Be careful what you pray for....

Feliz Navidad!

This week has been... Interesting.  Last Wednesday Hermana Z asked me what I was going to give Christ for Christmas this year.  I decided to pray for patience and apparently Hermana Z was praying for charity.... BIG MISTAKE!

...Sunday I got Dengue.

So, I got to learn to be patient in affliction and Hermana Z got to learn to have charity for her companion who was violently hurling and had a dangerously high fever.... That is what we get for praying for stupid things.

Dengue is awful.  It feels like your whole spine is on fire and like someone breaking all of your bones and then you have a super high fever and a really nasty rash all over your back.... Super good times... But on Sunday the district leader, Elder D (who has memorized all the episodes of Star Trek, but that is just an irrelevant detail) caught a ride into La G_______ to give me a blessing. 

During the blessing he promised me that I would be healed according to my faith.  Hermana Z and I went back to the house and prayed and prayed for patience and faith and charity and when I woke up Monday morning I was significantly better.  Still miserable, but I didn't wish I was dead, so that was pretty good improvement.

Moral of the story is be careful what you pray for, because you never know how Heavenly Father will answer.

Don't freak out, a lot of people get Dengue in this mission.  It is all a part of the experience. 

But let me just say, if I had to get Dengue in the mission, I am very grateful that Hermana Z was my companion during it.  That woman is incredible.  I love her so much.  I love serving here in La G_______, the branch members are so willing to help and even better is that we share the branch with another set of sisters (Hermana G and Hermana K).  We all love each other SO MUCH.  This area is great and serving here is so fun

We have some real miracles coming our way.  We have 3 people who could potentially be baptized this weekend.  Please pray for them!

Pray for:

C_________ (pray that her dad will give her permission to be baptized)

J__________

and C_______ H________

It is so humbling and amazing to be able to open an area.  It really shows how reliant we are on the Lord.  It also shows us how much he will bless us when we are exactly obedient and do our part.

Anyway, I will be skyping you all on Christmas Day between 10 and 11 in the morning.  I am excited to be able to talk to you guys (: 

Glad you liked the package! Make yourselves some Pepian!

My little sister is a hot babe!

Les amo muchisimo!

 

Hermana Wise

Hola Cambios!

Hola Familia!

Well, this week has been weird.  As you know, last week we got notice that Hermana C_________ and I would both have changes again and that we would be closing Las Delicias.  Well, I packed up all my stuff and hauled it across 2 buses to get to change meeting in the capitol.  To get this report:

"Y en la Zona Santa Lucia... En  La Gomera 1: Hermana G_________ recibira.... Hermana Wise!"

What? I am in the same zone as last time! Haha different district and entirely different area but close to my last one.  I have the same zone leaders and the same zone.  But still on the coast! Yay!!!

Hermana G_________ has about 6 months on the mission and is from Guatemala (the east mission). I was made senior companion (hard to do in a mission where 22 sisters will be going home next change and they are all seniors).  But we headed back to the G________ to work.  The following day, Hermana G________ got really sick (she had denguae).  So she tried her hardest to work but eventually had to stay in the house and I was on divisions with a member.  But, as the day progressed, she got worse so I ended up calling the nurse and it was discovered that Hermana G________ is allergic to mosquitos, which is unfortunate on the coast.  Eventually, it was decided that she would no longer be able to work here on the coast and she was emergency transferred to the mountains. 

So, I recieved Hermana Z_______.  She is incredible.  She has about seven months on the mission and is from Saint George but her parents are from Mexico so her Spanish is perfect.  I already love her so much and I know that this will be an incredible change. 

But.... with losing Hermana G________ that means that I am opening this area.  We are starting fresh, knowing absolutely nobody and doing our best not to get lost or teach any more lessons in the other sisters area (thus far we have only taught two lessons out of our own area....killing it).  But it is definitely a challenge opening as a senior companion, but I am really feeling the hand of God guiding me through.  I love this work.  I love these people.  I love the coast.  I love being a missionary.

I have really learned through my time on the mission that there are always changes...Six week changes, emergency changes, changes in your area or in your companion, the mission is filled with changes.  But, the changes that are the most important are the changes that Christ makes in each of us.  I am changed.  I am converted.  The Gospel has changed me and I have seen the changes that this message makes in the lives of others.

The Church is true. 

Also, we will be skyping on the 25th.  DAD, do you have rehearsal or weird stuff with the MoTab that day? Let us  know so we can plan.  Also, what is your Skype account?  Yay for talking to my family when it isn't about health emergencies!!!

Love you guys! Thanks for all your support.  I am happy to hear about all the different kinds of family progress you guys are making.

Estoy orando para ustedes.

