Tatiana, the angel

Familia,

I love the crazy tormentos de lluvia (torrents of rain) here. It`s the best! It`s literally deathly hot in the morning and during the day, then usually around 5 or 6 is starts raining...and it`s often a tormento. But I love it. Except for the ridiculous heat that comes before the lluvia.

Quote of the week from my comp:
Hna. Chiquin: "Usted hizo mucho ejercicio antes de la mision?" (Did you exercise much before the mission?)
Yo: "Si, mucho, me encanta el ejercicio. Porque?" (Yes, very much, I love to exercise, Why?)
Hna. Chiquin: "Porque yo puedo ver en sus piernas y en sus brazos" (Because I can see it in your legs and your arms.)

haha...I don`t know if that`s a good thing or bad thing. But it was hilarious, that I do know.

Funny story. We contacted a young girl in her house and she said we could pass by and share a message with her. So we passed and sat down and Hermana Chiquin really needed a bathroom, so she asked if she could use it. Well she went to leave and I was trying desperately to make small talk with this girl, but it was impossible. "It`s super hot today, no?" "Yeah it is." Etc. The super awkward converstion continued as my companion was taking longer in the bathroom than I would`ve liked due to the awkward situation. With many failed attempts and making small talk, finally, my companion returned and I was excited to start the lesson. "Is it alright if we start by singing a hymn?" I asked. To which she replied, "Um...actually, we`re going to leave right now, so sorry..." To which it got super awkward and we were like, "Okay..." put away our himn books and left. Hahaha...super random and weird and SO awkward. We had a really good laugh. And I taught my companion the word "awkward" in ingles.(English) 

I was in Candelaria thursday and friday working with two different companionships of hermanas there. And that area is absolutely gorgeous! It`s about an hour outside of Santa Ana, but directly in the mountains and surrounded by mountains and so much green and I fell in love with that area. It`s also HUGE. I thought El Arco was a big area, but this definitely wins. I loved it. 
Friday morning when I woke up Hermana Peterson informed me that I was talking in my sleep in spanish. She said, "Yeah, I woke up in the middle of the night and you were talking in your sleep in spanish. I`m pretty sure you were working in your sleep." Haha. I had a good laugh.

In the afternoon on friday I met a little girl that I will forever remember. Her name is Tatiana. We were looking for a reference, but no one was home in the house. There was an hermana sitting in front of the house across the street, so we started talking to her. Soon enough her sweet little daughter, Tatiana, who is 6 years old, came up and started talking to us as well. The sweet hermana told us she had talked to missionaries a few years ago, but it`s been awhile. Tatiana was eager to talk to us and within seconds gained our trust. She then told us that she had had surgery a few months ago and immediately lifted up her shirt to reveal a long scar from her stomach up to her neck. We asked her mom and she said it was an operation on her heart. It was the second one she had, and she had to have another one within a few months. Tatiana then said, "I really don`t want another operation." Which was super touching and tender. They said that we could pass by and share a message with them.

Tatiana

We passed and sat down and asked if we could sing. We barely got our hymn books out of our backpacks when suddenly Tatiana ran over to me and almost jumped on me giving me the biggest and sweetest hug I may have ever received. It was so tender and loving and she was radiating with love. She hugged me for a good long time and I was really touched. Then I told her we were going to sing and she stood there next to me with my arm around her as we sang "I am a child of God". We said a prayer and started sharing a message when she ran off for a bit to play with her brother and sister. But within minutes returned with a gift in hand, two mangos that she pulled down from the tree to give to us. Shortly after she ran off again and returned within another 5 minutes holding two oranges and gave them to us. This little girl, recently had surgery for the second time and knew she had some serious health issues, but she wasn`t sad, she wasn`t disheartened...but rather she radiated more love than I think anyone I have ever met. She seemed to have a special connection with us, and particularly to me. She told her mom that she wanted to go with me when we left. I don`t know what it was or how to describe it, but I was really truly touched. I had tears come to my eyes as this sweet little girl, who I had just met 5 minutes ago, wanted to hug me, touch me, give me gifts, and spend time with us. She was smiling, running around enjoying herself, and as happy and joyful as could be. And she was so comfortable to just come and hug me and show me her love. I wish I could really describe it, but I can`t. It was just really an inspiration to me and touched my heart. Before we left I asked her mom if I could take a picture with her as a memory, seeing how I knew I would probably never see her again in this life. (See photo attached.) But I at least have a foto and her named scribbled in my agenda because she wanted to draw in it. The best.

