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

"¿Que dice las boquitas?"‏

¡Hola!

Fam, it was so great talking to all of you!! It was nice, but don´t worry, it didn´t make me baggy one bit!

It has been a great week - learned tons, received a bit of chicotè, Renè got baptized, ate A TON, went on divisions (splits) for a few hours, had Super pday, the weather is gorgeous and warm, and so so so much more.

I´m excited that when I get back to the states I will celebrate part-Guati style. Christmas is mainly celebrated on the 24th. At midnight between the 24th and 25th is the culminating fiesta. At midnight hay fireworks, bombas, present time, and lots and lots of food (main dish - tamales, of course). We, por supuesto, were in our beds, sound asleep (with the aid of ear plugs). The 25th is mainly the day to sleep til noon and clean up a bit. The streets were FILLED with garbage - all exploded bomb/firework remnants, it was crazy, but they had people cleaning up today. No joke, the past 4 or 5 days we have been eating like there is no tomorrow. People feed us at every appointment we have! We probably ate at least 5 (BIG) meals every day. I´m not complaining, it´s been delicious and awesome, but don´t be surprised when you see someone twice my size with my face in the pics I send.

Renè got baptized!! It was amazing and I just know I will always remember that and that baptism will always have a special place in my heart! He has changed so much in so little time, but he´s still the same in a lot of ways (see title).

It was an amazing Christmas week. I really got to rely on what´s truly important for my Christmas spirit and happiness. I love this opportunity to truly learn how to focus your life and thoughts on Christ. We can truly make the whole year like Christmas time if we just have our thoughts in the right place. I am so grateful to have started my time in the mission in this epoca. It kickstarted me with the right mindset, motivation, and goals for the next 16 months.

Okay... email request. If you need me to respond to you asap, could you put it in a seperate email with an appropriate title, otherwise, I just print out the emails and read them later? Oh and everyone, EMAIL ME, porfa please ;)

I hope you are all doing so well and that you had an incredible Christmas! Our Savior lives. He was born in the most humble of circumstances and lived, suffered, taught, blessed, died, and overcame death, sin, pain, and everything for each and every one of us. We are eternally indebted to Him. I hope you all start this new year with a refreshed willingness to follow, love, and obey our Redeemer. ¡Feliz Navidad!

Con todo de mi corazon,
Hna Marin

¡Regocijad! Jesús nació‏

Hola hola!!!

Amazing week. I´m getting a lot more comfortable with our area, the people, our routine, and everything - except for maybe talking ;)

Did you watch the Cmas devo with the First Presidency of the Church? I loved MoTab´s "Come, Let Us Adore Him" - it was amazng.

There are millions of ants here. It´s crazy. Tiny ones though, so that´s better.

Cmas time brings fireworks. Everyday, you see fireworks in some part of the area. All day you hear fireworks going off all over the Mariposa. Loud ones, too. The best is every morning between 5 and 6, when they set hundreds off at a time.

Remember that blog I found and read of the Elder serving in my mission - "Samuel Among the Lamanites"? Well, he´s my district leader... How crazy is that? My comp thinks it´s hilarious, but I don´t think that he´s the biggest fan of lots of random people knowing all that stuff. He´s a great missionary. Our district is great. It´s just us two hermanas and two sets of elders.

On Thursday I received cards/dearelders from Mom, Anny, Crystal, Ciera, Nicole, and Laura Lantz. Those were ALL incredible and such good surprises. Gracias to everyone! Plus, I LOVE little details. I love when people tell me just random things that happen or what they´ve been up to. Seriously. Those are my fave parts of letters. Tell me all the awesome, random details. They make it more real and personal! And I´m so sorry if I never write back. I probably have time to write 1 to 2 letters every week. It´s pretty stressful.

All of the food people give us are in bags. It´s awesome, hilarious, and pretty genius. Even the drinks are in bags. Not zip lock or anything - more like mini-size plastic grocery bags without handles.

I have said SO many prayers in the past 3 weeks. I´m not complaining. I just think it´s so funny and typical that the newbie - who doesn´t talk much - gets asked constantly. It´s good practice and I NEED to be praying lots!

I am loving my big "camping adventure." Have I mentioned that? One of the first few days, Hna Wetzel told me that I just have to look at the next 16 months as a big camping trip. Hand-washing clothes, cold showers, tons of dirt in the house, using a broom with a shirt on it as a mop, ALWAYS wearing shoes - even inside, line drying clothes (which really doesn´t make them smell that great here), washing dishes outside... all sorts of goodness. It really isn´t hard. It´s a blast, and I´m sure I will just get more and more used to it.

