Cambios...

Dearest Familia,

Cambios happened this week as yàll know. Mi nueva companera is from Honduras, she`s 20, (but looks like she`s 16 ha), but she`s great! She has a strong desire to work and is ready to go and I am excited to be her trainer. She`s a good one.

This week we had 3 dogs attack us. Dirty rotten scoundrels. It was on Wednesday, day 1 in the mission field for my companion ha. They were so chill until we passed by them and then they attacked us con todo los poderes (with all their powers?). My new comp has a fear of dogs...poor thing. But I think this helped break her in a little bit. The good news is the dogs didn`t get my legs and only managed to grab and rip my skirt...so no big deal, I`m totally fine. (sarcasm). Adventures! Large sticks have become my best friends.

President & Hermana Spjut & Hermana Guzman
from Honduras.

Yesterday was a glorious day in church! We had 8 people that came to church with Giovanni, Carmina, Rocio and Ivon all came, as well as Antonio and Ingrid and Sara. I was seriously so happy! Hermana Evans and I worked like crazy the last 3 months and we are just now starting to see those fruits. And it brings so much joy to my heart. Sometimes we just have to have patience and trust in the Lord`s timing (which is sometimes the worst ha...but yet always really the best). 

La comida es una restaurante...super rico.

We went with Giovanni and Carmina yesterday and had a really great lesson with them. We taught them about the Restoration and it seriously was so great. The spirit was really strong and they really saw the blessings and felt great in church. They told us how they had been wanting to serve God and find a church where they could worship and dedicate time to God. They also said that they never would have imagined themselves in a Mormon church, but for us insisting constantly is how they ended up there. And they thanked us for insisting. It always makes me so happy when the people thank us for insisting. Because basically they are saying, "Thank you for being so obnoxious in inviting us to church..." But yet they are grateful for it and it gives me more ganas (incentive...motivation) to be more insistent and keep working. They said they want to keep going to church and have the desire to serve God and see miracles. Excited for their future. I sure love them.

my comp and I haciendo tortillas por una investigadora :) 

This week I read in 1 Nephi 10:17-19 and I loved it. It talks about diligence, faith, repentance, and more diligence. Things I always want to have in my life...diligence, faith, and a constant desire to change and be better. 

Love you lots!

Love,

Hermana Wright

Sister Evans Last Week in Los Naranjos

I had a great final week in Los Naranjos! I love seeing the happiness that this gospel brings into the lives of the people and I am so happy to have the opportunity to participate in this great work of eternal happiness and to help´people grow closer to their Savior, Jesus Christ. One quote from the article "Why is Jesus Christ important in my life" in the Liahona from January 2015 that I love and  that really helped me this week is "Jesus is important to us because through his atonement, teachings, hope, peace, and example, He helps us change our lives, face our trials, and move forward with faith as we journey back to Him and His father...and with Him as our friend, we have the courage to cast our fear and move forward with faith." I really love this because the Savior really is our faithful friend and wants what is best for us, and with him as our best friend we really can move forward with faith everyday because our Savior is always there for us! 

  Also, This week on Wednesday I will be changing to another part of El Salvador! I do not know what part I will be changed to but I am really excited to find out on Wednesday! I am going to miss it here in Los Naranjos and I am defintley going to miss my fabulous companion Hermana Wright!

   We have a couple of investigators here that are progressing and finding more happiness through coming unto Christ, their faithful friend! Sulma, and her 2 little kids came to church for the first time and they were so happy and content in the church! The little kids loved it and Sulma said that she felt the spirit really strong and felt a lot of peace. After church she just seemed so happy! It makes me so happy to see people become happier as they start to do little changes in their lives! Also, we have 2 new investigators, Antonia and her daughter Ingrid, who are both great! The missionaries visited them both before, however only Ingrid accepted the visits of the missionaries. However, she stopped visiting the missionaries for a while because she did not have support from her mom, Antonia.  Antonia did not want anything to do with the church, however, she has had a change of heart and feels so bad for not accepting the missionaries and she really wants the peace and happiness that comes from this gospel now in her life! Her and her daughter came to church yesterday and they are both starting to come unto Christ and it makes me so happy!

   Also, Sara did not get baptized this week, however we still have faith in her! She wants to get baptized but she still feels guilty for some things she has done in the past even though she has repented, and she wants to be sure that she is worthy in the eyes of her Heavenly Father. She is going to continue praying this week to gain that confidence that she needs to be baptized! 

     We had our activity on Saturday and it went pretty well!We did not have as many people at the activity as we had hoped, however we did have a couple of our investigators come and they said they felt the spirit and had a good experience! A lot of the members from our little branch came and they all said they loved it and they said that their testimonies were strengthened!  While we were watching the different videos and listening to some of the members of the branch share their testimonies about the different videos I felt so much peace knowing that Heavenly Father has a plan for this area and that in His time miracles will happen for the people here! The little branch here is strengthening and we had a lot of people at church yesterday! A lot of some of the less active members came to church for the first time in months and the members were all animated from the activity the night before! They all just want to see this area change and to see people unto Christ! I am really going to miss all of them and their strong testimonies! 

