My Story

I greet you lovingly, trusting God your health is in good condition. This is Yolanda Josefina, and my church is Prince of Peace. My family and I mostly attend our services on Fridays. A teacher of LW shared the gospel with my mother and me to strengthen our faith while he collected this information for you. Taking advantage of this moment, let me tell you that this project has blessed my family and me greatly with delicious lunches and gifts for Christmastime. My father is Camilo Luis, and he is 37 years old. He makes a living as a farmer and travels to the coast for the coffee harvesting time. My mother is Santos Gutierrez, and she is 27 years old. She does the chores and raises hens, turkeys, and sheep to sell when it is necessary. We work hard as a family and try to survive by growing corn and beans for our consumption, although we do not get enough for a whole year. Therefore, we have to buy more supplies throughout the year. Thankfully, my family and I are healthy.

I am in second grade, and I enjoy receiving face-to-face classes because I learn my lessons better. I turned ten years old in June, but because of our low resources, my family was not able to celebrate it. Despite our economic situation, my parents have been able to support my school expenses since they do not spend so much money in our village. One of my biggest dreams is working in a grocery store in the city to help my family with the expenses. I love celebrating Christmas because of the tasty tamales (this is a typical dish) besides receiving lovely gifts at the feeding program. I like drinking sodas, especially if it is Coca-Cola. My native language is the Quiche dialect, although I know some Spanish words. Therefore, I hope to speak it fluently someday. The sport that we play the most in our community is soccer, and I like it. I leave you now, but I thank you so much for taking the time to read my letter. I hope you find it engaging.

Special regards,

Yolanda Josefina Luis Gutierrez

Translated by: Hillary Popol, AAC Secretary / Antigua Guatemala