PROGRESS

San Pedro

Wow super sick week for me.  It was a big learning week for everyone with conference obviously but for me personally I feel like I was taught a whole lot of lessons.

I loved Elder Renlund's talk and his story. I'm sure you all heard it, but if not you guys gotta go listen to it when it gets on the gospel library app. I learned a lot from the story he shared. It made me think about how far we all have left to go. We can be missionaries, life-long members, bishops, seminary teachers, etc, but if we don't progress EVERY SINGLE DAY, Satan wins. If we aren't progressing, we are losing. It is so easy to forget to consecrate and focus ourselves on the Lord. As a missionary I have realized there have been days that I have not progressed. I probably taught a lesson or two those days and probably invited people to come unto Christ without doing it myself. I did it because it is my job to do it and not because I wanted to grow closer to Christ. So just because maybe we don't take steps away from Christ, the world will take us away little by little. Our church responsibilities don't do much for us if we aren't “progressing” towards Christ. We have to do the things we do out of love for Christ and because we want to. Not because we should or because we have to, but because we want to. 

For the work though, we are making progress with 2 girls named Chonita and Rosalia. They aren't related or friends, just two different people who are learning. Chonita believes the Book of Mormon is the word of God and we need it to answer things from the Bible. She also believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he restored the original church that Jesus Christ established on the earth. However, thinks her Evangelical pastor has the authority of God and that her church is true as well. Not sure how she believes both but we'll get her baptized. Rosalia is awesome. She was not making progress so I told her I was dropping her from teaching lol. That night she said she couldn't sleep and realized what we were teaching was right and that she needed to come to church. She watched all of the conference on Sunday and half of Saturday. She'll get baptized soon too hopefully. 

Pray for these two if you get a chance

Love you all and hope you guys can take this to heart and grow towards Christ. It'll bless our lives more than we know. Los quiero mucho

Scripture of the Week:

Enos 1:27 "And I soon go to the place of my rest, which is with my Redeemer; for I know that in him I shall rest. And I rejoice in the day when my mortal shall put on immortality, and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father. Amen."

Enós 1:27 "Y pronto iré al lugar de mi reposo, que es con mi Redentor, porque sé que en él reposaré. Y me regocijo en el día en que mi ser mortal se vestirá de inmortalidad, y estaré delante de él; entonces veré su faz con placer, y él me dirá: Ven a mí, tú, que bendito eres; hay un lugar preparado para ti en las mansiones de mi Padre. Amén"

Chicken and my Fam 

Pop grinding

    BAPTISM!

Veronica and Maria's Baptism!

Super sick week this week.  Gonna keep it short because I am a day late and don't have much time haha.  

Maria and Veronica got baptized!!! The dad gave us permission to baptize them so we finally got it done.  Only took about 3-4 weeks lol.  They were so cute and nervous for their baptism but it was so awesome.  They are super sassy too and love to joke around with me and it's almost as good as having Oakley around.  But Oaks is the goat and she can never be replaced!  Speaking of nieces and nephews, all of my best friends are growing up so insanely fast.  Millie and Huddy are running around like crazy now and Cal has a crush in school.  I hear she's a Latina and only speaks Spanish.  Cal my boy ... we gotta take off the goggles soon.  

Overall though a great week.  My companion finishes his mission soon and is a little less motivated than Elder Grutzmacher and Elder Barber but I work with what I got.  The New Testament has been my best friend lately and it is sick reading it for the first time from start to finish.  I am only reading 3 chapters a day but it is super fun to read.  A little repetitive on the stories but I still love it.  Again, I invite all of you guys to read the scriptures and prepare for General Conference!!  They are the word of God and it is so necessary to read them!  Don't be like Guatemalans and say you'll do the things I ask and then don't do them.  Just do it, it will bless your live I promise. 

Scripture of the week:

Luke 9:62 "And Jesus said unto him, no man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kindom of God"

Lucas 9:62 "Y Jesus le dijo: Ninguno que pone su mano en el arado y mira hacia atras es apto para el reino de Dios.:

Getting ready for the baptism!

