Pictures!

This was a day that I was just walking along, down the street, and a bird pooped on me! Luckily we were on our way home anyway,so I was able to change my shirt. Ha!

 

This was the result of my first time doing laundry in El Salvador. All the bleach in the water of my whites batch and 2 hours of scrubbing resulted in bloody garments. Boy do I miss washing machines!

 

This is called a pila. This is where I do my laundry, wash my dishes, wash my hands...ba​sically everything besides bathing. Thankfully we do have a shower.

 

This is Mama Enma who feeds us lunch every day. And this is one of the dresses that she gave me.

 

 

This was a night of celebratio​n for some good lessons and hard work. These frescos were delicious and we had a good enjoyable laugh together.



18 March 2013

I have survived another week of this heat. I hear that the last week in March in the worst so I have a lot to look forward to. Also the rains are supposed to start in April. I dont know what I want more, heat or rain. I guess we shall see.

Right now we are teaching several families which is rare from what I can tell. It is hard to address the needs of many people all at the same time but the blessings for families in the gospel is great so we are trying our best. It definitely keeps us busy. The discouraging thing is that we cant seem to get any of them to actually come to church. This is a huge stepping stone and will help their testimony so much but they wont come. Lately I have been understanding a little bit more of what is going on and what is being said. I am participating in the lessons more as well. What a blessing! This is enabling me to really get to know these people and really care about them. Because of this, my heart hurts when they wont do the things that they commit to do. I testimony will not come without prayer, reading the Book of Mormon, and attending church. To me, these steps are seemingly simple so I have a hard time understanding why on earth these people wont do them! :) Yesterday Hna Gonzalez and I were pretty down because we couldnt get any of them to come to church but we ran into some of our other investigators in the street. The teenage daughter, Tatiana, told us that she has actually been reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it. Instantly, my companion and I went from dejected to animated. How exciting that she is actually acting! This was just enough of a boost to keep going and raise our hopes. I know with all my heart that these things are true and the blessings of the gospel are great. I pray everyday that the Lord will help me share these feelings and blessings with these people in Sonsonate.

We eat lunch everyday at the house of Rafael and Enma. He is a member but she is not. But she is about as dry of a Mormon as you can be. The other day Rafael told me that he dreampt about you Dad. It wasnt anything great or weird, only that you were in his dream and he wanted so badly to talk to you. When he did, all he can remember was that you were such a great person. Rafael said that he thinks that you were in his dream because he had been praying for me, that I could learn Spanish, right before bed. This touched my heart! This man who I can hardly talk to, cares enough about me to pray specifically for me. This is what I love about the people here. There is another woman here, Marta, who sells bread. She is not a member or an investigator, only a friend. But every time we stop to talk to her, she gives us free bread. She is always trying to get us to go home earlier at night because after 9:30 it is more dangerous. She worries more now about us because I am here, and gringas attract every more attention and danger. It just boggles my mind, and humbles me that people can care about me without hardly knowing me.

I got three dearelders this week from the family. Thank you so much for always remembering me! The letters were a tender mercy for me because they carried some of the words that I really needed to hear. Thank you so much for being so great. I love you all!

 

11 March 2013

Another week has passed. Thankfully it has passed a lot faster than the last one. :) On Wednesday we had a multi zone conference and changes in companions. My companion is still Hermana Gonzalez but Hermana Cordova has officially gone home so we are no longer a trio. I was pretty nervous and worried about her leaving but it has been a lot better than I thought it would be. The conference was great. It inspired me to not give up and let myself be conquered. With enough faith in the Lord, I can do this and I will do this! Because of this attitude, my week has been a lot better. My spanish is still aweful but I am slowly understanding more of what is being said and talking a little bit more. I had the opportunity to speak in church yesterday. Considering my spanish is pathetic and I had next to no time to prepare it, it went very well. Surprisingly I was not even very nervous. MIRACLE! I also played the piano for sacrament meeting. It felt great to feel like I was contributing to the ward. Thanks Mom and Dad for the piano lessons, for giving me the ability to serve others, no matter the language barrior.

It is a small world, even in Sonsonate, El Salvador. The other day I met two missionaries from the stake here that served with Race Davis. I had a blast talking with them. Also, one of the elders in my zone knows Randal Rabon from St Johns. Randal is his brother in law! He also knows Don Williams, which is a shock. Small things like this totally make my day!

The other day we went to visit an inactive family. The parents were not there but the 21 yr old son and 16 yr old daughter were there. Because they were not expecting our visit the daughter was only in a towel. It did not seem to bother her so we taught an hour long lesson to her while she only was wearing a towel! HA! Because it is so hot here, people have a different idea of what is modest, even the members. It is interesting but I love them anyway. I can see that it is a great sacrifice to to wear garments here.

