Cojutepeque: City in the Clouds

Time in Cojute: 4½ months
The sisters' area in Cojutepeque was pure city. It was more difficult to proselyte there than any other area I worked in because of the number of different churches and the locations of the gang boundaries, but it was also beautiful and we received a lot of support from the branch members.
Companions: Hna Abadillo (1½ months), Hna Merrell (3 months)

A couple stories...

Memories of Hna Abadillo
Although I didn't record many experiences doing missionary work with Hna Abadillo, she was one of my most influential companions. Hna Abadillo and I were only together one cambio (six weeks), but she helped me a lot to trust more in the Lord and the Atonement, and to carry on even when I was tired or discouraged. Her personality reminded me a lot of Hna Gonzalez, which I LOVED. We cooked a lot of Rice Krispie treats together (she had quite the sweet tooth) and had some AWESOME lessons. She was ill off and on throughout the cambio, but we worked through it. She's a trooper.

Coackroach contact
"Today we did one of the funniest contacts of my mission. We were knocking on Hno Mauricio's door (he wasn't home) when we saw an older woman carrying two planks of wood on her head. We could see that she wanted to get them down to rest a moment but was having difficulty.

"Hna Merrell went to help her lower the planks, with me following behind a minute later. As I neared, she said urgently, 'Ayúdeme! Estos bolados pesan con TODO!'

"I set down my scriptures to help and found that she was right. Those pieces of wood were a LOT heavier than they looked. We managed to get them off the woman's head and put them on the ground. Then we tried to talk with her, but she was mute and could only communicate with hand signals. We never guessed her address because suddenly a bunch of coackroaches came out from underneath the wooden planks and distracted us. The woman and Hna Merrell both screamed. Hna Merrell began trembling, imagining what would have happened if a coackroach had fallen on her while she was getting the wood down.

"She told me just now: 'I thought those planks were going to crush me like a pancake!'

"I can only imagine the damage that could have happened if a coackroach had fallen and startled Hna Merrell.

"Al final, we left the mute woman shooing coackroaches into the street. It was an interesting day." (Journal 2, 7 August 2014, self-translated)

 me, Hna Abadillo, Hna Foster, and Hna Castro in Ilobasco

 26 July 2014--Teodoro's Baptism! Me, Hna Abadillo, Carlos, Teodoro, Hno Abarca (first counselor in the branch presidency)

Typical p-day in Cojute: playing Phase 10 over lunch as a district

E. Castro, E. Cardoza, me, Hna A, E. Tabango (E. Roldan took the photo)

A rainy day turned the street into a little river

 Rodriguez Family: Edwin (branch mission leader), Gilberto, Maria, Omar, Gilberto Sr, Tania, Carlitos, Carlos, and friend

Ramirez Family: Nataly, Samuel, Susana, Monica, Dany, and Yolanda

September 2014--Hna Merrell and I saw Hnas Garcia and Cano at Immigration! (We were renewing our visas)

with a famous statue, "Salvador del Mundo" in San Salvador

Hna Merrell is a pro when it comes to de-icing the fridge

We pulled lots of ice chunks out of our fridge. No wonder it hadn't been closing right! (It closed fine after we finished deep cleaning it.)

Making pizza with Hna Ramirez

6 Sept 2014--Gilberto Jr's baptism! His brother Edwin baptized him. Algún día, cuando Gilberto Sr se bautice, todos serán miembros.

Jorje and Beatriz (Beatriz is Gilberto's cousin; before she found the Church she was a Jehovah's Witness; she went out with us a lot)

24 Sept 2014--Temple trip!

It was POURING rain

7 Oct 2014--Intercambios with Hna Huamani!!!

Hna Ramirez gave me this dress

Sports day in zona Sensuntepeque

Wearing T-shirts and skirts in true Salvadoreño style

Hermanas' meeting at President's house

Area 2: Refineria II

Time in Refineria: 7½ months
They called the sisters' ward in Apopa "Refineria" because there is a sugar refinery nearby. Of all places in my mission, I definitely learned the most in Apopa. It would be impossible to mention here all the people and events that had a formative impact on my testimony and my character. With the benefit of hindsight, I can now sincerely say I appreciate every single good and bad thing that happened to me in this place. They have helped make me the person I am today. God truly does have a perfect plan for our lives.
Companions: Hna Escalante (3 months), Hna Infanzon (4½ months)
Honorary Companions: Hna Cano (4½ months), Hna Huamani (7½ months)
And a very selected list of stories...

