Blessings, blessings, blessings for all!

Hey Pops,

  I think all these elderes here are thinking that i am going to die. I read your letter, and o man, I can't believe that you're going to the Temple this Saturday! En las palabras de lo que Elder Gonzalez medijo que yo debo decirte "quiero papi, estoy muy orgullosa de it." El le manda felicitaciones!

  This week! wow, i learned a lot. I'll be honest, it was a little rough. I felt a little sick thursday and friday, and I got a letter just in time. I received a letter from Hermana Hutchins, (mi hija!) who i trained in Puerto Barrios. She is one of the best people i have been privelaged to know. Also, i believe she has a blog... anyway, she wrote me about a month ago, and i just got the two letters. anyway, they helped me a ton. I wont go totally into why, its one of those things ill telly ou after the mission, but for the record... I am feeling more love for my companion. I have lreaned that people are products of their environment until they decide to change themselves (good or bad).

This is something that was like... no duh, but i really understood it more. I lived away from you and Mom for a while in Rexburg, and so i grew away a bit. I learned about other people and how thay are. I also feel like i wasnt inthe house much when i did live at home. With church activities and sercives, friends, running, work, ect. i wasnt at home all the time. i learned how i can be who i wanted to be. I am grateful for that time because i learned a lot. For those that have never lived away from home, and always were guided by their parents, probably havent been giventhe same opportunity. Dad, I feel liek people liek that are usually just like their parents, unless they choose to willingly be different than them. I have found more love for my companion and her family. I am grateful for the fact that Mom always showed her love for us. I am happy that i have been able to become likeher now. I am grateful for that because when I feel unloved or forgotten, thats okay. People are products of their envrionments and the mission is a place to grow. Anyway, i love the Lord!

   I have kept reading Revelation, and i rememebred how much i used to have fear for the Second Coming of Christ. I remember how i used to feel from the way we were taught, before we came to know the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I used to be afraid, and as i was reading revelation, i coudlnt help but think about why i should or shouldnt have fear now. I just thought about how i know if i am "saved" or not. I am proud to say that I have been baptized by someone who holds the Priesthood authority of God. I continue to work to live my life in accordance with the commandments of God. I remeber the Lord and His sacrifice by renewing the covenants I had made by participando en la santa cena. I know i am not perfect, and i have many faults, but i have faith in the Lord and i try to follow His ways so that i can return to Him at the last day. I know the Book of Mormon is true because it testifies of Christ and His gospel.  Anyway, i know the Lord provides a way for us to return to Him, and I know He has sent me here to share this knowledge con la gente de Guatemala. I am so grateful.

   We have been very blessed to have been able a poner dos fechas bautismales con dos hijas de Dios este semana pasada. Pues, ayer... anoche, las pusimos. One of the girls is nine, and the other girl is 15. theyre not from the same famiy or anything like that. anyway, we feel so blessed. Sometimes i lose faith. Its true, i dont always thinks about it either. But when I fail to invite people to be baptized by someone who holds the priesthood authority of God, wehn I fail to invite people to make covenants with God and be washed of their sins, i am disrespecting this sacred calling that I have. About two weeks ago, Elder Ochoa came to visit us and told us to not be afraid to invite people to be baptized. anyway, i figured, that when i fail to invite, i am denying my testimony of baptism, and i am disrespecting my calling here as a missionary. Well, i got over my temor, and i... poped the question. Now we have two sisters that are going to be baptized. We are working and praying that they continue to prepare for this day.

   Are you inviting Elder Higbee or Fragiacomo to go to the Temple with you this Saturday? Tell the missionaries there if you want them to come!

  I love you dad!

Keep working!

With love,

 Hermana Ramirez

here is a view from our house. i tried to do the panoramic pic, but im... confused. anyway, yeah!

Minerva is the bomb!!!

Dad, 

how the heck are ya?

