NEW COMP

Elder Steere

Yo what up, super lit week here in Alotenango and we had transfers. I am staying here and I got a new comp named Elder Steere. Bro's a goat. He's from Grantsville Utah and is 6'7.  Giant. Walking around with him is actually insanely funny. The kids' reactions are probably the most entertaining part. I'm super pumped to stay here in Alotenango and try and pick things up. Whatever we were doing last transfer wasn't working too well so I've been trying to think of different ways to work here. 

In our area we have a “group” with like 5 members who live here. The rest of the members who live in our area live in gated communities between us and a big ward. So technically even though they live in our area, they still go to the ward so we kinda are left dry handed. The Bishop of the ward said he can't do anything about it so my plan is to motivate them to come to our “group”. We need to visit them like crazy and gain their confidence then they'll be a bit more motivated. We also started family home evenings with all the families here in Alotenango and we are hoping that once we make good friends with the people in the gated communities, they will come to the family home evenings and make friends with the people here and motivate everyone to start working together. We'll see how it goes!

Lately I've been focused on trying to align my will with God's will. It's been tough to align mine with His but it has been super humbling ngl. Chapter 6 in Preach My Gospel is definitely my favorite chapter and it talks about Christlike attributes. If we can get all those attributes down, well, our will will be aligned with our Heavenly Fathers. I invite you all to read chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel. It's on gospel library and it's amazing.

Love you all and miss you all

Be Safe

Scripture of the Week:

Colossians 1:11 “Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;”

Colosenses 1:11 “fortalecidos con todo poder, conforme a la potencia de su gloria, para toda paciencia y longanimidad, con gozo,”

Mulan Restaurant 

El Chinito

Familia Maldonado

    2025

Volcan de fuego

Yo what’s good, Happy New Year, hope you all are doing well. Super good New Years and I’m excited to be in 2025, guess why,  we got 7 months left in the mish and I’m super pumped to finish strong. Everyone says 12-18 months is pretty freaking slow and I can attest to that 100%. But EVERYONE says that 18-24 is insanely fast so pretty excited about that but also pretty nervous. We got on the roof of our house to watch fireworks at 12 and I realized that Guatemala for sure has the better tradition on New Years. I’ll miss it fs, but good thing we got 7 more months to enjoy it.

We received a reference from some members last week and they are super cool. They actually want to progress and are progressing. They are a couple with 3 kids. Bro is 22 years old, wild lol. The wife is 27 at least though so that’s good. We taught them about the restoration and they took it really well and said they want to get baptized which is super good news. The hard thing is though that they work on Sundays, aren’t married, and the husband drinks so it is going to be a lil tough but we’ll work hard with them and they are going to get baptized soon. We taught them how to pray which actually helped them a lot and I realized just how important saying a prayer in the right way is. There are a few things that we should be saying in our personal prayers every time.

Present God(Heavenly father, Loving father in heaven, etc

Thank Him for all that you have

Repent and ask forgiveness

Ask for strength to resist temptations and change

Ask for blessings for yourself and others according to the will of God

IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, amen

I know the impact it makes when we make our prayers personal and meaningful. I invite all of you guys to pray just a couple minutes longer and reflect with your Heavenly Father on how you are doing. Love you guys so much!

Stay Safe

Scriptures of the Week

Matthew 6:5-13   “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. 9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.  11 Give us this day our daily bread.  12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Mateo 6:5-13. 5  “Y cuando ores, no seas como los hipócritas, que les gusta orar de pie en las sinagogas y en las esquinas de las calles, para ser vistos de los hombres. De cierto os digo que ya tienen su recompensa. 6 Pero tú, cuando ores, entra en tu aposento, y cerrada tu puerta, ora a tu Padre que está en secreto; y tu Padre que ve en lo secreto te recompensará en público. 7 Pero cuando oréis, no uséis vanas repeticiones, como hacen los paganos, que piensan que serán oídos por sus muchas palabras. 8 No seáis, pues, como ellos, porque vuestro Padre sabe lo que necesitáis antes de que se lo pidáis. 9 Vosotros, pues, oraréis así: Padre nuestro que estás en los cielos, santificado sea tu nombre. 10 Venga tu reino. Hágase tu voluntad en la tierra como en el cielo. 11 Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada día. 12 Y perdónanos nuestras deudas, como nosotros perdonamos a nuestros deudores. 13 Y no nos dejes caer en la tentación, mas líbranos del mal: porque tuyo es el reino, el poder y la gloria por los siglos. Amén.

