FELIZ NAVIDAD! MERRY CHRISTMAS! MELE KALIKIMAKA!

Hey yall! So I literally have like no time to write today since we only have a mini p-day because we just got back from the mission Christmas party in Xetulul, Retalhuleu. So this week was interesting ha. It wasnt as productive as i hoped but I definitely am starting to figure out how my companion and I are gonna have to work and succeed in our area. So on Tuesday i had to give my first one hour lesson completely in spanish during our district meeting so I was freaking out of course. i stayed up til 1am on Monday planning it and hoping with all my might that I wouldn't suddenly forget every word I have ever learned in spanish while i taught the lesson ha. When I was talking to the district leader Elder Con Con on the phone about how worried I was about the lesson, he promised me that I would be blessed with people to teach the gospel THIS WEEK if I taught the lesson. I was kinda doubtful of his words at first, but i gave in. I gave the lesson and it actually went better than i thought ha. Then the next 2 days were not so easy. My companion and I had trouble finding people who would talk to us for more than 5 minutes and NO one was home! A bunch of our appointments feel through and our only baptismal date that we had this week fell through as well. We were so frustrated and were starting to think that it was nearly impossible to find new people who will want to get baptized. Then, on Friday, we received a reference at like 9pm and the next day we were given another reference. We though the first reference asked to have the missionaries over, but no, wrong. We got there and asked her if she would like to hear a short message about the restoration and she said that she wasn't sure because she already goes to a catholic church. my companion and i looked at each other and i seriously was about to grab her and say lets get out of here since the lady wasn't really friendly or interested at all. we felt tricked ha! but finally, the lady said it was okay if we talked to her. so during the lesson, she became more and more interested and gave more comments and by the end she was really talkative, friendly, and said she would maybe come to church with us sometime. then this little gray kitten randomly jumped on my lap while I was talking about Joseph Smith! haha! then the kitten curled up and took a nap on my lap for the rest of the lesson! by the end of the closing prayer, we had to wake the kitten up so I could get up ha! it was random and funny! ha, that's never happened to me before, ever lol. anywho, we invited the lady, Evelyn to a Christmas activity that at the stake center the next day and she actually came with her neighbor! My patience was tested, but the fruits of our labor showed up in the end! you really never know what to expect from any person which is why its so important to be obedient ALWAYS and to endure to the end! which is another reason why I love the scripture in 2 nephi 31:20! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and I wish you all a Feliz Navidad from guatemala! peace and blessings! peace and blessings!



love, hermana argueta

President Uchtdorf in Guatemala and my FIRST BAPTISM!

 

Hey Peeeeps! So this week was REALLY amazing! I found my first family to baptize! Hermana and Villa went with a member named Ester to visit a member about 10 minutes away. They are really really poor and live very humbly. So when we got to the lady´s house, there was another family there with 2 little boys. The family is sooo poor, they literally have nothing. They used to live in the capitol a few months ago but lost EVERYTHING in a fire. We looked in their room and they all sleep on the hard pavement that is their floor because there were blankets everywhere. We started talking to them, taugt them the first lesson really briefly, and before we knew it, we asked them if they would get baptized. They BOTH immediately said YES! They werent married so we had to arrange that but the zone leaders took care of it. So we went back the next day really early at 7:30 in the morning with our zone leaders because we had to interview them for their baptism and teach them the commandments. Then we left. On Saturday we went with the zone leaders to buy the baptismal clothes, decorated the room in the church for their marriage ceremony and then they were baptized! We had a big chocolate cake too! They looked happy! This experience taught me that you really never know who is ready to hear the gospel and be baptized. The Lord prepares his children in different ways and moments.Thats why its so important that we ask investigators if they would be willing to get baptized during the first lesson or appointment with them. My zone leaders have been talking to me a lot about challenging investigators to get baptized more often. I set a goal with them to challenege at least one person every day for a week and if I do it they said they would buy me ice cream! This week was especially awesome because President Uchtdorf was in Guatemala to dedicate the Xela temple. On Saturday we got to watch the temple youth celebration and it reminded me of when I got to swing dance for the Newport Beach temple in 2005! On Sunday Hermana Villa and I went to see the temple dedicatory sessions that were going on all day. It was really nice. So everyone is still getting ready for christmas by lighting the loudest fireworks on the face of the planet and choose to do so EXACTLY when I am about to go to sleep! I SWEAR I live on the loudest street in all of Mazate! Her Villa and I noticed that this week ha! Mom, thanks for all of your Dear Elders! And thanks Rachel, Brenda, Gina, Griselda, Josh and Rita for your emails! Natalie where you at girl?!? So for christmas I would like the following: Hot water for my showers, raid spray for the huge red ants in my house, sushi, and ear plugs! Thanks! I miss you all!


