Week 71 -- Feeling God's Love for People

Tell the Spanish elers that I will be HAPPY to go out with them!!! I am so excited to keep my Spanish up after the mission.

1.  How are Melissa, Amy, and Hna B doing?  Is Melissa going back to BYU this summer or is she waiting until fall? 

Wellm Melissa is home now... that's weird. She's at BYU, I think... yeah, I'm pretty sure. And Amy is still on the mission in Spain. she's a sister training leader, too, just like Melissa was... I'm just lame and never got that promotion. LOL  Hna B is ready to go home. She's been teaching in English her whole mission until now, haha, but I think she's doing alright. 

2. How is Hna S doing?  Is her Spanish improving?  Has she started speaking more? 

Her Spanish is really improving. This week she has made the effort to only speak in Spanish in the street and I think that it has really, really helped. I was so proud yesterday because an investigator asked her questions and she answered them! And I notice that she is more willing to jump in and say things which makes me happy. 

3.  How are D and her family doing?  

Well, they still need prayers. We met with her son this week and he remembers a ton of what we teach him and is just so cute! So we are prepping him for the 28th to get baptized. I hope that all goes well there. But the family...they continue to need prayers. I know that Hno F will decide to get married someday and I really, really hope that it is while I am here... but we shall see. 

4.  How was church yesterday?  Did you have many investigators and less active members there?  Did you learn anything new? 

We had 1 investigator (D) and we had 5 menos activos (less active members). Hno Cristobal came to church again with his two daughters which makes us so happy! But nothing new... well, we went to ward council since we don't have a mission leader anymore. Oh, and 2 members from my ward in La Victoria moved out here so they are in this ward now which is weird and cool!! 

5.  How is Familia R?  

They are doing well. I just love that family. They fed us dinner this week. They really need lots of help and have a long way to go before they can get divorced and do all the necessary preparation but they just love our visits and have such a sweet spirit in their home. Another one that I know will get baptized in the future, just not while I'm here. 

6.  What did you do for P-Day this week?  

We went out to the zoo and beach place that I went to a long time ago when I was in La Victoria. It was more fun this time with the zone, I guess since I knew people this time and wasn't brand new. We got there late and got back late and that's why I'm on late, lol, but it was fun and we ate there on the beach and it was nice. 

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

Well, a member was going to leave with us on Saturday and on Sunday... but the member backed out both days... but both of those days we were able to find another member to leave with us who is an former missionary and super pilas. So that was a tender mercy for sure because he just happened to cross our path and wasn't doing anything so he could leave with us! 

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

I just love Familia G always.  I also did get a lot of mail this week! A lot from Christmas, lol, but I heard from Sis Peacock, Sis Blunk, Kayla and Jordan, Oma, Bishop Clark, Melissa and the girls, and I got 2 cards from you. I'm assuming these will be some of my last letters soI was really excited

9.  What other members have you spent time with this week?  Have other members been going out with you? 

We just had G, the former misisonary leave with us. But we spent time with Familia G on Saturday because we made cookies with them and I just love that family. They are so sweet to us! 

10.  Have you been able to meet with Y again? 

No... I'm a little concerned that she doesn't want us to visit her... 

11.  How are Hna M and her family doing?  

Well, the kids came to church but she didn't. The stepson who we are teaching doesn't really want anything to do with the church.... other than that they are doing alright. 

12.  You said that people are starting school again -- what is the school calendar like there?

School here is February to the end of November or December. So it's really weird, lol. 

13.  Have you been able to talk to a lot of people this week?  

Not really... Hna S was sick one day and we went to San Pedro one day so that she could get x-rays of her back. She broke it a few years ago and never went to the doctor so it healed wrong and now she has medicine that she is taking. But because of that we only really had 5 days of teaching and there were some rainy days...so not that I'm putting excuses, but it was harder to talk to a lot of people this week. But Hna S is getting better at contacting people which takes some of the load off of me.

14.  What was the best thing happened this week? 

We had to go into San Pedro, like I said, and Hna Milller is the nurse's companion and so I got to spend a good while with Hna M and I just miss her so much but it made me feel so much better. And we got to eat at a Subway which was yummy. 

