IT'S GETTING HOT IN HERE!

Hermana Jesse Thompson's contact info:

Jessica.thompson@myldsmail.net

Sister Jessica Christina Thompson

Guatemala Quetzaltenango Mission

5A Calle 14-35 Zona 3

09001 Quetzaltenango

Guatemala

Hola Familia!!!!

So this week was good but also the HOTTEST week of my life!!! HueHue is a lot hotter than Xela, but I still love it. I have a beautiful sunburn, well farmers tan sun burn what ever you wanna call it. but hey its all part of it! we spent most of our week knocking on doors and talking to people because we really are lacking in investigators but tahts okay! BUT the best part of the week was....CRISTOFERS baptism!!! Hes so adorable and seeing him being baptized was such an amazing feeling and he was so happy!! I would send pictures, but i cant this week cause this computer doesnt like my camera. But it was great and he was so happy!!!! I can see the light in his eyes and its fabulous. 

So everyone, and i mean EVERYONE that i talk to asks how I got so tall, so I just say its all the hamburgers in America. They laugh but I think they actually believe me. 

I decided I should tell you about my companion more. She is fabulous and her Dad sells his onions to In n Out, so I mean thats pretty cool. I told you that my last companion killed all th spiders for me, well this one doesnt so we just freak out for awhile till it dissapears. But shes so great and Its a totally different experience with another gringa but I love it! Everyone thinks shes from like Brazil so I just say Im from Mexico to fit in. 

This week we concentrtated on getting to know the members more and I have never felt closer to thme and I love it! It feels like a second family! I had this realization this week of how grateful I am for eternal families. I just imagine myself in a strange place like this, without the amazing people I have met, and without Pdays to write to my family, and thats what it would be like without the promise of eternal families. Im so incredibly thankful! 

Also, I never realized how important it is to help the missionaries! They need you all so help them out because literally the members have made this so much easier for me, so grateful for them!! Give them references, food, hugs, laughs, anything! 

So the toughest part of the week was contacting because most of the churches here tell the members to not listen to the mormons at all so some people are pretty rude but thats okay! we jsut tell them we are here to serve them and they give us a lovely look and walk away. 

So Ive only been out for 11 weeks but I cant explain how much Ive already grown from this experience. I am grateful for sooooooo much more and I truly love this gospel. My testimony grows every day and I learn to not judge by first impression. I realize how lucky I am to have the life I have and to have such amazing family and friends. Thank you all for everything you have ever done for me, I cant explain how much it has helped me get here. I cant wait to see what is more to come. 

Love you all and have a fabulous week! 

Hermana Thompson 

AND THEN THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN....

Hola Hola Hola!!

This week has been extremely crazy!!! So on Weds. I finally felt that I was getting a hang of everything and being able to talk to everyone, I was definitely used to everything with my companion and what not. Then thursday morning we get a call that Hermana Sanchez had emergency changes....as in she is leaving me....and trainers train the greenys for 3 months and I only had three weeks. So we packed all her stuff, I had a meltdown because I dont know the members or where they live (they dont have addresses here) and I dont even know our ward boundaries...but the Lord works in funny ways. We took our 3 hour busride which was one of the scariest ill leave out the details for my moms sanity hahaah and arrived in Xela. We switched trainers so I got my friend from the MTC trainer, Hermana Woods! Dont worry everyone she is still half my height haha, but teh best part is she is a gringa so we can communicate!! I discovered I actually didnt know a lot about the mission stuff so I am learning for real this time. Shes so great, I just feel so bad because I dont know a lot about the area but we are learning together! 

On monday we had an activity with cooking and of course we had to make tortillas so i decided to help. Well lets just say they laughed at my skills, but it was better than my first time trying because that tortilla ended up on the ground. I attached a photo of the family and my tortilla and I. it tasted great. So on top of all our changes we also got a new bishop and my old companion used all of our minutes on our phone for the months. its been a struggle but we are getting through it all! 

Our baptism is tomorrow and I am soooo sooo excited! Cristifer is THE BEST and loves the gospel!! Even for a nine year old he really understands it all! We accidently spelled his name wrong on the invitations, but thats what happens when you get two gringas together! 

Funny story, my companion had a bee in her hair and we were trying to get it out and this couple walks by and starts laughing at the two gringas who were freaking out about a bee. My companion told them she had an oveja in her hair whichs means sheep so that was pretty funny.

