Excited for Conference and Hoping for a Temple in Bend

Well as always family we had an awesome week. But I`m kinda confused...it went by so fast though that I don`t really remember what happened. Let`s see if I can remember. 

This week was filled with divisions (exchanges). We had one with an area in the zone and another with the assistants. I stayed in our area for both of them. It`s always such a good opportunity to do divisions with them cause they really teach me something every time. We have really good ones right now but tomorrow one of them is going home. 

Oh I should mention to you guys that I don`t have changes or anything which I`m actually happy about. I really like the area and my companion and I are working really hard. We still always have to go to the change meeting though so we are going to have to go to the Capital this week. Actually we are going to have to go twice. I actually really like going. (Not just because it`s 7 extra hours to sleep either). Four areas in our zone have changes so it should be interesting who comes. 

Also so you guys know we`re getting pretty close to changing Missions Presidents. In June President Stay leaves and President Caffaro from Miami gets here. It should be interesting. For 3 months I`ll have a new President which is tough but I`m sure it will also be good. President Stay seriously is amazing. He has taught me SO much and I am so thankful for the many things he has done for me. But hey the the Lord wants a change in the Mission`s President I guess that`s how it needs to be. 

I have been trying to prepare myself for the General Conference that`s coming up this week! Can you guys believe that once again we get to see it?! I swear the General Conferences in the Mission are so good. Who knows, maybe they`ll announce a Bend Oregon Temple! How cool would that be? I`ll be praying for it. On top of Aubrey Butte.....

So yeah this week was just really good. We found a whole bunch of new people in our area and in the zone. It`s exciting because we see that the Elders are more excited and are working harder than ever. We should see a lot of baptismal dates coming up this week. Well at least that`s what I`m praying for. In our area we have seen support from the members like no other. Even though there are few we had more lessons with members than ever!! They are all really excited and love doing missionary work. This branch is so great. They all just seemed excited and we have been seeing improvements in a lot of things such as attendance to church. Yesterday we had about 89 so it`s getting up there.

Now that I didn't have changes It`s almost positive I`ll stay here for 6 months which is awesome. This is my companions last change in the mission so after him I`ll stay for another change. Hey no complaints. Here we are working. Ok yeah one complaint....Only an hour of internet. Love you guys!

BYE

Gerson's Conversion

Man another week down...This I think was one of the fastest weeks of my mission. I`m not exactly sure why it was so fast but....it just was. The next week we have changes just so you guys know...it`s possible that I could be changed but I kinda doubt it. If I stay one more I`ll be with my comp. when he goes home. So yeah we`ll see what happens. Already got 3 months in my new area. But seriously I`m loving every second.

So let`s see...Oh just to let you guys know, the reason I haven`t sent any photos lately is cause these computers have a crazy ton of viruses. I had to pay someone to clean up my USB from all the viruses so I kinda just don`t want to use it in these computers anymore...sorry. 

This week was good. We are teaching a lot lately and we are having a bit more luck with working with members. 

This week we had an amazing Branch Conference and The Stake President came to talk with us. He was really clear as to the point of we all need to repent. It was crazy though. He stood up and just calling everyone out as sinners haha. It was really good though and I actually learned a lot. He made a good point, sinning is like having a spiritual credit card. Every time we sin we use the card. We get completely under debt and only by repenting we can be free. If we repent Christ pay the price. He made the point though that we have to pay about 1% too. That price would be the godly sorrow that we should feel in a true repentance. He said that the only other option is to not repent and so that whole debt will be piled onto us at the last day but with a whole bunch of late fees on top of everything. There`s really no reason that every single one of us shouldn't repent. He also said there are only two type of people in the whole world. Those that repent and those that don`t. We are either one or the other. It makes me want to be better thinking about it in that way. I've got a heck of a lot of debt piled up still. I know that only through sincere repentance I can get rid of it. But for that reason I love the Gospel so much.

