The Hardest thing Ive ever loved to do!

wow! how wonderful was this week!!! first things first...EDUARDO GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!! it was so amazing!!!!! he was so happy!!!!! i seriously love this family. and i know hermana gunderson will take care of everyone in the area, so im not worried at all! :D also on wednesday i was able to go to the temple!!! YES..THE TEMPLE!!!!! whoooooo!! it was so wonderful. it had been a long time since i´d done a session. and we got to do it with presidente and hermana ruiz. all of those who are leaving went, it was a bittersweet moment because we were very excited but you could also feel the emotions that we were all having. but how grateful i am for the temple and the PEACE that one feels inside. (we will definitely have to go soon after i get home.) also this week was la semana santa in guatemala and everyone was gone or doing catholic things...its kinda cool to see actually but it did make the work a little harder. also the people were a little wilder this week so we had a very strict schedule, but all in all we were able to work with out problems and how grateful i am for that. also yesterday in church we 4 missionaries (we share a ward with the zone leaders) recited "The Living Christ" and you could see the spirit that was in the room. being able to speak those words and feel the spirit testify of every one of them was seriously the best. good week all in all!

well that was a little about the week...and now a little about the mission. i cant believe this is my last email as a full-time missionary. i feel like i just got here and that i still have a lot of time, but sadly that is not true. these past 18 months have been the best, hardest, saddest, happiest of my life. this week on friday morning we were not able to work until 3 pm due to some semana santa things and so we had a zone meeting and watched some of the missionary broadcast again. and there was a phrase that stuck out to me, it was elder W. Christopher Waddell and he said, "CONVERSION IS A MIRACLE" I have been talking a lot about the miracles that hermana gunderson and i have seen in this change and really how wonderful is god. and MANY times in my personal study this week i have read about miracles, but when i heard that phrase it hit me. i got to thinking about my mission and the miracles i have seen through it and then then about the people i have met here and how they have been converted. and it hit me...that the biggest miracle i have seen on my mission is MY conversion. i have always known the church is true, but for many years i was living on a borrowed testimony. but now i can testify to ALL that i KNOW WITH OUT A DOUBT that this is true. i have converted myself to christ and the mission has helped me do it. i KNOW that jesus christ lives. he is literally the son of god and he suffered and died for all so that, if we chose to follow him, we can be forgiven and changed. i KNOW that jospeh smith is a prophet and that he was the instrument that god used to restore his church. he was a young boy who trusted in god and recieved his answer because he prayed sincerly. i know that god hears and answers prayers. HE IS OUR HEAVENLY FATHER. the book of mormon is true. it is the keystone of our religion and all things stand and fall with it. if we have doubts, READ IT. the atonement of jesus christ is real. HE KNOWS US. we must come to know him. 

as i look back at the last 18 months of my life i have been changed, not only by christ, but by the people with whom i have had the pleasure and privelege to live with. when i recieved my call i tried to imagine the guatemalans. but i couldnt and now i look back with tears in my eyes as i remember and cherish them. i can picture them with there dirt floors and 8 children with dirty faces and hands. most of them with out teeth and yet they smile. they are all worn by the hard work that living in this country requires and many are searching for something they dont know. many look at me like im crazy, a tall white girl in the middle of guatemala who can speak spanish, but what they dont know is eventhough they are poor in worldly things, this gospel can make them RICH in spiritual things. i have never been so humbled as i have been here in the mission but its amazing to see these people as god sees them, Future GODS!!!! i will forever have guatemala in my heart. i know there are MANY things i could have done better, but i also know that i have helped in the lives of many people. if i have learned anything else on hte mission...its love. PURE love because we are all children of god. 

like the nashville tribute band songs says im "in a million ways completely torn apart, as a land so far away still owns my heart" guatemala will forever be my home, these people will always be my family, and the lessons i have learned will forever be my testimony. i know that god loves these people because if someone so imperfect as me can love them so much it hurts, i can only imagine how much he loves them. the mission is the greatest thing i have done so far and i know it is preparing me for the other missions he has planned. i love you all very much and look forward to seeing you on thursday. :)

con mucho amor,

Hermana Canty

Photos!

 JANETH AND HER FAMILY!!!! :D

 I LOVE THE CHILDREN HERE!!!  :)

Buenas Tardes!!! :)))

Buenas Tardes!!! :)))))

well it sounds like everyone´s week was great!! and mine was too!! and i dont have too much time because the internet is turning on and off because of the SUPRISE rain we are getting! so heres my week in a nutshell...

