Hey family,
Things are good here in Coban. This week went by sooo fast. I have found that time as a zone leader in the mission goes by way faster that just in a normal area. The zone is doing really well. Mom had a couple of questions that I'll answer.
One of them was if I have to do a lot of splits with the missionaries. I have to do about 1 or 2 a week. We usually do them with the district leaders but also when we feel an area needs to do a division. There are 3 districts in the zone, 12 Elders and 6 Sisters. We also have to go to one of their district meetings on Wednesday. This Wednesday was horrible because we went to the chapel to a meeting, but there was also another district having their meeting in the same chapel. Well, when the other district left, they left the door open and took the keys. Then the bishop left and locked the door to the chapel with us still inside it. I guess he didnt know. Well, once the churches in Guatemala are locked, they're like jail cells. Nobody goes in or out. We were locked in there for an hour just waiting until somebody came to open the church. Oh well. Oh, we also have to go to other areas when a district leader has a baptism and we have to do the interview.
The missionaries in this zone are awesome. I've never met a group of more hardworking missionaries in my mission. One thing we struggle with though is putting baptismal dates with the many new investigators we find. As a mission we are really working on getting more baptisms and not putting off the dates we already have. We just had a Stake conference with all of Coban. It was huge. We had about 400 to 500 people in 2 different sessions. Thats a huge deal for Guatemala, especially at 8am. =) Anyway, President Watts was there and a recently returned mission president was also there from Nicaragua. He said that they used to have 500 baptisms in Nicaragua EVERY month. But, the thing is, 400 of those were always kids or youth and always go inactive. So, Nicaragua as a whole changed to find more families. They started baptising over 150 families in the mission every month. That's what we are really trying to do as well as a mission, focus on the families. After all, exaltation can only happen in the family.
President Watts gave us a new challenge to the mission. He wants us to find one new family through asking referrels from members and another family through contacting going between appointments. Well, we found an amazing family. They are the Paiz Gomez family. We talked to them on the side of a hill below their house and the wife said she had a question for us. The question was, with so many churches here in Coban, how can I know which of all of them is right. WOW. We then went in and found that they had a Book of Mormon on their bed. WOW. Aparently they have been reading it but the friend that gave it to them a long time ago moved and they didn't know from what church it was. Then after talking for a bit, she asked us, Where do we go after we die. Amazing. We just hope they aren't acting interested when they really aren't. That happens a lot on the mission. People just like the company and act super interested, but come time to commit, they get cold feet. We shall see.
Leopoldo and Carmen are hopefully going to be good for this weekend. We still have to get them married, so realisticly I think it might move to the next weekend. They are really progressing though. It's great to see the excitement in an investigator as they realize the difference the gospel is making in their life. They will definitely be good members.
I did an exchange with an elder in an all q'eqchi area this week. That was probably one of the coolest days of my mission. It was so pretty and soooo different. It was like a different world out there. We had to take a 2 hour bus ride out there on a dirt road. Everybody farms cardomum and live in the thick of all of it. It was soooo muddy and I had to buy some big ol rubber boots. I got some massive blisters from it and ate some weird food, but it was a fun day. Also, the elder, Elder Tanner is a really good guy. He finishes his mission this week.
Well to finish I will tell you the miracle of the day. I have been worried about my shoes because they are starting to ware down a bit and I already went through my other pair in Peten. Well, when I woke up in the morning I prayed to ask that I could find some good shoes. Well, I entered a paca, thrift clothes from the US, and right there, 2 pairs of brand new Ecco shoes, one brown and one black. Ya, I was stoked. Each pair was 80 Quetz, or 10 dollars, and fit me perfectly. They're worth 150 to 200 dollars each pair. So awesome. Needless to say, God blesses his missionaries. Miracle.
Well, I have to go to a member baptism. I hope you have a great week. Have a great time preparing for Ecuador. Love you all.
Elder Lloyd
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