Salama, Salama (week 61)

Well I loved getting your letters this week. Dad, I loved that article about living in another country. It’s the best! haha It’s weird as heck though speaking and thinking all day in another language. Teaching and giving conferences and presentations as well all in a language I didn’t know 16 months ago. Oh and those pictures from the city are soooo cool. I love love love love San Fran. It’s the best and there is nobody more fun than our family as well. The best way to spend the weekend.  Love the fam and love san francisco. Oh and grandpa is living it up as well and I want to do that sooo bad haha. 

Well as far as my week it started good. I love so much those concilios that we have every month with president and the other leaders in the mission. I can just feel the spirit so strong and its soo cool to see the direct revelation that the president receives to progress the work here in this part of the lords vina.  I love it so much and my testimony grows soo much when I’m in those conferencias and it just gives me soo much animo to work harder and to be a better missionary. I also love teaching all the things I learn in that conference to the rest of my zone the next day. It’s so fun having that meeting and I just love being in front of them and hearing what they have to say about the work and what things we can do better. In our meeting we did a practice where we had to teach a friend. Let’s say that I am the missionary. The other missionary I was teaching would be a family or friend that wasn’t a member of the church. The objective of the practice was to help the missionaries feel the same love for friends and family as they should feel when they teach all their investigators. It was great and I couldn’t help but cry as I was teaching and imagining teaching some of my friends. It was a great practice and we could see that it really impacted all the missionaries in our zone to feel more love for the people. This week in our area it was good and bad. It was bad because Gilberto now is not going to be able to get baptized with us because he is leaving to go back to the states. The good news about that though is we helped his faith in Christ increase and we planted the seeds for future missionaries when they find and teach him again. We started teaching his daughter though this week and she even came to church so she is a good possibility for the future. The other bad is that family that lives by our house well all there fechas fell because they didn’t go to church. It isn’t the end though we are still going to try to work with them to help their testimonies grow. That’s the bad.  Now the good is that we found a couple great investigators this week and we are super excited to start teaching them again this week. Pray for my companion and I and all of our investigators… they need your prayers. Now for the funny story of the week... last week on Monday we were headed up to Coban at like 6 in the morning. Well we were about like 1 hour into the journey when my stomach decided to self-destruct. In a matter of minutes I was sweating from every pore of my body trying not to have an accident in my pants.  That’s not a joke… I was actually sweating like crazy. Finally I sucked up my pride and told my comp I wasn’t going to make it to Coban. He was like alright well we will get off the bus in Tactic and go to the gas station to use the bathroom and I was like alright. We were about 15 minutes outside of Tactic. I started thinking about the options and could I make it or not. Well believe it or not I decided I couldn’t and we had to get off the bus right then. I can’t believe I actually thought this but I was trying to think of the consequences if I went right there in my pants. My stomach hurt soooo bad and I was going to explode. I yelled stop and we got off the bus right in front of a gas station. We lost money because we already paid for the bus but got off way sooner than Coban. I ran to the bathroom and ya everything was good. Let me tell you I have never felt sicker ever. I mean if you guys could have listened to the thoughts that were coming into my head. I mean seriuols vale la pena hacerlo en mis pantalones. I must be nuts but ya that would only happen in Guat. Like that has never ever happened to me in the states. Classic… just stuff you don’t forget. I love Guat. I love the people. I love life. I love Christ. The mission is the best the very very best. Love you all and have a good week!

Elder Call

all these pictures were taken in coban while we were there

Another week in Salama (week 60)

Loved getting your letters this week as always and let me tell you that I have to eat at that ben and nicks restaurant when I get home.  I loved seeing the pictures of grandpa on his motorcycle and let me tell you that I would kill to have that bike here in guat. I don’t think that they even know that bmw motorcycles even exists.  Just about nothing sounds more fun than taking that puppy up and down the coast of california.

