Fast week‏

Well... this past week didn´t turn out like we were expecting, but it was still good.

Anibal and Jenifer are having a tougher time getting married than we had anticipated. We aren´t sure if he is actually divorced or not. Please keep praying for them. We´ll see how many baptisms we´ll have this weekend.

I forgot to tell you more about Hermana Ayala last week. She is taller than I am! My first comp that is. Crazy. And she´s gorgeous, so instead of the people on the street constantly and only looking at me, the looks are just about even between her and I. Too great. Time is flying with her, because we´re both happy and doing great. She´s a wonderful person. She hasn´t had the best rep in the mish, but I just don´t understand, because I haven´t seen any of the things that people have said before. That is why gossip is terrible.

I love teaching Anibal and Jenifer. They are so much more open-minded and deep-thinkers than the whole rest of the people that we normally teach. They challenge us and make us think more. I love it. It´s tougher for the members, because they are much more simple people, but I know that it is good for them. It just makes me realize how much different the mission must be for those who are serving in more educated areas, like the U.S. and such.

Well... I´m out of ideas ;)

Keep the faith.

Love,
Hermana Marin

Changes‏

Well... you might not believe it... because I did not believe it, but Hermana Guaranda and I had changes this past week. I´m still in Antigua, but she went to La Gomera!!! This is her last change, so she will be dying there.

I´m here with Hermana Ayala from San Salvador, El Salvador. She has 16 months in the mish and ends in January (this change and one more after). She is the absolute only member in her entire family. She´s 22. She was studying accounting also, but wants to change to be a chef or nurse. And.... she´s incredible. Life with her has truly been fantastic from the start. I feel so comfortable with her. She is very humble, happy, and gorgeous. This is going to be a fantastic change.

I don´t think that I have mentioned anything about the family Lopez... here goes (as always, I´m not going to do any justice). The Friday before changes, Hermana Guaranda and I went to the house of an inactive member of the church. His name is Aníbal. His wife is Jenifer and they have three children - 1, 2, and 6 years old. He has been a member all his life, but has not really attended since he was about 12 or 13. He is 47 years old and Jenifer is 28. He´s a big artsy guy... hippy-ish. Well, they both are. They are fantastic! They´re from the capital (which makes sense, because these kind of people are not found in our area :)). I cannot even begin to describe how much I love this family. From the first visit they have done everything that we have asked. The went to church that sunday, and this past sunday. She´s accepted the challenge to baptism (this Sunday), they are getting married Friday or Saturday (we just have to make sure that he was legally divorced from his old wife), he´s trying to give up alcohol, they´re reading the Book of Mormon, we´re having the Noche de Hermanamiento in their house tomorrow, and so much more. We visit them at least every other day (if not every day) and they always thank us for everything and say that everything has changed since we first visited them. They´re incredible. They are incredibly intelligent, but they don´t let it get in the way of their faith. Please please please pray for them, especially that Anibal can get everything taken care of with his old divorce so they can get married and she can get baptized this weekend!!! I am dying to send pictures of them!!

I finally saw Hermana Wetzel!!! She came to San Pedro on Sunday and went to a few visits with us (including one with the family Lopez)! It was absolutely incredible, but at the same time, very weird. I was with her when I knew absolutely nothing... Now, I know a little bit more, but she is even more amazing than she was before. It was great, because I got my okay-I´ve-got-to-kick-it-in-gear-to-try-to-be-as-incredible-as-Hermana-Wetzel boost.

Heavenly Father has really been blessing us. He loves us. We must be patient, faithful, and look for His hand in all things. Everything will come as it should and on His time if we are faithful. And even when we don´t do as good as we should or can, he will accept our repentance and the little that we actually do and bless us a hundred fold.

Thank you all for your support, love, prayers, and faithfulness to the Lord.

All my love,
Hermana Marin

P.S. I just got a letter from Anny! Woohooooo

PICTURES!!‏

2619 - Jeronimo´s baptism!!
2628 - Another of his baptism... do I not just work in the best branch!?!
2642 - This is how the women carry heavy things here. This was my first time. We had to lug it all up a ridiculous hill. We were helping the mom of a recent convert... she was going to carry all that, plus another bucket, plus her really chubby baby up that hill with the help of a few of her other young kids. And all this after she had just washed it all by hand in the community pilas in the central park. We were real tired afterwards... the women here are REAL strong.
2675 - The traditional clothing here :) Corte and I can´t remember what the tops are called...
2683 - My companions random picture taking skills... This is taken from a part of our area. We were on our way to a visit with some investigators that live way high up and couldn´t resist the temptation to take pictures.... but pictures don´t do this place justice. It is GORGEOUS.

Happy‏

Help: does anyone have any hair loss tips... because I am still losing A TON. Luckily, I still have a good amount, but not nearly as much before :(

Jeronimo received the gift of the Holy Ghost and got confirmed a member of La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Días... it was VERY relieving and wonderful. Right afterwards, he went around the Sacrament meeting room (don´t worry, it´s pretty tiny) and shook everyone´s hands. It was a little out of the ordinary and maybe a tad unorthodox, but it made me soooo incredibly happy. He was just so happy and grateful to all of the members and their support and to God. It was beautiful.

We constantly find widowers here. It´s insane. Hna Guaranda says that it has been like this her whole mission, she doesn´t know why, but she promised me that once we aren´t together that I won´t be finding them like we are now at all... haha.

