Week 58: The Prophet came to GUAT!!

HOLA!

Straight up everyone has been rejecting us. I have gotten to the point where I have to say I LOVE REJECTION before knocking a door hahaha  I always start SOO happy and by the end they make up some huge lie. They always say, OHH well I'm NEVER home, even though they are stay at home moms haha Or they say they are ALWAYS at church and never at home. SO then we just invite them to church and offer service. Legit just kill em with kindness. On the bright side we have a baptism this weekend yayyy!

We brought a future missionary out to visit with us and while we were knocking doors he legit was picking daisy in the field by the houses hahaha I was like so confused cause he needs to learn how to be a missionary but he got so distracted hahaha Like the investigators would be like who is this kid picking the flowers in my front yard hahah I felt like I was babysitting. 

SO we had lunch with a REALLY nice lady this Sunday. We all sat down and every member of the family had started eating and we wanted to start but they didnt give us utensils hahaha So we sat there for a sec trying to see if they would offer, and they didn't haha So you can guess what we did!! I ate a super yummy Sunday dinner with my fingers!!!!! Mashed potatoes, rice, chicken and gravy hahaha I feel like I'm on a camping trip that never ends. 

So Russell M Nelson came to Guatemala city! The city is at least 6 hours away in bus so we couldnt go BUT we got to watch it live. The prophet spoke to us in PERF SPANISH! He is so pilas! We started out his talk by saying, brothers and sisters my message tonight is very simple, KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS. It really hit me cause it is such a simple concept that we can always improve on. The simple phrase is, If you love me keep my commandments, I know that our love for the savior with pull us onward and upward toward our eternal goals. 

Con amor, 

Hermana Salisbury  

Week 57: HAPPY 13 MONTHS!!

It has been SOOO hot this week. Legit it is soo humid it grosses me out hahaha The worst part is Im not close to ANYYY air conditioning!! 

So where we live there is a GANG of dogs that run around at night. One night this week at 1 AM they were ALL FIGHTING OUTSIDE OUR HOUSE!!!! Like legit at LEAST 7 huge dogs were fighting outside and making sooo much noise!! They started ganging up on each other and biting eachother! They started screaming and it was so annoying!! It got SO bad that a hot headed chapin came OUT WITH A GUN AND SHOT AT ALL OF THEM hahahahaha He was so SICK of it that he just shot them all. I was probably the only witness but Im keeping it to myself hahaha 

So I had intercambios with Hermana Poma from Cuenca Ecuador! I went to Catarina! It was fun butttt we went to an appointment prrettyyy far off the beaten path and it was pitch black on the way back and we ended up crossing a mini lake, a little old man offered to guide us across haha I was grossed out cause our guat tour guide told me the frogs in that lake lay all their NASTY eggs!! I dipped my feet in BLEACH after that but it was kinda cool cause there was a ton of fire flys!

So we tried making cookies guat edition. They didnt have measuring cups or vanilla or baking soda or mixing spoon or a cookie pan. IT WAS A MESS!!!!! We winged it soo hard! We tried to guess how much a cup was and we mixed with our hands!! They turned out so weird. The chapines only like cookie super hard and basically burned so they all thought it was weird when they tasted a moist cookie hahaha They were so offended by the way we made there cookies and the way they turned out hhaahah 

So this week we randomly passed by with some recent converts and RIGHT when we walked up they had just found out their grandpa died. We were there to sing hymns with them. It was so sad to see the family cry together as they sang hymns. I know that I am on the Lords errand. Its never coincidence when we get to a house and in the very moment that we do. I know there is no greater joy than to fulfil the will of the lord. something HIGHLY important to remember is that not only missionary's are on the lords errand, every child of god can receive inspiration to know who is in need. I hope that the lord can trust hermana salisbury to run an errand when he needs one ran. 

Con amor,

Hermana Salisbury 

Week 56: we went to QUETZALTEANGO

Hola from Malacatan, Guatemala!!

 

Last pday we went to a super cool water fall with our whole zone! Then later in the day while we were writing PRESIDENT called and said he was gonna come visit us in 2 hours!! We knew the house was SUPER messy so during our last minutes of pday we RAN home and cleaned the house in about 20 minutes. I have no clue how me mopped, swept, washed dished, made beds, cleaned closets that fast haha At one point I was frantically wiping the bathroom floor on my hands and knees sweating so bad thinking about president seeing our house SO messy hahaha In the end president didnt even come into our house!!! But president and his wife came to visit us to give some really bad news to my comp. She had a tragic accident in her family and President came here to break the news and help her through it. 

That night some hermanas in our zone called us SOBBING at 12 am and I was super nervous cause I thought someone broke into their house or something but when I asked them why they were sobbing she told be there were 50 COCKROACHES ON THEIR WALL hahahahh I was dying laughing!!! I know the hermana was so mad at me for laughing but literally she called her hermana leaders asking what she should do to kill 50 cockroaches hahaha I had no advice. Im pretty sure they didnt sleep that night lol.

