Nov 7

This week has been a week full of miracles and many exciting things! For most of the things I am wanted to share, I have pictures that go along with them, so I am just going to put the picture, and then put a caption explaining each thing. I hope you can enjoy them as much as I did! :)

First of all, we had a Multi Zone conference this week with Elder Alonzo from the Seventy. Wow, he is a very very inspired guy. We all left that conference in shock by all of the amazing truths and advice he taught us. He shared a story with us that I just loved. He went to the doctor and the doctor told him he was depressed. Elder Alonzo responded, "There is no way I am depressed, I may be sick, but depressed? You have to be kidding me. Do you know what church I go to? I am part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I cant be depressed. I know that the Lord has restored his church through the prophet Jose Smith, and that through that I can receive every ordnance I need to return to his presence. I know that today we have a living prophet in the world who receive guidance and revelation directly from God, and I know that the Book of Mormon is true. A book that can guide me in ever aspect in my life. There is no reason at all for me to be depressed. Sick, yes, I am sick, but depressed, there is no way." I loved this story and just thought about how true it is! We have absolutely know reason to be sad as members of the true church of Jesus Christ. We have EVERYTHING we need to be happy and to enjoy every second of our lives. I love this gospel and all of the joy that it has brought me during my life before the mission and my life during the mission.





So during the Multi Zona, Elder Alonzo talked with us about being more creative in finding new investigators. So as a district we decided that we were going to go to central park on Saturday morning and sing and hand out pamphlets and books of Mormon. Well let me just start off by saying, we chose Saturday morning because EVERYONE in Toto goes there because of the market. So we had more than 30 Books of Mormon, and over 150 pamphlets to give out. As we started singing, people started coming up to the table and were curious about what we had. When someone came up, one of us stopped singing to talk with them. At the end of the two hours that we had set apart to do this, we had given away literally all of our supplies! Over 150 people went home that day with material to learn about the true gospel of Jesus Christ, and we found many new people to visit. It was one of the most fun and creative things I have done to contact people on my mission so far!







This is Elizabeth. She is one of our investigators and is a huge proof to me that the Lord truly knows each and every one of us and also that he prepares people to receive the message that we share as missionaries. So about 4 months ago I met Elizabeth. We had tried and tried to put appointments with her, but for some reason or another, we never were able to meet up. We literally saw here probable every other week, and tried and tried to put lessons. She said every time we saw her, "Hermanas when are you going to visit me?!" So about 2 weeks ago, we were leaving the village where she lives and I thought, we should call her before we leave to see if we can visit her. We called and she happened to be in Central, where we were planning on going. We went immediately and found her. We taught her in the park and she was just golden! She has a baptism date for December 3rd and is progressing so much! She came to church on Sunday and loved it. This morning we invited her to go running with us. She met us at the track, and then we had a lesson with her. She is going through hard times with her family right now and is having to live on her own. Today after we read with her in the Book of Mormon she shared with us an experience that happened. That she had a lot of things she needed to pay for today, and didnt have any way to pay for it. She said that these past few months have been so difficult and that every time she feels like she just cant keep going she prays to the Lord. Today she told us that it was a miracle because she knows the Lord hears her, because every time she prays she asks for him to put something in front of her that can help her. Every time she has asked, she says that its in those moments when we run into her. The Lord TRULY puts us in the path of those who need his gospel the most. I am so grateful for Eliza and all that her faith has taught me.




Noche de Hogar in the mission home with President and Hermana Smith, and with the Familia Ramierez!








"Soy Chapin de Sangre" It means I have the blood of a Guatemalan hahah. A member forced me to take this picture with his shirt on haha.





We were going to have to go super early for consejo de lideres with our Zone Leaders so a cute little member said she would make us pancakes to take with us. Well, the meeting got canceled, but the pancakes didnt, so the Zone leaders got lucky and got their breakfast delivered to there house that day!

