Tied Up and Kidnapped - Only Not

Well family another week has come and gone and once again here I am writing you guys.

Should I even say it this time? I don't have much time but I'll make it fast. Not a whole lot happened this week really but time is just passing by faster and faster... and faster... and well even faster. I really have been learning a lot this week but the work has been hard.

In my area basically everyone is working always. So it's really hard to find people to teach. In the afternoons we really don't have anything to do except pass by all the people that lie to us that they are going to be in the house. So yeah it's interesting and we are able to contact a lot which is fun considering we've already contacted our whole area. We actually have recently found a couple of people to teach which is cool and a couple of them are actually really receptive. We are teaching a man named Jose. He has a lot of desire to change his life around but he doesn't know how and before he though it was completely impossible. We helped him realize that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can really be clean and start over. He basically was crying during the lesson and we but a baptismal date with him. But then he got scared because he thought if he went to church we wouldn't visit him anymore. We were pretty clear with him that in fact now we will probably visit him more than usual haha.

This week we also found another family. Interesting story really. Our Ward Mission Leader got a random call from some guy named Ronny who apparently is a member but no one in the ward knows him. He told us that that same night he wanted to have a Family Home Evening with his cousins who aren't members but are going through hard time right now. This day I was in divisions with another Gringo so my normal companion wasn't there. Anyways when we went it just kinda was weird cause we got to the gate of his private colony and all the security came out and told us to "come on in they are waiting for you". We didn't say anything to the security. We got to the house and no one answered the door rather some car pulled up out of no where and some guy we had never seen tells us to get in. Just to tell you guys I definitely though we were going to be kidnapped at this point. Anyways we got in the car and he drives us up to the top of our area and we went in a bunch of other streets that I didn't even know existed because they are so well hidden. We entered a different gated colony and then they tied us up and threw us in the trunk. Ok just kidding about that part. We went in with the family that we were there to visit and they are really cool people. They are the Myorga Family and the Husband is an inactive member and his wife doesn't go to any church. There were some people there too that are really strong members of the church that live in Maryland and speak perfect English. anyways they gave the whole lesson and we didn't even say much. Seriously it was the weirdest visit ever but also really good. After we find out that the wife is from Bolivia...the same city as my companion and she made us typical bolivian food which my companion didn't get because he was in divisions. that was definitely the most interesting thing that happened this week.

Well I love you all and hope you have an awesome week. Enjoy the new house but don't get the new carpet too dirty before I get to use it!

Paz Afuera....not sure if you can say that in Spanish.

The Case of the Disappearing Investigator

So the new house looks pretty nice! Is it big inside? Sure hope so cause the next time that I have changes I'm going there!! WOO!! Haha ok don't worry I'm still able to stay focused and everything. But just so you know they already bought my plane ticket and everything. I leave Guatemala at 7:30 in the morning and I'll get to Redmond shortly after....at 10:30 at night. I'll be in Los Angeles for 2 or 3 hours and then in Salt Lake for 5. Ha should be fun. but hey I still got a lot of time left here so don't worry I'm working. But a quick question. Mom were you able to find more out about that job at Les Schwab?

Anyways this week was really good. I honestly was barely in my area cause I had to do a few baptismal interviews but oh well. I actually wasn't able to do the interviews that I wanted. The person just completely disappeared. Oh well this coming week I should be able to do it and another one. It's weird. In the District almost nobody has baptismal dates or investigators but they are baptizing and it looks like in these coming weeks we should also have a baptism. We have an investigator named Josùe who always wanted to know EVERYTHING before getting baptized. We tried to explain that it doesn't matter how much we know rather it matters if we get an answer from the Holy Ghost. This week when I was in another area my companion and the other missionary watched the Restoration video with him. Basically he started crying and said that he knows that this is all true and he felt the Spirit really strongly. So yeah he's our most progressing investigator.

Anyways on divisions we had a good time. I went to an area called Santa Fe. This has got to be my favorite area. The airport is in their area and where they live is one of the last houses that the plane passes over before landing. It touches down over a little hill about 50 yards from the house. So yeah needless to say I probably looked like a little kid all day watching the planes come overhead and at night of course I had to climb onto the roof to watch them. It's almost at the point when I had to duck every time one came by. Haha good times in Santa Fe. Anyways we couldn't do their interview the first day cause the kid disappeared so apparently he was going to be there the day after. Anyways we did divisions again but the kid wasn't there again....Anyways I have to go back this week to actually do it.

Also to let you guys know I have already met the new President. He is WAY cool. He'll be really good for the mission. For the fact that he has been doing interviews like crazy they haven't come to our language study yet but we'll see if they do this coming week. It should be fun.

Ok so that's bout all for the week. Thanks to more weird computer problems I can't send pictures...I should be able to next week though. Love you guys and have an awesome week in the new house. If you want you can just leave the boxes packed and when I get home I can do it. You know because  ya me falta poco.

