Letter #82 - Feliz Navidad! - Palo Gordo, Guatemala

well this is the week of christmas, but i feel like christmas already happened because i already talk to the family! to be honest all of the weeks kinda blur together ive been here so long that i feel like being a missionary is my life now.  this week was very normal but we had a sweet conference with president.  he talked about the need to be disciples.  he shared the story of the young rich man and then how after Jesus had told His disciples that it is hard to enter in the kingdom of God that peter resonded that he had left everything to follow Him and then i love the the promise Christ made (mark 10):

29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,

 30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life

so yeah i know that is true because i have seen it in my life as i have left everything to be able teach the gospel.  also this week we had a sweet christmas activity with the branch - there were 15 investigatores there and it made me realize how easy it is truly to invite people to learn more about the church. it can start wtih something so small like a church activity and movie,  He is the Gift, or a family night.  they will feel the spirit and then it will be easier to invite them to other things.  well i hope you all have a wonderful week and a wonderful christmas.  remember that Christ is christmas and that He is the Gift!!

 

 

i want to share something really quick with you (i kinda already told mom) but i want all of you to read this.  about 3 years ago nick holmes clicked on a facebook ad that talked about going to figi.  after that he signed up for hefy.  he told me about the trip and i tried to sign up but it was all full.  we sent an email to the lady who was in charge and she put my name on a list.  a few weeks later we found out that they were opening up a fourth trip to belize, and i got on the trip. chase was in the third trip and then felt like he needed to change to the fourth.  i met him, he became my best friend,  all of my friends at byu were because of him and my friends when i come home from the mission will also be because of him.  MY LIFE HAS BEEN CHANGED BECAUSE NICK HOLMES CLICKED ON A FACEBOOK AD!

why am telling you this?? because giving service in belize changed my life and it is possible that this trip to nepal could change your lives.  i just want to invite you to do a few things on the trip:

1. take a lot of pics

2. write in a journal during everyday of the trip

3,  dont complain (DAD!!)

4. try to be friends with everyone

5. write down funny quotes of experiences

6. read the scriptures

um so i think that is it i hope your trip is amazing

love

elder meyer

GO HEELS GO AMERICA

Letter #81 - " looks like it will be a cold Christmas!‏" - Palo Gordo, Guatemala

so yeah as the subject line says it looks like it will be a cold christmas. what does that mean?? i had changes again!!  after almost 8 months in or near malacatan, i have changes and they sent me to a place called palo gordo.  that is in the mountains.  what does that mean?? after almost 20 months of constant sweating i have stoped sweating and now i am shivering. hahaha

so yeah it was unexpected that i would have changes but here i am.  i am with a missionary named elder wilkes, he has 16 months in the mission and he is from alpine utah.  this week has been really hard because my comp has been sick so it has been hard for me to leave the house to work, but i was able to learn a lot. i was reading in 1 kings and i loved the story of elias who challenged the priests of baal to see whose god was more powerful.  i thought about how much confidence elias had to have to challenge the 900 of them against just him. and then the confidence to mock them. and then the confidence to pour so much water over his sacrifice.  (its all in 1 kings 18)  this week i also thought a lot about this hymn ¨o come all ye faithful¨.  in spanish the title is ¨venid, adoremos¨, it means ¨come, let us worship¨. i realized that the title is a perfect example of missionary work.  we need to invite everyone to come, and worship God with us and invite them to obey Him and be baptized.  that is our job as members of the Church.

 

answers to moms questions:

 

 im not sure if franklin got baptized - i hope so but i havent been able to talk with fickes to makes sure he did.  the best thing i learned from elder fickes was how to see not who the people were but who they could become.  the ward mission leader never ended up helping us but the mission leader here is super cool.  i have no idea who the new hermana in malacatan is.  yes i got the other christmas package from you and the package from aunt michelle.  please tell here i said thanks.  best food for the week was the chinese food that we ate for lunch today. every time i sing christmas songs i like to sing "i heard the bells on christmas day" and it makes me think of grandpa.  the best things about being on a mission for christmas is not having to deal with all of the commercialism that comes a long with christmas and being able to focus on the true meaning of christmas.  the worst thing is not having family with me, not watching nacho libre, not having all of the fun that we always have for Christmas....i am asuming you will ask me about my new zone.  in our zone there are 12 of us.  me and my comp are the zls.  there are 2 districts in my zone.  there are 2 hermanas (keltner and castillo) and 10 elders (me, wilkes, mendez, herrera, morales, garboza, cavio, evans, morin, and puckett)

well i think that is it for the week i hope you have a wonderful week and we will talk sunday!!

love

elder meyer

GO HEELS GO AMERICA