Reading by candlelight

We had Zone Conference in P this last week and we received mail! I got a package from Steve Rogers and letters from Dallas, Annie, Dylan, Elizabeth Leavitt, President Hixson, and Michelle Dowden. And dearelders from Grandma, Mom, Dallas and Cole. THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH! Although I can't respond (last time, it took about 3 months for a letter to arrive at home...) I love, love, love getting the letters, thank you so much! Grandma asked if my area was like the photo you guys received from the Gainor family. Our area is huge and extends over about 7 colonias. One of them is called S, where the photo was taken. A lot of retired North Americans live here and the houses are unbelievably beautiful. Our lessons vary from teaching in settings like this, to reading the scriptures by candlelight to families who never learned how to read themselves, to an area called S, where Spanish is their second language and their town touches the volcano.
We are teaching a very special family. The parents are waiting for their birth certificates so they can be married and then be baptized. They have four children (two of them are in the picture I sent) and they first met with the missionary that was transfered out when I came in. It is hard for the families when a missionary leaves an area, especially when they have such a close relationship, which is the case with the previous missionary and this family.But last week, the mom told me, "When I found out that one of the missionaries was leaving, I prayed to God that the incoming missionary would be a lot like her and would love my family like she did...and I know that God heard my prayers." This little family is progressing and attending church EVERY WEEK. We taught them what Family Night is on Sunday and when we went to visit them on Monday, we got to watch them have their own family night. It was one of the best nights of my life watching them sing "I Am a Child of God" from memorization and seeing the mother teach a message from something she learned in the Book of Mormon. It made me miss my family a lot but not in a sad way, in a way that makes me want to work harder so I can share this message with more families. I love this gospel and I love this family we are teaching. I love being here in Guatemala and I love this opportunity I have every day to give my best and to serve God.

P-day hike behind a ward members house - - -Lots of dense growth but look at the view on the picture below.

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These are two little boys in the family she has been teaching.

      Walking to zone conference in A with Sister G (from Ecuador)  notice the volcano in the background