Cutest kids!

    CAMBIOOOOS

New Elders in Santaigo

Ixcola. Long and busy week and long email coming in(read the last 2 paragraphs if you don't want to read all of it). I can't remember if I said it or not but here in Santiago we share a ward with 2 other Elders and we have Lunch and dinners with members almost every day. We are always with them because of that and all our meetings they are with us so basically we are with them whenever we don’t have appointments. I am saying this though because we had transfers on Friday and everyone left and I am the only one to stay in Santiago. My comp Elder Grutz got transferred to the city, the very farthest possible place we could have gone. Elder Casady got transferred to the city as well. Lastly, Elder Marin got transferred to his house. Shout out to my guy, bro did it I’m almost there though, 7 months in the mish is starting to get there. I still feel just as lost as the new Kids who just got here. 

We got Elder Siow, Elder Richardson, and my comp Elder Martinez. I’m pumped for this new group. Elder Siow is simply just a good dude. One of the biggest homies in the mish. Elder Richardson just loves the work and finishes his mission soon. Great guy. My comp Elder Martinez finishes his mission this transfer and is a legend in the mish. I keep getting super Lucky with my comps. He's from Mexico and I'm hoping my Spanish will take off this transfer because now I will only be speaking Spanish with him. We are all gonna focus on Tz’utujil this transfer too. 

So what I want to talk about is the answers to my prayers that I have been getting. I have been asking what/who I need to focus on this transfer and what I need to do to lead an area that I don’t know very well(mine) and help lead the other area I know less about. 

I have had 2 experiences in the first 2 days of the transfer where members have come up to me and asked for help because they are struggling with the decisions they are making. They have shown insane trust in us that I haven't really seen on my mission yet. I realized this is what I need to focus on a little more. I kind of forget that members need lessons too. That they need to hear these scriptures. They need to learn about having faith, repenting, etc. One guy who got baptized not too long ago let us know that he feels terrible. He feels like he is destroying his family. He lost his parents and started drinking after his baptism. Since then he has been inactive and feels distant from his family. I realized I have been a member my whole life and not everything was perfect for me either. I had made decisions that I'm not so proud of as do all of us. So that point I wanted to make to him and to all of you reading is that the game doesn't end when we get baptized, receive the priesthood, go to the temple for the first time, or go through the temple and receive endowments, get married in the temple, etc. Satan is going to try a lot harder after the covenants we make with our heavenly father. Every step we take closer to God means he wants to try harder and we have more to lose

 So my invitation to you guys is to read the scriptures DAILY. Go to church every sunday and partake of the sacrament worthily. Repent daily and ask your Heavenly Father what you can do better if you don't know. Satan is working on each one of you individually and that is Something I can promise. He shares something in common with our Heavenly Father and that is the fact that they will never give up on us. So you have the choice to choose which one you are going to follow. One of them is eternal happiness and the other is not so great. Never be tempted and convinced to think that you can't get better. You ALWAYS can. 

 Scripture of the Week:

D&C 31:5 “Therefore, thrust in your sickle with all your soul, and your sins are forgiven you, and you shall be laden with sheaves upon your back, for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Wherefore, your family shall live”

DyC 31:15 “Por tanto, mete tu hoz con toda tu alma, y tus pecados te son perdonados, y tus espaldas serán cargadas de gavillas, porque el obrero es digno de su salario. Por consiguiente, tu familia vivirá”

 

My new comp Elder Martinez

    SYLIVIAAA

Sylvia's baptism - I got to

FaceTime and watch! 

What up everyone. So kinda an L week for the work this week. We got bailed on a lot more than usual and our baptisms did not happen. The dad is still not home.  We are still waiting on him. He is in the military here so they can't have any contact with the family so who knows when he will get back home. Hopefully it will be before the transfer ends which is on Friday. 

