8 Months - Is your refrigerator running??

We were able to visit with Joseph over Google Hangouts this afternoon. He pointed out that he has been gone 8 months as of today! That has gone by fast. We didn't use the video during our call, and there are no pictures in today's email, but that's ok, we know he's doing the best he can. For example, today he's been experiencing the "who knows what the day will bring" life that Latin America brings, cause the power is out in the whole city! So Joseph and Elder Aquino had to go to a internet cafe in a different city to call and the computer there didn't have video, so that's ok. I gotta say it is so great being able to talk to him! BEST IDEA EVER! Way to go Pres Nelson! And he gets his instructions from the Savior, so thank you Lord! Here's Joseph's email - I usually go through these and correct his spelling and capitalize proper nouns (he never capitalizes the months or days of the week) but in this letter Joseph misspelled GRINGO twice, but the spelling he used made me laugh so I left it.
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      Subject: Is your refrigerator running??              

Well ours isn't! Hahahah I crack myself up sometimes. Our refrigerator actually stopped working though, and then it started working but they still wanted to replace it so today we got a new fridge! Also the power is out in Jutiapa so even though we got a new fridge it isn't running either! Also because the power was out I was really not looking forward to taking a cold shower but the water isn't working either so that got me out of a cold shower! All the power is out in Jutiapa today so all the internet cafes are closed. So we had to take a bus to Progreso where the Zone Leaders are. Which is weird because Jutiapa is super developed but the power was just out today so that's fun.

Sorry my email last week was super short and boring. To be honest I started to write it but then started video chatting with the fam and then our computer time was up so it ended up being a super lame email but this week is good I promise!

This week was super awesome and we have really seen a lot of miracles! The biggest miracle of all has been with Jonathan!! So we are teaching two people named Jonathan and they have almost the same age. One of them everyone calls canche. We have had the goal for his baptism as this Saturday March 2nd. He has really been proressing a lot and we're super excited for him. Then there is another guy named Jonathan (except it's spelled Jhonattan) who I think I'v mentioned before. He is more pillas than most members and is a really good example for me. He has been going to church since November and would have been baptized already but his mom wouldn't give permission for him to be baptized. To even come to church he has to wake up at 4 in the morning and do a bunch of chores to get permission to come. Super cool kid and he has a green shirt that he wears a lot that says "so an Irish man walked out of a bar... no really, it can happen" hahah. Anyways he has been trying to get permission to get baptized forever but has been denied so many times that he got to the point where he just thought he would have to wait until he turned 18 in a couple years. But a few weeks ago we made him a promise that if he reads the Book of Mormon and fasted that his mom would give him permission. Even though it seemed totally impossible we really felt like we needed to make him that promise. Well his mom gave him permission!!! We have the signed baptismal record and he is also set to be baptized this Saturday!! Both Jonathans on the same day! He showed a lot of faith and along with coming to (and participating a lot in) church and seminary he has been reading the Book of Mormon and tried to fast. I say tried because his mom forced him to eat haha but he wanted to and attempted to! And Sunday we got a call saying she had given permission and went over a couple hours later to get the signature and make it official. Elder Aquino is going to baptize him and so now we are super excited for both Jonathans to get baptized this Saturday. Huge miracle and answer to a lot of prayers here in Jutiapa. When our ward mission leader found out he started tearing up.

Elder Aquino and I are what here in Guatemala they call canche. A canche is someone who doesn't have dark black hair. Elder Aquino is just a little bit canche. I am more canche. And someone with blonde hair is more canche. Elder Aquino also looks kinda like a greengo (greengo meaning from the US) and a lot of times people ask him what part of the US he is from. We get called canche at least once a day I think just walking through the street and saying hello to people. Actually we don't say hola we just say "buenas" which means good translated literally but that's just what people say. I say buenas probably about 100 times a day.

Also we found this inactive guy who was baptized in Salt Lake City!! He lived there for like 3 years and went to church the whole time but since he came to Guatemala hasn't gone. Saber por que.

