Carrying On

Hi everyone! So this week went by way fast! I cant believe its Monday already. Today for P-Day we played baseball! It was actually really fun, which is saying a lot because I suck at it and have little to no baseball experience, and I actually hit the ball pretty decently each time it was my turn to bat. ha. So this week we worked really hard teaching new investigators in Santo Domingo. Fortunately, one of our investigators, Robert, a 15 year old boy came to church with us on Sunday and then accepted a baptismal date for this Saturday. So were gonna go back and teach him some more this week so he is prepared. Roberts family is interesting ha. His mom is very evangelica and his dad isnt really religious, but both of the parents are totally supportive of Robert and encourage him to go to church and take the discussions. So thats awesome. Were gonna continue two other investigators named Guadalupe (19) and Erik (22) this week as well and try to encourage them to go to church since they always make up excuses and arent really understanding why its soo important that they come each Sunday. My companion and I are getting along better this week and are getting to know one another better too. Were very different but I think well be able to work well together after all. I was a little sick last Wednesday and was pretty sure I was gonna get a cold, so the elders came to give me a blessing and I immediately felt better and I was completely back to normal the next day! So that was a miracle to say the least! Well, not much else is new or anything. Im still working really hard with my comp to find people who are ready to hear the gospel! Yesterday the lesson in Relief Society was on the Liahona article, ¨Missionaries are a Treasure¨so it was nice to hear nice comments about the importance of missionaries from the Relief Society. Im so grateful that I am able to be healthy and energetic these days to be able to preach the gospel as fervently as I can! Im learning so much everyday and definitely understanding the change the gospel really can have in so many different people. Im grateful to be a missionary in Guatemala for the Lord! Thank you for all your prayers, love, and support!

Hermana Argueta

Trainer/English Teacher

QUE ONDA! So a lot has been going on this week! So first off, I am training my new companion since she is new. I was really surprised that they asked me to train because I am the missionary with the least time in the mission who is training already and i just finished my 3 months of training a week ago. so its crazy being on one end and going straight to the other soo fast. So I am training Hermana Blunk who is from Los Angeles, California. We are still in the same area, Las Flores Mazatenango. So this week Ive been showing her around and introducing her to the members and Bishop and everything. Hermana Blunk barely knows or understands spanish so its definitely going to be a challenege trying to get her to speak only spanish since we speak in english to eachother. I feel so weird speaking english because Im so used to speaking only spanish 100 percent of the time with my previous companion. But well see how it goes. Hermana Blunk is 28 years old and she is the only member in her family. She was baptized 3 years ago. 2 reallly awesome things we have in common though is our favorite food is sushi and we both love Hello Kitty! So thats obviously a sign that were bound to get a long ha! But yeah, since its my first time switiching companions, im having trouble adjusting to being around someone wayy different than me. Her Blunk is quiet and barely talks and is very serious and barely laughs, whereas I am constantly laughing and joking around with everyone so well see how this goes I guess. In addition, on Wednesday at the changes meeting, the President asked to talk to me and he asked me to be the new english teacher for the mission. I accepted and Im really excited. So basically I will be working with the latino missionaries and helping them work on the BYU english program so they can take a test and get their certificate. So I will be working with them by calling them and emailing them back and forth and giving them the exam when they are ready. As far as investigators, we found a lot of people in Santo Domingo yesterday because we went with a member who used to be branch President there so he knows Santo Domingo like the back of his hand. We talked to a lot of people who said they would be willing to have us talk to them and share the lessons so we have a lot of appointments for this week. We also taught a really intense lesson to Erik and Guadalupe, 2 new investigators we met through Mauricio, the stake mission leader who is also in our ward. They are really interested in the gospel and Guadalupe accepted the baptismal date we set for March 3 but they both have never been to church so we need to help them go so they can progress and follow through with the requirements needed for their baptism. But besides that, everything else is good! Im healthy and alive and melting as usual in this heat. Thank you sooo much Brenda, Adry, Mom, Dad, Judy, and Ana for the valentines day package! Loved everything and I had soo much fun opening everything with my companion! I miss you all! Hope you are all doing amazing!

Hermana Argueta

Xela Temple

Hi! Wow feels like I havent written in forever! So last week Presidente Maravilla (the mission president) came to Mazate to announce to us missionaries that we would be the first zone to have the opportunity to go to the temple in XELA with him and his wife! Everyone was shocked and beyond excited. So last Tuesday we took a 2 hour bus ride to XELA to make it to the 10am session at the recently dedicated temple! I was really excited because this is the first time missionaries in our mission have been given the opportunity to go. After Presidente made the announcement, that was ALL my companion and I and the other missionaries could talk about! It was amazing to be inside the temple with 40 other missionaries and the President and his wife! It was definitely a sacred and special experience Ill never forget. It can be easy to forget the feelings that come from being present in the temple when you havent gone in a while. I definitely appreciated every second I was there and was humbled to have that time there to thank the Lord for allowing me to be here in Guatemala as a missionary on his errand. Being in the temple also reminded me of how important families are and how blessed we are to have the opportunity to have eternal families for ALL of eternity and not just here on this earth temporarily. I definitely thought about the investigators I have now and the ones I will have in the future and how awesome it is to be in the position that I am in now, being able to testify to them that their very own familiy can be eternal too! This all starts with baptism, though, our first covenant with Heavenly Father, and only after that can we be lead to the temple to progress and make other covenants. Im grateful for the temple and for the chance I have to be able to share the message of eternal families and holy temples as a missionera for the next 15 months! I LOVE being a missionary! Thanks for all of your support, friendship, and love! You are all amazing. Dont forget it. Have an amazing week!

Noche Blanca

 

Hey everyone! So this week we had a really cool event called la Noche Blanca on Saturday night. So all the missionaries from our zone who had investigators to baptize brought them to the stake center. There were about 20 baptisms altogether and we watched them from a projector while they were being filmed in the room with the baptismal font. There were a ton of members and investigators who showed up too! We had one baptism, a 13 yearold girl named Doritza. Shes soo awesome. Her mom is not a member and is not supportive of her joinging the church, but still gave her permission to be baptized. Doritza has such a great desire to be a member of the church and she LOVES coming to church every Sunday. So the crazy part is that Hermana Villavicencio and I went to go pick up our investigators and members for the baptism with the elders, like we always do each week, but this time we all went on the back of a little pick up truck. Altogether there were about 30 people (and a newborn baby!) standing up on the back of this little pick up truck rushing to get to the stake center for the Noche Blanca! Ha! It was really crazy to be squished but we were laughing all the way there ha. The mission President, President Maravilla came too, along with his wife. After, we asked the members who attended to write down a reference of someone who may be interested in hearing about the gospel and we got about 40 references! So this week we are going to be focusing on contacting the references we received. Our zone also broke the record of 52 baptisms, with 64 for this month, so it was a really good week for zona Mazatenango. Right now one of my main investigators is Delmy, Doritzas mom. She feels like she needs more time to investigate the church and attend church meetings and functions before she can make a decision so we are going to bring over members so she can meet them and get to know them. Besides that, I'm doing really good and love being a part of this work more and more every day! I LOVE being a missionary and can't picture myself doing anything else! Miss you ALL!

 

Hermana Argueta