Hey familia!!! So I have officially made it one week down
here, and what a week it has been!!! I absolutley love it down here! It is so
warm, and all the peope are so friendly! So flying on the plane was a lot of
fun, I didnt know what to expect when I got on, but it wasnt too bad. There
were about 44 missionaries flying out to the MTC (CCM) by the time we reached
LA...so there were plenty of missionaries to sit by on both of the flights over
to Guatemala. ;) I have a couple of experiences to share about this week. The
first one is pretty cool. When we landed in LA, we were wondering what we could
do with our 3 hour layover. I decided to pull out my Spanish el libro de mormon
out, and my english book of mormon out. I gave the spanish one to the elders,
and us sisters kept the englsih one. I challenged both groups to give away
these book of mormons to someone in the aiprort in one hour. We gave away both
of them within the hour, and there was an elder who brought like 20 book of
mormons, so overall we probably handed out about 8-10 books. Most of the people
there were spanish speaking, and were flying out to Guatemala as well...so all
we could speak was spanish, which was great. The lesson learned there was that
team work is essential in the mission field. If my companion and I dont work
together as a team, we wont get anything accomplished. The second lesson
learned there is to open your mouth. Never be afraid to bear your testimoney of
the trueness of the Gospel.
When we got off the plane, we all waited outside of the airport
to be picked up by bus to go to the CCM (MTC). As we waited, a Guatemalan man
came up to us asking us if he could please shine our shoes for 1 dollar, so
that he would be able to feed his family that night. A few elders let him shine
their shoes...and I stood there in amazment at how humble these people live. I
take so much for granted, and complain about things that really dont matter.
That experience humbled me so much, and as I thought more about it later
that night I wept. I will forever be grateful for what I have, and the
blessings I have recieved in this life.
So I guess I will say, my companera is pretty awesome!! Her
name is Hermana Peterson, and she is going to my same mission. Not only that,
but she is one of the four girls I met on facebook through the missionary
group...so I have known her for awhile. We get along great, and we seriously
are best buddies! And do you want to know what is funny? So you know how I have
a flipper because of my missing tooth? Yeah, well she does too..so this companionship
was meant to be! jaja all the missionaries here are amazing. We have a total of
about 160ish missionaries here, so it is a lot smaller that the provo mtc, but
it is great because everyone knows everyone! it is interestig because we have
this really tall fence bordering the MTC so that no one else can get in. There
are actually guards that stand out there 24/7 with guns to protect us, so I
feel extremley safe! Although it was a culture shock at first, (not to freak
you out or anything) but we do hear gunshots here regularly at night. Oh and
the traffic here is crazy! People seriously do not every stay in their lanes.
haha so grandma kathy, you can never ever complain about my driving again! And
Britt, you are so right...drivers really dont yield to pedestrians. Believe me,
I know now because when we were walking to the temple, we had a sister who
almost got hit!
The language here has actually been a lot harder than I
thought. As far as language study goes, this week has ripped me apart! Its
almost like school, because we have language classes that go all day long,
everyday. I have signed up for tutoring every week so I can get as much
language down as a can before the 6 weeks here are over! So we will see how I
progress.
In my district we have actually been given an investigator
that we have been teaching all week. His name is Alejandro, and he is a very
nice man. He was interested in the Gospel because he loves how it makes us so
happy .He has a friend that is LDS, and he says that his friend (as well as his
family) are always smiling and happy. Alejandro did not understand why, so he
came to us for an answer. We have focused on teaching him the plan of
salvation, and how God can bless our families. He is very open to learning
more. We had some elders in our district invite him to be baptized. He said he
would have to think about it, and that he wants his family involved, so I will
keep you up to date on what happens with that.
Well, it is time to go! But I love you all!! My p day is
wednesday, and my email time is 10am-11. As far as pictures go, they took our
cameras away, and they can only be used everyother pday in the MTC. So sorry,
no pics this week. They keep them so that no one will have the temptation of
stealing them haha. But I will send you a picture of all the sisters here in
the MTC. I hope everyone is doing well! I love you all, and cannot wait to hear
from you soon! Te amo y hasta luego!
Love, Hermana Thomas
No comments:
Post a Comment