Christmas in El Salvador
Christmas on the mission is mostly just business as usual, except missionaries tend to spend more time with members because very few investigators agree to have a lesson on such a big holiday. The Salvadoreños celebrate mostly on Dec 24, staying up most of the night shooting off fireworks and partying. Hna Escalante and I spent most of that day with some of our favorite people ever--the Argueta family. They were a big, wonderful family who was just returning to full-time church activity. We visited them often to strengthen them as much as we could. The two older daughters, Yanira and Yanet, went out visiting with us several times a week. Yanet in particular was a special friend to Hna E and me.

For Christmas, we brought a large piñata filled with candy and the Argueta family put on some traditional Salvadoreño Christmas music. (It was nothing like any Christmas music I'd ever heard. It was very upbeat and Latin-y, and didn't have lyrics--it was instrumental.) Pedro (the youngest brother) shot off fireworks while the rest of us talked, laughed, and ate El Salvador's traditional Christmas food, panes con pollo.

How we met Cristian
Cristian was one of those ready-in-six-weeks miracles. He had suffered many afflictions in his past that prepared him to accept the message of the restored Gospel, and he worked harder than almost any other investigator I ever had to be able to get baptized on the date we challenged him to.

We knew him by sight for a long time before we even thought to try contacting him. He drove one of the buses to the Colonia Los Angeles. One day, after recognizing us as Mormon missionaries, he plugged in his mp3 player to the bus' stereo and played a Ricardo Arjona song, "Jesus: Verbo no Sustantivo," in which one of the lines claims that Mormons have nothing better to do so they made up a lie that drinking coffee is sinful. As we were getting off the bus in Los Angeles, Hna E had the brilliant idea to leave a Word of Wisdom pamphlet with Cristian with a note that said: "If you ever want to know the real reason why we don't drink coffee, feel free to ask us." And the very next time we saw him, he did. The rest is history.

A Missionary Paradise/The Baptism of Hna Infanzon's Dad
"Refineria 2 feels like a whole new area, now that I'm seeing it anew through Hna Infanzon's eyes. I'm remembering how I thought I was in missionary paradise when I first came because of how willing the members are to work with us con todo. ... President called us tonight. He asked me how I was and stuff, but it was really Hna I he wanted to talk to. He told her her dad is GETTING BAPTIZED on March 8 and Hna I has permission to watch it live via Skype! Hna I started crying and repeating, 'That's so cool. That's so cool.' Then she thanked President and hung up.

"It's a true privilege to be Hna I's companion at this key moment of her life. Of her dad's life. It's a testimony to both of us of how the Lord works. Hna I has worked her whole life to help her dad accept the gospel. He had to give up what sounds like varios vicios... but at 59 years of age he did it, and he's getting baptized!" (Journal 2, 22 Feb 2014)

"False Prophet" on the Bus
"Funny quick story from yesterday. As we were on the ruta 109 to re-exchange companions in the 5 de noviembre, I started talking to the woman sitting next to me in the bus and it became a very involved conversation. She told me how years past, Mormon missionaries had visited her regularly and that she really liked what they taught. I pulled out a folleto of L1 (La Restauración) and was testifying about how the restored gospel blesses families when a preacher stood up with a Bible in hand and started to shout at the people on the bus.

"That kind of thing happens often in El Salvador, and I just ignored him as I talked with the woman. After we got off at the stop, Hna Dumay asked if I had realized the bus preacher stood right next to me and the woman and repeated pointedly, 'Falsa profeta,' calling me a false prophet.

