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

Week 47: 11 MONTHS!!!

Wow I'm about to hit a year on my mission.

This week was so FAST!!! 

So we have a baptism this week with ALEJANDRA!!! She is literally amazing. I will write more about her story next week, but this week we went to visit her with our leaders. When our leader sat down his pants were ripped RIGHT IN FRONT HAHAHA SO SKETCH and Alejandra saw everything hahaha! I thought the baptism was out the window but he speaks English so we told him  in English and then he put his tie over the hole hahaha SOOO BAD!!! 

Then we had a family home evening with a part member family. We were ending it and we started to give our testimony's about the book of Mormon and it was super quiet and the spirit was strong and then a little girl RIPPED ONE on the wooden bench and it was sooo loud and we all just died of laughter hahahah! RIP to that spiritual moment. 

OMG THEN we took a bus from san fran to mazate to go to a meeting. There was a super drunk guy behind us. He was so drunk he was literally passed out behind us. Then we hit a pot hole and we fell out of his bench and slid under ours!!! Then he became a little conscious and his hand went through the little slit hole where we were seated and HE PUT HIS HAND IN AND TOUCHED MY BUTT AND SO I STARTED HITTING HIM AHHAHAHAHA then he stopped when I hit him a few times then he passed out again!!!so I switched seats haahah RIP # GUATLYFE

So hermana calvo is from El Salvador and the famous food from there is pupusas! They are literally so good and I hope you can all try them someday, but anyways we went to a members house to make pupusas. BUT wow its hard to cook when all the instructions are in Spanish hahah I can speak Spanish by now just fine but when it comes to RANDOM vocab I get lost hahahaha But I looked so confused and dumb while helping them cook that my comp pulled me aside and asked me if I ever helped my mom cook at home and I was like YES BUT I DID IT IN AMERICA WHEN EVERYTHING WAS IN ENGLISH AND WE HAD ALL THE SUPPLY'S TO DO IT ahaha she didn't believe me!!! RIP! #GUATLYFE

also we have transfers this week and I will finish the training of hna calvo this week! That went by so fast.

This week I want to invite everyone that reads this email to read the Book of Mormon. This is the Book that motivated me to come and live the guatlyfe for 18 months. I have seen the same book that changed my life, change the lives of the people here. I promise you guys if you read it, weather you be a member of the church or not you will know its true. But if you never read you will never know. Act, and you will receive answers. I LOVE this book. I want it CLEAR that I know its true and that there is  no other way to know Christ better than the Book of Mormon another testament of Jesus Christ

Con amor, 

Hermana Salisbury

Week 46: LICE ROUND 2 & Croc disaster

I didn't even feel this week cause it went by SO fast. 

The elections are coming up here so we ALWAYS have to walk through huge crowds of CHAPINS hahaha I always feel so dang tall when I walk through!!! We walked through one and I was LITERALLY the tallest person and I could see over everyone's heads!! Im convinced that im the TALLEST IN THE PUEBLO!!! #GUATLYFE

Then we were contacting some lady in front of her house and a huge group of dogs came out of now where and were all fighting and biting each other, they got super close to us and I want taking my chances so I BOOKED it under the mango trees and left the lady and my comp hahaha 

Theres some drunk guy that LOVES to mess with us UGH and this Sunday he saw us on the way to church and started CHASING us and my comp had to block him from getting to me OMG I was sooo DONE so I turned around and asked him what he wanted??? and he said, I want to talk to a guapa gringa like you!!! UGHHHH The worst.  

But wait it gets worse. We were leaving a dinner in a sketch part of the area and as we left my comp noticed that some guy was following us so we started walking faster. Then we noticed that he walked EVEN faster so we started to run and then HE STARTED CHASING BEHIND!!!!! AHHHH SO when I started running I realized I couldnt run fast cause I had my wet rubber crocs and I was slipping so bad I thought I was going to fall!! so I ripped off my crocs and the guy was RIGHT BEHIND ME but right when I got them off I started running barefoot on a cobble stone road! We ran for a good 2 minutes until we found light and people but wow it was actually super scary. I am like Cinderella with my crocs but GUAT edition hahaha Now I have bruised feet and Im a little scared but I know the lord protects his missionary's!

RIP ME cause I have LICE AGAIN!!!!! I dont know if you guys saw my picture from last week with the little girl who got baptized, but in that picture I have my head on her head. After we took that picture my comp told me that the little girl had SOO MANY LICE EGGS and I was like ohhhhh great here we go again!!! WORST LUCK!!! So now Im going through lice therapy again!! But its not as bad as last time! YAY #GUATLYFE

Well this week I learned a lot about faith. God ALWAYS keeps his promises. He never fails us. When we receive a promise from God we need to trust in that promise like it had already happened. The prophets of old always did that when they talked about jesucristo, even before Christ was born they talked like he had already paid for our sins. That type of the faith is the faith that can change our lives. Faith always follows with an action. I hope I can always have faith in this gospel but even more than that I hope I always ACT on my faith. Because what is the point of a belief is we dont live those beliefs. 