 

SO the very next day we had to be in retalhuleu for mission leader council.

I got to see my old comp from mazate and she told me that my recent convert ALEJANDRA went to the temple this Saturday!!!!!! YAYAYYAY and that one of my investigators SOBBED when he found out I left ahahah he LITERALLY is a grown man hes like 50!!! so funny.   

On the way back the transportation was BRUTAL. We got dropped off in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE waiting for a van to take us to malacatan. We waited in complete darkness for about 15 minutes and so many sketch guys past by asking where we were going. But we got in the van and we LEGIT were sitting on the bar of metal that you use to step into a van cause there was NO ROOM and it was the LAST BUS!!!! At one point we were on this metal bar and my comp had to sit on my lap to make room for MORE PEOPLE on the metal bar hahahah SOO sketchy. 

Then president gave us special permission to go to the temple!!! The last time I had gone o the temple I was finishing my training (november 2018)!! It seriously was sooo beautiful. I got so many answers to my prayers being there and I know it helped my comp feel so much better. So long story short you have to pass through my 1st area (san marcos) to get back to malacatan from the temple and on our way back we got to the terminal in san marcos and there werent anymore buses until the next day to get to malacatan!!! SO with permission from president we stayed IN MY 1ST AREA FOR A NIGHT!!! It was soooo cool to see the streets I walked for 6 months! We didnt get to go visit cause it was super late but it was sooo nostalgic to see. When we were there with the hermanas I called my convert  AND SHE DIDNT REMEMBER ME HAHAHAHHAHAHAH Such an EPIC fail!!!  Shes pretty old so I dont feel to bad but its sad hahah

This week I was in a lesson and I asked a mom of 3 kids what her purpose in life is. She told me her purpose is to immigrate to the united states. She thinks she can find more happiness leaving her own country and her 3 kids. I stopped her right there and told her that she has everything being right where shes at. We cannot think nor expect to be more happy, or more successful by changing our situation. We need to find happiness and success right where we stand. God puts us in situations for a reason. I am the type of person that always thinks about the next thing in life: school, marriage, family. But when I think too much about that I am literally missing my mission right in front of my eyes. May we all learn to live in the moment, and find fulfillment where god has put us. 

Con amor, 

Hermana Salisbury  

Week 55: VISITS WITH THE GUATDOC

First week in my new area went really well!!! Im already getting the mental gps in my head haha Thats the hard part about being in a mission without smart phones, we have to memorize the area just by sight hahaah  

SO I got to take care of my comp for a  couple days!! She had a really bad infection that gave her a fever and she legit got up at 3 am one night to go to the bathroom and she passed out while walking there and HIT HER HEAD!!! Of course I was OUT so i didn't wake up until I heard her crying for help and oh my heck it was so scary but she only ended up with a headache the next day!! We got her all checked up with a GUATDOC and shes doing SO much better! 

When we went to the GUATDOC I was scared hahaha We were in the PUBLIC waiting room and the GUATDOC came out to give a shot to a patient. SHE GAVE HIM A SHOT IN THE BUTT IN FRONT OF EVERYONE. Then she dramatically threw the needle on the ground and it slid all the way to the other side of the room hahaha omg I was so shocked and I was reminded AGAIN that im in Guatemala hahaha I sat there with my jaw dropped. #guatlife

So this week I had my first experience with black magic. I am surprised it took so long to happen because there is a tonnn of witches here. We were in a lesson and long story short this old man started acting super weird and my comp and I started feeling weird and all of a sudden the trash can moved from one side of the room to the other just BY IT SELF AND THE OLD MAN JUST LAUGHED!!! We left so quick and we are NEVER going back!!!! 

Then I had the biggest cultural shock when we had lunch with the richest family ever hahaha We walked in and it was literally a mansion like legit I walked in with my jaw dropped and I wouldn't even speak hahaha I felt so weird to be in a house like that. My comp leaned over and told me, "you act like you've lived in a cardboard house your whole life" hahaha literally best lunch appointment of my life.  

To end the week we were doing service with a little old lady haha We were peeling beans with her for a little but then we had to go, then she invited us to an atol (Usually a little cup of hot oatmeal) so we sat down and she comps out with a HUGE plate full of this atol de elote with a huge scoop of black beans in the middle. It didn't have ANY flavor hahaha it was the hardest thing I have ever force fed myself ahah And the lady was making perfect eye contact with me the whole time haha I know there was a point when I started tearing up!! I was praying the whole time that padre celestial would somehow make the plate disappear!! But I finished and threw up a couple of blocks up the street.

 

This week I have been thinking a lot about the importance of our bodys. It literally is the house of our spirit (a gift from god) We show our love for God as we take care of our bodys and we should NEVER let anything or anyone get in the way of the love and care of our bodys. As we understand the importance of the plan of God we will understand the importance of our mortal body. 

Con amor,

Hermana Salisbury