"I started laughing and asked Hna Dumay if she was serious. (She was.) I didn't notice a thing! I was so involved in the conversation, the things the preacher was saying just became white noise. :)

"Funny story, huh? This was quite the eventful intercambio..." (Journal 2, 23 Mar 2014)

28 Nov 2013--Daniel's baptism
Hno Burgos, a couple the other companionship taught, Daniel, Hna Vasquez, Hno Vasquez, Fatima, Opisbo Flores

Dec 2013--Hna Escalante and me

Dec 2013--Día de Navidad with zona Apopa at President's House

 Celina, Hna Escalante, me, Hna Rosa, Roberto :)

20 Dec 2013--Zulma's baptism!

Hna Escalante, Levi, Zulma, Rosa (Zulma's aunt), me

21 Dec 2013--Rosa's baptism!

Her brother Jaime drove up from San Salvador to baptize her

25 Dec 2013--Yaneth, Jenifer, Hna Escalante, Magaly, Pedro, me

 Magaly and Jenifer

9 Jan 2014--An Introspective Doodle

25 Jan 2014--Cristian's Baptism!

 Hna Escalante and I with Hna Rosa

 El Castillo, close to Colonia Los Angeles

January 2014--The Chaparrastique Volcano in San Miguel erupted. All missionaries in the area were immediately evacuated. It caused a scare and let off a lot of smoke and ash but never actually spurted lava. I wasn't anywhere close when it went off. After things calmed down, the missionaries returned to work there.

February 2014--The "daughters" of Hna Gonzalez, on the day she went home

14 April 2014--The Glaziers showed up unexpectedly while we were celebrating Hna Cano's birthday

 Roberto and Victoria, Celina's kids

 The bridge to Colonia Los Angeles

 Caserio San Carlos, between El Castillo and El Angel (where our ward mission leader Noe lived)

12 May 2014--Celebrating my birthday

 She was a menos activa. She had the cutest two little kids ever.

 Hnas Cano, Huamani, Infanzon and I with Hna Arely, Hno Julio, Ronald, Ronald's sister, her daughter, and friends

April 2014 General Conference

 Some of our friends in the stake got married to each other!

 They tore up Caserio San Carlos to put in sewage pipes. It was a little scary trying to get around. The holes were deep!

14 June 2014--Hno Burgos, Celina, Rosa and Celina's children

June 2013--Last conference with Pte and Hna Glazier

July 2014--Hno Orlando and Angelito both got baptized right after I left Apopa

The beginning: Barrio Montecristo

Time in Montecristo: 3 months
The Montecristo Ward, covering two colonias called Santa Lucia and Bosques de la Paz, turned out to be a wonderful beginning to my mission, for mostly two reasons: my mission "mama," Hermana Gonzalez, and my mission "twin sister," Hermana Winters.
Companions: Hna Gonzalez, Hna Winters
And a few stories...

First Day in the Field
The morning of my very first change meeting, after leaving President Glazier's house, I stood in intimidated silence with the group of new sister missionaries, munching numbly on giant muffins imported from the States. I was trying to listen in on the other group of sisters, also eating muffins and chatting casually in what sounded like perfect Spanish. A little Guatemalan sister caught my attention as she walked in with the mission nurse ("enfermera" en espanol). President called out to her.

"Hermana Gonzalez," he said in his heavy gringo accent, smiling mischievously. "Esta preparada? Porque va a entrenar dos."

"Dos?" Hermana Gonzalez raised her arm dramatically as if she were going to faint and looked at Hermana Bowers. "Enfermera! Enfermera!"

The joke helped me relax. She looks like fun, I thought, giggling at her antics.

Some months later, Hermana Gonzalez told me that the first time she noticed me was also in the very beginning of change meeting. After the breakfast, when the trainers, new missionaries and older missionaries were seated, she scanned the faces of the nuevos wondering who would be her two "daughters" (mission lingo for "trainees"). She saw me and thought I looked "noble." She said from that moment, she hoped I would be assigned to her.

I wrote in my journal later that day: "Changes meeting took several hours. I think President Glazier dragged it out on purpose. : / ... Hna Winters (nueva) and I are in Montecristo II with our trainer Hna Gonzalez. I already know I'm going to learn a lot from her--y Hna Winters tambien." (Journal 1, 4 Sept 2013)

Destroying the Bishop's Lawn
"We stopped by the bishop's house...and attempted to cut his grass and pull his weeds for him. Hna Gonzalez handed me the machete which the bishop's family gave to us and put me in charge of the grass. I was confused because the last time we used machetes, we were taking plants completely out at the roots. I looked at Bishop's grass and asked Hna G, 'Corto esto? Pero hay flores.'

"She laughed, 'No son flores. Esto es monte.'