IT WAS A WEEK OF TRUE MIRACLES!!! we found truly miraculous new investigators..all of which seemed to just come to us. which is so crazy!!! all of which asked us directly about the book of mormon and the restoration...really great to testify of that!!

also on tuesday we all got blessings from our district leader..wow!! how needed it was. i have never felt so blessed on my mission but just receiving that blessing helped me clear a lot of things up. it also promised many things, and wow..it was also great to see how every blessing was different and was exactly what each person needed. how greatful i am for the priesthood!!

also...eduardo (janeths son) is gettting baptized this weekend!! whoooo!!!! 

well thats about all the time i have today before the rain cuts me off again. I LOVE YOU ALL! 

con amor,

Hermana Canty

"You Have to See the Big Miracles Too"

Well hello there my wonderful family!! 

first of all, CONGRATS TO THE CHAMPION!! and all teams that played this weekend!!! it sounds like it was a great weekend for sure!! i am very proud of you all!! :D

but like my title says we saw MANY big miracles this week!!! 

the first one was with hermana Janeth and her son Lester. THEY GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!! :) it was such a great baptism! hermana janeth was so happy and she told me, "hermana i want ALL of my family in white!" i almost cried. we had some really good lessons with her this week to prepare them and it truly was a miracle they got baptized. SHE WAS PREPARED. there were also lots of obstacles that tried to stop her (i.e. being sick on saturday morning and we had to heat up water on the stove to fill the font, her mom gettig sick, lester almost not getting confirmed) but she didnt let it fase her. Janeths testimony and DESIRE to be baptized really changed me. from the first day we met her she was ready. she truly is so special to me. 

also we met a lady named glendy this week. she was a reference from the sisters in another zone and we tried to contact her on wednesday. well we were looking for her house for like 20 minutes and she wasnt answering the phone but FINALLY she did and explained a little better. but as she was explaining the directions became really familiar to me and it dawned on me that she was an old investigator and that we had already tried to contact her before but she wasnt very positive. so i kinda went with lower hopes (#littlefaith..bad idea.) but when we got there she was waiting happily for us and we started talking and she was SO positive!!!! she wants to get baptized like NOW!!! so many things have changed since hte last time i saw her and i really had to fight myself from wondering if it was really the same person! she is way cool and im really excited to be able to work more with her.

on the mission ive come to appreciate and recognize the small miracles everyday. and i am so grateful for that. but since being here in mazate ive seriously seen BIG miracles. one of the hermanas told me, "hermana you cant jsut focus on the small miracles god does BIG miracles and we can see them too." after that my eyes opened and i saw them! i dont know if the small miracles just became the big miracles for me or if really truly so many BIG miracles have happened. but either way i am so grateful. i feel like we dont deserve to see so many amazing things but then i remember that its not for us, but for the people. and we are just lucky enough to be apart of them. i KNOW that god is a god of miracles and that he can truly change our lives. WE NEED TO LET HIM!!!!

i love you all so much!! good luck this week in everything and have a great week!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

con amor,

Hermana Canty

Pictures

 so this is my comp and i..arent we cute!

 this is cristian the night he got set apart....SO COOL!!!!

 we saw chickens be killed...it was awesome.. :)

 LA FAMILIA CARDENAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #eternalfamilyinprogress

 the GIANT spider that was above my bed last night...it was horrible.

300+++

hello hello canty family! 

well lets just get started because the lord has worked MIRACLES this week!! :))))

so im sure you all remember the email from last week with the really crazy and stressful lesson with janeth and her husband. well we were a little nervous about going back with them bc we werent sure how they would react..but on wednesday our correlation meeting got canceled and we were already in mazate..and took that as a sign that we needed to visit them. so we went and at first it was REALLY weird...but then we sang and started teaching the IMMEDIATELY the spirit came. we read Moroni 10:3-5 with them and asked them if they had honestly done what it asks in those verses to know if its true. janeth told us yes..and eric told us no. he also shared like he thought that we were trying to replace the bible with the book of mormon and a few other doubts that we were able to clear up. but we were able to TESTIFY that we were not trying to replace the bible but to help him ADD to his knowledge of christ. we seriously felt the spirit in the entire lesson. i cant tell you if he will really want to get baptized right now, but he DID accept to read the book of mormon and pray!!! it was a really humble moment when he agreed to do it because i saw in his eyes the light of christ wanting to know..and i KNOW that if he reads the book and prays like it says in moroni..he WILL know. it was such a great lesson.

which takes us to the next miracle...JANETH IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!! we went with just her on saturday too see how it went with the book of mormon. so the first question we asked was if she had read the book of mormon. and IMMEDIATELY she responded, "yes hermanas i did. and i KNOW that this book if word of god. i read it and then i kneeled and prayed and i know that it is true." I ALMOST CRIED!!!!!! you could just SEE it in her eyes that she truly had received the answer that it is true. her eyes BEAMED!!!! it was one of the happiest moments i´ve had. theres really nothing better than seeing someone you love so much say YES to the invitation to read and then when they actually do it...its a thousand times better. we then challenged her to baptism and she agreed for the 12 of march...THIS WEEKEND!!!! :D we also saws god´s hands in her coming to church. she had a trip planned for sunday with a friend and wasnt sure if she was going to come..but we prayed LOTS so that she could..(i even asked to put an obstacle in the way so that she couldnt go..) and thats what happened..she got REALLY sick and was put in the hospital at 2 am on sunday morning...and so she wasnt going on her trip...but also wasnt to thrilled about ging to church...so we turned to prayer again asking heavenly father to give her the strength to come to church..and with his miraculous hands he helped her come to church. i thought she would just stay the first hour..bvut she stayed for ALL three hours. she loves the church and is so excited to get baptized and she wants her kids to be baptized too!! i hope that in this month we can get hte WHOLE family baptized..they just need asistence. 

