The Spanish is coming slowly but surely. we are going to be in a trio tomorrow. My trainer is training 2 at the same time. I didn't like being in a trio in the MTC but hopefully this time will be better! 

we are in esperanza xela oeste. we got here Tuesday and the elders had trashed the place literally  they had 26 bags of trash on the porch they didn't feel like paying the 20 quetsales  (5$) for the trash man. We enlisted the other sisters in our area it took 3 hours to clean the place! elders!!!! anyways the ward has 400 in attendance! its huge! we have a really big area and our side has maybe 15 of those members. we are figuring out the area and trying to find people to teach! we broke the record with 24 referrals  11 contacted (6 with a member) in five days our district leader nearly fainted! we are working super hard! 

first the differences from here and sancristobal: dogs here are mean and at night we always have to carry a stick. i speak harshly to them in English and they usually crawl back into their alleys. We have a bar on our street. not good. but at night we usually have members with us so we are usually okay.  the people in san cristo if they didnt want to listen to you they would invite you in feed you and listen to your message and kindly decline another visit. here not so much. both good and bad. 

we taught Jehovah witnesses on Wednesday  we were fine until we wanted to say and opening prayer. that turned into a huge deal they don't pray while they are preaching and they didn't want to let us pray. they are really good people but very dedicated to their religion. we have a few more but they aren't as positive. 

we found an amazing investigator. Cindy. she was taught a few years back by other sisters but her parents chased them away. they are now in the states and she is living with her grand parents. we taught the first lesson and at the end she sad I love reading the book and i want to get baptized!!!!!! the only problem is she is 17. we have to convince the grandparents to let us baptize her! she is so ready! 

Alyssa and her companion 

Yes pray for me. I am getting along better with Spanish but still working it out. I love the culture here. people don't ever stress I think heavenly father is trying to tell me something! I hope I have a ton of latino compaions so I can master not stressing! don't worry  about me my mom (my trianer) takes super good care of me! and I already had a family adopt me here!  We have one investigator that is so positive we visited her once two weeks ago but she didnt sound interested. But she showed up at church with the member that refereed her. Apparently the member begged her to come after we called and invited twice. She loved Sunday school and we set a baptismal date! It was amazing! We also had a great lesson with Philipe a forever investigator! I understood the whole lesson! All of it!!! And on my turn which I usually can do no more than bear my testimony and teach a tiny part, I told him why I chose to stay in the church and about my experiences  I talked in normal Spanish speed (abnormal for me usually I have to think about all the conjugations!). And they understood!!! it was fantastic. I am glad I am here and with Hermana Villeda. She is an amazing teacher and I am learning so much! I stay busy and working I am so much happier and that's what I want to do for the next 18 months! 

I wish you could just throw my clothes in the dryer! 

love hermana stoddard

so good and bad news. I will do the bad news first so we can end on a good note. I was on the bus and we were going to Xela (quetzaltenagno theat{s its nickname) and i brought my camera to print pictures. Well the buses are super packed. they are regular school buses but they seat 3 to a seat sometimes four and people stand in the isles. (Usually someone give me a seat) but I got off and was looking for my wallet  I prayed  but it wasn't there. neither was my camera. This happened this morning. but The night before I was with the Zone leaders and they told me to not use my wallet for anything but small bills. so i only had 20 quets (1.50$) and I took out all my cards and id. so I still have that. but i am so upset about the camera. I lost all the pics from my farewell and MTC and my first two weeks here. some hermanas said that cameras are cheaper here so I will have to buy one here.The good news is I finally contacted someone all by myself. and he understood my and I wasn't really that scared! they love Americans here. Conchita ( blonde in a very enduring and loving way) is what they call me. People point with their lips here. its weird! but super cute when kids do it ! i was going to send you a picture of the cutest little girl doing it but camera is gone! oh and  people do this thing when they are super excited or want to ad emphasis  they put their thumb and middle fingers together and let their pointer finger fly and they snap. I don't know how else to explain it. but its really funny a kid taught me it the other day. Oh and the no holding kids rule doesn't exist here. people give me their babies all the time and kids love how tall and blonde I am "alta conchita!" I am making lasagna for a family here not many people have ovens and if they do its used as a cubbard  less active has one and we are cooking for them Tuesday anyways I love all of you!  I cant receive letters only packages and emails. But please write!

In Guatemala

Guatemala is new. I havent eaten anything too weird yet just cow liver. The elders say cow foot is the worst.

