PUCHICA!

Puchica! let's see where do I begin?
My first week in Coban has been exciting! getting to know the area, the people and now as Hermana Leader I also have the responsibility to watch for other sister Missionaries.

There are 10 sisters that we are in charge of, some sisters are having some problems and we are having divisions with them this Friday to see what's going on and to fix it. I'm so grateful for this opportunity, it will help me grow even more.

I know you have been asking me to take pictures with the members and on the week prior to my transfer I finally was able to do that, I usually don't carry my camera with me mostly on p-days (we are not tourist you know) hahahaha but don't worry I will be sendind them to you soon. I haven't had the chance to send all my fotos from tikal, I'm working on it! haha I wasn't able to take fotos with all whom I wanted to because I didn't have time, this is what happened, presidente called me saturday night to tell me my change, had church on sunday and said goodbye to all that I could, thinking that I would have time monday to say goodbye to the rest, set up an appointment to have family home evening with Jorge and Amanda, but sunday night the ZL´s called me and told me that I had to leave monday morning, I was so sad it ruined all my plans, So I packed the entire time and didn't get the chance to call anyone.

Okay My new area! Im here with Hermana Hernandez, she was in my District in Peten previously so I already know her, which is nice, she is great, and we get along well! Thats just how I am, you know me easy going (haha)

In Coban, there are A LOT of hills! I get a leg workout every day, when one is on top of the hill the view is SO pretty!!! It's green and foresty here, I LOVE IT!, it hasn't been too cold, the summertime is starting here so it has been pretty warm, only at night and in the mornings it gets a bit cold, the best part is that I HAVE HOT WATER! so I get to enjoy taking warm showers every day!!! grin emoticon It makes me so happy, I love it!! I live in Barrio 1 in Coban , and we are definitely a lot closer to the mission offices, which is also nice, I still have the umbrella and my shoes are holding up just fine, just my toms are starting to wear down a teensy bit but nothing really.

Here there are a lot of q'éqchi people, which is also really neat, they wear their traditional clothing, here are called "Cortes (skirts) y wipil (blouses)" The entire clothing are hand embroidered , so pretty! I really want to learn q'éqchi', which is one o the Mayan dialects and we have investigators that is their primary language (they don't even speak Spanish), so we have to bring someone to interpret for us.

We have a member that feeds us, the food is a little more simpler, but still tasty, her name is hna lucia, her husband speaks q'eqchi', they have a fun personality, the other day they came with us to visit Isabel a q'eqchi woman, and at the end she gave us a drink of cacao and a root called yuka or malanga, I ate a little bit, it was alright tasting not terrible, but it looked so funky I couldn't eat more of it, so I brought it home with me then I gave it to hermana lucia, becuase i wasnt going to eat more of it.
Here in coban is not as a clean as Peten, especially the water, the people are so generous and kind, they always offer you a drink wherever you go and of course most of time the drink is not prepared from purified water so that's how the missionaries end up having stomach problems (including parasites) It is hard to avoid it even if we are careful in drinking from filtered water, everywhere we go they offer us a drink and it is so sweet of them that it is hard to say no (how can we?) a woman gave us lemonade and im pretty sure it wasn't made from purified water haha, I will always remember what you said before I left "you are bound to drink the water sooner or later" "just drink it and get it over with" hahaha, I know as missionaries we really can't be picky while out here. There is also A LOT of dust that gets in my eyes, which is no fun, but hey living the life here!

y ha recibido mis cartas?? estoy mandando un post card este semana de coban smile emoticon

Ok, I think I answered all your questions hahaha, everything is well with me, I am enjoying my mission A TON, and I am loving Guatemala more and more everyday.

take care, love you guys sooo much!!!!!

Hermana riley.

(editors note: no pictures from Hna. Riley, but this are some google images to demonstrate the beautiful traditional clothing original of Coban, every city has their own traditional regalia)

 

 

 

THE TUPUY

a braid that measures 9 meters long and

the color red symbolizes the blood spilled by

their ancestors.

 

The White Wipil represents beauty and virtue

all hand embroidered (including the skirt)

The skirt represents the 4 cardinal points.

 

 

Coban is know for their silver jewelry.

 

 

 

Rarely do they remove their traditional outfits for

other activities.

 

 

 

 

Even the men have their own traditional clothing.

 

 

 

 

Some very famous steps in Coban.

It shows how hilly it is.

 

I GOT TRANSFERRED TO COBAN.

Yeah now that i look back to going to tikal, it was a really good experience!!! Well only the missionaries went and the bus driver, we didn't have a tour guide, there were missionaries that already knew their way because of how many times they have gone haha. From San Benito to tikal it was like an hour bus ride. But thankfully that day wasn't too hot, it was just right smile emoticon

TEMPLE 5

FINALLY GOT TO WEAR MY TIKAL T-SHIRT

TEMPLE 4 

IN THE BACKGROUND

MADE IT TO THE TOP!

