HELLO¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡

October 14^th 2013

THis keyboard is SOOOO messed up i think i pressed a wierd button... ANYWAY¡¡¡ this was a solid week. BTW sorry my letters are so scattered and wierd wyatts are like... perfect and im like... im a freak. ANYWAY

how is everyone doing¡¡¡ write me¡¡¡ NOLAN seriously i haven-t heard from you in forever and SATCHEL PUNK¡¡¡¡ send me a dear elder. dear elders are the best. mommy how is everything goingªªª i want to see pics of the finished centerville house but not for a few weeks... i cant emotionally handle it right now. but im so sorry its like your dream house now¡¡¡ that makes me sooooo sad but SC is going to be so good¡¡¡¡ please please be good to the missionaries in your area. the member are so good to me here pay it forward¡¡¡¡ feed them lots and give them references and pay thier fee on the chicken bussess.... wait.... hahahahah 

I really missed you guys this week it was rough. but i-ll tell you about that later. actually probably not. 

People here are SO CATHOLIC or EVANGELICAL or ADVENTISTA like the work would be a lot easier if everyone wasn-t so dang commited to thier religion. hahahah also if anyone has any ideas of why the sabbath day is sunday id love to hear it because we-re teaching these two advintista buddies who seriously remind me of dad and steve they are freaking hilarious but they seem kind of interstied just hung up on why we worship on sunday and i litterally have no idea hahah 

there is this 8 year old in the ward who has basically become my best friend. he is so funny and is always trying to do weird magic tricks and stuff and gues WHAT¡¡¡¡¡ he makes up weird little songs like GABE¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ its the best thing ever mama GEEGEE

Lets talk about how serving a mission is similar to being an oackrest couselou

1. its super hard and im exashed all the time

2. you have to relay on the spirit

3. you teach gospel priciples all day everyday

4. lets face it folks... im basically camping. i wear bug spray everyday and everynight, i smell like smoke allll the time because people burn thier trash and i wear like 5 layers of clothing to bed cuz its so darn cold everynight. oh man... misiion life. also my body is cover in flea bites haha but don-t worry we-ve sprayed the house and we-re taking care of it. i really want to send pictures today but i don-t know if i-ll have time.

OH MY GOSH i don-t know if i would survive without the elders in our area. they are so funny. one morning they called us and thier like... " you-ll never guess what happened¡¡ some guy just knock on our door and sold us 2 gallons of floor cleaner for 35 quetz¡¡ do you guys want one¡¡" hahah such dorks. Yesterday at luch we had spagetti and hambergers and we were eating just the four of us cuz we were in a hurry but the hamburger patties were really good but elder sanched cut into his and... it was gushing blood like not cooked at ALL hahahaha his eyes got all big because he knew he had to eat it... oh gosh. so great. so he chokes it down and we-re like nice job dude¡¡¡¡ and hes like "nosotros realizoms cosas dificles" (we do hard things) which is our mission moto and i about DIED laughing... oh my gosh. im so grateful for the elders becuase they just always lighten the mood and have tons of fun. 

THere is this crazy cool family that we are teaching the mom is basically a member, she brings her 4 little kids to church every week. the 2 older kids are baptised and they are seriously so cool and have super solid testimonies but thier mom just won-t get baptised! i can-t figure it out.. she says she-s still praying about it... anyway they are so funny they LOVE to hear english so they always ask us to sings hymns for them in english and they record it on thier phones hahahah oh man its so funny also... everyone has a phone here... no matter how poor they are, they have cell phones. i don-t get it. but anyway i would love to get her baptised. she does need to get a divorce and then marry the dad of her kids who also needs to get a divorse... it is tricky but if it mattered enough to her. we can make it work. they are just such a cool family.

we are also teaching an 11 year old kid. he is so smart and so cute. he is super into his anventista church... i don-t knoww we-ll see but man i love him. 

we-re going to start teaching english classes at the chapel every wednesday!!!! yay!!!! we-ve been telling  lot of people about it and they seem really excited so im thrilled. also a whole bunch of us are going to the cemetary for dia de muetre and telling people about where we came from and where we are going and stuff. next sunday we-re splitting and tracting with some members of the ward the lady im gonig with just got back from her mission so i think it will be cool except i still doin-t speak super well. anyway all is well. i love you guys tons thanks for everything!!!!!!! also i need the SC address!!!!! i want to send a christmas box to you guys¡¡¡

thanks for the holland article mommy!!! feel free to copy and paste stuff like that into dear elder cuz i love reading interesting articles and stuff also... how is the world!!! i have no idea what is goin gon... yikes. dear elders are great because i have limited time on email and i can read dear elders anytime. love you peeps. thankls for being so supportive. love you family!!!!!

HH

October 21^st 2013

2 Months!!!!!

Today is my 2 month mark. I can't even believe it!! 

MOM!!! That was the best letter ever. Thank you so much! I was crying the entire time of course. this past week was incredible!!!! But Sunday my heart was in Centerville with all my peeps and especially Walker as he gave his farewell talk!! AHH Im not even home and it hurts my heart hearing about you leaving my childhood home!! I guess in the back of my mind I had a tiny hope that you wouldn't actuallly leave. Im so glad that your friends and siblings were there for you while dad was gone. Im glad everything went well with the farewell and the last Sunday in the 3rd ward!!! AHH. it kills me. but I'll get over it someday soon :) glad bob bachman stopped by!! I NEED THE ADDRESS FOR THE NEW HOUSE PLEASE!!! We're sending our Christmas packages home next Monday and I need an address!!! Also Walker´s mission home address please!!! THANKS!! Also Tell Betty Im in TOTO and it's gorgeous. 

I read in our book of rules that we shouldn't say anything negitive about the culture in our emails home so if ive said anything that could be considered negitive don't put it on the blog please!!

