Transfers!!

Well, this week was great. We had transfers and everything went smoothly. We had about 100 missionaries this time that had some type of change and a total of 40 news. Así que, it was crazy. Everybody seemed very happy with their transfers though and we had 0 glitches in the plans. It was great! I did miss a lot of sleep though. I can't tell you how many nights I have had in the past 6 months where I have gone to bed at midnight and woken up at 4 am. But, everything's good. This week we have ZL concilio and then we are headed off to Peten to do divisions for a week. Chilero. It's going to be extremely fun but also extremely hot. This is the hottest time of year in the hottest part of Central America. It's been up around 105 every day this past week. Woohoo. I love it there though. I got 2 new companions, Elder Mansfield from South Jordan Utah and Elder Escobar from Quetzaltenango Guatemala. They are both amazing missionaries and I am super excited to be with them. I know that we are going to be able to do a lot together in this change. I have to teach them absolutely everything about running a mission in 6 weeks so that they can take over when I leave. Should be fun though. I gotta sacar the jugo. I'm so excited though. The mission is changing and it is so awesome to be a part of it. Well, I'm sorry this letter is going to be a short one, mom and dad started talking about hotels and travel plans and I got all distracted. I love you guys. Have a good week. Love, Elder Lloyd

Misión Coban!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, it is true, Coban mission! How awesome is that?! That was some huge news in our mission this week. I actually didn't know about the split of the mission until this past monday. What's going to happen is all of the zones in our mission outside of the capital plus the new CHISEC ZONE will be one mission. Then all of the zones in the capital, consisting of 6 stakes, plus some of the zones in the South mission will form the East mission. So, there will never be a Guatemala North mission again. Weird huh? I must admit, I might have to take a bit of credit for opening up the Coban mission because of the investigation we did in Chisec, Raxruha, Fray, and Playa Grande. Just kidding, I know that the Lord guided us through everything we did. You really can't imagine how awesome the new Coban Mission is going to be. There will be no lame areas. Usually everybody wants to get outside of the capital in the mission, but that isn't a problem now. You either go to coban, Peten, Polochic, or Senahu, all of which are sweet! Needless to say, I am excited. This won't happen until July of this year though, so we have a couple of months to prepare. It actually shouldn't affect me too much. One thing that is sad with the split of the mission is that half of the missionaries will not have President and Hermana Watts anymore. Also sad is that President will now be the president of the East mission and will no longer have any of the really awesome parts of his mission. Oh well though, the Lord has His own plans. This week was pretty fun. We got to take our truck on a road trip with president Watts through Senahu, Polochic, and Coban to do the interviews of those zones. The fun part is that that's all in the mountains in Senahu and Polochic on dirt roads. It was soooo fun driving through these mountain roads. There were all sorts of muddy parts and rivers running through the road and I got to drive a truck through it. That place is like Jurassic Park. Other than that, it was nice to do the interviews and training meetings with the Elders. It had been awhile and the Elders really needed it. It gave them a lot of ánimo to keep working and also helped them refocus. It was a little sad though, because we found a couple of problems with some of the missionaries. Oh well though, it's better to find things out than to have them hidden. Transfers will be coming up this next week, on the 5th of March. Elder Willardson will be leaving so I'll be getting 1 or 2 new companions. That should be fun and keep me busy. I'll have 1 month to teach them everything about the mission. We are getting a total of 40 more new missionaries this change, putting our total up to 247 missionaries. ¡Hiiiiijuela gran máquina! In 3 transfers we've received 106 new missionaries. Everybody is training at least one person and some are training 2 at the same time. I don't even know where we're going to stick um all. Haha. Should make for a nice stress-free week. =) I really have gotten used to the stress though. I just kinda go with the flow. Today was awesome because we were able to go to the Coban 3rd ward, where I served. They are doing so great. Every aspect of a ward is in full functioning order, which is a big deal in Guatemala. There are people for every calling and they are working with the missionaries like dogs. The missionaries are never without a member when teaching investigators and are only going from referral to referral. It's awesome to see how much the work is changing and how the Lord is preparing the way for huge growth in the Church. And now with 58 new missions, we're going to see some awesome things. This church is so true. There isn't a shadow of a doubt that it is. It's so humbling knowing that the Lord is using me in this time of great growth. In fact He wants to use us all and will if we give him the chance. Now we just gotta see when Coban gets a temple. You know, 30 years ago Boyd K Packer made a prophesy in a meeting in Guatemala that there would be temples in Guatemala City, Quetzaltenango, and Coban in the near future. Well, there are temples in Guatemala City and Quetzaltenango. Ahora les toca ahí en k'ob'an. By the way Mom and Dad, I am so proud of the missionary work you are doing. And congratulations for your new calling as the missionary prep teachers. There's nothing better than missionary work. Well, have a great week! Love, Elder Lloyd

Elmer!