This last week was kind of a crazy week.   Change week is always nuts because we have to make sure that everyone is in their houses and comfortable. We always have a lot of running around to do. This week though was a good work week.  We have a lot of people now to potentially put fechas with.  Right now in our area we have a total of 6 fechas. This week we want to put another 2 or 3 fechas with the people we’re teaching.  We finally have the investigators now so next we just need to put the fechas with them and teach them with the spirit. As far as the fechas we have right now things are going ok. We have Gilberto who is pilas. His only problem is that he is going back to the states soon to work. I think I told you about him the last week. We also have those hermanas that live by our house. They are still progressing but as always there are problems. They are having a tough time deciding whether they want to change their religion. Yep they are having a tough time leaving the Catholic Church even though they know this is the true church. So we have planned this next week to visit them with a super pilas member called Mario. He is going to visit them with us. He was also catholic and had a hard time leaving the Catholic Church.  But he received an answer to his prayers too and decided to follow the savior.  That is the plan this next week with him and I will let you guys know what happens with them. We are still teaching Cindy as well and we are going to start teaching her little sister who also wants to go to church as well as her dad.  Those are the biggest potential fechas we have as well as another guy named Jorge. Ya but the work is going well and we are working super hard for these people and I hope they decide to follow the answers they receive to their prayers.  Sunday my comp and I decided to go to the branch of Rabinal to support the new president of the branch who is a missionary.  Going to that branch was the best…I loved it…I loved, loved, loved it. Let me tell you family that there just is not a crazier place on this planet then Rabinal.  It was awesome.  I love the people so much there and I can’t believe that it has been 3 months since I was there opening that area.  Let me tell you that the best part though was seeing all the people I found, taught and put fechas with attending church all dressed up with their white shirts. Remember that guy Basilio Alverez I would always tell you guys about him being a future leader in the church?  Well, he was just set apart as president of the quorum of elders.  I also saw Christian and his wife Louis and Adan and his wife.  Cubuclo is the best and I love those people sooo soo much.  I loved going to visit that branch.  Ya so that was definitely the highlight of the week… visiting that branch.  As for me I am in Coban again right now because we have concilio tomorrow.  I love concilio and it always gives me so much animo.  I love you all so much and hope everybody has a great week!

Elder Call

some catholic parade outside my house

some drunk guy who would just not leave us alone

Juan Reyes or as i call him john kings. this guys a legend

Changes (week 59)

I loved your letters this week and I look forward to reading them every week. The family sounds great. You guys are so right about peter and how I have no idea how he feels not having support from his family. I can’t imagine what that would feel like.  He is so strong and I pray every night for him and that he will feel motivated to go on the mission and serve with honor.  It’s something I do every night in my prayers. I always give thanks for all the freakin family I have that loves me. Like I just can’t even believe it because I have sooooooooooo many people that love me. I say that in a humble way not to be cocky haha. But really like I have so much support back home and I can feel it every day when I work. I know sooo many people here who just have a mom and that’s it because their brothers and sisters moved out of the house and the dad is in the states working. Never never ever take for granted how great our family is because it’s the best and I am well aware of that now haha. Thanks for everything you all do for me love you all.

