July 25th

Well first of all, let me say, thanks for all the emails and letter this week. I was in heaven!

So I bet you are all wanting to know about changes huh? haha Actually Im sure that none of you care but I am going to tell you anyways. Hna Nelson and Hna Parada left me! Waaa! I stayed put in my area in Concepcion, but I got a new companion. Her name is Hermana Hidalgo. She is from El Salvador and is super super sweet. If I got to choose my companion, she would definitley be one of my top picks. Shes great. It was VERY sad to see Hna Nelson go though. Like....I was so sad it was a little bit embarrasing. She was too though so it made me feel better. We just became the best of friends. How can you not when youre together for sooooo long and see eachother 24/7? She is only about 15 minutes away from Reu though in San Felipe. haha Poor thing, I think that will be her last area and she will have seen hardly anything of Guatemala. And I think Im never leaving Concepcion. But oh well, good thing I love it huh? When the President asked me how I felt about staying in Concepcion, I told him that I thought I was never leaving and he said "Yeah, I dont think you are either. If you want, we can just order a boyfriend for you and you guys can get married here and be neighbors with me and Hna Maravilla." baha! JUST what I wanted. Saying goodbye to everyone with Hna Nelson was super super sad! Everyone was crying and what not. I am NOT looking forward to when I leave. That will be very sad.

Its odd having only a latin comp. I never speak english anymore. Its a little strange cause I had latin comps before but Hna Nelson and I could always speak English whenever we wanted. But Im sure its very good for me!

So I swear, every missionary in the mission is sick and I just got chewed out by a Zone leader. It was really fun. He was freaking out because one of the Elders in his zone had a fever. He wanted him to go to the emergency room. I told him to take some ibuprofen and go to bed. haha! he didnt really like that answer and started yelling at me a little bit. I love being the missionary that everyone hates! baha! Ehh Im pretty much used to it now.

So I have 2 funny stories. We were talking to a lady in the ward that sells Avon. And she asked me what my favorite Avon product was. So I told her bubble bath. And she didnt know what it was so I was trying to explain it to her. And she didnt know what a bath was. So I trying to explain what a bath was. And after like 5 minutes, she was like "OHHHHH YEAH!!! Ive seen that in movies and stuff. Its like a shower but all the water is at the bottom of it. Like a mini pool!" haha! I dont know why I thought that was so hilarious! Poor things. My life would be so empty without my baths. haha

Other funny/ really creepy story. So we contacted this house. And it was a little bit furthur out from our area. And we saw a million children playing outside so we stopped and talked to the dad. When we asked him how many kids he had, he said 19! He said "I have 12 kids here with this woman, and 7 kids over there with my other woman!". Oh dear. Then he went on and on about how he needs a 3rd woman and how he wants a gringita to be his 3rd. CREEPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, we did not return.

Well that{s about all the news for today. I love you all tons and tons and tons and tons. Have a GREAT week!

Love, Hermana Kami Alyse Alston

p.s. I hit my half way mark on wednesday! I am so old and wise. baha!

Our dear friend and shortest human being in the world. She made me PROMISE that I would send this picture to my family.

July 18th

Well hello there! I feel like this week was very uneventful but I will try my best to tell you some interesting stuff.

Well one very happy thing that happened is....DANISA AND ANTONY got baptised!! I have to admit. I was a little worried for a second that it wasnt going to be able to happen but they are baptised and confirmed and officially members! Woohoo! They are very happy. Its cute.

Something else exciting we did this week was...our zone put on a free car wash at the Stake Center. It was actually a lot cooler than I thought. There was a lot of people that stopped and while the Elders washed their cars, the Hermanas (me) gave tours of the chapel. I was surprised at the peoples reactions. We find that it is VERY difficult to get people to church for the first time. They are just scared because they{ve never been inside of one before. So we showed them all the rooms and in the end we sat in the Chapel and explained what we do in sacrament meeting and we asked them how they felt. And almost every single one of them said that they felt something really special and felt really peaceful. A ton of people said they would like to come to church on Sunday so we{ll see what happens. But I was thinking about it and that would be a cool activity that I could do when I got home. My goal is to still be a great missionary when I get home so Im always thinking of things I could do when I get back. ha

This week we were working in the office (as usual) and the light went out (as they always do). But the only problem with that is....the gates to get out of the church are electric. So to make a long story short, we were locked in the offices FOREVER! We ended up not leaving until 6 in the evening. Yeah, that wasnt a very productive day.