Con GOZO, 

Hermana Salisbury 

Week 45: DOUBLE BAPTISM!

HEY this was a week full of water from SOOO much rain and the baptisms!!! QUE GOZO ES BAUTIZAR!

Pues, The people use the rain as an excuse to not do ANYTHING. Literally we could invite someone to read the book of Mormon inside their house and they will say sorry I cant read when its raining outside hahahaha SO the work goes forward little by little! 

The rain has been so insane! We have to walk in the streets even though they turn into rivers so quick! This week I was walking up stream and it was so strong that my CROC GOT SWEPT AWAY!!!! hahaha SO I had to SPRINT SO FAST down stream to get my croc cause they are like my only good shoes left! 

Its also sooooo GROSS to walk in the rivers in the street. A couple of days ago a nice citizen decided to put a HUGE trash bag of used diapers in the street. The next day I found it allllll in the river that we had to walk in!!! AHHHHH #guatelife

The lighting is also insane. We have a part of our area that is rainforesty and there are always more lighting bolts over there. When we were walking the other day the bolt GENUINELY hit right next to where we were standing. I have NEVER heard something louder in my life than the sound of the bullet hitting the ground!!!

We have also been hearing SO many gun shots outside the house lately!!! Sometimes I give it the benefit of the doubt saying its a firework or something but my comp is from el salvador and she like has a 6th sense for gun shots hahaha And she says they are allll real bullets!! YIKES but we always just lock ourselves up in the house and try to sleep! #guatelife 

I was able to be apart of the baptism of Byron Jose! He is the grandson of our ward mission leader. He has always wanted to get baptized since he was 8, he just never had permission until now! Now he is 12 and he already goes to seminary and all the youth activitys. He is preparing to serve of a full time mission! THIS KID IS PILAS! He received the priesthood the hour after his confirmation. Such a good example to everyone. 

The other baptism was hermanita yanett!!! She is so cute, I have been working with her since February to motivate her to get baptized but she was always scared!! SO I had the chance to share my experience when I got baptized, and how I was scared too, but after a prayer with my mom I felt better! And 3 ish months later she FINALLY got baptized! YAY! But after we took the picture of my head on her head, I found out she had LICE!!!!!

I know when we follow the will of the lord we are happy and we are blessed! There is always reason to rejoice!! As a missionary there is an indescribable joy when someone takes a step closer to Christ! 

Con amor,

Hermana Salisbury

 

Week 44: FELIZ 10 MESES!!

HOW HAVE I BEEN IN GUATEMALA FOR 10 MONTHS???

This week was so much fun (like always)

I got to have intercambios with hermana Yamberla from ECUADOR!! Pilas. We had an appointment with our investigator and when we showed up she was in shock and we asked her why and she said she had seen us in a dream, she says it was all the same, we walked up to her door and presented ourselves as missionarys, except in the dream we were in all white. WOW. cool stuff. 

We found an old lady walking with a bunch of heavy bags so of course we offered to help her! So we grabbed her bags and asked where she was headed and she said, ¨Im on my way to HUACHIPIRIN¨ hahahah That is literally AT LEAST one hour walking hahahha I just thought she was going around the corner!!! BUt we couldnt just back out! SO we WALKED AALLLL the way out there with her!! I had her huge bag of clothes on my head haha my neck was dying but i didnt say anything cause I had to be strong for the old lady. But when we finished we were WRECKED haha Rip us. 

Then I cut my arm on RUSTY barb wire. I was all concered but everyelse was like DONT WORRRY thats nothing!! Good thing I got my TDAP shot!!!! hahaha

We were eating lunch and I was trying not be grossed out but a HUGE RAT ran across the floor while we were eating hahaha Of course I couldnt make any faces cause the hostess what sitting right in front of me!!! #guatelife

Then we had dinner with a family and the family friend was messing around with a little girl and she ended up getting SUPER mad and FLIPPED OFF THE GROWN MAN I was so shocked hahaha there literally are no limits here. 

But we should be having 2 baptisms this coming weekend!!! WOOO lets hope everything goes as planned! 

I am so thankful for the chance I have to serve the Lord. I know that He loves us. We can equally show love for Him through sacrifice. Whether that means the sacrifice of time, talents, money, our wants, our needs. I know that complete sacrifice is the ONLY way god can change our lives. If we arent humble enough to put our lives in His hands and say its up to Him, we cant become like Him. I hope to be humble enough to give up my will for His. 

Con GOOOZO, 

Hermana Salisbury