31

 

 This week has been just about every other week in the village. We have been walking about 15 miles everyday and we have been talking to a lot of people. We have been walk a lot to the villages in our area and I have learning how to bare my testimony in one of the native languages K'iche. I also learned how to introduce myself and ask if we can say a prayer. We did a little bit of service this last week digging behind a drunk guys house. His wife is an inactive member of the church and we are trying to reactivate her and help her. We went and ate be a river and about 5 minutes later it started to rain super hard so we ran into a half built house and then we have to walk 15km back to the house which was a bummer because the bus cant come when it rains this hard, but all in all I have been doing great and my comp and I get along well so its pretty fun. Well I hope you are all doing well and Ill see you soon

30

This has been a really fun week. We have a goal in the mission of talking with 20 people everyday and we were the only area in the mission to meet the goal of 140 in week. My comp and I have finally found some people who are actually want to hear more about the church. We had 5 members attend church this Sunday and I played piano and directed the meeting and blessed the sacrament. We went and visited a village in our area and the are 80 members of the church of the 350 in the village, but all the services are in Quiche which is super cool and I had the chance to talk to an old lady in Quiche I only understood like 15% of what she did but she did understand what I was saying to her so I guess I am learning a little how to speak Quiche. 
We had to the chance to go to Walmart today and we all brought Suitcases to fill with food because there isn't a lot of food where we are here. There aren't any grocery stores, but we can buy eggs from a member so we do have some food I guess.

NEW TEETH! 

 I also received a photo from my last area of my favorite member with her new teeth. She is a lady that has been blind for about 10 years and hasn't had teeth for almost 30 years. She has one of the biggest testimonies in world and I was so happy to see her smile after 30 years. I have been having a super fun time here climbing mountains and I hope all of you are doing good too. I love you all and Ill see you soon.

MOUNTAINS I CLIMB EVERYDAY UP AND DOWN TO GET TO HOUSES: 

29

Hey everyone. 

I received my new son this week  (brand new Elder I get to train) named Elder Martinez from Chihuahua, Mexico. He has a super cool story. He is a convert of about 2 and a half years and no one else in his family is members. He also was raised by his single mom until she left to go the the USA and he lived with his grandma before he left for the mission. The Bishop of the ward and his daughter, the girlfriend of my comp, converted my comp and he loves the gospel and works nice and hard. 
We are opening an area in a little village and we have been knocking doors for about 4 hours everyday to try and find people to teach. We have luckily found some really awesome people to start teach and I really hope that these people and progress and accept the beautiful blessing the gospel brings into peoples lives. The area is called San Bartolo and it is an area that hasn't baptised in over a year I believe. I am so excited to continue working here in this awesome place.

 I hope everyone is doing well and I'll see you soon. Love ya

Picts of some of the families in my last area :

 My new apartment.  Its a 10x10 and has HOT water!!! yay!! no more cold showers!

 My new village - we hike the hills everyday to get to people's home

 Elder Martinez

 Trails we walk every day on the hills

28

4/15

baby parrots- they were prickily

                                              HUGE Moth!!

                                               MY Hammock

                                            members house

me and my companion

Buenas Tardes.

 I have been having a super happy awesome week. On tuesday one of the members of the church  bought 2 parrots and I got to hold them but they are still babies so they dont speak yet, but I tried to teach the birds english. The member said the birds would probaby learn english faster than she would. On wednesday I got a call form the mission President and he told me I was going to be training a new missionary and yesterday I got the call that I will be opening an area in the mission. I am super excited to be traing and I have been praying a  ton to get to train a new missionary and I know that the lord has blessed me with this. I went to the market today in the middle of Huehuetenango and I bought a hammock. I am a little sad that I will be leaving all the good friends I make here but I know its what the lord wants. 

Well I dont have anything more today, but I love you guys a ton and I will se you soon. 

27

April 2nd

Hey friends & family, 

I'm doing pretty good over here in Guatemala and I think I can finally speak spanish so that good.  We have been working super hard to bring this message to people of Guate. I feel like we have been having a lot of success and I have been praying super hard for baptisms and we had one saturday and Anabela was so happy when she left the changing room with her white clothes and one of the other missionaries said "Wow she looks so happy." This was something super cool for us because she has had a really tough life. She was orphaned when she was 9 and lived with her grandmother. Also the grandmother never put her in school so now through the church she is learning to read and write. We also starting teaching a family again that came to the baptism of Anabela and they want to baptised now too. It is amazing to so the spirit work with people. The truth is I'm just a person and through me the Holy Ghost and help people and share the things God wants these people to hear. I love this gospel and I love this church. 

I hope that all of you who aren't members of this church can take the opportunity to talk with the missionaries where you live. 

