Mama!!

I am so happy that Grandpa is getting better and going home soon!! That is great news!! I hope you and Rachael have fun at the Young Womens general conference, I always loved that. And I am so jealous about General Conference tickets!! That is awesome!! Have a blast!! Hermana Bond{s address is: Panama Panama City Mission Carrasquilla Entrega General AP 0834 Ciudad de Panama Provincia de Panama Panama.  If you would rather not risk it, it is okay. :) I just love her so much!! She is seriously the best I could ask for in a companion!! We take care of each other and we really complement each other and work well with each other.  We already miss each other and we still have days left together. Could you send me family pics when I am out in the field please? Thank you!! I hope you have a wonderful Easter Mama, and I love you with all my heart and soul!! :) Rachael!! haha, thanks, I am trying to stay fit!! That is cool about that guy you listened to, but I just want you to really think about what you want to do, and follow the Spirit because he will tell you. 2 Nephi 32:3. I love you sissy and I hope you continue to work hard and have fun!! Ryan!! Glad you had fun on your date and your having a blast being a teenager!! lol!! It sounds fun to do some MMA training, be careful and stay strong!! ,)) You will have to teach me how to fight when I am home. lol.  Love you lots Buddy!! Have a great week!! Well fam, this week was really good!! I had the best lesson ever with my companion with our teacher who pretends to be an investigator for us to practice on, Noe. At first he was really defiant, wouldn't keep committments and just really hard to teach, but now he is getting baptized!! It was just such a good lesson, my Spanish was great and I was near in tears. Then a for reals lesson this week, Hermana Bond and I taught an inactive woman who did not speak Spanish but Cochi, a dialect of Spanish here in the northern part of Guatemala. She didn't understand us very well, but she understood when we were bearing testimony and she said she would read more and try to attend church. Hermana Nicolaysen, Presidente's wife, taught us a neat lesson in Relief Society this Sunday and she said something that send chills down my spine. She was talking about what to expect out in the field and what we should be doing here, and she said, Where you are now is the training ground for what you will be doing in the future... That is a big reason why I am here, for my kids, so they can have a strong Mama in the church with a strong testimony, just like my Mama. :) So this week, my goal is to speak completely in Spanish, and so far so good!! The only times I use English is journal writing, writing letters and if there is an absolute need to speak it. Otherwise, I am all Spanish. Today in the temple, I went through using Spanish, and it was AWESOME!! I am very proud of myself. Our teacher Hermano Bonilla was talking to Hermana Bond and I and he said that he has no worries about us and he has full confidence in us that we will be okay. That meant so much to us just to hear that someone believes in us, here in the CCM. And he also asked us why we thought he has been so hard on us when he plays the role of Noe. We asked why, and he said because I want you to expand your Spanish, because I know you can. He is an amazing teacher, He has taught me so much from day one, love that guy!! Thanks to him, I am decently prepared!! Just an fyi here, we have been told that the authorities of the church are estimating over 100,000 missionaries by the end of the year!!! HOW CRAZY IS THAT?!?!?! That is so awesome!! Truly, God{s army... and I am part of it and honored to be. Well, I am about out of time family, but know that I am doing  amazing, loving what I am doing and my testimony is seriously growing by the minute!! I love you all more than words can express!! Have a wonderful week and A HAPPY EASTER SUNDAY!!!!!

Love, Hermana Belnap

Hola mi Mama!!

