Week 57: POLLO MAFIA

well hello my people!


1) Do they speak Kekchi in Senahu and Seamay? Any Spanish?
lots actually. i have one lady that is going to get baptized sometime. we dont know when. she just had a baby so she will have to wait a little she says. anyway she only knows spanish. no qeqchi whatsoever. the other baptismal date knows no spanish whatsoever and only qeqchi. its way cool to work on both languages. i enjoy it alot.

2) How far from Santo Domingo are you?
i could walk there in 2 and a half hours. we are way close actually. just need to scale the mountains.

3) How many missionaries are there in Senahu? I understand the ZL's are there too?
i live in senahu. seamay is right next door. i actually live in the zls area and have to walk ten to fifteen minutes just to get to my area.

4) What is your house like? Are you living with members?
no we have an awesome house. all to ourselves. concrete. we have a warm watered shower, a study room, a bedroom, a separate dining room and kitchen divided by a half wall and an unused room. its very large. there is also an extra room where all the elders in chijolom, seritkiche, and yalijux, stay mondays in the night. i like it.

5) How big is Senahu? How many people? What is the main trade?
its fairly large. a little smaller than la tinta. it is a lot better quality of life though. the main trade im not sure about. people have lots of corn and crops here too. alot of bananas and pineapples. i love that. imma miss the fruit when i get back. of course all the fruit we eat in the states comes from here. but there are lots of people. very clean with somewhat nice homes. they have a lot of wood homes and cinderblock too. i love the quality here. its so much better than polochik.

6) How big is the church? How many members? Functioning branch?
we are in charge of two branches. on with an attendance of 71 members and the other 137. they both are functioning rather well. not states quality but we will be working with them. branch 2 is awesome. the members basically put baptismal dates for us. branch one just needsa little help.

7) Are you still in the mountains?
oh yes. thats what i like. i live in the city. but my area covers mountins that actually remind me of home. this last week we found 31 new investigators in a place called setz'imaaj and sepacuite. they were absolutely gorgeous areas. setz'imaaj is covered in pine trees. i have pictures that i sent too. but the people are awesome too. when we got there there was a huge group of little kids that basically took us under their wing-seeing as we had never been there before-and took us to every single house in the area. singing and praying with us as we went. it was absolutely amazing. we even set an appointment with the little kids for wednesday so they could help us again. i love the people here!

8) How long has your companion been in Senahu? How long has he been out?
he has five months in the mission. still a new guy. he was actually born in seamay. saying that that was his first area. he knows it very well. his qeqchi is amazingly advanced for how much time he has too.

9) What is your companion like? Are you guys getting along well?
hes the man!

10) How many investigators do you have? Is the area friendly to missionaries?
the missionaries are loved here. and we have tons of investigators and lots of work to do.

11) Are you traveling as much as you were in Santo Domingo? Are you walking or catching rides with people?
for the most part no. maybe to or three days out of the week we go far and then we travel in trucks just like going to actela. except alot further. and cooler. the good thing is that the people are alot more humble. even more ready to receive the gospel. they are still asking me how they join the church too. just like actela. we shall be expecting results shortly. and everyone here also knows about the chicken noise i do. im going to be famous here i believe. its hilarious.

12) Obviously, you aren't in as remote a village, so what kind of "amenities" do you have available to you now?
basically everything i want except ice cream. thats only on mondays!

13) Are you staying organized for your ZL's?
ya

14) Have you had to learn how to do interviews and stuff yet?
yep i interviewed a fifteen year old boy on saturday in qeqchi. that was way cool to see his faith.

15) Are the other missionaries in your district close?
i only have two sisters in my district and they live just up the hill in senahu

16) Do you know WE LOOOOVE you Elder TAYLER JESSE LARSEN??
yes and i love you back

17) Are you feeling good? Not losing weight are you?
nope all is well. running like a well oiled machine. and im probably getting fat to be honest. :)

18) Have you had any trouble with athletes foot since you've been in Guate? Just curious.
nope nothing

19) What's going on with your mission buddies? Elder Schone, Legua, Jensen?
they are all good. elder schone is in tanchi. hadnt had power for like five days until yesterday. elder legua is fine. he wants to come back here so bad. elder jensen is fine too. just went up as ZL. all is great.

well i included pictures. i didnt have time for the marshmallow ones from a while ago. plus i have better ones.

quick story. some kid asked me to do the chicken noise then grabbed his nose and mouth and held his breath so "he wouldnt get scared". it was hilarious. i wish i had it on video. he says thats what they do here apparently. he also calls the chicken noise the pollo mafia. its hilarious. the kid cracks me up. carlos is his name.

oh and on sunday we had a confirmation. the guy got baptized like two or three weeks before but left afterward to work and didnt get confirmed. and yesterday he came to church. so that counts as almost a half a baptism haha.

well i miss you guys. i hope all is well.

i love you all and have a great week. i will!

ELDER TAY