35

Got to talk to Ian today.  He couldn’t get into a city with internet to call Ryan for Father’s Day so he called and talked to Ryan and I.   They are loving the village they got to reopen. He said they walk close to 12 miles on a normal day but in the next 2 days they’ll be walking over 24 up and down mountains.   I asked if he’d like to hike when he comes home and he’s not to sure about that.  He said they walk about 2.5 hours to an investigators house each way but it’s worth it because she’s getting baptized soon!   

He said it’s been such a blessing to get to come home in the evenings and sleep in a real bed and eat (pretty ok)food and even speaking English.  He hasn’t been able to do those things in a very long time.   It has helped keep his moral up.  

He loves the people, especially the kids.   They all crowd around him to shine their shoes in hopes of getting some money.  They always give a little extra.  He said he remembered one of the boy’s names and asked for him.  Now he is the “coolest” because the Americans knew his name.  Lol. 

He talked about his testimony of the scriptures and his mission.  Said it was just something he knew he needed to do but now he realizes why. 

He sent Picts:

Shoe shining kids 

Elder on his bday. 



Whole group of us on our hike.  Garbage like this around the water is normal. People just throw their garbage into the streams here. It’s super sad.  I love my life straw. 



Church and my apartment and the b-ball court I get to play on.   

34

Hey everyone. I have been doing super good here in the mission. We have opened up a small village in the middle of absolutly nothing and we have to ride in the back of a pickup truck for about an hour and it is so beautiful. We have water falls in our area 5 minutes from the house and we found and otter swimming in the river. I finally am living in a nice house with a hot shower and more than one room to do studies and sleep. Also we live in the chapel and so we get to play basketball very night after 7:30pm because we have to be in the house after dark because the church is the only place that has light. Our little Branch President has been working so hard here in Pancá to try and strengthen the members and he has been praying for missionaries for a few months now and almost cried when we showed up and said we would be the perminent missionaries in the area. His kids even started to jump up and down to celebrate and we started to laugh. Its amazing to see that impact missionaries can have on the people who really trust in the lord and I have learned a lot this week about doing just that. I have been having to speak in Kiche and Spanish so its been a little rough but I love every minute in the mission and I regret nothing.  Me and Elder Newman have also been washing our own clothes in this thing call a pilla. I think I might have a picture but thats all for now. I love all you guys and Ill see you soon.  

33

Hey everyone I have had a pretty good work here in Guatemala. I  confirmed a little girl as a member of the church Sunday and I have changes too. I will be going to another village here in the Sameish area. On Wednesday I had to go into Xela to get medicine because I have a stomach bacteria and I also had a fever of 102F so that wasn't good. (it wasn't a parasite the last couple weeks they thought I had:  So with all these changes in my health  I am down about 10 pounds but I still love being here in the mission. Maybe I'll have abs if I keep loosing weight. 

  The little boy we baptized last week received the holy ghost yesterday and I confirmed the daughter of the Branch President because he could come to church. This also means that we ran the church service and talked and also taught the classes. Now I will going to the change meeting tomorrow to find out who is my new comp and going to another village. We'll I have nothing more to say so I love you guys lots and Ill see you soon. 

On our prep day went to a waterfall. It was  beautiful.  We found an old abandoned house that when I tried to kick the door open the whole door fell out.  We saw some old clothes in there and set them up on a chair like a little old lady. 

There is some kind of protest here so we can't get the bus back to our locations tonight so we get to stay in a hotel.  Its the first time i've slept in a queen size bed and probably the only time in my mission.  I am soo excited!!!   

Love you - Ian

32

This week has been pretty good. 

We had a baptism this Sunday for a little boy named Arón and also the daughter of our branch President. On Saturday we went to this like village 15 miles from our area and we had to walk back from 5:00-8:30 at night in the dark because there wasn't any other way to get back. We have been riding on top of a lot of buses lately which is awesome because we are one of the only areas of the mission that has approval to do so. Its super fun!  Today we got to ride with a little pig so I took some photos of us together. 
  I also started reading Jesus the Christ on Wednesday and I'm on page 165 today. It is so good and I love learning more about our Savior Christ. 

I really don't have more to say. We talked with a bunch of drunk people and I destroyed a Pastor that tried to Bible bash us. I said some stuff and he had now idea about any of the scriptures I used and he just said sorry and left. HAHAHAHA. I struggle because many of the pastors here don't even know the bible.  It frustrates me. 

Just another normal  experience as a missionary. Love you all and Ill see you soon.

Pig in a bag on the bus

Me hanging on the back of the bus (no seats ever) 

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