Week 58: I am Elder Larsen!!

Hi Family!

you did tell me about the little girl that died. sounds like such an amazing little spirit. what a blessing to her family. maybe the greatest lesson you could have learned from her you may have already learned. to be in tune. you are already in tune. but to slow down in this hectic world and just feel It.

senahu has the perfect temperature. its hot sometimes. this last week particularly. but more than anything its absolutely perfect. i actually got sunburned this last week though. i peeled haha. wasnt expecting to get fried. but it was great.

we got 47 new investigators and 24 lessons. and 9 with less active members. we worked so hard this last week.

we went to setz'imaaj on wednesday and then sepacuite on friday. setz'imaaj is an amazing place. all the kids helped us again. the only difficulty is the distance.
on friday we had to walk all the way back from sepacuite. 2 and 1/2 hours walking. that hurt. we got home exhausted. we had lots of powerful lessons though.

then the next day we did service and went and dug some guys house out. a small hill slid off and was pushing his wall in and we must have moved a pile of dirt, using 5 gallon buckets, that was 10 feet long 4 feet wide and five feet deep. that was a lot of dang durt. i got trashed. so dirty. thats why i didnt get photos. i didnt want my camera muddy. but it was good service. and the man seems to be progressing pretty well as an investigator. we will be going back with him.

forgot this last week. we found a crab and a 7 or 6 inch long millipede as big around as my ring finger. so we caught it. and elder fadel ate the crab!

so saturday night i go to turn the sink on and the tubes just come undone where its connected to the main water line (its guatemala its pretty crappy). and water just starts spraying EVERYWHERE. i tried putting the tube back in but it would not go in cuz of the pressure and would just spray me in the face. our bathroom ended up flooding. the water in the toilet square of the bathroom got to be like 10 inches deep. luckily there is a little 12 inch tall partition that separates the toilet and the shower. but the water got up to the bowl and was going up fast. i had to call the owner of the house cuz we couldnt find the shut off valve. i ended up having to jump a barbwire fence to get to the valve. it was absolutely hilarious. i fixed it though and its all better. thanks dad for teaching me plumbing.

last sunday we were asked to bring ties to church for some of the leaders and some deacons. well the district president shows up to church to see how the branch is doing and he comes up to meet me and asks me my name. i look down to point at my plac and realized it wasnt there. i had forgotten my plac! we had also forgotten the ties. so we booked it back to the house and brought ties and my plac. i am Elder Larsen!! it was funny though. i felt like the biggest dork.

haha it was an awesomely hectic week. but we made some progress.

we had a boy show up to church. his name is marvin. hes 12. he is awesome though. came to church all alone. we went to look for his family and when we found them his dad only tried to disprove every scripture that we would show him. we finally just told him not to close his heart. im worried he got mad at marvin for going to church. we will have to see what he says. he was very "tz'aptz'o" (closed). i didnt like it. again he said that it doesnt matter where you worship as long as you are worshipping God. i wish they would just read the scriptures.

i miss and love each and every one of you. sorry no pictures this week. no time!!!!

Love

Elder Tay
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDZ!!

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

Week 56: SENAHU & SEAMAY

well happy fourth of july you people!

i didnt celebrate it. unfortunately. we found a tarantula instead. in fact this last week we found three tarantulas and caught a bat. that was pretty exciting.

we didnt have much progress in church yesterday. we started on time and everything and then all of a sudden the first counselor is sitting in the congregation. it confused me kinda. i dont know how you forget something like that. but whatever.

this last week was full of goodbyes. i got a transfer. i am in senahu right now writing. my new area is called seamay. it is gorgeous here. they say the area is ready to progress and have found lots of cool new places that havent got the gospel yet. the church is still young here i guess. my new companion is elder Fadel from Bountiful Utah. he is awesome! apparently he and elder goodwin went to school together and are great friends. he is very humble, hilarious and this change is gonna be awesome. its funny. when i found out i was getting a change i had a feeling i was going to be with elder fadel. he likes the word neener too. just for everything.

i am way tired. i was up till twelve packing and got up at 530. and you cannot sleep on buses here. it hurts.

well we went with a good friend this last week. his name is estevan. he is an amazing friend and his family is too. he has too little kids maybe 7 years old (his son) and his daughter is probably 5 ish. they arent members but when the little girl heard i was leaving she cried i guess. i will have to come and visit them someday.

everyone in actela and santo domingo didnt want me to leave. one guy even told me not to leave and that i should build a house there. well they dont sell land here. it is inherited and i told him such and he told me he would give me some land to build a house. very humbling.

i am excited for this new change. i feel new and ready to go. i felt stagnant and not progressing in santo domingo. it was time for a new face there.

oh and im district leader now. my district consists of my companionship, sister eduarte and sister colato. its not too much so its a good start. :)

so i was waiting for the bus to come up to senahu and one of the ladies from actela was there traveling to senahu also. well she came up shook my hand and grabbed my shoulder and talked to me. she treated me like a good friend. that really hit me. i may have got crap from little kids (calling me corn hair!) but the people in actela, despite their wealth, are humble and respect me. they are my brothers and sisters and i am their brother. it is kind of interesting the bond that can be formed when in the service of your fellow man.

someday i wanna go back and visit.

so the internet here is really slow. i will try and send some pictures next week for sure. i still owe you guys the pictures of the marshmallow roast. will work on that.

well imma turn the comp off and go eat some ice creamage. oh btw the house here is right in senahu. so im close to everything but still can find and see really cool places.

i love and miss each and every one of you. and i send a shout out to all those reading the blog haha.

until next week!

elder larsen

(TAY)