5-27-13

Hey Moms,

So they advised us on the changes last night. I am staying here but my comp is out. They told us he was going to open up a new area and then eventually train, but we dont know where. I am going to zonie train again (3rd time) and then I imagine I will be going down sometime soon also. Zonies are usually up for a 5 or 6 months and then they go down, and I am working on seven months now of being a zonie. 

This week was seriously crazy hectic. They are going to open two new areas in the zone so we spent pretty much all the mornings this week going around and house hunting. I dont know why that is so hard in this country really. There are lots of empty places that people dont live in. Its just they make it hard because they don't post anything anywhere unless you're really lucky and someone prints out one sheet of white paper that says house for rent on it. Other than that though it's just like knocking doors, but instead of offering people salvation you just ask them if they know anyone who is renting a house nearby. I am not even kidding though we probably spent close to ten hours this week looking for houses. 

We also had two sleep overs this week. One of the zone leaders that is in the one zone farther away from xela then my zone is going to train, so they came down the Huehue the night before the trainers meeting so they could make it to the meeting the next day on time. And then the next night we had two more elders who were coming back from Xela and couldnt get a bus to their area that night so they stayed with us. That's always kind of fun when you get to hang out with a few people. I thought the mission would be a lot more like the best two years movie where they all live in the same apartment. Sadly in my mission it's not like that. Nobody is allowed to live more than one companionship per house. 

The rainy season seems to have set in nicely now also. It really cooled down this week. It has just been drizzling all day so the clouds keep the sun out. It's around 70 and drizzly right now. Way better than 100 and something degrees that's for sure. 

Hopefully when we go down for the changes I can pick up my packages. I am dying for a good package, plus Grandma said she sent me a BYU tie. : ) Other than that though, nothing much is new here. Next week I will be able to fill you in on the new companion and everything.

I love you all, have a good week.

Adam

5-20-13

Hey Mom,

Happy B-day Alex! That’s weird that he is 23, that sounds really old. My comp’s brother also had his b-day today and also one of our dl’s had his b-day today also. Popular day I guess. Alex wrote me an email about the news from this week. He seems pretty stoked about the boy ha-ha. I think that secretly is every man’s dream, start out with a boy. I told him he should name him Joseph though, kind of keep the name in the family, especially since he doesn’t even use it. When is the due date though?

Also that is cool that Dan is gone this week. Am I the oldest missionary out in the ward now? I bet he will really like Uruguay though, South America is actually really well developed as for the church, so there will probably be lots of good strong members and lots of people to baptize. Plus their Spanish sounds super funny, always makes me laugh, the peoples accents from that part of the world.

One weird thing was we went into this mall type place to use the bathroom a while ago and I heard air conditioning running. I don’t know why but that was so soothing. Like it was a sound so familiar and nice. Then I was like, woooaaah, I’m such a nerd. Ha-ha, but yeah, I have really learned what Nephi meant when he was talking about tender mercies. jars=blessings

We had a really cool week this week. There is this investigator that we have. He is really awesome. He had been listening to the missionaries for a while but they had kind of left him for not wanting to progress. He is from Mexico and he is also twenty like my comp and I. He works every day from 3 to about 11 at night selling Mexican tortas and tacos in his little food stand. We eat them every now and then (probably why I had parasites ha-ha. But they were sooooooooo good.) But we had just been reading the Book of Mormon with him and it was really cool you could just see him changing almost every day. The day we put the baptismal date with him he was super into the lesson, and then told us about his whole life basically. And how he had had some prophetic dream when he was younger when his grandpa, who had recently died, came to him and told him not to get baptized yet in the church that he had been going to. It was the church where his grandpa had been a pastor or something. And we asked him what he thought about our church and he told us the Book of Mormon was true and that he basically had been waiting for us. So hopefully he is getting baptized in a few weeks. He came to church and a YSA activity on Sunday and I think he really, really liked it. We have high hopes.

Other than that, we are still on the search for some more investigators. Were dying to find a golden family. Or any family that is willing to listen to us really. Not even a family, anyone will do honestly. Things are good though, changes are in a week, I don’t think anything will happen here in my companionship but, you never know.

Anyways, that’s about it, I love you guys and miss you, have a good week.

Adam

P.S. When I get home. I am stripping straight down to my G’s and doing snow angels in the carpet in the house.

5-13-13

Hey Mom,

How are things going? I’m still waiting for the news of the ultra sound, I was kind of anxious getting on my email about that, and kind of bummed nobody had said anything yet. This week was...all right. We lost about half of our investigators, which is always frustrating. We had two that had baptismal dates and everything, but then they just kind of fell off of the map, and the member they are friends with told us on Sunday that they are afraid of us now because their baptism date was coming up, and they don’t want to talk to us anymore. They are afraid of us though, that’s what the lady told us, we’re not exactly sure what we did in order to scare them so badly either.

