Wow I feel like I have so much to say and no time to say it!

My comps are awesome. I actually can understand them really well, even Hermana Rosales who is from Nicaragua. She is so funny. Last night we were finally climbing in bed and there was this gecko on the ceiling. Hna Rosales sleeps on the top bunk and so it was right in front of her face. She HATES geckos so she was screaming for me to get it but those little suckers are FAST. So then we were moving the beds to try to at least get him out of the room we were sleeping in...all the while Hna Orgill was in the bathroom. Well, then the gecko ran over to Hna O's side of the room under her bed. When she came in and we were in bed with the lights off Hna Rosales said in a sing song voice, "Hermana Orgill, Feliz Noches con su gecko!!" Hna O was so confused. It was SOOOOO FUNNY. I died laughing.

Oh man-- the mornings here when we are in our casa are so hot. Nobody stays inside here because the homes are like ovens. It's fun though because everyone stays outside and it's very social here, but when we study it is just like sitting in an oven. You are just drenched in sweat. At night when we are asleep I always wake up so so so so ho, especially when we don't have power and can't use our little fans...it's so hot. Could you look up how hot it has been lately? I can't figure it out because with the humidity it is hard to know.

Our power goes out whenever it rains and this morning we didn't have water. That was a bummer because I spent the whole morning outside washing my clothes by hand for about 1.5 hours so i was itchy from the bugs and grass and so, so sweaty from the heat. All I wanted was a shower! I prayed that the water would come back on...and it did! I have never loved a bucket shower so much!

It really is so fun and so different here. Every time I think I can't take cold bucket showers and not have AC for 16 months then I just think wait, NO. I totally can do this! I have always said there is nothing I can't do for the Lord! Then i just love it here. I just love my cold bucket showers and my using hands as a washing machine. It is so great.

Our bucket we use to shower is kind of like what you buy cookie dough in but it's cracked on both sides so you have to pour fast! It takes your breath away it's so cold.

There is this family that I LOVE. We see them almost every day because they just barely joined the church. They have 3 little kids. Erick is 9, Jamie is 7 and about to be baptized, and Mari is 3. Oh, Mari. We are the bestest friends. She sat by me in church on Sunday and used all my hand sanitizer. The people here always ask me what I am putting on my hands. I guess this isn't a thing here?? Anyway, the first night we went to have FHE with the Bautista family and Mari ran right to me squealing and giggling. At the end of the lesson she looked at me and said, " Te quiero muchucho!" Everyone laughed. My heart melted. She is actually the cutest little girl I know. Jamie always wants to braid my hair. Yesterday night we sat with them and taught them the importance of family prayer and I was able to share my experiences with all of our years of family prayer. I literally couldn't be more thankful for those memories! So when you guys are on your knees as a family just know it is going to bless families in different parts of the world wherever we all serve!

We play this game called La Bomba with them. It's he kids favorite. It's like "Don't eat Pete" but you play with random items around the house and you have 2 teams. It was hard to understand at first because it was my first night and I didn't understand anything they were saying, but they are my favorite people here.

We only have one paved road here! Crazy.

I taught the first vision to this girl one night. It was late and the sun was almost gone. Here is this moment that I have dreamed of all my life. Sitting in my mission teaching someone the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and then.... well okay. In Texas whenever we would teach about the first vision the phone would ring, the dog would bark, the baby would cry...etc. So I was prepared for something to happen right before I taught it. When I started to say, " Vi una columna de luz... "the biggest beetle thing flew smack into my left eye. I am not kidding it was in there good, but the spirit was so strong and I just couldn't stop teaching, so I taught the first vision with a beetle in my eye-- one eye open, one eye closed and watering. It was really...spiritual. Oh well. Nothing ever goes the way we plan. I am literally walking truth of that!

We are teaching this man named Wilmer. He has a little girl who is about 4. He lives with this lady that he calls his wife, but they aren't married. He wants to get baptized but his wife says she will never marry a man like him. He doesn't want to leave because he believes it will be bad for his daughter. It is so hard to know what to say in a situation like this. We just keep saying God knows your heart, and He knows your trials, and He knows what you need but it is a hard situation.
Everyone we invite to be baptized says yes. Everyone we ask if we can come in and share says yes. This culture. I love it. My heart...i just love it.