hasta luego,  hermana argueta

Hi!

hey everyone! so Im still alive somehow ha! This week was definitely interesting. We have been trying hard to find new people to teach but these dang guatemalans dont wanna listen! Right now we are teaching a 20 year old girl named Griselda. Weve only taught her the first lesson because she is never home each time we go visit her! We asked her if she would come to church on Sunday and she assuredly said yes! my companion and i were confident that she would come, so we were happy. Then. Sunday came so we went to go pick her up at her house early on Sunday and she wasnt home! WE were soooo mad and annoyed! We walked all the way there and she wasnt even there. Rude. Seriously, Sunday was NOT our day! Everything that could go wrong did! None of our investigators came to church and this inactive girl named Sarai didnt even show up to church even though we go over to her house basically every day! Sooo annoying! Then at church, every one kept asking about the previous sister missionaries that were there before us and kept raving about how amazing they were! omg! Then the teacher in class pretty much ignored me and my comp and kept talking about the elder missionaries (we have the 2 zone leaders in our ward with us too, which is pretty rare for a ward to have 4 missioanries) and how smart they were! whatever. this just means Im gonna have to work harder to gain the members confidence and trust! easy! So yesterday I pretty much almost got murdered to shreds by 4 vicious dogs! So my companion and I were taking our big loads of laundry to this lady who washes it for us and right outside of our door were these 4 teenage boys. They started saying stuff in spanish like oh, need help with that ladies? me and my comp ignored these flirty boys and kept walking when suddenly, the boys (annoyed that we ignored them) whisteled at their 4 dogs to come up to us and bark their lives away! the biggest scariest black dog came up to me closer and closer so I attempted to prepare to defend myself with my big blue laundry bag. I was about to whack that jerk of a dog with my bag, when all of a sudden my comp yelled NO! ignore him or hell bite you! and she jumped in front of me! the dogs thankfully ignored us! omg i swear i couldnt breathe after ha. stupid boys. stupid dogs. anyways, on a more spiritually enlightening note, i gained a stronger testimony about the priesthood this week. my comp and i are becoming really good friends with this family that has 2 member daughters ages 19 and 16 named Sarai and Jocelyn. So their stepdad is in the hospital because he hurt his foot so bad that he might need to get his toes or foot cut off. So me and my comp and Elder Pictum and Elder Iniguez went to the hospital to visit him and for the elders to give him a blessing. When we were walking to the room, this random lady that known of us knew waved at the elders to come over. Elder Pictum said, okay hold on! so after they gave the blessing, we went to find the lady but we couldnt find her anywhere! then all of a sudden, the elders peeked into a room and this other lady who happened to be a member started talking to them and signaled for them to come inside the room where her dad was lying on a hospital bed. we started talking to them and the lady said she lives in the capitol. The elders offered the old man a blessing. We left right after. While we were getting inside the tuc tuc, elder iniguez turned over to me and said, that was really weird! we never found the first lady but the spirit led us to someone else who needed the priesthood at that exact time. its true that when you listen to the spirit, it can lead you to exactly where you need to be. it leads you to the right place, time, and person! this is soo true! the priesthood is awesome and anyone who is worthy enough to have it should be privileged to have it. it really does change lives! anyway! thats all the time i have for now! the elders are getting mad at me because we are all gonna go eat lunch as a zone. anyways, the church is true, i love you all and thanks for your emails and prayers! i think about all of you each day!

love, hermana argueta