We Love Racism!

Hola familia!

Good news.... HERMANA H___________ AND I GET TO STAY TOGETHER FOR ONE MORE CHANGE!!!!

Even more good news.... WE ARE STILL IN P__________!

I would honestly be content to serve my whole time in this single area.  And, you literally could here.  Our area is GIANT! Every day we discover more of it.  Hidden paths and lamina houses built in the middle of the jungle.  Or, what you think is a door to a house but is actually a hidden calle with approximately 600 more houses down it.  But really, if we walk from one corner of our area to the other as fast as we can without contacting a single soul.... it takes almost 2 hours. 

We have our work cut out for us here. 

But I am super happy! I love it. 

Part of the challenge with getting around in our area is how it is laid out.  Lots of the colonials in our area aren’t logically connected to each other.  

But here comes the tender mercy.... WE FOUND A SECRET WAY TO GET FROM LA JOYA TO BRISAS!!!

Ok folks, I know that doesn’t mean much to you, but I promise this is a big deal.  Before, you had to wrap all around P___________ to get from one to the other and it would take an hour. But we found an easier way!!! Es facil! All you have to do is

1.  Go all the way to the bottom of La Joya

2.  Bribe the Guatemalan children with candy to get them to open the gate for you into someone’s yard.

3.  DON’T acknowledge the truck full of drunks wearing Utah Jazz shirts who are yelling at you

4.  Go tromping through the weeds (past the pile of abandoned diapers)

5.  Climb over the open sewer (be careful)

5 and a half.... Climb over the barbed wire fence.

6.  Yell ¨PERMISO¨ so you don’t get shot as you trespass through someone else’s vegetable garden

7.  Use your umbrella to fend off the pack of rabid dogs that start chasing you

8.  Walk along the dirt trail until you pass the tree with chickens in it

9.  Turn right

10.  Pass through the gate (confidently... Like you actually live there)

11.  Walk around the parking lot

12. YOU ARE IN BRISAS!!!!

It is a miracle people!

Other good news...

Hermana H__________ and I reached our very special goal this week.  Wednesday, we decided that if we had 10 people yell GRINGAS as we walked by, we would buy ourselves McFlurries (McDonalds delivers here, and is actually delicious... Bring on the mission weight). 

We called it ¨Hermana Wise and H_______’s Protest against Racism¨

We met our goal by lunch (we decided to count the lady who yelled ¨GO BACK TO AMERICA¨ as the final offense)... So we got ice cream!

I love racism!

Also, we had a BAPTISM THIS WEEKEND!!!! Her name is Betzabae (have fun pronouncing that one, Mom).  She is 18 and super pilas! We found her through the members and hope to teach her Mom soon too.  We have high goals for baptism this month and know it’s possible!!!

Speaking of which, if you would all keep Mariela and Fransisco in your prayers that would be great! They are two siblings who have been going to church for months now and are so ready to be baptized.  Only problem is that their Mom won’t sign for them.... But they really want to be baptized in June.  We need a miracle here. 

Would you put them on the MoTab prayer roll please, Dad?

I would like to end this email with a few shout outs...

Shout out to ALISA BAKER FOR BEING THE COOLEST PERSON EVER AND GETTING HER MISSION CALL! She is going to TEAR IT UP IN MEXICO

Shout out to Kenzie for finding a four petaled flower for her Biology project! I was getting worried for you!

Shout out Ashlyn Perry who is officially in the field!

Love you guys!!!

Keep making good choices, everyone! Don’t be stoops, read your scriptures!

Until next week

Hna Wise

I ALMOST GOT DEPORTED!!

¡Buenas!

You know what I love? Companionship study every morning.  I always learn so much and it is just a great start to the day. 

You know what makes companionship study more interesting? When the assistants to the president call right in the middle of it...

....Oh no, this can only mean one thing.

There´s been an emergency. 

Well, this is how that conversation went yesterday:

¨HERMANA __________, IS HERMANA WISE THERE?!¨

Clearly.... we are companions, we don’t ever leave each other.