 BALEADAS and Topogigos! I am in love. It is all so good. Topoigos, or however you spell it, is just milk, corn flakes and sugar in a bag and is frozen. They only cost about 2 Limperas and they are the best when we are dying of thirst. Everyone sells them from their houses. We also don't have a supermarket anywhere close by so when we went to El Progresso by bus, we just bought food from there. Never again will I complain about grocery shopping in America. Here you can't bring your purse in the store because they are afraid you will steal. So you leave your purse with this army guy with a huge gun and go shop and then you pay. Then you walk a mile to the bus stop with all 50 pounds of your groceries. Then you get on a bus with about 400 people per seat with all of your groceries. Then you ride in the bus for 45 minutes with people trying to sell you stuff on the bus. Then you get off the bus and walk a half a mile to your house with all your groceries. Then you carry them inside and put them away. All the while it is 100 degrees and humid! Quite the adventure. I love it. I am learning so much.

We go on splits a ton because the YW always want to go out with us. It ends up just being Hermana Rosales and me. We have so much fun. I love all of her stories. She wants to get married in the SLC Temple. It feels so much more real and I feel like more of a missionary when it's just the two of us. But I do LOVE Hna O as well.

The members don't feed us here so that's kind of a bummer.

I will never forget Rosalita Cruz because she is the first Honduran person I could actually understand and talk to! I really like her but sometimes she says she can't understand me! ahahah. She is 18 and a member here.

Hna R's favorite food is green mangos with LOTS of salt and pepper. She eats them all the time since everyone grows mangos in their yards. Anyway...I think it's nasty. I almost died when I tried it.

Everyone says,  "Da me sus ojos!" here and everyone stares. It's especially bad when Hermana O isn't with us when we are on splits. The men are kinda nasty. They say "ay mami" and whistle and cat call. But I never feel unsafe. This is one of the safest places in the mission! We are really lucky. Anyway, people say they are jealous of my boyfriend all the time. It's like they have never seen a white girl before.

I can kind of snap like a Latino! All the missionaries do that here.

Church was awesome. I love our branch and the little house we meet in. There are 2 Elders and 5 Sisters in just one little branch! It's fun because Elder Bray and I were good friends in the CCM and now we are in the same district. He has been really sick lately and he is so skinny... uh oh.

I am teaching Hna R some English but she always says to Hna O, "You have food in your face." It's super funny. Hna O always has food on her face.

I cried when I saw Hna Odekirk at zone meeting Tuesday. I can't believe I finally made it. It is literally driving me NUTTY that I haven't been out six months like I should have. Like literally anxiety. I am praying that the Lord will help me not feel so anxious about it.

I wish people would just get married here. People live together for 50 years and never get married. It's because it's expensive and you have to have a birth certificate to do it. Birth certificates cost money and you have to go to the city you were born in to get one. So if you were born in Tegucigalpa you have to leave your job, risk getting fired and also don't get paid for the days you're gone, find money to get on a bus and go to Tegucigalpa, pay for your birth certificate and then come home and get married. It's just too much for these poor people.

My throat and cold sores and better! My knee...its doing okay!

We taught this family that had a bunch of kids. They live in a concrete shack that is half the size of our family room. They had 2 twin beds for everyone. They were pushed up against one wall together. They didn't have chairs for us so we sat on the beds and I realized they were only cardboard with holy sheets over them. Their roof fell off a little while we were teaching. I can't believe how people live but they are actually THE HAPPIEST people I know. It just goes to show you it's not what you have, it's who you have. And they have family, and Jesus and that's enough for them.

Nobody here pronounces their S's. So its SO HARD to understand them. I can understand my comps easy. No problem. I am actually suprised at how much I understand especially from Hna R. They say An Pedro Ula instead of San Pedro Sula. And Entonce instead of Entonces. So it wasn't until Saturday that I could even kinda understand a word they were saying. I am praying and working so hard for the gift of tounges. Sometimes it is so frustrating not being able to express myself... but speaking Spanish is kind of addicting and I love it.

I am happy, sweaty, and loving it here. I miss America a little but I am a disciple of Jesus Christ and there is nothing that He can't ask me to do. I keep telling myself that when the moments get hard. Mostly the only thing that I have a hard time with is that I should be going home in March and I'm not. I'm going home in August. It shouldn't bother me. I should be not even focused on that part. But really, it's hard.

