Pictures from July 15th email

July 15, 2014

July 15, 2014

Earthquake

I did feel the earthquake. It was pretty strong. It woke us up at like 5 in

the morning, but nothing fell down or anything, nothing broke. I was up on the

top bunk and my companion was in the other twin bed we have in our room and it

was really a blessing, because I was totally calm, maybe a bit too much...

I just woke up and was laying there for a second like, what? And then Hermana

Blackmer was like, there is an earthquake. I just said calmly, yeah there

is.... And after a second I asked, what are we suppose to do if there

is an earthquake? And she was like, um, I think were suppose to go outside.

Isn't that what you do when there are earthquakes? I was like, well I

know in school they told us to get under desks and stand in door ways... But

keep in mind I still am not even sitting up in my bed at this point. I am

still just laying there. So I was like, well what should we do? And then it

stopped and well I hadn't even looked at the clock to know what time it was

yet, so it stopped and we just went back to sleep. Yup, pretty much. Like I

said it was a really big Blessing. It didn't do any damage in my area, but

in other areas, it did. It was pretty strong, but I didn't feel scared at

all, you know me, I thought it was a really cool experience! Not as cool as

petting a jaguar, but you know! Yeah, I think the Spirit is just really

strong with us, so He calmed us. I didn't feel in danger and I have NO DOUBT

that God protects us. As long as we are exactly obedient to His

commandments we will be protected and if something happens, its because we

need to experience it. Well, I hope that helps you feel better! All safe

here in Guatemala!!!

July 8, 2014

July 8, 2014

Welcome! So Hermana. Blackmer and I are doing ABSOLUTELY GREAT here!! We are
VERY excited and VERY thankful that we do not have changes and we get to
spend another change together here!!! We can see A LOT of good work that
still needs to be done! We have been working hard and Hope to keep
increasing that work and our efforts!!! Since I have been here, I have seen
a GREAT change with the disposition of the members and their desire to help
us!! I feel we really have there confidence now and we are going to
continue doing what we can to serve them diligently so that doesn't change!
We have been viewing a short video with pilas familias and menos activos,
Gracias a El. It has brought a REALLY positive response EVERY time! We have
been receiving good referencias and A LOT of offers to go out to do visits
with us! So we are taking those offers and using them well! We have a goal
of 25 lessons (or more) with members this week! We got 22 last week and that
is the most I have ever seen in this area. When I first came here we were
just scraping 12 each week. We are SO THANKFUL for this change for the
better, this GREAT merciful miracle from the Lord!!! We are going to keep
working with the menos activos as a new source for nuevos too! A missionary
returned home this week and he went out with us Sunday night. He was able
to give us a lot of information of menos activos and good possible
bauptisms!!
We are treating all those references as sacred as we should!! We are
looking for another today and I am praying we find him and he is positive!
He has a lot of conocidos and family that are members, so there is a lot of
Hope with a lot of ground work of support from the ward already laid.
We also have had four really positive new investigadores that attended
church this week!!! They are all kids, all boys. And they all have support
of family members who are members. Which is a miracle and Blessing, because
we know we cannot baptize kids without good support! Two of them are
brothers. Their parents aren't members. They live
just with there Mom, but their aunt and uncle are strong active members in
the church and their Mom has already given permission for them to be baptized.
We just need her to sign the registro today so they can be bauptized this
next week!
Another, his Grandma is a member, his Mom was a reference from the Bishop's
son. we are looking for her but haven't been able to locate her yet. So
there is a little more work to do with him, but he came to church with his
grandma and the bishop's son introduced us. He seemed to like church alright,
which is great! 
We also had another who is 9. His Mom is really
inactive and his dad is an inactive Catholic. They are going through a bit
of trying times right now. The Mom just had a little baby girl 2 months
early and the baby is still in the hospital after several weeks. We had
been visiting the parents, but its been hard to find them with all that is
going on. But, we all know that trials are great opportunities for The Lord
to open your eyes and show you the truth. We are praying for them and Hope
that this experience will help to soften their hearts. Alexis also came
with his grandma who is taking care of him right now and is an active
member!
And then we have another boy whose dad is inactive
member coming back to the church. His mom has come back to the church and
approached us and the bishop saying she wanted us to teach him so that he
can be bauptized. he will be turning 10 this month and is VERY excited
about being bauptized!! We just need to find him more to go over all the
lessons. We had an appointment with him last night, then his dad was
involved in a car accident and got a really bad head injury and was
unconscious the last we heard. We are praying really hard for them as we
know it is pure adversary, because his dad is working to be worthy to
baptize him.
So that really covers it for now, we had a baptism this week.
He has been a pure miracle from start to stop, so we are VERY THANKFUL!!!
The Lord is pouring out His boundless LOVE for us. And I am VERY THANKFUL for all

of the MIRACLES!!!! The relationships I am making with my companion,

the investigadores and members will never end!!!

I am SO THANKFUL to know that!!! EVERYONE is SO BEAUTIFUL here!!!
And I am SO THANKFUL I get to spend another change here among this
WONDERFUL people and see more miracles!!!!
So our new Mission President is AWESOME!!!! He reads the scriptures twice a
day and asked us to do so as a Mission, I have felt a lot more peace
everyday since I have started to read twice a day everyday!!! I know that
my knowledge of scriptures is definitely going to increase, which has been
a goal of mine for a long time now, so I am REALLY THANKFUL for this goal
he has given us!!!
I promise I will be EXACTLY OBEDIENT!!!! THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!!!!
THANKS FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS!!! Please pray for all of these kids. LOVE YALL!!!!