  Yep, it's st.patties day, and i am happy to be here and be amongst the guatemaltecos who wont be drinking... anymore than the norm today. unlike NY, who is probably already... half in the bag. Good luck my dear state, good luck in waking up tomorrow... Some people are irish; some people aren't irish. who cares,  i'm irish and thats cool, but im mormon too, so this holiday doesnt apply to me anymore.

  Well Pops, this week was chilerisimo! oh, first off, i dont have transfers. it is transfers week, and i aint leavin!

   Hey, remember the inactive sister that came back to church, Hermana T? Remember her future missionary son? Well... HER SON FILLED OUT HIS MISSION PAPERSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! What is this amazing feeling of joy? puchica, dad, this work is amazing. i love being a missionary. sometimes its hard, pero vale le pena. 

  Hey, pleaso let the ward know that i am NOT in the south mission. I still get letters sent there. Forget the south, forget it, throw it out the window, im inthe EAST. make sure that thing ( where ever the newburgh peeps are getting my address from) changes to the East mission. 

  Oh, go watch that video from Elder Nelson Man's Heart shall fail them. i watched that a ton before my missoin, and i watched last night, dang. it was good i didnt have mascara onyesturday, because those tears went rollin. its so good that video, and the elder holland one. yeah, he should have just got a new car. 

  we met these awesome guys that play guitar, and theyre evangelicals. and gues what, they were playing dc talk, and they sing in english. i was like, AHHH! DC TALK! i asked them if they know about sonicflood, and they said no. me hert broke a bit. anyway, they like jars of clay. i love these guys, theyre so talented. they should totally seguir el ejemplo de Jesucristo y al ser bautizado por algien que posee la autoridad de Dios. yep, they should. 

  I was reading in Revelations 7.13-17, and i just thought about how marvelous it is that we have the proxy work in the Temple. what a great blessing it is to know that everyone gets the chance to hear and accept the Gospel. Our Heavenly Father is so merciful! He just loves us so much, and for that He sent His Son.

  Im still reading the miracle of forgiveness, and its starting to hurt a bit, not a lot, bit just a smidge. 

  Okay, i am so grateful to be here in Minerva for another transfer! I really love this area, and we are really seeing a copious amount of blessings, like a plethora just layed out in front of us. so were working heard. 

  I love you dad! 

kepp going!

love, 

Hermana Ramirez 

"i was the kind of kid that always wondered what bark was made our of on a tree." -Hansel

the pic is of the elders playing jenga. elder Sepeda was putting the block in, but literally one second after, the whole thing fell. you can see the first piece falling.

New House, the Temple

Dad,

  I feel like this letter you sent me came at the perfect time! I am so proud of you Dad! I am really really really proud of you! Enserio, yo no se si yo puedo expressar como siento yo de estas buenas noticias. march 29th will be so awesome, i hope you make the most of this day as you enter the Temple. I honestly cannot believ you have a date set for your Endowment. I seriously am so proud of you!
  

Dad, today we went to the Temple. That is why i didnt write you monday, because we changed our p day to today. We went to the Temple, and I saw the new presentation! honestly, it looked neat, and the technology is cool, but... anyway - we can talk about it after... in like, October. Dad, i had such a great time in the Temple today! I hadnt been since May! I will admit, i had a good Celestial room cry, it was nice. i really felt the Spirit, and someitmes tears come in. I couldnt help but think of you and mom, the whole family, and it just really tried my hope, but i know we will all enter the Temple together as a family one day. I know.

Hey! We got our new house! We moved out of our old house, and quit love-shacking with the other sisters from lo de fuentes, and we moved into our new house! It is huge! Two stories, with a walk up roof and we hang our clothes to dry up there, but my comp doesnt like it up there on the roof. I love it because you can see the whole capital, and its like getting away for a little while. "up on the roooof"

Im an english teacher! I love teaching English Dad! I have the class learning "I am a child of God" in english, y mucha gente llega! I get really into teaching, and elder Sepeda y Elder Saavedra are sit in on our classes if investigdores llegan. pues, saavedra me dijo que ellos pienses que yo debo ser una maestra... psshhht! yeah right. anyway, its fun teaching english!

