Happy late Thanksgiving to everyone! Here in Guatemala we don't celebrate thanksgiving, but our Bishop and his wife were so kind to invite us over for a thanksgiving dinner! Turkeys are hard to find here in my new area, you have to travel like 45 minutes to find one, so they bought a chicken instead, and then made mashed potatoes and gravy! I think I forgot what Thanksgiving dinner actually tastes like cuz this tasted pretty exact to me! It was really fun to share the traditions that we have with them.
Anyways, I am in a new area! I am in a place called San Francisco el Alto. If you translate that it means, "the high San Francisco." Its cuz its soooo high up! The elevation is over 8000 feet! And everywhere you walk is just pure mountain. Lets just say my first few days here I was really tired and really out of breath haha. Its like always being on a hike. Its also freeeeezing cold here. I never thought I would be so freezing cold in Guatemala but every morning we are sitting really close to the heater during our studies cuz its just so dang cold! This area is super cool. Its pretty crazy because there isn't even a grocery store here. Just an outside market. Its crazy how accustomed to the life here I have gotten. This last week I went to Xela (a pretty big city) for divisions and I literally went into shock when I saw American products. Here I can barely even find hair conditioner! It is going to be a big shock for me when I return to the states haha.
Last night we did a Family Home Evening with a family who are all members because their daughter is about to leave on a mission. They asked us to share our testimonies about the mission, and also 3 pieces of advice that we could give to her. It was a really spiritual experience and it helped me to reflect on my mission up to this point. Three things that I have learned that for me are most important on my mission are the following. 1) LOVE EVERYONE!!! We have to love the people we are serving and we also need to love and serve our companion. If we don't, we aren't going to see any success. 2) BE OBEDIENT! When we are obedient we are showing our love for the Lord. We also are able to receive many many blessings. We show our faith, and faith always produces miracles. 3) BE ENTHUSIASTIC! We must be enthusiastic about the work we do. Yes, we are going to find some people who don't want to even hear a word out of us, but we have to show them how great this gospel is and how happy it makes us. If they can see our happiness and our enthusiasm, they too will want it. I am so grateful for my mission and all that I have been able to learn up to this point. These principles are things that I will be able to apply in my entire life. I know that this church is true, that Christ restored it through the prophet Joseph Smith, and with whatever doubt or question we have we can read in the Book of Mormon to find the answers. I invite anyone and everyone, if you are a member of the church or not, to find a copy of the Book of Mormon and begin reading it. Pray and ask the Lord if it is true. He hears every prayer, and will answer you if you ask with a sincere heart. Love you all so much!
https://www.mormon.org/
It is a beautiful new video about Christmas and also Christ! Enjoy!
Con mucho amor de Guatemala,
Hermana Baird
FREEZING in Guatemala!
Hermana Higgins and I! We went up to this aldea (little village up in the mountains) and my comp wasn't that familiar with it either. We were trying to find a house in the mountains and after about 20 minutes of following the trail, we couldn't find a single house! We got a little lost, but ended up finding a family who led us back to the main road. And the plus is that we are going to be able to go and visit that family and teach them. The Lord really does guide us even when we think we are lost!
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