April 29, 2014
Hi daddy!
I love you!
Tiquisate is the Zone in the mission
- sorry, I should have clarified that.
Hermana Johnson (from Arizona) said
that it was the first scorpion that was in the house. But we had the pleasure
of having one fall on her skirt in a lesson last night (it was about an inch
long, if that. We promptly hit it to the ground and killed it).
We definitely drink water here - we
drink about 2 bottles before we leave in the morning and buy lots of bags of
water while we´re out proselyting.
It´s really cloudy here and I´ve
only seen Volcano Atitlan one time, but yes, they´re the same volcanoes that we
could see in Sololá.
This week I realized how much I
appreciate going to the Temple on a regular basis (which we don´t do here in
the mission).
Every transfer I think, "This
transfer can´t go faster than the last one," but every time, it goes
faster. I don´t know how, but it does. The days are flying by, the weeks are
disintegrating, and I feel like it´s going by so fast.
We´re teaching the grandson of a
convert and he´s still really positive. We´re
helping him prepare to be baptized on the 11 of May. We couldn´t find him last
week and we texted him, "Hey, we´re leaving your house, but to be baptized
on the 11th, you have to come to church tomorrow." He came with his
grandma. It was good.
We´re looking for less actives in our branch
(it´s a branch and apparently, there are about 500 less actives in Patulul), and
we´ve found a couple. It´s sad to see them now without the Gospel as
a big part of their lives. BUT a family came to church on Sunday - it was
amazing. He hasn´t come in 2 years (about) and he and his wife came Sunday. Amazing.
I love teaching the First Vision.
It´s so powerful - a 14 year old boy prayed to get an answer and got one. He
saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. It´s proof that God and Jesus Christ are
two different people. that God listens to and answers our prayers. That He
loves us. That He extended His hand again and restored the Gospel and the
Church of Christ in the earth again. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and
that he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. There´s a reason we teach this
first so that the investigators can understand the importance of praying with
faith and that God loves us and that He lives and exists.
I love you, dad! I pray for you and mom
and our family every day. I hope you´re well and that your back is doing better.
Con MUCHO amor,
Hermana Pumpkin Conover
April 29, 2014
Hi momma!
I love you!
The scorpions are a "once in a
long while" thing in our house [In California], but they’re here [constantly]
in Patulul. We were teaching a family home evening and I found a tiny scorpion
on the skirt of Hermana Johnson (who´s from Arizona) and we promptly killed it.
It was about an inch long (if that). So we killed it pretty quick. And we have
Raid in the house (the one that kills everything).
We email from Internet cafes. There´s a church in Patulul. There´s only one
branch, but we share it with the District Leader and his companion. There are 6
missionaries in our district.
The rainy season has started and
we´re on the first floor (our house is only one floor).
I usually just eat cereal and
oatmeal and eggs. We drink bottled water and water from bags (I don´t know how
else to explain bagged water - it´s like a little bag that´s sealed and it´s 50
centavos).
We have a shower and thankfully,
it´s cold water. At first, it was a little hard to take a cold shower (after
Sololá), but now I´m very grateful for cold showers.
People speak Spanish, but some are
from other places, but they speak Spanish, as well.
Yeah, those "pictures" are
actually flowers - think like Rose Parade, but on the ground. [If you Google Patulul images, you will see street long pictures. Mom asked what medium was used to create them. Mom also commented about a YouTube video of a parade in Patulul.]
And the
"parade" is a Procession for the Semana Santa (Holy Week)-- it was
HUGE. There were so many people here in the street, it was slightly ridiculous.
But the procession was a huge float with the Virgin Mary (Maria, here) on it
and the music was really sad, like a dirge. But, it was interesting. The
Catholic presence is REALLY big here.
We taught the Ten Commandments with
hand signals - like one finger, only one God. I´ll teach them when I get home
(or on Mother´s Day, one of the two).
I really like Doctrine and Covenants
122:7-9. President Brough and Hermana Brough taught in the last Zone conference
about these scriptures. They said, "Instead of the word -if-, put the word
-when-." Especially in the mission, all of these things will happen.
-When- Satan will try his hardest to destroy you. -When- the whirlwinds will be
against you. -When- the dogs start to chase you down to bite you. -When- the
investigators drop you. -When- people reject you in the street and shout cuss
words at you. -When- your investigator is drunk and you realize it mid-lesson.
-When- it´s pouring rain and your umbrella breaks and you´re soaking wet.
-When- all of these things happen, know that they are for your good and will
help you progress and learn and become better. I know that this life is hard
and that the mission life is hard, but worth it. Completely worth it. I´ve
learned so much here on the mission and I´m grateful that I had the courage to
make this decision - I´m not bragging, I´m just grateful that the Spirit got me
to make that decision. I´m grateful that we can progress. That Jesus Christ
fulfilled his purpose as our Redeemer and Savior. That we can become better
everyday, if we lean on Christ and His merits and mercy to help us.
I love you, mom. I pray for you, and
dad, and every one in our family every day. I hope all will be well and that
you have the strength to do all the amazing things you do.
Con MUCHO amor,
Hermana bug Conover
Mom was able to catch Michelle during her emailing session, so she asked her about "texting"
their investigator. She also noted Michelle's sign off Hermana"BUG" Conover--see above Pretty funny since her letter started with the scorpion story, and mom mentioned that scorpions have "espinas"(spines) So this is Michelle's response to mom's very quick email.
Hi momma!
We have a cell phone (we got them
two changes ago) [changes=transfers] and we can send text messages if they´re pertinent to
missionary work. And inviting someone to church counts.
And yes, that is why we promptly
killed the scorpion. We didn´t want to get stung by it´s lovely stinger.
I love you!
Hermana Conover
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