Dad, this less active sister that came back to church. We reactivated her! And now... get ready, but her inactive son... ACTIVE! but hay algo mas,.... get ready.... HE WANTS TO SERVE AMISSION! I feel like my labors as a missionary are really showing fruits! Its amazing! We didnt have anyone to acompany us Sunday, and we ate lunch at his grandmas house, and my comp was like... what do we do, we dont have a member with us.. and i was like WAIT! Daniel! get ovr here, come with us, lets go save some souls! guess hwat, he came with us! I really love the way the Gospel chages people when they let it. I saw him yesterday, and when he told me the mission news, i shared my testimony with him, and how everything around me felt like it was falling apart when i started getting ready for my missin, but the Lord had his hand on my back pushing me through. He cried! I love this work! yo amo la obra, yo amo el Senor, y yo se que no es facil a trabajar en la obra del Senor porque siempre hay pruebas, pero El nos apoya.

 Dad, i just want to tell you how much I love the Lord. I have gone through such rough parts of my mission, and the times that i had sat on the cement floor of my apartment crying, and know that i wasnt the only one there, but the Lord was there reaching his hand out to me. The times where i have felt, and sometimes do feel, very alone, or forgotten, i know, withour a doubt, that the Lord is right there with me. I have been filled with His Spirit so much these past few weeks. Some morning i wake up and i am just filled with this joy in my heart, and full of love. I will be honest and tell you that things come through the day, problems, difficult people, and some of that joy disappears, or hides, but i know that He is always with me. That song i sang when we went to those evangelical churches many years ago, This little light of mine. It says not to hide the light under a bushel, or to let satan blow it out, or to hide it. Thats how it is, we cant hide it. I love the Lord, and i feel like i know Him better than i did before. I love the restored Gospel.

yo Pops, the other morning i woke up (in our new house!) and i heard that song by Jay Z and Alicia Keys, oh mannn. i thought of how much better new york is than idaho, and i killed a cockroach.

anyway, i love you!

Keep on trucking!

I love you dad!

Hey, enjoy watching the news!

Love,
 Hermana Ramirez

yeah, it´s march

Hey Pops!

  so, i cant remember too much, so that means im gonna ramble.

i got some christmas cards fromthe ward last week, it brought the christmas spirit back, until i read some young woman wrote Ï LOVE TACOS and i thought... hmm, i wish i could find some good tacos here in guate. yeah, i love tacos too.

   Hey, when is the Temple in Connecticut going to be finished. (this compu doesnt have question marks) i woudl love to hear that you and mom go to the dedication.

     we had stake conference here, and our awesome investigador came! she brought us in her... CAR!!!!!! it was sweet! I loved stake conference because el Hno.Fajardo dio cincho a todos los miembros porque ellso no nosayudan mucho con encontrando. fue tan chilero! Pues, conferencia de estaca fue muy espiritual! yo aprendi mucho!

   Hey, we had a zone conference with President Watts and Hermana Watts usually bring cookies or cinnamon rolls she makes. but, thats just a gluten fest. so she bought me chocolate Chex! I was so happy!

   Hey, so we teach english here, well, i teach english to the kiddies or beginners, and another sister teaches advanced. I first was frustrated teaching english, but i had to say, i really love it now! I love it! I teach mostly children, but its awesome! i am getting so into it, i bring candy, and i am incorporating church materials into the lessons! I had them leanring I am a Child of God in ingles. es bien chilero, estoy muy feliz ensenandoles.

   So i am curious if you know an elder fatheringham. a sister here said hes serving in the mission there NYNY North.

