tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77890621899476901492024-02-20T09:29:08.218-08:00Elder Jackson CallAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-13139128388417897142016-06-14T16:11:00.001-07:002016-06-14T16:11:44.680-07:00June showers!!<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">The rainy season has been in full effect lately which is good for all the corn! </span><br />
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I admire my companion a lot, this week we had a little scare as far as his health goes. We were in a lesson when I noticed he was zoning out and started sweating. He tried talking but it was hard for him, so he checeked his blood sugar and it had dropped to 31, which apparently is really really low. I feel like the Lord blessed him because nothing bad happened and we were able to take care of things quickly. He has made a lot of sacrifices to be here in the mission which have all helped him be a hard worker and very apreciative of his mission, solid guy. </div>
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This week we were able to find three new families, which was very needed since we were starting to run out of investigators! One of the families is from the coast, which is a great miracle because the people from the coast are a lot nicer, less fanatical about religion, and more open. Another couple is also new and they are from a place called San Marcos. Their native language is Mam so we can tell its a little hard for them to understand but they seemed really open and ready to learn more about the restaration.</div>
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Our investigator Mynor is getting babtized <a dir="ltr" href="x-apple-data-detectors://0" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">on Saturday at 4</a>, I had a picture of us together but I left my camera back home! Anyways, he is a really great guy and we are hoping that, with a lot of effort, he will be able to serve a mission. He is so humble, which makes teaching the gospel a great experience and a lot easier! We finished teaching all the commandments this week and Mynor accepted everything. He applies what he learns and its been awesome seeing the change from not really wanting anything to preparing to serve a mission.</div>
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I read about Abinadi and King Noah this week. Theres an interesting lesson that we can all learn from those chapters of Mosiah. Theres a part where the Spirit had softened King Noahs heart and he knew that he should let Abinadi go. What happened? The friends of the king peer pressured King Noah and for that Abinadi was burned. We shouldnt let the pressures of the world influence who we really are, sons and daughters of God. Its been a blessing being here in Guatemala because everyone is very Cristian and, even though there are a lot of churches, most people stand up for what is morally right and things like gay marriage, legalizing drugs etc. arent an issue here. Let us all, like Thomas S. Monson said in conference, "chose the harder right" and the Lord will bless us. Les amo a todos! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-2797371895320806922016-06-07T09:31:00.003-07:002016-06-07T09:31:48.119-07:00Two miracle!!<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">This email might be a little short, today we had a zone activity. We</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">went to a field, played in some big blow up balls, and had a little</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">barbeque after. It was a lot of fun but we got done a little bit</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">late!</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;"></span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">This week was awesome, as you can tell we had two really big</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">miracles... Gabby and her daughter Camila got babtized! It has been a</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">long process but it was awesome being able to contact them, teach</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">them, and see them make a covenant with God. Gabby is a single mom</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">who studied psicology and Camila is her nine year old daughter.</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">President Smith and his wife came to the service, which started a</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">little late but was really good. Gabby has a really strong testimony,</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">its been such a great experience working with her and her daughter.</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">The door has been opened so that many will be able to recieve the</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">gospel because Gabby loves sharing the gospel. Before the service</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">started she was explaining all of the pictures in the church to her</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">mom and sister, who arent yet members. The Spirit led us to find this</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">little family and to testify the truth to their hearts.</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;"></span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">We have another investigator here in Olinte who should be babtized in</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">two weeks named Mynor. He is from a far away town called Coban and</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">his native language is Kekchi. This week he progressed a lot more</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">than he had before and now really wants to be babtized. I feel like</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">the Lord is really blessing us lately and helping us to find a lot of</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">really prepared people. Although right now I feel like we are having</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">some good success, its important to realize something. I know what it</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">feels like to go lots of months without babtizing anyone and I also</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">know how it feels to be babtizing almost every week. Babtizing is</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">very important, but its not the key to happiness in mission work.</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">Living worthily, working hard, and doing the best we can to share the</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">Gospel is what helps us have a long lasting happiness. We cant have a</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">happy life if we dont have the Spirit, and we cant have the Spirit if</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">we do things we shouldnt be doing. Even though my time in the mission</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">is coming to an end, Im no where near perfect but I honestly do feel</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">really happy and that my conscience is clean.</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;"></span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">I shared some scriptures that I really liked in this last district</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">meeting. Some people got angry at what Christ taught, which we can</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">see in John 6:66, "From that time many of his disciples went back, and</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">walked no more with him." Christ then asked his apostles, "...Will ye</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">also go away?</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">Verse 68 says, "Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">go? thou hast the words of eternal life." Do we walk with Christ? Do</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">we remember the sacrifice He made for us? If we can all focus on His</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">Gospel I know that we can all have "eternal life" and life forever in</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">our families. I love you all and hope you all have an excellent week!</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-79152578750559928942016-05-16T17:06:00.003-07:002016-05-16T17:06:55.965-07:00Hi guys!!<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">
Today was a lot of fun, for P day my district and I went to a little organic, family owned chocolate factory, it was awesome! We had a chocolate waterfall, learned how to make chocolate, and tried a whole bunch of desserts. Then we went to a Mexican restaurant, overall it was a ton of fun and we all had a good time. Being at the chocolate place reminded me just how amazing Xela is. In 22 months Ive never seen someone get robbed or anything like that, everyone is really nice, the weather is almost always perfect, and it feels a lot like Utah Valley because there are a ton of chapels and even a beautiful temple. Mission Quetzaltenango is the best, anyone called to this mission is certainly blessed.<div>
