Letter 26 - Hola Familia Linda

 

Hola! Como están? Les extraño! Me olvide mis notas de la semana, pero voy a tratar mi mejor!


I love you guys so much! This week was super good! Although, Saturday and Sunday we needed to be in our houses at 6pm because today is the national holiday of Guatemala! There are a lot of bolos needless to say it would have been pretty dangerous for us to be in the streets! There is a possibility that we will need to be in our houses early tonight too! There is a huge feria here in San Mateo with a big mary go round. We cant go on the rides of course. Also, it was way hard to find an internet today because of the holiday!


This week on Friday and Saturday, I was on divisions with Hermana Mcgill, she came to San Mateo with me. I love her so much! She is seriously the cutest! She has such a strong testimony!


Vicky and her daughters Vicky and Gladys have been acting super weird lately! It has been three days since we have been able to see them! I think they might be getting cold feet about their baptisms! I hope not!


On Thursday we had a chance to go to the Temple! President Smith is going to let the mission go every single 6 months! It is perfect timing because I hit 6 months this FRIDAY! but, I found out that I will be going home one year from today! How weird! Next year at this time I will be giving you guys a big hug! And I hope we will be going to Chick fil A on the way home from the airport haha I miss Chick fil a SO much! But, I did the session completely in Spanish! I could understand everything! It really is a miracle that anybody could go to a foreign country and be fluent in such little time.. now, I am definitely not saying that I am fluent.. but, I am saying that it is in progression, and I have every confidence that in one year from now it will be great and all is thanks to the spirit!


There is so much peace that comes from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are the most organized church in the entire world! There are tons of Evangelicos here and they always tell us that there is no need for organized religion because the church is in us. It is really frustrating. I am far from perfect and I dont know a lot, but, I do know with all of my heart that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he truly did see Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father in a grove of trees and that they told him to restore the Gospel, the same Gospel that Jesus Christ established. I hope that if there are any people reading these letters who arent members of the church that they will pray and really try to know that these things are so true and from God.


se que la iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los últimos días es verdadera! se que cuando nosotros tratamos ser mejores somos bendecidos! Se que Jesucristo y nuestro amoroso Padre Celestial y nos aman! No hay duda en mi corazón que este es verdadero!


I love you guys! I promise there will be pictures next week!
Love,
Hermana Natalie Paige Bullough

Letter 25 - Hola!

 

I love you guys so much! I loved the pictures from Marrissas wedding! I wish I was there!

The Lord definitely brings you lower before He will bring you higher. Last week was super hard! But, this week was filled with miracles! 

 

 

We met a family of 3 Vicky and her two daughters Vicky and Gladys. We taught them the Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited them to be baptized for the 27th of this month! They accepted! She came to church with us on sunday! Her daughters couldnt because once every two months they go to Totonicipan to be with their dad.


We had a meeting on Thursday in the Stake Center for all of the trainers and their kids. It was super good! I am always super motivated to be the best that I can be after these meetings! Mom asked me about funny mistakes with spanish.. well, in correlation I accidently said ¨Tengo algiuen en mi garganta¨ This translates to I have someone in my throat haha I meant to say something! Whoops!


On Saturday we had stake conference. It was all about the work of salvation! It was super good! After we went to teach Jorge (Jackys husband) He was being really rude. We asked him if he had read the chapter in the Book of Mormon that we had given him... and he said nope. He was being really rude and we had a kind of rough day on Saturday because Barbara told us that she made a mistake getting baptized. But, all I could think to do was bear my testimony. I feel kind of bad.. I was crying and really emotional. It just makes me super sad... because it is so obvious that the church is true. When people dont do what Gods asks them to do they will not know the church is true.


I am learning so much here on my mission. More than anything. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the one and only true church. It is so obvious. But, more important than that, I am learning how to rely on my Savior, Jesus Christ. I KNOW that He lives and that he is always walking right beside us. I am reading Jesus the Christ and am learning so much. At the beginning of my mission.. all I could think about was how much I miss my family and how excited I was to go home. But, now I cant imagine going home. I love it here. I am so close to the spirit and I get to serve the Lord every single day full time! Serving a mission is the hardest thing I have ever done and also the best thing I have ever done! The hardest thing I have ever loved!

I love you guys so much!