“WELL APPARENTLY SHE DOESNT ACTUALLY HAVE A VISA, SO YOU HAVE EXACTLY 40  MINUTES TO DROP EVERYTHING AND GET TO THE CAPITOL OR ELSE SHE IS GETTING DEPORTED!!!"

Isn´t being a missionary an adventure?

Luckily, after a lot of paperwork, explaining myself, getting my picture taken, and forcefully being separated from my companion.... All is well. 

It would have just been so embarrassing to get deported from Guatemala.

Nice try, Satan! But, I am staying right here!!!

It was SO GREAT to see everyone on Sunday.  Everyone in my zone was apparently all geared up for me to cry (they said all the other newbies cried) but not me! I was strong! I was just happy to see everyone so happy!!! Sorry for all the confusion at the beginning, I am just glad that everything worked out and we were able to talk for the full time. 

My family is just the best.

So, this week was a bit discouraging but we are still hopeful things will all work out. 

We have just been struggling to find and teach all of our investigators.  I am convinced that they all got together to have a ¨hide from the missionaries fiesta¨ We had high hopes of getting (por lo menos) 20 investigators to church, but only had 3 show up despite our greatest efforts. 

But, we know that more will come next week.  We are working hard, the people are ready, we just need to get them to church. 

Which brings me to my spiritual thought of the week:

This past week, as I sat in church hoping with all my heart that by some miracle our investigators would come to church, I thought about the scripture in Matthew “Ïf ye shall have faith as a grain of mustard seed and ye say unto this mountain, remove thee hence to yonder place, it shall remove, and nothing will be impossible unto you.”

I wanted a miracle.  We had faith.  But, in this moment, I realized that sometimes when we have faith we are blessed with the power to move mountains.  Miracles like this are very possible, especially in the field.  However, more often, The Lord blesses us with the strength to suck it up and start climbing the mountain ourselves. 

But, either way, through The Lord, nothing is impossible unto us. 

Looks like it´s time to strap on some hiking shoes.

Alright, homework time! I made you guys a sticker chart (it is coming in the mail) But, I think it would be really cool if, as a family, you reread the Book of Mormon before I get home. Just keep going from where you are now, but, if you finish, I have way cool Guatemalan prizes for you guys. 

Yup.  I am treating my own family like investigators. 

¿Leerán El Libro De Mormon?

Also, sorry for the lack of pictures.  I tried this week, but the computer is rejecting my SD card.... Oh Guatemalan computers.

Typically, a trainee will stay with their trainer for 12 weeks.  However, there is a possibility of changes at week 6.  We are in week 5.  I REALLY HOPE I get to stay with Hermana H________. 

Funny quote of the week:

(In the pouring rain)

Hermana H_________: “Hermana Wise! I just had a horrible realization!!!”

Me: ¨What?¨

Hermana H__________: “WE WILL NEVER BE DRY FOR OUR WHOLE MISSIONS! BECAUSE WE WILL EITHER BE HOT AND SWEATY OR IT WILL BE RAINING AND WET.  THER IS NO SUCH THING AS DRY!!! “

Sadly, true.  We just laughed to keep from crying. 

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!

Everyone make good choices, always.

Con amor!

Hermana Wise

WAIT….I THOUGHT MISSIONARIES WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO SWIM!

 Buenas días mi familia!

Well, it is officially rainy season here in P________. 

Rainy season here consists of one loud clap of thunder followed by buckets of water falling from the sky.  There was literally no warning, no gradually building up, one minute it was cloudy, and the next minute Hermana H________ and I where swimming to our appointments. 

Literally, water in the calle up to my knees.  It was AWESOME! All the thousands of stray Guatemalan dogs where swimming around in the street. 

It made for some pretty great baptismal challenges. 

¨Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the proper priesthood authority on the 18th of May? We can baptize you at the church, or if it’s more convenient, we can call the Elders and baptize you in the street right now.¨

Just kidding, we didn’t do that.

But really, it has been raining like LOCO!

This week has been a week of interesting teaching opportunities.  

