Week 45: Wedding, Baptisms and My Birthday!

weeeelllllll hi. :)

Details on the wedding/baptism? Everything go ok?

everything went perfect. we were all looking forward to it and at the last minute the branch president had to go to coban. we had given his name to the alcalde or mayor type guy as a witness to the wedding. and when the branch president left we had a little scare and thought it wasnt going to work out. well turns out the two guys who came to do the weddings were both members and we were able to do it. my companion and i just had to sign as witnesses. it was a cool experience cuz when we got there the whole town of actela was basically there and to start the meeting the two guys welcomed us and recognized our presence. it was cool cuz these people look up to mayors and governmental authorities a lot, and when they welcome the missionaries there is obviously something the missionaries have to offer. so well see if the respect level goes up in actela. the wedding was on friday. saturday were the baptisms. it was very cool and they both wanted me to baptize them.

What's with the ties lately? Where did all your other ties go? Do you need more?

nothings up with ties. i dont need more. i was just saying cuz i asked for a couple ties a long time ago. so i was saying if you were going to send me ties to send me paisleys and ugly. they are trading power with other missionaries haha!

We love the picture of you and other missionaries next to the water...with you in a superman pose. Anything you'd like to add to a caption underneath this picture?

not really. whatever you guys want. it was lake izabel in el estor if that helps. haha.

Did you travel anywhere this week to do any teaching?

not really. we just stayed in the area pretty close. i did do a division with an elder lusty from utah. hes way cool and we are really good friends now. i went to tucuru with him so elder tzunux could interview our baptizees.

How are things with the dad and son in law? Still coming to church?

hmmmm, not sure who youre talking about. im assuming the old man that reactivated. yes they are coming to church. the son in law is the one that got baptized on saturday!

How do you feel about the Kekchi now that you are speaking it all the time?

its cool. its coming quicker and quicker.

Did you share your food with Elder Goodwin from your package?

haha no. i offered him some though-for going to get it-but he declined nicely. hes the man. and a great dang friend.

Are you able to send snail mail letters still? Cause we haven't gotten any. Hint hint.

ya im working on one. with a memory card. sorry. it is way hard. and this coban trip fell right at the end of the month when we dont have money. so i may borrow money from my personal account then redeposit it out of my mission account after.

Do you know where your dad and I were 20 years ago today and how grateful we are to have you in our lives? :)

haha i remember it very well.

Do you know what time we are supposed to call on Mothers day? What is the phone number again?

i will figure that out and let you know. have you bought a calling card?

How are your pants holding up? Socks? Garments?

all good to go. like taco bell.

well i had my interview with president this last week. which was good. he congratulated me for the baptisms and the good work. we were more than two hours late because of the weddings and he joked around with me about it and said he didnt know why everyone had to be there at the same time. he said he would rather have me doing that than anything else. after all it is why i am here.
so in my interview he started talking about the date i entered and when i leave then paused and said..."your in elder jensens group huh?" so that is why i think elder jensen is going to be assistant. he also told me how great my group is. :)

elder legua had a tough week this last week. i guess his uncle died. i finally got a hold of him over the phone. still the best friend in the mission. elder schone got a hold of me too. hes doing good. wants to be in the "chic" still though. elder jensen is doing fine too. i talked to him also.

we taught a lot this last week. lots of lessons. and lots of new investigators. we found a family whos family are all members. they were very receptive and listened and understood everything. which makes them very good investigators cuz they understood my qeqchi! we didnt see ramiro this last week. he works alot. i would say hes our next baptismal possibility. so we are working hard with him. he says he knows joseph smith was a prophet and is reading the book of mormon.

people here are very strange. they believe almost anythng they are told but are stubborn at the same time. strange combo. but they believe in the book of mormon. heck some churches even preach from it. they also know joseph smith was a prophet-but because of responsibilities in other churches they "cant leave." whatever.

we also taught a lesson this last week on the sabbath day. the adventists say people worship on sunday because of ancient paagan sun worship. hence the name sunday. but i like to hear "sonday" when i say the name of that day. it is the lords day (says in the bible) and we should do all worship and remembering him on his day.....right?

so i havent got my packages yet. apparently they are in teleman and i wont get them until wednesday or thursday. they say there are like seven though. woohoo!

well hmmmmm.......thank you for all the birthday congrats :) wish i could be eating a nice delicioso cake right now.

i miss you one and all :) and love you too

ELDER TAY

Week 44: I'm the Primary President!

Wow. week 44? are you sure? thats crazy. how many weeks are in two years? 104? hmmmm. freaky.

well anyways.

so i survived my first week as senior companion. haha.
it was pretty cool. we actually taught alot. im surprised how much i actually know. some things i actually dont remember learning. the spirit helps amucho.

well first thing we did this last week is have a meeting for the cleaning specifications of the church and the responsibilities of the leadership positions and general membership of the church. we were there of course. apparently im the primary president with elder parry as my first and second counselor! i dont remember getting that sustaining vote but....ok.

elder parry and i, our goal, is to fix this branch. the leadership is almost none-existent. we are going to have to establish an elders quorum and a relief society. good thing elder parry came. hes still fresh from the states and still remembers how church is really supposed to work.

so well be working on that.

how are ammon boswell, robert mann, and scott and christi phillips doing? dont know why they all came to my mind this last week.

well we taught a bunch this last week. it was hard. we had to see exactly where we are in both languages and our capacities. that was basically the majority of the week. our baptisms are going to happen this weekend! wooo. theyre getting married friday and baptized saturday. then next week on the 28th we have zone conference in coban.