   I have really loved it here in Los Naranjos and I am going to miss it here and I am going to miss my amazing companion, Hermana Wright! We have had some good experiences together from running through the mountains to try and catch a crazy full bus , hiking to our different appointments with huge sticks in our hand to keep away the crazy dogs, or singing hymns with a crazy man who loves to play air guitar and make the sounds of the drums on his little picnic table while we sing, and many more! Also, I have found great joy serving and walking side by side Hermana Wright! As we walk and  look up at the stars at the end of each day,  I feel so much peace knowing that there is no place I would rather be than here In El Salvador spreading happiness and hope with Hermana Wright, no matter how hard the day was. I have enjoyed experiencing the joy that comes from seeing people start to do little changes in their lives to come unto Christ. I have learned to much from Hermana Wright and I am so grateful for her and the great times I have had here in Los Naranjos with her!  Todo esta bien! I am happy! 

Con amor, 

Hermana Evans

Happy Vday!

Familia!

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope y'all had a great day filled with lots of chocolate and love from loved ones. On my V/day, we bought cotton candy from some random guy on the street. It was super sweet and sugary but also awesome. 

 This week I was talking about burning CD's when I realized my companion has never made a playlist or burned a CD before. I felt old. Especially remembering that I used to listen to cassette tapes and make those for friends. I'm a total abuelita.(granny)

This week...not sure what to share this week. 

First, my convert from Ahuachapan is going on a mission! He's sending in his papers this week and going to have his call in a few weeks. Seriously the best feeling ever! His mom is super depressed and sad, and I talked to her a bit this week to try and animate (gotta love her choice of word) her and everything and she knows it will be good, but she's just sad to see him go for 2 years. 

Aside from that we had some good ups and downs this week. 

But something I learned is that this is the Lord's work. It's not ours. It's not my work. He is in charge. He knows who is ready and prepared to hear the Gospel. And He knows who He needs to start preparing por medio de nosotros (through us). I cannot direct and command this work. Although sometimes I think I would like to. But the only thing I can do is to trust in God, do the very best that I can do and know how to do, work to always improve and become better, and then leave the rest up to Him. And that is what I'm trying to do. 

Me & some investigators.

The church is true. I know it. And I love it. 

Love,

Hermana Aycht (How Valentina pronounces my name...she's 2 years old.)                 

PS We got news about changes, I'm staying here in Los Naranjos and I'm going to train again...which means I'll be terminando mi mision aqui (finishing my mission here), which I'm super happy about. Which means Hermana Evans is leaving. I will miss being her companion, but I'm excited for her to continue and take the next step in the mission. (I'm guessing keeping the hot water is a nice thought as well...I hope Hermana Evans heads to a warmer area if she has to go back to cold showers.)

Grilled cheese and bathroom building

Familia!

This week we had a noche de hogar (family home evening) with Beatrice, the grandma of los naranjos, and about 6 little girls. It was simple but really great. We made them grilled cheese sandwiches at the end and they all loved them! Grilled cheese...gets èm every time.

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Sara had her baptism interview this week and passed and is excited and has lots of peace for that. She`ll be baptized this Sunday. She`s one who`s visited with the missionaries for ages, but had various doubts and such, so it`s been a long process for her, but we`re excited to be part of it now.

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Bathroom building number 2 on the mission. Saturday we went to help Sulma start digging the hole to build a bathroom. It was definitely a success. We enjoyed it, they enjoyed it and were very happy with the process. We got maybe 2 meters deep...maybe a little less, but we did it quickly as we could all help and switch off.  

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This week we planned a huge activity we`re going to put on here this week. So here in los naranjos there are so many rumors and anti mormon stuff and lots of people are scared to listen to us or even talk to us because of rumors or things they have heard. Presidente Spjut asked us what we can do to change that...and we got thinking. So we came up with the idea to rent out the cancha and do an activity there. La cancha (the park or court) is right in front of the entrance to the colonia, and it`s in the middle of everything. They often have big political events, or cultos (worship events) or activities there and tons of people go. Plus it`s in the middle of the city so anyone can easily walk by and see it and stay for a second and then leave.

So this saturday we reserved the cancha and we`re going to have a night with mormon mensajes and speakers and testimonios. We picked the videos and who is going to speak and we made the program yesterday. The idea is that anyone can walk by, watch a 5 minute video, feel the spirit, and feel a desire to know more. It is so that the people can see what we believe and rather than be opposed, they can have a desire to learn more and feel it. We`re relying lots on God and the spirit to touch the hearts of these people and that it can be a success. But we`re really excited about this. 

