Last full week in the MTC!!

Buenos Dias Mi Familia!

So this will be the last time I get to write you in Guatemala. Its crazy how fast its been, but on the other hand, its crazy how slow its been. Theres a saying around here that the days take forever, but the weeks fly by. This time next week I will proably be in Honduras which is super exciting. I am so ready to enter the field, but at the same time I am scared to death. Speaking my broken spanish to real people is terrifying. I already feel bad for my first companion who has to deal with my faults in the language.. haha. Everything that has happened this week and next week has been and will be last minuete preporations for the field. For the next 3 or 4 days, i have nothing but devotionals and seminars.  It will definatly be a nice change of pace from the normal CCM scheduale.

 

So this week has been kinda a difficult week, but its been really an eye opener. So in my district, there was 7 members. 4 Elders, 3 Hermanas,Sisters,. This past week, one of the Hermanas in our district became  really sick and ended up spending a night in the Guatemala hospital. She had some sort of parasite and she ended up getting sent home, because there wasnt alot they could do for her here. Also one other Norte in the group below me got sent home for a similar reason. It is really sad to see and super hard to imagine being sent home after 6 weeks in this place. Our district has been pretty tight because there is just so few of us, so it was hard for our whole district and for our teachers. But the night before Hermana Brady was sent home, we had a district devotional. That was one of the most spiritual moments I have ever experienced. It is so hard to even think about what the lord has in mind for us, but he always has something. Trials are put in our path to strengthen us. When difficult things happen in our lives, it is so easy to forget about the lord and to forget that he knows us and that he wants us to progress and to learn. But when we are in the middle of trials, when we are in the middle of our difficulties and our struggles, that is when the lord is willing to help us the most. That is when the lord wants us to Humble ourselves and The lord wants us to recongnize the power that comes through him. This whole experience here at the CCM has been extremly difficult, spiritually, mentally, and physically. I would definatly say it has been the hardest spiritual and mental thing that i have ever done. But I have learned so much from everything that has happened here. This missionary work is not an easy task, but it is so worth it. I have been doing things that i never have thought possible before. I can freaking hold conversations in spanish with latinos, and Dominicans, and real people who only speak spanish. It has only been 5 weeks!! There is no way that i could ever learn a whole language this fast without the help of the lord. Me and my companion have taught over 30 lessons this week in only spanish! There has been some incredible experiences that have occured because I am here willing to serve the lord, and I am willing to consecrate all of my time and talents to the lord. I am a living testiment that miraculous things come to pass though the power of the lord. I love you all so very much, and I pray every morning and night for you all. Never forget the lord, and he will never forget you.

 

Elder High

Mmkay. Question time

 

Are you excited- Um yeah!! I am super nervous but i am so ready to convert all of honduras to the gospel!

 

How has your week been- Excellente! No problemas aqui

 

Sinkhole in Guatemala- I had no clue about sinkhole here. I guess the day before i arrived, one of the volcanos 50 miles form here blew its top, so the whole sky was filled with soot and ash. Kinda cool, but I havent seen any sinkholes. There are earthquakes everyday, so it doesnt suprise me.

 

Did i get my camera- No... I wish. I took some pretty sick pictures with the elders when i was in the airport, but unfortunalty i cant get them now. I havent seen my camera in 6 weeks now.. ugh. Oh well, ill get to send pictures next week hopefully.

 

New missionaries- So the transfer window is every six weeks. So the only Nortes going to Comayaguela are me and Elder Ang, but there are 5 or 6 Lations in this transfer heading to Comayaguela. Its kinda fun to talk to the latinos who are heading to Comayaguela.

 

My spanish- It is definatly not perfect, but i can speak well enough to get my point across. It blows my mind how fast ive learned. my vocab is still weak, but I know itll come in time. My knowlege of gospel terms is alot better than my knowledge of everyday terms. Its kinda funny that i know the significance of saccerdocio, y arrepentimiento, but i dont know how to say fork, or knife, or fingers in spanish. Oh well

 

Tell tanner to read his email, i have some improtant stuff that i need him to do for me! Thank you for keeping me updated on life at home. And thank you for the picture, its really good to see dad and tanner

 

Con Amor

Elder High

Week 4

Buenos Dias!

