I'M STILL AFRAID OF SPIDERS

November 10,  2014

Hola!!

Well I’m gonna start out by saying that I am still afraid of spiders. We get these giant ones in our house...it takes us thirty minutes to usually kill one because its so scary. that’s what we get with two gringas!!! haha

Anyways, this week we had to give talks in sacrament meeting. well, i hope people understood me.Ssaberrrr i was just praying for the gift of tongues the whole time. My first baptism, Christopher, told me how much he wants to go on a mission and it just melted my heart i love that kid!!

But now time for a sad story. We have been teaching Juana, the mom, and Leslie, the daughter with special needs. They had all their assistances for baptism. we went on Friday with the elders to have a lesson and for the first time ever Leslie had a seizure in front of us. We knew this usually happened but we had never seen it. It was scary and we felt so bad. the elders were teaching about the great love that she has for her daughter and heavenly father loves us like that times a thousand. 

we went back the next day and asked her if she prayed and read the book of Mormon. she said now because she doesn’t want to ask god. She already has the bible and doesn’t need anything else. we asked her to pray and she said no I don’t want to. we asked how she knew the bible is true and she said because i know and i read it. We invited her to read and ask god if its true because she has nothing to loose. she said there is no point. our hearts shattered into a million pieces. I understood for a split second how Jesus felt when the world rejected him. She had sooo much potential. but the book of Mormon prophesizes of people rejecting the book of mormon. All people need to do is pray and read the book of mormon. 

god wants us to pray and ask questions because we dont know anything. We are here to learn and progress and our heavenly father wants to help us so much.   James 1 5. it never hurts to ask. and i promise you he will answer

Other news; the giant family that came to church last week sells vegetable in the terminal. Which is pretty much a giant farmers market every day but they sell everything for super cheap. Anyways we went and a member came by and we talked about temples. They loved that they could do the work of salvation for those who have already passed on. What a blessing we have to have temples today on the earth. 

Anyways i dont have a lot of time! 

love you! 

hermana thompson

AND THEN THE DRUNK MAN CHASED US....

Well I don't remember if I told this yet, but there is a boy in my ward who got called to Nicaragua and it was a really cool opening because it was with all of his family who are pretty much like my family!! I love it! 

Anyways, here for Halloween there is sadly no trick or treating. In my dreams, but no. Everyone goes to the center of town where its pretty much a big fair around the cemetery! It was way cool but we weren't allowed to go and had to come in at seven. Thats okay we made sugar cookies with frosting which was amazing because people don't sell that here. 

Dia de Los Santos when they decorate the cemetaries.

Hermana exchanges for the day.

Fiambre

The cat ears Mom sent for Halloween

Our second family went out with our ears and light sticks to celebrate.

Local Cemetery decorated

On Saturday was Dia de Los Santos and everyone goes to the cemetery, paints, and decorates the graves. Kind of like our memorial day.  We ate fiambre and tamales with Aura, per tradition. everyone eats fiambre here which is pretty much like a way nice salad. I had a normal one with not too many weird meats, but there are some that have cow tongue and stuff like that in it. Well I hope i didnt eat any tongue. 

I had divisions this week and it was the first time I really got to leave my area for awhile since Ive been here. I went with Hermana Richards and it was super fun! Fun to have something different. While I was with her they got three baptismal dates and they havent had any for about 3 transfers!!! I loved seeing these investigators strong faith. 

We had such a miracle this week!! About three weeks ago we fasted to have investigators come to church. We have had investigators at every sunday since°! And yesterday we had a family of 12 come!!!!!!!!!!! ahhh!!  and it was Juanaa and Leslies third assistance which means baptism can be soon. So excited to see her faith grow!! She has had a lot of great experiences with the scriptures lately. 

On saturday night we found one of our menosactivas drunk sleeping on the ground so we helped get her home. and the next day she came to church!!!! Works for me! Hopefully she is strengthening her faith°°° 

also we got chased by a drunk man on Saturday and it was pretty hilarious. definitely a week to remember!