So let`s see. Oh yeah this week we had a baptism!!! Not really sure if I told you guys about Gerson or not. He is the Brother of a recent convert and when we met him he was really against the Church. He has had an amazing conversion story too. He really had desires to know if it was true even though he never really wanted to hear anything. He started reading the Book of Mormon and he had very direct, very clear answers to his prayers. In like two weeks we saw him turn around and even before his baptism he was telling EVERYONE that he is a Mormon. He`s only 14 years old and at his Catholic school he`s getting a lot of flack for being baptized but he is super happy. 

Now in the family the only person that needs to be baptized is their Dad who came to the baptism on Saturday and Sunday was going to go to church but got really sick. It gave us the opportunity to give him a blessing though which was a great experience. His wife keeps telling us that we have to continue to visit him and we definitely will. I think he`ll be baptized one of these days, the process is just a bit longer than for others. He`s also very Catholic but LOVES the BoM. So yeah coolest story of the week.

It`s pretty hot here. Nothing too bad though. We`re surviving and it`s nice cause because it`s hot everyone here always gives us nice big glasses of juice or coca cola....you guys still don`t drink that right? We drink it like water here......Kinda have to. But hey it`s better to not drink soda! I`m trying to stop drinking so much...it`s tough though cause well....that`s what the people have.

So I hope you guys have a good week. Always remember to repent immediately because it`s not worth waiting! Love you guys and have a good Spring Break!!!!!!!!!!

Élder Layton  

I Began to Feel the Strength of the Spirit Return it Completely Changed Me

What a week. Maybe it wasn't the most perfect week or anything but it was a week that I will remember forever. This area is without a doubt my favorite until this point. I´m learning so much but it seems to me that every time I learn a life lesson it gets harder and harder. But that being said every time I learn a lesson a change more and more.

Basically what happened is awhile ago I had a really interesting Personal Study. I started with the question "Who am I?" I began to find a lot of interesting things and especially when I began to read in the Book of Moses. It was a story that I had heard many times before but this time I understood it. It was when the Lord withdrew from him and he was powerless for the space of hours. What I came to realize is that without the Lord I am completely useless. But with the Lord I have the potential to become something great. I think what happened is I was a very prideful person and well still am maybe a bit. 

During this time I have been coming to the Lord for help for many things and this is one of the things I wanted to change. It was weird though because to me the change seemed impossible, to get rid of my pride and be more humble. I can bear my testimony though once again (I know I have done this like 3 times in a row now) that the promise in Ether 12:27 is true. As soon as I began looking for a change it came...and it hit hard. To tell you the truth for a couple days this week I felt pretty depressed. For once I felt that I was almost good for nothing! Sad right? I felt very incapable of doing what is needed of me. I think for about 2 days this week the Lord gave me an experience kinda like Moses. He needed me to realize that without him I am not as great as maybe I thought I was. I definitely learned my lesson and so a couple days ago when I began to feel the strength of the Spirit return it completely changed me. This has been something that has really helped me and I know I still got a long way to go but hey one more life lesson down a whole bunch to come.

This week other than that has been good too. We reached a record high in our Branch of 96 people in Sacrament meeting with 5 investigators! It really was a miracle and the next miracle will be retaining that attendance. I think the members have been getting really excited and are ready to start working. We got an amazing reference from a member right after the meeting and we visited him the same day. He already knows the church is true and has heard the missionaries before but for his work he hasn't been able to come to church. We felt he didn't understand the importance of the Gospel of Christ and we gave him an AMAZING lesson. The spirit was SO strong and he even began crying. We taught him the life lesson that I received haha. I had told my companion what I learned and he began the lesson with the question "Who are we?" This man (Mynor Martinez) has already accepted a baptismal date and is going to talk to his boss about getting off on Sundays. Really it was one of the most powerful lessons I have been in because he really understood the importance of the Gospel in his life.

I love this Gospel and I know it´s true. Hope you all have an amazing week and that you all read the BoM every day. Mom your store has 8 years to be there???? That´s crazy!!! Anyways you guys are great and like always enjoy carpet for me. 

Adios. Hasta la proxima.  

