Awesome Stake Conference 3-13-2012

Hola Familia!

This week was pretty cool.

The first cool thing that happened was that we had stake conferance and Elder Martino and the Temple President spoke to the stake, and they gave really really good talks. They talked about how all of the families need to pray and have family home evenings consistently. The sad part was that only one of our investigadors showed up. In the morning we called all of our investigadors and they all had sudden changes of plan (sickness, work, etc...). If only they had listened to the talk of elder martino I think that they all would have been instantly converted or something.

The other cool thing that happened is that I think that I have officially overcome my fear of contacting buses, its not scary any more. Alot of people say that it is not effective, which is kind of true. Considering that in one bus of 50 people maybe 1-2 people will give you their adress. But, if you think about it saying no to a stranger who is asking for you direction on a public bus in a dangerous city is easy. However saying yes, is harder, therefor the 1-2 references that we recieve are really good ones. So its kind of like finding the needle in the hay stack.

The other cool thing is that we my companion and I totally healed a kid who was sick. We have some really good investigadors that had a little 2 year old kid that was sick throwing up all week and he pretty much had not eaten anything all week because he couldnt keep anything down. They took him to the doctors office and the doctor told them that they had to take them to a special childrens doctor really far away in the coast. Me and My companion stopped by and just happend to find them right as they were walking out of the door. They asked us if we could pray for them and their sick son before the got on the bus. So we went inside, and we explained to them about the priesthood a little bit and told them how we perform blessings. A couple of days later, we talked to them and they told us that as they were on there way to the coast they said that there son suddenly just got better. They said he was playing and jumping around and stuff. When they got to the doctor he no longer had throwing up a dn diarhea problems. That really helped strenghten the faith of this family.

My companion got really sick again and so I had to go out and work with a member for the whole day. Poor guy, its the second time that hes gotten sick.

Another cool thing that happened is that yesterday for p-day my companion and I went to a members house to play board games. We played risk (but we gave up half way through), and we played a game of scrabble in spanish. It was really funny because I was playing against 3 latinos and I won! hahaha, it was hilarious they were all ashamed. Gift of Tounges baby!

i cannot believe that Kristen is going to be home in 2 weeks, that is awesome. I just passed the 20 month mark on the 7th.

I love you guys and I cant wait to hear from you next week.

Love,

Elder West

4 convert baptisms 2/28/2012

Hey Guys!

We had 4 baptisms! Sweet. WE baptized Flor, kimberly, karen, and stefanie. They are great converts. We are still working on the husband. I got to baptize kimberly. When we were in the baptismal font, she was grabbing on to my arm sooooo hard I thought she was going to rip it off. As I said the baptism prayer she was shaking and I tried not to smile as I was saying it. But afterwards I think that she was just fine. Kimberly is 15, flor is the mom, karen is 10, and stefanie is 13.

I cannot believe all of the things that are happening back home. That is great to hear that shay´s husband is going to get baptized! I think that Talan gunnel is going to go to the Guatemala city central mission! Thats cool that kevin is auditioning for wind ansemble, I remember Mr. Koreski he is really good at playing the trombone.

This past week I tried a realy good food called Mole, it was awesome. The only thing is that it literally looks like poop (for lack of a better word). It is basically Platano (looks like a really big banana) with a special chocolate sauce.

Here in guatemala you can buy movies for really cheap like 5 or 10 quetzales (one dollar). I asked president brough if I could buy a whole bunch to bring home to you guys...but he said no. Mainly because all of the movies here are all pirated and that is against the law.

There is a recent convert in my area that cooks lunch for us on sundays. Last sunday she told me that I am a fresita (fres means strawberry, but when someone calls you that in guatemala that means that they think that you are femenine). Darn. When She told me that it made me turn really red, which made things worse because fresa´s (strawberrys) are red. That is the first time that anyone has ever told me that I am femenine. I asked her porque (why) and she just said, " i dont know, you just look like one of those guys that washes his face with special face wash everynight" That made me turn even more red because, I actually do do that, but I didnt think that it was a femenine thing to do! Mom! you said that all men do this! Just by the fact that I turned red they all knew that it was true, and they were all dying of laughter. She thought it was hilarious and know she wont stop calling me Elder Fresita. Thanks mom.