15  What do you love most about Honduras? 

I love that it is just so beautiful. There are mountains and it's all green and colorful and the beach...well, even though it's dirty it's just pretty. And everything just feels peaceful like it's a slower pace of life and people appreciate the things that they have more. It's just so pretty here.

16.  Who else are you teaching right now and what can we pray for for the people you're working with? 

Well, really our focus is Familia M and Familia R... we have a few others that we have but they just aren't progressing like we would like and we really, really need to find new people... so you can pray that we can find new people. 

17.  What was the spiritual highlight of your week? 

This week several of the people we were teaching or that we contacted just flat out rejected us and it makes me really sad. But I remember that we were in a cita (appoitment) and the whole time i just felt the Spirit so strongly even though the hermano was talking a ton and it had nothing to do with the lesson and then at the end he told us he didn't want us to come back.. but I just felt so much love for these people. I am sure that the Spirit was there helping me to feel God's love for them. So even though we got flat out rejected many times, I still just love them all. 

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

I finished the New Testament this week in Spanish so I am starting the Book of Mormon in Spanish again.

19  Do you know that I love you and I miss you? 

Always. And I'm almost home. 

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

We went on a longer bus ride to get to the zoo place today and it reminded me a little of Copan with the mountains and it was just so pretty. I'm going to be so sad to leave this place. 

21.  Did you have any unusual experiences this week? 

I got bit by a dog... it's not bad so don't worry, lol, and it had its shots and eveything. It didn't even leave a hole in my skirt and I didn't bleed that much. It's mainly just a bruise. But it was a member's dog who was on a leash and they think that he thought I was playing or something and jumped and the owner didn't have him as firm as he thought, I guessed, and he got me.... fun stuff. 

22. What has been your biggest challenge this week? 

Trying not to think about home... 

23.  What are your goals for this week? 

To not be so stressed out. To compliment my companion and other missionaries more and to try to enjoy every moment. 

24.  Transfers are next week.  Do you think either you or Hna S will be transferred? 

I honestly don't think that we will have transfers but you never know. 

I figured out what I want to eat when I get home... I want the bbq roast on the grill that Papa makes. Well, I think that Daddy makes it too, lol, and I want mashed potatoes and rolls and some of those oatmeal craisin cookies that we buy premade at the store. That's all. 

I love you so much! 

Hermana Gisseman

Familia G




Hna Yeni G and her kids


At Subway


Cooking with Familia G






At the zoo


















With Elder Martinez






















Say cheese!!

Week 70 -- It's the Little Things -- Like Making Cookies

1. How is Hna S doing?  

She understands everything that I say...but I hope  this week we can really focus on speaking!!! We have been working hard on teaching lesson 1.

2.  Have you received any more packages or letters? 

I got a letter from the Swansons with a picture of Brinley and I got a drawing from the Stylers but packages, not yet.

3.  How are D and her family doing?  Is their son still in date to be baptized in February? 

Yeah, he is going to get baptized on the 28th so at the end of the month. He is excited but a little shy so we just have to keep teaching him... but it's a little difficult when we can only see him once a week. But I'm sure that everything will work out and the whole family is excited.  And they all came to church on Sunday. 

4.  How was church yesterday?  Did you have many investigators and less active members there?  Did you learn anything new? 

We had 10 investigators!  The Familia M and Familia R came, so that was awesome! I hope that those two families can progress and that maybe one of them will be able to be baptized while I am here!!!! And we had some menos activos (less active members) as well and the guy who got excommunicated. So there is progress here... it's just slow and not in the form of baptisms.

5.  How is Familia R?  

Their taxi broke so this week they have had to take it in a lot to get fixed and it's just been hard for them. They are starting school now. But other than that they are excited for church and they all went on Sunday and they are so good about receiving us and loving us.  :)

6.  What did you do for P-Day this week?  

We went to the beach and chiilled and took pictures for a little bit and then we went to eat at Pizza Hut as a zone. There was a guy creeping on us so bad, hahaha, he was like using his menu to hide it but he kept creeping and we were all laughing so hard. Good times. 

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

I think that it is so hard for me to be out in the rain... like it kills me. I hate it so much. But the Lord has truly blessed us to have citas (appointments) and maybe some fall through but we find others so that we aren't out in the rain all the time. But today is sunny again so I'm happy, lol. 