1.  I street contacted some deaf people in ASL.  That was interesting.  But they might come to church! Yay for the gift of tongues (or hands.)

2.  We started teaching this SUPER ADORABLE little Guatemalan grandma.  We were trying to find a different address and touched her door.  She let us in, made us coffee (awkward), and we started visiting with her.  As we talked, she told us that her husband was killed in an accident years before so we taught her a KILLER plan de salvación lesson.  We all cried, she gave us juice, and we left.  The next day when we went back to visit her, she flung the door open and yelled

¨MY ANGELS HAVE RETURNED! MY PRECIOUS LITTLE ANGELS!!! COME INSIDE. LET ME GET YOU SOME JUICE! GOD SENT YOU TO ME AND I WANT TO HEAR MORE OF YOUR LESSONS!¨

She is totally getting baptized

3.  We found an AMAZING family that has already taken the lessons.  They pray in the proper form and have testimonies of Joseph Smith but they aren’t baptized yet.... For reasons we don’t know yet.  But we are going back to teach them again this week. 

This area is amazing.  I would be perfectly happy to never ever leave P_______. In Alma, Ammon once describes his mission by saying ¨I will dwell here for a time, and perhaps die here too¨(or something like that, I am translating from Spanish.)

I feel ya Ammon.

Side note, can someone tell me if ¨entonces¨ is a word in English? I am pretty sure that it is, but Hermana H________ and I can’t decide.

The primary sang in church on Sunday, made me miss my cute primary kids.  Tell them I love them por favor and hope that they are making good choices.

We have run into some interesting challenges with our golden investigator Wendy, namely, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have been visiting here too.... So that is exciting.  But we are making really great progress and I know that she will still get baptized.

Also, I have been called to be a district retention leader! Pretty sure that all that means is that I get to take care of all the paperwork that no one else wants to deal with.  But, still kinda cool.

Alright, spiritual thought of the week:

This week I have been focusing my personal studies on the life of Jesus Christ.  One of my favorite stories that I have been reading is found in John chapter 5.  In this chapter, Christ heals the lame man on the Sabbath.  The scriptures explain that the man had been crippled for 38 years and was at the healing waters with the hope of finding some relief from his affliction. However, every time that the fountain began to bubble up, he was pushed out of the way by others and couldn’t save himself. 

At this point, the Savior intervenes and asks him if he will be healed.  The lame man, almost pathetically, explains that he can’t reach the waters.  In this moment, Christ commands the man to rise up and walk. 

Instantly, the man is healed. 

Being out here on a mission, I relate so much to the crippled man.  Here I am, the girl who dropped out of Spanish after 2 lousy years, my 19-year-old self living in a dangerous third world country...A country filled with unfamiliar people, language and culture.  Yet, here I am to cry repentance and bring people to the salvation of their Redeemer.

I´m crippled.

On my own, I am pathetically under qualified, incapable, and inadequate for my calling.

And yet, the Lord intervenes and heals me. 

¨Take up thy bed and walk, Hermana Wise.¨

 And through Him, I can.

Jesus is just the best.  Without Him, this work wouldn’t be possible.  I am so grateful for the strengthening power the atonement has in our lives. 

Alright, let´s lighten this up a bit:

Funny quote of the week:

Hermana H_______: “Ï have finally decided what superpower I am going to ask God for if ever I get the chance!¨

Me: ¨What?¨

Hermana H__________: ¨The power to turn dogs into trash cans! Because Guatemala has way too many dogs, and not nearly enough trash cans.¨

She’s practical. 

Alright my family, I love you all so much!!! Talk to you on Sunday. 

Feliz cumpleaños Padre!!!

Feliz día de la madre, mama!

Con amor,

Hermana Wise

MILAGROS!!!

Buenas!

Alright, P______ is Zion.  I was born into the best area with the best trainer in the best mission in the world.  I am just spoiled.

