Life on the Road

Hey guys! Well, It's 7:30 on a Saturday night and I am tiiiiiiiired. We had a week chalk full of AP fun. Our goal this week was to cover half of the areas outside of the capital and do some divisions and training. We left Guatemala City on Monday at 3pm and went to Salama. That was a funny bus ride because my companions are used to the comfy office life and we took one of those huge buses with the neon lights, stickers, and loud ranchera music. I was completely used to it because I had lived that for 7 months in Coban. But they just thought it was horrible. haha. By the way, we don't have a truck anymore because a new senior missionary couple came needed it. So we had to do the whole trip in bus. Oh well, it keeps us humble that way. Anyways, we got to Salama and I went to Rabinal. We were trying to get as many visits with missionaries done in one week as we could so we divided in 3 and went to 3 different areas. It's a little rough for the Elders there because of the lack of support, but we had a great division aún. =) The only not fun part was the bucket showers and sleeping on the cement floor covered in huge cutter ants. After that we went up to Alta Verapaz and I was able to work in an area called Val Paraiso. That area is beautiful. It's right in the mountains and really nice and cool. One thing about divisions that I realized this week was that the Elders think that they need to kill the APs working them to death because they're "always sitting in the office." What they don't realize is that if every area does that during a week, it makes for a pretty rough week. Haha. So the Elders in Val Paraiso made me walk about 5 miles with them right off the bat. It was a great division as well though. We found a couple of great families. Their bathroom was the biggest nightmare I have ever seen. I'll just tell you that all the walls were made out of cardboard. After another night of sleeping on cement we went up to Coban. Home sweet home. I know I was only gone for 5 days but I was already missing it. I was going to go with the Coban 2nd wards area, but the Elders got sick. So I was actually able to go with Elder Proctor and his new companion Elder Dold in my old area. That was fun, but also a little challenging. We passed by one of the families we taught. It turns out that the husband is cheating on his wife with the schoolteacher of his oldest son. He comes home really late every night and has also taken up smoking and drinking. He also denies that he ever thought the church was true and that he was just baptized to see if we would ever catch him in his lie. This is one of the hardest things I've ever dealt with. I don't understand what's going on. Well, I do, it's Satan, but he seemed like he was doing so well. The man that was one of my best investigators and converts went completely off the deep end. I just hope that he can work things out. It doesn't look like it'll happen quickly, but I pray he fixes it. But, after the day with Coban it was off to the Polochik for us. That was awesome, except for the tiny horrible bus we were in for hours on end. I finally learned what roughing it on your mission is like. Those Elders are so far out in the middle of nowhere. It is really cool that there is so much success in the church though. The mountains and valleys of Polochik and Senahu are scattered with chapels. I stayed with the ZLs in Teleman, Polochik, while Elder Allen and Elder Saavedra went up to the mountains of Senahu. I was a little jealous they got to go up to the mountains, but I knew I'd get a chance to see it later on. Polochik is hot! I was sweating the whole time I was there. We just went there to be able to train the zone leaders a bit on their assignment so we were not there for too much time. We actually got there yesterday at 6pm and left this morning at 3am. By the way, I'm tired. We were in buses from 3 am to 6pm. The funniest moment of the trip to Polochik was that the ZLs didn't go there to wait for me. I got off the bus as my companions drove away and sat on an old tire waiting. Now remember that people speak Kekchi in Polochik and not Spanish. I felt just like John Groberg on the Other side of Heaven. It was quite funny cause I was just sitting on the edge of a muddy soccer field with my little suitcase, gringo as can be. =) So we came back today and are tired! We'll have just enough time to write and go home. By the way Mom, I live in a house with all the office Elders. It's also pretty much the mission home because any new elders or ones that are going home spend the night there with us. It's really fun. And the house is super nice. We pay like 700 dollars a month for it. (An average house rent in the mission is about 100 dollars a month.) Plus it has a real hot water heater, a washer, and dryer. Luxury! This week starting on Tuesday we will be doing visits with 3 areas everyday here in the capital. Then the next week we will be in Petén. So it's pure divisions and traveling for us this month. That's great though. I know this church is true and that the Lord loves us. I learned something extremely important in my divisions this week. No matter who we are or where we are, the Lord helps us live the gospel and be in his service, if we are willing to do so. He is so aware of every single one of us. With so many different Elders, he knows just what they need and how they can reach their potential. I also know of the importance of sharing the gospel with everyone. I was sitting in the bus with an empty seat next to me so I prayed to our Father in Heaven to ask if he could give me somebody to share the gospel with. Less than one minute later the bus stopped and picked up a young man that came in and sat right next to me and started talking to me. He also bought me a soda so that was sweet! But I was able to teach him the restoration lesson and give him a pamphlet and get his address and phone number. The next day the Elders in San Jeronimo were able to find him, teach him, and give him a Book of Mormon, and he's going to church tomorrow. It was an awesome experience and a testimony that the Lord puts prepared sons and daughters in our path so that we can share what has blessed us so much. I know that God lives and loves us. Prayer really does rest the weary. Love you guys and hope you are all great! Thanks for the letters! Love, Elder Lloyd