This week we were teaching the Enriquez family and the wife asked us what happened to Joseph Smith after the first vision. This is a very rare question so my companions were not prepared to answer. I was overflowing with things that I wanted to say but could not say any of it in spanish. We ultimately ended up watching the Joseph Smith movie. This experience was a tender mercy for me though because it reminded me of my burning testimony of this gospel and of Joseph Smith. I have a passion for the church and church history that I just want to share with everyone! I am so grateful for a reminder of my testimony. Without my testimony of this gospel, I am nothing here. It is this passion that keeps me going every day!

I hope all is well at home. I love you all and miss you all!

4 March 2013

Another week is gone. Luckily this one went a little faster than the last one. My progress is slow here but my companions assure me that I am progressing. I dont talk very much because I dont know what is going on so I feel like my speaking skills are decreasing. I finally broke down in tears with my companions this week. It was comforting to see my trainer cry as well. She only started her mission in November so we are both feeling pretty lost. It was a good bonding moment to acknowledge that we are both struggling.

We went to San Salvador twice this week for immigration paperwork for me and Hna Gonzalez. This gave me the opportunity to ride the crazy buses here. Luckily there were not chickens like in Romancing and the Stone. But there was crazy music, tons of people, venders selling everything, and women with baskets on their heads (this is very common here). The travels were long and frustrating because it took away from my study time but they were definitely interesting experience.

The last two days have been windy here. This is almost comforting because it reminds me of home. And it wasnt hot!!! What a blessing! ha! It is hilarious though because the people here think that it is freezing when there is wind. It was a warm wind and the temperature was probably 75 degrees with a nice breeze and everyone, including my companions, broke out their sweaters. HA!

A lady fixes us lunch everyday. She and here soon to be husband are my favorite people here to far. They are so incredibly nice to me even though I can hardly communicate with them. They are also so generous. The people here are very poor but give so freely. This week she gave me a dress, just because she had it on hand and felt like giving it to me. I wore it yesterday to church and she was so pleased. :) I will try to send a picture. She isnt a member but has a testimony of Joseph Smith and everything. Rafael is a member and a very strong one at that. We are hoping after their marriage today the door will be open to get Mama Enma baptized. I am excited!

One of our investigators, Karina, lived in the USA for a little while so she knows english. She asked me to offer the opening prayer to our lesson in English this week. I was excited at first but as I started praying, I could hardly hold back the spanish words. I havent prayed out loud in English for a long time so it was almost hard. Whoa! Maybe there is hope for me yet.

This week I studied the story of Alma and Amulek when they were cast into prison. I took your advice and applied it to myself. They suffered SO much, no food, no water, no clothes for days and having to watch their investigators burn! I am suffering very little in comparison. But in the end, with faith and strength from the Lord and on the timetable of the Lord, they were delivered. This helped remind me that I need to continue in faith and the Lord with "deliver" me as well from this language barrior. I love the scriptures and treasure the time I have to study them!

Well I have to go. I love you all.

25 February 2013

Hello everyone! I have officially started my mission here in El Salvador. I hope Mom shared with everyone the picture with my mission president and his wife. After arriving in Santa Ana I was in limbo and or orientation stuff for about a whole day. I met my companions: Hermana Gonzalez (my trainer) and Hermana Cordova, on Wednesday and also arrived in my area: Sonsonate. It has been quite a long week and very interesting. I have been blown away by the living conditions and the things that are just accepted here as normal that you never seen in the States. I have met many great people though. The members are very very nice and willing to help the missionaries a lot. All day long the members and investigators give us food and drink. Most of the time it is just drinks. They drink a ton of fresco here which is kind of like juice but different at the same time. Most of the food and drink so far has been good but there have also been times where I just have to gulp it down and not think about it. I have realized that I really have no control over my weight here because I cannot refuse anything. So forgive me if I become a gordita.

My companions are nice and hard working, for which I am glad. Hermana Cordova knows english pretty well while Hermana Gonzalez knows very little. That being said, we hardly ever speak English unless I really need to understand something and I cant get it in Spanish. That means that I talk very little while they chat to each other all the time. I have been very very very humbled and have realized that I really dont know any spanish. It only makes it worse that the people here drop their ses. So it doesnt sound like como esta but rather como eta. And everyone talks quietly and fast. With all of these things combined with my lack of vocabulary, I understand very little. This is HARD! I want to help. I want to understand but I just cant. At the moment I feel quite worthless but I hear that that is pretty normal for North Americans at this point. Please pray for me.

The other day, when we can home for lunch, the tears finally came out. Luckily I was alone. I just sat down and wrote all my thoughts out because I have no one to express them too. I just felt so down and alone. Later that day we visited a less active member to was struggling because she was feeling alone in her life even though she was doing everything that she was supposed to. As I thought about what I would say to her if I was given the chance, Ether 12:6 came to my mind. A witness only comes after the trial of our faith. Feeling alone can be a trial of our faith but all we can do is continue to do what we are supposed to with faith. Then the witness of Gods love and presense will come. I realized that this was Heavenly Father giving me advice to my problems through the problems of this dear sister.

