Tuesday, March 17, 2015 -- Week #5, Day #29 Guatemala MTC

1:48 pm

Today we went to the temple as we always do on P-day in the CCM, except we had a 7:00 am session, so we woke up at 5:50 so we could leave to walk over there at 6:15, so that was a little earlier than normal. But the temple was really good, I enjoyed being in the Celestial room with my companions sitting on either side of me.

It was funny, the second Hna Kleinman came and sat down next to Hna Brady and I, I just felt so happy and "As Sister in Zion/ Armies of Helaman" Medley popped into my head.

We came back and had breakfast, and then wrote our families, and then went over to the local strip mall thing and shopped around for a little bit.  It was so fun to wander around the stores and look at all the colorful stuff! We were such girls getting all excited and running around and pointing out cool stuff, and I'm sure our Elders thought we were nuts. But that was really fun, and I got a package of Haribo Peach candy, I had no idea they made them! But they're pretty yummy.

Also, Hna Brady got her blood-work test results from yesterday, and she's allergic to something in the milk, so no more milk for her on the mission! So hopefully her allergies will clear up while she's still in the CCM with regular medical access, and then she just won't be able to eat milk products for a while. But she should be good now! Yay for medicine!

So we had lunch and we're chilling in our room, Hna Brady is straightening her beautifully crazy curly hair, and we're making our beds... and I got a surprise blanket for this rotation of bedding! I normally use 2 blankets because they are thinner and I get cold when I sleep, as everyone well knows, so when they come to strip our beds I guess they must have noticed that, so this time around they gave me a ginormous Disney princess blanket with roses and sparkles on it that I can fold in half for my bed... it made me smile and mis companeras thought that was so awesome, they are quite jealous. So I get to hang with Belle, Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Jasmine for the next 2 weeks, in addition to my snowflake blanket, of course.

Also, in ways of accomplishments lately, my hair has grown about an inch, so in a ponytail, it brushes against the back of my neck a little bit, so that´s kinda exciting, I can't wait for longer hair again. And I've also moved up to 10 lbs weights when I work on my arms during deportes, so I'm kinda proud of myself for that. I did 5 for a week, 8 for a week, and now I'm trying out the 10 lb-ers, and seeing how that goes.

Monday, March 16, 2015 -- Week #4, Day #28 Guatemala MTC

10:18 pm

It is another night of goodbyes! We get new people tomorrow, and we can enjoy another P-day... we have 2 more weeks! Ah! But today was a good day, our lessons went very well, and hopefully we can get Daniela baptized on Saturday. That would be awesome!

Also, some good scriptures from lately:

D&C 11:21-30

D&C 35:8-17, 26-27

John 14:26-27

Also, I'm pretty sure that was the day that Hna Brady went and got blood-work done for her allergies, so we went with her to the doctor's office and waited in the waiting room and worked on memorizing the points of lesson 3 in Spanish in PMG... good stuff!

And a translation of "More Holiness Give Me" [Hymn 131]

More holiness give me, more consecration

more patience give me, more acceptance

more meaningful hopes, more selflessness

more zeal in service, with more prayer.

More gratitude give me, more faith in the Lord,

more joy in His glory, more strength and valor

more tears shed for what He suffered

I want more humility, like which Christ showed.

More honest doings, more sadness to sin,

more pure and clean, more quick to love,

more worthy of the kingdom, more free from error,

more justified, more like the Lord.

Sunday, March 15, 2015 -- Week #4, Day #27 Guatemala MTC

10:04 pm

Sunday was a long day today! But good. In district meeting mis companeras and I taught about personal revelation, and I shared D&C 31:11,13... I like that scripture.  Also, D&C 31 is just wonderful overall, so I challenge you to go read that one... good stuff!

Also, I'm fairly certain I'm leaving the CCM on March 31 sometime, so I have 2 more weeks and I'm in the field! Crazy! But also exciting, my first 2 weeks here felt like forever, and these past 2 weeks flew by, I can't believe we'll get a whole bunch more of brand new missionaries on Tuesday, and we'll be the oldest people here. I really can't figure out my concept of time here, it is the strangest thing.

