12 months - ONE YEAR TODAY!!

Well we've reached a milestone... Joseph's been gone one year today! He flew out on June 26, 2018. Crazy, so today marks we're half way!
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     Subject: Adelante Nos Vamos     

Adelante nos vamos!!

Well this week was a great one! It is officially our last week in the Guatemala Guatemala City South Mission. On Friday President Barney and his wife get here making it the offical change. But even though the mission is changing the work stays the same! It's actually so awesome to be here in Guatemala (which is actually a pretty tiny country when you see it on a map) when the country gets it's 7th mission! Super exciting stuff!!

Because of the mission addition they are also changing the limits to a lot of missions and so President has let missionaries go and say goodbye to converts that are in areas that are changing missions on pday (something missionaries normally only do in their last transfer) with less time because after the mission change they wont be able to. And in interviews a little while ago with President he said I could take advantage of saying that to visit Mario who is in Lo de Coy and needed some animo. Lo de Coy is also going to the Antigua mission so I'm sure I'll pass by there a bunh more times but so this morning I went with an Elder Altamirano in the district to go visit Mario. The purpose of it is to strengthen the recent converts and help them to stay firm and faithful in the church. Mario has been going through a lot of stuff and it's been a hard past few months but he's doing better now and we had a great visit.

We were in the shade but the sun was still SUPER bright.

Also on the way back we were walking and this family in a car waved at us and yelled Ëlderes!"and we waved but didnt think much of it. But then they kept yelling and waving us over and then pulled over. And they gave us some KRISPY KREME DONUTS!!! It was Mana from heaven!! We were super hungry so I ate both donuts kind of fast. I should have savored them a little more but it TOTALLY made our day.

Galilea and her family is progressing a little bit. They didnt come to church (even though they said they would) but later that day we were able to read from the Book of Mormon with them and it was awesome! Except for Galilea, they havent been reading, so we really wanted to focus on that. Also every time we go there they give us food. Like literally every single time. And its great but what has happened a couple times is that we are eating and then we only have time to share a quick little thing but arent able to focus as much on them and their needs. So we are trying to focus more on teaching them and spend less time eating with them so that they can become converted to Jesus Christ.

And Juan is still waiting on the papers to get married. As soon as he gets the green light he is going to go to Mexico to get the papers all figured out and it will be super fast and then they'll be able to get married and baptized. They are super pilas though!! Like they participate in sunday school and everything and its awesome. And I probably mentioned this but they speak perfect english.

Other than that we have just been working hard here. Trying to find more people to teach and help them keep commitments. A lot of stuff fell through this week but we were able to find some people who we really think will progress. Two of them we found by accident looking for a reference that didnt live there. But they let us teach them and we're excited for our followup appointments.

The title of this week means basically forward we go and its something that President Shumway says a lot. Like at the end of every monday letter and at the end of interviews and its a phrase I really love. So the title is a tribute to President Shumway who is not ending his mission but he wont be my mission president anymore because we are going to the new antigua mission. For those who speak spanish you will notice the funny paradox there. Love you all!!

Also here is a picture of me with some RAID cuca (a cuca is short for cucaracha which means cockroach). Raid (pronounced with a spanish accent) is how you pronounce my last name and since it is usually hard for people I usually say "like the spray RAID MAX" and they get it.

Have a great week!!

11 months - Half Way

Today Joseph said that he did the math, and that according to his calculations, (and if he doesn't extend his missionary service and is released on June 10th as it is currently planned...) then today is his half way mark.

Say cheese for the phone!

I sent him a package today with a few things. I mainly needed to send the package to get something to one of Joseph's old companions, Elder Aquino (...not his trainer, but his comp from when he was changed to Jutiapa at the end of January.) Looking through my emails - Joseph has mentioned it in an email Feb 6th, that Elder Aquino was asking him how much they were. So I ordered one back in February. I didn't think I'd be so busy/lazy to take 4 months to send it to him! Anyway, I finally did it today - I sent the Alphasmart for Elder Aquino (Jospeh's pretty sure he'll see him, Elder Aquino is moving to the Antigua mission too) and for Jospeh: a webcam, an illustrated Book of Mormon stories in English, a small Preach My Gospel with the current 2018 revisions, and a black rain jacket that I ran and got at Scheels. So after we were done talking to Joseph, I hurried out to run errands and get him some requests before all my babysitters leave for Youth Conference at 5pm tonight.  So I went by Walmart first to get a webcam and an AUX adapter that they didn't have. Then to Deseret Book for a new Preach My Gospel book - he said the new 2018 ones have a few great revisions that President Shumway mentioned and Joseph really wanted it. Next I went to Best Buy to see if the Adapter cord, they didn't, the guy said I won't find it in stores. Walmart and Best Buy did both have the one I didn't need (crossed out below).

