January 23, 2012

Well well well well well I’m beat we just had zone activity in San Andres and played soccer in the sun right by the lake and yeah I’m about to fall asleep haha. 

Well the good news this week is we have 5 fechas...4 with the family C-n T-n and 1 with Ad-lph- M-y-.
Family C-n T-n can get married after all the stuff we got done and Ad-lph- is doing good with the aspirin haha... who knows if that’s even bad but he feels bad about it so we are working with him. 

Family C-n T-n’s baptism is the 4th but maybe even earlier. We just put it a lil out for some extra time if we need it. 

Other than that we just go to members and menos avtivos to get them back to church or make them keep going to church haha. Here they stop going if the missionaries don’t visit them haha. 

Smith’s health is doing better but not too much different. But at least we aren’t sitting at home doing nothing.  

The letter Dad’s teacher sent Grandpa was nice and looks like Dad is doing super good there. 

Oh so Elder Gunnel is in my old area so that is cool. 

hmmm what else... idk haha just working, not alot but getting what we need done! 

That’s all I have this week. Sorry it’s so short. 

Oh the story about the house! haha it wasn’t my fault it was Smith’s. Sisters used to live at our house and I found a Harry Potter room that had all their old stuff like nail polish remover and what not. So at the desk I filled a jar with nail polish remover and lit it on fire...well it was just like a fire in a jar and when I wanted to put it out it didn’t want to go out so Smith covered it with a pan and knocked it off the table and it spilt and fire went everywhere...not my fault heheehe. 

Well that’s all love you!!!! Have a good week.

January 16, 2012

okokokokok this email will be a quick one but with some good stuff. 

First, my comp is still sick and I’m pretty sure he will be sick until he goes home cause I’m pretty sure it takes a while to get over pneumonia but we are still able to teach about 2 lessons each day. Right now we are focusing on the family C-nt-n and Ad-lph- M-y-. 

First off the family C-nt-n, they are super ready to be baptized but they need to get married first and they can’t cause the dad’s brother stole his identity and got married with his name a long time ago. So he has never been able to get married. Well we got money together and raised enough to pay a lawyer to work out the problem and get his identity back.  We are starting with that and it sounds like all is going to work out good! 

Next Ad-lph- M-y-, he has been a investigator for a while and has read the Book of Mormon and understood it well. The first few times we taught him he kept making up stuff about why he didn’t want to get baptized and we couldn’t get the real answer...nobody has...well this last week we got the reason! He says he has a problem with aspirin and takes them when he doesn’t need them and wants to quit. Well we made a goal to get him off the aspirin and only use them when he needs them and he’s super happy we are helping him. And then the 11th of Feb he wants to get baptized if he has kicked the habit! Sooo that’s what we are working on for now! Short email but I don’t have more! Love you all have a good week.

January 9, 2012

Ok wow I have a ton to write and I’m going to run on like crazy just got get it all out. So here we go. First off money...who knows what I’m going to do. I have some saved up so hopefully it lasts me until I get a card. I don’t have my passport that is in the office, so I do not have an ID. You should be able to go to the DMV and ask for some sort of packet and send it to me and then I send it back. At least that is what I have heard. My new mission card should be to me by February ish so I’m hoping on that. 

Ok lets start with what’s happened. Sunday night we waited for changes. The call finally came and I didn’t have a change nor did Elder Saenz. So we were happy to have another change together! So the next day (Monday) we planned to meet up with Jeremy really early at burger king in Flores. We met him there had breakfast and got my stuff and talked. After that we went back to La Libertad. 

Then at about 11am another call comes saying Elder Asdel you have a change and Elder Saenz you need to be at the bus station at 8. You are going to the capital to bring your new comp and you will be training. So then I had to pack all my bags and be ready to leave and say bye to everybody and still use internet.... well by the time all that happened there was no time for internet... And it was pouring rain and there was no internet open so we skipped that. 

After that we left and waited for a mico bus in the rain with my bags and they were all full. Luckily a member from Santa Elena drove by and was like “Elders get in.” So we stuffed my bags and went in a tiny car.   We got to the bus station and Elder Way's comp was training too so I went with Elder Way to his area for 2 days until changes. 

With Elder Way, we had a ton of fun and had some good lessons. We also almost caught a giant black snake but it was to fast for Elder Way to grab... the thing was just chillin on our door step when we got home. On Tuesday we met up with the zls and had lunch on the island of Flores and we went to a really nice restaurant and the food was amazing! The total was suuuuuuuper expensive but Jennings  paid for almost all of it so that was nice of him. After that we did some shopping with Jennings cause it was his last day and was going home. 

