Last P-day in Guatemala

(In this new picture, Hermana Hannah is on the second row from the bottom, third person in on the right)

One interesting thing here is that they don´t celebrate Easter with Easter Eggs. I´m not sure what they do here instead but one of the teachers kind of laughed about that like she thought it was a crazy idea to hide eggs and hunt for them. I hope that you all have a fun time! Easter Sunday is one of the hermana´s birthday. In celebration we´re singing "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing." The only sheet music that they had for it here was not very well written. I tried to fix it but it ended up being too high anyways so we´re doing it a'cappella. I´m glad that I´ll be able to sing it too.

The other day during deportes (sports) there was a reallllly loud BANG. We kind of dismissed it as being thunder since there were some big clouds overhead. Well turns out it was an earthquake! Our night teacher Hermano Bonilla told us that it was an earthquake and that we would be given two flashlights to have in our rooms in case there was an aftershock. Honestly I was kind of excited for something to happen because I've never really felt an earthquake before...even though I did without even knowing it?

In one of the most recent Liahonas there´s a story about a brother and sister in El Salvador and their story about going to the temple. The brother is an Elder serving here. He is super friendly, has this great big smile, and during deportes he was helping me talk to a Latina sister. He speaks English really well. I asked him how he learned English and he said that before he was set apart as a missionary he knew some grammar. Ever since he was set apart he´s been able to understand and speak English. How amazing is that? 

Yesterday my district had the opportunity to walk around the temple grounds and talk to people. My companion and I were able to talk to a man that was tending the bushes. We asked him if he knew much about the church and he said that he didn't. We talked to him about the Book of Mormon. He was concerned that it contradicted the Bible. We helped him understand that they both go hand in hand. Then I shared one of my favorite scriptures with him. It´s the one right before "Take no thought therefore for the things of the morrow for the morrow will take thought for the things of itself." I told him how grateful I am for the knowledge that as I live righteously and do my best everything will work out. My companion gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to read Alma 32. He said that he would. We bore our testimonies, got his name and phone number and said goodbye. I love being a missionary! It´s a great thing to be able to share what I know and what I feel to be true.

On other note Today is the last P-day I´ll have before I am a grown up missionary!! Less than a week now. I´m definitely excited. I´m a bit nervous because I feel like I´m still struggling with the language. But at the same time I am so excited. I haven´t really been able to get out and about much while I've been here. I look forward to being able to talk to lots and lots of people. Panama here I come!! 90 degree weather I hope you´re ready for me! 

Send my love to everyone!! 

Happy Easter! Grandma and Grandpa Babcock your names are in the Guatemala temple and I´ll keep praying for you! Family I love you! Friends I love you too! Okay time to go. ((((cyber hugggg))))) only to the girls!...I´m a
missionary!!

Bonus Letters

Editor Mom's Note: We received both e-mails and snail-mail letters from Hermana Hannah yesterday. She sent this to her brother and her dad in one of those letters. Here she illustrates how to pray in Spanish.

Answers: Week Four in Guatemala

You sent me a Dear Elder letter with some specific questions so I´m going to start by answering those. I have 30 min. to read and write so I´m just going to type and then if I have time I´ll be able to read your email.

1. Where is Hermana Skousen going on her mission? 

She is going to Guatemala Central. There are two other sisters that are also going to Guatemala Central. All of the other Hermanas in my district are going to the Panamá mission. The Elders are going to El Salvador San Salvador. 

2. What do you like about the food? 

It´s kind of hard to describe the food here and really give it justice. It´s easy to say that they cook tortillas, beans, and rice but it´s more than that because of what they add to it or how they make it. Also the breakfast is really different here. We had bread with a sunny side up egg on it, pizza, things that you wouldn't think go together but it just works. Also there are desserts with every meal and they really like cinnamon here :) 

3. Do you get to read snail mail letters whenever you want? 

Yes! Any time I have free time and I love reading them! 

4. How much free time do you have everyday? 

I like to get ready quickly in the morning so I have some time to read. Every day we have deportes (sports) and afterwards people take showers. I like to read during that time or study for whatever investigator I´m teaching next. I don´t have much time at night and sometimes I have to choose between writing in my journal or doing
something like laundry. We have a lot of time (a lot meaning an hour or two) where we are left alone in the classroom and we´re supposed to use that time to study and prepare for our next investigator. The only time I can write letters is P-day but typically I have plenty of time to write on those days. 