We have interviews with Pres. this week in El Progresso!

Will you send me pics of our whole family?? I don't know what happened to mine. If you could send them through the mail that would be awesome.

No piano here in Mezapa ):

Well, my fingers are tired from all this typing so fast! I am trying to think what else to say.
Look at my dropbox. This is my vaca friend. He's a cow. He was eating garbage just like all the other crazy animals here.

I have so many bug bites. ugghh

And my tan lines!! Wowwowowowww.

I love you guys so so so much!
Loves and loves from Central America!!
Hermana Saylin

These are the four sisters in my MTC dristrict in Mexico City.

This is the MTC doctor and his wife.....I didn't know at this point that my torn ACL would allow me to get so close to them!

I have arrived and been here 1/2 a day!

If you knew what I just went through to be able to write you this email! We just went to 3 different internet cafes to finally find one that works!! I am using all my strength to push down this space bar. hahahh. Oh my HECK. I love this country. There are chickens eating garbage and cows that just come walk right next to you. I just want to catch the chickens but I think I will get a disease. I am in this city called Mezapa. There are kids everywhere--little Sammys running around in diapers and no shoes. I have the cutest little house you've ever seen. It has10 foot walls around it with a lock so we are super safe. It looks like Jurassic Park everywhere you look. All anyone talks about is how it's the dry season but it is literally raining right now. Anyway, it's actually beautifully ugly and I LOVE IT, but I don't understand anyone. Actually that isn't true. I understand my companions because one of them speaks English and one of them speaks slowly for me. Yes! I have 2 moms (trainers)! I want to send you pictures but these computers won't let us. Next week we will beat the elders to the nice computers so I can send you these AWESOME pictures. I am not in Kansas anymore.

So after i turned the corner after saying bye to yall i just was like.. Wait! I did it!!! I just did it. I just passed that test. The last part of my mountain was almost the hardest to climb but i got to the top. I did it!!
So i didnt even realize this... until i was writing it down in my journal. Saying goodbye to scott pot i was kinda stern. Haha no but seriously. I hugged him and told him i loved him etc. And then i put my hands on his shoulders and looked him so deep in the eye. I told him ¨I dont want to see you until you are an RM. I told him he was ready and that he needed to go. Have christmas at home and then go. I dont want to only serve with you one month!
I honestly did not plan to say anything to him.  I didnt even realize what had come out of my mouth until i sat down and wrote in my journal waiting for the plane. But i am a full time missionary. That means i have the power to speak Gods actual words. I am not saying i can recieve revelation for scott but I can speak the words that HF and the spirit give to me. And i just wonder if that wasnt just the answer to Dads blessing he gave me last night but also if it was an answer for Scott Pott.

So I got on the plane to Atlanta and they changed up all the seats. Luckily I still got an isle but I ended up sitting next to these 2 boys (sitting on either side of me) that were high as a kite, and drunk. The kid almost knocked me out with his bag trying to put it over head. Everyone on the plane was shaking their heads. It was actually pretty hilarious. I didn't really sleep that much. I had the longest layover EVER in Atlanta. But I was so excited to step onto that plane to San Pedro Sula. I didn't cry when I landed because I was surrounded by a bunch of buinessmen traveling together and I just felt like I had to keep it together. There has never been a sweeter sign then the "Bienvenidos A Honduras" sign.

 Customs was nerve racking cause I didn't have a return ticket or a visa (which I didn't need but was still nervous about) but the guy asked no questions and shoved me right through! Prayers answered. The Kliens were there to pick me up. They took me to a Honduran restaurant called Power Chicken. I ate a chicken spine-- like it was a rib cage. That was... cool!  Then they bought me a cold soda and we drove an hour and a half to my area. I met my two mommas. I wish I could send pictures today! That drive was gorgeous. The Kleins say this is their favorite area. There are 2 Elders and 5 sisters that live on the same dirt road. We all share one branch. The church is a rented house! It's actually the safest area of the mission and my house is so cute. You should see where they baptize. I have pictures.

I was surprised how much I could understand. They all say I am from the factory which is what the local Mormons call Utah but in Spanish. Anyway, there's a really pretty rainbow over the mountain right now. Everything is wet and I am so STICKY!

