A couple pics from the MTC

 

so last sunday this guy in church spoke about how in psychology he learned that our brains form a natural sentiment to our native language and its so true! like wehn the latinos try to speak english to me, i like them that much more. my point is that i hope i develop those same feelings towards spanish and also hopefully the people feel the same way about me trying to speak their language. hopefully. although this one latina we were role playing with in our feedback said you need to learn spanish to make your lessons better...haha so that was awesome. a real confidence boost for sure.

 

weve had some super great lessons lately. like there was a day when we had like 3 lessons (a lot for us in the ccm) and seriously the spirit just guided all of them. like we went in with a plan and one of the lessons went totally off subject but it just worked and it was what the investigator needed to hear. and then the other one he tried to like take off course and we were like nope and got in a really good lesson that he needed. it was so awesome!! hna windsor and i work really well together so i really like our lessons. we started teaching a norte district and they pretend to be someone and i pretend to be someone and its really cool because its one on one and i learn new ways to teach and also i learn how to teach by myself because somoetimes i rely too much on hna windsor because if i dont know it, she will so this way i have to know it all so thats cool.

 

funny story. there was this super flirty latino elder here last week and the teachers were all mad but anyway he was like into this girl in my district and my teacher found out and we found out like this week that the reason the guy stopped talking to her is because our teacher todl him that if he ever saw him even say hola to her, he would kill him hahahhaahah. it was quite funny.

 

also, the viejos left and one of them took my flipflops...not an important thing haha but jsut thought id inform you. also a girl in my district likes playing golf so she made golf clubs out of snicker bars and a mop handle and we played mini golf during deportes time haha, it was a lot of fun!

 

im sorry theres not more to say. I ONLY HAVE SIX DAYS LEFT!!! so i wont be writing at all next week but ill be in the field. im freaking out a tad haha but im also jsut super excited. i mightve shared this last week but psalms 46 10 says be still and know that i am God and its really helped me because all the things im afraid of in the field...dont matter, God knows what Hes doing if i just trust. its like im leaving for my mission all over again though. love you all!!

okay so yesterday we went to the mercado and I PLACED MY FIRST TWO COPIES OF THE BOOK OF MORMON!!! one was to this vendor who may or may not have given us a fake number haha and the other to this family who had the cutest three kids. the mom wasnt really talking or smiling at the beginning but when we talked to her kids she lightened up and smiled at us. it was so cute!! and yeah. we got their address and phone number. it was cool because i actually got to be a real missionary rather than teach my fake investiagtors. it reminds me why im here which is always good. plus it was so cute to see how excited the elders were because they are usually the tough guys but they were so happy. it was great! the city was fun, we got to see this 3d map of guatemala so that was pretty cool. apparently i have more chance of being in the city in my mission and the ohter part is desert but we will see. less than two weeks until im finally in the field!!! i bought a soccer jersey (because im so good at soccer haha) and so im now the stereotypical missionary and its great. i hope i get a companion who is nice and teaches me how to play soccer becasue it actually is pretty fun to play.

 

so there isnt a ton to tell. not a lot has been happening here really. the ohter day these adorable primary kids came to visit and there was one who was 10 and had his fake little tag on and was like shaking all our hands and acting like an adult and it was the cutest thing. im excited to meet all the kids in the ward because the sisters will propbably have to teach some classes so yay!

 

on sundays we do changes with the hermanas here. like nortes go with latinas and last sunday was cool because i thought my girl hated me but we actually talked and i think she liked me this time haha. she asked me to sign her missionary journal so that was cute. but shes gone now...speaking of which i am now a viejo!! meaning i know everything....hahaha....good joke. but we like to pretend.

 

so an elder in my district got sick one morning and didnt know how to take medicine so he took SIX 600 milligram ibuprofeuns...the nurse in our district was not happy to say the least. luckily i had all those snacks from grandma diane and i gave him those so we think hes okay...so far so good. but let her know her snacks saved a life haha. the elders here do tie trading and im so jealous. we all know i love ties and there are so many cool ones. the elders are so lucky. and we cant really trade anything like that which is sad but ohhhh whale.

 

the other day i think our teacher knew we were getting stir crazy here so she took us to the bball courts and let us play line tag or pacman and let me assure that it is a lot harder to run modestlly in a skirt than it looks haha. that is for sure.

