Strange week....

Well lets just talk about all of the weird things that happened to me this week.... and there were quite a few!

Contacts in the street

This week was really an interesting one for contacting people on the street! First of all I contacted two olds ladys on the street who really couldnt hear at all! And i mean at all! And of course i contacted them one right after the other. Anyway with one of them our conversation went a little like this... "soy Hna Loo" to which she replies... "¿Que? Prima? ... no... soy Paulina" jajajaja seriously not even close but so funny! and then we had a drunk old men come up to us and start talking, and during this entire time he is smoking his cigarette.. anyways we humor him for a little bit before telling him that we need to go. He then puts out his hand for a handshake... and afterwards kisses my hand! EEWWWWW!!!!! Seriously so gross! And seriously come on! All i wanted to do was wash my hand!

But on the upside this week i have really come to gain a testimony of the promise we receive in D&C 100: 5-8. I really never have any idea what to say or how to start a conversation when we are contacting in the street, but the Lord always puts the words in my mouth that i need and i always know exactly what to say! And i know that He will do the same for you guys as well as you try and share the gospel with all of those around us!

Enduring to the end?

Okay, so another interesting experience this week. We visited a recent convert who is also inactive with or ward mision leader. Anyways, we begin teaching him about the importance of enduring to the end and how we endure to the end. To which he tells us that he is enduring to the end because he is attending church every Sunday and going to church activites... but all of these things he is doing in the CATHOLIC CHURCH!... umm what! 

I do find this a lot here, a lot of recent converts or less actives who realy dont understand the doctrines and principles of the church, and it really is so sad! But all of the missionaries in my branch are really focusing on the less actives and recent converts in the ward, because how can we expect the Lord to bless us with new people to teach if we are not taking care of the ones he has already given us?

The Book of Mormon

I had and interview with President Smith again this week and he told me in my interview that i really need to be focusing more on the Book of Mormon with my investigators. That i should be reading it with them everyday!

So we started doing just that especially with Guisela. And on the days when we are unable to visit her we call her and her family to have them tell us what they learned and understood. And it is really amazing to see the things that she has learnt and even to see again, the slight change that she has made!

The role of the Book of Mormon is to convince that Jesus is the Christ. It is the keystone of our religion, if the Book of Mormon isnt true then our religion really has nothing to stand on. I have really come to strengthen my testimony of the Book of Mormon. It is seriously so true! and i am so thankful that I have it in my life!

I love you all so much! Hope that you continue to build your testimonies of the gospel! I know without a shadow of a doubt that it is true! How could it now be! I know that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the world. I know that He loves is and knows each of us personally. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and restored the fullness of the gospel to the Earth. I know Thomas S, Monson is a living prophet today. And i know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God!

"The Kingdom of God.. or nothing." - John Taylor

Have a great week! You are all always in my thoughts and prayers!

Hermana Loo

Would you believe me if i told you that these are kites...

and that these kids made them!

Insane what you can do without TV or computers to occupy you throughout the day! 

Just some more photos of tuc tucs

litterally they are so awesome

and i am currently trying to convince president smith that we need them in the mission jajaja 

Two volcanoes here in Guatemala.

Apparently the smaller one is still really active!}

Guatemala! Dont know if you can tell but this is pretty typcial of houses here.

There is like a yard in the middle of them and then the bedrooms and kitchen

are just little rooms off to the side that surround it.

Casacas!

This week i think has really been the hardest week of my mission by far! I think that at least twice this week i had the feeling of just wanting to cry, or feeling inadequate, or that i was just wasting the Lord´s time. Which made me really frustrated. But this week everyone just seemed to be so full of lies! And I dont think that there is anything that I hate more than lies!

Manifestation

There was yet another protest here that blocked 4 caminos. Which is a major point of travel in Guatemala. And since the protests here block the roads, there was no one coming or going anywhere. And because 4 caminos is so close to my area, well its actually in my area, everyone seemed to be in 4 caminos, just watching the protest. Which lasted 3 days, 72 hours. 

Needless to say, there was no one in their homes or on the street! Which is really not ideal when we are needing to find new people to teach!

Gran Cambio

This week we went and visited with Guisela and I was able to see such a great change in her, it really was a miracle!

While we were sitting and talking with her she started asking us questions about the mission, and what she should expect if and when Adonai, her 18 year old son, chooses to serve a mission. She had a ton of questions and at the end of it all she said that she will support him 100% in his missions and any of her other children if they decide to serve! Amazing!

She then went on to talk about how one day at work, some of the women she works with were asking her questions about the church, and why her kids attend the Mormon church, becuase the Mormons teach false things and drink and smoke. Basically they were just talking about a lot of things about the church that were just not true. But Guisela was defending the church and explaining what we believe in! It was crazy to hear! Explaining about the Word of Wisdom, law of chastity, and even some doctrinal points! WHAT! I couldnt believe it!