I also am sending some pictures of a little girl and I in the ward, they always want to be taller than me so she climbed up on the fence to be taller haha. I may be in a super poor place, but the people here love their families! everyone lives together and they just have so much fun and they dont care if they have money or not. This gospel allows families to be together for eternity and they really do want to learn from us. i have learned that it doesnt matter where you are or how much money you have, happiness is where ever your family is. A lot of our investigators want eternal families because that whats make them happiest. Thats what makes me happiest too. I love my family and am thankful for them each and every day! 

Love 

Hermana Thompson

Hola Familia!! 

Well this week I had chicken noodle soup with tortillas!! Just gets better and better dont you think? haah anyways we had to eat intestines this week, but dont worry my companion ate mine for me thank goodness....I couldnt do it...but my companion ate monkeys in her house so she can eat anything! My stomach has officially given up. Yes I practically slept in the bathroom for one night, but its all part of the experience! Usually its because of the fresco because a lot of people cant afford pure water, so a parasite in inevitable. I've decided to name my freddy haha chiste. 

Anyways this week we split up to contact in an area so I was with Hermana Quarez who is a gringa so it was sooo nice to be able to talk to someone in english! Anyways we were knocking and we came to this one house that was of a less active member and he had me bare my testimony in english, it was kind of bazar experience, but he came to the activities the next day and everything,so that was awesome!! On Saturday the new Chapel in Centro was opening, so we had an open house all day where we taught about our purpose as missionaries and sang a lot. Later that night we had a cultural activity which was awesome! They did a lot of traditional dances and what not, oh and there were fireworks! If they had fireworks at our stake activities maybe more poeple would go! haha 

This week we had a lot of appointments so my companion and I went on splits with a member and long story short I invited someone to baptism by myself, and they acccepted! Im surprised they understood, well I hope they did haah! Anyways, today is my official two month mark!! 16 more months is nothing! I am starting to love the work more and more every day which is great! Still super hard, but time is going by a lot faster! 

Before my mission I didnt study the scriputures as much as I could have  .In 2 Nephi 32:3 it explains that these scriptures tell you all you need to know, which is very true. Most importantly, the scriptures testify of Christ and how through him everything is possible. Because of him and this Gospel my family is eternal and I will be able to return to Him again.  But if we don't have faith in Christ, then we wont be able to gain eternal life. To know Christ we must study our scriptures. I have grown to love them so much!! 

Have a great week!!! 

This pix is at culture night.

love 

Hermana Thompson

Hola!!! 

Well! the weeks are short and the days are long, but hey thats the life of a missionary!!

This week was normal haha. My companion and I run every morning, but sometimes she is sick so I do my own exercises and I was on the roof (thats where we dry clothes so theres a staircase to it) and a little Latina lady started to copy me from down below it was pretty hilarious, but maybe it was a had to be there moment. 

So I have my first baptism date! Its with a boy named Cristofer who is nine years old and his mom is a menosactivo, but we have been teaching his Mom and he wants to be baptised!! 

These other investigators bought us dresses which is adorable, if i can make my photos work I will send a picture, its a blue dress haha its from a thrift store but i love it! This family doesnt have a lot, but the wife was determined to give us them and she is so sweet! We are hoping her son is getting baptised soon, we arent sure about the entire family. We bought them a cake (which is one of the photos) for their sons birthday, but I should add that i promise they are a happy people even though the picture doesnt look like it! 

So we walk about five miles a day and i absolutely loveeee it!  This is also another reason i love my ugly sister missionary shoes hahaha. My area is a tad hot but not really its pretty perfect! Xela (another name for quetzaltenango) is a lot colder, but im about a 3 hour busride away from there. I am always exhausted by the end of the day and go right to sleep! We have lunch with the members every day and I actually love the food! They eat tortillas with EVERYTHING HERE!! even spaghetti!! They just love their tortillas!! We dont ever have time for dinner so I just enjoy by breakfast and big lunch and continue my day! I actually love it and I feel a lot healthierright now. 

Well my emotions are all over the place. I miss home and my Mom hugs, but I know this is where Im supposed to be and I know im gonna start loving it soon. 

This week I learned that prayers work! My mom sent me an awesome quote last week that talks about ¨He will hold your hand when the walk is long or the water is cold if you just invite him to¨¨ oh boy i have invited him to a lot this week! And my prayers were answered multiple times. You just have to ask!! 

Love you!!! 

Jesse

  Not big smilers, but promise they are really happy people.  We took this awesome family a birthday cake.

My wall

A blue dress a sweet and humble member insisted I have.