Pictures for Christmas

Hermana Canty, Hermana hernandez, and President Ruiz´s grand daughter :) 

she is adorable!!

 

Hermana hernandez & Hermana Canty in a tuk tuk!!

(they cost 10 quets here :(  )

 

Hermana hernandez & Hermana Canty w/ one of our investigators, Naomi! :))

 

 

Hermana hernandez  & Hermana Canty "sharing the gift" by smiling more!!!! :)

(in spanish: sonreír mas) :))))

 

Hermana Hernandez & Hermana Canty for christmas!!!

Feliz Navidad de Guatemala!

FELIZ NAVIDAD

MERRY CHRISTMAS FAMILIA!!!! :)))

well i cant believe it is that time of year already!!!! how crazy this past year has gone and all of the many things that have happened!!! i love christmas time, and especially in the mission field! the "he is the gift" ( i think thats what it is called in english... haha) has been so great! and we have had a lot of success with that! it is seriously a beautiful video, and was truly inspired by god!!!! :)))))

well this week was good! we had a christmas devotional in reu on wednesday! about 5 zones (there are 13 in the mission) met together in the chapel there and presidente and hermana ruiz spoke to us! it was so good!!! they challenge us to read 25 chapters in the book of mormon and read all of luke in the bible!! :)) i love reading these chapters!! :) but after the devo we had lunch and they fed us dominos!! :P also each zone had to plan a performance for the devo and every other zone sang a christmas hymn..but not my zone hahaha we did a skit!! it was super cute and it was about the conversion process!! it was super cute!! and everyone loved it! 

also this week we had a super cool lesson with an investigator!! (background on the story. we have this investigator who wasnt really interested in taking the lessons about 2 months ago! but he got a book of mormon from another investigator and started to read it and said he wanted to meet with us! he has read a ton of the book of mormon!! and have had one other lesson before this one!) we watch the testaments with him!! it was so powerful! every time i watch it i cry..so that was awkward..but it was still super cool!!! there is power in the book of mormon! and all a person has to do is read it with an open hear, ponder on the words, and ask heavenly father if they are true and he will reveal the truth of the book unto them!! i know this to be true! and i hope that each of you can try this too!!!!! :))) 

also, i would just like to say that hermanas (sister misisonaries) are the best!!! :)) we had to help the zone leaders out with their baptism this weekend (the water in the font drained and they didnt have any more water in their chapel.... hahaha) and so they came to ours! we helped them with the baptism and it was super cool!! the look on the kids face afterwards was unforgettable!! i cant wait to have that experience!!! but i know the lord has a plan and schedule for me!!! 

anywho..i dont have too much else to say because i am super excited for wednesday!!! :)) i love you all so much!!!! please know how much i love you and please try to help the missionaries out at home!!! :)) SHARE THE GIFT!!!! :) :))))))))))

WITH MUCH LOVE,

Hermana Canty

Picture Time

 Hermana Canty and Hermana Beckstrand

 

  Zona Brillantes

 

This big tower thing in Xetulul

 

Hermana Canty's new friend in the museum of toys

 Their last district/zone meeting together

 

 

Hermana Canty, Hermana Beckstrand with Vilma!!!! :)

 

This is Wilder, an investigator that we became super good friends with!! (when we said bye he was crying, and so was i!) he is a super awesome person!

 

Hermana Canty's new area! pretty isnt it!?

we had pizza hut!!!! (mazate is the little america!! it has everything from burger king and mcdonalds to pizza hut!!)

No Growth in the Comfort Zone!

well good afternoon my amazing family!!

well if my title and pictures didnt give away my secret im going to now! I WAS TRANSFERRED!!!! yep! thats right! i was transferred!!! we had distrcit meeting on tuesday and afterward we met as a zone to find out who had changes, my zone leader wrote down all of the names of missionaries in our zone and then he circled the ones who had changes!..my name was circled, and so was hermana beckstrand! needless to say i was shocked! when i got to the field i was sure i would be in san martin for at least 4 1/2 months! (bc of my training, and then one more cambio after hna beckstrand left) however, the lord had a different plan!! i was super sad!!! not only was i leaving a super cool area, but i was gonna get a new comp! well that day we had a lesson with vilma (remember the MIRACLE of last sunday!!!!!) and we challenged her with a FIJO baptism date, and she accpeted!!!!!! she is going to get baptized!!! i started crying!! i was so sad that i wasnt going to be able to be there for her baptism but i remember feeling SO HAPPY because she is going to take that step!!!!! she is scheduled to be baptized this coming saturday!! i cant wait to see pictues of her!!! it was super sad and i will miss san martin! but change is part of mission life

