Last Email

Dear Family,

Surprise! One more email. I didn't think that I would get another time to write but the plans were changed. Normally the missionaries fly back to El Salvador on the Tuesday before they go home. But the airline was bought out recently and they have changed their schedule. There are no flights from Belize to El Sal on Mondays or Tuesdays. Sunday is church. So I had to fly back to El Sal on Saturday. They robbed me of my precious days left in Belize but oh well. I have just had to grin and bear it. I flew in on Saturday and went straight into culture shock. El Sal is SO far ahead and civilized compared to Belize. Its like night and day. I had almost forgotten my time in El Salvador and now the memories are flooding back. It is strange to be in a completely Spanish country again. The buses are CRAZY. There are sky scrapers, pupusas, fast food restaurants, beautifully paved roads, highways, American money, malls, a lot more danger, and no one talking Creol. Strange. It is so very different than Belize. I LOVE BELIZE! But I love the people here too. I am just struggling with culture shock. The good thing was that I got to fly back with and be companions with Sister Price for a couple days. She is one of my very best friends in the mission. We went to Belize together 9 months ago and lived together for 7.5 of those months. We were there to comfort each other. ha! We stayed at the nurses house for a day and went to church with them yesterday. Their ward is one of the richest and most active wards in all of the El Salvador. It was strange. And I didn't have investigators or anybody to help and be with. Strange. After church I was sent to Versailles for 2 days to be companions with Sister Poche. Surprise! Her companion was sent to Belize a few days ago and she won't get a new one until Wednesday so they sent me there to help her work a little bit. I think President did that on purpose because he knows we are from the same stake. Fun. I was hoping for the chance to see her before I left and now I even get to be her companion. Fun! So here I am, back in El Salvador, working a few more days as a missionary. 

So Saturday was supposed to be our investigator, Jason's, baptism. But I had to leave so we were able to move it up to Friday night. How cool! My last Hoora in my area was a baptism. A ton of people came and it was really good. He was excited and so ready.

The mission is awesome! I love this work. I love the people. It just about ripped my heart out to say goodbye. That is one of the hardest things about the mission, having to leave the people you love. It is so great to meet so many wonderful people. I am really going to miss the mission!

But of course I love you all and am happy to see you soon. Have a great week and travel safely. See you soon!

Sista Heap

20 May 2014

Dear Family,

We have had quite the crazy week. It has been up and down and all over the place like a roller coaster. But I choose to relate more of the positive and funny moments of the week:

On Tuesday we were doing some contacting because we are in desperate need of finding new people to teach. We talked to a man named Rene, who was nice and kind of positive. Then we continued up the hill and decided to contact this two story green house. A little old lay came out on the balcony to talk to us. She was super nice and invited us to come in. We only had about 15 minutes before we had to be at the church to teach English so we decided to go in and do something short and sweet. We walked in and she, Sister Figaroa, started showing us all the pictures of her family. We sate down and were about to start when she asked if we wanted something to drink. I thought about how little time we had but didn't want to offend so I said yes to her offer. She went to the kitchen and a minute later returned with two glass cups filled with a tanish liquid. I took mine and noticed that there was some kind of foam on top....weird. But my mission has taught me to just eat of drink whatever is given to me, no matter how it tastes or looks. So both Sister Hirschi and I took a sip of the strange juice. I was shocked at the taste! It have tasted some nasty drinks on the the mission but this one was, by far, the foulest one ever! My mind was working overtime to figure out what it was. Sister Hirschi must have been thinking the same thing because she asked, "What king of juice did you say this was again?" Sister Figaroa told us that it was Coke. I have drunk a lot of Coke and I was positive that it was NOT Coke. At that moment I realized that the nasty taste in my mouth was the same as the horrible smell that I smell on drunk men everyday....IT WAS BEER!!!! I had just drunk beer! What?! I started freaking out inside, trying to find a way to get rid of the rest of the beer without having to drink it. I formulated a panicked plan to ask to use the bathroom and dump the liquid down the sink or toilet. Maybe the old lady wouldn't notice. Right then someone called Sister F into the kitchen.She is in her 80s and her kids don't trust her so they have hired a lady to live with their mom to take care of her. It was this "live-in" that had called Sister F. to the kitchen. The instant she left the room, Sister Hirschi and I turned to each other and freaked out. She too had realized that it was beer and had formulated her own panicked plan to go throw it over the balcony. We were freaking out and trying to hold back our laughter when Grandma returned. "I am SO sorry. I gave you beer! WE had a mothers' day party and my children brought over beer and coke. I thought I gave you coke but it was really beer. I am so sorry!" The live-in was the one who had realized what had happened. ha! She took the drinks from us and handed us new cups with a clear liquid this time; now we were on edge and wondered if it was Vodka this time. ha! But after taking a smell, we realized it was Sprite. I guzzled it down in an attempt to get the terrible taste of beer out of my mouth. By this time all of our time was gone but we couldn't just walk out so we talked for a minute and offered to sing a song and say a prayer before leaving. We start to sing Families Can Be Together Forever but I couldn't hardly sing because I had to hold back my incredible need to laugh my guts out. Sister Hirschi basically sang a solo and offered the prayer as I concentrated on not laughing. As politely as possible we rushed out of the house. WE started walking up the hill to the church and we couldn't hold back the laughter anymore. Once we calmed down Sister Hirschi said, "Sister Heap, I think I am drunk." ha! We laughed some more. I started sucking on mints because I felt like I still stunk of beer. The whole rest of the night I could smell beer on me and was panicking. What if our investigators smelled it?! I think it was just my imagination or maybe my guilty conscience. ha! What an adventure. Neither Sister Hirschi or I had ever in our lives drunk an alcoholic beverage. We can now say that we drank more beer on our missions than ever before! I definitely had to so some repenting.