Also, I gave the closing prayer in Sacrament Meeting today, and participated in a musical number with Latinos and nortes, we sang an arrangement of "Nearer My God to Thee," and it was beautiful.

Random fact, and I'm fairly certain I mentioned it before, but I was once again impressed today by how the salad lettuce is shredded into thin strips, instead of cut into squares or chunks...makes for an interesting eating experience. Just thought that was something super important you should know about the cuisine of the Guatemala CCM, as that is something that is always on your minds.

But on a more spiritual note in light of it being Sunday, we watched the Joseph Smith video and it was pretty neat to see what we keep teaching to these people all day long. It is amazing to see what the Lord requires of His people, but even more amazing are the blessings we receive because of our obedience. We are promised by the Lord that obedience and blessings are tied to each other, and thus as we submit our will we are given more opportunities and happiness than before we did. Interesting cause and effect to think about. The more we sacrifice, the more free we become, until it isn't a hard thing to be obedient anymore, and that is when we have a fullness of joy and peace. The Gospel is so cool!

But back with the Joseph Smith movie (weird saying that in English!), after Joseph won at a stick pull contest, he said jokingly to the brother that had lost that "Sometimes God brings us low, so He can lift us higher," and I think that is applicable to all things in life. Christ descended below all things, and because of that, He is the Son of the Highest. And we have that potential in us, to be the righteous children of our Heavenly Father that will choose the right, and be faithful, and persevere to the end, through the pain and the trials and sadness and hard times, because we have that hope and faith in Christ, our perfect example, who has experienced our individual thoughts and feelings, and because of that, He knows what the best ways are to help us when we then experience our tests in life. We can have complete trust in the Lord, and He will never let us down. Never ever.

Friday, March 13, 2015 -- Week #4, Day #25 Guatemala MTC

10:09 pm

Today we had laundry because transfers are on Tuesday, so we did laundry early. We finally had time to fold everything, but then I didn't have much time to write. But I will try!

So breakfast was pretty darn awesome, we had 2 corn tortillas with black beans and cheese in between, with scrambled eggs and sliced green onions, and a thin red salsa over everything, and fried plantains on the side. Ah, so good! I absolutely love plantains... and mango juice again because it makes me happy inside. So I thoroughly enjoyed that lovely meal.

Fun fact, latinos tend to cover their mouths when they laugh and sometimes when they smile, also they never go barefoot, even indoors, and I've taken to wearing my flip-flops around our room because the tiles are so cold. So I don't think I'll adapt to covering my face all the time, but I like the foot covering idea here, and especially in the field, I imagine, when I most likely won't have nice tile floors.

Also, our investigator for misionero-misionero training, (Lucy played by Hna Morales), was acting like she was high today during the lesson, so that was interesting to work with. Somehow she agreed to baptism, but we'll see how much she remembers when we teach her tomorrow. Yup, the Word of Wisdom is there for a reason! Just say no!

I was flipping through my journal and I came to some quotes from Kolipoki (Elder John H. Groberg) that I had copied down earlier, so I thought I'd share them:  

"Sometimes God calms the storm, and sometimes He calms His child."

"There is a connection between heaven and earth. Finding that connection gives meaning to everything, including death. Missing it makes everything meaningless, including life."

"You develop faith by doing things that require faith."

"Our joy now and forever is inextricably tied to our capacity to love."

"Satan wants to claim our souls and those of our children. He wants our marriages and families to fail. He wants darkness to reign. Despite this, we needn't worry or back away from our duty to our family (present or future), our community, or others, for God will always support and bless us in our honest efforts to do His will. He wants us to succeed more than Satan wants us to fail, and God is always more powerful."

