week 4 Guatemala MTC

Hello mom, Here's the big email for the week. I did not get a zip drive before I left, so I can't send pictures like you wanted. I have some pictures from the MTC, but they instructed us not to send pictures while in this MTC, so I can't until I leave here next Monday for the field. Then I get a new p-day. I have pictures. I will attach them in the upcoming weeks. We only get dearelders once a week. I didn't get one last week and I don't think they come regularly. I like getting them, but as you know I leave the mtc and then...just emails and letters I guess.

Christian, I was going to write you last week but I forgot. Thanks for writing me an email. I was excited about it. I'm glad you and Josh are getting all sorts of fences pulled out. That sounds like pounds and pounds of fun, like that lady Neal was talking about in the ER. I guess I have a couple pieces of news, but first I'd like to do a shout out to Neal, Grant, Canute, Sarah, and Mom for being my most regular writers. Good job. Christian and America, you can do better. Cookie, Bonnie, Josh and Dad I guess are dead. Condolences.

I'm learning how to not spell things correctly because of Spanish. Sorry about that. News{ My teacher did the punta dance for us last week because he loves us but only for 30 seconds, and not really for that long b-c he felt bad b-c we're missionaries. Lots of hips and feet. But not long, so I can't really say what it is. Hna Bunting has bed bugs. So now we both spray our beds with Deet. I hear in my mission they eat monkeys and take bucket showers. I can't wait.

We went to Parque Central to do contacts Monday and Tuesday. In the Provo MTC you never get to leave, but here you do. It's cool and a little nerve'wracking, especially the bus ride. Drivers here are bonkers. I'm sure you're not surprised. Sorry the keys are weird on here and I don't have time to fix them. They have pigeons all over and they're gross. My yellow bag I bought had tons of dye in it and stained my white shirt yellow. The shirts ok with oxy clean and the bag got soaked in salt water. My hands are yellow.I don't like chocolate covered bananas frozen, but that's what we had for snack last night...or refaccion. I learned a hand trick..put your opposite pinky and pointer fingers out and now switch them. Try doing it fast. Cool trick huh? Please send those stamps, I would love to write millions and millions of letters with them. I think I like writing them as much as receiving them b-c of the promise of receiving them later. Or the hope at least.

Love and Kisses! Hna Peterson PS . How is it having Josh home again? Also, who asked for pictures on my blog? Also, Danielle, please know that I miss you and Konnie and I thought about you much this week.

May 12 MTC in Guatemala

Editor's note: This is the chit chat between two missionary siblings...


Dear Hermana Peterson,

Sucks that people get robbed there. Here people get robbed too. One time I was talking to a missionary on another island on the phone and he saw a cash-or-body happen right in front of his house while I was talking to him. It was crazy. I´ve heard stories of people getting robbed on the streets here, but it hasn´t happened while I´ve been here. One Elder did get his house broken into because his companion left their door open at night. Fortunately he only took their stuff and not their lives while they were sleeping. But the one elder did lose his camera, his proselyting bag, and his wallet. The elder that left the door open only lost his scriptures which he later got back and a bag of clothes. Elder crushes are weak. Happy birthday to the ground indeed. Btw Mer, I still never saw that video. We learned about it the night after I got set apart I think. Dang. It´s cool that you are going to the jungle. You´ll have some way sweet experiences out there. Thanks for the update.

Elder Peterson


Yeah, it's fun here. I'm glad that elder left. Now we´re trying to keep the other elders at bay by not talking to them, ever. So my comp told this elder she liked his tie the other day and he told her she had beautiful eyes. It was hilarious. I laughed for a while. Karma's a killer. Yeah, lock your doors.

In other news, I ate gum ice cream this week. It looked like strawberry and I didn't read the package. So I ate it and it tasted like a crayon encasing gum ice cream. Nasty. I finished it so I could have the full experience. I also used a paper towel to clean the wax out of my mouth afterwards. Not my fav. I called the family for mother's day. Dad took 5 minutes to connect everyone so I talked to myself. Then America went through a tunnel and we were all disconnected b-c of it for 5 minutes and then I talked for another 5 minutes. 15 minutes were all I had. So I talked to myself for 15 minutes. Family, you better have something to say to me at Christmas. Also, stamps in the US are cheaper, so mom, please send me a million or so stamps.

I'm learning Spanish little by little. We talked about Jabba the Hut and called him Habba la puebla. That was funny. Also, yesterday we were talking to some sisters about yellow, jello and hello. Those three words sound the same to latins. So she said, 'the primary colors are azul, blue, and hola?´ It was confusing and really funny. P-day last week we had to switch rooms twice b-c before I wasn't in the same room as my comps so I moved. Then I had to move back to my old room. Such a pain. Luckily it was just across the hallway. Canute, I heard about your quilt, sounds cool. I know you never saw that movie. I tell people about your righteousness all the time. Stay safe, the church is true!

