July 28, 2014 with Pictures!!

 Everything is going great. The first 3 days at the CCM I thought I was going to die lol. They went by so slow. Then I realized that I had to focus on being able to serve the Lord. After that the time went by fast. I am now in Xela and it is great. My companion´s name is Elder Elison. He has a broken leg but can still move around to go and serve. He has been on crutches for 5 weeks and still has 3 more weeks. He doesn´t let that slow him down though. He is a great trainer. I have learned and still am learning a lot from him. These past 3 weeks have flown by pretty quickly for me. There is a saying that I was told in the CCM and it is so true. I wrote it down and it is now what I live by.

¨Nunca se ha perdido un misionero por trabajar duro!

 Pero se han perdido muchos por no trabajar lo suficiente!¨

Translation: "A missionary has never been lost from working too hard! But many have been lost for not working hard enough!"

That is so true. I will work as hard as I can to fulfill the work that I have been sent here to do. These past few days my testimony has grown so much.  On Saturday we had a baptism. Two brothers were baptized. They are really nice people. Their names are Oscar and Rodolfo Alonzo. It was great to see them get baptized. My companion and I were the witnesses. It was great to see them take this step and being baptized. They then received the priesthood on Sunday. 

I wake up at 630 and then get ready for the day. At 8 I have personal study where I read my scriptures. And then at 9 I have companionship study. Then we go proselyting an contacting. The food is really great. The members here are so kind. They want to feed you EVERYTIME you go to their house. The other day I ate 3 times in 2 hours. I thought I was about to blow up lol. My first Sunday went great. One of the counselors came down from the stand to ask me to to share my testimony. So I did that and I did really well. 

My P'day is every Monday from 10 to 6 but I only get one hour to write family. My companion is Elder Elison. My area is Los Altos. 

Here are some more pictures. I promise that I will have a lot more next time. I have to go. Bye.

Love,

Elder Chicas

His first official REAL missionary name tag!

 His bed made as usual. You can see his little cowboy pillow that Sister Thomas made for him :)

The home where he lives. 

His washing machine..hahhahaaa...Mom taught him how to wash by hand just in case

Im sure he is happy he learned!

 The smile we all love to see!

Elder Chicas and Elder Jensen

An article written in the Palestine Herald Press yesterday about Elder Chicas and Elder Jensen both from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Elder Jensen leaves for his mission in Chile today! We are so proud of both of these young men!

You can simply click on the article to enlarge it :)

Why Mormons send Missionaries around the World?

We have received a few questions about what a mission is and why we encourage people to serve missions. Please click on this link to read more about this and please watch the video in the link. Elder Chicas is ONE of 84,000 missionaries and we love him and are so happy he choose to do this. 

http://www.mormon.org/values/missionary-work

-The blessings of the gospel are so precious that we try to share them with everyone we can.

-We believe we are all part of one heavenly family, so missionary work isn't work so much as it is trying to help out our brothers and sisters.

-You might wonder what, exactly, a Mormon missionary does, other than ride a bike and knock on doors, or how a young man or woman just out of high school might end up on a mission. Here are the basics.

-6.7 billion people live on the earth right now, but only 84,000 members are full-time missionaries. Mormons are invited to share the gospel with their friends so more people have the chance to learn about Jesus Christ in a personal, meaningful way.

-Mormons are known for the things they don't drink, their emphasis on the family and the Book of Mormon they read, but in the end the central message of our religion is our Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness for His children and the Atoning sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.

July 15, 2014 with a Picture!

Here is some of Elder Chicas' email from today :)

''I am doing great. I love you and I miss you. We get up at 630 and then do not go to bed until 1030. My spanish is pretty good. I can always use improvement though LOL. I am super glad to hear from you and hear how everybody is doing. Every time I open my scriptures, the first picture I see is a family picture of us at my graduation. I love seeing all of your faces.

Well today we went to the temple. It is one block away from the CCM. It was absolutely amazing. I felt the Spirit so strongly. I thought about how happy I am to be here in Guatemala serving these people. I do not leave the CCM until next Tuesday which is the 22nd.

Yo estoy bien. Me gusta el CCM. Siempre estoy aprendiendo much. Mis maestros son muy buenos. Mi español todavia puede usar trabajo jaja..

And I do write in my journal.......every night. 

Elder W. Chicas''


Below is a picture of his group at the CCM :) And it does answer at least ONE of our questions...His suitcases must have arrived because he has a different tie on than he one he left with! Hahaahaaa...