This week we had our final interviews with President as he leaves this Thursday. Our new President arrives on Tuesday. It`s kinda crazy, and doesn`t feel real, but it will be good. I`m really grateful that I had President Cordon and his family here. I really learned a lot about serving the Lord and consecration from Him and his sweet wife. But I`m excited for the chance to learn from the new President as well.

We are also in the process of looking for a new house. President wants us to have a nicer house (okay...I won`t argue with that) and also a house that`s bigger. Only two of us are going to live here still, but when the newbies come each change, he wants us to have a house big enough so that they can sleep in our place for the first couple nights. So we have to take a few hours today to look for a house. Wish us luck. We haven`t had any luck the last couple weeks so far.

Also, I have had multiple people write me and tell me that they want the uncensored version of my letters. The parts that I don`t tell my family and the challenges and difficulties and it all. I don`t know. I had plans to write a little something more about that. But today there`s not time (surprise). But I will write more about this next week. That`s the goal at least.

Love you all! Thanks for everything!

Love,

Me

Pictures of my house that mom has wanted for so long. :)

Kitchen/Bed Table

1st Real Kitchen Sink...a luxury.

Kitchen sink in some places.  Laundry sink here.

Study Area

Beautiful Shower

Happy Padre´s Day to "the World´s Okayest Dad" :)

Familia,

First, shoutout to the pops! Happy Father´s day!! Hope you had a glorious day, got to eat some delicious food and enjoy yourself. And the subject is a joke. You´re the bestest (just in case you didn´t get the joke :)) Love you like crazy!

Nate's gift to dad.  The family thought it was
so funny so I had to send Danika the pic.

Last monday afternoon we got the call about cambios and I had changes. I had a feeling all along that I would be leaving, and Hermana Dominguez felt the same, even though she had more time in the area, so I think I was prepared for it. It´s just kind of a weird feeling to know that you´re leaving and won´t see these people for maybe years, or maybe not until the next life. I was a little sad to be leaving El Arco, but know it´s for the best and excited about my knew area. 

I am really grateful for Hermana Dominguez and the chance I had to be her companion, especially for 2 changes. Yes, there were some really hard times, that´s the truth. But I learned a whole lot from her. She taught me a lot, helped me be a better missionary. On top of that we enjoyed ourselves together during the good times. We laughed our way through the crazy times and we could enjoy the hilarious things about every day. And that was amazing. 

Me & Hermana Dominguez..good-bye!

Now I am in Santa Ana, an area called Colon and my new companion is Hermana Chiquin. I knew I was going to work with her since there are only 4 areas of hermanas that are lideres and only us and Colon had changes...teehehe. But it´s very different. We are about 5 minutes away from the mission office, which is weird since I´ve been far from the office my whole time so far. We´re in the city and it´s a little more sketchy, but the truth is not really. I don´t feel in danger in any way, but I know that´s really just cause I´m a missionary and my plack keeps me safe (or really God).

Let´s see...Hermana Chiquin is super great. She´s really chill and calm and a little hard to read. We´re very different, but I think we´ll get along well. She doesn´t understand sarcasm, which makes me want to joke with her more cause it´s adorable. And she´s super sweet and innocent, but has a huge heart and knows her purpose here and I´m excited to be comps with her. 

Hermana Chiquin from Guatemala

Not a whole lot to say about this week. Let´s see...

I´m just trying to remember and get to know the members and people here in our new area as well as learn to manage the area this week before we started doing interchanges and I have to be the guide. So it always takes a little more effort mentally, but it´s good. There´s some things that I think I can really help improve here and get going (well not me, but I think God can use me as an instrument in His hands to improve some things, cause let´s be honest, I can´t really do much), but right now it´s slow as I am just getting to know everything, so I´m learning more and more patience (not my strongest quality). 

Random thoughts:

-We walked by a field today and there were a bunch of el salvadoreans playing american futbol. I was shocked. I did a triple take and then was like, "What the what?" And then still wasn´t over it for the next couple hours. It was super strange. Why would they be playing american futbol and not soccer? That NEVER happens here. 

-Also, world cup started yesterday. I had plans to go to Brasil for the world cup. I remember looking into details and planning it out as it´s always been a dream of mine to go to a world cup. Welp...then I decided to serve a mission. And everywhere we go the people are watching the games. It takes everything in me not to sit down and start watching with them. But I´m resisting the temptation so far (dos dias, woohoo"). Maybe I can go to the world cup in 4 years. Shout out to Jenn Frey and Bowman...hope you´re enjoying yourselves!

I was tempted to climb this tree everytime we walked past it. 

It´s literally ginormous (look at the size of the goal), and I was kinda obsessed with it. 

