First of all a few things about our house that I forgot to mention last week. We live with another companionship. So there are 5 hermanas in our house in total. It's fun! 4 of us are gringas. And for the first time in 10 plus years I sleep on the top bunk. And this top bunk doesn't have a ladder or anything to keep you from falling. So I sleep really really close to the wall because I'm afraid I'll roll off and die one night. The first few nights I'd even wake up in the middle of the night and stick my arm towards the edge to make sure I had enough room. I literally pray every night that I won't fall off. I've been okay so far but it's still scary!
I've had a few health adventures this week. So Friday morning I wake up and I cannot open my left eye. I was like ohhhh great, this is not good, I know this feeling. So I go into the bathroom and it's swollen shut! Sooo gross! I can't even explain how disgusting I looked. You know in the movie Hitch when he eats that stuff and his whole face puffs up? Yeah imagine that happening to one of my eyes. Yep...pink eye. So I just looked ridiculous all day! It almost looks normal now which is a miracle! But it was so bad the other day. I was just like, if anyone shows interest in our message today, they will really really need the Gospel or something because I look ridiculous. I felt fine but it was just a funny little surprise.
Friday morning we also went to help this family we're teaching get their firewood (or lena). We always see people carrying huge bundles of wood on their heads so we wanted to go help! It was....an adventure (there really are no words to describe these things besides adventure). They take us to this barbwire fence in these bushes with a hole in it. And we asked them "Is this illegal?" They said no, people just judge you. So we went on our merry way through this little hole in barb wire fence in our skirts. I made it through okay...or so I thought. All of a sudden I feel my elbow burning so bad! And the family is like "Oh did it get you? did it get you?" Apparently I rubbed up against the bush and it happened to be poisonous. So I was like shoot, okay. I didn't think much of it. But then they were looking at my elbow and asked "Does it hurt right here yet?" pointing to their chest where your heart is. Then I was like What. The. Heck. I am going to DIE! They said I wouldn't die but I was still skeptical. A few mins later my armpit started hurting like the pain had traveled up my arm. Thankfully after 30 mins it all went away. But I was convinced that I was going to die. Anyway...to get the lena you basically sneak into a finca (a coffee farm) and take all the fallen sticks. It was the craziest place. Every little bug they were like" ooo dont touch that it'll kill you" It was so weird because outside of the finca there's nothing like that! There were like animal bones and all kinds of weird stuff. So they got all the wood and bundled it together and carried it on their heads like no big deal. We tried it and it was sooo surprisingly heavy. Our neck muscles are not used to that kind of stuff. It was so fun to try though. Anyway, that's my lena adventure.
There are a TON of dogs here. It's insane. We were walking down this little street and there was this crazy dog that ALMOST bit me. It's crazy that he missed my leg. I have a hole in my skirt and you can tell it would have been bad! But it's okay. It's almost like a war wound on my skirt. Dogs here are crazy. We came out of Sunday School at church and there was a dog just sitting outside of the room we do sacrament meeting in. It was the weirdest thing. We have no idea where it came from but it just sat there and no one did anything about it.
Our companionship is the greatest! My trainer is amazing. We've had some fun practices lately. For example. Yesterday she made us stand like 30 yards away and we had to practice contacting a bus while she yelled distractions at us. It was a really realistic practice because when you're contacting a bus there is a lot going on and you have to yell over all of it. And this morning we practiced writing people's information while one the bus. Because the buses are really shaky and crowded. So we sat on our seats and wrote down addresses while she shook us vigorously and bumped into us. It's hilarious! But very practical skills at the same time.
I'm so excited for General Conference! It gives our investigators and recent converts 5 different chances to "go to church". And of course I'm so so excited to listen to the talks! We get to listen in English. Woo! Its so so crazy to think that one year ago I couldn't have gone on a mission now. Conference marks 1 year since everything changed! And now here I am in Guatemala! Soo crazy!
Well I think that's all I have time for. I'm having fun and working hard. Its not easy at all. But I'm happy. Every little trial that comes up is just another part of the adventure. I'm always learning a lot from my challenges. But I am so blessed to be here! I know that people here have been prepared for this message. They are so wonderful. I wish I was more adequate to help them come unto Christ. But I know that I'm trying and I can feel Heavenly Father making up for my weaknesses. Thanks so much for all your support and prayers. I need it!
Love you all!
Jenn writing now- Alexis is unable to send us pictures off her camera but her trainer has some pictures on her blog and her mom let me have a copy for Alexis' blog!
Jenn writing now- Alexis is unable to send us pictures off her camera but her trainer has some pictures on her blog and her mom let me have a copy for Alexis' blog!
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| Gathering lena |
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| Walking to district meeting in Antigua |