THANK YOU!!!!
Love,
Hermana Sherrod

July 8, 2014

July 8, 2014

Family is THE GREATEST BLESSING!!!! I am SO THANKFUL I am here helping people

become Eternal Families, people who before they
talked with us had no idea that that was even possible!!! So cool!!! I am
honored to be a Servant and Representative of the Lord!!!
Cool thought, I was reading my Preach My Gospel as normal a couple of weeks
ago and the cover slipped out its cool case I bought for it here. (I'll have
to send a picture.... sometime.... you will probably just see it when I am
home... but yeah, its green for dad since he gave me my Preach My Gospel,
THANKS DADDIO, but anyway...) So, it slipped out of its cover and I saw the
back where it says, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and I
thought how everything that has the name of the church, is of the BEST
QUALITY and is worthy to be praised, to be sought after, that the church only
makes good things to better the lives of everyone, to help everyone become
like Christ, to help them fulfill their grand purpose here, and that every
thing made by the church is of the greatest worth, because they are tools
of the Lord, His messages, His work. And then I realized that there right
over my heart on my name tag is that very name that means so much. Yeah, it
was a VERY humbling moment for me, I really felt the Spirit strongly!!!

July 8, 2014

July 8, 2014

Here y'all go!!! This is from today about an hour ago!! This is my zone and

my district, which includes the Hermana. Blackmer and I WHO I AM HAPPY TO

  ANNOUNCE DO NOT HAVE CHANGES!!!!!!! YEEEEEEEEEEESSSS!!!!!

July 8, 2014 Pictures

July 1, 2014

July 1, 2014

Subject: Okay, so this I Hope is going to be LONG!

Okay, so... Here we go!!! In this area we had really low numbers when I came. As missionaries for those that don’t know, we have weekly dats(stats)and goals that we need to meet. Things like having so many people in church, how many new investigators we have each week, how many people have accepted a date to be bauptized and so forth. We have really been trying to up the numbers, and well with exact obedience we have seen MIRACLES!!!

Let’s start with M.L. To answer your question Mom, no he is not the uncle of the L. family. The uncle moved back to El Salvador so we are no longer teaching him, but thank you for praying for him! And thank you for putting all of those names in the Temple!!! I told Hermana Blackmer just now that you had done that and she was really happy. She said that will definitely help! Tell her I say thank you! And tell them I say Hi! So, Hi from my AMAZING and FIEL companera Hermana Blackmer!

Anyway, so M.L. has a bauptismal date for this Sunday, the 6th! He would have been bauptized this Sunday, but we hadn’t been able to teach the Word of Wisdom yet and he drank coffee so we had to wait another week, but he is doing GREAT!!! Coffee was not a problem to stop drinking for him so he is all ready to go. Just keep praying for him! He is having a little bit of a hard time recognizing his answer to be bauptized, but says he wants to be. We tried to explain that that desire is from God, but he is still waiting for something bigger, like a dream or something... So if y’all could just pray that he will recognize his answer and always remember the steps of prayer, because he is old, 85 and often forgets, that would be wonderful!!!

And with him, it’s just been a miracle EVERYDAY teaching him!!! There were a few days that we couldn’t find him in his house. He likes to go walking

ALOT, maybe that is why you feel connected to him Mom, ha-ha! But yeah, we had to go looking for him in the Colonia and with the Fe of my diligent companion, we found him out of nowhere like 5 times now!!! Heavenly Father is really taking care of him!!! And us too!!! If this area has taught me anything, it is that this work really is His, not mine, or Hermana Blackmer’s or anyone’s. And there are people prepared, ready to be bauptized!!! We just have to work with all we got to be a part of this work and trust Him to lead the way and Bless us with those Miracles each day!!! As long as we are diligent and exactly obedient, we can always expect the miracles.

So speaking of miracles, here is another one!!! So, when I first came here, the norm for nuevos was 12 to 14 each week. Yeah, that is good, but we knew we could do better! We got it up to a steady 20 to 24 with Hermana Sol and I and now WOW! God is pouring out the chosen ones! Two weeks ago we found 27. So we put the goal for 30. When you reach your goal, you have got to keep striving right? So, there we were on Friday night planning and we had 11. Just,11. Well, we needed 19 more, and I said, okay, we don’t have a lot of firm appointments tomorrow, that is GREAT, because we can look for those 10 and more we need at least. We walked all day. We tried to contact all of the referencias we have. We talked to people in the street and we found 4 and it was 7 at night. Then as we were turning to walk away from a certain street, there was a women sitting outside with her daughter and as faithful as Hermana Blackmer is she went right up and talked with them. And then more of the family came. And we found 6 nuevos right then and there! 6! So we had completed our goal of 10 that day!!! And on Sunday we still needed 9 more to get 30. Well, we went out to work again. We had ALOT of good lessons and miracles were literally put into our path, literally!!! We found a few news early in the day and then later we found a positive family just contacting them in the street and then teaching a short lesson. Okay now this is when it gets even better! We had a meeting at 8 and it was 7:55. And all we needed was one more new! Just one! I said, “We have to find him!” I know the Lord will help us complete our goal! I was praying in my head, “Please, let us find who it is.” Out of nowhere, or out of Heaven, I am not sure, ha-ha, Hermana Blackmer contacted this boy and he said he has family that are members and has been thinking about getting bauptized!!!!! WHOA!!!! We taught him, challenged him and are teaching him again Saturday!!!! J.L., please pray for him!!!!.