November 24, 2014

Well I always feel it a pleasure to be able to write you. Well today I am do something a little different. Usually I just open my agenda and see what I did each day. Today, I brought my journal and so what I write is almost word for word in my journal. I hope it´s enough information for yall jajajaj. And btw I love the picutres yall sent. I have some good ones from this week. Well this was a great week. I am so tired right now jajaj but I am glad that I can be here to write yall. So let me tell you about this great week. 

Well on Monday we had P-Day and we played football (American football, not futbol which is Spanish for soccer jajaj). That was fun. And then I went to write yall. It was pretty great. On Tuesday, we had our district meeting. The topic was inviting people to baptism. There were a lot of role plays and I just hate role plays but they help so much. Then after that we went to lunch with la familia Sac. They gave us chicken from Pollo Campero. salad, and spaghetti. It was quite good. I was so full as I usually am after eating with them. So after that we went home and studied a bit more. After that we went with Lorenzo and Maria. When we got there, Maria was busy and couldn´t attend us so it was just Lorenzo.We taught him about the priesthood because he was about to receive it. It was a great lesson. He had a interview on Thursday so we went over the interview questions with him. After that we went to a less actives house but she couldn´t attend us because she was sick. It is just that time of the year down here. I hope that I don´t get sick anytime soon. So since that cita fell we went with la familia Velasco. We had an awesome time with them. In the pictures I sent, we are drinking hot chocolate with them. The Christmas tree is in the background. It was pretty cold that night so they gave us hot chocolate. It was just great. On Wednesday, I was told the night before that I had to take a spanish test the next morning. Well I went to the internet place just to find out that I didn´t need to take the test since I was only in the CCM for 2 weeks jajajaj. So we didn´t have anything planned because I had to cancel the citas we planned for. So we went home and studied some more. After that we went to lunch with Sister Celia. We ate chicken and macarroni. It was good but it was sooo much jajaj. I could hardly walk after eating because I was so full. After lunch we went to la familia King´s house to deliver a letter that I received from a missionary for them. But while we were there we talked about missionary work which went great. After that we went to visit la familia Menchu. Oh I absolutely love that family. Carmen, Cindy, and Dani were baptized in September. We are fortifying their faith and then we are also helping there parents, Sergio and Luisa, prepare to accept a date to be baptized. On Thursday, we studied the Restoration in personal and companionship study. We even did role plays over it. After that we had weekly planning. We then went to contact a reference. We found the house but the parents weren´t home. Then after that we were gonna go to the house to pick up some things we needed. And there are two ways that we could´ve went to get back to the house. There is a long way but it is really nice and calm on that path. The other way was on street where there are a lot of cars. Every single car or truck black smokes and it is just awful because we get all of that smoke in our face. So we decided to take the long way. While walking we found the mother of 2 kids who are going to be baptized pretty soon. She had some bags so we helped her and we talked about her children. So then after helping her with her bags, we started walking home again. We then came across two people who are investigating the church. They wanted to know about the Restoration. It was so awesome because I had the lesson fresh in my head because we studied it that morning. Their names are Carlos and Juan Fuentes. They are brothers. After that we didn´t have time to go to the house so we just went to lunch from there. As we were getting close to where we eat on Thursday, Mily Velasco comes out and tells us that Sister Mimi, the person we had lunch with, was not at home because she went to the coast. So we had lunch with the Velasco´s on Thursday. I was worried that they wouldn´t let us come back on Saturday but they did. They just make really great food. After Lunch we went with Lorenzo and Maria. We taught the Word of Wisdom. They understood all of it. They are just so pilas. They pay attention and are just great. So then after that we went to another member´s house to ask for a reference. His name is Marcia Chachalac. We didn´t get one but we had a great lesson on how we, as missionaries, can help others. His wife gave us some pretty good hot chocolate. I enjoyed it quite a lot. After that we went to dinner with la familia Perez. We ate tamales. They were good. After that we went home. On Friday, I was supposed to have divisions with my zone leader but he called at exactly at 6:30 to tell me that they were cancelled. So then we studied all morning with a lot of role plays. Then we went to lunch with Marlini Mejia. She is such a joker. She is super cool. We ate a piece of meat with potatoes and a salad. Then we stayed a little longer than usual to talk and learn about the church history in Guatemala. It was pretty great. After that we went with the Menchu´s house. We taught a lesson about the Sabbath Day and invited them to church because they haven´t been to church in 2 weeks. Then we left to go to Martha´s house. We stayed there for a while. So then we went to dinner with la familia Kijivix (Key-He-Veesh). We ate eggs with a lot of tortillas and jalapeños. It was great. On Saturday, we studied and did some contacting. We have 8 contacts but only 2 new investigators. Then we went to lunch with la familia Velasco. They gave us Pollo Campero with rice and salad. Then we went to visit a less active with Don Marciana. We visited Antonio Atzul. We talked and gained confidence with him. Then we taught a lesson. He had a lot of questions. He knew the Bible quite well. He just had a lot of questions about what he read. We helped him understand. He is a cool dude. Well has a few years of not coming to church. So we taught him Hebrews 10:22-23, 2 Nephi 31:20, and Hebrews 10:25. And then we invited him to church. On Sunday, we went to church as we usually do on Sunday morning. It was the primary presentation. It was so great. The kids just put on a great presentation. I loved every minute of it. Oh and I had to pass sacrament because 2 of the people that usually do it weren´t there. So my comp and I passed. It was a great Sunday. It was an awesome week! I love yall.  I just have to work hard. I am here for only 2 years. I want to do the best I can without leaving any regrets.  