Besides that it was an alright week. I did divisions with one of my ZL's and it was fun. We went and visited one of the families that we have been teaching. We helped them chop some wood and what not. I am getting pretty good at making tortillas too

Elder Ovando also knows the scriptures like crazy. To the point where he looks so far into the scripture that it is super hard to understand and there is 0 hope for these Catholics to see where he is coming from haha. Alsooo Sylvia from San Martin got baptized yesterday!! I am sooo excited for her and proud of the covenants that she has made with our Heavenly Father. I knew when I got transferred out it was because other Elders had something I couldn't give her. So a HUGE shoutout to Elder Grimm and Elder Surage. Legends

Really that’s all I got for the week though. Sometimes a week just is like that. A good thing I learned this week though is from a good friend Elder Taula in his email from last week. Here is a scripture he shared with us and I wanna share it with everyone. Patience and faith is key for everything. 

Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint”

Isaías 40:31 “pero los que esperan en Jehová tendrán nuevas fuerzas; levantarán las alas como águilas; correrán y no se cansarán; caminarán y no se fatigarán”

Weekly Jose trip

Mi familia in San Martin

Jealous cause they were at the Jazz game

    LENA

Morning view

Yo Ruddup. Weeks are flying and I have been loving my time with “Elder Utz”. We had our baptismal dates for yesterday but we changed it because the dad is out of town and they want him to be at the baptism. However, super clutch because they want the baptism to be in the lake. We are getting super close with the family and they are amazing to us. 

 

We took a dope hike into one of the volcanoes super early. We woke up at 4:30ish and started the hike at 5:30ish. Then we got to the spot at like 7:30-8ish. Actually a super tough hike up. We had breakfast up there and ate beans, eggs, and tortillas. Super gas. However the way down wasn’t just a hike. We were doing service for a member and brought down a lot of wood for him and his fam. He had his wood pre-cut already, so we just went and packed it up and brought it down with him. It was freaking hard. There were a couple falls and it was so funny lol. Definitely glad I did it but that's a once in a lifetime thing probably. It really killed all of us. The worst part was this 10 year old kid was doing just as much weight as us so made us feel super dumb. But they just built like that. They are basically cheating though. It's in their Guatemalan Blood, it isn't fair.

 Super sick pictures tho. You guys ought to join the google photos and see. 

Super dope story. We went to visit one of our investigators the other day and we decided it was the right time to invite her to baptism. We shared a video of Jesus Christ’s baptism. We asked her what she knew about baptism and then we both shared our favorite scripture of baptism. Spirit was there no doubt. The whole time I just kept saying prayers in my heart to help her feel the spirit and accept our invitation. After we shared our scriptures and shared our testimonies I invited her to be baptized on March 17. Definitely my best baptismal invitation. The spirit was so strong. I had so much faith in her that she would accept the invitation. Andddd then she busted out laughing. She asked if we were just messing around with her. When we weren’t laughing and we were being serious she was like, wow you guys are being fr? We explained more and testified more. By the end of the conversation she said no(very politely) and told us that she doesn’t feel ready at all and she thinks if she joined our Church it would create problems with her family and more dumb reasons. So that was super sick and a bummer lol. Anyway we still felt super happy after and felt good about it. She’ll get baptized soon fs. We have a lot of faith in her. 

That’s about it for the week tho. What I learned this week is that we just gotta do our part. Just like sports. You can try your best and do everything you can and still fail. Just a part of life. So don't be sad when your investigator laughs at you and says no. Just do your part and be happy with it. Applies to everything in life. We all are going to fail. Just don't be a baby about it. Just keep working and God will bless you

 

Scripture of the Week:

3 Nephi 28:20 “And they were cast down into the earth; but they did smite the earth with the word of God, insomuch that by his power they were delivered out of the depths of the earth; and therefore they could not dig pits sufficient to hold them”

3 Nefi 28:20 “Y eran arrojados en la tierra; pero herían la tierra con la palabra de Dios, de tal modo que por su poder eran librados de las profundidades de la tierra; y, por tanto, no podían cavar fosos de hondura suficiente para contenerlos” 