And for those of you who like me wanted a close up :) (namely..Mom)

Made it!

We heard from him! He is in Guatemala.

This is his first email, seems like they only gave him a few minutes to write and let us know he was OK/alive :)

"I got through my first day at the CCM. It was definitely a long day. I am super exhausted. I hope that you are doing well. I cannot wait until I get into the mission field. I want you to know that I love you.  This has only been the first day but I am still tired. Well I am out of time so I will email you another day. I love you and cannot wait to tell you all of the great adventures that I have had so far. Well that is all for now.

With Love,

Elder W. Chicas"

Below is a cool view of the Guatemala Temple (the white building) and of the Guatemala MTC (brick building in the back). 

FYI: CCM and MTC are the same thing. Missionary Training Center.

Today is finally the BIG day.

Elder Chicas did call last night! It was about 11:00 pm when he called. He was at the LAX airport. He said that as he was waited in Dallas he met another missionary going to Guatemala! He did not notice at first but he said as they were waiting for their first flight to leave Elder Chicas was writing in his journal and  a guy came up to him and asked him if he was a missionary? And of course he said yes! From there they went to SLC and met up with more missionaries.  By the time he had arrived in Los Angeles he said he was in a group of about 10 missionaries going to Guatemala. He noted that he was the only one that spoke some spanish! So I think the other missionaries where going to hang around him the remainder of the time! Lol. He sounded soooooo. HAPPY and so EXCITED. It was incredible to hear how sure and ready he sounded. On the ride to the airport yesterday I remember him saying that he knew this was the right thing to do that he had no doubt.  

The following are the updated flight status and the weather in Guatemala City this morning. As I write this he is about to land in Guatemala. Guatemala time is about an hour behind us, so his flight lands about 7:55 this morning. The MTC is only a short drive from the airport but Im sure they will have to wait for any other missionaries to arrive and to collect their baggage. We already guessed at what they would have for breakfast. Maybe some frijolitos con crema, platanos fritos, huevitos, y unas tortillas recien hechas! YUM YUM YUM!! He was so excited about the food! The good thing is that he knows it will be delish considering this is what he grew up knowing.  The weather update says that it will be rainy all week but the temps seem NICE. Guatemala is usually rainy, but the amazing thing is that it rains for a little bit and then the sun is out shining like nothing happened in a matter of seconds (kinda like Texas!! Hahahaaa). 

Leeeeaving on a Jet Plane..Dont know when I'll be back agaaaiinnn..

This is it. The tough moment finally arrived. We left Elder Chicas at the DFW airport around noon today. He was pretty calm and collected the entire trip there. I think the rest of us were the only ones drowning in puddles of tears..lol.. He said "I'm ready" that was of comfort to us all. He is ready to serve the Lord through serving the people of Guatemala. He has prepared for this for a long time and he finally going! He was so excited! He was a little nervous about the ride there (he has 3 stops) but I think once his boarding pass was printed out and his luggage was checked in he felt more secure and ready. He will arrive in Guatemala City tomorrow morning around 6:30 am. We haven't heard from him yet but we hope that somehow he will be able to contact our parents and let them know he arrived safely. Please pray for him and for us. We will miss him but we have faith that all will be well and that this will be a great moment in our lives. The following are pictures from our trip today. After he had passed the airport security and gone around the corner we thought that was it and that we wouldn't see him again for 2 years, but I guess the Lord heard our silent wishes to see him again and his gate 33 was right in front of a glass window so we were able to watch him as he waited for his flight. He didn't notice us at first but when he did he came to the window and said Goodbye again. It was truly a comfort and blessing in our eyes. 

God be with you 'till we meet again. We love you Willy Billy.  

Called to Serve!

Hello Everyone!! This is William's or now Elder Chicas' Blog! As most of you know William was called to serve in the Quetzaltenango Guatemala Mission for a period of 2 years. He will report to the Guatemala Missionary Training Center on Wednesday July 9, 2014.  Elder Chicas will be at the Guatemala MTC for 2 weeks. This blog will have updates, emails and pictures sent by William and will be updated by his sister.

william.chicas@myldsmail.net

Elder Chicas Mailing Address: 

Elder William Chicas

Guatemala Quetzaltenango Mission

5A Calle 14-35 Zona 3, 09001 

Quetzaltenango Guatemala

Temple trip and last Sunday at Church