November 12,

Report from the frontlines.

There is a phrase in Spanish that translates to "mini-clothes". Why do we not have that phrase in English?

We contacted 505 people one day for the mission's "Semana Perfecta".

It was absolutely nuts. I contacted CLOWNS.

And as Hermana Coleman put it, "I think I'm contacting gangs."

(This telegram style thing is killing me. Must stop.)

I love that it's completely normal here to describe people asi: "Oh, the short fat old lady on the corner." "Oh, this is my fat child and over there is my skinny one."

'Mazing investigators, 'mazing converts, 'mazing ward, 'mazing area. I get the feeling I'm not staying in Amatitlan after this change and I already miss it!

Sorry my e-mails are so weak sauce these days, but know I love you all como loca.

Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Brower

November 27,

[Insert Cheesy Title Here]

(I think "The Miracle of the Rice and Beans" will do nicely.)

 From left to right: Edgar, your favorite missionary, Sarina, Mica.

This is my Amatitlan-ian family. 

Edgar is a quiet, sweet man who is experiencing the miracle of how the gospel doesn't just change what we do, but who we become - more like Christ.

Sarina is the ultimate huggable Latin mama, and a woman of incredible faith. We're getting there. 

Mica is my little model twin. Because we look exactly alike, I don't know, I'm sure you guys can tell.

Sunday morning, we had an (amazing) session of Conference where Elder Scott and Elder Eyring spoke to Guatemala. (Elder Scott did his talk in Spanish, And used "tu" form because his wife always said it showed more love. So I love him or something.) And Sarina came with us and about halfway through the meeting, leaned over and asked us if we'd like her to bring by beans and rice that night, when we got back in the house - she really worries that we don't eat dinner. We said if she was already making some for her family, then she could bring us leftovers if she wanted, that would be amazing. And that was the end of that.

That night, about two hours before she was going to come over with the beans and rice, we ran into her in the street carrying a huge pot.

She told us this story.

That morning in Conference, she had been worrying about what we were going to eat for dinner (I'm telling you, she mothers us to death and I love it). She felt like she should offer us rice and beans, so she did. After, she sat there in the conference and thought, "I don't have rice or beans. I don't even have food for my family today. What am I going to feed them?" But she said she knew it would work out somehow. 

Later that day, a neighbor came knocking...with 3 pounds of beans. A couple of hours later, another came knocking - they just had this huge bag of rice lying around, did she want it? 

And there was rice and beans for everyone.

And that is the miracle. 

And for her, she felt like it was the sweetest reminder from God that he never looks away from our trails - that he's always mindful of us. 

And I would say that rice and beans have never tasted so good because of the sacrifice and faith and miracle behind them, 

but they were just really good. Mama Sarina can cooook.

Love you all.

Be faithful and trust in good things to come.

Love,

Hermana Brower


December 3rd, 

 

 That picture should probably just make you really happy. #ILOVEAMATITLAN

And so should this one.

From left to right: Your favorite Sistah, her fantastic companion (Hna. Coleman), Angel (who baptized Andrea), Daniela (Andrea's PILAS sister), Andrea and her little girl Angi, who is the most flat out gorgeous little child in all of Guatemala, Bishop Baltazar, Georgina (87 years old. I'm just saying.), Doris & her whole adorable crew, and Elders Diebold & Raudales.

And the whole affair was, as Georgina put it, "bastante alegre". In English: too happy for words.

Cambios are coming on the 11th and my comp. has already recieved the call that she's going to be training, so odds are huge that I'm heading out into the big wide world and away from my little mountain home. But I feel so blessed to have been here and I am so excited for the adventure that lays ahead! 

I love you all & am thrilled to hear your Thanksgivings were great. I am so thankful for all of you and your support and letters. (Truly, madly, deeply grateful.) I hope you all remember how blessed you are -- as KJ beat me to the Anastasia-quote-punch the other week: "Be grateful, Anya."

"Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to others." - Siddhartha Gautama

I can honestly say that my happiness here comes from that, even when it's hard, even when I'm tired or starving or don't have clean clothes or dry shoes or nobody wants to listen or nobody comes to their bautismal interviews (See: The whole month of November). I can see people's faith growing, I can see their hope in a better world growing, I can see that their lives are being blessed because some Gringa walked up to them one day and told them there's one true church and they can know it by asking God if that's true. That is such happiness to me. And to see them come out of the waters of baptism grinning or crying, to see them reading the scriptures with this great unquenchable thirst - that is happiness here. And I am so grateful for it.

