hey family, i'm always glad to hear from my fam. i can´t believe madeline is engaged…thats nuts… i’m really happy for her. i’m glad to hear ben is tearing it up in rugby…i expect nothing less…ha,ha. ok, so guat…freakin…guat, what a place…i’m loving it here! its so hot but its so fun. i am drenched all day in sweat but i’m kinda used to it now but still uncomfortable. i counted the amount of mosquito bites on me this morning and i have 45 on my body. we moved houses from that tiny shack to a much nicer house which is great but it has freakin mosquitoes. its rough and i have to do something about it because that is just not doable…i mean, that is absurd. im just glad im not rachel because rachel, well she would probably be dead. i just have to remember that this mission is not for me. it is about giving the only thing i can give to god and that is my time. we have agency to do whatever we want at anytime so the only thing we can truly give back to god, that isn´t already his, is our agency. so i just have to remember that serving god and saving souls is what this is about. because right now its like 90 degrees and im sweating. but in about 1 month its going to be 110 degrees everyday and im going to die. im still loving my companions and they are both awesome. elder bonilla, my trainer, is a stud and is always working and wanting to teach…its awesome! he is the man and is a really, really, good guy. my other comp, elder Ortega, is also great if we can just get him working. he is a tad bit lazy and a lot of times doesn’t want to work but he’s still a great guy. man i love teaching the people…its incredible! i can´t remember what i said in last weeks letter but there is this one family that we are teaching right now that is incredible. she’s a single mother with 4 kids all under the age of 6. she lives in a beat up wood shack with no running water or electricity and no bathroom. i don’t think she works because she doesn’t have time but i don’t know for sure. anyway, we invited her to get baptized and she said yes. its incredible to think that she has nothing, no money, no water, and no food but she has something much greater then that. she has something most of the world doesn’t have and that’s the church. hopefully she will pull through with her baptismal date…the 9th of feb i believe. i also had my first baptismal invite this week with another one of my investigators named auri. she is 22 and has a 6 month old daughter. she is the oldest sibling in a family of like 5. they don’t have a mom because she passed away and the dad has not been in the family for many years. so she takes care of the entire family plus her siblings. she’s an incredible girl. anyway, i asked her to be baptized and she couldn’t commit but the spirit was so incredibly strong. so we told her that we will help her prepare for baptism. we also invited her to come to church and she did. one of her younger brothers, who is 14, is already a member. she will get baptized though it just will take a little more time. you can tell she is about to say yes but there is just something holding her back. she hasn’t prayed about the BOM yet but when she does that’s when she will say yes finally. so my first baptismal invite was a cool experience. as far as my spanish goes it is definitely getting better. i went from not understanding anything to now being able to pick out words and phrases. so i am improving and i can almost tell what people are trying to say. oh, and let my clarify, i can understand most things when teaching because i know the vocab and the spirit helps me understand what is going on also. that is incredible by the way…being told what is going on by the spirit. its not exactly word for word but i can understand what is going on. as far as talking with normal people though about normal things that is much, much, harder. in those situations i can only pick up words and phrases. i do think i am getting better with my spanish though which is great. in lessons i teach a little bit but mostly just bear my testimony and testify of what my companions are teaching. it is kind of a drag having 2 other comps just because i don’t get as much time to practice teaching in lessons. this week we also did divisions with the zone leaders. i had elder ware come with elder bonilla and i. that was really fun teaching with someone who has been on a mission for almost 2 years and with someone that speaks english and can explain to me what is going on when i need that extra help. the zls are awesome though and they are in our area so i see them all of the time. they are both from the states so its fun talking English…ha,ha. i actually rode in the tuk tuk over to this internet cafe i’m in with them. they are really good guys. oh, another something that is going to take some time to get used to is that moms just whip out their boobs and start breastfeeding in any situation at any time. it really catches a greenie like me of guard. like we will be teaching and then…whooop there it is and its like what the freak is going on here! its just normal i guess so, ha,ha, im trying to get used to it. oh, another cool thing is we hitchhike everywhere and its a total blast. we’ll just be walking on the side of the road and then we run and hop in the back of a pick up truck for a ride. its too bad you cant do that in the states. as far as our new house goes i will send you some pics of it and some other pics from this week. oh, and mom i will send you my mailing address next week because i dont have it with me right now and thanks for emailing my priesthood line of authority. yes, i can only pick up my email once a week on pday. did you get the package i sent home from the mtc? i love all you guys and i miss all of you. i hope everyone is doing well in alamo.
this is where i am right this minute in ilse de flores in peten sitting in an
internet cafe.....
this is a lizard we found outside of church
i look like a tard i know but its me with the lizard on my shoulder
elder ware and i. he is once of the zone leaders for peten. oh funny story he
lives is spanish fork and is really good friends with chris and guy. he is in
their ward
classic elder bonilla my trainer in our old house. thats the kitchen in the
back ground pretty nice...sike
a better view of our old houses kitchen
our church we attend every sunday a couple other times a week for
meetings
a couple of other pics of the lake right where i am serving. everyone has told
me that the most beautiful part of the entire mission and even of the country. that is
where i am serving. so not just the district but that actual area i am in right
now.... san jose peten guatemala is freakin awsome!!!!
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