Love,

Elder Chicas

P.S. Mama, I am glad you liked the pictures. Well I don´t know exactly how we are going to do it for Christmas. My leaders still haven´t given me all the info. I think we are going to Skype for Christmas and if so I am going to skype from an internet cafe. 

November 17, 2014 (With A LOT of Great Pics!)

Hi Family and Friends,

Well this has been a great week.  I am doing and feeling great. I have never felt better. And I can´t think of anything that I need. I am doing pretty well right now. The work is going well and is progressing a lot. The investigators we have progressing are Luisa, Alejandro, and Marilyn. Luisa is the mother of the 3 girls we baptized September 20. And Alejandro and Marilyn are brother and sister. They are the children of 2 less active parents. At first when we challenged them the dad was like no because he wanted to baptize them. But we kept working with them and then he finally was like I want you missionaries to baptize my children. So we are setting a specific date tomorrow when we have another cita with them. Yeah we have been teaching a lot until the end of this week. We were working hard but then on Friday night my comp had a fever of 100.6. So we stayed at the house and called the nurses. They told him he needed to rest and if he still fell bad the next day, we would go visit them. Well he started feeling a little better the next day but we just kept it easy because it is starting to get cold. My comp is Elder Ayala. He is a pilas elder. He doesn´t talk much but he's a great missionary. We are working hard together. And it's awesome that grandpa spoke in church today. And okay I will be excited to receive that talk. I want to read it. I am sure it could help me and help strengthen my testimony. And yes mother, I will be the best missionary I can be. And yes I have been writing in my journal. I try to write in it each night before I go to bed. But I will be honest, there are some days that I get home and I am just beat. I can barely plan for the next day but I do. Then I go straight to bed jajajajaj. Yup I know that Thanksgiving is coming. While yall eat turkey and mashed potatoes I will be eating paches (tamales) and vegetables jajaj. And mother, have a great time in San Antonio. That is an awesome city. Oh now that I think of it. Can you send me a bottle of Insanity. The members here do not like picante so I don´t eat a lot of spiciness. I miss it. There is one family that give us jalapeños but they are not that hot. Jajajaja the struggle is real. Yeah I know that waking up at 5 is hard. I woke up at 4:20 each morning to get ready for seminary. But just keep trying and the Lord will help you. I know that I couldn´t get up at 4:20 for anything else but seminary was so worth it. Okay well now let me tell you about my week. On Monday, we just had a normal P-Day. We played soccer as a zone. I am still a boss at soccer jajaj. It´s fun to play. But when I play against some of the kids here, I just can´t beat them. They are just too good jajaj. On Tuesday, we had our zone meeting and that was great. We did a lot of role plays. I was in a lot of them. Role plays are not my favorite but they help a lot. I have learned a lot with them. Later that day we went with some recent converts, Lorenzo and Maria Ambrosio. They are great. They always have questions. Then we went with Familia Lutin to have a little lesson with them. We are working on reactivating the parents and then setting a date for baptism for Alejandro and Marilyn. Well we had a great lesson with them. We taught about the importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy. We could just feel the spirit so strongly. It was just awesome. We missed dinner for them but it was so worth it. On Wednesday, we went with some other recent converts, Familia Mazariegos, to help them with the problems they have. They are a great family but they just have some economic problems. We are trying to get them to come to church again because they have about 5 weeks of not attending. Then we went to do some contacting. We contacted a lot but only got 2 new investigators. On Thursday, we went with Lorenzo and Maria to fortify there faith. And we also received a reference. It is a family of 6 with only the parents as members. So we are going to work with the whole family to get them to come to church. This family is la familia Vicente. I still don´t know them but we are going to try to find them this week. On Friday, we contacted and found 5 new investigators. Then we went with a less active. She is Martha Vasquez and she is cool. When we got they she was working with corn. So we helped her and we took a few pictures. Jajajaj I tried to put a basket on my head but it was hard. In the pictures, the basket was about to fall. I had it on my head for like 2 seconds before it started to lean one way jajaj. I just don´t get how women here do that. Then we went home and my comp just got sick and couldn´t do anything. So then on Sautrday we went with familia Lutin at 5 and cooked dinner for them. Jajajaj we made pancakes. I made some great pancakes. On Sunday we went to church and then contacted a little. Then we went with la familia Ochoa to celebrate the birthday of our mission leader and there other son. It was fun. Well that was my week. I love yall.

