74

 We received a message from Ian that he is on his way home. They basically had to smuggle all of the american missionaries out of the country. Can't wait to hear his stories. 

All of the missionaries leaving Guatemala because of COVID 

Welcome home COVID style 

73

 

3/16/20

Hello Everybody. This week has been fun with all the CoronaVirus scare. A lot of people won't shake our hand which is probably for the best, but the virus has finally made it here and some members gave us little white masks so no sickness for me. This little mask is going to make all the difference. I am also in the city now and it is so great getting to have normal conversations in spanish. I also get lunch every single day so you could say I'm a spoiled city missionary now. My companions name is Elder Tierney from Nampa Idaho so that is cool. The land of the potatoes! We have our 72 hour kit and we have lots of water just in case we get quarantined in the house, but I am going to be so bored now. Well that is about it for now so I love you lots and I'll see you soon!  I am coming home 3/24 

72

3/9/20

 Hola mi pueblo. I have been having a great time here in my area of Ical and after 3 transfers there I will be changed to a new area tomorrow. I was able to go through the church system again on Sunday and I finished updating all of the records and we found a little girl that has been coming to church but hasn't been baptised and we didn't know because the family doesn't speak spanish and so she will be baptised this saturday and there in another baptism on the 21st of march for another kid I have been teaching. Also my favorite members go a little Frie Cart so they gave us some fries for free which was awesome. We also got a giant squash from a member and we told them we had no way to cook it so they still gave it to us anyways. Well that's it so I love you lots and Ill see you soon.

n.

71

 3/2/20

This week was pretty good I would say. We got a lot of things done. We started working with an inactive family and they came to church so we will be baptising their oldest kid named Rody who is 12 on the 21st of this month. We also had some of the church technicians come out to the chapel and they installed the internet so we spent a couple hours going through physical and digital files to fix a lot of the errors in the system so that the next missionaries will be able to work more efficiently. We were able to find a few people that haven't been baptised but go to church so that was good. We went to Xela today to do my skin exam which was cool and I have some weird bacteria on my hand from just touching unclean things they told me. HAHA. Pretty much everything isn't clean whereI am. I also will be making smores tonight with some members that have never had smores so it will be interesting to see if they like them. I also made a new friend named Jasmine and she is 6. We teach her some times mainly just because she is one of the only people that understand us and she is super funny. We took a picture and we are going to be leaving  a copy with her so she never forgets us. That is it for the week so I love you guys lots and I'll see you soon.

70

 2/24/20

I have a pretty good week this week. We started teaching a family that was listening to the missionaries 20 years ago and we are the first missionaries to find them since them. His name is Marcos Ramos and he still had his Book of Mormon from the 90's so that was cool to see. He also said he wants to find the true church and he asked us how he can do it. So we told him he needs to pray and ask God. We are also teaching a guy named René and his girlfriend and she wants to get baptized but René doesn't want to get married yet he says. We are an awesome lesson with him and he said he would pray to ask God and he is going to give us an answer today. Please pray that he says yes. I also had a district activity this week and we watched Toy Story 4. I also got bit by a Pitbull which was awesome but I hit it on the head really hard so it didn't break the skin. Well that's it for now. Love you lots and I'll see you soon.

68

2/10/20

 

This week was pretty fun we had a Zon meeting on Wednesday and right after we had our baptism of a teenage girl named Odilia. She had been taking the lesions now for over 2 months and she doesn't speak spanish so we had to have everything translated, but she was baptised at 5:00pm. Then on Thursday we had to go to Xela for a new missionary meeting and we entered the temple at 6:00am on Friday. I love going to the temple it is just such a spiritual experience that just makes me even more excited to help others make it there one day experience the same. On Saturday we found and entire field of weed whill contacting which was cool and when I played dumb and asked what it was they just said, "I don´t know what it is. Someone is just renting our land to grow it." I just laugh and told them that it was weed and they were like, "I don't know what that is."  So from there we just left and went to another appointment. Also I threw in some fruit with my eggs to be more healthy this week. You are welcome mom. Well that is about all that happened so I love you lots and I'll see you soon.

67

 

2/3/20

This week was pretty good. We got to relax a little bit because some members invited us to eat. We have been working a lot in a place called Caserio Lopez which is only about a 30 minute walk so it isn't that far. We got to chop wood for a guy and then he tried to give us 10 quetzales so that was cool but we couldn't take it from him. Then he tried to feed us lunch but we had to leave to go to another area because an area in our Zone has a baptism this next saturday. We also did some divisiones with the Zone Leaders for a day which was interesting. Elder Osorio came with me and just complained about my area the whole time hahahaha. He said he has never sweated so much in his entire life. Today we went to Huehue and I bought some brownies to make in the microwave which will be super good. Well I'm sorry I forgot to take pictures, but I love you guys lots and I'll see you soon.