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This week we had a multi zone conference with president which was excellent. We talked about our goals and making plans, two things that used to be really difficult for me but Ive been improving a ton. Ive come to realize that I would have been able to accomplish a lot more back home if I would have taken some time to organize myself a little and analize my goals, but at least now Im learning from past mistakes. President focused on the importance of being obedient and trusting in Heavenly Father because even if we had perfect goals and plans ultimately we arent in charge nor can we force people to join the church. There are always trials in life but I feel a lot more excited now that I understand how to plan well, things tend to work out a lot better!</div>
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We had 7 investigators at church, 5 of which have babtism dates which was super awesome! Our investigator Juri is doing well, she has been a little bit nervous for her babtism for <a dir="ltr" href="x-apple-data-detectors://1" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">the 28 of may.</a> I told her that before the mission I was reallly nervous too and honestly it wasnt too much fun saying goodbye and getting on a plane. But my eyes have been opened, Ive seen a lot of miracles, and Ive changed so much so it has been the best experience of my life so far. We are hoping she can follow through with her goal and be babtized.</div>
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We had "Family Week" here in Central America this week but sadly we didnt recieve too many references. Sometimes its hard for our members to share the gospel, though we did get one really solid reference who came to church so that was good. There was a culture night in the stake center, it was really cool because half of the branch in Sija went and preformed a little traditional dance. The longer Ive been in the mission the more love I feel for the amazingly humble and kind people that live here.</div>
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I know that the gospel of Christ is what will help us be happy. We cant live how we want to and expect to be happy. It requires a lot of humility to accept the gospel and do what God expects of us. I love Him and know that we can return with Him and live as an eternal family. I love alll of you and espero que tengan una buena semana! </div>
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Elder Call </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-28019821186221474622016-03-28T20:30:00.000-07:002016-03-28T20:30:01.921-07:00Semana Santisima!<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">
This week was awesome! Angela, who was babtized last week, got confirmed on Sunday. Our investigator Juana in Nahuala, remember the old lady we started teaching? got babtized and confirmed this weekend. One top of all that, this week we found 23 new investigators, which is the most Ive had in one week in my whole mission. Lots of families and people who seem really prepared, we are pretty excited and have a lot of high hopes for this week!<div>
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On Tuesday the Asistants came to my district meeting, which was good though a little bit stressful because there where 11 people there and I was a little bit undecided on what I needed to focus on. We talked about Chapter 10 of Preach my Gospel and focused on asking questions. I began loooking in the New Testament and thought it was so interesting that Christ often answered peoples questions with a very profound, divine question. The scribes and farisees (I have no idea how to spell that in English haha) always were criticizing Christ, especially about things like the Sabbath Day and other parts of the Law of Moses. He taught them the true doctrine and He did it in such an interesting, deep way. My companion and I have been focusing on beign better teachers and teaching like Christ taught and loving as He did.</div>
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On of the new families we found, well, was just a big miracle. There are a lot of little shops in peoples houses that we call "tiendas" and most of the time we dont contact in tiendas because they are usually busy and always work on Sundays. My companion felt inspired to knock on the door of a tienda and we found a scruffy looking guy named "Sender" (yes, "Sender") stripping copper wire to sell the copper, which reminded me of what happened when we were building our house back home but this man was super nice and let us in. We taught lesson 1 to him and his wife, which went very well and the Spirit was strong. They are from the coast, dont go to a church, and at the end asked us about babtism so we are very excited for the appointment we have with them tonight. </div>
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On Easter we went to Stake Presidents house. He lives in our ward but obviously is always pretty busy. Their house is super nice wow, I felt like I was back home in the States! His family is very kind, we showed them pictures of our families and watched the video "Halleluyah" that the church made for Easter. They told us that they are willing to help with whatever family we are teaching so we should be going to their house with Sender and his family. To top it all off, they gave us some "Dots" candy so I would say that it was a good visit and that we built a lot of confidence with him and his family.</div>
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I dont have a lot more to say other than that I know that this is the true church. After studying the scriptures so much and praying and trying to keep myself so clean for so long, the Spirit confirms to me each day that these things are true. I know that we can all conquer death and that the Gospel is a gospel of happiness. How awesome is it knowing that we can be together forever! Helping other families realize this has been the biggest blessing of my life. I feel so greatful for the support that I recieve from the Spirit and also from the family. I love you all, feliz General Conference and we will talk next week! </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-24040427885926869292016-03-15T11:45:00.003-07:002016-03-15T11:45:44.418-07:00SPANISH!!!<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">
Hey well this week we had changes so it was a big week!<div>
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My new area is called Olintepeque and it is absolutely huge, we cover a ward and also a branch called San Carlos Sija. The area has a lot of giant fields and gated communities but there are still a lot of houses and the members seem really cool. Everyone speaks Spanish and I think the coolest part is that from pretty much any part of my area you can see the temple of Xela! My new companion is Elder English from Idaho, my first American companion in 20 months haha its been a lot of fun and we have been working like crazy this week.</div>
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We have a cool investigator named Nestor. His wife is kind of a less active member but has been reactivating. Wow, Nestor is so cool and is in 1 Nephi 16, just a really solid guy and he is going to be babtized <a dir="ltr" href="x-apple-data-detectors://0" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">on April 9th.</a> We have been going with him every other day and, though I havent been here very long, Im excited to see him grow and accept the Gospel.</div>
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Other than Nestor there werent really many investigators here in Olintepeque. We decided to work really hard and to talk with literally everyone. While knocking doors we found a guy named Cruz who let us in. He explained that his mom is really sick and that his dad passed away about 8 years ago. We taught him the first lesson and challenged him to read the Book of Mormon, but it didnt seem to us that he understood very much. We returned with him on Saturday and we were shocked but how much he remembered and liked the first lesson. We read the Book of Mormon with him, invited him to church, and he came!! I feel so happy that we came in contact with Cruz and we will continue helping him progress and learn about the plan of Salvation.</div>
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This week was my birthday and the sister missionaries in our area did something really nice for me and my comp. My companion doesnt really know a lot of the members, so the sisters talked with a member family and planned a little surprise dinner. We went to the members house at 8, read a scripture, then went to eat. I sat down and one of the members put a plate with two stuffed wrapped burritos in front of me. I thought to myself, "Can it be?" and it was: TACO BELL! After the delicious Taco Bell and some cake, the members gave me some candy and chips and stuff. It was an amazing day and I really felt the love of Heavenly Father has for me.</div>
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I know that Jesus Christ gave His perfect life for us. Lately Ive felt such a profound peace in my heart and just so... good. I know that we can all feel the peace that Christ offers us, before the mission I felt it from time to time but a lot of times I felt nervous about tests or friends or stuff like that. There are a lot of stresses as misisonaries and a lot of setbacks, but I notice that life is really just so good and that the hard times make the good times better. I love all of you and know that the Church is true. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-10479945178884050842016-02-10T12:29:00.002-08:002016-02-10T12:29:57.956-08:00Temple and blessings<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">This was a great week! </span><br />
