2013-12-2 Working Hard

This past week was good and we had a zone conference with president Watts and Hermana Watts.  They brought food from the CCM and we ate turkey and stuffing etc. the day before thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving day we just worked as usual.  It was weird because we woke up and exercised and stuff, but during personal study, we turned to each other and said "hey it's thanksgiving today"! but other than that our week was really slow and by slow I mean dead. 

We are working hard here and doing as much as we can to bring people to the church, but this whole week was a bust.  We fasted Sunday and after we broke our fast, and after church from 1-8 in the night we had more lessons than we had in the whole week.  I don't know why we had such a bad week?  We have been obedient down to the letter, and we were so down on ourselves by the time Saturday rolled around because of the lack of success we have had this week.  We were comparing ourselves to other missionaries that were so apostate, and didn't like to work.  But Sunday we just opened our fast and realized that we do our part and after that you leave it up to God and his will.  Sunday made us realize that just by being obedient and working hard does not guarantee success, but we have to be humble and after the trial comes the reward.

Story of the week is a lesson we had with a member that was drunk.  This member was baptized a few months ago and he relapsed into his drinking habits. So we were there teaching him about how he can get back on the right track through faith and repentance. Elder Farr says to him "there are many ways God can help you, prayer..." and I add in the blessing of fasting to receive help.  But He says in Spanish "hold up! I fast!" then Elder Farr and I look at each other and ask" did that experience help you Hermano?" and he said: "No, but I fast once in a while for 24 whole hours, and sometimes 2 whole days!" We start to tell him to have more faith in his fast, and then he blurts out: "I fast from my drinking, and smoking. I stop drinking for a day or two and then I end my fast! Any sacrifice to God is good right?"  Then Elder Farr and I start cracking up and giggling under our breath, good thing this guy was drunk when we talked to him otherwise he would have been offended because we were laughing. 

To answer your questions we went to the temple as a zone and we had to take a 30 minute bus ride to the temple from our area.  The Spanish speaking session was a little rough, but I survived.  I hope all of you are doing great and I will talk to you next week! I Love You guys! (elder Farr painted our house I will send pictures.)

2013-11-26, What a week.

Well my week was good and after Elder Trupp left we only had about 2 real progressing investigators, but now we have about 11 or 12.

But the highlight of my week was playing the violin in stake conference with the ward choir.  I practiced 2 songs with them: 1) I know that My Reedeemer Lives and 2) Oh My Father.  So we played the first song and we went to go sit down in the congregation.  Then we were supposed to play the closing song Oh My Father.  So me and Elder Farr were chilling in the congregation, kind of dozing off, but the president of the stake during his closing remarks, said in front of everyone, "Can the elder that played the violin come up to the stand."  I was shocked.  I was so scared, but I walked up and stood at the stand with him.  He whispered in my ear, to go get the violin and get ready to play.  Stunned, I walked over, picked up the violin, and came over ready to play.  He said to the whole stake, “this elder is going to play a song on the violin and all of you will close your eyes and after he finishes the song, every adult would have to write down a reference for the missionaries on a sheet of paper.”  He then looks at me and says to play when I am ready.  At this time I am shaking in my skin because it is so out of the blue, but I just flip open the Spanish hymn book and it opens to the hymn “Love at Home.”  I feel it is right and as soon as my bow touches those strings all my fear dissipates and before I know it, I finished the song.  When I lift the bow off of the final note it is dead silent, I mean dead, dead, dead silent.  There were a million babies in that room, but not one of them were moving or making a sound.  Then, the president turns to me, smiles, and tells everyone to write their references down.  During that song every missionary pair in our stake received about 10 references.  I played the closing song “Oh My Father” with the choir.  I had to thank Heavenly Father because I know that in the past I would not have the courage to do that kind of thing in front of even 10 people. I really like that quote that you sent me, " courage is fear that has said it's prayers" and it is true.  Now I don't really care what anyone thinks about me or how my appearance is or if it is scary because you just need to trust in your Father in Heaven.  For some reason even though I haven't played the violin consistently since the last week of high school I played better than I have ever played before.

To answer your questions, the most recent mail I got was the talk from Elder Jefferey R. Holland.  So yeah mail is kind of slow.  Hermana Jackie is going to invite us over for dinner on Thanksgiving, I think.  

I will send more pictures and concerning the package, we have a Wal-Mart in our area so no need for food, so if you can the church has a set of missionary approved reading and they are small sized books.  I believe that they are blue with a red trim on the top or bottom of the covers.  They include Jesus the Christ, True to the Faith, Our Heritage, etc.  If you guys can send me Jesus the Christ, I would really, really appreciate it.  I love reading and there is a guy that got me hooked onto some deep doctrine reading that goes to our ward, etc.  Haha but if you can send me the book, Jesus the Christ that would be great.  If you need space take out some of the paracord or something.