The people are so sweet and paitent with me. I know very little spanish. And that has been really hard. I came in with no sleep because we flew all night, sick (for the 5th time since entering the MTC) and all they did was speak spanish at the presidents house.  So I have no idea what the rules are or what advice they gave... But my companion has been out for a year and she knows it all thankfully. She speaks english thankfully. She lived in a merica from ages 9-17. She is really nice and likes to laugh. its difficult during the day when we are out because she only speaks spanish to me but when we are in the apartment its okay. I didn't think learning Spanish would be this hard. I have no confidence in myself. We don't have any progressing investigators we mainly focus on reactivating in actives. some of the people don't even speak Spanish they speak ceche and it is different  everywhere even from house to house. I'm not even worried about learning it. I want to speak Spanish first.  We have to wash our clothes in a pilla (basically a big sink with wash boards on either side). then we have strings all over the apartment to hang them on. We are pretty lucky to have hot water for our shower, one of the very few in the mission. It´s super cold here. I sleep with a hod-die I bought in the MTC, the P-jays you gave me for Christmas and 5 blankets!I already have adopted another family here. Hermana Norma is taking really good care of me. she is so sweet. Another family is making lasagna for me this week. these people have nothing literally dirt floors and  running water only from 6 am-9 am its crazy! oh and they don't flush the used toilet paper they just put it in the trash and some places don't even have tp but I have those kleenex and I bought a whole other pack. They have trash all over the streets and poo too. its kinda gross. But they also have a ton of dogs! they leave people alone but attack each other a lot.  Hna Bautista Mission President said that letters don't really get here but packages usually make it. So tell everyone to just email me. I get an hour of email here. alyssa.stoddard@myldsmail.net
I love you!!!!!

I Love all of you!
mucho amor,
 hermana Stoddard

Tell everyone Thank you for the letters and cards I didn't realize how important mail was to missionaries! The language is coming to me I can pray give a talk teach most of the lessons and bear my testimony! I don't know how to have a common conversation but I have the important stuff!  We have a tradition in our branch that the district that is leaving preforms a musical number in sacrament but since its just me and my two companions and none of us are very good singers I am playing the flute tomorrow! I am so nervous I forgot how to finger some of the low low notes so I am just bringing them up and octave and all that. I thought you would be proud.  
Ya'll are the best parents in the world! thanks for being amazing!
love Hemana Stoddard

HOLA! 

como le va? esta navidad fue muy bueno! I hope that all translates I cant put in the accents on this computer! Esta bien! 
Thank you for all the Christmas presents they were enjoyed by my entire district! We all colored and played silly games! It was so fun! Christmas was good but really slow. I like being busy and overloaded more than I like the slow days. Then I don't have time to think about missing anything!. I taught the new district to lead music and I am making them conduct all the songs for the next few weeks. They are great ! It brrings my soul joy every time I hear them! We had elders that got reassigned to Colorado but they were there for a week and now they are back! They had one week in the field and now they are joining our district until  they can get their visas! its kinda funny but its nice to have them back.  Pero esta bien. ! we have a blast and it really has become a family! I love our elders. They love to prank us and tease us ( i think they miss their sisters just as much as we miss our brothers!) 
The Spanish is coming slowly but surely. I am trying to use it as much as I can. The 6 hours of class that we have every day we speak solely in Spanish  I am trying to earn more than just gospel vocabulary so I can get around. They told us that since there is such an increase in sisters after the first transfer we will be training the rest of our mission!!! scary thought but its okay. I know the lord will help me if i keep working this hard!
you may have heard of the sister missionaries that got kidnapped in Guatemala. I am not really scared I was a little shocked when I heard about it but I think this will just make them be even more careful where they put the sisters. And when you hear stories like that you don't know if they were obeying all the rules about where they should and should not go. So I think if I just follow the spirit and am exactly obedient to the mission president and to the spirit I should be fine.

I love all of you so much! We got to go shopping last week for winter boots they finally got here yesterday and they were the wrong ones so we are going out again today! Its weird to leave the MTC but its kinda fun to experience it. Everyone stops us to talk and is super friendly.  I am loving it here. They set me apart as music coordinator for our Zone. I have to chase elders around and try  to get them to confess that they know how to play piano. i really wish I would have stuck with it! The schedule is pretty monotonous and the days are long but I am learning so much. MY companions and I are getting along great and I love my district. A lot of people are getting reassigned to other missions and it is making me nervous! One of my teachers is sick so we taught a brand new "investigator " he was kinda shy and not super excited but we had just had a lesson on Christ like questions and we asked a few that opened him up. I have had such amazing experiences speaking Spanish and just have words come that i didn't know that I knew but that's not always how it works. it takes a lot of work most of the time. i found out one of my companions is from Pleasant view and actually knew where Plain City was! it was awesome!!!! We are cleaning the temple today!.When I studied the scriptures I didn't get much from it before my mission. it was like having fuzzy glasses but now its like i have the perfect prescription I can remember where verses are and read and completely understand well not completely but a whole lot better than i used to!
I cant wait for Christmas here! They have had lights up since thanksgiving day! I wont be able to go to slat lake and see the lights but esta bien! I love being here and I am really enjoying this super hard experience. it is totally worth it!

I love you all!

-Sister Stoddard