Natalie's 1st Letter from the Mission Fleid

Hola mi familia! This keyboard is pretty weird, so bare with me!
Yesterday I got to spend the day in the Guatemala City hospital! BROMA
(Just Kidding!) They told us our Pday was Tuesday, but that was
actually for the older missionaries in the CCM! My District is
AWESOME! I feel so close to these people and it has only been one
week! In my district is Elder Borlace and Elder Hansen, Elder Wright
and Elder Williamson, Hermana Crouch and Hermana Flewallen, and me and
mi companera, Hermana Mckee! Hermana Mckee is from SLC Utah. She is
great!! We just laugh all of the time! So many funny things happen and
Im grateful that she is my companion! I love her so much!!! She has a
really strong testimony. Mom, remember that blog post I showed you
that girl wrote? Sierra Wise? Well, she is here!!! I had no idea she
was going to Guatemala! It was funny- because I was showing some girls
that post because it really inspired me- and she came up to me and
said "wait a minute! I wrote this!" It was so funny! Elder Wright is
our District Leader! I  love him! He has such a strong testimony! He
told us that he was never planning on serving a mission- and then he
was at the University of New Mexico regfistering for classes- and he
said it was the weirdest thing because he just began to cry and knew
that he was making the wrong decision and that the Lord needed him on
a mission! It was awesome! Hermano Menendez is my teacher in the
manana and Hermano Bonilla is my teacher in the noche. Hermano
Menendex kind of looks like David Archeleta and he never stops
smiling! He also was companeros with one of my friends from BYUI in
Chile! Such a small world! Both of my teachers are from Guatemala! We
have unique circumstances here at the CCM (Centro de Capacitacion
Misional) We get to teach an actual real life investigator!! Her name
is Katerin (Cat-air-een). I would appreciate your prayers! She is so
beautiful! The first night we taught her- Hermana Mckee was sick- so I
went with Hermanas Crouch and Flewallen- the spirit was so strong! The
gift of tongues is real! I bore her my testimony in Spanish- and she
cried! I cried! Everybody cried! We committed her to baptism in tres
semanas. She wants to know more before she gets baptized though. She
said she went to church on Sunday- and that the people there were
mean! So, please! If you ever see someone you don't know at church- go
talk to them! Introduce yourself! You may be the only chance they have
to see how wonderful the Church is! The Church is perfect- but the
people are not! My district made this goal to always speak in Spanish-
we made that goal on our second day here- lets just say that it didn't
last very long and we were all pretty discouraged- but guess what? WE
HAD ONLY BEEN HERE TWO DAYS! We beat ourselves up- but, there are
85,000 missionaries doing the exact same thing! And many missionaries
have done the same thing before us! If they can do it- si se puede!!!
Sunday was awesome! Every Sunday they call a random 5 missionaries
from the congregation to give a talk... in espanol... HAHA I was
praying so hard that it would be me! I'm trying to challenge myself-
but, I didn't get asked to speak. I'm one week down!!! I'm losing
time! 18 months will go by so quickly! It scares me! I love it so much
here! The people are so great! The Latinos have such strong
testimonies!!!! It surprised me! I don't know why- but, it is
interesting having to be the ones wearing the translation headsets. It
makes it easier to feel the Spirit- in Sacrament meeting they don't
trqanslate for us- it was really hard to understand- but, I could feel
the Spirit testifying to me that everything they were saying was true!
It was awesome! I always worry about learning Spanish or teaching the
Gospel- because I don't want to mess up someones chances to hear the
Gospel- but, I need to learn to forget myself and get to work. If I do
that- I will be happier and I will be a successful missionary!
Guatemala and Colorado have the same time right now! It's awesome! All
of the Latinas love me! They are so funny! Sometimes I think they
think all of us norteamericanos are stupid because we probably sound
stupid speaking the little Spanish we know- but, they just laugh and
carry on! We share our room with two latinas! Hermana Bustamente y
Hermana Cuadra! Hermana Cuadra is HILARIOUS! A few days ago- she
flipped on the lights and said BUENOS DIAS and I was thinking in my
head- man! I feel like I just fell asleep! I looked at the clock and
it was 1:40am! haha we were like sister, it's one in the morning! haha
it was so funny! My favorite latina is Hermana Garcia from Bolivia!