66

 1/27/20

This week was pretty good we had a blast because we got to pick a lot of coffee for an inactive family that we just barley found. They are awesome and so happy to have the Elders in their home again. The Hna. Fabiana ́s husband died a few years ago and she was kind of forgotten about so she stopped coming to church and we found by a pure miracle. We were about to call it a day and walk home. but I said we need to knock one more house and I said pointing, "that house over there needs the gospel."  We also had our multi zone meeting and we found some weed while contacting so I guess you could say we had a pretty interesting week.We got changes and I will be finishing Elder Vanderholms training so I have another 6 weeks in Ical to learn Mam(probably not). I feel so blessed to be here in the mission and to have this small time to serve the Lord, but I always have to remind myself that it's not my time it's the Lord's time. I love you all and I hope you have a great week. I ́ll see you soon.

1.Weed

2. Me in the jungle

3. He ordered a Mini Pepsi

4. One really hard day

65

1/13 

Hey everybody. I'm still alive out here in the middle of nowhere. I didn't eat anymore spiders, but I did get to help kill another cow so that was fun. We had a bunch of investigators come to church which was awesome. We are teaching a bunch of people and were able to find about 25 more this week. No a lot of those people really understand what we are saying so its possible they just think we are selling chocolate or something. We went into the city today and we bought McDonalds which was the most flavorful food I have had in a very very long time. I almost snowed here too we dropped to a freezing 60 degrees this week one night. I had to wear a sweatshirt when I slept. I have been feeling good and happy to be out here serving the Lord and I was super happy to get my package this week. I finished just about everything but the sunflower seeds. That's about it so I love you lots and I'll see soon. 

64

1\6 

Hey guys not much has happened here in my area but we did have 6 people come to church that we have been working con this last couple weeks. We had a super awesome appointment with a girl named Glendy and she said that she wants to be baptised but she is still not sure on what day. We also found a drunk guy named Marcos who was in the states for like 15 years and now he wants to know about the church and stop drinking so that will be cool. We went to see the Mayan ruins again today that I got to see a year ago.(Wow I am old in the mission) Then we ate some terrible asian food and now we will be heading back to the boonies. I love you lots and I'll see you soon.

63

1/ 1

We love our pop. 

This is a pair of my shoes.  Luckily I found a new pair. 

Hey everybody. We had a pretty good Christmas last week and we also had our New Year's celebration in our house with a cup of hot chocolate even though it is super hot here. HAHA.We also got fed twice yesterday which was awesome, but I woke up with food poisoning; the food was still pretty good so no complaints here.  We did some cleaning a walked a ton which is pretty normal. We had a super spiritual family home evening with a member and some of her friends that she invited. They now want to come to church and the man said he will do his best to give up drinking so we will be praying and doing everything possible to help him. There is no transportation anywhere on Christmas so we had to walk a few miles to get to an internet cafe to write and then we have to leave at 4pm to get back by 6:30pm so I can't wait. I am loving the mission and I can't believe I will be home now before the year ends. I miss you all and I love you lots. See you soon

62

Merry Christmas! 

Long phone call so ian just sent us pictures instead of a letter.  He is doing great! 

61

12/16 

This week we had to travel a lot because we had a christmas party for the whole mission and I didnt get to work much in my area but it was super fun. We also got to go to the temple and I got called to train again which will be super fun. I will be receiving an american so I will get to teach him spanish. He will get here tomorrow and we will make it back to our area wednesday because it is a little far. I got to eat at Panda Express, which was so good. I have only eaten there twice here in the mission. My companion will be going home tomorrow so we had to do a bunch of traveling this week about 23 hours by bus but I slept most of the time. Well that is everything. I love you lots and I'll see you soon.

12/18

So I moved to the other side of the mission and my Kiche is useless. The area is called Ical and it is just a super steep giant mountain where everyone speaks a language called Mam. It has no similarities to Kiche so its been weird to only speak to the people and spanish and not be able to explain things in a way that they understand. My new comps name is Elder Duncan from Utah and he will be finishing the mission here in 5 weeks. I also have my trainer Elder Shopp in my district so that's fun.  We have a lot of super awesome people we are teaching right now the biggest problem with them is that none of them are married, so we have been working on that. It is also a little bit colder here which makes it really nice when we change 3000 feet in elevacion every day. The church meetings are in Mam so I don't understand anything, but it's okay because on Sunday we got thrown in to teach the Primary kids and half of them don't speak Spanish either. We played a game called "Hagan lo que yo hago". That is about it for the week. I will try to have more next week. Love you lots and I'll see you soon. 

