6 Months - Super Crazy Week!

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      Subject: If it can go wrong, it will go wrong      

So this week was SUPER crazy.

Maybe you remember last week I talked about my new companion Elder Flinders how he had some medical problems so they moved him from way outside the captial to here with me so he could be closer to the hospital. Well yeah so I basically just had a companion for my birthday which was super sweet but he also is back home now. We were companions for less than 72 hours. He's gonna come back out and finish his mission though. Whether here or in the states I don't know but he's gonna finish his mission. So from Tuesday to Friday last week were probably the craziest days of my mission so far. On Wednesday after pday was over we mostly street contacted and also had ward council so not nearly as much walking around as we normally do but all through out the night his spasms were getting a little more frequent and he was feeling light headed and was having a little bit harder of a time speaking. So after we got home he called Hermana Shumway and the new symptoms kind of scared her so she got a taxi called and we were on our way to the hospital at like 10:00 at night. So Thursday we spent almost all day in the hospital and it was super boring. It's a nice hospital though. When we finally ended up being able to leave at about 5 it was because we were going home to get all of his stuff packed (and my stuff packed to go back to Nueva Vida) because his plane took of at 9:00 the next day which was Friday. So we got our bags ready and were able to do one visit that night but only because the bishop went with us and gave us a ride. When you're traveling it feels like everything that can go wrong will go wrong. And this isn't to complain but that was totally the case with us. When we got home the lights wouldn't turn on. That's when we noticed a little yellow paper that said aviso de corte on the ground.

So turns out we forgot to pay for the light so they cut the electricity from the house. So we packed in the dark with flashlights hahah. Elder Flinders put a flashlights in a headband so he could pack with both hands.

This is what it looked like

And this is what it looked like with the flash

So we finished packing and the next day had to wake up early to go to the migration offices. We planned to waken up at 5 because the taxi was going to be there at 6 but we slept in until 5:50. So I didn't have time to take a shower but I was okay with that because it would have been in the dark and the water would have been super cold anyways because without electricity we don't have hot water. We also couldn't charge the phone so it had low battery. So we got in the taxi with our suitcases and headed to the central american area offices where we were meeting up with other missionaries and going from there to migrations. But traffic was SUPER bad. We were supposed to be at the offices at 6:30 and were running super behind. So we called the secretaries and he told us to just head to the migration offices now and we would meet the other missionaries there. He also told us that we were supposed to leave the suitcases at the Lo De Coy house. My bad. So we get to migration at about 7:15 and are both a little stressed because we had a super tight window. The flight did get pushed back though. It used to be leaving at 9:00 but they pushed it back to 2:40 so we would have time to go to presidents house so Elder Flinders could have his final interview. For international flights you need to be at the airport 3 hours early so he was supposed to be there at 11:40. The migration offices opened at 8 and so we went up there and waited for a while. The other missionaries came and left but we hadn't gotten our papers back yet. Oh while we were waiting I talked to this mennanite guy from Canada and tried talked to a guy from China but he didn't speak Spanish or English so we didn't talk that much. We were there at the migration offices for like 4 hours in total because they messed up on his papers a couple times and so they had to go back and redo it and it reminded me a lot of when my family was trying to leave Chile a few years ago  (Part 1 and Part 2 of that crazy story!). Anyways eventually we were leaving a little after 11. But remember how my phone didn't have much battery left? Yeah so it had died at about hour 3 at the migration offices. So I used the phone of some other missionaries that showed up to tell the secretaries that we were done so they could call a taxi. The taxi that all our stuff was in went to the mission offices so the suitcases were taken care of. But since it took a lot longer than we planned to go through migrations and get his passport we were running super behind. After we finally got out I used a public phone to call the taxi guy (it's this guy named Rolando that always drives missionaries places for stuff like this) and when he got there we went straight to presidents house. We got there at 11:40, 3 hours before flight time. He had his final interview and I ate a bunch of cookies that Hermana Shumway made and then we headed to the airport. At this point it was a good thing that we came with the suitcases that morning because there wouldn't have been time to go all the way back to the house to get them. They sent Elder Flinders' suitcases in another taxi that followed us to the airport but they forgot to put some stuff in so they had to send another taxi with the stuff they forgot. So we got to the airport, helped him get through and sent him off. Then I went with the secretaries, who had been with us since we left presidents house, to the mission office which is where my stuff was and guess who I saw there! My trainer Elder Aquino!!! So that was cool. 

