Hola, buenas tardes!! How are y’all doing? I hope this week has been a good one for you guys! It’s definitely been a good one here in Guate. This week was full of awesome experiences! Almost all of this week we spent with the Hermanas in Salama. We left Tuesday night, getting a white dress for Hermana Anayeli in preperation for her upcoming baptism. We we got there, but guess what? It wasn’t there… the dress!! But it was okay because we were prepared for cases such as these. We ended up having a sleepover with the Hermanas and then early next morning I woke up with A LOT of pain in my stomach. Hermana Andino and I have always been careful with the food we eat, but just a couple of days earlier we ate something at a members house that just didn’t sit well with us. Hermana Andino felt better after an Alka-seltzer and a couple of hours in the restroom. However after taking Pepto, Alka-Seltzer and some pain killers nothing was working for me! It was actually getting worse. I started to freak out when one of the other Sister, Hermana Orantes told me, “you might have worms!!” That’s the last thing anyone wants to hear. Especially since around 6 missionaries left for the hospital (in the capital) just last week for special treatment. I went to visit the doctor, we were in the office around 3pm and didn’t leave until 7:30pm. He did a quick ultrasound of my stomach and I was just waiting for him to tell me “here’s the little worm living in your stomach!!”. Instead he told me that a big chunk of my intestine was inflated from some sort of food poisoning. It was a relief to hear it wasn’t a worm!! We went back to Salama after buying around Q300 ($40) worth of medication. After 2 days of taking my medicine I feel completely fine! Phew!!

On Saturday, we were informed which missionaries were going to get transfered. I was among the ones in the list. My guess is that I’ll be going somewhere in Baja or Alta Verapaz. I’m not ready to head up north to Peten yet, but I’ll know for sure this coming Wednesday! Hermana Orantes also has transfers and I’m just putting it out there, that she’s probably going to be a Sister Leader in Cobán. She’s an awesome leader. I’m also putting it in writting that she gave me an open invitation to go to the keys in Florida with her after the mission! Hermana Orantes is from Florida.

Hermana Anayeli got baptised this past Sunday! It was one of the most amazing things that has happened to me so far. We became great friends, so we were doing everything we could to get her baptised before I announced to everyone in the Jeronimo branch that I was going to be transfered. Really, Hermana Anayeli is amazing. Hermana Andino and I woke up at 3am to get ready for her baptism. We were scheduled to start the baptism at 8am and regular church services started shortly after so we didn’t have time to waste. We got everything together and then waited for the bus to take us to church. We waited 30 minutes and then we waited some more. We were seriously stressing because we needed to fill the font. It normally took 2 hours to fill the font. Well it was already 6 and we still didn’t have a ride to church. We called our branch mission leader, Hermano Nino (the best person ever) who came and picked us up from the bus stop in about 15 minutes. We got to the church only to find that the doors leading to the baptisimal font were locked and we didn’t have the keys. At this point I was ready to cry! SERIOUSLY, WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!! Hermana Andino and I felt that we had no other choice but to run to the members house that had the keys which was about a mile away. When we were about 1/2 way there, we got a call from Hermano Nino to tell us, “Hermanas, I got in!!” I was so delighted that I started to scream “Yeahhh….”. Hermana Andino probably thought I had finally lost it and I was crazy! When we got back, it hit me and I asked Hermano Nino, “ummm, Hermano how did you get in?” He just answered, I jumped! Hermano Nino had said a little prayer and got the impression to stack some chairs and climbed up on top of the door frame and squeezed in a small opening letting him fall into the baptisimal font room. With only an hour left till the baptism, we started to fill the font. After a sincere prayer for another miracle, the font filled in 45 minutes.

Turns out that Hermana Anayeli also had a miracle. As she was making her way to church and she passed through a remote area called La Cumbre she got a flat tire! After calling everyone she knew (who didn’t answer) a good samaritan who just happed to be riding by gave her a ride to the center of San Jeronimo where she then sprinted to the church! When I saw her arrive to church she was exhausted. We gave each other a great big hug and got the show started! She was so hot from running that it was a relief to get into the cool baptisimal water in the font that early in the morning.

I can testify to you all that God exists. That through sincere prayer and faith that things will work themselves out, it will. Only though him can we receive miracles. He listens to us and he loves us. All he wants is for us to join him and his Son and to listen to them. I’m grateful that I got to experience this miracle! We cryed a lot that day. I was so moved by her baptism and her receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. I was also asked to give my testimony for the last time before I left San Jeronimo, it was a very very special day.

Today I’ve been washing all the dirty laundry and packing all of my stuff. I’ll be leaving to Cobán tomorrow and then the next day I’ll receive notice of my new area and new companion. Jeez, things really are moving fast. I never really imagined leaving Chomo (San Jeronimo). I felt like it was my home. I learned how to be a missionary here… heck it was where I learned most of my Spanish. However the mission is all about change and growing, I’m excited for the new change and to grow even more.

Thank you all for reading my blog and supporting me in everything I do!! I’ll let you guys know how everything goes in my new area this coming Monday. I hope you all have a good week! I love you all!

Love, Ari (Hermana Possié)

Fotos:

  1. Best district!
  2. Anayeli Lopez Lopez
  3. Me, Hna. Andina and Anayeli
  4. A lot of people came to support her!