Love,

Elder Chicas 

Hola Hermanita Linda,

Usted todavía es mi hermana favorita y siempre va ser mi hermana favorita. Y si, yo tome muchas fotos esta semana para que ustedes puedan ver mi área. Las fotos son muy chileras. Las voy a mandar hoy no se preocupe.  Y no, ahorita no puedo pensar en nada mas que necesito, pero si necesito algo, le aviso. Gracias sis.

Con Mucho Amor,

Su Hermanito,

Elder Chicas 

-o-

Willio Billio Jumping Jillio   

November 10, 2014 (Pilas Translation: "Gets moving quickly, Runs off Batteries, Speedy") Also jajaja = Hahahaha :)

Well I will answer your question first. I take showers just like I did over there. We don´t have a water heater but we have something else. I don´t know what it is called but yes I get hot water. Before I came yall made me think that here it was going to be so different. Nah they have electricity too jajaj. I was like oh no I am gonna suffer without the AC but the AC here is natural jajaj. I love it. 

Thank you for sending the box. I am so so so excited to receive it. I can´t wait!!! Thank you for the pictures. I really love seeing yall. Okay well with that being said let me tell yall how my week was. 

Well on Monday as yall already know I went to the doctor and he says that everything is good.  On Tuesday, we went with a less active whose name is Martha Vasquez. She is so cool. We love going to visit her. She is very positive and she loves when we visit her. She has a huge family and says that in the year that she´s been a member, me and my comp are the only ones who know her family. Not all of them are members though so we are working with them too. We have gained so much confidence with her and her family. They are a unique family. On Wednesday, we had our zone meeting. That was the best meeting I have ever been in. We had the opportunity to hear from a man who was mission president in 2 missions and who is now the sealer in the temple. He spoke for about 25 minutes. In those 25 minutes I could feel the spirit so strongly. It was just absolutely amazing. I got a lot of scriptures that I like from that meeting. One of the ones that I liked a lot was Moroni 7:33. 

"And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me."

Faith is power! That scripture is little but is so powerful. I love it. 

Later that day we went with another less active family who have  children that are at the age of baptism. This is the familia Lutin. We went with a member to go visit this family. Oh it was so great. We got them to commit to come to church on Sunday. They are a very pilas family. On Thursday we went with our mom of the mission, Sister Gabby Garcia. She is just awesome! She has helped us a lot in the work. For example when we have baptisms, she provides all of the food. She is a very pilas woman. On Friday, I had divisions and I went to an area that is about 40 minutes away from my area. Well we took a bus that was absolutely full. But people just kept getting on. That is how the buses are here. So I was standing in a bus full of people shoving and screaming. Oh it was great jajajaj. But after all of that we finally got to the area, which is called Cantel. We went to the house to drop my stuff off and then got straight to work. Oh it was a busy day. We contacted, visited less actives, and did service. Well after all of this we were walking home thinking okay we are done for the day. But Nah, we were not. We were walking up the huge hill to get to the house and we see a car that is having problems and can´t make it up the hill. Well me and the Elder I was on divisions with got behind the car and pushed it up that hill. Oh it was so hard but it was worth it because after we contacted the dude and he accepted a cita (appointment). I didn´t sweat at all that day because it was cold. But I was sweating after pushing that car up. Well on Saturday we finished divisions and I came back to Chiquilaja (Chicky-Lah_Ha). Well that day was a day dedicated to contacting. We found a few people who accepted some other citas. Hopefully they will progress. On Sunday we went to church and the bishop wanted to talk to the 4 missionaries. So we went and talked to him about what we were doing. He said "okay sounds like yall know what you´re doing."  So the work is going great and I feel great being a instrument in the hands of God. I love these people and I love this work. I only have these 2 years to be completely dedicated to missionary work day and night. I want to make them good. Well that was my week. I love yall!