Story time:

Also, funny story for the week. Last night we were having companion prayer, my companion was saying the prayer...well next thing I knew I woke up, still on my knees at my companion´s bed and she was sitting there waiting for me. I asked her how long I had been asleep, she said about 4 minutes, but she didn´t know if I was praying or not so she didn´t say anything. Haha...nope, I was just asleep. Oops. The following night: We just finished companionship prayer. Hermana Chiquin ofrecio la oracion y en el fin dijo, "Que bueno que no se durmio esta vez." (Hermana Chiquin offered the prayer and at the end she said, "It's good that she didn't fall asleep this time.") Haha. I busted up laughing. Classic.

Rainy season. The joys. Well since the majority of houses have tin roofs...you can just imagine what it´s like to be inside visiting someone when it´s raining. We literally have to scream to communicate, and sometimes that doesn´t suffice. Then we try to sing hymns or have prayers, let alone compartir un mensaje (share a message) with the spirit. Adventures ha. 

I wanted a picture in the middle of the herd of cows
my entire time in El Arco.
This was the best I could do. 

Well, not much else to say. I felt like this letter was just a mix of random thoughts without organization. Sorry peeps.

Thanks for always being there to support me. The other night I thought about the support group that I have between friends, family, ward members, neighbors, etc and I was just amazed thinking about it. It really means the world and I feel that support and prayers constantly. Love yáll like crazy.

Love,

Hermana Wright

Jose, Dinora y Jaquelin. I was super sad to leave behind this family. But when they get baptized hopefully I can get permission to go. 

Victor y Moises y su hermanita. I love these kids so much. Really I do.

Random mix of thoughts...

Familia!

Que tal? I hope yáll have had a good week. Changes are this week...so who knows what will happen. We´re pretty sure we´ll have changes, I doubt that we´ll stay together, but we´ll see.

Last week we found a shop here in Ahuachapan that is like D.I...it´s the best. I bought a camelback backpack and a north face backpack type thing...they cost me 8 dollars each. I´m pretty proud. I only came on the mission with 1 backpack...but I have acquired a few while I´ve been here.

I also bought a mosquito net to sleep in about a month ago. I have to tell you...I absolutely LOVE it. 

I´m definitely bringing it home with me. I feel like a little kid again, crawling into my blanket fort that I made for a slumber party. The only difference is I get to sleep in it every night and I´m 25 years old.

Not a whole lot to say this week to be honest. We had our last reunion as lideres with Presidente Cordon. It was awesome as usual. The new president arrives the 26th and he leaves the 28th. Aside from that, we worked hard this week and only saw a few results when only 2 people came to church. A little disappointing as we felt like we work really well. But we´re looking for ways to improve and to change to bring more people to church each week.

ward activity...a luau...the primary dancing. What more could you need in life?

Hermano Angel

Watching the grand changes in people is something that is truly rewarding and incredible to be a part of. It´s amazing to watch as a family starts to come closer together. To watch light and joy fill their eyes more and more each time. To watch hearts soften and open up to new ideas and to having God be a part of their lives. To watch a man that never wants to pray to start praying and see his desire to now make God a part of his life. To watch as unity and love and the Gospel bring true happiness into a home. And while they barely have enough food to eat and the water seeps through the tarp that acts as their wall or roof of their house, it doesn´t matter, because they are happy.



That is truly incredible to see these changes. I absolutely love it and I am ever so grateful to be a part of it.

side note: we´re only matching for the luau activity....
we don´t normally go around matching haha

Love you guys like crazy! Shout out to Trevor for his birthday this week! Enjoy it. Eat enough cake for the both of us. Why? Well 1, because I won´t be able to eat any. And 2, because I know Melissa will make it and it will be delicious!

Love,

Hermana Wright

Vilma and Walter who were baptized and Hermana Daisy (la hermana de Vilma)...Wendy is the little girl in front...I´m kinda in love with her. I could spend all day with her and be just as happy as can be. She´s hilarious. And so spunky. And she´s only 3. 

Una semanas de stories...(last week's letter)

Familia,

Most important, I just have to let everyone know that mom wrote me an email this week and in her email she used "true dat!" Yep...that just made my week.

Sorry about my letter last week. It was a crazy pday, a lot happened, I didn´t have time to write before hand, so it was kinda short. 

Long story short, we were the only companion in trio, so last monday they informed us that Hermana Ortiz (the new missionary that we were training) had emergency changes to Santa Ana, because a hermana was sick was going to be companions with the nurse. So it was kinda a crazy day and this last week we´ve been back to just two of us. 

