When it rains it pours :)

Buenas tardes mi querido familia!!!
So apparently it is very strange but this week the rain has started... not enough that I can try out the new rain boots mom sent me, but enough that the dirt isn't dust BLESSING FROM HEAVEN:) haha The people have a saying that February is crazy and all the people born in february are crazy... sorry Elder Nelson:) but it has been a crazy week in regards to the weather:) haha
SO first I want to explain just how much we get ripped off in the states when we buy fresh veggies.... so you saw the pic I sent in my other email. We bought 12 carrots, 12 mandarine oranges, 2 wiskil (the green looking veggie in the back) 3 red peppers, 6 mangos, 12 bananas, and a pound of onions... all for 40 Quetzales!!!! That is about $5.71 or something like that! CRAZY HUH? It is so cheap to buy fresh fruit here and I LOVE the buying food in the markets on the streets. I will definitely miss that when I am not here in guatemala!
So this was a mas o menos kind of a week... so, so... really it was a good week just some sad news. We finally had another cita with luki and her whole family and basically her husband carlos told us that they've decided that they need to stop confusing their children and that they are going to go to the catholic church since that is where they are baptized... i was on the verge of tears the whole time and couldn't really make any input. Thankfully we had hno tistoj with us and he talked a lot... shared his conversion story and everything. Just shows how powerful satan is! She got her answer and then because of doubts and fears hna luki picked the easy route. For the first time in FIFTEEN YEARS(!!!!!!) they are going to church every sunday.... Carlos doesn't believe in the catholic church but he wants his family to be united and he even told us he never will believe in the catholic doctrine (just have to throw this in there that catholic doctring is INSANE! They don't have any support what so ever for their practices through scriptures....) but that he is going to do whats best for his kids. He even told us he could see a big difference in the mormon church but like elder falabella told us, we will receive blessings when we choose the difficult part... when we choose the easy way... the blessings aren't there and if there are some, we are missing out on LOTS! So that was really sad... I was very grateful for hna smith afterwards though because she helped me to feel better about the whole situation.
Last night we got the official call that hna smith will be training this next change which means I will for sure have changes next week. They are the 14th of February... so I will write next monday, but I wont know where I am going until tuesday...so we will see what heavenly father has in store for me this next change... who my comp is and where I am going! I will be very sad to leave this ward behind... I hope with all my heart that one day you can all meet them... tistoj family, cecilia and her family, velasquez family... TODOS! I am excited for a new place but I am ofcourse already stressing about having to pack and of the unknown... I am a control freak through and through and everything is completely out of my control! So two mondays from now, I will have new fun stories to share about the new area!!
So remember raymunda? investigator? well she has been avoiding us and kind of fell off the face of the earth and FINALLY last night we found her and she explained to us why she's been avoiding us for so long. She started talking to some neighbors or something about the fact that she has a cantina (sell alcohol) and neighbors who aren't members of the church told her she'd have to give up her business if she joins the church. Although that is our ultimate goal... that she'd stop selling alcohol.... it isn't required. Sounds strange I know but MANY people here sell alcohol because it brings in so much more money. She was so excited that her friends weren't right (although we will have to explain to her why she'd WANT to give up selling it) and I think now she will come to church with us... before she thought she wasn't allowed to come because of what she sells. The sunday she came we got her a manual for George Albert Smith and it isSO funny! Her daughter... who we haven't really taught, has been reading more in the book of mormon, and that manual than ANY investigators we have!!! She loves it and loves what it teaches. She also likes the book of mormon so we are pretty excited about her and we will see what happens with her in the coming weeks... well hna smith will see more than me so if she keeps me informed I'll let you know!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELDER NELSON!!!!!!!! I know you wont get this until tomorrow but just wanted you to know I was thinking of you today:)
CONGRATS LANDON Y MALARIE! Happy wedding this last weekend... cant wait for pics:)
6ISH weeks Zach and Karli!!! SO EXCITED TO SEE BABY BENTLEY!
So other exciting news... there are members of our ward who make leather scripture cases and they are going to make me some... they are SO beautiful and I can't wait until you get to see them! They put images on the leather by hand and I have loved them since the CCM but didn't have a chance to get some.
We have new investigators within the last few weeks named karin and Ana. It is a mom and daughter... maybe I already explained but they are so great! The daughter promised us she'd come to church this next sunday and we think they are super positive! At least the daughter. She is an amazing example! Her dad was a drunk and died from drinking... but she has worked and made a huge effort to make sure and still get a college education. So she works every day and studies when she has free time. She is a great example and so sweet! She wants to go to institute and everything so that is very exciting news!!! She is my age and will be a very powerful member of the church one day!
Ok... if you can ever find the wiskil veggie in the states (I know they have it somewhere because hna smith has had it in the states) but all you do... cut it into slices, boil it like a potato. then when done, whisk the whites of an egg until fluffy and then add the yolks and mix together as well, dip wiskil slices and then fry them up! Then you have a guatemala dish called chila kila! SO GOOD! Tastes like an artichoke, but better:)
Anyway, quick the adorable little girl in my pictures... she is a CHOSEN spirit of heavenly father. Her mom is a menos activo... has some sins she isn't willing to repent of. Anyway this little FOUR YEAR OLD girl wakes her mom up every sunday to get her church clothes ready and goes to church with her grandma. She wants to be a missionary and is one of the sweetest things I have ever met! She wanted to wear my name tag to be a missionary while we were visiting her family. SO CUTE!
Well time is up! This was a rainy week, sad week with luki and carlos, but I feel so blessed. Fasting yesterday was great and gave me the strength I needed to start a new week. I am so blessed and I am so grateful for my amazing family, and for the new families I have found and developed here. You don't realize how much somebody means to you until it comes time to leave them:) I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! HAPPY WEEK! Elder Nelson.... feliz primer semana en el campo!!!!
LES QUIERO CON TODO MI CORAZON!!!!
con amor, hna nelson