Week 54: I'M ON THE BORDER OF MEXICO

Hey guys! We had transfers this week and Im in a place called Malacatan! Its right on the border of Mexico!! My new comp is Hermana Ruiz from Oaxaca Mexico!! We are the hermanas leaders here in the zone malacatan! Should be a super fun transfer! 

So this week before transfers I was in divisions with another missionary Hermana Watson from Camus Utah! We went down a street to contact a reference, and as we got down to the house A TURKEY came out of no where and started running at us!!!!! hahaha Then I got super annoyed that this dang turkey was preventing us from saving souls so I kicked it and that was A BAD IDEA cause he started jumping on me and my comp and throwing his wings in every direction in FULL defence mode hahaha I let the turkey win, and we didn't end up contacting the reference. 

So with my uti (which is finally going away yay) I have been using the bathroom every 5 seconds haha BUT its kinda the worst because I have to use bathrooms of strangers all day long cause we are always working in the street. I asked an old lady if I could use her bathroom and she said yes, when I walked in first of all the door was a curtain that only reached to my KNEE CAP but thats pretty normal so I didn't think much of it until ALL OF HER CHICKENS RAN UNDER THE CURTAIN hhahaha I was so bugged so I pulled out my pen and started pushing them out one by one. #gautlife

This week I started English classes with a really pilas investigator (he lived in Chicago for 37 years then he got deported rip) but I imagined that I would be teaching most of the class because English is my first language and what not butttt hahaha HE literally took over the whole class!! He didn't let the NATIVE SPEAKER get a word in!!! And sometimes he wouldn't teach something correctly so I went to let him know and he completely ignored it ahhaha Then the end the class he said that hermana Salisbury has about 60% Spanish, she can always improve!!!! I WAS SHOCKED hhahaha almost nobody insults my Spanish and it was so awkward that he did it in front of an English class ahahaha 

SO the day I had to pack all my stuff for transfers THE HOUSE FLOODED. Literally I could not believe my life. ALL OF MY CLOTHES were soakedddd and They all had to be in my suitcase!! So I put all my clothes on the roof to dry in the sun!! They all ended up drying so that was a huge blessing!

Then transfers were crazy cause you literally travel through Guatemala without a phone and you just hope you get to your destination without losing you luggage haha we had to wait for a long time for out comps, we basically waited in the desert. Super sketch but we ended up getting there! 

This week I was touched by something an investigator said in a prayer, he thanked heavenly father for sending 2 angels to change his life. Honestly the calling of a missionary is a divine calling. We literally are messengers of God. I know that everyone can be instruments in the hands of the lord as we follow His divine guidance. 

Con amor, 

Hermana Salisbury  

Week 53: UTI AND RAT IN THE HOUSE

Oh my goodness this week was so RANDOM ahaha 

SO a man SOMEHOW found where we live and was standing outside at 11 pm whispering "hermanas, im here..." HAHHAHA I WAS SO DONE! So we called a member super pilas that looks like maui from moana and he scared him away haha Literally its so sketch here cause the police dont answer and if they do answer they never show up!!! We were honestly pretty freaked out after that so we put ALL of the "furniture" that we have (plastic tables and chairs) in front of the doors and windows with knifes and MIRROR SHARDS hahhaa as protection haha #guatsecurity

THEN some guy knocked on our door one morning and asked if he could bathe in OUR SINK hahaha We were so confused hahahh we OBVIOUSLY told him no. Poor guy.  

I got to be in division with a girl from SAO PAULO BRAZIL (where my dad served his mission) it  was SOOO much fun for me! I forced her to speak in Portuguese to me all day long and I ended up understanding a bunch!

It has been kinda sketch here cause 12 young  immigrants from el Salvador came to Guat and they HAPPENED to get off the bus right here in san fran. (my area) Apparently they are armed and whatever but I heard they respect missionary's so we are all good. The gang members are homies with the missionary's here. All the missionary have made DEALS with the guat gangsters to protect the missionary's.

 

So this week we noticed that it smelt like STRAIGHT PEE in the house and we were pretty confused but we didn't think too much about it UNTIL we got home one night and looked at our food shelf AND A RAT MADE PERFECT EYE CONTACT WITH US AND THEN JUMPED DOWN SUPER FAST AND RAN UNDER THE FRIDGE ahahah WE WERE SHOCKED ahahahahh I was so untrained on how to kill a rat and my comp wouldn't even look at it soooo WE WERE HELPLESS ahahah I looked under the fridge with a flash light and I found HIS STASH of ALLLLL of our random little things. We called SOOO many members asking them to bring their cats over to spend the night to kill the rat but they all said no haha so basically we just lived with it for 2 days until a member got ahold of some poison to kill it and after he ate the poison we found him by the front door dead :( we honestly miss the rat now. #guatlife 

SO the good news is I got rid of my parasites!!! BAD NEWS is NOW I HAVE A URINARY TRACK INFECTION hahaha LITERALLY if its not one thing is the other. I went to get a test and they said its pretty minor but I need to fix it. yay!! So if anyone has tips on uti let me know! 

