I thought you would like to see what I look at everyday

She is one of our investigators.  She's really nice and gives us food all the time!

hi mom! I am so proud of Alex! I really wish I could have been there to hear him speak but I was thinking about him yesterday and I know he did great! Please give him a huge hug for me on wednesday and tell him that the gift of tongues is a real thing. But he doesnt have do even worry about that because the people are going to be able to feel his love the first second they meet him. I feel really blessed to be able to serve together! COOL! being a missionary rocks! So May first is the big day huh? my companion and I are a little bummed because she gets home on the 14th of May and I told her she could go to the wedding in my place but I guess now she cant because she is going to be in Guatemala. and to answer your question, yes we get along great! no problems there.

   Well this week we had interviews with president. My interview was like 4 seconds long. I walked in and he was like thanks for being so easy and then I walked out. We have some really disobedient elders in the mission which is really lame. Then he bought us pizza. 

    This Saturday we had a big stake activity. IT WAS SUCH A BLAST! You all need to put this on your bucket list right now, to attend a church activity with Guatemalans. They are always so fun! They are so easy to entertain and they make everything so fun! they are just so loud and crazy and I love it so much! What we did was all the missionaries took pictures of families in their ward and we printed them all out and glued them in book of mormons. Then at the activity we gave them their book and had them write their testimonies and we are going to go out with them so they can give their book of mormon to a friend. Hermana Prince and I were in charge of handing out all the book of mormons and explaining it and helping them write their testimonies and every other missionary in the zone was in charge of walking around aimlessly. It was pretty crazy because all the older people cant write so they told us their testimonies and we wrote them for them. I am no spanish expert but I am 90 percent sure that everything they told me made no sense. but I just wrote it anyway and tried to fill the holes in. All the old people here are crazy, it rocks! Tons of people came and president Ruiz spoke. Then we all went outside and every ward was in charge of a game, so it was like a carnival type thing. it was so much fun! I was just running around screaming and sweating and I fit right in with all the children. and all the adults because they all do that too. It was great! Even though they dont have a lot of money they just deal with what they have and make everything so fun! its awesome

   Well tell Alex I love him a whole lot! and you are worlds best mom so I don’t doubt for a second that we will both get our own personal emails every week for the rest of our missions. Love you to the moon and back! 

Love,

Hermana outsen

dont you worry about me for one minute mother dear. I honestly love it here so much, it is just really hard sometimes but then other times its really wonderful and when you find the right people it is so easy and rewarding. sometimes the hardest part is seeing and understanding the horrible situations these people are in and not being able to do anything about it or help them because a lot of times there are situations that we cant get involved in. That was the hardest thing for me this week but this week was fabulous! 

    ha ha sounds like the whole family is living it up in vegas! have a blast but behave yourselves! I cant believe Alex leaves so soon, how are you feeling? I hope you dad and Jackie dont get bored with your tiny little family! and thanks for the pic of Ty and the letter, he looks so good! and so cold! 

    Well this week was pretty crazy in the streets. It was like Catholic week or something (I am sure they have a better name for it but I cant remember it so I just call it Catholic week. So there was this huge fair with a bunch of fried food and rides! The rides look just like normal rides at Lagoon except they are much smaller and man operated. For example, you know the big ship at Lagoon that just rocks back and forth? Well they had a ship except the guy so goes behind it and pushes it and thats the ride. he was all sweaty and it looked really hard and heavy, I tried to get a picture but it was too dark so you cant really see it. this fair went on for like 5 days straight and we had to walk through it like 3 times a day because it is the street we take to get to our house, it was super cool! They also did this thing called black Jesus (I am sure that has a better name too but thats what my companion calls it so there ya go) It is like a parade and they have this big float with a black jesus hanging on the cross and they set off freakishly loud fireworks and stop by all the houses that have a little table set up and some kind of ritual with a bunch of smoke and chants and stuff. It was very interesting... I think they do it in Mexico too so you can ask maxy about it. 

    okay so now about them mormons! We had a conference on Saturday with the whole mission! like every single missionary in the Reu mission!! All 220 of us! that like never happens. it was really fun to be all together and see everyone. elder Cook was going to come but then he spoke to the Quetzaltengo mission instead right next door, bums- but it was still super cool because Elder Soaras came and spoke to us! He is in the presidency of the 70 and he gave a super good talk on humility last conference. Spanish is his 4th language! He is from Brazil and he is awesome! he talked a lot about how a mission is not a sacrifice, its a privilege. and then he told us how we can be true representatives of jesus christ. it was a really good talk! I loved it! conferences are so awesome. they always give me so much animo! 

