Love Those Emails!!!

Hey! Ah I love reading your emails!!  And first off I can use the money? You probably shouldn’t have told me that, but I will use it as I need, probably just to buy bug repellent. Elder Arce won’t be my comp at Christmas. Changes are every 6 weeks. Changes are this Wednesday, and we find out tonight who is changing they call in the night. We won’t be changing though because we are training so I will stay two changes at least in this area. And with pres. stay he mentioned he wants each missionary to be in the same area of 6 months or 4 changes which is something new and different so we will see how that goes. We think after 2 changes one of us will change cause you are usually always with the same comp for 2 changes at the most. So by Christmas I will probably be in a different area too. Who knows?  So this week was super long!! I don’t know if it was because it was the last week of the change but I was super more tired than normal!

So last Monday after emailing we went to a member’s house for FHE, in Zacapa because we went to the capital the next day. But anyways turns out it’s the family of MISS GUATEMALA!! Ha-ha and turns out MISS UNIVERSE was on that night!! So we had FHE, then prayed for her, then watched a little or all of it, (probably wasn’t good) BUT we had to "support" her.  So once she got eliminated the family wanted to finish it, but they also wanted a blessing of comfort, so after we gave them a blessing! So ya ha-ha but MISS GUATEMALA!!!!

Yes, Even Miss Guatemala will kiss a frog
if he might the One!

So I was thinking a little more and for the package, phase 10, Uno, Reese’s and fast breaks! and JELLYBELLYS!!!! I need some duct tape, but not a lot just like a yard of it. And a couple Ziploc bags, sandwich and gallon, but only like 5 each.

Oh gosh it was bad this week. We are having lunch at our commodore, and they lit a candle because it was dark and stormy...so after we are just chilling and me being me, I start playing with the fire, with my napkin and I had it crumpled up, and it burns very slow when it is crumpled up, and when I undid it, it looked like a snow angel because there were four holes, so I put it like 6 inches above the flame and then it BURST into flames, and went like everywhere, and so I am frantically trying to put out the 5 different fires around, and Elder Arce is laughing and the other person is laughing way hard too, so ya I almost burned down the house.

Do you guys have any questions? This week as far as the work was hard. We have a very hard area. We had a golden investigator! He just loves everything about the church. Found him Saturday and didn’t teach a thing just talked and invited him to church and he came the next day! So he was super golden, he received his answer about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, and wants to share his testimony. So we were so stoked!! (Notice I am talking in past tense) We will be teaching Chastity. He has another wife and child in the capital, and is only living with this women. (This is VERY common in Guatemala) so he needs to get a divorce which usually takes months but sometimes can take years, so we were pretty bummed about that. We will still work with him but he won’t be baptized soon. Besides that we are trying to find new investigators because we have no progressing investigators which is hard, no one will keep their commitments or pray! AH! But it’s ok we will succeed.

This week I am trying to focus on having more Faith in Christ. (It’s a Christ like attribute) ha-ha jk you know that but ya just putting all my trust in him. Which is hard but also easy at the same time (doesn’t make sense I know) but hey I have nothing to lose out here so this week I am going to try to do that, and work on that more.

Oops!!! 

Tell Hicky (Hermano Hicken) to tell the priests that missions are amazing! (obviously) but to prepare I wish I read the Book of Mormon more. It is honestly so great, before I didn’t read it at like all, I read every day because of that deal with Uncle Jay but I didn’t REALLY read it, I didn’t understand it all and I was tired most of the time.  So I know how hard it is to read but that will really help.  Also tell them to pray always. 1. it’s a commandment. and 2. IT’S AWESOME and the Lord will truly help. I will give more advice next week but I am out of time. LOVE YOU GUYS!!! I honestly think of you guys ALOT which is bad but good? It’s hard sometimes not going to lie but I love you guys!! And can’t wait to be reunited with you!!!

Hey so really quick I had a dream about after my mission! and you guys gave me the JEEP! How crazy was that! p.s. how cool would that be?