Escaladores

(Went climbing on P Day)

Throwback to 2022

Familia in Rome

     2024

Happy New Year 

What's up guys, super good week this last week.  Hope you all had a super good Christmas.  For Christmas Eve it was lit, we had changed our pday to Tuesday. We made breakfast as a zone and it was super fun and super mid food. They put like 12 eggs in instead of 3 and the pancakes were super doughy on the inside but it was chill. I just had to pretend it was cream and it was good. For Christmas night we went and slept over at the Zone Leaders house and had a lil party with a member family and ate a churasco and a lot of tomales and paches. Insanely gas. The tradition here is at midnight to light off every single firework that exists in Guatemala so it gets super loud all over but insanely pretty. We did presents with the ZL’s on Christmas morning and made pancakes, super lit. 

The work has been a little slow but we finally got a member to go out with us and give us references and we actually found people who want to progress. Super interesting right. Anyways we are excited about our new investigators and a little frustrated with some other investigators who are wanting to change their lives but just don’t keep commitments but it’s chill. They’re super close and will get there soon

My niece Oakley’s birthday was on Christmas so I got to celebrate Jesus and Her!! Also shoutout Barby (Elder Barber) and Cor for the meetup. Crazy.

Love you all so much and be safe this New Year! 2024 is a year I will never forget and I am so unbelievably humbled and lucky to have been a servant of the Lord this year. Wouldn't trade it for anything!

Scripture of the Week:

Alma 13:28 “But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering;”

Alma 13:28 “sino que os humilléis ante el Señor, e invoquéis su santo nombre, y veléis y oréis incesantemente, para que no seáis tentados más de lo que podáis resistir, y así seáis guiados por el Santo Espíritu, volviéndoos humildes, mansos, sumisos, pacientes, llenos de amor y de toda longanimidad;”

Amo a Oak

Christmas Birthday girl

Santa Vino at our Ward Party 

Happy Holidays

Elder Barber stopped by to visit in California

Barby, Corey and Bo 12/30/24

Throwback to 12/31/23

Barby, Billy and Bo

    FELIZ NAVIDAD

Christmas Conference

Merry Christmas everyone! Super fast week this last week and it is crazy I’m already at another Christmas. I’m super thankful for the time that I’ve had this past week to really focus on the birth of Jesus Christ and to share it with others. It brings so much joy to think of our Savior. A baby was born to change the world. Incredible. 

We had a lot of cool things happen this past week that were awesome. On Saturday we had the opportunity to go to the temple and teach a couple of investigators about the temple work and about life after death. The feeling is incredible and even just being outside of the temple and teaching a lesson brings the spirit so strongly. The next day, on Sunday, I had the opportunity to head back to an old area. In Milagro there was a girl that I had found and she was awesome back then and even more so now. Her name is Angela and when I found her and started teaching her, she was interested but didn’t have too much time because of school every Sunday and she wasn’t married. Now that stopped school, has gone to church a lot, and she broke up with her boyfriend so that she could be baptized. It has been almost 6 months since Milagro and I have only baptized one person since my hot streak ended there. I have kinda gotten down about it and have wondered if I’m doing something wrong or how I can start baptizing again. Her baptism changed the whole mindset and I realized as a mission we are a team and as members we are a team. It’s not just me and I couldn't be more grateful for the Elders in Milagro who did their job and got her baptized. 

We also had our Christmas conference on Monday which was super fun.  Our p-day got changed to Tuesday and we got together as a zone early and made breakfast. Overall, this week made me realize how much I just love being here, how much I need to be here and that there is nowhere else I would rather be than here. It feels right. 

I love you all so much and remember our Savior Jesus Christ today!  Tell Him you love Him for me. 

Scripture of the Week:

Alma 7:10-12”10 And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God. 11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. 12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.”

