-On a 3 year old little boy ..."Future President" with an American flag
-"Bingo Tuesdays!"
-And a purple shirt on a grown man..."Put on Your Big Girl Pants.!"
On that note...this week had it's surprises, but was still good. Yesterday was really fun! We played futbol with one of our recent convert families. We played with kids and their moms on this huge dirt field. They all got so into it! Moms were pushing and kids were so serious! Our team won. Ah! It was like indescribable. Playing soccer on a dirt field in Guatemala...I felt pura chapina!
So I've been thinking a lot lately about the things that feel normal that wouldn't feel normal if I wasn't a missionary in Guatemala. For example...
-Talking to old men with machetes
-Talking to strangers in general
-Seeing the sun set behind a volcano every day
-Showering in a bucket
-kissing people on the cheek (that's how everyone greets each other here)
-wearing a skirt (someone asked us if we've worn skirts all our lives. they were surprised that we actually wear jeans in real life)
-Waking up at 5 am and going to bed at 10:30 pm
-Eating tortillas with everything
But there are somethings that I don't think I'm ever going to get used to. Like the fact that I'm actually in Guatemala. At least once a day it hits me how lucky I am!
Being a missionary has really made me love obedience. I LOVE all the rules we have. That sounds really weird. I know. I never thought I'd say that, but it's true! Of course we have to obey the commandments, and we have the rules in the missionary hand book. But we also have lots of other rules that President has set as a mission. A lot of them are little things that might not make sense to a lot of people, like not eating during studies. Sometimes we have rules for safety or to have the Spirit. But more than anything they bring miracles. When we obey the commandments we obligate God to bless us. It's the same with all our rules. The more rules we have, the more we obligate God to bless us with miracles. This work is hard and I need all the miracles I can get. I could never bring myself to break a rule, no matter how small. I can't rob myself, my family, and my investigators of those blessings. It's hard to put into words. But my testimony of obedience has grown so much! I'm so thankful to have learned what I have. I know that all that I've experienced and learned will help me for the rest of my life. I'm so blessed to be here and have these experiences.
Thanks for everything!
Hermana Haymond
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| Alexis loves the children there |
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| Playing futbol with the Familia H |
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| She looks so tall next to these Guatemalan women! |