 

last sunday was probably one of the best days that ive had here. i just felt the spirit so much and we watched this video on Christ and it was so powerful. there were hardly any words. mostly jut a video of snippets of His life but like when they got to the atonement i looked at all the hnas and everyone like couldnt watch it. we were all bawling. its just so incredible what He did for us and it kills me that people have the ability to do something so awful to their Saviior. and like now, there are so many people who just dont understand Him or what Hwe did and its so sad and the video really made me remember the full prupose of me being here. to bring them to Christ.

 

oh funny story. so our ceiling leaked and it was like ayellow color so there was this bucket in our room and i sware it was pee...and it leaked on my suticase....exciting stuff haha, i know. and we found out it legit couldve been pee because the boys bathrooms all backed up and flooded the same day it leaked haha.

 

today we went driving to the immigration place to renew our tourist visa and the guy that drove us had to hold up the rearview mirror when he talked to us. needless to say i am more than grateful i dont have a driving mission.

My good friends here at the ccm will not hear of me returnoing until im better but other than a headache, fever, cough, runny nose, and accoasional nausea, nothing muich is wrong with me. haha pride and prejudice? anyone?  honestly, i was sick and still am but im feeling a lot better today. everyone is sick here so its a miracle in and of itself that it didnt happen until the third week. did i mention i only have three weeks left?? thats so fast but also slow...itll be crazy when i actually leave for the field.

 

so not a whole lot is going on here. same old, same old really. weve been learning and practicing a lot. weve had a couple of really good lessons and its amazing how real the promises are in d&c that talk about how we shouldnt think beforehand what to say but open our mouths and the lord will fill them because its true. our last lesson went way off what we planned but it just flowed between us too. granted that theyre fake investigators, i really enjoy teaching. in fact, the two days i started feeling down were two days we didnt teach. its just such an ammazing feeling teaching the gopesl and i cant wait for the field. but i also prob wont be able to talk to them haha. i met this super awesome hna yesterday who kept complimenting my spanish so hopefully its improving.

 

great story!! so we were teaching these random people and our lady is some super active member. like super active. and we only met her 10 minutes and shared a message about the atonement and she taught us. she wrote our names down and told us that she would pray for us and for our families and investigators every friday in the temple for the rest of her life!!! shes in my mission but i will probably never see her again but i will never forget her. it was so awesome.

 

the viejos left last week and so we said a group prayer together where we all wen taround the circle and prayed and it was so amazing. it last forever and my knees were killing by the end haha but it was so awesome because the spirit was there and i realized were all in this together (hs musical) and we can support eachotehr and we can do it. oh and wehn the viejos left, we got ribs and a chocolate fountains...yes.

 

embarassing story, its been my dream to meet a general authority well the relief society liike first counselor came here and she was stading in the hallway talking to some girls and i totally walked right past her, had to ask her to move so i could get in the door and didnt say anything....im so dumb haha.

 

we went to walmart last saturday and the country is beautiful. i love the mountains. walmart was basically the same only missing a lot of stuff haha. we have no idea how lucky we are. its incredible. i love it here but i will never complain about america.

 

ive found a couple of people here that i have connections with. elder guiterrez in my district had a cousin in my byu ward. and his cousin roomed with this girl here hna esquerra (aka tiewa) and she was in my ward and theres an elder here who used to live in indiana so we talk about people we know haha. deportes is serioulsy such an awesome time. ive been sic,k so i havent been working out but me and 3 girls from my district just sit there and talk which is fun and a good time to relax. also people keep ruining stuff for us. like they popped one of the bballs and kicked the soccer ball out of the area and the volleyball. and we cant take pictures beccause they took inappropriate ones and were not supposed to write on boards bc they wrote bad stuff on there...smh. haha but its all good. once we get out in the field, we get to make our own decisions so thats nice.

 

the temple has been super awesome lately and im so super grateful to have it right next to us. hopefully when im in the field i get to go to it.

 

last funny story. the showers here are pretty short and theres an elder in my district who is like 6'7 and he says when he takes showers hes like buddy in the movie elf haha. its pretty funny. i dont have a ton of time. love you all. sorry this was so short!!

