Home By 5:30 Cause It's Really Dangerous

He's SOOOO Organized!

Hello Family!

So as you know I`m not in my old area anymore. I am now in Zona Milagro. And yeah it`s in the Cap!! Haha the weather is awesome. Kinda hot in the afternoons but nothing like Zacapa. The mornings and nights are actually kinda cold but I like that. My area is called Boulevard and my companions name is Elder Villacis from Ecuador  I`m already really liking the area. It`s way smaller than my old one and so a lot less walking but I think it`s going to be harder. We do a ton of contacting and haven`t taught that many lessons. My house here is nice for the most part. It`s a bit bigger than my old one except the bathroom. just to get in the bathroom I have to duck down. The door is really small. Other then that though the house is nice. We do have a hot water shower which is awesome. It was waaaayyy cold for my first few days so we installed a hot water heater thing. I think I`m going to love it here. The members are cool and everything and the few lessons we've taught went really good. I've noticed my Spanish really starting to get better here. Even in just a week. Our Comedor is really good too. The food is awesome. I don't think I've eaten a single thing I  don`t like. So yeah life's good here.

I should give you a little information of what is going on in my old area. Elder Alvarado is now in a trio and training both of his companions. Yeah it should be pretty good. I talked to him last night and they`re actually have a lot more success there. They've found a few families and stuff. But yeah he also said it`s getting waaayyy hotter.

I really don`t know what to say about our week. I mean it was good but it was basically just all contacting. Oh yeah there`s a rule here that we have to be in the house by 5:30 cause it`s really dangerous. So the days seem really short. It`s 4 hours less for working. Yeah so we`re trying to do everything. Oh I should mention me and my comp entered the same exact day so tomorrow we both have 5 months. Yeah it`s kinda funny that we`re both greenies. He`s senior comp though cause he`s got more time in the field then me and he`s been in the area so he knows it. I don`t really care though. Hmmm what to say about the area...I can`t take a ton of pictures cause I`m not aloud to carry around my camera... Oh well the whole area just looks the same. Just houses and Tiendas. There are some cool views though that you can see out over a lot of the Cap. Maybe I`ll have to sneak my camera out one day. It`s also nice here cause I get letters like 2 weeks faster. So I got a huge pile the other day. (Basically all Dear Elders from Dad). Hey I'm not complaining though. So that's really all I can say about my area. I really like it. 

That's cool Mom you got to go to the graduation. Seems like it was cool. I still don`t know if that`s something I`m going to do but hey I have a little time. Hmmmm what else to say...Everything going OK there in Oregon? Yeah probably. OK so I don't want to just keep rambling. I'm going to send a few pictures of the house. I was going to send one with me standing by the bathroom door just so you could see how little it was but I forgot to take one. Maybe next week. Alright bye family and have a good week. 

The Holy Ghost Teaches of Things That "Aren't True"??

Elder Layton Is Amused by a Local, Innocent Cow

Well hello again family. How is the snow going? I assume it`s still awesome. OK so Alexa is going to Peru? That`s so awesome! She`s definitely going to learn the best language in an awesome country. Also too bad about Mom being kinda sick and Tyson's family. I hope you`re feeling better Mom and I wish the best for the Adams.

OK so where to start I'm not really sure. In all honesty not a bunch of stuff happened this week but it was good. As I told you Elder Christopherson came to our mission to speak. We couldn't go to The Capital to actually see him though which was kinda lame but they had a camera and broadcast it here so we could see. He can speak Spanish which was cool but the sound was all messed up for a lot of it so we couldn't hear about half and when we finally could it was really quiet. So it was in Spanish and I could barely hear. ¡Que Bueno! It was really good though from what I could get out of it and I`ll remember it for a long time. 

Also one of the guys that spoke served his mission here in Guatemala and said "A lot of people ask me where my favorite area was in all of Central America (cause the mission was almost all of it at that time) and I loved them all. But I would have to say my favorite would be Zacapa...Why are you laughing?" Yeah it was pretty good. I actually really do like my area and just grateful I`ll probably be gone the hottest part of the year. The day after we had a Zone Conference with our President which was really awesome. It was really long but I didn't really care cause we learned a ton of stuff and I learned more about Christopherson`s talk that I couldn't hear the day before.

Unknown Church in Zacapa

OK let`s see...I`m trying to think of something else. Oh yeah we have an investigator who came to church (and loved it) and so now can be baptized. She has her interview tomorrow so I have to do divisions with the District Leader here and we`re going to baptize her this Saturday! It`s going to be awesome. Talking about baptisms that reminds me. There was two this past Saturday, from other areas. In the first they told me about two minutes before I had to give the talk on the Holy Ghost. It actually went really good I thought until I told everyone that the Holy Ghost teaches of all things that aren't true...Oops. I threw a "no" in there for some reason and everyone laughed but yeah it was funny. Other than that it was good. And after that, at both of them me and Elder Alvarado had to teach lesson 3 while they were changing. It went really good too and I`m definitely able to teach better than I was before.