Sorry Joseph! It is mostly for older desktop PCs, which is probably what they have in Guatemala, but not something in high demand here in the US, hence my inability to find it. I emailed him to try and find one there or I can order it online and send another small package.

The CTR shipping lady texted me that it will be delivered to the mission office next Tuesday, so we'll see if he gets it by next week. It's nice to have a trusted way to send things to him. Here is Joseph's letter.
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            Subject: La Casa del Señor                    

Well this week was super great! In part because we got to go to the temple twice! Something that the mission has, since the temple is in the mission, is two sister missionaries who are assigned to the temple and the ward right next to it. Other missionaries in the mission will bring people they are teaching to the temple and the sisters give a little tour around the temple and explain a lot of things about the temple and then the people (and these are people that are preparing for baptism) have the chance to enter in the reception and pray. A lot of times it's a prayer to know if they should get baptized or if they should get baptized on a specific date and the spirit in the temple is so strong and for a lot of people that is how they get their answers. So this week we did that twice. The first one on Thursday with Valeska. She just got baptized and we had actually planned in last week before she got baptized but then our ride fell through. So we went on Thursday with the ward and she had a great experience! And she had her interview and got her recommend yesterday so I'm sure we'll be going again (but this time inside) soon. 

A neighbor of Valeska came to help with the 3 little kids and she's not a member so she got the tour too and another lady named Isol also was with us on the tour even though we hadn't planned for her. She is from Nicaragua and is staying with her sister-in-law right now who is a member and brought Isol on the temple trip. She had a lot of really good questions and came to church on Sunday as well! Today or tomorrow though she goes back to Nicaragua but we already sent the reference to them and she said the church is really close to her house so hopefully she keeps learning more and gets baptized!

The second time we went this week was Saturday in the madrugada which means the early morning. We left at 4. But it was super crazy actually because the day before on Friday I had to do a baptismal interview in Paraiso (an area in the district) and there were other appointments in my area they had to go to so we did divisions. But we had to end divisions at 3:45 in the morning. Friday on divisions was also just kind of a crazy day but it all worked out. I feel like things always work out even when they don't look like they will! Anyways we went to the temple super early in the morning with Galilea and her dad Lionel. And the spirit was there and Galilea got another answer and wants to get baptized but not quite yet but her dad did't even accept the invitation to pray and ask if he should get baptized because he has already been baptized. Galilea is super pilas though. They always give us food when we visit them and Galilea also goes to institute and just started reading Saints. Like I said she's super pilas. The dad is willing to learn more and has come to church and a bunch of ward activities but what he has not done is put in his part in reading the Book of Mormon. I bet what will happen is that he will get baptized someday but it will be after Galilea gets baptized and after he actually reads the Book of Mormon. Galilea wanted to get baptized in September to have more time to prepare and also because it's closer to her birthday. After the temple though she said she wants to get baptized sooner but not so soon as the 29th of June. So we're gonna keep working with her and it was really a great experience in the temple.

Also this week we said bye to President and Hermana Shumway.

They have been SO GOOD leading the mission in the way the Savior would. He is one of the most loving people I know and it was sad to say bye to them. I'm excited to meet President Barney though! He gets to Guatemala on the 28th I think but we meet him on the 1st or 2nd. Fun fact is that his job is like combining companies and now he has to combine 4 stakes from the central mission and 4 stakes from the south mission to make the Antigua mission. So it's super cool that he has had experiences in his job and life that have prepared him to be a mission president here.

And this week my shoe opened up!

But I fixed it

And if it falls apart again it's a good thing these things have a 2 year guarantee!