Love,

Hermana Natalie Paige Bullough

Letter 24 - Deja que el Espiritu te ensene

Hola mi familia preciosa! les amo muchisimo!

Well, Martes we found new investigators! Serjio and Ladrixa! The spirit was SO strong! They are the cutest couple! They just got married 4 months ago! 

Noche de hermanamiento

Miercoles we were looking for our investigator Ingrid and her dad answered the door and started yelling at us! He told us that if we were going to teach the truth that we were welcome! haha so, I asked him if he believed in the Bible, and he said yes, then I asked him if he believed in Jesus Christ and he said yes.. then I said and is that not the truth? and then he went off yelling about how we teach the truth differently.. oh boy! Like my companion would say.. ya no tiene salvacion! jaja Then we went to visit Serjio and Ladrixa and they read in the Book of Mormon! They had a whole list of questions for us! they were progressing so nicely! Also, we had Noche de hermanamiento and the daughter of hermana Caren is CRAZY. she is just a little bit of a brat... haha But, Elder Tolefoa had chips and this little girl asked him for them quite rudely.. so Elder Toleafoa said no. Then she started spitting and hitting Elder Tolefoa! so, I said no! then she started spitting and scratching me! So, my companion grabbed her by the arm and dragged her across the floor and hit her head on the door (on accident!) to bring her to her mom! Well, Caren was pretty mad at my companion... whoops!

Jueves we got to go to Xela because my companion needed to have an eye appointment to change the prescription in her glasses! So, that was fun! Then we taught Serjio and Ladrixa The Plan of Salvation! They were progressing so nicely! I shared an analogy about All State choir my senior year. I talked about how it was a great honor to be selected into this choir, and that I had a few months to learn the music, but didnt prepare like I should have. And I talked about how when I was standing in the line to be tested.. I was so nervous! and when I entered the room.. I tried to pass the test.. but, couldnt and the teacher looked me in the eyes and told me that I couldnt enter because I wasnt prepared. I compared the preparation part to earth life and how we need to prepare while we are here. I talked about how we dont want to be nervious standing in the line waiting to meet with our Savior. and I talked about how we cant fake it to make it because Jesus Christ already knows it all.. and when we dont pass the test.. he is going to look us in our eyes with tears in His and he is going to say I am so sorry.. but, you werent prepared and you cant enter. The spirit was so strong and they were definitely thinking so hard! 

Viernes Jaky called us crying in the afternoon because her family is being really hard! So, we shared a video with her and talked about how she just needs to serve them and endure. The spirit was so strong! But, after, we went home because my companion was really sick!

Sabado was really hard... everyone rejected us. Especially when we went to visit Serjio and Ladrixa and they told us that they couldnt continue meeting with us because they believe in their church.. It was so sad.. I cried. Then we had dinner with an investigator named Gabriela. After that we wanted to try to stay out until 930, so we were going to go visit a less active member... but, I had a REALLY weird feeling... so we went home at 9 instead of 930.

Domingo We went to go get Jorge and Jaky for church... and they told us that TWO MEN WERE MURDERED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE LESS ACTIVE MEMBER THAT WE WERE GOING TO GO VISIT AND THAT THE MURDERER GOT AWAY! I am so grateful for the Spirit. If I hadnt been in tune with him.. we could have been killed! Miracles happen everyday and our Savior really does love us so much! 

Also, a girl in the rama here just got back from her mission in Mexico and she says that Braden Hurst was her District leader. Small world. OH and Jaky finished the Book of Mormon! whoo!

Les amo con todo mi corazon! Remember to always be one step ahead of Satan!

con amor,

Hermana Natalie Paige Bullough

Letter 23 -

I love you guys so much! How are you guys?!


Tuesday I hit five months here in Guatemala! How crazy! Missions are SO fast! A miracle happened in the night time! Hermana Garcia wasnt feeling well at all.. and it was 840. She just wanted to go home. I just kept saying 20 more minutes 20 more minutes! I had a feeling that we needed to go see Angel and Rebecca! They are less active members. We brought the short video Gracias a El. It is about the Savior. I love it so much. After we played this video. I bore my testimony about the Savior and so did my comp. She was about to end the lesson when I had the feeling I needed to share Moroni 10 32. I shared it then I flat out asked them Why they werent coming to church. and he burst into tears and said that he had sinned and that he is unworthy to go. But, we talked it out and shared the video again and he cried and said that he is motivated to be better. This is the reason I am on a mission. For moments like this.