Alma 7:10-12 “10 Y he aquí, nacerá de María, en Jerusalén, que es la tierra de nuestros antepasados, y siendo ella virgen, un vaso precioso y escogido, a quien se hará sombra y concebirá por el poder del Espíritu Santo, dará a luz un hijo, sí, aun el Hijo de Dios. 11 Y él saldrá, sufriendo dolores, aflicciones y tentaciones de todas clases; y esto para que se cumpla la palabra que dice: Tomará sobre sí los dolores y las enfermedades de su pueblo. 12 Y tomará sobre sí la muerte, para soltar las ligaduras de la muerte que sujetan a su pueblo; y sus debilidades tomará él sobre sí, para que sus entrañas sean llenas de misericordia, según la carne, a fin de que según la carne sepa cómo socorrer a los de su pueblo, de acuerdo con las debilidades de ellos.”

Christmas 2024

Carlos

Haciendo ponche

Mi chamaco

Las corbatas

Elder Ryan & Julie Ainsley and their daughter Ainsley who

are serving in Guatemala from Utah

La familia Xoc

    JOEY

Hijito y nietito

So awesome to see Elder Giles in Antigua

Super good week. 2 weeks down here in Alotenango and honestly it feels like I've been here forever - in a good way! I like it here and we have investigators that have a lot of potential and we are trying super hard to get them baptized this transfer. Please pray for Abi, Noemy, Alma, Angelica and Vidal. They are such goats.

The problem with some of them is that Alma, Noemy, and Abi do not have permission from their dad. So, also pray for their dad Carlos as well. We are making a lot of progress actually with their dad but it is going to be very tough for us to get permission.

Angelica is super cool and takes to the lessons honestly really well. She has a super cute little 1 year old but man does she know how to scream. So do my nieces and nephews so I understand and feel bad when we go over cause when we do, she is always trying to be nice to us but also wrestling with her kid as well. So we don’t have that insanely reverent silence and peace to let us teach with The Spirit. Even though she seems like she isn’t paying attention because she is dealing with her kid, she remembers EVERYTHING. Still hasn’t come to church yet.  However, we believe that we can get her next week!

Vidal is also a super goat and has been taught by the missionaries before. The thing with him is that he works on Sundays so we haven’t been able to get him to church. He also says that he does not believe in modern day prophets and apostles so we’re trying to figure that one out. He is insanely cool though because bro actually keeps his commitments. He reads the Book of Mormon every time we give him a chapter to read. He always shares his thoughts and he actually likes reading it.  We’re hoping that if he grows a crazy strong testimony he will understand that modern prophets do exist and that the Book of Mormon is evidence of that.

Everything else is pretty slow here but it’s been super fun. I have been praying a lot for miracles to happen. It’s hard to see them to be honest but it has been awesome asking for help and asking to see them. 

Love you all - stay safe

Shoutout to Joey - the 5th niece/nephew born since I have left on my mission.

Scripture of the Week:

Alma 34:21 “Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening.”

Alma 34:21 “Clamad a él en vuestras casas, sí, por todos los de vuestra casa, tanto por la mañana, como al mediodía y al atardecer.”

Jojo

    LA EXPIACION DE MI HERMANO

Volcan de fuego y Acatenango

Super long week this week but still super happy to be here. I have been getting a lot more obedient with my new companion and he is a goat. We’ve been getting along so much and we are great friends. We have done companionship study every single day, which I have not done before with my other companions. We have insanely deep talks after our study and it's so lit. The language is coming along quick to the both of us. I'm still definitely not perfect and there is a lot of room to grow but it has been fun studying the language with him.

That's about it for the week, not too much has been happening but we have found a lot of new people to teach and hope they progress. I have a couple of quotes I want to share with you guys today so hope you will all be able to enjoy and learn from them.

"If some few of you are carrying such wounds—and I know that you are—to you is extended the peace and renewal of repentance available through the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. In such serious matters the path of repentance is not easily begun nor painlessly traveled. But the Savior of the world will walk that essential journey with you. He will strengthen you when you waver. He will be your light when it seems most dark. He will take your hand and be your hope when hope seems all you have left. His compassion and mercy, with all their cleansing and healing power, are freely given to all who truly wish complete forgiveness and will take the steps that lead to it."  -Jeffery R. Holland 

"He suffered so I, Anziano Riley England (Elder Bowen England), wouldn’t have to suffer. I could be forgiven without suffering because Christ loved me so much to suffer for me. I again got on my knees and asked the Lord to help me feel forgiven and to truly help me understand the Atonement. I felt the rush of peace flood my body. The clarity of mind [came]. My Savior, my brother, my friend took my sins away. I accepted the Atonement. I let the Savior forgive me. The suffering has been done. The joy and happiness are eternal... Why am I forgiven? Because he loves me”. -Anziano Riley England

Love you all, you are NOT alone. A baby was born to save us from sin. Use his atonement in every moment.