I cool experience this week is that a less active member came to church on sunday for the first time in 20 years, and she brought her. 12 year old son. After all of the meetings we asked her son if he liked the church and the first words that came out of his mouth were "Yah! I loved it and I want to get baptized". Sweet!

Well I love you guys and I hope that you continue to have success in your studying and work.

Happy birhday Dad!

Love,

Elder West

"The Best 19 Months!" 2-21-2012

Hola Familia!

As always this week was great! A couple of interesting things happened this week. First of all my companion got a case of Denge (bonebreak fever), haha poor guy. I think I might have gotten denge as well. You basically have fever and your whole body just hurts, even when you are laying in bed. He was out for a good 3 days. IT gave a good opportunity to clean the apartment. I found a can of bug killer and I decided to go to work at the cockroach nest that lives underneath our sink. There is a little whole in the wood work that was the target of my attack. When I sprayed inside the whole hundreds of little bugs started to squirm out. It was a bit unsettling.

We have been preparing Hermana Flor and her daughters to get baptized this saturday. Her husband, Geraldo, listens to us but he doesnt want anything to do with religion ¡Chambon! (that means lazy bum in guatemala). We had a lesson with them a couple of days ago and he told his family, "thank goodness that you guys are going to get baptized because that means that these two kids dont have to come any more." ¡MALA ONDA! (that means: that was mean) But then we told him that baptism was just the beginning and that they are going to be recieving visits from members of the church for the rest of their lives. He will eventually get baptized but not right now. God can do anything.

Elder Turcios and I are really stressed out right now because in the Zone we only have 8 baptismal dates! last month we had 20 baptisms. The pattern in the mission is that we baptize a ton everyother month. President Brough wants us to overcome that.

As I look back on the experiences I can clearly see that God has given me the experiences that I need to become a good person, a good preisthood holder, a good son, a good brother, and a good husband. As of right now these 19 months have been the best 19 months in my entire life. It is 10000 times better than winning big rowing races, or becoming a spartan veteran in Halo. I have about 4 and a half more months to prepare my self for the challenge that lies before me after i come home.

That is good to hear that Kevins voice is starting to change, that means that he is right on track...atta boy.

I have been hearing rumors from my fellow BYU alumi that I need to register for classes in march! I dont remember my password to get into my route y account. I think that they can email it to my other email adress. But the problem is that I forgot my email adress, and I forgot the password to get into my email account. Soo it would be great if you guys could give me some more info abour registering for classes and stuff.

Love,

Elder West

P.S The homeade jam almost made me cry when I took it out of the box. and I am sorry that I havent been taking pictures because I am in the city again and I dont want my camera to get robbed right before i go home... that would be Chafa (that means horrible/sucky/bad)

21 Years Old! 2-15-2012

Hola Familia!

What a great week. It is really awesome to hear that Kristen has a companion from Guatemala! Here are some Guatemalan slang that she could use:

Pilas! = awesome

Chapin = guatemalan

Puchika = darn it

que Calidad! = sweeeeet!

que Chilero = really cool

si mon = ya man

hey mucha! = hey guys!

That is also good to hear that Grandma is doing well, I was praying for her. Thats also sweet that kevin was able to recieve some revelation for his deacons quorum!

This week was full of miracles. First of all, 4 of our investigadors accepted baptismal dates! hermana flor, and her 3 hijas kimberly, stephanie, and karen. Flors husband didnt want to but, he did pray for the first time ever! He refused to pray to god, even personaly but he finally did it. And when he did it he prayed perfectly like a mormon.

The other miracle is that in the mission we set a new record for new investigadors found! we found 1, 273 new investigadors in just one week! Our faith is going up, and as a result god is blessing us.

