La Maquinaria

Hey Everyone! So this week was kinda busy because I had to balance my calling as the english teacher with my missionary calling. I had a lot of phone calls to make to the latino missionaries to see how well they are progressing in their english. This week my comp and I focused on finding new people to teach. I honestly can say that going out with the members is the way to go and makes all the difference. Think about it for a sec... would you be more intimidated to talk to 2 missionaries that show up uninvited at your front door or would you rather be interested in going to a friends house and having a lesson altogether with the missionaries? Whenever we bring members over to an appointment, they instantly have a new friend or a person that can fellowship them when they missionaries arent around. We cant always be around as missionaries and take an investigator to and fro which is why its important that we find good members to handoff the investigators when we cant be there with them. This week my comp and I brought 3 young women to church and they LOVED it! They cant wait to come back next Sunday with us. They are having a hard time understanding what it means to be baptized and the fact that baptism entails membership in the church. They are catholic and want to come to both churches, ours and the catholic church. We are going to answer their questions this Wednesday. So this week is kinda rare because today, Monday until Wednesday the Hermana missionaries (theres 30 of us) are having a little conference/vacation! We are going to the beach and gonna play volleyball and sleep in a big house for 2 nights, kinda like a slumber party I think! I´m sooo excited! We are leaving on a bus tonight for Reu with the other hermanas in our zone to go meet everyone up. Thanks mom and dad for the package and to everyone who contributed too! I love missionary work and spreading the gospel every day in Guatemala! Hasta luego!

Hermana Argueta

 

 

 

Pamela

Hey Everyone! This week was really busy but in a good way. I had to go to Reu, about 30 minutes away, twice this week to start working on the english program for the latino missionaries. Then I had to make a lot of phone calls all weekend. But everything seems to be going well. From now on, I have to go to the mission office in Reu every Friday to work on the program. Besides that, we had a last minute baptism this week for Robert´s younger sister, Pamela. Pamelas and her friend Melanie went to seminary for the first time on Saturday morning, later to the movies for a young women activity, and then decided they wanted to get baptized that same day! So my zone leaders called me Saturday morning to let me know that we had to spend the whole day in Santo Domingo to get permission from Pamela´s mom (shes 12 years old) and interview her before her baptism at 6pm. So my comp and I spent the whole day in Santo Domingo picking everyone up in a pick up truck and then took everyone to the baptisms at 6pm. Its fun standing up in the pack of a rusty pickup truck with 20 other people on our way to church on Sundays and to the baptisms each week haha! I wish you all could see it for yourselves!  Our ward had 7 baptisms this weekend so it was a good weekend :) Pamela loves church and is excited to be a new member. She´s awesome and willing to be obedient to the commandments and keep the sabbath day. We are also trying hard to work with Pamelas mom since she says she likes church and everything but isnt sure if shes completely ready to give up her evangelist religion. Her mom is sooo nice though and loves us and shes planning on going to the temple with the relief society this weekend too! Shes sooo funny, after we took photos at the baptism, she said, ¨wait, why didnt you change? arent you the one thats going to baptize her in the font?¨¨ What else... well yesterday I taught the principles of the gospel class at church on service and that went well.Im soo grateful for missionary work and am trying to have more faith in myself and in my comp. I know that I am capable to work harder every week, despite my weaknesses and moments of doubt that I have sometime. I am going to work harder this week with my comp and find those families that are ready to be like Christ. i love you all.

hermana argueta

The Mouse

Hey everyone! So this week was pretty good for the most part. We had a baptism on Sunday for a 16 year old boy named Robert. Were so proud of the decision he took yesterday, especially since it probably isnt easy being the only member of his family. His very evangelica mom and sister came to the baptism too which I never thought would happen, so that was awesome that she chose to be supportive of her sons decision. We also brought an investigator to church named Zaida who wants to get baptized, but isnt married and has a kid. In order for her to be able to be baptized, she would need to get married to the man shes living with. So were going to teach her some more this week and see what happens from there. So the church attentance rate is pretty low in our ward right now, so our mission President told all the missionaries that we need to work hard to get members to come to church. So yesterday, Sunday, our zone leaders Elders Deskins and Maradiaga came with me and Hermana Blunk to visit a TON of families in our ward as well as some investigators. It was awesome to just spend the whole day focused on reactivating and motivating the members to come to church. We told them we were visiting them to bring a little bit of the spirit we felt at church that day to their very own homes and we did so by singing a hymn with them and sharing a message. Okay, story time! So yesterday us four went to a house of 2 people who were just baptized a few weeks ago. So when we get there, the lady or mom of the house tells us that she has a buck of rats in her backyard that she caught because they were getting all up in her buckets of corn. So after talking to her for a while, we decide to start singing a hymn, Put your shoulder to the wheel. So im sitting on a couch for one, and we start singing right. So were singing the second verse, and i look behind my left shoulder and theres a freaking gray mouse RIGHT behind my ear! If you know me well enough, you know that I HATE and DESPISE rats and mice because they totally gross me out and the are the nastiest filthiest creatures on the face of the earth. So I freak out, and I dont know what to do so I just turn my head and look at Elder Maradiaga who was sitting right in front of me and just stare at him with my eyes wide open. I dont say a word, just look at him until he sees the mouse and sings, ¨Pon su hombre al RATON!!! Then all of a sudden, right in the middle of singing the chorus I jump up at lighting speed and everyone else does the same. The mouse runs and jumps off the couch and hides as the lady of the house, Carmen, grabs the broom and starts looking for it. Everyone runs around and tries to look for mouse. The elders dive onto the couch and shake it so the mouse comes out. Anyways, the mouse scurried into the hollow of the couch so we never caught it, but its probably in the house still ha. So that was my week. Perfect. ha. Well I love you all and I testify of the importance of missionary work and theres no greater or better work on the planet! love you all, have your best week ever!

 

Hermana Argueta

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