Week of.... Nothing really.

Date:  February 23, 2015
Area: Sacshua, Guatemala
Companion:  Elder Menjivar
Week 61

I kind of feel like this week doesn`t really have any great and wonderful new things or adventures to tell all you folks back home, but maybe I`m just getting used to things that are more amazing, I have also learned that there are great little things everywhere!

We spent this week visiting people and getting less actives to progress, finding some new investigators but didn`t find many and other such things that missionaries do on a daily basis.

We did have a wonderful experience with a family this past week, we had a family home evening with hermana Nuri because the last lesson that Elder Menjivar and I gave the family was a smack in the face. go and read in Alma 5:37-41 where it says that if you`re not of the fold of Jesus you are of the fold of Satan. We hit them with it hard yet with love as we all need sometimes and then we had a wonderfully spiritual family home evening with them on Monday and they are truly changing their hearts and it`s wonderful to see. There is little that gives missionaries more joy than seeing someone change for the better. Truly miracles happen everywhere.

I also gave a talk in church yesterday about repentance, I gave it in Kekchi and I hope that there were people in the congregation that learned from it. I`m not worried that they didn`t understand what I was saying I`m just worried that they weren`t paying attention. I still don`t like giving talks, but I`m kind of used to talking to people, at least, more than I was before.

The weather here is starting to heat up and that means a lot of sweat and a little bit of complaining about how hot it is outside and telling everyone we see that it`s hot. Because that`s something that, even though is common knowledge, everyone comments about.

To answer a few questions that I got from my Mom.

It`s great having electricity in the house again at all times, before in my last area we had a solar panel that gave us light only when we had to use it or else we would spend it all.

I`m back to having P-Days in La Tinta and it gives me flashbacks.

I eat with members a lot and they give a variety of things, beans, eggs and caldo.

Certainly the news coming from home is amazing. Congratulations to my brother Deven on his engagement!

I love you all!

Drunks Beware!

Date:  February 16, 2015
Area: Sacsuha, Guatemala
Companion:  Elder Menjivar
Week 60

I`ll just tell you all what the title of my email is all about first so that you don`t have to wait. We were walking back home for the night and in front of us we saw a drunk guy walking in his drunky kind of stumble-walk and Elder Menjivar thought that he recognized him so we walked faster so that we could walk past him and see who it was. It turns out it was the brother of one of our investigators which makes us really sad, but as we were passing by he seemed to take an interest in us and amazingly walked a little faster to keep pace with us as we tried to ignore him. He reached out and grabbed the back of my bag.

 Now I don`t like it when people grab me from behind so I reacted and turned and pushed him away, the push was effective as he stumbled back and fell down due to his drunken state.

I`m not really proud of this `mighty achievement of strength` because it was a bad reaction and he could have been hurt more than he was, but drinking is bad, it causes you to look silly and perhaps a missionary will push you down.

Anyway, a very happy event happened this weak as well, we had a baptism! Elder Menjivar had the privileged of doing the ordinance for two young girls age 10 and 9 named Maria and Vilma. They are just really awesome and were ready, they both have people to support them and they were really anxious to get baptized even when the baptism got delayed for two hours because the president of the branch was delayed, but it was done and it went well and they got confirmed the next day.

We have one more young boy up for baptism and we may be possibly putting another date for another young girl, we are also working on a couple of young men, ages 18 and such, we meet with all of them together every Wednesday and teach them together so that they can build off of each other, the sad thing is they didn`t come to church yesterday, but hope is not lost, they`re just starting to really search for the truth and they will come around.

Brand New Puppies

This week was really good although we didn`t find many new people to teach because we were busy preparing people for baptism and preparing the baptism itself, but next week we will be more focused on finding those that are ready. Prayers help.

Sorry I didn`t answer any of your questions, I got caught up in other things. I`ll answer them next week. But it`s awesome to have a fridge again!

Thank you all, I love you!

Elder North

First week in a new area

Date:  February 9, 2015
Area:  Sacsuha, Guatemala
Companion:  Elder Menjivar from El Salvador
Week 59

My first week in Sacsuha has been really great, my new companion Elder Menjivar from El Salvador is awesome.  I never really got to know him before, but he's a good worker and has gotten me to workout in the mornings.  I have been doing my daily workouts but now I am doing more intense and better focused workouts and that has been pretty fun, even if it does hurt a little.

This week was filled with getting to know the area, asking peoples names and then forgetting the names and asking them again the next day.  They think it's pretty funny.  Sacsuha is a great place, it's a large area and there are plenty of members.  We have two baptisms coming up and we know we're going to place another baptisms next week.  So exciting things are happening.  It's fun to be able to tell these people that I know Kekchi.  Before I told people I was still learning or I knew a little, but now I realized that I have hit the point whee I can say I know it.  That doesn't mean that I don't have much more to learn though.

I'm sorry that I haven't been able to send pictures for the last two weeks, the computers I have been at have been being really weird and won't let me send them.  I'll be getting those out as soon as possible.

I got one thing of mail this week.  The family calendar with choose and another Kekchi dictionary.

My companion is going how in about ten weeks, which is always an interesting thing to see because as a missionary you get to a point where you never really believe you're going to go home even though you know you are.

I'm doing really awesome!
Elder North

Unexpected news

Date:  February 2, 2015
Area:  Korral Pek, Guatemala
Companion:  Elder Sierra

The unexpected happened this week when we received the call for changes (transfers) Elder Sierra and I both are leaving Korral Pek to go to different áreas. So, my new área is Sacsuha which is right by La Tinta my first área. Sacsuha is mostly Q´eqchi´ if not all. Elder Sierra is going to El Estor where there is Little Q´eqchi´.  My new companion will be Elder Menjivar from El Salvador I think. I´ll be able to give you more exact details after being with my new companion. It feels wierd leaving Korral Pek because I never thought I would be leaving it so early but it was a really good time being up in the mountains, and now I return to the valley.... The unfortanate part is that we´re entering into summer again, and the summer in the valley is very hot. I have a month or so of cooler weather left though.

 

We only worked in our área for two days this week because while we were going back home Monday afternoon we got a call from our Zone Leaders to tell us that we needed to go drop by the capital to fill out some visa stuff for Elder Sierra so Tuesday in the morning we started our journey there. We slept in the house of the Assistants and then Wednesday at 3 in the morning we got on a bus to go to the capital, during the four hour ride we got delayed by an accident in the road for two hours which wasn´t that enjoyable.

 

Once in the capital we went to the imigration office got the paper signed and then returned to the bus stop where we ate lunch and had the opprotunity to talk to some other missionaries and I got the opprotunity to show of my Qeqchi badge to someone. Hehe.

 

On the way back to Cobán we got delayed two hours again which made for another very long ride, we then had to get up really early in the morning again to go back to Chulac and we made it in time to have our interviews with President Curtiss, tired, but we made it and the interviews were really great!

 

The days we worked were very unexciting, plenty of service though and that is always an awesome thing to do, even if it´s something Little. We said farewell to our friends and family in Korral Pek and went to Chulac for what may be my last time as a missionary there. We´ll see, I may go back up to the mountains some day but for now I´m returning back into the valley.

 

We got mail as well, I got one from Sister Barnson, 2 from the stake and 2 from Grandma Mary and one from the Larsens. Good time Reading those.

 

Well, onward.

Elder North