I saw Elder Bray. He's in this district.  He passed out when he saw me. We were good buddies in the CCM and he said if he were me he wouldn't have come back.  Are you kidding?  This is heaven.
I wish I could send pictures this week!! Maybe Google map it??

I shower in a shower, but it doesn't work. So we just use a bucket. We do our laundry outside with this tub. It's super cool. Yeah...this is not Utah. I feel like I am dreaming! Is this really real?
I saw this little boy Chloe's age on a horse out by himself. The horse probably weighed as much as Sam.

I think Coke  owns this country. 

Write me letters at
Mision Honduras San Pedro Sula Este
12 Calle, Ave Circunvalacion
3er, Nivel, Oficina #4
San Pedro Sula, Cortes, Honduras C.A.

Miss you! Love you!
Hermana Saylin

The Long Haul

Since December 10, 2013 I have refused to write a thing down about how i feel, or about what is going on in my little life. I have been stubborn and a little bit mad. I have bawled my eyes out. I have nearly punched walls. But I have learned incredible amounts about the atonement of Jesus Christ.

We have this belief that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is the reason that we can overcome and be forgiven for our sins. The Atonement of Jesus Christ can help us better ourselves because of the sins we made and the atonement we used to overcome it. It's one big eternal round of the Atonement making us better. Ain't that the truth! But that's not the full truth. Well...not everyone understands one part of the Atonement that I have learned so much about since being home from my mission. Christ doesn't just have the power to forgive you of your sins...He has the power to understand how you felt when your brother got in that car accident, your disbelief when your mom was diagnosed with end stage cancer. He knows the grief you felt when you didn't get into the program at your dream college. He knows how it felt to sit at home when all your other friends were out on dates. He knows what it was like when you joyfully found out you finally were pregnant. He knows your giddiness when the man of your dreams finally asked you out. He knows your victories, your embarrassments, your grief, your joy, your pain.

And He doesn't just know it because He's always watching. He knows because of the Atonement he gave. He literally knows EXACTLY how you feel because of that moment that forever changed eternity. 

So when Dr. Edwards told me I needed to wait 4 more weeks before he could approve me to return to the mission, Jesus Christ actually knew what that moment felt like to me. He knew how badly it hurt to try to get my knee to lay straight and He knew how badly I wanted it to lay straight because it meant I was that much closer to returning to Honduras. He knew my prideful rage when someone would say, "You're still limping." He knew how hard I had to bite my tongue to not bark back, "And you're still overweight." He knows the pain of physical therapy, and the emotional pain of not being in the mission field when you feel you should be. He understood what it was like when the mission department told me they had changed the policy and every international serving missionary that comes home for ACL reconstruction surgery now has to wait 6 months from the date of surgery to return to the mission. Christ knew. He knew what i was feeling, the thoughts that were dancing around my mind non-stop as I had to choose to wait 3 more months or choose to be reassigned stateside. He knew how alone I felt. He knew how scared I was to make a decision. He knew. And that was enough.

I believe the Atonement of Jesus Christ isn't just for the forgiveness of sins and the salvation for eternity. I believe that the Atonement of Jesus Christ allows the most unusual kind of comfort and empathy. I know that Christ completely and perfectly understands my heart and my mind because of the Atonement. Because of the Atonement I can be forgiven for my sins and released from my sorrows. Because no matter how bad something hurts, it always helps to know that theres one who perfectly understands you. 

This is my journal entry from 4.13.14
"I'm so stubborn. I've refused to write in my journal because I just want to get past this and pretend it never happened. Well at least that's what i thought. Now i worry I won't be able to remember all the really hard, miserable, yet life-building moments of these past 4 months. Let me just say I seriously believe in the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the peace and comfort it brings. But I also refuse to lie to my journal and say that the atonement has fixed everything and this time has been nothing but rainbows and butterflies with a herd of unicorns. Because it hasn't been. It's been crap. Its been so hard. Sometimes i want to punch walls. But the atonement has helped me learn from it and get stronger from it. The worst part is that when i think i can see the end of this marathon, its actually just a deceitful corner to turn and 5 more miles to sprint. I'm tired of it. And sometimes i have to bite my tongue to keep from questioning and whining to God. I really believe that He's designed this trial for me and that I already have learned so much. Like patience, and faith in God's timing, and meekness in trial, and the power of the atonement in a totally different way than i understood it before. I only ever used it for my sins but now I have used it for comfort and for understanding and growth and learning. But it still STINKS TO HIGH HEAVEN! God's got something super awesome planned. Something totally worth waiting for."

