Surprise!

Miracles really do happen!! We received a surprise email today from Hermana Ferre! She has started to get the letters we have been sending. It takes two weeks to get to her, so keep writing! She appreciates it!  Here are some excerpts from this email...

• We have two bunk beds and I am on the top. Every night I fear I am going to fall off haha...

• We get a 15 minute break after dinner called refaccion where we pass off something we learned and get a snack or treat. Seriously so much food here, all the time. It is a good thing we work out everyday. The ice cream here is seriously so much better than in the states. Absolutely delightful!

• My district actually brought pictures of our families to the district meeting last night. I got to show our families off, I totally loved bragging about you guys. And by the way, our family is seriously the CUTEST!

• I have been getting kinda chilly at night but not horrible. The humidity isn't too bad either but we are also inside all day long!

• They take really good care of us here. I have only had one warm shower here though so that has been an adjustment, who likes to shower in ice cold water? NO ONE!!!

• I have one really good story to share though. I got to teach a real life inactive member of the church. She is eighteen and the only member in her family. She told us she wanted to serve a mission. We got so excited and she asked for advice in preparing. We told her the libro de Mormon and Preach My Gospel. She didn't have a PMG so anyway we continue and we ended by having her say the closing prayer. The Spirit was so strong and we honestly loved her so much and we had only talked for 30 minutes. We left and decided we should go back and give her my Spanish PMG. Our teacher had us interrupt the elders teaching her. So we signed the PMG saying good luck preparing, we love you. We quickly walked in during the middle of their lesson and handed her the book. She said thank you and we left. Later that night, one of the elders that was teaching her came up to us and asked if we knew what happened to that girl we gave the PMG to. We said no and he told us that she immediately began crying and the Spirit in the room was so strong. He thanked us for bringing the spirit and giving her the PMG. It was honestly the best experience of my mission so far and we didn't even teach her a lesson! We just gave her advice, got to know her and testified to her. From the start we loved her and that's what it is about. We teach people, not lessons.

Hello From Guatemala!

Hello! I am so excited to finally write home. I absolutely love the CCM. We are so busy and we speak in basically total Spanish. We are supposed to try our best and we do surprising well. There are 4 Elders and 4 Sisters in my District. Elder Dunn, Elder Farnsworth, Elder Astle, and Elder Morgan. Hermana Timoteo, Hermana Nelson, Hermana Reed, and Hermana Ferre! Our district name is the Malachias.

 

Hermana Timoteo and I have taught four lessons in complete Spanish. It is not goos Spanish but we have done it. Our investigators name is Hermano Daniel Sanchez, he is one of our teachers. Yesterday we did an English fast as a District. We went for 24 hours without speaking any English. We did pretty well but by the end we were slipping in quite a bit of English. Spanish is hard but it is coming along. I am able to have basic conversations, pray, bear my testimony, and kinda teach in Spanish. Hermana Timoteo and I have really been focusing on feeling and being led by the Spirit during lessons and preperations.

 

Our president is Presidente Cox and his wife is Hermana Cox. They are great! Very loving.

As hermanas we gather together every night to sing a hymn and to pray. We have quite a few Latina Hermanas and I adore them. Some speak English so they help us with our Spanish and we help them with their English. At every meal we sit together so we can practice our Spanish.

 

My favorite day so far has been Sunday. All of the meetings and devotionals were in English except for Sacrament. It made it a lot easier to feel the Spirit. In one of the devotionals given by Presidente Cox, he talked about how the Lord does not need all of us as missionaries. He turned to Judges chapter 7 and we read verses about how the Lord commanded His soliders to lap up the water or to bow down to his knees to drink. vs 4 through 6. Go read! The number of those who lapped the water was 300. Anyway, the Lord only needed 300 of His best soldiers to go out and fight. As such, the Lord only needs 300 of the 88,000 missionaries to do His work. He needs 300 of the hardest workers, dedicated, obedient soliders to being souls unto Him. Presidente Cox then challenged us to become those 300. We are here to work hard, obey with exactness, and dedicate our lives to the Lord and His work. After all, this is the Lord's mission, not mine.

 

On Sunday was also President Monson's birthday and we had a live devotional from Elder Anderson so we sang Happy Birthday to President Monson from Guatemala.

 

Today I got to go to the temple. It was amazing!! We are literally like a two minute walk away from the Guatemala temple. It was a lot smaller than the temples and sessions at home but it was beautiful!

 

The CCM food is really good. Everyone says not to get used to it because it will not be like that in our actual missions. You should see the portions of guac they give us! They also have this REALLY good lime juice. It is delightful. You would love it, Mom!

 

Let's all take a moment to be thankful that I already had my wisdom teeth out. The Latinos had to get there wisdom teeth out yesterday here at the CCM. So thankful that I have been there and done that.

 

One sad thing that happened is that my lotion was taken out of my bag because of the Hemp symbol I suppose.

 

It rains all the time and we are cooped up inside for the majority of the day. We have classes all day from 730am to 930pm with one break for Deportes in the afternoon. It is actually kind of cold here in Guatemala which was surprising to me.

 

Anyway, they took our Ipods and Cameras for our stay in the CCM so I won't be sending any photos but I am going to try to send a group photo of my District and Zone that they took of us.

 

The biggest focus in the CCM is on obedience. Every devotional or class talks about obedience. Obedencia Exactitude! I see the wisdom behind everything they are doing here at the CCM and everything that have us do.

 

I am so thankful to be apart of something so amazing and to be on the Lord's errand. It is the best experience I have had so far. Definitely worth it and I am only one week into it. All is well here in Guatemala. I miss you all and I think about you all the time!

Hope all is well, talk to you next week!

 

Con Mucho Amor,

Hermana Ferre

Safe and Sound

Good news! We have already received an email from Hermana Ferre! She has arrived safely in Guatemala and is now at the MTC. Here is her first email, enjoy!

       

Hola! I am safe and sound in Guatemala! It has been a really long night so we are headed to bed. All is well and I love it so far! Everyone is so friendly and inviting.

 

We will get our name tags and books this afternoon after our nap!

 

My P day will be on Wednesday so I will write again in one week. My companion is Hermana Timoteo, she was the really bubbly and fun one at the airport. I am so excited. We have gotten along really well so far.

 

Guatemala is pretty, it reminds me a lot of Dominican Republic. It is very humid and rainy.

 

We are like two walking minutes from the Guatemala Temple and we get to go on Tuesdays!! I am so excited.

 

I was able to have a missionary experience on the airplane and hand out a Book of Mormon. Her name was Michelle and she was Catholic and from Chicago! We talked the entire plane ride to California. *Make sure to tell Colton! He will be happy to know that his advice of bringing a Book of Mormon was so worth it!*

All is well and things are going great.

 

When I write you next, I will be able to pray and bear my testimony in Spanish... WHAT!

 

I MISS YOU GUYS! I love you!

 

Hermana Ferre

Hermana Timoteo(left) Hermana Ferre & Hermana Evans(right)