P.S. Mama, I love it here. I might move here jajajaj. 

In this photo I was cleaning the bike with my tie but nah I don´t want one. I like MY blue mega cab dodge, turbo diesel jajajaja. And if you take MY mega cab and give me that guatemalan truck, then I will have to move here....Elder Chicas

An Extra Letter en Español :)

Hola Sis,

Le extraño también. Pero ya se fue el tiempo muy rápido. Ayer cumplí 4 meses. Jajajaj pero ya estoy hablando como un chapín. A la gran puchia, siempre hay una lucha. Pero esta bien. Le quiero muchísimo sis. Ahhh estoy listo para hablar les. Gracias sis por todo. Usted si es una bendición en mi vida. Usted es la mejor hermana. Me enseño mucho. Usted me ayudó bastante. Le amo hermanita. Aquí también son las 3:12. Yo pensé que era una hora de diferencia. Jajajaj saber. Pero si ahora yo soy chapín vos. 

Su Hermano,

Elder Chicas    

November 3, 2014

Thank you all for emailing me. I know that I have been slacking with the pictures but now I have a few jajajaj. It is just really hard. Sometimes I am walking and forget that I have a camera. So I just don´t take a lot. But this week I wrote it on my hand. So I hope you like the pictures. But first let me tell you about my week. Well on Monday, we went to a family home evening with la familia Hernandez. And since my kid (the Elder I am training )is new, they made him give the lesson jajaja. The topic was tithing. It was actually pretty good. Jajajaj and then I made pancakes and we talked and laughed. On Tuesday, We had interviews with the president. That was really cool. President Smith is full of the spirit. At one moment I almost cried because the spirit was so strong. Later that day we went with a less active family, la familia Lutin. We have been working on reactivating them. They are a really cool family. On Wednesday, we had our district meeting. There we learned about the importance of the Book of Mormon. It plays a huge role in the coversion of an investigator. It was a cool lesson. Later we went with la familia Menchu to help fortify their faith and then try to set a fecha with the parents who are not yet baptized. On Thursday, we had consejo de barrio at 7 but no one was there until 7:45. And we had a cita at 8. So we just gave our informe de progreso with the bishop and we left. Jajajaj the hora chapin is a killer (Guatemala Time). But I am getting used to it. I might it start using that. So when I am about to go home, I´ll tell yall that I´ll be there at 6:30 but won´t arrive until 8 jajajajajaj.. Well I´m gonna think about it. But that cita fell so we contacted for a little and found a new investigator. Her name is Felipa. She is very positive. On Friday, we had a cita with la familia Lutin at 12:30. We didn´t leave until 3. So we missed lunch but it´s okay because it was worth working with them. On Saturday, I ate fiambre. Oh my goodness the plate was huge. It was so much food. I couldn´t even finish it. But it was good stuff. After that we went with another less active. Her name is Hermana Martha. She is a super cool lady. She loves when the missionaries come visit her. She has already assisted 2 Sundays. Then on Sunday we ate fiambre again. Oh it´s good but I can´t eat a lot of it. Then we went with some members to visit them. The mom is like our mother in the mission. Her name is Sister Gabby. She is super cool. We ate pupusas. Oh I missed pupusas so much but she gave us some yesterday. Oh I was so happy. Well that was my week. I love yall.

Love,

Elder Chicas

 Oh and show my dad this picture. This is Blacky, the dog who tries to bite us all the time jajaja. But that chain isn´t that thick. I believe he could break it easily.

Jajajajajajajajajajajajajaj this dog is not innocent. I wasn´t even close to take that picture. I was far away but I zoomed in to get it. That dog is vicious jajajaj. I will get a video next time and send it next week if he´s outside.

 Fiambre