Week 96: Not much time left for Testimony Meetings in Guatemala

well hello-y family. i AM a poet.

i am tired.

hey i only got sick cuz its part of the deal. if i dont get sick i cant be healthy. its in second nephi 2. the song i told you in spanish is i know that my redeemer lives. i love that song in qeqchi.

this last week was super interesting. we had lots of success. we decided that it was because of the real birthday of Christ being the 6th of april. there was a special spirit working with us this last week. we set lots of baptismal dates. still working with the families. victor, edmundo, gloria, carlos, roberto and his wife, santos and his wife should be progressing a lot this next week. we set baptismal dates with them but they didnt get to the church. we also have two baptismal dates that are more for sure. oscar and frander will be for the 21st of this month. the others we will probably change for the 30. so no baptism this week. just so they can all get baptized as a family.

we also visited the parents of two young men members. it was one of the most powerful lessons i have ever been present in. my companion and i just were overcome by unexplainable love for them and their family. it was the craziest thing. we were both crying by the end of it. it is a very special family. a long time ago they lost a child. the two young men members, milton and wilmar, did his temple work. so now we know that that has definitely been taken into account and that the other side of the veil is strongly interested in this family. i cant wait to see how they do this week.

tell kacy to stand up and start doing what she needs to be doing.

yesterday were interviews with president torres and we had zone conference today. the interview was great. he complimented me. i love president and sister torres. especially now that they are going home. you kinda get a sneak peak as to who they really are.

i got a cool wood plac thing. with elder larsen on one side and laj kaxlan on the other. there is also a burnt engraving of missionaries with the stripling warriors. its pretty cool.

i will make sure to find something that can only be bought in guatemala for dad and zack. as for the girls i would like you to wear the traditional clothing at my homecoming. i have a tie made from the corte skirts they wear here. its what i am wearing in the picture. ps. elder norton is the one standng right next to me. that kid is so funny. he cracks me up. he is 100% hilarious. his qeqchi name is woodpecker for his head haha. i love elder norton. he always tells me to say hi to kels.... hi kels. :)

i think i'll call lindsey woodpecker for other reasons. that tends to break noses.

thank you for getting my classes squared away. and the major i think will be mechanical enginering.

im thinking that the corte skirts might be a lot of money :/ but itd be super cool. }

as for the housing i dont know. whatever you moms decide. i would certainly like to be in a singles ward as you probably can guess. you guys decide. love you :)

yes i bore my testimony today. they are running out as a missionary. not much time left danget...

i may be transferred this next transfer but i have no idea. i told elder legua and elder howard to put in a good word for me for staying in qeqchi areas. so we'll see what happens.

i'm out of time!! i love you and miss you all soooo much. sue says she misses me too. i miss her. tell everyone i miss them and love them. k bye.

ELDER TAY

Week 93: Seamay for Another Change!

sounds like you all had a good week! we did too.

well last week we left off on the conference with president torres.

well besides that the week didnt really get busy until thursday. thats when we started baptismal interviews for the sisters who baptized two people. one guy was 35 years old. told me about some interesting dreams in his baptismal interview. i also did another interview for a young girl that got married and baptized. thats where i got the chicken picture. they killed lots of chickens for the celebratory meal after!

on friday morning we found out that the grandfather of a friend of mine died. that kid is one of my best friends here. he is a returned missionary and is looking for a wife. i suggested kelsey. ;) but seriously though. if she wants someone that will stay faithful to the end it is a qeqchi man. this kid is the man. very active in the church and always goes out to visit with us. even without us. you should write him kels! test your spanish and test his english. he is learning english right now. shoot. i forgot to bring his email address. he would be a really cool pen pal anyway.

the picture of the guy in black and white is his dad. that is one of the most powerful pictures i have ever taken. zoom in on his eyes. background: he is watching them put the casket in the grave.

we went to the funeral. super sad. remember how i told you guys about that really old guy that would come to church every sunday. the one that pinched the little baby's cheek and pretended like he was eating it? that was him that died. a very faithful member.

after the funeral we had a baptism. the little girl in the picture is the girl that got baptized. her name is Juana. she lives with her member aunt and uncle and her grandparents.

sunday was good. they got confirmed.

today we are in el estor. we just got back from rio dulce. it was cool. we left at four in the morning and wont be getting back home until around sixish. it was cool. a good going away trip. you guys need to let me know if you want souvenirs. cuz i will "git sum".

i did not have a transfer. i am in seamay for another change at least! i will enjoy that. we have lots of people progressing and lots of possibilities. blas senior will also be celebrating his birthday on the 27th of april. so we shall see if we get a good caldo or somethin :) i think they will help us out with that again.

this email seems really short but nothing else has happened this week. i would love to come down here as a family. i feel like these people are my people. they almost (ALMOST) feel like my family. especially blas' family. they crack me up.

well i miss and love all of you! hope you enjoy the pictures!! and how is that investigator that asked for your number doing? did they go to church again?

love,

ELDER TAY

Week 91: Inactive Members, Polochic, Corn Planting

hello family! how are you?

what i wrote in q'eqchi' last week is the same as what i wrote in english. no biggie. i love this qeqchi though haha.

in a lesson this last week we were sitting there teaching this little girl that is gonna get baptized saturday and a bug flew into my eye. dang thing. took like twenty minutes to get it out.

i had a dream about my phone and computer this last week. it was funny. i got home and asked for my computer and phone and mom just started apologizing and saying that she was sorry and all this stuff. then she told me that my phone and computer had both gotten ruined or taken or something i dont know. but i cried hahaha.

on saturday we were invited to a lunch where they gave us beef caldo (soup). not soup like yours mom. a little different. picture hopefully included. well it was super good. but they told us about this RM that had come back with all his family to visit. supposedly down to his cousins he brought. tons of people. anyway, he, his dad, and his brother went and helped people plant corn. i would love that. my companion and i started talking about it after and thinking about how incredibly awesome that would be. i would love to come back and visit senahu. we gotta do it. i would love to bring you guys down here too to see the reaction you guys would get from the people. i guarantee you right now mom that people would say you have fire on your head.

we have also been working with this other family of inactives. they are the daughter and son-in-law of the convert i had when i was here last. they haven't been to church for like 10 years. they know it is true. they bare testimony of it every time we go there. their two sons are going to church every sunday and want to be baptized. we just cant baptize them yet cuz the parents dont go. it is so frustrating. we're working on it.

as for classes, chemistry 105 would be good again. i kinda screwed up in that class. i dont even know how. its quite embarrassing. other than that i would have to see a list to be able to choose. i think.

also how am i supposed to get in shape? where will i lift weights? run? its gonna take alot more than simply running to the end of the subdivision and back.

today we had a meeting with president torres. a training thing. it wasnt a zone conference-but it basically was. we just talked about teaching tactics and how to teach with the spirit. it was great to see the polochik elders too!

monday i think we will be going to rio dulce again. that place with the castle. hopefully i dont get a change. transfers are next week.

i had a weird feeling about the family this last week. they suddenly came to mind and were pressed there. not because of what you said. i could just feel it. something was hurting this last week and today i found out what it was. its cuz they went back. weird how that communication can take place.

i love you and miss you all!


TAY