Photos of Jenna in February at Hermanas activity

The occasion was a lunch and craft activity for the sisters where they learned how to make a simple scarf using a "four-finger" weaving method, that they could in turn teach the Young Women or Relief Society sisters in their wards. The activity occurred in February.

Pictures :)‏

Hola, hola...

Fotos:
- A semi-view of La Mariposa and Amatitlan from the top of one of the member´s houses.
- One of my most favorite people. She´s a member and very pregnant right now! Gilda.
- Last tuesday we had a conference with ours and two other zones with one of the Quorum of the Seventy of the Church.. Elder Falabella. It was amazing and we learned a ton.
- Another "Blancy Fiesta" to celebrate 2 our district´s elders birthdays, Hna Wetzel´s year mark, and Blancy´s 17 year anniversary to ser miembro! Blancy is one of the most amazing women and she is in our ward :)
- We thought La Mariposa had hills... then we got to one of the elders´ area. It was psycho how steep the hills were... and an awesome view of Amatitlan. We did an Area Attack this past Saturday with the elders to invite some menos activos to church on sunday.
- Henry got baptized on Saturday!!! He´s the one on the left. He is incredible and we are so excited for him.
- One of the most amazing families I have ever met!!! We are teaching and working so hard with them right now. The familia Obregon. We have such high hopes for them. It is really hard to not spend 10 hours at their house, because they are so interested in everything and are the most friendly, interesting people.
- Their baby girl, Alejandra. I have never wanted to hold a kid more on my mission, but it´s a rule that we can´t (for many reasons). It´s been a lot easier than what I thought it would be, and I am definitely grateful for the rule, but she is the cutest thing EVER.

As you can tell, it´s just a big party over here all the time. There were a few disappointments this past week, but the good things, the faith, and the hope definitely outweigh everything. I´m learning a lot about agency, heartbreak, disappointment, pure intentions, and the love God has for each of us. I knew from the time that I left the CCM that I would probably not experience nearly as much heartbreak in my whole life than I would in the coming 16 months, and that is proving to be pretty true, but I´m also learning how to have faith and hope despite all the disappointment and hopelessness that seems to be all around. Life is fantastic!

EMAIL ME PICTURES. Por favor :)

Love,
Hermana Marin

Beer Shirts‏

Hola hola...

First: title explanation so no one wonders what that´s all about... There are so many people here (definitely including members of the Church) who own beer shirts! Usually Corona. It´s too hilarious. The majority of the clothes people wear here are from pacas (basically little thrift stores that sell just clothes - way cheap, usually a few on every street, and ridiculously cheap), and the majority of paca clothes are just leftovers from the States. Everyone has shirts with English words and no one knows what they say. We end up translating lots of things for people.

Anyhow... I gave a talk again in Sacrament meeting yesterday (the first time was in my second week in the field) and it was awesome to hear lots of people saying how much my Spanish has improved. This week was a good one for feeling like I have made some improvement in speaking and understanding. Hna Wetzel hardly ever has to translate for me anymore (if so, it´s some specific details that I missed). I am definitely no where near good, but it´s coming.

People keep on noting on how upbeat my emails are and Georgie said that he hopes it´s not just a show. Haha. I can gaurantee that I´m so happy right now and it´s all real, but maybe I should tone it down... because I will probably have some tough times and I don´t want people to sense that from my emails and worry about me! No... you all just need to send me emails to tell me to get a clue and get excited if I ever am anything but upbeat and excited to do what I´m doing.

I feel like I run out of things to say every week, because the mission life is just feeling and becoming more and more normal. If you have questions, just let me know!

All my love,
Hermana Marin

Sunday - Testimonies!!

Hey!

