6 Months - Merry Christmas!

We got to talk to Joseph today! We got his email before we did the phone call, so we'll start with that and then a clip or two of our skype -
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     Subject: Feliz Navidad a Todos!         

Hello everybody and Merry Christmas!! This was a super great week! We have been working really hard with Ilumina el mundo especially in having noches de hogar (family home evenings) and trying to get people to come to church and really saw a lot of miracles! The record for church attendance in the Guatemala Guatemala city South mission in 2017 was 345 and the record so far in 2018 was 335. Attendance meaning investigators in sacrament meeting across the whole mission (9 stakes in the cap and 2 districts outside the capital). So in the multi-zone conference on Thursday President Shumway talked about how this sunday, especially with all the references we've been getting from Noches de Hogar and Ilumina el Mundo, as a mission the goal isi 400. Especially taking in to account a letter the first presidency sent out about this Sunday. He asked each area to double their attendance from the week before and last week was our best week in a while with 5. So we were shooting for 10 which was super ambitious and 8 people came to church! Not 10 but 8 is still super good and as a mission we smashed the old record out of the water with 473 in total! It was super awesome and really we saw a lot of miracles.

Among those who came some came for the first time. Frank, who we found with Elder Aquino back forever ago. FINALLY he can come to church because he is working at a members carwash now and he really liked it. He is a super probably baptism for January and also talks about how it would be cool to be a missionary. Then Gustavo also came for the first time this past week. We found him this past week but he is actually someone I talked to on the bus like 3 months ago. He sat next to a returned missionary who got back this week from a mission in Brazil (did you know there are like 50 missions in Brazil!) named Sergio and Gustavo is now reading the Book of Mormon. He is super pillas and is going to progress a lot. Cristian also came, who was an investigator that told us he didn't want to receive us anymore about 7 weeks ago. He has some problems that are going to be hard to work through but is a good guy and hopefully he keeps coming! Also Vicky came, a lady from New Zealand who is married to an RM named Victor who is part of a super awesome family we eat dinner with every Friday. She is a super good cook and the family is from Nicaragua so they would always make Nicaragua food for Elder Gadea. The son is super awesome and it's super obvious he has a strong testimony but he usually works on Sunday but they got this Sunday off and so he and Vicky came to church and it was super awesome!! Also Another lady named Marielos who is married to a less active guy named Romeo came. Fernando also came and so did Brenda (Ronal's sister) and Brenda (Ronal's mom). We were going to go to the temple with Brenda this past week but had to reschedule it to this week because the day we scheduled it for I totally forgot that the hermanas that give the little tour around the temple had their multi-zone conference. So anyways you probably didn't want to know that many details but we were super excited about it. Lots of miracles.

Also there is some exciting stuff that is going to happen here in Guate soon but they asked us to keep it on the down low a little bit so I'll tell you in a few months. 

Also it is not Christmas in Guate without tamales. Here is a picture of us waiting for the bus this morning. Rockin the new Christmas tie. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!

And here is me eating a tamale for breakfast as we waited for the bus

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So here's the family blogpost about our skype with him. He called at 11:00 Utah time, 12:00 for him in Guatemala. Mel did this instagram picture commemorating the event.

We talked for an hour. It was so great to see him! Corey asked him what he misses from home. He said he can't really remember much about this previous life he lived, ha, I get that. Good answer.

He was surprised when we mentioned that his cousin Kelsey was married. I know I mentioned that in an email to him, but I get that his time to read and write on p-days is limited, so I get that he missed it, still, kinda funny seeing his "WHAT!?!?" expression.

He was watching the clock (so obedient) and when it was time to wrap up he shared his testimony and led us in a long distance family prayer.

We sure love this young man, I'm already looking forward to Mother's Day!

5 Months - Chillin' in the Hospital and Mario's Baptism

Joseph will be having preparation day on Tuesday/Christmas next week, so that's fun, we are excited to be able to talk to him! He is going to call around 11, but he was offline before I asked him if it was a phone call or video/skype. I emailed the mission office and they said video call, so we'll be ready for both. Maybe he'll call first while we get the video set up, we'll see. I think their little tree is the cutest, the simplicity of it gives my heart a "true meaning of Christmas" feeling - the humility of it. We sure love this kid.
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     Subject: Andando en la hospital y el Bautismo de Mario!!    

Hey hey!

So this was a GREAT week!! Super crazy but really really good.

So last p-day, Wednesday, we had divisions and Elder Erikson and I sent our comps together even though they have the same time in the mission and they are both in their training. But it was because we had Mario's baptismal interview. Then right after that he had an interview with the bishop and we had another appointment and Elder Adams didn't know the guy because he only had a day in the area so that's why it was me and Elder Erikson here.

Then Thursday we met up with our comps on the way to Utatlan, where the mission offices are, because there was a new missionary meeting for all the missionaries that just have a change in the field. That meeting was really good and then I was really looking forward to Friday because it would be our first normal day as a companionship. But we ended up in the hospital. He is all good now but Friday morning he woke up and had some sort of paralysis thing, we're not really sure. But he couldn't like move his hand or his leg and they hurt a lot. So we spent all day Friday in the hospital and it was super super boring. But since we had a baptism the next day on Saturday we did divisions so that I could go to the baptism. So Elder Erikson came and we left the newbies together again. Then we went back, had another singing thing at a mall, and then went to the baptism. Also funny story is that like an hour before the baptism I realized I forgot something at the house so we went back and Elder Erikson was using my keys to open the door and he broke it! Just like on my first night with Elder Gadea haha. So we were locked out of the house but we just decided to go to the baptism. After the baptism we got an extra key from the lady we rent from though so we got in the house. We had some extra keys but they were both inside the house haha.

