March 18, 2014 letters to Dad and Mom

March 18, 2014

Hi daddy!

I love you!

I understand about forgetting English words - it´s true. I´ve forgotten a lot of English and I can´t remember the titles of hymns anymore in English. It´ll be interesting in about a year. But, there´s the gift of tongues the other way too, I think, so it´s all good.

My companion and I have colds, so I understand about not wanting to spread germs, but as missionaries, we don´t get to make that call. We´re out all day, everyday, and I love it.  Satan is trying to attack all the missionaries of the Central Mission because we have a goal of 400 baptisms this month of March. Almost all the missionaries in my district are sick - we were all coughing and sneezing in District Meeting. but we´re all pushing forward and fighting back in this spiritual war. We will obtain our goal - I don´t doubt that.

And I eat tomatoes now. Not like Kelly - I can´t eat them like an apple yet - but I do eat tomatoes, oddly enough. I´ll have to make "chimol" (chee-mole) when I get home - it´s a really good salsa that people make here. It´s really simple, too.

We´re going to baptize Calixto this weekend - he wants to go on a mission in a year. It was so sweet when we heard that.

I think one of the greatest lies that Satan has made up is that he doesn´t exist. That yes, there is a God, but it´s not important to go to one church. That all of them worship the same God, so what does it matter? That there isn´t a Satan and that we just need to avoid the big sins.  We see that so much here. There´s only one God, that part´s right, but there´s only one Church and one Gospel that will bring them back to the presence of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. And that´s THIS Gospel. The Gospel in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I know that this is His church. It´s the ONLY way that we can return to His presence. The members of the Church need to remember this, as well, because sometimes we ask for people to visit and the members say, "Oh, they´re Catholic" or "Evangelical" or what have you. ALL THE MORE REASON TO TEACH THEM. They´re not of this church? Then we need to share with them this Gospel that we cherish and know that will bring eternal happiness and peace with Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, with our families forever. This isn´t a lie or some made up story - Satan is fighting for our souls that we´ll be miserable like him, but we - as members and missionaries - are fighting that we can bring more people back to the presence of our loving Heavenly father and Jesus Christ

I love you, dad! I pray for you and our family everyday and I hope that all is going well.

Con MUCHO amor,

Hermana Conover

March 18, 2014

Hi momma!

New president - fun. Sad that Cecil won´t be president, but that´s ok. I know President Worthen will be good.

The shoulder bag is good - I switch between a normal backpack I bought in Sololá and that one. Almost every missionary does because it´s good to keep it changing so that the weight is in a different place every once in a while. And it´s still in really good shape. I don´t think I´ll have to buy another one.

We take a bus to Panajachel and back to Sololá. The altitude change is pretty dramatic, but that´s ok.

A dinosaur birthday. That´s awesome. He´s definitely Seth´s son, for sure. And that´s sweet of the Harper´s and that they now have a piano and not a keyboard. And that Afton wants to play the piano - that´ll help her. And that´s sad about Sister Lambert. I hope that she´ll get better. She´s been through a lot.

We have a baptism this Sunday, as well. His name´s Calixto and we´ve only been teaching him for two weeks. He told us last night that he wants to be a missionary. We explained that in a year, he can be a missionary. he´s only 20, so it´ll be good for him to go on a mission.

Can you take pictures of the garden so I can see it? I love hearing about the garden and how you´re learning new ways to grow more things.

This week, I´m reading in John in the New Testament. I read this morning about the Pool of Bethesda and the experience of the invalid. And the piercing question of Christ, "Wilt thou be made whole?" There´s a talk by Elder Dyches in the last conference where he starts by explaining this story and the painting that Carl Heinrich Bloch painted about the experience (and I LOVE the paintings of Carl Bloch - like how you love the paintings of Greg Olson. I especially love "The Sermon On the Mount" by him.). And it´s so interesting how at first, it was a physical healing, but when Christ saw the man again, he said to go his way and "sin no more". We can be healed spiritually (and physically) through our faith in Christ. Sometimes - a lot of the time - life is hard. There is "opposition in all things" and Satan is always trying to find the way that is most effective to disanimate us (that sentence makes more sense in Spanish - sorry). He always wants us to be miserable and to lose our faith in Christ. We´re teaching an hermana and she doesn´t have a job and she was crying last night, saying that she´s lost her faith. That´s Satan. And then, there´s the other end. My companion and I have been attacked by Satan A LOT these past 8 or 9 weeks, but we bounce back fast because we know that if we´re disappointed or sad, that´s more of an opportunity for Satan to sneak in and attack us more. I know it´s hard, but when we have faith in Christ and His Atonement, we can overcome all things. With God, all things are possible. I know that. We can´t doubt, because doubting weakens our faith. So here´s to moving forward, with a steadfast faith in Christ.
I love you, mom! I hope that your garden won´t be attacked by bugs or birds! I pray for you and our family everyday.

Con MUCHO amor,

Hermana Pooch Conover