The wheel on the Guatemala bus go...

Buenas Tardes!

Okay, I am glad that you guys are going on about 2234 vacations while I am gone, that is really neat. But I want to know, how many of you have traveled in a hot, packed full, but OH SO FUN Guatemalan bus for 4 hours two times a week for the past 4 months?? I think I win that one!! It almost wins with the big blue van... basically the same. Just with these buses you have to like sit on top of people and they fit so many people.... no seatbelts.. aka I am breaking Laurie Funk rules. hahaha

This week was a week of miracles! We just have so many pilas people! We put a goal for 5 baptisms in the month of August and I think we will be able to do it. La hermanita Dafnee is doing well, she just really wants to get baptized and we put her date for this Sunday! BUT I need your prayers so that her parents give her permission. Also prayers for Marlene and Ernesto forthis Sunday. They are such a great fammmm and I know they will do it! They even gave me my seventh bday party. they rockkkkk.

We have this investigator named Carlos. He cracks me up. He is 19 years old and just LOVES to try and impress us. He was like the hot topic at church this past Sunday and all of the young woman are so willing to come with us to go visit him and all the young single adults were just thrilled. We really have brought the main attraction to church, but he actually really loves the church, not just all of the attention. We just always pray that he can *remember* to put on a shirt when we teach him, and if not, we just tell him that we are going to leave and he can call us when he is presentable. hahaha 

I went on divisions the other day to the hottest part in all of Guatemala, I am so sure. It is called the GOMERA. ohhh my heck. They have sand instead of roads, and in the first 15 minutes that I was there, I got blisters on my feet from having the sand be so HOT. Then a rainstorm came in at night and so the lights went out, and this meant that the fans didn´t work and this meant that every 5 seconds I went to the bathroom to wet down my whole head just so I could sleep for like 10 minutes. It was just so fun. So fun. But the hermana that I went with is awesome so that makes up for it.

My 75 year old boyfriend is doing well. He is so confused about what the Priesthood is and thinks that when he gets it he will be able to make whatever change he wants in the church. For example, ¨Hermana Funk, when I have this priesthood, I am going to liven things up in Sacrament Meeting. I am talking about guitars, trumpets, everything.¨ He wants to buy out one room in the church to make it into a place for people to sleep when they get tired because he told us he bought a lottery ticket and it is the winning one. Wow, will I be ever so lucky when I marry him, right??

Well, love ya all. Ame

Ame

I am here to serve

Buenas Tardes a todos!

Wel,l Thank you for your emails, I truly love always hearing from everyone and so thank you for not forgetting about yours truly!

Well this week. Let us see! I had divisions with the one and only hermana Oliphant. She rocks! I am so serious. She walks so darn fast and just loves her mission. I felt that she helped me more than I helped her, but I have seen such a change in her and I loved being with her!!

Our pilas investigator Carlos came to church again this past Sunday, but this time in a shirt and a tie and with his hair cut, and boy did the girls go wild. But it was so cool because in the middle of fast and testimony meeting he got up to bear his testimony! He said, ¨I am so imperfect, I have so many changes that I need to make in my life, but I do know one thing, that this church is true.¨ Okay, I seriously was jumping up and down on the church seat I was so darn excited! He is doing so well but he just has a problem with tobacco. If each and every single one of you can pray for him, I know he will make the change!!
My dearly beloved Hermano Luis received the priesthood this past week. Don´t you remember him? My 75 year old boyfriend. Boy you should have seen him walking into the church, his hair TOTALLY slicked down, in a shirt, tie, suit, the whole shoe! And when they sustained him in church to be a priest, he stood up and put his arm way up over his head, as if he was like receiving something. AND THEN in Sunday school, there were about 56 seats, but what would you know, he chose the one right next to me! And I said hello and then halfway through the class he looked over at me and said, ¨Are you like mad at me or something? You just seem really distant.¨ Hahaha I was dying! Nonetheless he received the priesthood and is doing great!

We had the coolest experience with one of our converts. There is a hermana who just had a baby and they live in terrible circumstances. But the ward has been so good to help them out. Anyway, we went to their house to visit them and when we were leaving, we asked if they knew of anyone that we could visit, they said no, but when we left their 6 year old daughter ran out of the house and told us that she had friends that we could visit. She then proceeded to go to each and every one of her neighbor’s house with us and she said, ¨Hello, these are missionaries. They preach the word of God. Want to listen to them?¨ SHE IS 6! It was so awesome! We found 6 new investigators with her.

I had learned a lot this week about how to dedicate my whole self to the work. One Elder in a meeting said, ¨I came here to give my life.¨ and that is exactly why I am here! It doesn’t matter if I am completing one year to me because I know that I am here to work and work hard until the end. I have realized that as I give more of myself, I am happier, have a stronger testimony and that the Lord trusts me more. I am here to serve!!

I love you all. And really love the food here. Just sayin. Ame

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

Love in Guatemala

WEll! I received I think 56 photos from Disneyland, and I LOVED them all! I am serious. And I thought you guys were going this week, and so I was not even thinking about it all last week. But really, I am so glad that it was all so fun!!! 

Even though I was not at Disneyland, It was pretty much a Disneyland here this week! I will start off with the funny moments first.

1. Sunday afternoon there was a flash flood, I am not even kidding, it was the heaviest and the fastest rain I had ever seen, but we had to keep moving forward! And so there we were, walking along side of the highway to get to our next city. But what we didn´t notice is how close we were walking to the side of the highway that had the ditch of bathroom water... you know what I mean... and anyway, it had flooded, and so all the cars on the highway were passing through on this lake of bathroom-water-filled-highway and we just happened to be next to it. Well, long story short when we got to our next visit and explained why we were sopping wet, the lady said... hmmmm I was wondering why it smelled so bad. Thank you hermana, thank you.

2. Do you remember my convert Luis? The one who had like 3 accidents with his head? Well, this week we went to him and he expressed with us his desire that he has been feeling for a long time to get married again and to find another wife.  He proceeded to look me in the eye and tell me... “ya know, it could be you”.  I told him.. “Well, Hermano Luis, you have to pray a lot so that God puts someone in your path that probably isn´t someone you even know yet. Haha it was too good.

AND THE MIRACLES OF THE WEEK!!!!!!!!! You know how we have not found someone to be baptized in this month? Well, on Sunday there was a family that came to church that had come another week with their friends but the friend who is in our ward said that they were all members. Well, they came this Sunday again and the son who is 14 came up to us and said, “You know Hermanas, I would really love to be baptized...” WHAT?! So then we were like crying we were so grateful. THEN that afternoon we went to his house to teach him and we were talking to his whole family and mentioning how he was the only one who wasn´t baptized, but then his parents said, “No, Hermanas, none of our children our baptized!” WHAT?! There were three of them and all of them want to get baptized this Sunday.. the last Sunday of the month.. IT WAS A MIRACLE! I truly am so grateful! Just pray so much that it can all work out.

Today I have divisions with the daughter of Hermana Oliphant.... wooooohoooo!I

I love you so much! Thanks for the pics. 

ame