MOM i bought a jar of green olives and ate the whole thing by myself and wished you were here to share it with me!! :)

OK!!!!!! Highlights of this week:

1. Ok. so the elders and us usually see each other everyday either at lunch or just around because the area is big but we live really close to eachother. but in the last week as we talked about our investigators we realized that we were teaching a couple of the SAME people hahahahaah we've just been crossing paths a lot like we'll go to a memeber shouse to ask for references and they will tell us that they just gave a reference to the elders... hahah and we were tallng them that we just got a new investigator named lucia and she is 16 and the elders were like... you joking right?? hahah same Lucia. Ayway it was getting ridiculous so we decided on monday that we need to have a meeting to talk about splitting the area on wednsday. So on Tuesday me and my comp went to visit a guy named javiear that was a reference from a family that we´re teaching. so we knock on his door and he comes to the door WITH THE ELDERS. The looks on all 5 of our faces were that of utter SHOCK HAHAHAHAAH then me and the elders just bust up laughing and i seriously don´t think i have laughed that hard in a while. My comp was like... hola.... ¿usted es javier? and hen we started laighing like the elders were bent over just dying because seriously??? What are the odds!!!!!! OHMYGOSH. so then my comps like still has a straight face and she's like we just wanted to meet you... hahahahahahaha oh gees. ok we the elders are like... ojk we'll see you guys tomorrow so we can talk about splitting the area. BUT WAIT IT GETS BETTER. that night we had a noche de juegos (game night) set up for a half member family in a villiage thats like a 20 minute bus ride away so we grab the games and a snack and head down there. We had invited 1 other family to come so we were expecting like 14 people. so we get there and we´re like where are your nieghbors, the other family? and this family told us they ended up being busy tonight. so we´re like ok we'll just play with this family. so we're talking and laughing and playing and the mom was like "oh by the way we only have 30 minuyes because THE ELDERS ARE COMING TO TEACH US." WHAT!?!?!?!?! OH MY GOSHHHHH. so half an hour later the elders show up ... sheeeesh, oh and the other family that was suposed to come to our gamenight???? they didn't come because they ELDERS WERE TEACHING THEM. hahahahahaha it as seriously so funny. but we've got it all figured out now :)

2. We were contacting this week and sometimes people just do not pay attention to what we say... my comp was like " and we have a profeta en la tierra hoy" and she lady was just looking off in the distance and she´s like, "si, its true. it´s true." and my comps like "but... we really have a modern day profeta." "Si, es cierto..." ok bye crazy lady hahaha. 

3. ok so people don't have addresses here. like if you ask someone where they live it´s down the path , take a right in the 3rd cornfield and wind around until you see the pink tienda and.... it´s ridiculous. anyway we found the registro (i don't even know the word in english?) of a family in the area book. they had taken the discussion but i guess had never come to church and as we all know they have to come to church 3 times before they can get baptised. So the registro said that they lived in a certain villiage down the hill, next to the purple church. we're like ok! you can't miss a purple church. So we take a bus down there and we start asking people were the purple church is. and nobody knew!!! it was so wierd... we were like seriously?? it can't be that hard. so finally we met a older lady who said they tore the purple church down 5 years ago!!!! hahah but she told us where it used to be and we found the family and they're not realy intersted but they were super nice and they said they enjoyed the lesson from the missionaries 6 years ago hahahahaha... anyway make sure you make dates on registros. 

4. Oreos taste way better here. I have no idea why. 

5. Peace Like a River album by the MOTAB is seriously incredible. also SAY LOVE by Hilary Weeks!? GOOD STUFF. 

6. People sometimes use military time here and it really throws me off. 

7. We were teaching the coolest girl and she seemed super interested and she like the BOM and had a lot of really good questions. We went to our cita with her on saturday and she came outside and said she was really orry but her parents won't let her talk to us anymore. That sucked. like seriously. that one really hurt. 

8. We're been working with this lady... who would basically be a member but she has to talk to her bpyfriend about everything and get permission to go to church and stuff. anyway. one night like 500 citas had fallen through so we decided to go visit Jandy. we said a prayer outsie her door and my comp is like ok... what should we teach her? I said prayer and we went with it. Her boyfriends said the closing prayer I didn't really think much of it but in our next cita with her she started crying and telling us that she's been with her boyfriend for 10 years and the first time she had EVER heard him pray was with us. the was really thankful to us!!! I was like cool!!!! I was in tune with the spirit. Im seriously so grateful for the oppurtunity to be a missionary everyday. i am seriously so blessed. 

9. We tought a really solid first lesson with the first vision and i thought the spirit was really there and the lady we were teaching was like, ¨" yeah... but Jose Smith had 7 women..." hahahahahahah oh gosh. that was a tough one.  hahaha also i read that emma smiths dads name was isaac hale and i was like!! Isacc Hale!! hahah weird.

10. people only have like 5 names here.. maria, juana, jose lucia and filipe... also dad im going to call you FIlipe when i get home. 

One time we were sitting in a tortillaria teaching some sisters who were obviously... making tortillas and the buses we passing but as we talked about Jose Smith and  the first vision i started crying and i pretended to look for something in my bag haha but i just realized that something that i´ve believed and known for my who life is something that is so unknown an honrstly sounds a little crazy to most people. but i know that Joseph Smith saw God the father and his son and the by the power of God, he traslated the book of Mormon. and if that's true.. so is all the rest. phew!!!! Life is good, love this gospel. The members here are seriously some of the happiest people i have ever met. 

 Oct 29, 2013

A LA FREAKIN GRAN

soooo sorry i wasn't on yesterday!!! I had to go to Guatemala City!!!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh so crazy. i had to do all my visa stuff!!

thank you for the new address!!! I'll try to send that stuff soon!!