Sorry I didn't write yesterday.  We just got back from the temple and the new experience is really Great!  Compared to the old, the new one is really, really much better.

The area is going great and I love the work and I love my companion.  I am trying my best here and I will talk to you guys next week. I Love You guys!

Oh yeah I saw my first dead body today.  A lady was gunned down and she was in one of the lanes of the main road.  There was a huge pool of blood and people were all crowded around.  They had a sheet over her face though, and the cops were directing traffic.  We saw this on the way to the temple.

Happy Thanksgiving!  Haha hopefully the box gets here in time...haha I hope it isn't all candy we got a Wal-Mart here!  Nutella is so expensive, and they have to lock it up in the Wal-Mart under lock and key because it costs more than 100Q.

Hey, I gotta go I love you and I will talk to you next week.

 Elder Farr and Elder Vincent in front  of the Guatemala Temple.

Stake Conference, November 24, 2013.

This is breakfast cada dia.  That is beans man, frijoles and pan my breakfast everyday is either this or bread with peanut butter and jam.  Eat beans daily! 

2013-11-18 Great Things are Happening

Hey guys, I got my new companion, and he is a great guy, and a real hard worker.  His name is Elder John Hunter Farr, from Snowflake, Arizona.  He has about 9 months in the field and he is a really hard worker.  The first day with Elder Farr, we worked so much harder.  We are both kind of new to the area so we got to know all the members in the area, and just got references and a plan set to attack the area this coming week.

The great thing about this guy is that he really lets me get involved.  The first day we had a little more time before we needed to get into the house, and we were walking and he said we are going to contact and place a Book of Mormon with that guy, but you are going do it.  It was a really great experience and in all lessons he lets me lead the lesson, and he involves me in finding and choosing the direction that we should go in our area.  Many blessings have come in these short few days that I have come and we have encountered new investigators and people to teach in these few days.  We talk to much more people each day than we did, and our days are full and fulfilling.  Really great guy... we talk about a lot of things and he is a real well rounded guy. We talk about motorcycles, scouting, deep doctrine, a whole bunch of stuff. But he said that he thinks that dad was companion with his dad because his dad went to Oregon for his mission.  Dad do you know a man named Mitch Farr from your mission?  But all in all this has been a really good week, and we are doing so much more work now.  [NOTE: Mitch Farr was one of the best companions Elder Vincent's father had during his mission in Oregon-what a small world]

Our stake conference is this coming Sunday, and guess what?  I will be playing the violin in front of the whole stake here in Guatemala.   Our branch, Palencia was chosen to sing at the conference, so once they heard I play the violin, they found me one.   One of the members had one.  So I will be playing…  I Believe in Christ and Oh My Father in front of the stake with the ward choir!

I don't think I will be having a turkey dinner mom... haha we eat at our houses for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Regarding Christmas phone call, I don't know if it will be Skype or not, but I will let you know.  The baptism was moved to Friday this week, but a member will be baptizing him so I will send pictures.  Pdays here lately… we just shop and go to the mall nothing much.  Maybe next week we will do something.

Well have a good week and stay safe!  Tell Uncle Mark, Aunt Miki, and the rest of the relatives I said Hi!  I will update you next week!  I will continue to work hard!

Elder Hunter Farr and Hunter Vincent

2013-11-11 Change is in the Wind and Opportunities Abound

Hey guys... guess what... I finished my first six weeks and my first change here in the field... but there is even bigger news... Sunday night on change week the assistants called and told us the changes.   So apparently after six weeks President is giving Elder Trupp a change leaving me in responsibility of one of the biggest areas of the mission!  The district I am in is all Hermanas except for Elder Trupp and I, and that is not changing at all.  So as Elder Trupp was a district leader, there might be a great possibility that I will be one, or the new guy coming in will be it.  I don't know where Elder Trupp is going, but he will be training a new guy.  We will find out our new companions and where Elder Trupp is going on Wednesday at change conference.  I feel overwhelmed because of the size of our area, and I have only been here 6 weeks to get oriented.  I have a feeling that my next companion will be a Latino.  

I am so pumped! I want to work so hard!  I have learned the lesson of patience, complacency kills, and how disobedience can bring down the work or obedience can build the work.   I have been reading the Liahona and conference talks, and have gotten huge progress in my in depth study of the Libro de Mormon, and the New Testament.

I am having a good week.  How are you guys?  Ha ha I am just drilling new holes in my belt, as I need them mom.  I went down about 3 almost 4 notches on my belt now.

