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)

Week 7 - First Week in the Field!!

Hey guys, thanks for the emails! It was great to hear from so many people! and yes I knew my room mates were going to Colton's mission, so I wrote Colton a letter and had them give it to him. So Tuesday right before lunch we found out what mission we were going to and who our companion was. So I am in the LA REFORMA 2, ZACAPA MISSION. and my comp is Elder Garcia! he is an amazing hard working missionary. I am his first gringo trainee and he is trying to learn English as I learn Spanish. He works hard with English. So from the "mission home"  which was a stake center. we left to Zacapa and my comp was in Zacapa already waiting for me so I didn't know who he was. all I knew was he was a Latino. so I had a wonderful (not) 4 hour drive to Zacapa on a bus and Elder Dawson was with me for the first 1 before we got on different buses. so then I arrived in Zacapa and we went to our house and then went straight out to tract and visit members and less actives. I was so lost. I didn't understand anything, it was difficult. So then at 9 we went home and had dinner and planned for the next day. I have already learned so much its crazy how fast I am learning. So the first full day we had was hard. my comp had me give three baptismal questions and they are going to get baptized on Nov. 15! if they keep obeying the commandments and attend church. That day was so hard because I didn't understand anything, I felt like crap and felt like I was worthless but that's what the devil wants. So I said a prayer and I was comforted so much. also that day we gave a blessing and that blessing was for a sick elderly woman and she looked bad. I didn't know what was said in the prayer but my comp later told me that the spirit told him to say that she would return to our heavenly father and everything would be okay. I'm so sorry I don't have any more time... there is some pics though and we don't have wifi in Zacapa. I will send more next week. I love you guys and don't send a package yet, send one for Christmas. Just send letters. Love you guys!

Elder Flygare

Week 5

So this week is my last week in the CCM and I cant wait to get out into the field! I know it's going to be a hard first 4 or 5 months but I know that the Lord with help me and the spirit will testify of what I will be teaaching is true. I will leave around tuesday at 7 oclock in the morning and I will get my camera back that Tuesday morning so I will send a pic of me and my new comp, my districto and hopefully some photots of some really good friends that I have made here.

So let's start with last week when we went to the market. I am really speechless. The market has so many stores packed down into this building and I dont know how you know your way through this place because every store sells the same stuff... I got a machete! a jersey, and a tie. In that store things were a little more expensive then what you would find out of the city so you could bargain with them and tell them how much you would want to buy it for, but as I got there and looked at the people who were selling this stuff, my heart was shattered. It was definetly a humbling experience and I just wanted to buy something from everyone. When I actually bought something their face just light up and they were super happy.

Before that we went to Wendys and it was so good. They have your food ready 2 seconds after you order it, haha, so it really was fast food, but I got a baconator, a large coke, large fries, and a large frosty. It was so good to eat some real American food though! Then after Wendys we went to this outside museum thing and they had a 3d map of Guatemala that was built by, who they call, the Guatemalan genuise, and he built this map and its probably a good 40 yards long and 40 yards for the width, (i think thats what its called) but it was built 100 years ago and it is 96 percent correct! This expedition took 53 people 16 years to map and scale all of Guatemala on horses. It was crazy how good it was! Also after the market we got to drive around the city and we saw this "neighborhood" that were houses piled on top of each other and there were a ton of houses. they said that was where the poor people lived and there is an average of 3 families per small room. Later that day our whole district had a meeting and we all had the same feeling of being humbled, and that the super poor people and the ones that will be the most receptive to our lesson and to our messages. I cant wait to be able to teach those people.

Later that week during deportes it was raining super hard and we were all drenched and I had my rain jacket on and during speed someone grabed the back of my jacket and ripped it across the seem. So later the next day I got my sewing kit out and sewed it all back together! It's not a super good sewing job but it's back in working condition! p.s no one likes the kid that ripped my jacket and I didnt want to go off on him or have him get punched twice in the face in the ccm so I just walked back to my room and said that it will be okay and I wouldn't be mean and just fix it. He later offered to help but I already had it fixed so I just said no its all good and then stopped talking to him.

So we had general conference this saturday and sunday and I cant believe how much I got out of it! it was crazy good and one of my favorite talks was when the speaker asked, what manner of men ought ye be? so everyday that quote has popped into my head and I have to remember what manner of man I have to be. I need to be even as Christ our Savior. I need to have the spirit with me at all times that I can have the holy ghost testify of what I say is correct. I also liked Elder Bednar's talk on Sunday afternoon and it really pointed to the people that weren't members of the church and I think that talk was specifically for Herman. That talk will answer any question he has about the missionaries and why me and Colton are on a mission. It will be a huge impact on how he will see our church.

Also I am sending my second letter tomorrow so hopefully you guys will get it shortly. It takes me forever to get mail and i dont know my. I just recieved your last letter two days ago and it was suppose to come in last week! Oh well tell Corbin I say hi back! love and miss you guys!

Elder Flygare