Christmas Day FaceTime !

13 Merry Christmas

We email from internet cafes on the computers there. I have been have a great week here in Zunil. He are teaching lots of people but we are still having trouble getting people tochurch  which kinda sucks but I’ll live. It’s their salvation on the line not mine. HAHA. No I want them to come so bad because it seems like if they come once they will continue to come. We had divisions (switched companions for a day) this week and I went with Elder Wengreen from Utah and my comp went with the other to Elders in our district.

 Thats awesome that you bought a new cat and I think dad is getting soft. 

Our mission president made the whole mission a promise and the promise was if you are obedient to the rules and work hard you will have a baptism this month and if not you have an interview with him to evaluate what you are doing.Luckily  we had a baptism this sunday with a man named Ricardo Poz Chay. He asked me to baptise him and it was such a cool experience. I didnt think he was going to choose me because he has become friends with members at the church but when we gave him all the options he said he felt like I should do it. I love being a missionary so much. Even though at times I cant understand that the heck is going on the work is hard it is so rewarding. Also, during sacrement I sang which was super weird but they asked me to so I was like why not. Probably not going to see these people for a long time so sure. Elder Torres my comp has been doing much better and we haven't had any problems so far which is good but he hates one of our zone leaders and I just laugh whenever he is talking about him. 

Also,for the cat( this next part is for Chase) that is a terrible name.( okay back to normal)

 I hope that all of you remember what we are really celebrating tomorrow. The birth of JesuCristo and the sacrafice that he payed so that we can return to heavenly father and live with our families forever. Yo se que la Iglesia de Jesucristo es el reino de Dios in la tierra y el nos dio familias para aprender y progresar. Y se que los templos son las casas de Dios y nosotros podemos vivir con nuestras familias para siempre. Yo se Jose Smith fue un profeta de Dios en nuestro dispensación. El restauro el evangelio y tradujo El Libro de Mormon.

Translation

I know that the Church of Jesus Christ is the kingdom of God on earth and he gave us families to learn and progress. And I know that the temples are the houses of God and we can live with our families forever. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet of God in our dispensation. He restored the gospel and translated The Book of Mormon. 

 I love you all and I hope you have a great Christmas. See you soon. 

12

So this was my first week with my new trainer Elder Torres from Mexico. He doesnt speak to much english, but we have been teaching lots of people and never really have a minute of down time which is good.  Also, he has helped a lot with my confidence in Spanish because he says I speak the best out of all the new missionaries in the field which relieved a little stress.

 Today was the 6 week meeting with all the new missionaries from my group to see how things are going. I can tell who has been working hard and who doesnt really like it here. We have a Multi Zone meeting this Thursday and we are going to have games food and a gift exchange. This week I have been training my trainer you could say. He was training someone else before me and there were lots of problems with him sleeping in and returning at 5:00 to call it a day. So not only am I showing him the area I am also helping him break his habbits and right now things are going good. He makes super good torillas which is a plus.

  I have been feeling a ton better. No more pink eye and no more Strep but I am still finishing my medicine as advised by the nurse. I do have a little cold now but compared to last week I’m 200 times better. I’m not sure what the plans are for christmas but I will let you know for sure next monday. We haven't received the plans for this christmas but I cant wait to talk to you guys. 

We might have a baptism this week Ricardo Poz but it depends if he approves the plans for the baptism but I think he will. I know this church is true and that any challenge you have you can overcome with the help of our loving heavenly father and his son. Because Jesus knows exactly what our pains feel like and I know He loves us more than we can even fathom.

 Love you guys lots and Ill talk to you this next week. Sorry I forgot to take pictures this week. 

11

This week has been really exciting you could say. Yes, we do have running water but still not warm water. The milk does taste weird and it comes in a box. We aren’t allowed to drink any soda with caffine so I do drink soda but not any of the good ones. HAHA. We have a lot of rice beans and eggs and I like to buy avocados for a snack.