Les amo!

Hasta la proxima semana...

Hermana Wise

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some Things Never Change

Wow family,

I wish I could explain to you how incredibly bizarre this week has been.

But first off, I did after all get to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional.  Granted, I watched it in Spanish but it was still awesome.  Me, and my converts and Hermana C_____ all were searching for Dad.... WHOOHOO! Right during the first number we all saw you!!!  It was awesome.  They all kept asking:

 "Which one is he? Which one is he???"

To which I answered:  "The tall gringo!" ... Really narrowed it down.

But the devotional was great.  Really helped us feel the Christmas spirit (that, and the fact that it was broadcast on the Day of the Devil so all of the Guatemalans were in the street burning giant statues of Satan made out of straw... Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like almost lighting your neighbors house on fire).

Okay, and on to the strange news...

This week is changes.  The way that changes work in this mission is that Monday morning we get a call from the District Leader informing us if we have changes or not and if we do we both go to a giant change meeting the following Wednesday to find out where we go.  Well... This Sunday night, Hermana C_____ and I received a call from President Markham telling us that we will both be leaving Las D_____....

... Yeah.  Didn't we just open this area?

But, we have been having some difficult stuff going down here with the members and the missionaries (specifically with our branch president).  President decided to try putting in sisters to see if the situation improved, but it hasn't.  So, he decided to pull us both and leave Las D_____ without missionaries for a while "to teach them to appreciate missionary work."

Yeah... Kind of a delicate situation so that is as far as I am going to go with that.  No, we aren't in danger, no we aren't disobedient and being cast out, but yes... we are leaving.  Hermana Conover and I are closing.... AGAIN! Some things never do change.

Moving right along...

Here is a funny story of the week for you all:  Elder Heslington and I happen to be serving in the same zone right now (Elder Heslington as in Jake Hes who I went to high school with).  It's pretty fun to be in the same zone as someone from "the previous life."

Well, this Wednesday during language study we got a call from the zone leaders.  I picked up and it went like this:

"Hey, Hermana Wise we are doing a competition this week as a zone!"

Me:  "ok"

Elder Arrieta:  "Yeah, and we are doing it differently we are doing it companionship against companionship like a bracket."

Me:  "okay, who are we against?"

Elder Arrieta: "Sipacate, Elder Heslington and Elder Richens.  Whoever gets the most new investigators wins."

Game on.

We got 18.  EIGHTEEN NEWS IN A SINGLE DAY!

We killed them.

Yes, I am still a bit competitive.... The mission helps us overcome weakness but I am yet to overcome this one. 

Anyway, that is about all for this week.  I love you guys! Hope all is well.  It's weird to be opening and closing this area in the same transfer but I know that it is what God wants me to do.  We have done what we needed to do here in Las D_____ and someday I will explain to you guys what happened.  But, for now just pray for me wherever I end up going.  My guess? The mountains.

Well, until next week when I write from who knows were!

Love you!

Hermana Wise

I just want to keep going up

Hola Familia!

This week has been great.  We have been blessed with SO MANY miracles.  It's crazy to think that the start of this month we were opening this area without knowing a single member or investigator and we ended this month with three miracle baptisms.

... That's right, we baptized this weekend.

One of our miracles is named R_______.  He is a 16 year old kid who started going to church with some of his friends at the start of this month.  We had a really hard time tracking him down but we finally were able to find him and he accepted, not only baptism, but also a baptismal date on his first visit.  However, as he kept listening to us he suddenly got offered a job wherein he would have to work on Sundays.  He took the job because his dad abandoned the family leaving him and his older brother to care for his mom and younger siblings.  We were panicking but we went to teach him about the importance of baptism, sacrifice, and how God is capable of working miracles.  He explained to us that he really wanted to be baptized but that his boss already told him that working on Sunday was non-negotiable leaving him unable to ever attend church.

We asked him why he wanted to be baptized and he told us:

"I want to be clean."

We then asked what he would give to become clean and after thinking for a minute he told us:

"Anything.... I will talk to my boss again.  I will come to church on Sunday and be baptized even if it means losing my job."

Wow, what incredible faith this young man has.  The greatest part was that his boss just decided to give him Sundays off he came to church on Sunday and was baptized that night.

The next miracle that we had was L_____, the sister of S_____ (S_____ has been going through a bit of a rough patch, but we are still working with him).  She almost didn't get baptized because she was so terrified for her interview (don't blame her... Elder R_____ can be scary).  But she eventually did it and  despite her crippling fear of water was baptized after church on Sunday.  When she left the water she cried out:

"QUE RICO!!!"

which directly translates to "how delicious!"

Best reaction to being baptized, EVER!