So changes are coming up this Wednesday and we find out today if we are getting changed or not. I am having some serious anxiety because Hna Nelson and I have been together now for 7 and 1/2 months and we have been in our area for 6 months. That is a very very very very long time. So I am 99% sure that we are getting seperated and moved to a different area. My whole world is about to turn upsidedown here soon. And you KNOW how I hate change.

So my comp Hna Parada, has an obsession with filling the first aid kits for the mission. I dont know if you remember but each transfer, we have to get a list of medications that EVERY SINGLE district needs a refill of in their first aid kits and then we go to the Pharmacy and buy them all and then we fill everybodies kit. Well Hna Parada LIVES for filling these things. She doesnt even want us to help her cause she wants to do all of them herself. So all day today shes been saying..."I DONT WANT CHANGES! I HOPE I DONT GET CHANGED!!" And when we ask her why, she says its because she wants to be with the mission nurse so she can fill first aid kits. Not cause shes gonna miss the members, not cause shes gonna miss us, but because she wants to refill first aid kits for the mission. Character she is. Very very interesting.

Well I have got to go. Sorry my email is short and boring again but I am sending a few videos to make it interesting. I love you all! Have a fantastic week. And PRAY that I dont get a psycho comp! haha BYE!

Love, Hermana Kami Alyse Alston

Danisa and Antony and the supportive ward we have!!

Botiquines...again!

July 11th

Yikes! I finally got a computer that played videos and I spent all of my internet time watching the videos. So sorry if this is a little short but let me tell you....it was highly enjoyable watching the videos. The elder next to me really enjoyed them too. hehe

Well we have 2 baptisms this Friday night which I am very excited about! Other then that, not a whole lot has happened as far as investigators go. But dont worry, a lot of other exciting things happened this week.

We had a surprise Hermanas Conference! All the Hermanas from the mission got together and we had a conference with President. And just guess what the topic was......yup! ETERNAL MARRIAGE! baha! They also gave us some excellent tips on how to catch a husband when we get home. I was dying. We also learned some great medical tips from Hna Maravilla. She informed us that taking a shower in the night after you have been hot all day is EXTREMELY dangerous and causes arthritis and early death. Also, sitting on sidewalks causes hemerrhoids. Did you know that? haha cause I sure didnt! Very helpful. Then, heres the best part. On friday, we all went to XETULUL!! Its a theme park with roller coasters and what not. Remember when I found out that I was going to Retalhuleu on my mission and I looked it up on the internet and all I could find was pictures of a theme park? Well that{s the one. It was really fun. A little strange though cause I was wearing jeans and riding rides and definitely didnt feel like a missionary! Super fun! Im still not sure what the purpose of the trip was but Im not complaining!

In answer to your questions, yes, I travel to visit different zones to talk about health still and I do go to the far away areas too. Right now, we are planning a trip to San Marcos. Its the cold area in the mountains. We{re gonna go and do divisions there too. Its a pretty good time.

Well since I dont have much time. Im going to end with a list that we{ve been making of you know its hot when......These are only a few of the many we{ve come up with. Thought you might enjoy.

You know its hot when.....you can{t cross your legs in church because they are too slippery with sweat.
You know its hot when.....your whole body breaks out in a yeast infection...permenantly.
You know its hot when......People cant tell that your shirt is wet because EVERY inch is covered in sweat.
You know its hot when.....People ask you if you got caught in the rain storm. "No, no that{s just sweat."
You know its hot when.....You need to change your shirt at 830 in the morning because you are so sweaty and embarrased to go to church!

Well sorry this email was suuuuper short. I swear I will be better next week. Ill make sure its a little longer and a little more exciting. hehe All you July birthdays in the fam, your letters are on their way! Thank you so much for everything!! Have a GREAT week!

Love, Kami Alyse Alston

Bus we went on to Xetulul

BFF in Xetulul, yes, that is Hna Roney haha

Ignore my fat stomach please, it happens.

What our comp saves in the fridge.

July 4th

Hello all! Well once again. I have TONS to write and hardly any time to write it but Ill do the best I can...