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We went contacting on Tuesday and found 3 new families that dont go to any church, which for us was a huge miracle. One of those families has already come to church 3 times but never got babtized, so we will definitely work a lot with them. We found these families because we felt inspired to go contact a specific place even though there arent that many houses. Following the Spirit helped us find these families, which was a huge faith booster and now we have some investigators that are pretty positive. </div>
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On Thursday we went to the temple which is always a great experience. We went a little early and ate in the dining room as a zone. I bought a Book of Mormon picture book which will come in handy for teaching people who cant read too well. Our temple trip went well, afterwards we went to a zone meeting with President. We talked about repentance and the Gospel of Christ. President said that here in Guatemala there are more than 47,000 Evangalist churches! Before he told us he asked, "How many Evangelist churches do you think there are here in Guatemala?" A sister missionary replied, "How many street corners are there?" There are lots of challenges but the church continues to grow and we keep finding people to teach and its all because this isnt our work, its the work of the Lord!</div>
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I did divisions in an area called Chirijox with an Elder Fris from Argentina. Their area is right on the side of the mountain so we did a lot of climbing! We went to a part of their area called "Alaska" and, yes, its very cold. We taught some people, went back to Chirijox, taught a family... pretty good divisions and I learned a lot. When we got back to the house he taught me how to dance like Michael Jackson haha we had a good time and got a lot done with my "che".</div>
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DOMINGO HAS A BABTISM DATE FOR THIS SATURDAY! For us this has been a huge miracle, our ward hasnt babtized an adult man, with the exception of an old guy that went inactive and according to our information for about 2 and a half years. Our plan is to babtize Domingo and in a few weeks he should be able to babtized his son and in the future his wife will be converted. We are really excited and we feel blessed to have found Domingo. We need everyone to pray to bless Domingo and so that he can overcome any problems or pastors or whatever comes his way. </div>
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That was it for this week, I love you all! Thanks for always writing me and supporting me. Nos vemos!!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-34353626473151581962016-01-12T15:13:00.000-08:002016-01-12T15:13:18.359-08:00Good week!<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">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.</span><br />
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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!!</div>
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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.</div>
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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. </div>
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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)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-40240192630280678322016-01-05T10:04:00.000-08:002016-01-05T10:04:06.542-08:002015 in review!<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">
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!<div>
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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.</div>
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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. </div>
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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. </div>
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<object displaystyle="0" filename="DSCN3064.JPG" filesize="7701834" hasviewer="0" height="120" id="618D141F-3909-449C-9B6D-B611EDB9EE15" isdownloaded="0" isprinting="0" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; padding: 10px 23px 10px 0px;" type="apple/mailattachment" width="160"></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-69779087559877772702015-12-04T12:12:00.002-08:002015-12-04T12:12:29.490-08:00Miracles and a new house!<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">
Hey guys! Well like I told you last week the fair came to town. Things were absolutely nuts! We went through a really rough patch because a lot of our appointments fell. The Catholic church lit off millions of "bombas" all throughout the day, even at 4 00 in the morning haha. The good thing is that the fair is done and things should be normal until Christmas.<div>
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To tell the truth I am absolutely exhausted right now. The fair ended on Thanksgiving day, but I wasnt there because me and the zone leaders did a gigantic division. One of the zone leaders came here to Nahuala to look for a new house with my companion. I went with Elder Rojas from Panama to do a double division in San Cristobal. Elder Caseres and I first went with a guy named Santos to do a babtism interview. Haha I did an interview with him last week and he passed, but he didnt show up to his babtism!! Apparently his mom got sick so he couldnt go. Anyway the interview went well, Santos seems like a very nice, very humble guy. He uses a wheelchair because he was living in the USA but got attacked by a gang and got deported. Really sad storty but Im very greatful that he got babtized on Saturday!</div>
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After the interview with Santos I did an interview with a lady named Albertina. She also has a sad story, here kidneys are failing and doesnt have a lot of time left to live. Super humble, nice lady. She passed the interview with flying colors and also got babtized on Saturday!</div>
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After the interviews my companion and I went to do some visits with the sister missionaries. Their investigator wasnt home, but there was a family who wanted our help hauling fire wood from the mountain haha so that was pretty interesting. The service ended and we met back up with Elder Rojas and the companion of Elder Caseres to interview a family. Long story short is that the family isnt ready quite yet but their daughter Vilma got babtized and the elders will keep working with her family.</div>
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We got home, did our planning, then me and Elder Rojas had to talk about some companionship things with the other elders. I think this gigantic division was productive and I sure did learn a ton.</div>
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On Sunday we had some miracles happen. <a dir="ltr" href="x-apple-data-detectors://3" x-apple-data-detectors-result="3" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">Saturday afternoon</a> our appointments fell and we felt impressed to return to visit an old investigator. We dropped him because we kind of thought he was a little crazy and didnt really want anything. Anyway, we returned with him and invited him to church. He said he would come, but we still had some doubts. On Sunday at 745 we found him standing right in front of the chapel. He only stayed for 40 minutes but for us this was a huge miracle! A lot of people are super affraid of our church and dont even want to go inside. Having him come was such a huge blessing and we look forward to visiting him this coming week.</div>
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The other miracle also happened in church. After our investigator left a teenage girl walked in and sat in front of us. All the members started looking at here and asking, "who is she?" She wasnt wearing the typical corte dress of Nahuala so we were all a little confused. After the meeting we talked with her and turns out she got babtized 6 months ago in Guatemala City but returned to live here with her family. Her parents dont go to any church and her sister is Catholic but not really, we look forward to working with this family and with the Lords help they should be babtized.</div>
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Today we changed houses. Its a ton of work! Our new house is a LOT better, much bigger and I finally fit in the bathroom. Things are looking up in Districto Xeroxon!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-56039302107770532632015-11-16T19:41:00.003-08:002015-11-16T19:41:44.415-08:00Things are good!<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">As you can probably tell by the title of this letter, things actually improved quite a bit for us this week! We have been working like crazy lately, not necessarily with a ton of appointments but rather looking for positive people. To do so, we took members with us 6 out of 7 days, and some days we went with 4 different members. I feel like Im working more than I ever have in my whole mission and I can see a lot of great blessings in both my life and in our area.</span><br />
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This week we went to visit a guy named Jorge, who is extremly Evangelico but he always recieves us and is reading the Book of Mormon. We walked into his little workshop, where he was fixing something while listening to some Pastor "preaching" on Youtube. I could feel that there was a really bad spirit present, I dont like it when these "Pastors" take the Lords name in vain and, as we say in spanish, "estafan" a lot of people. Anyway, I felt inspired to put on a video by Jeffery R. Holland where he bears his testimony about the Book of Mormon. I kid you not, the Spirit of the entire room changed and we could all feel a much greater power in the little workshop. Even with this Spirit, Jorge went on a rant for about 25 minutes about how, apparently, Jospeh Smith WAS a prophet and that the Book of Mormon IS true, but that he would never come to our church. Moral of the story: Satan sure likes to make everyone super confused!</div>