I miss you so much!! But I am doing fantastic!! lol!!  Life is so good!! That is great to hear about Grandpa!! Did he get his  letter?? By the way, I sent a letter to the house for Kelsey, please  get that and a BOM to her. Sorry to hear about Uncle Steve... Do not worry about the package Mama, it will get here soon. ;) I am sure  Jaycie was a stud up there on the stands!! Tell her I love her and  wish her the best!! How are you doing Mama?? Are you okay?? I worry about you daily. Hope all is well!! Love you lots Mama!! Rachael! Way to work hard and get it done!! I am so proud of you!! I did not play hockey in school... Keep it up sis!! Love you lots!! Ryan!! lol!! You crack me up buddy!! It is true you can lose a lot when you do not do anything, keep working hard!! And way to go to a missionary fireside!! That is one of the best things you could do to prepare!! It is a battlefield out here, but you never lose, it is only winning!! ;) Love you buddy!! Well fam, this week was great!! My Spanish is coming along great!! I am more and more fluent every day, and I even had a dream the other night in Spanish!! lol!! Funny story, during personal study, we looked out the window of our classroom and saw a flatbed semi with stationary bikes on it, and there was loud music and a biking class going on while the truck was moving!! It was insane!! I laughed!! Then today I saw a guy carrying one of those like 5 foot propane tanks on his motorcycle... only in Guatemala... lol!! So today we moved out of the casa and into the CCM because worldwide temple visitors need the casa.  So I am now living with Latinas, and I will let you know how that goes... lol.  My exchange companion for this transfer was Hermana Maye and I love her to death!! She is so flipping cute!! She stands about 4 foot 9, has the sweetest smile and super-fast Spanish!! Love her!! She taught me so much!! We watched a devotional this week and it was that MTC talk that Michael always talked about when he was in the MTC by Elder Holland, Don{t you dare go home. LOVED IT!! Elder Holland is a BOSS!! I love how direct he is, but he is also so tender and so loving!! Amazing man.  Oh!! On Sunday, I gave a prayer in front of ALL the sisters in Spanish!! I am super proud of myself!! The only sad thing this week was one of the Norte hermanas went home due to anxiety and homesickness. It was really sad... I couldn’t imagine going home, especially now... it broke my heart.  Anyway, but it was a great week!! Mama, could you send Hermana Bond some pumpkin cookies when she is out in the field?? She loves pumpkin and there is NO pumpkin here in Central America.  lol.  I will send her address. I am in the field in 2 weeks!! Crazy!! I cannot believe I have been out a month!! The time has absolutely flown!! It is amazing and I am so grateful to be here!! I bear my testimony that this church is true, and is RAPIDLY growing. We have 39 more Nortes coming tomorrow and around 100 Latinos coming. The CCM is FULL!! How can anyone say the work will be stopped?? It simply can’t. There are so many young adults willing to give up their time to serve the Lord and do His work and it is truly beautiful.  We all left a lot behind to come do this, and like Elder Holland said, I am going to pull my socks up to my armpits and get to work!! That is what I came here to do and I am going to do it and I am going to do it hard and I am going to do it right!! Because I love this work, I love this gospel and I love the Lord God Almighty with all my heart and soul!! This is the best thing I have ever chosen to do and I thank the Lord every day for this opportunity!! Well time is short, but remembers this, and do everything you can to spread His work, for it is the reason why we are ALL here.  :) I love you all with every fiber of my being!! Have a great week!!   

Love, Hermana Belnap

Hola Familia!