Well... now I have a plane ticket to San Pedro Sula, Honduras. I didn't give up, rest up, slow up, or pass up on anything and I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER.
This trial is not over yet. I still have miles to walk and pain to endure. But i have climbed the mountains, crossed the rivers, and passed over something that has made me better than I was.

Popcorn Poppin on the ACL Knee

I´ll be home for Christmas You can count of me. Ill be home for Christmas If only because of my knee! 

Wooh! What. A. Week. Can you believe it? I cant. Clearly God has something awesome in store for me in Salt Lake!

In this week alone i have...played futbol with latinos, torn my ACL on a mexican Futbol field, been pushed in a wheel chair on uneven sidewalks, been thrown from my wheelchair on uneven streets, gone to a small Mexican hospital, gotten a strange MRI in a mexican hospital, slept on a bottom bunk, ridden the sketchiest 50 year old Mexican elevator, and also seen Cory Gerrard as a missionary. Can you get any more firsts than that??? 

Needless to say...its been quite the week. Last week my biggest news was that i was called as sister training leader. Hahahahaha.

For all your prayers, i am seriously grateful because my pain level is at a solid 0 when i am sitting and not moving my knee! It only kind of hurst when i am trying to bend it or straighten it. Your prayers are working!! I laughed out loud though when i heard you got the call about my knee while you were sitting in the ER with Sammy. Gotta love the Saylin family. Someone is (or multiple people are) always injured in our home! 

So last night we taught latino members and i was so scared because theyre naturally less forgiving of the language as the teachers here are! But then i had one of those moments like the Elder Calhoon in the Best Two Years had where all the sudden like these words started coming out of your mouth and they understood and you mostly understood them and then its not until after where you look at your companion like :O that just happened. Anyway, i just felt inspired to read Moroni 10:4 and 5 to them. And i kinda was like why? Theyre already members. And Hermana Babb said she thought the same thing but i just shared it anyway. Turns out, one of the women hadnt prayed about the book of mormon and we committed all of them to pray with real intent and ask if the book of mormon was true. So that was super cool. Inspiration!!!!

Also, i taught with Hermana Odekirk last night and we were just teaching and Hermano Hernandez came past and said ¨no! ensenan en ingles!¨and we were like ¨what??? Teach in english??¨ so we did. and it was so weird. and spanish phrases kept slipping out. and it was hilarious. Seriously the wierdest teaching experience yet. And thats saying something. 

Paul Hilbigs letter got to me today! It made my whole day. Hes a fantastic uncle! *hint hint*

Oh while i was at the hospital the doctor was speaking like at least 156 mph to me in spanish and seriously the only thing i could say was Duele! and Dolor! But anyway. He asked me how much i weighed and i just told him in pounds. and he looked at me and said ¨you dont weigh that much¨ in spanish. And i was like...wow.... thats...flattering, but i am not lying! Thats how much i weigh! But then i figured out that they dont weigh things in pounds here but that he wanted my weight in Kgs! Well.. i have no idea what i weigh in Kgs. And then he asked my height and i told him and he looked at me like i was crazy again. Well... he needed it in meters. Yet another adventure. So advice for all: ¨When you go to a mexican hospital for an MRI, dont tell them your weight in pounds or your height in feet or theyll think you are crazy.¨ Youre welcome. That will be useful one day.

Alma 26:27 is the scripture of the week!

I know that this trial is hand crafted by the Lord for Hermana Saylin. He knows me better than i do and he knows what i need more than i do!

I. Saw. Elder. Gerrard. can you believe it?? I couldnt eat breakfast because i was so nervous about seeing him. But when i was walking out of the comedor for breakfast this morning i basically fell down the stairs with my crutches and made this whole scene but who was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs? Elder Gerrard. So that was cool. 

