Letter #28 - "and I though Brilliantes was hot...." La Blanca, Guatemala

well hello again family and friends.

so yes i did finally have changes.  i am now serving in a town called La Blanca, our area goes to the beach and we are no joke like one mile from mexico.  i am with an elder called elder delgado. he is from peru and a great guy, he has just over a year in the mission and just like me he started his mission in brillantes hahaha.  we are also living with two more elders that are also working in la blanca they are named elders walton and keller and they are also way cool.  so as the title of my email suggest this area is SOOOOOOOOOOOO HHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!! it is commonly recognized in the mission as one of the three hottest areas in the entire mission..... so yeah i am sweating way way way more here than i did in brillantes so that is that.  it was a lot harder than i thought it would be to say goodbye to galvez and some of the members there in brillantes.  i was there a long time and learned a lot but i feel like i am ready for this next part of the mission.  to be honest we didnt do anything for thanksgiving. apparently we were supposed to get together with our zone and another zone but somehow the plans fell through and we ended up just working hahaha.  i have both the christmas packages and am loving opening something everyday and stoked for the big one on the 25!!! right now our most positive investigators are a family that lives way far away - they are named Elizabeth and Norlando and this week we are hoping to set a baptismal date with the two of them and one of their granddaughters.  the most amusing experince of the week was the change meeting.  it is hard to explain to all of you who dont know the missionaries but a couple of the changes of missionaries i know just made me laugh really hard (the funniest of which was that one of the hermanas that was with me for ever in the ward in brillantes is in my district again hahaha)

thanks for all the updates and stuff about things going on back home and i really liked the story about elder holland that you shared with me, i have noticed here that people have such a respect for missionaries and really see us as representative of Christ not as the 19 or 20 year old boys we are..... it is such a reminder of the weight of our calling and the trust the Lord has in us.  i also really appreciated the two missionary experiences that you shared with me. i am so proud of you and the whole family that you are taking the initiative to share the gospel.  i was reading in the ensign from october talking about missionary work and how every member of the church has the responsibility to share the gospel..

 

umm besides that i am not sure what all to say.   we spent most of this week getting to know some fo the 80ish members in the branch here as well as some of the investigators that elder delgado and his old comp (elder najeras) were teaching. we have some cool people but also a lot of work to do, we have started to see miracles and i am sure we will continue seeing them as we keep working hard.  ummm im not really sure what to say for this week but ill let you guys know more about life in la blanca next week.

have a great week

love

elder meyer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GO HEELS GO AMERICA

Letter #27: "The best week of the mission..." Los Brilliantes, Guatemala

well hello again

this week was DOPE!!! i would say that this would have been the best week of the mission if we would have had a baptism but even without it it was still freaking awesome!!!! so you might be wondering why was this week so wonderful and ill now let you know haha. so without a doubt the highlight of the week was friday.  on this day we woke up early and went to a city called mazate.  we went there with our zone and 2 others and there we had a conference with President Amado (first quorom of the 70 and district president) he spoke to us about just about every gospel topic imaginable for almost 7 HOURS!!!! while he spoke a bunch to us it hardly felt like any time because we were enjoying so much!!!! one thing that he kept repeating was ¨dont stop praying missionaries dont ever stop praying¨  it was very interesting to hear this from a general authority that the thing that he counseled us to do the most was pray.  every time he said that it seemed that he had run into a dead end in what he was saying and then after saying that and a brief silence he always had something else to say.  as i have thought about his advice to always pray i have thought of a couple examples of powerful prayers i would like to share with you all today.  earlier in the week we were with one of our converts.  we were planning on going over the restoration with him.  we asked him to say the opening prayer. he began praying very very simply as he is still learning how to do it.  during his prayer there was a long silence, then with tears running down his face he asked for blessings for a very sick family member.  while the prayer was simple the spirit was so powerful and it was a prayer that i am sure God heard and answered.  two of my other favorite examples of powerful prayers come from the book of mormon. the first is in enos.  here are the scriptures:

 

 Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the ^ajoy of the saints, ^bsunk deep into my heart.

 4 And my soul ^ahungered; and I ^bkneeled down before my Maker, and I ^ccried unto him in mighty ^dprayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.

 5 And there came a ^avoice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are^bforgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.