Life in the Office

Hey guys,

Well it's sad news to hear that grandpa passed away.  Although it is sad, it isn't bad news.  He will be much happier now that he has more opportunities.  He was really suffering quite a bit.  The good thing is that we really can be together forever.

Here I am as a new Assistant to the President inthe Guatemala North Mission.  Don't worry, I'm not letting it get to my head.  It's a little weird here in the office.  It's weird not to work in the field.  It reminds me a lot of working in an office at home.  It drives all of the Elders crazy to be in here.  Oh well.  It was really sad leaving Coban.  I got on the bus Wednesday at 2 in the morning and left my beloved home.  That place is paradise.  The work is great and the people are even greater.  But the Lord has called me here.  I got here that morning and was put to work to help everybody get to their areas.  It's a bit stressful.  Then we went home and got everything arranged in the house for our trio and ate with Hna Watts.  She cooks really well.

My new companions are Elder Allen and Elder Saavedra.  Elder Allen's a pure cowboy from Baker City Oregon.  He's awesome.  Elder Saavedra is from Argentina.  He's also a really great guy.  It's funny because they were both my Zone leaders in Peten 8 months ago and we're companions now.  They both go home in a month.

On Thursday we had a meeting with President Watts to plan out what we wanted to do these next 6 weeks.  This is what made us all happy.  He said that neither he or the area presidency want the Assistants in the office.  They want us out in the field training missionaries and helping them.  President said that he hardly even wants to see us in the office this whole change and wants us in divisions every day.  So starting yesterday we are officially traveling division missionaries.  Divisions are awesome and what's really cool is that we have 3 people so we can do even more work.  President let us take a few hours alone yesterday to plan every day of the transfer and who we would go with.  On monday we will start with Baja Verapaz, Alta Verapaz, Coban, and the Polochic.  We'll then come back on Saturday to have Sunday and Monday here in the capital.  That next week we'll be here all over the capital in divisions as well.  After that week we are headed off to Peten. =)  I'm so excited for Peten especially.  We'll be there for a week and a half and get to spend conference weekend there.  Then we come home for a couple of days to rest before our mission tour with Elder Duncan, area Seventy.  We get to fly up to Peten and come back, have a meeting in the capital, and then have a combined meeting in Coban with the missionaries from Coban, Polochic, and Salama.  And that just about finishes up our transfer.  It's gonna be awesome!

Divisions are really cool because the Lord really guides you as a leader.  They are also really nerve racking because you know you have to be the greatest missionary you can be every moment because they're watching your every move.  That's a good thing though because it keeps you really focused on the work.

I got to go in a trio with the zone leaders in Alameda yesterday.  They are in the zone that I started my mission in.  Man I'm glad I got to serve outside the capital for so long.  But, even though it was a little feito, we had some great success and they are great elders.  It was also great because I got to see a lot of the families from my first ward at an activity they had going on in the church.  We also had an activity in the ZLs chapel that 20 investigators attended.  It was a huge success.  Too bad we can't get that many in sacrament meeting!  Maybe we should strap fireworks to a guy and have him run around every Sunday too.  =)  It was a cool activity because today is September 15, the independence day of Guatemala.

My new house is awesome.  It's once you get in the office of a mission that you really realize how much money the church has.  It's ridiculous how much we spend every day!  At least I have a hot water heater in my house now.  =)  I won't complain.

Anyways, I don't have much else to talk about because I haven't done much this week.  I officially don't have a proselyting area... =/  That's the lame part about being Assistant.  No more baptisms for me...  Oh well, there is still the chance that I train to finish out my mission.  That would be so amazing.  Anyways, love you guys.  The gospel is true.  Shall we not go on is such great a cause?