That is really great news about C!  The blessings of the temple are so great and you receive so many blessings just from being there.  During my time at the MTC I found peace and guidance especially in those first weeks. Through the blessings of the temple you will receive blessings that do not pass away when the physical body does, rather they are things that will carry into the eternities.  I love the temple and it is such a great thing to have.  Dad make sure you follow through with him and get him to the temple, there will be no other greater feeling for C as he participates in those blessings, also I promise you that as you help him to reach that point in his life, you will receive as much happiness and joy because you helped him receive those blessings through your service.

Well have a good week and I will let you know how things go next Monday.  I Love you guys.  Oh fun fact, yesterday we walked 20 miles to get to a part of our area and back so that was a killer.  Have a good week!

2013-11-4: Learning a Lot

Hey guys how is everything going?  Haha don't worry about me I am in good hands, and I don't think it would be professional to carry around big sticks [for the dogs from hell-see last week's post].  The dogs here on the streets don't really bother you all that much and there are some dogs that bark and come after you, but the dogs in the houses are the ones that will be more aggressive for some reason.

Halloween was good, we had to be in the house by 8:30.  There were people all in the streets dressed up in costumes.  The first of November is a holiday here.  People eat a thing called fiambre, which is like a salad with all sorts of meat and junk in there. We didn't get to eat fiambre which was a bummer but our food lady said she would make it for us sooner or later.

Our investigators are doing good, and we have a baptism for a little boy next week.  His mom is the only member in their family and the husband is a nonmember.  She recently got back to church, and she wants her son to be baptized so we are teaching him the lessons.  Our other investigators are so good, and 2 of them are ladies that have husbands that hate the church, and they are not married.  So the thing is that even though these investigators love the church and they want to be baptized, they read and do everything a perfect member should do…  they cannot be baptized because their husbands do not want to get married.  One of the biggest struggles here is that people live together.   Since they are not married, we can't baptize them.   A lot of our investigators have this problem.  The places we have a lot of success is in reactivation of inactive members and I guess that is a positive thing, because if we can't baptize might as well get the ones who were baptized back to church.  We raised the assistance of members at church from 70 members to about 90 something members.  All in all everything is going okay, and we are getting new investigators everyday, a lot of the time they are very receptive but are really devout in their catholic backgrounds.

I love it here and I realize now that the mission is the best decision I have made in my life... you grow in ways that is not possible in any other conditions.  My Spanish is coming along and my testimony is growing each day.  I wish I could remember where I put my Tungsten CTR ring.  I really want it!   Haha I realize that I was really bad at keeping my things, but I am forced to be good about it now...because you have to go out of your way to get a replacement or you will never find a replacement over here in Guatemala.

 

Thanks for the wagons west story, it was good, set it on the side so I can read it when I get back.

Haha good news mom… instead of getting bigger I had to drill new holes for my belt because it was way too big!  Haha I told you to get the smaller size belt, and you doubted me!

I started a study journal for my rereading of the Book of Mormon and did you know that Christopher Columbus, the pilgrims, the revolutionary war, and other parts of American history is in the first book of Nephi?  Haha when I studied it one morning, I was surprised.  I did not realize this before.  Having a study journal is good because it makes me think about deeper meanings and stuff with the scriptures.  When I read that Nephi saw that far into the future, it makes me think what all the prophets in time saw in visions and things.  How far into the future or in the past have President Monson seen?  We know that John the beloved saw the end of the world in the book of revelations, so what else has other prophets seen?  What would you do if you had that kind of knowledge?  Haha my companion and I have these deep conversations while walking and discussing things like where do we think Kolob is, or when do you think the second coming is going to happen, will it happen within our time or our children or our children’s children?  A lot to ponder!

I am having fun out here and I love what I am doing.  I am trying hard to do what we are here to do! 

Have a good week and I love you guys!

2013-10-28: Two Dog Bites, One Shooting, and Everything's Great

Hunter's last 2 emails are below:

10/21/13 email

Hunter’s email is short. 

Hey first I will answer your question… no, they do not have spaghetti mixes and things in the apartment but you can buy them at the market.   You can cook in your apartment whatever you want to cook. You don't need to send any mixes I am good for now.  I'm not feeling baggy yet.  Hermana Jackie's cooking is really good and she cooks a lot for us.  Don't worry mom I'm eating haha!  We have about 12 or 13 investigators progressing and everyday we teach people.  The work is very different from what you might think it is.  Many people get the conception that we knock on doors all day but we have a thing called Plan A, B, and C.  Plan A is working with the leaders of the church to get work done with investigators.  Plan B is working with members of the church to do work such as members during investigator lessons, and Plan C is solo missionaries.  We want to be working Plan A and B all the time, because it is always more powerful when the investigator sees someone they know or a native is normal and part of the Mormon Church.

