I will start of with...this is the hardest things i have ever done in my whole life...BUT I KNOW [THIS IS R[IGH[T. I love Guatemala....it really does smell so good...so fresh almost all the time. The flight was good...there were 24 missionaries i believe and i made some of my best friends in thos 12 hours! We tallked and laughed the whole time and i am so glad because they are mostly in my district here in the CCM. there are 10 of us in my district...me and hermana Riley Schiess are the only hermanas...all the elders feel like extra brothers. My companion is great! We struggle sometimes but things are always getting better..she is super patient and is a hard worker! My roommates are also such a blessing to me! I am rooming with two Guatemalan Latina hermanas...Hermana Martinez and Hermana Tecum. They help me with Spanish almost every night. It is such a blessing. My teachers here are wonderful...Hermano Bajan and Hermano Abadilló. Yesterday I was having such a hard day..missing home...struggling with the language...just all together dropped to my lowest of lows. Hermano Abadillo sat down with me for a good half an hour and talked to me about the things that i need to do to improve my spanish and gave me so comfort. We are separated in our classes English and Spanish...but we are also not allowed to use any English...so really it just feels like with latina people all day long. The language is hard....but i am getting so close. I can have full conversations with the latinas at lunch and in the hall ways. I can sit in devotionals and not feel totally lost, I just have to keep reminding myself everyday that Jesucristo struggled every day of his life and he understands me.
The day we got here...we put our stuff in our rooms...ate breakfast...wrote to you...and got some time to clean up after our flights. Then we started right away with class. When they said this would be hard...i had no idea just how hard it would be. You wake up...study...start classes at 8ish and work work work until about 9 every day. BUT IT IS SO SO WORTH IT AND SO GREAT. The blessings are already starting to flow through the door. We taught our first lesson on Friday...our investigators name is Angel Lopéz. We struggled through the first two lessons with him...mostly because of the language barrier. We invited him on Saturday to be baptized, but we hadn't even thought to explain to him what baptism was..so he asked. I looked at my companion..she looked at me..we shrugged our shoulders and with all my knowlege of the language I said, "Bautizmo igual felicidades." yup. that was it. haha it was so so so embarrassing. I prayed and prayed and prayed that i could find the best way to explain it to him in our next lesson....and yesterday morning my prayer was answered! I was reading in second Nefi 31 and found my answer. Go check it out! So yesterday (monday) we explained to him baptism and he agreed! We are baptising him on November 28th....after we work through his drinking and smoking problems. (by the way...hes just our teacher pretending to be an investigator.)
I love the Latina people...they are so loving! Lots of hugs...lots of kisses..lots of comfort! We went to the temple today and it is thee most beautiful temple i have ever been in for the spirit and the cleanliness. You will have to look up how long ago it was built but when the church leaders came down to decide whether or not it needed some restoration...they told the templo president that it was in as good of shape as the day they built it. The apostle told the presidente that he had never seen a temple so taken care of anywhere in the world. And it is so true!
The CCM is beautiful! It is like a super super nice hotel. I love my CCM president and his wife...there names are Presidente and Hermana Cox! We have had the opportunity several times to learn from them and they always bring the spirit in so strong. They love us...you can just tell. Presidente Cox tells us over and over there are three things we need to remember to become a missionary..."work. work. and work." ...also ice cream. He is a big fan of ice cream so it is never is short supply here. The food is AMAZING. We are so blessed here! I love meal time when we get to meet with both Norte and Latino Americanos. It has helped me so much at lunch to just sit in a group of a bunch of Latina sisters and listen and pipe in when i actually understand and can say something in Espanol. I dont know if we are allowed to have favorites...but my favorite Hermana is Hermana Zambudio...she is from Chiwawa (however you spell that), Mexico and she had found my instagram before we even got here..I walked in the door of the CCM and she yelled out my name. We are besties. Unfortunately there is nobody else in the CCM going to my mission,....but hopefully some Latina sisters will come soon! Elder Sims is a legend here...better tell his mom he was well loved! He is so cool! he left his flashcards that i am sure took him HOURS to make with the Presidente Cox for me. I just got them on Sunday...they are going to help me so much. Tell his mom to give him a HUGE thanks from me.
I loved reading all of your emails and hearing what is going on back home..I am more homesick than I ever thought i would be, but as long as I keep myself busy (which is impossible not to do here) I am okay. The temple was a good refreshment for me and i cant wait to be able to go back again next week! I need your prayers as always. I pray every night that the gift of tongues will be given to me. I know I have it somewhere deep inside...and through my patience in waiting on the Lord and through my hard work, I will get there. I also keep having to remind myself that I have only been here for 6 days...and i can do way way more than i ever thought possible in just that short time. This is the Lords work. Thank you Mom and Dad for having faith enough in Christ and in me to help me get here. I know my letter may seem like im not having a good time here...but i really really am. The comforter has been so good to me.
Yo se que el iglesia es verdadero y Jesucristo es el Salvador. Dios es bien! haha Never forget it.
All my love,
Hermana Stoor
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