Wednesday, April 10, 2013



Mackenzie has arrived in her FIRST area!!!!


Family!!!! Hello! You don’t know how much I missed to opportunity to email you all last week. It got pretty rough because i missed you all so much but its okay because we made it to today! I’m here! Can you believe it? It’s so awesome. Ok so the assistants and President Brough and his wife picked us up from the CCM. I loved my CCM experience so so much. I miss Hermana Garrido and my district. But now i am in the field and this is what I came here for! We spent the morning with the Broughs in their house and then went out and started teaching. President Brough is so awesome. I had an interview with him and the spirit was so strong in his office. He asked me if I was going to be an obedient missionary and find people to baptize and of course I said yes. He is pretty stern like you don’t want to mess with him. I think we have one of the most obedient missions because no one wants to get in trouble. But that is a really good thing and I am happy about that. He is very nice also and a great teacher. We have had a few training meetings with him and he is a really good teacher. His wife is so so nice. I am so happy to have them as mission presidents, they are amazing. Ok, so guess where I am? I am in San Pedro, which is 20 minutes from Antigua so we have been in Antigua a lot. Like right now we are for the Internet. Yesterday we came for P day and ate at a really good restaurant and got groceries. I am lucky to be here because there is so much American food in the grocery store so breakfast and night snacks are just normal food that I would buy at home. It is so beautiful here. Everywhere we walk is cobblestone so it is really good that we bought these Clark shoes because I wear them every day. They are going to be so beat up in a few months but they are great! My trainer is amazing! Her name is Hermana Garcia and she is from Ecuador. She is so loving and patient and encouraging. She helps me with Spanish and is just so nice. She also is hard working. We have set the goal to baptize 8 people this exchange so we are going to be working so hard! This last week together we contacted 255 people. Contacting is easier than I thought and so fun because you are just telling people all about the truth! I have contacted 3 buses which mean I stand at the front and tell everyone who we are and tell them we are going to walk past and write down there address. It is so thrilling, and a lot of people are accepting and give us their names and numbers. The first few days it was a problem because i couldn’t understand them when they were saying addresses and phone numbers but now I think I got it down haha. We only have a branch in our area but we haven’t gotten to meet them yet because we had conference last week and then stake conference this weekend. But there are 4 sisters in this one area with a branch so we have talked a lot about how the Lord has put 4 of us for a reason and he wants this area to have a ward. So we are going to work as hard as we can to activate members and baptize so that we can have a ward. We live in a nice house by the house where we meet for church. It’s me, hermana Garcia, Hermana Blandino and Hermana Turley. Hermana Turley is from Utah and she is Meagan’s age. I have shown her pictures of Meagan and she thinks she knows you. She lived in Arlington and is friends with some of the same people as you. Anyways I am so thankful that I am with her as well because she speaks English and she is so nice and encouraging and loving and yeah it is so nice to have her. 
Conference was the best! Hermana Turley and I went to Chimal on Saturday to watch it in English and then we went to Antigua on Sunday and the bishop let us watch it on the computer in English. i loved elder Holland’s talk on faith. I felt like he was talking to me. And mom I was almost crying too every time they talked about the army of missionaries and how it is such a miracle. I feel like all the brethren just have such an eternal perspective and they want so badly everyone to just obey and do what’s right. It is so great to hear their messages. The gospel is great!
So hermana Garcia and I have found a lot of people to teach, and it is amazing how the spirit helps me speak Spanish in the lessons. It is so the spirit that helps me teach and bear my testimony and I am just so thankful. I have been able to tell the Joseph Smith story about 5 times now and recite the first vision. Hermana Garcia takes over most of the lesson but starting this week I am going to start teaching more. She is the best. She teaches with such love and she always tells me that I am doing good haha. We are teaching Juana Isabel and Maria Elena and the other day I got to say the baptismal invitation and they said yes but they have to talk to there dad. It is so cool just sharing the truth. While I am talking I just feel how much Heavenly Father loves them and wants them to accept the message. I have never prayed so much for people in my life. We are always thinking about these people and just praying they will receive answers when they pray. 
Meagan i hope you had an amazing birthday and I hope my letter arrived. Brooke happy graduation! You are the best! So awesome that you guys got to go to conference! And I love that Ashlyn came to dinner with you guys. That’s the best haha. So fun that you had all the family over and a good Easter. Easter was good in the CCM we got an Easter egg with candy so that was a bonus! 
I have been thinking about you guys a lot and i hope you all know how much I love you. You guys are the best. I am so thankful for my family. Thank you for the emails! Mom I found my contact solution here so we don’t have to worry about that anymore. And also for a district activity we are supposed to ask if there is a specific commandment you guys have been living and you have seen the blessing that you want to share. The example they gave was tithing.
Anyways I am doing well! Every night I am exhausted but i think that’s how it is supposed to be. I love you all so so much! You are all the best! I pray for your safety everyday. I can’t wait to talk on mother’s day. The church is true. I am so thankful to be preaching the gospel. Love you all!!
Love Hermana Skousen