I can view your pictures they are great! The sport scores are great! Thanks! Anything about lLance Armstrong? Tell Nana I love her!!! Dad your letter, you sound great! Keep working on the Spanish! Mom, I love you! Dad, I love you! Something I was thinking about (I think a lot) every email we should send one memory we have had of each other (It will make me miss home but whatever). I have forgotten so many things, but I love the memories we have. The mustang in Idaho, or bowling and throwing the shoe at Bo! Just things like that. Well love you guys! Really I LOVE YOU!!!!!

Elder Call

Two Things I Learned Last Week

Hey so just in reply to last week’s email and a little of this weeks. Dad do you realize that they don’t have any addresses where we live in San Jorge. An address is 20 meters after the green house on the principal street! Ha-ha so ya…Mom my pants are fine, I am just gaining weight in the belly area, but everything is good, my shirts included! With emailing Pres. it is just me and him, so I can write whatever I want to him, but the stats of my comp and me are the same. I love the friend’s updates they give me something to read at night!! So I guess the Lord didn’t want me to have peach rings, I got the package, but then I left it at the bus stop! I was pretty upset, but it was only peach rings, oh well.... and I don’t think there is an actual Mormon rule against caffeine? That isn’t why we can’t drink coffee, because chocolate has caffeine, but last week we went to the capital to visit President and that was brought up, and he said if Coke is offered to us we can drink it. So it’s not a problem. Christmas list... I honestly don’t need anything, if anything just money but then again I am perfectly fine. So save it for when I get back, for laser hair removal, because the Guatemalan food has honestly made me so much hairier, all the sketchy food I am eating. They use oil like it is water here, and I’m not even kidding every meal!!! Ok I just played a mean joke!!! Mom I got my package and my mp3 and I LOVE IT!!!! Thank you so much that was so great! I honestly love it so much!!!!! That was the only thing I wanted for Christmas and you sent it!!! It is so great! I’m sorry for playing a mean joke. But I had too…I loved it so much!!  So for Christmas I haven’t really thought of anything, I can get everything here. I would like Photos! I did put bug spray on the list but I can get that here now I found. It’s expensive but everything from the States is. I would love like a 365 day calendar maybe with motivational or cool facts or something like that, but I don’t need one. Maybe some vitamins, because I don’t trust buying those here. Money, but I am good. Let me know what you think and if you are still going to send a package. Let me know and I will think of some things. Some candy I can’t get here cause I can get a lot of things here! Question what is grape fruit extract and worm wood? Some missionaries said that helps with worms. Also, is there a pill that will kill everything in your stomach that I could take after I eat something sketchy? And also is there a pill that I could take that would dump all the extra oil I am eating? Kinda like an anti fat pill? Probably not or else people would be taking it!!! Happy late anniversary!! Hope it was everything you hoped for and wished for! Oh and guess what? In the capital there is an Applebee’s!!! Oh how cool is that! I miss Lake Powell. I saw a thing on a TV while we were watching about jet skis and it made me miss it so badly!! Divisions were this week; they went really well, the Lord really blessed me, because I can speak Spanish!!! Well at least to survive and make it through all of our appointments. So let me hurry and tell you about a typical day. We wake up at 630 everyday, we are supposed to exercise but usually I write in my journal (maybe this is why I am fat?!?) (Not that I am fat, because they use oil like it is candy) but then shower at seven. That is something I hate! The water is SO COLD! And during the day it would feel good, but here in the mornings it is 70 or 80, so not hot, so the water is freezing, I have never taken more than a 3 minute shower. Something I’m still not used to.  Then we have breakfast at a commodore, 2 minutes from our house at a member’s house.