OK That`s about all I got this week. Nothing else really happened. We just kinda walked around in the heat. I hope everything is going OK. Oh yeah good luck with being Coordinating Sister Briana. That`s awesome!

OK bye...Adios familia.

Understanding "Almost Everything" (Already?)

Hello family. OK mom I would like to start with saying I actually miss scraping the ice off my car for seminary so I don´t feel to bad for you. I'm not enjoying the heat but I'm a missionary and I'm enjoying that so oh well. It's weird - it's already starting to get hotter here and it never rains really so it always feels really hot and you can't escape it.

Yeah Mom I know Elder See. He's cool. He's not in my district but he's in my zone so I see him every once in awhile.

Just Say "NO" to coffee beans

That's insane that Alexa has put in her papers! I never would've thought that - that's really awesome. I'm going to have to guess she will go to Australia  Don't know why but it's going to happen. Also with Dallin and Micheal getting ready to enter the MTC ...or CCM for Micheal, good luck! You guys will love it. It's still weird for me everyone is going on missions. Well the Layton family will literally be all around the world teaching people. How cool is that?!

So for this week there wasn't a whole lot that was new. We had a baptism date for this coming Saturday but had to move it back a week because the girl is having problems at work and couldn't come to church. She has a testimony and everything and wants to be baptized but just needs to come to church again. I'm just hoping that if I have changes this time that she will be baptized before that. 

Also we have been teaching a man with only one leg. He's already been to church enough and absolutely loves it. He just needs to hear the lessons and I think he would want to get baptized. We'll get a date next time maybe. Both me and my companion would have to be in the water to help him out. That would be a pretty cool experience. 

This past Saturday the other Elders in Zacapa had a baptism which was really good. I had to direct the meeting and me and Elder Alvarado had to teach lesson 3 while they were changing. It actually went really good and I realized my Spanish is definitely coming along. In church the next day I could understand almost everything. Definitely some don de lenguas (gift of tongues) going on here. Oh yeah and then later that Sunday night the Hermanas in Zacapa called and said the person in their area who is getting baptized this Saturday wants me to baptize her! So I was happy about the until their Bishop told the girl we can't baptize them and we have to have members do it...Yeah so I don´t know where he got that. Obviously it's a good idea to have members do it but hey that doesn't mean we can't. Well I still might but we´ll just see.

Preferred Transportation

Enough rambling that´s basically it this week. Oh yeah I didn't tell you about the drunk man talking to me. Well yeah that happens a lot but this time it was during a lesson with Alfredo and the whole time "Hey I lived in Pennsylvania and can talk English Spanish and Italian." "Oh really well that's nice..." "Hey I lived in Pennsylvania and....." Yeah me and my comp were laughing pretty hard because he just kept saying that.

OK for real that´s basically my week. Hope everything is going well over there and enjoy that freezing cold for me. I guess Global Warming is only effecting this part of the world where no one actually drives...

Ok bye familia and have a good week!

Foto - Me on what I really want to start using to contact.

First Baptism

Elder Layton with 2 companions in the Guatemala CCM

All right this week was kinda insane. Hmmm where to start. Well how about here. I got my first baptismal date! And like Briana it's on the 15th of December. 

Her name is Hermana Consuelo and her husband was a member before he died. We have been teaching and she always comes to church. We taught her about the temple and eternal families and after that she really wanted to be baptized. 

I'm not actually doing it but my comp. I also think we'll have maybe three more this month but I guess we'll see. I'm way excited for it. 

We contacted a lot this week and didn't have any success. Most everyone here is either Catholic or Evangelico. Basically everyone believes in God but we don't get in to teach a lot of lessons. We do have a good amount of investigators so we still teach a lot of lessons to them. 

We're not sure if this was taken in Guatemala City or in Zacapa

OK what else this week. Oh yeah don't freak out mom or anything but I got pretty sick haha. It was kinda fun. OK well not at the time. I kinda threw up in the streets of Zacapa. It was actually pretty funny. I think a bunch of people thought I was drunk...Oh well we can find them later and teach them the Word of Wisdom. Well that was Saturday and I'm almost better now. I still don´t have an appetite but oh well I'm fine. 

I swear mom if you write the First Presidency or something about this just cause I told you you won't ever hear good stuff again. 