And the highlight of the week was for sure Marios baptism!!!

He is super great and ready to go. And he talks about going on a mission all the time so hopefully we see him out there with a plaque in a year or so!!

And this last picture was taken after Elder Erikson told him to actually smile

 

Then Sunday was amazing because we had 5 in church!! It was a miracle! One of them was Brenda, Ronal's sister, and we are planning on going to the temple with her this Friday! So that's super exciting. There are a lot of miracles happening right now and I am super excited for the rest of this change! And not just because I am gonna hit my birthday and Christmas in this change haha. Speaking of Christmas next week p-day will be Tuesday so that it's the same day as Christmas.

And speaking of Christmas we put the tree and the stockings up!

It's not the best light job haha I just kinda wrapped the lights around the little tree a few times but up close it looked super chafa.

The presents under the tree right now are a package from Grandma and Grandpa and Elder Adams has a couple Christmas presents too. He had more but he opened them. And his parents also sent down presents for his comp which is me! so that's where the stockings came from and also a pair of pajama pants and a tuk (which is what they call a beanie in Canada).

That's it for this week but I hope you all are super involved in Light the World!!

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5 Months - I Decided to Adopt

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              Subject: Decidí a adoptar                       

So first off sorry last weeks email was a little short. Elder Gadea had to go to the doctor in the morning and then we went to this place called cayalá for zone p-day. It was this mall/city place. The nicest mall I have ever been to in my life. It was all outdoors and was totally like Italy. I've never been to Italy but it just really felt like I was in italy when we were there. Then we took this bus back and the bus driver was SUPER crazy. Like they're crazy anyways but he was especially crazy. He almost crashed a few times but we got back safe and sound and after like 10 minutes my heart rate was back to normal. But don't worry the buses are usually a lot more tranquilo than that. So anyways we got back and I had barely anything of my email written on the alphasmart and didn't have time to finish it because Elder Gadea had to go to physical therapy. SO sorry it was kinda short last week with no pictures.

Right now Elder Gadea is in San Francisco. San Francisco Florida not California jaja (jaja is haha in español). One of the zones here in Guatemala is called Florida and one of the areas there is San Franscisco. So that is where Elder Gadea is right now and it's an area that is a lot smaller and flatter than Lo de Coy which will hopefully be a lot better on his knees. Keep him in your prayers. We had a good change together and when it ended we were really on fire! Elder Gadea sealed the deal with Marios baptism on saturday by himself! It was during the third hour of church. Mario said he had some questions for us and so what ended up happening is we did divisions during the third hour of church so he could answer Marios questions before church ended (his comp was the ward mission leader) and I went to the combined meeting with Priesthood and Relief Society about Ilumina El Mundo. Mario still had doubts about his baptismal date but Elder Gadea had a SUPER awesome lesson with him and sealded the deal and now he is so so ready and super excited about it. And I cannot wait for him to take this great step that is going to "be the best decision of his life"to quote Mario.

So Marios baptismal interview is tonight and then right after he has an interview with the bishop to get the aaronic priesthood. He is so pillas. I'll send you those pictures next wek!!

Which brings me to the next thing. Because of his interview Elder Erikson has to come here and we'll be on divisions. He is coming here with me because my new comp, Elder Adams doesn't know the area yet and he's never met the investigator Emmanuel that we are visiting tonight. Elder Adams is from the same group as Elder Gates, Elder Eriksons kid. So since him and Elder Gates both have only 6 weeks in the field I am finishing his training! Haha so tonight we're going to have 2 newbies together but I think they'll survive. When we got the call about changes I was super surprised that I am finishing his training. So wish me luck.

So I am his second dad. It was never in my plans to adopt but I am excited about it. So yeah I now have an adopted son.

Yesterday I went to the mission offices to go to the news training meeting and to pick him up. Elder Adams is from Canada! So now there are two Canadians in the zone.

Here is my last picture with Elder Gadea and another one with our matching ilumina el mundo tshirts

Also last week on p-day I got a couple Christmas packages!!

One from mom and dad and one from my grandparents. It was so awesome!! I open the one from mom and dad because the stuff wasn't wrapped. Plus I already knew what was in it but I'm saving the other one for Christmas!

This morning we went on a long hike to a place called Sendero Alux aka Cerro Alux as a zone for p-day and it was so cool!

 There was a really awesome view of all of Guatemala City

Also a pretty sweet pic with the Guate flag on my back

Also here's a picture of one of the volcanos.

There pictures of the view have another volcano in it. You can't see it super well in the picture but there was smoke coming out of it! Kinda cool haha.

So lots of great things happening here. I will hit Christmas and my birthday this change so that's also exciting. Learning a lot and the Lord's work is really progressing!! We're really going to work hard with Emmanuel this week so he can get baptized this month.

Also I've talked a little bit about Imulina el mundo. Of course you all know what it is but here in central america they are really emphasizing having a Noche de Hogar (family home evening) about christmas with someone who isn't a member (neighbor, family member, friends from work, etc) and really just sharing a message about Jesus Christ with them because that is what Christmas is all about. Not very many of you are in Central America and if you aren't I just want to invite you to do the same thing! Invite someone you're friends with to a family home evening and sing a christmas hymn, have a prayer, read Luke 2:1-16 and share you testimony about Jesus Christ and share the Light the World things with them. You can also use the videos the church made for each of the weeks of Light the World. As you do so you will be lighting the world and even if they aren't interested in the church you'll have blessed their lives. As members of the church we really are the light of the world but any light we have is light that comes from our Savior Jesus Christ. During Ilumina El Mundo my testimony of Jesus Christ has really been strengthening. I know that my Redeemer lives!!