So let me introduce you to Antony and Danisa. We have been teaching this girl name Danisa for like 2 months. She has been going to church for forever!!! And we finally have a baptism date with her. She had a really cool experience. She didnt feel like she was ready to get baptised because she said that she didnt feel worthy too. She had repented of all her sins and everything but she said that she didnt know if she was forgiven. So we asked her if we could go into the other room and we could all kneel down and pray and she could say the prayer and ask Heavenly Father if the 16th of July was the right date for her to get baptised and if she was forgiven of her sins. So we did. And she said the prayer. And while she was prayer, she just stopped for a minute. And after we prayed, she said, when I paused and stop talking for a second. I felt a kind of feeling soooo strong. I felt like Heavenly Father was kneeling right next to me and telling me that I was forgiven and I was ready to be baptised. She is now SO excited and wants to change her baptismal date to this weekend. We'll see if that happes. Her neighbor Antony kindof just showed up to church one day and after church he told us he wanted to be baptised. He told us he felt like it is where he belongs. So he is getting baptised the same day. He smoked and drinked but he stopped all of that cold turkey and says he was kind of just looking for a reason to stop. Did I mention he is only 14? Yeah, and he lives with a bunch of other kids his age. His parents abandoned him and left for the states and have been there for years. Sad story. But he is precious and very excited as well.

Now nursing stuff. So I was at our cooks house for lunch and I went outside to put my plate in the pila and I saw or cook Hna Cony completely frantic. She was waving her arms everywhere and she couldnt breath. Her family was around like yelling at me to help her. She was choking!!!! So anyways I had to do the Heimlich Manuever! I did it twice and her food finally came out and she was gasping for air. SCARY! But Im sure glad I knew how to do it! Of course that would happen to me here. ONLY in Guatemala.

Funny story of the week. It has been raining SUPER hard here lately. And when it rains that hard. The street are literally rivers. Like up to your mid-calf. Its crazy. So we were late for an appointment and we had to cross the street and Hna Nelson and I made it across just fine but Hna Parada took a while. Which is normal cause shes super slow at everything. So it wasnt anything new for us. But anyways, when we got to our appointment. They werent home but another family member was so we started talking to him. And we were talking to him for a good 10 minutes before he just looks down at Hna Parada's feet and says "Hermana! Where are your shoes?" She was completely barefoot!!!! And she said completely seriously and calmy.."The current took them away". bahaha! I just started dying laughing but shortly stopped because she didnt find it very funny. We had walked ALL the way to our investigators house and she didnt say a WORD about it. Strange....but VERY funny. Another funny thing about Hna Parada. So here everybody uses like a hard bar of soap to wash your dishes. And I was getting sick of it cause the bar gets all nasty with food and starts to smell. So I saw liquid soap like normal people use in the states at the store and I was sooo excited cause I completely forget that I used to use liquid soap. Anyways, I had to give Hna Parada a lesson on how to use it cause she was completely lost and confused. And now she is OBSESSED with it. She thinks it is just the greatest invention. She tells EVERY person we teach about this soap. And everytime she washes dishes I hear her yell out "ooooo buenisimo!!!!!!". haha I love her.

Well I had lots of other stories but I must be going. I was going to send you a bunch of good pictures but I forgot my other memory card. So Ill just send you pictures of today. We went to this place called TAK' ALIK AB' AJ. Its this place that has ancient ruins and temples and such from the myans and was super cool. I could not captur how cool anything was on camera so the pictures looks kind of lame. Sorry. Oh and HAPPY 4th OF JULY!!!!!!!!!!! We got decked out in red white and blue and carried around a flag and put red ribbon in our hair and painted a flag on our toenails. The whole 9 yards. So that is what the other pictures are of. I love you all sooooo much! You are THE BEST! I hope you have the best week ever!!!!

Love, Hermana Kami Alyse Alston

SOO PRETTY. This is just completely normal. This place was in the middle of a beautiful jungle! I couldnt help but think of the Nephites living there. It makes the Book of Mormon a whole lot more exciting to read. hehe

The whole zone. That is part of a temple. Cool huh?

Wierd pose. Yes, Im a poser apparently.

June 27th

Hey fam!

Well I have so incredibly much to say this week and not enough time to say it! Sorry about that. But I am gonna send you lots of good videos and pictures so hopefully that will make up for it.

I cant believe all the news that going on over there in the states! There are so many fires! That is just crazy to be because it never stops raining here. Its hard to imagine it differently. It has been beautiful weather lately. And well I say beautiful, I mean it is still the hottest place on earth but at least Im not dead from heat stroke. Have the fires calmed down at all? Hows the cabin?

I will start off by telling you the most exciting news. Kimberly and Jose got baptised! It was soo wonderful and they were all smiles. The whole baptism was a little stressful. We started an hour and 15 minutes late. That is pretty normal for Guatemala. But there were 2 other sets of Elders that also had baptisms so all together there were 7 people that got baptised. Also, Samuel got the Priesthood this week and passed us the sacrament in church. I was so happy! It was so precious. He was soooooo excited!