we had the cambios meeting and 27 missionaries left!! (thats why i left san martin..they closed our area bc there were 17 hnas leaving and only 4 coming in! so they had to close some areas!) i remember saying earlier in the change that i wanted to go to the change meeting bc it would be super spiritul and what not..well the lord has a way of answering the desires of our hearts! lol

i am in Mazatengango (Mazate for short) with Hermana Hernandez! she is from El Salvador and is SO cute!!!! when i found out i was going to have a latina comp i almost cried!!! i was so nervous! but the lord provides!! i have been able to talk with her and for the part understand her! she is super good at english! and even though we only speak spanish she understands when i need help!!! :))) my new area is called oriente! its a super big area! and its was different than san martin! but i love it!!!! :)) i will take some pics of the casa and send them to you next week!! my zone and district are huge! and way different than my last zone and district but i really like them!!!

we have a ton of investigators!! and a tons of famillies that we work with! we tenatively have a baptism set for this weekend with a family! but who knows..we still have some things to teach them!! but i am super excited to get to know the inestigators better and the ward members!!! we had stake conference this past weekend which was super super good!!!!! i know the lord sent me here for a reason and i cant wait to find that reason out!!!! :)))

a ton of other things happened but i cant remember! and i am out of time! so i will make sure to keep a good journal!!! :))) i just want you all to know that i love you each so much! i miss you all everyday! but i know i have your love and support with me and that gives me the strength i need!!! thank you for your example!! and keep working hard and keep doing the things that you need to!! :) i cant wait to talk to you all soon!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!! :))))))))))))))

with much love,

Hermana Canty

Photos photos

 

Hermana Canty's first tortilla (she actually didnt make this one hermana beckstrand did..the lady wouldnt even let her take the one she made it was so bad lol)

 Hermana Canty a bunny!!

  They were twinning on tuesday!!!

 the buses they ride everyday. They were the first ones on!! its usually never this empty!!!

Happy happy days!

hola familia!!!! how are all of you wonderful people doing!? i hope great!

well this week was really good! i had to go to the capital on tuesday to fill out papers for my visa, and i was reminded what christmas feels like when you arent in reu! we left reu at like 4 am and got to guate at around 8 and it was FREEZING!!! it was rainy and windy and so cold!! but this wonderful lady (who was a member of the church) literally gave us the clothes off her back! it was so nice and way warmer! needless to say the whole time i was there i was just waiting to come back to the warmth..but it was cool to feel cold for once! it felt more like christmas thats for sure!

on friday we went to xetulul!! its like a smaller version of disney in the middle of my area!! the mission came (we were only with like 5 other zones but the other went the day before) it was so fun! we got to wear soccer jerseys that the whole zone had so you could tell which zone was which lol it was super cool! our zone is super small so we got to ride more rides more often! it reminded me of when we went to disneyland lol we will have to come back and go to xetulul in 20 months lol it was a really fun, relaxing day and i got to wear jeans!!! :)

on saturday we had to go to san felipe (like 2 minutes away in a bus) and sing at a church thing. they broke ground for a new stake center! it was super cool to be a part of that and to see some of the first members in the san felipe stake!!! :)

but the thing i want to take most about is yesterday! no body came to church and we were super bummed! but our zone leaders told us that if we brought investigators to the christmas devotinal that it would count as an assistance (and we had investigators who NEED assistance in order to be baptized) so we worked super hard! and we went to visit vilma! it was like 5:50 when we went and the devo started at 7! so we went and visited her and she told us that she wasnt sure if she wanted to keep coming to church and doing the things we asked! she was busy working and couldnt find some products that she needed (she works for avon) so we helped her, and in 5 minutes we found all of the products she was looking for!! we then taught her about the blessings that god gives us and we invited her to the devo! at first she was reluctant (she lives like 20 min away, walking, 7 to 10 min in a bus from san martin and it was dark) but after some power of persuasion (a gift we have as missionaries) she agreed! the only problem..we had to find a member..with a car..who would get us to the devo! we ended with a prayer and RAN!! (i havent ran so much and so fast since the hurdles..and i had to still jump over dog poop lol) the place where she lives is super hard to find a bus or a taxi in the day much less at night..so when we saw an EMPTY tuk tuk we knew taht the lord was with us! we left vilmas house at 6:13..and made it back to san martin at 6:20! we went to our assistant ward mission leaders house bc he has a car! and he agreed to help us out! after trying to find another investigator who could come we went back to vilmas! we were able to drive clear to her house, back to san martin, and then to the stake center in san felipe, and still make it with 1 min on the countdown of the devo! HEAVENLY FATHER WANTED VILMA TO BE THERE! seriously though...we NEVER find empty tuk tuks in ajaxa (where vilma lives) and we never have those things work out! but they did! and the devo was great! vilma and her daughter (who isnt a member) came to the devo and they really liked it! i couldnt stop smiling and thanking heavenly father for his help!

miricales can happen and the lord will do his will..we just need to help him!!!!

other than that my week was super chill!! we have passed out so many tarjetas about he is the gift! i hope you all can watch it, it is like 3 min long! go to christmas.mormon.org and watch it! IT IS AMAZING!! i love you all so much and i know that heavenly father watches over us too!! thank you for your prayers and your support!! i cant wait to see you all in a few short weeks!! keep your faith strong and remember who guides our steps! I LOVE YOU!!! talk to you next week!