Thursday, March 12, 2015 -- Week #4, Day #24 Guatemala MTC

10:02 pm

So funny story, we were teaching the Law of Chastity lesson to Daniela, and I was looking up a scripture to explain how God will help us through hard things and trials and tough spots when we pray, and one of the suggested scriptures was 1 Corinthians 10:13, but I accidentally flipped to 1 Corinthians 11:13, which is related to chastity, I guess, but was not quite the helpful message I was trying to get across, whoops!

Also, my eyes get dry towards the evening and I said, "Yo no puedo ver!" and squeezed my eyes shut to help them feel better, but Hna Kleinman looked over just as I was standing there with my eyes closed and saying, "I can't see!" and she's like, "Well, duh, hermana, your eyes are closed!"  So that's a running joke with us now... it's great that we like each other so much.

Fun fact, Hna Brady can yodel! She's so awesome. Also, I braided my hair the other day and tucked the end up inside of it, and Hno Garcia and sweet Hna Simone thought I had chopped my hair off like a boy! She was pretty sad until I explained how I had done my hair that day, and then Hno Garcia laughed at the whole thing and we were all happy again.  I love the teachers here, they are such good people.

I have discovered that I absolutely love mango juice! Oh, that stuff is so good and makes me all happy at mealtimes! Pres Cox comes and visits with us during our mealtimes, and he saw me drinking it and wiggling in my seat for happiness, and he thought that was pretty funny. I just love being in the smaller CCM because we actually have a personal relationship with our CCM president, and that is just so cool. He comes and exercises in the mornings, and pops in the classrooms, and talks to us in the halls and at mealtimes, and he's just such a good guy. He's exactly what we need here in Guatemala.

President and Sister Cox

E High likes to write a daily quote on the board, and today's was "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (Mary Poppins)... no one is perfectly sure how to spell that, but it looked about right.

It's nice to be able to keep our morale up as we hit our halfway mark, our district is doing great together and I'm proud of us.

Also, the Elders all got hair cuts, so they have the exact same length of hair, it's hilarious to look around and see a sea of little buzzed heads!

Also, Hna Brady still is having allergic reactions, but only her eyelid has swollen up again lately. She has hives that come and go throughout the day, so we're still working for solutions for her before she leaves the CCM. Gah, it's so frustrating and I'm not the one having problems!

The other day, Hno Garcia was in a car accident, he's ok, but his car had to get fixed for a few days. But now everything's alright and we're so happy to have our teachers.

Also, lemonade doesn't exist here! Only limeade. Limes are called limones, and lemons are limas. Weird.

Lastly, Hna Kleinman was trying to ask an investigator what issues they had with the gospel, but instead she said "Que su problema" which translates to "What your problem" which made everyone crack up, it was such an intense problem and then she innocently is trying to phrase a question and it just comes out so funnily. The language barrier makes for some funny stories!

And some good scriptures and quotes from the past few days:

Mosiah 2:20-22
Alma 36:3

Alma 29:9

Psalm 22

John 1:12, 16-17

"We are becoming perfect, one imperfect step at a time."

"A man cannot be unhappy with the Spirit of the Lord burning in his bosom." George Albert Smith

"Love people into doing what God has asked us to do." George Albert Smith

"You can be smart and happy or stupid and miserable." Gordon B Hinckley

"If you are on the right path, it will always be uphill. The Lord is anxious to lead us to the    safety of higher ground." Pres Eyring

"Stellar spirits are often found in imperfect bodies." Pres Eyring

"The Father of Contention is the Devil. Christ is the Prince of Peace." Dallin H Oaks

Tuesday, March 10, 2015 -- Week #4, Day #22 Guatemala MTC

10:25 pm
Alright, so here's a fun exercise of faith story...intro to the crazy life that Hna Mower has at the Guatemala MTC.

So Sunday night, I couldn't find my wallet, with my American dollars and Guatemala quetzales and my debit card, nor my Chapstick or peppermint beadlets from the front pocket of my bag. So I was a little bit upset about that, because there's a rash of lost money and possessions here right now. There's at least 4 Hnas and an Elder that I know about that have had money missing from their things.