 

love 

hermana thompson

The Senorita Elders got Licee

Well...where should I start? First,  lots of people love calling us weird names and senorita elders always makes me laugh. Anyways, on tuesday night my comp was so annoyed with her itchy head so i checked it and found a bug. Just one so we didnt worry because bugs are everywhere i tell you everywhere! 

anyways we were studying the next morning and what do i pull out of my head? Yes. the same bug. we flipped so i checked her head and i found like 15 more! We were creeped out and called the nurses and they told us to go get lice shampoo. so yes ladies and gentleman for the first time in my life i got lice. No, i was not happy about it and i never want to do

Taking out the licee

Cemeteries...on Nov. 1st they decorate to celebrate Halloween

it again haha. We had to leave lotion in our hair for hours, shampoo, a member came and put mantequa in our heads and lime. We had bags on our heads for about three days. It was a process. but dont worry everyone i am lice freee!!! 

I learned to make empanadas this week! They are delightful! Can't way to show all of you. 

This week we had many miracles.  

We had a noche de hogar with our neighbors, presidente matias, and we met gustavo. gustavo is twenty and you can tell he really wants the truth in his life. The difficulty with him and witha lot of others here is that they didnt go to school and just went right to working. They cant comprehend a lot so its little by little with them. Good thing i can speak complicated spanish! I have to teach the gospel simply in spanish which i love. 

Juana and Leslie came to church again and looooved it!! Juana had a big problem that she thought mormons only talked about Joseph Smith and adored him, but now she understands his purpose. He was the first prophte in this dispensation and restored the church through our heavenly father. He couldnt have done it without him. This is the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints and we concentrate on our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. she loves it and wants to come to church again. 

Just ask yourself this..if you lived in the time of Jesus Christ when he established His church, would you go to his church or someone elses church? I know that this church is the church that jesus Christ established when he lived on the earth.We have a prophet, apostoles, revelation, the priesthood, and the scriptures that god wants the world to have. 

We had interviews with president this week and they were great!! He reassured me to not feel like I'm not having success but just remember the story of Abinidai. he had one convert that was alma and alma went on to convert thousands. 

Love you all and have a great week! 

PS I love hearing from everyone so please keep it up and if i havent heard from you email me! 

love 

hermana thompson 

I'M PLAYING BASKETBALL!!

Hola!! 

This week was great! 

We decided to visit a family that we stopped visiting because they kept making excuses, but they let us in and they are on board to hear our words again! They are so great, but very evangelica so who knows! They are teaching us how to make tortillas too so dont worry world, I'm bringing them home! haha 

Well we have a new district and more elders cause they added more people. Its fun! I miss my old district though...

We have one investigator that Ive talked about her before;  her name is maribella...and her whole family listens to us. They dont speak spanish as their first language and neither do we..soo I think they just like staring at gringas and asking what america is like. I just tell them about the hamburgers.  haha

 

I got to play basketball with the relief society sisters...yes I was like two feet taller but thats okay! I played in my skirt..whoops...but it was so fun! They are actually suprisingly good!! So it was just so fun!! We completed the night with a Guatemalan bbq...do miss those barbequed hotdogs but thats okay!

 

We have been working hard as usual, but not a lot has happened this week!  There is a mormon message about a talk that President Uchdorf gave about a man who goes on a cruise, but he stays in his room the whole time because he doesn't have any more money. He brought his own food and just stayed in his cabin the whole time, doing his laundry and eating out of cans he brought on board. At the end a worker comes into ask which party he will be attending for the final night and he responded and said none because he doesn't have any money. The worker responds saying that everything on board, including food is included and its all free. The man missed out on everything he could have had because he stayed in his room.  This gospel offers so many blessings. Don't stay in your rooms, get out there and enjoy the free blessings of the gospel!!! Promise you its worth it! 

Love you!! 

Hermana Thompson

MY NEW BOYFRIEND!

MY MISSIONARY TAN LINES

THE FRUIT HERE IS SO WEIRD, BUT SO GOOD!

THIS BEAUTIFUL GIRL'S MOM HAD TO SHAVE A LOT OF HER
HAIR OFF THIS WEEK DUE TO LICE.
 I GAVE HER MY FAVORITE HAT TO EASE THE PAIN.  

SHE IS A SWEETY!