But you wanted a longer letter. So here are some stories for the week from the good ol´journal:

1. It´s hotter than hades here right now. When it rains it´s wonderful. But when it´s not raining...wow, it´s quite the heat.

2. I have two super ampollas (blisters) on the bottom of my toes and they hurt like a maniac. 

3. Today we got trapped in a field and had to jump a barbed wire fence. It was quite the adventure. Consisted of giving my shoes to my companion and switching and trying to keep our dresses from ripping. Good times. Oh...and then after we tackled the barbed wire we saw the place where we could have just walked out. We had a good laugh fo sho. 

4. Today we walked by a house and there was a young girl inside listening to "It´s my life" By backstreet boys (I think), and she was belting it singing it (in english). It was hilarious. 

5. the other day we met a family that let us pass, Mari Chavez. Her She has 3 kids, 9 years old, 4 years old, and 2 years old. The 4 year old is adorable and our first lesson we gave her a folleto and he immediately took it and started turning the pages and examining ever so carefully every little page of the book and was bien interesado en eso. The second time we visited them, we were singing and he came up to me and asked me for a folleto. I gave him a new one and sure enough, the same process...he wanted to read it ever so intently and examen every last inch. It just made me think...this little kid is so smart. And he wants to learn. He definitely has that desire. But unfortunately I don´t think his family can provide a path for him that´s going to give him much success. I´m not saying that he can´t have success...but he´s going to have to fight for it and not fall into the same path that many others fall into to just make a day´s wage and live day to day. And it made me have a stronger desire to prepare myself financially so that I can give my kids the very best. Not spoil them...but give them opportunities to learn and grow and prosper in this world. That I can give them the same opportunities I´ve been so blessed to be able to experience. That´s what I wanted to give this little kid. I wanted to buy a bunch of books and learning games and send him to kindergarten to learn the alphabet and the colors and how to read. But all I could really do was give him a folleto. Which might do him more good than I think. 

6. Tonight we passed by a lady to visit her and her family for the second time. Here´s the funny part of the story: Well we knocked on the door around 7_45 and our cita was at 730. No one came to the door, but we thought we saw a light or heard people. Well those who have served missions know that lots of people hide from missionaries or don´t come to the door. Well there was a large space, about 4 inches between the bottom of the door and the floor, so you could obviously see underneath. I looked around to see if anyone was nearby and there were only a few people pretty far away so I thought, "I got nothing to lose". I knelt down to look under the door and couldn´t see a light so I stood up. But then my comp asked me if I could see anything and so I knelt back down to get a real good look. I was positive, no light, no one was home. Well I stood up, and right then the people that were far away were now actually right next to us...and sure enough, it was the lady who lives in that house that we were trying to visit and her two kids. hahaha...que pena! Good times. We all laughed, she joked and said, "didn´t think we would answer the door, huh?" Good times. 

7. Today was the baptism de Vilma and Walter. Yay!! It was really beautiful. And at the end Vilma gave her testimony and she talked about how she was baptized in another iglesia y that was kinda her doubt for all of this time (even though we explained the priesthood and the importance of being baptized by someone who has authority), but she said that she´s never ever felt the joy and happiness that she felt during this moment and her baptism and she was crying and she thanked the missionaries and everyone in the ward that had gone to visit her and it was just beautiful to see how she has recognized the difference and the spirit and I love it. She also was a huge example to me because she dejo a tomar cafe muy rapido y muy facil y fue increible. Ella normalmente tomo como 4 tazas de cafe cada dia. Y ensenamos la palabra de sabiduria solamente con como 10 dias antes de su bautismo, because she is only there on the weekends so we had limited time to teach her. Well she worked hard and didn´t drink cafe once the whole week before her bautismo y ella nos dijo que ella dejo completamente. Fue un gran ejemplo que si alguien realmente quiere cambiar y quiere bautizarse y toma una decision, puede hacerlo. Muchas veces no tomamos decisiones como personas, y solamente estamos esperando para alguien a hacerlo para nosotros o estamos esperando un gran senal o no se exactamente, pero fue un gran ejemplo para mi. 

I love this work. I love the opportunity I have to be here serving the Lord. I can see so many ways for how this will bless me for the rest of my life and is preparing me for marriage and a future family. And for that I am ever so grateful. 

Thanks for your love and support. Can you believe it´s already June? I swear May just started yesterday...craziness.

I hope all is well at home. I love getting letters and emails from everyone and even though I don´t have time to always respond or write back, just know that I really appreciate the letters and I love you all lots. 

Love,

Hermana Wright 

PS sorry, no fotos this week...but next week. Thanks for your pateince mom :)