Also here is a pic of Elder Thompson and I eating Mcdonalds that we ordered the night we did divisions. They literally have NO food in their house haha and it's always the worst when you do divisions and the house that you go to doesn't have food. So we ordered Mcdonalds and I ate a McNifico.

It's a little sad that as a missionary we don't get to go to the temple that much. Except that it's not that sad because we don't go because we get to preach the gospel which is THE BEST!!! But for those of you who are not full time missionaries and are close to a temple I'd like to share a quote by President Nelson that I love. "Building and maintaining temples may not change your life, but spending your time in the temple surely will." And it is SO true. I encourage you all to spend a little more time in the House of the Lord and promise that as you do the Spirit will fill your life more and you'll be happier.

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11 months - Como lo haría Jesucristo

Jospeh called today while I was out with the kids at a splash pad, so it was pretty noisy on my end and I mostly listened to him and Corey talk. 

One fun thing was that there is a missionary, Elder Barczi, in Joseph's area who is 27 years old and from Santiago Chile. Corey talked with him and got some good laughs out of him as Corey used words that only Chilenos know - like pintar monos, that is the only one I remember. It was fun to listen to them though.

Corey said the Elder probably just laughed so hard cause he was homesick for Chile. But it was cute to hear them talk. I'm glad that we were able to go there as a family for a few months years ago, and that Joseph was able to go on his own! What a great experience for all of us. The world is a big place full of wonderful strangers.
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Hey Hey!! So this week was really great!!

The best parts were the Multi-zone conference and Valeska and Joan's wedding and Valeska's baptism! The marriage and baptism were on saturday and it looked like there were some complications with the lawyer and some other stuff about an hour before it started but then it all worked out and went very smoothly! Which we were super grateful for because neither of us have put on a wedding before. Actually we didn't even do that much it was mostly the ward but we did coordinate the lawyer who is the bishop of another ward in the stake. And hopefully we'll be doing another wedding soon as soon as Juan gets his papers from Mexico he and Melany will get married and baptized. I think I mentioned them last week but they are pilas magilas and speak perfect english. And the papers should be getting here soon which is what we are praying for. We had a great lesson with them this week about daily scripture study and holding to the rod of iron so that we endure to the end. Anyways though back to the wedding here are some pictures!

It was a simple little wedding but there was a good turnout (including some friends not of our faith) and they all stayed for the baptism too.

And here are some pics of the baptism!

So we are super excited about them and have already started to teach the lessons again after baptism which regrettably sometimes doesn't happen but it's super important in helping the recent converts stay active. 

A member baptized Valeska but just in case, last week I bought some white crocs (except here they are chicotes) so that in baptismal pics (if I'm baptizing them) it's not all white and then green sandals because it kinda takes away from the picture. And they are SO comfy. I don't know why I never used crocs before but they are great. A lot of people here in Guate use them for walking around the house or going to the tienda to buy something and I would highly recommend them.

Also I have been trying (with a mas o menos success rate) to use sunblock because I'm coming up on a year in a couple weeks and the giant thing of sunblock I brought down is still almost full. Before the mission I almost only used sunblock at Disneyland or at the beach and it's the same brand I used before so whenever I use it I feel like I'm in California. Not getting baggy though.

Also here is a picture of La Zona Florida en el Jardín de Edén!