THESE GUYS ARE A LITTLE TOUGH TO HANDLE.

Hola, 

So I have to admit that no one could ever have prepared me for a mission no matter what they said. Its something you have to truly experience to understand. It was tough at first, but after 4 months I realize why people say its the best time of your life. I just needed to remember something that I had been forgetting, I needed to stop thinking about time and start thinking about every moment now. Tomorrow is gonna come no matter what so why should I even worry about it? We have to find the fun partys of every day and enjoy it while you can! The time on the mission goes by SOOOOO fast I cant even explain!! its crazy! Except days do feel like eternity, but honestly...I feel like I just left home yesterday. 

Someone was telling me about a talk by one of the general authorities. He told a story of how a gardener was cutting a plant, and the plant was saying "why did you cut me down when I was growing so well?"! He responds that its because he wants the plant to grow to what it can be and the best it can be so it needed to be cut. The Lord cuts us down by giving us hardships and does it so we can grow into a beautiful plant that we are supposed to be! I was given some hardships, but I have truly grown a lot. I am thankful I was cut down and I hope to be cut down more because the Lord knows

I am learning to cook and sadly I like everything!

Our feast!

what I can become. 

I love being a missionary! I get to be immersed in the scriptures every day, always feel the comfort of the spirit, and I get to to talk about the love our Heavenly Father has for us!!! I know im supposed to be here and I lovee every single minute of every single day!! 

We met this cowboy guy who spoke broken english and he was super positive! He lived in the elders area so we gave the reference. The next day we got a reference for our area. This old lady answers the door and we said how are you and she says bad because my daughter has an evil spirit. Yes we were a little scared. We find out that elders had visited them about 6 years ago, and the old lady had received a blessing from them because she was sick and after she felt better! They are so positive and we are excited to teach them the gospel! 

On Saturday it was easily the worst day of the mission. After lunch we started fasting because of fast sunday and we really have been praying for our investigators to progress and come to church. Well, that afternoon it was soo hot, all of our citas fell, walked 5 hours straight without sitting down, an then I got bit by a dog. It was just a series of bad events thats for sure. But it was all worth it when we found a guy who had gone to the open house of the temple in Xela three years ago and loved it! Hes already been through the temple of the Lord!! so rad!! so excited and he is excited to learn more! 

Also, we have been teaching the cutest old lady named Consuelo. She always waved at us when we passed so we finally talked to her! She came to church and was wearing a cute 70s dress with her hair all done! We had a gospel principles class about prayer and she said she always prayes before taking a shower so she doesnt fall. I just love her haah 

I have decided im going to be the missionary my mom thinks I am!!!! 

Love you all! 

Hermana Thompson

Hola Familia! 

This week was so great!!!

First of all...we have a day of kids here..like Mothers day but for kids. okay we got jipped in the states come on now I want a day of kids hahaha

On thursday we were helping a member take a cake across town and we just jumped on a crowded bus with this huge cake. There was only one seat open and come to find out it was open because there was puke all over the floor...well i had no choice. the cake would have died...so for the member and my salvation I sat in the puke. The lady next to me laughed with me and turns out she was meeting with the missionaries before and then wanted us to come visit with her! The Lord clearly blessed me there. just had to sit in puke for it!

On Wednesday we took a little microbus to Xela and went to the temple as a zone! We get to do that every six months and it was so amazing!! I have come to really appreciate the temple and the beauty of it all!! I love it! Its also a beautiful temple! E then had a zone meeting with president and his wife and my comp and I were chosen to do role plays aka teach a fake investigator, but it was in front of president! It was very nerve wracking but thats okay. Afterwards the president told me my spanish was coming along nicely, but I can only speak because the Lord really does help me. I am shocked when i can speak half the time. The lord blesses me sooo much and the only reason I can do this is because of him! 

On Thursday we taught Maribella and her huge family again. We taught them the restoration and they really seemed to understand it! We will see how it all went! 

they can only know of the truthfulness of this through praying so i hope they recieved their answers! E also shared the restoration video with Maria and she had such great questions and is really progressing. We have another investigator who refuses to pray. Something special about our message is that once you pray, you will know it is ture. you need to pray, meditate, and read the book of mormon and you will recieve your answers. 

