Called to serve in the Guatemala Quetzaltenango mission

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Good week!

Hey well this was a pretty good, though very busy week!  On Wednsday we had interviews in the chapel of San Cristobal.  President was in a very good mood and helped me with a lot of things.  We discussed Enocs call to serve, how he wasnt quite the best servant but the Lord knew what Enoc would become.  My district has been pretty disanimated lately so we talked about how to help them out.  A lot of the success in our lives comes from our attitude, which has been something that has been tough for me to understand but I feel like Im improving a little each day.  President congradulated us for what we are doing in Nahuala haha he told me that one of his friends was one of the first missionaries in Nahuala.  The town people got really angry and kicked the missionaries out of town.  Now there is a ward and a branch here, so things have grown considerably.  Its a huge blessing to be here, even if I dont speak their language I always feel their love.

On Thursday we had zone conference in Toto.  As a zone, we thought about the challenge of finding people to teach.  Faith is the key, but how can we have faith?  We talked about things that diminish our faith and things that kindle it.  After a lot of talking and scripture reading, we came to the conclusion that the central problem is pride.  Every missionary wrote some goals on a sticky note and together we are going to humble ourselves.  When we are humble we are teachable and have the spirit!!

After the meeting, the zone leaders, my comp, and I ate lunch with the stake president, President Tzic.  While we ate "churasco", potatoes, and some vegetable salad thing we talked about how to help the stake.  Xeroxon has had some big obstacles like not having a mission leader or counselers.  President promised us that by Sunday we would have a mission leader and now we do and hes super pilas!!!!  He served a mission in El Salvador so he knows all the lessons and can teach in Quiche so we are definitely excited for that.

I did divisions with Elder Rojas there in Toto and I have to say, I dont really like being in a big city.  Most of the areas that Ive had havent been very populated or big, but the zone leaders are in a super dense and wealthy area, which is both good and bad.  The good thing is that they have a lot of cool members and the not so good is that there are a lot of people that dont really want anything.  At about 8 we went with a member family and they said they would give me the "Bienvenida."  I thought, "oh what in the world is that," then one of the ladies snuck behind me and put something on my head, which I thought was an egg.  It was just an orange so I said, "I thought that was an egg!" Then, yep, she smashed an egg on my head haha I was not expecting that.  

Things are improving dramatically here in our area.  We have 11 babtism dates!! Now, Im not saying that each one of them will be babtized because there are some pretty big challenges but we are pretty excited.  We contacted a family in a far part of our area and they are super cool.  The dad is named Domingo Xum and he is super ready, its a golden family.  Domingo and his son came to church and said they would come play soccer tomorrow with our members.  Its amazing how, with a lot of diligence and goals and prayers God can lift us and help us out.  He lives!!  I love you all! with love, Elder Call (hey that rhymes hehe)

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

2015 in review!

Hey guys well it kind of felt like we were just barely starting 2015 but its gone!  Isnt it crazy how fast time seems to fly?  Its hard for me to believe but this was by far the best year of my life.  Lots of little mountain trails have been walked, lots of lessons have been taught, and lots of changes have been made in my life.  I challenge everyone to make some personal goals and stick to them this year, we can do it!

This week we found out that our investigator Alexander cant get babtized.  Apparently the marriage laws here changed like 1 month ago and anyone under 18 cant get married.  That was kind of a bummer for us, but we found a family last week and they are pretty positive.  The last family of converts got babtized about 4 years ago here in Xeroxon so it would be a HUGE blessing for them to be babtized.  Tonight we are doing a family home evening in the house of some members and will keep helping them progress.

New years made things a little bit complicated this week, lots of people buying and selling stuff!  Most people celebrate the new year by lighting fireworks and being together as a family.  Some members gave us dinner at like 8 but other than that we didnt do anything for new years, though it was a good time to reflect 2015.  

Today we had our zone activity.  We went to the chapel in Toto and played mafia, volleyball, and soccer.  Our zone has like 11 companionships, its pretty cool though we usually have to travel pretty far.  Thats about it haha I feel kind of bad that I dont have much to write.  Things are going well, we are working and searching for new people.  The work is a little tough at times but I feel like Heavenly Father is happy with what we are doing.  I love you all!  The church is true and so is missionary work.