ATTENTION: New Address for Ashtin

Hermana Ashtin Wilcoxen
Mision Guatemala Este
Avienda Reforma 8-60 Zona 9
Edificio Galerias Reforma
Torre 2 Nivel 5 Oficina 505
Guatemala, Ciudad
Guatemala CA

(and on packages make sure you write Hermana Ashtin Wilcoxen really big)

This is what she had to say this week:

HEY GUYS!!  so today i cant figure out the enter button so bear with me. anyways first things first. i have the address...i think its the same but maybe not. ill put periods where its a new line. hermana ashtin wilcoxen. mision guatemala este. avenida reforma 8-60 zona 9.

edificio galerias reforma. torre 2 nivel 5 oficina 505. guatemala, ciudad. guatemala ca. and on packages make sure you put my name hermana ashtin wilcoxen really big, its the best way to get through customs. so i feel like ive been here for years and then its like wow, time is flying. week 2 is already done. we go to walmart tomorrow so thats nice. i have a couple things i need to pick up, plus itll be nice to leave the gates haha. we started teaching our teachers who are pretending to be investigators and boy has it been humbling haha. i thought it would be easy to just come in here and teach away...nope. and i wish i could blame it all on the language barrier but i cant. i am trying to stay positive though and its working. i know itll just take time. one of my teachers todl us that we need to develop love for the investiagtors or i wont be of any use and so that night i prayed for charity for everyone my investigators, futrue investigators, companions, and the people here and the next day was so much better. i really loved the people i taught and i was walking around saying hi to everyone being obnoxioulsly happy and it was great. so theres this stuff here called sleeping grass and when you touch it IT FOLDS UP...needless to say its so super cool and also ive learned to appreciate the little things in life. like seeing a bride walk out of the temple. we convinced our teacher (who is engaged) to wait outside the temple to see her haha.

so the language is kind of coming along slowly but surely. i can usually get my point across but one time in class we were all complaining about the language and this teacher was like no. try learning english. the words word, ward, war, world. THEYRE ALL THE SAME and were like ....no theyre not haha. so yeah. were learning to try not to be as big of babies about it haha. ive officially gotten my first tan line, its awesome. yesterday was sunday and it was so awesome. like an enntire day just to be spiritually uplifted. we watch a lot of movies and devotionals and have firesides. we watched the joseph smith story and per usual i cried throughout the entire thing.

you should seriously watch it. its amazing. oh and the other day me and hna windsor street contacted some guy, we couldnt understand him at al lbecause he talked quietly and the cars were loud but luckily our teacher translated for us and it was so cool and i cant wait to get into the field and be able to talk to people. random question...did ethan chagne the background on the phone? he better not have. also the viejos are leaving tomorrow and its so crazy that that will be me in 4 weeks...FOUR WEEKS! craziness. the food here is amazing as usual and dad no, the rice will never top el camino. they serve all types of food. weve had hamburgers and fries and what not.

the chef is amazing and i love him. something random that i miss is singing in english...i havent acquired a love for spanish hymns yet haha. i just want the english words so i absoluetly love watching devotionals with english hymns. funny story so one of our teachers is pretty good ewith english but the ohter day he was like watch it. ive got eyes in my back and we were like...i think you mean in the back of my head and he was like no, i literally have eyes in my back hahaha.

it was the funniest thing. hes seriously the goofiest guy ever and he knows enough english to fake his accent sometimes and its great...like i said, its the little things. oh and i forgot to tell you this last time but you guys were right. they wont let me drink the water and so when we brush our teeth we have to use bottles. so hopefully i wont get sick while im here but thats very doubtful. everyone is sick like errday here. to end on a better note haha hna windsor was kind of going through a rough time but one of the elders in our district gave her a blessing and it was so beautiful and totally worked and yeah..the priesthood is real. im loving it here, i love you all!!

Here is what Ashtin had to say yesterday in her email she explains a little bit, but if you want to email her it may be best to go through dearelder.com as that basically goes to the MTC and is then printed out and delivered to her.  The way I understand it, it goes through the SLC MTC and they use a carrier to deliver a "pouch" full of mail to that MTC.  Make sure you choose the Guatemala City East Mission.  Also, the keyboards are different than ours so to save time she is skipping all the punctuation etc!  So all you teachers out there will just have to bite your tongues!

MI FAMILIA Y AMIGAS!!!!

you have no idea how happy i am to email you haha. we were literally like screaming walking to the computer lab. anyways first things first. mail. since im going to be in the mtc for 6 weeks and not two, please send letters within the next four weeks to the mtc. also i found out that the address i gave you for the mission isnt actually right. the mission home has changed but i dont have the address for it. so until then i think you can probably send it to the address you have and theyll forward it but idk. as soon as i find out ill let you know. also, i love all the emails but i dont have a ton of time and no printer so heres a solution. dearelder.com. get on there and you type a letter so its as easy as email but then they print it and give it to me in letter form. i get them every thursday. that way ill have time to read it and respond. also, if you send a package, DONT put pictures of Jesus and Mary because now they will open those because they suspect youre hiding something. just write my name kind of big so they know its a missionary. the mtc address is still correct so you can use that to write letters.