I have requests. If you all can email me ideas for different things
-- Family Home Evening games
- Ward acitivities
- And, of course, anything else that you think of for mission-related things!
Kris, EVERYONE here does the weird, missionary-snap thing. All theGuatemalans... 80 years old, 10 years... everyone. It´s hilarious. I forgot to mention that earlier. My compa is convinced I´ll be doing itby the end of my mish... I will admit that I do it when I need to dry my hands - we hardly ever have towels or paper towels outside of thehouse ;)

Saturday was an awesome Relief Society conference. Sisters Thompson(General RS counselor) and Wixom (Gen Primary Pres) came to Guatemala,so they broadcasted to the stake centers! It was fantastic. They both had translators, but attempted to bear their testimonies in Spanish - it was reassuring. It was funny to think that I sounded just like them, but have improved a little bit, but realizing that... even though their Spanish wasn´t great at all and they may not have known EXACTLY what they were saying... the Spirit was SO strong. I learn to rely on the Spirit more and more everyday and it is INCREDIBLE.

I have had such a happy life, but never have I felt this much JOY. Pure joy. And it always comes from others. Seeing the Spirit touch and change people, seeing people progress, learn, and improve their lives... missionaries are way too blessed. We had the most incredible testimony meeting in Church yesterday. I was telling Hna Wetzel how ironic it is... Guatemalans talk... TONS...demasiado, really, but when it comes to bearing their testimonies, it is short, to the point, and powerful. In the States, people don´t talk as much normally, but when it comes to bearing their testimonies, they ramble on and it´s harder to feel the Spirit. I wrote down almost all of the people who got up there and there were more than 30 people, and we didn´t even go over time! Whole families went up and bore their testimonies. Lots of people talked about the missionary work. One teenager with disabilities went up and it was indescribable, there was a tidal wave of the Spirit. I could go on and on, but I just wish everyone could have been there to experience it.

Plus, we had lots of investigators there and our attendance keeps going up by about 10 people every week or two. We had a lesson with an investigator that we have been working with for more than a month on Saturday. She is fantastic. We are teaching her and her mom - She´s 23 and her mom is 45 and they are both widows. They have been pretty receptive, a tad hesitant, but incredible. Neither of them have showed very much emotion (not even when we talk about eternal families or when we watched Juntos para Siempre -usually EVERYONE cries during that movie). Her mom couldn´t be there,so we were just with her and another member friend. She has been having some doubts about Joseph Smith, so we watched the Restoration movie. It seemed pretty normal and we asked her to continue reading and praying. Hermana Wetzel gave the closing prayer with everyone kneeling and when she finished, Karla was crying and we knew she had received her answer.

Life is incredible and, as always, I and mi compa are too blessed. My prayers are with you all and I hope everyone is happy!

Love,
Hermana Marin

Pictures from the CCM & Lake Atitlan

These were on the Guatemala Guatemala City Central Mission website....thought we would share.

¡Supresa!

Hola, hola.

Hermana Wetzel and I are still together in La Mariposa!!! We and almost everyone else were convinced that she was out! It was a very,very happy surprise. She felt like one more change would be just perfect. Everything is incredible and happy and hot and amazing. I "experienced" my first and second rains... but not really. I was inside both times for the whole duration of both. The rainy season is around the corner and it will be interesting. Apparently, no one wears boots here, just those little plastic, almost-nothing, clear shoes I guess. It´s going to be fun.

We had a baptism this past Saturday, Evelt. He is too great. El sabe todo and his testimony is incredible. He has definitely been through ridiculously hard times with his wife these past few years. His faith is so strong and he is ready and willing to do all that God requires.

I am developing a love for soccer. Weird. I know. I´m still terrible, but it´s a blast to play and watch. Especially here. I don´t think it will be nearly the same back in the States. We had a ward activity on Saturday and beforehand, we played soccer. All of the ward members who were watching were just going crazy. Every single person was so into it. It´s a blast.

We are working with so many people that are progressing really well right now. They are incredible. Especially one family. The husband has so much faith and always goes above and beyond with what we ask him to do. It´s always the most joyful thing to hear when your investigators tell you that they read and prayed. That´s all that it takes. Our workis nothing unless the people read and ask God for themselves.

Thanks for all the support, love and prayers!
Con amor,
Hermana Marin