I´m excited to talk to you "all" this weekend! Okay... here´s the deal. I only get 15 min for Mom and 15 min for Dad. Sorry. And we don´t have a time set for calling on Saturday, but sometime in the late mañana/tarde - ish. Sorry. I will call from a payphone and then you´ll have to wait a few minutes to call me back on our home phone. Our home number is 502-4045-5703. I´ll let you figure everything else out ;)

We found two amazing families this week. We have very high hopes for them. Both families were so willing and wanting us to come visit with them. I have to tell you the awesome story of how we met one of them... We were walking up one of the streets of the Mariposa and there is a family walking down - 2 parents, a cousin our age, and 2 young kids. They were about to walk around us, so Hna Wetzel just said the first thing that came to her mind to catch their attention. To the mom she just said "I love your earrings!" they went on talking about her earrings, where she got them, etc. While they are talking, the mom is taking them off (we figure, just so we can look at them) and GIVES them to Hna Wetzel. She couldn´t believe it and tried to give them back, but the lady was so insistent. We only talked to them for a few min (they were on their way somewhere) and asked if we could come visit them, help them with anything, and share a message. The lady was not hesitant AT ALL. It was just incredible and unbelievable. I wish I could describe it better. Another amazing part - we usually never do door-contacts or contact on the street, but Hna Wetzel just had impressions to contact two different families this past Sunday and they are now are two amazing, progressing families. The earrings- bright pink, as big as your ear, heart earrings. Hna W has worn them at least twice - not exactly what missionaries are supposed to be wearing, but they are incredibly special and definitely going in her mission scrapbook someday.

René Gonzalez is getting baptized this weekend. The 25th actually. We have seen such an amazing change in him. He is the 60 year old that I said commented on my mouth last week. He still tries to get us to come into the house when there are no other women there (it sounds kind of creepy, but it´s really not - if you just met him for a minute, you would understand), but he is becoming more and more humble and desires stronger faith every time we see him. His prayers are some of our absolute favorites (he has never before prayed in his life). He´s super interesting and we are so excited for him and his family.

Here in Guatemala, the 24th is the main celebrated day. We have at least 4 different dinner appointments with members for that night that we are stoked for. Tamales and lots of goodness await. They usually eat around midnight the night of the 24th, but we still have to be in by 9, so they are making special exceptions for us (they´ll probs just end up eating twice)! We also have a bfast invite for the morning of the 25th.

Life is excellent. We´re healthy, optimistic, strong, and all that goodness. We are having a super pday on wed with half of the mission, so that will be a blast.

Con mucho amor,
Hna Marin

Cucarachas are from the Devil‏

Hola!!

Don´t worry, we don´t have any infesting our house or anything, but they are SO distracting during lessons!!!

Anyhow...

I love La Mariposa! I´m kind of sad that I have such an incredible area and comp right off, bc the rest will just disappoint! No... I know it won´t. Every place and comp will be amazing. I know that ;) Kris, I´m pretty sure it´s the place you found, we are pretty close to the lake.

It has been pretty hot around here lately, which is amazing. Hasn´t rained once! Beautiful sky every single day. The nighttimes, however, get super cold... I sleep in 3 pairs of pj pants, 2 pair of thick, fuzzy socks (sometimes slippers, too), a long-sleeve, a sweatshirt, and 3 sheets (we don´t have any blankets)!!! Haha.. it´s really not that bad. Once I figured out how many layers I had to wear, I have been nice, cozy, and toasty every night :)


This weekend we had 3 baptisms and a wedding!!! It was amazing. 2 of the baptisms were part of a family. Pablo married Gilda. Gilda has a daughter whose name is Reyna. Gilda is pregnant with Pablo´s hijo. Pablo and Gilda got married. Gilda is a member. Pablo and Reyna got baptized!!! It was fantastic. Pablo has such a strong and amazing testimony of Jesus Christ and this, His church. It was a crazy, amazing, happy weekend! I found out pretty quickly that nothing goes according to plan down here. We were planning all last week for the wedding, passed out a ton of invites and NO ONE from the ward came. It was disappointing, but a VERY happy occassion still and they had such good attitudes. The baptism we had on friday started about 2 hours late and the one yesterday started about one hour late. The one yesterday was crazy, bc the person who was supposed to baptize Reyna y Pablo was held up in a meeting, so we asked Pablo if he would mind if one of the Elders just baptized him and he said, "it doesn´t matter, I just want to be baptized." It was awesome. It all works out and everyone is really patient (for the most part). One thing they need to teach in the MTC and CCM... how to pick locks. We had 3 instances, in 2 days where we needed to get into a locked door (one was to open the baptismal font, but don´t worry, mi compa climbed over the 7-ish foot high glass to get into the font).