Sounds like you guys are doing well!!!! SO JEALOUS OF YOUR TRAVELS!!!!! looks like such a good time!!! waterfall photo is soo cool!!! ALso mom i cried about your playdough story, did i tell ytou? so tragic... hahah don't worry!!! lots of grandbabies to come :) Daddy!! i showed my family pics to one of our investigators and there was a picture of you and i and he asked "how do you know John MCcain?" hahahahahahahah i almost died. i was like... uh thats my dad... hahaha

TO GUATE!!!!  We went on splits and i was in a trio with 2 super fun sisters, we had such a great time. So i left on Sunday afternoon, 5 hour bus ride to guate and then we stayed overnight in a hotel (more of a hostel) and in the morning IT WAS THE BEST!!!!!! There was a group of like 10 people from all over the world staying there with some clean water group. SO!!!! I met 3 guys from Haiti and they're expecting me to come visit in the summer of 2015... wanna come fam?? hahah im excited. but they were so cool, thier english was really good and one was fluent in spanish!! along with french and creole obviously. SO we had a really yummy, classic guatemalan breakfast and just talked abut everything!!! IT WAS THE BEST EXPERIENCE EVER. im just gunna travel the world and meet people... seriously it was incredible. i was talking to this guy who was from el salvador in spanish and then one of the haitians would ask we something in english and i would respond in spanish and then like... have to switch to english hahaha but i really want to learn french, they told me once you know spanish, its easy to learn french and OMG can you imagine traveling the world with thoses 3 languages under your belt!!!????? HEAVEN!!!!!!! so that was awesome. then we headed down to the church offices and i saw a whole bunch of my buddies from the CCM!!!!! SO GREAT and we all went down to immigration and signed our stuff, grabbed mccdonalds and got back on the bus to Xela!!! It was such a fun little trip. 

What else happened this week... gosh oh WHAT IS STEVE REEDS EMAIL ADDRESS PLEASE!!!!

ok so all the older hermanas alsways ask me how old i am before they ask me anything else.. and they like... hate me for being young its so weird hahahah theyr'e like i didnt date people because i wanted to serve a mission and stuff ahaha im like... sorry.... weirdos. 

Things to be grateful for: seedless grapes and hot water to shower with. LUCKY DUCKS. 

Also while i was in guate i remeber a old travel tip that mom once told me... ALWAYS HAVE TOILET PAPER WITH YOU. i used 3 public bathrooms in a row where there was no toilet paper. THE WORST!!!! 

this morning i was going through my english scriptures that i have had since i was 8... and oh man i am a really big weirdo. like a wrote the weirdest stuff... i don't know if my young women leaders just brain washed me or what but like next to every prophet that did something good i wrote like... "marry someone like this... " and im like WHY!?!?!? so dumb. anyway i think my favorite was Mormon 7:7next to it i wrote, "that sounds like so much fun!" hahahahaha oh gosh biggest choir nerd ever or ... just a freak man saber. 

ok we're teaching this guy who is... probably a little bit... mental but he lets us teach him so... hahahahahah we keep going back... but when we asked him to be baptised he was like... "well, i can't. i don't have the whole bible memorized yet. " hahahahahahahahahaha we were like uh.... hermano do you have a testimony of the BOM? and he's like "i just really need to memorize the bible" hahahahahahahaha but he came to church last sunday!!!! SO that was cool. haha

ok so this last week my comp and i were.. DEATHLY ILL. like not to our stomachs but just coughing and body aches and headaches and foggy minds and stuff it was HORRIBLE. but we went out and taught everyday... i just repeating in my head what dad would tell his students at the MTC. "I worked everyday on my mission" it was the hardest thing ive ever done in my life. On Saturday i had a horrible fever and we were at lunch and the elders were like you look terrible and i was burning up so i asked for a blessing. it was such and incredible experience. i just feel so blessed to share this area with such incredible elders mom if you come across elders gnieting´s mom from idaho for some reason like online or something tell her her son is a crazy hard worker and ive learned tons from him.

OMG speaking of the elders... they´re also like 5 year old boys it s so hilarious. but elder gnieting was like have you guys ever had to do the helicopter? im like what the helicopter? hahahahahahaah oh my gosh. SO GROSS BUT SO FREAKING funny. basically when you're sick from both ends and you have to keep switching on the toilet hahahahah. i haven't been sick to my stomach yet!!!!! thank goodness. 

sorry time is limited but LOVE YOU GUYS!!!! 

HH

November 4^th 2013

AHHH!!!!

Nobody wrote me this week??? (besides walker) Definitly disappointing but im sure you're busy and WALKER IS LEAVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHH!!!!!! Walker don't be a lazy missionary, everybody hates lazy missionaries and we all know who they are. Email me from your missionary email!!!!!!!! LOVE YOU!!!! YOU'RE GOING TO ROCK IT!!!!!!!!!!! 

HAPPPY HALLOWEEN!!

also just so we're clear i do not love the elders, they are like having walker and cole around and who doesn't enjoy that!? also a lot of elders are super lazy and it's just impressive to meet missionaries that work hard.

WE WENT AND DID A BIG ZIPLINE THIS MORNING!!!! as a district..it was actually like a big course of 4 ziplines and it was sooooooooooo fun. 

I ate liver. it was really good!

We eat lunch at this guy named alan´s house sometimes and his dad saw me put hot suace on my lunch one time and he was blown away hahaha he's never seen a gringa put so much hot sauce on hahaha so everytime we eat there he's like ah!!!! here is your hot sauce!!! and then he just laughs as i put it on haha

i just got you're dear elder about grace cunningham!! SOOO FUNNY! and so cute!!! 

I did so many cool guatemalan things this week!!!! I helped a lady make a live wreath for the graves for dia de los santos, learned how to make tomalies and worked in the corn fields!! We also went to the cemetary and passed out plan of salvation pamphlets and it was soooo great, there were big bands playing and everyone was flying kites and it was so lively and happy hahah

wanna know something really ironic? i was exactly obedient in bringing only flat sheets but apparently im like the only person that did that! hahah ugggghhh. every morning i have to like re fix the bottom sheet sooo annoying so ill proably try to buy fitted here someday. 

on halloween we went to a members house to talk to the elders and when we walked in the elders we're prentending to teach filipe with his creepy mask on. haha ill try to send photos. 

for dia de los muertos we ate fiambre with the barreno family. it was super yummy. it's like lots of meet mixed with veggies and beets and stuff!!! I was so full i almost died haha

we started fasting after lunch on saturday and then that night we went to invite some investigators to church and they offered us some herbal tea and bread and we couldn't say no... hahah so then we went to get them at thier house the next morning and they gave us more tea and we're like... well we're fasting that they will get baptized... cheers!!! 

