My Mission Birthday

Hey Fam!!

Thanks for remembering my birthday!!! I hardly even remembered it... but the people here sure did! It was just so cute and I have never felt so darn loved in my life. So really it was a great day and so you have no need to fear, they celebrated it just fine! My companion, morg and her comp did a surprise birthday party for me with the four of us. A hermana cooked me a full dinner and decorated her house, another gave me cake, another hermana did a full dinner and cake and then the other did tacos and cake. Then today, I got more cake from the missionaries from my zone, and so really, I have tried every cake here in Guate! I would say it was a pretty darn good day.

This week has been really good! We started divisions again for this change and I went to the place where you get to ride in the back of pick up trucks again. Boy, was that just the funnest thing in the world. But really, it all just teaches me that I am here to learn so much more from the hermanas that they are ever going to learn from me. I love it because I just learn how many things I need to change to be able to become better.

Our PILAS family is doing awesome! They came to church this week again and they stopped drinking coffee... I am so serious. everyone and their baby... litterally drink coffee. BUT they are super pilas and so they stopped drinking it and now are preparing to get baptised. I think they will be baptised this 3 de August. But I would LOVE it if you could pray for them, it is the Family Espinosa. Their names are Ernesto and Marlene and they rock.
I  am just here in Guate, trying to re-read the BOM again, I love the Book of Mormon. But really, there is not much to report in this week and so I thought it would be better to send pics.

LOVE TO YOU ALL
Hermana Canchita

Duck in my backpack

Buenas Tardes!

I loved each and every one of your emails! honestly. whenever I receive an email from your guys, I just feel so loved and blessed so thank you so much!

This week was a good week. We had changes but we didn´t have changes but..... we opened an area. Yes, that is right. We are still staying in our are but now we also having to take on the area of the elders who were sharing the ward with us (because their area was just not seeing any progress. And sooooo now we have a HUGE area. I am serious, it is so huge. but is a blessing, because that just means that Heavenly Father wants us to find more people!

Robyn and Dabeiba were confirmed this week... they are the  two who were the miracle baptisms from last week and it was such a neat experience! They were oh so happy! Then, you know who spoke in Sacrament Meeting?? Yours truly! I had planned a talk on how when we keep our covenants we receive power.. but then during the sacrament I had a distinct impression that I needed to simply talk about how I gained my testimony about Joseph Smith, and so with no talk in hand, I walked to the pulpit and shared my testimony. It was short and simple, but it made my testimony stronger and it is what I needed to share.

Okay, this week was pretty hilarious. Since we are opening the area of the Elders, we have to know all of their investigators. There is this one named Consuelo. She is like 70 years old and LOVES us. I am so serious. We went to her house to visit her Saturday and she told us that she couldn't right then because she was having a family lunch for her birthday. She told us that we could return. So we went and ate lunch and then went back to her house. She opened the door and we walked in to find her and her 20 closest family members. And let me remind you... they are all Evangelics. She told us how she wanted to share her birthday lunch with us but we told her that we had already eaten and were really full. She did not take that for an answer and brought us out a plate.. actually I should say platter of Chicken, potatoes, tortillas, and Duck. spicy duck. I was trying so hard to force it all down my throat without throwing it all up on her table when she brought out some sort of jello surprise with sour cream... I knew I wouldn't be able to finish and so I hid the duck in my backpack and swallowed up the jello surprise. But then I had completely forgotten about the duck that was in my backpack.. with skin and all... until we got to a lesson and I was taking out my scriptures when all of a sudden, the duck came rolling out of my backpàck. It was so embarrassing! But you know what, they fed it to their dog and so all was okay.

I am doing well, and could use some extra prayers right now!!
Love from Guate,
Amy

Survived an Earthquake

Family! 

Thanks for your letters. I sure love them! This week was an awesome week, and yes, I did celebrate the fourth of July. Morg and her comp received a pineapple, so we all at one slice and all said.. ¨Happy Fourth of July.¨.. in my miranda voice of course. And yep, that was the extent of our Fourth of July celebrations!

BUT I AM SERIOUS! This week was so awesome! Do you remember that family that magically showed up at sacrament meeting but had the three kids that weren´t members? Well, they don’t even live here, and we had only taught them one time, but they wanted to be baptized SO BAD! And so we had it planned that they were going to come Saturday in the night, because we had permission to teach them for two hours and then they were going to have their interview so they could be baptized Sunday.

Well, at 8 o’clock Saturday night they still hadn’t arrived.... and we said, well, if Heavenly Father wants them to be baptized, he will make possible a way for all of this to happen. They didn´t arrive until 9! WE HAVE TO BE IN OUR HOUSE AT NINE! And so, well, we did not teach them anything, but we did not lose the faith! 