This week was also Sister Hirschi's 22nd birthday. We ate some really good cake and celebrated. One of the spiritual highs of the week was last night. We were teaching Ryan- a 17 year old who we have been teaching for 3 months- about the importance of prayer. At the end we finally got him to say his first vocal prayer every. And it was an AWESOME prayer! It is amazing to feel the spirit and see changes in people. I love it!

So the thing is, I really don't know what is going to happen next week. I just found out that I will be flying to El Salvador on Sunday instead of Tuesday because that is the only day that there are flights now. Crazy! So I think that this will be my last normal email home. I can't wait to see you all soon! Love you!!!

Sista Heap

13 May 2014

Dear Family,

Last Wednesday night Sister Hirschi and I were saying our companionship prayer, ready to sleep when all the sudden we hear this screaming. "Hay una serpiente!" then, fearing the we hadn't understood, Sister De Leon screamed again, "There's a snake!" Well we kept praying. I am not that spooked by a snake so we just prayed on. She screamed again and again, asking why no one was coming to her aide. So we ended our prayer in a hurry and rushed out to see what was happening. There was a snake on the porch of the house. It was outside and not doing anything to threaten us so I was ready to just shut the door and go to bed. But Sister De Leon has a serious fear of snakes and could not calm down. She said that she would have nightmares if we didn't kill it. Sister Hirschi and I looked at each other and realized that we were going to have to kill this thing. So we searched down a huge rock and Sister Hirschi chucked it at the snake with all her strength. It was a good hit and the snake started going crazy. We rushed inside, fearing that it would come after us but all it did was writhe its way off the porch, onto the grass.  We came out and Sister Hirschi threw a few more rocks at it and we thought it was dead. I started taking pictures and all of the sudden it started wiggling like crazy again because of the flash. The other two sisters and I just stood out there watching it for a minute. The next thing we know, Sister Hirschi comes out of the house with a butter knife tapped to the end of the broom stick. Ha!! She headed straight for the snake and started hacking away with all her strength. I have no idea why, of all the knives in the house, she chose the dullest one but she did. At the end of her tirade, the poor snake was still in one piece but definitely dead. She picked it up and catapulted the intruder out of our yard and into the street. The thus was the end of the snake in the night and Sister Hirschi, the Snake Slayer, was born. ha! It was hilarious! What an adventure.

Sister Hirschi -The Snake Slayer

Trust me, late night snake adventures are fun but we are still focusing most of our time on missionary work. We have been working a lot with Karim Segura. We finished teaching him the Plan of Salvation and he absolutely loves it! At the end, he couldn't stop telling us that no one, ever, had ever told him about this plan and how awesome it is. "I want to teach my sons the Plan of Salvation!" He is so prepared to hear the gospel right now! He came to church for the second time this week and this time he brought his teenage daughter. I loves church and feels so good there. We taught him the Book of Mormon last night and he is pumped to read it. Every lesson we teach him is amazing because the Spirit is so strong and he actually gets it and wants us there. It makes me love the work!

So HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY to all of you that I was not able to see on Sunday! I hope it was a great one. Mothers' Day in Central America is literally one of the biggest holidays of the year. They go to town celebrating it. ha! There was a large branch activity that included a talent show in which the missionaries were required to participate. We didn't feel like singing like we always do so we changed it up. We read the scriptures about all the the mothers of the stripling warriors had taught them and then shared some things, funny and serious, that our mothers have taught us. I would like to share my list in honor of my dear and beloved Mother.   My Mother taught me:

• the difference between a tsp and T (when you put 2 T instead of 2 tsp of salt in pizza crust, it doesn't taste good)
• that if I ignore my brother's teasing, he really will stop
• It doesn't matter how much you eat, there is always room for ice cream
• that candy will rot my teeth
• pets are like having more children, they are not worth it!
• camping in the woods is fun for about 12 hours
• shy people are intimidating
• the meaning of self-discipline
• always give everyone the benefit of the doubt
• to never stoop down to the level of others
• to be honest in ALL my doings

There are many more things but these were the first ones that came to mind. Mothers are truly amazing! Thanks Mom for all you have done, still do, and always will do for me. I love you all so much!!  Have a great week!

Sista Heap