Now as far as my week it was a good one. As far as work in our area goes it was also  a good one.  The super pilas family that came to church this last week was in the guate like I told you. They didn’t come to church because they were in the cap.  We received this week a reference from a member of the church.  The reference is super pilas and we put a baptism with her this past week. She also came to church this week which is awesome. I don’t know why but this area is sooooo hard to get people to come to church so having investigators in church the past 2 weeks was awesome.  We also had another one of our investigators come to church this last week. His name is Gilberto. He is super pilas and just wants to have Gods guidance in his life. He is really humble even though he is one of the richest guys here in Salama. He works in the states and lives here because he likes the schooling better. We found this guy a month back just because I saw the house he lives in and I thought wow that would be a lot of deizmos haha. Ya his house is super nice for Guat haha. Ya well he turns out to be a great investigator of ours. His only problem is that he always has to go to the states to work and doesn’t come back for a while. He might not get baptized now because of his work but he definitely has felt the spirit and he told us he liked church a lot. We have another investigator that wants to go get baptized but can’t because she is living with another dude that is the father of her son. They don’t share the same room or anything but she lives there because she wants her son to see that he has a family even though it’s a fake family. Anyway that blows and she is planning on moving out but we don’t know when. Those are the best investigators we have right now. That pilas family is also back from the cap and we are going to teach them tomorrow. This last Wednesday like told you I went all over our zone with the president in his car with my comp helping president to get a better feel for our zone. Let me say that it was the best. It was great to be in Cubulco again even though it was for an hour. I love it there so much. I love that place and let me tell you that president is the best. No but seriously he is the very very best.  He can just laugh and laugh and laugh but he is very serious as well when he needs to be. It’s the perfect balance and something so important for me is laughter. You need to be able to laugh and find the balance between laughing and being serious. Well he has got it down. Pres Curtiss just carries such a strong spirit with him as well. He is the best. I can’t wait to tell you the stories I have with him when I get back. Oh and for the title as you can see it was changes and I didn’t have one. I’m staying with my comp. I’m super happy about it. I love Salama and I’m excited to stay here and work more with my companion. I don’t know if I have said much about my comp but ya he is the freakin man. Just awesome... I love him sooooo much. Great balance of fun and work and humble. Love the guy and I couldn’t be happier.  I have been so lucky with comps. I’m positive that I have had the best comps in the mission. I think I have only not got along with my comps for a total of a week in my entire mission and that was with Ortega and you guys know why haha. The mission is the best and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Love you all family and have a good week!

Elder Call

for my comps year we burned a pinata haha that was dressed like a missionary

his pic is great because i was like waiting there patiently for my comp to take the pic but my camera wouldn't take it so i had to like flail around trying to dodge all the ash that was landing on me haha.

on the Saturday of changes we always go to this members house and we eat churrascos with the other missionaries here in salama

p day today we played billiards

Hey Family (week 58)

Hey sorry it took so long to write you but I have had a super crazy week and really couldn’t focus on Monday enough to write you. I loved your letters as always.  I know I say this just about every week but there is nothing better than going into the city and exploring one of the best cities of the world. Everyone I talk to here says that they want to go to San Francisco so bad. Now I don’t know if that’s because they want to sneak into the states and that’s the excuse or if they really want to get to know San Fran ha-ha. Well it really is just the best city haha.  It scares the heck out of me that ben is driving…seriously I just don’t trust that kid… haha…love you ben.