Well I love you lots and I'll see you soon.

26

3/26

Hola my friends. 

I have been working super hard and also melting from the scorching sun. I am always super sunburned, but it's okay I finally bought sunscreen and have been putting it on everyday now. Sadly the tan lines have gotten worse and my skin is more pale than ever before. I also have 6 months in the mission and I burned a tie which was pretty fun and I made a makeshift flamethrower to do it. We will be having our baptism this saturday if she passes her interview today and I think she will. I found out that me Zone Leader and I are 3rd cousins and he is such a good guy. We went to Xela yesterday because me comp was have nerve pain and need to get medicine so we didn't really get to have a p-day, but luckily we have today to write. Last night we got to cook some food from Honduras with my comp for a family that we have been teaching and I also made scrambled eggs with hotdog. I have been loving the work and I can't wait to hear from our prophet this next week. I love that we have the ability to hear a living prophet in our time and that he can receive revelation for us to guide is in our difficult times. I have seen the effect that this gospel can have in people's lives. I know that God has called me to serve and that he wishes nothing less for me than to feel that truth and the love that he has for his children.  

I hope that all of you are doing well and I pray for you everyday. 

Me- burning my 6th month tie!!

dinner at family's home 

Love you lots and see you soon. 

25

Hey everyone !

I have a killer time here in Guatemala and I'm super happy to be here serving the lord. I have had some super fun times this last week. On saturday I went to the hospital for an Ultrasound and then on monday I have back to do blood and urine tests. Then yesterday  I got my results and found our that I probably have kidney stones so I will probably be having surgery next week which is awesome but luckily I will be having the surgery here so I don't have to return home which is awesome. Also I got to with the mission to the temple and that was such a cool experience because I could actually understand the whole session in spanish. Me and my comp have a baptism this next saturday the 30th so we are super excited and hope that we help someone else start going to church.  Today we went to a super far part of our area that speaks Mum with is a native language here in Guatemala and is the most popular. We found a ton of people over there and I'm super excited to start sharing this beautiful gospel with them. I also have started learning K'iche  which is another native language here and I just starting on monday so I only have 3 days but I can introduce myself and my comp and the church in K'iche and I can read in K'iche which a lot of people can't do, but I don't understand almost anything when I'm reading. I also had the chance last week to dig a well and it was pretty fun. They lowered me down with a rope and I got to dig 40 feet below the surface. 

That is about all the happened this week and I hope all of you guys are going well and I will see you soon.

24

Talked to Ian today for a bit.  He told me a sweet story of this old lady that was excited to have the gospel being taught to her by the missionaries she gave them a watermelon.  He said he cried because this woman had nothing and gave them this food.  He was so touched and was so grateful to have he honor of teaching her about Christ and the gospel.   He is doing well.  Learning and growing. 

Email: 

This week has been a regular week and we have been doing our regular missionary work. We have started to play basketball every saturday with some of our investigators and also Im teaching English Classes after basketball at 9:00 so that we can get more people to come to the church to see what its like inside. My comp is also taking the clases from me of english be is very rough to work with so he doesnt really learn very well because he is mad but we are working on it. On wednesday we took a day just to find more people to teach and we found 21 new people and there are some amazing families that want to learn more about this beautiful gospel that we have. We had to explain to a lot that we dont take money because all the people here are used to giving money to other missionaries and pastors so we have to explain that the blessings of the lorda are free and we read a scripture from Matthew 10 that the servents of the lord dont take money. I am here with a awesome new Zone leader whos called Elder Schnepf almost like a sneeze. He is super cool and if from Gilbert Arizona. I have been having a fun time walking in the mountains and building up my leg muscles so that is awesome. haha. Also It has been so cool to call my family everyweek and share stories with them and also seeing there faces is super aswesome. Tonight we are making dinner for a blind and the other 12 memebers of her family . My comp is going to make some fried bananas with some frie sauce. I will be making white rice and eggs with hotdogs and cheese. I thing it should be pretty good food for them. This blind lady has the biggest testimony in the world. We asked her why she is always happy and she said its because she has this beatiful gospel in her life. I just wish other people could recognize the blessings of this gospel. I hope you are all saying your prayers and reading your scriptures. I love you lots and Ill see you soon

This blind lady he referenced asked them to take a walk up the mountain with her.  They were her eyes and she guided them around the mountain. She had it memorized from before she lost her site.  They just had to tell what they could see.  

23

March 4th

My district and our cool shirts. 