We placed a fecha(date) for a baptism in November, and hopefully it doesn't fall through.  Things are going good here, my companion is really great and the zone is cool.

I am starting a study journal as I begin reading the Libro De Mormon again and I am starting to see things that I have overlooked my whole life.

I am trying to do good over here, and I am surviving!  I guess dad is right... I am comfortable being in uncomfortable place.  I am getting eaten alive by bugs as I sleep.  I have started using the bug spray and the past few nights were okay.  

Have a good week guys! I will talk to you next Monday!

10/28/13 email

My week was good and we did a lot.  I have a few stories to tell you.  I got bit by 2 dogs in 2 different members’ houses.  The first is at this lady’s house named Mama Concha, and she has this chucha (dogs are called Chucho or Chucha here) from off the street in the back of the house and as we were going upstairs it bit me in the ankle, but luckily I wear my army boots everyday so the bite didn't pierce.  Speaking of boots, I just realized that these boots have seen so much terrain in it’s lifetime …. they are really dependable and it would be cool if you could find a pair for me and hold on to it so I have a new pair for when I get back?  

So the second dog was in a yard of a member’s house in an area of our area called Potrero Grande.  I was walking towards the house with the hermana that owns the house, and my companion.   And then this Chucha walks up to me sniffs my thigh then bites me, and I thought for sure that it broke skin because this dog was way bigger than the last one that bit me, and the bite was really strong.  But when I checked my thigh, I saw that it didn’t penetrate and that it only poked small holes in my pants, but all in all I just have a small bruise from the bite.  

The next crazy story, and this is the highlight of my week... is that one night when we were leaving the Jardines (area) from a lesson with a family.  We were walking down this hill to get back to the Joya where we live, and this hill leads down to a little intersection that all the buses stop at and there are a few small tiendas(stores) at the bottom of this hill.  So we are walking down this hill and all of a sudden we hear "pop, pop, pop, pop" and then we freeze, look at each other and we are like "crap, that’s gunshots!"  So then we continue walking down this hill, and people are running up this hill because the gunshots came from the intersection.  A tuktuk (little red moped transportation vehicles) comes up and we get in, but he can’t get through the intersection because of all the people, so he lets us out, and we walk through this intersection and ask people what happened.  In the intersection there was a yellow school bus that is all souped out with paint like all of them are (the kind we ride everywhere), but people were running away and screaming and stuff.  When we asked what happened they said that a man shot the bus driver 4 times and ran out of the bus into the night. The ambulance already took the driver away, and there were many people there, but as we continued walking down the road towards the Joya, I realized that we had been blessed.  If our lesson had been a minute or two shorter, we would have been in that intersection, and it is a fact here that if there are witnesses to a crime and they know you saw their face that they will blow your brains out.  So I realized that every question that went on in that lesson, every pause, every answer, helped to prolong our time there so we would not be in danger.  The Lord works in mysterious ways, and we may not know why things happen the way they do, or why blessings or opportunities come at different times and in different places, but everything happens for a reason.  The Lord has a plan for each and every person in the world, and through obedience and faithfulness, everyone can be blessed and their paths guided in all that they do.  

I don't know why I tore my ACL during that season of football, or during this past season of baseball, but I know that those things prepared me and helped me grow.  I know that if I had not been injured, I would not have been able to meet the people I did, or go to the area I am in now, or experience the things that I am experiencing now.  At the time, I didn't know why, and I admit that I am a little ashamed that at the time my testimony wasn't strong enough to handle the experience, so I got angry.  I now realize that every experience is there to strengthen you and make you a better person.

Today, guess where we went for our P-day zone activity?  BOWLING!  Haha it was really fun... Okay, when you send things don't worry … the system is pretty good here and Elder Trupp said that he received all his packages.  They told us not to put the religious stickers because it makes you seem like you are trying too hard to bring things into the country.

We are doing well in Palencia and we have a few good progressing investigators, but it is really frustrating when people do not do their part and complete our challenges to pray, etc.  We can only help them as much as they want us to.  You can't give someone a true testimony, they are the only ones that can get it for themselves.

We set another baptismal fecha(date) and we are trying to work with the other, because she doesn’t come to church, and we can’t baptize her if she doesn’t go to church.  A lot of people don't go to church because it is too great of a sacrifice, so we have to really teach them the value of church and what it can do for them.

All in all I had a really good week and still going strong and not feeling baggy.  Hey, I have to go now time is up have a good week, I love you guys!