This week I have learned to trust in the Lord more than I ever have before. I have gone through, and am still going through, things that require me to trust in the plan god has. In life we have the option to try and fix problems all by ourselves, or let go and let God take care of them. Option 2 is not easy to pick, but the results are always better. I know God lives,  I know that every bad thing and good thing that we pass through is part of the plan. May we have the necessary faith to trust without doubting in Him.

Con amor, 

Hermana Salisbury 

Celebrating beingout for 1 YEAR!  Tradition is to burn a skirt!

Week 52: ONE YEAR IN GUATEMALA!!!

HEY! So I still have parasites hahaha Im actually SUCH mess right now cause I have such bad diarrhea and a HORRIBLE cough and if you put two and two together you'll understand why its A MESS!! hahaha SOOO messed up!!!!! Honestly it was just a week of trying not to poop my pants. #GUATLIFE

All the members have been trying to diagnosis me with all their weird remedies hahah One member told me that my right eye is bigger than the left and that means I have an intestinal infection hahahaha! I'M SO DONE!!!

SO basically a member that is STILL SINGLE thats like 28 is TRYING TO DROP HINTS that he wants to date me hhahah Someone asked him when hes gonna start dating around and he said at the end of this year or the beginning of 2020 AND THEN HE LOOKED AT ME AHHHHHHHHH Cause he knows thats when I get home from my mission EWWWW it grosses me out so bad hahaha I seriously don't even talk to the guy INFACT i avoid him at ALL costs hahaha #TRASFERME #GUATLIFE

but anyways on the 16th of July I hit one year being set apart!! On the 17th of July (today) I hit ONE YEAR of being away from my family!! And the 18th of July I will hit ONE YEAR IN GUAT!!! Honestly its unbelievable that I have already been here a year. I have been reflecting a lot on my time here and it genuinely brings me to tears to think how much I have grown in just one year. A year ago I left SO nervous to live in guat, learn Spanish, and be a full time missionary. I left with only a willing heart and a dream and now a year later I have completely changed my life. By helping others come unto Christ, I myself have come unto him. It has been a conversion so deep that it cant be undone. I come home SO soon. I am going to give it MY ALL these last couple of months. I am gonna give my all to the Lord. Love you guys so much!! 

Con amor y GOZO, 

Hermana Salisbury 

Week 51: MY BDAY, MORE PARASITES, & BAPTISM!!

Honestly SOO much happened this week hahaha!

We had a big zone conference and I was chosen (with my comp) to give a training on faith in front of all the missionarys! AH it was kinda a lot of pressure with the AP's and president there but it turned out good! 

Then I turned 2O IN GUAT!!! They take birthdays sooo serious here haha I got yelled at by some people cause I didn't tell them a ahead of time!! So cute! But I had such a fun day! I WORE MY TRAJE TIPICA IN THE STREET!! (the traje tipica is their traditional clothing) And everyone was shocked haha I had AT LEAST 3 grown men stop and take a picture of me in the street hahaha Then we had 3 birthday parties haha!

 In one of the 3 party's my comp decided to spray silly string ALL over me. AND IT GAVE ME SUCH A BAD ALLERGIC REACTION hahaha My skin just inflamed so quick and my comp was so worried haha She felt so bad! So I read the can to see what the heck was in it and it said in big letter DO NOT SPRAY ON SKIN hahaha But it was written in English SO ONLY I COULD UNDERSTAND IT hahah #GUATLIFE

It was interesting to have a birthday on the mission cause I found my self forget it about my birthday as I taught lessons and focus on the people! It was fun to serve the Lord on my bday! 