5. How many people do you share a bathroom with? 

Well today we´re moving out of the casa and into the CCM. In the casa there were 8 bathrooms and 26 girls. There are two bathrooms in the women's "dorms" in the CCM. Hermana Skousen just moved our stuff into our room and found there´s a bathroom in there. We´ll be sharing it with four other girls. There will potentially be 50 norte girls and more Latino girls all living in the CCM. The bathroom situation honestly is better than the laundry situation. There are two in the dorms and there was only one in the casa. 

6. Are your clothes working out? Your shoes? 

The shoes absolutely yes! I´m used to wearing them now and they´re very comfortable. I've been having problems with my tops. [edit: modesty issues] The skirts are great but I´m regretting not bringing more colored skirts. People are so dressy here that I feel like I can´t wear the regular T-shirts with my skirts so I have only worn two of my skirts twice. 

7. On a scale of 1-10 where was your Spanish when you left and where is it now?

Before 3. Now 6. I feel like I still have a lot to learn but I can speak well enough to communicate. I can understand people when they speak slow enough. My grammar is awful and the Latinos correct me often but they can still understand me. One Latino told me that she admired me for my attitude-my willingness to laugh at myself and then try again.

8. How are you feeling physically? 

I sit pretty much all day but I´m exhausted by the end of everyday. I think this shows just how much mental energy I´ve been using! I had a cold a while ago but it only lasted a day or so (Funny story, so today we went to Walmart and everything was in Spanish. I was trying to find mints. So I ended up buying coughdrops...haha) Several other girls have been getting diarhea but thankfully I haven´t had that problem. 

9. Have you encountered any insects? 

I´ve only killed one spider and it was pretty big but it wasn´t the biggest I´ve seen in my life. Hermana Skousen and I saw a cockroach on our way to our class. We screamed and a Latino Elder and his companion came and squished it for us. I´ve been told that there are more bugs during the rainy season. 

10. Are you getting lots of letters from Greg and Jake? 

I´ve gotten many letters from Greg and 1 from Jake. Jake said he would meet with the missionaries that week! And he sent me a piece of five gum :D which I've been saving for when I´m having a rough day and just need some gum. Oh how very much I miss my gum! (I´m out of tic tacs...that´s why I wanted to buy mints...is it bad to have cough drops when you´re not sick?...probably not a good idea to have multiple a day...haha) 

I love you all very much!! Ready for thissss??? (((((((((CYBERHUGGGG!!!!)))))))))) :D Love you love you love you love you!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. Only one more P-day and then I´ll be going to Panamá!!!!!!! The one thing I´m worried about with that is the weight of the suitcases...If I go extra I would just have to pay more I think...I´m not really sure...they gave me a lot of books. I´m sure it will work out though. PANAMA!!! :D I´m super excited to be able to get out and about. It´s hard to be stuck inside practically all day. Deportes is one of the highlights of my day, and P-days when we get to go outside are the bestest :D Okay 30 seconds left so time to say goodbye.

GOODBYE (CYBER HUGGGGG) Love you! Bye!

Week Three In Guatemala

(Hermana Hannah is in the back row. She sent a picture of the Elders too. It looks like they have twice as many Elders. I guess all the missionaries there wouldn't fit in one photo.)

This week has been a long but wonderful one. The CCM doesn't feel like home but it's beginning to feel very familiar. I am surrounded by very wonderful loving people. I'm grateful for everyone in my District. I am beginning to understand the routine schedule that I follow every week. I think yesterday was the half way mark...some of the sisters were talking about it. Three more weeks and then I´ll be in Panamá. I want to share a couple experiences that I've had this week.

The first time I went to the Guatemala temple I noticed a beautiful white cloth in one of the rooms. When I saw it I thought to myself “That looks like something Grandma Carlson would have made.” A week later you told me that she had the opportunity to work in the temple here. Later after reading that email I went to the temple for the second time. While I was there I remembered that thought that I´d had the first time I came and I made the connection in my head. I don´t know if she actually made that beautiful decoration or not but the idea that she might have made me feel like I really was meant to come here and I felt like she is supporting me. The feeling was so overwhelming. I´m so grateful for family support from both sides of the veil.

