The Secret :: May 16, 2016

What a week. Every moment brings a new adventure here. We have been teaching the Ramirez family and this week their little girl, Luz Clarita, was baptized. The parents are going to wait a little bit, following the example of their little girl. Also, a little girl named Yuri got baptized. One day, we were visiting a family and Yuri showed up and told us she wanted to get baptized. It all worked out so perfectly. It was a beautiful little miracle. 

Both of these little girls are great examples to me. There is something so precious and sweet about a child. I see why Christ spent a lot of time with the children. I have spent every day this week with Yuri, Luzy and her little sisters Marisol and Renata. They teach us how we can be humble and peaceful and just go with the flow and follow Christ. I love these little girls with my whole heart. I never want to leave them.

This week, I met Mikaela. She is 91 years old!!! We asked her what her secret is and she said that people ask her that all the time and she says that one eats what they need to eat and she has never had a special diet, but her secret is happiness. She is catholic and loves God with all her heart. It goes to show that God makes a big difference in our lives if we let him do so. We are all united in a desire to be better and serve God because of the knowledge we have of our Savior. 

We are all looking for the same sorts of things in life. We all just want happiness and acceptance. If we look with the Savior, we always find what we need to get to the next step in life. I have been thinking about all the desires I have in my heart and how I try to accomplish them by myself... to be healthier, smarter, skinnier, more talented, etc. etc. etc. Again and again, I have to learn that only through Christ, we can reach all of these goals, both temporal and spiritual. The Lord cares about what we care about and wants the best for us. He will lead us where he needs us to go and to who He needs us to be, in His time, and we will be HAPPY! I want to be like Mikaela when I am 91.

Here are some fun times from this week... 

Mikaela and I

91 years old!

Washing clothes with Marisol in the Pila

Luzy painting Elder Contreras' nails

Our mamma in Dalmacia Mama Maritza.. she always cooks for us and makes us dresses and gives the best hugs

Guatemalan Enchilada

Luz Clarita ready for her baptism

Yuri ready for her baptism

Hermana Meza and I with our girls

Magical Week :: May 10, 2016

Hi Everyone!

Happy Mother's Day to all the women in the world. It has been an eventful and fun week... I can honestly say this week has been the very best week I have had in my mission so far. It has been eventful, fun, and full of miracles.

On Tuesday, we were able to go to the temple. It was the first time I have been able to go to the temple since coming to the mission field. I didn't know how much I had missed it, not being able to go for 6 months. We traveled 2 hours to go to the temple. It puts into perspective how lucky we are in Utah to be able to live so close to so many temples. If you don't have a temple recommend, work towards getting one and find a way to enter the temple. I love the temple. I testify that it is the house of the Lord and the only way to exaltation.

There is a sister here named Iginia. She is 80 years old and does not work but always finds a way to save every last bit she has every single month to be able to go to the temple. It is expensive but she always finds a way. It inspires me so much. She has been a member of the church for about 40 years and although her family members are not all members, she always goes to every activity and does all that the Lord asks of her. She is a woman of faith and courage and I want to learn to be more like her.

During the week, I cannot describe exactly what happened and why it was the best week of my mission, but the truth is that when the spirit of the Lord is in your spaces, it calms your heart and spirit and helps you to enjoy life and see things as they really are. We visited and met a lot of new people and had trials and difficulties but the spirit was with us and we were able to help people, to be instruments in the Lord's hands. Life is just not fun without the spirit of the Lord. The gospel is the only way we reach TRUE happiness, the kind of happiness that is enduring and beautiful.

Some of our investigators. We are teaching someone named Sindy. She has a lot of questions and is really curious. I love that she is willing to seek out her responses and study. She has also read all of the bible and grown up in different churches. Right now, her family is not going to a church but they are looking to join one. She is married and has one son. She is the first person I have met in Guatemala who has read the whole Book of Mormon and wants to find out if it is true. Her faith and willingness to know the truth inspires me.

Also, we are teaching Amparo. She is 30 and has 3 little girls, Luz Clarita, Marisol and Renata. She doesn''t know how to read or write but loves learning about Jesus Christ and has come to church with us the last two weeks. She is our Mama Amparo and I love her and her girls so much. Luz Clarita is going to enter the covenant of baptism this week and Amparo the following week.

Those are just some pieces of the best week ever. Perhaps it was a better week because the Lord is making changes in me and carrying me. In fact, I do believe this is the case. I have felt the Savior's love for me so strongly and I know that He knows me individually and loves me tremendously. Our Savior lives and loves us.

This week, I have learned that as we try to change our lives and come unto Christ, the adversary will try and come in to change our minds. He will tell us things that are not true and try to tell us we cannot change. I testify that we can change. All of our goals are important to our Heavenly Father and brother, Jesus Christ, because they love us! They created us! Even if it is that we want to be healthier and learn to exercise everyday or get into a school program or find our car keys, they will help us! Don't let the adversary tell you things that are not true. We are made of the stuff of eternity and can always improve and be better and better. We are training to be Gods!

To top off the week, I talked to my family. It was the best thing in the entire world. My family is so special to me. I love them tremendously... and on Monday, we went to the beach!

I love you all. I hope that even when times are hard and things don't work out how we hope they will, we can find the hope and stillness in our Savior, in his life and in his teachings. He is here for us and wants us to come unto him. Stay strong and remember that the true rock is our Savior, Jesus Christ!

XOXOX
Hermana Jessop

Skyping with Lexi

We loved skyping with our Lexi for Mother's Day. She is so happy in the mission field and such an inspiration to us! Here are a few of our favorite moments:

• "On your mission, you realize God is with you no matter what." 
• In the Living Christ when Joseph describes Chris, he says "the hair of his head was white like the pure snow" - Lexi joked that this means as your hair becomes "white like snow" it means you are becoming more Christlike. Age is a beautiful thing.
• She used the Spanish cognate "assistance" rather than saying "attendance" when she was talking about how many people were in a branch.

How lucky we are to have such an amazing missionary!

Beautiful Lexi in Guatemala

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!