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We went to a part of our area this week called "148", which is a little bit far but we found that the people speak spanish fairly well and also speak Quiche. We found a lot of people that had never seen missionaries before, so I think it might actually be a good idea to put a pair of missionaries there. </div>
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We set a babtism date with a guy named Eduardo this week. He listened to missionaries in the past, but kept falling in his addiction to alcohol and was also living with a girl though they werent married. He said he could come to church this next week, but we are a little bit confused because it appears that he may be living with his girlfriend again. I have a good feeling that he can change and be a powerful influence here in Barrio Xeroxon.</div>
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This week we had another miracle. Saturday was a really rough day, we went from appointment to appointment and nearly every single one fell through. We were pretty disanimated, and both me and my companion were thinking about maybe just giving up. We felt inspired to go visit a family of some members who had given us some references, and they decieded to go contact with us at 825, which is really late here. Anyway, we invited both families to church and guess what? One of them actually came! Thats a really huge miracle for us because everyone here is super fanatic about church and religion. We have a lesson planned with them on Tuesday, so thats something really exciting for me. </div>
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Personally, I feel that things are going pretty well. I kind of feel like Im in my prime as far as missionary work goes, I also feel a much stronger spirit with me at all times. Work, work, work really is key to missionary work. By working effeciently with our members like we have been doing here, I think my district would improve a ton and we would be doing what the Lord wants us to do. All is well down here in Guate, Love you all!!!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-25875384785857066492015-11-02T13:09:00.003-08:002015-11-02T13:09:46.797-08:00Elder Call goes to an entirely different planet!<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">Haha I think the title of this letter explains a lot! </span><a dir="ltr" href="x-apple-data-detectors://0" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">Monday night</a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;"> I said my final goodbyes to everyone in Brasilia and </span><a dir="ltr" href="x-apple-data-detectors://1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">Tuesday morning</a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;"> we headed to changes. My new area is called Xeroxon (try saying that one 3 times fast) in a little city called Nahuala. </span><br />
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Have you ever seen grown men wearing skirts? Or how about entire families bathing together in a little brick hut? Well, come on down to Nahuala! Everyone here speaks Quiche, in fact, there are very few people who speak spanish very well. Sometimes missionaries call this "Mission Nahuala" because the culture, climate, everything is just so incredibly different. Speaking of climate, it gets really cold here! I dont think it will snow but apparently next month the lows will be freezing or below. The mission work, due to all these factors, has been struggling for a long time. We have to use members to try translating for us because if not no one understands. Its an entirely different world here, lots of changes. </div>
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My new companion is a really good guy from Yucatan, Mexico. Waiting to see who your new companion is can be a little stressful, but Im glad that the Lord put me with my comanion Elder Kauil. Hes a great worker, maybe a little bit disanimated due to the lack of success in this area but hes an awesome guy. We have done a lot of careful planning and hope to elevate our ward here. I dont think it should really be a ward because we dont have a bishop, or councilors, or a mission leader, etc. There are about 100 people that come each week, but most are women and children. One of the stake councilors is in charge of our ward right now, lets just say that there is a lot of disorganization. </div>
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Thats about it for this week, these past few days everyone has been celebrating "Dia de los muertos" so its been really difficult having lessons. Im still trying to absorb everything and I want to know our area a lot better. I love you all!!!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-69510169417603124482015-10-12T14:03:00.003-07:002015-10-12T14:03:51.986-07:00Stake Conference!<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">
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Hey guys, this week went well! So last Monday we went and contacted a guy named Melvyn. At first he didnt seem too positive, but when we went back with him he had read and really liked the Book of Mormon. Hes an 18 year old that doesnt go to any church, though his family is Evangelico. My comp and I came to a conclusiĆ³n this week: we need to start teaching more families! Its good to teach individuals, but the Gospel is designed for eternal families. We tried to be friends with Melvyns mom this week, she even gave us some lemonade āŗ. We plan on working with Melvyns family this week, it may be a little challenging but we can do it!</div>
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We were a little bit bummed because Sandra, who had a babtism date, wasnt babtized. We decided to try teaching the Gospel to her dad, which was very interesting. They live pretty far up in the mountain, but we hiked up to their house and knocked the door. Her dad was fixing a watch or something but invited us in. He had another friend there, who joined in on the lesson. We taught the Resturation clearly and thouroughly, and in the end asked if there were any questions. The "friend" stood up and started attacking everything we said, even though we showed him that everything we teach is Biblical. He turned to Sandras dad, who was really convinced about what we had taught, and yelled, "Tell them to never teach Sandra again!" Sandras dad just looked at the ground and grunted, then after a moment the friend stormed off. This week we plan on working with the entire family and we are praying that all goes well. </div>
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Our stake conference was excellent! Elder Cesar Vasquez, an area seventy and mission president here in Quetzaltenango about 8 years ago, came and talked to us. President Smith also came, so it was a really spiritual meeting. I liked how Elder Vasquez talked about perfection, how we should always strive, "to be the best in whatever we do." The Spirit was incredibly strong in the two sessions we atended. The best thing is that Ever and Roxana, a family we have been teaching, came on Sunday, which is their 3rd time coming to church! </div>
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At the end of the conference, my convert Carlos was given the Melquesidec priesthood, which was a huge step for him. After the conference we passed by his house. He was sitting outside with his kids at a little desk with a pen in his left hand and a paper filled with "C"s and "D"s. "What are you doing?" we asked him. "Im learning how to write. Now that I have the priesthood, I need to learn more and be a better dad." It was a really tender moment, I have been really impressed by his humility and the great change Ive seen. </div>
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Thats about all that happened this week, I know the church is true! I know the Spirit will guide us if we are worthy and seek its presence. I love the scriptures and know we can learn so much if we will humble ourselves and study. Nos vemos!</div>
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<object displaystyle="0" filename="DSCN2811.JPG" filesize="8432328" hasviewer="0" height="120" id="EE4B94A7-20EA-4D98-A4EE-E004FA6713CD" isdownloaded="0" isprinting="0" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; padding: 10px 23px 10px 0px;" type="apple/mailattachment" width="160"></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-30807133805406158582015-09-30T21:32:00.000-07:002015-09-30T21:32:03.040-07:00Hello!!<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">
Hey guys, this week went well! First off, we had a multizone conference with President Smith. We talked about on how we can help the church here in Guatemala grow. For the last few years, at least here in Huehue, there have been babtisms but the church attendences havent really been going up. We talked about working with our members and inviting them to help in the work. A big thing that maybe we havent been doing too well is family history! After this meeting, we are definitely going to focus a lot more on helping our converts and members understand family history so they can go to the temple.<div>