Love, Hna Peterson

May 5, still in the Guatemala MTC

Editors note: "P" day means preparation day, kind of a day off from regular missionary duties...that's the day you do your laundry, get and receive letters, do shopping and get to do a bit of sight-seeing!


I still have another 3 weeks in the MTC, but it"s running by, so I"ll be there in no time at all. Canute, I think your outings sound awesome! Yesterday we went to a cool relief map of Guatemala and a museum of a pyramid and an undergound market. The elders in our district got robbed by a guy on crutches.. But not really b-c they were contacting and the guy with them told the guy something in a really low voice and walked away. The thing about getting robbed here is it happens all the time, but they don"t have weapons, they just walk up to you and say for you to give them your money. Dumb. But the elders said they would"ve just kicked his crutch and run away. Chiste ( joke). Our teacher said he had his cell out and this guy told him to give him his cell but he was really short and he was like, 'what?' and the guy was like 'give me your phone' and he couldn't hear him b-c he was little, so finally he heard him and he ran away to a policeman on the corner. The policeman said he thought the guy was his brother. Hah.

Naps are supreme. Tuesday morning was horrible b-c the sister who keeps the lights on in our room did so and woke up at 2 to 3:30 am to get ready and then came back in. She messed with her hangers, talked, turned on all the lights, and was filing her nails. Then at 5 the last sister in my room left and I finally got to sleep. I was so tired yesterday. However, I did get a blessing from our elders last night b-c I was completely exhausted and I haven"t been sleeping well. I slept like a rock last night. The church is true.

This week was exciting. I actually have two funny stories. One, an elder in our district accidentally pinched a sister's buns in our district. We were doing a direction game in Spanish and he thought he was behind another elder. So he slowly reached out his hand...he had a tie over his eyes..and pinched. Which is funny b-c Hna Clah is way shorter than E Francks and b-c he was super embarrassed. We all laughed for 15 minutes and our teacher switched us to elders and elders, sisters and sisters. Also, there was an elder here who had a crush on me and he sent me a keychain in an envelope via another sister. Happy Birthday to the ground. Then Hna Bunting picked it up from the floor and told me I had to tell him thank you and goodbye b-c he was hanging out outside out door. After much pouting and ranting, I went out and said thanks and he gave me his contact info. Happy birthday to the trash. I think I will be in the jungle. I hear they eat monkeys there. I certainly hope not. Alright, I must respond to others, Grant, send this to everyone. Love you Elder Peterson. The church is true!

Love, Hna Peterson

April 28, "P" day

I'm doing ok. I got sunburned when we went out contacting last week. It was supreme. I feel the heat and I don't think I'll be in a visitor center b/c that's usually in the call. The Guatemala City temple is across the street from us in the MTC. Seriously. It's closer than the Provo Temple was. I can see the temple from my room window and every time I walk up and down the stairs. Pretty neat. We get to go to the temple on P-days. Also, I don't know if I can, but most of the sur (that's south) and centeral Guat missionaries get to visit the temple on their pdays. I think mine's further b/c I will be in the jungle. Crazy! Also, there are two languages I may have to learn when I get there. I will definitely need to pray more for those problems later. I heard a devo from Elder Holland yesterday. It was cool. He said not to pray to have an easy mission b/c it won't be easy and all our trials bring us closer to Christ- how he felt and how we can be closer through prayer. Very cool. I mostly get what's going on here. I read the BOM but the binding on my book is getting fixed right now, so I don't know what's going on when I read. I've been studing the Bible instead. The church is true. Keep going strong! Love, Hna peterson

It's P-day....Wednesday

To my family and friends.
Family, please send this to everyone: it's the emails I sent Grant and Canute and I ran out of time. Neal, I wrote you a letter in our family letter. Christian, thanks for the advice. I will try and do those things you said. Julia' I'm so excited you are going on a mission to Peru. You will be the best missionary ever. Give me your address so I can write you. Advice? I would just say read your scriptures because you won't get as much time to get friendly with them as you think b-c you have so much to do here. So cross reference and talk to people you know and date and do whatever you want, because you will love your mission!!!! Love!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????Elder Peterson, I am super glad to hear you don't eat your boogs. Please never start. It's a disgusting habit and will never help you in your dating life. Or any other part of your life.

I do get your emails, but we skipped our p-day last week, so we didn't have the greatest contact pattern last week. Not the greatest. Sorry about not writing you any letters so far and sorry if these emails seem caged together, the enter on these keyboards doesn't work, so the paragraphs on my emails are going to be ginormous. I only wrote about five letters today. I actually write letters all pday, which is why I have no idea where all my time goes here on p-day. Well, you know how it goes.

I'm glad the elders were glad to tell you they knew me. I'm surprised myself that I'm 26. Sometimes I think..is that right? Then I shrug it off as age..

