Amazing‏

¡Hola!

I cannot believe that it is Monday already... time seriously goes WAY too fast on the mish.

Okay... a couple things:

Elder Ballard came this past Thursday and we, along with the North Guat City Mission, had a conference. He gave an amazing talk. We didn´t end up having a question/answer session, but that was quite alright. We walked out very edified, fearless, and excited to work harder. I´ll share my favorite part of his talk - he asked us to just take a moment and go with him to the Garden of Gethsemane.. he had us think for a second then asked us to imagine our lives without the knowledge of that greatest of events. He had us just meditate on that for a moment, and it was the worst feeling. That really hit me and I have thought about it a lot since last Thursday. He told us that that is how all of the people in the world feel who don´t have the knowledge and faith in the Redeemer and Atonement as we do. Why doesn´t everyone who has this amazing news go around shouting their joy from the rooftops? How can we be so selfish as to not share this knowledge? In the last couple of days, I have been reading the talk by Elder Nelson from the Priesthood session of the last conference about missionary work. Missionary work has to do with ourselves, too. Everyday we have to have a change of heart. We have to realize, remember, and be refreshed to the fact that we have a Savior, that there is hope, that we have a duty in this life, that we must be all we can be, and have as much faith as we can to keep His commandments and spread the joy.

We are working with the most amazing family. We´ve met with them a few times, but last night was the first time that the parents have really sat down and talked with us. They have four kids between the ages of 16 and 24 and they´re all incredible. They are all always so inviting and great to us, but the mom never seemed interested in hearing our message. Last night, we asked them what they wanted to improve in their lives right now and the dad started talking about wanting more unity. We ended up teaching them about the Book of Mormon and testified that it would change their lives and help them in all aspects, near the end we asked them if they would pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true and the mom said, "Well, I already believe it to be true" and she went on, opening up to us and the change was incredible. We asked them to start having family prayers and to read the Book of Mormon as a family. She said that they had tried having family prayers in the past, but they were never reverent or peaceful and never had a great success, so we asked if we could pray with them as a family. All the kids, the parents, two boyfriends, and a grandson were there and the mom asked me to offer the prayer. It was INCREDIBLE. It was silent during the whole prayer. The Spirit could be felt soooo strong. I can´t even explain. Hermana Wetzel and I walked out beaming and skipping. We still don´t know what will happen, if they will continue praying, if they will read, or anything, but we are so hopeful (as we are with everyone). All I know is that they felt something different, something amazing. I just know that God loves each and every one of us so much, I can´t even express it. He wants us all to have what He has to offer.

Sorry this is short.

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Marin

Too much!!‏

Hola!

I wish that I could express how happy I am. Life is fantastic.

I´m still with Hermana Wetzel in La Mariposa!! So excited and grateful. So, we have at least another 6 weeks together. She´s fantastic. The area is wonderful, and we have lots of work to do.

We have a baptismal date with the most amazing lady ever. Ingrid has been accepting and ready from the start. She accepted the date at our first visit with her and is progressing and absorbing everything so fast. She is a rockstar and we are so excited for her!

We went to Panajachal / Lake Atitlan this past pday. It was a blast. Lake Atitlan is where they believe the Waters of Mormon to be (have I mentioned that BoM experts - and I don´t know who else - believe that the Book of Mormon was mainly set in Guatemala?!?!). It was GORGEOUS. It was so beautiful... but I must say that we spent the good majority of our time shopping... which was a blast, too.

I was finally sick!! Only a tiny, tidbit though, don´t worry. Had a little bit of BU on Friday, which turned into a crazy, hilarious night... Hna Wetzel was sick, too. But we went home for just a little bit, then went to work for the rest of the night! Then, last night I threw up a bit... but nothing major AT ALL. Hna Wetzel made me rest for 20 ish minutes, then we went to our last cita with Hna Carla - she´s amazing. All is well. We both feel fantastic.

Elder Ballard is talking to our mission this Thursday! We´re pretty excited. We are supposed to go with inspired questions that "only an apostle of the Lord could answer."

People are SO honest here. Blunt, actually. It´s hilarious at times. Hna Wetzel and I are constantly told whether or not we look fatter or skinnier. I´ve had a few people ask about my face... "Has your face always been chubby like that?" It´s too priceless.

We got spit on today on the way to district meeting - that was a first for both of us, but don´t worry.. we just say "buenes dias!" to everyone.

René is doing great, just in case anyone was wondering. He wanted me to sit by him during Sacrament meeting yesterday and he is too great. He´s the funniest old man ever and a little bit of a flirt, and perhaps one of the last people (especially in his family) that you would expect to have a big change, but he is incredible and is always talking about wanting to learn more, and do better. Yesterday, in Sunday school, he said, "I got baptized about two weeks ago... and I don´t know, I just feel good. I know I haven´t done very good in my life, but right now, I feel good. I hope the Hermanas keep coming to visit me, because I need to keep learning and doing better." We will always have special places in our hearts for René.

I have tan lines on my feet!

I hope everyone is doing wonderful, saying there prayers, and enjoying life!

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Marin

"¡Veni!"‏

Hola mi familia y amigos!