    Well remember that whole Brighton spill I gave last week? yeah...scratch that. Hermana Giles went home, I guess Guat was too much for her or something I dont know. Hermana Sanchez called me and told me and she was really sad and felt like she could have done something better. I just told her how perfect of a trainer she was for me because she really was so good for me. She rocks! okay well I hope everything goes perfect for the farewell and please give Alex a big huge hug for me and tell him I love him! Love you to the moon and back mommy! Have a fab week!

Love,

hermana outsen

dont you worry about me for one minute mother dear. I honestly love it here so much, it is just really hard sometimes but then other times its really wonderful and when you find the right people it is so easy and rewarding. sometimes the hardest part is seeing and understanding the horrible situations these people are in and not being able to do anything about it or help them because a lot of times there are situations that we cant get involved in. That was the hardest thing for me this week but this week was fabulous! 

    ha ha sounds like the whole family is living it up in vegas! have a blast but behave yourselves! I cant believe Alex leaves so soon, how are you feeling? I hope you dad and Jackie dont get bored with your tiny little family! and thanks for the pic of Ty and the letter, he looks so good! and so cold! 

    Well this week was pretty crazy in the streets. It was like Catholic week or something (I am sure they have a better name for it but I cant remember it so I just call it Catholic week. So there was this huge fair with a bunch of fried food and rides! The rides look just like normal rides at Lagoon except they are much smaller and man operated. For example, you know the big ship at Lagoon that just rocks back and forth? Well they had a ship except the guy so goes behind it and pushes it and thats the ride. he was all sweaty and it looked really hard and heavy, I tried to get a picture but it was too dark so you cant really see it. this fair went on for like 5 days straight and we had to walk through it like 3 times a day because it is the street we take to get to our house, it was super cool! They also did this thing called black Jesus (I am sure that has a better name too but thats what my companion calls it so there ya go) It is like a parade and they have this big float with a black jesus hanging on the cross and they set off freakishly loud fireworks and stop by all the houses that have a little table set up and some kind of ritual with a bunch of smoke and chants and stuff. It was very interesting... I think they do it in Mexico too so you can ask maxy about it. 

    okay so now about them mormons! We had a conference on Saturday with the whole mission! like every single missionary in the Reu mission!! All 220 of us! that like never happens. it was really fun to be all together and see everyone. elder Cook was going to come but then he spoke to the Quetzaltengo mission instead right next door, bums- but it was still super cool because Elder Soaras came and spoke to us! He is in the presidency of the 70 and he gave a super good talk on humility last conference. Spanish is his 4th language! He is from Brazil and he is awesome! he talked a lot about how a mission is not a sacrifice, its a privilege. and then he told us how we can be true representatives of jesus christ. it was a really good talk! I loved it! conferences are so awesome. they always give me so much animo! 

    Well remember that whole Brighton spill I gave last week? yeah...scratch that. Hermana Giles went home, I guess Guat was too much for her or something I dont know. Hermana Sanchez called me and told me and she was really sad and felt like she could have done something better. I just told her how perfect of a trainer she was for me because she really was so good for me. She rocks! okay well I hope everything goes perfect for the farewell and please give Alex a big huge hug for me and tell him I love him! Love you to the moon and back mommy! Have a fab week!

Love,

hermana outsen

dont you worry about me for one minute mother dear. I honestly love it here so much, it is just really hard sometimes but then other times its really wonderful and when you find the right people it is so easy and rewarding. sometimes the hardest part is seeing and understanding the horrible situations these people are in and not being able to do anything about it or help them because a lot of times there are situations that we cant get involved in. That was the hardest thing for me this week but this week was fabulous! 

    ha ha sounds like the whole family is living it up in vegas! have a blast but behave yourselves! I cant believe Alex leaves so soon, how are you feeling? I hope you dad and Jackie dont get bored with your tiny little family! and thanks for the pic of Ty and the letter, he looks so good! and so cold! 

