One Person At A Time...

These are my ward buddies. I love them. They always yell my name and run and hug
me when they see me. It makes me smile so big.

Conference lunch with missionaries, members, and investigators



A ward activity, not a baptism. :)

Truck ride to the volcano trail head

There are like 600 stairs you have to go down to the lake (and climb to get back up). Sooo hard but sooo fun!
My legs were burning! Some of the steps are like 1-2 feet tall

Our zone. Love them.

Mi compa. She is so great!

I like to climb on all the trees hanging over the water.

One of the things I got from conference is that I need to meditate more

The volcano lake. It is an inactive volcano obviously

This is a postcard that shows what it looks like from the sky. So awesome!!

Trail head
 

Hey family!

We went on the coolest hike today. It was to la laguna chicabal. It is an inactive volcano. We took an insane truck ride up to the trail head on the mountain and then hiked and walked down about 600 stairs to get to the laguna. It is so beautiful! Everything is all misty and then all the sudden it clears and the water is beautiful. You can`t touch the water though because it is sacred. There are often Mayans there offering sacrifices or praying at the altars that surround the lake. It is way cool. I love this country. And these people.

Wasn`t conference the best?... I just wish that it could last forever. I always feel so much peace and hope and strength as I listen to the words of living prophets and feel the truth and power of this work. Sometimes as a missionary you feel real small, trying to fix and change the world and just do what`s right. But then listening to those talks and hearing that there are over 15 million members and 88,000 missionaries.... a la gran. The best thing ever. There was such a special spirit in the chapel when Elder Eduardo Gavarret gave his talk in spanish. Everyone was SO happy. That new idea for given talks in your native tongue was so inspired. I don`t know if his was my favorite talk just because it was in spanish or because it answered so many of my prayers. Jesus Christ really is our shepherd and he seeks us out as his sheep.

This was a week of less actives... 

Some members gave us a reference of a family of inactive people that havent gone to church for 14 years! A few of them have been through the temple and were really faithful before but because of problems.... they left the church. (Like Elder Ballard said, stay in the boat!) We went looking for them multiple times but could never find the house. One day we were in that area and our citas fell and we felt like we should go look for them again. We found the house, they answered, and they let us in. It was the first time that missionaries or members of the church had entered into their house in years! It was a miracle. And they accepted a family night with some other members of the ward so that will be super fun this week. The eyes of the mom looked like they long for the truth of the gospel to enter into her life and heart again. There was such a special spirit in the room as we testified of prophets. I love the gospel.

Then another inactive girl, Yuri, that I absolutely love love love came to all the activities this week and conference. I always invite her to everything and this was the first time that she said yes! She had such a great time and a lot of the members reached out to her. It was so amazing.

Remember that miracle inactive girl, Nicole, that I found on the bus a few weeks ago? Well I was on divisions with another hermana and all of her citas fell and I remembered that I had written her name and address down and realized that it was near where we were! I suggested that we call Nicole. We called her and she was SO happy to hear from me again! She gave us her exact address and we went searching and searching and could not find it. Finally I felt like we should just knock on a door. The first door that we knocked on was her door. We entered the house and taught about the Atonement and how the Savior can heal us. She and her mom and sister came to all 4 sessions of conference. Miracle.

Then we had a wonderful lesson with the less active familia Estrada about the Restoration. The spirit is always SO strong when we recite the first vision. I love it. I love saying those words and testifying that Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet of God. Then I shared part of the lyrics from ¨Come, Come Ye Saints¨

Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?

'Tis not so; all is right.

Why should we think to earn a great reward

If we now shun the fight?

Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.

Our God will never us forsake;

And soon we'll have this tale to tell--

All is well! All is well!

I talked about how could we ever want to win the great reward without paying the price. Dedication. Sacrifice. Consecration. They all came to church too. It was such a blessing to see these faces and friends there, learning and being edified together. We are really trying to strengthen this ward and help them grow. I testify that ALL IS WELL when we are obedient and try to do what is right. I love repenting. I love taking the sacrament. I love to know that there are prophets on the earth today. I sustain him and want to follow him. He really does know the way.

I love my family! Hope it´s the best week ever. Thanks for all the love.

Hermana Jane