i dont understand the miracles of god. i know it requires faith..and we have faith but i also feel like he just does them!!! i am so blessed to be apart of these miracles and to witness god´s hand in the lives of everyone. i love hermana gunderson because we are always trying to find ways to be better..we arent perfect but we love the lord and we love this work. we have seen SO many miracles that it would take years to write them all...but those are two that stuck out to me this week. once again the power and the truthfulness of the book of mormon makes me more sure of my testimony of this church. 

good luck in all the activities this week and GOOD LUCK AT STATE!!!!!! work hard and be sure to do the little things!!! :)) i love you all very much!! have a great week! talk to you next week!! :)

con mucho amor

Hermana Canty

Hazme Andar en La Luz

HELLO FAMILY!!!! :)))) happy leap year!!! :D 

well so many amazing miracles happened this week so we will get started!!

WE REACHED LEVEL TWO!!! level two means that the investigators get thier SECOND asistence at church...Hno José came to church yesterday!!! we were really happy because we have a lot of investigators who have only one asistence and yesterday we left level one!!! :))) we were super happy to see him!! (yesterday was just a great day in church!!!!) 

also remember the family we found last sunday!? well the wife came to church yesterday! her name in Janeth and she is SO positive!!!!! we went with her and her family a few times this week and everytime she was so great and expressed her big desires to come to church..and she did!! and she stayed for all of the classes!!!!!! :)))) we went with her last night to challenge them to baptism..and she was a little hesitant but i know with some work she can do it. we had 2 lessons in one. one of which was WAY great!!and the other..was not. to make a very long story short lets just say that i am so greatful for the restoration. last night the husband of janeth was expressing a lot of doubts he had and wasnt too willing to accept the invitation to pray. after a long time of him expressing some of his beliefs and doubts about the church we just felt prompted to TESTIFY. (in short..) we do not ask people to throw away what they know, we ask them to ADD to the light they already have and strengthen it. we invite them to clear the darkness away and find the TRUE light. i KNOW that joseph smith saw God and Jesus Christ and that they restored the church through him. i KNOW that the book of mormon is the only way to know the truth and if we really read it with real intent and not doubting..god WILL answer. i KNOW this church is the ONLY church that has the authority to act in God´s name and perform saving ordinances. after testifying to him we left them the invitation to pray..and something that has always broken my heart in the mission is when the people FEEL the spirit and dont accept it. like it says in 2 Nephi 33:1-2 " the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men...but behold, there are many that harden their hearts against the Holy Spirit.." its so true. the spirit brings the words UNTO our hearts..but if we harden our hearts it wont have an effect. i am so grateful to have felt the spirit. i felt it so strongly and so did hermana gunderson and so i KNOW they felt it. we cant harden our hearts. but i know that if he really does pray about the things we said..he can feel it to. 

but the most amazing thing that happened this week...THE FAMILIA CARDENAS GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we hadnt seen them for almost 2 weeks and on monday we were really worried bc Jimmy had a fecha for the 27 so we decided to pass by their house and we saw them! but we were there for like 5 minutes when jimmy told us, "so hermanas we are still good for the 27 right!?" we were was surprised but of course super happy!! he then whispered.."mildred is also getting baptized!" now that REALLY shocked us!! the last time we had talked to her she said no. well then mildred came and jimmy told us she was getting baptized..and she was like, "NO." we were kinda surprised..and didnt want to make the situation weird so we just sat there like...uhhh okay :) but then on tuesday morning we get a call from jimmy telling us to call mildred. and so we did..and she told us, really quietly, "hermanas im getting baptized on saturday too!" and we had to ask her to repeat it! but she was so excited! and of course so were we!! we made all of the preparations and on saturday we had one of hte most spiritual and beautiful baptismal services EVER!!! there were some speed bumps on the way...(as they were pulling into the church they hit a car and were a little flustered by that) but it turned out great. a bunch of members came to support and hermana gunderson and i did a special musical number, to mildred´s (and my) favorite hymn! "teach me to walk in the light" it was super pretty!! and to make the baptism complte...on sunday we showed up to church like 5 mintues before and they were already sitting there...IN SUNDAY DRESS!!! like he had a white shirt and tie..WITH A TIE PIN, and she was in the cutest shirt and skirt...with sleeves and the skirt was long!!! I ALMOST CRIED WHEN I SAW THEM!!!! they were confirmed and we have a FHE with them tonight to help them start that habit!! i seriously love this fmaily and am so grateful to be apart of their lives. 

what i learned this week is that baptism truly does set people free. my testimony in the priesthood and revelation grew so much this week. as missionaries we walk around in the middle of people who are trapped by sin and sorrow...but as we teach them and they get baptized they drop those chains and are FREE!!!! :DDD i love being amisisonary. i love you all too!! and good luck with everything this weekend! i hope it goes well and that we get some good wins!! ;) LOVE YOU!!!

con amor

Hermana Canty