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5 Months - Trainer!

We look forward to getting Joseph's emails on Wednesday, and it's always fun and exciting when we get some note or video on other days. Today we received an email from his mission President saying that he is getting a new companion tomorrow and will be a trainer! We are so excited for him! Here is the email from President Shumway -

 

 Dear Wride Family,

We are pleased to inform you that your son, Elder Wride, has been called to serve as trainer to Elder Adams  here in the Guatemala City South Mission. We are confident that your son will excel in fulfilling the duties of this important calling.

In this mission, we assign our best missionaries as trainers. This calling is the highest honor and most sacred responsibility. We depend on our trainers to teach new missionaries total obedience to the commandments and the mission rules, diligence, and enthusiasm for the work. Your son has displayed these and many other fine qualities which qualify him for this sacred trust to help set the stage for the rest of this new missionary's mission.

Your son will find this new calling as trainer to be challenging but very rewarding. We know he is up to the challenge. As he trains with dedication, he will be assisting in the rolling forth of the Lord's great latter-day work.

Thank you for sharing your fine son with us. We appreciate his willingness to serve the Lord in Guatemala.

With warm regards,

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 We are so excited for him! Looking forward to his email tomorrow!

5 Months - Ilumina el mundo

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    Subject: Ilumina El Mundo          

Hola amigos! So this week waas really good. It's really weirding me out that this is the last week of changes. This change has flown by so far.

I mentioned that missionary choir we're doing that the stake mission leader put together. So we've been practicing every p-day and every monday before district council and had our first two gigs on saturday. We sang, along with two other zones by this huge christmas tree in a place called obelisco. It wasn't nearly as good as skyline madrigals but so we sang and contacted and then sang again. We didn't have a piano to get a note from so it was kind of rough and I wished I'd brought my pitch-pipe with me on the misson haha. I'm not sure who put the whole thing together but apparently they did it last year too. It was fun but felt a little bit like not the best use of time as missionaries but we got some pillasish conacts. We went straight from there to the stake center where we performed for this company expo in the stake center. That one went a lot better because we actually had a piano and the guy who accompanaied us, Gustavo, is super good at piano. Since I had a little experience in choir and I got to direct both times when we sang and have also been directing when we practice. I think it helps us all stay together but they don't watch very well. Also they need to smile when they sing! Everything has been coming back from Mads last year! Also when we sang at obelisco with the other zones they gave us these cool ilumina el mundo (light the world) shirts 

Monday I went on divisions with Elder Erikson and it was the craziest day! We went to the baptism of an 8 year old kid from their ward but had to run back to the house to get baptismal clothes and it was super crazy! 

The most exciting thing that day was that Mario is now on date for Baptism again for the 15th!!! We had a lesson with him that night and it was super spiritual. 

Little update on the Martinez family. They are going to be gone all of december... que lastima. But they're still super pillas and I'm sure they will get baptized one day. Hopefully in January and hopefully I'll still be here in Lo de Coy. I don't have a whole lot of time left and didn't write much this morning so that's it for this week but I invite you all to invite someone to a family home evening that isn't a member. Love you all!!

5 Months in Guatemala - Caminamos un monton

On Sunday we got this video from Hermano Sazo of Joseph having dinner with them, and trying cow stomach. He handled that better than I did on my mission...

He remembered that I had it once: "It was really goey and weird but not horrible. Didn't you say you ate cow stomach on your mission and that it was disgusting??"
My reply: "Yeah, they called it 'menudo' and it was like in a soup. I thing I mostly could't get over the visual look of it, with all the little follicle thingys" So maybe it wasn't really that bad, I just didn't give it a chance based on outward appearances.

So today, we had a few emails like that back and forth around 11:30, I was still waiting for the big email update to everyone, and 2 hours later it still wasn't in my inbox. I know they only have an hour to do stuff, so I was a little sad if we were going to have to wait another week to hear from him - so I logged onto his account to see if somehow he missed sending it to us. I looked through all his sent mail and there was nothing. So I started to compile the emails he'd sent individually to people and figured I could post that here for this week, and then I remembered to look in his drafts. Sure enough, there was an email all composed with greeting, pictures and a closing, but not sent. So, since I assumed he would not be getting back online later, I hit send. I wrote him and let him know I was snooping around his mailbox. So here's his letter (I'm glad I have his password!)
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     Subject: Caminamos un monton     

Hola familia y amigos!!

So this week was awesome! We have worked really hard and walked a ton! The best part of this week was sunday where we finally saw some fruits in church. Mario came to church and even though he got there way late he stayed for the whole 3 hours! He finally came to church with us which we were super excited about. By a miracle he got sunday as his day off at his second job instead of monday which meant he could come to church! And the familia Martinez also came to church!! They are super awesome. They only stayed for sacrament meeting because they had to go to their grandmas birthday or something like that but we were super happy they came and are going to keep working with them, hoping they can get baptized on the 22nd of December but we'll see. We're also going to try to take them to the temple before changes.