 

the other is the king of the lamanites and here is his prayer:

 

 O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day. And now when the king had said these words, he was struck ^aas if he were dead.

i would encourge all of you to continue praying always, and to try and find prayers more heartfelt.  length does not matter, but your feelings toward God and those that you are praying for does.

well that is about all i got for this week.  just have to throw in a shout out to my boys in blue for their win over louisville this week!!! have a happy thanksgiving and i am truly grateful for all of you that write me and read my letters.

love

elder meyer

GO HEELS GO AMERICA

Letter #26 - "The Hardest Week Ever" - Los Brilliantes, Guatemala

hello again

well im still here and all is still moving right along (i cannot belive that november is more than half over) but yeah this week was without a doubt the hardest week of my mission and let me tell you why.  

so as you all should probably know by now in our ward we have 2 hermana missionaries. because they are in our ward, district, and zone, and because galvez is a district leader we spend a fair amount of time with them working and in meetings. as such we have gotten to know them very well and they are very cool.  on monday in the night we got word that the two of them had emergency changes and that president was sending elders to the other area.  it was very hard for us to see our two best friends in the mission leave.  so we were really sad about that.

reason number two - over a month ago we found a really cool family.  they have been coming to church with us and doing it all.  on thursday we had an appointment with them and they told us that they wanted to be baptized on saturday.  we were stoked and all and it was great.  all day friday and saturday we were running around like crazy because we had to marry them too so that they could get baptized.  in all this running around we saw so many miracles and little things work out so that everything would be perfect saturday.  while galvez was finishing decorating for the wedding (pics attached) i went with some kids in our ward to go bring them.  we got there and they informed me that they no longer wanted to be baptized, get married, go to church, or listen to us.  i spoke with them for more that an hour trying to see what happened and what we could do but they didnt want anything.  i returned to the chapel and galvez went and tried again to no avail.  so our family feel through and DANG IT SUCKED!!!!!

so yeah it was a hard week, yet i still feel so happy.  i know that i have received so much help from all of your prayers, and from my Father in Heaven.  as i was thinking about how hard this week was i thought about this super dope video we watched in the CCM.  here is the link. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo0mOZ4S7GE)  so yeah.  the mission is not easy but it is without a doubt worth it.  as i think about what Christ did for each one of us i realize that it was not easy for Him but for Him it was worth it because He loves us.  for me it is not easy to be here, but it is without a doubt worth it because i love this gospel, my Father in Heaven, and the people here.

i hope you all have a great week.  and i hope this week the Heels dont suck it up...

love

elder meyer

GO HEELS GO AMERICA

 

                                                     November baptism

                                               Wedding decorations with Elder Galvez.

                                                      Six-month tie burning on the roof!

 

 

Letter 25 - "Take the chance to invite someone this week....." - Los Brilliantes, Guatemala

well hello again.

so i know you might be wondering what the heck happened last week, and you may even want a crazy story for my answer, and i am sorry to disappoint you.  here is what happened, the website would not load...... yep that is it, i tried a bunch of computers and none of them worked, so here i am finally writing what went down in the last 2 weeks.  

so in these 2 weeks there are two pieces of big news: i completed 6 months, and we had 3 baptisms.  on my special day completing 6 months i was on divisions (splits) with one of my zone leaders.  it was a normal good day, but to celebrate in the night we had the traditional tie burning (i only had one tie with me so i burnt a tie of one of the elders who lives with the zone leaders hahaha) attached are a couple pics of us celebrating with the little fire on the roof.  second and way cooler and more importantly, we had 3 baptisms.  these baptisms came as a result of members love and courage to invite friends and family to church.  first an hermana in our ward, named Angelica (my favorite member) had to go to a baptism for the hermanas in our ward because she had to give the welcome to primary talk.  she cant drive the motorcycle they have and her son wasnt there to take her so she asked her nonmember cousin to take her.  when they got to the baptisms she ask him to stay. he stayed, came to church the following week, and then Angelica challenged him to be baptized and he said yes, he was baptized on the 2nd by Angelicas son.  the other story is like this.  Carlos (another cool member) saw a man named Gerbert who had been inactive for 20 years, and Carlos invited him to come back.  he came back first by himself  and then with his wife and 6 children.  on the 9th i baptized his oldest daughter (Esther) and elder galvez baptized his son (Herbert). 

 as i was able to be a small part in these two stories i have realized the power of an invitation. as we examine Christ´s ministry we realize that He taught and invited all to follow His teachings and example. He never obligated nobody to do nothing (wow i have been speaking too much spanish hahahha) my favorite invitation from Christ is found in John 1:

 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?