2013-10-14: Lots of Questions Answered, Just love It Here

These are the questions we asked him in our recent email to him:

Do you have hot water?

- No we do not have hot water, and the water runs out real quick.  We have to conserve the water and we use a thing called a pila in the back of the house to wash dishes and stuff.  This past week we didn't shower for 2 days because the water was out.

Do you have a flush toilet?

- Yes we do, but we have a bucket with water for when the water goes out.

Do you have toilet paper?

- Yes we buy it with our monthly allowance.

Can you drink your tap water?  If not, do they deliver filtered water to your house?

- No we cannot drink tap water, I have a really cool bottle made by the company Seychelle that filters the water and I can drink it, but other than that we live on milk, soda or juice, and we get 2 water cooler size jugs of agua pura every few weeks.

Do you have a bed with mattress?

- Yes our house has a tiled floor, and we have a bed with nice new mattresses that they just got before I got here.

What time do you go back to your house at night?

- It all depends on our schedule and our success of the day, the latest we can and have been out is 9:30 but the earliest on bad days maybe 8:30.

Where do you shop for food?

- They have a big mall called Centro Norte and we buy our groceries at La Torre.

Do you have a refrigerator?

- Yes

Are there any panaderia close by?  I read that their bread is really good.

- Yes they have them everywhere, but we rarely buy anything unless we really need it, all shopping is done at La Torre in Centro Norte.

What do you eat for breakfast and dinner?

- Cereal for breakfast, and I don't really eat much at dinner because we either don't have time or we have to budget.

Do you get a lot of dinner appointments?

- No but people feed us during the day sometimes when we visit houses.

What is the name of your mission president?

- Presidente y Hermana Watts

How far is the mission home from your house?

- 1 1/2 hour bus ride maybe I don't really know.

How far is the meeting house (church) from your house?

- 15 minute walk

Do you have a house phone or cell phones?

- We have a cell phone, but the cell phone is a big house phone thing with an antenna and we have to carry it to places.

Is it branch or ward?  How big is the membership?

- Branch the membership this past Sunday was about 80.

What is your house address?  Can we send letter there?

- It is a mission rule to not give out house addresses and no you can't send letters there.  Haha I would tell you but exact obedience brings miracles.

Where do you go for your p-day?  And what kind of things do you do?

- We usually do things with other companionships or other districts and sometimes as a zone.  We always go to the mall Centro Norte to eat lunch and use the Internet, and we go to this place called Megapaca.  But today was really cool because we hiked a few miles out to the middle of nowhere in the forest and as a zone explored a cave.

Where do you go to email us?

- Centro Norte the mall.

How long is your allotted time to use the email?

- 1 hour and 15 minutes, one hour for you guys and 15 minutes to email Presidente Watts.

Can you print your letters so you can read them later?

- Yes but you have to pay and every quetzales counts here.

Do you pay when you use the computer to email us?  How much?

- For the hour and 15 minutes we pay 7Q so a little less than a dollar.

Do you take your dirty clothes to the lavanderia or does she come to take them?

- We take our clothes to her, she lives a few houses down the road from us, and so does the food lady.

Is it hot there?

- Yes it gets hot here during the day.  In the morning and at night it is cool.

Are you taking a lot of pictures?

- When I can I am, let me know how I can send the memory cards home.

Did you have a haircut at the CCM?

- Yes once by one of the teachers and he muffed it up pretty bad, so I got my hair cut the other times by other missionaries.

Do you like pupusas?

- I don't think I have tried any yet...

Are there any hermana's in your stake?

- Yes

For Christmas can you send me paracord, no clips or anything.? and maybe a flash drive or 2.  Don't waste space in the package on candy though...I don't really know what else... I will let you know if I come up with anything.  I love it up here you guys... you don't even know.  The people are really great and my companion is cool and we get along really great.  It is a hard area, but with faith we were able to get a few new investigators this past week.  The language is hard, and in lessons I mainly just bear my testimony and answer some questions.  My ear is starting to develop to the language and I am getting better at recognizing words.  

I am really learning how to budget here.  I realized that we are basically living the college life here.  We cook our own breakfast, and lunch we eat with Hermana Jackie.  Dinner sometimes we don't eat because we don't have time.

Hey I tried to answer your questions, but I gotta go now, we have an appointment with a family!  I Love you guys... there really is no other joy in this world than service.  I love it here, no matter how hard it gets I won't give up.  Have a good week!

Yeah it is great out here we just got back from our zone activity at the cave.  I am trying my best to be a good missionary!  Palencia is a great place.  I really love it here.  I gotta go now… I love you.  I will talk to you later.