I gave my first español sacrament talk yesterday! It went well. Slow, but well. A few of my favorite people came up to me afterwards and said that they were praying for me while I was up there... I needed it! I felt good the whole time, wasn´t nervous at all. The Spirit will guide, we just have to trust him.

Random fact: We throw our tp in the garbage. The area doc said that we wouldn´t have to, but my comp says that he hasn´t been to all the parts of Central America.

Awesome excuse: We´re working with a 68 year old man, but he didn´t come to church yesterday, and when we asked him why he didn´t, he said his arm hurt. He´s super cute and he´s always a blast to talk with and teach. His name is Renè. He told us yesterday that he likes my mouth.... yep... it´s pretty interesting over here... never a dull moment.

Cross fingers: no illnesses still! Not even BU.

We cook our own bfast in the mornings - usually cereal or eggs (with beans - delish). Today we had pancakes. People give us food pretty often, so that is often and we have it either in the morning or at night when we get home at 9. For lunch, 4 times a week we have two different ladies that cook for us, so we go over to their houses. Delish: átol!! Átol is the most delicious thing in the world.. find it.

Everything is SUPER cheap here. It´s awesome. My comp basically has a new wardrobe. Most of her skirts she bought for under 16 quetzales (2 dollars) in pacas - (basically really small thrift store things that are EVERYWHERE)! We buy bread and goodies at a bakery every so often, most of the stuff costs about 50 cents. We have everything we need here, basically.

The Spanish is coming (most of the time it doesn´t seem like it though). I can understand tons more Gospel related conversation, but the rest of the time I just feel like a fly on the wall... not contributing AT ALL to the conversation. Everyone is so good and patient with me though.

The work is amazing. I have met so many amazing people. I have heard CRAZY stories and circumstances of people. I want to help them all and make it all better, but I can´t.. only the Lord can, so all I´m trying to do is to help lead them to Christ and all that He has to offer to every single person. I want to work my tail off. Every day, I realize how much deeper in blessings-debt I am getting, and Doctrine and Covenants 82:3 just weighs more and more on my mind.

I hope you all know how much I love you. You are in my prayers and thoughts!

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Jenna Marin

Pictures!!!‏

Hola!
Okay, there is way too much to write!
So, Mondays are our days to email, but pdays are tuesdays, which is nice.. we have a system. I can print emails, so EVERYONE: EMAIL ME... POR FAVOR! Anyone and everyone can email me and I can print them out, so it won´t take up my 45-minute email time. However, I can only email family. We´ll see how this goes.

I am in zone Amatitlan. I am in a tiny colonia called La Mariposa. It´s just an enclosed community basically. My comp and I estimate it to be around a square mile in area.. if that. It´s tiny and AMAZING! MY comp´s (trainer´s, mom´s) name is Erin Wetzel... a gringa. She is fantastic. She has 9 months in the mish and this is her 3rd transfer in La Mariposa, so she knows the area, people, and such very, very well. I am so, so, so grateful for her. She has been incredibly patient and helpful. I can´t even express how grateful I am. Yet again, the Lord has blessed me too, too much. The people are amazing and loving and patient and so helpful. We have met a ton of people. I have to work on remembering names, but I know the Spirit has been helping me out. The area isn´t in the city, but it´s also not in the mountains or the coast (there are nine zones, and three types of zones - mountain, coast, and city), but our area counts as the city.

Okay, I am going to send multiple emails, so the pictures can load :)

Okay... rapid fire...
We ride to church in the bed of an old truck. I´m taller than 90% of the people here (including my comp). No one plays the piano in our ward - acapella (and let me just tell you that ever since the CCM, it has been obvious that not many Latin wards have piano players, so a lot of people´s singing abilities are interesting), but it´s still wonderful. My shower handle thing shocks me every morning (only a little bit, don´t worry). I can´t get away from english, awesome, worldy music. People play it everywhere. I live in a house that is about the size, if not smaller, than my whole upstairs in OH. We have a backyard area for washing random items of clothing and dishes, but it´s pretty small. We have someone to wash our clothes, but she hangs our garments outside on top of her house where everyone can see, so we just wash those ourselves. We make our own bfast. Most days we have people cooking lunch for us, but sometimes we have pizza (probs once a week).. I know. Surprising. Then, we don´t eat until we get home at 9!! Pretty crazy, but we have snacks :) We are in a very safe area, so no worries! We played soccer in the streets last Friday. It was awesome. I´m sure a lot of you are shocked that I even played soccer, but it was a blast. We are playing in the fields tomorrow morning. The people here are fantastic. We´ve taught a few lessons and I´ve met a ton of people. Mom, no need to send decorations, we´re good. Gracias. Money will be just fine. Dad, don´t forget to wear you awesome singing time at some point this season, k?

Love you all very very much! Can´t wait for ALL of your emails next week!!!
Hna Marin