Scripture of the Week:

Helaman 3:27 "Thus we may see that the Lord is merciful unto all who will, in the sincerity of their hearts, call upon his holy name"

Helamán 3:27 "Así vemos que el Señor es misericordioso para con todos aquellos que, con la sinceridad de su corazón, quieran invocar su santo nombre"

Mi compa

View from my house

    ALOTENANGO

My new area Alotenango

What up Elderes. Super good week this week. We had transfers. I got transferred and I am now here in Alotenango with Elder Ballard and it’s been so lit lately. The views from this place are insane. It reminds me of Santiago a little bit. The culture is super different obviously but just like Santiago I live in between 3 volcanoes. The big difference between these 3 and the 3 in Santiago is that here, one of the volcanoes is active and blows up literally every 5 minutes. It’s wild. They aren’t huge eruptions and it’s not dangerous for us but it has been so beautiful to watch. This is my first time being in the Antigua zone and I am still blown away by the volcanoes. It’s so normal for all the people here and for my comp but I still just stare 24/7. Also yesterday there was a super lit party in our area and the firework show with the volcano blowing up was super sick to watch. 

We have a couple investigators that aren’t progressing but they do want to be baptized. They are 3 girls named Abi, Darlin, and Alma. They are super awesome. The problem is however, the Elder I replaced always visited them without anyone else being there. Which is not good for a lot of reasons, but mainly now because their dad didn’t like that very much. I mean I wouldn’t if I were him either. 2 kids from different places hanging out with your teenage daughters is NOT a very good look so I don’t blame the dad for his feelings. However, he is now very against us and I didn’t even have the chance to get to know him before he made up his mind about the missionaries. We told the girls that we want to help them get baptized and that we will do everything that we can to help them achieve that goal. But we need to do it through their dad. The problem this creates is that I told them that we aren’t going to visit them if their dad isn’t home and if he doesn’t want us there. Now they think I’m such a bum for not wanting to visit them. Super tough stuff but we had a good fast this Sunday for their situation and we hope that all will work out the way it is supposed to.

The brief message that I want to share with you all is following the spirit. Sometimes we do wrong things for the right reasons. It makes sense in our minds to do this because even though we are doing something wrong, but for the right reasons, it just doesn’t help. Obedience in the mission is so important and I am not the greatest. I am far from being 100% obedient, but obedience really does matter. When we do something wrong for the right reasons, it is still simply wrong. We need to understand that the spirit wants to make us happy and Satan wants to make us miserable. We know who wants us to be obedient and who wants us to be disobedient. Being obedient isn’t easy but it brings so much happiness. And it doesn't apply to just missionaries or kids in primary. It’s for everyone to obey the commandments, go to church and keep the sabbath day holy, pay tithing, etc.

Love you all and I testify of the happiness that obedience brings. BE OBEDIENT and BE HAPPY!

Scripture of the Week:

1 Nephi 17:3 "And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness."

1 Nefi 17:3 "Y así vemos que los mandamientos de Dios se deben cumplir. Y si los hijos de los hombres guardan los mandamientos de Dios, él los alimenta y los fortifica, y provee los medios por los cuales pueden cumplir lo que les ha mandado; por tanto, él nos proporcionó lo necesario mientras permanecimos en el desierto"

Saying goodbye to people in Patzunero

(top from left: Familia Yos, Abuelita Yos, Familia Ajpop

Right side from top: Los De Jas, Mi chelita

Bottom from left: Familia Ajpop Teleguario,Obispo Garret Emma & friends

Left from top: Emma, Obispo Tum)

The District

Elder Ballard

    AYUNO

Patzunero

Qué onda cheles, good long week. We started the week off with a fast to find more people that are ready. We did our 24 hours from Monday night to Tuesday night and it really paid off. We got a text from a chick on Tuesday from an English Academy who wanted help judging their students on their final exams for the year. So on Wednesday morning we went over to the Academy and we talked to her about how we could help and she told us how we were going to judge. We started talking a bit more and we talked about our experiences that we’ve had with learning a new language and started talking about our Heavenly Father. She started to get emotional and really opened up and shared a lot of personal things that have been going on in her life. She said that she needed help spiritually and was so glad that we had come into her life. She knew other missionaries before but never talked to them about the gospel. We testified that this church is the kingdom of God on the earth and asked if she wanted to find out for herself. She said she wants to and wants to start her preparation to be baptized. We’ve taught her more and extended the invitation to be baptized.  We haven’t put a baptismal date yet but we found our miracle. 

