August 12 - Arraijan

Greetings from my 3rd area-- Arraiján. This is my 3rd time opening an area, and I can't help but wonder if maybe this is one of my purposes in the mission. I am in a ward, not a branch, and the people were SO kind to me yesterday. I had a moment of "hey i might be getting good at spanish!" when the bishop asked me to come up and bear my testimony during sacrament meeting. Without hesitation or fear, i got up and articulated my feelings about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It felt good. I was very grateful for the progress i've made in the past 5.5 months.

My new companion is Hermana De Leon from the capital of Guatemala. She is 24, mature, and loves dancing just as much as i do. This is her first time opening an area, so it's been an humbling experience to try to teach her everything i've learned. 

Some great news is that most people here cook their rice with coconut, so i can't eat it! Woo hooo! That's an answer to prayers. 

I am now in a combined zone and there are 26 missionaries in it. Crazy! Thats more than double of what was in my last zone. But there are 6 of us from my last zone in this zone; we all just moved together! 

We met a woman named Maria this past week. She is incedible. We had a powerful lesson with her about how the restored gospel can bless her family. As i looked into her eyes i felt that special connection that told me that i have known her before. We also taught a family who took a look at the picture of the First Vision and they said "we want to know more". The father of the family called us last night after church and explained how he got called into work for the next week, but wanted to make sure that we were coming back to teach his family.

Things are moving along. We pray, and pray, and pray some more; that we can listen closely to the Spirit and be guided to teach the people who need the gospel.

I love you all!