Then at 8 we have personal study. I study at my desk with my fan, and my comp, he studies in the other room, then comp study, and we usually study PMG and we watch these mission training videos, well actually there is an actual program that is brand new for everyone. So I learned two things this last week. 1. Why we don’t read newspapers, and 2. Guatemala is dangerous! I learned them both from reading newspapers. There are so many deaths and such, its crazy! I am grateful that San Jorge is super chill! So yesterday the 11th was the elections here. We have been on lock down for 70 hours now!! Super dangerous out there! Ha-ha just kidding! And don’t worry, I was a good boy and voted, I voted for Manuel Baldizon. I feel good about my vote, I feel like he will do good, He won and Otto something won to, so now they will run against each other for president! I’m kidding we can’t vote! But Google Baldizon, he seriously looks like superman. We did however have to be in by 6 pm on Sunday night, but things were so chill in San Jorge, but in Zacapa things were crazy I guess.  Well the pictures took so long loading that I don’t have any time now, sorry but at least you got the photos! (I hope) I miss you guys I won’t lie but I love it out here! Things are great. Let me know if you have any questions and also what I can do for you. Oh side note 2 things; I got the letter from Bristol’s so thank them, and I sent one back, and also I gave two blessings this week!  I was scared out of my mind and I did it in very broken Spanish, but hey I DID IT!!

I found out that San Jorge is the hardest area in the mission, as far as everything, a lot of problems; we have lasted longer than the last 10 missionaries! So that is good right? I think we will stay here a long time because we are (I think) making progress, so ya. Dad you cursed me by saying your mission is buggier then mine, now you cursed me with a scorpion in the house! It was with Elder Roberts and he was terrified so I had to catch it and kill it, and it was a good sized one too!

We are going to the capital again tomorrow (yes that is 3 times in the last 3 weeks) for a mission conference. Another 5 hour bus ride, this time we are leaving at 5 am, but I like it, it is something different from our daily routine.  Question if you sent me a gift card to McDonalds could I use it here?

Divisions went really well, by the third morning I realized it doesn’t matter if we have different interests or taste we are both here for the same reason. All of our lessons went very well! Dad also glad to hear you are relying more on the Lord, he is there for us, we just need to have the faith to put our trust in him! And another thing the talk by President Eyring about opportunities to do good reminded me of the time we did service for Sister Jewkes on Christmas, I am so grateful we did that, and I am sorry I didn’t want to do it at first. I love all the memories we had together. Mom with the Mustang to Idaho! I thought about that when I was hanging out the bus (because there were too many people) with the wind on my face reminded me of that. And I thought of random things like going to Denver for the Jazz game, thank you for all the different memories both of you!! I love it here and it has made me realize how much I love you guys!!!! And how blessed I really am! Life is great. Well I am out of time but hope you enjoy the pictures! I love you and sorry this week was very scattered! If you have any questions reply back and I will answer next week. Love you guys so much!!!  So I am going to switch over and do general emails now....love you!

This is what's left of the bat after the attack!!!

Bat Attack!

Wow what a week, this week looking back feels like a month! I will start with Tuesday the beginning ... (makes sense) so I emailed you guys then we did a comp switch me and elder Roberts went and taught English, then we went to his house, and just chilled because we had to leave at 3 am for the capital, and my comp and his comp returned and then we had a grand old fiesta! Haha at 3 we woke up and left and it is so crazy the difference in the city a night and day difference! Literally get it? Haha oh this mission is getting to me, I am making lame old people jokes, but really during the day the streets are crowded ridiculous, but now it was like a ghost town I loved it. I forgot my razor so I didn’t shave for three days! I thought it was just going to be one day but ... I’ll get there, we got to go to the capital and go to the temple the usual I LOVE THE TEMPLE!! Super chill and just awesome, ate at Wendy’s I LOVE WENDYS!! Super good and just awesome. Then we returned but the bus ride took like 5 hours I don’t know why a lot of traffic and it was raining super hard, but by the time we got back to Zacapa their wasn’t a bus going to San Jorge so we spent another night in Zacapa, oh man the mattress I slept on you would have died, I saw it and I considered not sleeping that night, but prayed I wouldn’t die and went to sleep, it was the best night sleep I have ever had, I guess I was super tired! And I didn’t even get attacked by fleas!! I guess their aren’t fleas up here because it is so hot, only in the capital, every missionary I’ve talked to said every bed has fleas in the cap. So I am excited?.... NOT!! But I am saving those flea collars to wear :) like a dog. So Thursday I looked like a cave man, for not shaving for 3 days, before I would go like a week without shaving at college, or like 2 weeks, I was such a goon, why didn’t any one slap me and tell me how ridiculous I looked?!?! Oh well that was my old life.

