"Baptizers of Little Kids" 7-27-2011

Hola!

This week was good. Everyone has been talking about a really dumb missionary from South mission who got attacked by a Lion because he wanted to get a really close picture. That is the stupidists idea I have ever heard. I bet that the missionary feels like an idiot right now. Its kind of funny and sad at the same time. Scott sent me an update about it. at first I didnt believe it, but I guess it made in the worldwide news. haha, that is sooo embarasing I feel sorry for that Elder.

Apart from that, We had two more baptisms this week! wohooo. Sergio and Clara, two 11 year old twins. They are really really good. I usually try not to baptize children without there parents but they have really strong testimonies. The only reason her mom didnt get baptized is because she is not married to her husband. She told us to go ahead and baptize her kids without her, she is also really good. She is basically already a member, and she has a really strong testimony. She is really cool too, she has lots of cool stories about how she grew up on a ranch. In her family there are no brothers so she had to do all of the "boy" work.

This week we did alot of walking. We had some days were everysingle one of our appointments fell through. Because we are in a walking mission, that means that we have to walk the whole day, uder the blistering sun. i am wiped out. I think my immune system was broken down as well because I am getting sick. My companion is like a computer genious and he told me that my camera memory has a virus so that is why I havent been able to send anything. Darn it. I sent some pictures from my comps camera.

WE have another baptismal date for the 6th of august as well. She is the little sister of Kevyn ( who we baptized on the 10th). She is also really pilas. We are now the official baptizers of little kids in our district, its our inside joke. OUr focus isnt little kids, but thats just how it worked out this change.

anyways I have to go, but thanks for you support! and thanks grandma, kevin, and Wyatt for the letter, it was awesome!

Love Elder West

"Let's Move Out!" 7-18-2011

Dear Family,

My attempt to send fotos failed once again, because the the computer is not being very nice. I really wanted to send pictures this week to because we had a baptism! It was really good. His name is Kevyn (thats right he spells is with a Y) and he is 16 years old. My old companion Elder Lopez rode all the way back from his house in a bus to baptize him which was awesome. His aunt gave us his reference and he turned out to be a really really good one. His parents are both Jehovas witness so it was a bit hard trying to get permission from them, but in the end his dad signed the baptismal record. He is currently going to seminary and reading the scriptures daily. I made a challenge with him that we would start the book of mormon togather and read 2 chapter everyday until we finished. right now he is in 2 nefi 20 and I am in 2 nefi 15. he is beating me, but its only because I am reading it in spanish and it is way harder, especially considering the fact that Nephi always likes to make references to Isaiah which I have trouble understanding in English. i am also looking up everysingle word in spanish that I don´t know which also makes it take alot longer. Right now I have 250 new words, yay, but I only remember like 50 of them.

I am loving my new companion Elder Cruz. Before his misison he was a huge gamer and played video games almost 24/7. Therefore his vocabulary in english is hilarious, i love it. Everyday before we leave the house he says "lets move out!" and he cocks his little plastic toy gun and twirls it on his finger. I have to tell him to leave it in the house. My umbrella is a shotgun and his umbrella is a sniper rifle. Last night we were runnin back to the house because it was really late, and we were pretending that we were soldiers the whole time. It was fun. He is also really humble and patient and we have basically the exact same personality. He also no longer has chicken pox so he is alot happier now. We are hoping to have 4 more baptisms this month as well. The guy that we married a couple of weeks ago has stopped coming to church and we are trying to get him to come back so that we can baptize him. We also need to marry another family in order to baptize them as well. I hope this time it will be alot easier. I am basically like an expert on marrying people now, I know exactly what papers they need and how much it costs, and I know a lawyer who can do it really cheap. in fact in guatemala you can go to City hall and do it for free but people dont like that becuase its not a very exciting party.

I completely forgot that the 4th of july was last week. Here in guatemala people light off fireworks everyday. One of the traditions they have here in Guatemala is that on peoples birthdays they light off firecrackers at like 4 oclock in the morning. Not everyone does that but, i have been woken up several times by that. When it actually is a holiday, people just light off more fireworks, and they like to throw them at us and yell "Gringo" ( especially the little kids). Next christmas i am going to record how incredibly loud it is at midnight it is insane. But yes it is also true, I have been on my mission for an entire year. Exactly one year ago I was on my mission. And In one year I will still be on my mission because I don´t come home until the 12th or 13th of July. thats like 5 days more. I still feel like I am a new missionary though, and I bet my bottom dollar that when I am sitting at home on the couch with no socks on, no tie on, no shirt tucked-in, and no name tag on i will still be in denial that i was actually a real live missionary. I have really changed alot in this past in this past year. I bet I can grow a really good mustache right now as well, because I have alot more coverage on my upper lip. I also think that I have become more patient and my knowledge of the gospel has grown significantly, giving me a new perspective on life. I also have alot more control over myself. So far on my mission I have recorded a video log of my self in the MTC in guatemala, my first area, and at my one year mark. I will also make a video log when I hit 18 months in january, and I will also record one while I am in the airport walking towards baggage claim. it has been interesting to see my evolucion on the mission so far. I tried to send them but I dont know how.

anyways I gotta go but I hope you guys have a good week and that you will be able to enjoy summer break. The church is true!