Our last miracle was O______, he was able to finally kick Satan right in the pants and be baptized Saturday night.  He couldn't have been more excited to be baptized.  After the service, he asked if he could share his testimony. Obviously, we let him do it.

 

With tears in his eyes he humbly said:

"Some of you may have known be before my baptism... I wasn't a great person.  But I have been making lots of changes in my life and I am grateful for this chance that God has given me to change and be baptized.  I know that this church is true and.... I just want to keep progressing.... I just want to keep going up."

Wow, how profound.  As I am about to compete 9 months in the field I feel like this should just become my motto...

 "I just want to keep going up."

I have learned so much during my time here in Guatemala, but I still have so much to learn.  My goal is to just keep improving.  Become a better teacher, speak the language better, know the scriptures more, pray harder, walk faster, contact more people, love the people more, and become a better representative of Jesus Christ.

I just want to keep going up.

That is about it for this week.  The other semi-interesting occurrence was that we bought mosquito nets this week to help fend off the dengue carrying mosquitoes.... But we didn't have a ladder to put them up.  So, we had to get a bit creative (pictures included..... Sorry I am so sweaty, welcome to Santa L_____).

Love you all! Hope Thanksgiving was awesome! For Thanksgiving lunch (we don't eat dinner in this mission.... it's a rule) I ate a tortilla with beans on it....

"QUE RICO!"

I love you people! Make good choices.  Share "He is the gift" on Facebook because NO ONE here has computers.

Love yall

Until next week,

Hermana Wise

AKA...

- Hermana We-Say (dinosaur fighter, professional lice remover, Lamanite warrior, and Dengue survivor..... Not even joking).

... and this computer isn't working.... Pictures next week.

He loves us

Hola familia!

Sorry to write you guys late.  District meeting got pushed back this week so writing did too.  But, here I am!

First off, I sent you guys a package... Get excited.  It's pretty cool.

This week has been edifying.  Hard? Yes.  Frustrating? Yes.  But that is the thing about being a missionary, you are more tired, beaten and worn down than you have ever been in your life but you are also the happiest because the Lord is carrying you through it. 

Recently, I have been focusing on really applying Preach my Gospel into my life, not only studying its teachings but truly applying it to every aspect of my mission.  One of the things that I have been focusing on is our divine purpose.  Each of us is a child of our loving Heavenly Father.  He knows and loves us individually and he will guide us through the paths of life.  As I have been pondering this more and more I have realized how incredibly profound this truth is, we are children of God.  Primary children know this, but do we really understand the magnitude of this truth? I surely didn't before my mission, and I am still learning.  But this truth of the gospel is liberating.

Which brings us to O______....

O_____ is a 50 year old investigator who the elders found 3 months ago.  When they found him, he was drunk in the street.  The elders began teaching him and he immediately gave up drinking and coffee and hasn't touched it since.  He has been coming to church but has been hesitant to accept baptism.  Yesterday, we left to visit him with the intent of talking about temple work.  However, as we began the lesson, he shared with us his fears about baptism (a subject he had been dodging for quite some time).  He explained to us that he is afraid of falling away or falling back into sin after being baptized.  He explained to us that his parents were both addicts and he has struggled with addictive behavior for his whole life.  He explained that he has been raised to be how he is and he is afraid that he is unable to change.  He then said that he told his daughter that he wants to be baptized and she told him:

"Are you sure? Remember how you are.  Are you sure you can do it?¨

The poor man was distressed and doubtful that he would ever be able to change.  As I sat there listening, the Spirit prompted me to ask him:

"Hermano, who knows you perfectly"

The question caught him off guard, but he answered correctly:

"God"

I responded:

"Yes, God knows you better than you know yourself.  He knows you better than the missionaries.  He knows you better than your daughter.  He is your loving father, you know that?"

"Si"

"He believes in you.  He knows you can do it.  He loves you so much he sent his son Jesus Christ to pay for your sins.... And if you had been the only person to ever live on earth He would still do it.  He loves you O_______.  You know why he loves you?¨

"Why?"

"Because you are a child of God."

(silence)

"Who are you?"

".... I am a child of God"

"Say it again!"

"I am a child of God"

"Say it like you believe it!"

"I AM A CHILD OF GOD! HE LOVES ME! I CAN DO IT"

We then read in Romans 8:16

"Porque el Espiritu mismo da testimonio a nuestro espiritu que somos hijos de Dios."

Hermana C_________ and I testified that because he is a child of God, he can be successful.  He can change.  We challenged him to get baptized this weekend....

... And he accepted. 

