12th Week

My first baptism!!! I cant express how happy I was to be helping her come unto the fold! We have another baptismal date for December 6! The girl's name is Paty and she is awesome! Everything here is different, like the baptism was really small. The baptismal font is in the same room as you have sacrament meeting. Well since she got baptized on Saturday, she had the opportunity to be confirmed and she received the holy ghost!

Also, this week we have changes and I am keeping my comp for another change and I will be spending Christmas in Zacapa! Also, we will be getting a new zone leader this week along with Elder Huband who was the other zone leader. In our zone we are having 4 new people in our zone. 2 people have changes. I received the first package that you sent on Friday and its hard not to open all the letters right now. Haha! I sent a lot of photos and I hope you send the group message with photos too. It takes too long for me to do it with my email and its easier to send separately.

 Purple chicken Photos! How does that happen!‏ 

Week 11

Well out on the mission they say usually the 4, 5, and 6th week fly by of every change and they definetly have! I also have some good news for this week, I HAVE A BAPTISM!!!  This Saturday we have a baptism at 6 oclock at night and the very best part is that when we asked who she wanted to baptize her, she said that she wanted me to! I cant express how happy I am! I definetly see the lords hand in all the work I do. It's been extremely hard these last two weeks but this Saturday will remind me that all the work I do, pays off! Also I recieved dad's letter, so what happens with letters is that they send a box with all of our letters in it every Friday so I will get everything within 3 weeks or so. I did take out money. just in case i need some extra because our reimbursements don't come in time and the money I took out could last me a really long time...haha!

So of course I have been thinking of how far my Spanish has come and I cant believe that its been getting better every day.  It definitely is better but it's not perfect of course. I kinda wanted to be better by now but my zone has told me that my Spanish is really good for only being in the field for 5 weeks. I am grateful everyday for my Spanish and that I can speak better every day. When people ask questions it is really hard for me to understand but I hear that is one of the hardest parts and it will just come in time.  I dont stress to much about my Spanish but I do study alot in the streets with my comp and in my head. Tell chace that I am proud of how well he is doing and can't wait to hear about his first home run out of the park! Also tell Herman congrats on making the soccer team! I'm kinda sad that I wont get to see or meet him, he sounds like a great person.

So to answer the question about the bee sting, yes I have gotten stung before but these bees are different and it hurts alot more than a regular bee sting. I dont know why, but I am fine now. It only took three days for it to stop getting red and 4 days for the itching to stop.

    

Also, I cant belive that the bishop of my ward, has music that the singer is Freddie Ashby! What a small world and now my comp listens to his music about 8 times a day, only one specific song. But I was so happy to hear more music by Brother Ashby. It really made my day and along with that we had the toast with an egg in the middle... I forgot what that was called, but my bishop does that too. Just someof the smallest things remind me of home and it makes me feel more comfortable with being here and not being home sick. Don't get me wrong I still miss you guys but I have come to love these people and love the work.

Now questions that my mom had:

So how are you doing? 

        I'm doing great and love my comp and my area! I'm doing better every week.

How is the language coming along?

        The language is coming and from your letters it looks like yours is just as good as mine mom. I can't belive how fast you are learning and it shows me how hard you are working to learn this language.

What kind of foods do you eat? 

        foods, well we eat chicken and we have a dominos near by haha. but we always have tortillas with our food. not much beans which is weird but we eat alittle bit of everything. every morning i just have cereal or oatmeal and for lunch we usually have tortillas with rice or guatemole and chicken or some kind of meat.

Do the members feed you?

         The members dont feed us to much but its mostly because we arent suppose to eat at some members houses because of the way they prepare the food.

Do you get to bless the sacrament every week?

        I blessed the sacrament twice and gave another talk in church this week for 10 min. It's way easy to write the talk, but translating it is the hardest part haha.

Is it getting cold at all where you are at?

        No, its not getting cold. It's hot like our summer. I'm kinda disappointed because I want it to get cold.

Does it rain as much where you are at?

        This season is the season of no rain but when I first got here it did rain for the first two weeks and there was one big rain storm where we were drenched and had to get across the street and there was about 8 inches of water...

Are your showers cold water only?

        No, they are not. If you look back at the picture of my shower head. The top part is a heater and it pretty much shocks the water hot. It's kind of a little sketchy but I will explain more at christmas!

Elder Flygare

Week 10

Hola,  ¿Como Esta?

This week has gone by so fast! I dont know why! I didn't learn spanish in 3 weeks but I can talk about any lesson and teach any lesson! I feel some times that my spanish isnt getting better but then I look back on what I was like last week and I can see a huge difference. I cant belive that I can understand so much in church now. Of course, I dont know everything that they are saying but I know a lot that I can understand what they are saing in the classes. When people ask me questions it is a little bit harder because people dont ask specifc questions. They will ask, do you like it? But they dont specifiy IT. They will ask that question out of the blue and then when I say what, they just think I dont understand Spanish, but oh well.

So this week I found out that I am allergic to bees! great! Haha, its only a little allergy but I got stung three days ago and since then my whole forearm turned red and swell up a little bit but it doesnt hurt. It only itches like crazy!!! I bought medicina for it but it only helped the with the red and swelling, not the itchiness. Also, we should have two baptisms in two Saturdays! We don't meet the goal but we are working on it! We have had a ton of members and investigators get sick with chinconguya...? I think thats how it is spelled and we have given a ton of blessings these last two weeks. Dengue Fever, it's too big here but we have had 5 missionaries in our zone get sick from it. Yes mom, I will make sure I tell the nurses if I get sick, and I will not try to push through it. I hope you guys have a good week and can't wait to talk to you guys in a month and 2 weeks! This week was the first time I have blessed the sacrament and I didn't have any mistakes! I only did it once and people told me that I didnt have a gringo accent anymore!

