Becoming a Chapina?

As usual, things are going well on the mission. There are very, very hard and frustrating moments and there are also moments that I will remember for my whole life. And I know that the hard times help me grow up more than the good times, so I'm learning to know what it means to cherish every moment of the mission. My mom asked me to share a funny story so I'll try to think of one...two weeks ago, Hermana Larson was directing the hymns and I was playing the little keyboard behind her. I always awkwardly try my best to pluck out the hymns that the counselor picks and this time it was "The Spirit of God". The good part is that it is a familiar hymn so it didn't sound too bad when I played it, the bad part is that I think it is probably the longest hymn in the hymn book... and when you are counting how many investigators came to church instead of paying attention to what verse of the song they are singing, it's pretty easy to lose place of what part of the song we are in. So I stopped playing after the third verse and stood up, even though there are four verses...Hermana Larson just started cracking up and so I realized what I had done and just sat back down and started playing again haha.

I feel like I'm becoming more Chapina because I am actually pretty good at making their corn tortillas with my hands. I feel like my future family will be eating a lot of corn tortillas and some of my weird habits from my mission (did you know you can make pancakes and brownies in the microwave?) I love Guatemala and even though there are still days when I miss home, there is something that happens every day here that makes me happy. This work is true and I am so grateful to be a missionary. We are going to the temple as a zone on Tuesday so I will be writing again on Monday. Have a good week!

She's back online :)

J was baptized on Sunday!!!!! It was one of the best moments of my life when he shared his humble testimony at the end of the baptismal service... every baptism that I have had has been very meaningful to me, but this one was a little different because I feel like I have grown so much with him these past 8 weeks.
Before the mission, when my friends or family told me about problems they were facing, I would always try to put myself in their position to see how they felt. I've realized that, even though I thought I could imagine how they were feeling, I was actually really bad at it. This last weekend, my special family here discovered a huge problem. When the mother told me what she found out, it felt like my own sister was having this problem, and it was difficult for my not to cry during the lesson. It's crazy how close people can become by sharing this gospel. Even though I have never even had a problem in my life compared to the people here, the things that they are facing now seem like my own problems. San Diego will always have a piece of my heart but the people of Guatemala have made my heart grow, and there are many big pieces that will always remain here.

We are teaching the sister of G, her name is R. She is a single mother of three kids, with a husband who left her. We taught her about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and showed her the DVD of the Restoration (it has a little bit of the history of Joseph Smith, the First Vision, and the Book of Mormon). After watching the movie in a member's house, she told me, "I wish I could buy a DVD player so I could watch that movie every day of my life and feel like I felt again and again." They have all received answers to their prayers and R with her daughter, K (10 years old) and M (8 years old) are preparing to be baptized the first of September. (the youngest, W will wait another year since he is only 7). I am so excited for this fecha and this opportunity that I have to walk with them in this path. The church is true, and the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way we can truly have happiness in this world. Love you all!

Beautiful Guatemala. Mountain on the left is an active volcano.

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Thanks
K. Hansen