Also I got proposed to by a 6 year old in the street last night - in English.  Needless to say, I immediately accepted.

Also the other day we were walking back from Andrea's interview and passed a wedding. I said to Andrea, "¡Un bolo! ¡Que alegre!"

Too bad that the word for wedding in Spanish is "bola". And the word for "bolo" in English is "drunk".

Because drunks are just really happy. (¿¿¿Por que me ha dejado, Español???)

ALSO I FINALLY HAVE A SAN LORENZO SHIRT. San Lorenzo is the pilas area where I live, and it's also a futbol team. I have been longing for a San Lorenzo shirt for a month and a half, and now it is finally in my posession and it is a soft dream. It's KIND OF A BIG DEAL.

I love you cool cats!

Love,

Hermana Brower

And Happy Thanksgiving from a town where people let their turkeys sleep in their beds.

I am so grateful for all of you.

 

Muy rapidito, my loves. (Because EVERYTHING in Guatemala is "ito" or "ita")

The other day, I had a bag of chicken stomach in my backpack. Because I had been fed it. For lunch. And ended up sneaking most of it into a plastic bag and then sneaking it out of the house in my backpack.  Has anything as disgusting as that ever happened to you? I hope not.

This never fails to amuse me, and I don't know why, because, er, English is different from Spanish, but in Spanish, when you call cats, you say, "Mishmishmish" instead of "Herekittykitty". Also the sounds that animals make are different and that is confusing to me, but c'est la vie.

The other day, we got amazing Peruvian takeout delivered to our house for 17 Quetzales. That's about 2 U.S. dollars. Read it and weep.

I love that tortillar is a verb. "Oh, I can't, I have to tortilla tomorrow." THAT'S A THING PEOPLE SAY.

We usually just say "Buenas" instead of "Buenas tardes" (me especially, because my Gringa accent renders the word "tardes" almost impossible) and people will sometimes respond with "Tardes". "Buenas." "Tardes." It's like playing polite Marco Polo. And since Guatemaltecos consider it to be "Buenas tardes" from 11 to 7, we play Marco Polo a YACHT.

Frosted Flakes here are called "Zucaritas". My companion bought a type called "Choco Zucaritas con (Insert word for Marshmallows here.)". That literally translates to "Little Chocolate Sugars With Marshmallows". #saludable

And I was eating my Trix one morning and she was gloating about her little chocolate sugars, and I went, "Whatever, at least I got a free action figure in my Trix." (which I did. It was glorious.) and she retorted, "Whatever, at least I got free diabetes."

So she's pretty excellent.

The bugs are not as bad as I feared, although last night I saw a spider that was 2 inches in circumference. #NOTIMPRESSED. We get the occasional cockroach in the house, however, and my companion, Hna. Weatherford, is deathly afraid. Our house has two levels - a bathroom and general room downstairs with the sink and fridge and closets, and upstairs, a bedroom. I was in the bedroom the other night and heard a terrific scream from downstairs. I called down, "Cockroach?" and Hermana Weatherford yelled up, "No, just Satan running across the floor!" Yep, that about sums it up.

We have this amazing investigator getting baptized Saturday. She just got married to a member last Friday, is 4 months pregnant, and is pretty much golden in every way and too sweet for words. When we saw her at church on Sunday we said, naturally, "How are you?" and she grinned and said, "I'm happy to be here." And later she joked that her baby was kicking a ton "because he's happy to be here, too!" CUTEST. #idie

Well, loves, that's about it for the week.

Every week gets a little bit easier and I love it a little bit more, and I really am so grateful to be here.

Love,

Hermana Brower

Hi loooves.

Hermana Brower here, reporting from the field!

I'm in Amatitlan, this gorgey city that's not in the mountains, according to my fantastic trainer, but looks like it is so I'll take what I can get. My area is ROCKING. Can I never leave it? K thanks. The ward here is too good for words, the members are amazing, our investigators are amazing, and I love it. I'm in a companionship with one of my best friends from the MTC, Hermana Weatherford, and we have a stellar, sweet, hilarious trainer, Hermana Garcia, who's in her last month here. We walk faaast and teach lots. Mornings are still obscenely hard but I love the work.