    Well this week was pretty crazy in the streets. It was like Catholic week or something (I am sure they have a better name for it but I cant remember it so I just call it Catholic week. So there was this huge fair with a bunch of fried food and rides! The rides look just like normal rides at Lagoon except they are much smaller and man operated. For example, you know the big ship at Lagoon that just rocks back and forth? Well they had a ship except the guy so goes behind it and pushes it and thats the ride. he was all sweaty and it looked really hard and heavy, I tried to get a picture but it was too dark so you cant really see it. this fair went on for like 5 days straight and we had to walk through it like 3 times a day because it is the street we take to get to our house, it was super cool! They also did this thing called black Jesus (I am sure that has a better name too but thats what my companion calls it so there ya go) It is like a parade and they have this big float with a black jesus hanging on the cross and they set off freakishly loud fireworks and stop by all the houses that have a little table set up and some kind of ritual with a bunch of smoke and chants and stuff. It was very interesting... I think they do it in Mexico too so you can ask maxy about it. 

    okay so now about them mormons! We had a conference on Saturday with the whole mission! like every single missionary in the Reu mission!! All 220 of us! that like never happens. it was really fun to be all together and see everyone. elder Cook was going to come but then he spoke to the Quetzaltengo mission instead right next door, bums- but it was still super cool because Elder Soaras came and spoke to us! He is in the presidency of the 70 and he gave a super good talk on humility last conference. Spanish is his 4th language! He is from Brazil and he is awesome! he talked a lot about how a mission is not a sacrifice, its a privilege. and then he told us how we can be true representatives of jesus christ. it was a really good talk! I loved it! conferences are so awesome. they always give me so much animo! 

    Well remember that whole Brighton spill I gave last week? yeah...scratch that. Hermana Giles went home, I guess Guat was too much for her or something I dont know. Hermana Sanchez called me and told me and she was really sad and felt like she could have done something better. I just told her how perfect of a trainer she was for me because she really was so good for me. She rocks! okay well I hope everything goes perfect for the farewell and please give Alex a big huge hug for me and tell him I love him! Love you to the moon and back mommy! Have a fab week!

Love,

hermana outsen

 

Don't you worry about me for one minute mother dear. I honestly love it here so much, it is just really hard sometimes but then other times its really wonderful and when you find the right people it is so easy and rewarding. Sometimes the hardest part is seeing and understanding the horrible situations these people are in and not being able to do anything about it or help them because a lot of times there are situations that we cant get involved in. That was the hardest thing for me last week but this week was fabulous! 

    ha ha sounds like the whole family is living it up in vegas! have a blast but behave yourselves! I cant believe Alex leaves so soon, how are you feeling? I hope you dad and Jackie don't get bored with your tiny little family! and thanks for the pic of Ty and the letter, he looks so good! and so cold! 

    Well this week was pretty crazy in the streets. It was Catholic week or something (I am sure they have a better name for it but I cant remember it so I just call it Catholic week. There was this huge fair with a bunch of fried food and rides! The rides look just like normal rides at Lagoon except they are much smaller and man operated. For example, you know the big ship at Lagoon that just rocks back and forth? Well they had a ship except the guy goes behind it and pushes it and thats the ride. he was all sweaty and it looked really hard and heavy, I tried to get a picture but it was too dark so you cant really see it. this fair went on for like 5 days straight and we had to walk through it like 3 times a day because it is the street we take to get to our house, it was super cool! They also did this thing called black Jesus (I am sure that has a better name too but thats what my companion calls it so there ya go) It is like a parade and they have this big float with a black Jesus hanging on the cross and they set off freakishly loud fireworks and stop by all the houses that have a little table set up and some kind of ritual with a bunch of smoke and chants and stuff. It was very interesting... I think they do it in Mexico too so you can ask maxy about it. 

    okay so now about them mormons! We had a conference on Saturday with the whole mission! like every single missionary in the Reu mission!! All 220 of us! that like never happens. it was really fun to be all together and see everyone. elder Cook was going to come but then he spoke to the Quetzaltengo mission instead right next door, bums- but it was still super cool because Elder Soaras came and spoke to us! He is in the presidency of the 70 and he gave a super good talk on humility last conference. Spanish is his 4th language! He is from Brazil and he is awesome! he talked a lot about how a mission is not a sacrifice, its a privilege. and then he told us how we can be true representatives of Jesus Christ. it was a really good talk! I loved it! conferences are so awesome. they always give me so much animo! 

    Well remember that whole Brighton spill I gave last week? yeah...scratch that. Hermana Giles went home, I guess Guat was too much for her or something I dont know. Hermana Sanchez called me and told me and she was really sad and felt like she could have done something better. I just told her how perfect of a trainer she was for me because she really was so good for me. She rocks! okay well I hope everything goes perfect for the farewell and please give Alex a big huge hug for me and tell him I love him! Love you to the moon and back mommy! Have a fab week!

