Letter #92 - "God works in His way and in His time...." Palo Gordo, Guatemala

well hello there

so it was another week here in palo gordo, and sadly it was my last week with elder hutchinson.  he leaves to go home on wednesday so i will have a new comp, but no idea who it will be.... this week we worked like crazy so that ereser would get baptized before hutch went home.  we had like 3 sweet lessons with him and he was so close, but sadly it didnt happen..... it was really sad especially for hutch, but we know that soon he will be baptized.  it was a good reminder to me that God works in His way and in His time, and that it doesnt really matter how many people Hutch and i baptize. all that matters is that they get baptized so that they can be saved.  so yeah it was a good lesson to remember but at the same time a hard lesson to learn.  going into sunday i was pretty bummed, then all of the people that we had committed to come to chruch didnt show, so i was super bummed.  then i got texts from the rest of the zone and as a zone of 12 missionaries we brought 17 people to church!! it was a huge miracle!! in all of my time in palo gordo the most that the zone had every brought was 10, so 17 was a HUGE improvement.  i realized that this was the miracle for working so hard to get ereiser baptized; although the result we were hoping for didnt happen, God blessed us for our hard work.  

it was exactly what i learned this week.  i found the story in Mosiah 8:

 8 And they were lost in the wilderness for the space ofmany days, yet they were diligent, and found not the land of Zarahemla but returned to this land, having traveled in a land among many waters, having discovered a land which was covered with bones of men, and of beasts, and was also covered with ruins of buildings of every kind, having discovered a land which had been peopled with a people who were as numerous as the hosts of Israel.

 9 And for a testimony that the things that they had said are true they have brought twenty-four plates which are filled with engravings, and they are of pure gold.

king limhi had sent them to find zarahelma, and they couldnt but they were DILIGENT, and they did find the 24 plates that became the Book of Ether.  they probably thought they were a failure, but without them we would not have Ether.  their diligence over 2000 years ago has blessed us with 15 more chapters of the Book of Mormon, and they are amazing chapters. it was the same with us - in spite of our diligence with ereiser, he didnt get baptized but there were many blessings for other people because of our diligence.  

 

answers to moms questions:

 

ereiser is SO CLOSE, he is ready but is scared. his brother who has really been helping him is going to work in canada for 6 months in less than a month so ereiser is scared about what is going to happen when his brother leaves.  arnoldo is still cool; we are just trying to figure out what we need to do to get him to church. erlin came to church, this is the weirdest thing ever.  when ever we go visit him he seems super cool and so close to baptism, but then doesnt come to church for like 2 weeks after we visit him.  if we dont pass by, he goes to church and seems really happy there but still hasnt been baptized..... irma is super cool but she had to go to the captial to take some health tests (she is like 40 and heathly but just out of nowhere lost her vision, now she is completely blind, and doctors have no idea why, she reminds me a little bit of Job), because of that she didnt come to church , but is still super cool.. besides that we have to start look for some new people to teach.

hutch leaves on wednesday, he is excited but sad to leave also. im really sad, he has been my best comp, we have had so much fun together and i have learned a lot from him.  he is going to work in utah and is trying to get into byu so hopefully i can see him there. i have no idea what will happen, i hope i can stay in palo gordo, but i think there is a 50-50 chance that i leave. i have some ideas of people who could be my comp ( as a zl there are a lot less options of comps, so i know basically anyone who could be my comp) im excited for a change but nervous at the same time.  the best thing i learned from pres was this ¨excellence is not an action, it is a habit¨ - love that!  the suit is sweet, im sorry i dont have any pics in the suit... the best meal of the week were dobladas (potatoes and chicken folded inside tortillas and fried.)  at the restaurant we eat fried chick, carne asada (a steak cut really thin and grilled) or chuleta (pork chop that is breaded).  there is a lady named leti who is super cool who does our laundry we pay here 125 quetzales per month each (like 20 dollars)  our branch pres. is super cool, he is named Roel.  he has been a member his whole life but was inactive for a long time.  he drank a lot but then 4 years ago he came back to church and then less than a year after reactivating became pres.  i havent got the package from dori yet but i have to go to the office this week, so hopefully it will be there.  that is crazy that the homecoming talk date is set, any idea what my topic will be???

well i think that is it, i hope you have a great week

love

elder meyer

GO HEELS GO AMERICA

pics 

-  us riding up to Ixtagel (a huge mountain that is part of our area)

-  us with an amazing family from Ixtagel,  they have been members of the church for 10 years and have to walk for an hour and a half to get to church, they are always the first ones to show up

-  view from Ixtagel

-  elders from the zone checking out a local market