Last P Day in the CCM!!

Hello family! so great to hear all the new updates! So fun that you
guys are heading up to Provo for conference and then to Hawaii! I cant
believe Brooke you are graduating in like 2 weeks! that is so awesome.
so proud of you! Im glad to hear Allys talk went well. i love that
girl and cant wait to hear from her in the MTC. My shoes are great and
i think they will all work out great when i am in the field. We get to
go to the temple every P day so we just got back and it was great. i
love the Guatemala temple. And I keep hearing amazing things about my
mission president so i am getting super excited to meet him next week!
i cant believe i am leaving the CCM in 6 days. I love this place and
my district and my teachers so it not going to be too fun to day bye
to everyone again but there are great adventures ahead!
Lets see this week.. did you guys hear there was an earthquake here??
We were out at deportes at about 4 and we heard this loud booming and
we thought it was thunder but aparently it was an earthquake haha. The
CCM is like one of the stongest buildings in the city though so no one
really felt it but still thats kind of cool. Also we got to go
tracting around the temple! so i wrote my testimony in a Book of
Mormon and we went looking for someone. We found the garnder and he
wasnt a member so we started talking to him. Hermana Koehler shared
her favorite scripture and i tesified of the Book of Mormon. I asked
him if he would read it and we had solid eye contact for about 15
seconds and he didnt say anything so then i asked him to read Alma 32
and he said he would read it! then i got to tesify again and promise
him blessings if he would pray to know that Book was true. I was able
to understand him for the most part so that was exciting. and then he
wrote his name and number in the planner! We were so excited!
One day this weeks we had coaching study with Hermana Garrido and she
gave us some great insight on being a missionary and on how we can
improve. Then in the closing prayer she asked Heavenly Father to help
us have faith in miracles. I just loved that line so much. We have to
have faith in everything we do and i am so thankful that Heavenly
Father knows all of His children by name and is ready to help us if we
ask in faith.
Guess what! last night for the devotional Elder Duncan came! (Kellys
dad) I was eating dinner and Hermana Nicolaysen came and got me and
brought me out into the hall and him and his wife and kellys sisters
were there. I got to talk to them for a little and it was so great. I
had never met them before obviously but it is still so nice to see a
familiar face from home! and the devotional was so great! he talked
about how God has a great vision of His work moving forward so we have
to have that same vision in every area. and also while i was talking
to him he said Did you know you have one of the best mission
presidents in central america? that made me so excited to meet him!
Tell the Bawdens i love them and also i am excited for Brother
Higginson! so awesome. Tell the ward and all our friends hi! i am so
happy you all are doing well. I am so happy to be here. i think this
is the best decision i have ever made but i miss you guys so much. I
am learning more about the scriptures and the Atonement and my
testimony strengthens everyday of Gods love for all His children. This
is such a great work. I feel so blessed to be born into a family with
parents sealed in the temple. Thank you for your emails i love you all
so much!
If you havent already sent to package could you print of Elder
Hollands talk The Miracle of Serving a Mission and put it in there!
also pictures of what you guys have been up to! and i think thats all
im so sorry packages are so expensive.. hopefully i wont need
anything. and my contact solution should last for 2 months or so so
dont worry about that. and can you make sure everything with my back
account is good? I love you all! and almost Happy Birthday to Meagan!
love you all so much and pray for you all!
Hermana Skousen