Also about changes, it looks like I will be here in Lo de Coy one more change making my first 6 months in the same area! Hey also speaking about months in the mission, 5 months ago yesterday I arrived at the Guatmalan CCM! It feels like it's been way shorter than that and also way longer than that at the same time. I've forgotten a lot of things about what I used to spend my time doing and now that I think of it probably could have spent my time a little wiser because I did not sleep well before the mission. Also I wish I'd kept a steady journal.

But anyways back to changes. And by changes I means tranfers. Everyone refers to transfers as cambios (which translates to changes) even though there is a word for transfers which is traslados. But that's just the term everyone uses here so when I say changes or cambios I mean transfers. We are in the 5th week of the change which means that in 2 weeks I will have a different companion. Elder Gadea has been going to physical therapy for his knees and he has 10 sessions to do. We are going to the 5th one today. He is going monday, wednesday, and friday so that he will be done with all 10 sessions before changes. And depending on how it all goes he could stay here but what is more likely is that he will go to an area super plano (flat), likely outside the capital. In which case would mean that I would have to quedar (stay) in the area. Which I am fine with because we have the Familia Martinez and Mario who are super probable baptisms in December. So if that's what happens I'll be here until January 22 meaning I'll hit my first birthday and Christmas in my first area! So that is probably what's going to happen but we'll know for sure by Sunday December 9th.

Funny story is that Elder Stewart, our newest zone leader, has an infected toe and it got operated on and cleaned out last thursday but he couldn't go out and walk on it all day. So he and Elder Bywater had to stay in their house a few days but when monday came and we had consejo de zona they asked one of us to go stay with Elder Stweart so that we could have at least 1 of our zone leaders in the meeting. Elder Gadea was going to stay with Elder Stewart but then he asked me if I could stay so I was ready to just read and study and get to know Elder Stewart better. But about 30 minutes after they left Elder Bywater called us because he forgot the key to the family history center so Elder Stweart just wrapped his toe us nice and good and we went to the stake center too. We set the goal of baptisms in december for 14 which is high but totally doable. There are a ton of families we are teaching and if just in our area the martinez family and mario get baptized in december that will be 7. So we're gonna be working super hard and be exactly obedient and are exercising a lot of faith and I believe we'll see a lot of miracles in December!

Also this week we switched our bedroom to what used to be the exercise room. 

It's a little smaller but it's not right next to the street like our old one used to be so it's quieter in the morning and less light gets in before 6:30. There are people that set off these fire cracker things (they call then cuetes) in the middle of the street at like 4 in the morning so now we hear less of those when we're trying to sleep so that's nice.

Something else super fun was that yesterday was Elder Bywaters birthday and the hermanas in Misco made a cake for him and Elder Erikson and Elder Gates bought a cake.

So we sang to him this morning and ate cake and it was great!

That's it for this week!!
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Of the sent emails I complied, I'll just share these two:

1) His friend Talmage (who is in Kansas waiting for his passport to Ecuador) asked him: "So what's your strategy for not getting discouraged? It's tough not to especially when you don't hit your goals." He also said there in Kansas there's a whole little corner of town full of people from Guatemala, they call it Guateville.

Joseph's reply: " hahaha yeah Guateville!! That language is whack quekchi or somthing like that. Tell them you have a friend who is in Guatemala and wishes that he was chapin.

Ya know just like keep working and really try your hardest to meet your goals but if you don't meet them don't let it get to you and make you think your a bad missionary. Just do better next week. And if you still suck the next week do better the next week. It's crazy to do things the same and expect different results is something Elder Bywater says a lot. So do some inventory and make sure you're doing the best you can and are guided by the spirit and keep working. I don't really know haha but just try and stay positive. If you have 12 people that are going to come to church and none of them come don't let it get you down just see the good and keep working and you'll see the fruits eventually. It really is tough especially when you have high hopes though.

Do you have a copy of the fouth missionary? It's another talk about missionary work that is so so so awesome."

2) Joseph wrote an email to thank a neighbor who has donated to his mission. And Joseph also asked him: "I hope all is well back there in the states and just wanted to write you and say thanks for helping to donate to my mission fund!! I really appreciate it and am working as hard as I can, really trying to make the most of the time I have here in the mission.  Do you have any advice about how to get someone who is really close to baptism but doesn't quite want to make the commitment to agree to a date?" Our neighbors reply was really great. He referenced this seminar talk by Elder Oaks:
"Much has been said about the purpose of missionary work: to teach repentance and baptize converts. “But,” he asked, “converts to what? “To Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Redeemer, to His doctrine, to His restored gospel, to His authority, and to His name. Conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ and His gospel should precede conversion to and membership in His Church. Teach that to your missionaries,” he counseled. “Teach them to seek conversion to Jesus Christ and His gospel. Conversion to membership in His Church will follow, and if it does not, we will still have blessed their lives.”
(Love it 💓)

Week 21 - Tonto Pero No Tanto

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    Subject: Tonto Pero No Tanto          

So I realized on Thursday that this title would have been PERFECT for the email last week. Considering that I kinda hurt myself getting out of the bus. By the way I am TOTALLY fine. Just a flesh wound. Oooh hahahah that also would have made a great title last week. Ahh that would have been hilarious! But my arm is totally fine and getting a lot better. I can move it just fine and am very grateful that I only got a scrape on my arm and I promise I  will not be getting off of any more buses until they are completely stopped.