Oh, and also I get my official visa tomorrow! Woo Hoo! I get to go to the capital again!

love you guys

Elder Flygare

For those of you who are wondering what Chikugunya & Dengue Fever is, it is from mosquitoes so it is not contagious but makes you very sick if you get bit by a mosquito that is carrying it.

Week 8 & 9

Week 9 

Well this week was halloween and dia de muerte. It's a pretty big holiday here and they make a special dish for it. it's called fiambre and its the second picture. I dont know whats all in it but its good, and strange at the same time. Now the first picture looks like poop in a bowl but it is not. It's called molletes and its so good! I questioned it and the family that gave it to us for like 2 or 3 min and I finally tried it and I loved it! also this week is a big week for people to get drunk and just wander the street and since I'm a gringo I had 4 people walk up to me and talk to me and ask for money and when I told them I didnt have any money then they wanted me to either help them, pray for them in the middle of the street, or they told me I was going to get hit by a car because I didnt want to help...haha, I just laughed about it and kept going on with my day. Anyways this week we were doing really good with lessons with members until Saturday and Sunday. Because of dia de muerte everyone was at the cemetery for those two days and we didnt have very many lessons. Also, its frustrating that no one will keep commitments to come to church. Also this week we went to the capital for my comp's eye appointment, he needs glasses for protection against the sun. I dont know the whole situation why because they were talking in espanol but he needs glasses. In the capital we bought these pens that are legit. They are called friction pens and they have an eraser! The down side of going to the capital was we had to wake up at 4 oclock in the morning and ride on a bus for 3 hours... both ways... and we had the opportunity to hear a catholic man preach to us on the bus for about 20 min. The part that irritated me the most was that he went around and asked for money. If you are only preaching about christ for money then how much do you actually believe in him? It's kind of sad how many people gave him money too. Oh well, I am here to serve the lord for two years and to invite and bring souls unto Christ. I know that this church is true and is the only church with the fullness of the gospel and I am here to share our message of Christ and to help bring eternal happiness to the people of Guatemala.

 

Elder Flygare

Week 8 

So this week has been amazing, I cant believe how fast it has gone. It feels like three days ago I was sending an email to you guys. I have been having so much fun out here and love the work. My companion is awesome and helps so much. He is from El Salvador like I said before and he is a convert. he has been a member for 4 years. The missionaries that baptized him was Elder Rivas, Hernandes, also others were Elder Day, Elder Salgado, Elder Brandao and Elder Matamoros. Jory do you know any of them? I don't know if they were in your mission or not... well this week has been hard at the same time because a lot of our appointments have fell through and we had 3 baptismal dates fall through. We are expecting to have 5 in November but its hard to say how many actually will keep wanting to hear the lessons. they seem so interested in the lessons and love the message but then none of them want to read the Book of Mormon, and pray about it. Commitments are the hardest part for them. So last week I sent two letters, one for grandpa and one for the family. I'm curious how long it will take to get there. Also, this week we had zone conference!!! It was super amazing! The spirit was so strong there! but it was in Spanish and I didn't understand everything but I understood a lot of it! which is really good! we also had the opportunity to take one of the AP's with us in our area and go and teach people. It is crazy how great these AP's are... they are amazing. The one thing that touched me the most was that one of the AP's told me after all of our lessons that he is surprised at how much Spanish I know and that I am way ahead of where he was. He also said that when I bear my testimony and teach, that I teach with clarity and with the spirit. he said the two biggest things to be is to be worthy and to be able to have the spirit to be with you at all times. He said he saw that in me. These AP's are my heroes here and are like big brothers to me.

These were my dad questions so i will answer them:

Q:  So how has your week been?  I'm sure it's been busy and a lot of work.

A:   Yes it's been hard but I love it! its amazing work and I have been able to already to do the first part of the blessings in Spanish!

Q:  How are your Sundays?

A:  Sundays are awesome! our church is at 9 so we have a lot of work from 2 to 8 30

Q:  Is the branch (ward) big or small? 

A:  The ward is small. we only have about 40-50 people a Sunday in church and we don't have an actual bishop yet.

Q:  Are the members nice and do they help in the Missionary work?

A:  Yes the members are so nice, one reminds me of Grandma Cheryl and I always love talking to her! and we don't have to much help from the ward. We take the priests with us for lessons though.

Q:  Have you had to give a talk yet?

A:  Yes! I gave a talk this Sunday on faith! it only had to be 5 min and I guess it was good because everyone told me that I did amazing, which made me feel better about my Spanish.

Q:  What are some of the experiences you are having while teaching them?

A:  No crazy experiences but we have had a lady breast feed on my second day in the field... and the same lady breast fed in church too... I actually had the opportunity to be in the confirmation for her my first Sunday! (she got baptized a week before I got out here)

Q:  I know that you said that you don't understand anything while teaching, is that changing? 

A:  Yes. tremendously. It's amazing how much I have started to understand. I try to read everything in Spanish now.

Q:  Are you feeling the spirit?

A:  Yes. it's awesome! me and my comp are always helping each other and talking about how to improve our lessons and how the spirit guides us (especially me) on what to say.

Elder Flygare

Pictures are at zone conference, a cocoa & the inside of a cacao (looks gross)