Marvin Got Baptized + Pictures

Description of the Pics: MARVIN GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!

With Hermana Oliphant

Corte fairy princess dress up party!

Hey there fam!

Thank you once again for your letters. I just feel extremely blessed. I love you all and I do love the mission, we are seeing miracles. Miracles, miracles, miracles.

Marvin got baptized!!! Even though he had to stay in his work until Saturday... when he was supposed to return on Wednesday... but when people are trying to kill the mayor, apparently the police officers have to stay. Weird. But anywho, Satan did NOT want him to get baptized. Everything went wrong with the interview time, with his schedule, with his family, everything. But he got baptized! It was SO SPECIAL!! He invited his whole family, and the room was so full, it was a special day for him and all of us. I just felt so darn grateful. It all comes from obedience and sacrifice.

Elena and Evelyn will be baptized this weekend and they are both so excited. But we just need a whole lot of prayers for Joseph... whose name is not Joseph by the way... it is Juseph.... who knew right? BUT HE CAME TO CHURCH AGAIN! And boy was he the hit. And we are planning for his baptism this weekend too but his work just called him in.. and he works in the capital. But we have ALL the faith in the world that he will come home and that he will be baptized. We just need a lot of prayers.

I am way sorry that this email is very short... but my comp is going to send you the pictures from the baptism. It was so darn beautiful. This week I will have divisions with my mom, Hermana Satterhwaite. I AM SO STOKED.

Love you all!

Hermana Funk

An Epic Guatemalan Independence Day

*Hi, I've heard from a couple people that they are not getting Amy's letters. I tried to form a group address and something may be up with that. If you haven't been getting them and are just dying to get past ones:) just let me know and I'll send them. Love you all and thanks for supporting Amy,Laurie

Hey Fam!!

Alaska! That is so cool. I hope it was as cold as it is here in Chimaltenango. But it does look really fun! congrats congrats congrats.

Let us start out with the funny moments this week.

1. It was Independence Day in Guatemala. But here it is more like Independance week. Boy, do they have some weird traditions. Each school basically has to get a running team together to be able to run a torch. And then all of Guatemalans stands out on the street to throw really hard bags of water at them.. and yes they are bags because they haven’t found out about water balloons yes.. and yes they hurt ten times worse. I am just saying... YOU NEVER WANT TO BE OUT ON THE STREETS WHEN THIS IS HAPPENING... and worse if you are white. My companion and I were walking down the street when all of a sudden we hear ¨GRINGAS! GET THEMMMM!¨ Needless to say we were running like gazelles while getting absolutely bruised and soaked. But the funniest thing is they don’t block off the streets for them to run, they just put buses behind them so that if anyone hits them, they hit the bus first. And then it all ended with the parade. We didn’t mean to be part of it or even the main attraction.. we just happened to be walking in that direction. Happy Independence Day everyone.

We are so excited and grateful for the investigators that we have right now. We may or may not have found the most chosen investigator this past week. While we were singing to contact a bus.. yes singing.. a guy told us that we could visit him. Anywho, we went and he was way cool. His name is Joseph and he is 19. But on the second visit, we went back and he told us that he looked up all about the church on line on mormon.org and learned a ton. Then we pulled out the Book of Mormon to teach it to him and he said... ¨Hey, I have read that before.¨ He then proceeded to tell us how his coworker had left it on her desk and he had taken it and read the WHOLE BOOK in 6 DAYS. Can you believe that?? A kid who didn’t even know anything about the church?? Then he told us how he had to work in the capital for the week so he couldn’t attend church. But he called him on Sunday and he told us that he went to the capital and found an LDS church and attended! WHAT THE HECK. We were so excited! It just shows you how much the Lord prepares these people.

Marvin will be baptized this weekend and Elena the next weekend. Just please pray for them so much.

I have learned that if we are going through the hardest trials it means that the greatest miracles are ahead. 

¨I do not obey because I am blind. I obey because I can see.¨ 

Hermana Funk

ps. love ya

World's Best Ward Party

Editors note: A “Tuc Tuc” is a 3 wheeled rickshaw

Well I loved hearing from all of you! Thank you for always remembering me. I love you all so much!

This week was a rockin week. Let me just start with a couple of key points.

1. Elena is so ready to get baptized! Do you remember this miracle lady that showed up at church the past week? Well she is just loving everything and she even showed up to the ward party early just to help. She ROCKS and I love the Miracles of God. She will be baptized on the 21 of September. 

2. Marvin, the police officer and the only one of his family who is not a member, is also going to be baptized on the 21 of September. He had a baptismal date like 20 years ago, but never showed up at his baptism, and this time he said YES. And there are no buts about it. We just love him and his family so darn much. 

3. WE HAD THE BEST WARD PARTY IN THE WORLD. Mom, you know I have never been a big fan of ward parties and all of that but I just have to tell you, our ward mission leader made these awesome invitations to pass out to everyone and their dog. It was like a celebration of  the independence of Guatemala... and well every organization had to put on a dance.... let us all imagine the Elders Quorum and the Relief Society doing dances... it was literally the best thing I have seen thus far on my mission. And the best part of all of this is that we had 24 INVESTIGATORS AT THE WARD PARTY! We taught three lessons during it and they all said that they were going to come to church. Well, they may or may not have been a little too tired after this party, and not all of them came, but many did! WE ARE TOO STOKED.

4. It was late Sunday night and we decided to contact a family on the street… on a dark street. Great idea Hermana Funk and Hermana Merrell. Anywho, as we were contacting them we starting hearing loud footsteps behind us and I looked back to see this man all dressed in black with cowboy boots and the whole get-up chasing after us, we started booking it! He was running too and so we ran faster, and let me not forget to mention that it had been raining way hard that day and every member had given us a sweater to put on. I HAD 4 SWEATERS that weighed a whole lot and my comp had a sweater with a built in scarf... and we were so weighed down by these things and we couldn’t run.. hahaha but then we were saved by a tuc tuc. Great times in Chimalllll.

5. I had divisions with my daughter. She made sure to remind me how much I made her suffer in her training but it is all for the cause dear.... I love her so much!!

My testimony gets stronger every day. I am coming to know my Savior and kneeling in his shadow every night pleading with my Heavenly Father to bless you all. You have no idea how special you all are for me. I am doing good, still livin, and still loving every minute. I WILL NOT REST UNTIL THE FINAL MOMENT!!!

Hermana Canchita