Family, I want you to know that I know that Heavenly Father lives.  He loves us.  I know that He sent his son Jesus Christ to suffer and die for our sins because he knows that we are worth it.  I testify that through the atonement of Jesus Christ we can change.  Satan tries to tell us that we can't, tries to tell us who we are, but we are children of our Heavenly Father.  We are infinite and powerful and with His help, we can do all things. 

Funny story of the week:

P day I cut my own hair (it was time, and if you had seen Guatemalan haircuts you would do it yourself too). 

Anyway, Hermana C_______ decided that since it turned out okay for me she would give it a whirl too..... Her quick trim ended up with her cutting off about 4 inches of hair and I had to finish the job because it was such a mess.

We all learn.

Love you guys! Read your scriptures and remeber quienes somos!

HIJOS DE DIOS!

Con amor!

Hermana Wise

I pooped today

Hola familia!

Well, truth is that there isn't much to talk about this week.... So let me explain the title to this email.

Here in Guatemala, people shop in secondhand stores called "pacas." A paca is generally filled with all of the interesting clothing items from the US that they couldn't sell in Goodwill so they shipped them here.  Anyway, the thing is that people here don't understand the English phrases written on their shirts.  Thus, you end up with some interesting sayings on some interesting people.  For example, the other week I saw "army wife" on some Guatemalan gang buster´s tee shirt...

Well, this week was district p day, like all district p days in Guatemala, we decided to play soccer.  One of the Latino elders in our district, on his way to p day, stopped at a paca to buy a tee shirt to wear while we played.  This poor guy had NO IDEA what the thing he bought said, but he showed up to play wearing a tee shirt that proudly proclaimed:

"I pooped today."

Good for you, elder.

This week we have been working hard and seeing some results coming from it.  We have been working with a young girl, L_______, and trying to help her work toward baptism.  All of her family are members but, she never got baptized because her family is inactive.  However, as we have been teaching her I felt distinctly that her older brother, S______, wasn't a member.  I asked him, and he assured me that he was indeed baptized.  I also asked the branch president who told me the same thing.  But, I just couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't a member.  So, despite my companion thinking I was crazy, I called the secretaries of the mission to have them search for his records.  Sure enough, they don't exist.  S_______ is not a member.  What we are assuming happened was that he was baptized and never confirmed.  This means that he can be baptized with his sister on the 30th of November.  What a miracle.  This really helped strengthen my testimony that God really will bless us with the whisperings of The Spirit that we need to help guide us to the people who need to be baptized (even if they were already baptized before). 

Cool, eh?

Other eventful thing that happened this week is that I had divisions with Hermana B_______. This was my third time having divisions with her and she is awesome.  She honestly feels more like a friend than a training leader.  But, here was our funny quote from divisions:

Me: " I am going to throw away my trash from my water real quick."

Hermana B_______: "Okay, and I will throw away the trash from my cookies so that no one knows I am not on my diet"

Me: "If diarrhea is a diet, we are all dieting!"

Okay, maybe you have to be a missionary in Guatemala to think that is funny.. But let's just say we all deserve " I pooped today" tee shirts.

I apologize that most all of this email is about bowel movements.... Yes I know that I am 20 years old.  I will try to be more spiritual next time.

Still praying for you! Love you guys!!!

Sepan que les amo!!!

Hermana Wise

Hola!

Hola familia,

This week has been pretty normal.  Hard, but normal.  The mission just doesn't get easy.  Opening an area is rough, but I am learning a lot here.  The elders who left this area left us very little to work with and the branch has been taking this change from elders to sisters as a serious downgrade. The branch here is tiny.  They only have about 40 members who consistently come.

So yeah, it has definitely been a trial of our faith.  But we are promised in the book of Ether that after the trail of our faith, we see miracles. 

So we keep working and waiting for the Lord to show us His miracles. 

I agree, it is completely weird that I am still with Hermana C________.  Three changes with the same comp is basically unheard of.  We have now been together almost 13 weeks.... 24 hours a day.... 7 days a week... Within sight and sound of each other unless someone is using the bathroom.... It's weird.  But mission life is a weird concept in and of itself. 

I honestly feel like I have started a brand new mission.  Santa L_______ is completely different from life in the city.  But I like it! People on the coast are hilarious. Here is a list of new, completely bizarre things I am experiencing:

1.  When someone dies here on the coast, there is a truck that drives all around the city with a loudspeaker on the top that blares the life story of whoever died at deafening volume. 

2.  EVERYONE here works with the Safra. It is the sugarcane harvest and EVERY ABLE BODIED MAN WORKS IN IT.  Even weirder is that they burn the stocks when they finish so black ash falls from the sky constantly like snow during this season.