Mama, I am sorry I am not there to help you with Grandpa. I totally would, and I feel bad I cannot be there, it scares me something will happen.  I am sending him a letter this week, sending it to you, so if you could please get it to him.  I am doing great, just really antsy and ready for the field. I have been told the MTC is harder than the field itself, and I am starting to believe it. Anyway, all is well, working hard every day and feeling the spirit. I love it!! Sissy, the lady I gave my BOM to talked nice and slow for me... lol. She was a sweetheart. Loved her. Ryan, that is awesome about the gym!! Way to be!! Daddy I am so sorry about Uncle Donald. Wish I was there.  Glad you got to talk to some cousins.  Thank you for your advice and your love, that is what gets me through the week. I thought I would email you guys yesterday, but they change our p day every week, so just email me by Tuesday and I will get back to you guys!! I was going to email you Daddy on your birthday yesterday, but that did not work out like I wanted. But, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!!!!! I hope you had a wonderful day full of laughter, love and happiness!! I thought about you the whole day yesterday, thinking that if I was home, I would have taken you to Javiers, ice cream, a movie then a 4 wheeler ride!! But, we will do that when I am home!! :) The lady I gave my BOM to, I forgot to tell you this awesome bit, she told us she had a dream about 2 angels, and that Hermana Bond and I reminded her of those two angels!! How cool is that! Last Saturday I taught a lesson on the Plan of Salvation ALL BY MYSELF in Spanish!!! I was super proud of myself and I am finally starting to feel like I can do this easier than I thought I would be able to.  Sunday was an incredible day too full of the Spirit.  We sang a Childs Prayer in sacrament in spanish and we did great.  My district and I sang the EFY Medley in Spanish last night for devotional and the Spirit was way strong.  Last week we got 29 new Nortes!! Craziness!! So in our casa now we have 26 girls living together with only 6 showers and IT IS HARD!!! But all good, they are all sweet and we have fun!! It’s like Girls Camp!! lol!! Our goal as a district is to always carry a BOM with our testimony inside so we can give it to people we pass on the street.  Hopefully today I can place another.  With the new Nortes and Latinos.  I am officially half way done with the CCM!! And I have heard nothing but good things from Pres. Brough and his wife!! I am so excited to meet them!! Everytime I see their pic or think about them, I just get a very peaceful and happy feeling, it makes me comfortable. Now familia, I want to bear you my testimony, I know I am here for a reason and that the Lord called me here for a reason.  When I was struggling with a rotten attitude and feeling sorry for myself, I had to repent. I had no right to feel that way or think that way because I can do this, if I could not, He would not have sent me here. The Lord has faith in me, shouldn’t.  The people I have met so far have taught me much and were people I was supposed to meet. I have already felt the blessings and seen the blessing for this decision I have made, and I am already a very different person than I was 3 weeks ago.  Who will I be in 18 months.  I am excited for the day when I walk off that plane and walk into all of your arms in a tight embrace as a whole new person, a better person. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. I hope you all have a great week and have fun and feel the Spirit in your lives!! I LOVE YOU ALL MORE THAN WORDS CAN SAY!!

Love, Hermana Belnap :)

Holo familia!

Thank you so much Daddy for your advice, it helps a lot!! I love you!! Mama, I am so sorry about Grandpa, I wish I was there to help. Tell him I love him and I am praying for him and tell Uncle Owen I love him too. Are you okay. I am praying for you too. I love you Mama!! Well familia, this week was kind of a rough week for me and my whole district, emotionally. We were all being hard on ourselves and getting a little discouraged, whether it was with the language, why we are here or missing home... just lots of things. But one day I was thinking about it, and I called myself to repentance because I have no business feeling sorry for myself. The Lord called me here for a reason, and He knows I can do this so why shouldn't I. We are all doing great now and we have had some fun times and good laughs. Today we went on a tour of the city and we were at the Guatemala Plaza and we each placed our first Book of Mormons!! The lady I gave mine to was a complete sweetheart named Rosa, very family oriented and spiritual. She's golden!! My Spanish is really coming along, I have taught and prayed in Spanish this whole week!! Also, if you or anyone else wants to write me letters, use DearElder.com, it is free and faster because it is through the internet. Just get on the website type in my name and mission and you can send a letter. If you send hard letters or packages, they say DO NOT put Jesus or the virgin Mary on them. Just put Hermana Belnap and they will leave it alone. P days are on Tuesday now, and I will leave the CCM on April 2, so in 4 weeks from today. Please send me stamps, I need stamps. They use American stamps if I send letters to America. Today was the best day giving that BOM to that lady... now I know why missionaries are always so happy and positive. This is the best feeling in the world. I love this!! But I can{t wait to be doing it every day instead of being stuck in the CCM!! I want to talk to people!! LOL!! Anyway, Sorry I don't get a lot of time to write you guys, it will be better when I am out in the field, I think I get an hour, but I know for sure I get more than 30 minutes. Anyway, hope you guys have a great week and you stay safe!! I'm praying for all of you and I am praying for Grandpa. Keep him close. Love you all more than you can ever know!!!!!!!!
Te amo!! Love,
Hermana Belnap