Sunday they came to church and our district leader had told us that if we could find a way to teach lesson 2, 3, 4, and 5 before Sundayschool was over, he could have their interviews and they could be baptized. So right after sacrament meeting, we ran to find them and teach them. Poor things. WE taught everything! EVERYTHING. The Lord wanted them to be baptized because they understood every single lesson in a matter of 45 minutes. They both passed their interviews. But this was at 12 49 and then baptism was supposed to happen at one. We didn´t have baptismal clothes, a program, the ward had no idea, and ooops we did not have someone to baptize them. The Lord really wanted them to be baptized because in a matter of minutes, someone came with baptism clothes, the elder randomly had packed baptismal clothes in his backpack that day and so he could baptize them and the ward members agreed to give the talks. This all happened in 10 minutes.

Then comes the baptismal service. I would like to remind you that the parents had been inactive for 15 years although the dad was a returned missionary. After his two kids were baptized, our ward mission leader, who was directing the service asked the kids who had just been baptized if they could share their testimonies. The 18 year old girl got up and just started crying, she could say anything. The dad, got up from his seat and ran to his daughter and gave her a hug and then said ¨I have been inactive for fifteen years. I am a returned missionary. But I could have died until I saw this marvelous day of my children’s baptism. I know this church is true.¨ And then they just stood in front of us hugging and crying. It was such a life changing experience, just to see how much the Lord prepares people.

I thought you all might be wondering about the earthquake... well it happened at 5:27 in the morning and I thought I was dreaming it but then I woke up and our whole room was shaking, and me and my companion just kind of sat there in our beds looking at each other... smart.. we know. But then it stopped. But then we had nausea ALL DAY! But I’m fine. hahaha

And for the funny news of the week... our convert Luis.. that is 75 years old.. that is in love with me asked me this week, ¨Hermana Funk, do you think I wanted to get married to you? Because I couldn’t... you are just a child.. how old are you anyway?¨ and I said ¨19¨ and he looked at me with a huge smile and said ¨ ohhhhhhhhhh you ARE older.¨ hahaha I was dying. 

I love you all and love this gospel! I love the BOM. Read it everyday fam.

Ame

Hello, my wife

Familia!! 

Woww, there are a lot of things happening at home, aren't there? I feel like sometimes I just expect that everything just stopped at home and will pick up when I get home, but sometimes I just think a little bit wrong. 

Things are certainly picking up here! We are just working like crazy. But this week.... was a week of just complete craziness. 

You know how I told you all about the two miracle baptisms that we were going to have this past weekend? Well, we were planning their baptisms and were so excited because we hadn't baptized in the month of June  when we received a phone call Saturday at 3 in the afternoon. They had some family problems and they had to go WAY far away to the coast because their sister was about to get married to a bad bay... sounds like a love film right? Anywho, long story short is that they couldn't come. WE were like shocked! And so then we started to think okay... we have 6 hours until Saturday ends, we will find someone who can be baptized! So we said a prayer in the middle of the street and started walking. We visited just about every single person that has come to church and that could be baptized and well, they just weren't ready. Then we thought about a little boy named Jorge Luis. He is a son of a recent convert who only comes on the weekend.  Anyway, he had already attended church and had all of the lessons. We went to visit the family and boy did we go at a bad time.

The whole family was fighting. The dad was saying that Jorge Luis could not be baptized and that he could never even return to the house, that the dad had just been baptized just to make his wife happy... and really such crazy things. We left the house and we said.. they are fighting because Jorge Luis will be baptized and Satan doesn’t want this to happen. Despite the fact that they wanted to kill us, we decided to go back and talk to Jorge Luis. We told him that he had to talk to his dad privately and then he had to call us.

At 8 in the night we still did not have a baptism for the next day. We prayed and prayed, but nothing happened. At nine, we returned to our house without ANYTHING. We said our prayer to start our planning and I just pleaded with the Lord that Jorge could call us and tell us that his dad gave him permission.

The SECOND we said amen, the phone rang! All we heard was MY DAD GAVE ME PERMISSION!!!! We started SCREAMING!! IT was honestly such a miracle!! And well, long story short, he was baptized! We were so grateful.

The other two will be baptized this weekend. But really, I know that with exact obedience and with faith and enduring to the end, you will ALWAYS see miracles!! 

We met our mission president and his wife and they are so awesome! I feel really lucky to have had 2 mission presidents. Poor mission mom does not know spanish, but she is just so cute and brought us lemon bars, and so you know, it all pays off.

And now for the funny moment of the week.

Do you remember how I told you that our convert “old Luis” told me that he would pray and fast to know if I was his future wife?? Well, this week he came to church dressed in a suit and tie for the first time! I told him that his tie was pretty and he took it wrong and thought that I told him that he was pretty.... mistake number one goes to Hermana Funk. He was walking into the gospel principles class and looked at me and said, "Hello, my wife." okkkkkay... hahaha I am sorry but it was just so funny. He is 70 years old and has had 3 brain surgeries and so really I am not that worried, but it sure makes for a good story.

I love you all! I finished the Book of Mormon is spanish again and just love it. I carry it in my hand with me wherever I go!! 

Lots of love.

Hermana Funk