Oh i also got to go to a Mexican gas station after the hospital. They measure gas in leiters and pesos. And they have people that pump your gas! And the man that took Hermana babb and me to the hospital wouldnt let us role down our windows in the city. He just kept saying ¨too dangerous¨ hahahaahah. it was so stuffy in that car!

I am so exicted that it is thanksgiving! I miss you guys but i also think this might be one of my favorite thanksgivings! They switched our tuesday devotional for thursday so that we could have a special thanksgiving devotional! I am so excited. That is at 8 tonight.

Wierd to think we only have one more p day left!! 

Have you ever showered with crutches in Mexico?

I have.

Love,

Hermana Saylin

Jesus Es Mi Luz

HOLA FAMILIA

 

Where oh where is the time going?? Its litterally going so fast.

 

I just ah...Grandpa. I know that he is loving it there...that is a great facility. But my little heart just aches. i wish i could be there to help.

 

I just want everyone to know that everyone in my district is jealous of the many letters i am getting! They take about to weeks to get here (even through dear elder) but ive gotten four letters in total. THANKS! sammys little handprints were the highlight of my whole districts day.

 

Dont tell Chloe but i sent her a letter to open on her baptism day. Will you let me know when it gets there??

 

It takes so long to click each picture individually to upload them! UGH.

 

I am so happy for Cannon!!! Mom, how cool to be there. I am so jealous.

So i wrote this little poem this week. Maybe its worthy of making it onto the fridge??

 

Beginners are many

but enders are few

stick to your task

til your task sticks to you!

 

maybe its better by the piano! haahaha. Who knew. Hermana Saylin. The poet.

 

ATTENTION ALL FHE ATTENDERS. Especially my little Scott Pot. You have to watch ¨La expiacion y la obra misional¨ i understnad that its in spanish but its really in english. so just...look it up on youtube. i could watch that a million times. Is anyone willing to find that talk by Elder Holland at the end of the clip?? Send it to me.

Speaking of sending things. Can anyone find me a list of the English hymns converted to spanish hymn page numbers???

 

Oh Chloe and Sophie and Sammy! I sing ï will go in do¨ in spanish all the time here. It helped my learn my future tense verb conjugations. It goes like this Ïre y hare lo que mande el senor, la via el preparara y obedecere.¨ sorry the accent marks dont work on this computer. Ask dad how to pronounce it and sing it all the time!!! I love it.

 

Holy guac. Its so cold here. and all i have is Honduras centered clothes. Whod have thought itd be in the 40s in MEXICO. Today it finally warmed up a little. So we can walk outside without shivering. CORY GERRARD. BRING THINGS TO KEEP YOU WARM. Thats an order.

 

We played hot potato with Hermano Zamilpa this week and instead of saying Ïts hot, its hot, its hot.¨He says ¨Se quema, se quema, se quema.¨ Which means like... Ïts on fire, its on fire...¨ Super cute. Love this latino culture. President Castillo told me before i left that the culture is different but that i just need to learn to love it... Well that wasnt hard. I didnt even have to work to love it. <That just comes naturally!

 

Okay Hermana Sausado came into our zone meeting and said in spanish ï am going to teach all of you to love spanish.¨ and we were like... okay. and then she taught us KOREAN. i am not kidding. by the end all of us were so thankful to be speaking spanish. I litterally almost cried over the whole new alphabet and strange sounds thing. THANK HEAVENS IM SPEAKING SPANISH.

 

If youre feeling nice, you could send me piano music.... i miss it. hahahha

 

My favorite saying is ¨es verdad es verdad! Tango fotos y todos!¨ Its true, its true! I have photos and everything!

 

Spanglish is a real language. Its spoken in the tropical island of the CCM.

 

The candy. Some is good. Some is nasty nast. Like this gross like spicy laffy taffy thing that the branch president made me eat. SICK NAST.

 

Mom, green skirt! I cant believe i left it behind. I would love it if i could have it.... also...packages take about 2 or 3 weeks to get here to the ccm. so if you wanted to mail it instead of making cory carry it, we still have time.

 

Chiste de la semana: ¨whats the difference between the CCM and jail?¨

in jail, you get visitors.

hahahahaha

 

So we have 2 new investigators. They are seperate...like we dont teach them together. Enrique y Sergio. Sergio plays rugby...and he talks really really fast. HIJOLE.