We also met with Elaina this week and shared the restoration with her too. She loveddd it and prayed and got her answer! She is going to start reading the book of mormon and im so excited! 

We got to watch conference on Saturday and Sunday!!! On Saturday, we could only watch in spanish but thats okay I still understood! On sunday we got to watch it in english!!! It was sooo great! Its just different when we can hear the apostoles and prophets voices. its just so much better. I loved it! I could go on and on about conference. My favorite line was by the one and only President Thomas S Monson, he said that decisions determine destiny. Its soooo true. We truly can choose to follow the path of the Lords and return to him again. God loves us and wants us to have the gospel, thats why he gave us prophets in this dispensation. Why would he only talk to people in the bible times and not our times? He loves us and gave us a prophet in this day because he loves us. With more time we are able to see the Lords hands in things. He responds in his own way and in his own time, and its the best for us. During afflictions remember that there is a reason. We will receive lots of blessings

 

Remember to continue strengthening your testimony. Its the most valuable thing in your life. 

Love you and have a great week! 

Hermana Thompson

We had to cut up Beets!

My second Mom in Guatemala

Our zone taking a bus to the temple 

Our zone at the temple in Quetzaltenango,Guatemala

We got to watch conference in English with our treats! Not the same as moms cinnabons, but loved watching conference and hearing them speak in their own voices. 

Just another pretty sunset

Me and my companion at the temple

When you get sour cream and bananas, you're in Guatemala

Well this week was just another one full of experiences that are hard but always 
make me grateful to be a missionary and to have the opportunity to be here. 
  
Last pday we were in mcdonalds and this lady named olivia who we met for about 2 
seconds during a freak rainstorm came up to us. She lived in california with her 
family for awhile and knows english pretty well. We ended up meeting their 
family and getting to teach them, and in english. thats a miracle. only two 
gringas could make this happen haha. But I've been praying every day for the 
opportunity to teach families and we got two in one day. always lovin the 
blessings of being a missionary! So grateful! 

Tuesday was the best day because eeveryone we were supposed to teach was home 
and accpeted everything we taugh. thats the day we got two families. we were 
walking to go teach english class and someone sprayed water all over us and it 
still didnt get us down. 

On Wednesday we had to walk to the church which is probs a 20 to 30 min walk, 
super early because we had to open the church for the zone conference. the zone 
conference was great, but out of the 70 missionaries there I was one of the four 
that presidente made bear their testimony in spanish. In front of everyone. but 
thats okay because we got the best brownies for lunch. I love hearing from 
president smith and I truly know he was called of God. I believe we accpeted 
these calls before this life and these people are prepared for us. 

On Thursday I woke up with a killer cold and slept a lot but we still went out 
and it started pouring so it just made it worse. 
That  night I woke up at 2am with killer ear infections and had to call the 
nurse and stuff. Life of the mission. Im healing slowly but surely! Grateful  
for the nurses. 

On Friday we had the opportunity to visit a lady and literally fifteen people 
gathered around to hear us talk. It was amazing. I realized how amazing my 
opporutnity to be a missionary is and to get to know these people. it was 
pouring rain and they still just listened. well they also wanted to look at the 
two crazy gringas in skirts haha but still. 
  
On Saturday we were walking back from the womens conference there was this 
catholic saints parade and they would blow off fireworks every five feet it was 
sooo funny and they were always next to us with the fireworks. We probably 
looked like goofballs getting so scared. 

We met with joceline and elizabeth and they always feed us the funnies things 
and always want to eat with us. We had a hot dog. instant soup, and a pancake. I 
feel like im in college again.  Anyways these two lovely ladies truly want to 
hear the gospel. We are gonna visit them every day this week and read out of the 
book of mormon with them because thats how you can gain a testimony of these 
things. 

Anyways I was reading Alma 26 27 when peoples hearts are depressed we want to 
tun back, but we need to have patience in our afflictions because we will have 
great success. Life  is hard and we work on the Lords time but he knows whats 
best for us. It's all gonna be worth it. 

love ya 
Hermana Thompson