We're as busy as BEES down here in El Salvador!

Okay this week has been CRAZY long, but once again, SUPER short upon reflection of the entire thing....

Sorry for not being able to write to everyone last week! And I apologize in advance to those I can't respond to today.... There's just not enough time. But I LOVE reading your emails! Keep writing me! I promise I do read them and I do try to respond!

I received an Easter card from Grandma Clark. Momma, please thank her for me. I'll get a letter sent pronto! It absolutely made my day! 

So cool story from this past week. We were on the minibus, returning to our area and there was an accident. This truck reversed on to the street too fast and a motorcyclist tried to slow down, but couldn't do it in time. As he avoided crashing into the truck, the motorcycle skidded to its side and the man was flung off UNDER the tire of the truck. Traffic stopped and IMMEDIATELY a gazillion men jumped out of their cars and buses and lifted up the back of the truck to pull the man out because the truck couldn't move. It was SUCH an impressive sight. They all acted without hesitation. I don't know the condition of that man, but I hope he knows how much he's loved....

Kallie emailed me last week to tell me that Josey Hartman got baptized!!!!! I haven't been able to stop smiling all week. This gospel is marvelous, everyone! I know with every fiber of my being that it's true and that I'm supposed to be a part of this wonderful work here in El Salvador. Please look around you and look for opportunities to share the gospel with your friends! I'm so grateful that a dear friend of mine has took that step forward to come unto Christ.

We were able to take part in this huge service project on Saturday. It was a HUGE thing--cleaning up this important river in El Salvador to provide clean water for the surrounding Central American countries as well. We were also trying to help prevent dengue, a serious disease caused by mosquitoes. So we wandered around San Marcos (an area outside of our mission....), giving abate (a powder to put in the pilas that helps kill mosquito eggs) to the people and inspecting their houses and pilas. I was laughing the entire time because we're trying to prevent this disease that has no cure and here I am, this gringa missionary who has a gazillion scars of where the mosquitoes have eaten me. (Yes, Vero, I still have my two "poor kid legs....") I'm probably a walking dengue-agent! But it was a lot of fun. I wish I had brought my camera..... :)

We also had a really cool Family History conference with our zone. I wish I could write everything I learned, but I'm.....lacking in time. So......maybe in 16 months I'll share that piece of wisdom with y'all! ;)

The last thing from this week--I finished the Book of Mormon this past week. I read it cover to cover in 5 weeks. Y'all remember that talk in Conference.....I don't remember who spoke, but they mentioned President Eyring. His problems as a teenager were drowned in the study of the Book of Mormon. I hope y'all remember that talk. I have been so much happier here in the mission because I've been constantly studying the Book of Mormon. My mission isn't perfect and I still have lots of trials, but I know I can overcome them and I feel at peace because that's what the Book of Mormon does. It brings peace and comfort to our lives and gives us the answers we need! If you aren't currently doing so, STUDY the Book of Mormon. I promise you will find the peace you need.

I love you all and I'm so grateful for your support. I'm praying for you. Keep moving forward and strengthening your faith in Christ!

Love Always,

Hermana McCulloch

I'm HERE!

Hello Family and Friends!

SO MUCH HAPPENED THIS WEEK. I was unable to read my journal this morning, so I don't remember everything that happened though, so.....I'm just going to say, I'M HERE! :D We had transfers, and no. They didn't send me to Belize. I'm still here in Miramonte, with Hna. Mendoza. She thinks after this transfer I'll be training someone or going to Belize, but I don't know. We'll see what happens. I hope it doesn't go by as fast as this transfer did.

On Saturday I completed two months of being a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All I want to say is that there truly is no greater joy than helping souls come unto Christ and to continue to strengthen the faith that they already have in Him. Be missionaries! And take those opportunities that the Lord puts in your path! If you don't take advantage of them, He'll take them away and when you want them, they won't be there.

Before I forget, I got my first letter from Grandma Foster this week in the mail! I don't know when it officially arrived here in El Salvador (because I think the Élders had been holding on to it for a while....), but I got it! Let her know that there is one from me being sent her way! :D

Something crazy from my week--Dad used to work at Nature's Sunshine. I remember when we had all of those vitamins and minerals and stuff. I know that logo like the back of my hand. I thought I saw it this past week in the house of one of the families we're teaching, but I thought that it couldn't be possible. But upon further inspection, I realized that it really was from Nature's Sunshine!!! So Daddy, just know that when you worked there, you were doing things on an international level! Bet you didn't ever think that you'd be making stuff to be sent to my future mission here in El Salvador! :)

The members (and nonmembers) here are taking good care of us. To tell you the truth, the nonmembers are taking better care of us. :) haha This one family in particular--the Family M______. I love all of them dearly. The mom makes pupusas and she's teaching us how. Super awesome. She made us hot chocolate this week because it was raining and we always seem to get caught in the rain without our umbrellas.... :) The hot chocolate here is so......weird. But I like it. Hna. Mendoza is worried that it's coffee because it has a different flavor than the hot chocolate she's used to. So.....we're probably not going to drink it again unless someone else makes us the same stuff.