So this week has been super good, biggest thing I’ve learned is attitude is everything, I’ve always known that but haven’t always applied this. But now I apply this everyday and it makes life so much better! This is how life is, life is unfair, what is the point of worrying or stressing or being mad over a little thing that won’t matter in ten minutes or in a month. It just isn’t worth it. So also this week I have gained a greater appreciation for this gospel! It is so great!!!! Ah, I honestly love it so much; it is so great, this email is more scattered then usual because I didn’t take notes this week about what I wanted to write, so sorry about that I feel like Elder Emmett when he sits down his mind just goes blank! Also I just don’t have any time!

A couple questions and comments, I only get mail every like 6 weeks so I will let you know once I get your package!! Super stoked for it!! And pictures today we didn’t leave San Jorge so next week we will email in Zacapa and hopefully there I can mail pictures, I know you are dying for some pictures so I will try super hard to send them next week!!

Story of the week and subject BAT ATTACK!! So we are sitting doing our usual studies and all the sudden my comp jumps up and runs into the bathroom, well I guess there is a bat in there! A live huge giant bat in OUR BATHROOM!! He grabs his sandal and starts trying to kill it, little innocent Chad is standing there not knowing what to do, and the bat is attacking his jugular trying to kill him (not really) it’s an epic battle, well the bat lands on the wall and Elder Arce just rails the crap out of it with his sandal, so its on the ground squirming for life, and he grabs our broom and with the stick starts massacring it!! (I guess he hates bats?) Well ya it was crazy! A lot more happened this week but I don’t have any time! Super sorry for the lame email, I would be mad if my son sent me this email... next week I will start trying to send more info about my days and actually missionary work and all that jazz   :) The church is true! I love it with all my heart. I found a saying that I love “The savior spoke to his disciples as he faced his crucifixion and as they faced fear disarray and persecution. In his last collective counsel to them in mortality, he said. "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer: I have overcome the world." John 16:33. I love that! That goes with attitude and the gospel! Ah I love life, I love it here and I love the gospel…it’s everything! Why be angry or mad about things that don’t matter...all that matters is the gospel! Well I love you guys and love your emails! Send me whatever you want I print it off and read it all!!! Oh and this week is with Elder Roberts! This Thursday to Saturday so pray for me haha jk things will be great!! Oh and 2 Nephi 32: 7 describes my feelings here!! With the people not accepting the gospel!

I communicate with pres through email once a week, it’s through the email in my inbox from Elder Arce, I can’t remember your other questions sorry I will answer them next week. Love you all sorry I am so lame, but I promise next week will be better …  :) I love you and have to sign off now, but I think of you guys daily and will write you better next week love you!!

Haha Estoy En Guatemala

Oh man what a week! In your email a lot of stuff has happened! That’s crazy! I feel like I am in a whole different world. Oh wait ... I AM!!! Haha to answer your question that I READ in your email... YES! I read your emails, but usually I just glance through them, and then print them off. I don’t have time to read and write. So yes I do…  ;)

Well my week went like this, Monday after emailing you guys a bird pooped on me, mostly on my comp but a little splattered onto me. So we are teaching this family, FM. Rodas. They are the bomb no lie! Every time we are there we just talk about everything and they ALWAYS feed us! And it’s one of those times when I don’t have to worry about my insides. Oh and they give us coke! It’s a mission rule we can’t drink caffeine, but if it is a gift we can’t say no.... so AH best day of my life!! I love coke, but I never knew it, the dad in me is coming out. Speaking of that I am gaining weight! I guess I am eating well down here haha! They use so much corn oil whatever it is called, but whatever it means I’m healthy right? I would rather gain then lose I guess.