    We celebrated Elder Sepeda´s birthday! Its was cool! We made pupusas! yes, i have become a really good pupusa maker ! Seriously, my comp (from San Salvador) taught me... well i just watched. Anyway, now she laughs because im like an expert, its pretty cool. its nice to hear that im pilas a haciendo pupusas.

    HEY! POPS! Can you find out some info about fafsa and pell grants for school. I hope you get that show onthe road because i want to study when i get back. Hey, look into some utah state stuff for me, and their business programme and chinese. Im kind of interested in going there. not sure why, but send me some info please onthe school and the grants and fafsa.

    Hey, im reading the miracle of forgivness and its still blowing my mind. I really love that book.

    Dad, sorry that i was a major brat before my mission. Well, more when i was like 13 and 14. anyway, Even in college i was a brat. i think about how i was... even with guys... still a brat, yeah. i was a brat sometimes, sorry. SORRY WORLD. I promise, ill come back better. I realized i was a brat with peoplei really loved, i just didnt want to express how i felt all the time.

    I was thinking about how mormoni visited Joseph, and its was normal profeta stuff, because every Profeta in history in la biblia, passed the authority down, from the past profeta to the following profeta. anyway, it was cool, i love to just think about stuff like that.

    Hey, when you go to the Temple, please get grandma Luisas Endowment card, i lef tit there, and i really want it back! Its filed under Ramirez. Thanks. Hey, i totally want to go do some Temple work with you when i get back. Lets do that!

    Keep reading the scriptures Dad! Keep praying as a family! i know things things are important because these things are the basics!

Take care!

Love,

 Hermana Ramirez

the pics are of pupusas and hermana Watts and I!

El milagro del Perdon... y fe! 24 de febrero

Pops,

 hey, this week was so sick!

Okay, thankfully, first off, i don't have a parasite. Yeah, Monday night, i felt like i had company... possibly a prasite, and Im happy to say, that NO! I didnt have a parasite! It was maybe just too many pupusas we made. I'm good now!

   So we had the goal of finding 20new investigadoes this week. Let me just tell you that last week we found 2, the week before, 4, the week beofre 7, the week before that, 5. So 20 was a huge goal. Well, we found 14 nuevoes! I am so happy. I fulfilled a bunch of our other weekly goals. This area is tough, but with faith, Dad, we conquered!

   Im reading el milagro del perdon, and it is AMAZING! okay, heres a part i relly like. Kimball says:

juzgo yo que cualquier hombre o mujer puede hacer mas para ponerse de conformidad con las leyes de Dios en un ano en esta vida, que lo que pudiera hacer en diez anos dspues de muerto. El espiritu solo puede arrepentirse y cambiar, y entonces tiene que efectuarse la batalla con la crne mas adelante. Es mucho mas facil vencer y servir al Senor cuando los dos, la carne asi como el espiritu, estan integrados en uno.

   WOW! Thanks Spencer W. Kimball! this book is really awesome. If you haven't finished the Book of Mormon yet, FINISH IT! Then re read New Testament... and tehn read, The Miracle of Perdon.

   Hey Dad, remember Gentlemen Broncos? Well, remember how it had the song Winds of Change in the movie and that part where they'e on reindeers in the street? Well, i was crossing the street and there was nobody aboutside, and it was hot, and dusty, and the wind was blowing. Well, everything looked brown and boring, and this guy started playing the song winds of change, and they were so serious (like they could even understand the song), and I just couldnt help but laugh. I love that lame movie so much. anyway, i looked around in slow motion kind of like Benji in the mocve. I know, im a nerd, i just couldnt help but think of you, Brandon, Grant, and the Tousleys. That movie is tan chistoso.

  anyway, heres a pic of the mountin side and the view of the capital. Its not a good pic of the whole capital, but the lady with the wood on her back just makes it puro chapin!

heres a pic of my comp and i when we had to wait in a bus for like an hour in the blazing hot sun. the thing here is that EVERYONE is late in guatemala, sorry... fashionably late (con ropa tipica) we were really tired

Anyway, i love you Dad!