Hermana Canty

HELLO MY FAMILY!!!!! :))

how are all of you wonderful people!? i hope great!! i cant believe its already december, where has the year gone??? i also cant believe there is no snow here :( lol its definitely weird that its the 1st of December and i am SO hot lol but i wont brag too much because you all are probably freezing!!! Guess what i ate for lunch thanksgiving day..SUBWAY!!!! lol i hope you all ate some for me!!!

anywho, i decided that this week i would try to make my email a little better than last week´s!! but i dont have as many pictures...maybe at some point on my mission i can get a lot of pictures and a good email written in the same week!!..but i still have lots of time to practice lol

this week was a weird week! for the whole change we have had a schedule of one good week one bad week! and unfortunately this week was the turn for the bad week! (when i say bad week i just mean like we didnt teach too much and things like that) we didnt find any new investigators this week which is super sad but hopefully this coming week we can!!! we wanted new investigators so bad that on Saturday we literally contacted houses all day!!! it was hard because not too many people were interested in our message (here the PROMINANT religion is Evangelico..there are like 100000000 different churches..literally one on every corner but they are all different!) but we did meet some really nice people..eventhough they werent interested they were still nice!! but i just have to say..contacting is hard and not very fun!! but when all else fails..we have to do what we have to do!! :)

the highlight of this week though was thursday! we had a multi zone conference in Mazate (its like 45 minutes east..i think..of san martin!) we were combined with 3 other zones and presidente y hna ruiz spoke to us! the main message was about repentance and the atonement!! it was AMAZING!!! they showed this video about the atonement and missionary work and i just cried! there was a talk by elder holland playing that was saying that sometimes missionaries ask "why is it so hard? why do i have to do this? why dont people accept our message?" (all questions that i asked this week..) and he related to christ and his life and his mission! his mission was harder than anything in this entire world! and people rejected him..the son of god!!!!! elder holland said "in order for missionaries to truly understand the atonement, they have to feel even the slightest bit of what christ felt" needless to say hermana canty was humbled!!! i am going to print out the talk of elder holland and tape it to every surface of my house!! but it was a really good conference!!

we also talked about a new initiative that the church is doing for christmas and it is called "He is the Gift" it is to help bring others into the church! if you go to christmas.mormon.org you can find the video! and SHARE IT!!!! its times like these when i wish i was in a mission that used facebook bc i just want to share this video!! but i cant...so i am asking you to please do it for me!!! every mission in the world is using this as a finding opportunity!!! how cool is that! also..this thing is so big that the megatron in TIMES SQURE NEW YORK will have it playing for a month! also it is on the home page for youtube like 10 different countries!! please watch it and share it!!! :))

also..at the conference they talked a lot about people getting sick bc 150 of the 208 missionaries in my mission are sick in some way!!!!! so they gave us this pabellons (little nets to sleep under) to help prevent from mosquitos! and everytime i sleep under it i feel like a princess lol but sad news...elder fillmore had to go home (i came with him from the provo mtc) because he has been sick for like 3 weeks and cant walk!!! :( also hna beckstrand and the 2 other hermanas i live with have dengue...not super bad like whit did but they are not too good! so yesterday i had to go with the mini missionary to teach the lessons..

it was kinda scary!!! but also really fun! unfortunately all of the citas we had planned fell and they only had one that worked out! so we onyl taught one lesson yesterday..but I DID IT BY MYSELF!!!!!!!!! it was so weird because i have been so used to my comps leading the lessons (even in the mtc and ccm i didnt lead) but i did yesterday!! i know the lord helps me and i am soooooo grateful for that!!!!!!!

i also got a priesthood blessing this week because my left shoulder has been hurting pretty bad..thats what missionary life does to ya lol...but in it my district leader said "you are a solider in the lord´s army and will have the strength you need to fulfill your purposes!" it was super cool!!!!! :) ...sorry just a little random story for you lol

well i am not too sure i have too much else to say (other than our investigators didnt get baptized this week...but next week hopefully!!!!!) i love you all so much and i hope that your week coming up is great!!! i read this really good quote in personal study the other day and it says "love is also spelled t-i-m-e, time!" just remember to enjoy the time you have together!!!! thank you all for being such great examples to me!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!

Hermana Kelli Dawn Canty