Coban

Hey guys,

Well, as you read, I am now in Coban.  It is amazing here.  I am the new Zone Leader here with my companion Elder Navas. He has 19 months in the mission and is a great guy.  He is really good with the other missionaries and it seems like it's going to be a great time here with him.  He was in the capital for all 19 months of his mission and this is the first time he has ever left the city so he is really excited.

I'll start from the begining and try to tell everything that has happened in the past week.  Monday night Elder Adams took off on the 10 hour bus ride to the capital and I stayed with Elder Miller and Elder Rodriguez in San Jose.  We spent all Tuesday saying goodbye to our investigators and the members and packing our bags.  Then on Wednesday morning we went to the Zone Leaders' house in Peten to be able to wait for the phone call from the Assistents with changes.  They then informed me of my change to Coban and that I would be Zone Leader and told us to go to the bus stop and get to Coban.

Well, we got to the bus terminal and waited for the 1 o clock bus to Coban but it didn't show up.  So, after stressing a little we figured that we could get there but we would have to go in 3 trips to get there.  So that's what we did.  I was with Elder Miller and a Sister missionary.  Interesting because we first went to Sayaxche, out in the middle of nowhere, and crossed a river in a little boat with all our luggage.   That was probably the coolest part.  Then we got on another microbus with 35 people and crossed through the narrow neck of land right on the border of mexico through the "coconut farms."  Ya, definitely drugs.  Then we got to a small town called Raxhuja, even more in the middle of nowhere.  Well, when we got there we found out that the next bus to Coban had gotten in a wreck the day before and would not be going to Coban that day.  Also, there were no buses headed back to Peten that night.  So it was a little bit sketchy but I was able to get a guy to take us in his microbus all the way.  It cost the mission a pretty penny, but we were able to make it back to Coban on time.  It was a weird ride because there was a french couple that were with us also and the lady kept getting really bothered when the driver turned up the music.  She was screaming a mixture of French, Spanish, and English.  Also, about and hour and a half into the trip they stopped off the side of the road and bathed themselves in a river.  The french lady was livid!  But, we got there ok.

And now I am here.  The area, amazing.  The house, amazing. And the missionaries serving in my zone, really good.  I think more than anything I like the temperature.  During the day when you are in the sun, it is still pretty strong, but there is always a good breeze.  And at night, it gets sooo cold.  =)  It got down below 70 degrees in our house last night.  Sooooo rico.  The house is also a mansion.  It's super big because anytime there are changes in our zone, baja verapaz, or polochik, the Elders come and stay in our house for a night.  The night I got there we had 32 missionaries for the night.  It was pretty fun because we ordered 15 dominos pizzas.  Oh and I have a queen sized bed.  Again, rico.

The members here are really good.  We have a couple of young men that are preparing for their missions that have gone out with us and shown us the area.  It is really a large area and we have everything.  We have city, stick houses, and everything in between.  We were out proselyting the other day and we had an appointment at the church in 10 minutes and I asked one of the kids how far we were away from the church.  He told me, well, here we're about 8 Kilometers from the chapel.  What?!  That was a surprise.

There is one story from this week that I did really want to share.  We were out meeting some of the members in our ward and were walking back the main area when a man came running and shouting after us, Hermanos!  Hermanos!  He was crying and told us he wanted us to come back with him and pray for his son.  We went with him and followed him to his house.  He actually lived on the very top of this really big hill in a stick house.  We went in and his son was horrible.  He was laying on the ground and just shaking and his eyes were all rolled back.  I have never seen anybody that sick.  Well, we gave him a blessing.  Then we gave a quick spiritual thought.  The man said that he knew his son would be healed and he wanted us to come back the next day to see him.  Now, this was after a month of his son already being practically unconcious.  Well, we went the next day and his son wasn't there.  We were surprised because he wasn't there and asked what happened.  Apparently he had healed and walked to the hospital to be able to get help because he was so malnourished.  He was healed!  What a strong testimony to me and the others who were able to participate in that experience that the priesthood is real.  I know it is.  I know it works by faith.  I know that by faith, the Lord can give us all that we ask.  I know this gospel is true and that our Father loves us.

Well, time's up.  Ask me questions in my next letters.  I'll try to answer them all.  It's going to be interesting figuring things out in the next week. By the way, the Doctor over all of Central America is coming to Coban tomorrow and wants my companion and I to give him a tour of the zone.  Haha.  Who knows how we're going to do that.  Oh well, he's buying us McDonalds.  =)  I love you all.  Talk to yous later.
Love,
Elder Lloyd