3.  People here genuinely believe that by turning the lights off, it will be cooler inside your house. That is science.

4.  We don't have running water in the house.

5.  There was a volcanic eruption yesterday (not a dangerous one)

6.  I saw a family of 6 crammed on the same motorcycle (new record)

Because we are opening here, Hermana C_______ and I have been knocking more doors in these past two weeks than I have knocked in all my mission up to this point.  But, Friday we were out knocking when we knocked the door of a very, very Evangelico woman.... This is what she told us:

¨Thank you, but I already have my church.  I have already found God and I have Jesus in my heart.  I am EVANELICA.  So, yeah I am already saved because I know God.  What you guys need to do is visit the people who don't know God...You should visit the Catholics! There is a Catholic who lives over there, and another over there, and one in that blue house over there!"

 We were dying we were laughing so hard. 

That is about it for this week.  Working hard with the faith that our hard work will pay off.  We have the goal as a mission this month to baptize 400 people.  That means that every companionship needs to baptize at least 4.  We need some serious miracles to make it happen here in Las D________.  Pray for us!

Respuestas: 

Dad:  the jars made it ok! Don't worry.  I loved my package, thank you so much. Yes, I have my card.  But, there is nothing to buy here on the coast so no money has been pulled from it. 

That's it folks!  I love you all a lot! Praying for you people. 

Hermana Wise

Sacked!

Hola Familia,

Funny you should ask when we have cambios..... Change meeting is tomorrow and......

.....They are closing our area and putting Elders in.

In mission terms, we are getting sacked. 

President Markham let us know on Thursday when we had interviews.  He let us know that there have been some safety issues going down in the elders area which have been escalating (last change both Elders had emergency changes they sacked the gringos and put in Latinos).  He has become increasingly concerned that the sisters would be affected so he decided to pull us out and put Elders in.  He explained to us that it is all the will of the Lord and that he knows that this is what needs to happen but it was still devastating.  I really don't want to leave this place. 

But, we have done what we needed to do.  We came.  We worked.  We saw miracles and now we are both leaving.

Last night we had to tell C__________ family as well as the family of the bishop (we called the bishop to give him a heads up on Friday, but his family didn't know).  We had a family home evening with all of them in the bishops house, gave a lesson about the importance of enduring to the end, and then dropped the bomb. 

Surprisingly, they took the news well.... At first.  It was after the lesson when they fell apart.  Every last one of them was bawling, plus the bishops family, plus the bishop, and we were both a mess too.

This is the worst part of the mission, having to leave your converts behind.

But, I know that the Lord has great things in store for my little corner of the vineyard here.  I wish I could stay.  I love V____________.  But, I know that I will love wherever I go next.

.... Como asi es la mision.

 But as a result I have NO EARTHLY IDEA where I will be next week.  Maybe I will go back to P_______? Jaja.  Who knows?

Anyway, I would definitely appreciate some prayers this week.  Pray for my little converts in V__________ that they will be able to keep working hard and stay strong in the church.

Other news of the week:

1.  Yes, I got my package.  Thank you SO MUCH! The Mp3 player is awesome.  It is great to be able to listen to some church songs after a long day of working.

2.  I am currently being made fun of by the elders in the district.  Why? Because my ankle is sprained.  How did I sprain my ankle? I fell into a hole....

.... again.

3.  We went to la Zona uno for P Day yesterday.  It was awesome.  Bought myself a sweet corte skirt made by Lamanites.

That is about it for the week.  I love you people.  Keep on moving forward.  Don't be stoops.  Say your prayers.  Eat lots of Dairy Queen.  DON'T have scoliosis.  Try not to accidentally make giant purchases on Ebay....

 Love you guys

Until next time!

Hermanita We-SAY!

Baptisms, Righteous Indignation, and Walmart

Hola Familia!

This week has definitely been interesting.  We have seen some crazy miracles and had some flipping weird experiences as well. 

Mom, remind me to tell you about our experience with S______  this week.  I will tell you in about 10 months when I am home, not really a "through email" type of thing to share.  But it was crazy.... Super crazy.  Let's just say I am super grateful for priesthood holders worthy to cast out demons when necessary.  You will appreciate it later.

In other news:  Our five baptisms from last week all got confirmed this week.  It was AWESOME! C_______, one of the jovensitos, received one of the coolest blessings I have ever heard.  In it, the bishop promised him that he would be the clave (is that a word in English?) to carry his family to the Celestial Kingdom.  It also promised him that he would serve a full time mission.  GO C________! I can't wait for him to confess to his future companions that he asked the sister missionary, Hermana Wise, who taught him the lessons if she would baptize him. 

