A visit to the mountains

18 Feb 2014

Hola buenas tardes!

How are y'all? I’m great. We went to Xela today. My comp took her English test. All of the Latinos have to take an English test at the end of the mission. It’s all on the computer and a lady speaks to you and you answer questions in a mike and then someone grades the test. It's cool. 

Saturday we went to the temple with the Barrios family. Imagine if you will...a 1,2 8,9,11,13,15 year old, their mom, my comp and I on the bus all the way to Xela and back. It was crazy. Hermana Martinez and I respect Karina so much I don’t know how she handles so many kids. She is amazing. The good thing is on the way home everyone slept. It was pretty funny we were all leaning on each other (or in some cases drooling on each other). Being in the temple with them was so amazing. We just visited the waiting room inside the temple and watched a little video that had pics of temples and what they look like inside. Their faces were so amazing to watch as the video played. And the spirit was so strong. I can’t wait till they all go inside someday.

We had a cool experience week this week. We went to visit an investigador that lives way far out in the mountains with a member. And when we got there he wasn’t there. It was a bummer. We waited around a while but Emilio never showed up. By the time we got to the main road it was pretty late. I joked and said we should go visit Casimiro (he was a contact...a very flirty contact...also his name means “almost sees.” Weird.) My comp said ok and headed towards his house. Thinking that we should at least take advantage of the visit and that a member was with us I agreed. As we walked down the road we heard someone running after us we turned around to find Felipa, an inactive member who works with a member and her son running after us. She asked us where we were going...we lied said we were going to visit her. But we didn’t know where she lived. She didn’t believe us at first but then we convinced her and she invited us to her house. Which was at the bottom of the mountain and it was getting dark. But we decided to go. And it was so worth it. Every time we had talked to Felipa before she never expressed interest in going to church. But she was so excited and happy that we had visited her house. She said missionaries had never visited her in her house. I think she will become active again and her son will be baptized if we continue visiting them. People fall away from the church for various reasons but sometimes all they need is a little love to come back. 

This week a sister from the other ward passed away. She was a member who served so much and always cleaned the chapel. Hardly anyone from her ward came. Hermana Lu who is in charge of visiting sick members shared with us in Relief Society how important it is to visit members and show our love to them. Not just people from out ward or only members but all people who need help. Sometimes it’s hard for me to show my love to be people or find ways to serve. I truly believe we are more like our Savior when we love and serve others. And know what is also when Christ is most pleased with us.

Have a great week,

Hermana Davies 

5 Questions – the weather

1. What’s the daily weather like there right now?

It’s nice, it’s warm and gets a little cold at night. It can be a little chilly in the day but not like before.

2. How do average people heat their homes? Is that what you use?

No one heats their homes. The only thing that heats the homes is the wood-burning stove in the kitchen. A lot of families hang out in the kitchen cause its warm.

3. Even though it’s colder, is it still green, or have things frozen?

It’s a greenish brown, its really green from June to November, which is the raining season. It’s very rare to have rain anytime not in the rainy season.

4. Do people have adequate clothing for the weather?

I think so. I would like to use tights more. But they get ruined pretty easily. I wish I would have bought a coat with a liner. But it’s not too bad because we warm up from walking so much.

5. What do you do when you feel cold?

Well normally the coldest time is in the house. So I put socks on and my jacket. The pjs mom sent are super helpful! I’m not cold when I get in bed anymore! And my comp keeps her pajama top on all morning. 

Also thank you so much for the package! It came just in time! And I loved everything inside! Hermana Martinez also sends her thanks for the pjs. We are so toasty at night! And the Ritter sport chocolate is so cool! I haven’t eaten it yet...I’m saving it! I have the best mom!