 For my brithday we bought a cake and some candles. Then that night we had an appointment with the Elders quorum president and it was actually a surprise birthday party with another cake and the super good milk and rice drink.

   On Saturday we had a branch party and there were tons of games and food and piñatas. It was a lot of fun. One of the games was a potato bag race and they had trophies. I got first and my comp got second so we kinda have these two trophies in our house now. On Sunday we had an investigator attend church and we were able to set a goal for the 22nd to get baptized. He tells us every week he wants to get baptized so he just needs the okay to get work off that day and its a done deal!  I am so excited for him. 

  Now for the super interesting parts of this week, On Tuesday I woke up with pink eye and it was all swollen and I wasn’t able to get medicine until today because our area doesn't have good pharmacies. Also, on Saturday I tested positive for Strep and last night I had food poisoning and was throwing up and was on the toilet untill 2:00 this morning. Then to top it off my trainer has changes so I will be getting a new comp to finish my training. So I have to show my new comp where everything is in Zunil because he probably doesn't know this area. But today I got all the medicine I need so I’m all good now. 

The scripture I found this week was Moroni 7:48 "pray unto the Father with all the energey of heart, that ´(you) may be filled with this love" 

Love you guys lots and I’ll see you soon. 

10

Hey family things are going great here. We have so many investigators  that have progressed so much but they need to attend church in order to be baptised and it frustrating when they dont keep their commitments but I guess me and my comp are doing all be can. This last week has been absolutely crazy. We had to sleep with the zone leader twice this last week because we had stuff in Xela and there are no buses back to out area after 8:00 .  Also I was talking with a couple of the guys from my group that have been having trouble with their trainers not waking up until 9:00 (supposed to wake up 6:30am)  and not doing the 12 week training program with them.  I had to call and talk with president so that they could get switch to better trainers after their interviews with President last wednesday. My interview went good and ¨President Diaz said my spanish has gotten a lot better so that gave me some confidence which was nice.

 This Saturday we had our service as a mission and it was cleaning up all the garbage off a hill to this park at the very top. When we got to the top a lady locked her keys in the car so me and a couple elders had to pry open the door in order to hit the unlock button with a stick. Yesterday we went and watched the Christmas devotional  and it was super good and we got to watch it in english so I understood every thing which was nice. Today we woke up and got to play basketball some member and my vertical has increased from walking up so many hills and I can dunk now which is cool. After that we went into Xela and went to walmart and I bought all food I could ever want which was awesome and then we went to the Mega Paca and I found a BYU shirt for like $4 because I only have 3 shirts with me because Im dumb and didnt bring more. We also got to do some service on tuesday where we ripped all so part and this ladies  roof and then fixed it. So thats about it, I love you guys and I hope you are reading your scriptures. See you soon. 

week 9 more picts

Washing hair :) 

Week 9

I have been having a lot of fun here lately and we have been working super hard. We have about 12 people that just need to attend church so they can be baptized and they can all come to church this week they said! So, that is awesome. 
We didn't really do anything on Thanksgiving because we had a multi-zone meeting and that took us most the day. But for lunch at the Multi-zone we had turkey and mashed potatoes. The turkey was terrible but it's the thought that counts. Last Tuesday till this Saturday we have no running water in the house so.  So we got to take bucket showers. On ¨P-day (preparation day) we normally wake up do our studies then go buy groceries. After that we normally have a district activity that takes up most of the day and then we write and start teaching lessons after that. For laundry a member picks it up and cleans it for us which is a blessing because we have no time. (or running water)  Spanish is coming little by little. I am starting to speak a little better. I understand everything sometimes and nothing others. Today we went to Xela because I needed to buy a backpack and there were tons of deals at this place called Mega Poc which is like this Goodwill Ross place. I bought 2 new ties for like 20 Q  which is like $3. Also, most days for food I boil eggs the night before and eat cereal. Any ways things as super good and my comp is super awesome. Hope you all are reading your scriptures every day and praying. If you haven't ever read  Joseph Smith history I strongly encourage you too. 

Love you all see you in 22 months.

