Peten (week 84)

just let me tell you guys that i am just so happy to get your letters every week and to know that you are all doing great back home.  i cant believe that rach is now married... i just cant beleive it. mom i hope that your birthday was great because i was thinking about you a lot. l love you lots and i hope you had a great day.

Wow so ya i can't believe that i am here in peten. i was pinching myself all week because i thought i was dreaming but then i realized that i wasn't at all because i was soaking wet walking around all day from all the sweat. ya it's just as hot as i remember. this week was great though. we had a district meeting in san andres and i saw a ton of people that i knew from a year ago. the best though was that we had district conference on sunday so the entire branch of san andres came down to the conference and i saw all the people that i had known before. the best part was seeing jorge and delfina. they are going to get sealed in the temple this next month. i cant believe it and i'm so happy for them. also ruban and his wife daisy who i taught and they got baptized like 2 weeks after i had left are going to get married and sealed in the temple the same day in the cap sometime in September. let me tell you that that is the best. so crazy. when i saw delfina and jorge i saw that they were holding a baby but i never thought that it was theirs but it is. how time flies they have a baby and i was there for when they got married. so crazy how time flies. man i love that family and i'm so happy that i got to see them again. i will go visit them again though when i go to san andres to do divisions here in the near future.  this week in our area was good as well. it's different than san jose because i'm right on the beach like i was in san jose. that is one of the most beautiful places on earth i'm convinced... its incredible but it is just so freakin hot. our area is good though although we didn't have the help of the members at all this week. that is a lot different than coban because in coban i had a member with us visiting all day everyday. we put a fecha though this week with a patajo named chalio. he went to church as well as the priesthood session of the district conference. the district conference was great though and i was able to feel the spirit so strong. i know i have said it before but i will say it again my mission president is just the best in the entire world. i'm not kidding you guys would loooooooooooovvveeeeeee president curtiss he is the best. a 70 also was there and he gave a couple great talks. overall it was a great week and my comp and i started going to the gym we go every morning at 6. life is all good right now. i'm loving it. something my mission president said that i loved is that repentance isn't a bad thing even though we often times look at it like that because it often time hurts to do it but its the biggest blessing that we have.  we can repent and the feeling we get when we truly repent is the most dulce feeling you can have in all your life. i have experienced it and i cant wait to share with you my personal repentance stories and personal revelation i have received after the mission. i have a strong testimony of the church and i love sharing it with anyone and everyone here in guat especially in a language i have just come to love. i love love love spanish so much and i'm going to be so sad that i cant speak it every moment of everyday when i get back. repent family when you need to because like i said the feeling you get when you do it is the best feeling you can get. love you all and hope that you all have a great week!

elder call

I Got a Change (week 83)

First off happy birthday mom. i cant imagine what it feels like to be turning 35 how time flies. let me just tell you that you are the best and i love you so much. i'm positive there is not a better mom in the world. how did i get so lucky to have you as my madre. i'm not just saying though mom your really are the best and i just don't get why even though everyone says that you don't believe them. it's good though because if you believed them you would be sooooo cocky just think about how cocky you are with your lemon squares hahaha no but really mom i love you so much and you're the best. wow i cant believe chel is going to get married that's nuts. i cant believe it. i'm so happy for her.  i'm sure the wedding will be great. where is the reception and what temple is she going to go to?

ya so as you can see i have got a change to............... ZONA SAN ANDRES. i am not going to be in san andres but it will be in my zone and i will be able to do divisions there and go to san jose and visit all my converts and all the people that i love soo much. i'm soooooo excited like soooooooo excited.  that was my number 1 pick if i could have picked my change i would have picked that. i'm going back  to peten and i cant believe it. i am jumping up and down right now. you know what that means as well?  It means that i have been able to go back to every one of the areas that i have had in the mission and that just never ever happens. man i really can't believe it and i'm serious... i don't think i will until i get off the bus and feel the humid bloody hot heat hit my skin. i'm going to die but hopefully it will help me get down to my goal weight for when i get home haha. so that is the good news. the bad news is that i had to say goodbye to everyone here in my area. that blew. god had blessed my comp and i with sooo much success. we killed it together. i'm sad i'm not going to be with my best friend elder brito is the best. i loved our time together.  wow i don't want to go into detail right now because i will cry haha but i am so sad to leave the people i love here. marcia caronlina and edwin have changed 100 percent they are pilas in the church and will stay that way i'm sure. henry is the man and he said maybe our kids will be comps in the mission haha. edson, jefferson, claudia, y octavio wow that was a hard goodbye.i love that family so much. they are just the best. ingrid y syda are so sweet and i will miss them along with natividad.  it was a very hard sunday very very hard. i love all these people so much. i am so grateful for the time i have had here and i am going to die of the heat in peten. i'm really excited though and cant wait to get working. i love you all so much and hope you have a good week. oh and i don't really write you that much because i can just tell these stories when i get back and it will be way better haha. love you all have a fantastic week!