Well, another week has gone by. It literaly feels like i was writing you just yesterday. The week has just flown by. Everyone says the days take forver but the weeks zip by, and that is so true.

Honestly, not a whole lot has really been happining around here, just the typical routine.

6.00 wake up

6.30 work out

8.00 desayuno[ breakfast]

9.00 language study

12.45 Almuerzo [ lunch]

1.30 gospel study

5.45 Cena [dinner]

6.30 lessons

9.00 plan for the next day

10.30 bed

That is my scheduale everyday. No real varience between the days. The days get really boring, so i have to find ways to keep them interesting. I make sure to study a different topic or different vocab everyday to change things up. The best part of the day is the time where i get to teach. Typically, me and Elder Ang teach 4-5 lessons 20 minuete lesosns a day. We teach our teachers, other missionaries, and often times real people off the streets. It is the one time of the day where i get to talk to other people besides the missionaries in my district, and it has been the most help to me for my teaching. The is no better way to learn how to teach, than to just go out and do it.

In other news, today was a transfer day. 2 weeks ago i was more excited for transfer day because i knew we were getting newbies at the CCM. This transfer has been a lot more sad. The lationos again, are just the best people in the world, and it is hard to say goodbye, but this week i had to say goodbye to the 10 Nortes who are heading into the field.The thing about being in a small CCM, is that you know everyone, and you grow close to everyone. When there are just 30 North Americans in a building that you are stuck in for 4 weeks, you make friends with all of them. The group of Nortes in particular that left today, were super good to my group. They took us under their wings and showed us the ropes, and have given me tons of usefull advice. They will be great missionaries, but it sucks to say goodbye. Oh well, 10 more Nortes come in tomorrow. Its kinda weird that i have been at the CCM for 4 weeks now. I am nearly done!!

Like i said, the days around here are all pretty much the same, so i really dont have too much to say, but i will take some time to answer questions in another email. This church is true. Everything testifyes that there is a God. I love you all mucho!

Elder High

 

 

MMkay. Question time

Dreams in spanish.. Hmm, kinda. I had a dream last night where i remeber someone told me Como Esta, and I said Muy Bien. I guess i know como esta and muy bien pretty well, but other than that, not yet.

 

My talk.. So i gave a ten minuet talk about the gift of the Holy Ghost. Im sure to the Lations i sounded like a 5 year old, but they were all like " That was so great man" and stuff like that haha.

 

Travel info.. Nada. Nunca. Zilch. im sure Ill find out eventually, but as of now, i have no clue. I do not know if ill be flying or if ill be taking a bus. Ill find out sooner or later.

 

So about my sickness.. Im sorry i didnt go into much detail last week, but i literally had one minuete. Im not going to lie, it wasnt fun. My whole body ached, and i spent the whole night in the bathroom, and it was fast sunday, so no food. It just lasted one day, but i felt like i was going to die. We had a seminar yesterday about some diseases that i will get, and they look terrible. The way the doctor explained denge fever was one week where youd rather just be dead. Dont look up pictures of people with the Denge. They look like people from the Waliking dead.The doctor said it will be the most miserable week of my life, but it only lasts a week, and it only comes once. I guess that there is one other disease that i am also guarenteed to geet called like the Chicken disese. It is essentially a month of arthristis in all of my bones, and 99 out of 100 americans get it. I guess also flies like to lay their larva in our skins so thats a thing. What i had two weeks ago is nothing like what im going to get.

 

So to something happy and good and all, The Temple!!.. So i just got back from my fourth session here in guatemala. All the sessions have been in english, so no worries. The temple is smaller, but verry beautifull. The interior of the temple is very simple, but verry verry beautiful. It is very small and not very decorated, but it is an incredible building. Every time i have gone to the temple i have learned something new. Im not going to share what i have learned, becuaes reasons, but everything just works together.