 

I said the first vision for the first time 2 days ago. I almost cried. I can speak spanish!! WHAT.????!!

 

Favorite thing this week. So as missionaries we always use the ¨usted¨ form for everything. You only use the tu form when talking to little kids or like youre best friend. But missionaries only use it for children. Its just more polite. But In spanish you use the ¨tu¨ form in prayer. It shows that you have a close relationship with God and signifies that the two of you are close. I love that. Every time i think about it i get a little teary eyed.

 

So we taught Isabel the plan of salvation like friday of last week and it was AMAZING. When i told her that she would see her little sisters again in heaven and that they were learing the same message of the gospel of jesus christ in heaven she just bawled. And then she testified to US that she knew that was true. Then we threw the baptism question in again and she just accepted it...no doubt about it. So cool.

 

I am going to be out of Benedryl before i leave the CCM. Seriously. I dont get bit by the mosquitos but i get bit by crazy wierd spiders todos los dias. Luckily the bugs are dying cause its so cold. Dad, I think your blessing is working already because some how i am survivng these strange spider bites! hahah

 

Elder perry spoke in the Provo MTC this tuesday night and it was broadcast to most the MTCs around the world. They said that 2700 missionaries were watching. WAY COOL. when they sang called to serve in english, we sang it in spanish. It just made me think of how many languages it was being sung in around the world at that very moment. The church is true no matter where you live. And whats even better? The spirit speaks every language. THANK GOODNESS.

 

Oh this part is cool. So the CCm is in the middle of the city. like smack middle. Two nighs ago there was a Mariachi band outside the 10 foot walls of the CCM and it was so fun!

 

 ¨testimony is a point of departure, not an ultimate destination!¨

¨if youre discouraged, youre listening to the wrong person.¨

 

Check out my dropbox video!

 

Hermano Zamilpa makes us do head shoulders knees and toes frequently to keep us all awake. Its called ¨Cabeza, cara, hombros, pies¨ we love it.

 

Oh! dad! the only thing we ever sing in our district is ¨Jesus es mi luz¨ we all love it so much. I always think of your little tribe in Argentina you taught when we sing that.

 

I love all of you so much! I miss you but not more than i love this work!

Being a missionary is the best thing that ever happened to me. I cant wait for all my best friends and favorite brothers (and hopefully sisters) to get this opertunity too!

 

Podemos saber por mediante del espiritu santo, que El Libro De Mormon es verdedaro. Dios restauro su evangelio a treves Jose Smith. Jesucristo es nuestro Redentor y salvador. El libro de mormon contiene la plenitud del evangelio. El evangelio de Jesucristo es verdadero. Se que sin la expiacion no podemos regresar a Dios. Dios es nuestro amaroso padre celestial y nosotros somos sus hijos. Dios nos envio a la teirra para aprender y progressar. Yo se que esta es la Iglesia de Jesucristo.

 

Les amo mucho!

 

Hasta luego.

A week? Already?

HOLA family and friends,

ah i dont know where to start. Can´t believe its been a week already... i have been thinking about what i am going to write but now i cant even put my thoughts into words now that the day is finally here. 

Most embarassing moment? I wrote a letter to our branch president in Spanish as our weekly letter and i said thank you for your love and support. But i looked up the word for support in my english to spanish dictionary. I just wrote down the word super quick and was about to hand the letter to my district leader when i decided to check the word from spanish to english before i gave it to him. Good thing i did. Because the word was actually the word for something not so great. I dont know if i should tell you what word it was cause dad wouldnt want this letter read by anyone else.

Super coool to be in Mexico for Los Dias De Los Muertos! The kids all get dressed up just like they do for halloween but instead of saying Trick or Treat they say ¨Me da mi calabratias¨ Its the cutest thing ever. I just love these little Latino Ninos. The branch president has a little boy that just turned eight. It reminds me of my favorite Chloe! He loves to talk to me...he likes that his spanish is so much better than mine.

Funniest thing? you know the boogie man that americans talk about? Mexicans talk about the Chupacabra. That translates dirrectly to the goat sucker. Super funny. Its basically the same thing as the boogie man only he chases after goats? Or he is a goat? no entiendo.