After that Way and I visited a few less actives and then called it a day. That night I called Jeremy again and asked if he could take a box of stuff home for me and he’s taking that. And also on Wednesday he gave us a ride to the zl’s house to wait for changes. 

When we got to changes we just waiiiited for the phone call from the Cap to come in. While waiting I told Elder Smith that I'm bored and I’ll just be his comp and said lets go!! haha but then the call came and my comp was Elder Smith ha so then we did go! haha. 

After that we went and ate as a district. My district is Elder Bravo as district leader. Elder Eskelsen, Elder Hopkins, Elder Ceron from Mexico and my comp and I. 

After that my comp had a drs appointment and we went to the drs. Well when we got there the dr said he’s in no condition to leave so we stayed there for a few days. Now we are out but he’s still sick and gets really tired from his meds so we are taking it easy. 

Our district has Flores in it so that is where we use Internet and also Tikal is in our district and we can go without permission! woooooo we have the tourist district haha. 

Also the guy who gave us a ride from La Libertad to the bus station is in the branch here haha. And my new church building is right behind the bus station. The branch here is really big and its cool all 6 of us in the district go to church at the same time. 

The Christmas party with Pres and Sis Watts was really cool. We went and talked to people at a old peoples home and gave them gifts.... After we went and had fancy lunch on a waterfront restaurant in Flores.  Then after the lunch we watched Tangled the movie! haha hmmmmm what else...the food I ate with the zls and Way was ribs sausage steak and chicken sooooooo goood hahahha. ummm that’s everything I think haha if I’m missing anything just ask! Love you all have a good week!

January 2, 2012

Ok sorry! Crazy day, pouring rain and I don’t have anytime to use internet I’m to rushed...

I gotta go I’m sorry for no letter but today just isn't a good day. Don’t worry everything is good and I'll get you updated next Monday...

Also I lost my wallet so if you see any charges cancel it. If I find it I wont use my cards so if you see any charges cancel my cards. I’ll let you know Monday if you need to get me new cards...love you all have a good week! Sorry I have no email.

December 25, 2011

Christmas tree and presents

Christmas day we were able to call Jake and talk to him on the phone. Since the following day was Monday (his regular p-day) he didn't write home because of the phone call. So I'm giving a brief update of our Christmas phone call.
Jake emailed us a number to call him at and asked us to call when we got home from church.  It turns out that this number was a member's phone from the area that Jake is serving in. Jake and his companion still do not have their own cell phone due to the flood that happened a few months back. We were very grateful to this family for letting Jake and his companion use their phones.
At the time of the call, Jake was having lunch and waiting for us to call him. We were able to ask him lots of questions and catch him up on how things are going here at home. He told us a few stories about things that have been happening in his area.  He told us about some of his investigators and less actives that he is working with.  He told us about some of the families in his ward and the friendships that have developed there.  One lady in the ward owns a taco stand and likes to feed the missionaries. He recently was able to help a family get their house painted, it sounded like it was a ward service project. 

Elder Asdel painting a members house

Primary children help with painting

He said he has enjoyed going to Las Flores and to Lake Peten Itza on his p-days. And was hoping to go fishing with some other Elders in his zone on the following p-day.  He likes the area he is serving in right now and hopes to stay there a little longer. Jake also told us that he likes his companion and that they get along well.  Jake's companion is from Nicaragua and his been serving in the mission field for a year.

Tacos!

I asked him if he had a Christmas party with his zone and President & Sis. Watts, and he said his area was scheduled to have their party on the 27th of December. He also let me know that he got both packages that I had sent and had already made the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. He said they turned out good and he shared them with some members of his ward.
Jake explained some of the Christmas customs of Guatemala.  They mostly celebrate on the 24th and they love to celebrate with fireworks.  I'm sure this is something Jake gladly adopted into his own celebration. He also said that children receive mostly haircuts and shoes for gifts so they will be ready for the New Year.

Sparklers for Christmas

I sent down some jingle bell bracelets and matchbox cars for Jake to give to the children in his area. One of the little girls with a bracelet came close to the phone and rang her little bells for us to hear.  Jake said he gave them to the primary children who came to church today.
It was wonderful to talk to him. He sounded happy and said he liked being a missionary. Of course it was hard to say our goodbyes and to let the connection go. We are so thankful that our phone call went through easily and that we were able to talk to him and hear that he is doing well.