First piece of news: we found two more new investigators this week! They just walked in the front door....
On Saturday, it was a scorpion. The next day, a giant gray spider. Both were poisonous.
We baptized them in Raid.
And they didn't bite us! So I am still alive and we have taken precautions to keep other interesting creations from finding their way inside the house. Definitely a taste of Guatemalan exotic-ness. I thought being in the city would pretty much limit our adventures to cockroaches, but my companion said because of the rain these things came crawling out.
And boy, did it RAIN. We're supposed to be in the house by 8, and on Saturday night we were walking home, only a few blocks from the house when the hour changed. I swear, like a Cinderella story: at the second it turned into eight o'clock, the clouds broke open. We didn't have umbrellas or rainboots, and got SO drenched.
It was awesome.
By the time we got home, it was hopeless, so I danced in the courtyard. They say missionaries can't go swimming, but this was a water park :) (Pictures to come another week.)
Speaking of more serious things, I know I learned a lot this week, but I'm just not sure what. Cambios (transfers) came and went and, pleasingly, everything stayed the same. On Friday we did exchanges with the sister leaders in the zone (which meant I went to another part of the city and was companions with another hermana, who happens to be my first companion, for 24 hours). It was cool to be with her again. We had a ton of fun and taught some really good lessons, including to a precious and prepared daughter of God named Paola, who we met because we wanted to knock on a door that had a video doorbell to see what could possibly be behind the mysterious giant wall. Turns out it's more or less a plantation, with a giant two story house and a big field and tractors and sheds and all kind of things. We sat outside and talked about how Jesus can make all the wrongs right, and while we felt the Spirit a giant, fully-feathered turkey with gobbler and all paced ever closer to us, waiting for the perfect moment to attack Hermana Byington's highlighter yellow backpack. It was very comical, and a fun adventure. We kept him at bay with rocks. Apart from the turkey, I also got a lot of peace from that lesson, not sure why, and even though that woman doesn't live in my area, I came to love her and am praying that things will work out for her.
We have had lots more lessons with the magical family we met last week, who are super prepared except the husband has to stop working on Sunday. One of the things we learned about them, which he shared as a reason for why it's hard for him to leave work and come to church, is that he only makes 40 quetzales a day. He works from 8-5, changing oil in cars. 40 quetzales is like $5. And even though things are cheaper here, they're not that cheap. I was kind of in awe of that for a while, but now... I don't know. One thing I know is that it doesn't change God's promise. It doesn't matter how little we have, if we put God first, he will provide. We have to trust in him. Trust in God. When we obey his commandments, he provides for us. We can't think we have to do everything by ourselves, because he is the one who gives us all. Read Mosiah 2-4.
But that's a lesson that even those of us who've learned it once have to keep learning over and over again, and I think it'll be this hermano's first time. So we're patiently waiting and watching... for him to take this leap and make the sacrifice, and come to church. I think/hope he's going to do it soon.
Also this week I got to bond some more with my companion. She's like 4 ft tall but this week made me feel small a lot. She teaches clearly, with power and authority, and I think I'm learning a lot from seeing her example.
Bueno, I don't have that much more to say (lie, I have a million things to say, just not a ton of time), so I will close by saying I love you all. And I love my father. So much of who he is is why I'm here. Thank you, dad, for everything.
Take care, and until next week,
Hermana Ison
We baptized them in Raid.
And they didn't bite us! So I am still alive and we have taken precautions to keep other interesting creations from finding their way inside the house. Definitely a taste of Guatemalan exotic-ness. I thought being in the city would pretty much limit our adventures to cockroaches, but my companion said because of the rain these things came crawling out.
And boy, did it RAIN. We're supposed to be in the house by 8, and on Saturday night we were walking home, only a few blocks from the house when the hour changed. I swear, like a Cinderella story: at the second it turned into eight o'clock, the clouds broke open. We didn't have umbrellas or rainboots, and got SO drenched.
It was awesome.
By the time we got home, it was hopeless, so I danced in the courtyard. They say missionaries can't go swimming, but this was a water park :) (Pictures to come another week.)
Speaking of more serious things, I know I learned a lot this week, but I'm just not sure what. Cambios (transfers) came and went and, pleasingly, everything stayed the same. On Friday we did exchanges with the sister leaders in the zone (which meant I went to another part of the city and was companions with another hermana, who happens to be my first companion, for 24 hours). It was cool to be with her again. We had a ton of fun and taught some really good lessons, including to a precious and prepared daughter of God named Paola, who we met because we wanted to knock on a door that had a video doorbell to see what could possibly be behind the mysterious giant wall. Turns out it's more or less a plantation, with a giant two story house and a big field and tractors and sheds and all kind of things. We sat outside and talked about how Jesus can make all the wrongs right, and while we felt the Spirit a giant, fully-feathered turkey with gobbler and all paced ever closer to us, waiting for the perfect moment to attack Hermana Byington's highlighter yellow backpack. It was very comical, and a fun adventure. We kept him at bay with rocks. Apart from the turkey, I also got a lot of peace from that lesson, not sure why, and even though that woman doesn't live in my area, I came to love her and am praying that things will work out for her.
We have had lots more lessons with the magical family we met last week, who are super prepared except the husband has to stop working on Sunday. One of the things we learned about them, which he shared as a reason for why it's hard for him to leave work and come to church, is that he only makes 40 quetzales a day. He works from 8-5, changing oil in cars. 40 quetzales is like $5. And even though things are cheaper here, they're not that cheap. I was kind of in awe of that for a while, but now... I don't know. One thing I know is that it doesn't change God's promise. It doesn't matter how little we have, if we put God first, he will provide. We have to trust in him. Trust in God. When we obey his commandments, he provides for us. We can't think we have to do everything by ourselves, because he is the one who gives us all. Read Mosiah 2-4.
But that's a lesson that even those of us who've learned it once have to keep learning over and over again, and I think it'll be this hermano's first time. So we're patiently waiting and watching... for him to take this leap and make the sacrifice, and come to church. I think/hope he's going to do it soon.
Also this week I got to bond some more with my companion. She's like 4 ft tall but this week made me feel small a lot. She teaches clearly, with power and authority, and I think I'm learning a lot from seeing her example.
Bueno, I don't have that much more to say (lie, I have a million things to say, just not a ton of time), so I will close by saying I love you all. And I love my father. So much of who he is is why I'm here. Thank you, dad, for everything.
Take care, and until next week,
Hermana Ison
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