60

12/9

Hey everybody. I had a super fun week this week. I got to eat some spiders and baptise a smurf. The little girl that got baptised on saturday is the smallest 9 year old I have ever met but she is super funny. Else only speaks Mam which is another one of the mountain languages here. We had to bring a translate to all of out lesions and so the teaching went slow, but the hard work paid off. On Sunday we went to our Branch President's house and after lunch we went spider hunting because it is a delicacy in this culture. I did divisions with my trainer which was fun and we got to do some digging for a few members. It was funny because I would lift up a big rock and they would all be surprised and say something about how strong gringos are. HAHAHA. I also saw the Christmas devotional and it was super pretty and the messages were just fantastic. We also places a bautismal date with a girl named Odilia for the 15th of February and she is super excited, but she wants to wait until her family gets back from working in Mexico. Her cousin will probably be the one that baptises her. Well that is all from this week. I love you guys lots and I'll see you soon.

59

12/5

This week was pretty fun. We started off the week by killing a cow and helping cut up the meat. Then my comp was sick so we couldn't leave for 2 days and I just ended up reading a ton in the Book of Mormon. On Friday a ton of kids broke in to the church so we chased them out this a broom and a knife. Then we found a smurf. No I'm just kidding. We found this super tiny little 9 year old that will be baptised this Saturday which is my birthday. I couldn't ask for a better birthday present. We are working super hard and my comp is about to finish the mission here in a few weeks so it's cool that he will finish with a baptism. The picture of the toothpick is an ant that a found in my food so I put the head on a stick. Love you lots and I'll see you soon.

58

11/25

Hola amigos. This week was super fun we got to walk a ton of more mountains and teach a few people. This area has to be my favorite thus far. There are  beautiful mountains and valleys and the sunset is to die for. My comp is awesome as well and he will be finishing here in 3 weeks so my time with him will be short. We are teaching a lot of new people and it's super fun because the area is really jungly so we just walk through all this vegetation and and there is a little village of about 6 house and then we find another little path and we find 7 more houses. We do get lost sometimes and have to try to find our way back. We also had 4 people come to church with us and they said that they liked it. I hope that we can help them take steps to grow closer to God. We eat a ton of pasta in our area because it's like the cheapest thing you can buy and I would say that it's not half bad. I love it here in the mission and I wouldn't change it for the world. Love you guys lots and I'll see you soon.

57

11/17

So I moved to the other side of the mission and my Kiche is useless. The area is called Ical and it is just a super steep giant mountain where everyone speaks a language called Mam. It has no similarities to Kiche so its been weird to only speak to the people and spanish and not be able to explain things in a way that they understand. My new comps name is Elder Duncan from Utah and he will be finishing the mission here in 5 weeks. I also have my trainer Elder Shopp in my district so that's fun.  We have a lot of super awesome people we are teaching right now the biggest problem with them is that none of them are married, so we have been working on that. It is also a little bit colder here which makes it really nice when we change 3000 feet in elevacion every day. The church meetings are in Mam so I don't understand anything, but it's okay because on Sunday we got thrown in to teach the Primary kids and half of them don't speak Spanish either. We played a game called "Hagan lo que yo hago". That is about it for the week. I will try to have more next week. Love you lots and I'll see you soon. 

56

11/11

Hey. I will be having changes tomorrow to another area and I have to take all my bags and the truth is they are so heavy. I will probably be going to the city so at least I will get food and won't go to sleep hungry. This week we had our missionary activity which was a movie night with Popcorn and Soda and the BOM videos. Some of the kids probably didn't sleep much for the soda. It was pretty sad to say goodbye to my family here in Pancá and some of them cried which made it worse for me but I had to do it. Today we had a war of spin tops which was pretty funny because we went to the central park and played in front of a bunch of little kids. I also super glued a 1 quetzal coin to the bench in the central park just to mess with people. Well I love you guys lots and Ill see you soon.

55

We started off the week with interviews with our mission President and he said that I will be leaving my area so that will be interesting. I have already started to pack because we will be having a Multi-Zone meeting with half the mission and I won't be in my area a whole lot. We were able to do divisions with some other areas and it was fun. I went with a brand new Elder Camacho who is still learning spanish so I spoke the whole time which was a reminder of my training. I found another hidden part of my area and was able to find some more people to teach which was great. This Friday we will be having the ward missionary ran activity and we will be watching the new BOM videos and eating Popcorn and soda. I will have to say goodbye to my home after 6 months so that will be a little sad but I know that the Lord has prepared people to receive this gospel from me and I can't wait to meet them. My comp will be staying in the area so good luck to him. I love you guys lots and I'll see you soon. (10months)

54

10/21

Hey everybody this has been a pretty normal week. I got to walk and walk and walk and walk and then teach a little bit. We are working with some investigators that have the desire to be baptised and so that should be fun if they really take this step to become closer to God. We have also been trying to find more people to teach and we have been talking to everybody possible to put and appointment to teach them. Today we had our district activity which was just going to Walmart an hour and a half away and bowling. I ordered Panda Express for the first time in over a year and it was so good. I got orange chicken and chow-mein.I also set my record on the Rubix Cube at 58 seconds this week. I also did divisions with another area called Canquixaja and the Elder from Honduras came to my area and I had to show off the area by taking him to the waterfall. That is all I did this week so I love you lots and I'll see you soon.