no i haven't writtten brittany yet, i hope shes doing well. I usually write Sarah, skyler, lindsie, carson, ali, brooke and hma robertson, my comp from the MTC and elder vincent and hermana allen from the CCM i need to write nick and wyatt. anyway all is good! hoping to hear from you guys next week with pics of walker heading off!!!! Yeah.. please write and i know i've said it before but respond to things that im doing!!!!  sorry wish i had more time the photos are being weird again as always just soooo slow. trying to send zipline ones!! love you i think i did something like twisted my ankle. it's like really swollen and hurts... ugh. i need to find some tape... i think it happened today, just stepped wierd or something. love you guys!! love the pic of walker teaching you guys on the red couch!!! YAY!!! new house :) 

on saturday morning we went and worked in the fields with some members and they showed us their big bucket of little live crabs and i was like.. oh cool hahaha and then we poured boiling water on them and ate them in soup for lunch hahaha 

im trying to think of other things while this picture loads haha. just sorry walker i don't have time to email you today but know that i love you and im praying for you. just smile through the hard times just be really open and friendly and remeber that obedience brings blessing and exact obedience brings maricoles. i have no idea how to spell that haha but hopefully you get the point, be yourself but obey the rules and work hard and have fun. it's funny how before my mission i just thought oh that cool... you served a mission but now i seriously have so much respect for missionaries. like WHAO!!!! you survived!??!?!?! haha it's like a secrest club... of missionaries. i was really hoping to email steve reed this week but NOBODY WROTE ME!!!!!!! it's just sad because the whole week it's like if i can just make to to monday il'll be fine, i can read what my parents said hahaha it's all good. LOVE YOUUUU

HH

November 25^th 2013

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!

ok i don't think betty could find me anyway... i guess im just confused how you think she could get a package to me... i don't even know my address hahahaha my comp already got her christmas package... like her mother is an overachiever. 

walker write me you brat!! I NEED WALKERS ADDRESS PLEASE!!! IM TRYING TO SEND HIM STUFF. 

Elena emailed me that photo of you!!!!!!!!!! I was crying. ugh. i always cry on mondays when i write. but seriously so cute. Also tell cole and carly to write me!!! PUNKS. does NOLAN have an email address?

OH!!! I JUST READ YOUR EMAIL WALKER!!!!!!!! I WAS DYEING. you are hilariousssssssss. oh my gosh sounds AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Glad youre happy. missionary budget is rough right!? HAHAHAHA 

Glad satchel teacher is working out!!!! I don't get why Nolan doesn't like the missionaries???? what the heck is his problem???? tell him that one day he is going to be a missionary and be soooo thankful for the members in his area. 

AHHHHHH!!!!!! THIS WEEK:

We took Nelly to the temple!!!!!! YAY!!!!!! it was my first time and it was sooooo pretty. ah it was the best. we walked around the temple grounds and talked about eternal familes and stuff and she really enjoyed it. 

ALSO the las vegas temple suicide!??! one of the members printed the article in english for us. so tradgic. also whats going on in the phillipeans!? all the missionaries are safe?? how many people died??? 

ok..this week we had divisions so the hermana leader came and spent a day and a night with me... i was a little nervous but it ended up being sooo great. so the day went really well and at 7:30 i was like... ugh i still have an hour and a half to kill.... so i though of a few people we could visit and then i though i should visit Biana in her work. she works as a maid lady person and she is less active but only because her dad wont let her come to church and she is seriously the cutest thing ever. but i just kept walking cuz i wanted to look like i knew what i was doing with the hermana leader with me. but then i got the feeling again, ´'go visit bianca at the house where she works.' so i apoligizeed to the hermana leader and told her we had to turn around. So we get there and i knock on the door and some other lady ive never seen answers. I asked if bianca was there and she us that bianca had just gone home. So now im thinking okay that was stupid... i thought that was an impresison... so then i remembered that the lady that bianca works for is innactive. so im like, are you a member of the church?? and the lady just looked at me for a minute... then she's like, 'come on in.´ so we went upstairs and she had a tiiiiny brand new baby 3 weeks old. so we start talking to her. and i asked her what ward she was in she told me that she doesn't go to church because of problem with some of the members. and she started bawling. it was so sad, i started crying and she had obviously been reallllly hurt. so we talked to her for a while, her husband was baptised three years before they were both inactive now but her husband is nerver home because he is always at work and she is stressed because her baby is realllllly sick. so we called the elders and they were able to come give the baby a blessing. it was so sweet. then the hermana told us that whenever the missionaryies would stop by she would tell them she was busy and she asked her friends and family not to tell the missionaies where she lived because she doesn't want to talk to us. but we showed up at the perfect time that night!!!!! it was seriously and incredible experience. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!

IM THANKFUL FOR YOU!!!!!!!! ALL OF YOU i love you sooooo much. xoxoxoxox

Hh

last night we were looking for soeone we had met the day before so me were just knocking on doors. and we rang a door bell and the lady came on the intercom and we asked in lucia lived here and the lady was like'... uh... this is a hospital.' HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA oh my gosh so funny. we were like ok!! sorry bye!!!! hahaha Oh janey girl is having a hard time :( but i told her gets better. love you soooo much mommy!! SDHC card? for camera maybe like 8 gb would be good. hope evrything is going well in the tramp park. look for your christmas package!!! 