Alright but so "Tonto pero no tanto"basically means dumb but not that dumb. It was something that this old guy we found last week told us about himself. He was actually baptized I don't know how many years ago and has an old triple combination of the church. He lives alone and his wife lives somewhere else but they're still married and see each other once in a while. He lives alone and it was kind of sad. He said he is happy though and he also said he was "tonto, pero no tanto" haha it was funny. He can't really get out much and basically told us he wasn't going to come to church but he was a nice old man. He's a little hard to talk with and wasn't very receptive but we will try to visit him again. Anyways so I really wished I'd used that title last week because of when we talked to that guy and also considering that I was a little tonto, pero no tanto.

This week was really good! I've really been learning how to be positive and not become desanimado (demotivated/discouraged) even when things don't work out like we wanted. Such as the 12 investigators we were expecting in church who didn't come. Actually more than that said they'd come but we were actually expecting 12 to be there. Well so yeah none of them could make it. It was way disappointing. The family Martinez is progressing a lot though and we left a Book of Mormon with the mom on Monday and she's gonna read it! They didn't make it to church because the kids had been with their dad and grandparents in another area since Friday and were supposed to come back on Saturday but came back on Sunday. But they said they'd come to church this next week so hopefully they do! We did have one in church though, who we didn't think would come but she did so that was really appreciated. She's Lorena's cousin! Lorena started working for a member family in the ward this week, cleaning and taking care of kids which will be really good for her and help her in the transition into being a member. But so Lorena brought her cousin who lives in another area to church with her and we are going to get the reference passed to the missionaries over there!

I went on divisions with Elder Gates this week, Elder Erikson's kid. He's super awesome but he doesn't understand a whole lot of Spanish haha. I remember feeling a lot like that in Chile. He has 3 weeks in the field and is from St.. George and is a great missionary. And once he can speak Spanish he'll be even better!

The highlight of the week by far was last night when we FINALLY went to the temple with Mario.

We have been teaching him for almost 3 months and he's come to church only 3 times... but one was general conference and the other two were in the ward closer to his work. So we've really been trying to get him to come to church with us and also get a date set for his baptism. So we had the tour around the outside of the temple with the Hermanas that work there and he learned a lot during that and we ended the tour (just like with Ronal) in the lobby of the temple where he could ask if December 2nd is when he should be baptized. He knows he needs to be baptized and knows that it's what God wants him to do. He has never felt prepared to set a date though because he doesn't feel like he's ready to be baptized and honestly he's not. He said that he got the answer not yet but that he does need to be baptized. He meets all the requirements, has all the lessons, has come to church the right amount of times, but he hasn't been coming to church recently because of his 2 jobs and he hasn't been reading the Book of Mormon on his own recently either. So we're going to set a goal with him, make sure he comes to church and reads everyday and hopefully he feels ready by the end of December. Hopefully I'm still here for that. But it was so awesome in the temple and he said there was only one other time where he felt the spirit that strong in his life. He also told the Hermana who gave our tour, Hermana Sowers, that he was going to be back here soon, but the next time inside. Mario is really awesome and is totally going to get baptized, it is just a question of when, which will be determined by if he reads on his own and comes to church. So we are really going to do our part and follow up and remind him to read every day. And remind him earlier than 8:45 to come to church because this week he was planning on coming but forgot about it and if we had called earlier he would have had enough time to make it to church. But I think the temple with him was really a turning point and he'll start to progress a lot faster.

Here are some other pictures from the temple.

I thought it was kind of funny he wore a jacket that said every thing for your pleasure to the temple.

It was also awesome because a member of the ward who got back from his mission 2 years ago took us to the temple. And the temple was packed! There were so many people there!

We also ran in to Elder Benson and Elder Saxton there! Elder Saxton is from my group an Elder Benson was my district leader first change and right now he's a zone leader with Elder Aquino! They happened to be on divisions that day otherwise I would have seen Elder Aquino there which would have been amazing. They were there with a family of investigators who also had the temple tour. Being there really gave me a better vision of what we're doing as missionaries. We are building the kingdom of God here on the earth! If we are baptizing just to meet a goal we're not working for the right reasons. It's important to reach our goals but we need to teach in such a way, and make sure they have spiritual experiences on their own, so that they are really converted and will really make the temple one of their goals after baptism. Baptism is really just the door to all the rest of the blessings our Heavenly Father has for us on this earth. I love the temple so much and challenge you to make the sacrifice of time to go to the temple this week and really as often as you can. After my mission I'm fijo going every week.

They also had this cool little nativity scene there for navidad.

The three wise men

Also if it looks like I'm not as skinny as I used to be it's because I'm not. Last Wednesday when we went to the mall for lunch on p-day there was a little scale where you could pay a Quetzal to weigh yourself. So I'm not sure exactly how much I weighed entering the MTC but before the mission I always weighed around 135-140. I'm not going to trust that scale at the mall until another scale that we know it accurate tells me the same thing because it told me I weigh 179.2 pounds!! There's no way I've gained 40 pounds! I know I've gained a little bit but 40 pounds?? I think it's because all the P90X I've been doing has built a lot more muscle and muscle weighs more than fat. That's the only reasonable explanation. Anyways I was a little sad to find that out and hopefully next time I weigh myself it's a little lower but I might have to cut back a little on all the food I'm eating and "bring it"even more during exercises.

Well that's it for this week. Adios amigos! Con cuidado!

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Week 20 - Lo De Coy - Practice Makes Perfect

In an email to me Joseph said a family in Guatemala is coming up to Utah next week, and he gave them some letters to deliver to us, so we're looking forward to that! Here's his letter this week.
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       Subject: Practice Makes Perfect            

Buenos Dias amigos!