Elder Call

in front of the curch with 7-10 converts in this area

edson jefferson and claudia

carolina edwin and marcia

henry

eating kak ik with marcia edwin and carolina. they are the best 

Great Week (week 82)

loved your letters this week and i'm so happy that you are all home safe.  i love the cabin and am so happy you have had the time of your lives. so i feel like i am missing everyone's weddings like everyone's haha. man how crazy.  i'm happy that they are all getting married though haha. that's great.

This week was great. like i say just about every week. i cant believe how fast the time goes. it's changes again. i am going to know if i have a change this saturday. so by next monday i will know if i am going to get a change. i'm hoping i get to train a new missionary and that is my dream. to finish my mission that way but it's the lord who will decide.   this week was fantastic because daniel ended up getting baptized on saturday in rabinal. i'm sad i wasn't there but like i told you guys the most important thing is that he did it. and he did. oh and a really funny story about daniel is that his name isn't daniel. its henry. he told us that on the friday before his baptism. he said that there was something he needed to tell us and one of the last things he had to repent of before he got baptized and that's that  his name is henry haha. the story is this. when he was contacted in rabinal by the missionary's he answered the door and said that his name is daniel because he didn't want to give the missionaries his real name. haha he ended up going to church though and started reading the scriptures and feeling the spirit and receiving an answer to his prayers. then making the decision to get baptized  hahah. its hilarious and one of the best stories. he just never imagined joining the church ahha. ya but he is henry and he is the man i love the guy so much.
Elder Call

ya so that is just about all the things that happened this week. i wish i could send pics but i cant because this computer doesn't read my card. we went to a waterfall as a zone today that was sooooo beautiful. it was great i loved it. overall just a fantastic week. love you all and have just a great week

This he just sent to me in an email and I thought he might want to remember it.

ya me voy as we say here in guat. i'm sad like so sad i just cried in my house last night because i had to say goodbye maybe for the last time to hermano octavio because i don't know if i'm going to get a change.  

Good Week (week 81)

Loved the pics of you guys up at the cabin. i had forgotten that you guys were even there until i saw the pics haha. that's so fun and i am so happy for you. i cant believe that i haven't been to the cabin in 3 years. where has the time gone and i can't wait to go back with the family. I think about you guys daily and pray for you. just don't die before i come home. i think that goes especially for Ben haha.

Well as for my week it was good. Now that i think about it i don't think i have even told you guys about Edwin. we put a fecha with him like a month ago. he is the brother of marcia and the son of carolina. i think i have told you guys about them. they are the best. marcia was my second convert in this area the one who wants to serve a mission in a year. ya we baptized her brother this saturday. he is 16 and super pilas. i think i havn't told you about him just because i have too many things to tell you every week and not enough time.  He is great though and has changed a ton. they used to have a lot of family problems and stuff but now everything is peace in their home. edwin when he bore his testimony said that everything has changed since we arrived at his house and it has changed for the better. they are having more peace at home and he feels the love of the savior in his life. he said he didn't really want to change at first but after he started to read the book of mormon he started feeling a desire to follow Christ and to be baptized. that is the power of the book of mormon and there is no other book like it. it changes lives all for the better. i love edwin and i'm so grateful the lord gave him answers to his prayers and to ours. he is literally an answer from god to our prayers. now Daniel is going to get baptized this weekend in rabinal en baja verapaz. he decided to get baptized down there because that is where his family is and he wants them to be there. he is sad though like us because we are not going to be at his baptism. the good thing though is that he is going to get baptized and that is really the important part. he has changed a lot too and it makes me so happy that he is choosing to follow the lord in his life. getting baptized and keeping the commandments couldn't be more different from what the world teaches us.  it makes it all worth it and that i am here in this freakin random country speaking another language. that wasn't a complaint though the mission is the best and i wouldn't trade this time for anything. keep reading the scriptures as a family especially the book of Mormon because it is powerful and invites the spirit like nothing else. pray often as a family as well. i love you all and have a fantastic time at the cabin. the best place on earth.

Elder Call