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This week went well for us, we have been working a lot with a girl named Sandra. She works in a store right in front of the church, but she wasnt progressing for a long time. This week she finally talked to her dad, and he gave her permission to come to church! He also wanted to talk with us, so we are hoping that we can also start teaching him as well. </div>
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This week we were walking when we saw a couple trying to carry a bed. We offered to help, they accepted, then we talked with them for a while. They are brand new here and super positive! They have been looking for spiritual guidance and dont go to any church. When I was on divisions my comp talked with them and they said they would come to church. We were really bummed when they didnt come to sacrament meeting. During our class our bishop stuck his head in and said, "Elders, there is a family looking for you!" They came! They really enjoyed church, Im excited to start working with them. Miricales still happen!</div>
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I have some news... Eduardo babtized his daughter this week! They are still on track to being sealed in the temple, which is really special to me. His conversion inspires me to keep searching for families and helping them understand the gospel. I love the work, know its true, and love all of you!<br /><div>
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<object displaystyle="0" filename="DSCN2723.JPG" filesize="5620678" hasviewer="0" height="120" id="FFCE3B00-DBBC-413A-B403-451A3032809F" isdownloaded="0" isprinting="0" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; padding: 10px 23px 10px 0px;" type="apple/mailattachment" width="160"></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-83990020578955217662015-09-17T10:50:00.003-07:002015-09-17T10:50:54.363-07:00We did it!<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">
Hey guys, well, we did it! Carlos finally got babtized on Saturday and it was such an awesome experience. The Spirit was strong, this family has come so far in their progress so far and it will be exciting to see them keep progressing. In his interview with President Smith, Carlos says his next goal is to get sealed in the temple with his family. This whole experience has taught me that miracles still exist, that God still loves us. Through helping this wonderful family many lives will be blessed through their service and testimonies. What a great way to finish off this change!<div>
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Speaking of changes... my companion has changes tomorrow! It was super unexpected to me, but Heavenly Father sure has taught me a lesson. It doesnt matter where I am, who Im with, or if Im a leader or not. Im here to do whatever Heavenly Father wants me to do. I will do my best to work hard and to learn as much as I can. By the end of this next change I will have been a district leader for 6 months in the same area with 3 different companions, Im excited to make this next change the best one yet!</div>
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We have been teaching this 19 year old named Christian, he finally came to church yesterday! The only challenge with him is that he is a little, well, lets just say he has some strange ideas. We were talking about how God loves us and God wants us to have families. We asked, "Christian, would you like to have a happy family?" He responded, "Yeah, actually I want to have 2 families, 2 wives." Haha we thought he was joking but it didnt really sound like it! Christian needs a lot of help but hopefully he comes around, we will keep working with him!</div>
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I would just like to finish this letter with my testimony. This is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it, and knowing it has helped me change into a better person. I know that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet, that he actually did restore this wonderful Gospel. A year of prayer, fasting, experiences, and personal revelation have combined to give me a strong testimony. Every day I feel the Holy Ghost working through me, which is something that sadly didnt happen before my mission. I feel more confident, more love, and happier. My mind and thoughts are cleaner. I dont have as much anxiety as I did before. I can testify that the Spirit exsists and we can have its company if we try seperating ourselves a little bit from the world. We need to avoid distractions, we need to repent and keep in mind why we are here on this planet. I guess Im a living testament of somebody that has completely changed, so never give up on your goals or ambitions. President Hinkley once said, "Your best is good enough," so lets do our best to strenghten our testimonies and to be happier. Lets trust in our Savior! I know he will help us out. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.</div>
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Elder Call.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-35785295224737027412015-09-08T11:28:00.000-07:002015-09-08T11:28:56.610-07:00The week!<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">
Hey everyone! To be honest, there were quite a few distractions this week. Some of you probably know that there were elections this week, which is a really big deal here. A lot of people were working extra hard to make sure that their political party won or protesting, which meant not a lot of people in their houses! On top of that, my companion got sick because he ate 4 fried tacos from my convert Israel haha his food is not very clean. In spite of all the challenges, we focused on the good and did our best. <div>
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Carlos was supposed to be babtized this week, but due to some protesting President Smith decided not to come to Huehue. Its been kind of hard for both me and my companion to wait so long, but I guess this experience is teaching us Ā“pacience. Manuel and his family continue to do well, they couldnt come to church because they had to go vote in a village far away but promised to come <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://0" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">next Sunday</a>. We worked this week with a little boy named Alex, who is super cool but his whole family is Catholic. We recieved permision from the grandpa, mom, grandma etc. but something strange happened when we passed by to teach him. His aunt decided to join in on the lesson and I could tell that there was a bad spirit present. We will have to keep working with Alex, but I have faith that he can be babtized. We have some new people lined up to teach this coming week, so I hope some of them are positive!</div>
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I think some advice I would give for anyone called to the Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, mission would to bring waterproof everything! Though it hasnt rained too much this season, there will be times when we are super far away in the mountain and it will start dumping rain haha. My companion always says that this is the Rambo mission because of all the mountains, crazy languages, rain, etc... Speaking of my comp, things have been going well between us. Hes a great guy, its kind of funny to me because even though he is from Peru he is pretty much a Gringo. He has seen tons of movies, likes longboarding, used to be in the Peruvian military, loves pizza, we relate to each other well and it makes mission work a lot more fun. This next week is the last one of the change, so we will see if I have changes or not. Either way, Ive enjoyed training my companion and in a lot of ways he has trained me. </div>
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I would like to end with a scriptue, which I wont quote but I would like for you guys to look it up. I love 1 Nephi 17 15, I love Nephis rock solid example of righteousness. Do we simply "try" to keep the commandments or do we "strive" to live them? There are so many blessings that Heavnely Father wants to dump on us, but first we must do our part. I love the Gosepel and being here in Guatemala. Love you all! Que Dios les bendiga!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-83066299876588523912015-08-31T19:22:00.000-07:002015-08-31T19:22:19.554-07:00Hello!!<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">Hey family and friends, this week was a little bit crazy, sad, and happy all at the same time!</span><br />
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On Tuesday I did divisions with Elder Shoemaker. Even though it was a hot day one of their members left to do visits with us for 8 hours! We contacted all of his friends and it was really cool to hear his story. He served a mission in Guatemala about 15 years ago and now he is a body guard for the president of Guatemala. It was a great division and I learned a lot!</div>
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Lately we have been teaching a man named Manuel and his family. Its the very last house in our area, about a 35 minute walk (I say walk but its more like a strenuous hike haha) up into the mountains but Im certainly glad we found these guys. They dont go to any church and, though they may not be the smartest people, they are very humble and like listening to us. They have a babtism date for <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://0" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">the 3 of October</a> so please pray for them and we will do our best to help them.</div>