Love Elder West

Elder Cruz has Chicken Pox 7-6-2011

HOla!

Whooohhoooo I sent pictures! It was hard but I was able to become more like christ in the process, patience. I have so much to tell you guys. Ok so last week We married to people. I didnt tell you guys last week because I didnt have time. We are hoping that we can baptize him this month, we still have to get him to stop drinking coffee.

I got a new Companion! His name is Elder Cruz, he is from Honduras and He is awesome. The interesting thing is that right now he has chicken pox, It really suprised me when I first saw him. So as a result we have not been able to leave all week. It is really really hard to stay inside for so long. At first I thought it would be nice to be able to have extra time to study, but after like the first 3 hours I jsut about lost it. I am used to walking around out side for the whole day, not sitting down! Its ok though, I learned alot. I read 5 ensigns, I read 1 nephi is spanish and looked up everysingle word that I did not know, I am now on page 486 in Jesus the christ and I have memorized word for word the efy cd that we have. Elder Cruz has less time then me so now I have more responsbility as senior companion. I was able to organize divisions twice with the members and during that time I put baptismal dates with 4 people! yes.

Also we didnt go to church because he is sick. later that night we learned that President Falebela came to our ward (the area president) darn!

I gotta go By

Elder West

"President Brough" 6-27-2011

HI

Ok so I really cannot send pictures. The thingy that I plug the camera into
doesnt work. ¡NO SIRVE LA FRIKING COSA! sorry about that but my camera has
really been frustrating me. I also dont have much time today because I had
to write two other letters today. I wrote one to President Baldwin (my old
mission president) and I wrote one to President Brough (my new mission
president). It is really weird changing mission presidents. Yesterday
President Baldwin was my mission president Today President Brough is my
mission president. I have yet to talk to President Brough. My entire
universe has been shattered. But thats ok I am really looking forward to
learning from him and his wife.


Ok So I seriously have to go write now but I have good news, my companion
just figured out how to attach my pictures but I dont have time. And I just
switched my car insurance to Geiko. I will send pictures next week I
promise!


Love Edlder West

"Armed Guards" 6-20-2011

Hola!

It sounds like you guys are enjoying your first weeks of summer. I hope the
weather is good and everything. I have pictures to send you guys but the
computer is being retarded so I could'nt attach them. I spent like 5 minutes
of my precious computer time trying to do it as well. This week I was daring
enough to take my camera out of my house to take pictures with one of my
favorite families in the world. I think I might have talked about them last
week. Amanda (mom), Sergio (son), Clara (daughter), Emily (other daughter).
Sergio and Clara are twins and they turned 11 years old saturday. I love
these guys. First of all I know that they are among Gods chosen spirit
children to recieve this gospel, Second they have some of the strongest
morals and values I have seen in a non-mormon family in my time in
Guatemala, and Thirdly they give us food almost every time we go over there.
Amanda is also going to teach me how to croshey (I dont know how to spell
that). They showed up to church for the second time yesterday and they love
it. Emily recieved the assignment to say the prayer next sunday in primary
and she is really excited about that (she has 7 years). They all want to be
baptized! This week Amanda faced alot of opposition from her other family
members about "John" Smith, and some kind of Golden book that we worship and
stuff. She told us that she explained to us that she defended Joseph Smith
and exlpained to them everything about the Gold Plates and everything. The
only bummer is that she is not Married to her Husband David. David works
alot and doesnt really care about religion and is really indifferent about
everything. We found out that everyone in David's family is a member of the
church except for him, which is kind of interesting. He is rarely at home,
As a result we have to have a priesthood holder come with us everytime we go
over there. I have faith that we will be able to help David see the light
eventually.

In our area there are two richer neighboorhoods that are protected by armed
guards. We live in one of them. We have a family that we are teaching in the
other. Usually we cannot go in unless we have a preset appointment, and we
have to give them our I.D and everything. There is one Guard that we made
good friends with and he would let us in with out any questions or anything.
We found out that he got murdered a couple of days ago. That made me and my
companion kind of sad. There was also a 16 year olds girl in our ward that
got robbed at gun point on thursday in broad daylight. Everyone in her
family was telling her about all of the times that they got robbed by gun
point to. It was kind of funny how lighthearted they were about it but it.
This week really reminded me and my companion how dangerous this area really
is. I feel safe however because we have the presence the holy ghost with us
always to warn us and guide us.

This is my companions last week in the mission and he is kind of sad and
happy at the same time. Oh yah, Thanks grandma for your letters I got them
last week. Anyways I gotta go. Time really goes by fast, and by that I mean
time on the mission, and the timer on my watch that says I only have minutes
left to write. I love you guys, I love the church, I love my investigators,
I love my mission, I love Jesus, and I love pizza.

Love Elder West