Short email this email but I want to share a little message on testimony about fasting and faith. First of all, it works, it's real, and God listens. He pays attention, he knows us, he watches us, and we really do matter to Him. When we started the fast it wasn't necessarily something we wanted to do. It was hard and a bit annoying but we did it anyway. And I don't want to make it sound like it was this big hard sacrifice and it was so terrible, but I want to relate it to our lives. Each and every one of you have your own lives, personal and family problems. It's hard, sometimes life isn't easy. But we're here, doing it, so let's do it with faith. It would be a sad life to go through it without the help of our Heavenly Father. But when we do it with Him, with faith, with trust in Him that He can help us, how much more light shines on our dark days. 

Fast this week with faith for someone or something, and you will know that God is there. You will see Him change their lives. Fast for them so that they can come to know of the knowledge of Christ.

Love you all

Scripture of the Week:

John 14:14 “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it”

Juan 14:14 “Si algo pidiereis en mi nombre, yo lo haré.”

At Tomas’ house 

Amo a la hermana Clara por la comida rica 

    GRANDPA ENGLAND

Yo what's up, insanely slow week again and tough week for the work but this week will be good - trust!  We only have one more week left in the transfer and it's crazy that it's ending. Even though the past 2 weeks have gone slower, the transfer has really slipped away from me. We have been super focused on visiting members and inactive members these past couple of weeks and it has been fun but really taken a hit on the datos for the week.

Also, this week my grandpa England passed away. If you know who Gene England was you know he was a man of joy, integrity, love, and humility. A couple weeks ago he hit his 105th birthday. I couldn't be more proud of the life that he lived and the example he was to the world. When I think about him living from 1919-2024, I can't imagine what his eyes have seen. He drove trucks with his father C.R. at 14 years old with his brother. He went to Japan and fought in World War II.  During that time, he sold his cigarette rations and came back with $5,000 (which in today's money would be around $100,000). He came back and bought a truck for the company and the rest is history. I dream to be half the man my grandfather was. Not so much about worldly possessions or experiences, but more in how he was nothing but righteous. The last words he said were “Think Celestial” and I hope to love and lead as he did. 

The mission has brought such happiness to me in my life and losing a loved one is not fun. However, the knowledge we have of the gospel helps me realize that wow, my Grandpa is way closer to me now than he ever was on earth. I thank my Heavenly Father for this knowledge and I hope to share this joy with each and every one of you. God KNOWS you and LOVES you. He has a plan for us and it is perfect. Trust him and find the joy as Christ would.

Love you all and stay safe

Scripture of the Week:

Alma 36:22 “Yea, me thought I saw, even as our father Lehi saw, God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels, in the attitude of singing and praising their God; yea, and my soul did long to be there.”

Alma 36:22 “Sí, me pareció ver —así como nuestro padre Lehi vio— a Dios sentado en su trono, rodeado de innumerables concursos de ángeles en actitud de estar cantando y alabando a su Dios; sí, y mi alma anheló estar allí”

    REMEMBER LOT'S WIFE

Patzun

Super Long week this week. Definitely missed home more than usual haha. We made great progress with a lot of people this week and a lot of others not so much. I feel like I have forgotten how to work and how to baptize lol. However, we have found people who show so much potential and I really think we can get them before the transfer ends. They are the in-laws of one of our members. The member grew up in the church and her whole family are members but she married an Evangelical guy and his whole family is Evangelical as well. She gave us dinner and we ended up meeting the family. We started talking about the plan of Salvation and they were super excited about it. We went back the next day and we had prepared a great lesson for them. We introduced the Book of Mormon and taught the plan of Salvation using scriptures from the Bible and the Book of Mormon for every principle that we taught. They loved it. They had SO many questions and we were able to answer their questions and they genuinely felt a huge interest in our message. We testified of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and invited them to pray about it. They asked us a very important question. How have you guys felt God answer your prayers? We talked about how there are so many different ways to receive answers and revelation but that if you trust God and only ask Him, you will know, and when you know, do not be scared to accept the truth. 