We had a big mission meeting on Saturday because our mission is changing. As I am sure you have heard, the church just created 58 new missions world wide. One of which is in El Salvador. I mission is changing boundarys. At this point I dont know if I will remain in the Santa Ana mission or be in the San Salvador Oeste mission. The changes take affect in July so where ever I am at that point will determine which mission I am in. Sonsonate is in the Oeste mission and because of my timing here, I think there is a 80 percent chance that I will be in the Oeste mission. Who knows.

I experienced my first baptism this past Saturday. His name was Elmer. I arrived after he was taught so I dont really know him. It was a stressful day and it seemed like everything that could go wrong with the baptism, did go wrong. Finally three hours after we arrived at the chapel, Elmer was baptized. It was amazing that even though the room was full of cigarette smoke and noisy children I could still feel the Spirit.

Well my time is gone. I love you all!

Hermana Heap

 

PS If you are curious, look up the humidity and temperature of Sonsocate. :) And after you do, look out the window at the snow and count your many blessings.

El Salvador

 

Hermana Heap made it safely to El Salvado this week!

13 February 2013

This week was great! I have now been in MTC mode for over 8 weeks and
am finally in my last week. From what I have heard, I will be leaving
to El Salvador on a bus on either next Monday or Wednesday. Crazy! At
times I feel ready but most of the time I dont. Oh well. I will just
put my trust in the Lord. Because it is our last week, my district is
trying to speak as much spanish as possible. On Monday we had a
complete english fast. It was hard, especially to plan lessons but it
actually went better that I thought it would. I guess there is hope
for me yet. :)
It has been
an interesting time to be in the MTC and CCM because I have gotten to
witness the changes that are coming from the age change. This new
group of latinos are the first here to only have two weeks in the CCM
instead of three. I was one of the very last missionaries to get to
experience both MTCs. Now all north americans come here straight from
home. The capacity of the CCM is 88 and we now have over 150 people
here right now. 51 of them are sisters which is more than ever before.
All of the north american sisters actually got moved out of the CCM
this week. There just werent enough beds so now we live in this really
big nice house that is across from the temple. It normally houses
temple patrons who come from far away so it is equipped with tons of
beds and bathrooms. It is very nice but a bit of a walk from the CCM.

I have been trying to
recognize the spirit more this week. It is interesting because I
almost never feel the specific feeling that I connect with the spirit
here. I know that I am doing my best and being blessed though so the
spirit has to be with me. The trick is just being able to identify it.
I am recognized a few new ways or feelings of the spririt this week
and it has been really cool. On Tuesday we watched a film of a
devotional given by Elder Scott. The last ten minutes of the talk
really struck home to me but what was most interesting was during this
talk, two really specific experiences came to my mind that we kind of
related to what was being talked about. I didnt think too much about
it but later decided to write down some of my thoughts. By the time I
was done writing about the experiences and thoughts that came to my
mind, I knew without a doubt that these specific two experiences had
come to my mind because of the spirit. The Lord was trying to teach me
something about these experiences. It was way cool!

Some of you probably remember my experience
in the Spanish branch where I experienced the interpretation of
tongues. It was a really isolated event where I was trying so hard to
understand the talks that day but knew so little spanish that I
couldnt catch many words. But as I tried, I heard a few familiar
words, and thought to myself, oh they are probably talking about this.
I did this with every talk and after sacrament I asked Dad what had
been said. I had been dead on with what the people we talking about.
That was one day,one very isolated experience. I honestly feel like I
have this gift of the spirit every day. Sacrament meeting here is
exactly the same way: I can catch more words but I still cant catch
them all but with every talk I understand their message and feel the
spirit of what they are saying. Even in my normal conversations with
some of the latino sisters, they talk so fast and use vocab that I
dont know but most of the time I can get the jist of what is being
said. This just makes me realize how much my Savior is helping me!

Elder James B Martino from
the 2nd quorum of the seventy who is over the central america area,
spoke to us last night. It was so good! He talked about so many good
things and it was especially good because I am so close to actually
going to the field. He said the hardest thing that he had to teach
while being a mission president was not the language, it was how to
work hard. He said that we need to learn how to work hard even when we
are tired. He also said that if we are going to hot places we should
be grateful. The hotter it is, the more that the people are outside
their houses, and the easier it is to find people to teach. We cant
change the weather so we should just be grateful for it. I loved this
because it reminded me of Polyanna and always finding good in every
thing, never complaining. This is the kind of missionary I want to be!

I really enjoy sports
time here. I have even started playing basketball and surprisingly I
have a blast every time. It helps that the elders that play with us
sisters dont take it too seriously. I am really going to miss being
able to play like this in the field.

Well it is once again time to go. I love you all. Happy
Birthday Adam, and Brandon. and happy anniversary Holly and Allen!