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Now what you all probably wanted to know about... the babtism of Carlos. Everything was going fine, Carlos was super excited up until the day of his enterview with one of our zone leaders. The interview lasted and hour and, though Carlos knows everything he needs to know, there was a sin that happened a long time ago. Our mission president just wanted to make sure he has repented, so he scheduled an interview for this Friday. The day after the interview we passed by to talk with Carlos and he told us, "Elders, Ive made my decision that I will not be babtized." We were wrecked! After working for so long and helping this family so much Carlos made up his mind. We tried responding to his doubts but still, nothing. Anyways, the next day was Sunday and Carlos didnt come to church. We scheduled an appointment with his wife and, after saying a prayer, I asked, "Do you guys have any questions or doubts?" I dont know why I felt like I needed to ask that question, but, after a few moments of silence Carlos opened up, "I just wanted to ask forgiveness for what I said yesterday. I was confused and a little angry about my interview, so I decided not to go to church anymore. Today in my work I felt so bad that I came home early and, while I was walking, the Holy Ghost revealed to me that I need to be babtized on Saturday. What time is my interview at?" How cool is that? </div>
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I testify that the Spirit is real, that God loves us and watches out for us. Regardless of what the world says, miracles still happen and the Spirit still exsists. In my personal study today I read 1 Nephi 4;6 which talks about how when Nephi went to retrieve the plates of brass he didnt know how he was going to do it, he only trusted in the Spirit. Lets trust in the Spirit and try our best to be worthy of it!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-34407067373722270742015-08-24T15:35:00.003-07:002015-08-24T15:35:48.528-07:00My week in 5 minutes!<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">
Hey haha I literally have 5 minutes so Im writing as fast as I can! <div>
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This week we went to the temple! The temple always puts things in perspective for me. Our entire zone went together in a tiny microbus, which was really packed but we made it in one piece. What a blessing it is to have a temple in our mission. It always helps me understand the purpose of missionary work, the "why" behind everything we do. We arent here to babtize but rather prepare families to enter the temple. After the session we had a meeting with our mission president, which was excelent as always. He talked about how God always keeps His coventants. If we do everything He says and keep our covenants, our lives will be so much better. </div>
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The other day we saw one of our investigators who came to church, an ex gang member named Fernando, in the street drunk! Alcohol is a huge problem here in Guatemala because, well, its really cheap. Anyways, we helped get him on his feet, walked him home, and we hope he will keep listening to us... we will see!</div>
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Carlos is getting babtized this week! This will be the first complete family that Ive had the privilige of doing the finding, teaching, and babtizing, so I think its an amazing blessing. The change Ive seen in this family has been dramatic. They read each night, pray together, pay tithing, everything. What a great blessing, its hard for me to explain how grateful I feel in email but its such an amazing feeling.</div>
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Apparently Russel M. Nelson was going to come to our mission this <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://0" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">coming Tuesday</a>, but his schedule got changed somehow. On Saturday he spoke to all of Central America from Honduras. Even though we didnt meet him in person, the spirit was really strong and we learned a lot. He focused a lot of the family. The plan of salvation is the plan of happiness. There is no other plan of happiness, and whats the key to happiness? The family! Thats why the apostles, prophets, everyone defends the family because, to be honest, the family is being attacked like crazy. President Nelson also gave us a long list of terms to study like coventants, Abrahamic Coventant, etc. It was an awesome conference!</div>
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Well thats about all the time I have for today. Today was cool because we went to the ruins of Zaculeau and finished off at McDonalds. This was a great week, we are working hard, being more obedient than ever, and all is well!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-59345480567954190952015-08-21T05:21:00.002-07:002015-08-21T05:21:52.711-07:00My week!<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">
This week was a good one! We had a zone meeting on Wednesday, which was pretty awesome. We talked about success in the mission, a subject that a lot of missionaries talk about. One of the main ways we can know if we had success in an area, according to our mission president, is if the church attendence goes up. Some elders may have a lot of babtisms, but how many people did they help convert? Converts dont necessarily have to be people that we babtized: they can also be less active members. It was a really good meeting and it put a lot of things in perspective.<div>
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This week we helped the Cox family move houses. Haha moving is always a lot of work but it was a good service project. And guess what? Lorenza, the mom, went to the temple on Saturday! It makes me so happy to have converts that go to the temple, thats where they need to be to truly become converted. Her husband Carlos came to church on Sunday and is on fire. He cant read or write, but I can feel the spirit in his voice during our lessons. Hes awesome!</div>
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Lorenza went to the temple and, speaking of temples... we are going to the temple tomorrow as a zone! I love the temple in Xela, its one of the most beautiful temples on the planet. There is such a great feeling of peace in the temple. As a missionary, we only go to the temple 2 times a year. I wish more than anything that we could go at least once a month. Its funny to me how back home the temple was only 3 minutes from my house but I didnt go as much as I should have. My invitation to all of you guys is to go to the temple! Its not far, it doesnt take too much time, and the eternal blessings make it totally worth the trip. </div>
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On the 25th a "special visitor" is coming to our mission, rumor has it that either Russel M. Nelson or Quientin L. Cook is coming. Our whole zone is really excited, Ill definitely let you guys know all about it! Love you!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-81018427766360884932015-07-28T08:57:00.000-07:002015-07-28T08:57:00.745-07:00The craziest week ever!<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">
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Well, I hope the title of this letter explains how my week was! WE BABTIZED A FAMILY!!! It was one of the most awesome experiences of my life. The Cox Family is the humblest, nicest family I have ever met. They were so prepared and ready for the Gospel. They dont have a lot of material things, or even much education, but they are flat out awesome. Now Im going to explain why things were so crazy!<br />
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Alright, so <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://0" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">Saturday morning</a> we went to the church (which is the stake center building) to fill up the font. At 10 30 we turned the font on, then we had to run to meet the zone leaders to grab the babtism clothing. As we were running back to turn off the babtism font we saw the wife of the second councilor walking away from the church. "Elders, the babtism font is pretty full you should go turn it off," she told us casually. I thought it was a joke, but the moment we opened up the chapel door we could tell that the babtism font was "pretty full," because there was about half an inch of water on the floor! Nearly the entire church building was full of water. Our church has tile floor thank goodness, but we still needed to clean everything up as soon as possible. I called my district and we got things cleaned up in about an hour and I learned a lesson: dont flood the church!</div>
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In spite of the little flood, the babtism service went well. I babtized Carlos and Valerio, my comp babtized Hermana Lorenza, and the elders quorum president, who is an 18 year old convert named "Tato," babtized the oldest son Vicente. On Sunday we went with Vicente to visit his cousin, who now has a babtism date for <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://1" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">the 29th of August</a>. The Lord is blessing us like crazy know. Many times, as missionaries, we might get down on ourselves. Months of rejection and trials can decieve us and make us feel like we arent doing a good job. But, with the help of Heavenly Father as well as the members, we can overcome our obstacles and become powerful servants of God.</div>
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Everything in my district is going fairly well. It still surprises me how some missionaries are kind of lazy, but Ive been trying to lead by example and do the best that I personally can. Next week my companion finishes his first transfer cycle in the field, crazy! He has learned a lot and is a great friend.</div>