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Ana was almost impossible to find this week. (The one who had the dream) We literally passed by every single day this week looking for her and have failed to find her. We weren`t sure if she really wasn`t there, or if she was hiding from us (welcome to the mission ha), but tonight we were able to find her and it was glorious.

The first thing she said was, "Oh, why have you guys abandoned me?" And I was so happy to hear those words, as it meant she wasn`t hiding from us. We explained how we had passed by every day this week looking for her and she was pleased to hear that and happy that we found her again. We shared a little bit about prayer and about el dia de reposo (the Sabbath Day) and she didn`t want to really commit to church, she was very hesitant and said vague comments like oh we`ll see, and in the future and such. Then we finished the lesson, and her and her daughters were chatting with us a little bit and asking us a few questions and such and then as we left Ana yelled at us and said, "I`m going to church this Sunday. And I`m going to bring my two girls, esta bueno (is that ok) ?" And we were stoked as the spirit was working in her and she promised us to come next week. The best!

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I love this work so much. I can`t begin to describe even an ounce of how I really feel. It`s impossible. But I am happy. Really truly happy. And I truly love being a missionary, a representative of Jesus Christ himself, sent forth to preach the Gospel and share this with everyone. Despite all the desafios (challenges) and difficulties, it truly is a marvelous work and wonder. Do I have to come home? (You bet she does...:))

Love yàll lots and lots. And even more.

Love,

Hermana Wright (Hermana "Ride" in El Salvador, the way I explain the pronunciation of my name)

Dreams

Familia,

I hope all is going well for yáll in all the parts of the world. I´m praying for you always.

It was seriously frigid for about 4 of the days this week. No joke. A cold front came in and I would only describe it as frigid. In the morning for my personal study I had on 6 layers of clothes up top and 4 on bottom and it was still cold. Adventures in El Salvador. I never thought I would be this cold here. But I guess it´s preparing me for when I return home. The last couple days warmed up nicely here, but seriously someone look up what the temperature was in Los Naranjos, El Salvador for the 28th and 29th...I´d love to know. (I tried but couldn't figure out how to look up past temperatures but for tomorrow it's between 66 -89 degrees F...so it couldn't have been that cold?  I think she's getting soft.)

most people would pay big bucks for a view 

like these people have...

The highlights of the week:

Today in church there was a 2 year old wearing a shirt that said, "Pimpin´ain´t easy". That was definitely a highlight of the day. 

Then during sacrament meeting that same kid came up to his mom to ask for "chiche" (breast milk from him mom, cause everyone breast feeds here for years), then he looked at me and pointed and asked me for "chiche". Yep. The best.

but instead they just live in a shack in the
mountainy jungle. The best.

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We went to visit Ana last monday...and here´s how the visit went...

26 Enero 2015

We sang a hymn and prayed and then asked her if she´s been able to pray and ask God if this is true and she immediately said, "You know what, yes I have, and the craziest thing happened to me. I have to tell you. I had a dream." And she started to tell us the dream that she had...

She said that in her dream it was just this big, vast sandy area...she saw lots of white sand and she saw me and Hermana Evans. She said us two were there with her. Then she said in the air, above us, she saw God, our Heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ, above us...they were in the air a little bit above us and me and Hermana Evans were standing below them reading the scripture or something like that. She said that God spoke to her and said, "Ana, don´t reject them. This is true. I will show you the way and the truth. Don´t reject them." And then she said she woke up. She said it was short, maybe 10 minutes at the most, but she was longing to be back in the dream when she woke up. 

Since that day she has been wanting to tell us. She said that since her dream her husband told her not to listen or to receive us as well as a lady from her old church told her that she shouldn´t receive or listen to us because she´ll get confused. Ana said she thought they were probably both right, but she couldn´t get the dream out of her head. 

She asked us why she dreamed what she dreamed...we asked her what she thought, and as it´s a pretty clear and obvious answer from God, she recognized that. But she´s scared. As this colony is packed with anti'mormon stuff, she at one point put her face down in her hands and just said, "What are the people in my church going to think? What are they going to say? What am I going to say to them?" 

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I just wanted to cry when she told us that. Because the spirit was ever so strong and tears came to my eyes. 

Now we´re praying lots for her because she hasn´t come to church and she´s really scared to follow because of what the dumb people say. There´s so much anti mormon stuff here in this area and colony and so every person we start visiting gets attacked, but I know she´s going to keep learning more. Prayers are appreciated for her. 

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 Aside from that we had a boda (wedding) and a baptism this week from the Elders. Hermana Evans and I were in charge of decorations, and let me tell you...it´s amazing what you can do with a few balloons and crepe paper. We made that church look so good! ...well with our limited resources of course. It really was cute and fun to be a part of. I seriously love watching people change their lives and see as the light of Christ and joy and happiness fills their eyes and their beings. It´s amazing! 

I hope all is going well for yáll. Thanks for the support and love. 

Love you!

Love,

Me

Our amazing decorations...