"I'd never heard the word monte before, much less seen it, but I knew it was some kind of weed by the way she reacted. Comforted to some degree, I proceeded to remove ALL the plants, grass and all, from a patch maybe two feet long and a foot wide. Only then did Hna G take over--and I realized the grass was supposed to stay, only get cut! Bishop's son was nice about it, 'don't worry,' but I felt so bad." (Journal 1, 13 Sept 2013)

Reina's Decision
"Later, hours after the [October General] Conference, we went to the Paradas for a noche de hogar at 7:20ish. (Our cita before went long.) Each of us bore testimony about the meetings. The most powerful talks for everyone were about staying true to the commandments and about families. Hna Reina said she liked how much they talked about matrimonio... Then she said, 'Hermanas, I feel like the time has come for me to be baptized.'

"--Heart-stopping, breathless moment as I remember Hna Reina's response to our baptismal invitations in the past, 'I will be baptized but only Dios sabe la fecha.' I assume [my companions] were thinking along similar lines.--And then she was talking again.

"'Estaba pensando que quiero bautizarme en mi cumpleanos--el 25 de octubre.'

"Joy! I felt a rush of joy as I heard those words. Hna Gonzalez actually screamed, then apologized and burst into happy tears instead. I looked at Hna Winters. She was crying, too. So was Hna Reina, and her daughter Iliana.

"Hna G looked at me as tears streamed down her face and commanded, 'Hermana Henrie. Habla!'

"I bore my testimony about how the gospel blesses families while Hna G and Hna W prepared themselves to talk. Last of all, Iliana bore her testimony.

"That cita FLEW by. We were 20 minutes late returning to la casa, but when we knelt down to pray, Hna Gonzalez offered the most humble prayer I've ever heard. It went something like this:

"'Heavenly Father, thank you for la familia Parada. Thank you for the messages of la Conferencia. Thank you for this milagro with Hna Reina. We know You are working juntos con nosotras...' and she continued, naming our investigators one by one.

"I love being a missionary. I love the people in Montecristo.

"We have changes meeting next Wednesday. We're praying that we'll all stay here together. We all want to be there when Hna Reina gets baptized!

"My heart is full tonight. I am content. More than that, I am happy!" (Journal 1, 6 Oct 2013)

Vanessa
Vanessa is Reina's niece, who was living with Reina's family at the time we visited them and got baptized alongside her aunt. Although she was 14 years old when I met her, she had a way about her that made her seem much younger. She was innocent, blunt, hilarious and sweet. I loved her so much.

"For example, one day (Nov 15), we went to traer Hna Kicy and la familia Gomez to the Paradas' for a noche de hogar. I had put my mochila down for a minute and Vanessa picked it up to carry it for me. She wanted to know how the belt worked, so Hna W and I showed her. She's tall and skinny as a reed, and after doing the belt and quitando the shoulder strap, my mochila immediately sagged out to one side. But this didn't bother Vanessa. She put on a grin from ear to ear, threw her hands up in the air and gritó, 'VAMOS!'" (Journal 2, 20 Nov 2013)

Laughing with Hna Gonzalez

(while eating spaghetti at Hna Reina's house)

 21 Sept 2013--Luis' baptism

Hna Gonzalez, Luis, Hno Pocasangre, Hna Winters, me

Luis was an atheist at the time he met Hna Gonzalez and her two companions. He was preparing to be baptized when Hna Winters and I arrived in Montecristo. On the day of his baptism, he was running late, and Hna G pulled Hna W and I into the girl's bathroom to say a private prayer on his behalf. He ran in the chapel a few minutes later.

24 Sept 2013--Dayane is a valiant young woman, and was AMAZINGLY prepared to hear the gospel. Last I heard, she was preparing to go on a mission.

Hna Gonzalez, Tulio (Dayane's member friend), Dayane, Hna Winters, me

25 Oct 2013--The Miracle Baptisms of Reina and Vanessa

Familia Cruz Parada

Dec 2014--Mama Rosita, Hna Reina, Iliana, me, and Humberto "Betio"

(Betio sure grew a lot! His voice had even deepened.)

Dec 2014--Dear Hermana Flor and her son Salvador

(He taught us "globoflexia," the art of making things with balloons)

Dec 2014--Faithful Hermana Maira