He's comps with my first district leader Elder Benson who is also super sweet.

Then we met up with Elder Erickson and Elder Gates in Nueva Vida putting the trio back together once again. So all that happened on Friday and it was just an insane day. But we survived and that night we had dinner with some members and they gave us Ben & Jerry's!!

Also because I'll only be in Nueva Vida till the rest of the change, on the 22nd, we didn't want to move my bed and closet and desk again since we just moved them back over there. So I am using a random table they have at their house for studies and an air mattress to sleep on.

It's not guaranteed I'll be in Lo de Coy for a whole nother change but is totally possible. But if I go to a new area I'll know by next Wednesday. Either way though I am excited to have a companion assigned to me because going on member divisions all the time has been hard to do but I've definitely learned a lot.

Anyways so the people we are teaching right now include the Familia Castillo who are really progressing, Frank, Brenda, and Griselda. The Martinez family also came back from their trip so we are teaching them again now too. We are hoping to have a lot of people in church this next week. We also got a new ward mission leader named Samuel who is a super cool guy. He's left with me on divisions almost every day on divisions this week.

Also the Biggest news this week is that I have a new baby brother!!!! He doesn't have a name yet but just looking at the pictures I can tell he is going to be a great missionary in 18 years. He is kid number 12 and something funny is that my first name is Joseph and Joseph of Egypt was in Egypt and didn't know his little brother Benjamin (number 12) and I also am out of the country. So I think he should be named Benjamin. That's my vote.

Having gone out with the members so much more this week I am really learning how much of a difference member missionary work is. Both gong out with them to lessons and telling them about your friends and nieghbors and even inviting your neighbors who aren't members over to have a family home evening and then inviting the missionaries. I am convinced that if we do a better job with member missionary work more people will join the church and they won't go inactive. You have no idea how much of a difference members can make so that is your invitation this week. Do missionary work somehow and involve the missionaries. They will really really appreciate it. That's it for this week. Love you all!!

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6 Months - 19th Birthday

Happy Birthday Joseph! Here's his great letter for this week:
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     Subject: Cumplí años                                
Alright so this week has been super crazy!!

First off last Wednesday we went to the temple with Brenda (Ronal's sister) and she had the tour there and said she felt great and it was todo bonito but she didn't get an answer. So she still doesn't have a fecha (date) for her baptism but we're getting there. We are giving her and Ronal chapters from the Book of Mormon to read each night and I think it will help a lot! Also like every time we've stopped by to visit her or set up an appointment she hasn't been there or had to leave last minute or whatever but we're hoping she can progress. Here is a picture at the temple!

You might be wondering where my companion is. Well my companion that morning was Ronal. I made sure it was okay to have him as my comp but I did feel a little weird. And that feeling has been with me all week! The members have been helping a lot though and almost every day I have been able to work for at least a little bit in the area. I've been doing divisions like no other. It is honestly so stressful. So for all of you out there on missions or who are going to go I hope that you never have to be in an area without a companion. Really I'm in a trio and so we just meet up with members and I go with the member and Elder Erikson and Elder Gates go back to their area. But the thing is a few years ago both my area and thiers had two companionships. Meaning 8 missionaries! For the two areas and their area is gigantic. Now for our areas combined we have 3 missionaires! So it's really been a learning experience that's for sure.

Here is a picture of the trio.

Elder Gates'head got cut off though. Sorry Elder Gates.

Funny story. On Sunday a super awesome RM in our ward named Diego (he served in the Dominican Republic and got back  about 3 years ago) picked me up to go pick up people to come to church. Fun fact Diegos family visited Utah a little while ago and actually went and met up with my family on temple square! So that was cool. Anyways so we went to stop by some people and when we went to Emmanuel's house this other guy I've never seen before had just gotten off his motorcycle and was opening the door. I tried to get his attention to ask him if Emmanuel was home and as he turned around and saw us he put his hands in the air! He thought we were going to rob him! Hahah it was super funny. Although he might have just been messing with us because he did some other weird stuff too.

In church this week we had a family of 4! We found them two weeks ago and taught the kids again last night and the oldest is a 17 year old girl named Tatiana and we left a Book of Mormon with her and I really think she's gonna read! They loved their experience in church and said they would come back this next week! So we're super excited about them. Also it was weird because we were done with church by 10:00! We start at 8:00 now because we're sharing a building and the other ward starts at 11:00. To give us enough time to vacate the parking lot because otherwise there isn't enough space.