December 2^nd

THIS WEEK.

good week, im soooo tired. oh dad once asked about the p day schedule. usually we get up, clean, wash our undies, shower, normal study for 2 hours then go up to the parque!!! It is not in our area so we don't get to go except for mondays. we shop for groceries and stuff grab lunch and then go to the internet, go home and sleep for an hour and at 6 p day is over and we are back on the streets. I GET TO SEE JANE TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am going to die. i am sooooo excited. big multi zone conference. ALSO IT IS FREEEEEEEZING HERE. I bought a hat and gloves today. every day at like 5 it gets soooooo cold!!!! it's horrible. and the wind is ahhh freezing. ok... this week

This morning we took a bus to go hang out with that family of 14 with the redheaded kids? yeah they are such Weasleys but they sell these really cool backpacks but there wasn't room in the bus so the elders held on to the ladder in the back haha

also our new district leader is cory cooper tall. IT IS HILARIOUSSSSS he is always scrunched in the buses and people are craining thier necks to look up at him hahahahahaha 

So.. Nelly was supposed to get baptized on Friday. BUT. her mom refused to sign the blasted paper. Nelly turns 18 in June... so she will be baptized then...  SOOOO sad. love that girl and she will keep coming to church and stuff... bummer. Then the 2 other baptisms that the elders had planned fell through as well. this was on Thursday and we were all SUPER bummed. I just did something super weird to this keyboard... whoops. anyway. a few good old tracting stories for ya:

The elders we knocking doors and someone answered the door and asked "who are you looking for?" and the elders said, "you." and the guy was like... "uh he is not here."

we went to a house to visit someone named Juana. We knocked on the door and a little girl answered and said she would go get Juana. like 5 minutes late some lady yells at us from the roof. We said we were looking for Juanan and she told us she didn-t live there. so we were like... well... what is your name?? and shes like... uh.... uh... um... its... rosa. OH!!! Rosa. mucho gusto is there anything we can do to help you?? "maybe no." then she disappeared. hahahaha crazies. 

We knocked on a door and the lady yelled from inside, who is it??? and my comps like, somos nosotras!! like its us!! haha then we talked for a sec and she said she couldn-t open the door and i asked her name and she said she couldn-t tell us. hahaha yikes. 

Where did uncle Adam serve? or did he? a member here was telling me about his comp elder simmons from idaho... THAT would be crazy. 

I accidentaly brushed my teeth with my acne medication this week HAHAHAHAHAAH why anyone thought it was smart to put toothpaste and acne medication in similar tubes is beyond me. but at least my teeth won-t start growning zits... people can NOT say HOLLOWAY. I don-t understand what is so hard about it... the 2ns couselour in the bishopric (got home from his mission in June... yep) recently told me that the bishopric just calls me Halloween. they thinki they-re hilarious!!!!!!

We had a lesson with the cutest little family, a mom and her 3 little kids. we were talking about the plan of salvation and i asked what thing we need to do to return to Heavenly Father and the 4 year old boy Totally reminds me of young gabe aswered, " clean the house, wash the dishes, help your mom, make your bed... " and he just kept going it was the cutest most hilarious thing ever. 

sorry peeps im running out of time wish i had time to like... be gramatically corrct and spell everything right but THIS IS WHAT YOU GET. enjoy it. LOVE YOU ALL.

HH

December 9th 2013

que tal? Espero que todo este bien con ustedes! que paso esta semana... todo la semana estábamos por los cambios manana  pero ayer los zonies nos dijeron que nosotros no tenemos cambios entonces voy a estar aqui en TOTO para NAVIDAD!!! Estamos trabajando con Thomas, tiene 30 anos y vive con su mama dice que tiene un testimonio de el Libro De mormon pero no quiere cambiar su religión por que es un pecado y Jesucristo nunca cambio su religión hahaha

yesterday we sang come all ye faithful in sacrament meeting with the relief society, all 10 of us hahahah. it was pretty rough. is everyone tone deaf here? hahahahah JANE IS GREAT!!!! like i think she is having a bit of a rough time, her grandmas died last week but it was sooo good to see her. 

ugh i have sooooo many cute pictures but this machine is being dumb so ill send them next time. 

OH MY GOSH i forgot to tell you about getting locked in the chapel hahahaha oh man. after district metting me and my comp went to the bathroom for literally 3 minutes and when we came out, all the elders were gone and every single door was locked hahahaha it wasn't a big deal, we just called the elders and they thought it was the funnnnnniest thing EVER hahah brats. 

on friday we made lasagna with a less active member it took 5 hours. litterallyyyy. so ridiculous but way fun :)

The temple with the sisters sounds AWESOME!!!! Im sure they loved it.

We found a couple of promising records in the area book and asked a member at church about them and he just looked at them and said, "may they rest in peace" hahahah we were like... "oh.. are they dead?" and he said yed. HAHAHAHA I guess we should do thier temple work? hahahahaha

OK LISTEN TO THIS. For the ward CHristmas activity my ward is going to the WATERS OF MORMON. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH OH MY GOSH. LItterally only in Guatemala can you go to the site thought to be the waters of mormon for your ward christmas party. but it´s not in our mission haha so we can't go. 

DD YOU SEE MY FRENCH HORN TEACHER FROM UTAH STATE IN THE CHRISTMAS DEVOTIONAL!???? probably not because you don't know what he looks like but they showed him 5 times. 

i had to take 2 pitures out of my photo album... first the one of me and walker and nolan drinking starbucks shakes because everyone is like... i though mormons didn't drink coffee?? and its just annoying to explain. also one o me and lindsie doin yoga because people start asking about BUDA??

I cannot listen to the mo tab sing i believe in christ because it makes me miss home. and dad being a dork.

FAMMMMMMMM!!!!

December 16^th 2013

TODAY FOR PDAY!!!!!!! We got together with a whole bunch of hermanas and went to the top of a big mountain that overlooks Xela... soooo cool!!! Then we went and ate lunch at a really cafe. my bestieeieeeee friend HMN Caldwell was there!!! it was sooo beautiful to see her face. also we went down this big slide and it was HUGE and fast and i burned a few holes in my skirt... my clothes are seriously all such a disaster. i look like a little ragamuffin. i HATE asking you for stuff mom but i have a list of things i need for my half way package in May and you need to send it in march :) but i´ll send you the list later :) HATE YOU WALKER FOR GETTING PIES. YOU SUUUUUCK. but i love you so much.

Thank you so much for your emails!!! Hope family counseling goes well!! NOLAN YOU FFFFIIIIIIIINENNNEEE!!!!!!!!! darked skined honies hahahahahahah oh gosh. you crazy people. we are skypeing at 10 or 11 my time, I don't know how to do 3 way but that would be great!!!! I am soooo sorry if i cry when i see your faces... im fine i promise just a tiny homesick. but i will speak to you in spanish. uGGG I didn't get your package today which means i won't get it until after christmas... ;( but it´s ok. im sooo excited to get it. 