Also the birthday and Christmas package you sent.... 

I already opened everything except the drone for my companion you sent.   I love the side by side book of mormon thanks a ton. There was a week we had nothing to eat so I was a little desperate but I didn't want anyone to worry.  Food is all good now.   My comp said I don't need gifts. He said to make you send me money to buy random stuff hahaha.   

 service and messing around

Week 8

Hey guys so there is a new rule of no chatting back and forth through the email so I can send this one and then answer all your questions in another before I am finished. So, we have been do a lot of stuff here in Zunil we are teaching about 12 different families every week and we have about 4 or 5 lessons every day. I have been doing a lot better here with the food so thats good. I love the people here a ton and I wish I could bring some of the little kids home with me. Today we had a multi zone meeting and then after we went to lunch with our district and then after that we had a district meeting. Yesterday I had an interview with the mission president and he doesn't speak almost any english but he is an amazing man.My comp is super funny and we are laughing almost 24/7. Tomorrow I have to travel back to the capital to sign some paper and then I will sleep at the CCM or MTC next to the temple in Guatemala city. Als,  my comp about a week ago had a parasite and had an accident in his pants right after a lesson so he had to take a shower. Sounds bad but, it  was suuuupppper funny.  Anyways I hope that you all are enjoying  your time in the states. Also, Happy Birthday Dad have fun being older. 

Love you lots and Ill see you soon. Don't forget  to read you scriptures.

Picts of Zunil & bowling 

week 7 (no email on week 6)

Week 6 no email - ian had to travel  his entire prep day. So no internet. 

Week 7 

Lots has happened here in Zunil. My trainer is from Oregon so that is nice. We have been working with a few different people. Its really hard to teach because most of the people only speak Kiche here. So, sometimes their 10 year old kid will translate for us which is cool. I was a little sick here for the first couple days but I have been doing much better. Most of our transportation is in the back of pick ups only when its farther than a couple miles. We walk about 5 to 10 miles a day. Zunil is a tiny little town with almost nothing. 
Our apartment has no hot water and we have to flush the toilet with a bucket. So that's cool.

 I'm super excited for Dean to learn spanish that will be supér cool. I had one exchange for a day with an elder from Chile so that was cool.We are working on a couple people that are close to baptism they just need to attend church first. We went into Xela today to the Walmart and saw some elders from the MTC and they said they are living in mansions... so thats cool. I live in a apartment with two rooms and a super small bathroom, HAHAHAHA. but its still better that what almost everyone else here has.


 I love you guys lots and Ill see you soon.

 I love you guys lots and Ill see you soon.

Week 5

Hey everyone I am having a good time  in the CCM. I can't wait to get out in the field and start doing some real missionary work. It feels like I am trapped in spiritual prison here. Ha Ha 

 The language is coming pretty good I think. I have been working hard to finish the BOM here. I am at page 450 today and I'm trying to finish it before I leave. It is such an amazing book. I love it. I am about a 100 pages into the Spanish BOM and hope to finish it a month into the field. I leave from the MTC next Tuesday at 4 am so that will be fun. I have started to wake up at 5:30 with Elder. Newman from my district and we read the BOM and the Spanish BOM until 6:30. He is good guy. Both of our comps are kind of lazy and don't follow rules so we try to do stuff with each other more often.  With Spanish we had an area authority come and speak to us in Spanish and I understood about 80 percent of what he was saying. It is still hard to respond sometimes, but I know that in the field I will continue to grow and progress in Spanish. 

I got the package the other day it was awesome! Thank you so much for it. I can't wait to open up some of the presents on my birthday and Christmas. I wasn't allowed to go say hi to her when she dropped it off but one of the administrators gave me a hug from her so that was funny. He is a really strict man and he was so awkard giving me a hug. 

I'm glad Jaden is sticking up what his beliefs because it never stops. Even in the CCM there are times you have to leave someones room to stop a conversation. I hope Elle has lots of fun playing basketball and tennis and hopefully MG can win a few more games. 