Man, I never knew how slow days could go until I got to this MTC. I'm glad I'm not the only one who struggles with sleep. I fall asleep in class and I feel like such a bum. It's never for long and I know I'm here for the right reasons. So yeah, I hope it wears off eventually. Here I sleep better since it's warm and cozy all night long. It's like summer night weather all day. It's soooo nice. However, I still wake up in the night to pee. It's good to drink water, but some parts of it are annoying. Guatemala is a cool place.

I'm in another trio..which means I've been in the MTC for four weeks and had four comps. These comps are great too though, so I've been getting lucky all over the place. They laugh all the time and we have good times...at the right times. Today though, I prayed with thankfulness for letting us write bodies instead of letters. That was a rough prayer to end with reverence. I tried to do it fast, but my comps had already lost it. I also enjoy the elders in my district. There's Elder Tanner, Hale, and Francks. Francks was in the army and hates me. Tanner asks a lot of questions we laugh about about and Hale's a good Elder who tries hard. I love my teachers here. They are so patient with us. It's so sad and kind of sick how dependent we are on them. And the Lord really, when it comes down to it. Maybe sick isn't the word. Very different...which means I'm in a good training program.

Food here's pretty good. I did drink a juice this morning that tasted like I'd already drunk it, and thrown it back up into the cup...so I really couldn't make myself finish it. I just couldn't. don{t forget to look at that stuff I left in my room for you. We have had great food. The sisters here said to beware of diarrhea and constipation at the same time...or in unending cycles. I haven't had to worry about that thus far. I could eat prunes. And die. I despise prunes. However, maybe I'll be ok. I have been ok thus far and been drinking tons of water. Which is why I wake up in the middle of the night now. Yeah, my spelling's getting worse, which hopefully means I'm on my way to native spanish speaking. I'll let you know how it goes.

I sprained my ankle last Monday. It's black and bloated but doesn't really hurt much and never really did. S, o when I push my finger into my foot at night the indention stays for about a minute. I've put a makeshift sling into the bunk above me and put a tower of pillow-sheets at the foot of my bed so it can drain at night. No real aches, and not comfortable, but I don't want a perma'kankle. Something a girl here said her friend got after spraining her ankle. ARGHH! Not my favorite. It doesn't hurt much anymore though. I sprained it doing the sister step aerobics. I know, I'm the coolest.

That's the scoop I guess. Thanks for writing me. Keep me informed and I'll try keeping you in the letters. Love you!
Love, Hna Peterson

I'm in Guatemala!

Also, can you send an email to julia hess saying how freakin excited I am that she put in her papers and is going to peru- That´s so super awesome! Tell her to pray a lot and read her scriptures and the Lord will do the rest. And I want her mission address so we can write each other. Thanks. Love, Hna Peterson

On 4/15/10, Merilee Enid Peterson wrote: Thanks for the pictures. Very cool to see them. Wish I was there. Did you get to listen to my phone calls¿ I called at the airport and it was during school. Oh well. We didn´t get out to Guatemala when we thought because the plane was broken. After 3 hours of sitting on the plane, they told us we weren´t going to fly. So we headed back to the MTC. It was nice to get back to the MTC b-c we hadn´t been able to pick up our scriptures from the bookstore before we left and it was going to cost us $70 to get them out here and we might never have gotten them. It was really nice to stay one more day with our great district and zone. Very nice. It´s nice to be here, but we speak a lot of spanish here. The Lord loves me, but sometimes I feel very tired. I only get mail once a week. But I guess it will be exciting to get it. I can´t send pictures from this mtc. Sorry. Love and kisses! Hna Peterson

week 3 at Provo MTC

Hello there everyone-

Grant, I got your email and it turns out I didn't email you b/c I didn't have anyone's emails. Anyone...so I couldn't email you b/c I didn't have your email address. Sorry about that. Mom just sent me a list of the emails that didn't work..very helpful. So now I hope everyone who is getting my emails knows all about me.

There is mucho candy here. Many treats all day. I'm going to be la vaca in...well, now. But I'm exercising, so maybe not a big cow. I have been practicing basketball, so I feel better about my skills. I'm not the greatest, but I'm better than I was in 8th grade. A huge improvement.

I haven't been able to fall asleep for an hour every night before bed. I lie awake from 10:30 to 11:30 and wake up at 5:45 for the special sister exercises. I do it for my figure and sanity, but am often tired. From what I hear, I'd be tired anyway. So not a big deal right? Also, last night I think it was only 30 min, but now I'm getting used to this MTC and my body's not freaking out, I'm going to Guatemala Tuesday morning. I hope it doesn't start all over again.

Pday today. I'm getting my name on my scriptures and getting my Preach my Gospel laminated.

I'm spelling things dumbly lately. Not cool. I've only been out 2.5 weeks. I also found out I know 3 people in my age bracket who eat their boogers. Very gross. Very. Love, Hna Peterson