This is going to be THE most discombobulated e-mail of your vidas, but here goes.

Before I get distracted, Ephesians 4. Rocking.

Here goooes.

Sometimes you're flipping through your journal and you read the sentence, "Talked with Jesus in the streets a few times today, I seriously love him so much." (Alright, so it wasn't Jesus Lord and Savior, but the sweetest older guy who has gone to church twice and loves it, and is just THE SWEETEST.)

Sometimes you can't speak Spanish, but you can't speak English properly anymore either and start saying things like, "Oh, yeah, that has sense." (Spanish, Y U ruining my English???) Sometimes the youth here are ADORABLE and I probably need to adopt each and every one of them? I'm pretty resourceful, I'll figure it out.

Sometimes I use sometimes incorrectly, but most importantly, SOMETIMES WE HAVE BAPTISMS!

Anthony is 8 and too cute for words, and Mynor is 15 and sassy and hilarious and they will be the first I adopt. They are both such great boys and their baptisms were amazing. Mynor was just grinning ear to ear, and Anthony was sobbing. It was actually kind of the cutest thing ever, but saddest. He's so, I don't know how to say it, but special, he really is. Just a special little guy who's going to grow up and do something great with his life.

It's been a crazy past couple of weeks, but bit by bit it's getting better and better and I really am loving the work so much. And we usually get up at 5:30 so on P-Days, when we get to sleep til 6:30 - well, glory glory hallelujah.

ALSO we went about an hour and a half into Guate (the locals call the capital Guate, and every time, I'm just like, wait, he went to Guate? We're IN Guate!) to the temple for...a sealing for a family our trainer baptized five months into her mission, her first baptism! It was amazing, and between that and the baptisms...it was just like, that's why I'm here. I love my family so much and am so grateful to know I can be with them forever, and I want other people to know that and be with their families forever, too. I literally feel so, so, so stinking blessed to be here.

Sorry for the shortness, but know I love you all so much and I am so grateful for your support and your goodness and I hope you all have a groovy week!

If that has sense.

Con amor,

Hermana Tabitha Brower

Week Three

Literally have no time but will try to summarize.  I love my district. I love em. I looove em. I love when the mist slowly burns off the hills here. And the hills are LUSHest. It's a bit like California...but better. #sorrynotsorry. Hna. Weatherford coined the term Guatemullet today. The mullet is alive and well here. I want you ALL to find online and watch Elder Holland's August 30, 2011 MTC Devotional (Grams birthday!). It is so powerful I can't stand it. And so applicable for everyone, really. PLEASE WATCH IT. I got to go through the temple in Spanish today, which was hard but amazing and so worth it. I love the people, I love the city (now that I've actually gone past these 4 CCM walls!). "When you are beat down, drug down, spat on, rejected, and despised, you are standing shoulder to shoulder with the world's greatest missionary." "This mission experience is so hard because Salvation is not a cheap experience. It wasn't easy for Christ, so tell me why you think it should be easy for you. You are His disciples. THE ROAD TO SALVATION ALWAYS GOES THROUGH GETHSEMANE. You pray to be more like Christ? You have to shed some of the tears he shed. You must peach his gospel, by his spirit, feeling his feelings. This work is hard because the Atonement is hard. Healing is hard. It will take the best you've got for as long as you can give it, in that reach for perfection. But there is more than we've ever dreamed or hoped of ahead. I love you, in your youth, for somehow getting enough of the picture to be here, for squaring your shoulders and facing this." - Elder Holland. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. Sorry I couldn't write more, but know that I love you all and know with all my heart that God loves us and that this gospel is true, that it's his love for us shown here. xxxxxxx Tabby

 

Week Four

Hiii all.

So you should all write me on Sundays, because when we write home changes so much here in the CCM that Sunday is the only day that ensures I'll get it. If that makes sense. My English is as bad as my Spanish these days!

 

Entonces.