THIS WEEK:

on monday night i though i was going to DIE I was so sick, but we had a few lessons. on tueday, i litterally slept the entire day. i went to the bathroom at noon and went back to sleep. at 8 at night i remembered that dad worked EVERY day on his mission and there is NO way i wasn't going to work that day. so we went out and contacted for an hour. oh man i am stil recovering but im ok, just tired. 

On Wednesday we had our district meeting on 2 hermanas walked in and i was like, are you guys lost??? we have ALWAYS been the only hermanas in this zone. but they took 2 elders out and put hermanas in!!!!!!!! YAYA!!!!!! and they are the cutest. one is from southern VA!!!! adorable accent.We also met and talkd to a REALLY drunk guy. had dinner with my favorite family. sardines and rice!! but they are soooo freaking hilarious, and thier 4 tiny daughters are ADORABLE. he has been a member forever. she listened to the missionaries for 7 years before she was baptised and they were sealed a year later. the greatest. 

On thursday we went looking for the drunk guy and met a really cool 20 year old orphan who litterally lives by herself... its crazy. but she used to be evangelical but had a lot of doubts and is loking for the truth now, luckily we have it. we had a great first lesson with her and she accepted a baptismal date for Janurary 25. she is great. 

we did a lot of other crazy things and climberd mountain, faught off dogs, taught lots of lessons and talked to lots of people. 

yesterday i was a the church for 8 hours. my goodness, meeting after meeting, BUT!!!!! THe last 2 hours there was an AWESOME choir that came from GUATE and you will never guess who i saw!!!!!!

Hermana BRUNO!!!!!!!! My favorite best teacher ever from the CCM. was the BEST DAY EVER!!!!!!!

NOAMY. is 17. and my BFFFFFFF Life is good. love you lots. 

Hermana Holloway

we have this guy who always comes to our english class and he asked us if we had a bible in english.... hahahahahaha we didn't have a bible but you all know what book we DO have!!! so we gave him a BOM in english and spanish. and the elders are teaching him!!! missionary work is the best. also who would have every thought that i would stand up in front of 15 guatemalans and teach them english?? crazy. 

also its so weird that i have friends here. i don't even remeber life before the mission ahah do i have other friends?? 

also PLEASE!!!!!! be careful with my phone i need all those numbers when i get home. especially chenoas. cuz i won't be able to contact her over facebook. love you!

December 23^rd 2013

HEY FOLKS!!!

mom... i am not of little faith... i just know we only go into Xela once a month to get mail... and we went last week and my box wasn't there. hahaha but i promise im not worried about it, a whole bunch of elders haven't gotten thiers yet either so we just get to extend chistmas!!! Thank you soooo much!! Im crazy excited to get it. 

Im gunna keep this short because i am TALKING TO YOU GUYS ON WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MOM I trust you got my email that you need to make a me a skype account and email we the name and password PLEASE. Please don't mess this up. Im soo excited to talk to you. 11:00 my time. YAY!!!!!! 

the market is freaking CRAZY today!!!! sheesh i think there is more people here than there are in times square on new years eve. (JANUARY 2016, me and you mom and whoever else wants to come) but i think i saw the entire ward as i was walkin through also some old man hugged me and said "welcome to guatemala and merry christmas..." obviously in spanish, man i stick out like a sore thumb, everyone just LOVES staring at me. On Saturday i was sitting on the side of the street making some phone calls and this guys just came up to us and asked us why we were here. Betty was sooo right, people approach me allll the time. and thank goodness!!! Its way easier to share the gospel with people who ask then just shoving it in someones face. hahah but people are always dying to know what i am doing here because they would KILL to live in the states. EVERYONE here has family in Houston. or New York or miami. but mostly houston. i would like to go to Houston someday. 

Jack and Coog don't have thier own email address do they?? because i email them through collete but sometimes i feel like collete might forget to pass it on to them or something? because Jack will be like write us!! and im like... I did! maybe they just didn't get it?? I don't know. but it would be nice of they had their own address. 

On Friday Cecilia was baptised. she was originally our investigator... but then the elders kinda took her... ugh. what happened was that a member of the ward gave us BOTH the reference. and then we kinda had to fight for her... MEMBER MISSIONARY work tip: if you have a reference, only give it to one set of missionaries. but we had become really good friends with her and had worked in her cornfields and I am just really happy for her. SHe is 20 and has a really solid testimony. also she might have a crush on elder sanchez. HAHAHAH but actually someone told me that the snakes (yes... that what they call investigators that are intersted in something else besides the gospel) actaully can make really great investigators. because they will follow through on actually reading the Book of Mormon and Praying about it and coming to church and by doing those things they actually gain a testimony. hahahahaha, i don't know.. i haven't had any succsess with snakes. they just want to know what life is like in the states and if it is hard to find work there. 

MOM!!!! Sorry about your hair lady :( also that nobody laughed at your jokes!! LAME!!! I promise to laugh at your jokes when I get home.and i LOVE that talk by elder eyering and yes,,, i was buddies with a few of his grandkids hahaha and he always came to thier basketball gmes and i wanted to say hi but i was too scared. haha  congrats on your primary calling!! That should be a good time :) spiritual goals... for the new year... thats your topic?? dang. I dont know. i read this really good articile in the Liahona about this guy who works at Maccu Pichi in Peru. I don't remeber what year or month haha but i bet you could find it online. He talks about how because he works at Maccu Pichu sometimes he forgets about the beauty and wonder of it just because he is so used to it. ANd he talks about how sometimes we get into the whole routine of the church and and it looses it´s beauty and becomes something normal when in reality it is  something miraculous and such a huge blessing in our lives. i don't know... i was thinking about how that might be a goos new years revolution to just recognize the beauty of the gospel. 