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He usually ends his emails with a proper farewell or closing, but today's just seemed to be cut off, so maybe he was out of time. I was able to ask him during our call about how long he gets for phone calls, and he said that now they have 90 minutes for emailing and any calls. So it used to be 60 minutes to write, so it's nice they have more time! But we'll try to make sure it doesn't mean he doesn't have time to write, cause I think his written letters will be more important in the future as they can be preserved and our phone calls can't as easily. So, anyway, good to hear from him.

7 months - Guate Guate

So we were really looking forward to hearing from Joseph this week, with hopes of being able to talk to him over the phone or video. But the day came and went. A few moms on the facebook page said they hadn't heard from their missionary either, but most had, and then we figured out it was just missionaries from the Jalapa Zone. One of the moms contacted the office and we found out why we hadn't heard from them:

So we did hear from him today - we were also able to talk to him live! We tried Skype but that didn't work well, then we switched to Google Hangout and that worked better.

It was fun to see him and hear his voice!

He said he probably won't call every week, but I wouldn't mind. Hopefully next time we won't spend as much time on the logistics of it. I put myself on mute cause I had four "might be noisy" kids with me, but it was fun to hear him and Corey visit. After that we had a short email in our inboxes -
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               Subject: Guate Guate             

Hey all!! So yesterday we were in the capital because we had a temple trip so we have permission to write/call today.

We left Jutiapa at 6 in the morning to Guate (when people say Guate they usually are talking about the captial) and got to the temple at 9:00, did a session which was AMAZING, ate lunch and then headed back to Jutiapa. We got to our area a little past 4:30 and had to do some purchases so we didn't get to write yesterday. And then this morning we had interviews with president and are writing now. But other than that today is a normal day of work.

Here is a pic of the temple!

That't it for this week!!

Exciting News!

I was still in bed this morning when I got a text from my sister sharing some news from the church - "Latter-day Saint Missionaries Can Now Call, Text Home Weekly, First Presidency Announces". Isn't that so great!? I jumped right out of bed and ran to tell Corey and the kids. I, for one, am very excited! Here's the content of the article:

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The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Friday an update to guidelines regarding communication between full-time missionaries and their families. 

Effective immediately, the Church’s 65,000 missionaries are authorized to communicate with their families each week on preparation day by text messages, online messaging, phone calls, and video chats, in addition to letters and emails. 

“Regular communication with their families is an important part of a missionary’s service,” said the First Presidency in a statement. “One of the major purposes of this adjustment is to encourage families to be more involved in their missionary’s efforts and experiences.” 

The significant adaptations to missionary communication are the result of the “options, possibilities, and technologies now offered in some parts of the world,” said Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and chairman of the Church’s Missionary Executive Council. 

Communication should occur on the missionary’s preparation day and be initiated by the missionary. Missionaries are asked to use good judgment in determining the length of phone calls and video chats and to be considerate of their companions. 

With the new advances in technology, this communication should take place at little or no cost to the Church, the missionaries, or their families. 

In those few locations where families or missionaries do not have access to computers or phones, missionaries are encouraged to continue using their current means of communication. 

In addition to weekly communication, missionaries are also encouraged to contact family on other special occasions such as Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, parents’ birthdays, and other culturally significant holidays. 

“We encourage missionaries to communicate with their families each week using whatever approved method missionaries decide,” said Elder Uchtdorf. “This may vary based on their circumstances, locations, and schedules for that week. It is not expected that all missionaries will call or video chat with their parents every week. The precise manner of communication is left up to the missionary as he or she decides what will best meet their needs.” 

Elder Uchtdorf said the new guidelines offer several additional benefits, including accommodating varied family circumstances, as well as better supporting those missionaries who would benefit from increased personal contact with family at home. 

“As families, we love our missionaries,” he said. “Missionaries love their families. They want to communicate with them.” 

Elder Uchtdorf called this communication—made possible by technology—a wonderful thing. “We communicate with our Heavenly Father every day, and we would like to have our families communicate with the missionaries every week—maybe by letter or maybe by email, or now maybe by video chats or phone calls. This is an addition which brings more confidence, more peace.” 

He rejected the philosophy that calling home more than twice a year will weaken or distract missionaries. 

“Our missionaries are pretty tough,” said Elder Uchtdorf. “They receive rejection every day. They have tough weather conditions. They have to learn a lot. They have to work with new cultures, with new circumstances. But above all, they know in their hearts and minds that they are servants and representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ.” 

