Crazy week!

What a week!  So much happened this week.  I got called to be a trainer, so tomorrow 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!

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!

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!

I love you!!

Israel's baptism!

Just chillin with my zone at some ruins!

Finally found my old car!

Summertime!

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!

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 20th of June, so Im excited.

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.  

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.

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!

Elder Call goes to HueHue!

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.

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.  

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!

Part of my zone!

The new baby

Saying good bye to Edwardo and his family-pretty much the best members ever

The winds of change!

Hey guys, there are a lot of changes coming my way!  The other day President called and told me that Im getting transferred.  He also told me Im going to be a district leader, so tomorrow I get a new companion, new area, and a lot of new responsabilities!

I was thinking about my time here in San Mateo.  6 months haha, thats a long time!  When I first got here there werent any investigators, the church asistance was around 80, and the branch just wasnt doing too well.  6 months later?  Asitance averages 125, we have two babtism dates, and we are doing a lot of activities to motivate the branch.  I have seen many miracles here and have really learned a lot.  Missionary work is,more than anything, just love.  If we express our love for everyone, lives change, miracles happen, and happiness spreads.  I think love is so important because if we show our love for others God will show his love for us.  

Its kind of a bitter sweet feeling leaving an area.  I feel happy because I get to meet new people, but at the same time its a little bit sad.  Theres a widow in our ward that we went to visit yesterday to say goodbye.  She just started crying and crying.  Ive been a part of many lives here, Ive seen so many changes and people progressing.  

Im going to miss a lot of people here in San Mateo, but Im ready to move on and help more people.  There are so many humble, nice people here in Guatemala that need a lot of help.  I know that Christ loves us and He will help us overcome our challenges.  The church is true!  My testimony of the Gospel, after talking to Jehovahs Witnesses, Catholics, Adventists, Evangelists, Protestants, and even Atheists, has never been stronger.  I know that we possess the fulness of the Gospel, what a great blessing!  This coming week a lot will change, but my testimony of the truth will never change.  I love you guys!  Suerte y sigan adelante en la obra de Dios

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

It's raining, it's pouring!

Rain!  The rainy season has officially started here in Guatemala.  This week it rained a ton!  Its really nice though, it was getting really hot for these past few weeks.  

This week went well, we found a new family to teach.  The mom is catholic, the dad doesnt go to any church.  We had a great lesson with them and we have another one with them today.  We had 4 investigators in church which was awesome!  Rosa and her daughter, along with a lady named Betza and her son. We put a date with our investigator Lupe for the 13th of June.  I would say things are going fairly well here!

This week we had interviews with our mission president.  I really like something he said, "We can fill our day with activities, or we can fill our day with results."  I think a lot of times as missionaries, students, etc. sometimes we feel like we are doing a lot because we are busy.  The truth is though, if what we are doing doesnt help us accomplish our goals, its a waste of time.  We have to be obedient and work hard if we want to have miracles.  The mission is a time for us to change and become our best selves.

I love fasting, I think its such a wonderful blessing.  Its super hard here in the mission because we still have to work, but I sure can feel the blessings. I love being a missionary because we get to help so many people.  Its a great blessing and I know it will bless my family and friends.  I love you guys!

Howdy!

Hey guys, this week was hot!  Our house is pretty small so it really heats up.  One thing we don't have here in Guatemala is air conditioning.  This week was pretty crazy because we were supposed to have a babtism!  We had put a babtism date for our investigator Lupe for this Saturday.  We were pretty excited and so was she.  The only thing is... she had her baby on Friday!  Haha not the best timing.  The good thing is that her baby is healthy and everything.  Her dad came to church with us and he really liked it.  This family is super smart and I love being able to teach them.

Well this week we had a missionary activity.  We watched "17 miracles" and gave everyone popcorn.  It was a success, we had like 40 people come.  During the movie, I put our cellphone in my pocket.  I had a thing of Super Glue in my pocket, and, somehow, it exploded and covered our phone!  That was kind of a bummer, but we went and changed it out today.  

This Sunday Edwardo blessed the sacrament and he did great.  His family is doing super great and they are pretty much the nicest, most devoted members in the whole branch.  One year and they are going to the temple! 

We continue looking for more investigators, but its been really tough.  Our area is pretty burned over, which frustrates me.  We are doing our best though.  I love being a missionary!  Its so great.  Ive been kind of tired lately, haha really tired.  Serving a mission takes a lot of energy, effort, attention, etc.  But it changes us and makes us better.  God lives!  I know there are prophets that recieve revelation.  I know the church is true, this is Gods work, and that we can ALL live again.  

Edwardo entered the water!!

Hey guys, well this week was awesome because we had a babtism!  After 4 months of teaching, reactivating, an extortion attempt, and lots of prayers, we babtized our investigator Eduardo.  It was pretty much the best day of my life.  Him and his family have changed so much.  They are so great.  We held the babtism on Saturday at 5.  President Smith came and gave a talk about the Holy Ghost.  He said something that impacted me: "The Holy Ghost is the best gift that God has given us."  He spoke for like 10 minutes and the spirit was so strong.  Then Eduardos daughter bore her testimony and we performed the babtism.  It was so amazing, the spirit was so strong.  This family went from inactive to a totally active, tithe paying, commandment keeping family.  Their next goal is the temple and we will help them get there!

Now we are looking for new people to babtize... we did have Lupe and her dad come to church.  They are the smartest guatemalans that I have ever met.  They are pretty poor, but have read like 100 pages of the Book of Mormon and understand everything we teach.  The dad even says he likes the Book of Mormon better than the bible because its more clear.  The only problem is that Lupe is pregnant haha and is about to have her baby like, this week.  The dad though could possibly get babtized on the 9th of May, which would be sweet.

Other than that Ive been trying to help my companion a lot.  He cant speak Spanish too well and Ive been helping him teach better.  Its been really humbling, when we pray aloud he always says things like, "Help me be able to know how to use the computer and speak spanish better.  Thanks for letting me become a member of the church..."  Hes a good guy, Ive learned a lot.

Well thats about it!  I love you guys and I love America haha.  The church is true, thats something Ive learned each and every day.  The principles of the Gospel help us be happy.  If we follow them, we are happy.  If not, we are sad.  Its that simple!  Peace!

Edwardo, my companion, and President and Sister Smith

My Zone! 

San Mateo