So we taught a drug lord this week! No big deal! Well sort of, SHE her husband was murdered I guess?!? but she distributes tobacco to "slaves" and then they roll it for her, the n give it back and she distributes it to "people" she says only tobacco but I know there is something else going on, they are loaded! It is easily the nicest house here. She is super nice which is funny. So we as missionaries are here for 2 reasons, one is to share a message about Jesus Christ, and the other is to help people with whatever they need. THEREFORE... if she ever asks for our help with "stuff" we are obligated to help her.

Another tough case this week as a branch presidency is long story short this man got in a fight ...blah blah, almost killed a man in the neighborhood, and so now the man wants to kill him and his family. What do you say do that?!?!?! "I don’t know if love one another works in this case. 

I have made many friends here in Guatemala. For example Eric, he is a gecko, he lives in our bathroom. We also have rats as friends, I share my bread with them, well actually I gave it to them... I didn’t want it anymore. And a huge spider!!! Luckily it was dead, and half of its body had been eaten by an even bigger spider that lives in our outside bathroom. Well did elder arce killed it today.

so you know how they say when you listen to bad music, or how you shouldn’t and often the excuses of people is "I don’t know what they are saying I just like the beats" well the MTV of Guatemala is usually on the TV at our comedors house, and for once I can actually say I just like the beats because idk what they are saying.

Sunday was the elder call show, I conducted gave a talk and I taught both blocks of the primary and YM YM. I would rather do anything else then teach primary! They intimidate me!

So Sunday afternoon when we were visiting or trying to find some of our 300 less actives I got super frustrated and super sad. Half of them have moved to the US, and the other half don’t want anything to do with the church. I am super frustrated with them because they don’t know what they are missing and what they are messing with. GRRR and with our investigators I just want to shake them and yell LISTEN this is important!!!! Ah so I am motivated to work harder to love them and be patient and just love.

The whole week I always look forward to emailing home no joke every day I think about it so much!  Um how are my letters what do you want better more of less of? Or what? also I need some advice, I teach the primary or YM YW or Sunday School or all three every week, what is some activities I could do or lessons or how could I teach them, or activities how can I make my lessons fun and cool I guess is what I am asking? It is on whatever I want it to be on so basically I can do anything. Some advice would be good, I had another question but I can’t remember it right now.

I think of you guys so much, no lie... it’s probably bad how much I do but whatever:) hey sometime could you send me some pictures? I want more pictures of the family, especially the ones with us at Zion’s right before my mission, and some more of cam I have like none of him, and just whatever you think I would like, oh and grandpa call and grandma call if we have any? And the pictures of angels landing with chase right before my mission. Either now or Christmas or whenever. Also my line of priesthood authority. I know that’s a lot if you can’t its no big deal. I am stoked to be here, randomly throughout the day I just think what then? I’m in Guatemala! It still hasn’t hit me I don’t think? Haha well tomorrow we are going to the capital. And next week we are going on exchanges and I am receiving elder Roberts. Only problem is elder Roberts is in my group in the CCM so two gringos who can’t speak Spanish together alone for 3 days! PRAY FOR US!! Haha I will admit I am beyond nervous because it’s my area so I am in charge, but I will remember what dad said it’s only for 3 days it will end eventually so I will make it through it. Tell Nate through Paul Stevenson on FB that I sent him a letter and to be expecting around Christmas. Ha well I love you guys I love it here and I love this gospel! I am reading the general conference address from May and they are honestly so great! I don’t know how I didn’t catch all this last time! Well love you I really do, and think of you often, I LOVE YOU!!!!