Have you opened my box!?!?! isn't it killing you!?! haha just kidding it's not that exciting. DID walker not write this week? I got a whole bunch of pictures from him but he didn't write anything did he? it would be SWEET if we could do 3 way calling. what time is he skypeing??

anyway. love you all... i have a list of stuff to tell you in case but honestly it is nothing exciting and i would much rather here from you guys.  oh! we made cinnimon rolls and pineapple pie last night!! with this menos activa. her autistic son LOVES me. He started using Tu form of spanish with me... and i was like... uh i have no idea how to use tu form also it is against the mission rules so.. also guatemalans are crazy with thier spanish. like this lady uses usted and vos AND tu with her 10 year son. it is so confusing. but so normal. apparently it is just a crazy guuatelmalan thing to do but TONS of people talk in Vosotros. little kids always are like VENID!!! hahahahahah and thier moms are like... you need to use usted with the hermanas!!! its so weird there is no equivelent in english.

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

HH

PS in relief society we talked about the importance of spending time with your family during the Christmas season and at one  point the teacher looked at me and said, " I was just wondering how you feel being so far away from home during this season especially since you are brand new and you will have to spend yet another christmas away from home. Could you share your feelings with us? " ... uh... I feel great thanks!!! hahaha no i just talked about that it is such a blessing to be a missionary and share this message with others. Then i cried for 10 minutes. UGH. then at the end this lady came and gave me a hug and she's like... " you are really far away from your family but..." i was like... BUT WHAT!?!?!?!??!?! how is that comforting at all!???? jajajaja crazies. but really all is well, the members take really great care of us. love you!!!!!  TALK TO YOU WEDNESDAY!!!!!!

HH

FAMILY!!!!
January 7^th 2014

AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry I didn´t write yesterday!!!!! we went PAINTBALLING!!!!!!!!!!!! and it was sooo fun and we didn´t have time to write. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY YOU OLD FARTS!!!!!!!!! I hope it was excellent, also SATCHEL AND GABE!!!!!!!!!! HAPPY ALMOST BIRTHDAYS YOU OLD FARTS!!!!!!!! hahahahaha love you crazies. have you gotten any of my letters!??? WRITE ME BACK!!! So sorry about your foot satchel man!!!!! send me pictures!!!

I GOT MY PACKAGE!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!! my NEW comp LOVED her stocking and we have been eating junk food like crazy. i especially loved the brand spanking new hairties HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I was dying laughing that every single one was coated in mom hair, but its a nice little thing to have to remeber mom by ahahahaha also mommy thank you sooooo much for the money!!! is there any way you could please please put money in my account and i will just keep the cash in my suitcase and give it back to you when I get home because i went to the bank to exchange it and they wanted me to open an account and show a copy of my passport and apparently there is a place in xela but we couldn´t find it yesterday but I FINALLY BOUGHT NEW SHOES!!!! oh my gosh. finally. but could you look at my chase account please and tell me how much i have and stuff?? and add money?? thank you!!!! thank you for everything!!!!!! 

ARE YOU DYEING TO HEAR ABOUT MY NEW YEARS!?!?!?! i knew it. ok. on the 31st we woke up crazy early and hermana richards packed up everything and we went in to the church offices in xela. thats when they finally gave me my package!!!!!! and then another set of hermanas showed up and the elder in the office was just like... you guys are just switching. hahahaha so me and my new comp jumped in a taxi and drove to the bus termanal. SHE IS THE CUTEST HUMAN BEING. suuuuuper quirkey but she is from equador and in 20 and only has 6 months left on the mission. she IS CYNTHIA. it is PHYSSSSCO. the way she pulls faces and walks awkwardly and everything... the only difference is that she is commited to the gospel and is an awesome missionary. also we haven´t been on time to a single thing since she got here. NEW YEARS WAS SOOOOO GREAT!!!!! we did tons of fireworks with a member and drank warm pineapple punch(wierd) and watched the spanish speaking people in times square... that was wierd. then we went home and slept for an hour and woke up at 1145 bundled up in our blankets. IT IS SOOOO FREAKING COLD. have i mentioned that!???????? freaking dying of cold. anyway and walked up to the roof and watched the fireworks.there were soooo many!!!!!!! sooooooo cool we made videos and laughed and talked and went to bed at 1.  

last monday in the mini store thing i heard this couple speaking to each other in english and it really threw me off so I asked them where they were from, texas. they are visiting but SPEAKING ENGLISH IS SO UNNATRALLLLLLLLLL. weird. as we were leaving the guy was like... go... convert people! thanks pal... I will. hahaha

i found a GIANT FUZZY BLACK HUGE GINORMOUSSSS CATTERPILLER in the shower and killed it. gross

oh my gosh we have been working with this lady who is less active and one night we left and hermana revelo is like, is she pregnant?? and im like... no... she doesn't have a husband! and my comp just dyyyyyyyes laughing and she´s like... hermana you can have a baby without a husband. soooo funny. so then the next night the lady is like... im pregnant!!!!! hahahahahahahahaha and right when we left my comps like... so... the father is the Holy Ghost. hahahahahahahaah freaking love this crazy equadorian chica. the language barrier is definitley a little weird but she is trying to learn english and we have a good time. this morning after she showered she stuck her head out of the bathroom door and she´s like, hey hermana will you hand me my... and I had never heard the word before. so im like what does that mean?? and she´s like you know... my... I DON´T KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS. and she´s like.. you wear it over you garments on your chest. ITS FOR YOUR CHI CHIS!!!! hahahahahahahahahaahhahahaha so now i know how to say bra in spanish. 

also everytime any gringo finds out im from bountiful all they do is RAVE about how beautiful the temple is there. DUH. I KNOW. also dick and marsha chritiansen sent me the CUTEST package!!!!!!! could you please call them and tell them I say thank you SOOOOOOOO much. 

We have 4 pretty fija fetcha para este mes I think Rosita is finally going to get baptised, her dad wants her to know everything before her baptism so!!! we are going to teach her all the missionary lessons and she is going to teach her dad. she is dyeing to be baptized. so cute. 

