Week 19

Hola Hola Todos!!! Well it’s been a while since I’ve written! Many things have happened (of course) since 2 weeks ago. Sorry for not writing earlier but here’s what happened. We had transfers the week of Thanksgiving. Hermana Morales spent her time packing her bags, cleaning and visiting investigators and members before she left. It’s hard leaving an area. I learned that from her. She never cried but I could tell she was sad when she said her goodbyes to some of the members.

We arrived to Cobán Wednesday November 23rd for transfers, I remembered feeling so so nervous. All the Hermanas were telling me I was going to train, but only half of me thought I was actually going to train. I was really hoping to train and my wish came true! I’M A TRAINER!! It’s actually crazy! I was super stunned when Presidente Alvarado announced that I would be senior companion and trainer to my companion, Hermana Andino.

You guys, she’s actually the cutest person ever!!! She’s 21 from Tegucigalpa, Honduras. She speaks English, Spanish and is currently working on French and Q’eqchi (the Mayan dialect of Cobán Guatemala). She’s got talent you guys! I’m totally excited! She reminds me a lot of about me when I started my mission. That just makes me love her even more! Her first day was Thanksgiving! It was a rough day to start off! She wasn’t really used to the schedule so we had to adapt to that, but now she hops right out of bed. Which was way faster than I. My parents sent me an alarm clock to help me with that! :) Anyways we ended up having many discouraging lessons with preachers who were practically telling us we were damned to hell for teaching false doctrine and moms that would really rather sleep than listen to our lesson. Not in their bed of course, but in front of us in the middle of the lesson. We ended the day off strong with a Thanksgiving dinner with a family in Salama. We had chicken, carrots, mashed potatoes and salad. The food was so good I started crying. We don’t get meals like that very often so we cherished every moment of that meal. Hermana Andino, Nuñez and Orantes (another American) and I finished almost every last bite of the food on the table when they brought desert. I was actually stunned. I never thought I would leave that table, I was so full! We finished with dinner, took a look a their Christmas decorations and then we left for the church to do some indexing. I did my first index card in Spanish from Spain and it was just about the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Nevertheless both Hermana Andino and I finished together, strength of companionship!!

The days went by fast after that. We’ve been busy working had at training and getting to know the areas and the people. We’ve been strengthening our companionship everyday with our studies and our experiences with lessons. Last Sunday we received information that I would need to travel to the capital on Monday (our p-day) for immigration purposes. Our first p-day together wasn’t actually together but in an intercambio (exchange). She stayed in San Jeronimo while I traveled 4 hours to the capital from Cobán. Normally it would take us 6 hours to the capital from my area in San Jeronimo, but this time we left around 3pm because the mission secretaries were late. We hit hard traffic and arrived at the capital after 9 hours of traveling. I was never happier to see a bed in my life. I don’t have room to say I was tired because the Elders who came from Peten had traveled a total of 18 hours already. From Peten to Cobán and from Cobán to the Capital. I have pure respect for those Elders, that’s a different type of strength. After all the stress of traveling, getting 4 hours of sleep and getting interviewed by immigration, we had a good time eating at San Martin and visiting with each other. The Elders were friendly and funny, but a lot of that was due to their lack of sleep. That same day we after finishing up with immigration we ended up traveling home which took another 7 to 8 hours. We crashed after having something to eat at Hermana Naty’s house, we were so tired. We finally reunited with our companions after some fun and got back to work. I should be going back to the capital around the 14th. But until then I will be enjoying the many adventures here in San Jeronimo with my new comp Hermana Andino.

Yes, that was my week(s). I’m glad I got the opportunity to talk to some of you guys during Thanksgiving! I promise to make up for the missing pies this Thanksgiving in 2025! For the meantime thank you for reading and being with me (in spirit) during my mission!

I love you all and wish you all an amazing week! Stay strong and remember that family is one of the biggest blessings we have received on the earth and in our life after.

Love you guys!! Arianna

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