I got to go on divisiont this week with two elders and they are both called Elder Cruz. It was really fun, because we just worked our butts off. With the first Elder Cruz, I knew that he is kind of Quiet so I thought that it would be good for him to contact a bus, hahaha. It was funny, When I stood up infront of the bus and preached I told everyone that there was another Elder on the bus who was going to go seat by seat to write down their directions, haha, I have never seen anyone slunk down in his chair faster then him. He was probably thinking, "I dont know him, i dont know him." But I think that helped him because this week him and his companion found 34 new investigadors.

There is also a family in our ward that is really pilas. They took us around their neigborhood and introduced us to all of their friends and neighboors. They live in a gated community, gated communities in guatemala look like high security prisons from the outside, but on the inside I felt like I was back in the states. Nice green lawns, kids playing in the street, lawn mowing people. middle aged men washing cars. There was no loud music playing. In these areas we are not alowed to enter unless we are invited by someone who lives there. And if you contact inside of the gated community, the security guards will kick you out. But they cant kick us out if we contact with people that live there. That family helped us alot this week.

I also completly forgot that yesterday was my birthday, and I am now 21 years old. Witch means that my intermediate drivers licence has expired.

Love,

Elder West

"It's Free!" 2-7-2012

Hola Familia!

This week was great! I was able to learn alot! I made the decision to startcontacting entire buses again, and I made that decision for severalreasons. One I knew that satan would hate it, and God would love me evenmore and bless me with families to teach. Second, We have a goal as amission to baptize more than 600 people in the next 4 months and I realizedthat I needed to up my game alittle bit. Third, I want to set a goodexample for my zone.

I had a really funny experience contacting a bus on wednesday night. Iyelled at the top of my lungs the message of the restoration and thenafterword I held up a bunch of restoration pamphlets in my hand and yelled"WHO WANTS ONE!" and it was just dead silent, hahaha. Then I yelled "ANDITS FREE!" and saw almost everyhand on the bus shoot upward, hahaha, Iactually didnt have enough pamphlets for everyone. I got a couple of goodreferences from that bus. President Brough has been teaching us thedoctrine about opening our mouths, and I believe that this is the way thatwe will be able to accomplish our goals.

This week I also talked with a man that really inspired me. It was a doorcontact we did on the way to another appointment. A man let us in, and wefelt prompted to stay even though we were on our way to differentappointment. We told him we were going to be brief and we jsut started totalk with him. He told us that when he was little he grew up on the streetsbecause he doesnt have parents, he said that he had a goal to find work andstart a family, so he did. He said that his family brought him more peaceand happiness than anything else. However his wife past away after 25 yearsof marriage, and one of his two chidren was murdered, leaving behind anorphaned child. He lives alone with his grandson, works all day, washes hisown clothes, cooks, and does everything. oh yah, and he is also blind inone eye. When we arrived he was stripping wire in order to sell the copper.Inspite of everything he told us that he feels like the richest man in theworld with all of the blessings that he has. We testified to him that hecan see his family togather again. WE were unable to get a returnappointment with him because he works so much, His story really touched my heart.

Right now I am on divisions with another elder in my Zone he is calledelder Cruz. little does he know that we are going to go contact a bus assoon as we are done wrighting. Waaahhaaahahaha. President Brough Told usthat when we go on division with the elders we have to leave themexhausted. This is going to be fun, sorry elder cruz but its for your own good buddy.

This week we were able to find 21 new investigadors, and I think it isbecause we have increased our efforts to open our Bocas (that means mouths).

So whats this news about Shay frenzel and Samathna peterson getting marriedall about, when did that happen? I guess I have been out here alittle bitlonger than I thought. We are all growing up so fast. Thats also cool tohear that Kevin is deacon's qourum president, looks like he's right ontrack. Oh yah, today I passed the 19 month mark just incase you werewondering. I have 5 more months left to work my but off.

Well I love you guys and I will write next week.

Bumped up to Zone Leader 1-31-2012

Hola family!

