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