05/11/15
Hey guys not much to say here since we just talked
yesterday. This week has just been a blur and I found out that I have
changes tomorrow to another area!
Looking back at these fast 6 months here, I realized that I
have had the time of my life in this area. I thought it would be hard to
top my experiences in La Leyenda, but this is just about as good. I have
met a bunch of people that have changed my life and I am grateful for the Lord
for giving me the chance to serve here in this area. We may not have seen
a ton of baptisms, but there were successes in other areas.
One of the biggest experiences that impacted me this week
was a family that we are teaching, the father once in a while has problems with
drinking and on Wednesday night he went a little over and was drunk.
(This is the family that made the cake). They are a super nice family, and they treat us like their
sons, and part of their family. We were walking to the house at 9 at
night, and usually the father of the family is silent and a calm person, but he
was drunk and his tongue was loosed. He stopped us and started to talk to
me in English. He said "You are my friend. You always will
be. Don't forget me and my family, but more importantly my family.
Thank you for your friendship and you have my respect and love for what you do.
Don't ever forget us, and ALL THAT YOU DID HERE." It was in broken
English, but I got the point. I
thanked him for it, gave him a hug and directed him home. Before he went
in his house he said "I am muy macho and you probably won't hear me say
something like that again. But don't forget." That was so nice hearing that from a non member
family. These experiences are here to stay. I am so grateful for all that I learned here. The
people are so awesome, their love for me like their own son, all these
experiences will stay in my heart.
Well next week I will let you know where I am at, but until
then I love you guys, Take care!
05/04/15
Hey guys well this past week has been one of the slowest,
fastest, tide turning, weird, crazy weeks that I have had in the mission.
So on Monday after writing you guys, president called Elder S and told him that
he would have to go home because they did not have machines and technology here
in the country that could solve or find out the problem or relieve the pains
that he is having. So we were all sad and bummed about him leaving.
We went and did a whole bunch of stuff, bought a cake and
celebrated my birthday together with them in the night. It was super fun
and got his mind off of the imminent problem. So we just celebrated and
had fun on Monday. Tuesday they had to clean the house and pack. So we helped them clean their house and
we cooked pancakes and eggs for breakfast together.
Elder P and Elder S left Tuesday in the night. That
was one of the hardest feelings in the mission. Haha I got suuuppper
attached to those guys because they made being here in the mission much more
fun. I had so much fun with them.
I learned a lot from them and I am grateful for the opportunity I had to
get to know them and spend time with them.
Elder S went home to Idaho on Wednesday morning and Elder P
went to an area called Campo Marti with another elder... Now we have double the
area to cover because we have to catch their side now. They just put
together the 2 areas and the assistants came by, gave me the keys to their
house and told me good luck and get at it! And so that is what we
did. Right now we are just getting to know the other area, and it is
HUGE!!! Haha so many people, but
so much potential. I was kind of getting bored in my area but now that we
are covering the other area too, I am getting excited and pumped up to work
harder.
Another thing that happened this week was we were with an
Elder for one day, because president put him with us to see where he would put
him. He was returning to the mission, and so president at first did not
know where to put him. So we worked in the area for a day with him, and
the next day the AP’s came by to take him to an area where he will be for a
while.
My birthday was good. Kinda uneventful, but
great. We worked hard like normal, and I didn't tell anyone it was my
birthday, but then they started to find out slowly as the word got
around. Actually we didn't celebrate my birthday until a day after. On Sunday, a family invited us to eat
lunch, and then in the night, another family invited us for dinner and
surprised me with a huge birthday cake.
All in all, it was a great day! I really like this
area. It would be fun, and I would
be fine finishing my mission here. The members are soo cool, and it is
progressing little by little.
Oh well, thanks for all you do, and I love you guys! Have a great week! Looking forward to skype on Mother’s
day.
04/27/15
Hey guys, hope the week is going great for you and that all
is well over there.
This week was great.
We had a lot of things that were going on. On Wednesday, we had a
multi-zone conference with the area president Elder Duncan. He is a
really cool guy and I learned a lot from him. He taught us a lot and was
fed spiritually.
One thing that he instructed us is to work more on the
reactivation of members. That is one of the weaknesses that we have here
in the mission. Sometimes the newly baptized member stop coming to church
after the missionary that baptized them moved and somehow that new member did
not make close ties with the members.
Elder Duncan talked a lot about how to work more effectively
as missionaries and explained that every one of us needs to know the Savior and
his Atonement. The atonement is
very important and we need to apply it in our lives and help others to realize
that as well.
He said that nothing is impossible with God. Even those things that we seem to think
that it is difficult to accomplish, but with God everything is possible. We cannot let doubt come into our minds
about anything. Be unbreakable, and immoveable.
It is a privilege to serve and walk among these people whom
I have learned to love. It has helped me appreciate the Book of Mormon
even more. This is the Promised Land. The people here are the remnants of the Nephites and Lamanites
that they talked about in the BOM. We need to teach these people the
gospel. We must do all we can to
help them. We must act and live as
such. I have so many things to improve on... haha I can feel a great
change from the first day I stepped off the plane onto Guatemala soil.
But I know that I have a long way to go. Our duty as missionaries,
members and sons and daughters of God is to seek perfection. ELIMINATE
THE GOOD, REPLACE WITH THE BEST!!! I loved the conference.
Another highlight of my week was going on divisions with
Elder F from Arizona. He is a cool kid and we found a lot of
success. He has been out for 7 months in the mission and we learned a lot
from each other. Their area is cool and we had some good lessons, and we
put a baptismal date. It was a nice change from the normal routine in my
area with my comp. Elder F’s comp. has a violin and I played it in the
night before going to sleep. It felt good to play after a long time of
not doing it... haha I am kinda rusty at it.
We brought some new investigators to church, and things are
going well in the area. There are a lot to do and a lot to learn.
I can't believe I will be turning 20 in a week... haha that
sucks! I am getting old. But it is progression. Have a good week and take care! I love you guys!
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