Diana.... oh diana. she belonged to the elders but... her brother in law is in the bishopric and wants us to teach her now becuase apparently the elders don´t teach with the spirit. so that has been a little awkward. elder sanchez was not overly happy. but elder GNIETING is coming back to baptize her!!!! YAYA!!!!!!! I miss my mini Gary Holloway. 

anyway life is good. I am learning SOOOOO much from my crazy new comp and having a great time. sorry you have been sick mommy!!!!!!!!!! And seriously if you can send me a calendar with pictures or just pictures and I NEED A SLIP I AM DYING. all my skirts are see through because they are wash so harshly on the stone thing. and these guatemalans don´t believe in slips!!! I will keep looking. LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAPY BIRTHDAYS!!!!! I sent satchel and gabe a letter so look for it in a few years. and handwrite me!!!!!!!!!!! and dear elder me talks and stories and stuff i have read all 48 of the liahonas in the apartement in spanish and english IM NOT KIDDING im DYING to read SOMETHING NEW. also board games or like uno or something. i need to buy stuff like that. also a USB of more music if you can!! or C.Ds like anything remotely churchy. the last 3 years of efy and stuff. GRAPE LAFFY TAFFYSSSS. LOVE YOUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Jan 13, 2014

 Want to hear the funniest joke ever!?!

The Bishop asked me to be the ward pianist. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I was

practicing a special (VERY special) musical number with my comp who

"plays" the violin :) the bishop over heard and asked me to be the

ward pianist!! hahahahah ali will die when i tell her. so i played

yesterday but after talking to my comp I had to tell the bishop no

because sometimes we are late cuz we go with investigators and i don't

have time during the week to practice and such its fine because there

is an hermano in the ward who plays just about as well as i do hahaha

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS BABIES!!!!!!!!! I miss you like CRAZYYYY I hope you

had super happy birthdays!!!!! LOVE YOU!!!!!

Thank you again for the wonderful package!!!! The jammies are soooo

cute!!!!! You are the best. and that fitted sheet has changed my life.

also I made a sweet visual of the plan of salvation out of the model

magic haha

the other day i was making french toast for breakfast and i had all

the egg shells in my hand and i litterally said out loud, "where is

the chicken bucket?" and the i just bust up laughing. luckily my comp

was in the shower and i didnt have to explain.

I was fed pig skin twice this week. SO GROSS.

People trying to pronounce uchdorf in HILARIOUS

There is the lady in the ward who used to be evangelical and she still

prays like it hahah she is always like "papaito lindo" which

translated directly into "cute little daddy." hahahahaha

I was thinking this week that no matter what our investigators

problems are, the gospel solves everything! I have met 400 billion

people with all different problems and seriously I can share a

scripture or a gospel priciple with anyone to help them resolve thier

concerns, they just moved here? come to church and meet people. Your

daughter just died? plan of salvation. You have a horrible illness?

the atonement. The gospel in incredible. the church is true.

Today we climbed a huge freaking mountain and i almost DIED but then

we went vine swinging and it was really fun.

love you. hope you feel better mommy! HH

January 20^th 2014

My week in Hell but many heavenly moments

HOLA FAMILIA!!!!!!!!!

Gabe and satchel you are CRACKING me up with your letters. THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!! Did you get my birthday letter to you guys yet?? 

ok I got sooooo sick this week (I accendently overdosed on acetamephen) and didn't leave the house for 4 days hence the subject of this email but we will talk about that later. 

ELDER QUINTEN L COOK CAME!!!!!!!!!! and talked to the whole mission it was one of the best days of my life. 

 I will send more pics later.

but it was soooooo good. he is a gem really. he taught a lot from the doctrine and covenents which i had forgotten exsisted hahah cuz be are supposed to focus on the BOM and Bibble and at the very Elder Cook left us with a blessing. It was so perfect and i garenteen every single missionary in that chapel needed it.He said, " some of you are concerned about your families and sometimes you think that you could maybe you could do more good at home than you are here but I promise you that the sacrifice you are making is blessing everyone you love including your future family." I was bawling. UGH. so perfect.

we made an equadorian meal with a member and elder tovar from mexico was killing me he´s like, " members always ask me to make a mexican dish and whenever i cook something that is suposedly mexican it always turns out guatemalan" hahahahahahahahah that it so the culture here. 

OK. soooo last monday i was dying of a migrine as I was writing you all. it was horrible and then i just just got sooooo sick but seriously the most incredible experience don't laugh or roll your eyes walker it was seriously a miracle. It was in the middle of the night on tuesday night and i was shaking so badly with the chills and my head was throbbing and i was just praying for some kind of relief. but i was mostly asleepish oh my gosh it makes me cry just to think about it!! suddenly i felt someones hands on my head like big strong hands and then i was like on the outside looking in and i kid you not, daddy was standing next to my bed giving me a blessing and i stopped shaking and went back to sleep. It was amazing. I told my comp about it a few days later and she said "oh that wasn't a dream, heavenly father sent you an angel"

mini miracles everyday!!

oh yeah so basically i was taking walmart acetamenaphin for my head and then the nurse told my comp to give me some really strong tylenol so i was taking like a ton of medicine and i didn´t realize until like 3 days later and then we had to go to xela to poop in a cup wich was a real pleasure. 

IM ALIVE!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!! SENDING PICS IN 2 minutes. 

HH

 this is a funny story... we forgot our keys so we broke the window to get in and then put pictures of cris in the window hahahahah but don't worry we bought a new window and all is well

ah!!!! Im so glad you got to talk to michelle, I think about Chris all the time. 

Im doing well. Its just a freaking roller coaster ride. 

have you gotten any of my letters?? 

alrighty here is what i need:

I DO NOT need a backpack or a waterbottle

I DO need:

Beef Jerky. these people are obsessed

USB with lots of music and good christmas music!!!!!! christmas music is about christ!!!! bring it on, john taylo, manhiem steamroller also other church music like mindy gledhill and piano guys and peter brienholt i think the church website has music!!! thats all the missionaries share music with each other. they all have USBs THANK YOU

SWATCH!

EMERGN C!!!

Facewash

tons of chapstic

hoodless swaetshirt to sleep in

also elder sanchez says to ask you for a frisbee but don´t worry about it. haha

MY COMP FROM THE CCM!!!

and my district from the CCM