Un Moñton de Mentiras

I dont know why but this week everyone seemed to be lying to us this week. Someone would tell us a story but then we would hear a different story from someone else in the family, or we would knock on doors and they would say that the person we were looking for wasnt home, even though we knew they were because we could hear their voice from within the house!

For whatever the reason, everyone seemed to be lying! And it was really frustrating! And i really dont know why! But I have come to absolutely hate lies! I dont think there is anything that i hate more!

My patience was really tried this week because of all the lies that i heard, but at the same time i realized that i was doing what i have been called to do, in inviting others to come unto christ. And if they dont want to accept it then that is there own decision and use of their agency!

In the light?

Had a really interesting, and quite honestly hilarious experience this week. There is a member in the ward named Pedro, he is blind, and really doesnt understand much about the church or believe in the Book of Mormon. (Something i find really common here, members who really dont know or believe in the gospel and its doctrine)

Anyways, Hermano Pedro attempted to tell us that all Christians are in the truth, that it doesnt matter if you are a member of the church or not! All Christians walk in the light, he really doesnt understand that there is only one true church!

But perhaps the best and most funny part about this experience was that Hermano Pedro basically told me that I wasnt a good missionary because I dont visit him! jajaja What! When i tried to explain to him that as missionaries, and hermans, we are not allowed to visit men by ourselves, but that we need another member to be with us. He then told me that this was a lie because he had other hermanas visit him before and that i needed to get the bad thoughts out of my minds that bad things were going to happen! jajajaja too funny. But if I get told that i am a bad missionary because i am being obedient, that is okay with me!

Needless to say it was a very interesting and funny experience! One that i will never forget!

I was reading through my notes this week that i took while in the CCM and for some reason this quote from President Cox really stuck out to me

"90% of your blessings come from the last 10% of your obedience"

I truly know that the Lord loves each and everyone of us! That he is willing and waiting to open the windows of heaven and pour out blessing into our lives.

I love you all so much and am so thankful for the blessing it is to have each of you in my life!

Hermana Loo

How they was there clothes, just a rock slab and water.

Seriously so much time and kills your hands!

Los seguidores de jesus... jajaja christian concert in the middle of San Cris!

This is a Tuc Tuc!

GUATEMALA! 

5 months!

WOW! really where has the time gone! It really is true, the time out here on the mission just absolutely flies by! It has all been such a blur, but i am so grateful for the sacred blessing that it is to be a missionary and representative of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Time does really fly and I am doing my best to make this short 18 months count!

Fe

What is faith? Is it power? Knowledge? hope? belief? what is faith?

We talked about faith this week in our zone meeting and I thought that it was a really interesting conversation. In our meeting the zone leaders posed this question and i am interested to know what you think?

Here is the question: Does God have faith?

Something that i really dont think i have ever thought about before but interested what you all think. si o no?

Fernandito

This week while in our zone meeting i received a call from my ward mission leader, letting me know that an 8 year old boy in our branch had passed away, and that the family needed our help in getting things ready for the funeral. It was really sad to hear especially because he was only 8 years old, so young. But he was born with a heart defect and so the family also knew that they only had a short amount of time to be with him.

So we spent Tuesday providing service for the family and Wednesday helping them with the funeral service. And although really sad, through all of this i realized how grateful I am for the knowledge of the gospel, for my testimony of the Plan of Salvation. And for the worthiness of my parents to enter into the temple and be sealed for time and all eternity. I know that families can be together for eternity, and am so grateful for the opportunity to be with my family forever!

What was really great about the family of the boy who passed away, Fernando, was that he had just gotten baptized and the family had just been sealed in the temple! And to hear the testimonies of the parents as they spoke of the Plan of Salvation and their testimonies of how they will one day return and live with their son again!

The Gospel is so true! Heavenly Father loves us and has a plan for us! And how great and marvelous is His plan!

Opposition in all things

It seems like these past couple of weeks we are always facing a challenge, and the Elders in my area too. As we are both really struggling to find people to teach, people that are truly interested in hearing about the gospel. Satan is really working hard in the hearts of the people here, everyone we talk with really isn´t interested at all in hearing about the gospel, or changing their religion. Ther are a ton of evangelicos (i cant remember what we call them in English jajaja) and they really want nothing to do with any other religion. I have also come to realize that Satan works in mysterious ways, like through dogs.... so that we cant contact houses becuase the dogs will attack us! Speaking of which, i almost got eaten by a dog this week... but this has become a normal thing.

Anyway, Satan is really working hard. But as i reflected back on this week i realized that everyone i talk with isnt going to want to hear about the gospel. But my job, what i have been called to do, is just work hard and be diligent, give everyone the opportunity to hear the gospel and then use there agency to accept our message or not. But it is my job to teach them and invite them, in a way that they understand our message. And this is our job/duty/role as members of the church. This is what we have been commanded to do! 