Further, Elder Uchtdorf said new options of communication with home will be a motivating force, not a distraction. After their communication with families—in whatever form the missionaries select—they can “go out there and serve the Lord with even a brighter heart, a more joyful countenance.” They can smile at the people they meet and teach and say, “I just talked to my parents. They send their greetings and they send their love.” 

Church leaders trust the missionaries, he said. “They do this very well on Christmas or whatever the occasion is. We are confident that this will be very nicely done among the missionary companionships.” 

Increased communication can help to unify missionaries and their families in this “great and marvelous work,” said Elder Uchtdorf. Missionaries can share with their families “the wonderful experiences they have in the field.” 

Increased communication may also help missionaries who are homesick and could benefit from the “comforting voice of their parents,” said Elder Uchtdorf. 

To avoid disruption to missionary schedules, family members are asked not to initiate calls or chats but instead wait for the missionary to contact them on his or her weekly preparation day. If a missionary’s parents live in different locations, he or she may contact each parent separately. 

Parents should remember that the missionaries have an important work to do. “They are called to bring the gospel message to all the world. They are called to find, teach, baptize, and help people to become disciples of Jesus Christ. They are the ones in charge of communication.” 

Missionaries “initiate the call to their parents because they have a schedule they want to fulfill. Missionaries and parents can plan ahead to find a time convenient to both. On preparation day, missionaries want to prepare physically, mentally, and spiritually for the rest of the week. They know best which time would be best for them to call home.” 

Elder Uchtdorf added, “The Lord loves the missionaries and their families. We are confident that the expanded ways of weekly communication between missionaries and their families by letters, emails, online messaging, video chats, or phone calls will have a positive effect on the efforts to gather Israel, both in the mission field and at home.”

7 months - Aqui Mire

No pictures this week. He didn't send them last week either but said he tried and thought he had, but did mention that it was taking a long time to upload. Must be from being so far out in the country.
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     Subject: Aqui Mire              

If you ever come to Guatemala and someone asks you "como estå"you need to respond saying äqui mire". Aqui mire means "here, look"like look I'm right here. So it doesn't make a whole lof of sense but it's what everybody says. I think it might be just a Guatemalan thing but Elder Aquino and I joke about it a lot. I didn't ask where you are I asked how you are! So that's something kinda funny. Also people here point with their lips. Like if you ask where someone lives they'll say over there and instead of pointing with their hands they'll point with their lips as their talking. It's hard to describe and isn't efficient at all but without noticing really I started doing it too and it just kinda seems natural actually. So those are some funny Guatemalanisms.

This week was really good! We have been working a lot with Jonotan and he finally came to church!! He is the younger brother of a super cool member named Kevin and Jonotan has almost gotten baptized before. Like 2 before where the font was literally filled and then I'm not really sure what happened but he hasn't been baptized yet. He is 15 and is a super cool guy. His nickname is canche which basically means someone without black hair. His hair is a little lighter so everyone calls him canche. A lot of times when we are walking somewhere and say hi to people they say back "hola canche!"because I too am a canche. Also there is this comedor, little restaurant place, we found called comedor el canche so we'll have to go eat there one of these days. I think canche might also be a guatemalan thing.