We had a pretty cool ward activity this week. It was a talent show. I played There is a Green Hill Far Away on the guitar and my comp and I sang, and then there was also a dance contest that I won ha-ha. For one of the talents the YSA people taught everyone this chicken dance type dance, and then they called up some people and had them do it for a prize. I ended up winning because little did they know I have great dancing skills, plus I am everyone’s favorite giant blond person. The prize was pretty great though, when I opened it up and realized they had given me a glass jar for winning I couldn’t help but laugh. Like only in Guate would they give an empty glass jar for the prize. Either way it serves as one more glass in the house. I have been drinking out of a big old yogurt container for a few weeks now and was kind of getting a little tired of that.

It was nice to get the package from you guys also this week. I was in need of those shirts and badly. Now I don’t have to wear the same shirt for a week or so ha-ha. But the food and stuff didn’t last long. I think yesterday I finished off the last of the granola bars and the jerky and candy was pretty much gone the day I had opened the package. 

We have a few investigators that are progressing. We have a baptismal date for an 18 year old that works with a member and she has gone to church a few weeks in a row now and really seems to like the church. Another one is a lady that is from an Aldea close to the Mexico border. It’s almost like being in Toto again because she barely can speak Spanish. I think her language is called Calujah or something like that. I can say it but I have no idea how to spell it honestly. It sounds a lot like quiche or Navajo, but it’s a lot more fluid and uses a lot less of the throat, so it really does sound pretty. But people in this one Aldea are the only people in the world that speak that language, kind of interesting. But we were teaching her and her less active husband last night and we were able to put a date for them to get married and baptized in June. That would be really cool. It’s kind of sad because the husband and the lady really want to get married and baptized. It’s just the husband really fights with alcohol and the lady doesn’t really understand us when we speak to her, so her husband always has to translate for her and we’re not sure if he is saying the things like we want him to and she is understanding what we are trying to say. Makes things a little complicated. But while we were teaching the husband yesterday the plan of salvation, he just broke down and starting crying. He explained to us that he feels so bad for being like he is, but doesn’t know how to change and he feels ashamed to even try and pray or talk to God. It is really hard sometimes to try and put yourself in the shoes of other people and actually be able to understand what they are going through and know how to help them. We talked to him for a really long time though and you really could start to see a change in him. So he was really excited when we put the date for them to get married and his wife to get baptized. Hopefully it all works out.

Another funny thing this week that I almost couldn’t believe happened is we were in elder’s quorum yesterday, and they were talking about blessings and anointing and stuff. The bishop was giving the class and literally the only two people who knew how to consecrate oil there were my comp and I, and then they got into an argument for about twenty minutes until the class was over about whether or not you could anoint and bless a cow. I am not even joking. I am not sure about the true answer honestly, I bet there is nothing set in stone like you can do this and you can’t do that, but I feel like a prayer would honestly be sufficient enough. But really? Who would want to anoint and bless a cow? Oh Guate.

Anyways, for the package if you could remember the whitening strips, that would be really good, and also I know you sent one before but I lost it and it would be fun to have another ultimate Frisbee. That would be really, really appreciated.

 I love you guys, and hope you have a good week.

Adam

5-6-13

Hey Moms,

So for the phone call, I am going to call like 2-ish (my time, not sure if it’s the same as there) on Sunday. We’ll just have to do the same thing that we have always done where I call and then ya'll just have to call me back. I have just been kind of thinking about it and I can’t really believe this is my last phone call. That makes me feel really old. A lot of my friends in the mission that I have known for a really long time are all getting ready to go home and all. Makes me really sad actually. I feel most of the time like it’s going too fast.

We didn’t get any packages or anything. We did make it down to Xela but really we didn’t have time or any way to get things back up here to Huehue. Like I said, it’s really, really far and super hard to bring things back on the chicken buses. Supposedly there is a trainers meeting for the missionaries that are training up here in Huehue this week so the A.P.s should be coming up in their truck and hopefully can bring us the packages. I’m dying for a good package honestly. It will be nice to have some American treats, that’s all I’m looking forward too.

Yeah my comp had told me all about the move. His family sent him some photos of their new house. Sweet mercy we should look into moving to Minnesota. Their house is insane. It’s like Eric status. I really like this comp; he is one of my favorites. He is a really good and smart kid and he always has the best intentions for everything. He's teaching me a lot ha-ha.

Back to Minnesota though, I was talking to my mission president’s wife a while ago and she was also trying to sell me on going to St. Paul for school. It’s all in the twin cities area and apparently they have a really really good med school at the U of M. And St. Paul is a really nice big city but not ghetto like other big cities. I think it would be cool to go and study after the Y at some place like that, a big city. Get the big city life a little bit.