 

What can you do for me..No say. Everything is good down here. Just keep the missionaries in your prayers. We feel the power that comes from prayer. There is some power that wakes us up in the morining and carries us throughout the day. We know you are praying for us, becuase we feel it. Again I wil say it, I Love you. Have a great week

Elder High

 

 

 

Week 3

Another week down! Thank you so much for the emails, and thank you so much for the package. I wish i wouldve had the opporunity to meet your friend, but I kinda get trapped in class and i dont get to leave much.

Again i appologize for having P day on wednesday, its not my call. i dont even know where to begin with this week, it has just been crazy.

Last tuesday my district and a few others had the oppourtunity to tour guatemala city. Let me just say that this city is just nuts. Nothing makes sense in this city. There are really no laws when it comes to roadways, so the biggest vehicle always has the right of way, and the none of the streets are straight. The downtownish area of the city is actually way beatufull. There are tons of cathloic cathedrals and just some beautifull architecture. The purpose of our tour of the city was to go out and talk to real people. We spent the majority of our day in the central park of Guatemala City, and we just talked to people. This was extremly difficult because my spanish is still basic at best. It was a really good opportunity though. Me and Elder Ang talked to over

20 people about our religion and about their religion. between me and Elder Ang, we handed out 8 copies of the book of mormon. There was not a single person who we talked to who did not already have a belief in God and in Jesus Christ. People down here love the savior, and all in all, they want to know more about their savior. I was supprised by how many people knew nothing at all about this church. People were really intriguied when we told them that we had more books of scripture and that our book testifies of Jesus Christ in the American continent. I am so ready to go out and start with my mission. My spanish is still not great, but this week my spanish has improved faster than i thought was possible. Me and Elder Ang teach about 4 spanish lessions a day to fake investigators and real investigators. This past week, we have not really brought any notes into any of our lessions. Weve just brought us, our scriptures and the spirit. My first two weeks i would be reading my lessions off of a sheet of paper. This week, ive been able to teach lessions without reading them. it is incredible to see how much the lord helps with my huge weakness of the spanish language. The lord really comes through when i need it the most. So president did follow up on his promise to me. I ended up giving a talk in sacrement meeting. I was so ready for it because i already knew it was happenig, but it was still a little scary. In my brach, there are 10 nortes and

60 latinos. It is crazy to how supportive the lations are towards us nortes. Every one of the latinos wanted to congratulate me for giving a talk in spanish, and every one of them wanted to help me with my spanish. The lations have been really eye opening to me. In these three weeks i have meet about 100 latinos. It is so neat because they are all here for the same reasons i am. The come from different backgrounds than I, but they still struggle as i do, and the still have the same desire to serve the lord and to bring others unto christ as i do. Its so easy to get trapped in the bubble that is Idaho and Utah, but there are strong members of the church all around the world.

These latinos sacrifice way more than what i have sacrificed i feel.

One Elder named Elder Sanchez was a member of the Mexican national Ping Pong team. He had a bid to the olympics, but he turned it down to serve God. It is just incredible to see examples like this from all over the place. I am extremmly saddened to hear about Gary, but because of this gospel, Our family will be toghether again. Everyone one of us are children of God. Because we are children of God, that makes God our father. Because God is our father he loves us. Because he loves us he gave us our families. Because he loves us he gave us a plan to be with our families for etenity. Because he loves us he gave us a way to follow his plan. The way is through the savior. The savior was perfect, but he was a man and he had to go through mortality just like we are. The savior sacrificed everything to do the will of the father. The savior was not always loved. There is a beatutiful scripture in John 15 18. The whole chapter of John 15 is incrediblle, but the savior went through more trials and torments than anouy one of us could imagine. I testify that because of the saviors sacrifice, We

live again, and we live with our families.  Elder High  

Alright 5 minuets for answereing questions. My enter key doesnt work so i appologize.Its is so good to not be the greenie anymore.The new guys are super overwhelmed and confused just like i was my first week.