A cool little miracle happened on Monday! Monday is when we have district council and also weekly planning. Most missions have their pdays on Monday but ours are Wednesday. But so we meet up as a district and zone every Monday. As I've said before we have been working a lot with finding people through less-actives by teaching their family members, friends and neighbors and finding the elect through that way, while at the same time help activate the less actives. So we use the list of members to find a lot of less actives. It's a little harder than just knocking doors but we have seen some amazing miracles from it! It's also a bit of a longer process because you have to first find the less-actives who very often don't have a set address to their house, and then teach them and get references and then visit the references and since it's a longer process we really try and start earlier in the week. So as we left the house on Monday we prayed that we would be able to find 3 less actives and had that prayer in mind throughout the day. We were looking for a couple names on the cimi (which is the list of ward members) and asked this random lady in the street if she knew the person we were looking for. Turns out she did and pointed us in the right direction and then basically from asking around we were able to find the guy! He has recently moved so the address we had (which all it said was that he lived in front of the sport complex) wasn't where he lived at all. It was a total miracle! After that we had some other appointments but at 8:00 that night stuff fell through so we had a little more time to look for less actives, still with that goal in mind of finding 3. Well we walked to this one house where we knew some less actives lived but they had never answered before and literally right as we got there the dad walked out. We actually scared him because we were walking fast and almost ran into him. We talked for a bit and it turns out he had just barely gotten back from the capital and was leaving so that moment that we stopped by was the only time he was home. Then we went to this part of our area called el chaparon and were looking for a family. At this point it was 8:30 and we only had 15 minutes left before we needed to start walking home. We had found the street but the majority of te houses didn't have numbers. Then this random guy walked out of a comedor and asked us who we were looking for and then he helped us look for them and got the help of the people who own the comedor who knew the family! They showed us where the house was and we talked with them and set up an appointment for tomorrow and then speed walked home. It was such a small but impacting answer to prayer! I truly believe that Heavenly Father listens to our prayers and that if we turn our will over to His He will do wonders in our life. I hope you are all doing Come, Follow Me because it is so awesome! Something I leaned this week that I love is a quote from President Benson who said that "men and women who turn their lives over to God will find that He can make much more out of their lives than they can on their own"(I only have the original quote in Spanish so it might not be a perfect translation) and it is so true! When Christ called his apostles they straightaway left their nets and followed him. In missionary work today, which is the same work the apostles did, we need to leave behind all other personal affairs (our nets) and follow Christ and when we do so He will make much more out of our lives and our missionary service than we can on our own. He guides this work and we are only instruments in His hands. I know that Jesus Christ restored His true church through the prophet Joseph Smith and that He, our Savior, guides this church today. We are here to help people come unto Him and to bring the restored and everlasting gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people to gather scattered Israel and prepare this fallen world we live in for the second coming of Jesus Christ. It is the absolute most important work happening on the earth today am I am so grateful to be a part of it.

Have a great week everyone!

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7 months - Ayarza

I got an email from Joseph at 10:45 but then didn't get his mass email. Around 12:15 I figured his hour was up and something happened, so I logged onto his account and sure enough, it was there in his drafts. He mentions a few pictures in his email, but they were not attached, so maybe that's where he got hung up. I edited his email and sent it out and then sent Joseph an email letting him know. Hopefully we'll get the pictures next week
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      Subject: Ayarza                

This week was really good! It had its ups and downs but the ups outnumbered the downs.

The zone leaders sent us a reference last Thursday about someone who was MUY INTERESADA (very interested) and lived in this place called Ayarza. I stil don't have much time in Jutiapa and had no idea where that was and Elder Aquino didn't know either. We called the lady and set up an appointment and asked where her house was. By the way in a lot of places here they don't have addresses so what we usually do is get the color of the house and ask if it's close by a tienda of a bank or something and then we show up and ask around until we find the house. So with her we knew it was a yellow house next to the only banrural in this place called Ayarza that we had no idea where it was. I asked the Assistants to look it up to make sure it was in our area and he told me "yeah it's in your area,  but it's out there." He was not kidding. On Friday was when we had set up the appointment to go visit them, and Friday also happened to be the day I was on divisions with Elder Grant. From asking around we learned that buses left to go to Ayarza from Jutiapa every once in a while and we learned where the buses passed by so we went and waited there for a bus. Super detailed plan right? Ask every minibus that passes if they're going to Ayarza and if it is then we'll get in, go to Ayarza and then look for a yellow house by a bank. Well that is exactly what we did. It took a lot longer than we thought to get there though but they are a super awesome and receptive family! The mom Roxanna had a ton of really good questions and we taught the restoration and it was such a great lesson! The hardest thing for them is gonna be that they already go this other church and have leadership positions in it and they also live over an hour away from the church building. And by the way the road is not a good road. Most of it is a dirt road up and down a mountain. In a bad rain storm it woule be just about the last place you'd want to be. It didn't rain though don't worry. They are super nice though and said they'd try to make it to church this next week. After the lesson we wanted to hurry and get out since the last bus left at 5:10 and it was almost 5 but the dad, Mark, told us they could give us a ride back and they also gave us some lunch since at the time when we normally have lunch we were in a bus on the way up. So they gave us a ride back and we are going to visit them tomorrow hopefully. If they don't progress though we won't be able to go all the way out there to visit them but we'll visit them again and then call them and if they come to church and look like they'll progress then we'll teach them more so hopefully they make it to church! It took us about an hour and 10 minutes to get from Ayarza to Jutiapa and I realized how blessed we are in Utah that in the same time it takes them to get to the church building from their house, I could get to at least 8 temples from my house in Utah. That is insane! So if you're reading this and you aren't a missionary and it's been a while since you've gone to the temple please go! I promise that you'll be happier and more in tune with the spirit and your whole week will go better.