Love,

hermana outsen

                                                                             Ew

             This is what you look like when a six year old Guatemalan does your makeup

this is that lady you met on christmas who let me use her computer to skype. she gave us lunch on sunday. I love her and her family so stinkin much  they are wonderful people

                                                                     They do exist

me hermana sanchez and hermana giles. I look really gross because I just played soccer for 4 hours and also because I always look gross here.

ha ha oh Jackie, I can just see that whole story playing out in my head, too funny. Sounds like she is super fit! Jackie and alex both look so good in that picture and of course caite and jordy are as adorable as ever, my family is so attractive! And I really would love to read the Elizabeth Smart book when I get home so save it for me, she is the coolest lady ever!  I got a letter from the McReavys and I loved it, it was so funny! please tell them thank you so much for me. Also, I sent some recuerdos home with Lloyd Sleight. He lives up by Steve and Andy by your bank so let me know when he gives them to you. Sadly we had a member of the Brighton crew go home but its okay because we just replaced him with a new one the very next day, GO BENGALS! Dani Giles entered the one and only Reu mission this week and guess who her trainer is? my trainer hermana Sanchez!! I played volleyball with them both today and had lunch with them and told hermana Giles how lucky she is because I love Hermana Sanchez so much, she is a wonderful human, it was really good to see her. Hermana Giles went to Brighton and albion but she was one grade ahead of me, she lives up by Jam Vertner. It was super fun to talk to her today.

   Well this week was really really hard and suckish, but thats okay because now its over. We had changes this week and I stayed here with hermana Prince so I will have 6 months in my area. Our zone didnt change much but we did get a new zone leader. He is from Utah and lives like 10 minutes away from me. He is full blooded mexican and is so so good at soccer and he knows like every member of the brighton boys soccer team. The mission world is so small! 

    So this week was really dumb and we didnt find any new investigatores three days in a row (thats really bad) and we lost like the only 3 real investigatores we did have within 2 days. So by saturday we were so sick of walking down the same old streets getting rejected so we went out to the boonies to meet some new people. My area is like super tiny but we do have this part that is far away so we dont go there a lot but it is like seriously in the jungle, it is so gorgeous and cool! The people there are super super poor and no one ever wears clothes and they all dont have a bathroom so you just see them doing their business behind trees and stuff and everyone showers outside in their pila with a bucket and everyone is super nice and friendly. So we walked past a house and before we could even introduce ourselves we each had a tostada with beans in one hand and some gross drink and the other and were celebrating a birthday party Guatemala style with like 25 Chapinos who are all related. So we got to know them and then we shared a lesson and they all sat there and payed attention and were interested and all the chaos off all the little kids stopped while we taught and then they all went nuts again right when we finished the prayer. it was so awesome! They were super cool and they treated us like we were famous because they said they had never seen white people before. So we took a picture with the kids and we are going to print it out and give it to them, I will send it to you. Tell dad I looked really hard for a monkey while I was up in the jungle but I didnt find any. not even little tiny ones to have tea with me.

    Well this week kinda beat me up but this morning we played soccer for four hours with another zone, las Palmas. and las palmas has like 4 of the best latino soccer players in the mission so it was a super crazy game and by the end I had blood covering my entire leg and I litterally rang my clothes out because I was so sweaty. So that totally took all of my stress out and I feel super fabulous now! i loved it! Also hermana Sanchez and my best friend in the mission, hermana phillips are both in Las Palmas, so I really like las palmas. 

   alright well that about wraps it up for now! I love you to the moon and back! keep being awesome and I will talk to you next week!

Love,

Maren Marie

That is so cool that they went to a speed skating competition! Tell Jackie thats awesome and I am cheering for her! I think I will try to give up tortillas, if you can give up pepsi I think I can do it, it will be really hard though! 

    Well this week was kind of boring... I don’t  have a whole lot to write. It was a really good week and we had some really good lessons and had people at church and found a solid group of positive people! So I am happy and doing good! 

    I loved reading Jill’s letter! I can totally understand what she is describing because that is exactly how it was here and I got to see it again for new years! It was just like christmas eve, the entire sky lit up and there was not an inch of the midnight sky that wasn't covered in fireworks, it really is the coolest thing! New years was a really weird day for me. I thought all about 2013 and I just cannot believe how much changed this year. One year ago today I never would have thought I would be here right now and I have learned so much, it just completely freaks me out to think about. and then to think that I will spend all of 2014 in Guatemala scares me to death but bring it on! 