I got THE WORST present ever from a DRUNK GUY in the street!!!! SO I was saying bye to someone and I leaned in to give her a hug goodbye and THIS DRUNK GUY SMACKED MY BUTT AND RAN AWAY!!! I was sooooo confused and my comp was ready to kill this guy but I calmed her down and we moved on ahhah RIP #guatlife

THEN I took a poop test to see if I have parasites AND WHAT DO YOU KNOW!!! I have 2 kinds right now!! hahaha I have GIARDIA LAMBLIA and BLASTOSISTIS HOMINIS!!!!!!! I literally remember learning about these in microbio ahaha When I got my results the nurse just looked at me SOOO concerned and I knew before I even read the results It was BAD hahaah SO I got in contact with the doctor of central America about what meds I need to take and I started my treatment todayyy RIP ME!!! How did I catch MORE PARASITES!!! Literally the members are so crazy they believe that people get parasites from dirty feet??? They also believe that with LEMONS or COKE I can kill the them haha OMG I am so ready to stop being sick!!! So when we realized that my poop was CONTAGIOUS we BURNED the towels in the bathroom and any used toilet paper (they dont put toilet paper in the toilet to flush here they put it in the trash can) then WE BLEACHED THE BATHROOM 2 TIMES hahaha We burned all that stuff in the street which is 100% normal here hahah wow I have turned into a chapina lol #GUATLIFE

Then the CRAZY members told us a hurricane was COMING but it was a dang false alarm hahah 

AND to end the most insane week ever we had a BAPTISM!!! YAY Julito got baptized!!

It was super special for me cause he is the son of someone I reactivated last transfer with hermana calvo! Julito{s mom died about 3 months ago and he was so sad, as we taught him the plan of salvation he understood baptism as an important step to see his mom again. It was a special day and I know that familys are forever. I know that death is NOT the end. Death as no power of the power of Jesus Christ. As we strive to be more like Him we can prepare for our life after death to live heavenly father FOREVER!!! What joy it is to my heart to live the gospel. 

Con amor

Hermana Salisbury

Week 50: Hospital in a 3rd world country

Yep the hospitals here are SOOOO sketch. 

So as part of being sick (before I went to the hospital) I took cold medicine that was drowsy and I woke up Sunday morning SOOOO out of it hahaha I got up at 6:30 am but I seriously thought I was gonna fall over cause I was so tired haha when I walked into the closet (we have a pile of nasty clothes from past hermanas) I literally fell in the pile and could not move hahaha I then decided to take a shower to get the gross mildew smell off my clothes, while I was literally STANDING UP in the COLDEST SHOWER EVER I almost fell asleep!!!! I am not even sure how it was possible haha then we went to church and the members literally thought I was dying and told me to go home but I didn't want to!! So we went out on visits and as I was teaching I got confused about words in Spanish that are so easy ahha At that point my comp took me home and I slept the rest of the afternoon but it was legit so weird that the effects were so strong hahah

We had intercambios this week and I got to go to SAN BERNADINO!!! It was so funny to go there because in my home town in California there is a san bern right next door! Love the people there.

Being sick here is not fun! But basically I have had a horrible cough for almost 3 weeks and yesterday I came to a point where I almost passed out while visiting because I couldn't breath!!!! So we went to the sketchiest hospital ever, there was NO ORDER what so ever hahaha Everyone cutting in line and the doctors wearing jeans with a little white jacket giving checkups (SO many red flags). I was SO skeptical but I cant just fly back to the states and get a check up haha So the guatdoc gave basically told me its all in MY HEAD and when he talked to me he was doing so many hand signs like I didn't understand Spanish or something haha And he was directing all questions to my comp EVEN THO I UNDERSTOOD EVERYTHING hahaha So he ended up giving me some medicine to help me. I feel a ton better today! YAY Im sure I got sick from walking in rivers of dog poop-human poop everyday. hahahaha

Now the GUATDOC has me resting and taking meds every 8 hours. He also wants me washing my hair in the pila!!! Its basically a bucket shower! He wants me to do that so my body isnt getting fully wet with cold water. #GUATLIFE

So we received TIQUISATE as part of our mission!! YAY! Its super hot and super dangerous but we are super excited to get more areas!

This past week the connection to talk to my family wasn't working at all. I called my dad and the sound didn't work at all, for some reason it was completely muted. It was so frustrating because all I wanted to do was talk to my parents but the technology didn't allow it. To fix my problem we went to a payphone and called them for about 3 minutes and called it good. Even though I didn't get the time I wanted to talk to my earthly father, I know I always have my heavenly father 24-7. We are so so blessed to have prayer. He is always waiting for us to talk to Him. We show humility by praying to our father. I love the work. I love the father. I know I am serving him. 

