What in the world, fastest week of my life!!! I seriously cant believe I am writing again, this week went by in the blink of an eye! Probably because my comp and I were each sick like the whole week, but we still worked and wow, we definitely saw the fruits of our labors!
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| Thanks ma for the package and the "ugly shoes" |
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| jumping pictures with my comp cause I live with my best friend! |
So remember how last week I got bit by a dog, turns out that comes with some pretty ridiculous emotional stress, yeah I am officially terrified of dogs. Which is kind of a huge problem since there are THOUSANDS of dogs in the streets here, and they sense fear and they charge at you. It got to the point where I was literally scared to leave the house, what with the 5 dogs that patrol the street we live on... but we did a few things to fix that situation. So my advice for if you ever get bitten by a dog in Guatemala which results in an intense dog-a-phobia do this...
1. Get a blessing. I know it might seem silly, but I'm like the opposite of stingy when it comes to blessings now.
2. Read the scriptures. I received in an email from the mission president: 2 Timothy 1:7 which changed how I felt completely. It says: "For God hath not given us the spirit of FEAR but of POWER and of LOVE and of a SOUND MIND."
3. Say a prayer and sing a hymn every time you pass by a dog. Basically this means I'm praying all day every day, but hey that's what we are supposed to do, right?
4. Buy a sling shot. When it comes down to it, I've gotta defend myself. So now I have a slingshot, called here a "honda", and rocks in my hands every where I go. I'm getting pretty good aim now!
So for all of you that have gone through, are going through, or will go through a similar experience, you're welcome. :)
But really, let's just kill all the dogs, I mean it got a little ridiculous when I was sitting in sacrament meeting yesterday and a dog walked in to the chapel. I thought I was going to die! Big white husky just waltzed in! But that's why I have my sling shot. :)
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| trip to McDonald's while we waited for my comp's parasite exam results, yay! |
So as for the title of this email, it's one of the coolest things that has happened in my mission. SO here in Central America they have this thing called Noche de Hermanamiento, which means like brotherhood night? Haha it's like a ward activity once a week where someone teaches a lesson and there's an activity and food! It's like mutual for the whole ward! It's super fun. So my area is split up into two parts, Las Flores which is where the chapel is, and Santo Domingo which is a bus ride away and kinda far. So one of our investigators has been the answer to our prayers and offered to drive everyone to church every Sunday and then even offered to have a separate noche de hermanamiento in Santo Domingo in his huge house! So we did! It was so awesome, we were helping him get ready and sweep and such when everyone started showing up! There were around 40 people there, investigators and members and it was just so happy! When everyone sat down and we were ready to start all of a sudden the power went out! Mind you we are in this courtyard outside and it's 7:00 so it's already dark! So we are like oh no what are we going to do! Then I thought, CANDLES. Every tienda sells candles so we ran to a tienda to buy as many candles as we could before they sold out. We used all of our money, which was only 17 quetzales... we are poor, and bought 17 candles. We then had the most beautiful fireside lit by candles! We had them on the walls, in the dirt, hanging from the trees. It was one of the most magical experiences, just absolutely beautiful! I remember when they were giving the lesson I was just sitting there and just overwhelmed with my blessings. Mind you this was all happening in the house of my investigator!!! Ah it was so cool! I just looked up at the stars and knew that Heavenly Father was smiling down at us. such a beautiful night. :)
Oh so this investigator that I was talking about, he speaks English. He lived in Chicago for 40 years. We went and taught him last night about tithing and I had him read a scripture in Malaki? What is it Malaquias, who knows, it's in the Bible. Anyway he was reading it and afterwards he just pauses and goes, "Es true." It was a sweet funny moment. I am so excited for this Saturday, like I said, I've never met someone more prepared in my life!!! :)
So I'm pretty sure that I'm serving in the mosworld. (editor's note: Not sure if this is a misspelling or what?) We now have 6 missionaries in this ward, so working with them is super fun! We just have so much support from the leaders and ward members. On the way to church yesterday we had so many people coming from Santo Domingo. We had 28 people in the back of a pick up truck! Hahahaha you Americans can't even imagine that, I bet. Guatemalan style, we can make anything happen. It's just so beautiful pulling up to church with all these people that you just love! We all got out of the truck and then all the menos activo families we had worked with this week walked in! I was like wait is this real life? YAY!! One of the menos active families hasn't been able to come because their mom suffered a stroke recently; but we arranged a car to bring them and BAM! They came! This woman is one of the sweetest people ever! She is so little and just has these big happy cheeks and a toothless smile, I adore her! Sweet Rosa :)
Basically this week was a miracle, even though I was constantly racked with fear, haha, okay too dramatic. But even though I was scared my comp was sick and we had to keep going to the doctors or taking breaks, we saw MIRACLES this week! I just can't say it enough, God is just so good. I am truly in love with this work. I hope you all have just the most wonderful week. Don't waste any time being sad ever. My motto lately has been "lift where you stand". Whether you're in a tuk tuk, doctors office, home, or with the members or in the street, do what you can to help those that are around you! Spread sunshine with your smile! :)
Love you all so much,
love love love,
Hermana Moore :)
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