OK well Sunday was good too. It was testimony meeting and I think our investigators really liked it. Oh yeah and I had to lead the music. It really wouldn't t have been that bad but there isn't a piano or anything so I had to sing the first part of the song by myself to the whole congregation!! Well by whole congregation I mean like 50 people but still. Ugh it was worse then the throwing up... OK maybe not. Well I survived believe it or not. Did I ever tell you our Bishop is only about 25 years old_ Yeah it's weird but he's a really cool guy. He's about as tall as dad and knows a little English. Yep fun fun...what else.

Eric's Fish Dinner with Rice, Tomatoes/Cucumbers and Lime

Oh the food here is actually pretty good. Nothing is too weird and actually it's not way different. The weirdest thing was the fish which there is a picture of. I was actually really really good but still had everything on it. Other then that we just eat chicken beans rice and eggs. Oh yeah and the only thing I hate is the cheese here, blech. (I think he's talking about a hard, dry white cheese called cotija. If that's what it is, he'll learn to love it. MMMMMM!) 

Also Dad I eat Pan Dulce all the time. It's great. That and Pan Galleta. Yummy. But really the food isn't as different as I thought it was going to be. And here's the lame thing. The only time I tried to eat something American I think that´s what made me sick. I had cereal and milk and I think the milk was bad or something which is weird cause it was the first time I had opened it. Maybe cause they never refrigerate it something happened. Well I don´t know, I'm kinda scared to eat more of it cause I have a ton...

That's awesome Curtis was in the Christmas parade. I laughed really hard at his picture in the uniform though. No offense to you Curtis I just remember how much I hated those uniforms. Glad to hear the store is going well and Dad's doing good too. OK well I got nothing else...Thanks for the letters everyone.

First Report From Zacapa

All right just a warning right now. This e-mail isn`t going to be very long because I have my pictures coming. There are a good amount so it might take a few e-mails. But hey usually it won`t have this many to send all at once.

View from Zacapa Apartment

OK this week was good. We taught a lot of lessons and contacted into a couple of people. It`s kinda hard here actually to commit people to things. Most people work on Sundays or live really far away so it`s hard. Well we`re still trying. This week the other Elders had a baptism so we got to go to that. It was really good. They had their wedding right before it too. We still don`t have any baptismal date or anything but we might get one in the next couple weeks. Our investigators are good but we don`t have one man. It`s kind of weird but we just have single women and their families. I hope we get some more this week. We definitely walk a ton. Probably 10 miles a day. I don`t know though. My shoes are 100% fine. Well besides the fact they are pretty dirty. I shine them and then the next day they`re filthy again. Oh well if I ever go to the city it`s not like that there. Hmmm what else. I haven`t got sick here. There have been a couple times where my stomach kinda hurt but not really. Apparently I`m definitely going to get sick at some point but I hope to break the tradition.

The Plaza

 This year I kinda forgot Thanksgiving. Yeah it wasn`t until someone asked me what black Friday was (because they saw it in the newspaper) that I realized the day before was Thanksgiving. Oops. They don`t do anything special for it here but I was expecting that. Christmas is going to be a party though. I can`t wait to get my package and eat all the candy. Oh yeah and thanks for sending another (copy of his patriarchal) blessing. It`s kinda a pain that I left it but oh well I`ll survive  It`s weird I`ve been out for 2 weeks already.

Elders Layton y Alvarado

OK for more details. We have familia _________ but the Mom can`t come to church cause she works and this is the family where the kids only come cause the 14 year old is in love with my comp. They like having the lessons I think but they`re not really progressing. Not exactly sure what we`re going to do but we`ll figure it out.

At the Guatemalan CCM

Lilian _______ lives really far from church and so doesn`t come. She likes the lessons a ton though and I think we might be able to get her to come. We haven`t been teaching her very long and I think she`s pretty receptive.

First Area of Zacapa

Hermana ________ is basically doing everything she needs to. Well she can barely read and so it`s hard for her to read the Book of Mormon. It takes her almost 3 minutes to read a verse but she tries. It`s good. She has come to church too and has a ton of questions so we just need to keep teaching.

District in the Provo MTC

Those are probably our three main ones. It`s fun here. Oh yeah I should probably mention, because we are 4 hours from the capital I only get mail every 6 weeks. So I won`t be able to respond to anything really. This month I might get it sooner cause in 2 weeks we go to the capital so all the newbies can have another interview with the President. OK well I have to go and start sending pictures. These pictures are kind of mixed up so sorry I can`t tell you exactly what each one is. Some are in Provo with my District and some friends in our zone, some are in the CCM, some are the view from our house, and others are a veiw of our entire area. The ones that are kinda a desert looking thing, that`s in Pueblo Modelo, 5 miles out of Zacapa where we walk to all the time....Alright bye, And Briana HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

If You Followed His Finger to the Left & Slightly Up, You'd End Up Close to My First Area in Acapulco, Mexico

What Is a Big Wet White Guy Doing at My Doorstep?