This last week was another good one. One of the highlights of the week was when president Curtis brought down the mission call of Peter Lopez.  If you don’t remember who peter is he is the guy whose house we’d go to just about every single night for dinner. He lives in the house that is just a house for jovenes orphans.  Ya he is the man.  He was baptized last April and all he wants to do is serve a mission. He sent in his papers once and they got rejected because of his age so he had to write a letter and have other people write recommendation letters on why he should serve a mission even though he is out of the missionary age range. Well long story short that was stressful as heck because he wants to serve a mission soooo bad and his papers got rejected the first time. Basically my comp and I helped him so much to do everything so we were sad as heck too when it got rejected.  So he wrote the letters and sent the papers in again and it got accepted. Serving a mission for this guy is seriously such a sacrifice. There isn’t anybody in his family that is a member. His dad is living in Chicago to make money for him and his family.  He really doesn’t even know his dad because he left for the states when he was young. Basically Peter has the best job in the world.  He is making more money than 60 percent of other guats and it’s the best job ever. Not to mention that he is going to have to leave that job and all the kids he helped raise in the orphanage. His dad is threatening to disown him if he goes on a mission because his dad says the reason he is living and working in the states is so he can study at the universidad.  Oh, and his mom just does not get the mission at all and why he would want to leave his country for 2 years and go somewhere else. Ya so he has pretty much everyone against him except the members of the church and us. So when that mission call came it was the freakin best.  The following day we opened it with him, some friends, and family. He got his call to serve in El Salvador mission San Salvador.  That is the best. I was soooooooooooooooooo happy about his call and the look on his face was priceless. I was wayyyyy more nervous for his mission call then my own call at home. Remember how I just left it on the counter for a week when you guys were up at the cabin haha. That was just a moment I will never forget in the mission. On Saturday my comp and I went to Cubulco to do a proselyting activity. I love love love Cubulco. It was so fun to go back and to give out a bunch of pamphlets and just talk to the people there. They are a lot different then the people here in Salama.  They are just a lot more humble. Oh and every single women’s name is Maria… it’s hilarious…like seriously 90 percent are named Maria. Outside of a house we just yell Maria because there is just bound to be a Maria that lives in that house. Ya so that was a total blast. I’m also going to Cubulco with president today to show him the area as well as Rabinal. I’m looking forward to going to Cubuclo and Rabinal again and to spend time with the pres.  As far as the work in our area goes it’s getting better. This last week we had that family of girls come to church. They were scared as heck to go because the other churches they have gone to there is a ton of yelling, screaming, loud music and people like on the ground shaking haha. Ya but we got 5 of them to come to church. We had been praying so hard all week so they would go to church and receive revelation while at church that this is the true church. Well we went with them to church and the spirit was sooooooo strong. I could just feel it so strong. Probably the strongest I have felt it while attending church here in Salama. It was great because I know that our investigators could feel it as well.  They are now in the cap visiting some family and I can’t wait for them to get back so we can teach them some more. They are great and I love them so much.  That was the highlight of the week as far as the work in our area goes. I love the mission. It’s the best thing ever for the young men in the ward and for you ben it should be your number one goal. It’s the best, trust me, it’s the very best. I love it and wouldn’t trade this time for anything. Love you all family and have a good week. 

elder call

peter and i

me with the calling for peter

family guarra one of my favorite families aqui in salama

peter and I

my comp and i in Cubulco

going to zone activity. we went to some caves Monday like 3 hours away it was great haha

15 Months in the Mission (Week 57)

Let me just tell you family that I just cannot even understand how I have 15 months here in the mission and 13 months here in Guatemala.  I just do not know where the time has gone.  I feel like literally I have maybe 6 months in the mission. How has the time gone by so fast? I just don’t understand it at all… like at all.

This last week has been a great one but a busy one. I have had sooooooooooo much stuff to do that I don’t even have time to think.  Just about every day this week we have gone to San Miguel to find a new house for the new missionaries that are going to be there. San Miguel is like outside of Salama going towards Rabinal and Cubulco. Pres. called us and let us know that we are going to be opening that area next change. So we immediately had to start going to San Miguel to look for a house. So what does that require? Well walking up and down every street and asking in every teinda to see if anyone has a house to rent.  Ya I like walking and doing that but I mean we have to do that in the morning and then go home and do it all day in our area… more walking. haha. Let me just say that it’s tiring as heck and I don’t even have that much time to study. On top of that I have to get a presupesto for what all the stuff we need for the house. I say that in Spanish because I literally just spent the last 5 minutes of internet time trying to think what that means and I got nothing. Ya so we had to go find out how much all the furniture costs for the house and like the fridge, stove, beds, and everything else they need.  That also requires a lot of walking to go to all the stores to find out how much everything costs so the office elders can give us a check.  Then we have to go buy it all and order all the tables and dressers to be made in a carpenter store. Also we have to get a map of Salama and of San miguel and completely reorganize the areas for the missionaries here so that everyone has equal space to work with members.  We also need to go find a house in Santa Barbera where we can put the church because pres. is going to open a group over there for members who live in that area. Then we need to get a presupuesto of what everything is going to cost for that house. Speakers, chairs, microphone, pulpit and like all the stuff for the primary and stuff haha. Then I have other stuff to do like plan for the zone, plan an activity for the zone that helps everyone’s well-being and do all the other little stuff that pres. asks me to do and the aps… oh and work in my area. Let me tell you I’m not complaining at all. It’s the best. I love being so busy and it’s like I am all over the place all day every day. Its soooo fun!! Ya so that’s my life right now. It’s the best. In our area we have found a couple real great investigators. We were contacting one day down by our house and found a family. They are super pílas. They actually want to learn more about the gospel and keep commitments. They are reading the BOM and doing everything we say. The only bad thing is they went down to Guatemala and are going to be there for like 1 week. I hope they do not forget the spirit they have felt with us during the lessons.  They seem to be just a great possibility for us right now. We just need to get them to come to church and they are as good as gold.  That’s probably the best thing that has happened this last week was this great little family. I love finding people like them and it’s what gives me the desire to work even harder the next week. The mission is the best. The thing that I am working on the most right now is to have Christ like love for all the people I come in contact with. If I truly love the people I will have all the animo in the world to try to find the people that are willing to make convenios with god through baptism. The mission is the best and I love every second of it and I don’t like one bit how much time I have. It’s going by soo fast. Love you all and have a good week!!