Well this week was awesome. Well it's  getting better. Elder Gadea and I have really turned things around as a companionship and are getting along super well now. We are also making a lot of progress here in Lo de Coy.

Last Wednesday I went on divisions with Elder Bywater! He came here and we had a really great lesson with Mario. We also ordered pizza that night

We've been trying for a while to get him a date for baptism but he's not wanted to accept a date so with him we read from Mosiah 18 and ended the lesson with him praying to know if the 18th he should be baptized. It was just him praying in his head and after about 5 minutes he stood up and said that he would do the preparations. He has all the lessons and has come to church 3 times. One was conference and the other 2 were with the elders in the area panorama where the chapel is super close to his work. But the thing is we need him to come to church with us. Well he said he'd come this past week and we were also expecting Frank. Well neither of them came and we only had one in church again which was a bummer. But we have 9 that said they'll be coming this week. With Mario we have another lesson with him tonight and are going to put on another date for baptism and set a date to go to the temple with him so he can feel even better about his decision. of the 9 we have coming to church this week 6 are from the familia martinez who are super pillas! We also have a lesson with them tonight. They are the reference we had through merecen ser recordados and they are really going to progress a lot! Then the other 3 are from a family who aren't super pillas but they said they'd come to church this week and I really hope they can progress too. Haha funny story is that yesterday we were in a lesson with them and the door was open and some little kids passed by and said "los mormones!"and the lady Maribel said "they aren't the mormons"and we didn't quite know how to respond because really we aren't. We are missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. With Maribel so far we've only taught lesson 2 so we haven't mentioned the Book of Mormon yet. But so we just kind of ignored it when the kid said that and kept teaching. So if all goes according to plan we'll see those 9 in church, and hopefully Mario, Frank, and a guy named Emmanuel who is also really progressing a lot. He's reading the Book of Mormon and said that he really feels the spirit while reading it after just 2 chapters!

Practice makes perfect

This Monday we had to come to our district meeting early to practice singing! It's apparently something the missionaries in this stake do every year, singing in the malls and stuff as a way to light the world and do missionary work. So monday morning was the first practice and we had started with a warm up that totally made me feel like I was in Madrigals again!! It was so fun! We also practiced this morning before writing our families. We had to be at the stake center at 8:00 to practice and as we knealt to pray Elder Gadeas pants ripped and we were already running behind, and then I forgot something as we were leaving the colonia/residential we live in so we had to run back and were running super behind. We took a different bus than we normaly do to go to the stake center and had to walk a little further after we got off. But the bus didn't stop at the street that leads to the stake center so we were going to have to walk farther. The bus still wasn't stopping but was slowing down so Elder Gadea jumped off. All I am going to say is I believe it takes a little bit of practice to jump off a bus...

So I got a little bashed up this morning but we went to a tienda to get gauze and alcohol and some other disinfectant stuff and cleaned it up and wrapped it up really good. I'm gonna live.

It also ripped part of my pants by my pocket and my shirt pocket of the same shirt I fixed up last week! But on the other side so I'll have to stitch that up too.

 There apparently a very specific technique to get off a bus that is moving. Elder Gadea has had years of practicing getting off like that and said that the first time he did he was 10 and got bashed up worse than I am. He felt really bad though and feels like a bad companion for setting the example and jumping off the bus without asking if I knew how. My fall looked like the way I fell when I let go of the bar while barefooting at lake powell. But I feel super blessed because the worst part is my elbow and I didn't break any bones or anything! Just a deep elbow wound and a some scrapes on my knee. Really a miracle if you ask me. And we got it all cleaned up so really no need to worry. I'm just super happy my plaque didn't get scratched up!! But just a tip is wait until the bus is stopped before you try to get off.

And here's some pics of me and Elder Gadea with his first time ordering Dominos to his house in the mission!!

Have a great week!!

Week 19 Report - Lo De Coy - Dia de los Santos

We got a special treat from Joseph this week - a letter just to our family. He said he's going to start writing us a letter apart from the mass email. He was a little more open and gave some details of the hard part. I'm not sure if he'd be okay with that posted here, but I asked him and will wait to hear from him next week yay or nay. If he's okay with is, I'll update with that letter. Part of Corey's reply to him was that he's had "little nagging feeling that this was a hard part of your mission, and I told your brothers and sisters so - and to pray extra for you. Does it give any comfort to know that I've had a little feeling that things were probably pretty hard?" Corey also said he was glad to hear some of the rough details, saying that it's okay to not be "all sunny/positive all the time - missions just aren't that way."  But Joseph is in a good spot and doing his best to continue to learn and carry on with faith. Here's Joseph's report for the week -
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         Subject:  Dia de los Santos          

Buenos Dias!!

So this last week was kinda hard but it's been getting a lot better. The hardest part was that Cristian, who had a set date to be baptized on the 24th, no longer wants to receive us. He's got some personal challenges but we're gonna try to give him a little space and then see where he's at but that was super disappointing. Also we only had one investigator at church this week which the bishop brought. But in our hardest times are when we can learn the most but it all depends on how we respond to those challenges. So since Sunday we've really been focusing on finding people and inviting them to church early in the week. And these past few days have been really good! We're also working more with Frank so that he can come to church on Sundays instead of work. He's a great kid and can really progress a lot.