So I finally prayed Monday night that I could be able to have my money returned to me, and that I wasn't upset with the person, and that I knew that if I believed that something would happen, and it was a righteous desire, that God would allow it to happen.

Anyway, still kinda a silly thing, but I tried to stay calm about it the past few days, and prayed for a resolution to my problem everyday. I was willing to wait it out until closer to next Tuesday, but I promised myself that if I wasn't able to receive my things back, I would write on Wednesday and ask Mom to cancel my card and explain what had happened, which would have been kinda a mess.

So later tonight I sat my bag on my lap and was going through it to find my pen to write a quick reminder for tomorrow, and I discovered that my soft fabric bag had a secret compartment, and that my things had worked their way around to the back of my bag as the fabric shifted around as I picked it up and set it down all this time. 

So I now have my things back in their safe hiding spot, and will keep my bag with me all the time, as there are people who really have had their things taken from them. But that was just an interesting experience on faith.

I am a difficult student to work with, I suppose, but I am glad that I can begin to learn how I can use faith and wait in the time of the Lord. Kinda weird how this is all happening, but good stuff!

Monday, March 9, 2015 -- Week #3, Day #21 Guatemala MTC

9:54 pm
Today was an interesting day. It was good, but all of us hermanas were just so off today, and Hna Brady and I were just not up to the challenge of today and were just so unfocused and frustrated, and we finally broke down again. So not my finest moment, and I really hate being this emotional wreck of a person and being totally unproductive, but that's just kind of how the day went. We also learned difficult grammar today and it was just really weird to not have any of my brain be able to cooperate.

But my ever-patient teachers and a sweet Latina sister and Hna Kleinman walked us through it, and by the end it turned out to be an ok day. I kept feeling like I needed a big yell and go fight something, or punch a wall a lot, but I'm ok now. I don't even know why I was so sad or whatever strange emotion I has having, I've really been doing quite well lately. At any rate, that made for an interesting day.

Good scriptures from today:
Mark 10:29-30 
2 Nephi 1:21
D&C 61:36 
D&C 31:3  "Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come; and your tongue shall be loosed, and you shall declare glad tidings of great joy unto this generation."

And some random fun facts:  Hnas Brady and Kleinman have informed me that I speak Spanish in my sleep, their favorite line from last night was "...como ensenar....uh...yo no se..." which means "how to teach, uh, I don't know"....with a very nice accent and everything.

Pretty funny that my poor brain doesn't get a break from teaching in languages even when I'm supposed to be sleeping! I have noticed that I don't dream anymore, which is a little strange, as I've always dreamed back home, and often in Spanish. But since coming here that's pretty much stopped, but apparently I'm speaking it out loud. Hno Garcia says it's a good thing, sometimes better than dreaming. So make of that what you can.

In other news, I am happy to report that E Cox (Elder Cox) does a perfect Olan Rogers impersonation, and can recite to you the "Ghost in the Bathroom" story, and also that E Jensen is literally the Irish version of Jack Black, mannerisms and everything. Great guy, I like him pretty well. Also, Hna Giron speaks German, she learned it in High School, and learned English on her mission.

Lastly, I think it's safe to say that a good 98% of people here have dark brown/black eyes, and a good 70% have straight up black hair, so it always surprises me to look in the mirror and see my blue eyes, when I'm so used to seeing dark ones all around me all day long.  But the Latinas are always surprised, too, and tell me how pretty they are. I get so used to looking at the Latinos all the time and their type of looks, so when I run into another norte I'm like "Whoah, that's a weird looking person" and then I realize "Wait, I'm a norte too...weird."

I can literally feel my little neurons in my brain trying so hard to work properly when they keep getting yanked back and forth from English and Spanish all the time, hopefully they can figure out how to grow straight when it's only Spanish in the field. This experience has been very mentally taxing, schoolwork really doesn't compare to the intensity that is required here, even in college. The Latinas change every 2 weeks, and the schedule changes everyday, and P-day changes, and how the investigators respond changes, and how the day goes always changes.