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