Also this past thursday, November 1st was dia de los santos, day of the saints. I don't know exactly who the saints are for this holliday but I don't think they're refering the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Hahaha it's basically a day where everyone visits cemetaries to remember their ancestors and families. So because of this there is a program right now called Merecen Ser Recordados (Translated to They deserve to be remembered) that the JAS (jovenes adultos solteros or in english the YSA meaning young single adults) went and visited a bunch of the cemetaries in Guatemala and got references for people that are interested in family history! Super cool! So everyone was hoping to have a reference from the JAS because it would mean that it's actually a pillas reference! We got one for a guy named Jorge. So we called him first thing and set an appointment for monday. Monday we went and visited him to talk more about family history and he wasn't there but his family was! He got there after 20-30 minutes but it was a great conversation and they're super pillas!! Super receptive and said they'll come to church not this week but the next so we can introduce them to the family history consultants. So I'm super excited about that and we're going to visit them again tomorrow.

Also this week was stake conference so we got to see President and Hermana Shumway! And a 70 named Elder Cordón came and spoke and it was amazing! He talked about the difference between a job and a profession. I took good notes and will be sure to apply them after the mission.

Little update on the dog that bit Elder Aquino last Friday. Per Hermana Shumways instructions we went back a week later to see if the dog was alive still (because if it was dead or super sick then Elder Aquino needs to start rabies shots) and the dog had completely disappeared. So that's not good. We talked to the owners and they didn't know where the dog went. But we got the number of the mom and dad and sent that to Elder Aquino in his new area (boca del monte) and they called the mom and the mom said she found the vaccine papers. So then Elder Aquino called us and asked us to go back to get a picture of the vaccine papers but at that point we were already kinda far away from the place where the dog bit him (which is in campanero, the furthest part of our area) so we ended up taking a taxi back because if we walked we would've been late to our other appointments. So we got the pictures (on the little dinky phone we have), sent them via bluetooth to a member who emailed then the Hermana Shumway. So Elder Aquino is all good! And he doesn't need to get rabies shots. As we were getting out of the taxi though my bag caught on my agenda and pen in my shirt pocket and totally ripped it. SO I tried to resew it and I think I did a pretty good job! It's not perfect but I was happy with myself.

Over on the right was where it ripped but I sewed it up myself!! It took like an hour actually. I did 30 minutes one night and finished it a couple days later.

Also something exciting that happened this week was we got to go to the hospital!! Elder Gadea has some knee problems so we went to the hospital to get those checked out and he's gonna live! And he'll be able to stay in the mission. We were pretty worried that he'd have to go home because of it but he'll be able to stay so that's great. While he was with the doctor I read more of Jesus the Christ. That is a huge book and some of the words he uses I've never heard before but it's super awesome and I'd encourage you all to read it. Or at least attempt to read it.

And the invitation for you all this week is to work on your family history!! When we work on our family history we find out more about who we are and we offer a great service to our ancestors who are on the other side of the veil. Even if it's just making an account I'd encourage you all to get started and pretty soon you'll be able to find and take  your own names to the temple!

Well I don't have any more pictures this week but there is a lot that's going to happen this next week. We're going to try and put Mario on date for baptism and get Ingrid to come to church again. Mario has everything but just needs his answer that he needs to get baptized.

Week 18 Report - Lo De Coy with Elder Gadea

Two exciting things from this week - a girl they taught named Lorena was baptized. Also, they had transfers today. Joseph is still in the Lo De Coy area but he has a new companion - Elder Gadea from Nicaragua. Here is Joseph's letter and lots of good pictures of his smiling face.
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         Subject: Tan Solo Un Perro           

What a week!!

Well first off last wednesday I had to go to immigrations which was alright. I just signed some papers and they took a picture of me. But the best part was that I saw a bunch of the Elders from my district in the MTC who also had to go to immigrations! I got to catch up with Elder Amelang and Elder Chipman (who are in the east mission), Elder Gifford, Elder Montoya, Elder Money (from quetzaltenango), and I saw Elder Saxton and Elder Lowry who weren't in my district and are in my mission but we don't see each other ever. So that was awesome to catch up with them 11 weeks after we'd left the MTC. It was also super weird though because it felt like nothing had changed!

Here's a pic with me and Elder Amelang  and Elder Chipman

We took a taxi to immigrations with Elder Strong and Elder Sergovia. Well actually we met at the central american offices and then took a bus with missionaries from the other missions to the immigration offices. Ya know it might actually be migration offices but migracion and imigracion in Spanish with a Latino accent sound literally the same to me so who knows.

Super cool answer to prayer that happened this week! Actually a couple. One was on Thursday when we left the house I included in the prayer that we'd be able to find 2 news that day because we had been struggling to find news the past couple weeks. But in our schedule for that day we only had one person that could become a new. Well when we visited him, Luis, this kid was there who's 17 who also listened to us and they both became new investigators! In our mission to count as news they have to have said a prayer, have been invited to be baptize, and have a specific time to come back and visit them. So they both became new and Frank is super pillas! We taught the restoration and it really answered a lot of his questions about which church was true and he's reading the Book of Mormon! We're hoping he'll get baptized at the end of this month and he can really progress a lot. So that was really an answer to prayer because the week before we found 3 news from the whole week and when we started including our goals for the day, the week, and the month in our prayers we started reaching them and last week found 9 news! And most of them are super pillas!