This week for me was great. I literally was dying from boo to start the week. Like I'm not in pain or anything, I just can’t digest food normally. But they had given me some medicine and I think the friends I have in my stomach won the first round. I had to go and take some...tests (not pleasant ha-ha) this week and try and find out a little better what is happening. We went with this member who does special.... tests for people like me. And it just killed my comp and I while we were waiting for the results.

The lady was printing out the paper and my comp asked her what I had, she responded that it would probably just be faster to tell me what I didn't have.  I had to take a few tests though so I went back a few days later and the same thing, the lady found even more...friends. I got some medicine and stuff though so I am feeling a lot better. Hopefully it clears up soon, buuut maybe not. If not I would be coming home and looking good. I weighed myself just too see where I was at, 190. When I left Xela I was at 215(fatty) and when I left Toto I was 205. On the bright side it gave me a good head start on my six-months-to-sexy.

I am really excited about this week, we have been working really hard and we have about 10 investigators that we are working hard to put baptismal dates with. Keep your fingers crossed.

Anyways, that’s about all that’s new here. As for packages, I could use some good Alex Boye music and other church stuff that is new, things that have come out since I have been here. Also some scar cream would be nice, get rid of some fleabite scars. Other than that though, just the usual package stuff. I hope you guys sent off that package with the shirts. My three shirts are barely hanging in there ha-ha. Especially since its so hot here and they get sweat soaked on the daily. If you did send it though that’s probably all I need, I don’t need more than three or four shirts.

I am so excited to talk to everyone next week though. Just remember that you need to have your questions and everything all ready because its not a whole lot of time, but a week from now I can say that the next time we talk we will talking face to face. Cool right?

Love you all, have a great week.

Adam

4-29-13

Hey Mom,

As for you questions, Huehue is short for Huehuetenango, and yeah it’s the name of the department (state) and it’s also the name of the city that I am in. Usually the names of the departments are just the same as the biggest city there.

It is pretty mountainy here but not in the city. The city is in a really big valley and is surrounded by mountains. We are really close to Mexico. The top of the department touches a large portion of Huehue. There is this really cool place to eat here that a member owns so all the missionaries like to go out there and eat. He lets all the missionaries write on the wall and that’s the wall art. It’s really cool actually. But I saw my name that I had put there when I was in Chiantla.

My comp has been in this same zone for like 8 months now. He started out in another area here, but then two changes ago he got changed here and was the zone leader before. We are about three hours in a bus ride from Xela so we don’t really get to go down too often, only once a month really. We go down when we go to our zone leader meetings. We’re going to head down tomorrow so hopefully I have some packages waiting for me.

My area is really good.  I really like it. It’s all just pure city, so it’s a little different than my old area, but the people are actually a lot more open to the gospel and everything. We have quite a few of really positive people that we are teaching and we had a baptism this week that just passed.

The kid was really positive and seems like he will be a stud in the church. Kind of disappointing though, he really wanted to go on a mission, but he is already 25 and by the time he completes a year of being a member he will be too old to be able to serve as a missionary.

Other than that I have just been trying to get over being sick. I have had some stomach problems lately, and I had to take some more antibiotics.  But as we speak I feel like my stomach pain is coming back so it might not have cleared everything up yet. Maybe I brought along a few buddies with me from Toto. The more the merrier I guess.

We also had a multi zone conference this week that was really good. It was cool because President’s wife was going to give a talk, and since she doesn’t speak Spanish she always needs a translator. Usually one of the APs just does it but this time she asked me if I could translate for her. I was actually really pleasantly surprised at how well I did. It’s always nice to be somewhat able to measure your progress and see how much you have learned, and that’s always a good way to tell.

That’s crazy Alex and Dayoung hit their anniversary. That makes me feel a little old in the mission...Anyways, that’s all that’s new with me here, have a good week and I love you all.

Adam

4-22-13

Hey Mom,

How's it going? Things are good here. I had changes again this week. My new area is Centro in the zone Zaculeau ( zac u lay oh) in Hue Hue again. I’m still a zone leader here, and my new comps name is Elder O. He is from Sacramento and is a really cool guy. We had pancake Friday and were going to do breakfast burrito p-days. He was playing football in college I think and he loves sports. The only bummer is he’s a Ute fan. Gross. He has like 13 or 14 months in the mission. 

Huehue is good but it is soooo crazy hot here right now. I thought my last area was hot, this one just feels like I'm in Phoenix in the middle of July. We leave the house in the morning and my shirt is soaking wet until we get home and night. My area is really different than all the rest of my areas though. We're in the middle of the city but it's way different then being in the middle of the city in Xela. In Xela everything is soooo cramped. Like the lifestyle is like that, all packed in like sardines. But here it's really nice. Parts of it even kind of remind me of Albuquerque. It’s bigger and the houses have yards and things like that. The other weird thing about this are that I haven’t had in any other area is that the roads are paved. They are either concrete or paved, most of my areas have had these weird cobblestone kind of roads. I just wrote that and realized how weird that sounds that I’m freaking out about having real roads, but trust me, it’s a huge bonus. The cobblestone roads are always uneven and you’re always stumbling and tripping over things. Luxury here in Huehue. 