The Dad Realized that What People Say in the Street Isn't True

Man your week was a lot crazier than mine. That's insane! Too bad though....I was kinda looking forward to seeing the new house. But oh well it happened for a reason right? The Lord will help you guys find something else. You should send me pictures of the new house that you guys are going to be living in now. I mean I only have about 8 weeks left in the mission so I would like to know where I'm living soon.

(Actually, we miraculously found a nice home to live in right in the middle of an insane rental market. We'll live here while we continue searching for the right lot to build on or the right home to buy. So he was right - we were blessed to find something.)

Ok to let you know these computers aren't that great either so the internet is SUPER slow and that's why I don't have any time. Ok so let's see. This week was interesting. President Caffaro is here now and apparently he is AWESOME. I haven't met him but since I'm the DL of the secretaries I have heard a lot. In fact I'm really close to the offices and everything right? Well Apparently Sister Caffaro doesn't know much spanish and so the Assistentes called me. They assigned me to teach her spanish I guess. They're going to sometimes come to our Language studies and I guess I'll just have to think way back to when they taught me spanish because I don't know how to teach. It should be fun though. I'll let you guys know how that goes.

Ok as for my week it was interesting. I must say I'm pretty stumped. It's a tough area. We can contact all day long but nobody wants to listen. Usually we are able to at least have investigators but here we barely have any. The ones we have though are awesome. We are teaching 6 people. All of them came to church on Sunday which is awesome! They should progress but I also think it might be a bit of a slower process than with other investigators that I've had. They have a lot of desire to know and learn though. Josue is one of them and really is interesting. Before he didn't listen at all to missionaries but finally the missionaries that were here before convinced him to listen and now he is really interested. He wants to know EVERYTHING. The lessons with him last a long time because he has a TON of questions but really good questions too. I'm hoping to see him get baptized soon. We're going to try again to put a baptismal date with him this week.

So let's see what else happened...well really nothing else. In the District we had 3 baptisms this week and I had to do divisions and do all the interviews. These people were so ready to be baptized. 2 of them were in the same family. They completely have changed thanks to the Gospel. Before they didn't want ANYTHING with missionaries but finally the missionaries got in because they received a reference (the son of the family) and they contacted him. Finally they got in and the Dad realized that what people say in the street isn't true so he started to listen. The son still hasn't got baptized but the Dad and Mom have. They are really cool.

So my companion is doing really well. For a newbie he works really well. I even had to leave him in the area by himself when I did the interviews and he did perfectly fine. These last couple weeks should be really fun.

Anyways I hope all goes well in the move. I hope the house is ok and everything. That's seriously crazy what happened. You'll see. The house you guys were going to buy is going to burn down in a week or so. At least we're not changing wards right? So yeah hope you guys have an awesome week. I'll send pictures next week. Love you guys. 

First Take of the New Area

Ok I have a little bit more time today. Lets see what I can get done. 

(Note that the photos are from his last area.)

Progreso Jutiapa

I'll start with the area. It's VERY different from whatever area I've ever had. Let me explain. We entered a house and Immediately I knew something was different. First of all no unfriendly odors were present. What I noticed next was that the couches, rug, and curtains all matched. But that's not all it gets better. I was warmly greeted by the maid of the house and we were told to sit down to await the family. I must tell you I was scared to touch anything. The next thing I realized was the HUGE stereo system that they had right in front but they weren't using it as most people use them here rather it was softly playing a nice classical piece of music. It was quite pleasant actually. It was then that the head of the house came down. He was an older man with slightly graying hair who greeted us and sat down crossing one leg. He then began to chat about the breed of his dog and the piece of music that was playing. He graciously entreated us to a tour of his house where he showed me his large indoor garden made of walls of all glass and filled with plants. This garden was specifically made for his 20 year talking parrot. After a talk with the family they served us a nice American styled dinner. Now I want you guys to remember that things like this haven't happened to me for like two years. Man this area is cool.

Recent Baptism

So let's see. This is actually the hardest area I've had. There is a rich part and a poor part. We spend most of our time in the poor part but tonight we are going to have another appointment with the rich family. The man is an inactive member but his wife and son are completely active. His son is a recently returned missionary. Other than that we only have maybe 3 investigadors. We work all day long but absolutely no one receives us in their house. We are really deep in the city so everyone is always working. Actually I'm not sure if I've told you guys but know I'm the District Leader of the secretaries. So yeah President lives real close here and the mission offices are like 10 minutes away. But hey we're working here and everything thing but I feel bad for my comp. It's a very hard area to start in. We eat with a lady who cooks really well so that's always fun and our house is actually really nice. When we got to the area the house was absolutely disgusting though. The last P-day we just cleaned like crazy though so know it's actually really clean. The nurse actually came to look at the house and she deemed it Super Clean. HA.

So anyways it is really good to hear that you are all good. I was just about to give you ideas about your talk Mom but my time is up so sorry. Have an awesome week and have fun moving!!

Love you guys.