I can't remember what else I wanted to say this week. I feel so scatterbrained right now and I'm about out of time. Watch the cultural celebration of the dedication of the San Salvador temple. I LOVE IT! Because it's my temple and my mission! I've walked in a lot of the same places in that video! 

God's work is rolling forth upon the earth. Make sure you're doing all you can to be a part of it!

I love and pray for you all. Keep cultivating your faith and persevering until the end!

Love Always,

Hermana McCulloch

Photos

Best Birthday Present EVER!!!!   Love my cute little Hermana! And, of course, LOVE the yellow rose!

Happy Birthday to me....and to Texas!!!  :)

-We're teaching a lady, D____, here. She loves us. She bought Hna. Mendoza and I a rose to show her appreciation for everything we've done for her. SHE BOUGHT US A ROSE!!!! My heart just melted....

2379--This was the temple last night. Yes, you all have seen the temple a gazillion times, but I still just can't get enough. :D

2369--This is B_____ (and Hna. Mendoza). We have to drop her today. She was the very first person we taught and I love her so, so much. She's my "Salvadorean mother" and the chat we're going to have today is the hardest chat I will ever have. :( This is too hard....

2348--This picture is for Katie and Vero. It's a sucker that they sell down here. And they have the flags on the top border. Yay for Argentina and Brasil!!! Oh! And I guess Alex can be thrown in there, too.... ;) 

2380--Tell Sister Cotterall that I think of her every morning and night when I drink my daily dosages of powdered milk from her beloved homeland. :D I hope she's loving her family and not going through withdrawals and missing Utah too terribly.... :)

Always a lot to day, but not a lot of time...

So. There's always a lot that I want to say, and not a lot of time. So....I'm probably not going to be able to respond to everyone's emails today. Oops? :) Sorry.

Monday-- I learned how to make pupusas. I made six. Well....I didn't exactly learn everything, but I made the balls, and flattened them. I'll try to send pictures next week! 

Tuesday--we went to the temple! We went inside and I loved every bit of it! They weren't prepared for an English speaker though.... But that's a story for when I get back! :D

Wednesday--Companionship Inventory: Such a stress reliever. We're improving. Poco a poco, but we're improving.

Thursday--Zone Conference was absolutely amazing! I still have such an incredible hunger for more gospel/missionary knowledge every time we go to a meeting. I LOVE meetings! Also, Hna. Rivera, one of the hermanas in our zone is going home this week. She's from Panama, by the way. I absolutely love her. She shared her testimony and told us one last bit of advice, "Don't stay in your houses. Even on the days that you're sick because THOSE are the best days of the mission." A week and a half ago, we returned to our house at 8:00 (We have to go an hour earlier here because it's dangerous for the Hermanas....). That's completely acceptable, but we probably could have taught another person. The problem was my leg. It was hurting pretty bad, so we started walking home. I felt like I was going to collapse. I ended up getting a blessing that night and everything was fine. I regret doing so, though. Hna. Rivera is right. We should do our best to stay out of our houses. There is always someone to find. Always something to do. The Lord will help us find those He has prepared for us in cada momento! What would happen if we didn't show up? Moral of the story--ALWAYS be finding opportunities to serve the Lord and don't waste time.

Friday--We went to the beach for our P-day. (Monday we only wrote our families and then worked like a normal day so we could go to the beach as a zone....)

One last story. I had some interesting teaching experiences this week. On Saturday we taught D____, she's such an awesome person. She still has trouble letting go of all of the crazy things she's learned from other churches, but we're making progress. We taught the Ley de Castidad and it went AMAZING. Kelsie and the other missionaries are right. We really can feel the Spirit guide us in our thoughts and words. My companion and I had NOT practiced that lesson before, so I had NO idea what I was going to say, but the Spirit helped me and it ended up being the best lesson we've had yet! Seriously. Everything went SO smoothly and I felt so at peace with everything we said. 