Wednesday was crazy. at 545 we woke up to really loud evangelical music. They have these cars with really loud horns that drive around blasting this music when someone dies. Usually they just pass... but, it was there for a long time. Then the music changed to Nearer my God to thee! and started announcing that our neighbor edvin had died! It was SO weird because he had just gotten back from the hospital and looked the best he has ever looked! He was an inactive member, but was coming to church when he got out of the hospital! That night we went to the funeral and I was asked to sing how great thou art. It went well!


Thursday was the actual service for the funeral of Edvin. The missionaries were asked to help. The brothers of Edvin gave talks and talked about the plan of Salvation. So, after we gave out SO many plan of Salvation pamphlets! It was cool!


Friday in the morning we had interviews with President and Sister Smith. I love them a lot! They are good people! President Smith is really strict. But, it is great! Then we went to Sandra Gaspars house and she gave me a cute red skirt! I love it so much! Then.. get this! A baby was found in the street here in San Mateo! Its umbilocal cord was still attatched and its legs were eaten by dogs! It is super sad! I feel like this would never happen in the US.

Natalie and Companion

On Saturday, I fell in the street and scraped up my leg really really bad. Right after that we had lunch with Hermana Lopez and she is a nurse. She cleaned it out. It hurt so bad! I cried! Then that night we taught Elba.. a less active. We just found her this week and she just moved here from Retalileu. She said that she doesnt need to go to church because God knows her heart... OH PLEASE. 

Natalie gets an injury looked at.

On Sunday JORGE CAME TO CHURCH! He is the husband of Jaky! I know that the Lord is preparing his heart. Now we just need to work extra hard and be worthy of the spirit!


Anyway! I love you guys so much! I think about you all of the time!


Love,
Hermana Natalie Paige Bullough

Letter 22 - Hola Familia!

How are you guys?!

I love you guys so much! I think about you guys and pray for you guys every single day!

So, usually when I come to write my letter to you guys I have my journal to help me remember what happened this week.. but, I forgot it! So, I am going to do my best to remember everything!

Elders with Jaky

On Wednesdays in the night we have this thing called Noche de Hermanamiento. All of the ward members come and the missionaries teach a short lesson and then we play games. This week we taught about following the prophets! You know the song How can I be? well, there is a version in Spainsh that is super great! We played that song and it was super spiritual! 

On Thursday I was really really sick and was throwing up all day long. ew. But, Hey! I went two months without throwing up. So, it was all good!

Natalie with Sister McGill

On Friday I was on divisions. I went to Esperanza with Hermana Gonzalez and my comp and Hermana Mcgill stayed in San Mateo. Hermana Gonzalez and I were looking for people to teach in the night and we couldnt find anyone! So, we said a prayer... and then I saw a house and my heart started pounding a bit. We knocked on the door and it turns out that one of her family members just died! We told her that God has a plan for us and she told us that she wanted us to come back and teach her! It is super cool to see the spirit work through me!

Saturday in the night we went to the familia gaspars house. She is a menos activa... but, is starting to come back to church. She told my companion and I that we are the reason that she is starting to come back because she found trust in us and wants to be better. It was super cool!

Add caption

Also, did I tell you that we found one of our Menos activos? She lived in a different part of our area.. but, one day we showed up at that house anb}d it was abandoned! Welol, we found her! She is 15 right.. and she is pregnant! Her dad beats them and has another family somewhere... but, we think that the baby might be her dads.. she wouldnt tell us.. but, it is super sad! She said she couldnt go to church this sunday becasue she didnt have shoes.. so we went and bought her some.

Natalie with Elder Shoemaker and Sister Call at Wal-Mart

We picked her up for church sunday. Her little sister came with us! She is so cute! haha we gave her this dress.. because she doesnt have any clothes... and she wore these beat up tennis shoes with it to church... it was super cute and sad. But, she was super happy.

I got told right before sacrament meeting that I was going to speak in church. I said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father to help me.. and he did! I spoke on Trying to be like Jesus and Christlike Attributes. My companion told me that I only messed up on two words.

