Week 13: FELIZ 3 MESES (Happy 3 Months)

Hola familia y amigos! 

Yo espero este semana fue SUPER calidad!! 

So this week me and my comp got sick! We only had to stay in the house for a day and it was torture not being able to be out and about talking with people! So I had a full day locked in the house so I read EVERY conference talk we had haha missionary life. 

After we felt better we got the WORK the rest of the week! 

I got a kiss on the hand from an OLD MAN and it was just horrible. I swear I am getting more action on the mission THAN WHEN I WAS AT HOME hahaha 

I learned this week that everyone really likes my long light-ish hair haha I got a lot of compliments on it this week and I even got an offer to cut it so someone could make a wig out of my hair hahah yikesss

We had lunch this week with a family and they fed us the biggest plate of food!! It was so hard to eat cause I was so full and I seriously thought I was gonna throw up, and right when I had this thought one of the kids THROWS UP IN FRONT OF US and then I was like oh no I am gonna throw up in front of this family right now. But I had the strength to keep it down hahaha

Rejection is SO REAL out here!! I get rejected everyday!! I will invite someone to church, or to get baptized, or to pray and they will say no and I just say bueno esta bien!! I also get laughed at sometimes!! And I cannot help but smile to myself when that happens because I know that even though I just got rejected I am still apart of the greatest work in the world, bringing souls unto Christ!!

I think the language is coming along! I got told I sound like a CHAPINA!! So I am PUMPED!! (Chapina is basically a local in Guatemala)

But YAY 3 MONTHS!! I have learned SOO many things in this time on my mission. But something I have learned a bunch is we always need to trust in and be willing to follow the will of the Lord. We naturally as humans want to take our problems into our own hands and try to figure it out on our own. But what I have learned is when we have trust in the lords will, and let Him take care of our problems, there is so much more joy in life. Rest from your burdens and seek this JOY!!! 

QUE GOZO ES EL EVANGELIO DE JESUCRISTO!

Con Amor, 

Hermana Salisbury

Week 12: 1st Conferencia General en Español! (My First General Conference in Spanish!)

HOLA! 

This week was pretty eventful. I saw my first dead body in the street! It was super bad. But I hope he is ok and his family too. 

So leading up to general conference we ran around inviting everyone we could! It was so much fun! But my first general conference in espanol was so rough!! 10 hours of translating was so hard on my brain haha! At some point I just gave up and tried to listen to the background because you could barley hear the English if you listened hard enough. So I got about 35% of conference. hahaha

Before conference we ran around picking up all of our investigators, we couldn't find one of our investigators and as we started to walk to the church for conference we saw her walking the opposite way!!! So we ran up to her and asked where she was going and she literally ignored us the whole time we talked to her!! haha I was like are you serious! I just cannot believe I am a 19 year old girl trying to get full grown adults to come to church! I love it!! So much fun hahaha 

It has been raining SOOO much in the mountains this week! Like I am not exaggerating when I say we are walking in RIVERS trying to get from place to place. The streets turn into rivers when it rains here! And we have lots of STEEP hills so the goal is to not slip down and fall on the way to lessons. 

But overall this week was full of miracles. This week I really felt the love of God. He is the most powerful being in the universe but he makes time for every single one of his children, us. We are children of God and we all have a unique purpose in this life. And because God is so loving He sent his only son as the perfect example for us so we could live with Him in his presence forever. God has a perfect love for us. My goal is to develop this kind of love, this kind of charity for all the children of God. 

Con amor, 

Hermana Salisbury  

Week 11- Mi primer propuesta de matrimonia (MY First Proposal)

All I can say is WOW what a week hahaha so much has happened. 

I volunteered to give a talk this week in sacrament meeting! They asked all the missionary's in our ward and I raised my hand first! haha it was super fun! My first real Spanish talk!!! It was only a good 7 minutes but I was pretty impressed with my self! haha 

Also this week I got put with another gringa in my area and I had to be in charge for a FULL DAY haha! It was kinda of stressful but at the same time I showed myself I can actually speak Spanish and make plans in Spanish when I need to! 

We have been working on inviting EVERYONE to baptism. Like literally we meet them on the street and 5 minutes later they have a pre date for baptism. Super cool. but anyways we were in a super confused ladies house and we had just invited her to baptism and she accepted but I asked her right after if I could us her bathroom and she was like, For my baptism__ and I was like ohhhh my goodness NO hahaha 

So yes I got my FIRST MARRIAGE PROPOSAL THIS WEEK. I was walking down the street and this guy runs up to me asking if I would marry him because I am from the USA??? hahah and I turned and around and straight up said, [I am a representative of Jesus Christ and my purpose right now is to preach the gospel ADIOS[ hahahah Lo siento to that guy!!! Anyways i am so sick of getting cat called here!!! LIKE SERIOUSLY!. I get yelled at out car windows, roofs, tiendas, EVERYWHERE hahah so dumb! 