This week was absolutely amazing.  We had a wedding for Faustina and Patty so they could be married.  Weddings here aren’t the special, intimate, meaningful celebrations they are back home.  Neither are they the wild Guatemalan fiestas I was envisioning.  Rather, they are a stressful legal meeting at the church where you sign your life away to a lawyer and pay gajillions of dollars for a piece of paper.

No wonder no one is married here.

Entonces, Patty and Faustino needed to be married so they could get baptized the next day.  They are a super pilas familia here in Petapa and the whole ward loves them... Like most days when we go to teach there are already members there. 

Anyway, the wards support for this family was unlike anything I had ever seen before.  One of the sisters gave Patty her wedding dress so she could have something to wear.  The bishop bought a suit for Faustino.  The young women made home spun decorations and arrived two hours early to put them up.  The lawyer was a member and she didn’t charge for her service, and the entire ward showed up to support them. 

It was AMAZING!!!! The ceremony was the most home spun, thrown together ceremony ever, but I just wanted to cry watching it because it was such a perfect demonstration of Christ like love within a ward.

Additionally, we have been teaching a girl named Wendy.  Wendy has 23 years and lives with her parents taking care of her 2 year old sister full time.  We taught her once on our own and she was super super shy.  So the next time we went with her we brought a girl from the ward to help her feel more comfortable.  The woman from the ward who left with us invited her to church and even offered to give her a skirt so she would have something to wear.  Wendy agreed.  The next day, she stayed for all three hours and then attended the baptisms of Faustino y Patty as well.  Then two girls from the ward walked her home.  That night, we went to go visit her.  This is how it went.

¨Wendy, how did you feel at church?¨

Ï felt really great!!! I felt like there was a part of my heart that I didn’t even know was empty that got filled up.  The people where SO NICE.  Relief Society was the greatest thing I have ever been a part of.  When I watched Hermana Patty get baptized it touched my heart and I want to be baptized too... Can I get baptized?¨

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MILAGROS!!!!!

It NEVER happens like that.  This is the most golden of the golden investigators!!!!

I instantly burst into tears.  She is getting baptized on May 11th.

The Lamanites are ready for the gospel, people.

This week was just so great.  We had three baptisms and set four more bautismal fechas.  Thanks for all the prayers.  They are definitely working.

Alright, hilarious story of the day....

So I contacted a bus earlier this week (that means I stood up at the top, asked the bus driver to turn the music down, and then started teaching the first discussion to a bus full of captive Guatemalans) After, we passed for everyones’ information and I came to a woman named Rosalina dressed entirely in Corte (traditional guatemalan clothes).  She was nice but told me she didn’t want to listen to my message.

Two hours later, we were out knocking doors in a sketchy Guatemalan alley when we tapped on the door of.... ROSALINA! She FLUNG the door open, SCREAMED, and then embraced me in the most GIANT HUG OF MY LIFE.  She then kissed both my cheeks and jumped up and down excitedly.

Hermana H__________...¨Do you two know each other?¨

Rosalina ÝES! WE MET ON THE BUS!¨

(this lady told me no....)

she then contininued to tell all about how I was her best friend and God sent me to her and God helped me find her door even though she said no. 

So.... We taught the first lesson.  After the first lesson was over, we asked her if she would give the prayer. We explained that we start by saying Padre Celestial and termine in el nombre de Jesucristo.  We asked if she would pray...

She said ¨Padre celestial¨and then starts chanting in MAYAN! and dancing all around singing and chanting in some language we don’t understand.  Then she starts pronouncing ancient Mayan blessings on me (her best friend)... this went on for a solid 5 minutes before she said ën el nombre de Jesucristo, amen¨ 

Hermana H___________ and I sprinted around the corner before we completely died laughing.

funny quote of the week:

(During personal study)

Hermana H__________ ¨Where is that scipture about the stupor of thought?¨

pretty funny.

Alright friends! Thank to everyone for the continued love and support.  Being a missionary is hard, but it is just SO AMAZING! I love it here.  I love being a missionary.  Linc and Kenz, I hope you both get to have this same experience.

Make good choices, everyone! Talk to you on the 11th

Love,

Hermana Veiseh (¨Wise¨in guatemalan)