Oh thank you to everyone who left me a sweet note somewhere in my luggage! I had to wait a little bit to read them because i had to be emotionally stable first. hahaha. But seriously i love it here. I know that all of you want to hear that i am homesick but... im not. I love every second. The first day was the only day where i questioned that i could do this. >The language is hard but its honestly the hardest thing ive ever loved to do. Its crazy how el don de languas really works. I feel like ive already picked up so much. I can even kind of communicate with the latinos. They talk litterally a million miles a minute. Talk about stress. I favorite thing to say is mande? because it basically means holy crud i didnt understand a word you just said so start over and say it slower. All in one word. 

The food is AMAZING. Seriously. Heaven. You think you have mexican food and then you actually go to mexico. I think i could eat beans and rice for the rest of my life.

So i walk into the CCM and all the sudden it doesnt matter that you dont speak a word of spanish. They dont baby you. The only way i could communicate with the latinos here was by charades for like the first 4 days. My teacher, Hermano Zamilpa is so funny and soooo latino. I love their funny sayings and noises that they all make. I wish i could explain the noise they make that means quit doing that or move over there. Or the noise they make that means give me your attention. It is seriously the funnest  culture ever. And they dont know what whispering is. I sat next to this Latino elder in the last devotional and he would talk to me in a normal voice while the devotional was going. And I felt so awkward. But the rest of the latinos were doing the same so.... 

The latino missionaries always want us to teach them english words so we taught the to say Peace Out. But they think its Pizza Out so every time we see them they all yell Pizza Out!!

They taught us the saying Hijo Le. Which is what old grandmas say. It basically means Oh Shucks. But my district and i use it for everything. Its completely awesome. It just expresses all emotion in one expression.

So we got here and then we taught our first investigator Isabel on Friday. IN ESPANOL. Yes. You can imagine my panic. But it went really well. We taught her to pray in our super broken spanish. and seriously its so cool. Her 2 baby sisters died when they were less than one and its totally torn apart her family. So we have been teaching her about the plan of salvation and also about how much God loves her. Her mom is a member but she lives in Peru so its not super duper helpful but she still talks to her mom about the church. Its so amazing. I love this work! Even if my spanish is feisty.

I am losing my english but i cant speak spanish. So that is a problem. I stutter in english now. Its muy mal.

When people ask me how many people are in my family and i say 9...their reactions are hilarious. Everyone thinks its unbelievable. I love it.

So here i am sitting in my classroom and this rather HUGE beatle landed on my skirt. Being determined to not be that Hermana that can{t handle a bug, i went to swipe it off my skirt without making a big deal. However, it must have been seriously full because when i barely touched it to shew it away...it exploded. All over me. So that was  cute.

Oh there are quidditch cups being my casa. Apparently their for drainage?? Thats what the natives say... but who knows. I dont know why youd need drainage pipes 100 feet in the air....

I will love it if one of you can figure out what it really is....

I love how the latinos say my name. Super cool.

The temple was seriously the coolest thing of my whole life. It is by far my favorite celestial room. I love the Aztec architecture. I did the whole thing in spanish. i am so glad that i went so many times before my mission so that i know it well enough in english to do it in spanish. i didn{t have to be the hermana with headphones on. it was awesome. seriously i just wanted to cry! I am here... ive dreamed of this day for my entire life.

i also got those swweeeeeet scripture cases for 10 bucks at the store down the streeet from the temple. how cool? 

well i love all of you so much. make sure you look at all my pictures. its so differnt here. i want to take a power washer to everything in this city. but the ccm is so well kept and beautiful. 

i love yall so much. i miss you... but not too much because i love being a missionary. no matter how hard the work is the blessings are greater. 

Cory and Cole... i am so excited for you guys to come here!!! There is nothing better. and i swear half the missionaries here are going to Guayaquil. 

I LOVE YOU SCOTT. AND KEITH. AND SETH. AND SOPHIE. AND CHLOE. AND MY SWEET LITTLE SICK SAMMY.

Mom and Dad thanks for making me into who i am so that i could now be able to serve this fantastic mission! You guys are the best.

Oh and there and HOUSTON SOUTH missionaries here. I was freaking out. I told them where my bedroom was in the mission home... they were really happy to know. 

Pray that i can earn the gift of tounges! I love all of you.

MUAH.

Hermana Saylin