Dengue Fever and a new assignment

Antigua Guatemala

Wow, last week was the hardest of my whole mission! I had a high fever for 6 days that literally wiped out my whole body. I wasn't hungry and my muscles were cramped and I felt super faint. We still worked and when I woke up on Monday morning, miraculously my fever had gone down...it turns out I worked all week with dengue fever from the sancodos in the coast. But I'm feeling way better and I learned a good lesson about hard work despite the challenges.

I had changes! I am in Chimaltenango and it is freezing! It's quite a change from the coast of Santa Lucia. I've also been called as a training sister, which means we go on divisions with the other missionary sisters about twice a week and our purpose is to help them and encourage them to keep pushing through any problem they're passing. I'm living with the other training sister, Hermana Arguello (de Nicaragua) and in our house is also Hermana Rios (the first missionary I trained) and Hermana Brewster (de Idaho). I love our new area but I'm a little overwhelmed with the call to be a training sister. It's humbling to be able to know that I'm trusted enough with the responsibility to serve but it's also a little intimidating for all of the details it entails.

Elder Cook spoke to us yesterday in a conference with three different missions. Never have I felt the spirit so strongly before. I thought of the time when Elder L. Tom Perry had lunch with us and I wish I had prepared more and realized how special it was. Elder Cook promised us that every person we love is going to be blessed through our service here, it's crazy all of the blessings that come through missionary service. And I've heard that the best blessings don't come until later in life. I'm very, very blessed to be here as a missionary. I'm so short of being perfect but I am so grateful that the Lord has enough love and mercy to always accept and forgives my shortcomings. I know He loves his missionaries and I know He loves all of his children. This email is kind of all over but the keyboard isn't functioning very well . . . I'll write better next week! (I did go through and clean up the crazy puncuations marks caused by her computer - Kathy)