Oct 31

So we had a super super great week this week. To start off, we got to go to Xela to our mission presidents house to have a family home evening with the Familia Ramierez. It was so great! We had a great lesson with President Smith and his wife, and then played a game with the kids, had some cake, and then headed back to Toto. They really like it and were super happy! We laughed the whole way there and the whole way back. It was a great time. Wednesday we had a day full of miracles. We have been praying a ton to be able to find families, and when we are out proselyting, that is our main focus. So this week we were contacting in a little village up in the mountains in an area that we hadn't ever gone too. We knocked on a few doors, and they didn't want to listen. So, we kept knocking. We got to a house and the lady was very positive, but she was about to leave. We asked her if she knew of anyone that lived around her that could benefit from hearing about the gospel of Jesucristo. At first she said no, but we felt that we needed to insist a little. We asked her if she maybe knew anyone that was passing for difficult times, or had just had a baby. She said you guys could try going to the Familia Caxaj's house. They live in the house of brick about 5 minutes more down this path. So we went searching. We found the house and knocked. They opened the door and were extremely nice. They allowed us to enter their house so we sang a hymn with them and shared a little bit with them out the Restoration. We were extremely shocked and excited when we found out that it was a family of 11 people! Yes, 11 people! We are going back to visit them tonight and are so extremely excited. The Lord truly puts his chosen people in our paths and will guide us to those who need us if we ask him in sincere prayer and if we live worthily to have his trust! 

This time of year here in Guatemala everyone is super super busy because they are all harvesting their corn! There are corn fields seriously all around us here. It feels like we are constantly in a corn maze haha. So anyways they use the corn to make tortillas and tamalitos. So during this time they take down all the corn husks and have to do this big process so that it drys and they can use it for the tortillas and tamales for the entire year! So this week we went to a recent converts house who has a ton of land to grow her corn. When we got there her whole family was working with the corn so we helped. What we were doing was taking off all of the grains of corn from the cob. At this point the corn is completely dried out. Its super interesting and A TON of work! I cant imagine having to do this ever single year. The people here are super hard workers that's for sure. 

Tomorrow we have a Multi-Zone Conference with a general authority! Elder Alonzo from the 70 is going to be with us. We are so excited! It is always so great being able to listen to these servants of the Lord help us to know how we can do missionary work better. Thursday we are going to have our Leadership Council meeting, and Elder Alonzo is going to be there too! My comp and I have to present a little bit during the meeting so we are a little nervous, but super excited for the opportunity. 

Anyways, life here is going great. My comp and I are having a ton of fun and working hard to find those who the Lord is preparing to receive this gospel. Thanks for all of your support!

Con mucho amor de Guatemala, 

Hermana Baird

The famous noodle taco. Yes, this is normal here! Everytime we have spaghetti or any type of noodles, there is ALWAYS tortillas, and ALWAYS ketchup. And surprisingly it is actually pretty good. I think I am turning into a Guatemalan. 

We went to a new area to contact and find new investigators and I stepped in a huge pile of "mud." I am not too sure it was mud though, probably a differnt kind of waste product. But anways, it was a good ice breaker cuz we went to the closest house and asked if we could wash off my foot and shoe in their pila (the sink type thing in the pic) and she let us! We are going to go back and visit her this week, so I guess it was worth getting a little dirty. :) Then Hermana Schiess and I went to lunch at our favorite place here in Toto called Pinkys




AMO A TOTO!!! But really I never want to leave this place!




This morning we went on like a 3 and a half mile run, and then did our studies up on the roof of our apartment!




The cutest little puppy that a member just got!







SO MUCH CORN!!!!!








HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM GUATEMALA!!!!

Oct 24

Well, the first part of our time together as companions was rough as you can see.. Thats what happens when a BYU fan and a Utah fan have to be comps... But the good news is, is that she is still super cool and we can get over it and be best friends again. 

District activity with Distrito Totonicapán. Volleyball, uno, and Marios pizza. The typical Monday in Guatemala.

Oct 17

Hermanita Juanita y Ofelia en la iglesia el Domingo. Amo estas hermanitas!! 

Trying to learn how to make corte.. So difficult! Juana (on the right) does this for her work. And she is only 16 years old! She is so awesome. 

 






Hermana Schiess and I at our Zone Conference. Love her and my zone! 

 

Oct 10

Hola a todos! This week has been super great, but also a little bittersweet. We had changes and that means Hermana Compton left for a different area. It was super sad because she is seriously one of my best friends, so saying bye to her was definately hard. We had a lot of miracles together, and had SO much fun being companions. Butttt, the good news is that my new comp is super awesome too! Her name is Hermana Schiess. She is from Provo, Utah, and she is super funny and a great missionary. We have already seen so many miracles together, so I can't wait to see how many more we will see during the next 6 weeks together. 