Keep going!

love,

Hermana Ramramramirez!

Fwd: Hermanita A, Valentines Day, and Baptisms... that weren't from our area

DAD!
 HAPPY FREAKING BIRTHDAY!

I hope you don't think i forgot. this morning, I got up, had a half of a tablespoon of peanut butter, put on some David Archuleta.. and then, i had this idea. I wont tell you what it was, but i can tell you, it was pretty amazing... and not boring. anyway, here is the result of that genius idea.

so yes, i remembered that you're doing the diet where you dont eat any wheat or anything other than neat, veggies, fruit, and no processed stuff. sounds a little like gluten free living, but as you can tell, i still get fed tortillas, and thats where that second chin comes in.. .thats misison life. oh, and a ton of platanos. good luck with the diet!

  So, people remember that i know... more like knew, mandarin. well, one of the elders wants to know his chinese name, so now, people are asking me what their chinese name is... I DON'T KNOW, im a half gringa, half nicaraguan girl from New Yrok. anyway, im going to break out my chinese books that i brought (which i dont study) and come up with some names.

   This week was rough. We didnt find many new people to teach, pretty rough. i contacted a bunch, but my comp doesnt like to contact much, so... yeah.

   Our lovely Hermanita A is so sweet. We stopped by her store on Valentines day, to visit her, and she made us these little hearts with a candy on it. The candy had coffee in it, but it was the thought that counts! she said that she now works every Sunday now.

  Hey, i was just told that we need to go in like five minutes. The guy is kicking us out before our time is over. Thats how you really break a missionary's heart.

I started reading the Miracle of Forgiveness by spencer W. Kimball. I asked permission from Pres. watts, and he gave me permission. Im reading it in spanish, so it will take me a little bit longer, but it is really powerful. I just want to apply the atonement of christ to my life in a greater aspect. I really am so thankful for His atonement, that we can be saved. We can return to our Father in Heaven one day. The thing that is so amazing, is that we can return as a family, not just alone. we can be together as a family forever. I can't wait for the day that we are all together as a fmaily in the Temple Dad. It will happen.

   I have learned a lot about faith. It is a principle that is basic, but very important, very essencial to everything. Faith really, just changes to much. Also, i was thinking a lot about charity this last week. My comp hasnt put an effort to try to get to know me, and says things that hurt, but i think i just need to get to know her more. I am trying to compliment the good things she does, and i think i really am learning to appreciate the people the LORD puts in our lives. I know she is a wonderful person, i just and trying to bring that out of her more. she misses her old area. Charity can be applied when we barely know someone. Charity doesn' mean we judge poeple. I think Faith and Charity is my focus this next week, and i love studying about charity.

  Dad, i have seen that i have changed my personality on my mission. the LORD is really helping me become a better person. I am more patient and kind. I am so grateful for the hard times i have had in my mission because He has molded me into a better person. Thankfully i have about eight months left, so i can come back better, i really hope the LORD keeps helping me to improve, because I have a lot to improve on.

  I just want to tell you something that makes me happy when i feel down. I love when people come into church late.. really. I used to be bug me a bit, but i think about it. I bet some of these poele really put their best efforts to come to church, and they could have stayed home, but they still come. Its not an annoyance to me, but i appreciate their presence. Being on time is the best, but its better to just come than not come to Church.

  I love you, heres a picture of some of my best buddies in my district. We went to McD's. I love these guys, p-days are fun with people that just want to chill, but also be a little crazy.
 

i love you you Dad. Keep reading the scriptures!