I also wanted to share a little bit about our ward mission leader because he's got a pretty cool story. His name is Gesler and he is super pillas. He gives us tons of references all the time and really loves his calling and magnifies it. Him and his family got baptized about 8 years ago and before that he was super evangelical. Here in Guatemala the majority of people are Catholic, or go to one of the many evangelical churches you find on almost every street. Churches like "The Open Bible", "Noah's Ark Church", you name it. So Gesler used be super evangelical but after some trial their family had they decided they weren't going to go to church that much and around then was when the missionaries knocked on their door. They let them in, liked what they heard and for about 2 months they visited with them. It surprised me a little bit when Gesler said that at 2 months they brought out the Book of Mormon. I usually bring out the Book of Mormon in the first or second lesson. Anyways they talked about the Book of Mormon and Gesler was like "no no no I don't want any of that" and told them to just use the bible. I'm sure there is more to the story obviously and I'm not sure if he was going to church with the missionaries or not but they visited with Gesler and his family for a couple more months, explaining the authority for baptism and all that and one day, about 4 months since the missionaries found them Gesler kicked them out of the house and told them to never come back. He told us that the same day he kicked them out what when he realized that what they had been teaching was true. About a week later he told his wife that if the missionaries didn't come before 5:00 he was going to go out there and find them. Well 5:00 came so he got ready and then right before he left there was a knock on the door and it was the missionaries! They didn't have an appointment set up but the Elders just felt like they should come and they came with the Sister missionaries as backup. Gesler said that he committed to be baptized that same day. God works in mysterious ways but as a missionary we get to see the Lords hand in this work every single day in many different ways. Miracles really do happen and Jesus Christ directs this church and this work. This week we found someone who I think is the next Gesler, except his name is Elmer. He situation sounds pretty similar to what Geslers was before meeting with the missionaries and he lives with an inactive lady named Sara and Saras mom named Dora who is also inactive. People out there just waiting for the restored gospel and it is such a privileged to be a missionary and to be able to be involved in helping them learn about the restored gospel. If you are thinking about going on a mission DO IT and if you are on a mission or about to go live it to the fullest because it is the best way to serve the Savior and His children here on the earth.

(ELDER WRIDE'S MOM HERE... I think his hour of internet time was up before he had a chance to upload his pictures, and so he never sent his email, so I logged on and found this in his drafts - so there are no pictures but I'll send this along anyway, maybe he'll send these pics next week, but here is what they were supposed to be of...)

Here are Elder Grant and I on divisions.

He is from Henderson, or Henderton. Whatever that place is that is like a suburb of Las Vegas. He is also from Elder Eriksons group and has a little over 16 months in the mission.

Also I don't think I've ever sent picture of Guatemalan money. They are called Quetzals or in spanish Quetzales but we say Quetz most of the time.

5 Quetz

100 Quetz

1 Quetzal coin

The green bird that is on the bills is the same bird that is on the coin and is the national bird of Guatemala and is also called a Quetzal.

Oh also good news about Jonotan is that he wants to get baptized!! He is going to seminary and is really progressing. His older brother, who is active and super awesome, called us on saturday night and told us that we have a baptism next saturday. Well it won't be able to happen until march because Jonotan still hasn't made it to sacrament meeting. He came late 2 weeks ago and this past week he wasn't able to make it either but we're working hard and praying hard that he'll be able to come the next 3 sundays to get baptized.

That's it for this week! Love you all!