So we are still visiting the familia Ramierez, and they are just so great. They are so willing to learn and so willing to make changes in their lives. This week we went with them and they had just bought a pet duck.. Yes, to have as a pet haha. So as we were leaving we asked if they were able to hold it. Hermana Juana started to chase it around the house until she finally got ahold of it. Then she told me to hold it and I got super freaked out. She basically just put it in my hands and I started yelling a little bit and everyone was just laughing at me haha, my comp definately caught the moment on camera perfectly. 

This week we saw a great miracle. Yesterday we were going to a little village that is far from the center of our area. On Sundays, the buses dont run, so we had to walk. Well, lets just say this walk is more like a hike because we have to climb up a mountain, and it took probably about 40 minutes to get there. When we got there we found out the person who we were going to visit moved. So we started contacting houses up there. As we were heading back to center, the member who we were with showed us a house and told us that there were members who were inactive that lived there. So we decided to knock on the door. A mom and her kids answered and they immedately greeted us as if we were their friends. As we began to talk we learned that 3 of her 4 kids were baptized, and that she in the past went to church with them. She invited us in and we were able to share some things with them. They commited to start reading the Book of Mormon as a family everyday, and we will be returning with them this week. It is so cool how the Lord guides us exactly where we need to be in the exact moment we need to be there. 

I love this Gospel and I love being able to share it with everyone. I know that through Christ, and only through him we can experience true happiness and joy. Thank you to everyone for all of your support and prayers. Have a great week!

Hermana Baird

Oct 3, My favorite picture from my mission

Me and a cute little Guatemalan women. What is on my head is a carrying device. People put a bunch of different things in the little bag, and then carry it on their heads like this! This little women was walking with all of this stuff on her back, and so I asked her if I could help her. Well, I am not sure how a little lady who weighs maybe 90 pounds was carrying that because I had a headache afterwards!

Sept 26

This has been such a great week! We started it out with a Zone Conference with our Mission President. I just love it every time we have the opportunity to listen to him and learn from him. I was really impacted by what we talked about. The sacrifice that Christ made for us is literally unimaginable. He loves us SO much, that first of all he wants us to return to his presence, and second, enough to literally give up his life for us so that we are able to do that. I realized that anything I do in this life, really isn´t a sacrifice compared for what the Savior did for each one of us. Being a missionary is such a blessing, not a sacrifice. Being able to testify and teach of Christ each and everyday, and being able to help all of the people here in Guatemala learn of his true Gospel is one of the biggest blessing that I have ever had and I am more and more grateful everyday.

In our mission, we are really trying to focus on complete families more. Hermana Compton and I have been putting goals to find new families everyday. Something we have been trying to do also is increase our faith each day to be able to find these families that the Lord is preparing. Last week we were working hard all week to find one and we didn't. But we kept working and kept having the faith that we would find one. Sunday in the afternoon our prayers were answered. We were able to visit a family who we had contacted earlier in the week. It was a family of 4. Efraín, Juana, Fredy, and Angela. We entered their house and began to teach. At the end of the lesson we felt prompted by the Spirit to invite them to baptism, and the accepted! They told us that they would like to learn more and they were very receptive to our message. When we returned this week they were waiting for us outside of their house. As we shared the message of the Restoration with them, their eyes lit up, and they truly desired to know more. Efrain, the dad, told us that he had no doubt that José Smith was a profeta, and that Jesus Christ appeared to him. It was such a miracle to find this family. The Lord is truly always preparing people to hear of this message.

On Friday we did divisions with the Sisters who live in Quiche. It was such a great experience. There is a Sister there named Hermana Griffiths who just barely got to the mission about 4 weeks ago. That means that she is going through the hard times, that every gringo goes through, of not understanding anything anyone is saying to you in Spanish, and not being able to explain anything to anyone. It brought back a lot of memories when I just got to the mission and couldn't speak a word of Spanish haha. It was such a great experience being able to work with her, because although she maybe couldn't understand or explain herself perfectly, she just testified of Christ and of the church. It was a good reminder to me that the thing most important, not only as missionaries, but members too, is testify. When we do that, the people can truly feel the love of the Lord.

Well, sadly changes are next Tuesday and me and Hermana Compton probably are going to have them. I am so sad because I love her so much and she has been such an amazing companion! We have had so much fun, and also worked really hard together. I am going to miss her!

Anyways, thanks for all your support, and sorry I haven't written in so long! Love you all!
Con mucho amor de Guatemala,

Hermana Baird