Hey, i just got christmas letters sent to the South mission. Tell the ward my new address, with mision este.

cambios, aladdin, y una investigadore de oro

This week was interesting, nothing too exciting though, sorry!
     We had changes, and my comp left. my little tica, Hermana Gomez
se fue. she was super sad to leave porque esta area fue su primera
area. the changes meeting was cool i guess, i got my pants. Okay, Dad,
the material around here, that is tipica, like puro guatemaltco, is so
beautiful. Well, these pants are like aladdin pants, and so comfy. i tried
to take a pic in these pants, but, it didnt come out how i
wanted it. also, this comp doesnt send pictures. yes, i feel robbed of
my Q5.
     We have this awesome new investigador, lets call her Hermanita A.
She works in a tienda near the capilla, and is bien pilas. she has
read everything we have left her. We have been meeting with her for a
week, and so far she read all the folletos, and from the introduction of
the book of mormon all the way to 1 nefi 8. she wants to be baptized,
and we put her fecha for 15 de march. we are so excited; she works
every other sunday, so we put the date far ahead. People like her make
me feel so happy, just me da mucho alegria. From all the times we get
rejected, especially in this area, she just makes it so much better to
know there are people out there that want to be better and give their
lives to Christ. We have been getting rejected so much these past few
weeks. i usually dont take it too hard, its normal, but this past
week, people are just rude and mean to the point where its as if they
just really want to hit you deep. ouch, but hey, thats the name of the
game right¡? just some pretty good memories!
     Our inactive sister that we are helping come back to church,
she had an interview with the Bishop and is going to receive her
Patriarchal blessing!!!! I am so pumped! She is the bomb. We can call
her Hermana T. Hermana T is so awesome, she wants to serve a mission
now. I love her so much, she has really touched my heart.
    I thought of you and the fam dad, because my old comp hna.gomez
and i found a korean man who sells fruit en monserrat. Well, my comp said i should go speak mandarin to him, but she doesnt understand that korea and
china are different paises with different languages. so, i talked to him in spanish, and well, i am so grateful that i watched all that arrested developement. i
remembered how to say hello in korean! i dont know how to spell it,
but it sounds like ahnyong. I pass him now and shout it, and we're buds.
thanks arrested developement!
     People here love chicken salad, and well, i cant help but think
of that movie with jason schwartzman, and ... oh man, whats his name,
the blond english actor. dang, anyway, i just laugh a bit when people
offer me chicken salad. Ask brandon about this movie, he'll know. ask
him, he gets it. the bonnet... oh man.
     Our ward mission leader had his birthday party Saturday, and naturally, fuimos. Well, Hno.David is so awesome and has this little girl of about 4 or 5 yrs. well, we had a pinata, and all of us misisonaries dived for the dulces, and i found these dulces to the side so i picked them up, and she said "thats mine!" well, I said "well, then why are they in my hands...?" and she lost it. it was so funny, she just screamed so loud, and i gave her her candy back. she threw it all on the ground, and got a bag, and took all of our dulces. all of us missionaries just watched her in silence take all our candy. it was pretty disturbing. she pushed them into a pile on the floor and picked hem up, one by one, nd put them in the bag. it was terrible... que es este dolor?

     Today we all went to Paiz (a grocery store) and about half of the missionaries weighed themselves. Pobrecita, one of the sisters is new, like 7 days new, and said "yo no creo que yo voy a subir de peso durante mi mision," heh, good luck. i told her how i started my mision with one chin, and i feel a third one coming on, im fighting it, but thats kind of the way it goes.

     I feel like the Lord has really blessed us this Sunday. We prayed for us to meet our goal of bringing four new people to church this week, and sabado we went around contacting all these people we planned on bringing to church. Nobody that we visited showed up. We felt a little crushed. sundays were pretty relaxed for me before my mision, but as a missionary, nothing is more pressuring than those ten of fifteen minutes before church starts. Going to bring people to church, and waiting and knockng on their doors, hoping theyll answer the door. Or worse, waiting outside the chapel, anxiously looking side to side, for someone to come. Well, our dear friend, who also served a mision, brought  neighbor to church! It was a major blessing! She is also a returned missionary, so she gets it.

     A good little week.