Hey guys, Another good week. As always, I'm doing well and loving life. We started out this week flying to Peten and doing the interviews and trainings with each of the companionships in the zone over a 2 day period. It went super well. It's always nice to be able to do those meetings with each of the companionships and get to know each and every one of them a little better and try to help them with their challenges. It's starting to get really hot in Peten. By the way Mom and Dad, just so you know when you get here in April it's probably the hottest week of the entire year in Guatemala. Get ready to sweat. Also, you might want to bring some good sunscreen. We came back on Wednsday night from Peten. We left on Friday early morning and did the interviews in the Verapaz zone. They are doing really well. I think they are probably some of the best missionaries in the whole mission. The best part is they are all really new missionaries and have so much energy for the work! It was touching because a few of them told me about some of the things I had said in the training meetings we give when missionaries enter the mission that had impacted them. They said they had applied what we had said and really gained a testimony of it. That was really nice because it helped me realize that what I'm doing in the mission really does make a difference. One great noticia is that my converts from Peten are in the Temple Preparation class preparing to be sealed together. How cool is that?! It would be a total of 3 families. Hopefully they can get ready by April. It's so great to know that my converts are doing well. I love hearing about their growth from other missionaries. Also, just knowing that their goal is the temple and that the wards are helping them get there. Well, not much happened this week, but I did want to tell a great story. I think I mentioned about 4 months ago that I had had this experience. I was with my two companions going to Salama about 3 hours from the capital. The two of them sat together and I was sitting in front of them with nobody sitting next to me. Well, in the moment I was feeling horrible about myself. I was thinking about how I had been stuck in the office dealing with administrative stuff of the mission like transfers, trainings, etc. It had been about 3 weeks to a month since I had actually been out working in an area and sharing the gospel. I prayed so hard to the Lord that he would give me the opportunity on that bus to share the gospel with at least one person so that I could feel the joy of sharing the gospel again. I had just finished the prayer and opened my eyes when the bus stopped and picked up a young man. The young man got on the bus and made his way over, sitting right next to me. So I thought, I better talk to him. His name was Elmer and was actually a really nice guy. By the time we got to our destination I was able to talk to him about the restoration of the gospel and gave him a pamphlet. I got his information and handed it off to the missionaries in his area. The missionaries told me the day after that they had made contact with him and he seemed to be really receptive. I was so excited and hoped he would progress. I kind of forgot about him. Yesterday, over 4 months after that happened, I was talking to the Elders in Elmer's area. Neither of these Elders were in the area when I first made contact with Elmer. They had a baptism last week and I asked them how it went. They said very well and showed me their pictures. Well, it was Elmer. He was baptized last Saturday. Also, his Girlfriend and her brother were baptized about a month ago and Elmer's family is now listening to the missionaries and progressing and his sister has accepted a baptismal date. I was so happy! That is one of the biggest answer to a prayer I have had in my entire life. Because the Lord loves me and his other children, he allowed Elmer to get on that bus in that exact moment on that exact date, just so I could talk to him about the gospel and his family would be able to know the truth. I have also gained a huge testimony of the importance of our small acts of service. Because of one little 30 minute busride sharing the gospel, the Lord could make great things happen in the lives of Elmer and his family. I felt so humbled to be a part of that and know the Lord loves me and wants me to be happy. Anyways, the gospel is great! Happiness truly comes from working for the Lord. There is nothing else. I love you all. Have a great week! Elder Lloyd