We also had interviews with President Shumway this week and it's looking like I am going to be in  Lo de Coy for this next change to reopen it. So I'll be here until march 5th probably. Which is crazy because this is still my first area!

Also here are some pictures of the Nueva Vida house.

Our 3 desks

The kitchen (which we didn't use that much because they have dinner almost every night with members) 

Where we sleep

Somehow we managed to get 3 beds in there

You can't see it that well but here are our three closets

And their house has a super nice view of the city which this picture does not do justice.

Their house isn't the cleanest but it's a lot better than it used to be. Also I never really unpacked. But I am glad I never unpacked because I got an early birthday present yesterday! I GOT A COMPANION!! So actually I'm officially back in Lo de Coy now. We got a call yesterday from President telling us that the trio is going to be broken up and we are going to reopen Lo de Coy full-time. An Elder Flinders, who used to be outside the captial working in tiny little villages, was going to have to be in the city to be closer to the doctor because he was WAY out there in his last area. So yeah I got a companion for my birthday this year!!

And when he showed up he had a surprise birthday package with him! So I also got a surprise b-day package from the fam!

The mission also sent a little birthday goodie bag and had some peanut butter m&ms in it. I don't know where the got those but they are my favorite. 

So yeah we are celebrating here and have a banner and balloons and everything (which came in the package). And a bunch of other candy and snacks were in the package and some socks and a tie and letters from the fam along with a bunch of other stuff. So yeah it has been an awesome birthday so far! And now we're getting settled in Lo de Coy again. But I might be back in the trio soon. Elder Flinders is here to be closer to the hospital because he has been having these spasms (it is super duper hot where he was before) and so we're hoping it gets better but he might be going home soon if it doesn't. He is also actually from Elder Adams'group which means he is about to finish his training. So we're hoping and praying he gets better. He is my fourth companion this change though, including the trio I was in. Elder Flinders is a super awesome guy and studied at BYU for a year before his mission. He grew up for a lot of his life in Logan but lived in Tulsa Oklahoma before he went to BYU.

Here are some other pictures from my birthday! 

Elder Erikson bought a cake and they sang to me and smashed my face into it hahaha it was funny

In the package there was also some cosmic brownies and other little debbie pastry things, some frosting, and little sugar letters that spell happy birthday so we put it together and made another little cake haha it turned out pretty good.

And here is Elder Flinders and I with matching ties. And I also have a ribbon that says birthday boy hahah

It feels good be back in Lo de Coy full time but most of all I am grateful to be part of the most important work on the earth today!!

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So, yay! That just worked out perfectly! I sent the package on Dec 29th, after seeing a notice on the Guatemala Mom's facebook page earlier that week from a lady who does a delivery service from Miami, that she was going to be in Salt Lake, and the packages she picked up would be delivered on the 8th, so it just worked out perfectly and I'm glad it was a surprise for him too! I won't tell you how much it cost to send, but the historian in me will report for record keeping sake it was over 16 pounds and $12.50 a pound (I thought it would be $8.50, oh well) plus a service fee. So, we probably won't be sending him big stuff until next birthday or his hump day,  we get to send him stuff, but they do deliver every 2 weeks, so that's pretty sweet. I do think it could be good to send small packages with letters to him through there, so maybe we'll do that. He's such a good kid, and we're so happy he has a companion again! :) He also said in his email to the family that his Mission President is fine if Ethan comes down to stay with the Gomez family over the summer, so we'll start working on that. Fun!

Birthday Boy on Wednesday!

Just for fun, a picture that Junior Herrera sent me today -

I think Hermano Herrera is Joseph's ward mission leader, and he was also one of his teachers in the Guatemala MTC. I told him that Joseph's birthday is on Wednesday, he'll be 19 - his last year as a teenager! Hno Herrera said that he will make sure he has a great day. I also told him that I sent a surprise birthday package for Joseph that I'm hoping gets there in time. The lady in charge of the shipping service I used, CTR Shipping, said she'd try to make sure it got there by Wednesday, but maybe I'll email the mission secretaries to see if they can make sure he gets it too. We sure love and miss this young man
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6 Months - Happy New Year!! I'm in a Trio

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     Subject: Feliz Ano Nuevo!! Estoy en un Trio - January 1st 2019      

First happy new year!! Guatemalans know how to celebrate with fireworks. Last night someone was lighting a ton of fireworks right outside the house for probably 30 minutes. A member here told us that he has seen firework shows in Utah and Disneyland and none of them compare to the fireworks here in Guate on Christmas and new years. So yeah there have been a ton of fireworks (juegos artificiales) recently.