Well hello family,

How goes it? As you can see by this e-mail I will now be e-mailing on Mondays. So yeah same as Briana...I think. 

Well this week has been kinda crazy. We went to the chapel in Guatemala City right after we left the CCM for changes. I was told that all new people are trained in the City and so I was kinda relieved because I have heard all these horror stories about a place called Zacapa because it`s so incredibly hot. So I was feeling good that day until the slide for Zona Zacapa came up. So here I am in the hottest part of Guatemala for my first area (The only newbie outside of the Capital). Don't worry it`s the coldest part of the year right now so it only gets to about 95....with about 90 percent humidity.

Zacapa, Guatemala

Oh yeah and I should also point out we have one of the biggest areas in the mission. And we don't take buses anywhere cause there aren't any like in the Capital. Oh well it has been fun. We have a big chunk of the city and then also a little Pueblo called Pueblo Modelo. It`s about 5 miles out and everyone there is pretty poor. It`s a lot easier to get in houses there though. It's going to be really hard for anyone there to go to church because it's really far away and church is early. 

Pueblo Modelo

Zacapa is actually pretty cool. There`s about 3 motorcycles for every car and usually you will see 3, 4, or even sometimes 5 people on one moped. It's cool! That`s what I want to do with my family after my mission. Ok maybe not. I have a feeling back in the states that wouldn't be something they would let us do. Oh well.

My first week we did a lot of contacting. We don`t really have that many investigators and none are ready for baptism yet. We've taught a lot of lessons in Pueblo Modelo but not a ton in the actual city. We have one family here that takes the lessons but the Mom can never come to church because she works. I think really the only reason two of the kids came this week is because the 14 year old girl is basically in love with my trainer. It`s pretty funny. 

Oh yeah I should mention that my Trainer`s name is Elder Alvarado from Hondurus. He's pretty great. So I will be with him for at least 12 weeks in this area maybe longer. He doesn't really speak much English but a little I guess. He`s been out for 10 months now.

We have a comedor where we go and eat. It's just at a members house and it's actually really good food. I haven't eaten like anything I don`t like. We eat two meals a day with her usually breakfast and lunch. We're on our own for dinner but lunch here is huge so I'm never really hungry or anything. She also washes all our clothes so it's super nice. I really don`t have to do anything besides walk around everywhere sweating. That`s probably why people don`t let us in a ton. Their first thought has got to be, "What is a big wet white guy doing on my doorstep?" 

Oh if you haven't noticed there aren't any pictures on this e-mail...yeah that`s cause I kinda forgot my camera in the apartment. Oops sorry. The blog will have to be boring for one more week. Unless I forget it next week too then it will be boring for two more weeks!! Hahaha ok I won't do that. I have some good pictures I think. You will see. The easiest way to send will just be using my cord. If I can find it. I think I will be able to. Well I hope. But even if I couldn't I could send some next week. 

Hmm what else, oh my apartment is pretty nice actually. It`s really small with only two rooms. One is with the "kitchen" and our desks. The other is for our beds. We also have a balcony cause we`re on the third floor. It`s awesome cause every night we just kinda chill out there and watch all the drunk people come out of one of the three close bars. The temperature is always perfect at night so we just kinda sit out there and listen to the nice Mariachi music. I`m definitely in a Central American country. It`s fun. 

Hmmm what else in our apartment. Oh yeah we have a shower that`s freezing cold. You might think that here in Zacapa that`s not too bad because it's hot but not in the mornings! Showers here are terrible. I want to die every time I take one haha. Oh well I'll get used to it maybe. Apparently in the Capital some showers have hot water and some are even colder so we'll see what I get if I ever go there. 

Well I miss you guys kinda I guess...oh and I miss my bed a ton! Ha just kidding I probably miss you guys a little more than my bed but I'm not quite sure about that yet. The beds here aren't too bad. Better then that time when you made me sleep on that trundle bed for what seemed like forever. They're just twins obviously but pretty comfortable. 

OK well I don't really got anymore to say and I'm about out of time. Oh yeah last thing. I may or may not have left my nice little laminated patriarchal blessing in the CCM...So yeah if you could get me another one that would be cool. Definitely don't want to go my whole mission without it. I think I have a copy at home so you should be able to. OK Well have a good week and don't be too sad without me. I know it has got to be pretty hard haha. OK bye.