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Things are going well down here in Guatemala. I know the Church is true. Ive really grown to love the Book of Mormon and its been helping me become a better man. I love Moroni 7 29, which I encourage you to read if you have a chance. God is still a God of miracles. He still loves us and wants the best for us. AdiĆ³s mis queridos amigos y familiares!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-85963872570669153932015-07-22T07:36:00.000-07:002015-07-22T07:36:30.355-07:00Oh esta, todo bien!!<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">
Hello family and friends! <div>
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Everything just seems to be going our way right now. Haha after many months of struggles and challenges the Lord seems to be blessing us like crazy. My companion and I are getting along really well, my Spanish continues to improve each day, and we have been finding and teaching a lot of new people.</div>
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This Saturday we are hoping to babtize a lady named Lorenza and her children. They are very receptive and love having us come over. Their story of conversion is kind of a miracle because one day they just showed up to church and wanted to be babtized! I especially admire Vicente, the 14 year old son of Lorenza. For the past month he has come to every mutual and to every single church activity. Lorenza has a little girl who has some mental problems, so she cant always come to the activities but the good thing is that her testimony is very strong.</div>
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This week we passed by with some members who are really poor. Now, I have been in Guatemala for a year and have seen a lot of poverty but this visit we made really impacted me. The little kids ran around without shoes and really worn clothing. No clean water and literally no food in the whole house. It really hit me just how much, just how many blessings we have back home. We are truly blessed and we need to thank the Lord for our blessings.</div>
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The coming week should be really good! Im excited to keep learning, growing, and to help others. Missionary work is very difficult but the difficulty makes it more rewarding. I love growing, sharing, and helping others come unto Christ. Adios!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-71989707127002038022015-07-15T10:56:00.002-07:002015-07-15T10:56:40.239-07:00A journey to Guatemala City!<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px;">
This week the secretaries called us. Every new elder has to get their visa in Guatemala City, so we went on Tuesday. It was a long trip! It was kind of weird to see tall buildings and lots of people. The people in the capital are different than they are here. Here in my mission, everybody says, "Buenas tardes," to each other in the street. We tried that in the capital, but nobody talked to us haha. It was a fun little trip, but we were definitely happy to get back to our area. <div>
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This week we had interviews with President Smith. I always love talking to him, hes a very humble man and always helps me out. He told me somthing I already knew but that really impacted me, "We learn by practice, we learn by practice..." As a trainer and a district leader, Ive been practicing a lot of new things and have learned a ton. By learning new things and putting them into practice, we can change our lives. We will become a lot more like our Heavenly Father. </div>
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We continue teaching the Cox Family. They are doing great! They now have 4 attendences at church. The dad still struggles to attend, but with a little time he will improve. Its been such a blessing to teach this family and see them grow in the Gosepl. Another investigator that is really cool is Lorenzo, a 15 year old dancer, singer, He is sooo cool. He is one of those rare investigators that just... get it. He understands everything and is progressing like crazy. I love the investigators that we have, they are amazing!</div>
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On Sunday we watched "Meet the Mormons" as a missionary activity. Wow, after watching that movie it makes me so happy to be part of the church. It makes me sad when people here reject our message or simply dont want to understand it. Without the Church and the Gospel of Christ, where are we in our lives? We cant be happy, we cant enjoy the many blessings that come from understanding Gods plan. Our investigators loved the movie, as did the members who watched it.</div>
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Well, thats about all I have for this week. I just would like to close with my testimony. The Church is true, and I say that because I honestly know its true. I know the Book of Mormon can help us live an amazing life, that it was inspired for our times and that it is true. Christ really did come, suffer, and provide the way for us to return home after this life. We must always progress in the Gospel, continue learning and putting the Gospel into practice in our lives. Love you all, enjoy your American summer and enjoy life!</div>
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<object displaystyle="0" filename="DSCN1857.JPG" filesize="11156400" hasviewer="0" height="120" id="095D4543-C680-4BC1-9FB7-1B663B52DF5D" isdownloaded="0" isprinting="0" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; padding: 10px 23px 10px 0px;" type="apple/mailattachment" width="160"></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-19062017917859208122015-07-09T14:56:00.002-07:002015-07-09T14:56:37.050-07:00Fasting and Chocolate Cake<div style="min-height: 100%; position: relative;">
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Hey family and friends well this week was really good. We were teaching a family, the Cox family, but we never had the opportunity to talk to the husband. This week the husband had some freaky health accident so he had to stop working and we stopped by to see how he was doing. We taught a lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and at the end of the lesson told us, "Im ready to stop working on Sundays and I want to go to church <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1025635078" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Sunday</span></span> with my family." The Spirit was increadibly stong and he said he wants to be babtized with his family. Every missionarys dream! Here in our mission finding and teaching a family is considered a huge blessing, but babtizing a whole family is a huge miracle. We are going to keep working with them and helping them accept and understand the Gospel. Keep them in your prayers and we will keep helping them out. <div>
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This week we decided to go up into the mountains and found a couple new investigators, which was desperately needed. We have been trying to be more efficent as we contact, which has helped us avoid wasting time. Theres no time to waste, each day goes by so fast! Speaking of time... <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1025635079" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">tomorrow</span></span> is my one year mark in the mission. The first few months felt like an eternity, and now? Half way done! One year left to serve full time as a missionary, I feel happy for all the experiences Ive had and Im ready to make a lot more.</div>
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My comp and I did a service project this week; we cut a members lawn. Now, that might not sound too difficult with a mower but the member only had two machetes. Yep, we cut his huge lawn with machetes haha, lets just say that lawn mowers are a lot better! That was a highlight of the week, with another one being that we had 8 investigators at church. We are working hard and improving each day. A goal I have is that I, my companion, and my district improve each and every day. Ive been setting little personal goals each day, from memorizing things to learning more spanish and even improving my handwriting. <img class="CToWUd" goomoji="330" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/e/330" style="margin: 0px 0.2ex; vertical-align: middle;" /></div>
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Well, you may be wondering about the title of this letter. The other day was fast <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1025635080" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">sunday</span></span>. At about <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1025635081" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">8:00 P.M.</span></span> my companion and I were still fasting, and, as you can imagine, very hungry. We passed by a members house and they invited us into the kitchen. What was sitting on the counter? A giant, delicious-looking chocolate cake from a really expensive resturant here called Monte Alto. They offered us two gigantic slices, which we gladly accepted but we asked if we could take it home with us. They agreed and we headed off to the last appointment happily carrying along our chocolately treasure. We hid the cake outside of the house and began teaching Abel, a less-active returned-missionary and his friend, Alfonso. We watched the John Tanner story about sacrifices and afterward asked the men we were teaching to tell us how they felt. They explained to us how they too had lots of challenges. Turns out that <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1025635082" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Saturday</span></span> they didnt even eat the whole day because they had no money and no food. I then thought about my own hunger, which was a hunger I could rapidly and easily quench. I then thought about that yummy chocolate cake sitting outside. My comp and I were very excited to eat the cake, but as we were leaving the home I grabbed our cake and handed it to Abel. I said, "Here, we brought this for you guys to eat." They looked a little shocked but very, very grateful. We left that appointment still physically hungry but with the spiritually filling of Heavenly Fathers love. I know that by small things great things are come to pass. My invitation is that we look for those who are hungry or lost, look for those who are sad or forgotten and that we may lift them up. Thats what Christ did and, though I certainly need to improve, thats what I want to do from now on. I love you guys and hope you have a great week helping others become what God whats: happy. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-26410544306850651122015-06-22T15:47:00.002-07:002015-06-22T15:48:22.718-07:00Crazy week!<br />