Que chistoso

It was nuts to get them there to be confirmed, NUTS!  Sunday morning we made divisions to get all of our investigators to church on time. As a result, I was with A_______, the daughter of our bishop, and Hermana C_________ was rounding up other investigators to take to church.  When A______ and I passed by, we discovered that NO ONE in the familia C_______ de la Parra had set an alarm.... Which means that we woke all of them up at 9:40 (church starts at 10).  Remarkably, we were able to herd all of them  through the process of getting ready for church (A_______ and I ran all through that house looking for shoes), we left the home at 9:57 with everyone and literally SPRINTED ten blocks to church. 

But we made it at 10:03.  It was a miracle.

Other interesting thing that happened this week:

Thursday morning all of our plans were falling through leaving Hermana C________ and I with nothing to do but knock doors (knocking doors in Guatemala before lunch is impossible because EVERYONE is eating.  Guatemalans refuse to listen to you if they are eating.  It's weird, but that is what happens).  Anyway, I felt really strongly that we needed to go visit two of our area converts, K________ and M________.

Here's the thing:  K_________ and M_________ have been listening to the Jehovah Witnesses who have been giving them anti-Mormon literature and teaching them all types of crazy things (the testigos here believe things completely different than the testigos in the states).  The last time we went to visit them only M_________ was home and she screamed at us until we left her house. 

So you can imagine how happy we were that The Lord wanted us to visit them again.  But, away we went.

When we got there, they were both there reading their New World Bible from the testigos.  They agreed to listen to us so we started with a prayer.  Our plan was to re-teach lesson 1 with them to help them regain their testimony however, when we started pull out our BOM, they started yelling horrible, blasphemous things at us about how Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon and how we don't believe in the Bible and how they were fooled into being baptized.

It was intense. 

I kept trying to bear my testimony but every time that I tried they just started screaming at us louder and louder.  They then started quoting the anti-Mormon literature to us. I didn't know what to do so I hurried and said a quick prayer that Heavenly Father would show me what to do.

In this moment, I stood up.  My soul felt like it was on fire and in a voice that I have never heard come out of my mouth, I told them:

"STOP! In the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who I represent I command you to stop and to listen to me!" 

I then began sharing the strongest testimony I have ever shared.  I testified that Jesus Christ lived and that we were His representatives.  I explained that they had hardened their hearts against their Lord and called them to repentance explaining that one day, if they did not repent, they would have to stand at the judgment bar of Christ with a perfect remembrance of their guilt.  But I promised them that they could change if they relied on their Savior.

You could have heard a pin drop. 

I wasn't angry, I was just following the Spirit.

I think a lot of times, I doubt my authority as a sister missionary.  But we have just the same amount of authority as the elders.  We are set apart by the priesthood to represent Christ.  Sometimes that means calling people to repentance.

It was a really crazy, but spiritual experience.  Hermana C________ told me I looked like I was literally on fire.

Crazy, eh?

Also, C_______ got baptized! YAY! little by little this whole family is accepting the Gospel. She is adorable.  Insisted on sharing her testimony after her baptism and did a great job.  She is excited to receive the Holy Ghost.

Craziest part of this whole week?  Walmart just opened in my area.... WHAT?

That's about it folks!

Until next week!

Hna Wise

Clowns at a wedding?

Hola familia!

 First off, sorry that I am suddenly writing you guys on a Monday. I know that we almost always write Tuesdays, but this week they switched P Day because tomorrow they are installing smoke detectors in our apartments (what are we, stateside missionaries?). Anyway, so that is why I am writing today. Should be back to normal schedule next week.

S__________ this week has been nuts! Crazy in the very best way... We had FIVE baptisms and a DOUBLE WEDDING this week. I can't even begin to explain the levels of stress. But, by some miracle it all pulled through. Everyone is happy and we got to help five people come unto Christ through baptism and we have (at least) one more who will be getting baptized before the end of the month.

The wedding:

First off, the back story: there are 18 people that live in the house that the twins live in. Remarkably, almost all of them are incredibly positive and want to hear about the Gospel. R_______ and C______ are two of the twins aunts who also live in this house with their "husbands" (everyone says that the people that they live with are their husbands in Guatemala but no one is actually married). Both R______ and C_____ have been coming to church and want to get baptized, but in order to do so they needed to get married.

So what do you do? Call the missionaries! They can plan a wedding, right?

It was a MIRACLE that the husbands wanted to marry their wives. Sadly, it usually doesn't work out like that in this country. But, this time it did! We managed to throw together a double wedding in five days.... And when I say throw together I really mean it. It was crazy, but it worked out alright in the end. Best part was, R________ got baptized yesterday and her husband is now starting to take the discussions as well! He came to church yesterday to see the baptism and we are hoping that he gets baptized this month too!