Con amor, 

Hermana Salisbury

Week 49: Close call TUK TUK WRECK

Happy WEDNESDAY!!! It has been a good first week of transfers! We got some good dates for baptism!!! YAY I have also been pretty sick, I have a cold from walking in the pouring rain all week hahaha GOZO 

We were ending a lesson this week and we wanted to have a closing prayer. But this family had a creepy parrot that didn't have a cage and looked at me STRAIGHT in the eye and the family says he LIKES TO BITE PEOPLE! SO i made the decision to keep my eyes open THE WHOLE PRAYER to make sure he didn't move from HIS SPOT!#guatlife 

We had a family home evening this week with members and we were eating dinner with them to end the night and ALL OF A SUDDEN the little girl started to chock!!! And they all ran over started putting her hands over her head and she ended up living but it was SKETCH. Most awkward night ever after the incident hahaha

One of the members has my mom on facebook and he came up to me all excited saying that my family went to Canada!!!!! I WAS LIKE WHAT!!! I just thought they went to Alaska! haha He saw my reaction and started saying I looked super jealous ahaha  

ok my comp got SO sick this week. We walked outside to go to an appointment and we only walked 3 blocks and she PASSED OUT!!! I literally had no clue what to do but god granted a miracle and a member happened to be walking by and she told me the cure to help her wake up was TO MAKE HER DRINK COKE??? hahaha so I just trusted in the member and it actually worked hahah she couldn't walk home so we got a tuk for the 3 blocks home and when we were on our way she threw up out the side and almost fell out cause she was so weak!! It was so scary!!! 

WHELP the rain storms have been brutal. We had a super important appointment that was far away so we took a tuk tuk and on the way there A TREE FELL RIGHT IN FRONT OF US and we couldn't pass!!! We knew we had to move the tree but it was so big we need more people! So then another TUK TUK rolled up and we thought he would get out and help us but right when he saw us HE FLIPPED THE U AND LEFT so me and my comp got out of the tuk to move the tree in the pouring rain. Once we got back on track we hydroplaned cause he was SPEEDING SO QUICK OVER LAKES OF WATER hahaha #guatlife

Well this week I learned the importance of faith. But not just having a belief in something you cant see, the principle of putting faith into action. We put the goal in our area to baptize 3 complete family's this transfer. We prayed about it and we felt good about the goal. After receiving the confirmation that god approves of our goals we have to put 100% trust that its already done. That those 3 family's are already promised to be found we just have ACT on our faith through diligence and obedience! I know when we really have faith and we act, we have more peace and we feel more fulfillment. I love this work and im so happy to be a missionary!

Con amor, 

Hermana Salisbury

Week 48: ALEJANDRAS BAPTISM!!!!

Well I got blind sided on transfers and im staying in my same area in the same zone.I LITERALLY went and said bye to allll the members and cried while doing it and then I found out Im freaking staying and all the members are so confused !!!  When I hit a year in the mission I will have had 2 areas in one year hahaha YEP. I am comps with hermana Garcia from Mexico! We were in the mtc together back when I didn't speak Spanish haha Now we can understand eachother! we are sister training leaders together for the 2 zones in mazate!

This week Guatemala voted for president and they take it SOOO seriously that all the kids get school off for 4 days haha we received orders from our zone leaders to be inside our house at 3 in the afternoon and not come out until the next day cause our area in a red zone which means its REALLY dangerous!  SO we had fun being locked inside haha 

Transfers in a third world country are SO fun! We sat in the bus terminal for 4 hours in the blazing sun with a HUGE group of gringos in white shirts and ties hahaha We had at least 5 people come up and ask for pictures with us. 

ALEJANDRA GOT BAPTIZED!!! She is seriously such a PILAS convert! We found her while knocking doors! (miracle) When we knocked we found the aunt of alejandra in the house and she didnt want anything with us so we turned around to leave and alejandra walked up behind us and asked who we were looking for and we said "you!" hahaha we taught her and she had a testimony from the beginning. The father of her kids HATES the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints so he made her choose between her baptism and him. She chose happiness, her baptism. To try and change her mind the husband stopped giving money so she had to figure out a way to pay the house and bills. BUT SHE KEPT GOING TO CHURCH!! and god blessed her!!! Work just fell into her hands cause God knows the importance of His sons church. She thought it was going to be impossible to keep the law of chastity and the word of wisdom but now she understands the reason behind the commandments and LOVES IT!!! When she came out of the water she was crying so hard and we asked why and she said she felt so happy!!! Now she is preparing to enter the temple the year. Her goal is to have an eternal family!!! I will always remember alejandra as an example for me, an example of obedience with exactness and the blessing that come from that principle.

Con amor

Hermana Salisbury