Love,
Elder Lloyd

P.S.- Here's a picture of how the men carry fire wood here.  That thing weighs more than 150 pounds.  They weigh like 80.  Also a Kekchi family in their ropa tipica.  Everybody dresses like that in Coban.

Transferred from Coban

Hey guys,

Well, another week and more transfers.  These 6 week transfers are going by so fast now.  It's actually kind of sad.  Things hit me yesterday that I'll really be leaving Coban tonight.  My bus leaves at 2 in the Morning and I'll get there at 7 just in time for the transfer conference at 9am.  It's a tired trip.  

Yesterday we went to the highest mountain in all of the Coban/Alta Verapaz area.  It was sooo much fun.  I've wanted to do that ever since I got to Coban 7 months ago.  It was unfortunate though because we brought some of the Sisters in the zone along with us and they showed up an hour and a half late and couldn't stand the hike.  As we were about an hour from the top, one of the sisters caught up to us to tell us that one of the other sisters was at the bottom dying because she was super sick.  So, I took another Elder with me and we ran down the mountain to see how she was and if she needed a blessing.  We were able to get down in about 20 minutes after it taking about 2 hours to get up.  We got to the bottom and she said she was perfectly fine, just waiting patiently for us to finish the hike and have a good time.  So, we started up the mountain again and hiked an hour just when the APs called us to tell us that one of the Elders on top of the mountain had to take a bus to the cap 2 hours later so we had to turn back.  So I didn't get to hike it, but it was still an awesome activity.  

As we rode the bus back to Coban through the hills and fields of the aldeas, it made me pretty sad to know I'd be leaving the people of Coban.  This place has really changed me.  I've seen miracles here.  I've struggled here more than in other time of my life, but for a great cause.  I feel just like Alma did when he talked about his joy of being an instrument in the hands of the Lord in saving some soul.  Really there is nothing better than finding people that want to come unto Christ and giving them the key that lets them enter in at the gate of the narrow path to eternal life.  I'm going to miss Elder Proctor as well.  What a great guy.  I'm really grateful I had this last change with him to learn all that the Lord had prepared for us to learn.  We really have felt the hand of the Lord here in this great city.  But, the Lord has other things in store for me now.  

It's looking like I'll be an Assistant to the President...  Not sure how I feel about it.  It's very possible that I won't have a proselyting area again in my mission. I sure hope that's not the case though.  I have 7 months left and it's possible that President could let me train the last 3 months of my mission.  But that's in a long time so I won't think of it too much.  It will be kind of cool because I will be able to go on a lot of divisions with Elders in the mission and try to help them work more effectively.  I also will be able to eat Hna Watts' food.  Ha-ha.  We'll see how it goes though.  

We had an amazing experience this week.  The mission has a goal of finding a 2 new families every week in every area, one through tracting efforts and one from member referrals. President Watts talked to us in concilio about putting goals of faith and asking the Lord to complete with those goals.  So we put it into practice and put the goal on Friday morning to fast starting after lunch and look for 2 new families before the weekend was over.  Well we went out to work and all our appointments fell.  But we continued and talked to a less active family that gave us a referral right there for a family that lived close by.  We went and contacted them immediately and taught them a lesson.  They loved it and invited us back.  New family.  Then we went to a street in our area that we had never tracted.  I had always felt that we should touch doors there since about 5 months ago but never had gotten to it because our area is so big.  So after knocking 5 or 6 houses and getting rejected at every single one of them, we felt we needed to contact one more house before we went to the next appointment.  We knocked and another family let us in to teach them about the book of Mormon.  They also loved it and invited us back for another visit.  All in all, God is very loving and will give us what we need if our desires our righteous.  We were able to complete that goal and feel a miracle in the work.  

On less great of news, the guy that got baptized about 2.5 months ago seems to be with another woman...  =(  He left his wife and 5 kids a week ago and seems to be living with another woman.  His wife asked for an explanation but he said it was none of her business and left.  I don't know what happened.  He was doing so well.  We've tried to find him at work to talk to him but haven't had any luck.  I don't like writing about it much because it's broken my heart, but please pray for him and his wife and her five kids.  She's thinking of moving to Chiquimula to live with her family, but isn't sure what to do still.  I hope everything goes ok.

I love you guys.  I hope everybody is doing well.  Congratulations Levi for becoming a High Councilman. The Lord has great things prepared for our family.  Thanks for the money for the suit.  It's going to be awesome.  I'll take a picture when I get it.  Anyways, got to pack.  

Love,

Elder Lloyd