Not sure what to write this week, except that I love the CCM, I love my companera, I love my friends here, and I love the work. I am so flipping excited to get out in the field and begin changing lives - terrified, too, naturally, but more and more excited with every day. We watched a devotional (I'm going to miss devotionals so much out in the field, they're such a nice spiritual boost) by Elder Neil Anderson, and it was great. Some lovely things he said: "The very essence of eternal life is to love God and love others." "After our trials comes a blessing." "But it is true, and how wonderful it is that you can proclaim it." After the devotional, we had testimony meeting as a district. Who I love. Have I mentioned? Once or even twice? It was so great. I wish I could somehow get investigators into our district meetings. They wouldn't understand it all, but gosh by golly would they feel it. The Spirit is always so strong and that has to be my favorite part of my district and the CCM - you can always, always, always feel God's love for you. And the compliment circle thing, where whoever says the prayer gets a sincere compliment from everyone in the district? I love it, I love it, I love it. It brings the Spirit and fosters so much love.  I love my district. I love my Latinas. I love my companera. I love my family. I love my friends. I love this gospel. I love my mission. I love my Savior. I love my God. I am so happy to be here, you guys. It's already hard, honestly, and I know it's going to get much harder in the field, but I do think it's also going to be a bit more rewarding. I just keep reminding myself that I can do anything for 18 months, and what better to do than tell people God loves them and wants them to be happy? Nuthin. Everyone deserves to know that they are a son or daughter of God and that he loves them accordingly. Everyone. My favorite Spanish word right now is "mansa", which means "still waters". Pretty, no?

Thank you all so much for your nine million e-mails last week; it gets crazy trying to answer them all but I love getting them.

Hermana Brewster and I have had a couple of really amazing lessons recently; it's been great because even when our lessons don't go as we'd like, the Spirit is still present for every single one of them. And right now we're just practicing with our teachers! But it's quite comforting to Hermana Brewster and I that even though we're not great teachers, we can still at least bring the Spirit to the lesson, which is the most important part, anyways.

Sorry, guys, I didn't prepare something to write this week, so I'm just kind of blabbing on, now!

OH. The word for scarf is BUFANDA. That's such a black girl name and I love it.

Pleeease read Hebrews 11. It's stupidly beautiful and stirring and I don't know how I've never known about it. It's all "by faith, this, then by faith, this, then by faith, this", and it just keeps building on itself until you're overwhelmed with happiness. So read it, por favor. Paul is the maaaaaaan.

The other day, Hermana Chavez, trying to teach us future tense, asked, "Where there's a will..." and we all obediently answered, "There's a way."  She wrinkled her nose up and said, "No, it's a future!" #ClashOfTheCultures

Hna. Brewster's birthday was on Saturday, and the elders all wrote her the sweetest, funniest card ever. And the phrase "Merry Womb Emancipation Day" may or may not have been used. Then we went to Hna. Weatherford's room and used her secret stash of Oreos as a cake. Weatherford cupped her flashlight between her hands to make it glow and clicked it off when Brewster blew on it. #bestbirthdayever?

And I love burger day at the CCM because the burgers are incredibly strange and frankly a little disgusting, but they have french fries and then break out the mayo and ketchup, and you know what that means. FRY SAUCE.

Yesterday, after we got to practice being investigators for each other, I asked Hna. Chavez if the teachers all get a kick out of being our investigators in class. Her face was hilarious. "A keek? Do we keek our investigators?" The language barrier will never fail to amuse me. Not to mention there's a dozen things in Spanish that make me scrunch my face up the exact same way.

24-hour CCM fast. Twenty. Four. Hours. That is all.

Testimony meeting at church yesterday was lovely. And I think it was so good to remind all of us Nortes who are struggling with the Spanish to remember how powerful even a broken-Spanish testimony can be. Testimony and the Spirit, man. And love. (And hippy phrases, apparently. The end.)

"Serving a mission is not an opportunity but a privilege."

"God is, not was. God speaketh, not spoke." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

On Sundays we watch a lot of movies, and we couldn't get the projector to work in color yesterday (It's not a day at the CCM without something going wrong, and I love it), so we watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration in black and white. And it came to pass that many hipster jokes were made.

"How do we endure well?"

"We trust in God, and then go on."

"Anyone who truly loves God wants to share it with not only his family, but with the whole human race."

"A voice of gladness for the living and the dead. Shall we not go on in so great a cause?"

 

"Other religions have great truths, but we have all the truth. We invite people to ADD ON to the other truths they treasure."

"The great purpose of missionary work is to do something for our brothers and sisters that is a little like what Christ did for us." - Elder Dallin H. Oaks

"We are intent...on blessing mankind."

Hope that wasn't a too subpar letter, loves!

Know that I love you and am praying for all ya'll.

And I love you.

Have I mentioned I love you?

All of you.

Con ALL the amor,

Tabby