Remember the man that fell in the street with a bloody face and all? Well, Sunday we were in that same neighborhood.. and we were both waiting to enter the residencia. So, we started talking. and he said that we could come to his house. Yeah right were we going to go there alone! haha so, we brought to men from our branch. The lesson went well and the guy is super nice! We invited him to be baptized and he said that he really wants to change.. but, that he needs to pray. So, we will see what happens! His face is still really beat up from his fall! 

Natalie at Wal-Mart

We taught Barbara this week too! She is really progressing. After her baptism she changed a lot! She is REALLY active in the church! So, is Caren and Jaky! They just got called into the Branch Young womens presidency! That will be super good for them!

We got to go to Walmart today! The new president changed the rules a bit! We cant go whenever we want.. but, we can ask permission! whhoo!!!

I love you guys a lot! Remember to follow the Savior every day and in every way!

Love,

Hermana Natalie Paige Bullough

Letter 21 - Familia!

Hola mi familia! Como estan?


I hope all is super well with you guys!


On Tuesday we were teaching Barbara a lesson, and hermana Jaky was there. The entire time her daughter, Crystel was crying because she had a stomach ache. Hermana Jaky asked us to call the Elders to give her a blessing. So the elders came and gave this two year old a blessing and she stopped crying immediately after and started playing. I have such a strong testimony of the Preisthood. It is so real and we are so blessed to have it in our family.


On Wednesday morning we went to the house of Gabriela. She is one of our investigators. I love her a lot.. she is a single mom with three kids and I cant tell if she is really interested in our message or if she just likes having the company. We went to her house and basically told her that we are here to baptize her and that if she wants to keep meeting with us she needs to keep our commitments. We then shared a video about Jesus Christ and bore our testimonies about how really this is our invitation... come unto Christ.


On Friday we went to a menos activos house with the Elders. The Elders brought stuff to make smores. It was SUPER good! haha All of the latinos were like cavemen! They had never had smores before and were really entreagued jaja! Then in the night we taught Jorge. The husband of Jaky. We taught him The Restoration. We asked him to pray to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet and he said no. It is super frustrating! We cant continue teaching him if he is not going to keep our commitments!


Then on Saturday we went to Xela with Barbara for lunch because it was the day of her baptism! I like to take converts to Lunch the day of their baptism! We went to Subway! It was super good! Then in the afternoon we went to the Temple with Sofia, the daughter of Gabriela. We were super frustrated because Gabriela said she was going to meet us there because she was already in Xela. But, she didnt show up. Then we went to the Church for the baptism of Barbara! It was super great! I sang Soy un Hijo de Dios! She had to be baptized three times because her hand kept popping out of the water!


Then Sunday she was confirmed! Elder Shoemaker confirmed her! He did a great job! I think he was a little embarrassed about his spanish.. but, really, the spirit took over and it was wonderful! Then in the afternoon we were street contacting and knocking doors. We knocked on one door and were talking to this girl and out of no where her mom came running out of the other room yelling at us to leave. I said Hola Hermana! and she just yelled I am not your sister! and slammed the door it was really sad! Then we went to Barbaras house in the night and her uncle had hit her because he said that he is mad at her for being baptized! He said that her mom in the United States is mad too! Barbara lied to us because she said her mom is a member of the church and that she had talked to her mom before. Her grandma came to her baptism and Jaky said that she had talked to the mom before and her mom was on board with it. So, hopefully. Also, There are still problems with Jaky and Jorge. What the heck! I am so angry! Satan is just super mad at Jaky and Barbara for making a good choice!


I love you guys so much!
Love,
Hermana Natalie Paige Bullough

Letter 20 - Los Amo!

I love you guys so much! I was so excited to hear that John and Heather had their baby! I love him already! He is such a cutie! I miss him!

This week was super good! Jaky was married and baptized all on the same day Saturday! It was so much fun! I got to be a witness on their wedding papers! I am so happy for her! I sang Yo se que vive mi senor at her baptism! There were SO many people at her baptism! 