elder call

Family and Friends (week 56)

BTW, there’s a back story as to why we can’t stop laughing about Nick’s letter this week. Nick was obsessed with the British automobile show "Top Gear" and he made us watch the Reliant Robin episode several times http://www.topgear.com/uk/videos/clarkson-tips-over-reliant-robin   Nick would just belly roll with laughter when he watched this because he thought the Reliant Robin was a totally ridiculous car.      

Loved your letter this week and I love hearing about all the rain.  I just love that story and seeing the faith of you all in participating in the fast that’s…what a great story.  I have told that story in a few lessons it’s great.

I’m going to start off this letter with a story that I forgot to tell you all last week. So last week we had to go to a town called Santa Barbera because long story short I had to send Elder Ortega home and his comp stayed the night with us afterwards. President was planning on coming down here to divisions in Baja Verpapaz with some missionary’s and the plan was to meet president in Santa Barbera.  The president brought down the new comp of the Elder Guiterezz the old comp of Ortega that stayed with us.  Well that was the plan. That day the teachers of all of Baja Verapaz decided to have a riot and block the road up at the cumbre. The cumbre is the fork in the road to go either to Salama the capital, or up to Coban. So I had to call president and tell him that the road was blocked and everything. Well we made it up to Santa Barbera which is yendo towards Coban and we were able to pass through. We just had to get off the bus and walk like a mile to find another bus to take us to Santa Barbera. Well we made it there and pres met us there. We went to the elders’ house in Santa Barbera and unloaded everything out of president’s car. When we got back to the president’s car it had a flat. Haha… it was great. We had to take it to the nearest pinchazo or like a tire shop. Well there was only one in Santa Barbera and it was closed haha. So my comp, pres and I all got down and started to try to change the tire. Luckily I had experience. Haha that’s funny because I don’t.  I mean I got a flat tire just that one time but I had to call dad to fix it haha. Ya so luckily it was like the same type of system as the yukon so I kinda knew how to do it…right.  So after a while we finally got it changed on our own haha and it was sooo funny. My mission president has the best sense of humor and was just dying laughing. So like I was saying the plan was for pres to give us a jalon (lift) back to Salama but the road was blocked off and we were in his car so we couldn’t just walk through it. So we found like a sketchy back road through the mountains to get back into the valley. It was a straight adventure there were huge rocks, holes, logs and a bunch of other stuff… it was like straight 4 wheeling.  Well this is the best part because when we were making our way down the mountain we had to slam on our brakes because we were hauling and there was another car in the way. What’s so funny about that is the car was a Robin. Remember that car on top gear that has the one tire in front and the 2 in the back and tips over every second.  Ya we had to stop for that it was soooo funny!!!! It was making its way down that mountain with the rocks, logs, deep holes and everything. Pres. my comp and I were just dying. It almost tipped over like 100 times. It was literally sliding down this mountain because it doesn’t weigh anything.  It was completely out of control. It never tipped but it was soooo close and it was by far the funniest thing in the world. When the guy finally pulled over to let us pass he honked at us and it was a train horn that left that little car. We were just dying!!!!!  That was the end and we could not stop laughing. Pres. was just like I have never seen or heard anything like it. That train horn really came out of that little car haha… it was great. Ya so we finally made it to Salama valley thanks to those back roads down the mountain.  It was the absolute best. Ya so hilarious! As far as this last week it’s about the same for us. We are finding a ton of new investigators but we are having trouble helping them to progress.  It’s a trial of my faith and I can recognize it. We have a few people that could get baptized. They have been to church and everything. We are working super hard to help them and explain to them why they should get baptized.  Thanks for everything family and pray always. I love you all and have a good week!