She is serving in the Guatemala South Mission. After our missions She
is going to come to Colorado to visit- and I'm going to go to Bolivia
to visit. I'm going to miss her next week when she leaves- the latinas
only stay here for two weeks. She is a convert- and yesterday was her
Pday. Her familiy didn't write her :( She was so sad! I'm grateful for
the support I have back home! So GRACIAS! They took our cameras from
us because I guess some Elders a while ago took some inappropriate
sacreligious pictures in front of the CCM and the Templo. They said
wed get them on Pday- but they haven't given them to us- and we can't
take pictures at the Templo or the CCM even if we have our cameras. We
take a field trip every two weeks. So next week we'll get to leave!
They want everyone out when the new missionaries arrive! It will be
nice not to be so new! There are only 62 missionaries in the CCM and
24 of them are Norte Americanos. Did you know that the majority of the
Church speaks Spanish? Not english? It doesn't surprise me- I'm
beginning to think Spanish is the Celestial language! :) There was a
story told on Sunday about a little girl who really wanted to get a
bicycle. Her father told her to save all of her money! When they got
to the store- she saw how much the bike was and then realized that she
only had 62 cents- not enough at all. Her father looked at her and
said "Give me everything you have- and I will make up the difference."
We need to be giving everything we have to the Savior. He will make up
the difference if we do the best that we can do! I loved that so much!
I feel really safe in the CCM. It is gated all around with Guards at
all times! The Elders joke that it's a prison- but, I love it here! I
keep thinking about how I need to enjoy my time here! The food is
great! The showers are cold! But, hey- at least we eat and atleast we
have a shower! Yesterday night- we had the opportunidad to have Elder
Carlos H. Admado come speak to us. He will be speaking on the Saturday morning session of General Conference. He is a member of the 70. His
talk was so awesome! He told us he never prepares his talks and that
he just lets the spirit guide him. He talked about how sometimes bad
things happen to missionaries and they die. He said those things only
happen when the missionaries are doing something stupid haha He talked
about how there was a missionary here in Guatemala who climbed onto a
roof because he wanted to slide down it in the rain. When he began to
fall he grabbed a wire because he realized he was slipping a lot
faster than he thought. Elder Amado promised us that we wont die if we
don't do something stupid haha Some thoughts that I had during his
talk were as follows: How can we serve a God that we don't know? We
need to strive to know Him in order to be truly converted. - Even if
we don't understand the mission rules- we must be obedient. We will be
blessed. -Don't set goals beyond our capacity to fullfill them. If we
set our expectations too high, we will just be discouraged. - The
Lords infinite mercy helps us understand that we don't have to be
perfect. It's okay to maKE mistakes! -Develop yourself. Stand a little
taller, be a little better! - With all of our imperfections, we are
still fabulous, and still worth it! The Savior loves us know matter
how many times it takes! - This is the Lords time. Not mine. I should
strive to be a 24 hour missionary. I know I'm that when I start to
dream about my investigators and the gospel! The flight was so long on
the way here! I didn't really get much sleep because It was
uncomfortable and I was so excited!! Hermana Crouch sat next to me! My
friend from Las Vegas! She is even more cute in person! I didn't think
it was possible! Oh! haha Yesterday- our teacher was teaching an
object lesson and had us go outside and run. All of us sisterrs looked
ridiculous in our skirts! I was exited- because I was winning out of
the sisters! Hermana Crouch was close behind me! She totally face
planted into the ground! It was so sad! But, SO funny too! LOL I
couldn't stop laughing! She handled it very well! I would have just
cried and been super embarrassed- but, she just laughed it off. She
later told me she just wanted to cry! She is so adorable! It was so
sad to see her hurt! Man, this hour goes by so quickly! I have so much
to say! The food here is delicious! President Todd was wise when he
blessed me that I would love the food! I can't get enough of it! It is
so yummy! OOOH! Fun fact! Elder Hodson- in the other district, our
Zone Leader- told me that In Spirit Paradise we won't be able to
remember the sins we truly repented for- and in Spirit Prison we will
only be able to remember our sins. So don't procrastinate the day of
your repentance! It is so worth being embarrassed or having people
hate you. because the Lords opinion is the only one that matters.
Where there is a will there is a way! I love all of you so much! I
pray for you! 18 months is flying by and I don't want to waste any
time! Heavenly Father loves you guys! Infinitetly! :) Love, Hermana