Today a lot of people had to go to the immigration office and sign papers so I have a new companion for the day. His name is Elder Alldredge from my district. He’s in the picture with me. 
That's about it for whats going on. 

I wont get next Pday but I might get to email saturday or monday. I love you all and I hope you having a good time at home. See you soon.

My sweet friend Tanna and Ian’s supervisor 

Week 4

Hey guys,

Things are going good over here. I am having a blast being the older guys in the MTC. I made a goal to help all the new guys with anything they needed so that has been a super cool experience for me. We got to go outside last week on Friday to contact people. Me and my companion got 3 names, phone numbers, and addresses to give to the missionaries in this mission. People are so much more polite here. Even if they aren't interested they will stop ylisten to what you have to say. I love it. We only go to contact for about and hour but we are going out this next week I think too. I don't have any pictures to send home this week because we can only take pictures on P-day and we are emailing first thing in the morning. My language is progressing slowly and the teacher said if I didn't learn anymore Spanish I would still do fine in the field. So that was nice to hear because I was pretty worried about it. The food here is great, but my body still doesn't like it. haha. The new guys are super cool and I kinda know one of them already from cali. The other one is from Indiana and is super fun to play basketball with. I'm excited and nervous to go out and preach the gospel. The leccions es going great pero I still am having trouble with translating the way I want to. I know all the material just not todos the words. So we are doing okay. I love you all and I hope that you guys are doing well at home. See you soon.

Ps 

I got to give someone a blessing this week so that was super cool. I was a super spiritual experince for me. Right after I finished the blessing I started to read my scriptures and had a feeling to flip to a random page. I flipped to D&C 75:10-12 and I had prayed before the blessings and It felt so personal to me. Its was a really nice experience for me to have.

Week 3

First Guatemala haircut

I have my P-Day today because all the new missionaries are coming tomorrow. We got to go to the zoo today and see all these super cool monkeys and tigers and stuff. After the Zoo we went to a market and got to barter for stuff we wanted. A good rule of thumb is that you can get about forty percent off whatever price they give you. After we went to the market we stopped at Wendy's for lunch/dinner. Also sorry if my emails are a little messed up the keyboard is different here. I am loving it here and me and my companion have been trying to step it up here, We are starting to understand people for just about anything, but the hard part is responding with the right forms of word and also the correct tense. I have been slowly reading El Libro De Mormon and I will probably be about a fourth of the way done when I leave the MTC and I am hoping to finish the BOM before I leave. You guys would not believe how tinny some of the people are here. You walk by them and you have to look down to see them. Elle is about the height of the average woman I saw at the zoo today. As the days go here they are starting to go by faster and faster. It is so amazing to feel the spirit almost every second. I have been established as the McGiver and the district prankster. Its a lot of fun and I have a great group of guys in my district. I hope that all you guys are doing well and I hope I get a wedding announcement from Chase soon. Love you and I'll see you soon.

Temple trip with my district 

Zoo Trip with my District 

My scores from the market. 

Week 2

It's going good this week!  

 It's really hard to not be able to speak the language as good as I want because I know how to answer any question I'm asked and I can teach all the lessons as well. I just can't translate into Spanish all the way some times so it is super frustrating. That is awesome that Getchell beat Arlington. I wish they would have done it when I was playing.

Guatemala temple in the distance. This is from the mtc library window. 

 It is not super crazy eventful here because you cant really go anywhere. Its like spiritual prison we joke. Later today we get to visit the temple which is super awesome and next week we get to visit the zoo and a local market place. My district is super cool here at the CCM. They are all super good people. My and my companion are not the best fit but we have been trying our hardest to get along so that we can have the spirit with us when we teach. Our district leader is Elder.Newman he is a super laid back and super understanding.

I hope that by next week I'll be speaking better Spanish but for now I'm doing alright. 

Love you guys and I hope that you remember your brother and son isn't dead so don't take all of his super cool stuff.  (jaden is wearing his hawaiian shirt as we read this)