my companion got a rash this last week and called sister torres. he mentioned our parasitical problems and she is bringing pills to the zone conference.
there is definitely something else going on down there haha. ill take the pills and see what happens. :) more diaharrea!
but other than that, im fine. im tired at night and in the morning and my appetite has been affected a little. not sure if i have lost weight though. i will see this next week in coban. i dont really feel like i have but maybe a little.

are you guys using my computer? cuz if you are please be careful. im going to need that after the mission and im not gonna have money to buy a new one. in the words of clint "just sayin".

my companion and i are doing great. elder parry cracks me up and we have a good time. i happily fall asleep each night listening to his street fighting stories and could have been wrestling dreams. fun fun fun for everyone. hahahaha a new elder is here. elder lusty. well my comp was talking to him today and saying that we lift weights all the time and that im a college football player. hahaha it cracked me up. first of all cuz im not. and there really is no second of all.

soooo thank you for sending packages. please stop worrying about me and get busy on things there. :) im here. i have what i need. please stop sending so many packages. i want you guys to save your monies.

im glad to hear that about lex. i have been praying for her...alot. i will continue. she sure needs help. like i have mentioned there is a little boy here who reminds me of gaby. the little boy here is awesome though. very faithful in church and a very good kid. doesnt yell. doesnt get mad. hes alot like how gaby was. i think about them.

well here we are. elder parry and i. im talking while hes laughing. thats how our lessons go basically. :)

i use sunscreen alot and am always carrying water. so no worries. i can take care of myself and not to mention an extremely cold shower every night. that wakes a guy up.

and no thats not too much for the lady. teach her everything. peacfully. take her to the christus for sure though. that, the tabernacle and the temple grounds. its a good idea :)

i love each and every one of you!!!

ELDER TAY

Week 42: Conference & I Know My Redeemer Lives

Happy Easter to you too!!

Well first of all, dont worry about the little boy. Do they know how he died anyway? And I'm positive Grandmama and Grandpapa are helping him ñout and proud to say that Bay is their granddaughter.

(Questions...)

What was your favorite part of Conference? (Don't say all of it, either!)

Well I liked the talk from Elder Uchtdorf about patience. It is very useful here right now especially with another language to learn. And remember how a couple weeks ago I told you guys to talk about why this church is true? Well thats what Robert D Hales talked about- "do our children know what we know?" and the Elder from the Seventy that started with the baseball story about being a great pitcher is someone I met in the temple here. And they showed the Guatemala temple!

Did you get to watch it in English?

Yes

Did you get to see all the sessions? Did you see the stuff between sessions?

Yes I saw them all but I went and hunted down food between sessions.

Where did you stay in Sacsuha? Where/what did you eat?

Yes in Sacsuha. Four missionaries on two mattresses. I didnt sleep very well. To eat we just bought food from tiendas or little stores and Sunday the sisters in my district brought us food.

Did the baptism/wedding happen this last week?

No not yet cuz of the conferences. But this week for sure :)

Any more work this week in Actela? Do you have specific people you are working with?

No not really. I mean we went there but we didnt really find anyone. We just invited people to conference. They didnt come but oh well. We'll see this next week. If we even have time to work. I'm going on a division with Elder Hardisty and have to teach in Qeqchi all on my lonesome and we wont get done until Wed. so well see. Cuz then another division with the ZL's for the baptismal interviews and then the baptisms.

Did you get a change yet? If not, when are changes?

Thursday I'll find out if I have a change. I feel I will.

When do you get to call on Mothers Day? Should I get a calling card again? How long do you have this time?

What do you mean when? And yeah you should probably get a calling card. Where do you get them anyway? And the same amount of time.

Well last pday after internet I met some jews in the street. That was interesting. They were from Isreal and knew like six languages. We talked for a while about what we do here and they told us we should go to Isreal and do the Jesus walk and stuff. Later they asked us if we knew where any Jews were and I told them we dont just look for Jews. They wanted to do a passover with some Guatemalans so thats why they were here.

Mmmmmm. Right now is the season of the mango. Mmmmm.

This last week we went to TUKURU. That's where Elder Hardisty is and we did an activity there. We just contacted everyone in the streets and invited them to watch the Joseph Smith movie. It was pretty cool.

The cicadas are out here. They are sooo annoying. I'm glad we dont have those things in Colorado.

This last week was Semana Santa in preparation for the Easter weekend. What they do is have processions that reenact the trials and experiences of Christ. Unfortunately I wasnt able to go to La Tinta to see it but on Friday in Actela the Catholics held a death procession where they carried a doll of Christ to the "sepulchre." It was interesting, and I dont know if they released them, but there were two white doves flying over the procession in a formation like wing above wing. Each being a wingman to the other and circling the procession. It was pretty cool.

So there is an Elder here named Elder Parry. His brother went to africa on his mission and was there during the civil war. Apparently one day a man burst in through the front door and held a shotgun up to his companions chest and pulled the trigger. The shotgun fired but it didnt do anything. It blew his companion back off his feet, opened his shirt and garments but he wasnt touched. He then stood up and told the man-if that doesnt prove to you that our church is true-nothing will. Pretty intense huh?

No worries, I'm safe.

So I'm thinking I'm getting a change this next week. I'm over due. We'll see haha.

I love you and miss all of you.

I loved the I know that my redeemer lives hymn. All the missionaries sang it together in english along with the choir and congregation. For the most part we sounded good haha. But "This is the Christ" was amazing too. And I had the same exact thought about the Angels in Heaven.

Miss you and love you!!!

ELDER TAY LARSEN