C_______ is adorable. Her husband is really positive too but unfortunately, works on Sunday. We are hoping and praying that we can we a miracle and he will be able to find a new job. C_____ is all set up to be baptized this Sunday, she couldn't be happier.

Here was the interesting part about the wedding... Friday night we called the elders to verify that their ward didn't have an activity in the church Saturday because we were going to have the wedding. Our district leader PROMISED ME that there was nothing going on so we moved forward with our plans to marry our investigators at 5 the following day.

At 4:30 we showed up at the church ready to go and....

CLOWNS. The church was crawling with CLOWNS!

Gee, thanks Elder A______ for letting us know that your ward had some kind of twisted clown activity going on!

So there we were, with our wedding party waiting for the lawyer while meanwhile the other ward is throwing some kind of sick clown party.

It was awesome.

But, in the end the clowns (and other ward) finally left and at 7:30 (right on time by Guatemalan standards) the lawyer showed up and the wedding happened.

Thank goodness.

Sunday was awesome! We had five baptisms!

Ca_______: family friend of the twins

Rod_____: Brother of the twins

C______: Cousin of the twins who wanted me to baptize him (and son of Rosanna)

R_______: Aunt of the twins

L_______: Grandma of the twins

Honestly, it was such a miracle. These people have been so prepared to hear the Gospel. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I am blessed. The church is true.

I am more tired than I have ever been in my life. But, I am also the happiest.

Funny story of the week:

My first name is super weird here. SUPER WEIRD. It means "the mountain range" and all the Latinos think it is a hideously strange name. Well, my district leader gave me a blessing back when all the head surgery drama went down. As a result, he knows my name.

Last Tuesday, we all happened to be eating lunch in the same members house.

One of the Elders here is from Peru, Elder R_________, and he was explaining to us his least favorite type of Peruvians.... This is how it went down:

(remember that la sierra means mountain range and Elder R_________ has NO IDEA what my first name is)

Elder R________: "Aw man, I just HATE sierra people."

Elder A________ (while staring me down): "Really, how are people from the sierra?"

Elder R_________: "Ugly. Just ugly. They are a bunch of fat, grumpy white people."

Elder A_________ (still staring me down, and busting up laughing): "Are all the people from the sierra like that?"

Elder R__________ (has no idea what is going on) "Yup. Every last one."

It was pretty funny.

Keep reading your scriptures and making good choices!

Love you all!

Until next week!

Hermana Wise

 

B is for Baptism!!!! Take that, Satan!

 

Hola Familia,

Wow, I don’t even know where to begin.  This week has been incredible and so much has happened.

First off, yes! I saw dad singing in the choir this weekend.  They got some great shots of you dad! No, "close up zoom right up your nose shots" but there is always April! ;) The elders (well, the English speaking elders) of my zone were all looking for you.

Conference was AWESOME! Conference is like Christmas, the super bowl, your birthday, thanksgiving, and world peace all rolled into one.  Except better, because you get to sit in a crowded room of North American missionaries and listen to the prophet (look, I spelled it right this time). 

The cherry on top of a fantastic weekend? THE TWINS GOT BAPTIZED ON SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!

It was such a miracle.  Unfortunately, L_____, their grandma, couldn’t get baptized because she drank coffee on Wednesday... Darn you, Satan.  But she will be getting baptized this Sunday. 

I cannot even begin to explain all of the miracles which lead up to this baptism.  M_______ (the mom) has been inactive for years because her (now ex) husband didn’t allow her to go to church.  She has just been waiting all this time for someone to invite her back, and we were able to find her. 

S_______ and Ma_______ are incredible.  They have been through a lot in their short 11 years of life, but it has all lead up to this point. The twins used to be triplets, but one of the sisters passed away.  Ma________ has always packed around guilt that her sisters passing was her fault because, of the three, Ma_______ was the biggest and her sister died because she was so small.  Ma_______ told me that she had been seeking peace all her life to know that her sister was okay, and that it wasn’t her fault.  She said that the moment she got baptized she could feel her sister there telling her "I am proud of you."

S_____ fought a hard fight with Satan this week.  I have never seen a little 11 year old girl be attacked harder than she was by the adversary.  She just felt afraid and worried about getting baptized.  She was scared without even knowing why she was scared.  Satan was just attacking her hard.  I saw a lot of myself in her with my pre-mission anxiety.  I told her that when we are about to do the right thing Satan attacks us.  I explained that I was scared before I went on my mission, just like how she was scared before getting baptized.

However, Sunday morning S_____ was having a complete meltdown.  She told her mom that she didn’t want to get baptized anymore because she was afraid.  Her mom was devastated and went into the other room, knelt and prayed that Heavenly Father would help her.

