I pooped in a sacrament cup....oh, and Kristel is getting baptized

Hola Familia!

Well, what a week it has been.  Okay don't be mad, but the intestinal infection is back.  Keep praying for me folks. 

But aside from my health things here have been really interesting here in La G_______.  We have just seen CRAZY amounts of opposition from Satan.  It seems like every single one of our investigators has been running into something else crazy.  R______ our 10 year old investigator has suddenly taken up drinking coffee and has a bunch of insane doubts about the age of accountability and baptisms for the dead.

... What kind of ten year old has time to worry about these things?

Wow, Satan is such a punk. 

But this week we had interviews with President Markham and he told me that the whole mission has been hitting opposition for the past few months... And you know why? We are the highest baptizing mission in Central America.  We are worth Satan's time. 

So, we just keep moving along and working and praying and fasting and we know that we will eventually see the fruits of our labors. 

For example, this week we saw a huge miracle with one of our investigators, K______.  Her older brother works for the US army and is a member living in Draper, but he felt very concerned for the spiritual well being of his sister so he flew his family to Guatemala for a month to visit her in La G_______.  About 4 weeks ago he brought her to church for the first time.  She liked it, and we were super excited so we started visiting her.  We challenged her for baptism on the first visit and she very strongly told us that we wouldn't be getting baptized at least for a year...

... Our goal is to baptize people in three weeks.

So we were pretty bummed out and then to make it more complicated she suddenly had to leave to visit her mom in a different city that isn't even in our mission.  So we more or less had to drop her. 

But then, last Thursday we ran into her brother in the street and he told us that she was back in town, so we called her right then and set up a visit for the next day. When we came we said a prayer and carefully started following up on her commitments.  This is what she told us:

" Hermanas, while I was gone I was reading the Book of Mormon.  I prayed like you told me to know if it was true and God told me that it was.  Then I prayed to know if I needed to be baptized and he told me yes.  I had a really sacred experience, I can't deny what I know and I don't want to wait... How soon can I be baptized?"

It was SUCH A MIRACLE! We called her brother into the room and we all just sat there crying and freaking out but we eventually settled on the 23rd for her baptism.

The Lord blesses us when we suffer people.  The 13th article of faith in Spanish translates to "We have suffered many things and hope to be able to suffer all things."

I like it way better in Spanish.  I have definitely suffered here on my mission... I have been chased by drunk men, robbed, hospitalized, had head surgery, been cast out, rejected, and had my faith ridiculed... And yet, I have experienced more joy than I can ever describe.  Is the mission hard? Yes, of course it is.  We are representatives of Jesus Christ.  It wasn't easy for Him, so why should it be for us? But it is incredibly worth it.  Leaving on the mission is the best decision I have ever made in my life.  I love it here.  I wouldn't trade this for anything.

Wow, I love my job.

Well, on to the subject line.... Like I already said the intestinal infection is still giving me a hard time so the mission doc decided that I needed to go into a lab on P day to get a stool sample taken... Great.  Considering that we are on the coast medical facilities nearby are few and far between and also incredibly sketchy.  But there is a lab in the sisters area so we decided to head on over there yesterday... This is how the conversation went with the lady:

Me " Hi, I need a stool examine."

Lady "okay."

(awkward silence)

Lady " Do you have the sample here with you?"

Me "Uh... no."

Lady "well, what are we supposed to do then?"

(awkward silence)

Me "Do you have a bathroom?"

Lady "Oh yeah its over there!"

(awkward silence)

Me "well.... where do you want me to put it?"

Lady "You didn't bring your own jar?"

Me "uhhh... no"

Lady" I can sell you  one for a Quet"

Me "Uh... okay."

So I give the lady a quetzal and what does she hand me? A sacrament cup...

I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP PEOPLE!

So I walk over to use one of the nastiest bathrooms I have yet seen in Guatemala (saying something folks) and discover that the door doesn't close.  So poor little Hermana Z has to lean up against the stall while her senior companion does the best she can with this sacrament cup situation.  Finally, we are able to get out of there and two hours later we have the results.

... And the doctor (after looking up the lab) told us that the lab isn't even licensed so the results are invalid.

I POOPED IN A SACRAMENT CUP FOR NOTHING!

So, now when we are done writing we have to go to Squitlan to meet a real doctor and Hermana Z is going to get her foot growth looked at while we are at it (it is the size of a golf ball).

What a blessing. 

Well folks, thanks for all of your prayers.  I really do love and appreciate you guys.  President Markham had us all read the book of Enos every day for 30 days as a mission.  I want to challenge you guys to do it too as a family.  It will change the way you pray.

Dios les bendiga! Hasta pronto

Hermana Wise