We had a really good week. We have three people with baptismal dates that were set this week. We have a guy who is supposed to get baptized Saturday. The dude is super super ready and loves the church and all. He is a dancer or choreographer or something, and the YSA in the ward here wanted to learn a dance so they hired this guy for that. He came and met everyone and became good friends with the ward and they converted the guy. It was great because the members did pretty much all the hard work and we just have to teach him the lessons and show him where the font is. Love baptisms like that where the members help us out. We teach him and he already knows most of the lessons and stuff. We're planning on buying him a preach my gospel for his baptism gift. That would be so cool to have a convert go and be a missionary, bucket list. 

Our house here is pretty cool. We live with this really rich Mexican member who only talks to us in "tu" (which is really weird for members to talk to us in tu). He has two houses but they are on the same lot and we just live in his guesthouse you could say. It's really nice. We have this study area which is up on the second floor, but it doesn’t have any stairs in the house though, we just have this rickety old ladder we have to climb up to get there. Always makes me kind of laugh, a fireman pole would be really cool to have though in order to get down. 

Anyways, I love you all; I have to go play some basketball. Gringo Zonies. 

Have a good week. 

Adam

4-15-13

Hey Mom,

Things are going good here as always. I got my glasses and everything taken care of. They are ray bans so the frames are really nice. They aren’t big or heavy so they aren’t falling off of my face every day, that’s always a bonus. 

This week has been crazy flipping hot though. Sometimes we walk outside and I forget I'm in Guate and think I’m in Africa for a moment. I never thought I would say this but I am pretty much ready for the rainy season to roll in so that it’s not so flippin hot anymore. Like temperature wise it's never over 100 here, but we're so close to the equator and the fact that my mission is the highest in elevation in Central America, sometimes it feels like you can just reach out and touch the sun. Boiling right now. 

We had some really really cool lessons this week. We found a partial family that we have been teaching and brought them to church. It’s just a mom and her two kids, but the mom is terminally ill. She has some kind of brain cancer and the doctors only give her until the end of May to live. It's really really sad. The tumor is right behind her left eye and it makes that whole side of her face bulge and her eye is almost popping out of the socket. But she came to church on Sunday and brought her daughter who isn’t baptized and she was saying one of the last things she wants to do is see her daughter get baptized. 

Another investigator we have is a man that is deaf and mute, and about a month ago he fell from a tree they were cutting down for firewood and now he is paralyzed from the waist down. I love going to teach him because you can tell he is dying just being cooped up in the house like he is. We gave him the Book of Mormon the other day and he was so grateful you could tell he was on the verge of tears. We always like to go visit him because his kids always teach us little things in sign language. It's hard to talk to the dad because we have to say what we want to his 12 year old son or 10 year old daughter and they sign it to him, he signs back to them, and then they tell us. It's just really cool seeing them talking like that with their hands, it's super impressive. It's interesting too because his wife is also mute and deaf, perfect match. 

We were talking with another member this week also and he has a son that has a heart problem. His heart I think is too big and beats too fast, so his skin is almost blue-ish because of all the blood and stuff. They only calculate he will live for a few more years too. But this member was telling us how they had gone to visit this man's parent's tombstones this week and the son went and laid the flowers down on his grandparents grave, walked back to his dad and sad, ``Dad, when I die you guys will come and bring me flowers, right"?  I was just kind of like...whoa. 

It happens a lot in the mission when you see the situations of others and it really put your life into a new perspective. When looking at the life of a terminally ill person, or someone who feels trapped in his own body, my problems rapidly diminish. I was thinking about Ether 12:4, when it talks about hope. Most of the time when we are talking about hope in normal life we always see it with a twinge of doubt. For me it's pretty much always there. But like it says hope can become an anchor. Anchors are pretty sure and don’t move, you just imagine a big dead weight. But the difference between this kind of hope and the, I hope this person will call, or I hope it's not so hot tomorrow is that it's hope that comes from our faith, like the scripture says, leads us to be sure and steadfast. Those two words don’t leave much room for doubt. It leads to good actions, like the watching your daughter get baptized or reading the Book of Mormon. That’s when people really find out whether they believe in Christ or not, when you’re looking at the end. It was just kind of a crazy learning experience, and super humbling at the same time. 

Anyways, sorry I don’t have a whole lot of time for writing this week, 

I love you all and I'll talk to you next week.

Adam

Oh P.S. this photo is my posterity. I have a great grandson now.