Subject: Chimaltenango ---> Jerusalen
Yep you heard right. On Sunday President called me and informed me that I was going to be changing missions! And so I am now in Israel in Jerusalem!! It is very different here and the language is definitely a barrier but I am excited to get to work. Because its so new we weren't allowed to tell anyone until now but I got here early this morning. I am really going to miss Guatemala though.
Nah just kidding. Probably none of you fell for that. I am still in Guatemala but my new area is called Jerusalem! But it's in spanish so its with an n.
I got here yesterday and I am actually going to miss Chimaltenango a lot. But I am excited for the new area! My new companion is named Elder Saxton and he is actually from my group! He was in a different district in the CCM but we talked a lot and he is a great guy. We actually have a baptism coming up this Saturday!
Here is a picture of us back in our MTC days.
and now almost 18 months later.
This picture is from lunch where we ate pupusas! They were good but we were all still hungry so we ate Wendys too. The zone has a lot of restaurants and malls and residencials. Actually it's probably the richest zone in the mission. Almost everyone has a car and in most residencials you can't contact so it makes the work a lot different than in most parts of the mission. Our area is actually not as much like the rest of the zone but it is still going to be a bit different working here.
He is from Oregon and did a year at BYU before coming on his mission. I am also going to miss Elder McGraw but I think Elder Saxton and I are going to get along really well here. Elder Saxton is also teaching me some piano so I am hoing to be a pro by the end of this change.
Funny little story. We live in a residential but on the inside it looks like regular Guatemala. They basically just pay a guy to open and close the gate because almost everyone goes in. But sometimes they ask for identification, even though they know who we are and that we live here. And when you give it to them they scan it by putting it under a camera. We have a copy of our passports as our official identification but what we do is we just give them our name tag and that's what they use as our identification. It's actually really funny.
So on Monday we were just saying bye to people. Well I was, Elder McGraw wasn't saying goodbye because he is staying. I didn't get a picture with everybody but here are some of the super awesome people we have been teaching.
This is Flabio (who is coming up on 90 years) and his great nieces. Flabio got baptized a few yeas ago but Nayeli and Alejandra came to church once and really liked it! They are reading in the Book of Mormon too and are understanding it really really well.
This is Ely. Doesn't he already look like an Elder? Well he kind of is haha
This is the Patzan family. They are super awesome. We didnt even tell the dad to hold up the Book of Mormon like that but he just did. Also the oldest daughter is reading the Book of Mormon and understands it better than anyone I have met from just their first read. She literally summarized chapter 16 perfectly. The Elders are going to help them cortar frijol on friday so they have time to come to church on Sunday.
The Ruiz family!! They came to the ward christmas activity on Saturday and really liked it! They also said they would come this Sunday to the special sacrament meeting and have been reading the Book of Mormon more. They are awesome.
And I was really sad that I forgot to get a picture with the Curruchich family. I said bye to them but forgot to get a picture. They went through a lot this weekend though. To explain briefly they got their water cut (but it wasnt their fault it got cut) and were without light for a few days and the mom was also sick and they wer just going through a lot of trials. The dad had a date to be baptized and got work off to come to church but then he couldnt come because of all that was happening and the mom was stressed and basically told us not to come back anymore. But then we told a member who knew them at church about what was happening and so she helped us fill up a bunchof 5 gallon tanks of water to take to them and they were so happy. Working with members really works.
Well thats it for this week but I love you all! Try to serve someone this week in a way that they need!
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