Also saw my first Guatemalan funeral. They literally have rock and roll BLASTING on top of a jeep with the dead body inside. SOOO WEIRD!! Faulta de RESPECTO hahaha jk 

Also I had AT LEAST 3 people tell me they couldn't understand my English while I was speaking STRAIGHT SPANISH to them!!! SO RUDE. They would say "I am sorry I cant understand your English" Then I would say, "THIS IS SPANISH" hahaha.

 

Anyways to end the week right we almost got attacked by 7 crazy dogs!!! We came around the corner and they seriously RAN after us and we were like ohhh puchiga. But we thought super fast and pulled out our umbrellas and opened them right in front of them and they got scared and ran away. hahahah 

But this week I realized the reality of the story of Jesus and Peter walking on water. I LOVE how Jesus reached out his hand IMMEDIATELY to help Peter. That is what he does for all of us, our job is to have the faith to grab his hand and TRUST. When we trust in Him, in His will, and His timing we receive the blessings of peace and comfort in our everyday lives. I have learned that when I have trust in Him, the one that has walked where I have, my challenges are so much more bearable. There is not a place we will stand that He has not already stood. Trust in the one with the experience.  

Con Amor, 

Hermana Salisbury

Week 10: Los días son rápido y los semanas son MAS rápido. (The Days Go Fast, But the Weeks Go Faster!)

HOLA!!! feliz semana mi gente!!! 

 

Wow Satan is working hard out here but we are working SO MUCH HARDER! We have 4 people on track to be baptized in October! 

 

This week I met someone that knows where Yucaipa is!!!! I was beyond shocked. He asked where I was from and I said California and then he asked what part and I said southern and then he asked what part specifically and I finally said YUCAIPA and he was like NO WAY I have been trying to find someone from Yucaipa for years! Super funny. I have no clue how someone from the middle of no where in Guatemala knows my hometown__ 

 

Then we had a ward baptism and when we got there the font was not filling up because it is Guatemala. So we had to get buckets of water to fill up the font! hahaha  

 

But anyways on Sundays we always go to our investigators houses to pick them up for church! It is a bunch of walking but this Sunday was more than usual and by the time I got to church I was LIMPING and my feet were bleeding EVERYWHERE and no one had a band aid and I still had to walk home which is at least a mile and it was super bad hahah all the members were so worried for me!  

 

This week we had intercambios and I was in charge of my area. Which basically means I had to be in charge of planning and making phone calls and I had to know where to go for appointments. And it was kind of stressful because my temporary comp did not know the area but I got it done!! Super fun to test my limits a little bit! My usual go to is just guess what people are saying. Like when they ask a question I try and pretend like I know what they said and give an answer I think it right. YIKES I probably have ruined so many lessons because of this ahhaha

 

 

Also I beat my record for amount of contacts in 1 hour! The new record is 31 people!! haha

But the number one thing I learned this week is we can change A LOT of things in our lives and make a lot of decisions, but the one thing we 

cannot change is the will of god and other peoples agency. I know for me it has been difficult to accept the timing of God. But as I have been here I have learned that everything has its own timing and I need to learn to aline my will with His will. I seriously feel sooo thankful to be able to serve a mission. It is so beautiful to be able to teach about Jesus Christ and give people the knowledge of a Savior. We have second chances and we have someone that supports us through all of our trials. 

 

I am having a blast out here!!! Wish you were all here to see beautiful GUATEMALA with me!

 

Con Amor,

Hermana Salisbury

Week 9: DOS MESES (TWO MONTHS)

BUENAS TARDES MIS AMIGOS!! 

Such an amazing week full of miracles!!

So we lost our phone this week and that made things a lot harder than they needed to be! haha... We ended up using a pay phone the rest of the week! And to make things worse, we ran out of fresh water and regular tap water! hahah! So yeah it was mas o menos rough but we are SUPER GOZOSAS!

My tactics of saying "muy bien" is really coming to a close because this week we had a lesson with a new investigator and before we started we were having small talk.  He told me he was an illegal immigrant in California for like 7 years and I didn't know what he said, so I just bluffed it and said muy bien (praying it was the right answer) ahahah NOPE! it wasn't. Everyone just looked at me and I was like oh no. haha!

15 de septiembre was Independence day for Guatemala!! They go crazy out here!! They seriously celebrated 3 days leading up to it with fire works and parades all day long! They don't have school or work for like 5 days!  haha. Their parades are so funny. Basically there is a school bus in front and then tons of pickup trucks following behind with people in the back and then kids run with the bus for HOURS they run with fire and horns hahah soooo funny. It was so much fun to see how they celebrate out here!

I got a new record of 23 contacts in 1 hour! A contact counts when I share a gospel message or invite them to church! It was so fun! All the missionary's in my district think I am funny because I will walk up to big groups of strangers and teach gospel principles with my broken Spanish haha! It is so much FUN!!! 

I got asked to say a prayer in English the other day and WOW that was so hard!!! I ended up giving up half way and finishing it in Spanish! I have prayed only in Spanish for 2 months, entonces it was super hard for my brain to get back to normal hahah!

