Marlen's Baptism {Coatepeque} :: April 25, 2016

Hi Everyone, 

Wow, it has been a crazy week! There is not a ton of time to write but I wanted to send some photos. This always seems to be a crazy time of year.

My companion is named Hermana Meza and she is from Lima, Peru. She has always wanted to serve a mission and is the yougest of 5 kids who all served in different parts of the world. She is just starting her mission and so excited. She is incredibly hardworking and an amazing teacher. I am learning so much from her. We have a lot of fun together.

Marlen Esmeralda was baptized this week. She is 15 and she has wanted to get baptized for a few years, but she lives with her aunt and uncle and they do not approve of her baptism. Her mom passed away so they are her legal guardians. They are members of the Evangelical Church. She has read the entire Book of Mormon and has a strong testimony of the gospel. Finally, this week, they gave her permission to get baptized. She is absolutely amazing and a strong example to me of faith, courage and unshakeable confidence! I want to be like her!

The rainy season started this week. It is sunny all day but around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, it usually rains- more like torrential downpour. Our area has a lot of hills and rocky roads, so we walk through little rivers when it rains. It is an adventure every day!

Some highlights of this week- I saw a guy with a University of Utah T-shirt on the street (I miss it like crazy), the rain has started, we had a tri-zone P-day today where we got to play games all morning, and I got a package from my family!

I have attached photos of our area, Marlen's baptism, and some rainy day photos we took together.

XOXOXX,
Hermana Jessop

Dalmacia :: April 11, 2016

Hi Everyone!

This week has been a great one. I am feeling adjusted to my area and really happy to be here. Coatepeque, Guatemala is beautiful!!!

Some experiences from this week:

One day this week we were about to head home for the night and we were feeling a little discouraged. As we were walking down the street, someone said hi. It took us a minute to realize that this person was talking to us in English. We stopped for a moment and started to talk to them. Right before us was a family of 7 - the mom, Ingrid and her daughters Jacquie, Amy, Ingrid, Ingrid, Alondra and Heidi. It turns out that the family moved here in October and they are going to be here until October of next year but they are from Florida. The little girls are 3, 5 and 7 and the older girls are 13, 17 and 21.

My companion and I were especially missing America that day and it was like a gift from Heaven to be able to sit down with them and talk to them. God has a way of giving us these tender mercies. I cannot even imagine how difficult it would be to have to move to a different country for a year. They go to school here and are on soccer teams and everything. They hardly speak Spanish so they were happy to talk to us too. We taught them about the Restoration in English which was a lot of fun! On Sunday, they came to church with us and I was able to have the opportunity to translate the meeting from Spanish to English. It was so much fun! They are a beautiful family and we are excited to be able to teach them about the gospel. It makes us feel at home too.

This Saturday, we also had an activity for youth where we brought young men and women from our areas to learn about missionary work. We all had 2 or 3 mini-missionaries with us. We were able to go out and teach about the gospel and contact people in the streets. It was a lot of fun!

It was a good but simple week.

Also, I am looking forward to going to the temple for the first time in my mission next week!

I love you all!
Hermana Jessop

Me with one of the ward members who reminds me of my grandpa - and my sweat towel from the Ankenman Family!

My Mini Missionaries

The Missionary Youth Conference

Our friends from Florida all ready for church

New Land! :: April 4, 2016

Hi Everyone!

I hope everyone had the opportunity to watch General Conference. I watched it here in Guatemala and learned so much. I especially loved Duncan's talk about forgiveness.

I had changes this week and had to say goodbye to my family in Las Flores, Mazatenango. Everyone there will always be a huge part of my heart. It was really really hard to say goodbye, but I also felt ready to go to a new area.

I was transferred to Coatepeque in an area called Dalmacia. We are just opening a new area that had been closed for 8 months. The ward assistance is not very high but there are a handfull of really cool, active members. There used to be elders here so it is not an area for sisters necessarily, but I am excited for the challenge! The are is HUGE with a lot of trees, hills and houses on the outskirts. I love that because I get to feel like I am hiking all the time. There are even mountains. There is a lot to do here and I am really excited to get started! My companion is named Hermana Tebbs and she is from Layton, Utah!

I've attached some photos of saying goodbye and my new area. Enjoy!

XOXOX
Hermana Jessop

Do all things with great love and courage!