GUESS WHAT??, I got transferred!!!!! I am now here in Coban in barrio 1, I am now a Sister Trainer Leader, my new companion is Hermana Hernandez (from Mexico) 6 months in San Benito and now it was time for my departure. It was sad but I actually didn't cry, in my heart and soul I could feel that I was going to leave, all of last week, so I was preparing emotionally and mentally haha.

I packed all last night because the ZLs told me that I had to leave this morning at 5:30.... I kind of got a bit frustrated because i thought I wasn't leaving until tuesday and so I had plans to say goodbye to the rest of the people I didn't get to yesterday and have a noche de hogar (FHE) con la Familia Poot y Leon, but my plans got ruined, and I left this morning. The only time one goes to bed super late and almost pull an all nighter is when there are cambios (Transfers), I was up to 1:30 am packing, didn't go to bed until like 2, so today is a bit rough sleep wise, but you know its all good, life of the mission right!? Well I'm really excited to be here in coban, and now i have an even greater responsibility to take care of not just one hermana but a whole bunch of Hermanas that are in my zone, this will be fun, and interesting. I'm grateful to my Heavenly Father that has given me this opportunity and his trust. I got a lot of work to do but I am ready for it!! Bring it on! haha Hermana Perez is still in San Benito. Elder Brown is my pal he was in my district in the ccm and in peten, he is now going to sayaxche. He´s a good elder and really funny guy.
(I ASKED HER ABOUT HER FINANCES)
As you know mom, I'm pretty bomb with my finances, I always have plenty for what I need smile emoticon

Well the weather in coban right now is a tad cold but not too much, I left Peten just in time because the HOTTEST months are just ahead which will happen in semana santa (Holy week) when i was there it was bearable and my clothes handled there, just always got sweaty, but here i think i might have to buy some warmer clothes, thank goodness everything here is super cheap!!

This weekend we had district conference, its like stake conference, president of the mission spoke and Elder Morales (a member of the seventies spoke), it was really good and uplifting.
Really excited for the changes, hope all is going well with you guys, i love you super duper much!!!

more pics to come next week
love hermana riley

TIKAL!

Well first of all, this week went a bit better, found some new people to teach which is exciting. We are also teaching Marta and her daughter, they are seriously THE BEST! They came to church on Sunday just like they said and they enjoyed it, the best thing is that they  accepted to be baptized on the 28 of March!!  they are truly a miracle and proof that the Lord prepares the people for the missionaries :) Also on Sunday we met with the family Valladares, another family that I love so much! again this time it was only the husband that was there, but this lesson was definitely taught by the spirit, we finally got to understand him more,  We invited him to pray and read, we could sense that he really wants to accept it, but told us that he can't really make these types of decisions alone, that he has to do it with his family, but he feels they don't accept and don't want to change their religion, he is a bit confused, but we helped him understand what it means to be an example, and that if he receives his answer from the Lord, all will work out, and everything else will fall into place. Im not giving up on them!

This week I'm going to bring my camera everywhere I go,  so that i can take fotos of everything! :) because we are having transfers in one week and I suspect that my time in San Benito is coming to an end  :(

Okay now for the big news.... drum role please!!!!!!!!!

TODAY WE WENT TO..................TIKAL!!!!!!!!!!!! :D yeah thats right, you read that correctly, this past month, our zone completed our goals, so the Mission President gave us permission  to go to Tikal (the Mayan ruins) today! It was super cool, and I was finally able to put on my tikal shirt that i bought in the CCM haha The only bad part, was that we were rushed through the whole trip, so we didn't even get to see everything nor soak it all in, that was the sucky part. (I'm just like you mom, where I prefer going on my own on my own time, to do my own thing :) hahah ) Oh well, I got to see the main parts, and take  enough  pictures (I will send them next week because I ran out of time) You could really feel something special there, in the miniscule time that I had, I thought about the movie The Testaments, and tried to picture the people there and when Christ came, it touched my heart, and that was special for me, but I wanted more time to reflect. It would have been cool to bring my scriptures and read 3 nephi 11 the coming of Christ to the Americas. One day I will return (better when I can go with my mommy :) ) 

Okay a cultural thing or courtesy thing i have noticed here is that when people are sitted in like a circle or group, if one gets up to walk to a different room, they dont cut through the circle or in front of the people talking, they walk all the way around and say permiso, i always thought about that, i thought why dont they just cut through its a lot faster, but its to be polite to the people who are chatting i guess. Lets see what else happens here..... I cant really think right now, but i will think more about it this week and tell you next week :)

So thats the news for now, more to come next time, so stay tuned :)

love you guys bunches!!!

hermana Riley