I always dread writing anything in Spanish, because I can barely speak
it... let alone write it (correctly)!

This week was fantastic! My heart is bursting with joy and hope. Not
for any specific reason, we are just happy.

Tonight, we find out if we have cambios or not. We really don´t think
so... each week we email Presidente Baldwin and he usually doesn´t
respond, but today we both received a one-liner email saying: "Thank
you for your report and I hope that you and your companion will be
having much success." We don´t think we´ll have changes, but I can´t
get my hopes up!!!

I adore Hna Wetzel. She has taught me so so so much, mainly through
her example. She is the star of rock star missionaries. I have been
too blessed to have her as my trainer. We get along ridiculously well,
and laugh too much. It´s great. We keep each other energized and
excited for constantly helping people!

This week we found some amazing people. Yesterday we had the best
miracle in timing. We had JUST left our house and were barely to the
end of our street when we saw a mom, dad, and two niños carrying lots
of stuff. We offered to help, carried their stuff to their house, and
they let us come in for a short message. They were both so engaged the
whole time and we will be going back to visit them.. LOTS more, we
hope. We also set a fecha with the suegra of one of our investigators.

Life is so good. We see so many miracles every day. I just pray every
day that we can be worthy and invite the Spirit to be with us
constantly, so people will feel something different... so that people
can feel hope, that change is possible, and find great light and faith
in Christ. I realize that this time and calling is going to go by too
fast. As missionaries, we´ve been set apart to do the greatest work
ever. I want to be drained by the end of the mission. I want to give
my all and more. I want to help every single person possible! Now...
if only I could speak Spanish or something... No, that´s not the mas
importante... the Spirit is the only way people will feel of God´s
love and find truth.

Life is fantastic. I hope everyone is doing amazing, deepening their
fe everyday, and saying their prayers!

Con muchisimo amor!
Hermana Marin

¡¡Feliz Año Nuevo!!‏

Well, I´m sitting in the internet cafè right now and it smells like weed. It smelled like weed yesterday for a little bit around the Mariposa. Remember my first email where I said I LOVE the smell of Guatemala? Well, that opinion has changed a bit. It smells like car exhaust constantly. Other smells - weed, fireworks, and just grossness. I usually find myself longing for fresh air, which is pretty ironic, because we´re not in the city or anything. The city is a lot worse though. I´m convinced that they just have the U.S.´s leftover EVERYTHING here... mainly cars. Sorry for the tangent...

The año nuevo was fantastic. We went to bed on time (10:30) and woke up at 11:45 to eat pizza, watch the fireworks from outside our house (we were going to find a nifty way to climb onto our roof, but decided to not be "stupid missionaries" - as our area doctor would say), and write down our goals. It was a blast. Guatemala puts the U.S. to SHAME with fireworks. The sky was FILLED with smoke (again... I don´t think they have any environmental laws here). Funny: the fireworks started about 5 minutes before midnight... the one time that Guatemalans are ever early for anything ;) The fireworks stayed constant for a good 20 minutes. It was incredible. They know how to party here.

The past couple days were a bit more difficult than usual, but I learned a lot and have really realized that the times that are toughest are only because I am focusing on myself. So... NO MORE!

We had some pretty devastating things happen and amazing examples this week. Our primary president´s sister and brother-in-law were murdered last Sunday. We have visited with her a few times, and she is just solid. She is mourning, of course, but she is soooo incredibly strong and just says that she is only hopeful because of her faith in Christ and her knowledge His Plan of Salvation. Also, one of her counselors has been in and out of the hospital because of her pregnancy. The doctors said that she lost the baby, then they said she actually didn´t, now they´re saying that she did again... ahhhh. It´s terrible. But again, she is so strong. We have visited her twice and she is so so incredibly strong. She is bien triste, but she would just say that she has her faith to hold on to, and that is keeping her optimistic and going. The people here have such strong testimonies.

We found some pretty great people this week, so we are very hopeful and optimistic.
We had another training meeting for all the greenies and their trainers this past friday. I was a tad bit nervous, because we were video taped giving a five minute lesson. It was intense, but I felt really good about it afterwards. Again, I´m learning lots and I have a bombdigity companion.

Oh, and we had divisions (exchanges) this past wednesday. My Hermama left me for the coast and I received Hna Guaranda. She is latina, a convert of only 4 years, and is a rockstar. I learned a ton from her. It was fun having a latin comp for a day, but I realize it would be a lot harder to do that everyday for 6 weeks or more.. at least for now, since I have a lot of improvement to make with my spanish. It was an amazing day though. I was basically leading La Mariposa, so I had to figure out what we were doing, who we would go see, where we were... everything. It was tough, but so rewarding. I talked a ton more than usual... because I had to, but as the day went on, Hna Guaranda contributed tons more to the lessons... I learned a lot about choice and force. I shouldn´t have to be forced to speak spanish in order to do it more, I should just make the choice to do it.. bite the bullet. Ever since, I have been a lot more brave and talking a lot more (I think Hna Wetzel is really happy for and proud of that too).

I hope everyone is great and had a fantastic start to their new year!

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Marin