Couple of Guaties

Boys in Guat

Lena

Journal time

Throwback to being Pedro for Halloween

    NDHIBAL'

Post church flick

Uxla china'a a todos. Superrrr fast week here in Santiago. I think it was the fastest week that I have had in the mish. We have been working super hard with this inactive family who has a couple family members who are not baptized. Familia Ratzan is their family name. They are a cute little fam. They are all girls. Of all ages. We put the sister in law and her 2 kids on date for this coming Sunday!! They are awesome and love coming to church. The other members and inactives are a lot harder and haven’t come back yet but we won’t lose faith in them. The mom is probably 30-ish and the daughters are 10 and 9 years old. Super cute family. I have also been a lot more familiar with the area lately which is good. We had interviews with President this last Saturday and they went great. He told my comp that he will be leaving most likely and I will probably get to stay here! So another chance to lead the area! Gotta get perfect at knowing Santiago by March 22nd so I don’t do a horrible job. 

Other than that this week has flown by so fast that I don’t remember too much of what is going on. Me and Elder Grutzmacher had pretty similar childhoods and we always tell each other stories about home. It is fun but also gets us a little trunky. We never fail to make it happy and find the gospel in it. We always are like home sounds sooo nice and college seems so fun. However, the mish is just so sick right now and we both love it. We are so happy to be here right now and super excited to get home and start our lives. We find it funny because we just want to be in 2 places at once. We came to the consensus that we want to be home so bad, just no sooner than the day we finish our mission.

A lot of time to think out here and a lot of time to observe the things of the world from an outside perspective. What I have learned so far on the mission is life will always be hard. It will never be a life without doubt, confusion, sadness, etc. However, we can limit all of that and put it to an all time low with the gospel. Really is as simple as that. If we follow the gospel, we succeed in life. Whatever life we want to live, we can. We have the power to choose. Super cool isn’t it?? Agency is a pretty cool thing. Whatever we think is too hard to overcome, too hard to learn, or too hard to do, just remember that nothing is impossible with God. We just have to CHOOSE to follow him and to follow the example of our Savior

Scripture of the Week:

3 Nephi 27:21 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do”

3 Nefi 27:21 “En verdad, en verdad os digo que este es mi evangelio; y vosotros sabéis las cosas que debéis hacer en mi iglesia; pues las obras que me habéis visto hacer, esas también las haréis; porque aquello que me habéis visto hacer, eso haréis vosotros”

Ex Elders in Guat

2 Goats

    ELDER COOK

Lake Atitlan

Super quick week this week. Biggest thing that happened was that we had a conference with 3 other missions from Guatemala. We got to hear from Elder Quentin L. Cook of the 12 Apostles. I only want to focus on this so I will be quick and update on things that happened this week. 

We moved houses today! Super goated. We now have Fulls for beds instead of twins

I got fleas, but, by the power of the priesthood they got cast out and I haven’t had a problem since the blessing. Shout out Sacerdocio. Saw my guy Elder Daniels at the Conference (flick down below). This isn’t new but my area is still the best. Definitely better than Fiji Elder Sprendie!

So Elder Cooks conference was probably one of the coolest spiritual experiences I have ever had in my life. I haven’t had very many life changing spiritual experiences but man this was definitely one of them! Elder Cooks main topic was focusing on talking to every person that we can. Obviously we knew this but he brought it to a whole different level. He brought up a lot of really good points.

-If we talk to someone, that could be their only chance to ever hear the gospel

-Our mission calls and areas are specific to us

-Elder Holland and Cook were companions on their missions

-What is our purpose as missionaries?

-Why would we wait to share the gospel?

-We always need to be inviting to church

-D&C 31:3-4

-We need to teach with the spirit, but if the spirit is there and they don’t accept, it is not our fault. They just aren’t ready

-We have a living Prophet as our guide. 

-The atonement of Christ is the greatest gift we have. We need to share with everyone this     message!! Investigators, inactive members, and members need this message everday.