   This week I ate cow foot and it was so gross I almost want to cry right now just thinking about it. it tastes like the cow utter except it is as hard as bone BECAUSE ITS A FREAKIN COW FOOT! i kept asking hermana mima how you eat it and she would just say you just bite it and chew it. Longest lunch hour I have ever had. 

    This week my companion and I were comparing the mtc to the ccm. It didn’t take us too long to realize that my companions best friend from the mtc who she still writes is Ryleys companion right now as we speak! We have already planned the reunion with the 4 of us when I get home! small world! We were so excited! 

    Well I am sorry this letter is short and lame. We played soccer all morning as a zone and it was so much fun I loved every second of it! but now I am exhausted and I cant remember anything that happened this week... but it sounds like everything is good back home! Love you to the moon and back! I promise you a better letter next week! 

Love

hermana outsen

That is so cool that they went to a speed skating competition! Tell Jackie thats awesome and I am cheering for her! I think I will try to give up tortillas, if you can give up pepsi I think I can do it, it will be really hard though! 

    Well this week was kind of boring... I don't have a whole lot to write. It was a really good week and we had some really good lessons and had people at church and found a solid group of positive people! So I am happy and doing good! 

    I loved reading Jill's letter! I can totally understand what she is describing because that is exactly how it was here and I got to see it again for New Years! It was just like Christmas eve, the entire sky lit up and there was not an inch of the midnight sky that wasn't covered in fireworks, it really is the coolest thing! New years was a really weird day for me. I thought all about 2013 and I just cannot believe how much changed this year. One year ago today I never would have thought I would here right now and I have learned so much, it just completely freaks me out to think about. and then to think that I will spend all of 2014 in Guatemala scares me to death but bring it on! 

   This week I ate cow foot and it was so gross I almost want to cry right now just thinking about it. it tastes like the cow utter except it is as hard as bone BECAUSE ITS A FREAKIN COW FOOT! i kept asking Hermana Mima how you eat it and she would just say you just bite it and chew it. Longest lunch hour I have ever had. 

    This week my companion and I were comparing the mtc to the ccm. It didn't take us too long to realize that my companions best friend from the mtc, who she still writes is Ryleys companion right now as we speak! We have already planned the reunion with the 4 of us when I get home! small world! We were so excited! 

    Well I am sorry this letter is short and lame. We played soccer all morning as a zone and it was so much fun I loved every second of it! but now I am exhausted and I cant remember anything that happened this week... but it sounds like everything is good back home! Love you to the moon and back! I promise you a better letter next week! 

Love

hermana outsen

That is so cool that they went to a speed skating competition!  Tell Jackie thats awesome and I am cheering for her! I think I will try to give up tortillas, if you can give up pepsi I think I can do it, it will be really hard though! 

    Well this week was kind of boring... I dont have a whole lot to write. It was a really good week and we had some really good lessons and had people at church and found a solid group of positive people! So I am happy and doing good! 

    I loved reading Jill's letter! I can totally understand what she is describing because that is exactly how it was here and I got to see it again for New Years! It was just like Christmas eve, the entire sky lit up and there was not an inch of the midnight sky that wasn't covered in fireworks, it really is the coolest thing! New years was a really weird day for me. I thought all about 2013 and I just cannot believe how much changed this year. One year ago today I never would have thought I would here right now and I have learned so much, it just completely freaks me out to think about. and then to think that I will spend all of 2014 in Guatemala scares me to death but bring it on! 

   This week I ate cow foot and it was so gross I almost want to cry right now just thinking about it. It tastes like the cow utter except it is as hard as bone BECAUSE ITS A FREAKIN COW FOOT! i kept asking Hermana Mima how you eat it and she would just say you just bite it and chew it. Longest lunch hour I have ever had. 

    This week my companion and I were comparing the MTC to the CCM. It didn't take us too long to realize that my companions best friend from the MTC, who she still writes is Ryley's companion right now as we speak! We have already planned the reunion with the 4 of us when I get home! small world! We were so excited! 

    Well I am sorry this letter is short and lame. We played soccer all morning as a zone and it was so much fun I loved every second of it! but now I am exhausted and I cant remember anything that happened this week... but it sounds like everything is good back home! Love you to the moon and back! I promise you a better letter next week! 

Love

hermana outsen

 here is the picture of the outside of my house that you requested. home sweet home.

        suffer the children to come to me. (I really hope thats not sac religious..)           
This is the bird that talks to us

We walk past this big heap of trash everyday and this dude is there everyday shopping. Oh guat....