I have seen hundreds of people throughout my mission feel the spirit, know it was the spirit, and reject it afterwards because they were scared to accept the truth. I had an experience with a family that told me that they weren't going to read the Book of Mormon because they knew they were going to find the truth. Conversion is hard, I don't blame them. I see myself in a lot of these people. Sometimes I don't trust God enough to convert me, or I do, and that's why I don't listen. There's an amazing BYU speech by Jeffrey R. Holland that is titled “Remember Lot's Wife”. I invite all of you guys to listen to it, and ask yourself the question, “What is something important to me that I need to leave behind because God has asked me to?” 

Love you all and I promise as we look forward with confidence in ourselves and in our Heavenly Father, we will find more happiness than what we would have left behind. 

Remember Lot's Wife: 

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/jeffrey-r-holland/remember-lots-wife/

Scripture of the Week:

Luke 17:32: “Remember Lot’s wife”

Lucas 17:32: “Acordaos de la mujer de Lot”

Saw Hermana Cylda at the temple!  

I baptized her a year ago

    PROGRESS

Emma's baptism

What’s up everyone, hope you’re all doing super good. This week has actually been super good. The time here has been flying like crazy. We are about halfway done with the transfer and not gonna lie, I’ve been a little bit scared and nervous. When I got here I felt such a big motivation to get here, baptize and make a mark immediately. Here we are halfway through the transfer and we haven’t even set a baptism date yet. I’ve been kinda stressing out and don’t want to end the transfer without making progress in the area. However, super fun little baptism for our little sister Emma. She was so cute. Inactive mom, started visiting them and taught her all the lessons and then she elected me to baptize her. She is so cute and it was fun to be able to get in the water for the first time since Milagro. She was 8 years old so it technically didn’t count for the mission but it still counted in my heart. She’s the best. Little baptism drought since Michael 2 months ago and a month before that was the last one but it’s chill. We starting to grind again.

The little thought I wanted to give this week is about progress. I look back at old photos on google photos and don’t feel like appearance wise I’ve changed very much but my nature, habits, my thoughts, and everything has obviously changed so much. But lately I have been feeling that the past 2 and a half transfers I haven’t felt as much progress. I haven’t felt like I have been learning as much Spanish or learning much from the scriptures and lessons as I used to at the start of the mission. (I attached a link to the video so watch it and you’ll know what I mean when I say I kinda felt like I just looked forward into the cloud instead of walking forward). Almost like I just took a break and took a little nap. I now feel like I have started to walk forward again in faith and it feels a lot better.

I realized freak, I’m not always going to be on the mission! I was kinda upset that I wasn’t making as much progress or learning as much as I did at the beginning of the mission. So I realized just how hard it is going to be to progress at home. With work, school, sports, constant temptations and little by little slowing down until we eventually just stop in the cloud. Sometimes we(I) just do not trust what our Father in Heaven has in store for us(me) and we stop. Stop praying at night and in the morning. We stop reading the scriptures. We stop going to church. and eventually we START doing things that we shouldn’t. We get selfish, lazy, faithless, and eventually start to lose the testimony we once had. DON’T DO THAT. I promise it does not bring happiness or solutions. It brings sadness and more problems disguised as temporary “happiness”.

Wether you are homesick on the mish or are questioning if the church is true, or if you are the bishop of a ward, keep going and always remember that you can always progress. You will find what you look for.  If you look for eternal happiness, you will find it. If you look for the temporal happiness, you will find it. I trust you all to pick the one Jesus wants you to.

Be safe, love you hear from you all next week

Link to the video:

Patterns of Light: Spirit of Revelation

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/video/inspirational-messages/2012-01-012-patterns-of-light-spirit-of-revelation?lang=eng

Scripture of the Week:

Alma 32:26 “Now, as I said concerning faith—that it was not a perfect knowledge—even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge”

Alma 32:26 “Pues como dije acerca de la fe, que no era un conocimiento perfecto, así es con mis palabras. No podéis, al principio, saber a la perfección acerca de su veracidad, así como tampoco la fe es un conocimiento perfecto”

So tired

La Dentista