San Cristobal

Well it has been my first week out in the field and I love everything about being out here!  I ABSOLUETLY LOVE IT HERE! My area is San Cristobal and it is gorgeous! Reminds me a little bit of Oregon because there are a lot of trees and everything! I can finally send pictures so you can see everything!

The language is hard because everyone talks so fast that I really never have any idea what is going on. But I know that with time it will come! My companions name is Hermana Pena and she is from Nicaragua. And she is amazing! I already love here and we have a lot of fun laughing while we are out walking to lessons and things like that. But she is really patient with me and helping me speak Spanish! Which is good, also because she knows English but refuses to speak to me in Spanish which is good and I really like!

Today was pday and we were supposed to go hike to a Lake but there was some protest going on so we didn't get the chance, so we ended up just walking for like 6 hours. but it was fine because this place is beautiful! I seriously am so in love with it.

We teach a lot of families which is a lot of fun! So many little kids that I already just love and they all want to get baptized which is amazing. We are just waiting for the parents to finally tell them that it is okay!

The people here are so humble and live in such humble conditions. It is a lot like the Philippines. But the women all wear traditional Guatemalan clothing, i don't think that I have a picture but they also carry things on their heads, which just amazes me because I have no idea how they do that! Also funny thing because one the members in the ward has a daughter and so she calls me Hermana Blue hahaha

Here is the names of our investigators:
Familia Sapon - Brisna, Emmanuel, and Guisela. Brisna and Emmanuel and the 13 and 10 and really want to get baptized! It is all they can talk about. Their mom, Guisella, wants to to but is afraid because they live with her parents and her dad is a pastor. And she is afraid that if they get baptized and join the church that the dad will kick them out of the house. So please pray for her to have strength and faith to do what she knows is right and trust that the Lord will bless her and her family.

Familia Juarez Mejia -  they have three kids as well and they all want to be baptized. We just gave their dad a Book of Mormon and he has been reading it so hopefully he receive an answer that it is true and the mom is talking the lessons as well. So we are just waiting for the parents to give the kids approval, or it would be nice to be able to baptize them as a family. So pray for them to continue to progress and learn and know that this is true

Yomara Son -  Family is less active so we are working with them. But she is 13, probably as tall and skinny as Noa, and wants to be baptized. But the family is related to another less active member family who are not great examples, so they don't want her to get baptized. But please pray for them as well!

We don't do a lot of street contacting just because we literally have a huge list of references and investigators and less actives to visit, it is insane. But occasionally we will be in the street and just saying good afternoon/night things like that, and have people ask us about the church. But a lot of the people down here are super evangelic. So that is another challenge. But I love being out here and it is gorgeous. Reminds me of Oregon with all the green, trees, and mountains. Which sometimes makes me a little homesick! But this place is awesome! I am so glad that I made the decision to serve. 

Love you all so much and thank you for you constant prayers, support, and love. The Lord is truly hastening his work!


Hermana Loo

All the new Hermana's in our mission

My CCM companion Hermana King. 

Hermana Pena.  My trainer.

Same Old...Same Old!!!

It is hard to write about exciting things that are happening to me when we do pretty much the same thing every day here at the CCM. But, I am learning a ton so hey no complaints here.

BUT THE EXCITING PART IS THAT THE NEXT TIME I WRITE I WILL BE IN QUETZALTENANGO! What???...crazy.. I know little about my travel arrangements. The only thing that I know is that we leave early in the morning on Tuesday and that it is a 5 hour bus ride... other than that no se.

Okay so here is my breakdown of the week.

I got really sick Thursday night and it continued Friday and Saturday. But now I am on the recovery and feeling better everyday. My head hurt and I had a runny nose and it made it impossible for me to focus during class which made me frustrated becuase I only have a week here and I want to get as much done before I have to leave! It also made me really miss home and my mom - becuase I really missed having someone take care of me. But The Lord blessed me and I was able to recover speedily!

A break down of our investigators. My companion and I taught a really good lesson this week on the Priesthood to one of our investigators. The Spirit was so strong it was amazing, everyone was whispering because of it. Afterwards our teacher talked to us and told us that the lesson changed his life... WOW! was all that I could think. He said that through our lesson he wanted to keep crying but was holding it in. He said that while we were teaching he was reminded of something that he read in his patriarchal blessing and how our lesson changed his perspective on what he read in his blessing. It was amazing! The spirit truly works miracles!

My perspective has defintiely changed while being here too! I absolutelty LOVE Guatemala and the people here! I have also noticed that the way I look at people has also changed. I no longer have my same attitude that I used to have.... I serioulsy see everyone as sons and daughters of God and that has changed everything! I also used to hate teaching... well not hate it just made me nervous. But now I LOVE it!  It is the best part of my day! And being able to feel The Spirit so strong is like nothing else!

Okay so some people have been asking me about the food here in the CCM. It isn't too bad on some days. But others it is just werid... like nachos with beans and cheese for brekafast! what... no se. But that is what we mainly eat. Beans, cheese, and tortillas.... cant say I like it but food is food and when I am hungry there is not much else I can eat.

Okay so the tour we went on. It was super fun and we went to the market. It is somewhat like the market in the Philiipines just a bunch of people talking to you trying to get you to by there things. But it was really interesting to see some natives and the way that they dress and act. I can already tell that I am going to absolutely love being here! There was a food market there and it was nasty to see all of the bugs and flys that are just around and all over the food, but the people still eat it! so oh well! I bought a shirt that says "guats up" and I wish that I could send you some but that is a lot of money and I am poor... so lo siento. But it was really fun to see Guatemala and it is absolutely beautiful! So much green and trees! It reminds me of Oregon a little bit. I have a lot of pictures that I wish that I could send you...but you  can all see them in a week! WHAT CRAZY!