My favorite part was his testimony for sure. The most powerful testimony I have ever heard. I wish you could have all been there because this will not do it justice. However, he explained how sharing very sacred experiences can be frowned upon and maybe a little sac-religious but he could share something with us. He said,”I know our savior lives. I know his voice, and I know his face”. This hit me like crazy. I have always been a big cryer, but when I heard this it hit me like a train. I just had one singular tear drop and eyes wide open. 

I’m not sure if he meant that he has seen God, or Jesus literally, or if he has just seen them in his life spiritually. But what I do know forsure is that he believes in that so much. An apostle of the lord simply will not lie to us. 

The lord lives and I invite you all to share his Gospel, missionary or not. I know the people we are teaching can feel our testimonies and the spirit will overcome them. Love you all 

Scripture of the Week:

D&C 31:13 “Be faithful unto the end, and lo, I am with you. These words are not of man nor of men, but of me, even Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, by the will of the Father. Amen.”

DyC 31:13 “Sé fiel hasta el fin y, he aquí, estoy contigo. Estas palabras no son de hombre ni de hombres, sino mías, sí, de Jesucristo, tu Redentor, por la voluntad del Padre. Amén”

Weekly guiding

Elder Daniels

The Gen

    GOATED AREA

Tough sunset

Week 1 down in Santiago. We have been super busy and wow it was a long one but it was fun. Super long days full of just walking and wow it gets real hot. I hate the sun. At night it cools down a lot tho and it feels amazing. The lake is still unbelievable every time I see it. Craziest sunset ever on Sunday. Can’t wait until me and Elder Grutzmacher baptize in it!

We also got informed we are getting kicked out of our apartment. The owner called and said he got deported from the states so he is taking his house back. Super L because our house view is so sick. However, I’m pumped because it’s super dirty and the bugs are crazy because of the lake. Our bathroom/shower is outside and belongs to all the bugs. They don’t stop biting either. So we go to bed in a lot of bug spray every night. Helps but not 100%. We're gonna move in with some members tho and it’s a lot better house with a great view of the lake so we good. We’ve been grinding lax in the house. Elder Grutz said he’s de-committing from BYU football to come play lax with me at UVU. Go Rines

Besides those quick updates, the work here has been good. A bit slow but we keep going. It’s hard to teach a lot of people because a lot of them don’t speak a lot of Spanish. A lot of them still do though, no excuses.

I am getting to know a lot of the investigators and members a lot better so I kind of have an idea of what to teach and what to say to them. Still super hard though. My Spanish struggles a lot. Members here are goated though. They always come to lessons with us and are translators and give their testimonies so it is a huge help.

I’m loving the area but I am still adjusting and am just a little homesick from San Martin.

Scripture of the Week: 

John 17:21 “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me”

Juan 17:21 “para que todos sean uno, como tú, oh Padre, en mí, y yo en ti, que también ellos sean uno en nosotros, para que el mundo crea que tú me enviaste”

Gratis checking out my family

B Ball night

Throwback to Boys in Cali 2022

(Ralph was 8 yrs old in this)

     W CAMBIO

View from my house in Santiago, Atitlan

Yo what up from Elder Inglaterra here in Santiago, Atitlan. Got transferred on Friday to the sickest area in the world. My new comp is Elder Grutzmacher and he’s a goat. I have gotten super lucky with my comps so far. Super blessed.  Bro is committed to BYU to play D end. All around good dude and we have a lot in common. Super lit. This transfer is gonna be lit with him.

I said goodbye to San Martin on Thursday. We had a last dinner with the Santay Family. Super hard to say bye to Sylvia, Billy and the rest of the family and friends. They all became my family here and I will be visiting them soon.  I would also love to see Billy in the States. That would bring me so much joy lol. 

