Training a norte :)

Hola mi familia!!

So big surprise of the week... not only am I training 12 weeks in to my mission but I am also training a north american, not a latina!!! Lets just say my nerves were very high when president announced that we would be companions but after our first week, things are going to be fantastic and I know we were supposed to be companions! Her name is Hna Smith. She is from Wyoming! She is giant (especially compared to me) :) and so sweet and loving! We are still in las flores so it was nice only having to train and not move areas as well like hna ramos. Hna ramos is in minerva which is really close to my area but is a different zone. Her new companion is Hna Pablo. They are both latinas. So that was the biggest surprise of how the sisters got assigned to their companions. There were three north americans and three latinas. Three latinas that are training and three north americans. me, hna morgan who was with me in the mtc and ccm and hna olsen (my grandma in the mission) So you'd think we would get the three latinas and the latinas would get the three north americans. Well God had a different plan than all of us were expecting! I got a norte an the other two nortes got a latina. Hna ramos got a latina and the other two latinas the nortes (I was convinced that hna ramos would have a latina because she has been told by her stake president and both presidente bautista and presidente lorenzana (previous mission pres) that learning english would be very important in her mission... God knows all though!) So that was a surprise and some of the sisters in the mission were really shocked when they saw I was not only training but training a north american. But I know I can do it and I know we are going to be great together!! Bring on the challenge:)

So this was a crazy week!!! A very crazy first week for Hna Smith for sure. We had to work in the temple every single day this past week. They were expecting about 80,000 people to come to the open house and the actual number!! 126,492! Crazy huh?? People are saying this open house was an even bigger success than el salvador because the open house here was only 2 weeks long and the open house there was 3 weeks long. SO that is pretty exciting! We had some very long nights this week and didn't get to bed until 11 or 1130 because we didn't even leave the temple until 10. So that was nuts. An elder actually pointed out the dark circles under my eyes the other day and congratulated me for working hard. My comment to hna ramos after he said that... he's never going to get married:) haha it was pretty funny, but I am sure he will learn on his mission:) It was really fun working at the temple though. We lost basically all our citas with people this week, but it was great being able to talk to people and teach them a little bit about the church. We also have been contacting references like CRAZY! Some of them aren't good references and others are great so we will see what success we can have from them.

So training is going well, it is surprising how easy it has been and I know so many of my experiences before my mission prepared me for this time. Hna Smith is PILAS! (spanish for getter done):) She talks to everyone and I love that about her. She isn't afraid to knock a door and has really amazing ideas. I have learned a lot from her so far and we are going to have agreat time together. I will probably eat significantly healthier with her because she is making sure I get all the basic food groups every day:) She loves cooking too so I am really excited to see what I can learn from her. This week will probably be a little more challenging because we will actually start working but she has a great attitude and is ready to work.

So luki and carlos went to the temple for a 3rd time!! I was so happy for them! We have a cita with them tonight and I am hoping we will finally get over the hurdle we have had. Hopefully they have continued reading from the book of mormon and felt the spirit in the temple! So we shall see. We also contacted into a really great family. They have a lot of money and are really nice. The husband is an inactive member of the church but he still believes in the church and we are going to start teaching his wife and kids and maybe they will join and help their family become active members. They work at a spanish school here (there are a bunch of spanish schools here. People will come for a month and only focus on learning spanish) and their schools has a lot of humanitarian projects and if I have the money I would love to come back after my misison and work for their school. Tha would be really fun and their school is a non-profit organization which is great too. So we will see what happens with them. I am very grateful for the open house and that we have a lot of people to contact and hopefully who will become new investigators.

Anyway, this was a good and fun week. I am loving my time with Hna Smith and training is going well. Walking a bunch always and enjoying the life of a misisonary. I am so grateful to be here in guatemala and when I think of all the people I have met so far, I am so grateful for being sent here to this place. It is amazing how much my spanish understanding has jumped without having hna ramos to rely on. The gift of tounges is real for SURE and I am so grateful for it. I hope everyone had a fantastic thanksgiving and that you enjoyed some orange rolls and turkey for me. We went to Emilianos (our restaurant) and they gave us an amazing dinner for thanksgiving after we finished in the temple that day so that was fantastic. We have two sisters that live pretty close to us and I think we will probably spend a lot of time with them. Hna Harvey and Hna Silva... Hna Harvey came with Hna Smith so I know it is very helpful for here when we spend time together. Anyway, time has again come and gone:) I love you all so much and miss and pray for you always!! Happy first of december this week and Jordy! BUENA SUERTE ESTA SEMANA! LA MISION ES FANTASTICO! ESTOY EMOCIONADA PARA TI! LES QUIERO MUCHO!!