Something else that happened that was pretty exciting was a few weeks ago, an inactive couple came back to church after soooo many years of being inactive. They got offended by someone in the church and both just decided to stop going. So we went and visited them about a month ago and invited them to come back to church and just like that they came back and haven{t missed a sunday since. When we went to visit them this week, they said that members from the ward had tried visiting them for a very long time and they never wanted to go to church. But they said that when we came, we brought the spirit with us and they just felt it so strong and that they wanted to go back to church so they could feel the spirit like that every week. Cute! We love them.

Yesterday we found out that Esduardo (the son of Migdalia - the one that lives on the river and their roof flew off) has Leukemia! So sad! We went to the hospital to visit him yesterday. I dont think they fully understand how serious that is. That poor family has a hard life. But they seem to still be very cheerful. That was the first time that I had been to a hospital here. It was INSANE! It was soooo dirty and there were a gagillion little babiest shoved in this big room. And it was sooooooooo hot and just awful!

Lets see....what happened that was entertaining this week.....We have a new best friend! His name is Oscar and he is a tuc tuc driver. And he gives us free rides all the time. It is WONDERFUL! He will just pull up next to us walking on the side of the road and say "Going to the house? Jump in!" Its actually kinda creepy because I have noticed that most of the tuc tuc drivers know where we live. We pretty much dont have to tell them directions anymore, they just all go take us to our house automatically.

Oh also, my companion set off the fire alarm in our house 3 times while making food. She would. I swear when we get separated, she is going to kill herself some way or another. Speaking of food...guess what I ate this week? Cow liver. Our cook is very very sneaky! She cooked us this delicious meal. And I noticed that the meat tasted a little funny. It was like chalky. Like flaking off in my mouth kinda thing and it tasted a little like dog food. Finally I asked Hna Parada what kind of meat it was and sure enough. LIVER! Gross. Dirty dirty trick....

Well Ive gotta go but I heart you all soooo incredibly much! I hope you have a fantastic week. And thank you as always for your emails and letters! I am in HEAVEN when I get them! ADIOS!!!!!

- Hermana Kami Alyse Alston

Yes, this is very realistic. These are just dogs lining the streets. THERE ARE SOOOO MANY!!!!

Strange but yummy fruit. Its the new mango around here. Very popular.

Our cook Hna Cony hehe She is like our mommy here. I love her.

Baptism!

June 20th

Hello all! Well first, thank you all sooooo much for the birthday wishes and packages. Yes, I got your package mom. As well as one from Sarah and Theresa. You are the best! I got them the day before my birthday and wanted to open them right away but Hna Nelson made me wait till my birthday. So I woke up and opened them right away! Everything was perfect and fits perfect. Thank you soo much! Did I ever tell you that I wanted a step-mile counter? Cause I have wanted one for a long time. I used it yesterday and I took 11,500 steps and walked 8 miles. And that was yesterday! We were sitting in church for 3 hours, then we had appointments literally all day and were just sitting in houses. I would love to see what it is on a normal day. Ill let you know.

But yes mom, dont you worry, Hna Nelson told absolutely everyone that it was my birthday. So we would be walking down the street and random people would be saying "happy birthday!" or "where{s my cake?" And apparently it is tradition here to give the birthday girl a hug on her birthday. So everyone was coming up and giving me hugs. Cute! And it just so happens that one of our friends just happens to be a cake maker. So she made me my favorite cake and decorated it and everything. It was delish! Then my zone got me a cake and a piñata. It was precious. THEN, my favorite part. So last week, we set a goal with Samuel and a few other investigators that if they read the book of mormon every day for 10 minutes for a week, we would make pizza with them. And it just so happens that we made the night that we were gonna make pizza my birthday! So we went over there to make pizza with them and they decorated the house and had birthday songs playing and everyone was treating me like a queen. It was so cute. And the best part was that they are my investigators! We had a blast. And they wrote me notes that said "thank you for teaching me about God, you are a great example" haha I love them.

Anyways, enough about me. We have two baptisms for this Saturday so I am very excited about that. Samuels twin brother Jose is getting baptised and is very excited. We are also teaching their dad but he is not so eager to jump in the water. But he is not completely close minded either. We went to go pick Samuel up for church on Sunday like 45 minutes early and he was all ready. And we have no idea how he got ahold of them but he was wearing black pants, and a white shirt and a tie. He felt like a million bucks. He reads the Book of Mormon for like an hour every day and is already at the end of Alma. And he has I swear half of the hymns memorized and sings sooooo loud. Its great.