As always, one of our biggest hinderances is getting people to go to church, but we are bound and determined to help these people progress.

I feel like each week I have less and less to share, not because it was an uneventful week or anything, but maybe because missionary life is becoming more normal.... but it can´t be like that! I must recognize the miracles and blessings that are constantly being given. That is one gift that my companion has. She recognizes the most seemingly unnoticeable tender mercies. Her prayers are so specific and completely different every time. She remembers so many things that happened in the day, the people that are in need (even if just a little bit), and so much. I can´t even explain it. She is very unselfish. She would give all of her belongings away in an instant if someone was in need. Her love for the people is huge.

I hope that all are doing well. As always, thank you all so much for your love, support, thoughts, and prayers.

Love,
Hermana Marin

Jeronimo!!!!!!!!!!!‏ (October 17th, 2011)

After a few scares, LOTS of prayer, a fast here and there, and a few legit fights from Satan.... Jeronimo got baptized yesterday!!!! My testimony was definitely boosted this past week. I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers. Satan has nothing on Him. Like Elder Holland said, ¨Satan is real¨ but he cannot win if we are on Heavenly Father´s side. Honestly, when Satan knows that we are working hard and truly have faith in Jesus Christ, he will do all he can. Thank you all so much for devoting part of your prayers to Jeronimo. He was truly strengthened and SO HAPPY after his baptism.

We went through so much with this man and he knows it. He even got up and shared a few words after his baptism... we didn´t even ask him to, he volunteered. You could feel the sincerity and gratefulness in his words. He teared up and bore his testimony. It was beautiful... and worth every scare, worry, and effort that went into his making of a new life.

We had to go to Antigua in bus (about 30 minutes) and then walk to the chapel (15 minutes on foot)... and get this - about 25 people from the branch came. It was incredible. Jeronimo also made big sacrfices. He has a bad leg and it´s hard for him to walk, but he did it all, and we took our time. He was very overcome with all the people that went to support him.

We had a zone conference this past week with President Brough. He is absolutely incredible. He doesn´t just tell us to do things differently or better... he shows us, gives us examples, makes promises, and bears his incredibly strong testimony.

There was LOTS of rain this week. Especially Saturday. I got soaked. It was a tougher day, but all the better because it made Sunday that much brighter... literally and figuratively :)

Hermana Guaranda is much better. She made a lot of sacrifices, and even though her foot is still bothering her... we worked. Hard.

Love,
Hermana Marin

Blue, green, purple ankle.‏

2551 - Hermama Wetzel!!!! When we said goodbye....
2486 - My bday dinner that our sweet neighbors made for us, complete with a delicious cake :)
2553 - Hna Guaranda!
2568 - Our night on the town ;)
2571 - Self explanatory... I think
2580 - How we celebrated my year in the mish.. aye aye aye...
2593 - And you´d better believe that that is my comp with her not-broken-but-very-injured foot.

So.... we didn´t really work that much this week. On Tuesday, as we were finishing up our grocery shopping for Pday, Hna Guaranda fell and twisted her ankle. It got real bad real quick... swelled up a lot. She attempted to go out for the first day on Saturday, but before that I was just going out with a sister from the branch and another one would stay with Hna G... when it was possible. It´s a very small branch, so we don´t have a big pool of people to help us. Let´s just say that I studied A LOT this week :)

But it was a good week. Hna G and I did lots of bonding and talking, so it was fun. She was going a lot more crazy than I was though, because I got out a few times, but she just wanted to get to work!

We are so close to seeing the baptsim of Jeronimo. He has a few fears that we are trying to help him get over, because his testimony is so strong and we know he´s so close to being ready. He´s a widower of about 45 years. He´s hilarious... and talks A LOT. I have to interrupt him a lot ;) I´m getting real good at it... kind of. So, if you could include him in your prayers... that would be incredible.

Well... I don´t have much to say... just that I read more than 50 pages of Jesus the Christ these past few days... and I just love Him. I love learning about Him. He was/is absolutely incredible. I love feeling my testimony grow as I learn and testify of and rely on Him more every day. He lives. He loves us. He did all He did... for US. Our part in thanking Him is insignificant and so meesly in comparison, but He accepts it as long as we try our hardest to be obedient to all of His commandments.

Con much amor,
Hermana Marin

Frio!!‏ (October 3, 2011)

I think I'm going to get fatter here. We constantly are given food. I DON'T GET FULL... I don't know how it works, but I can eat and eat and still keep eating. I think it's because it's so cold here. In La Gomera, I would get so full so fast and just wanted to drink fluids all day.

I love my area. It's so small and cute. The members are great, but we need to work on this loving and serving each other thing. Everyone is very poor, more so than in La Gomera.

Things are good with Hna Guaranda. Did I mention how feisty she is? I'm definitely learning a lot about myself with her. I think Heavenly Father is giving me a piece of my own medicine, because she has some of my feisty qualities, but more in extreme. I am understanding a little bit more of what I must have been like with my other comps. But she is fantastic. She has so much love for the people and if someone falls well with her, she is willing to go way out of her way to help them. It's awesome.

General Conference was incredible. Thanks to my get-what-she-wants companion, we actually got to watch it in English, so that was a huge blessing. I just adore conference. I hate when it's over. BUT... we have a lot to learn and improve on for the next six months :)

With mucho mucho amor!