 He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.

 

we are all invited to come and see what Christ can do with our lives.  as we come to Him we will see how much we are blessed.  as we read the scriptures we find a number of other invitations to do many more things (annother powerful one is in Moroni 10:3-5).  as i have thought about the power of invitiations i have also remembered how scary it is to invite some to do something.   as i have thought about the fear many of us feel before inviting someone i have found 2 scriptures that can help us.

 

first - 2 Timothy 1:7

For God hath not given us the spirit of ^afear; but of ^bpower, and of ^clove, and of a sound mind

and if that doesnt help you try this one - D&C60:2-3)

But with some I am not well pleased, for they will not open their^amouths, but they hide the ^btalent which I have given unto them, because of the ^cfear of man. Wo unto such, for mine ^danger is^ekindled against them.

 And it shall come to pass, if they are not more faithful unto me, it shall be ^ataken away, even that which they have.

so as someone whose job is to invite people to come unto Christ i would like to invite all the members who read this to invite a friend or family member to church.  and if you are not a member i would like to invite you to ¨come and see¨what this church is all about this Sunday wherever you live.  

so yeah those were the two big things from these last 2 weeks, and now i have two thank yous to give.  first of all mom THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE PACKAGE!!!!! it was absolutely wonderful!!!! those mircowave cakes were magical!!!! and second i would like to thank all of you who feed the missionaries.  i know because you are doing that, that people here are feeding me.  on saturday we were in the park buying bread for an activity and as we were leaving, this lady who i have never seen before came up to me and said elder these juices are for you and gave me 2 good juices and 2 bags of chips. that may not seem like a lot but when someone realizes how little people here have, it is amazing to think they spent 20 quetzales to give us food.  

so that is it for this week

hope all of you take the chance to invite someone this week.  and i hope you all have a great week.

love

elder meyer

Letter #24 - "...shall we not go on in so great a cause?" - Los Brilliantes, Guatemala

well hello again,

well it has been another week here in brillantes.  this week i am sorry but i dont really know what to say... it has been a hard week here and we didnt see a lot of success but we know that we will see more miracles after this trial of our faith.  i would just like to share a couple brief experiences with you that helped me get through this tough week.  first of all on thursday i did division with an interesting elder.  we contacted this house and began to teach this old man.  as we were teaching, the man and this elder began to argue scriptures back and forth about prophets.  i knew that nothing good would come out of this so i jumped into the conversation and just said this: "hermano, i know and testify that there is a living prophet on the earth today.   he talks with God face to face and he has sent us here to do the will of God.  you may not believe us, and we dont want to believe because of us, we just want to invite you to pray and ask God if He has a prophet on the earth today.  i know and promise you that you will receive an answer¨ it was super cool and powerful.  i didnt feel like i had said anything that special but then i was reminded that no one can dispute a testimony and that we feel the spirit more strongly when we testify.  also on friday i read doctrine and convenants 121 and 122. these 2 sections are absolutely AMAZING!!!! i would encourage all of you to take some time this week and read them. then last night i was pretty upset because of the difficulties of the week and i was reading in doctrine and convenants 128 verse 22 it says (with a little bit of my own interpration):  "22 Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. ^aCourage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into ^bsinging. Let the (investigators) speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the ^dKing Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to ^eredeem them out of their ^fprison; for the prisoners shall go free."

it was so cool to receive the reminder to push forward in this great and important cause.  as elder holland said (it refering to the missionary work): It is not a fleeting task. It is not hapless; it is not hopeless; it is not to be consigned to the ash heap of history. It is the work of Almighty God, and it is to change the world.¨   

so yeah that was my week.  things are going to pick up soon - our goal for the month of November is 6 baptisms and we know we are going to do it with the help of the Lord

hope all is well wherever you are.  have a great week

love

elder meyer

s

Letter 23 "Completed two of my goals for the mish..." - Los Brilliantes, Guatemala