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

Well, we went to a menos activos (less active members') house and made chocolate chip cookies with them and it was really fun and she let us use her kitchen and all her stuff and we did a little family home evening and it just felt a little bit more like the States. And Hna S really, really wanted to make cookies, lol. 

9.  Have you spent more time with Familia G this week? 

We left with M and B again on Sunday. They are just so great. And they invited us over to eat lunch after church! And they invited us over again for dinner since they always give us dinner on Sundays. They are so sweet. today is Hna Doris's birthday so we are going to go by and give her a little present. 

10.  Did you have a favorite appointment or lesson this week, one that went really well and that you felt like the person you were teaching was really receptive to? 

We met iwth a new investigator, Y, and she says that she is evangelica but doesn't even feel good in her own church. She had read the pamphlet that we left with her and she said that she really liked the story of Joseph Smith. She was really receptive and sweet and knew all the answers and is looking for the truth. We really, really hope that she really is this pilas. We have a cita (appointment) with her this week so we will see how it goes. I haven't met with anyone that interested or that remembered that much in a really long time so it was refreshing. 

11.  How are Hna Maritza and her family doing?  

They are doing alright. She came to church on Sunday with her 3 kids but her husband still hasn't come... but hopefully he will come back soon... I really hope so.  They are starting school again but are doing well. 

12.  How have you served someone this week? 

We went and visited a menos activa (less active member) who has diabetes and can't really take care of it the way shes supposed to so she has bad hearing and is going blind and they have had to amputate some of her toes. It's just a really sad situation and we went to visit her and cleaned her house for her. She doesn't have a working stove and lives in one room. It's just sad. But we were able to wash her dishes and clean up a little bit for her. 

13.  Have you been able to talk to a lot of people this week?  

It was raining this week until the end of the week... so the first half of the week was terrible and there was no one to talk to but we were able to talk to more people when it has been sunny.  

14.  What was the best thing happened this week? 

I think that it was sunny today and I really did like making cookies and being with Familia Galeas. I like that people are showing us love and lots of it. It makes me feel good and like we really are doing something right. 

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

The guy that was creeping on us today in Pizza Hut, haha.

16.  What have you learned about the Savior in the last few months? 

That He is so patient with us. We make so many mistakes all the time and I'm sure it would be so easy to just give up on somebody and to lose hope, but He never does that. He is always there no matter how stubborn we are or how hard we fall. He is always there time and time again. And I think that we need to be patient with others, too, and especially with ourselves. 

17.  Who else are you teaching right now and what can we pray for for the people you're working with? 

Pray for Familia M and Familia R that one of them can get married and get baptized! And that we can find other people who are ready to hear the gospel 

18.  What was the spiritual highlight of your week? 

We were in church yesterday and it was fast and testimony meeting and a little kid got up who is 9 and he got baptized like a month ago. And he got up and was talking about how his cousin just got home from a vacation in the States and they all had a big party and were just so happy to be together. And he said that he thought that must be what Heaven is like when we are all together again. I think that it just kind of hit everybody.

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

I finished Jesus the Christ. And I am almost done with Revelations in the Bible in Spanish.  I'm rereading the conference talks still. I really, really love Pres. Uchtdorf's talk, "Lord is it I?"  I think there is so much we can learn from that talk. 

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

Always

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

Today is really, really sunny.  :) YAY

22.  Did you have any unusual experiences this week? 

Well, I threw up this week... I have only thrown up once on the mission until this week. I just didn't feel good but I decided to eat all the lunch they gave me anyways and it didn't go well. So we were in a cita and I just couldn't do it anymore. But luckily they had a really nice bathroom, lol, and then we went home. I felt bad.  Luckily they were old people and they understood and were very nice about it. 

23. What has been your biggest challenge this week? 

Trying to help Hna S get lesson 2 down, the Plan of Salvation. That is the hardest lesson and we spent 3 days going over the doctrine and translating the folletos.

25.  What's the most unusual thing you ate this week?  What was the best thing you ate this week?  What was the worst thing you ate this week? 

I don't really know... I didn't eat anything really gross. But yesterday we got fried fish that was really good. I like fish in general. But we did find white chocolate covered Oreos that were delicious!

Yeah... so today I hit 16 months... thats kind of a lot. 

I love you! 

Hermana Gisseman

Making cookies today

I love this blanket!

The creeper from the restaurant today