That however is the complete opposite to our lesson with B_____ that we had yesterday. When we met B_____, she was amazing! She wanted to be baptized (she'd met other missionaries before and talked a little, but didn't know much), and we were so excited! But recently she's been having trouble reading the Book of Mormon. My companion kept looking at me yesterday to start the lesson, but I was ignoring her, just looking at Hna. B_____. I couldn't feel the Spirit and didn't know what to say. Finally my companion said, "Hna. McCulloch is going to explain this and that...." So she forced me into it. EVERY SINGLE WORD I SAID made B______ get super mad. She still has a lot of Catholicism in her that she doesn't want to leave. She just doesn't want to read the Book of Mormon. I was heartbroken. My companion and I have been talking and I think we're going to leave her. I started tearing up in our lesson yesterday, but I controlled it. I just......ay! It is SO difficult when someone decides they don't want what we have anymore. Even when we talk to someone on the street for the first time. I instantly start loving them and hate it when they walk away. But B____? This is worse. She was the first person we started teaching! We've been with her for 6 weeks! We call her our Salvadorean mother!!! I am so devastated and so discouraged. I.......don't know what else to say. We just have to respect people and their agency. I have to trust Heavenly Father that someday, some other missionaries are going to find her and be able to touch her heart.

So that's my week in a nutshell. I hope all of yours' are equally exciting! :) Keep studying General Conference talks and WRITE IN YOUR JOURNALS!!!! :D

I love you all!

Love always,

Hermana McCulloch

Conference

Okay. This one is a long one... Hopefully I have time.

I had this crazy story about this crazy lady in our colonia who has a voice from a terror movie (Not even kidding....) that totally freaked Hermana Mendoza and I out this week, but it's not super important. I can share it with y'all in a year and a half! :)

I had an interview with President and Hermana Hintze this week--I love them both! I am so blessed to have a second set of parents here in El Salvador. We may not get to talk to them as often as we like, but I can always feel of their love. :)

We did service this week! We helped make a cement floor for the obispo! It was SOOO fun. So yeah. First time wearing jeans and a t-shirt in over a month. SO weird. But it was so funny, because the bishop's wife saw us right after we changed and did a doubletake. I can't write the noise she made, but I was laughing so hard because of how surprised she was. :) But it was fun. And I had the opportunity to meet two WHITE Canadians who weren't members and could only speak English. Granted, they told me that they have respect for other religions and weren't interested in our Church, but at least I opened my mouth. I know the missionaries in Toronto will find them sooner or later! ;) But open your mouths! There are missionary opportunities EVERYWHERE!!!

There was a ton of other things that I wanted to talk about, but the highlight of the week was definitely General Conference. First of all--I love the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Can I just say that "Let Us All Press On" was AMAAAAAAAZING????? It was SO incredible. All of the music was, but I loved that hymn the best!

I was going to share all of my favorite talks, but y'all already listened to them (If not, repent and watch/listen to them on lds.org) and I can't say any more about them, other than "Amen." Conference was amazing and I hope all of you took advantage of that time to grow closer to the Lord and to His Prophets and Apostles. We are so blessed to live in this day and age.

I just want to mention a few things. I LOVED President Uchtdorf_ "Endings are NOT our destiny! There are no endings--only everlasting beginnings." Jean A. Stevens-- "The Gospel of Jesus Christ isn't weight--it is WINGS!" And I loved, loved, LOVED M. Russell Ballard's talk. I would LOVE it if you all studied Preach My Gospel and shared what you have learned every week. It will bless my life (because I love new insight from others) and I know it will bless every aspect of your life immensely.

Also, remember Ronald A. Rasband's talk--when we sustain the prophet, we commit to share his burden as disciples of Christ. I'm pretty sure he said something about it being a JOYFUL discipleship, too! So fantastic.

Also, I was unable to watch the first hour of the Saturday afternoon session. (So if there was a fantastically amazing talk that I absolutely HAVE to hear, let me know.) :) There was a problem with one of our investigators, so we arrived late. In so doing, I was unable to physically sustain the Prophet and the Apostles, something I LOVE doing and look forward to every Conference. So before I bid you all farewell, I would like to share my testimony of these great men.

I wholeheartedly sustain and support Thomas S. Monson as the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and as a prophet called of God. Equally, I sustain his two counselors--Henry B. Eyring and Dieter F. Uchtdorf as prophets, seers, and revelators, as well as each of the 12 apostles: Boyd K. Packer, L. Tom Perry, Russell M. Nelson, Dallin H. Oaks, M. Russell Ballard, Robert D. Hales, Jeffrey R. Holland, David A. Bednar, Quentin L. Cook, D. Todd Christofferson, and Neil L. Andersen. In addition, I sustain and support the rest of the members of the Quorums of the 70s and the remaining general authorities and leaders of the Church (including you, President Peckham and Bishop Lund! I love you both!). What a privilege we have to support these men and share this joyful discipleship with them. I know without a doubt that they truly are called of God and that we must hearken unto their counsels if we desire to return to God's presence with our families.

I love you all and I want you to know that you're in my prayers! Sigan adelante! God is with you. And remember what David A. Bednar said--"It was the load."

Love Always,

Hermana McCulloch