One thing happened last week that I forgot to mention. haha we were going to see Maximina and Filiberto and a woman opened the door that I had never seen in my life and she said that Maximina was busy. I had never seen this woman.. so I thought she was just lying because she didnt want us to see Maximina. So, I looked at her and I said is it okay if we come in for just a second to give her a hug? The lady kind of annoyed said okay. So we entered.. and there were five evangelic pastors in her room. When I saw this... I started to back up to leave, because I knew that this would not be a good idea... but, one of the pastors came over and shook my hand and told us to enter. Everything they were teaching was bad. It was giving me really bad anxiety! The spirit of the Lord was definitely not there! After their little rant, I was hoping they would all leave... but, they all just looked at us, waiting for us to say something. So, we sang a hymn and said a prayer. Then I shared a scripture about coming unto Christ. Then one of the pastors was trying to like fight me... so, we left... but, it was super awkward.. I had really bad anxiety after that experience. 

After Jakys wedding, her husband was talking to us.. and he said hewas sad that his dad couldnt be there (his dad died like 2 months ago) and then we explained that God has a plan for us. After Jakys baptism... he was talking to us and was saying the same thing about his dad.. so I shared my experience here in the mission.. I told him that serving a mission is really hard and that I miss my family so much. I told him that I miss giving my dad a big hug and kiss and that it is really hard to be here without my family. But, I told him that the reason I am here is because I already have a forever family. I told him that he will be able to see his dad again... but, he just needs to accomplish a few things here on earth to be able to see him. After that, he said that he wants to meet with us. 

We have another baptism this Saturday! Barbara! She has 11 years! When we walked into her room.. she was reading the book of mormon that we gave her. She was showing us all of the scriptures that she found that she likes. She lives with Jaky. Her parents are in the US. They just kind of left her here and it is really sad. But, she is definitely so cute. I am really excited for her baptism! 

Serving a mission is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I knew it was going to be hard. But, it is a lot harder than I thought it would be.. but, I also love it a lot here. I never knew my ability to love would increase by 100 fold. The Church of Jesus Christ is SO true. It changes peoples lives. It has changed my life and continues to change my life every single day. 

I love you guys! Give Carter a big hug and kiss for me.

Love you guys!

Hermana Natalie Paige Bullough
One thing happened last week that I forgot to mention. haha we were going to see Maximina and Filiberto and a woman opened the door that I had never seen in my life and she said that Maximina was busy. I had never seen this woman.. so I thought she was just lying because she didnt want us to see Maximina. So, I looked at her and I said is it okay if we come in for just a second to give her a hug? The lady kind of annoyed said okay. So we entered.. and there were five evangelic pastors in her room. When I saw this... I started to back up to leave, because I knew that this would not be a good idea... but, one of the pastors came over and shook my hand and told us to enter. Everything they were teaching was bad. It was giving me really bad anxiety! The spirit of the Lord was definitely not there! After their little rant, I was hoping they would all leave... but, they all just looked at us, waiting for us to say something. So, we sang a hymn and said a prayer. Then I shared a scripture about coming unto Christ. Then one of the pastors was trying to like fight me... so, we left... but, it was super awkward.. I had really bad anxiety after that experience.


After Jakys wedding, her husband was talking to us.. and he said hewas sad that his dad couldnt be there (his dad died like 2 months ago) and then we explained that God has a plan for us. After Jakys baptism... he was talking to us and was saying the same thing about his dad.. so I shared my experience here in the mission.. I told him that serving a mission is really hard and that I miss my family so much. I told him that I miss giving my dad a big hug and kiss and that it is really hard to be here without my family. But, I told him that the reason I am here is because I already have a forever family. I told him that he will be able to see his dad again... but, he just needs to accomplish a few things here on earth to be able to see him. After that, he said that he wants to meet with us.


We have another baptism this Saturday! Barbara! She has 11 years! When we walked into her room.. she was reading the book of mormon that we gave her. She was showing us all of the scriptures that she found that she likes. She lives with Jaky. Her parents are in the US. They just kind of left her here and it is really sad. But, she is definitely so cute. I am really excited for her baptism!


Serving a mission is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I knew it was going to be hard. But, it is a lot harder than I thought it would be.. but, I also love it a lot here. I never knew my ability to love would increase by 100 fold. The Church of Jesus Christ is SO true. It changes peoples lives. It has changed my life and continues to change my life every single day.


I love you guys! Give Carter a big hug and kiss for me.


Love you guys!
Hermana Natalie Paige Bullough