alright so the mtc or ccm here is pretty awesome. its very small and right next to the temple. we get to go later today!! yay!! the ccm is gated and has cameras and security guards...kind of like a fun prison haha. the driving here is insane. so glad i dont have a driving mission. i cant say much about guatemala because i havent seen much of it. just what i saw when i got off the airplane. we get to go on field trips every two weeks so next week i get to go to walmart. i forgot or lost one of my towels so i have to buy that haha but other than that, its just little stuff like shampoo (dad asked which is why im saying this) so the food here is serioulsy the most amazing thing ever. the only problem is how much they give us really. we have to eat it all and sometimes i feel sick because of how much but its delicious so oh well. and also so long to the idea of losing weight...haha. the weather here is basically like indianas only it rains a tad bit more. the rain hasnt been awful, it will just randomly downpour.

were called the nortes here because were the people who cant speak spanish haha and whenever we have a meeting they give us little translator headphones so we know whats going on. honestly its kind of distracting because im trying to understand the spanish and then the english comes in and they dont always translate completely accurately. my spanish is alright. im able to get by but when the natives talk...its so fast and i havent quite gotten used to the accent yet. my comp and i are trying to speak it a ton more though. ill get it eventually.

we actually have a real investigator(not just a teacher pretending) and he is amazing. he works here and my entire district is teaching him. hes started praying our way instead of the catholic prayer and says he feels the spirit and feels closer to God now. he went to church on sunday and is reading the book of mormon. my comp and i try to tlak to him in spanish most of the time and he usually understands. i can usually know what hes saying but sometimes its hard. i lvoe teaching though. the spirit is so strong especially when we bear to him our testimonies. hes got an incredible spirit and really wants to know God. he says he believes what hes saying but wants some time to think about baptism. whats sad is that when he does say yes to baptism, we have to give him to the missionaries in his area. but hopefully we would get to go to his baptism. oh also listening to him pray for the first time out loud with us was so amazing. the spirit was there and i know he felt peace. i get what theyre saying now about that first prayer. its incredible.

so they took our cameras when we got here so there will be very few pictures of anything in the ccm. its very sad, i know. my district is really awesome. .there are 12 of us but only 4 of us are going to the east mission, whcih is kind of sad. my schedule is basiclaly like this. get up at 630 and study, eat and study, go to sports (super fun. we get to work out and just relax which is nice), study, eat, study, eat. sunday was amazing because we got to rest from all the studying. we watched an awesome movie about the slc temple and had a couple devotionals. its a major spiritual renewal. we all ahve to prepare a 5 minute talk and 10 minute sunday school lesson and then they randomly call on people to give them.

so despite the fact that im exhausted literally all day errday, im enjoying myself so much. i love it here. my comp is really good (hna windsor and i have already developed separation anxiety haha, if we dont see eachother for a second we are like DONDE ESTA MI CUMPANERA) and i feel the spirit so much. i pray more than i ever have in my entire life. probably like 20 times a day and its so awesome. i feel so much closer to my Savior. i feel like i can relate to Him more than before too. He also left His family and friends to go with people He doesnt know to preach the gospel. He suffered for the good of others and sacrificed for them. now obvioulsy im not as selfess or suffering near as much but i like seeing the connection because i want even more to be like Him. He is the greatest example of the perfect missionary.

we have one teacher hno mendez who is hilarious and really good. i dont think this mtc is like provos...our classes tend to be a lot of us being like where is our teacher and then being like okay well what do we want to learn haha. flashcards have been a really good thing.

i love you all and i hope everything is going well. im doing great so dont worry about me.

love,

hna wilcoxen

Adding a couple logistical details and addressing some of the questions I've received:
   1. If you send mail you will need to get an international stamp from the post office. (Ashtin expects lots of mail)
   2. Ashtin has no phone while she is on her mission.  Her brother actually is using her phone and number now, so if you call or text expect a goofy response.  She will be able to call her family on Christmas and Mothers Day (yes Fathers Day gets the shaft) but that is it for phone calls.
   3. Ashtin will only have access to email for about 40 minutes, once a week and it will mostly be limited to family.  She has a special email address and will not be looking at her other email accounts.
   4. A friend will be maintaining her Facebook account as best as possible so you can also look there for updates, but Ashtin will not be able look at it. (as far as I know right now)
   5. At the moment, she is in Guatemala City going through her 6 week training, learning her Missionary duties as well as the language.  After that she will move around about every 6 weeks to a new location in Guatemala.  Most of her territory appears to be somewhat rural but we'll find out for sure when she gets sent out to the field.