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