I want to share a second experience that I had this week but first I need to explain a calling that I´ve received. I´m the music coordinator in the CCM. Basically I´m in charge of the special music numbers and anything else that they need me to do. I´m one of the only piano players in the CCM so my musical abilities are much needed. I wish that I had practiced more before I came out here but my knowledge of music is enough that I can help. I brought some music with me. One of the songs that I brought is the EFY Medley. Ever since I found out there was a piano here I was dying to be able to play the EFY Medley. [Mom editor’s note: it’s the combination of “As Sisters in Zion” and “We’ll Bring the World His Truth.”] I was having a particularly hard day last week and I prayed that I would be able to play this song. Amazingly there was time later that day and I was able to play it. That day my district decided that we just HAD to perform that. Once I became the music coordinator I had the ability to make it happen :D. So all of last week and half of this week has been focused around this song. Last night my district, combined with a Latin district performed the song during a devotional at the CCM. I was able to play the piano, and a Latino Elder played the Violin (The only instrument besides the Piano that the CCM has). It was amazing how it all came together. It was hard to figure out exactly how to put everything together  because both Latinos and Nortes were singing together and at first we were going to try doing it in Spanish and English (which did NOT work out very well because it sounded chaotic). So the Nortes ended up just translating it into Spanish. Some of them had a hard time with that because they felt like it didn't mean as much when they couldn't understand it. But last night when we performed the spirit was so strong and I know that it was meaningful to them. 

The devotional itself was absolutely amazing. The main speaker was President Mask, the temple President here in Guatemala. He shared some amazing almost unbelievable experiences. He emphasized that it is such a privilege to be missionaries, especially here in Central America. We are fulfilling prophecy (1 Nephi 15:14). The DL in my district reminded us of something that was said...I can´t remember who said it but it goes like this “You may not teach kings but you will teach people that have the potential to become kings.”

Another thing that was mentioned in the devotional was that you were called on your mission by a prophet of God. This is where you´re supposed to be.

This is where I´m supposed to be and the people here are who I´m supposed to meet.

Week Two in Guatemala

So today we were able to tour the city of Guatemala...kind of. We road around the city in a tour bus. We went to the market (The DL Elder Andreson helped me as I tried to get some Pan Pipes...which I got for half the price that they were selling it for :) fun), we went to Wendies, and we gave out Books of Mormon. Hermana Skousen and I were able to give them to two people. It was wonderful to talk to them. One of their names was Juán. We had no idea what he was saying to us but we knew that he was expressing things that were personal to him. I hope that he reads the Book of Mormon and I hope that some "grown up" missionaries have the opportunity to teach them. 

Last night we were given our cameras back! Today was a "transfer day" and our Latino friends left early this morning. The CCM gave us our cameras back so that we could take pictures with them and so we could take pictures in Guatemala City.

In the last email I wrote down what I was going to say before the computer time and then I just typed everything up...this time I'm just writing. It's hard to know what to say. I think that from now on I will try to have things written up for me to tell you. Something that could help is if you ask me questions for what you want to know?  

That is so awesome about Grandma Carlson! I had no idea that she worked in the Guatemala Temple. What a neat thought to think that I could be living in the same house that she lived in. I remember her very clearly. I wish that I could have known her better. I was able to go to the Guatemala Temple last week and we´re going again today. If you wonder why you're being especially blessed it's because your name is in the Guatemala temple :D  

I've been called to be the Music Coordinator...or something like that. Basically I'm in charge of organizing the special music numbers and making sure that someone plays the piano and that the page numbers for the hymns are put up. 

Uncle John I got your Dear Elder letter. I'm not sure if they print them off here or in Provo but it definitely works. Pretty awesome! 

My Spanish is getting better slowly but surely. When we went to Wendies today the woman behind the counter thought I wanted 18 Burritos de Pollo and 10 Papas Fritas...but I was able to work it out. It was kind of stressful at the time but looking back on it is pretty funny. 

I'm very grateful for our ward. Everyone has been so kind, loving, and supportive to us. We have been greatly blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people. 

I'm just about out of time. I love you all! I love letters in the mail (hint hint) :D Also, I have more time to reply in letters than I do to write email. 

I look forward to when I can send you all photos.

Lots of love, 

Hermana Hannah