Hey everyone. We got our change call last night and everyone else in my Zone will be getting a new comp... well except for me. I am a little worried but we have been working hard with a lot of inactive families and we should have a least one baptism here in a couple weeks. I have been doing super good latley and Im excited because I will still be in the same house with Elder Wengreen another 6 weeks. We hsver been working with a family of police officers and they are super awesome. They all came to church this week and we have a cita with them tonight. They are building another room in our house so that me and my comp and have a room and I just wait till I have a normal bed in a couple weeks. The owner of the house is also digging a well outside that that we can have water everyday in the house and that will be super nice. I have been emailing our mission president and asking if I can train one the Elders from my group that went home and I thing he is going to come back in a change or 2. 

I have also been thing about college and I am forgetting so much English that is probably best to wait a quarter when I get back. I feel like an idiot when I talk to the new americans. I only speak spanglish now. We have a lot of service this last week. We moved someone from one house to another and we also pushed a lot of cars that were stuck. I got a new haircut today and my comp tells me how guapo I am everytime I wear normal clothes. Well I really cant tell you what we did this week because I forget almost everything and the time flys by. Well I love you guys tons and Ill see you soon.  

Got to talk to Ian as well. He mentioned he’d been in the hospital a couple weeks ago. He’d fallen walking up the mountains and dislocated a rib.   Said it hurt so bad but he’s ok now.   Waited until then to tell me this. Stinker 

22

Phone call and a letter!!!   

Hey everyone

 This week was good, but we didn't do a ton of stuff to tell the truth. We did have splits and I went with Elder Reed from Utah.  It felt kinda weird to talk in all english for a day. I haven't done that in about 5 weeks and it felt super super weird. I am going to have the worst English in 1.5 years. We had a Zone activity today and went to this super cool place with grass and tunnels through the middle of the mountain that wasn't reinforced in any way, but I had tons of fun. After I bought some fries and just laid in the grass while my comp was being anti-social. He hates going out and doing fun activities because he says its a waste of time and he just wanted to sleep instead. 

  We are teaching a lot of new inactive members.  Three came to church yesterday and one hadn't been to church in 9 years which was super super cool for us. We are also teaching a family of police officers and they are super positive and want to be baptized,  but also sad because I will probably have transfers here in a week and I’m not really sure I will be staying around for their baptism. The assistant to the President said I might become District Leader this next change. Tomorrow there is a  Carnival and people throw eggs and eggs filled with confetti and flour, but we cant leave the house because the bad peoples gang up on the missionaries and sometimes get hurt. I really want to "tirar huevos" at the people here. HAHA. 

  Im having a rough time with comp. The Zone leader had divisions with him for a day and afterwards he  asked me how have you made it 5 weeks with him. Im really scared that I'm going to have another transfer with him  and I really don't want to but I know if I do the Lord will help me. 

  That is super awesome that Corby got coach of the year and that Getchell did so good this year.  I hope that everything is going good for you guys and if anyone had a question about the Church I would love to answer it. 

Love you all and Ill see you soon 

Ps I forgot to take pictures and my cable to send them. I will next time.  

Phone call : 
Ian talked about the dogs in Guatemala.  He said he has been attacked by a lot of crazy dogs and they carry a few good sized rocks and they have gotten really good at chucking them to keep the dogs from attacking.  He said they use their backpacks and he's had to kick one because it was attacking to  much. He also mentioned this area is huge but they have 4 other missionaries in his area so he's not sure if they're going to get moved to another area.   He's working hard on perfecting his spanish so he can start working on Kiche too.    His Go pro broke but theyre rare over there so he was able to still sell it broken and get enough money to buy a good camera. 

21

Hey guys,

 We are working hard here in Guate and I learning tons of spanish which is good. I'm not sure when I will be changing areas but for now I will probably have more time here in Zaculeu. The truth is that we didn't really have anything super crazy happen this week. We are hoping to get a cita with dad of Libni to talk to him about the permission to bebaptized  and I think we are going to his house this Wednesday.

   Im teaching English right now to some of our investigators and some members. My comp doesn't really like to do fun stuff so we never really do anything exciting if it's up to him and I can make decisions for both of us.  I’m working on him. 

 I can’t  believe that we will be able to call every monday now to our families. I honestly didn't believe it when our mission leaders told us. I was like no way. You guys are just joking. I will probably only call every other week back to the family. The sun here is killing me and you would not believe how much of a tomato I was on Tuesday after we went to the ruins. My comp thought that it was pretty funny.  But he just sat below the ruins in the shade and didn't enjoy it so whatever. We work really well together during the day but when it comes to being a friend or fun  he wants nothing to do with me buts its okay. I'm here so help the people and to bless their lives with this gospel that has shaped me into the person I am today. Im not going to share a ton because Im going to call, but I love you guys tons and Ill see you soon. 

Phone call with Ian.  

