister that I cant pronounce" hahaha 

This week was so fun hiking into the other parts of my area! We went to one pueblo that is called la perla and we were teaching a kid on the trail and we were there for about 5 minutes teaching him and then I felt someone watching me so I turned around and THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD was there standing and listening hahaha like at least 15 people so then we taught them too. 

Then I hit 7 months on the mission!! WOOO Also people think I am from Costa Rica??? hhahaha 

The lord is so loving. He wants to bless us, but he cant do it until we follow his commandments. The lord is willing to give us as much as we are PREPARED to receive. Prepare to receive blessings by following the commandments. 

Con amor, 

Hermana Salisbury  

Week 30: HOLA MAZATE ESTE!!!

This week has been such an emotional roller coaster. 

SO on Wednesday the mission found out that president and hermana goodman were going home early for medical reasons. So we had a final multi zona together to say bye. It was seriously so sad. BUT we got permission to HUG president goodman!! GOZO! I already miss them sooo much!! 

Then I got TRANSFERED!!! I am in MAZATE ESTE!! In San Pancho! I am senor comp with hermana Hull who just got out of training! She is also from California!! When I got here I found out they haven't been working in the area for this translado cause they had emergency cambios SO I AM BASICALLY OPENING THIS AREA we are starting from the ground up and Im honestly super over whelmed. But all is well! Estoy GOZOSA siempre. Also this area was supposed to go to the elders this transfer cause its so dangerous but HERE I AM hahaha We cant go into like 90% of our area past 6pm RIP

The coast IS SOO DIFFERENT!! My life just got a whole lot more ghetto. Cold showers, no sinks, no agua, washing clothes by hand, etc hahaha I am ALWAYS sweating. I took a cold shower which was soo brutal but I stopped sweating for a second, but right when I got out i starteed to sweat AGAIN hahaha

 

As for my hija hermana morales SHE GOT CALLED TO TRAIN!! I raised a trainer!! YAY! I already have a nieta!!

But Leaving my first area was really hard. I felt like I was leaving my home again. But I learned SO much in San Marcos. I have been changed forever by the experiences I had there. I learned humility above all. I learned to work hard with a humble heart. I will always take these experiences with me through out my life during the good times, and the hard times. 

Con Amor,

Hermana Salisbury

Week 29: EARTHQUAKE IN SAN MARCOS

HEYYY!! I am alive!! hahaha

So like the title says we had a pretty big earthquake the other day!! We were sitting together studying and then all of a sudden the house starts shaking but there are always baby earthquakes here so we thought it was normal, but then it got really violent and we were like ohhhh freak so we got under the table and waited it out! 

When we got up all our books and papers had fallen off the table, and out side there was SOOO much dust because houses fell down!!!! So we went outside to start helping people with the damage and THERE WAS COMPLETE CHAOS!! All the kids were running all over and all the parents were looking for there kids like crazies. The traffic was crazy. And the rest of the day EVERYONE used the earthquake as an excuse to not listen to our message, so we used it as an excuse to invite them to REPENT hahaha turns out it was on the scale at 6.6!! Not too big but enough to take down some houses. 

Update on my first convert hermana flor de maria. She is SOOO cute!! She has her temple recommend and she is doing family history!! She broke her arm a couple weeks ago and she couldnt go to church for the pain, but she called us saying she felt like she needed to go! SOO PILAS! 

TRANSFERS ARE NEXT WEEK!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!! I cannot wait to experience other parts of the mission!!! I will let you guys know next week where I get sent!! WOOO GOZO

This week was another week of learning, the truth is my calling as a missionary is one of the most important callings in the world. I have authority and power to teach the children of the father here in the Guatemala Retalhuleu mission. I have learned to tap into this power through the spirit and I have learned to let the spirit lead me. When we let the spirit lead us we will see miracles and we will see the reality of the will of the father.  

Con Amor, animo y GOZO, 

Hermana Salisbury