Well thats about all that happened this week... oh but it rained during sports one day, like poured! And it was so much fun! becuase it wasnt cold but perfect. It reminded me of playing in the rain in Samoa.

Just want to leave with a quote from President Monson "Do your duty, that is best, leave unto the Lord the rest."

I LOVE this gospel and there is no where that I would rather be than out here on a mission. I KNOW that this church is true, how could it not be!

Love and miss you all so very much!

Hermana Loo

One Month!!!...I can't believe it.

This is going to be a day by day thing.

Thursday

Today was a rough day. We had a lot of problems with the elders in my district. They were being just a little disrepectful and not listening to the teacher. Plus they always leave their companions! And you need to be able to be within sight and sound of them at all times! Plus a lot of them do not realize that this is the Lords time and not theirs. We just need to constantly remember that this is the Lords work, the Lords way.

Friday

Happy 4th of July! We actually got to eat American food instead of the regular rice and beans! Which was so nice to have a burger and normal cake! We also went on an English fast for 24 hours which means that i spoke spanish only that entire time and it was amazing! I totally realized how much Spansih I actually know and it was so good! However on Friday my comapnion and I did get rejected by our investigator which was so sad! He is just a teacher pretending to be and investigator, but still I was so devestated! I wanted to just yell at him and tell him to stop being so stupid! Becuase he knows that this is true! I cannot imagine how it is going to feel with actualy people, i dont even want to think about it. It was especially sad becuase the lesson before we got him to commit to baptism and attend church! Later the teacher we taught told us that he decided to reject us because we needed a new challenge. We were applying the principles of teaching to well and needed to have a different challenge. So i guess it wasnt to bad. But still sad because we got RECHAZADO!

Saturday

Thanks goodness for prayer! The Lord has definitely blessed me with gifts becasue I have asked him too. Especially the gift of patience! I cannot tell you how much more patient I have gotten. And I am so thankful for that! I have definitely gained a testimony of ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you. The Lord wants to bless us, but we must be willing to act in Faith and ask Him!

Sunday

It was fast sunday so we did a full 24 hours, and let me tell you I thought that I was going to die from hunger! But i actually wasnt hungry at all, yet another blessing from the Lord! It was testimony meeting so it was nice and really cool to hear everyone bear theirs in Spanish and then for me to get up and do mine in Spanish as well. The Spirit was so strong! I absolutely love it here! After sacrament presidente came up to Hermana King and I and asked to talk to us. I was so nervouse because I had no idea what he was going to say! Turns out he thought that we had gotten in a fight because of the way we looked during Sacrament. Hahaha well thats just my face president, sorry about that. Also I was really tired and a little hungry hahaha...oops! We got everyrthing sorted out and told him that we were totally fine which was good!

Monday

There was an earthquake early in the morning that woke me up. It was just strong enough to shake the bunkbed that I was sleeping on. Funny story though because Hermana King thought it was I shaking the bed and I thought it was her! So we were both a little angry at eachother wondering why we were shaking the bed! hahaha but then we both figured out it was an earthquake and were totally fine!

Tuesday

Today is Tuesday and we get to go to Wendys and on a field trip! Finally we get to go outside! Which is why I have no time to wrtie. So lo siento if I do not write you back. But I do enjoy getting your emails and hearing about how all fo you are doing.

I love you all so much! Thanks for all of the lov, support and prayers you send my way! You guys are amazing! I love this work, Love the people, and Love the Lord!

Hermana Loo

Half way there!

I cannot believe that I have already been here for three weeks and that I am going to be out of the CCM in another three! Time really has flown by.  I  couldn't be more excited to get out into the field!

So here is a quick update as to what is going on... hopefully I will have more time in the field so that I can be more detailed. But for now it is going to be short and sweet!

Yesterday night I had a dream in Spanish! Which is just crazy and when I woke up from it, it freaked me out a little bit! But nevertheless it was cool and I think that dreaming is also a little sign that you are getting the language down better and better. Also I am now able to give a 30 plus minute lesson in just Spanish! Which is just crazy but I absolutely love teaching and even though they are not real investigators you can still feel the power of the spirit there!

So right now i have two investigators and one less active that I teach regularly! But my companion and I got one to commit to baptism and attend church and the other investigator started crying when we shared our message with her because it was about life after death and she had a son pass away. It was really good. I absolutely love teaching it is my favorite part of the day and I can only imagine what it will be like out in the field! Oh i cannot wait!

I also got new Spanish roommates this week. One of them speaks pretty good English and the other speaks none at all and talks so fast! Kind of freaks me out thinking about how the people in Quetzaltenango are going to speak!

I also met my new mission presidents because they stopped by the CCM! They are both so sweet and apparently know Grandma and Grandpa HoChing somehow, so they knew who I was! But that was really nice to be able to meet them and say hello.

I am slowly getting sick of the food and dying for something American! Oh well next Tuesday we get Wendy's so that will be awesome and I am so excited for that!

Sorry this is all bunched up and may be confusing, but some of the keys on the computer don't work too well.

But just want to leave with some quotes from a devotional given by Elder Oaks

• "you are royalty... the sons and daughters of God"
• "you are here to serve, not to be thanked"
• "whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies"

I love every second of being a missionary and wouldn't want to be doing anything else! The Lord truly does bless us when we are being obedient and doing the things that we need to! The Lord is hastening his work... I have heard from countless people that in Guatemala all you have to do is bear your testimony and people will believe! Which is incredible. I know that this church is true and that I am exactly where I need to be! Missionary work is the best! I love and miss you all!

Hermana Loo

.. also apparently I look like a Jaguar at least that is what one of the other Hermanas said! LOL