On Friday is where the email title comes from. Tan Solo un Perro. So on Friday we went back to visit a family we found on Tuesday and on the way there there was a dog who had a lot of bark. I didn't think he had any bite though. Well he did. He bit Elder Aquino on the leg. Actually on both legs. Left then right then left again. His right leg was fine but he had a pretty nasty wound on his left leg. I do not have a picture of that but it caused him a lot of pain the past week with all the walking we did and until we know the dog didn't have rabies he has to take these pills called clavulin or something like that. Hermana Shumway told us to go back on Friday, after 7 days, to see if the dog got super sick or if it died and if it did then he probably had rabies. Then on Saturday morning we filled the font for Lorena's baptism and we invited Ronal to come over to watch the restoration movie in the church building while the font was filling up. We also watched the 15 minute video Only a Stonecutter about a stonecutter for the Salt Lake Temple who lived in alpine and walked every week from alpine Utah to Salt Lake and then one day he was milking his cow and the cow kicked his leg and it broke and he ended up having to get his leg amputated. After it healed over he made an artificial leg and with that started walking and kept making the trip to Salt Lake on foot to work on the temple. It is a super inspiring story and I highly recommend it. Only a Stonecutter in Spanish is Tan Solo un Cantero. And later that day Elder Aquino joked that his left was going to have to be amputated and that they'd make a video about him and call it Tan Solo un Perro hahah it was really funny.

Then on Sunday before church was Lorena's Baptism!! We woke up at 5:15 to go turn on the heater for the font. Well the water didn't get any hotter so the heater is broken but at least we tried. It wasn't cold for the baptism but it definitely wasn't warm either. Salvador, our ward mission leader who lives on top of a mountain (well really its just a giant hill but it's so cool), baptized Lorena because he and his wife had actually met before! And he also lives close to her so that was great. Here is Salvador and Lorena.

Here is us and Lorena

And here is us and Lorena and Salvador

Lorena was confirmed in sacrament meeting and she is gonna do great! I'm excited for her and hope that she will also have the opportunity to serve a mission. In that same sacrament meeting guess who passed the sacrament to me!! None other than the newest priest in the ward: RONAL!! He also offered the opening prayer in sacrament meeting. He is doing great but we need to help him become more involved with people his age in the ward to help with the transition of becoming a fully participating member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Also this week we had changes/transfers so I said goodbye to Elder Cornejo, Elder Strong, Elder Dustin, Hermana Martin, Hermana Escarate, and my dad Elder Aquino. I'll see most of them again in multi-zone conferences or who knows where I'll be going next change but it was werid to say bye. Yesterday morning, the morning of changes, Elder Aquino and I went on a run which I've wanted to do for a while but we didn't have the chance. And the night before Elder Aquino bought a pizza which is apparently a tradition. His dad bought him a pizza their last night so I'm gonna have to do that as well when I have a kid. Meaning when I train a new missionary.

Also here's a picture with me and Elder Cornejo from Chile.

Elder Aquino is now a Zone Leader with our old district leader Elder Benson! In an area called Boca del Monte. So I'm excited for him and I taught him a bunch of English phrases like "You've got to be kidding me" and "Stop this madness" hahah. He was a great dad and I'm excited for the October General conference of 2020 which I've already invited him to come stay with me and we'll go to conference exactly 2 years since we watched general conference in the mission field. He is going to try and work at the MTC in Peru when he gets home and hopefully he can figure out how to come to BYU. That would be so awesome!

So Tuesday, yesterday, we took a taxi to the stake center where a bus picked them up to take them and their bags to Utatlan where the mission offices are. And I waited with those who weren't transferring until our new companions arrived. And my new companion is ELDER GADEA!!

He is from Nicaragua and has 6 months in the mission! So he entered the field in may and has 2 changes more than me. So we're both pretty new but this change 26 new missionaries entered the mission! Last change there was 20 which makes 46 missionaries that are being trained right now! That is a ton so most people with a lot more time in the mission are training and thus we have missionaries who have 6 months as comps with missionaries who have 4 months. Elder Zwalhens step-dad has the same amount of time as Elder Gadea too.

And with less than 24 hours Elder Gadea and I have already been through a lot. Last night when we got home the bathroom was locked. There are a bunch of random keys in the house but none fo them worked so we tried the keys to the apartment and the front door too and...

So that wasn't good. Now we couldn't  leave the apartment because we didn't have a key to get back in and we couldn't use the bathroom. 

The keys Elder Aquino had he packed in his suitcase and we won't get those until Thursday. So we were super stressed about that but it worked out. We found out that one of the extra keys we have is the same as the one that broke and a member came over this morning to pick the lock to the bathroom. He owns a keystore so he's really good at it. haha but so that was an adventure and I think this change is gonna be really great!

Also here is a pic  of my new zone

We have top row left to right: Elder Erikson, Elder Gates (Elder Eriksons kid from St. George), Elder Gadea (MY COMP!!) Elder Stewart (behind) Elder Sanchez, Elder Quinonez, me, Elder Sergovia, Elder Nelson (from Canada and is Elder Sanchez's kid), and Elder Bywater.

Front frow left to right: Elder Zwahlen, Elder Fuentes (his step-dad), Hermana Osorio, and Hermana Avilez.

This is a great zone and I hope we have as awesome of a month in November as did in October. There were 12 baptisms in the zone in October and we really saw a lot of miracles.

Also I hope the pictures aren't super stretched out. When I load them in they aren't but Idk if that changes when I send it.

Invitation this week is to bear your testimony about the Restored Gospel to a non-member!! LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Elder Wride

 MISIÓN GUATEMALA SUR