Well I got transfered. President Brough decided to bumb me up to a Zone Leader, I wasnt really expecting that. I know that the lord wants me to learn something with this new responsibility that he gave me. My companion is Elder Turcios he is from Honduras (he is my 3rd honduranion companion). My area is called El Frutal 1, and I am in my last area. I tell ya, that after training for 6 months it is really really nice having a companion who knows what he is doing. Its not that I dont love training but its alot of work. This is the first time in my mission that I am in a ward that is actually big, and good. (one of the benefits of being a zone leader). I also have a cellphone! (other benefit of being a Z.L). However, because of all of the calls we have to do in the night we usually go to sleep after 11 oclock at night (which is not a benefit), and as a result we are always really tired. My area is also really really small, but thats ok because I was in a small area before so I already know how to work with it. I am also officially in my last area! I feel sad and happy at the same time!

In our mission we had a goal to baptize 204 people in the month of January, and we actually got 221 confirmations and 227 baptisms. That is an all time record for this month, and I also think that it was the first time that we were the most succesfull mission in guatemala. our mission is the smallest one in guatemala, it is probably the same size as Kristens Zone in chicago.

This week Elder Turcios and I have been trying to work really hard with the members (having a cell phone makes it 1,000 times easier). Elder Martino from the area presidency tought us that we should literally drag members out of their houses and have them present us to their neighboors. It actually works really well. That is something that I have had a hard time doing because it makes me feel really bad. But Elder Turcios is one of those people who isnt afraid of anything. On thursday we contacted a 7th day adventist, who was having a small worship service in his house, and he invited us in to participate with them. (that is an invitation that I probably would have turned down) but Elder Turcios accepted without thinking twice and told them that he was going to teach them exactly why the sabbath is no longer saturday. on the inside I was crying, because we were outnumbered, by about 4 people who know the bible better than both of us. It didnt turn out as bad as I thought, we talked about the book of mormon and how by knowing that it is true they could come to know that this chruch is also true and that the sabbath day is not saturday. I am going to be able to learn alot from elder turcios, because he is really bold. President Brough wants us to be bolder.

anyways, I am doing great. I am sorry to hear about Grandma´s sickness I will be praying for her alot so that her operation will go smoothly. I remember the Klondike derby, it was a good experience, I also learned that sock trick as well. That picture you guys sent me blew my mind! You all look really different! This week I am going to have 19 months in the mission.

Love,

Elder West

Transfer - Last Area? 1-24-2012

Hola Familia!

So this week we had 4 more baptisms! We baptized hermana Irma (aunt of the lady we baptized 2 weeks ago), hermana Madgalena (sister of the lady we baptized 2 weeks ago), Hermana Magdalena Mother of the lady we baptized 2 weeks ago) and Hermana Bella (the cousin of the lady we baptized 2 weeks ago). Woohoo! When we first got to this area there was only one investigador family that the elders before us were teaching. It turned out that all of our baptisms this month are all related in some way to that one family. It is a very efficient way to work. All 7 of them live in poverty. There houses are made up of tin, and corn stalks roped togather. I kind of got a suprise when I walked into Magdalenas house for the first time because despite the fact that they live in a house made our of cornstalks and tin, they still have a pretty nice t.v with cable, haha.

Yesterday I found out that I have changes again tommorow. I will most likely be going to my last area. I hope I get a good one. My companion Elder Corrigan is going to have to lead this area, he is kind of nervous because he is still learning spanish and he will most likely be getting a latino companion. But he is ready, his spanish has improved a ton! Last night we had a family home evening with our branch president, and he said that he wanted to call our mission president to tell him to keep me here longer. He is really sad that I am leaving because we are the first missionaries in about a year who have come here and actually worked. He is worried that another Chambon (that means lazy bum) will come to the area. This branch is really small and I totally understand what Kristen said about how branches can be really hard to work with. They are still learning, Yesterday I told the teacher in our branch that it isnt necesarry to burn the left over sacrament cups and bread after the meeting.

Well, I am really excited for this week to go to my last area and to meet one of my last companion.

Love,

Elder West