Anyways so I have some good news and I have some bad news. The good news is I are working a lot more with the members here! The bad news is that Elder Adams is now back in Canada. It's super sad and I was really praying he would stay but he is gone. It came as a big surprise actually. He went on Friday, and we thought if he left it wouldn't be until Monday. We got a call from President saying that we needed to go the migration offices and then a call from the secretaries saying that a taxi was going to be there in 15 minutes to take us there. So we went he got his passport and some other documentation he needed to fly out of the country and when we got back form migration I got a call from the assistants saying that because Elder Adams was leaving I was going to have to be in a trio with Elder Erickson and Elder Gates in their area. Elder Erickson is my district leader and they're both really great. I am in a different house now and will send pictures of their house once we clean it because it's kinda messy.

So yeah I am in a trio now and in order to work in my area I have to find and meet up with a member to do divisions meaning I have been working with the members a lot more and gratefully have actually been able to work in Lo de Coy for the past couple days. On Sunday I was on divisions with 4 different members. When one couldn't anymore we would go and meet up with another member who could go with me and then at night I met up with Elder Erickson and Elder Gates. It is a lot more stressful than I thought it would be being the only Elder and always having to coordinate with members. But people are really helping us and there are a lot of possible and probably baptisms for January! I think that the Lord is really stretching me though and I am really learning a lot through this.

Anyways last week on Christmas calling the family was awesome!! It was a really great Christmas. I called at noon (guate time) and we had a lunch and other stuff after that. Here are some highlights of the day.

Me with a chapin Santa Clause

By the way chapin just means Guatemalteco, like someone from Guatemala.

Shout out to my mom who sent me some Girhadelli brownie mix in the Christmas package. So we also made brownies and it was a hit.

And we had a gift exchange with the missionaries in our zone! I got Hermana Avilez )who is from Honduras and was baptized at 16 and used to be catholic which I think is super cool= and  gave this stuffed animal monkey to her. Elder Nelson, who is also from Canada, had me and gave me this sick belt that says Guatemala on the back and has like little mayan picture things on it too and is super cool. I forgot to take a picture of it but will for sure send that next week. And he also gave me the coolest Christmas sweater!

Isn't that awesome?! I wanted to put my magnet plaque on so that it looked like it was on the Santa but I can't find it. That would have been funny though. So yeah it was a pretty great Christmas.

And this week we really saw a lot of miracles too! First off there was this family called Familia Castillo that we found and I think they can progress a lot!

Because of the new year and because it's "vacaciones" for the people here a lot of people were out of town but we were still working hard to have a lot of people in church. We passed by a lot of people and none of them could come so I was kinda sad thinking we might not have any. And then as we pulled up (because I was with a member and he has a car) we saw this guy looking at the church from the street so we went over to talk to him and he asked what it was and we told him it was la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias and he decided to come in because he said he really needs to find some peace from what was going on in his life and so he came in and stayed the whole 3 hours! His name is Mauricio and he doesn't live  in our area but we are going to pass the reference. He is super receptive and really needs the gospel in his life. Well ya know everyone needs the gospel but he is very ready to receive it. And 2 other people came to church that we weren't expecting making 3 in total so I was stoked about that.

Oh one of the guys that came last week but couldn't come this week is named Gustavo and he is 16. Last week a guy who just got back from his mission gave him a Book of Mormon and when we met with him on Wednesday he had read all the way to 1 Nefi 18!! Just so you all know that does not happen. Like we are lucky if we can get people to read a chapter but he read a ton and had super super awesome questions. And then when we met with him again on Saturday he was in chapter 25 of 2 Nefi!!! Like wow. And he totally gets it. He is a super smart kid. His parents don't want him to go to church with us though and they won't let us meet him in his house anymore so that's gonna be a little hard but as soon as he gets his answer that the Book of Mormon is true he will be baptized. He said he wants to finish the book and then make a decision. And at the rate he's reading that will be pretty soon haha so yeah we are super excited about his progress.

That's about it for this week but I hope you've all set some good new years resolutions!! Oh and we had to reschedule the temple trip with Brenda (Ronal's sister) but we are going this Wednesday for sure! Love you all!

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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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