Our other baptism is Kimberly. You know, the one that was sooo hard to get because her mom thought she needed more time? Well that one is kind of iffy because we passed by with her this week to teach and her mom answered the door bawling because she says her husband doesnt love her and she wants to leave him and such. Oh dear. Something else sad that we saw this week was that we went to visit one of the ward members and we asked her how she was and she just broke down and started bawling. She just told us about how her husband lost his job and cant find more work and how they literally dont have any money. And her kids keep on asking her for bread and she cant give them anything. She said she literally has nothing to her name,and she cant do anything. She said she cant clean because she doenst have a broom or anything. She cant wash clothes because she doesnt have soap. She cant eat cause they dont have food. It was completely heart breaking. And even worse because I couldnt do anything to help her. We are going to talk to the Bishop though to see if the church can help her out. It is so interesting being a missionary. And going into random peoples houses and them confiding in you completely. It is something that would only happen as a missionary. Such a unique experience.

In answer to your questions, yes, I am still traveling to different zones to talk about health. We usually go every Thursday. Its fun because I get to see a bunch of different areas but at the same time, I dont like it because I have to chew people out a little bit for not taking care of themselves and getting parasites. They are usually very nice and respectful though. The doctor asked me to PLEASE not help missionaries that are just sick with a cold or flu. He said that half the reason that they are on a mission is to help them be prepared for the big world. So he told me to start telling them to figure it out and such it up. Uh oh....We{ll see how that goes.

Well I gotta go, sorry if I bored you. But I love you al tons and tons! Hopefully all the pictures that I sent you will make up for the lack of excitement in my letters. Have a great week!! Until next Monday...

Samuel all ready for church.

Our friend Fide who made me my FAVORITE cake (tres leches). She may or may not have written Felicidades, Alton. Close...

Making pizza on my bday

More of the bday party

June 13th

Hello Fam!

Well two very exciting things happened this week! First, we had changes! And.......I DIDNT CHANGE! AGAIN! haha I really do think Im gonna be in Concepcion with Hna Nelson forever! I will officially be together with my trainer on my half way mark. What? Everyone is shocked. But Presidente told our cook that we are going to be together forever in Concepcion. haha We are also still with Hna Parada. I think Im also going to be in a trio forever too! It was cute though cause none of the people in this area wanted us to leave. Everyone kept on saying "we{ll be praying that you stay!" And kept on hugging us and such. And then when we saw them later and told them that we werent getting changed. They would squeal and give us hugs and stuff. Precious! I LOOOOOVE the people here soooo much! It{s going to be hard to leave. If that ever happens.

The other exciting thing that happened was....SAMUEL GOT BAPTISED! He was really cute and excited. When we went to go pick him up for his baptism, he was all ready a half an hour early. And his twin brother and alllll the neighborhood kids were ready. And as we were walking through the neighborhood, more kids kept on running out of there house to walk with us to the church until we had quite a large crew! It was very happy and Samuel is TOTALLY dedicated and serious about this baptism thing. I love it! We{re trying to get in to teach his family but his dad works ALLL the time. Its a bit of a problem. Bummer because he really likes us and would totally listen to us but he is just so busy. Samuels twin Jose went to church with us though. He{s a bit of a little rebel so I was surprised and he said he really liked it! So we{ll see what happens with that.

Something else sort of horrible happened. A girl got murdered in our ward. She was only 19. She had a baby and rumor is, she was pregnant too. I guess she was walking down the street and 5 guys jumped out of the car and shot her! How horrible! She was one of the girls in the picture of the family I sent last week. In front of all the trees and flowers. It got me kind of scared but dont worry cause we are protected by angels! And we are very very careful. I guess all of Guatemala is fasting in July for safety and protection of all the people in the country cause its super dangerous and stuff keeps on happening. So foreign to me. Im used to being tucked away in my sheltered home in the states.

Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes! I LOVED the video of the whole fam and my whole district here watched it and were cracking up! You are the best family ever! Several of our friends here know its my birthday and there are a few little parties planned. Have I mentioned that I love them? haha Well sorry that this email was shorter than usual but I ran out of things to say. I hope you have a fantastic week!

Love, Hermana Kami Alyse Alston

p.s. I have been HORRIBLE about writing letters lately. I have been crazy busy, but I will repent and send some soon. Thanks for still being super supportive and writing even if sometimes you dont get anything in return!! LOVE YA!