New Missionaries

Hey guys, Well, it's been quite awhile since you heard from me. I'm super sorry. It was a stressful week! It was great though. We had all the transfers, but usually we get all the transfers and new companions and trainers decided on on the Thursday before we do the assignments. The transfers usually take place on a Wednesday. We also usually have a training meeting for the new missionaries on the Tuesday immediately before the transfer date. Well, we finished all the assignment changes and companion things on Saturday night rather than Thursday and we moved the transfer date from Wednesday forward to Tuesday. So rather than having about 6 days to plan everything, we only had 3. Also, we were informed that we would be getting 1 Elder from Mexico Monday, 29 from the Guatemalan MTC on Tuesday morning, 2 Brazilians on Tuesday night, and 9 Gringuitos from the Provo MTC on Wednesday morning at 7. So we had to hold 3 different training meetings on different days. Also, President decided that we would be giving all of the transfers over the phone rather than having a formal transfer meeting like we normally do. We also had to arrange taxis from each Zone Leader´s house to the others'. And on top of everything, we had a conference with Elder D. Todd Christofferson the following Thursday, right after the training of the gringos and Brazilians that morning. It was awesome! Ha ha. I don't know if I can truly describe how much we had to do, but it was so busy! On Wednesday I had over 50 phone calls and was on the phone for probably 8 hours. But, after all was done, there were no major problems with the transfers and everybody got there. We didn't actually get to open those new areas that we went and looked at a few weeks ago because it is a bit of a process to get it ready. You have to get permission from the area presidency and everything. But, I was talking to President earlier today and it's looking very good for those areas in 6 weeks. The area presidency is extremely interested in those areas and very excited about the chance to open the church there. So president commented that he was planning of putting a whole new zone up there; 12 to 16 missionaries. How exciting is that?! That's a lot of new beds and refrigerators we're going to have to buy and ship up there. So it seems very positive for those areas, which is exciting because it means we are probably going to have to head up there again and get houses and the area ready. So, we're really looking forward to that. We had a couple of missionaries that extended there mission a month so President Watts gave them a pretty cool assignment. They area traveling split Elders. So what they will be doing is just traveling and doing splits with a different area every day. That will be great because Elder Willardson and I are going to be really busy doing a mission tour and interviews with President and Hermana Watts for the next few weeks. I'm really excited to see the changes that the Elders can help make in each of the areas they visit. The conference with Elder Christofferson was absolutely fantastic! It was amazing! We did the conference with 3 missions combined and I actually sang with 3 other Elders in a Quartet. We sang Nearer my God, to Thee. It turned out really nice. It was pretty nerve-wracking - singing 3 feet in front of an apostle though! One thing that was really cool was that Elder Christofferson, in the middle of the talk, stopped to take a minute to thank us for our song. He looked straight at us and expressed his gratitude. Wow, it was powerful. We sang before anybody talked, so it was nice to just relax afterward and listen to the Spirit. It was probably the most impactful devotional/conference I have ever been to in my life. He talked a lot about how, as missionaries, we share his apostolic responsibilities and calling. Multiple times he called us his companions and thanked us for our help. He also talked about our level of excitement in the work and the importance to teach with the knowledge that we hold the kingdom of God in our hands. People should realize that we our giving them the opportunity to return to God's presence. Towards the end of the meeting, it got really spiritual. Even though there were almost 400 missionaries there, it seemed as though it was only he and I in the whole room and that the Lord was talking directly to me through his servant and apostle. It was quite extraordinary. And I know that's how everyone in the room felt as well. It was a very special thing. At the very end of the meeting, he ended on a very special note. He began to give us blessings. One of the best things he said was that He blessed us with the knowledge that our Heavenly Father loves us, and that he is very pleased with the work we are doing and know we are, although not perfect, doing our best to improve. Honestly the conference was life-changing for me. I'll never forget it. One of my favorite quotes from the conference was this, "La carga de servir al Señor siempre será más ligera que la carga del pecado." "The weight of serving the Lord will always be lighter than the weight of sin." It's so true and really the secret to find happiness in life. No matter what the Lord asks us to do, as we do it and take upon ourselves the yoke of the Lord, it will become easy unto us. Anyways, it was a week full of lots of great things. We are now off to start the interviews and trainings with all of the companionships in the mission. That means we will have between 30 and 45 minutes with each of the 102 companionships of the mission. Good stuff. Love you guys. Thanks for always writing me. Have a good one. Love, Elder Lloyd