First he said he wishes so much it could be cold for just one day. It’s so hot everyday.  In his new area it’s more of a desert area. His companion is a 23 year old that returned to the mission. He struggles with communication because he speaks a strange dialect of Spanish and a slang called “bos”. It uses half of most words.  Guatemalans struggle to understand it. He also doesn’t know how to play.  Ian’s teaching him slowly. We heard him speak Spanish to the family where he called. He speaks sooo fast!    

He missed starburst, Gatorade and Nesquick.   He is super excited about being able to call often. With the WiFi and phone struggles it’ll probably be every other week.   

Picture is of one of the other missionaries.  He was so hot he put ice cream on his neck.  

20

This week was super fun and  cool. We had tons of service to do this week. One was getting a tree out off like this ditch and the other was digging. I was digging for 4 hours in the sun but they brought water and lemonade so it wasnt that bad but I do have some blisters on my hands now.

 On Saturday I made a cake for one of the members and her family because her family arent memebers and they normally wont talk with us (that’s hard on her) but we got in the door and I made the cake with them and we talked while it was cooking. I fooled them.  Haha. 

On Thursday we had our Multi-zone meeting and Elder Zebellos of the 70 came and it was super cool to talk with him and he also came to our ward on sunday to talk so I got a picture with him. Also, this Friday Elder D Todd Cristofferson is coming to talk with us and I cant wait. It is going to be so cool. This week was just you normal week in the mission with not a tons of new exciting things to talk about, but we did find a new awesome family to teach and they have already came to the church a few times which is good with their friends who are members. 

  Today for our district activity we went to the Ruins in my area for free because Im friends with like 3 people who work there. It was so cool and you can climb and play on these ruins which made it even cooler than the ones in Mexico we went to on vacation. 

  My comp is doing good too. He always wears a hoodie for the sun so sometimes he doesnt always look like a missionary but he works hard and does well with the people. I had splits with Elder Barlow our district leader and he looks and acts a little like Chase which made it pretty fun. I also took a shower this week after we bleached the bathroom and I felt like I was home working in the pool again and I could stop laughing.

    I will probably have a new comp here in 2 weeks because my comp is finishing his training. I will have 5 comps in 4 changes which is a little weird but its okay Im making tons more friends in the mission. I hope I will train a new grindo so I can teach the whole lesson. No it will be super scary if that happens, but I know I will learn so much. Well I love you all and i hope you are reading the scriptures everyday. See you soon

My area 

 The Ruins

 My awesome cake.

Me on top of Ruins 

Us with Elder Zebellos 

19

Hey everyone!

I hope you all had a good fun week with the snow and the super bowl and that stuff. We are working super hard here in Zaculeu and my comp has been giving me crap all the time lately because there is an investigator that likes me and I can barely understand him because of his accent and he talks in slang all the time.  But I have honestly learned a ton from him and I found out why President Diaz put him with me. He said that he trusts me to help fix the disobedient Elders. He has a terrible first trainer that taught him some terrible habits like sleeping in, but he hasn't done it once with me and he said he hated his last trainer so right now I'm the "Favorite Dad" haha. We found new people to teach everyday this week which was awesome and we also put a baptismal date with little girl named Libni and her brother is going to baptize her the 16th of February if she can get permission from her dad who isn't a member so please keep her in your prayers. Last night after the lesson and we asked her to be baptized she started to say the pray and started to cry because she wants to be baptized so bad and is scared her dad wont let her, and it broke my heart to see her cry. I know the spirit can touch the heart of anyone to bare the truth of all things. Libni is only 12, but she knows how important this is in her life and I just wish others could recognize it too. 

Now on a little less spiritual note some crazy stuff happen to Elder Wengreen when we were on splits. So we were walking back home to the house at about 8:50 and we hear something big crash behind us and I turned around and dove off to the side because a motorcycle had crash and was spinning and flying towards us. Then I run other to the person who had crashed and he had bailed so he was fine and the asked if we were okay too and we said ya we are okay. Then the guy left on his motorcycle. Then Elder Wengreen started to lip and its because the motorcycle had hit him in the leg and I helped him back to the home and we iced it and the next day he was going to have to go to the hospital because we didn't know if it was broken or not but it ended up being okay and he has been"walking it off"this week. Then on Friday night they were waking to a appointment and then all the sudden the both felt super tired so they stop at the little tienda next to persons house and then 20 seconds later a truck crashed into the front door of the members house they were going to visit. If the had walked straight to the house they would have been hit by the car and possible could have died. The wall and door were wrecked. So as you guys can see Elder Wengreen had a pretty crazy week.

 I only have a couple more things and the first is I learned how to solve a Rubix Cube and I set a record for myself at 2 minutes 5 seconds. The second is that I love you guys tons and I'll see you soon. 

I didn't take any other picts this week sorry. But here is me right now :)