The Field is White: Week 55 -- Changes -- A New Area and a Hard Goodbye

1. So the big question of the day is, of course, did you get transferred and, if so, where are you now??? Who is your companion? What is your area like? How was the transfer meeting?

I did get transferred! I am in Centro 3 in Puerto Cortes!!!! I know my zone leaders and a few hermanas from other parts of the mission. I am in an area that is mas o menos (more or less) close to Omoa, the beach we went to. It's the closest area to that beach anyway, but my area has beach in it! We walked by it twice this week and it is sooo pretty. It is more city-ish than the other areas I have been in. The houses are way nice and people actually have cars which is weird. It's harder to contact people because they are all in their houses... so that's been difficult for me. I am now senior companion. And my comp is Hna A (who is the hija of Hna V, one of my former companions) so she went to Santa Rosa when I left. She's really sweet and she's pretty much just like me but from Guatemala. She is 24, a perfectionist, and a little shy. So pretty much we are the same person. We have been getting along really, really well which makes me so happy. And she says that she is learning new things from me all the time which makes me feel good, like I really am a good missionary. She has been in this area for one change already. But now I feel sooooo old in the mission,. Like the tables have turned now and I just feel like I have so much time in the mission and that I have hardly any time left. The transfer meeting was good. President Dester even told us that it is okay to be baggy (homesick) sometimes, lol, which was funny, but that we should still work. The area here makes me a little nervous, though, because when they opened it up for hermanas 4 changes ago the hermanas only worked with menos activos (less active members). And last change they changed that and divided the area so that the hermanas had an area and had investigators... but they continued to mostlly visit the menos activos so we hardly have investigators and the ones that we do have are not towards baptism so that really scares me.... there's a lot of work to be done. And I feel like all of my areas have been like that... hardly any investigators so I guess that's the challenge that I have, lol. I have learned a lot about what I do and don't like and I feel like I can relate to exactly what my companions feel as junior companios, so I think that helps a lot because a lot of my other companions only knew what it was to be comp mayor since they became trainers like immediately. So I'm excited. I just hope that I can do a good job.

2. Did you get the painting you commissioned from Andrea? What is it a painting of?

I haven't gotten it yet. She is going to finish it this change and send it to me in the ruta.

3. How was church yesterday? Were any of your investigators there?

It was good. The church has air conditioning!!!! This is the first chapel I have been in that has air conditioning in the sacrament hall! I'm so dang excited! There were about 125 people there. We had 2 investigators but this area doesnt have very many.

4. Who are your investigators? How are they doing? What specifically could we pray for for them ?

Well, I don't really know them yet but one is named D. and really she is ready to be baptized... but she has to get married...you could pray that they could get married so they can get baptized!!! The rest of them I really don't know yet.

5. Do you feel like the missionaries there, including you, have more success with investigators/non-members or with less actives? Do you feel like you have a preference for working with one group over the other (non-members/investigators vs. less actives)?

Personally, I think that I have a knack for working with menos activos... after the work that I did in Santa Rosa and la Victoria... I never have had a ton of investigators at one time or seen lots of baptisms but I have seen lots more progress with my menos activos... so I think that maybe that's just what the Lord wants me to do or to learn...I don't really know. And this area has a ton of menos activos, too.... but other missionaries have a lot more success with investigators. So it depends on the missionaries, the area and the people really. But for me, I feel like I have had more success with menos activos. I just found out that Mario, a less active member I worked with in a previous area, went to the temple to take out his endowments and is now a ward missionary and is working really hard with the missionaries! That makes me sooooo happy! And another less active family I worked with is coming back to church, too. :-)

6. What did you do for P-Day?

Today we went to the Castillo again. It felt weird becasue I am in the same zone as Campana where I was born (my first area) (even though we were part of Zona Choloma at the time and now it's divided into Zona Puerto Cortes and Choloma) but we went to the castillo and ate at the same resaurant that I ate at a year ago, lol. We are writing in the same internet that I was in a year ago, lol. It's just all kind of funny. We went to the castle and took some pics at the beach and ate fish! Woot! And now we are writing. :)

7. What miracles and tender mercies have you seen this week? Answers to your prayers?

My bags didn't break this change! I was really worried that my one suitcase would break again... but it survived! Oh, so the water is here is on all the time which I also haven't experienced in a reallym really long time. But the water was out for two days and we had an empty pila...so no water to flush the toilet, to wash dishes, to shower. But tender mercy! It was raining when we woke up so we could stick a bucket outside and catch rain water to shower.... don't judge! I prefer showering with rainwater to walking around all sweaty, lol, but I never thought in my life that I would be that happy to see rain.