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What a week! So much happened this week. I got called to be a trainer, so <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1143444062" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">tomorrow</span></span> we are going to Xela and Im getting a new companion straight from the mtc. Im very excited to train. We went to a new trainers meeting, we got there 20 minutes late which wasnt good but the mesages were amazing. Our president pretty much said, "Your missions determine your lives. Your trainer determines your mission," We also talked about obedience and following the Spirit at all times. Theres only one gringo coming in this group so I will likely get a latino comp. Big changes!<br />
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Im also really excited because our investigator Israel got babtized. He is the definition of a golden investigator. Whatever we taught him, he applied it and changed his habits. The babtizm was awesome. His friend Emilio, who is a temple worker, performed the babtism and it was sooo cool. I also found out that my investigator Lupe from San Mateo got babtized. Cool stuff!</div>
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In this coming change Im looking to change a lot of things. I want to burn our area and find EVERYONE that can possibly be converted to the Church. With the energy of my new companion and the Lords help, we should be able to do it. I love the work and especially feeling the Spirit. I dont have a lot of time, but know that this is Gods work and His church. He only wants us to be happy and return to live with him. We can do it! We just need to work, change, and come closer to Christ. Bye!</div>
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I love you!!</div>
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Israel's baptism!</div>
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Just chillin with my zone at some ruins!</div>
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Finally found my old car!</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-52049789026868424672015-06-04T17:04:00.002-07:002015-06-04T17:04:09.937-07:00Summertime!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Hey guys! Today is the first day of June, which means the year is already half over. Ive been noticing that my letters home havent included much detail, which is something Im going to change!</span><br />
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Well this was a good week. Our investigator Israel is doing great. Hes about 55 years old and has a taco stand. He always likes us over and we are almost done teaching him the lessons. He doesnt always understand everything, but he tells us that the Book of Mormon gives him a great peace. He is awesome! His friend Emilio always helps us out, which is awesome becuase Emilio is a temple worker and former stake president. We have the babtism date for the <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_799798011" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">20th of June</span></span>, so Im excited.</div>
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We have a lady named Dilma we are teaching. Shes 24 and likes the church, but her boyfriend is kind of a jerk and doesnt like the church. We have a lesson with her tonight... I hope it goes well. We have also been finding random kids that havent been babtized, drunk people that want our help, and a lot of inactives that want our help. Overall, things are improving each day. When I got to the area, nothing was happening! Now we have quite a few prospects and Im loving it. </div>
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This week was stake conference. President Smith came, as well as the temple president. They talked a lot about being worthy of others trust. If people dont trust us, they will never be babtized. On the other hand, if God doesnt trust us then he cant give us blessings. We really have to sacrifice and give our all to God. We cant fall down to the tempations of Satan! I love a scripture in Nehemiah 6:3. He says, "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?" We have to rise up, help others come to Christ, and become better people each day.</div>
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Everything is going well in my district. We have 10 babtism dates which is really good considering a lot of zones only babtize like 4 or 5 each month. This next week we are going to really hammer down and get work done. I dont want any regrets and I know no one else does. I love the work and know its true. I love you guys so much! I love the gospel and how much sense it makes. God loves us so much that He gave His son. If we live the Gospel we will understand it and never fall away. I love you guys!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03923680686209356131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789062189947690149.post-91722609932107747632015-05-20T14:58:00.003-07:002015-05-20T14:58:56.546-07:00Elder Call goes to HueHue!<br />
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Hey guys, well this week I got changes and I am now in Huehuetenango! Our zone, Calvario, is awesome. My area is called Brasilia. Its a ward and our church building is the stake center. I can see that there is a ton of potential here but... lets just say my companion and his old companion werent really working, like, at all. My new companion is 18 years old, has 3 months, is from Nicaragua, and has a cool accent. He was pretty disobedient with his trainer and they literally did nothing here. Hes a cool guy though, I think Im helping him out a lot. There are about twice as many people than in San Mateo, so I think there will be a lot of people to teach.<div>
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Well this week I did a division with Elder Mcvey, who is a good friend of mine. We worked suepr hard and had a great day. I think being a district leader will help me grow as a person and learn a ton. </div>
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This week we mainly tried looking for members to talk to, as well as contacting a ton of people. There are some really cool people in my area. The good thing is that here the people are a lot nicer and less fanatic about religion. We talked to one member who got babtized when he was 16, back when Huehue only had 30 members. He was later called as a bishop and even stake president. One day he was checking recomends at the temple when someone walked in. The man looked at the member funny, and asked his name. He told his name, and the strange man who walked in looked in a journal and guess what? The man who walked in was the elder who babtized this member, only 45 years older. This story really motivated me to find the chosen people and help them accept the gospel. We are pretty much opening the area, so it will be a little rough at first. I know, however, that God will help us and that we will be successful. Im excited to work, grow, and become a better missionary. Peace!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRfjLaQxMdu-fanCeK00Mgq22NSwuDD27tsqGOkCXgxQCw1RRYWhvXI8wC9edL1H3UK_tbqyqXP1kEn8phqXaWz1yjjRMwRiukZKu68u_nQIK2eAbbQV-Z9clXoTa281CiSb3blREP31Fi/s1600/IMG_7862.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3EXgU7T8LN1uOgsVhClamgxN_5MlA-TdcMzkslRBxVtvw0T_7ryZ-s2UfWTQm5ql9cp46SNegelpP-kah_lZam6GY5LF9g_jPx5D7tyKq0C8pF0BiESZcYFxZS-3hdclIRjx7BYdatZSI/s1600/IMG_7781.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3EXgU7T8LN1uOgsVhClamgxN_5MlA-TdcMzkslRBxVtvw0T_7ryZ-s2UfWTQm5ql9cp46SNegelpP-kah_lZam6GY5LF9g_jPx5D7tyKq0C8pF0BiESZcYFxZS-3hdclIRjx7BYdatZSI/s320/IMG_7781.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The new baby</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3EXgU7T8LN1uOgsVhClamgxN_5MlA-TdcMzkslRBxVtvw0T_7ryZ-s2UfWTQm5ql9cp46SNegelpP-kah_lZam6GY5LF9g_jPx5D7tyKq0C8pF0BiESZcYFxZS-3hdclIRjx7BYdatZSI/s1600/IMG_7781.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKXIxnrhWSWxK15ySu2MJZ33b6YSwSKE1w6I8c81neUHmHUyRhxELzBSavV14RGbjNIDSzIXAv0RDPjmnTQ3CBNgSHPY8F-IkkL5NFVJb_N4Hsqn5kgf02MR7E-e6THQqLCt93GnN-OoDw/s1600/IMG_7861.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKXIxnrhWSWxK15ySu2MJZ33b6YSwSKE1w6I8c81neUHmHUyRhxELzBSavV14RGbjNIDSzIXAv0RDPjmnTQ3CBNgSHPY8F-IkkL5NFVJb_N4Hsqn5kgf02MR7E-e6THQqLCt93GnN-OoDw/s320/IMG_7861.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saying good bye to Edwardo and his family-pretty much the best members ever</td></tr>
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