However, I got transferred to the most goated area so it doesn’t even matter. I live right on the waters of Mormon. Yes Mosiah 18:8 hits a lot harder now. Other than the fact that it is beautiful beyond words, the ward here is amazing.150people yesterday at church and it is crazy different than a branch. I have gotten fed every meal which is lucky because I ran out of money on Friday. Every single person here also speaks a crazy weird dialect called Tzu-tu-jil. Uxla cha'a means buenas noches or goodnight in English. Super weird but they all speak Spanish so it’s fine. Only the really old people don’t speak Spanish.

Overall though I am unbelievably pumped to be here. Gonna be a great transfer with my comp and hopefully a bap in the lake. 

Scripture of the Week:

Mosiah 18:8 “And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light”

Mosíah 18:8 “Y aconteció que les dijo: He aquí las aguas de Mormón (porque así se llamaban); y ya que deseáis entrar en el redil de Dios y ser llamados su pueblo, y estáis dispuestos a llevar las cargas los unos de los otros para que sean ligeras”

Saying goodbye to San Martin and Santay family

Copped a signed jersey

Saying goodbye to my people in San Martin 

New comp Elder Grutzmacher

First launch

    

    HASTA VER NOS CON EL REY

Angel's baptism

YOOO super calidad week this week. I forgot to write and email on Monday so I’m taking some study time to do one right now so my fault.

First of all my guy Angel made a cool covenant with God and was baptized en el nombre del padre, y del hijo, y del espíritu santo. Super sick baptism tho and funny story. We don’t have a baptismal font in San Martin. Our options were pay a lot of money and get a bus, or pay a lot of money and buy a little pool to be the font in San Martin for forever. However, our branch President called and said we didn’t have enough money for either. He was freaking out like what are we gonna do?? So I called the big guns for some financial help. Thanks to mama and papi England we were able to buy a pool and have the baptism. We got it out of the box and it was massive. We were too dumb to look at how much water it takes to fill. We were just more focused on the height of the pool that we didn’t check how wide it was. So the pool held 3,000 gallons and we spent all day Saturday filling it up. We called our mission leader Carlos and he made some calls and pulled up with a massive truck of a lot of water. It helped for sure but we only got it filled about half way. It worked great but next baptism, the Elders will just have to prepare a couple days in advance to fill it up. Again shout out to the Padres on clutching up for the baptism before I leave San Martin

So yes, I am being transfered. I technically am not supposed to find out until tonight but my comp and I got a call from President saying that Elder Barber will be a zone leader and that I will also be leaving. So they are white washing the area again.  I was actually pretty upset. I’m ready to leave San Martin and I’m sure the new Elders will do great but man white washing an area is really hard and I worry that our investigators will not have the connection to the new Elders that they had with me and Elder Barber. I wanted one of us to stay for that reason but God has a Plan. 

I was pretty upset at first but then realized wait hold up, there’s a lot of people here that I have trust in and that I’ve gotten super close with over the past 5 months that I just haven’t been able to get baptized yet. Whoever the new Elders will have a lot to offer that I couldn’t and maybe they need other missionaries to give them what I couldn’t.

My spiritual thought this email is on humility. I feel like San Martin is my home. I have my friends, little brothers, big brothers, and my Guatemalan mom(Sylvia) who I love so much and thought I would be the one to convert them and share a life changing testimony that would change their lives. I realized though to be happy about this change. I talked about it in my last email, change is GOOD. Whatever I have, I am going to my next area because I am supposed to. Also, whatever the new Elders have will hopefully be able to share what Sylvia and the rest of San Martin needs. I have gotten more humbled in my first 3 transfers than I ever have in my life and I am so grateful for it. Super sad to say bye to San Martin but I am pumped for the new area wherever it is. Who knows, might find my real Guatemalan fam in the next area?

God has a plan for all if we humble ourselves and love him!

Scripture of the Week: 

1 Corinthians 2:9 “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

1 Corintios 2:9 “Antes bien, como está escrito:Cosas que ojo no vio, ni oído oyó,ni han subido al corazón del hombre,son las que Dios ha preparado para aquellos que le aman.”

San Martin font

Before

After

Cooking with Silvia

Go Ducks!  I love Kam