hello again

 well as i said last week i wasnt gonna have changes and i didnt so i am now going on my FOURTH change in brillantes (about 6 months) and my third with elder galvez.  that is a lot of time in one area.  to be honest with you all i was a little bit upset that i was staying here because i felt ready for the next big adventure but apparently the Lord has more work for me to do here.  so this week was really good and i completed two of my goals for the mish this week.  the two goals were these: baptize in a river and secondly go to the temple.  first of all with the river.  i cannot remember what i told you all last week but the hermanas in our ward had two kids that were going to get baptized but that we couldnt find when they were supposed to be baptized.  so on monday after pday we went there to the river near their house and i baptized one of them and gavlez did the other.  attached are fotos of us hiking to the river and us at the river.  so that was monday and then on tuesday as a zone we went 2 hours north to the temple in xela (or quetzaltenango).  that temple is AMAZING!!!!! it is tiny but is built in a way that when you are inside it feels super huge.  from the perspective of the inside it is the most beautiful temple i have been in.  and wow it was so amazing to return to the temple and feel the spirit there so much stronger than anywhere else on the planet. it reminded me that the temples are houses of the Lord. as i was in the temple i read three of my favorite scriptures - 3 nephi 5:13, isaiah 41:10, and helaman 5:12.  i would encourage you all to read these scriptures.  better yet i will just put them in the email for you hahhahaa. they are in the same order that i put their references.   Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been  called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.  Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.         And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.    so yeah those scriptures are amazing and have really helped me a lot and i know they can help you all too.  so basically after those 2 dope crazy unforgettable days things slowed back down.  we are teaching a lot of people right now and its looking like we are going to have a very good month of November.  mom asked what part of my testimony had grown the most - my testimony has grown the most in these areas: the power of faith, love of God for His children, and the importance of the small things.  i have already expained about the small things in the previous email.  but faith is where i have had the biggest improvement.  a missionary told me that many times we say that faith without works is dead, as it says in the bible ,but he told me that just because we have works doesnt mean that we have faith.  i realized that i really needed to believe that God was going to guide me and that i was going to be able to talk with the spirit and that i would be able to find people.  

well that is about all i have to say for this week;  hope all of you have a great week 

 love 

 

elder meyer

 

 

 

Letter 23 - "What a Week!!" - Los Brilliantes, Guatemala

hola

well as you can probably tell from the subject line i had quite the week so i will try and tell you all about it... a week and a half ago President Ruiz came to talk with our zone. in September as a zone we baptized the most in the mission he said he wanted to reward us for that but that he also wanted us to repeat as leading the mission in baptisms for october.  so the deal was if everyone found 20 new investigators this week, as a zone we would go to the temple, but if only one area didnt do it no one would go.  we accepted the deal because we wanted to go so bad.  at first i was terrified... 20 is a lot.... in my 11 weeks with Galvez the most we had found was 13.  i knew we could do it just that it wouldnt be easy.  we talked about it and decided that we needed to focus more on planning and study and faith to accomplish this goal.  so we planned more prayerfully, studied more, and worked with faith and as we say in spanish animo (excitment) 3 small things that make a huge difference.  with the help of these things we found 21 new investigators this week!!! and tomorrow we are going to the temple!!! i have really thought long and hard about how it happened and this is my only answer.  Alma 37:6-7.  It says: Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.  i have grown to love this scripture on the mish because if we do the little things we are blessed soooooooo much!! i know that because we did the little things God helped us.  while i dont know how He works, i know He does work and blesses us.  

i would just like to highlight one crazy experience from this week.  on saturday we went to a baptism in our ward.  the hermanas had been working with this lady named Marleny.  her daughter is a member and is currently on a mission in Mexico.  on saturday she was baptized by Galvez.  the work for the baptism was ridiculously stressful.  we got there at 9 for the baptisms at 10.  we began to clean and fill the font.  when there was 10 inches of water in the font the water turned off...... we began running to see if we could find a pool to baptize her in or a river that was clean and deep enough but couldnt find one.  finally someone who lives close to the church let us use their well to fill the font one bucket at a time.  after we filled the font for an hour by hand i thought we were ready but there was another problem.  Marleny´s daughter had received permission from her mission president to skype her mom and watch the baptism.  at 11 we realized that we had computer problems and it was not until 12 that finally, her duaghter watching from Mexico, that was Marleny was baptized.  after changing ,the daughter spoke to her mom and all of us. the spirit during that baptismal service was unlike the spirit in any other baptismal service.  it was there that i was reminded that the gospel is for families.  the greatest thing we can achieve in this life is an eternal family.  it was a wonderful moment.

well i think that is all i have to say for this week, but oh yeah i still didnt have changes so i will be in brillantes another 6 weeks (6 months in total) and i will be with galvez 4 and a half months.

CONGRATS TO SAM AND THE WHOLE CHARGER TENNIS TEAM!!!!

hope you all have a great week.

love

elder meyer