Laughter on the Bus. . and miracles!

Buenas Tardesssss!

How are you all doing! Sounds like a good week full of the priesthood! Good job Devin and Mckenzie for having a child and giving it a name.

This week was good! And it actually rained a lot! Which means a lot more humidity but less heat.... I'm still deciding if it is better or worse but I think I like it better than the super hot sun.

QOW's  Tell us about your daily schedule lately. This week was a little different because it was the first week of changes so we were helping hermanas who are new to their areas and we had a few reunions. But our daily schedule is always the same for your whole mission... unless you have meetings. This week we just didnt get to leave as much in the mornings because we went to San Benito to help the sisters get to know their area.

Tell us a funnnnny travel story. We went to San Andres this week to do divisions. San Andres is about 20 minutes from Sta Elena so it isnt a very long trip. This day wasnt very  different than any other, they piled about 17000 people in the van and we were off. But this time I was sitting smooshed up against this little Guatemalan man who doesn't have any legs. I had seen him a few times in the Market hobbling around with shoes on his hands and joking around with all the bus drivers. As soon as I got on the bus, he kept on trying to talk in English with me but really the only things that he knew how to say were swear words and 'I wuv you bebe' Being stuck on a bus with nowhere to turn I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself. All of the 1700 people were staring at us, and in an awkward situation like that, what do you do? Laugh your brains out, obviously! Then the bus driver put on music and he started to dance. Probably the most entertaining bus ride I have yet had In Guatemala.

What is the miracle of the week? This week we arrived at church a little sad because the couple we are teaching didn't show up. The meeting had started when we turned around and saw a whoooollle family that we had just visited for the first time last week. It was a big miracle for sure. Especially because only the dad speaks Spanish. The other members couldn't even understand the meeting since they only speak Queqchi!

What is the hardest thing about being a missionary? Hmmm... That's rough. I think It is different for everyone. The thing about the mission is, it's so specific for each person. We are literally here to make our 'Weaknesses become Strengths' so depends on who you are. But I think something that is pretty common as a difficulty is the rejection. Sometimes it's hard to get up the courage to do something when you know there is a chance of rejection.

What is your favorite thing about being a missionary?  Seeing people change! It is such a miracle to see people apply the gospel and literally see how there smile is bigger and they just seem to glow with happiness. Gah! I seriously can't even describe it. Also,  I LOVE  to hear the people pray correctly for the first time.

Best method of getting an inactive person interested in the gospel? Haha .. . .let me know when you find a cure. Everyone leaves for different reasons. But I usually try to help them focus on how they felt when they were baptized, why they did it, the difference in their lives when they were keeping the commandments and now.

Love you all a lot! Have a good week!

Hna. Lexi

Santa Elena!

Alberto!  Our recent convert!

Lunch with Elder and Sister Bake

Keep on Keepin' on!

Happyyyy Junnneeee!!! Holy hanna, May went by SO fast here in Peten! I can't believe that we have already started a new month. The time is really starting to fly,and to be honest, it scares me. But I am loving life here in Santa Elena! We had changes this week, but I will be staying here with Hna Gomez. Wahoo! I love it here! So I was happy to hear the good news.  I will now answer mom's questions of the week:

What was the best thing that happened with investigators this week?  BAPTISMMMM! On Saturday Alberto got baptized! It was probably one of the most spiritual baptisms I have had on my mission. He was so prepared to be baptized. He learned all the lessons in 3 weeks! The day before his baptismal interview we still had 2 lessons to teach him so we had to combine the 2. The Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. When we told him about the Word of Wisdom and asked if he had any problems with any of those things he said, 'I used to always drink coffee but about a week ago I heard from a member that you guys don't drink Coffee or Tea so I haven't had it since I heard that. But it's good to know why!' I was seriously speechless. He will be a great leader in the church.

BAUTISMO de alberto! It was so special!

  Who is the most interesting person that you met this week? Yesterday we were contacting and we found a sister who was probably about 70 lying in her hammock. She said we could come in and share with her. She was SO funny. She assists (attends)  the evangelist Church and each time we would say something she would ask us a question then tell us how it was done in her church. (Which usually ended in a fun little evangelist song.) She LOVES to sing. But the whole lesson she was just singing and singing alabanzas. I left such a happy little soul!