Elder Call

I'm in Coban (week 55)

Hey family, I loved getting your letters this last week. Glad to hear that the family is doing well.  I know that I say this every week but you guys just have so much fun running into Berkeley and SF every weekend and that is just the best. I love that cupcake story… classic dad haha. Man I just wish it was the niners in the super bowl but ya I had a feeling the Seahawks were going to win because all I hear is this elder telling me about the Seahawks and how they have the best defense ever.  As far as my Spanish goes, I feel about 99 percent confident with it and no I am not studying Spanish like before to be completely honest.  The only time I study Spanish is in the bathroom. Other than that I barely have time to read the scriptures between traveling all around Baja Verapaz for the other elders doing interviews or just sooooooo much random stuff.  Oh, and the work in my own area haha. I study though when I have time and I am always learning new vocab.  If I don´t know a word I write it down in my planner to remember it.  Let me just tell you, it’s the best being able to talk with everyone.  In the beginning of my mission it was kinda torture. I just nodded my head laughed and said si even though I had no idea what they were talking about. Now I can joke back with them and keep a conversation going like nothing. It’s great haha…so weird when I think about it though because I can speak another language that just flows naturally out of my mouth. haha

This last week was an ok week.  We just thought for sure that we were going to have like 5 people in church. We called everyone before church to remind them to go there and they said they couldn´t and the other 2 said that they were going to go but didn´t. Man that just happens every week. That’s ok though because this next week is a new week and I have faith that god is going to help.  The good news is that my comp and I found like 22 new investigators this week. We are working so hard right now trying to find the people that the lord has prepared for us. So that’s awesome and hopefully this next week we will be able to help them get to church.  We are still working in the aldeas of San Juan and Tunel but this week we actually worked a lot with members. We got a lot of references and that is the most effective thing more than anything.  We always have one member that leaves with us. His name is Chevelo and he is hilarious. He is preparing to serve a mission and is going to put in his papers in just a week. He has only been a member for a year and is just great. He doesn´t work or study because he is going to leave so soon so he just leaves with us haha. Ya so that’s Chevelo and I don’t have a pic right now of him but I will take a couple this week and send them to you this next week.  So the funniest thing that happened this week happened Friday. We ate at this hamburger place for lunch and right after lunch I just felt sooo sick. So ya you guys know where this is going. It was great. We were in a lesson… just a great lesson and our investigator just kept on talking and talking. Basically I had to end it by interrupting him and leave the house. We were walking for no more than 30 seconds when I just yaked all over the ground in front of a bunch of kids playing futbal in the street. Let me just say it was soooooo funny and all these kids were telling me to go to the hospital because I was going to die. They were calling me gringo debil which means white person weak. I mean weak white person. So funny… ya so basically we just kept on working after that because we just can’t afford to lose a day. I kept on throwing up like every hour on the street haha. That night I asked for a blessing by my comp and peter. I yaked all night but then when I woke up in the morning I felt fine. I felt weak as heck. But ya I didn´t yak and haven’t since so that is a testimony builder. I was dying then the next day just fine like it was nothing and it was great. I know that it’s not a big deal but it really makes a difference out here for me seeing the small blessings in my life. It just gives me that extra jump of animo to work that much harder. It’s so cool to just see how the lord knows me and what I need. It’s great. Well family pay special attention this week to the small blessings the lord gives you and don’t forget to thank him for them. Love you all and have a good week!

Elder Call

peter and rogelio at church with my comp and i

elder bonilla and i in coban with another elder 

my comp and i