We took this the day after the multizone conference which was also really great! Normally we go to Utatlan for a multizone but this week we went to Don Justo (which is on the other edge of the capital) because of the mission change. The multi zone on Thursday was with all of the zones (more than 100 missionaries) who are going to be leaving the south mission to go to the Antigua, Central, or East mission. So I got to see most of the missionaries who were in the Jutiapa zone! And a bunch of other missionaries who I've been in the same zone or district as before who are going to different missions. Also seeing as we aren't in May anymore (remember May without numbers) President Shumway talked a lot about the importance of goals but focusing on the people and their needs. He doesn't regret not having anything to do with numbers in May because it killed the pride that sometimes exists when missionaries compare numbers and it helped us improve our teaching. And while our teaching improved a TON (which was also the whole purpose of doing Mayo sin Numeros) as a mission we lost some of the urgency which is also very very important. As an average each area had about 10 lessons a week meaning 1 or 2 a day, and they were good lessons but we need to be teaching more. So now things are all balanced out. We know the numbers are there and we need to work with them but we are focusing on the teaching and helping the people resolve their problems by living the gospel of Jesus Christ and converting into His disciples. But we need to remember the purpose of goals. It is to help us push ourselves and be better than we thought we could. In the multi-zone one of the assistants talked about a six minute exercise that some of the missionaries do (which I have done) that is super intense and is a pure abb work-out. It is six exercises, one minute each, for six minutes in total without stopping. The one time I did it it totally burned and after the first minute it's like Ï can't do it anymore"but you remember you have a goal so you keep going. After 3 minutes it burns even more and you want to give up but you keep going and end up reaching the six minutes and the goal helped you keep going and finish even when you didn't think you could. That's also why we have goals in the mission. If we don't have goals it decreases the opportunities for goals in the mission (to quote Elder Neil L. Anderson). So now all the goals and tables in district meetings are back but we aren't focusing on the numbers. We focus on the names and the people and do practices to better know how to teach them according their needs. Also if we all participate it really means that ïf one baptizes, we all baptize" because we all participate to help them and help the missionaries teaching them. So the adjustments to going back to the numbers but with a focus on the people, urgency and teaching in the Savior's way is what the multi zone was all about. We are still using the evaluation card but they gave us a new one.

Now we don't just score 0, 1, or 2 but there is a 3 as well. If we give ourselves a 3 it means that we did that exactly like Jesus Christ would. So we are constantly trying to be more like Christ in our teaching and it's not that common to get a 3 but when it happens it is super awesome! Christ is our perfect example and if we teach like Him more people will be able to follow His example and become His disciples.

11 months - Trabajar Duro

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Hey que tal?

This week was a good one! We have been working a lot with Valesca who is getting baptized on saturday! I think I talked about her last week but she has been coming to church for a while but hasn't wanted to get married to her husband. Well I guess he's not her husband because they aren't married but they do have three super cute little  kids. Anyways they have to get married for her to get baptized and she didn't want to for a long time but then the day before I got to the area she told the Elders that she wanted to get married and baptized now! So we've visited them or had family home evenings with them and other families every day this past week. Saturday is gonna be a big day and we're super excited!

Also this week I got to meet Juan and Melany. They speak PERFECT english! And so do their kids. They actually grew up in Tennessee and met in high school there. Anyways they are SO pilas! They have been coming to church for a long time now but also just need to get married. But the dad is originally from Mexico so they needed some extra paperwork for them to get married and are just waiting for that to get through. But they come to all the ward activities and participate and the dad bore his testimony in church on sunday and it was super motivating! So everyone feels like they are already part of the ward and we are praying that the paperwork comes through quick so they can become members.

Yesterday I was on divisions in an area called Belen (which used to be part of the Montserrat zone where I was born but now it's part of the Florida zone because it's closer) with an Elder from Ecuador named Elder Altamirano and the appointments fell through so we were trying to figure out what to do. And then we saw this guy with a BYU shirt so of course we went and talked to him. He thought it was a yahoo shirt but we talked about what BYU was and used that to connect to the church and how we are missionaries and he said we could visit him this weekend! And turns out he lives in Santa Marta and not Belen!

Also the stake center here is one of the nicest I have seen. It has this super nice garden that makes you feel like you're at a temple!

And I still don't have pictures of the house but honestly it's not that exciting haha. And we haven't taken a picture as a zone either because we haven't been all together as a zone yet but we'll probably take a lot of pictures with the zone and other missionaries tomorrow because it is a multizone conference and not only that but it's the last multizone before the mission change so it's the last time we'll see missionaries from most of the other zones and one of the last times we'll see President Shumway.

Our area here isn't too small but it's not that big either, especially compared to Jutiapa. And there are a lot of members here and it has been super tempting to think that anyone who would accept our message has already been talked to. And although I would bet that in all the time that missionaries have been here every door has probably been knocked on. BUT that does not mean that there aren't elect people waiting for the gospel and we just need to find them. If you're on a mission just keep working hard and don't lose faith that there are people waiting to hear the glorious message of the restored Gospel!!