The gospel is such a blessing that we have in our lives. It can bring so much peace to families. It is the only true church on this Earth, the only place where the fulness of the gospel can be found, the only source of true and everlasting happiness!

¨after all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel¨ - Joseph Smith

I pray that we may always recognize the blessings that we receive in our life, that we may come to know the goodness of God. And once we recognize these things, that we never forget to give thanks to Him for all that He has so gracioulsy blessed us with! But more importantly I pray that we always remember that we are missionaries for the rest of our life. It does not matter if you have been set apart to be a missionary, if you have a plaque or not, it doesnt matter how old you are, how much you think you know about the gospel, or how much you think you lack. As members of this church we are COMMANDED to Preach the gospel of Jesus Christ! The Lord needs more missionaries! Look for opportunities this week to serve and share the gospel, and I know the Lord will bless you!

Love you all so much! You are constantly in my thoughts and prayers!

Hermana Loo

Really i dont have any fotos for this week... sorry i really need to work on taking more pictures. I always remember after we finish whatever we are doing jajajaja Puchica!

Another Tough and Challenging Week!

Happy Halloween! I hope that you all had a great time and ate lots of candy, but not to much! hahaha

I also had someone tell me taht I was friendly this week! Who would have ever thought hahahaha! What has this mission done to me hahahaha!

But this week was another tough one, but a bit better than the last! But I know that everyting that I go through out here on the mission is for my own benefit. For me to learn and to grow, to become the disciple of Christ that He needs me to be!

Guate

Tuesday afternoon, Hermana Canales and I had to go to Guate for her visa, and we didnt return until late Wednesday night. Which meant 4 hours on a bus to go to Guate and then another 4 to return to Xela! It was a lot of waiting and sitting around, which was really boring. I just wanted to go out and work. And we had so many appointments on Tuesday, but because we were in Guate didnt get to go to. Which really I didnt like at all. But that was two days of working that we lost. And just not ideal, in a time when we dont have very many investigators! So that was a little frustrating. 

Friday

Friday we had a member give us quite a few refrencias! Which was an answer to my prayers! And as soon as he had finsihed giving is these refrencias he offered to go out with us and contact all of the people that he had just given us! What a blessing that was! He is seriously so awesome and has such a love for missionary work! It is so energizing to see, whenever we visit for lunch it is all he wants to talk about. And has so many questions for us as well as advice to help us with our problems that we have. 

But through him we were able to find a new investigator who is really promising, She has a ton of questions about the church and is so open to learning more!

The Lord really answered my prayers through Hermano Byron, who was so willing to go out with us to contact people that he knows and thinks would be interested in the gospel!

Halloween and el Dia de los Muertos

Well part of the reason that this week was so hard was because of Halloween and November 1st, which is the day of the dead here. And because of this there is hardly anyone in their houses! Which makes it really hard to visit and teach people! And you cant do much contacting when everyone is in the cemetery for the day of the dead!

This week everyone had flowers! Becuase they go to the cemetery at midnight to put flowers on the graves of those who have died. THey also put food and drinks on graves, because supposedly on this day the dead are allowed to leave and visit their homes, and i guess they get hungry? I dont know the traditions here are really different then the states hahahaa

But there are also flowers leading up to everyones doorsteps so that the dead. supposedly, can find there way back to their homes....

Anyways it was just really hard to find people to talk to and visit and teach. It also didnt help that it was fast sunday and there was a ton of food everyone that smelled and looked so good!

But also becuase San Cris is really well known for withcraft, a lot of the members were telling me stories of how the people here offer human sacrifices, which was kind of freaky! But I also knew that nothing would happen as long as i listened to the Spirit!

Que FRIO!

The rainy season here in Xela is coming to an end, and so here comes the cold! The weather right now is seriously so weird! It is cold in the morning, in the afternoon it is hot and the sun is always out, but then at night it is freezing! And there is always wind! I dont think that I have ever seen so many kites in my life.

But what is even cooler is to see all the homemade kites that the kids here make, and how intricate and extravagant they are! Almost no one has a TV in their house, or money to pay to have the TV on all the time. So the kids here have to find their own ways to entertain themselves. And right now that is making their own kites. But the kites they make are amazing! so colorful and full of design! It is awesome to see!

I have really come to be grateful for so many things since being here in Xela. I am so grateful for my parents and for their hard work and dedication to give me everything that they have given me. I am grateful for the stable home that i have, for parents who love eachother and our family. That will do everything and anything for our family! I have also come to be grateful for toilet paper, more than one pair of shoes and clothes, carpet jajajaja and guranteed hot water!

I love being on a mission and continue to learn and to grow. I can only hope that i use these 18 months to the best of my ability. TO be able to look back and have no regrets, but also be able to realize all that i have been able to acheive and become. I pray daily to be the disciple that my Savior knows and needs me to be!

I love you all and am so thankful for all of your prayers! You are all always in my thoughts and i pray for you daily!

La quiero bastante!

Hermana Loo

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