Still it is just me and Elder Ang going to Comayaguela, but most likely some latinos in the next group will leave with us. No travel plans yet, I have no clue whats going on in three weeks. Also since I forgot to mention it in my email. Tell Chase congratulations for me.

it is so cool that he gets the opportuinity to learn portugese in the land where it is spoken,. He will love it. It is such a blessing to be part of a small CCM. Everyone knows everyone and you really make great freinds with all of the teachers and all of the missionaries. He will love it. Elder High

Questions part 2    I have gone to the temple 3 times and it is

incredible. It is beatufull in a very simplistic way. There are a buch of eggs and beans for everymeal. And i have gotton sick and it sucks.

Just a basic flu but it isnt fun   Elder High

 

Week 2

Hola!!

So our p days are different every week, so i get to write you today!

Before i start, i want to appoligeize for my poor typing skillz. I am using a spanish keyboard that hardly works... barely any of the punctuation keys work, oh well. So this week has been pretty crazy.

Here at the CCM, its constantly go go go. I have class time from 7 30 A.M, till 10 P.M. Im in my class room for all of the time except for one hour where we get to go outside and play volleyball. It is a good scheduale, but it just makes for really long days. The two weeks that i have been here have felt like an eternity. It has really been really good. I have learned a ton in these past two weeks. I have learned a ton about teaching, and i have learned a ton about how to communicate with those native speakers of spanish. Tommorw is my first transfer day. All of the latinos, and one group of nortes head into the field.

Its kinda weird that people are allready heading out. We came in the same day as the lations, and they are already done. There are a few of the latinos that i really am going to miss. Me and my district have spent many hours teaching and just talking the lations. There is a ton that i love about them and that i can learn from them. The lations laugh at just about everything, and they are just super genuine. They are so helpfull with my spanish. I guess that theyve been asked to try to learn english, so we do this trade off where i teach them english, and they teach me spanish. They are super patient with my lack of spanish. There are a few lations that for the past week have been coming into my room at 10 P.M to play a few rounds of UNO. We joke and laugh and try our best to understand each other, but its all fun. To the lations I am either Harry potter, or I am Justin 2 haha. There is this one norte who has blonde hair, so the lations call his Justin Beiber. Elder Nielson has no reseblance to Justin Bieber, but thats what the call him. I have no clue why they call me Justin Beiber 2 but oh well. I have a few crazy experiences from this past week. So on saturday, we had 2 hours to play sports. I decided to play basketball with a few other elders, and President Cox came out to play with us.

For being an older man, President Cox has game. He has this wicked larry bird hook shot that never misses. Anyways President was playing with us. About halfway into the game, me and President cox were going at it pretty good. We were both going pretty hard. We were both cutting all over the court, and in an instance, we kinda collided..

President lowered his head as he cut and his head hit me squre in my left sholdure. He immedialty screamed in pain. He said he felt a jolt down his arm all the way down to his fingertips. He stopped playing after that.. Yeah, so i kinda broke Pres.. I talked to him yesterday, and hes fine. We joked and he said that im going to have to give a 20 min talk in sacrement meeting in spanish. Seriosly though president Cox is such an incredible man. He really knows everyone in the CCM and he really cares about each of us. He gives a devotional every sunday and they are just incredible. He has this way about his words that just seems to get everyone fired up about missionary work. He does an incredible job of silencing our doubts and comforting us. He is also an extremly funny guy. He is constanly telling jokes and is always trying to lighten the mood. He has disrupted our class a few times, just he he could tell a joke to us. He is just a really good guy. Im very curious to know what is happening back home, so im expecting 2 emails from you next week!! Also i have a few pictures that i will try to send to you. One is of my district, and one is of the CCM. This church is true. The gospel was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. There is a prophet of god on the earth right now who is Thomas S Monson. I know that God answeres prayers, because multiple of mine have been answered this week. I know that the book of mormon is truly another testament of christ. I have read through 3rd Nephi 11 about 10 times this week. God does love us, and he does know us and he knows our concers. I love you all extremly much. Elder High