8. How is your tooth feeling?

Fine. It hasnt bothered me anymore.

9. How has someone else blessed your life this week?

One of the other elders helped me with my suitcase. We had to carry our bags up a bridge and a good 10 minutes down the highway to get to our house, haha, so luckily another elder herlped with my bags. Marcia's family threw a going away party for me and we ate cake and hung out. We took pictures and they all wrote in my baggy (a book that we have that other missionaries and people write in when we leave an area) and gave me cards. Loami crocheted me a hat, too, and it's pretty cute. I gave Joana my Minne Mouse. I just love that family so much and I'm so sad. I hope that one day I can come back just to visit them.

10. How have you blessed someone else’s life this week?

I don't really know.... I'm new here so I don't know anyone or anything...

11. What was the best thing that happened this week?

Changes! But it was soooo sad. I cried. I didn't want to. But Juana started crying and Marcia too and I just couldn't do it and I cried with them and I didn't want to leave.

12. What was the funniest/funnest thing that happened this week?

I don't know that either. It was kind of a sad week. But the good thing is that Hna A is really cute and funny so we just talk all day and it's fun. Well, we teach lessons too, lol, but its a lot of walking in between.

13. What did you do for your district meeting and zone meeting this week?

Well, we said our goodbyes... I had to give my testimony and they all asked that Hna Neibaur and I sing... so we did and it was terrible and we were singing the wrong words!

14. What was the spiritual highlight of your week?

I don't really know if it's an experience but now that I'm comp mayor (senior companion) I feel the difference. Like maybe that's dumb and prideful, but I don't know...I just feel it. I felt more motivation to do contacts and things like that and just more certain about making decisions even though it really doesn't matter who is comp mayor and who is menor (junior) but coming here I was really nervous that I wouldn't be able to do anything because I don't know the area and I've never been comp mayor and...I don't know...but I just felt like the Lord has been helping me to be better and to try harder and to figure out the things that I'm supposed to do now.

15. What did you learn from your personal study this week?

This week I have had a cold so my personal study has been more of a fight to stay awake.. but Hna A has good insights to the New Testament so I have been learning from her.

16. Do you know that I love you and I miss you?

Always!

17. What was the best thing and the worst thing you ate this week?

I ate squid just now... it's not that it was bad...it's just that the texture is weird. But someone gave it to me to try from their soup... bleh. But I also ate fried fish just now and it was really, really good.

18. What was the most beautiful thing you saw this week?

THE BEACH!

19. Did you feel the earthquake that happened in El Salvador last week? It was pretty big -- 7.4 on the Richter scale!

I didn't feel it, but the people in Copan did! And apparently it ruined part of the highway so people couldn't travel out there for a few days... for changes the hermanas from Copan couldn't get there in time. But I'm not really close to El Salvador right now so I didn't feel it.

20. What have you learned from the Honduran people?

They are so willing to share. They have like nothing! Most of them live from paycheck to paycheck... maybe day to day, but they are so willing to share what they have -- food, soda, whatever. They just love to give. And I'm super stingy so I feel like I have really learned a lot from them. And they all pertty much have faith in God which is more that can be said for us in the States. Most people are super religious here (even if they aren't part of our church and don't want to listen to us). God is a really big part of their lives and they aren't afraid to show that.

21. What have you learned from your mission so far?

That things arent perfect and that plans don't go the way you plan but that is okay! You just have to learn to go with the flow and let go. I noticed that a little bit with Hna A. She reminds me of who I was 6 months ago. She was getting irritated that the elders were late and things like that and I was just chilling, enjoying talking to the elders that were there because it's just a fact -- people are late. But with citas (appointments) falling through and things like that, I feel like I am much more laid back now and that the details don't really matter so much. You just have to let some things go. But I do feel like I am getting to know my Savior better and I am definitely learning more about the gospel. No matter where we are there is always more to learn.

I hope that I can make good things happen here. I hope that you all have a good week!

Hermana Gisseman