Week 51: Volcanos, Hurricanes & Baptismal Dates

hi family!

sorry about the email last week. it must have been the connection. its a good one though. and thanks to the new email system it was saved!

happy birthday mom!
sorry its two weeks late.

well first off. im fine. nothing happened where i am. the most that happened was a light dusting of volcanic ash on the ground and lots of rain. we heard that the volcano erupted and that ash was flying and we highly doubted it would get to the polochic. but elder parry went out to the bathroom in his garment top and when he came back in he had big grey spots on his shirt. and thats how we found out that we had gotten "ashed." i collected some of the ash. its very cool. way small-smaller than sand-and super black. i can see why we werent allowed to leave cuz if that got in your lungs it would probably hurt.
we came walking back in the dark the other night from meeting with our baptismal possibility and it started raining hard. we got soaked. and there was tons of fog. i was really looking forward to the hurricane but it never came. i wasnt worried at all. we live in a fortress of a church. its not going nowheres. i swear i am in the dream mission. mmmhhmmm. there really is nothing like it in the world.

well i baptize in la tinta because the district leader lives in tucuru and thats along ways away. sorry if there are no spaces or my grammar is wrong. the keyboard sticks very badly. and also, all the people in la tinta know who i am. we are there every pday and we go down for a lot of baptisms and they all ask for me to baptize them. its funny but im honored to do it.

mosiah 23:21-22. i like.

well this last week was hectic with all that happened. we went with emilio and challenged him to baptism. he is reluctant-saying he has already been baptized and married in the church nuevo jerusalen. (new jerusalem). but we are going up there with the members this next week. i dont know though. they tend to talk. aalllooooottttt. so we may have to go visit them before we go. but im hoping to have a baptismal date with him this next week. he has also two sons and their wives with a couple children. we`ll see if it works out. it will be very cool if it does.

so we are in el estor today. i gotta buy a qeqchi bible and my companion has to buy shoes. its way cool here. not just because its civilization. its got a cool culture.
there is lots of english here too. i was just in a store and some guy came up and said "man youre tall, how tall are you?" haha i told him and asked where he was from. apparently hes from rhode island. he lives here i guess. bet he left then came back 30 seconds later and invited us to go play basketball with him later today. "if you got game come play" he says. we cant though danget. gotta go back to santo domingo and its against mission rules. which is really depressing. i dont remember voting for that.

it feels way good to get out of la tinta for pday.

what the heck is up with the mormon world haha. how does everyone know everyone? its kinda scary to be honest haha. are we really that social?

i have an emergency pack and i am ready to go. eagle! congrats to austin by the way.

oh and elder schone called me yesterday and said that he had gotten an emergency change back to a qeqchi speaking area. he is very excited. stoked rather. elder legua is still waiting to come back though. apparently a new zone or group of areas is opening soon. a place called cahbon. i could get a change to somewhere around there and so could elder legua. we shall see! im excited.

all the elders that are my friends are fine. which are a lot. elder turek talked to me too. hes doing fine and missing the mountains much like me. we are planning on going on some cool camping trips.

i love you and miss you. one and all!!


take care


ELDER TAY

(From last week)

helloooo family-

ok well first of all im pretty sure i dont have a few extra pounds on my body haha. just so you guys know. im starting to lose weight again.

Where are you? Did you transfer?
nope. five changes in the same place. nine months. almost a year. and my new companion is the same one-elder parry from washington. and he lives close to forks he says. the girls should like that!

How was your week? Did you travel anywhere?
well this last week we went way high into the mountains. even higher than actela. its called canal. i have no idea why. but it was gorgeous. ill get pics this next week. i have other pictures to send today. better ones.

How were your lessons this week?
they were great. we found an old man that says he wants to get baptized and married in the temple. he lives in Actela. i think this guy could be the window for the gospel in that area. everyone knows him. i think hes the reason i had the feeling we needed to work there. i think we are going to set a baptismal date tomorrow. he has a lot of family too. Ramiro we didnt teach this laast week. hes working all day and all night apparently. doesnt really have time.

I haven't asked in a week or so...how is the language?
its good. talking to other missionaries they have told me that they hear i have great qeqchi. but i dont feel like it. its hard to explain. i understand a lot. its just hearing what exactly they are saying that is the problem. like specifics. most of the time i will understand the context but specifics are hard. and the thing with qeqchis is if they ask me a question and i answer what i think i heard (and isnt right) they wont ask the question again. i dont know if its humility or patience on their part. it just puts more pressure on me.

Tummy trouble?
a little bit. im fine though

Favorite scripture this week?
john 8:12

How is the branch organization coming? (If you are still in Santo Domingo) its better. this week though we had the district conference with all of the polochic valley. president and sister torres were there. it was a good conference. pretty short.

Did you get pictures of the corn planting?
i got a picture of the place. ill send it. all they do is stick a stick in the ground and throw four corn seeds in it. thats it haha. good report huh? then after they drink toasted corn water called q'em ha.

You mentioned mango season, but what other fruits are you eating? Veggies? Where do you get them?
well in la tinta they have a market where they sell all kinds of vegetables. even giant carrots. thats where i get my fruits and veggies for the most part. pineapples are almost ripe. that will be soon. mmmm. cant wait haha.

Are the church meetings structured the same way ours are? (Like sacrement mtg, etc.) Do you help with blessing the sacrement, etc?
yep they are the same. except here the organization is a little diffferent. the president doesnt really do relief society or priesthood. so thats next on the list. and my companion and i bless the sacrament every week. soon it should be alfonso (who was my baptisma and elena-his wife-is and was a member) and a recent convert rolando.

Are you surviving the heat? Do you know what the temperature is? Does it cool off at night? Can you purchase a portable fan to plug in to the wall at night? We'll put money in your account. :)
its hard. its soooo dang hot. every day its about 95 and 100% humidity or so. so its way hot. where i am its a little bit cooler. down in the valley its incredibly hot. what a blessing im in the mountains. it cools off to like 85 at night. and if i buy a fan its reimbursible by the mission. so ill probably just do that. dont worry about money in my account. :)

well last week i found a big red snake. like pure red. a deep redish purple to be exact. i tried to get a picture of it but it went under all the grass and disappeared and i couldnt find it again. it was like 2 to 3 feet long.

the man we found that wants to get baptized and married is like seventy years old. his name is emilio chen. very cool old man. has a huge family too. we found another family of 8 that was way interested too. they dont have a church either. which is rare for here. well see how it goes. they live pretty far away from the church so we'll see if they come.

well we had a couple lost days this last week. my companion and i were both pretty sick. diahreea. again. i was pretty sick and he gave me a blessing and it hasnt come back again...or yet. im fine though. no worries. it was a good blessing. he told me i can teach these people something that nobody else can. but i got better right after it. :)

well i miss you and love all of you so much. keep asking questions. gotta cut this one a little short cuz of the pictures.

love,

ELDER TAY