But wow I hit 2 WHOLE MONTHS on my mission this week! I genuinely feel like I just got here! Time in the mission is sooo weird! 

 

Something that has been a little hard for me here is remembering to forget myself. Somedays I will be so tired of walking, or so hungry and I start to feel bad for myself. But I always have the thought in my head, Remember Him. He gave EVERYTHING for all of us. He did not rest, even after His earthy ministry He got to work in the spirit world. My goal is to give 100% of myself everyday to this work. Even if that 100% is my broken Spanish and desire to share the gospel, I testify that the Lord ALWAYS makes up the rest when we give our best efforts. I love the lord and I love this gospel and most importantly I love the PEOPLE OF GUATEMALA!!! 

Con amor, 

Hermana Salisbury

Week 8- Yo comí INTESTINOS DE VACA ( I ATE COW INTESTINES)

HOLAAA 

 

Wow somehow I survived this week!! haha 

 

This week I learned when the lord whats me to do something, HE GETS IT DONE. My Spanish still is not great, but when I get into lessons or street contacting I am able to understand so clearly and I am able to speak at a higher performance level. 

 

We took a trip down to Reu this week and wow these buses here are sooo crazy! There are only maybe 40 seats at MAX but they fit in 60 PLUS people and at one point I was sitting on a bench with 6 men BUT THERE WAS ONLY ENOUGH ROOM FOR MAYBE 3 hahahah (it is a 4 hour bus ride to reu) so yeah It was for sure an expirence. 

 

 

The meal of the week was COW INTESTINE!!!! Right when I walked into this members house I knew something was not right. It smelt sooo weird!! But she gave it to us and I still wasn't sure what it was so I ate the whole thing! But right when we got out I asked my comp what it was and I was like NOOO WAY. hahaha so yeah I ate cow intestine this week with a smile!!! I cannot imagine it getting worse but I know it will hahaha

 

But on a serious note I am so grateful to be apart of this work! Jesus Christ showed me how to teach, how to love these people, and how to be patient with this language and myself. Sometimes it is hard for me to get rejected on the street but then I step back and think, even the greatest person to ever live, our savior Jesus Christ, was rejected by men. His example has taught me so much. 

 

Have a good week everyone! Wish me luck with meals this week ahahha

 

 

 Con Amor,

Hermana Salisbury

Week 7: ¡TRABAJÁBAMOS! (WE WORKED!)

HOLAAA!!! 

The mission got real this week!! Walking up and down the streets of Guatemala trying to get one person to listen to our message!! It was so fun! 

This week we gained 20 new investigators and we contacted 95 people!!! So yeah we got to work this week! 

This place is straight up WACKED all the dogs live on the roof ( don't ask why cause I have no clue hahah) so every time we are knocking doors the dogs freak out at us from the roof haha!

We eat at members house for lunch everyday and if I am being honest I never know what I am eating hahaha usually it is some kind of meat with rice. I don't think I have a parasite yet!!!

 

Speaking Spanish 24/7 has been THE HARDEST THING EVER. Because I have so much to say during lessons or just small talk but I literally cannot say it! Every morning during personal study I just sit there praying and crying to my Heavenly Father to help me learn this language. I have never said more powerful prayers in my life. Needless to say the Lord has really blessed me this week with my improvement in Spanish. I have been able to catch on to the language a ton this week and I know that is only through my loving Heavenly Father. 

The only way I get through conversations when I don't know whats going on is laugh super hard when everyone else does hahaha. They all think I understand what they are saying but really I am just laughing because they are hahaha.

People have loved to hear me speak my broken Spanish.  This week in a bread shop I taught the plan of salvation to the owner and the ENTIRE bread shop was looking at me smiling so big haha!

Lot of people have tried to speak English to me, like when I walk down the street they say HELLO or GOOD MORNING hahaha. So funny. I think I am the only white person in this town! I haven't seen one at all!! Besides all the white elders from Utah haha!

Then on Sunday we had testimony meeting and of course they called up Hermana Salisbury to kick off the meeting!! The members said they understood me perfectly but I think they were just being nice!! Everyone here has a really hard time with my last name!! They have started calling me SALSABERRY or SALSAVERDE hahahha it is so funny.

In exciting news I got to invite our 11 year old investigator Angel to baptism and he accepted! It is on the 22nd of September!! Cannot wait! 

 

People think I am funny because I just go for it with my Spanish. Even though I don't know much I get the courage to just open my mouth and I know for a fact the Lord will fill it!

In all honesty this has been such a hard week, getting used to the missionary life. We haven't seen a ton of success with our progressing investigators and it has made me a little discouraged. But my mind always comes back to Alma 26:27-30, specifically verse 30, it says, "And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our joy would be full if perhaps we could be means of saving someone" My goal is to teach as Christ would have, care for people like Christ would have for the purpose of bringing souls to this great gospel. 

Love you all! Have a safe week!!! 

Con amor, 

Hermana Salisbury