About this same time, Ma______ went to "give S______ a scolding for not wanting to get baptized" However, when she walked into the room, she felt like she needed to do something different...she started bearing her testimony.  After testifying to her sister about the truthfulness of the Gospel, she sat on the bed with her and they started looking up scriptures together about baptism.

They found, and read together Moroni 8.  Then prayed and asked God if S______ should get baptized that day.  The Spirit reaffirmed to her that she should be baptized, and they started walking to church hand in hand singing "the Spirit of God" so "they couldn’t feel Satan temping them anymore."

Wow.  The wisdom and love of these young girls astounds me.  They have been prepared by the Lord to find the truthfulness of the Gospel.  They are a miracle.

The baptism was amazing.  (At the request of the twins) I sang "Asombro me da" at their baptism... For the life of me I cannot remember what that hymn is in English [Editor’s note…looked it up.  It is “I Stand All Amazed”.]  But it was a really great experience.  The Markhams even came to their baptism. 

We are definitely seeing miracles here in V________.  We had 2 baptisms this weekend and have 5 lined up for next Sunday.

Pray for: L______, R_______, C_______, Cr_______, and R______ that they will be able to get baptized on Sunday.  Also pray that Co____, J________, and Ne_____ and N_______ will get baptized the following Sunday.

I am so blessed to be a part of this.

Funny story of the week:

One of the people who we are preparing to get baptized this next Sunday is a joven named Cr_______ who is 13 years old.  Yesterday, we asked Cr________ who he wants to baptize him.  Without missing a beat, he called out:

"HERMANA WISE!"

Well... That’s awkward.  The bishop will be baptizing him, and we will be explaining the priesthood again. 

That’s all for this week folks! I love you people.  Keep making good choices.  I am sorry that you broke your phone this week, Lincoln. 

Con amor!

Hermana Wise

PUMPED OUT OF MY FACE!!

Hey family!

GOOD NEWS WE DONT HAVE CHANGES!!!!

We were SO STRESSED that we would end up leaving this area.  But, Hermana C______ and I don’t have changes (thank GOODNESS).  We have eight investigators progressing toward baptism and neither of us wanted to miss it. 

We are definitely seeing a ton of miracles here in V________.  This area is notorious for being really hard to work in, but The Lord has definitely blessed us.  This Sunday we had ELEVEN investigators in church.  That is just unheard of.  The twins came! That means that they can get baptized next Sunday after General Conference with their grandma.  We also have another little girl who is ten, was baptized at eight but never got confirmed.... And this was just barely discovered.  So, she is now our responsibility and President Markham decided that, since it has been so long, she needs to be baptized again.

That means that next Sunday we will:

1.  Listen to the prophet of God

2.  Baptize 4 people!

We are STOKED!  The twins couldn’t be more excited for their baptism and their grandma is just plugging right along as well.  Their grandma actually accepted a baptismal date before we had even taught her anything.  She just came to church with the twins and after told us:

"All my life, I have been searching for the word of God, and FINALLY! I received it today in church.  I received the word of God and I want to be baptized.  Can you guys help me with that?"

OF COURSE!

I have no idea what on earth she means by "received the word of God" but hey! I am not complaining.  She is ready to be baptized.

Funny story of the week:

This week we were out knocking doors before lunch when we came across a bright pink house blasting Evangelico music.  So, of course, we decided to knock it. 

Turns out, this old guy named Fredi lives there.  Fredi used to live in, of all places, Logan Utah.  But now lives in V____________, Guatemala and makes a living growing weed which he sells on the street "for medical purposes."

Anyway, undeterred we started teaching him the first lesson.  I guess he took the lessons like 15 years ago when he lived in Utah so to get a feel for what he already knew I asked him what he remembered about Joseph Smith.  This was his reply:

"Oh yeah, I know everything about Joseph Smith! He was the guy who asked Queen Victoria for some money to go discover an easier way to get to India to trade, but he ended up discovering America! But then once he got there, he married Pocahontas and they had the first thanksgiving.  Then a few years later he saw God and Jesus Christ and they told him that none of the churches were true! So he fought with the Indians and started his own church but all the people hated them so they had to go west and establish Utah and that is why we have BYU."

..... Yeah..... We just started from ground zero with him. But we are going back today and we will see what happens!

I love it here.  I love my mission.  I love these people.

I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the same church that Jesus Christ organized during his earthly ministry.  I know that this gospel was restored through Joseph Smith.  As a representative of Jesus Christ I testify that He lives.  I know that He loves us. 

I love you people! Make good choices!

Hna Wise