I Love Reading the Book of Mormon

Once again here I am. I seriously don't know where to start. I pretty sad actually right now. Right now my old companion e-mailed me to let me know that in my last area one of the really cool members just died. I`m not sure how exactly but he has 3 little kids and a wife who have been affected. So yeah definitely include the Cifuentes Family in your prayers this week.

We've been working pretty hard still. We did a lot of divisions which is always fun. I went to an Elders area and we completely got lost for like two hours and then we found out we weren't even in his area. Fun right? Well in his defence he had just arrived at the area. The reason we did divisions is to help get the members excited because before we had some problems in the area. Needless to say we didn't really have time to talk to members but we did a bit of service and we found a person that is very positive about accepting the Gospel. So we`ll see where that goes. Other than that this week we didn't really travel that much.

We have found a very big problem in our area. Even though the attendance to church is climbing almost no one is able to do visits with us. So it`s been really hard because a lot of times we aren't able to go into houses. We're trying to figure out a solution so we'll keep working. 

Seriously I love this area. The people are so good and a lot of people are interested. A lot are really Catholic but that`s ok. We are teaching a really Catholic man. His wife and son are members and he and one other son aren`t. We haven't been able to get to him but recently we have started focusing on the Book of Mormon. He absolutely loves it. Every time he reads and learns. When we talk about it it`s almost like he`s fighting inside himself to figure out what`s right cause he`s always been Catholic. The Book of Mormon is SO powerful. I love reading it. Seriously that is something that I've learned here. To love the scriptures. Definitely some good stories there...and the Old Testament just makes me laugh.

Ok sorry no more time. Love you guys and hope you have an amazing week.

Elder Layton

Yes, I am a gringo, why?

Another good week as zone leader outside of the capital. As an answer to your question Mom yes we did do some traveling. Friday we went to the Capital really early, and then I stayed there in divisions with the Assistentes and then we travelled on Saturday. Also on Sunday we had to go to Jutiapa for a last minute meeting. One of the things we have to do is go to the meeting that they have with all the Bishoprics and talk there. When all the bishops start complaining about their missionaries we have to answer them and take care of all their questions. I felt kinda like when famous people have press conferences and everyone starts asking a bunch of weird questions hahaha. But yeah it was fun. 

Also Friday we had a really good meeting with President Stay. Anyways bus trips here are funny. Needless to say these buses don`t come prepared with gringos in mind. You guys know those collage games about fitting people into phone booths? Well they are pretty good at that game here. And it`s tough cause my shoulder hits the ceiling. So it`s pretty cramped. And the roads here are really bumpy too so I hit my head many times. But hey I enjoy it. It`s a very easy way to start conversations with the people. "Oh no hermano I'm not trying to eat your head but it is quite close to my face. Yes, I am a real gringo, why? I have come here to preach the Gospel...." and BAM a contact. It`s so much fun being in Guatemala!!

Anyways we have been teaching a lot of good people lately. The most positive is the Esteves Family. We found them and we thought they were SUPER Catholic cause they have big Virgin Marys built into their house but turns out they don`t go to a church and have been looking for one. They felt the Spirit really strong in the first lesson and all accepted baptism. They just couldn't go to church cause they had to go to a funeral. (We actually found them coming from a different funeral...poor guys). Needless to say we`re going to be focusing heavily on the Plan of Salvation. But yeah it was SUCH a good lesson but they`re new so we`ll see what happens. 

We also are teaching an atheist and his wife. The wife knows that the message is true but she can`t go to church. The husband actually is really receptive and knows he has felt the Spirit. I think he just got confused with the Joesph Smith question. Which of all the churches is true and why are there so many? I guess he decided God wouldn't make all that confusion so he decided there is no God. Sad right? But hey we`re making progress. They are also pretty new so we`ll see what we can do to get them to church.

So another awesome week. I am changing so fast. Many things that I want to get better on are becoming easier. I have gained a testimony about Ether 12:27. It`s so true. I actually read that whole chapter last night. SO GOOD. Even Moroni the great prophet had a lot of things he had to work on. But yeah the Book of Mormon is so great. read it often! I seriously love personal study now.

Ok have a fantastic week. Good luck with your presentation Mom!!!