  What did you learn from another missionary this week?  This week I did divisions with Hna Perez from Mexico. She has about 7 months in the mission and is a GREAT missionary. Something I learned from her is showing love to people but in quiet ways. She doesn't talk much and basically spent 90 percent of the day listening to me jabber on a million mile an hours. But the whole time she was so attentive and really listened to what I had to say. It made me feel so loved! I imagine that after a few hours of listening to me talk forever she was probably bored. She doesn't talk much but the whole day she was showing small acts of service to everyone we came in contact with. It helped me realize the importance to slow down and be quiet every once in a while, the spirit comes in a quiet whisper. It's harder to hear it when your running 1 million miles an hour and talking nonstop. I love Hna Perez!

What was the favorite lesson that you taught and how did you teach it?  We taught a cute couple this week about the plan of salvation.. I love to tell people that they can see people after this life.

Any cool Guatemala facts that you could share are always appreciated!  Hmmm..... One of my favorite parts of Guatemala is that no matter where you go, who it is, or what time of day it is, if you pass someone in the street you always say 'Buenos Dias! Buenas Tardes!' It is soooo cute! It makes you feel loved even if you do stop them after that and they don't want anything haha.

Do you have hot water, and what are you eating, and how is your health? We do not have hot water but once a month when we go to Coban I get hot water in the other STL's house. It's the best. Lately I have an obsession with fried platanos. Yum. My health is good! 

Love you all! Keep on keepin' on!

Hna Sorensen

Dinner this week was fried platanos and green mango with salt. Yummmm

Zone Conference

Heyoooooo

HEYOOOO;

Happy June to everyone! I am glad to hear that my dear little sister could make it through her journeys of high school and graduate as a Sky View Bobcat. What an honor. Also that Whitten is chubby and Mallory is basically a witch doctor. We love all those things in Guatemala.

This week was pretttttyyyy boring again but I will answer  your questions the best I can.

Questions of the week:  What was the miracle that you saw this week? Lately Hna. Gomez and I have been really focusing on finding new investigators. Elder Alonso promised us when he came that if we focused on this, we would see a huge change in the mission and we are already seeing that promised fulfilled. We had a few things happen this week where we weren’t able to work as much as we wanted to and on Friday we only had 2 new investigators.  Our goal was 10. So what do you do in a situation such as this? Pray your brains out obviously. We were definitely living with the promise of 'pray like it all depends onH, but work like it all depends on you.  Well, the night time came around on Friday anddddd, nothing. We still only had 2 new investigators for the week. All I can say is I know God hears and answers our prayers when we do our part. The last lesson of the day, we found a family of SIX! They were all so excited to listen! It was definitely a huge miracle from our Heavenly Father.

Tell me about your favorite investigator.My Favorite investigator is named Alberto. He will be getting baptized on Saturday (woot woot) I have never met someone like him before. He basically came to us in a reference with a list of questions and goes to church himself, reads, prays, listens, understands. He doesn’t depend on us at all! He just feels this gospel is true and acts accordingly.He is the greatest!

What experience allowed you to feel the spirit the most this week? This week I was reading a lot about Ammon and the sons of Mosiah. We always learn a lot about Ammon and how wonderful he was, and obviously he was as  missionary genius! But I was thinking a lot about the sons of Mosiah and the experiences they had. I can only imagine it was SO hard for them to go out to p´reach the gospel and get thrown in prison and beaten. They came to work, serve, and preach, I imagine it was so frustrating to be trapped in a jail cell not doing anything. But the scriptures say that they were always 'patient in their afflictions.' It was just another testimony builder of the importance for us to just trust in God and be patient with the plan that he has for us. Sometimes we are never going to understand why things happen but God does.

Favorite missionary moment? Favorite, and at the same time, least favorite missionary moment. When the  men try to greet you with a kiss and you just have to do a back-bend and push them off of you, and say 'I’m sorry, I’m a missionary' But really in your head you are thinking 'please dont touch me, sweaty fat man, I dont even know you.' It sucks in the moment but is always super funny to laugh about afterward!

I have been feeling a lot better! I was just tired cuz I think I was sick. Doing a lot better and drinking lots of gatorade and water like you told me mom.

LOVE YOU ALL!

Have a good week and may the odds be ever in your favor!

Hermana Sorensen