Called to serve in the Guatemala Quetzaltenango mission

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Cambios


What an interesting week!  This Wednesday we had interviews with President Smith.  It turns out they are going to close Choqui for a time, which I feel like is a really good thing for the area.  We spent most of this week strenghening all of the members before we left.

I learned a lot from Choqui.  First off, I learned how to do HARD things!  Being in this area was very difficult but it helped me toughen up and always do my best.  I learned so much about humility, which is what I gave my farewell talk on.  Funny how that has been my biggest lesson in Choqui!  The people, the members are the most humble, most kind people Ive ever met.  They will give up anything, do anything to help the missionaries.  They have taught me we don't need too much to be happy and enjoy ourselves.


One last look over my area before we leave


Saying goodbye to some of the members

I learned to be patient, something I have needed to work on in my life.  If we are patient and leave it to the Lord, we can do miracles.  Not a lot of people have the patience to endure hard things.  Being in Choqui taught me to endure and to do my best in my situation.  

Saying goodbye to everyone the other day was hard.  One elderly lady, who we visited literally everyday yet doesnt speak any spanish, was really sad that we were leaving.  She looked at me and just said, ¨Hermano, hermano, adios!¨ Then gave me a big hug.  Such nice people, Im really going to miss them.

Well, we have changes in the morning.  All of the missionaries meet at the bus terminal in Xela and head out on the buses.  Im excited for a new start and to meet new people.  The church is true and we have so many blessing.  Through faith and hard work we can do anything!  Love you all!

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Semana 11!

Hey guys,

Wow, I just finished my 11 week in the field!  Crazy how fast time has gone bye.  Ive learned so much about myself, others, the Gospel, pretty much life in general.  This next week training will be done and we have changes, which I have no idea what will happen but I trust in the Lord.

This week we had a baptism interview scheduled for Rodrigo, a 9 year old boy in Paxajtup.  His dad came up to us one day and asked us to teach and prepare his son for babtism, so we worked with them for quite a while.  Our district leader and Elder Andy went to do the interview but, as it turns out, Rodrigo was only 8 so he only needed an interview from the bishop.  I felt kind of bad for our district leader but the important thing is that we helped prepare Rodrigo for baptism.




Jackson and Killer the dog


Rodrigo and his family

I spent the day of the interview in San Bartolo with Elder Flake.  We had a great time teaching some less actives, contacting, and teaching seminary.  We walked up to an aldea about 30 minutes away and found this dog, just the biggest dog ever.  Some boy came out to talk to us with a little cast on his arm, the dog bit him that morning!  Apparently they call the dog, "killer", so I stayed my distance from that thing.  We contacted a little more, met some great future investigators.  To top it all off, a member gave us some chow mein after seminary haha which was really good.  San Bartolo is such a cool place, its a tough area but Its still really cool.

The next day we hiked to Paxajtup and performed the babtism for Rodrigo.  The members in Paxajtup are pretty much all one big family of like 80 people.  The chapel over there is gigantic!  The babtism was amazing and I had the chance to confirm him a member.  Rodrigo was smiling so much and so happy to be babtized afterwards.  Great day.

Well, wish we luck on this next week.  Theres a chance I could train somewhere but I dont know if or where, but I should know this next Thursday.  Wednesday we have interviews with president which will be really great to have a one on one with him.  Thats about all from here in Guate, adios!

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Utz a wach!

Utz a wach everyone!  Thats Quiche for How are You.  Ive been learning a little bit of Quiche little by little, hopefully some day I can get it down.
Well this week, statistics wise, wasn't our best. We looked for a lot of service this week, a few days ago we helped Sixto carry some wood up the mountain.  Now, Im a decent sized guy, so he gave me six good sized logs.  We put it on our backs and strap a piece of rope to the tops of our heads haha its crazy.  We did two loads and after that my companion and I were exausted.  Sixto tells me that usually he takes, get this, 15 to 20 logs every time!!!  The Guatemalans are super strong people.  Hauling wood definitely will not be my future career path.
The other day we were walking past a church and I recognized the scripture they were reading out loud.  Si alguno de vosotros tienie falta... James 1' 5!  I wanted to walk in there and tell them about the truth! 
The other day we had District Confrence.  The mission president, nurses, tons of people came up to Choqui for the first time.  They kept saying that my area looks like a work out, thats right!  President Smith talked about tithing and family home evening and gave some really great stories.  We talked to him for a while and he gave us some great advice.  After the confrence I had the opportunity to baptize two 8 year olds named German and Elmer.  Baptizing is such an amazing experience.  Most the branch was there and it was just a great experience.  This next week we have another babtism of a 9 year old boy in Paxajtup.  Good stuff!